CONTINUATION


     The Accession of Queen Victoria..... The Queen's Message to
     both Houses: Eulogies of the late Sovereign in both Houses
     of Parliament..... Bill for providing the Succession to the
     Crown..... The Budget, &c...... Alterations in the Criminal
     Law, &c...... Prorogation of Parliament..... State of
     Parties and Elections..... City Banquet to the Queen.....
     Opening of the New Parliament..... The Subject of the Civil
     List debated..... The Subject of the Pension List.....
     Intelligence from Canada:   Discussion on the Subject.....
     Adjournment of the House..... State of the Continent

THE ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

A.D. 1837

On the arrival of the news in town of the death of King William, orders were immediately issued for summoning a privy-council, which was assembled before noon on Tuesday, at the palace of Kensington. At this council directions were given for proclaiming Queen Victoria, and the act of allegiance was signed by all present, the first name on the list being that of "Ernest, King of Hanover." When the ceremony of signing the act of allegiance had been performed, the queen made the following declaration to the country:—"The severe and afflicting loss which the nation has sustained by the death of his majesty, my beloved uncle, has devolved upon me the duty of administering the government of this empire. This awful responsibility is imposed upon me so suddenly, and at so early a period of my life, that I should feel myself utterly oppressed by the burden, were I not sustained by the hope that Divine Providence, which has called me to this work, will give me strength for the performance of it: and that I shall find in the purity of my intentions, and in my zeal for the public welfare, that support and those resources which usually belong to a more mature age, and to long experience. I place my firm reliance on the wisdom of parliament, and upon the loyalty and affection of my people. I esteem it also a peculiar advantage, that I succeed to a sovereign whose constant regards for the rights and liberties of his subjects, and whose desire to promote the amelioration of the laws and institutions of the country, have rendered his name the object of general attachment and veneration. Educated in England, under the tender and enlightened care of a most affectionate mother, I have learned from my infancy to respect and love the constitution of my native country. It will be my unceasing study to maintain the reformed religion as by law established, securing at the same time to all the full enjoyment of religious liberty. And I shall steadily protect the rights, and promote to the utmost of my power the happiness and welfare of all classes of my subjects." On this occasion her majesty is described as displaying extraordinary self-possession: the dignified composure and firmness of voice with which she pronounced the above declaration were indeed a theme of admiration with those who were present at the scene. Thus commenced the reign of Queen Victoria over the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland.

One effect of the descent of the crown to a female was the separation from it of Hanover, after an union which had lasted for nearly a century and a quarter. This abscission of territory, however, was scarcely noticed; it hardly called forth an observation in the newspapers, much less an expression of regret—a proof of the little value attached in this country to foreign dominion as a source of wealth or strength.

THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES—EULOGIES OF THE LATE SOVEREIGN IN BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

On the news of the death of the king both houses of parliament were immediately summoned to meet. On that and the following day, however, the administration of the oath of allegiance to the members, formed the only business transacted. On Thursday, the 22nd, Lord Melbourne brought the following message from the queen to the house of lords:—"Victoria Regina. The queen entertains the fullest confidence that the house of lords will participate in the deep affliction which her majesty feels in the death of the late king, whose constant desire to promote the interests, to maintain the liberties, and to improve the laws and institutions of the country, must ensure for his name and memory the dutiful and affectionate respect of all her majesty's subjects. The present state of public business, and the period of the session, when considered in connection with the law which imposes on her majesty the duty of summoning a new parliament within a limited time, renders it inexpedient in the judgment of her majesty, that any new measures should be recommended for your adoption, with the exception of such as may be requisite for carrying on the public service from the close of the present session to the meeting of the new parliament." Upon this occasion the leaders of all parties in parliament expressed their strong sense of the sterling and amiable qualities of the departed monarch. Lord Melbourne lamented the loss of a most gracious master, and said that the world had lost a man of the best intentions, the most uncompromising honour, and the strictest integrity. After adverting to the naval education of the late king, to the part which he had occasionally taken in the debates of that house, Lord Melbourne moved an address of condolence to her majesty upon the death of the late king, and of congratulation upon her accession to the throne. This was carried unanimously. Another proposition also was carried with unanimity, to the effect that an address of condolence be sent to her majesty the queen dowager, assuring her majesty of the sympathy which the house entertained for her loss. Lord John Russell brought the same message to the commons, moving a similar address in reply.

BILL FOR PROVIDING THE SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN.

A bill for providing for the contingency of another demise of the crown was brought into the upper house by the lord chancellor on the 3rd of July. Its object was to make provision for the carrying on of the executive government, in such an event, during the possible absence of the heir presumptive from the country. The bill provided that certain great officers of state, namely, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the lord-chancellor, the lord-treasurer, the president of the council, the lord privy seal, the lord high admiral, and the chief-justice of the Queen's Bench at the time being respectively, should act as lords-justices, to exercise all the powers and authorities of the successor of the crown, as a king would exercise them at present, until his arrival in the kingdom, or until he should otherwise order. The bill also provided that the heir presumptive to the throne might at any time deposit a list—which list was revocable at pleasure—of such persons as he might appoint to act with such justices, and to be considered as part of them; and the persons named in that list were to exercise, in common with the lords already named, the functions of royalty, until the successor to the throne should otherwise determine. By another provision in the bill, however, the powers of the lords-justices were restricted to those only which were necessary to carry on the government of the country. They were not to have the power of dissolving parliament; nor of creating peers; nor of giving the royal assent to any bill altering the succession to the throne; or for changing the established religion of England, Scotland, or Ireland. The bill passed almost unanimously through both houses of parliament, Lord Brougham only urging an objection against the omission of any portion of the royal family in the lists of lords-justices named in the bill. His lordship even made this omission the subject of a protest entered in the journals of the house. His lordship began at this time to display an obstructive disposition towards the government with which he had so long acted. He had proved that his exaltation to the office of lord-chancellor had inflated his vanity, and made him so self-willed and crotchetty as to render co-operation with him either in the government of the country, or in conducting bills through the legislature, next to impossible.

THE BUDGET, ETC.

On the 30th of June the chancellor of the exchequer made his yearly financial statement. After adverting to the embarrassments which had beset the commerce of the country since the close of the preceding session, he proceeded to state the actual income and expenditure of the country, as compared with the estimate he had formed of its probable amount in the course of the last session. He had calculated, he said, that the customs would produce £20,540,000; the actual receipt was £21,445,000; the excise he had taken at £14,150,000; the actual income was, £14,439,000: the stamps he had calculated at £7,000,000; the receipts were £7,100,000: the assessed taxes he estimated at £3,575,000; they produced £3,681,000: the post-office revenue he had reckoned at £1,450,000; it amounted to £1,618,000. On the whole the income, which on the data then before him he had calculated at £46,980,000, produced £48,453,000. Mr. Rice then proceeded to state the expenditure, with reference to which he had fortunately, he said, rather under than over-estimated the probable income for the present year, as otherwise government would have become embarrassed. He had taken the interest on the funded debt at £28,528,000; the actual payment was £28,537,000: other charges upon the consolidated fund, exclusive of the West India slave-compensation, he took at £2,092,000; the actual charge was £2,183,000. With respect to the army, navy, ordnance, and miscellaneous estimates of the year, he had taken them at £14,585, but that estimate was taken before all the supplies of the year were voted: the sum actually required was £14,652,000. The estimated expenditure for the whole year, exclusive of the West India slave-compensation fund, was £45,205,000; the actual expenditure was £45,372,000. With respect to the West India loan, Mr. Rice said that he had reckoned we might be called upon to pay annually a sum of £1,111,000; but the call had on that score amounted to £1,448,342. The chancellor of the exchequer next proceeded to make several statements illustrative of the financial and commercial state of the country. He dwelt especially on the excess of the amount of tea duty in the last year over that received in former years, and observed that it was apparent that without any change of duty, the consumption of that article was increasing. Mr. Rice took the estimates for the year as follows:—the army, navy, ordnance, and miscellaneous, £14,895,000; and the charges upon the consolidated fund, and the interest upon the funded and unfunded debt which it was necessary to provide for the current year, £30,890,000. Thus the total expenditure for the current year was calculated at £45,786,000; but that was exclusive of the West India compensation, the amount of which would be £845,000. With respect to the probable amount of the income, Mr. Rice calculated it might amount in the whole to £47,240,000, which would leave a surplus of £1,454,000. When the interest of the West Indian loan, however, was deducted, the surplus would be diminished to £608,585; and that sum would be reduced by the payment necessary to be made to meet various deficiencies of former years; in fact, all the net surplus upon which they could calculate was £384,673. In conclusion, Mr. Rice made some observations on the increased interest now payable on the unfunded debt of the country, and on the general prospects of the nation. On the latter subject, he observed, that he had before him the means of showing that within the last two or three weeks the elements of improvement had been developing themselves in various parts, and that many of the most depressed branches of trade and manufactures were rapidly reviving. As a natural consequence of this the receipts of the revenue were improving, and the condition of the country was such as to inspire him with confidence. A reduction of taxation, he said, would materially assist that revival. He inferred this from the experiment he had made of lowering the duty on various articles of consumption, especially in the instances of glass and paper. The trade in these articles was now rapidly increasing; but with the present small balance of income on hand, it was impossible for him to propose any speculative reduction of taxation. A conversation followed this statement of the chancellor of the exchequer, and several members proposed various economical nostrums for the benefit of the country, but none of them met with the approbation of the house.

ALTERATIONS IN THE CRIMINAL LAW, ETC.

In 1833, a royal commission had been issued for the purpose of inquiring how far it might be expedient to reduce the written and unwritten law of the country into one digest, and to report on the best manner of doing it. A report was made on this subject in 1834; and while the commissioners were occupied in carrying, in some degree, their own recommendations in respect of it into effect, they were further called upon by government to state their opinions on the subject of the employment of counsel by prisoners, and on the punishment of death. In their second report, which was made in 1836, at great length, this was done, and one result was the bill which was passed in the preceding session, for allowing the assistance of counsel to prisoners in criminal cases. A more important result, however, was the introduction in the present session of a series of bills, having for their object the abolition in many instances of capital punishment. This subject had been brought before the house of commons on the 23rd of March by Lord John Russell, who argued that, if it were thought right that a change should take place in the law of the land on this head, it should be delayed as little as possible. Lord John Russell began by discussing the general doctrines advanced by Paley on the use of severity in criminal punishments, after which he gave some statistical details of capital condemnations in former years. He argued from these details that such a state of things gave a character of great uncertainty to the operation of the law, and rendered it less calculated to inspire that salutary dread in offenders which was the object of criminal punishment. His lordship proceeded to contend that there was no reason to apprehend an increase of crime from the abolition of the punishment of death in certain offences. He instanced the crime of forgery, which, with the exception of the cases of the forgery of powers of attorney and of bills, was now only punishable by transportation. The number of persons committed for this offence in the three years previous to 1833, was one hundred and fifty-five; and in the three following years two hundred and ten. In the first instance only fifty-eight per cent, were convicted; in the latter period the number convicted was seventy-one per cent. From this it appeared that there was no great increase in the number of offences, while the number of convictions was materially increased. The reason of this last effect of the present, criminal law was to be ascribed to the diminished reluctance to prosecute now that the offence was no longer capital. His lordship here stated that in a recent case a man had been tried and convicted of forging a power of attorney. That offence was yet capital; but previously to the case coming before the king in council, the secretary of state received a communication from the bankers of London, expressing their objections to capital punishment: and also another from the governor of the Bank of England, stating, though the Bank directors did not think it their duty to interfere, they had no wish to press for capital punishment. His lordship considered this to be an encouragement to proceed in their course of mitigating the punishment, and particularly for doing away with it in the two reserved cases in forgery. The principle as suggested by the commissioners on which his lordship proposed to proceed was, that capital punishment should be confined to high treason, and, with some exceptions, to offences which consist in or are aggravated by acts of violence to the person, or which tend directly to endanger life. It was proposed that capital offences should be reduced to—1st, high treason; 2nd, murder; 3rd, attempt to murder; 4th, burnings of buildings or ships; 5th, piracy; 6th, burglary; 7th, robbery; 8th, rape. Arson, piracy, burglary, and robbery were to be capital offences only when committed under circumstances or accompanied by acts directly calculated to endanger life. The setting fire to stacks would be no longer a capital offence: the crime, his lordship said, was no doubt a heinous one; but the severity of the punishment had the effect of deterring prosecutions. On the secondary punishments which were to be substituted for capital condemnation, Lord John Russell expressed considerable doubt as to whether the present system of transportation ought to be continued. In theory it seemed desirable to remove an offender to a great distance from the scene of his crime; but the accounts of the practical working of the system were unsatisfactory. The four or five thousand persons annually sent to New South Wales were not absorbed by the population, but continued to form a large and separate vicious mass. Crime and vice were consequently on the increase in the settlement; and the continual importation of fresh cargoes of criminals threatened to aggravate the evils indefinitely. The punishment operated unequally on the convicts; it depended on the humour or temper of the masters whether their situation should be one of indulgence, or one of intolerable hardship. Moreover, there was no merit in the system on the score of economy, it cost the country from £350,000 to £400,000 annually. His lordship proposed, therefore, to abridge the number of cases of transportation, but to aggravate its operation in those which continued subject to it. No person should be transported for less than ten years, it having been found that the effect of a shorter period was to make the criminals insolent and unruly. The next period was to be for fifteen years, and the last for life. A certain hour of labour in the chain gangs was to be allotted to all the prisoners, and indulgences afforded them according to their good conduct. But these were merely suggestions; he did not in the present session intend to bring in any general measure with a view of carrying them into effect.

No opposition was given to the passing of the bills in the commons. They were brought into the upper house by Lord Denman, and the second reading was fixed for the 4th of July. The propositions were moved by Lord Denman, who alleged in their support similar facts and arguments to those urged in the commons by Lord John Russell. Lord Lyndhurst gave his full support to the principle and object of the bills; but he pointed out certain inconsistencies and anomalies of detail, which were subsequently rectified. The measures were likewise warmly advocated by Lord Brougham, who looked with confidence towards a general and effectual mitigation of the criminal code. Among the amendments which were made by the lords was one changing the term of imprisonment from five to three years, limiting the term of solitary confinement to a month at one time, and to not more than three months in a year, and the taking away the capital punishment for offences against the riot act. Thus amended, the bill passed the lords, and the amendments were afterwards agreed to unanimously by the commons.

An important alteration was made in this session, also, in the civil law of the country in respect of the forms to be observed in the execution of wills. This subject was introduced in the house of peers on the 23rd of February, by Lord Langdale, the master of the rolls. His lordship said that the general object of the measure was to collect the provisions of several statutes relating to wills into one act of parliament; and to make at the same time such modifications of these provisions as should afford additional securities for the prevention of spurious wills, and additional facilities for making genuine ones. His lordship proposed to allow the owner of copyholds and customary freeholds to dispose of them by will, which could not now be done. As the law stood, a person could only bequeath such real property as he was possessed of at the time of making his will; but his lordship said he would enable the testator to dispose of any he might acquire subsequently to the execution of the will. At present no person under the age of twenty-one could make a will: his lordship proposed to give the power of disposing of personal property to those who were beyond the age of seventeen. With respect to witnesses the bill would enact that in all cases the execution of the will must be attested by two, whether the property were real or personal. An executor would be admitted to give evidence of the validity of a will, which he could not do at present. Under the existing law it was not necessary that both the witnesses should be present at the same time; but the bill provided that the signature of the testator or his acknowledgment should be made in the presence of two witnesses, who should then attest it themselves. With respect to the revocation of wills, no alteration was proposed in the rule whereby a woman's will is set aside, by marriage; but it was proposed to alter the rule adopted from the ecclesiastical courts in modern times, whereby a man's will is considered as revoked by a subsequent marriage and the birth of a child. The bill finally provided for the due construction and effect of certain words. His lordship said that a legislative construction of words had been objected to; but, he argued, that when a rule of construction which plainly violated the lawful intention of testators had been established in the courts of law, there was no way of correcting it but by legislative interposition. The bill was warmly approved of by the leading law authorities in the upper house, and passed almost without discussion. In the commons, also, it met with general approbation; the only opposition came from Sir Robert Inglis, who objected to it chiefly on the ground of the expense which the mode of execution there enjoined would entail on the humbler class of testators. By abolishing holograph wills, and rendering two witnesses necessary, a resort to professional advice would become indispensable. The bill, however, was ably defended by the attorney-general; and it passed into law.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

The queen went in state to the house of lords, for the purpose of closing the session, on the 17th of July. On this occasion the speaker delivered an address to her majesty, in which, on behalf of the house of commons, he assured her of their cordial participation in "that strong and universal feeling of dutiful and affectionate attachment which prevailed among the free and loyal people of which they were the representatives, and expressed their trust that this feeling would be strengthened by a long course of constitutional, beneficent, and wise government." In recording the results of the session, the speaker expressly mentioned the acts for the abolition of capital punishments, &c.; and he expressed a hope that the important measures which had been recommended to parliament, and which had not yet been perfected, might be eventually adopted. The royal assent was then given to a number of public and private bills; after which her majesty thus addressed both houses of parliament:—

"My lords and gentlemen, I have been anxious to seize the first opportunity of meeting you, in order that I might repeat in person my cordial thanks for your condolence upon the death of his late majesty, and for the expression of attachment and affection with which you congratulated me upon my accession to the throne. I am very desirous of renewing the assurances of my determination to maintain the Protestant religion as established by law; to secure to all the free exercise of the rights of conscience; to protect the liberties, and to promote the welfare of all classes of the community. I rejoice that in ascending the throne I find the country in amity with all foreign powers; and while I faithfully perform the engagements of the crown, and carefully watch over the interests of my subjects, it will be the constant object of my solicitude to maintain the blessings of peace." Her majesty next thanked the house of commons for the liberal supplies which they had granted for the service of the year, as well as for the provision which they had made to meet the usual payments chargeable on the civil list. Addressing both houses again, the queen thanked them for the zeal and assiduity with which they had applied themselves to the public business of the country. Notwithstanding the melancholy interruption that had taken place in their labours, she trusted they would have the beneficial effect of advancing the progress of legislation in the new parliament. Her majesty expressed much pleasure in the mitigation of the severity of the criminal code; she hailed it as an auspicious commencement of her reign. In conclusion, her majesty said—"I ascend the throne with a deep sense of the responsibility which is imposed upon me; but I am supported by the consciousness of my own right intentions, and by my dependence upon the protection of Almighty God. It will be my care to strengthen our institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement, wherever improvement is required, and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and discord. Acting upon these principles, I shall on all occasions look with confidence to the wisdom of parliament and the affections of my people, which form, the true support of the dignity of the crown, and ensure the stability of the constitution." The age and sex of the youthful sovereign gave a singular and touching interest to this scene, and the manner in which her majesty delivered the speech heightened its effect. It was read in a clear and unfaltering tone, indicating great presence of mind and firmness of character. The appearance and manners of her majesty, indeed, enlisted in her favour all the best feelings of the august assembly she addressed—all wished that her reign might be long and prosperous.

STATE OF PARTIES AND ELECTIONS.

Queen Victoria ascended the throne at a period of perfect tranquillity. The popularity of the ministers was, indeed, declining, and they were surrounded with difficulties, partly from their own mismanagement of affairs, and partly from the position into which their eagerness for power had placed them. On the other hand the spirit of party was subsiding in the country: calm and impartial thinkers began to embrace a wider circle, yet it seemed clear that the administration could not have long existed had the late king lived a few months longer. His majesty had taken them back to his service with reluctance, and he was supposed to be on the watch for the first favourable opportunity of dismissing them. His demise, however, promised an increased stability to their power. Under their new sovereign they looked for a new order of things. She was believed to have been educated by her mother in principles and predilections favourable to their rule, and her countenance and support was expected to give not merely security, but popularity to their government. Nor did they fail to turn the event to good account. When pressed by their democratic allies to introduce organic measures for which they had no predilection themselves, it had been their practice to allege the king's reluctance to proceed, as a reason for not falling in with their views. When, however, Queen Victoria ascended the throne, they eagerly declared their emancipation from the thraldom of an hostile court, and they proclaimed that the young queen had entered warmly into their views, and had espoused their political creed without reservation. Another considerable resource of popular appeal to the ministerial candidates was the alleged misdeeds of the new King of Hanover. Immediately upon his accession to the throne of that kingdom, his majesty had issued an ordinance, by which the then existing constitution was suspended; and it was thought this conduct of one who was an acknowledged leader of the Tories, might be represented to the disadvantage of that party. These, and other topics, were not without their weight with the multitude. Yet, with their assistance, the ministers had sufficient to do to maintain their previous position. By the end of July the elections for English cities and boroughs were nearly over, and the relative strength of parties was little changed as regarded the Whigs. In the county elections they underwent, indeed, a serious defalcation of strength; besides losing twenty-three seats, they failed in fifteen counties out of sixteen in which they endeavoured to substitute members of their own party for Conservatives. As for the Radicals, public opinion was still less in their favour: even Mr. Hume failed in being returned for Middlesex, and was driven to the necessity of appearing in the house as Mr. O'Connell's nominee for Kilkenny. The Radicals, it is true, did not suffer numerically; but the absence of many of their leaders from the representation of important towns which they had hitherto represented, was significant of the waning popularity of extreme opinions. The loss, however, which ministers sustained in the English representation, was somewhat compensated by the returns of Scotland and Ireland. But while their numbers were not on the whole diminished, there was an evident falling off in quality. Their friends were not the representatives of such an extensive part of the population as they had been in the last parliament.

CITY BANQUET TO THE QUEEN.

During this autumn the great corporation of the city of London distinguished itself by a striking demonstration of its loyalty to the crown, in a magnificent entertainment which was given to the queen in Guildhall, on the 9th of November. On this occasion the utmost enthusiasm prevailed, and her majesty's reception, both in her progress to the city and at the banquet, must have been highly gratifying to her feelings. Along the entire route, in going to and returning from the city, she was greeted with enthusiastic cheers, and in the evening a brilliant illumination appeared along the whole line of her passage. Nothing was wanting, indeed, to give the utmost possible splendour to the pageant. The event showed that the "liberal" common-council of the city of London still fostered a substantial respect for loyalty—a circumstance of great political interest.

OPENING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT.

On the 20th of November the queen went in state to the house of lords to open the new parliament. Having read and signed the usual declaration, her majesty read the speech in a clear and audible voice. The speech expressed satisfaction at the friendly assurances of all foreign powers; regretted that civil war still afflicted the kingdom of Spain; stated that directions had been given for a treaty of commerce, recently concluded with the united republic of Peru and Bolivia, to be laid before parliament; recommended to their serious consideration the state of the province of Lower Canada; and stated that the demise of the crown rendered it necessary that a new provision should be made for the civil list. On this latter subject the queen remarked, that she placed unreservedly at the disposal of the house of commons, those hereditary revenues which were transferred to the public by her immediate predecessor, and that she had commanded such papers as might be necessary for the full examination of the subject to be laid before them. Her majesty's speech concluded thus:—

"My lords and gentlemen—The external peace and domestic tranquillity which at present happily prevail, are very favourable for the consideration of such measures of reformation and amendment as may be necessary or expedient, and your attention will naturally be directed to that course of legislation which was interrupted by the necessary dissolution of the last parliament. The result of the inquiries which have been made into the condition of the poor in Ireland has been already laid before parliament. And it will be your duty to consult whether it may not be wise and safe to establish by law some well-regulated means of relief for the destitute in that country. The municipal government of the cities and towns in Ireland calls for better regulation. The laws which govern the collection of the tithe-composition in Ireland require revision and amendment. Convinced that the better and more effectual administration of justice is amongst the first duties of a sovereign, I request your attention to those measures which will be submitted to you for the improvement of the law. You cannot but be sensible of the deep importance of these questions which I have submitted to you, and of the necessity of treating them in that spirit of impartiality and justice which affords the best hope of bringing them to a happy and useful termination. In meeting this parliament, the first that has been elected under my authority, I am anxious to declare my confidence in your loyalty and wisdom. The early age at which I am called to the sovereignty of this kingdom renders it a more imperative duty, that, under Divine Providence, I should place my reliance upon your cordial cooperation, and upon the love and affection of my people."

The address was moved in the house of lords by the Duke of Sussex, who, in the several topics of his speech, avoided every allusion or expression capable of giving offence to any member of the house. His royal highness referred with much satisfaction to the declaration of the Duke of Wellington at the close of the last session, namely, that he would assist in the settlement of the Irish questions, and also to the approbation he had avowed of the new poor-law. His royal highness further expressed his pleasure at the affectionate reception which the queen had met with in her late visit to the city, and adverted to the peculiar interest with which he regarded a sovereign whose birth he had been one of the first to witness. The address was seconded by Lord Portman, and fully assented to by the Duke of Wellington, who said he would follow the example which had been set him of abstaining from every remark that could awaken party feeling. The address was then agreed to, and ordered to be presented with the usual forms.

In the commons the address was moved by Lord Leveson, and seconded by Mr. Craig. A discussion followed, in which Mr. Wakley took the lead. After hearing the speech from the throne, Mr. Wakley said he rose to remind ministers that they had some radical supporters in the house, a circumstance which they appeared to have forgotten. After hearing the speech from the throne, he could not avoid asking to what purpose they had been so anxious, in 1835, to eject Sir Robert Peel and the Conservatives? It was complained of the speech from the throne framed by Sir Robert in that year, that it was vague and unsatisfactory: he, Mr. Wakley, had never read a speech from any sovereign of this country more open to the same reproach than the present one. He thought that at the commencement of a new reign, with a young queen educated as ours had been, the people had a right to expect a more explicit acknowledgment of their grievances, and some indication of the means of redress. They were now fresh from the hustings, where they had all been liberal in promises: even the Tories had professed themselves the friends of the people, and declared their delight in seeing the operatives come forward, and take a share in politics. In order to test the sincerity of both parties, he would move an amendment, in general terms, in favour of an extension of the suffrage. Mr. Wakley concluded his speech by moving three amendments, which he said he would put to the house separately, in order that members might have no excuse for avoiding to vote on any particular proposition. The first amendment was to the effect, "That this house embraces the earliest opportunity of respectfully assuring her majesty, that it will in the present session of parliament take into consideration the state of the representation of the people in this branch of the legislature, with a view to ensure by law an equitable extension of the elective franchise." This amendment was seconded by Sir W. Molesworth, and supported by Messrs. Hume and Grote. On the other hand it was opposed by Mr. Liddell, Colonel Perceval, and Lord John Russell. The latter admitted the reproach—if reproach it were—of having framed the speech with a view to preclude discussion. It was desirable that the queen should receive from her first parliament an unanimous address. In allusion to Mr. Wakley's amendment, his lordship observed that the hon. member had put his powders into three separate papers, as portions of what he considered the same medicine. Without entering into any general discussion of the questions involved in those amendments. He thought it necessary shortly to state his opinion of the present operation of the reform bill, and of his own position with respect to it. He admitted the disadvantages and injuries to which the reform act was subject; corruption and intimidation had prevailed at the late elections to a great extent. With respect to the registration of voters great amendments had been made. These were points on which it behoved parliament to be always attentive, to see that the act suffered no essential injury, and to remedy any error in the details which experience of its actual working might suggest. But these, his lordship continued, were questions widely different from those now brought forward, such as the ballot, the extension of the suffrage, and triennial parliaments, which were, in his estimation, a repeal of the reform act, and placed the representation on a totally different footing. He was not prepared to go thus far. With respect to registration, Lord John Russell said that the attorney-general was about to bring forward the bill of last session in an amended form, and he himself would re-introduce the measure respecting the payment of rates. But as to a second reform of the representation, having only five years ago placed it on a new basis, it would be a most unwise and unsound experiment, now to begin anew the process of reconstruction; he, for one, at least, would decline taking any share in such a measure. Sir Robert Peel congratulated the house upon the noble lord's aversion to Mr. Wakley's physic. The member for Finsbury called for a change, in order to recover for himself and his party the predominance they had lost; but he was confident that if he were to give Mr. Wakley a carte blanche to cut and carve the constituency as he pleased, he and his party would still be in a minority. Mr. Ward, on the other hand, warned Lord John Russell that by his declaration against the ballot, he had signed his own death-warrant, and chalked out his political grave. On a division, Mr. Wakley's amendment was negatived by five hundred and nine against twenty; and his two other amendments, pledging the house to the vote by ballot and the repeal of the septennial act, were then put, and negatived without a division.

The question having been again put on the address, Mr. Harvey proposed an amendment to this effect:—"That whilst this house is desirous of making the most liberal provision for the support of the becoming splendour and just dignity of the crown, they feel that the same ought to be derived from obvious and direct sources; and that to such end every branch of the hereditary revenues of the crown ought to be placed, without reservation, and without exception, under the control of parliament, as the surest means of protecting the crown against exaggerated impressions of their amount, and as a security against their misapplication." The amendment further set forth, that in the arrangement of the civil list, the house confidently relied upon the ready co-operation of her majesty, in promoting all needful inquiry into the claims of persons to be continued as recipients of state provision. In moving this amendment, Mr. Harvey observed that the former part of it was in substance the same with the proposition ministers had themselves made on the subject when in opposition. He pressed the second part of his amendment, on the ground that a strong feeling existed in the public mind against it as it now stood, which feeling was materially strengthened by the late alteration in the poor-law system. He assured ministers that they had not a superabundance of popularity, and he predicted that Lord John Russell's declaration of that night would operate fatally to his government. In reply, Lord John Russell contented himself with stating that an account of the actual and average receipts from the duties in question would be laid before the committees; and that with respect to the pension list, the precedent of 1831 would be strictly followed. Ministers agreed in thinking it far wiser to provide against abuses for the future, than to take away pensions already granted. If the revision proposed by the hon. member should be adopted by parliament, ministers would claim the right of further consideration, before they decided whether or not they should give it their support. After a few words from Mr. Harvey in rejoinder, his amendment was put and negatived without a division.

Lord John Russell's determination to resist any further movement in the way of constitutional innovation, was made the subject of indignant comment on the part of the radical organs, both in parliament and throughout the country.

THE SUBJECT OF THE CIVIL LIST DEBATED.

The subject first brought before the attention of parliament by ministers was the arrangement of the civil list. On the 23rd of November the chancellor of the exchequer moved that the passage in the queen's speech relating thereto should be referred to a select committee. He observed that former sovereigns had inherited considerable personal property from their predecessors, while Queen Victoria had derived nothing from that source, and would further be deprived of the revenues of Hanover, now a separate kingdom. Her establishment must also so far exceed that of a king or of a queen-consort, as being composed of ladies as well as gentlemen. Under those circumstances Mr. Rice submitted that the charges of the establishment of the late king were proper for Queen Victoria, These charges were:—


                                       William IV.    The Queen.

     First class, privy purse........   £110,000       £60,600

     Second class, salaries..........    130,000       130,000

     Third class, bills  ............    171,500       172,000

     Fourth class, special service...     23,000        23,200

     Unappropriated money............                    9,000

                                 Total  £510,000       £470,000

In conclusion, Mr. Rice touched upon the decrease in the amount of the pension list, and said he should be prepared to prove that the pensions granted by Earl Grey and Lord Melbourne had been awarded in strict conformity with a resolution of the house passed in February, 1834, which recommended the granting of pensions to such persons only as by their services to the crown, or the public, or by useful discoveries in science or art, had a just claim on the benevolence of the crown or the gratitude of the nation. The papers with reference to the civil list were referred to a select committee, consisting of twenty-one members. The result of their labours was a report in favour of the minister's proposition, which was presented on the 16th of December, when a bill carrying out his views was brought in. The bill was read a third time on the 19th of December, after which Mr. Hume moved that the sum granted to the queen should be reduced from £385,000 to £335,000; and this motion having been negatived, Mr. Grote proposed as an amendment the entire removal of the sum allotted to pensions from the civil list. This amendment was seconded by Mr. Hume, and opposed by the chancellor of the exchequer, who contended that in a monarchical government, the power of conferring honour and rewards should be inseparably attached to the crown. The principle advocated by the honourable member struck at the very root of monarchy. Mr. Rice proceeded to deny that politics had influenced ministers in their grant of pensions to literary and scientific men, as had been asserted by Mr. Grote, and expressed his belief that were any government disposed so to prostitute its power, there was a spirit in literature and science which would save talent from the disgrace of such political profligacy. Mr. Grote's motion was further opposed by Mr. Charles Buller, albeit he was his friend. He differed from him both as to tire policy of granting pensions at all, and in respect to the quarter in which the power of according them should be placed. He thought that it was desirable that men of letters should be fostered by the government, when labouring for the public good, and without the support of popular favour. Scarcely a great name in English literature could be produced which had not been supported by regal or individual generosity. At the present day, men of letters would not brook to receive the bounty of private individuals: men like Hobbes or Locke, could no longer consent to depend on the liberality of an Earl of Devonshire, or an Earl of Shaftesbury. On a division Mr. Grote's amendment was rejected by a majority of one hundred and twenty-five to twenty-three. An amendment was then moved by Sir Robert Peel, to the effect that if the sum of £1200 were not granted in pensions in any one year, the difference might be applied in any subsequent year. No opposition was made to this amendment on the part of ministers; but the Radicals divided against them, and it was carried by a majority of one hundred and fourteen to twenty-six. Another and last protest was made against the bill by Mr. Hume, but the bill passed without further division.

The bill was taken to the lords and read a first time on the same evening. Lord Melbourne moved the second reading on the 20th, and in doing so entered into a full explanation of the details of the bill, and emphatically called upon the peers to support it, as they valued the preservation of the monarchy, laws, and liberties of England. He would not say that monarchy was the best form of government that ever existed, but an attempt to alter it in this country would be the height of insanity and crime. The only opposition to the measure in the house of lords came from Lord Brougham, who contended that due consideration had not been employed either in the framing or passing of this bill. The wisdom of making a definite arrangement for the life of a sovereign who might be expected to reign for the next half century was questionable; and yet this was to be done, and a civil list voted which exceeded that of lier majesty's predecessors, while parliament was left in the dark as to those very important revenues possessed by the crown, the incomes of the duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster. After a few words from the Duke of Wellington, who expressed his apprehensions that the bill did not contain a sufficient provision for pensions, the bill went through the committee, and was afterwards read a third time and passed without a division. It was customary that the royal assent should be given to bills of this nature in person, and the queen went in state to the house of lords on the 23rd of December for that purpose. On presenting the bill, the speaker observed, that it had been framed in "a liberal and confiding spirit," on which the queen bowed her acknowledgment, and after the royal assent had been given to that and other bills, her majesty left the house.

On the 11th of December, a message was brought from the queen to both houses, recommending to the consideration of parliament the provision made by law for the support of her royal highness the Duchess of Kent, and expressing her majesty's reliance on their zeal and loyalty to adopt such measures for the future provision of the duchess as her rank and station, and increased proximity to the throne might require. On the following day this message was taken into consideration by a committee of the house of commons, when an additional grant of £8000 a year, raising the annual income of the duchess to £30,000, passed without much discussion.

THE SUBJECT OF THE PENSION LIST.

The chancellor of the exchequer redeemed a pledge which he had given in the debate on the civil list, by moving "for a select committee to inquire how far pensions granted in virtue of the first of William IV. c. 24, and charged on the civil list, and in virtue of second and third William IV. c. 116, charged on the consolidated fund, ought to be continued, having due regard to the just claims of the parties, and to economy in the public expenditure." Mr. Spring Rice, on this occasion, gave a brief history of the pension list. Sir Robert Peel opposed the motion, and moved a series of resolutions, declaring it advisable to make such provision as should enable the crown to continue all such pensions as had existed at the accession of the late king, or had been granted by him during his reign. This amendment was seconded by Lord Elliot, and supported by several Conservative members. Mr. Harvey took the lead in opposing it. Mr. Spring Rice closed the debate by endeavouring to vindicate himself from the charge of inconsistency; and on a division the motion for a committee was carried by a majority of two hundred and ninety-five against two hundred and thirty-three.

INTELLIGENCE FROM CANADA—DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT—ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.

The settlement of the civil list left ministers at liberty to move the immediate adjournment of the house. Before they separated, however, news arrived of a revolt in Canada. On the 22nd of December, Lord John Russell rose to move the order of the day, for the house to resolve itself into a committee of supply, and at the same time took occasion to state that, although no measures could be taken by the house with regard to Canada, he nevertheless did not consider himself justified, in the actual condition of that province, to move the adjournment of the house beyond the 16th of January. The present state of affairs was this: the assembly having been convened to consider the resolutions passed in parliament, had been adjourned on their refusal to entertain the supplies, or to proceed to business. Despatches, subsequently received from Lord Gosford, showed that the intention was not to seek redress by means of that assembly, but to extort it by violence from her majesty's government. In this state of things Lord Gosford had tendered his resignation, which had been accepted, and the administration of affairs entrusted to Sir John Colborne, in whose judgment and abilities government felt the highest confidence. They had declared to that officer that, though they were reluctant to resort to means of extreme severity, yet, nevertheless, if he found it necessary to proclaim martial law in the province, they would take upon themselves the responsibility. Accounts of open disturbance had been recently received; and there was reason to believe that a collision had taken place between her majesty's troops and persons in arms for treasonable purposes. He thought that government had done their duty in the measures they had taken. On the morrow he purposed to produce such details from Lord Gosford's despatches as might be communicated without injury to the public service, and would call upon parliament, in January, for such measures as the exigency of the case might demand. Mr. Leader applauded the resort of the Canadians to arms, and derided as desperate every effort of the government to put them down; their cause was considered a common one by all our North American colonies. Sir William Molesworth and Messrs. Grote and Warburton all expressed their sympathy for the Canadian insurgents, and augured their success. A discussion ensued, in which the Radical leaders denounced the mother country in terms as strong as any employed by the leaders of the Canadian insurgents. Mr. Warburton advocated the separation of the colony from the empire. Mr. Gladstone maintained a just view of the dispute between the colony and the mother country, but so mystified his arguments by useless subtleties and verbosity, that the speech failed to produce an effect corresponding to its substantial merits. Mr. Leader boldly expressed his complacency in the dismemberment of the empire, and the speech of the hon. member was denounced by Mr. George F. Young as disloyal. Sir George Grey made a sensible speech, expository of the true condition of Canadian affairs. Mr. Maclean exposed and denounced the conduct of Mr. Papineau, the leader of the French Canadian insurgent party. Lord John Russell delivered a speech sound and statesman-like, which completely "carried the house with the government." As usual when ministers were at issue with their Radical supporters, the Conservative party took no prominent share in the debate. On the following day both houses of parliament adjourned to the 16th of January.

STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

War still continued in Spain. At the close of the last year the troops of the queen had succeeded in the relief of Bilboa, an event which had the effect of giving rise to dissensions among the Carlists. After this event, many weeks were spent by the Christino commanders in concerting a combined movement upon the Carlist lines in Guipuscoa. An attack was made upon them by General Evans on the 15th of March. His forces were collected at Loyola, the right of the line being composed of Spaniards, and the left of the British legion, which amounted to between four and five thousand men. The attack was at first successful: the Carlists, having maintained a furious fire, after a five hours' conflict abandoned their last defence, and fell back to Hernani. On the following day, however, matters took a different turn: while the victorious troops were preparing to descend upon Hernani, on a sudden solid masses of infantry appeared behind the town, under the command of Don Sebastian. These troops consisted of ten fresh battalions; and their charge was so impetuous, that the British legion and the Spanish troops were obliged to give way. From this time the army of Don Carlos gained courage, and province after province was invaded by his guerilla chiefs. Still no decisive event favoured his design upon the Spanish throne. In one grand point he, however, succeeded, that of annihilating or dispersing the British legion. Unsupported by the people for whom they fought, many of them were slain in various engagements of desultory warfare; and at length those who remained laid clown their arms, and the British auxiliary legion ceased to exist. Before this event General Evans had returned to England, disheartened by the want of co-operation in the Spanish generals. But the year closed, and the Carlists and Christinos were still arrayed in arms against each other. People of the same nation and the same blood were seeking each other's destruction with a deadly animosity.

In Portugal, also, there were strifes and divisions, and rumours of intended insurrections. In that country, moreover, the British who had defended the cause of the queen were ill treated. The unpopularity of the English increased daily, and the ambition and selfishness of Great Britain were the constant themes of the popular press. So odious were our countrymen that the English admiral in the Tagus thought it necessary to issue the following general order to his captains:—"The unsettled state of the country, and the differences known lately to have existed between her most faithful majesty and her present ministers, as well as the difficult position in which his royal highness Prince Ferdinand is placed with regard to the Portuguese people, and the great suspicion with which all foreigners he brought here into his service are viewed, renders it necessary that the utmost caution, should be observed by the English residing in Portugal with respect to private interviews either with her most faithful majesty or her august consort, that neither the government nor the people may have a pretext for entertaining any undue impressions of the intentions of England. It is therefore my most positive orders that you do not yourself call at the palace, nor permit any officer to do so without my previous sanction." The British ambassador sought, though in vain, to obtain justice for the officers and soldiers who had been in Don Pedro's service, and whose claims upon the Portuguese government remained unliquidated. A royal order appeared, indeed, informing "the foreigners lately in the service of her most faithful majesty," that if they were dissatisfied with the decision of the commissioners to whom their claims stood referred, "the law was open to them." This was most unsatisfactory, as the Portuguese courts of law are notorious for corruption. The privileges of the British, indeed, ceased to be respected in Portugal, and their claims were set aside. They were restrained from carrying on retail trades, which they had hitherto done by virtue of early treaties, and as they were entitled to do by law. At the same time, disputes were constantly taking place on the Tagus between the crews of British vessels and the custom-house officers.

CHAPTER XLIX.

VICTORIA. 1838—1839


     Parliament reassembles: Debates on Canada; Address to the
     Throne moved by Lord John Russell; Bill for suspending; the
     Lower Canadian Constitution..... The Question of Election
     Committees..... Motion for the Ballot..... Parliamentary
     Qualification Bill..... Personal Attacks..... Revival of
     Anti-slavery Agitation..... Debates on the Irish Poor-law
     Bill: the Bill carried in the Commons..... Motion for the
     Repeal of the Appropriation Clause..... Ministerial Plan for
     settling the Tithe Question..... Committee of the House of
     Commons upon the Irish Municipal Bill; the Bill
     rejected..... The Coronation..... Debates in the House of
     Commons on the Irish Tithe  Question..... The Irish Poor
     Law Bill carried in   the Lords..... Projected Formation
     of a  Colony in New Zealand..... Financial  Statements.....
     Motion for Repeal of the Corn Laws..... Various Improvements
     in the Law..... A Select Committee to inquire into the
     Operation of the Poor Laws..... Combinations in England and
     Ireland..... Debates in Parliament on John Thorn, alias Sir
     William   Courtenay..... Committee on Church Lands..... Act
     for abolishing Pluralities..... The Subject of Education
     discussed in both Houses..... The Question of Canada
     renewed..... Queen Prorogues Parliament..... Disaffection
     among the Working Classes..... Proposed Reduction of the
     Rates of Postage..... The State of Ireland..... The Affairs
     of Canada..... The State of the Continent.

PARLIAMENT REASSEMBLES—DEBATES ON CANADA—ADDRESS TO THE THRONE

MOVED BY LORD JOHN RUSSELL—BILL FOR SUSPENDING THE LOWER CANADIAN CONSTITUTION.

A.D. 1838

Parliament reassembled on the 16th of January. The first subject brought under notice was the affairs of Canada. This subject was introduced by Lord John Russell, who, after recapitulating the principal events that had occurred since the connexion of that colony with Great Britain down to the report of the Committee in 1828, took up his ground on that report, which the assembly of Lower Canada had characterised as "an imperishable monument to the justice and profound wisdom of the committee, an authentic testimonial of the reality of their grievances and of the justice of their complaints, faithfully interpreting their wishes and their wants." It might have been supposed, said his lordship, that after the people and the government of this country had proved themselves anxious to perform all that was asked for, and that was indicated by the reports of the committee, the Canadians would have been not only satisfied, but willing to express their cordiality towards the British government. The case, however, was the very reverse of this. On the 6th of December, 1828, the house of assembly resolved, "That on the permanent settlement before mentioned being effected, it would be expedient to render the governor, lieutenant-governor, or person administering the government for the time being, the judges and executive councillors, independent of the annual vote of that house, to the extent of their present salaries." Having adverted to other resolutions indicative of the growing dissatisfaction of the Canadians, Lord John Russell proceeded to state what had been done in order to remedy the grievances set forth in those resolutions. The independence of the judges was demanded; and Lord Ripon, then colonial-secretary, had fully concurred in its reasonableness, and had suggested a method for carrying it into effect. The house of assembly, however, instead of following out that suggestion, tacked to the law by which the independence of the judges was to be secured, certain provisions relating to the hereditary revenues of the crown, and to the establishment of a court of impeachment for the judges. Then as regarded the subject on which the widest difference between the assembly and the imperial government had existed, no opposition had been offered to the terms of the assembly's resolutions. The judges were informed, instantly, that, with the exception of the chief-justice, it was no longer desirable that they should sit in the legislative council; and a number of persons were added to that body totally independent of the crown, and giving a great majority in the council to those who were unconnected with the government. Of the forty members in the council, indeed, not less than eighteen were French Canadians: many of the members of English origin had quitted the province, and but seven remained in official connexion with the government. Another grievance related to the crown and clergy reserves; and Lord Ripon had declared it was time to put an end to the old system; and only differed from the assembly in wishing to prevent an undue facility from being afforded to poor and improvident purchasers of waste lands. Concessions had also been made with reference to the property of the Jesuits, which had been ordered to be applied to educational purposes; and on the much-contested, question of the duties collected under the earlier acts, and which the crown had, according to law, the right of appropriating. The Canadians, however, made but a poor return for these concessions. In 1833, a supply-bill, containing the most unusual conditions, passed the house of assembly; and in the following year the assembly adopted a course which had led to the present difficulties. It passed ninety-two resolutions, some of grievance, some of eulogy, and some of vituperation, and amounting in the whole to a long and vehement remonstrance; and after spending an entire session in framing it, it separated without having passed any bill of supply. Since that time no supplies had been voted. The demeanour of the house of assembly in the following years remained unaltered. At the commencement of his speech, Lord John Russell proposed a bill to suspend for a certain time the existing constitution of Lower Canada; and at the same time moved an address pledging the house to assist her majesty in restoring tranquillity to her Canadian dominions, His lordship in the course of his speech gave an outline of the intended bill. Mr. Hume entered at considerable length into a recapitulation of the past and present grievances of the Canadians. He laid the blame of all that had passed upon the government; and said that "it was not the man who shed blood, but the man who stimulated him to shed it, who was the guilty party." Mr. Grote likewise opposed the proposed address. He threw the responsibility of the failure of the measure which had been taken to adjust the financial disputes, upon Lord Ripon. Not content, he said, with advancing a claim to the appropriation of the casual and territorial revenues to the purposes of civil government without the consent of the house of assembly, that noble lord had thought fit to propose to make them over to the clergy; a step which was at once novel and preposterous, and only embroiled matters still further. Sir Robert Peel promised his cordial assent to the address, because this country had acted with justice and liberality towards Canada. He thought that the military force in the colony should have been immediately increased. In reply, Lord Howick endeavoured to show that the government was not culpable in omitting to back their resolutions of the last year with a military force. He argued that regiments were not necessary to put down meetings: they could not stop speeches, prevent resolutions, or obtain juries to convict men for seditious practices. An additional regiment introduced into Halifax had, in fact, served greatly to increase the existing discontents. Mr. Charles Buller supported the address: the law should be vindicated, and the insurgents put down without parley, unless we were prepared to consent to a separation, and leave Canada to itself. There was no ground for separation, nor could we with any regard to the interests of the colony consent to abandon it; but we ought to comply without delay with all the just demands of the Canadians. Mr. Leader complained of being taken by surprise; and wished the house to adjourn for the purpose of giving himself and his friends time to consider what course they should take, and an opportunity of refuting the "fallacies contained in the noble lord's speech." This was opposed by Lord John Russell; and on a division the motion for an address was carried by one hundred and eighty-eight against twenty-eight.

On the following day Lord John Russell brought in his proposed bill for the suspension of the existing constitution of Canada. Its leading object was to enable the governor-general and council, on the motion of the governor, to pass any laws which might be considered necessary, during the present suspension of the legislature of the province. In addition to the means for suppressing the insurrection, the bill would authorise the governor-general to grant a general amnesty. With respect to the future government of Canada, his lordship said, that it was the intention of ministers that the governor-general should be invested with power to convene a certain number of persons; namely, three from the legislative councils of each of the two provinces, and ten "representatives" from each, to form a council to concert with the governor-general as to the measures which might be deemed advisable for the adjustment of the affairs of the province. The persons to be named would be chosen by the governor-general, while those who were to be convened, having a "representative character," might of course be taken from the legislative assembly. But as in Lower Canada it was almost impossible that the assembly would be brought to act beneficially, it would be competent to the governor-general, both in the upper and lower province, to hold elections for persons, amounting to twenty in the whole, to concert with him upon the general state of affairs. Sir Hussey Vivian said that Mr. Hume had constantly stated in that house that he anticipated a revolt. No man had a greater right to foretell such an event. The man Martin had recently foretold the destruction of Yorkminster; and he had set it on fire to fulfil his prediction. In that same manner Mr. Hume had taken measures for the fulfilment of his prophecy. Sir George Grey, the under-secretary for the colonial department, in reply to some doubts which had been raised by Mr. Hume, with respect to the loyalty of the other North American colonies, cited facts to prove that the best possible spirit existed in Nova Scotia and New-Brunswick. Mr. Grote presented a petition from Mr. Roebuck, praying that he might be heard at the bar in defence of the house of assembly of Lower Canada, and in opposition to the ministerial bill. Lord John Russell thought that the house should be allowed time to consider precedents; and after some further conversation Mr. Grote gave notice that he should call the attention of the house to the subject on the 22nd instant.

The subject of Canada was brought before the lords on the 18th by Lord Glenelg, who moved an appropriate address to the queen. After adverting to the disturbances in that province, he made reference to the intended bill. With respect to ulterior arrangements his lordship saw great difficulties in the way of a legislative union between the two provinces, but thought that considerable advantage might be made of a federal union. In conclusion, his lordship defended the conduct of government in not having provided more troops for the suppression of the insurrection. Lord Brougham ridiculed Lord Glenelg's despatches, to which that noble lord had referred in his speech. The despatches were certainly the products of a mind inadequately furnished with the experience and knowledge necessary for the task imposed upon it, but the honest intentions of the writer were equally apparent, and might have protected him from the kind of invective to which the noble logomachist subjected him. The whole speech of Lord Brougham was as damaging to himself as to the government which he assailed. He pursued the government with his irony and abuse, not because they fell beneath him in point of honour or principle, but because they refused him their confidence as Lord Chancellor, when his indiscretions and bullying rendered him alike odious to the court and unendurable to the cabinet. His lordship might fairly be considered as much the "standing counsel" for the rebellious Canadians in the lords, as Mr. Roebuck was in the commons. Nevertheless, the denunciations of the government by the eccentric peer were in the main grounded upon their errors and vacillation, and these vices in their administration were depicted with a scathing eloquence, and a malignant spirit. Lord Brougham played the part of a mere partisan, and was set down by the country for such. The patriotic prestige associated with his name passed away. Lord Melbourne, in reply, characterized Lord Brougham's speech as "a laboured and extreme concentration of bitterness." Concerning the charge against ministers of neglect in not providing against the possibility of an outbreak, his lordship said, that it was a difficult question which they had at the time to decide. By not re-enforcing the troops they ran the hazard of what had in fact occurred; but, on the other hand, had a considerable force been sent out, there would have been an end to all chance of an amicable termination of the disputes. It would have been instantly said, that we were filling Canada with troops, and thus manifesting a fixed intention of putting down public opinion by the force of arms. The Duke of Wellington thought that the proceeding's should have originated in a message from the throne. With reference to the military force, he said, that he must do ministers the justice to say that he could not blame them for not having taken more active measures. He knew several officers in Canada; and the opinions of these officers, as communicated to him, were, that there was not the smallest reason to apprehend anything like insurrection in Lower Canada. At the same time his grace said, that he could not understand, when ministers had found it expedient to move troops from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into Canada, they did not despatch fresh troops to supply the vacancy thereby occasioned. After a few words from Lord Ripon, who condemned the conduct of government, the Marquess of Lansdowne applauded the candid terms in which the Duke of Wellington had expressed his opinion on the military part of the question. The Earl of Durham, who was about to go to Canada as governor, said, that it was impossible for words to express the reluctance with which he had undertaken the arduous task, and incurred the awful responsibility which must await him in his endeavours to execute the objects of his mission. Nothing but the most determined devotion to her majesty's service, and the welfare of his country, could have induced him to place himself in a situation in which he feared he should neither answer the expectations of his friends nor of the nation. Having noticed the various tasks which would devolve upon him, his lordship said, with an apparent foreboding of what was to ensue, that he could not perform them without the cordial and energetic support of her majesty's cabinet, and the co-operation of the imperial parliament. Lord Glenelg closed the debate by retaliating on Lord Brougham for his fierce denunciations, and by contrasting his conduct with that of the Duke of Wellington, whose candour and magnanimity he warmly applauded. The address was agreed to.

According to notice, Mr. Grote, on the 22nd, moved that Mr. Roebuck be heard at the bar on behalf of the assembly of Lower Canada. Mr. Roebuck relied on his title to be heard as general agent for Canada, but Mr. Gladstone said that he was not aware of any constitutional right or privilege of colonies to appoint agents with powers of this general description. If allowed in practice, it must lead to interminable confusion. Lords John Russell and Stanley also expressed their aversion to hearing Mr. Roebuck as an agent of Canada; but the motion was nevertheless acceded to. On the motion of Lord John Russell, the bill for suspending the constitution of Lower Canada was read a second time; after which Mr. Roebuck proceeded to address the house from the bar. His speech was by no means conciliatory; on the contrary, his care seems to have been to select such topics as were most likely to prove generally offensive to its temper and prejudices. In one passage he remarked:—"Talk to me of being frightened at being called a traitor—at being told that my life is forfeited—at the newspapers setting forth that I am to be sent to the Tower! Do you think that I am to be frightened by such petty warfare? If I be guilty, why are there not some who dare accuse me lawfully? My papers have been seized: let them be produced. I have not run away; because I know that there is a jury in England who will render justice to the accused." On Mr. Roebuck's withdrawal, Mr. Hume moved the postponement of the committal to that day six months. This motion was opposed by Sir George Grey, who replied to Mr. Roebuck's speech in a very able harangue. The subject was renewed on the 23rd by Sir William Molesworth. Mr. E. L. Bulwer gave ministers his cordial support. He thanked them for their determination to uphold the integrity of the empire, and the maintenance of the laws; and he thanked them as a friend to a liberal and popular policy, for their declared resolution to redress the grievances of Canada. He would ask Mr. Warburton and his friends, whether they were aware that till within the last seventy years printing-presses were forbidden in Canada; that at the present day the vast majority of the electors could neither read nor write; and that it often happened that the foreman of a jury could not give in the verdict because of his inability to read it? Was this a colony fit for independence? If it were a republic to-morrow, it would be a monster in legislation—half-jacobinism, half-feudalism. Mr. Bulwer designated Mr. Warburton and his friends, in the course of his speech, by the term "philosophical Radicals." Mr. Grote, in reply, said that the designation was quite as respectable as that of "literary Whig." The debate was closed by Lord John Russell. On a division the motion for going into committee was carried by a majority of two hundred and sixty-two against sixteen.

On the 25th Lord John Russell, in moving that "the speaker leave the chair," informed the house that in looking over the bill he had discovered a number of verbal amendments to be necessary, and as it was desirable that these should be introduced before the discussion was resumed, he moved that the house should go into committee pro forma, in order to afford an opportunity for making the requisite alterations. Upon the question being put that the speaker leave the chair, Mr. Warburton rose and made a long speech in opposition, which was utterly devoid of any practicable suggestions. A long and rambling debate followed, without any result.

The house finally went into committee on the bill, and proceeded to consider its several clauses and the amendments proposed. The bill was read a third time, and passed on the 29th of January, by a majority of one hundred and ten against eight; the few non-contents being Radicals.

The bill came before the house of lords on the 2nd of February, when it was opposed by Lord Brougham, in a speech of great length, and in an acrimonious spirit. Lord Aberdeen also, though he supported the measure, expressed his contempt of the conduct of the government. Lord Melbourne had quietly endured the repeated attacks which had been made upon ministers; but on this occasion he retorted upon Lord Brougham's censures with effect, convicting him of a change of principles. Lord Brougham, however, denied that he had changed his principles: it was the changed conduct of others that had compelled him to oppose them. The Duke of Wellington reproduced many of the objections that had been urged in the other house; and Lord Wharncliffe, after censuring the conduct of ministers, gave a reluctant assent to the bill. On the 5th of February, Mr. Roebuck, on the motion of Lord Brougham, was heard by the house as agent of the house of assembly of Lower Canada; but his speech could not arrest the progress of the bill. It was passed on the 8th of February; Lords Ellenborough, Fitzwilliam, and Brougham entering their protest against it on the journals of the house, though on different grounds.

The more important provisions of this bill were that the constitution of Lower Canada was suspended till November, 1840; that her majesty in council was empowered to constitute a special council, and to appoint, or authorize the governor to appoint, such and so many special councillors as she might think proper; that, until November, 1840, it should be lawful for the governor, with the advice and consent of the majority of the said councillors convened for the purpose, to make such laws or ordinances for the peace, welfare, and good government of Lower Canada, as the legislature of that province, at the time of passing the act, was empowered; and that all laws or ordinances so made, subject to the provisions thereinafter contained for disallowance thereof by her majesty, should have the like force and effect as laws passed by the legislative bodies. The governor was further to have the initiative of all measures proposed in the council, five of whom were required for a quorum. Certain restrictive provisoes followed these provisions; and it was directed that a copy of every such law or ordinance "be transmitted to the home government;" and her majesty was empowered, by an order in council, to disallow the same at any time within two years of its receipt.

THE QUESTION OF ELECTION COMMITTEES, ETC.

The necessity of an alteration in the mode of trying controverted elections under the Grenville act had been for some time recognised. A committee had been appointed to examine into this subject in 1837; and Mr. Charles Buller, who had been chairman of that committee, had, on the 21st of November last, obtained leave to bring in a bill similar in its provisions to one which had been in the hands of members in the preceding session, though it had not been discussed. This bill, in its original shape, provided that three assessors, barristers of seven years' standing, should be appointed by the speaker to act as chairmen of election committees for the session only, and as a court of appeal from the revising barristers on matters of law. Subsequently, when this bill was in progress, it was thought better that the first assessors should be named in the act, and that the future appointments should be placed at the disposal of the speaker, subject to the confirmation of the house. On the same day Mr. O'Connell said that he also had devised a plan, which he was anxious to submit to the consideration of the house; and he likewise obtained leave to bring in a bill for a similar purpose. Mr. Buller's bill came on for the second reading on the 27th of November, when it was opposed by Lord Stanley, who moved that the second reading be postponed till the 12th of May, in order that the question might receive a fuller consideration. Mr. Williams Wynn approved of the bill; and Mr. O'Connell abandoned his own in its favour. Lord John Russell recommended that the bill should be read a second time, thinking that it at least provided some remedy for the evils complained of. On a division the second reading was carried by a majority of two hundred and fourteen against one hundred and sixty. Nothing further was done, however, before Christmas, except that there was much discussion on the subject of election committees.

The house of commons was again occupied with the subject of controverted elections on the 2nd of April. On the motion for the recommittal of Mr. C. Buller's bill, Sir Robert Peel rose for the purpose of bringing the subject generally before the house, and of submitting to their consideration a proposition of his own. Sir Robert's scheme was, that the speaker should nominate a committee, which should be called "a general committee for elections," and which should consist of four or six, or some such limited number. To this committee he would leave the duty of appointing select committees, by whom election petitions were to be tried. These last committees might consist of seven or nine members, and each was to have the aid of an assessor who should be its chairman, and in all respects on an equal footing with the members of the committee. These persons were not to be permanent, but employed as occasion might demand. There was to be no attendance of members at a ballot and the operation of chance was entirely excluded. Mr. O'Connell still thought it would be advisable to take the adjudication of these contests out of the present hands, and to transfer it to the judges. He moved as an amendment, that Mr. Buller's bill should be referred to a select committee, who might report on the subject at large. Lord Stanley moved that Mr. Buller's bill be considered that day six months; and proposed that a committee should be appointed to examine the conflicting cases, and to report on a mode of giving uniformity to the law. Mr. Shiel approved of Sir Robert Peel's plan; but he thought that party spirit would stand in the way of their obtaining a declaratory act, since on some questions the two parties in parliament were systematically opposed to each other. Mr. O'Connell's proposition was negatived, and Mr. Buller consented to withdraw his measure. On the 10th of May, therefore, Sir Robert Peel moved for leave to bring in his bill, dropping that part of his scheme, however, which established assessors. Leave was given to bring in the bill; but the attorney-general thought that all that was necessary was to repeal the Grenville act. They might then go on making one experiment after another, until they arrived at some plan that would give universal satisfaction.

Before the Christmas recess, the freemen and parliamentary electors' bill, which had been dropped in the preceding session, had been re-introduced. The two grand objects of this bill were to relieve householders entitled to the elective franchise, by extending the time fixed by the reform bill for payment of rates and taxes; and to remove the stamp-duty payable by freemen on their admission. The former part of the bill met with much opposition; and Mr. T. Duncombe moved an amendment, tending altogether to repeal the rate-paying clause of the reform act. This amendment, however, was rejected, and the original clause carried by a large majority. The third reading of the bill came on on the 19th of February, when it was condemned by Sir Robert Peel as involving a serious infraction of the great principle understood to be settled when the reform bill was passed. The bill was finally passed by the commons, by a majority of one hundred and eighty-nine against one hundred and seventy-two; but it was rejected in the house of lords on the second reading, on the 8th of March. The house of commons passed another bill, conceding tire desired relief to freemen alone; but the session closed before the lords were called upon to take it into consideration.

MOTION FOR THE BALLOT.

On the 15th of February Mr. Grote made his annual motion for the ballot. The debate at this time was expected with considerable interest, because it was generally understood to be a question which was becoming an element of disunion in the camp of the reformers. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ward, and supported by Mr. E. L. Bulwer. Mr. Ward, in seconding the motion, intimated that after Lord John Russell's declaration respecting the ballot, the extension of the suffrage, and the duration of parliaments, the people were anxious to see how far the other members of the administration were prepared to identify their opinions with those of the noble lord. He represented the constituents of Sir John Hobhouse, Mr. Poulett Thomson, Sir Hussey Vivian, and Sir Henry Parnell as especially watching their conduct in this matter, and concluded by expressing his conviction that anything like a government opposition to the measure would "have for its effect the production of a new combination most important to the country and to that house." Lord John Russell again manfully stated his general objections to the change; and Sir Robert Peel, in a speech of considerable power, attacked the system of secret voting with effect. On a division, the motion was lost by a majority of three hundred and fifteen against one hundred and ninety-eight.

PARLIAMENTARY QUALIFICATION BILL.

During this session a bill was introduced and passed, which had for its object the extension to personal property of the privilege hitherto confined to real property, as regarded a qualification for parliament. By this act, an estate for life, or for the life of another; or a term of years of which thirteen shall be unexpired at the time of election, or personal estate and effects of any description within the United Kingdom, or the interest or dividends of such, may constitute either the whole or part of the sum required to qualify a member. By another clause, every member before he takes his seat is required to deliver to the clerk, while the house is sitting, a paper signed by himself, containing a statement of the real or personal property whereby he makes out his qualification. By the same clause he is also called upon to subscribe a declaration, that to the best of his belief he is duly qualified to be elected a member of the house. To make a false declaration is declared to be a misdeameanour, and the election becomes void if the member sits or votes without complying with the provisions of the acts. This statute, however, does not extend to the members for the universities, to the eldest sons of peers, or to persons qualified to be knight of the shire.

PERSONAL ATTACKS.

On the 6th of March Sir William Molesworth, with a view of bringing the whole colonial administration of the empire before the consideration of the house of commons, moved that an address be presented to her majesty, respectfully expressing the opinion of the house, that in the present critical state of many of her majesty's foreign possessions, the colonial minister should be a person in whose diligence, activity, and firmness the house and the public may be able to place reliance; and declaring that her majesty's present secretary of state for the colonies does not enjoy the confidence of the house or the country. The right honourable baronet prefaced his motion by a speech of two hours' duration. His speech was very moderate, although it might have appeared that he was guided by some acrimonious feeling in selecting Lord Glenelg for attack. Mr. Leader seconded the motion; and Lord Palmerston undertook the defence of the colonial secretary. He would meet the motion by a simple negative. Lord Sandon said that he had expected that the affairs of Canada would have formed the basis of the present motion. Lord Palmerston was right in saying that it should not have been directed against Lord Glenelg alone, but against the entire administration. He could not vote with Sir William Molesworth; nor could he be content with a simple negative of his motion. He considered that the troubles in Canada were attributable to the misconduct of ministers; and under these circumstances he should move an amendment, in the shape of an address to the queen, in which would be laid down his own principles, and those of the party with whom he acted. His lordship's address expressed the regret of the house at the treasonable movements in Canada, and their determination to aid her in the suppression of the revolt, and the establishment of a sound constitution; but representing also their opinion, that the present state of things in that colony was mainly owing to the want of foresight and energy, and to the ambiguous, dilatory, and irresolute course of her majesty's ministers. Lord Stanley then addressed the house, and after a speech from Sir Charles Grey the house adjourned; and on the following evening the debate was renewed, many members expressing their opinions on the subject. In the course of his speech Lord John Russell directed some bitter remarks against Lord Stanley, and said that in respect of temper and judgment he was more comfortable now that Lord Glenelg was his colleague than he was when the former nobleman was at the head of the colonial department. His lordship demanded to know whether in the event of the resignation of ministers, there existed means of forming a better administration, or whether the tories could safely appeal to the test of a popular election? Lord John Russell concluded by suggesting to Sir William Molesworth the expediency of withdrawing his motion, in order that the house might divide upon the amendment. The right honourable baronet consented to this; but said that, for his own part, he felt precluded from voting on either side on the amendment of Lord Sandon. On a division ministers had a majority of twenty-nine only; the numbers being, against the amendment, three hundred and sixteen; for it, two hundred and eighty-seven.

REVIVAL OF ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION, ETC.

At this period anti-slavery agitation again became the order of the day. On the one hand there existed a large class of declaimers and needy orators who were interested in the revival of the subject; and on the other, there was a powerful body of humane people, to whom the contemplation of the sufferings of the negro people had become habitual, and who required little inducement to recur to such an exciting theme. But there was a cause for this display of philanthropy: the slave was still in chains, and was still suffering from the lash of the hard-hearted driver. The legislatures also in the colonies were not free from blame; they acted in many cases with obstinacy and intemperance; and Jamaica especially afforded many instances of systematic violations of the imperial law. The apprentice system, in point of fact, was a complete failure: it produced on the part of the slaves contumacy; and on the part of the masters breaches of the law, cruelty, and violence. From these circumstances there was no difficulty in lighting up a flame in England on the subject. Meetings were held and petitions got up, with a view of hastening the time when the slave should become a man among his fellow-men. The subject of slavery was brought before the house of lords, on the 29th of January, by Lord Brougham, who, after presenting a petition from Leeds, praying the immediate abolition of negro slavery, delivered an eloquent and impassioned speech on the enormities still committed in the slave-trade. The Duke of Wellington and Lord Glenelg admitted that Lord Brougham's statements of the horrors of slavery were substantially correct. In his speech his lordship had said, that British officers were induced to allow vessels equipped for the slave-trade to escape, in order to secure the head-money, and to wait at the mouth of rivers till the cargoes had been shipped. Lord Minto, first lord of the admiralty, in reply, said, that he would not assert that no single instance of this nature had occurred; but he could say that none such had come to his knowledge, and that he did not believe a similar case had ever existed. He could assure their lordships that the only complaint he had heard against British officers thus employed, was, that they were too ready to take these vessels, and too little careful of themselves, not attending sufficiently to their own security against prosecutions. Every letter he received from those officers lamented the difficulties in the way of obtaining the means of the capture and conviction of these vessels until the cargo was embarked; and they all pressed for the conclusion of further treaties. If those treaties could be extended to all nations under whose flag the traffic was carrying on, there would be no difficulty in putting it down. The case was not the same with respect to Spain as to Portugal. With the former there was a treaty which enabled us to capture all slavers under her flag; but our cruisers could not capture vessels under Portuguese colours until they had taken in their cargoes. Lord Brougham asked, if a reward according to the tonnage of the vessel captured could not be substituted for head-money? His views were supported by Lords Ellenborough and Ash-burton, the latter of whom said strong measures should be taken to compel Portugal to desist from the traffic. Lord Glenelg said, that Lord Palmerston was engaged in negotiating a treaty with that country, with a view of putting a stop to the trade. He thought with Lord Brougham that our interference had aggravated the horrors of slavery; but at the same time he contended that parliament had no alternative but to act as it had done; and that the fear of increasing the evil ought not to have prevented us from taking steps to extirpate the practice. The conversation on this subject here dropped; but it was renewed again on the 20th of February by Lord Brougham, who urged upon the house the propriety of immediately emancipating the negro apprentices. His speech on this occasion gained for him the golden opinions of the good and the wise. He commenced by painting in poetic language the "delicate, calm, and tranquil joy" which pervaded the Antilles on the day when slavery ceased to exist. He continued to show that the predictions of those who had declared that labour would cease when slavery was abolished, had failed. Twice as much sugar was made under the new system; and one planter had said, that with twenty free labourers he could do the work of a hundred slaves. His lordship next proceeded to show that the slave-holders had not kept faith with this country, and that the condition of the negroes, instead of being made better, was in many respects worse than before. They were, he said, the victims of partial tribunals, and of excessive and illegal punishments; and he related the case of eleven females having perished from the punishments inflicted upon them, but whose deaths were, nevertheless, ascribed by a coroner's jury to "the visitation of God." At the conclusion of his speech his lordship, after moving that an address be presented to her majesty, beseeching her to take steps for the suppression of the slave-trade, laid these resolutions on the table:—"That the practice of paying head-money to British cruisers should be discontinued. That letters of marque should be issued to private individuals, empowering them to fit out vessels for the capture of slavers. That it was expedient that the period of prædial apprenticeship should cease on the 1st of August, 1838." The resolutions also further indicated certain regulations for the protection of apprentices in the meantime. Lord Glenelg, in a powerful speech, objected to Lord Brougham's propositions of issuing letters of marque to privateers, and the discontinuance of head-money. With respect to the condition of the apprentices in the West India colonies, he contended that the change had been more advantageous than Lord Brougham had supposed, although he allowed that abuses and difficulties of a serious nature did exist. Still he did not think that sudden emancipation would be for the advantage of the negroes; and he must, therefore, oppose Lord Brougham's resolutions. Lord Brougham took the sense of the house on the resolution which regarded immediate emancipation; and on a division it was lost by a majority of thirty-one against seven.

Soon after this the vigilance of Lord Brougham brought to light what appeared to be a new method of establishing a slave-trade. In the colony of British Guiana there had been an old law, which permitted the importation of labourers without restriction. In 1836 a law was passed by the governor and council of policy of the colony, with a view to regulate the relations between the labourers who should come to the colony under articles of indenture, and their employers. On being transmitted to England for approval, the plan was considered on the whole to be an improvement, and therefore it was sanctioned. An order in council was issued in March, 1837, giving assent to the act of the colonial legislature, but with several important alterations, and especially reducing the period of service from seven to three years, and prohibiting the introduction of labourers from Africa, or islands peopled chiefly by the African race. Shortly after these modifications of the law had been promulgated, an application was made for a different regulation, to be extended to individuals from the East Indies, who, it was said, could not be brought into the colony with any profit, unless the term of service was prolonged to five years. This was conceded by Lord Glenelg; and arrangements were made for the deportation of a class of Hindoos, called "Hill Coolies," or Highland labourers, to British Guiana. This subject was brought forward by Lord Brougham on the 6th of March, who moved two resolutions in condemnation of the order in council of July. In his speech he asserted that twenty-five thousand Africans had been introduced into the Mauritius in defiance of the law; and predicted that they were about to expose to this infernal traffic the entire Asiatic coast. His lordship complained that no precautions had been taken to secure proper ships, provision, or accommodation for the labourers on their voyage. Lord Glenelg contended that Lord Brougham's alarm was premature; that he had exaggerated the danger, and was urging ministers to present a "barrier to the circulation of voluntary labour." The Duke of Wellington suggested that arrangements should be made for the superintendence of the embarkation of labourers by responsible persons; that the nature of the bargain made should be fully explained to the labourer; that provision should be made for his return, if he wished it, at the expiration of his period of service; and that persons should be appointed to go with them while on board, and on their landing, to see the due performance of their respective bargains by the masters and the workmen. Lord Melbourne said that Lord Brougham's ardent imagination rendered him an unsafe guide in such matters; but he intimated that the Duke of Wellington's suggestion should receive attention. His grace then said that he thought it unadvisable to divide upon Lord Brougham's motion; and therefore he would move the previous question. On a division the previous question was carried by a large majority; and the original motion being put, was negatived.

The subject of slavery was introduced on the 29th of March in the house of commons, by Sir George Strickland, who moved the immediate abolition of negro apprenticeship. The motion was seconded by Mr. Pease, and supported by Dr. Lushington and Lord Howick. On the other hand, it was opposed by Sir George Grey, Sir Edward Sugden, Lord John Russell, and Mr. W. E. Gladstone; and on a division it was negatived by a majority of two hundred and sixty-nine to two hundred and five. An attempt was subsequently made by Sir Eardley Wilmot to obtain a resolution from the house in favour of immediate abolition. He succeeded, his motion being carried by a majority of ninety-six against ninety-three. Government, however, still expressed aversion to any alteration of the present system; and on the 28th of May Sir George Grey proposed and carried a resolution which virtually rescinded that of Sir Eardley Wilmot, by declaring that, in the opinion of the house, it was not advisable to adopt any proceeding for the purpose of giving effect to the resolution of the 26th of that month. Sir George Grey's motion was carried by a majority of two hundred and fifty against one hundred and seventy-three.

Although slavery was still allowed to exist, yet two important bills connected with this subject passed the legislature this session. One of these was entitled "An act to amend the act for the abolition of slavery;" and it contained various provisions, giving further protection to the apprentices, and enforcing such regulations of the former act as had been disregarded by the planters. The second bill empowered her majesty in council to make rules for the government of the prisons in the West Indies; to appoint inspectors of prisons; to dismiss or suspend officers; and to determine on the fitness or unfitness of any place to be used for the purposes of penal confinement.

DEBATES ON THE IRISH POOR-LAW BILL—THE BILL CARRIED.

It will be remembered that the Irish poor-law bill had arrived at an advanced stage, last session, in the committee, and that many of its important clauses had been discussed and determined, when the demise of the crown put a stop to its further progress. The subject was renewed on the 1st of December, when the bill was read a first time. It was proposed that the house should go into committee on the 9th of February, on which day Mr. O'Connell moved, as an amendment, that it be committed that day six months. When the bill was last year before the house, he said he had addressed them at considerable length in opposition to it. At the same time he had avowed that he had not moral courage to take the course of direct opposition to the measure, although perfectly convinced of its injurious tendency. Since then he had grown both older and firmer; and he was now determined to take the sense of the house on the committal of the bill. He was opposed to the introduction of poor-laws into Ireland, at least so far as regarded able-bodied persons; it might induce them to abandon their habitual industry and economy, and prevent them from providing for the wants of age and supervening infirmity. Any such plan was calculated to diminish self-reliance, to paralyse industry, to decrease economy, and, above all, to damp and extinguish the kindly and generous feelings of nature. He further objected to the bill, because it taxed the occupiers of lands, and involved many difficulties of apportionment between his landlord and himself: it would be a constant source of litigation. Besides, he contended that the mode in which the poor-law was proposed to be carried into effect, was not calculated to benefit Ireland: and he enlarged on the poverty of the people in general, in order to show that they ought not to be called upon to endure taxation to the amount of another million. Messrs. Shaw, W. S. O'Brien, Lucas, and Redington supported the bill, though they all thought that many of its details were objectionable. Mr. O. Gore supported Mr. O'Con-nell's amendment, he objecting to the workhouse system as prejudicial to the best habits and feelings of the Irish. Other members, as Messrs. Barron, Young, and Litton, supported the measure; while others, as Mr. J. Gibson and Sir F. French, opposed it. On a division the original motion was carried by a majority of two hundred and seventy-seven against twenty-five.

The house went into committee on the 12th of February. The third reading of the bill came on on the 30th of April, when Mr. O'Connell again endeavoured to arrest its progress. His opposition, however, was bootless: it passed the house of commons by a majority of two hundred and thirty-four against fifty-nine.

MOTION FOR THE REPEAL OF THE APPROPRIATION CLAUSE—MINISTERIAL PLAN FOR SETTLING THE TITHE QUESTION.

On the 14th of May Sir Thomas Acland moved for the repeal of the appropriation clause. Lord John Russell had previously given notice that he would bring forward his resolutions concerning Irish tithes; and in moving that the speaker should leave the chair, the noble lord said that it had been his original intention to refrain from saying a single word, and to reserve his remarks to the time when the house should go into committee. It had pleased the gentlemen opposite, however, to give notice that they meant to interpose another question in order to raise a debate, and produce a division, before allowing the resolutions to be considered in committee. He should consider the proposition made by Sir Thomas Acland in two points of view; with reference to its object of producing discord and bitterness of feeling in the house, and how far such a course was conformable to the professions made by gentlemen opposite with respect to the Irish church. After descanting at considerable length on the subject of the alliance of the church and state generally, and the small influence which the Irish church exercised over the people, the noble lord went on to unfold his scheme. The existing tithe-composition, he said, would be converted into a rent-charge at the rate of £70 for every £100; and he proposed that the rent-charge should, with a saving of existing interests, be redeemed by the government at the rate of sixteen years' purchase on the full sum of £100. The money received in redemption of the rent-charge he proposed should be invested in land, or in such other way as the ecclesiastical commissioners should advise; and the rent-charges themselves, when purchased, should go towards a fund, from which £160,000 should be paid yearly to the constabulary force of Ireland; £20,000 to the Dublin police; £70,000 to the expense of criminal informations; and £100,000 for the purposes of education, instead of the £50,000 now voted annually for that purpose; any surplus was to be applied to charitable purposes. After developing his plan, Lord John Russell descanted on the obstinacy and exorbitance of the clergy, and then attacked Sir T. Acland's motion. He commenced this part of his speech by quoting the Duke of Wellington's declared desire to see the Irish questions brought to a settlement, contending that the present motion was not in accordance with that declaration. With respect to the principle of the appropriation resolutions, his opinion was unaltered: it was a wise and just principle, and he could not consent to its reversal: it would imply a stigma upon ministers which he could not endure. Sir Thomas Acland, however, rose to move that the resolutions of the 7th and 8th of April, 1835, should be read; and after addressing the house at considerable length, he further moved that they should be rescinded. The motion was seconded by Sir Eardley Wilmot. After a long speech from Lord Stanley, and a few words from Lord Morpeth in defence of government, the house was adjourned till the following day, when Mr. Litton renewed the discussion by delivering a speech in favour of Sir T. Acland's amendment. Messrs. Young, Laseelles, Bennett, and Lord Sandon also supported it; while Messrs. Redington and Townley opposed it. Mr. O'Connell remarked that the real question before the house was, how should Ireland be governed? This was the question that had been under discussion for seven hundred years. Should Ireland, he asked, be governed by a section? A loud shout interrupted the speaker, and in the midst of continued uproar, he continued thus:—"I thank you for that shriek. Many a shout of insolent domination, despicable and contemptible as it is, have I heard against my country."—[Here the speaker interfered]—"Let them shout; it is a senseless yell—the spirit of a party. Ireland will hear their shrieks. They may want us again. What would Waterloo have been if we had not been there? I ask not that question for the renowned commander-in-chief, who is himself an Irishman, but for the hardy soldiery of Ireland, who fought the battle for him. I say again, that is the question." In conclusion, Mr. O'Connell admitted that the ministerial plan did not go far enough, but he was ready to accede to it for the sake of an amicable arrangement. Sir Robert Peel and other members addressed the house, a discussion ensued, when Sir Thomas Acland's motion was lost by a majority of three hundred and seventeen against two hundred and ninety-eight. On the following day Lord John Russell gave the house distinctly to understand that the tithe measure would solely consist of a proposition to the effect that the composition then existing should be converted into a rent-charge.

COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS UPON THE IRISH MUNICIPAL BILL—THE BILL REJECTED, ETC.

On the 29th of May Lord John Russell moved that the house should go into committee on the Irish municipal corporation bill. Sir Robert Peel then rose and stated his views and intentions with respect to the two great Irish questions.

The consideration of the subject was renewed on the 1st of June, when, the house being in committee, Mr. Shaw moved that schedules A and B should be consolidated, so that there should be but two schedules instead of three; the first to contain the towns to which corporations were to be given with an uniform ten-pound franchise; and the second to contain those in which the majority of the ten-pound householders might, according to their option, be incorporated. Mr. Shaw further proposed that Sir Robert Peel's mode of estimating the qualification of electors should be adopted. Lord John Russell consented to that part of the proposition which regarded the distribution of towns to be incorporated, but at the same time intimated that government considered an uniform ten-pound franchise too high a qualification. On this point, indeed, the two parties were at issue, for Lord John Russell proposed a five-pound assessment as the qualification, while Sir Robert Peel advocated the ten-pound assessment. On the 11th of June Sir Robert moved to substitute the latter for the former sum; but on a division it was negatived by a majority of two hundred and eighty-six against two hundred and sixty-six. The bill came on for the third reading on the 25th of June, when Lord Francis Egerton moved that it should be read that day three months; but on a division the bill passed by a majority of one hundred and sixty-nine against one hundred and thirty-four.

The bill came under deliberation in the house of lords on the 12th of July, and it was read a third time on the 27th of the same month. The lords, however, had, on the motion of Lord Lyndhurst, substituted the ten-pound for the five-pound franchise, and had also made further alterations in the bill at the instigation of the same noble lord. When the bill in its amended shape came under the consideration of the house of commons on the 2nd of August, Lord John Russell entered into a detailed examination of these amendments. In order to settle the question of the franchise, he proposed that a rated house of eight pounds rent should confer it; and he carried this by a majority of one hundred and sixty-nine against one hundred and fifty-four. A variety of alterations were then introduced into the other amendments of the lords, and the bill was once more sent up to that house. A conference took place, but with no effect, and the matter ended by Lord John Russell moving in the house of commons that "the lords' amendments should be further considered that day three months." The bill, therefore, was again laid aside, and that for the most part from a difference of a pound or two in the qualification. The great principle of granting popular corporations to the Irish towns was conceded by the Conservatives; but they would not overlook the trifling difference contested by them and their opponents in the qualification.

THE CORONATION.

The coronation of Queen Victoria took place on the 28th of June. The principal novel feature of this august ceremony consisted in the substitution of a procession through the streets of London for the banquet in Westminster-hall. The result of this change justified the departure from an ancient usage. The people of all ages, sexes, conditions, professions, arts, and trades assembled on that day to greet their youthful sovereign. The ceremony was conducted with great harmony: happiness and cheerful good humour prevailed among the enormous multitude which thronged the streets; and courtesy and self-restraint were everywhere conspicuous. The coronation was succeeded by a series of fetes and banquets, and many weeks elapsed before the metropolis had ceased to hold festivals in its remembrance. In a word, the utmost enthusiasm for the youthful sovereign prevailed on every hand, and gave promise of a happy and glorious reign.

It was stated in the house of commons shortly after the coronation that the expenses incurred for the coronation of George IV. were £243,000, and that the expenses incurred for that of his successor did not exceed £50,000. On the present occasion the charges amounted to about £70,000, and the chancellor of the exchequer, in explaining the cause of this excess, said, that it was in no respect occasioned by any portion of the ceremony as regarded the sovereign, but for enabling the people to participate in the national festivity. The public, he continued, had voluntarily paid for seats commanding a view of the procession not less than £200,000; and four hundred thousand persons had visited London for the purpose of witnessing the ceremony. He added:—"Never was there given to a sovereign, or to a country, a more exalted proof of good conduct and discretion, than was afforded by the assembled multitude on this occasion."

DEBATES IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE IRISH TITHE QUESTION.

On the 2nd of July the house of commons proceeded to take Lord John Russell's tithe resolutions into consideration. On the motion for going into committee, Mr. Ward condemned ministers for abandoning the appropriation principle, and moved a series of resolutions for the appropriation of the surplus revenues of the Irish church to the moral and religious education of all classes. Mr. Hawes seconded and Mr. Hume supported the motion. Mr. O'Connell, however, opposed it, contending that it led to a deception and delusion: it offered to the Irish people something as the purchase-money of a tithe bill, which bill they had refused unanimously to take. Their determination was not to pay tithe; and he required that provision should be made for the established church of Ireland out of the consolidated fund, and that the tithe fund should be applied to the maintenance of peace in the country. By converting tithes into a rent-charge, they would turn landlords into tithe proprietors; and would further throw many landlords into the ranks of White-boys. Mr. Harvey said that three years ago he was denounced by Mr. O'Connell for not supporting the motion which his learned friend was now opposing. On a division Mr. Ward's motion was rejected by two hundred and seventy against forty-six. On the house going into committee, Mr. Shaw moved, as an amendment, that twenty-five instead of thirty per cent, should be substituted. This amendment was carried by a majority of one hundred and eighty-eight against one hundred and sixty-seven.

In a preceding year one million sterling had been voted by parliament for the relief of tithe-owners who had been unable to pay their dues; and out of this sum they had by this time actually received £640,000. At the time of the grant it was intended that the advances should be repaid as soon as the tenants should pay up their arrears. That event was not likely to happen; for, since the grant had been made, a new arrear of tithes had accrued. It was now generally agreed that repayment of the money advanced should not be required; but it became a question how far the fresh arrears were to be settled. Sir Robert Peel suggested that a commission should be appointed to ascertain the entire amount of the tithe, and the nature of each particular case; and that in proportion to that amount, and with due regard to individual circumstances, the sum remaining of the million not yet advanced should be distributed among the respective tithe-owners in purchase of their interests. According to his plan, if a landlord owned tithe, he was not to be included in the proposition; but where the debtors were occupying tenants, there tithe-owners were to have the option of enforcing their claims, or of accepting their proportion of the fund, and exonerating their debtors: government was also to have the right of proceeding against the tenant at their option. This proposition was favourably received; and, on July 16th, Lord John Russell, when the house resumed the consideration of the bill in committee, adopted it with some slight modifications. On the 26th of July the bill came on for the third reading. Mr. D. Browne moved, that the bill be read that day six months; in doing which he contended for a total abolition of tithes. On a division the bill was carried by a majority of one hundred and forty-eight against thirty; and thus terminated the contests concerning "the appropriation clause." The adoption of it had assisted the Whigs in their return to power; and the sacrifice of it enabled them to maintain office.

Lord Melbourne brought the Irish tithe-bill before the house of lords on the 3rd of August. After descanting on the million loan and the arrears, his lordship remarked that it was obvious, unless they closed up all questions with reference to arrears, they would not be giving the measure fair play. This bill directed the lord lieutenant to remit to the clergy the instalments due from them in respect of the loan; and the residue of the million was to be applied in satisfaction of the arrears, according to the claims of the spiritual tithe-owners, which had been accruing during the last four years. Nothing was said of the "appropriation clause" by his lordship: on which Lord Brougham remarked:—"I had not looked to see the day when appropriation should be given to the winds, as if the thing had never been talked of—as if it never had been the means of seating one ministry and unseating another."

The bill was read a third time on the 9th of August, Lord Clancarty alone raising a dissentient voice.

THE IRISH POOR-LAW BILL CARRIED IN THE LORDS.

On the 21st of May Lord Melbourne moved the second reading of the Irish poor-law bill in the lords. The motion was opposed by Earl Fitzwilliam, who said that he was opposed to the whole principle of poor-laws. As for the present bill, he said, it could never be carried into effect; it was not an Irish bill, nor was it a bill desired either by the landed interests, the middling gentry, or the poorest classes of Ireland. The Marquis of Londonderry also opposed the bill; while the Duke of Wellington recommended their lordships to give it a second reading, with a view of amending it in committee. Lord Lynd-hurst, having adverted to the unpopularity of the bill in Ireland, and cautioned their lordships against setting themselves up as better judges than the Irish people themselves of what was best calculated to promote the interests of that nation, said he should not object to a trial of the bill, provided he thought that they would, in the event of failure, return to their original situation. His lordship then stated his various objections to the proposed bill; but, in conclusion, intimated his intention of voting for the second reading, in the hope that it might be brought into a better state in committee. The Marquis of Clanricarde, Lord Brougham, and the Marquis of Westmeath opposed the bill; and Lord Radnor and the Earl of Devon supported it. On a division the second reading was carried by a majority of one hundred and forty-nine against twenty. In committee, Earl Fitzwilliam moved an am end-mend to the forty-first clause, by which he limited the relief under the bill to age, bodily infirmity, &c.; and he was supported by Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci, who contended that the operations of the bill would be mischievous; but it was not carried. On the 31st the latter noble lord moved another amendment, empowering the guardians to relieve in poor-houses "all destitute persons who are either incurably lame, or blind, or sick, or labouring under permanent bodily infirmity;" also all orphan children left in a state of destitution. Ministers, however, succeeded in carrying the original clause of the bill by a majority of one hundred and seven to forty-one. Subsequently some amendments were made in the minor details of the bill, and it was read a third time on the 9th of July, and carried by a majority of ninety-three against thirty-one. The momentous experiment, therefore, of introducing a poor-law into a country where the people were everywhere opposed to it was to be tried.

PROJECTED FORMATION OF A COLONY IN NEW ZEALAND, ETC.

At this period an association had been formed for the purpose of colonizing New Zealand, under certain grants of territory which had been obtained from the native authorities. During this session an application for a parliamentary sanction to the undertaking was made, and Mr. F. Baring, on the 23rd of June, moved the second reading of a bill to establish the said colony. Sir George Grey opposed the motion. The bill was also opposed by Sir Walter James, Lord Sandon, and Messrs. Goulbourn and Pease, while Messrs. Hutt and P. Howard pointed out the advantages which would accrue to Great Britain from the measure. The bill was rejected by a majority of ninety-two against thirty-two.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, ETC.

The navy estimates were presented to the house of commons on the 5th of March, when Mr. C. Wood moved a resolution to the effect, that there be employed in the fleet for the next thirteen lunar months, ending on the 31st of March, 1839, 33,665 men including 2,000 boys and 9,000 marines. After some opposition, this motion was agreed to; as was another, made by Lord Howick, on the 12th of the same month, to the effect that 89,305 men should be raised for her majesty's land-forces. The ordnance estimates were moved by Sir Hussey Vivian on the 27th of April, and these, likewise, were granted. The chancellor of the exchequer presented his financial statement on the 18th of May, when it appeared that the past year had been one of increased expenditure and diminished receipt. The estimate of revenue, he said, had amounted to £47,240,000, while the actual income did not exceed £46,090,000. The estimate of expenditure had been £47,873,000, and the actual expenditure £47,519,000; so that there existed a deficiency of £1,428,000. But, continued Mr. Rice, if the house would compare the income and expenditure of the two years 1836 and 1837, they would find a surplus of income; and he showed that, taking these two years together, and comparing the anticipation with the actual results, there was no deficiency. The right honourable gentleman proceeded to say that he calculated the income of the next year would be £47,271,803, and the expenditure £47,479,000. Here, also, would be a deficiency; and the question arose, how was this deficiency to be met? There was no ground for considering it permanent; and he should therefore propose to take the course adopted by parliament on former similar occasions. In 1827 Mr. Canning found himself with a deficiency of £2,900,000, and he met it by a resort to a corresponding issue of exchequer-bills. Mr. Spring Rice intimated that he should follow the same course, and should ask for a vote of credit to the extent of a few hundred thousand pounds only.

MOTION FOR THE REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS.

On the 15th of March Mr. Villiers moved for a committee of the whole house to consider the act of 9 George IV. c. 60, relating to the importation of corn. In his speech he remarked that the purpose and principle of the corn-laws were protection to the landed interest. It was alleged that the British farmers could not compete with the foreign grower without protection. He considered this principle indefinite and unjust. The motion was seconded by Sir William Molesworth, who drew a gloomy picture of the operation of the corn-laws. Through them, he said, there was an excess of farmers without farm, shopkeepers without customers, lawyers without briefs, clergymen without cure of souls, doctors without patients, sailors and soldiers without employment; besides shoals of architects, painters, surveyors, tutors, clerks, and others. All these classes were uneasy, and the victims of competition. The corn-laws had further the effect of producing great immorality: people either could not marry, or were obliged to many late in life, and consequently there was an excess of unmarried women! Hence immorality prevailed, and every foreigner who visited the land was shocked at the exhibition of profligacy in the streets. Only a few members supported the motion, which was consequently lost.

On a subsequent evening Colonel Seale proposed that foreign corn in this country should, under certain restrictions, be permitted to be ground while in bond, and exported, security being given for its exportation. The object of this measure was to enable merchants trading to foreign countries, and shipowners, to lay in their supplies in the ports of the United Kingdom, instead of being compelled to obtain them, as at present, from the Baltic. The Marquis of Chandos contended that this measure would repeal the corn-laws: extensive frauds would take place, and a great alteration ensue in the price of corn. On the other hand, Messrs. Warburton and Poulett Thomson argued that the agricultural interest would not suffer from it in the least degree. The latter said that no fraud could take place, and he entered into details to show that the preservation of the whole revenue of the country depended upon the security afforded by the bonded warehouses. Corn could not be smuggled out of them more easily than sugar and tobacco, &c, on which much higher duties were payable. After hearing these statements of Mr. Thomson, several members intimated their disposition to make a concession upon so immaterial a point. Colonel Seale's motion was carried by a majority of one hundred and twenty-seven against ninety-two, but the bill was, notwithstanding, thrown out on the second reading, by a majority of two hundred and twenty against one hundred and fifty.

VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LAW.

An important alteration in the law took place this session, in the abolition of imprisonment for debt on mesne process. Public attention had been for some time directed to this subject; and during last session a bill passed the house of commons with reference to it, but at too late a period to admit of its discussion in the upper house. On the 5th of December the lord-chancellor brought the subject before the lords, by moving the second reading of a similar bill. Many of the details of the bill, however, were thought to be so defective, that it was referred to the consideration of a select committee. The lord-chancellor again presented his bill, as altered and amended by the committee, on the 12th of June. In his exposition of the measure, his lordship stated that it would empower creditors to get possession of various descriptions of property, which were at present exempt from execution. Thus the bill would authorize the sheriff to seize cash, bank-notes, and bills of exchange; and, under the authority of a judge's order, and with certain restrictions, stock in the public funds would be available to the creditor. These and similar provisions were framed for the purpose of doing justice to the creditor, by enabling him, if possible, to obtain payment out of his debtor's property. Having effected this object it seemed but right to abolish imprisonment on mesne process. Still, to prevent fraud, it was necessary to secure to the creditor the right of seizing the debtor's person in certain cases. The bill, moreover, would authorize a judge, on the creditor's application, to issue a warrant to restrain a fraudulent debtor from leaving the country before he had surrendered his property. Lords Brougham and Abingdon commended the measure as far as it went; but they still thought it incomplete. The bill was read a third time and passed; and after some minor alterations had been introduced in it by the commons, it finally became law. Another useful act passed during this session was one which facilitated the recovery of possession of tenements after the determination of the tenancy. This bill empowered any two justices at petty-sessions, in certain cases, and after proof given of the determination of the tenancy, and of the refusal of the tenant to render possession, to issue their warrant to the peace-officers of the place, directing them to enter, by force, if needful, upon the premises unlawfully held over, and to give possession of the same to the landlord or to his agent; such entry to be made not less than twenty, and not more than thirty days from the date of the warrant. The provisions of this bill, however, are confined to premises held at will, or for less than a term of seven years, and which are let for less than £20 per annum, without the reservation of a fine.

In the course of this session, a bill for securing to authors, in certain cases, the benefit of international copyright passed the legislature, and which enabled her majesty in council to direct that the authors of books published abroad shall have a copyright here, provided there be a reciprocal protection in favour of this country in the state in which such publications first make their appearance.

A SELECT COMMITTEE TO INQUIRE INTO THE OPERATION OF THE POOR-LAWS.

During the past and the present year the New Poor-law was exposed to a severe trial. Distress, from a severe winter and the high price of corn, abounded on every hand, while in various parts of the country local and temporary causes operated unfavourably to the labourer. Under these circumstances, the New Poor-law encountered great opposition, and this appeared to be becoming progressively formidable. In the northern parts of the country, indeed, Tories, Whigs, and Radicals alike arrayed themselves against it, all agreeing to seek its entire abolition. The subject had been introduced into the commons as early as the 27th of November of the past year, when Lord John Russell moved for a select committee to inquire into the operation of the New Poor-law. This afforded, however, but little satisfaction to the opponents of the measure; and on the 20th of February Mr. Fielden moved for a repeal of the act itself. He was seconded by Mr. Wakley; and, in the course of the evening, a discussion ensued, in which many members took part. Those who spoke generally concurred in the impolicy of taking any steps in the question until the committee should have made its report. Sir Robert Peel bore testimony to the merits of the bill; remarking that, considering the magnitude of the experiment, which had been but four years under trial, it was as satisfactory as any man could expect. On a division, the motion was rejected by a majority of three hundred and nine against seventeen.

The commissioners made their report on the 4th of August. It had been proposed to authorize the guardians to relieve the families of labourers, by taking one or more of their children into the workhouse. The report stated, "that in the practical application of this exception, it would be difficult to avoid the establishment of a system similar in principle to the scale system; i. e. a regular allowance, in addition to the labourer's earnings, depending on the number of his children and the rate of wages." It had further been proposed to obviate the hardship of obliging a man to part with his cottage and furniture, and take up his abode, with his family, in the workhouse, by admitting the head of the family only into that establishment, and leaving his family at home. The report stated an objection to this proposal thus:—"The small degree of inconvenience sustained by the labourer by a temporary sojourn in the workhouse, whilst his wife and family remain at home, ceases altogether to have the effect upon the employer which is produced by the strict workhouse system; namely, the creating a great reluctance, on his part, to lose temporarily the services of the labourer, lest he should find it impossible to regain them; and a desire so to arrange the work of his farm, as to afford employment, during the unfavourable part of the season, to those upon whose assistance he must rely for the necessary services during the more active periods of the year." The report proceeded to notice other particulars of the system, as the migration of families from the southern to the northern counties; and the emigration of others to the Australian colonies. It remarked, that the most important and characteristic circumstance of the last twelve months had been the extreme severity of a long winter, and the continuance of the interruption to manufacturing industry which had commenced in 1836. From this circumstance the guardians of various unions had been induced to give out-door relief to able-bodied male paupers, but the commissioners were of opinion that, with few exceptions, it might have been safely withheld.

COMBINATIONS IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND.

For some years combinations of workmen for the purpose of regulating the rate of wages, and other matters connected with the employment of labour, had been permitted by law to exist. At this time, however, these confederacies had become formidable. "Strikes" were constantly recurring, so that the masters lay at the mercy of the operatives. Thus at Ashton fifty-two mills and thirty thousand persons were thrown out of work, by the "strike" of three thousand "coarse spinners," who could clear at the time about thirty shillings per week; and at Manchester one thousand "fine spinners" struck work, because the masters would not pay them more than thirty-five shillings per week. At Glasgow, where the cotton-spinners had been long noted for the violent and arbitrary proceedings of their confederacy, five individuals connected with their body were taken up, charged with murder, attempts at arson, and other grave offences of a similar character. On their trial, the evidence disclosed some revolting details of the practices and formidable organization of the cotton-spinners' union of Glasgow; but the jury found the prisoners guilty of the minor charges only, and they were transported for seven years. There was much in these judicial proceedings that, in the opinion of Lord Brougham and Mr. Wakley, required correction, and accordingly they brought the subject under the consideration of parliament, each in their respective spheres.

The subject was introduced by Mr. Wakley in the house of commons, by moving for a select committee to inquire into the constitution, practices, and effects of the association of operative cotton-spinners in Glasgow and its neighbourhood. Mr. O'Connell moved, by way of amendment, for a select committee to inquire into trades' unions and combinations generally, in the United Kingdom. He remarked that there was no tyranny equal to that which was exercised by the trades' unionists in Dublin. He had in vain wished to convince those people of the wickedness and impolicy of their proceedings. Hour after hour had he had interviews with the deputation from the various trades, and had seldom met with men of more ability, information, or skill, in putting forward their own views. He had also challenged discussion, and two assemblies had been held for that purpose; but the workmen had concerted interruption, and they could not proceed in the business of the day. He could not be heard, and they expressed their determination to persist in their system of outrage. Mr. O'Connell proceeded to detail some of the more prominent regulations of the combination. One of their rules was to limit the number of apprentices; another prescribed a minimum rate of wages, so that the best workmen received no more than the worst; and by a third the masters were deprived of all freedom in their power of selecting workmen. The honourable gentleman then proceeded to relate some instances of the prejudicial effects of combination on the manufacturing industry of the country; and he concluded by adverting to the murders and outrages committed by stipendiary assassins acting under the authority of the unions, and by asserting that he had no wish to re-enact the old combination laws. Some combinations were even meritorious: his aim would be to separate unions of this kind from those of a pernicious character. The chancellor of the exchequer paid some just compliments to Mr. O'Connell for the course he had pursued with respect to this subject, and said that he proposed a second amendment, which did not materially differ from that of the member for Dublin. He moved for a select committee to inquire into the operation of the 6th of George IV., and into the general constitution of trades' unions, and also the combinations of workmen and masters in the United Kingdom. Mr. Wakley expressed himself satisfied to leave the question in the hands of her majesty's ministers, and the chancellor of the exchequer's motion was agreed to without a division.

JOHN THOM. ALIAS SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY.

A few years back an individual of the name of John Nicholls Thorn left his home in Cornwall, and went into the county of Kent. Here he exchanged his name for the more euphonious one of Sir William Courtenay, Knight of Malta, and he commenced a practice of parading his naturally commanding person before the admiring people, clad in rich costumes, and pouring forth streams of exciting and persuasive eloquence. Attracted by his romantic appearance, the populace flocked round him with the wildest enthusiasm; and even the superior classes of society, furnished him with partizans. In 1833 he became a candidate for the representation of the city of Canterbury, and he succeeded so far as to poll nine hundred and fifty votes. Not long after, however, he was found to be implicated in a transaction which resulted in his conviction for perjury, and he was sentenced to six years' transportation. Decided symptoms of insanity having exhibited themselves, instead of being sent on board the hulks, in conformity with the act 9th George IV., he was removed from Maidstone gaol to the county lunatic asylum. He remained here four years, and at the expiration of that period, Lord John Russell, in virtue of a power conferred on him as secretary of state by the same act, delivered him up to his friends upon their engaging to take care of him. His friends ill discharged their duty; for in 1838 John Thom reappeared in Kent, and this time under a higher title than that of baronet: he claimed to be, and the people acknowledged his pretensions as, another Messiah. The delusion led to the "Canterbury riots," in which a constable was shot by Thom himself, and Lieutenant Bennet was killed by some of his enthusiastic followers. Thom on his trial was proved to be of unsound mind; and several of his followers were sentenced to be transported, some for life, and others for longer or shorter periods of time, according to the parts they had acted in the tragical scene.

COMMITTEE ON CHURCH LANDS.

It has been seen in a former page that a committee had been appointed to ascertain the probable amount of any increased value which might be obtained by an improved management of church property. On the 3rd of May Lord John Russell proposed the reappointment of this committee. He estimated the revenue of the church of England at £3,439,767, and he calculated this income would admit of considerable increase. With respect to the disposal of such additional revenue, when obtained, his lordship said that both himself and colleagues held it as a fixed principle that it ought to be devoted to a purpose clearly and intimately connected with the church. Many honourable members were of opinion that such a fund should be applied to the education of the people: government would prefer to dedicate it to the repairs of the fabric of the church itself. His lordship then entered into details to show that the present system of managing church property was improvident and unsatisfactory; and that the funds of the church were often disposed of in a way contrary to their original purposes, and not desirable for the spiritual interests of the country. By proper arrangements he expected that an annual surplus of £300,000 might be secured. The motion was opposed by Mr. Liddell, who, in moving a direct negative to it, observed that government had been stimulated to stir this "mischievous question, and unsettle men's minds and properties by the clamour of persons hostile to the church." The church of Durham, he said, was the great object of their appetency. It certainly had rich possessions, but then its charities were in proportion. It had, moreover, crying wants: many of its cures were underpaid, and many new churches were requisite, for which there were no adequate means of endowment. The honourable gentleman concluded by saying, that should the motion for a committee be carried, he would further move the addition to it of the following words:—"with a view of applying such amount to the gradual diminution of the evils which flow from the deficiency in the means of religious instruction and pastoral superintendence by ministers of the established church." The original motion was carried by a majority of two hundred and seventy-seven against two hundred and forty-one; and Mr. Lid-dell's second amendment was lost by a majority of two hundred and sixty-five against two hundred and fifty-four.

ACT FOR ABOLISHING PLURALITIES, ETC.

During this session an act was passed for "abridging pluralities," and for making better provision for the residence of the clergy. This bill enacts that no person holding more benefices than one shall accept and hold any cathedral preferment or other benefice; and that no person holding preferment in one cathedral shall hold any in another, with certain exceptions in favour of archdeacons. The bill further enacts that two benefices are not to be enjoyed together, unless within ten miles of each other, nor if the population of the one exceeds three thousand, or the joint revenue £1,000, unless the yearly value of the one fall short of £150, while the population exceeds two thousand persons; in which case the bishop of the diocese may authorize the two to be held jointly, though at the same time it was made necessary to obtain a dispensation from the Archbishop of Canterbury. By another clause of the bill any spiritual person in the possession of preferment is prohibited from farming more than eighty acres of land without the consent of his diocesan, and from engaging in any trade, unless in cases where the number of partners exceed six, or where the share in a business may devolve upon the individual by operation of law; but in no case may such person carry on or manage trade personally. The bill finally empowers the bishops to grant dispensations to their clergy from residing in the parsonage-houses when unfit to be occupied, provided that the residence selected be within a certain distance of the cure, and further enumerates a variety of other instances in which the bishops may grant licences for non-residence.

During this session also, in consequence of a recent decision in the court of exchequer, that it was unlawful for a clergyman to be a member of a joint-stock company, an act was passed, altering the law on that head. In 1817, an act had been passed prohibiting all spiritual persons from engaging in any trade for gain or profit, and imposing a penalty upon transgressors of the law. It also declared the acts of any partnership into which such spiritual person had been introduced to be null and void.

On the 22nd of February the Earl of Ripon announced to the house of lords that the ecclesiastical commissioners had resolved to recommend the continuance of the bishopric of Sodor and Man as a separate see, and not to unite it with the diocese of Carlisle, as had been proposed. During this session, therefore, a bill was passed for continuing the see upon its original footing.

THE SUBJECT OF EDUCATION DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT.

On the 1st of December Lord Brougham brought the subject of national education under the consideration of the house of lords. His lordship's plan was disclosed in two bills, corresponding with that which he had brought forward in the preceding session, and which were only separated for the sake of convenience. The measure of Lord Brougham seems to have been conceived in an enlightened spirit, and its outline exhibits many excellent features; but it was clear that there would be great difficulty in carrying out its details. The bill was generally approved of, and was read a first time, but it did not come again under the consideration of parliament during this session.

THE QUESTION OF CANADA RENEWED.

While parliament was sitting, Lord Durham sailed for his seat of government in Canada; and news arrived of his first acts in that province. Before his lordship had sailed, however, attacks were made upon him by the opposition, although they had exercised so much forbearance towards him at the outset of his mission.

The main attack on Lord Durham was opened in the house of lords on the 30th of July. Of the many important matters which Lord Durham found on his arrival in Canada unsettled, the disposal of the state prisoners was "by far the most delicate and dangerous." This difficulty was increased by the restrictions which the home-government had thought it expedient to impose upon the governor-in-chief. These restrictions were contained in a letter written by Lord Glenelg, and were to this effect:—"From the very commencement of the late disturbances it has been, as your lordship is aware, the earnest desire of the government, that the utmost lenity compatible with the public safety should be exercised towards the insurgents. This is a principle inculcated in my various despatches to the authorities of Lower and Upper Canada, and it is a principle supported by considerations, not only of humanity, which cannot be in such cases admitted as the exclusive test of right conduct, but also of true policy, in reference to the well-being of the Canadas. You will, I am persuaded, enter into the views of the government on this subject; and in order to enable you to act with promptitude in this respect, you are relieved from the restrictions by which your predecessors were prevented, in case of treason, from giving an absolute pardon, or granting more than a respite, till the royal pleasure should be known. The power thus entrusted to you, of granting an amnesty or pardon in all cases, should, in the opinion of her majesty's government, be exercised largely, but not entirely without exception. Independently of persons committed on charges of murder, to whose cases I have referred in my despatch of the 19th of March to Sir J. Colborne, as exceptions to the class of cases fit to be included in an amnesty, there must probably among the prisoners be some flagrant and prominent cases of delinquency, which it would not be just or advisable to comprehend in the general lenity. These cases it will be for you to select, in order that they may be brought to trial. In the constitution of the tribunals before which these prisoners are to be arraigned, and in the conduct of these trials, her majesty's government are, after full deliberations, satisfied that there should be no further deviation from the established mode of legal procedure, than was sanctioned in my despatch to Sir J. Colborne. You will, therefore, bring them to trial in the usual manner before the courts of justice, as at present constituted for the trial of criminal offences. By the verdict of the ordinary juries, the fate of the prisoners must be decided.... Except in cases of murder, capital punishments should be avoided." In dealing with this difficult subject Lord Durham availed himself of the assistance of his special council, the members of which were Vice-admiral Sir Charles Paget, Major-general Sir James Mac-donnell, Colonel Couper, the governor's military secretary, and principal aide-de-camp, Colonel Grey, and Mr. Charles Buller. The council met on the 18th of June; but it was not for the purposes of consultation that Lord Durham convened his board, for on the very day on which they were summoned to meet, appeared the celebrated ordinance, by which Lord Brougham not only accomplished his fall, but contrived that all the odium of the transaction should attach to the ministers themselves The nature of this ordinance will be clearly seen in the following debates which took place in both houses of parliament.

On the day before mentioned (30th July), when the attack was opened on Lord Durham in the upper house, Lord Brougham called the attention of the peers to the ordinance which had been passed by the noble governor of Canada, asserting that if carried into effect it would involve the crime of murder, the whole proceeding being at variance with law. Seven days after, Lord Brougham renewed the attack. No power, he said, to inflict pains and penalties upon individuals who had not been brought to trial, which that ordinance usurped, was conferred upon Lord Durham. He might make general laws for the good government of the colony, but subject to an exception which restrained him from altering any act of the British parliament. The ordinance in question contravened the provisions of the act 7th William III. "for the trial of treasonable offences;" and if Lord Durham had the power of dispensing with that act, he might condemn in every case as traitors men against whom no witnesses had been examined, and into whose alleged offences no inquiry had been made. Lord Glenelg remarked that Lord Durham had been placed in a situation of extreme difficulty: he had been solicited for extreme punishments on the one hand, and for a complete amnesty on the other; he had adopted a middle course, and when his decision was announced, it gave general satisfaction. Lord Brougham replied, that the noble earl might have accomplished all he was desirous of doing without a breach of the law. If he had said to parties accused or suspected, "I won't bring you to trial, if you conduct yourselves properly," he would have acted in a legal manner; but instead of doing this, he said, "I shall send you to Bermuda; and if you leave that island, I declare you guilty of high-treason."' Lord Melbourne deprecated such rigid criticism. He owned that the clause in the ordinance which related to Bermuda was an error on the part of Lord Durham, but he declared his belief that the whole of the remainder was perfectly legal, and warranted by the powers which parliament had committed to the noble governor of Canada. On the other hand Lord Ellenborough contended that all the penal provisions of the ordinance were illegal, and that the whole transaction was alien from the spirit of British jurisprudence. The Duke of Wellington said that he did not approve of the constant attacks on Lord Durham; but he really thought that steps should be taken to set the government of Canada right on proceedings which appeared to be illegal. Lord Brougham followed up the course he had taken on the following night by introducing a bill "for declaring the true intent and meaning of an act passed in the present session of parliament, intituled 'An act to make temporary provisions for the government of Lower Canada,' and for indemnifying those who have issued or acted under a certain ordinance made under colour of the said act." This bill was read a first time in silence, but on the second reading on the 9th of August, Lord Brougham, by way of preface, propounded certain "canons of policy" by which the administration of the government of Lower Canada, during the suspension of the constitution ought, in his opinion, to have been directed. The bill introduced by Lord Brougham was so loosely framed that it afforded Lord Glenelg fair occasion for criticism. He availed himself of this opportunity of encountering his adversary with some effect. In conclusion, Lord Glenelg observed that the bill before the house was not a mere declaratory act, but a new law restricting the powers which the act of that session had already conferred upon the governor of Canada. It would be inexpedient and extraordinary, if, having invested Lord Durham with plenary authority, they were suddenly to abridge the powers which he had been led to suppose he possessed. A warm and acrimonious debate was maintained by the Earl of Ripon, the Duke of Wellington, and other opposition peers on the one hand, and Lord Melbourne and the lord chancellor on the other. The two ex-chancellors made themselves very remarkable on this occasion, Lord Brougham manifesting the utmost excitement, and the most bitter personal hostility to Lord Durham, to whose instrumentality he attributed his being overlooked by Lord Melbourne in his cabinet arrangements. Lord Lyndhurst did the excellent qualities of Lord Durham justice, and displayed a calmness in debate which contrasted strikingly with the irritability and personalities of Lord Brougham. The debate brought forcibly to light the disposition of Lord Durham to carry matters with a high hand in his new government, and his deficiency in that wariness and prudence so essential to a chief governor. After a few remarks from Lord Brougham, the bill was read a second time by a majority of fifty-four against thirty-six. On the following day Lord Melbourne informed the house that ministers had resolved to advise the queen to disallow of the whole ordinance. It was with the deepest regret and alarm that they had taken this course; nor was it without the greatest apprehension of the consequences that they had come to this determination. His lordship then intimated his approval of the indemnity bill, and that he should in a future stage of the proceedings move a clause explanatory of Sir William Follett's proviso. Lord Brougham commended ministers for their "judicious, wise, politic, and most virtuous resolution." The Duke of Wellington was by no means inclined to sanction Lord Melbourne's proposed explanation of the proviso: Sir John Colborne had acted under the law as it stood, and must have found it sufficient for the purpose. The Marquis of Lansdowne remarked, that if the noble lords opposite acquiesced in the mode in which Sir John Colborne had exercised his authority; if they admitted that he had not exceeded the law, Lord Melbourne's proposed clause would be unnecessary. That gentleman had been permitted to pass an act of attainder, which had lain unnoticed on the table for six weeks. Ministers only claimed for Lord Durham the power which was conceded to his predecessor: he desired to know whether Sir John Colborne had acted in conformity with the law. Lord Brougham replied, that Lord Durham's powers were coextensive with those of Sir John Colborne; but as to whether or not that officer had exceeded the limits of his authority, he begged to say that he did not feel himself at liberty to answer. It is quite clear, indeed, that no noble lord could have answered this question satisfactorily; for if Lord Durham had been guilty in passing an act of attainder, the same guilt must have attached to Sir John Colborne; and if the one had been pronounced innocent, the other must have shared in his innocence. This question, which was one of the greatest importance, however, was allowed to pass over; and in the course of the evening Lord Melbourne moved the insertion of his explanatory clause, which, after reciting the proviso, proceeded to declare, that it should not extend to prevent the governor and council from passing such laws as might be necessary for the safety of the province, or from providing for the punishment or detention of persons engaged in conspiracies against the government. By the results of this clause, in fact, and the discussions which followed, Lord Brougham's bill was stripped of its declaratory character, and reduced to a mere act of indemnity to the parties concerned in the transportation and detention of the Bermuda prisoners. In this mutilated condition Lord Brougham moved the third reading of the bill, which he did with evident reluctance, inasmuch as he rightly considered that its chief value lay in its declaratory character. "As I have been accidentally mixed up with this business," said his lordship, "I have no hesitation in moving the third reading of the bill, as it now stands, although quite sensible that I am making that motion on the part of her majesty's government." On this occasion the lord-chief-justice Denman spoke on the question for the first time. His objections to the ordinance were directed to a gross violation of the constitution. As to the indemnity, he was entirely opposed to it; the passing of such bills was one of the most unjustifiable practices of parliament. Publie functionaries might be justified by their good intentions in overstepping the law; but parliament had no right to say to the parties who had suffered by such excess of authority, "You can have no redress against those persons who have wronged you, because it is our pleasure to indemnify them." "If indeed," he continued, "parliament are of opinion that individuals, actuated by a good and upright intention, and only zealous for the public service, have broken the laws, let them indemnify those individuals out of the public purse, against the consequences of the legal proceedings that may be instituted; but let them not leave the injured party without a remedy." The bill was finally read a third time, and passed in the lords.

Lord Brougham's bill was introduced into the house of commons on the 13th of August, and read a first and second time without any discussion. On the following day, however, Lord John Russell brought the subject before the house. His lordship said it was his intention to submit to the house of commons a proposal which he made with extreme reluctance; namely, that they should assent to the bill as it came down from the lords without any amendment. He presumed that no objection would be made to the indemnity which it was the object of the bill to provide; and he then explained in what sense he understood the act for governing Canada. The discussion which ensued was similar in argument and spirit to the debates in the house of lords. The house went into committee on the bill. No amendments were introduced; and on the 15th of August Lord John Russell moved the third reading, which, after a short debate, was carried without a division.

QUEEN PROROGUES PARLIAMENT.

The queen prorogued parliament on the 16th of August. Being seated on the throne her majesty was addressed by the speaker of the house of commons on the subject of the suspension of the constitution of Lower Canada, and the Irish poor-law and tithe bills. The queen then gave the royal assent to a series of bills, after which she proceeded to read the speech. In the speech her majesty lamented that war still continued in Spain; adverted to the affairs of Canada; noticed the progress which had been made towards the entire abolition of negro-apprenticeship; made some approving observations on the attention which had been bestowed upon the amendment of the domestic institutions of the country; thanked the commons for providing for the expenses of her household, &c.; and expressed her satisfaction in having given her assent to a bill for the relief of the destitute poor in Ireland. Her majesty concluded thus: "My lords and gentlemen,—The many useful measures which you have been able to consider, while the settlement of the civil list and the state of Canada demanded so much of your attention, are a satisfactory proof of your zeal for the public good. You are so well acquainted with the duties which now devolve upon you in your respective counties, that it is unnecessary to remind you of them, In the discharge of them you may securely rely upon my firm support; and it only remains to express an humble hope that Divine Providence may watch over us all, and prosper our united efforts for the welfare of our country."

DISAFFECTION AMONG THE WORKING CLASSES.

During the autumn of this year a turbulent spirit displayed itself among the working classes in the manufacturing districts. Meetings were held in various quarters, and demagogues addressed the assembled multitudes in the most inflammatory language. The two-fold cause of this disaffection was the poor-laws and the price of bread; and as a remedy for these evils the people were taught to ask for universal suffrage. A favourite practice with the parties to these transactions was to assemble by torch-light in the open air—a practice which gave a mystery to the meetings well calculated to strike the imagination of the vulgar, and which gave those whose employment did not admit of their being present in the daytime, an opportunity of attending them. The speeches delivered at these meetings have been well characterized as "furious nonsense;" but at the same time they were calculated to work mischief in the community. Happily, however, the Whigs were in office, and for their own interest's sake they restrained these ebullitions. Had there been a Conservative government, possibly the danger might have been greater.

PROPOSED REDUCTION OF THE RATES OF POSTAGE.

At this time the question of an alteration in the rates of postage was beginning to occupy attention. A proposal was submitted to the country by Mr. Rowland Hill, for substituting a uniform rate of one penny upon every half-ounce, without any reference to distance. This scheme was loudly applauded by all classes of society; and the subject was referred to a committee of the house of commons. The report of this committee was, that the high rates of postage then in existence were extremely injurious to the community, interfering with moral and social improvement; restricting commercial enterprise; impairing general national prosperity; restraining the progress of art and science; circumscribing the operations of religious societies, and acting as a grievous tax upon the poor. The report further stated that the illicit conveyance of letters prevailed to a great extent, and was on the increase; that the law was impotent to arrest the practice; and that the only mode of effectually suppressing it would be to reduce the charges to the standard of the contraband carrier. The report recommended that, prior to the establishment of an uniform rate of one penny, a similar rate of twopence per half-ounce on inland general-post letters should be adopted at the rate of one penny with every additional half-ounce, with certain exceptions. It further suggested that as soon as the revenue would bear a large temporary reduction, it would be expedient to subject all inland letters to a penny postage the half-ounce, increasing at the rate of one penny with every additional half-ounce. It advised also that payment of postage should be required in advance; and for the facilitation of this plan, recommended the adoption of stamped covers, which should have the effect of franking the letters enclosed. The use of these stamps was to be made compulsory as soon as justified by experience. At this time, the report added, it was calculated the number of letters, &c, passing through the post-offices of the United Kingdom were from 75,000,000 to 80,000,000 annually; of which about 5,700,000 were general-post letters. The number of franks was about 7,000,000; and of newspapers, 44,000,000.

THE STATE OF IRELAND.

As usual, Mr. O'Connell devoted his time during the parliamentary recess to "agitation." A series of manifestoes issued from his retreat at Derrynane Abbey, all well calculated to stir up the evil passions of human nature. Nor were these missiles the only instruments of his agitation. On the very day of his arrival in Dublin, after parliament was prorogued, he convened a meeting of his constituents for the morrow, in order to take into consideration "ulterior measures, to procure from the British legislature 'full justice for Ireland,' or to provide for the contingency of a perseverance in the refusal of that legislature to right the people of Ireland." Accordingly, a large concourse of people assembled at the Corn-exchange, and were addressed by the demagogue in that braggart style which he well knew would win its way to their feelings. In his speech Mr. O'Connell intimated his intention of forming a new association, the exertions of which were to be directed to obtain for Ireland a greater share in the representation of the United Kingdom. He developed his plan for accomplishing this design in a series of letters to the people. In these letters he founded his allegation, that Ireland had not her fair proportion of members of the house of commons, on this data. By the last census it appeared that the population of England and Wales was 13,899,675; of Scotland, 2,365,930; and of Ireland, 7,943,940. Scotland, he said, had fifty-three representatives, while Ireland had only one hundred and five; so that the Scotch had more than half the number of representatives possessed by the Irish; whereas, in order to be on an equality, the latter ought to have one hundred and fifty-nine. In order to be on an equality with the English, he said, they ought to have one hundred and sixty-six; but Mr. O'Connell said that he would be satisfied with one hundred and fifty. In order to obtain that number he proposed the organization of an association sufficiently numerous to speak the sentiments of all Ireland. For this purpose, he said, the "Precursor Society" had been established, and was now in progress of enrolment. Mr. T. M. Ray was secretary to the "Precursor Society," and to become a member it was necessary to pay him one shilling at the enrolment. All the population might have the privilege of enrolment—men, women, and children—for the more shillings that were paid, the better for the pockets of the agitators. The operations of the society was to be conducted by local boards, corresponding with that over which Mr. Ray presided at the Corn-exchange Rooms, Dublin. The duty of the "Precursor Society," in every parish, was to procure petitions to parliament for "justice to Ireland;" for a corporate reform; for an amendment of the law of election, and extension of the suffrage, and an increase of representatives. The precursors were also instructed to furnish accurate details of the state of the franchise in every parish, and to keep up and extend the registry. This was what Mr. O'Connell designated in one of his letters as "one great experiment more to obtain justice;" and if this failed, then he would have repeal.

THE AFFAIRS OF CANADA.

It has been seen in the parliamentary debates that the affairs of Canada were in a very unsettled state; it is now necessary, however, to give a brief account of the transactions which had taken place in that province.

During several preceding years great dissensions had existed in Lower Canada; and in the year 1837 these dissensions broke out into open insurrection. The provincial parliament of that province assembled on the 18th of August; but from its refractory conduct Lord Gosford was compelled to prorogue it. He had no other alternative but to dismiss the members, since they plainly declared that they suspended all deliberation until the consummation of the reforms announced by and in the name of the imperial authorities. On the prorogation of the provincial parliament everything denoted imminent troubles. The authorities were on the alert; and plans were formed for the effective disposition of the small force that the local government possessed. Nor were the loyalists inactive: a great meeting was held at Montreal, at which resolutions were adopted in support of the British government. These resolutions were followed up by the formation of regiments of volunteers, thus showing a steady determination to carry them out to the utmost. But, notwithstanding all this, the French party, or patriots, convened a great meeting in the county of Richelieu, which they termed "the meeting of the five counties," at which place delegates were collected from the various parishes. The people met in a large meadow; and in this meadow was erected a column, surmounted with a cap of liberty, and bearing this inscription:—"To Papineau, by his grateful brother patriots." Papineau was there; and after haranguing the multitude with other leaders of the faction, and a string of insurrectionary resolutions having been passed, the transatlantic demagogue was conducted to the foot of the column, where an address was delivered to him by one of his brother agitators. The proceedings of the day terminated with a procession of young men, who, marching up to the pillar, sung a patriotic hymn, and, with their hands placed on the column, devoted themselves to their country. Mischief was now fairly afloat. Soon after this a collision took place in the streets of Montreal between the "loyalists and patriots," in which the latter were defeated. The troops in Lower Canada were reinforced by two regiments sent from Halifax; and Sir Francis Head placed the whole of the troops stationed in Upper Canada at the disposal of the Lower, although there were symptoms of disaffection within his jurisdiction. Still rebellion continued. Every day displayed a new manifestation of an intended rising: on the one side men assembled in arms, using threatening language; and on the other the magistrates issued proclamations and warrants, which the military were called on to enforce. On one occasion a party of volunteer cavalry, who composed the escort of some prisoners, was waylaid by an overpowering assemblage of insurgents, who, receiving them with a galling fire, put them to the rout, and rescued the prisoners. Before the close of the last year many of the leaders of the faction were in prison, and more of them, among whom was M. Papineau, had withdrawn to a place of safety.

The insurrection in Lower Canada rendered it necessary for the British government to appoint a species of dictatorial governor, one who should possess the power of making temporary provision for the government of Canada. It has been already seen that Lord Durham was selected for this important mission, and that he had arrived in the province. Before, however, relating the particulars of his government, it is necessary to take a retrospective view of events in Upper Canada.

Sir Francis Head at this time was governor of the upper province of Canada; and at the period when he arrived there a Mr. Lyon Mackenzie, who had originally emigrated from Scotland, was a principal leader of the "Reform," or malcontent party in the province. In the year 1832 Mr. Mackenzie made his appearance in London, as the agent of his party; and in that capacity he was received with every mark of respect. Mr. Mackenzie, in fact, was so successful in his mission as to procure the removal of the attorney and solicitor-generals from their posts, a penalty which they paid for the part they had taken in joining in a vote which had expelled their antagonist from the house of assembly. He returned in triumph to Upper Canada; and, supported by the approval of the English cabinet, succeeded in regaining a seat in the house of assembly. At the ensuing election "the reformers" obtained a large majority in that assembly; and the result was that a "grievance committee" was appointed, which committee made a report that was subsequently transmitted to England. It was to redress the grievances therein stated that Sir Francis Head was despatched to Canada; and he was hailed on his arrival there as a "tried reformer." His appearance under such circumstances naturally excited the distrust of the loyalists, who gave indications of their dissatisfaction. Sir Francis Head, however, was nothing daunted at this demonstration; he had the grievances of Upper Canada to redress, and he had the remedies; and whether the Tories liked the medicine or not, he did not care a straw. At the same time he soon gave an intimation to the Republican leaders that he was not the kind of man they believed him to be. Beyond the grievances they had enumerated in the report, they had a variety of others hitherto unmentioned; and when this was intimated to him, he gave a distinct intimation that he should not take these into consideration. His graphic account of his interview will well illustrate the manner in which he treated the Republicans. He says,—"When Mr. Mackenzie, bringing with him a letter of introduction from Mr. Hume, called upon me, I thought that of course he would be too happy to discuss with me the contents of the report; but his mind seemed to nauseate its subjects. Afraid to look me in the face, he sat with his feet not-reaching the ground, and with his countenance averted from me at an angle of about seventy degrees, while, with the eccentricity, the volubility, and, indeed, the appearance of a madman, the tiny creature raved in all directions about grievances here, and grievances there, which the committee, he said, had not ventured, to enumerate. 'Sir,' I exclaimed, 'let us cure what we have got here first!' pointing to the report before me. But no; nothing that I could say would induce this pedlar to face his own report; and I soon found that it had the same effect upon all the members, and that, like the repelling end of a magnet, I had only to present it to the Radicals to drive them from the very object which his majesty's government expected would have possessed attractions." On his arrival Sir Francis Head promulgated his instructions; a step which had the effect of precipitating matters in Lower Canada. He then proceeded to act, by adding three Reformers to his executive council, making the total number six. By this means the executive council was brought into unison with the majority of the house of assembly. Thus favoured, in furtherance of the views of that body as then constituted, the board requested the governor to bestow upon it a considerable enlargement of its powers. But this sealed the fate of the executive council. Instead of granting their request, Sir Francis, who had already become hostile to the Reformers, dismissed the whole of the members of which the council was composed. This brought him into collision with the house of assembly; the supplies were stopped, and violent and condemnatory addresses drawn up. Sir Francis, however, fought them with their own weapons; when they stopped the supplies, he refused to assent to bills providing for their own contingencies; and in April, 1836, first prorogued, and then dissolved his exasperated parliament. The next assembly presented a majority of opposite politics to the last, and Sir Francis had everything his own way: he "rode on a full tide of popularity." Still he was beset with difficulties on every hand; and his mode of governing was of so novel and experimental a nature, that it was evident he must sooner or later become offensive to his superiors at home. Before the close of the year, indeed, he found himself in collision with Lord Glenelg. During that period and in the following year he addressed several memorandums to the colonial office, in which he gave a description of the political state of Canada, and offered his advice as to what measures were necessary for its good government. It must be confessed that his views were generally of the most eccentric character; and hence they were either unnoticed by the government at home, or he was given to understand that they were not thought worthy to be included among those submitted to the imperial government. The points at issue between Sir Francis and his superiors progressively accumulated, until at length the lieutenant-governor broke out into insubordination, and thereby made his recall a matter of necessity. But before his recall, and while the correspondence was passing between Sir Francis and Lord Glenelg, an insurrection broke out, which was headed by Mr. Mackenzie: Toronto was attacked by him, bearing on his colours the name of "Bidwell," the judge-elect for the court of Queen's Bench. This attack failed, and it became incumbent on Sir Francis Head's successor, Major-general Sir George Arthur, to institute proceedings against some of those engaged in the outbreak, who had been taken prisoners. Among these were Samuel Lount, a native of the United States, and Peter Mathews, an Upper Canadian, both of them men of considerable property. Mathews had headed a party, and attacked the city, when Sir Francis Head was shut up in the Town-hall; on which occasion a bridge and several houses were set on fire. Being brought to trial they pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to death—a sentence that was executed on them. Upon being informed of this event, Lord Glenelg wrote to express his regret that these severities should have been deemed requisite, and expressed a hope that no similar necessity might recur. No more of the offenders suffered capital punishment; but great embarrassment was occasioned by the number of prisoners, it being alike inexpedient to pardon and inconvenient to punish. Sir Francis Head had instituted a board of commissioners, with the vice-chancellor of the province at their head, for the purpose of investigating the cases, and classifying the offenders according to their guilt. A considerable number were finally discharged on bail; others were bound over to keep the peace; some were set at liberty; and of the remainder, a few, principally Americans, were banished from the province; while the residue, for the most part men of property and influence, were sentenced to transportation to the penal colonies. But while the government was occupied in the disposal of these prisoners, the marauders on the American side of the border were making preparations for a renewal of hostilities; and on the 30th of May, 1838, a band of these outlaws boarded the Sir Robert Peel British steamer at Well's Island, situated in the river St. Lawrence, and belonging to the United States. The passengers were robbed of everything, and the vessel was set on fire and then abandoned. Lord Durham, who had just arrived, offered £1,000 reward for the discovery and conviction of the offenders; but the marauders set the authorities, British as well as American, at defiance. Johnson, their commander, celebrated for his address and courage, became the terror of the coast, and executed his schemes of plunder with success and impunity. During the summer and autumn the preparations for invasion continued to be conducted on the American border without any attempt at concealment, and the alarm of the Canadians was naturally proportionate to the danger. Sir George Arthur devoted himself with the greatest assiduity to the defence of the province upon an extensive scale; but the known lenity of Lord Durham had excited a strong feeling of dissatisfaction in the upper province, and had created a feeling of lukewarmness, against which it was difficult to work. On the other hand, Lord Durham thought that the local government had erred on the opposite side of severity. On this subject he wrote to the government at home:—"It cannot be doubted that events of the past year have greatly increased the difficulty of settling the disorders of Upper Canada. A degree of discontent, approaching, if not amounting to disaffection, has gained considerable ground. The causes of dissatisfaction continue to act on the minds of the reformers; and their hope of redress, under the present order of things, has been seriously diminished. The exasperation caused by the conflict itself, the suspicions and terrors of that trying period, and the use made by the triumphant party of the power thrown into their hands, have heightened the passions which existed before. It certainly appeared too much as if the rebellion had been purposely invited by the government, and the unfortunate men who took part in it, deliberately drawn into a trap by those who subsequently inflicted so severe a punishment on them for their error."

It seemed, too, as if the dominant party made use of the occasion afforded by the real guilt of a few desperate and imprudent men, in order to persecute or disable the whole body of their political opponents. A great number of perfectly innocent individuals were thrown into prison, and suffered in person, property, and character. The whole body of reformers were subjected to suspicion, and to harassing proceedings, instituted by magistrates whose political leanings were notoriously adverse to them. Severe laws were passed, under colour of which individuals very generally esteemed were punished without any form of trial—I make no mention of the reasons which, in the opinion of the local government, rendered those different steps advisable, because my object is not to discuss the propriety of its conduct, but to point out the effects which it necessarily had in augmenting irritation. The revolt in Lower Canada has been noticed at the commencement of this article. After this event Lord Gosford was recalled, and during the interval between his departure, and the arrival of Lord Durham, the functions of government in that province devolved on Sir John Col-borne. The first care of Sir John, after the termination of the revolt, concerned the disposal of the prisoners, of whom a great number remained in custody. In the whole, about three hundred and twenty-six were from time to time liberated, leaving about one hundred and sixty in confinement, among whom seventy-two stood charged with being among the principal promoters of the insurrection. It was not expected that any of these would be convicted if tried by ordinary juries; but Lord Glenelg being informed of this, declined to sanction a resort to any other species of court, without previously submitting as a practical test the anticipations as to the issues of the ordinary tribunals. Sir John Colborne was instructed to take steps for reducing the number of prisoners still remaining, by allowing some of them after arraignment to plead guilty, on the assurance that the judgment recorded against them should not be executed, if they would consent to leave the province. From the remaining number he was directed to select four or five cases, and bring them before the ordinary courts of the province, the juries being convened according to the existing practice; but in case this line of proceeding should not appear expedient, it was suggested that a law should be passed, suspending the habeas corpus act, and that the prisoners should be detained until Lord Durham's arrival. Sir John Colborne adopted this latter course, being little disposed to try state-prisoners under what he considered a certainty of their acquittal. In the meantime, however, the news arrived of the new act of parliament, which provisionally invested him with the powers which were eventually to devolve on Lord Durham. In pursuance of his fresh instructions he proceeded to nominate provisionally a special council, consisting of twenty-one members, of whom eleven were French Canadians, and two natives of the province. After preparing a series of "rules and orders" for the better conduct of their deliberations, this council proceeded to pass ordinances for such domestic objects as would have come before the local parliaments in the ordinary course, and to take necessary measures to meet the peculiar exigencies of the time. Among the latter class may be mentioned enactments suspending the habeas corpus, and imposing certain restrictions on the publishers of newspapers. An ordinance was also passed to continue the local act for the transportation of offenders from the province to England, and from thence to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land; an act which was on the point of expiring. By a second ordinance it was provided that, upon the petition of any person charged with high treason committed in the province, it should be lawful for the person administering the government, before the arraignment of the offender, to grant a pardon upon such terms as should seem proper, which pardon should have the same effect as an attainder, so far as regarded the forfeiture of the real and personal estate of the person therein named; and further, that in case any person should be pardoned under that ordinance, upon condition of being transported, or of voluntary banishment, either for life or for a shorter time, and should afterwards return without lawful excuse, contrary to the condition of his pardon, he should be deemed guilty of felony, and forfeit his life. By a third ordinance it was enacted that if a person against whom an indictment for treason was found by a grand-jury in the province would not appear, he might be summoned by proclamation to surrender himself by a given day, such day not to be less than three months from the date of the proclamation; and in the event of his failing to do so, should stand and be adjudged attainted of the crime expressed in the indictment, and suffer and forfeit accordingly, and judgment be recorded to that effect. After issuing these ordinances, with others of minor importance, and after repealing martial-law in the district of Montreal, on the 5th of May the council was prorogued. On the 29th of the same month Lord Durham arrived at Quebec, and immediately proceeded to the council-chamber at the castle, and took possession of the government with the accustomed formalities. His first act was to issue a proclamation, assuring the people that he appeared among them as a friend and arbitrator, ready at all times to listen to them without respect to party, race, or politics. On the 31st of May he addressed a circular to the respective members of the executive council, dispensing with their services, having previously formed another, composed of the secretaries to the general government; namely, C. Buller, Esq., M.P., chief secretary; T. E. M. Turton, Esq., secretary; Colonel G. Couper, military secretary; the provincial secretary; and the commissary-general. Among the earliest measures of Lord Durham was the mission of Colonel Grey to Washington, with instructions to expostulate with the American government on the state of things existing on its own borders. Colonel Grey obtained the fullest assurances of the president that the American government desired to preserve the good understanding existing with England, and ample promises of co-operation in any measures which Lord Durham might think necessary to adopt for restoring the peace of the frontier. A more difficult affair for Lord Durham to settle was the disposal of the state prisoners. His lordship himself remarked that it was "by far the most delicate and dangerous" of all the matters requiring settlement. The manner in which his lordship settled this question has already been seen in the record of the recent debates in parliament. Having appointed a special council, consisting of five members only, he, with the sanction of this council, issued an ordinance, which, after reciting that Wolf Nelson, and seven others therein named, had acknowledged their participation in high-treason, and submitted themselves to her majesty's pleasure, and that Papineau with fifteen others had absconded, enacted that it should be lawful for her majesty to transport Nelson and his seven associates to Bermuda, during pleasure, there to be subjected to such restraints as should be deemed fit; and further, that if any person of the above classes should be found at large, or within the province without permission, they should be deemed guilty of high-treason, and on conviction of coming within the province, suffer death. The ordinance further empowered the governor for the time being to grant, whenever he should think fit, permission to all, or any, of the above-named individuals to return to the province. By a special clause two other classes of persons implicated in the murder of Lieutenant Weir and one Joseph Chartrand, were excluded from the operation of the ordinance, and from the benefit of any amnesty which might be proclaimed. The ordinance was accompanied by a proclamation of amnesty, which declared that, with the exception of the persons named therein, all persons then in custody on a charge of high-treason, or who had withdrawn themselves from justice beyond the limits of the province, should, on giving proper security, be at liberty to return to their own homes. What views were taken in the imperial parliament has been seen. During the debates there, Lord Durham applied himself to the consideration of questions connected with the management of the crown-lands within his dominion. He formed a design for making these lands more subservient to the purpose of emigration than they had hitherto been. A commission of inquiry into the disposal of the crown-lands to that end was issued by him, and he directed similar investigations to be instituted in the other colonies subject to his control. Subsequently his lordship commenced a progress through the two provinces; and, according to his despatches, he was warmly greeted on every hand. He writes:—"Everywhere, in the most insignificant village, as in the most populous town, I have been received with the utmost enthusiasm: in fact, in no part of England have I ever been more warmly greeted, or received more unequivocal marks of respect from all ranks and classes. I announce this fact with much satisfaction, as it is an unerring mark of the feelings with which the measures which I have adopted for the public good have been regarded by the great majority of the inhabitants of the two provinces." It is quite clear, however, that Lord Durham had not conciliated the great body of the people. During the month of September, those who were charged with the crime of murdering the French Canadian, Chartrand, were tried, and although they were arraigned before a jury consisting exclusively of French Canadians, and were moreover notoriously guilty, they were acquitted. On this subject, in one of his reports, Lord Durham says:—"A perusal of the notes of the chief-justice in this case, will satisfy every candid and well-ordered mind, that a base and cruel assassination, committed without a single circumstance of provocation or palliation, was brought home by evidence, which no man ever pretended to doubt, against the prisoners, whom the jury nevertheless acquitted. The duty of giving this dishonest verdict had been most assiduously inculcated by the French press before the trial came on; the jurors are said to have been kept for some time in the hands of zealous partizans, whose business it was not only to influence their inclination, but to stimulate their courage; the array of the leaders of the party who were present at the trial, was supposed to be collected for the same purpose; and it is notorious that the acquittal was celebrated at public entertainments, to which the jurors were invited, in order that they might be thanked for their verdict." This intelligence seems to have had the effect of opening the eyes of Lord Glenelg and his colleagues, as to the impolicy of the restrictions which had been imposed upon the colonial authorities with respect to the trial of political offenders. In his reply, Lord Glenelg stated that it was the desire of her majesty's government that an ordinance should be passed by the special council of Lower Canada, constituting a tribunal for the trial of treason and murder; leaving it to Lord Durham's own discretion how such a tribunal should be formed. It does not appear, however, that Lord Durham adopted any plan for securing the conviction of such offenders as it might be deemed expedient to bring to trial. He scarcely, indeed, had an opportunity of making any alteration in the criminal law. Soon after Lord Glenelg had given directions on that point, he was compelled to communicate the determination of ministers to annul his celebrated ordinance. After informing him that so much of that edict as related to the Bermudas was generally admitted to be invalid, and that in all other respects the law-officers of the crown thought its provisions were within the competency of the governor and special council; he said that, in consequence of the discussions in parliament, and the unpopularity of the penal parts of the ordinance, government, though reluctantly, advised her majesty to disallow the ordinance. Lord Glenelg then proceeded to direct Lord Durham, with à view of preventing the return of the prisoners from Bermuda, to pass an ordinance subjecting them to such penalty, short of death, as might be thought expedient, in the event of their being convicted of returning to the province without permission. With regard to those who had previously fled from justice, it was suggested it might be sufficient by proclamation to make it known that, should they re-enter the province, they would be forthwith arrested, and dealt with according to law, on the charge of treason. The expediency of suspending the habeas corpus act was pointed out; and the despatch concluded with an assurance of the earnest desire of ministers to afford Lord Durham the utmost support in the arduous discharge of his duties. Before these instructions were received, however, Lord Durham had despatched a letter notifying his resolution to resign his office. In this letter he dwelt on the incessant persecutions to which he was exposed in the house of lords; the backwardness of ministers in his defence; and the injurious effects of these circumstances upon the moral authority of his government. "Upon two things," said he, "could I chiefly rely for ultimate success: first, the great extent of the legal powers conferred upon me; secondly, the impression which prevailed throughout the colonies, that I might reckon with perfect confidence on the undeviating support and approval of the government." Deprived of these by the proceedings in question, he proceeded to say, the prestige of his situation was gone for ever, and he had resolved to quit his untenable post, Soon after this, Lord Durham forwarded to Lord Glenelg a statement of the grounds upon which he was prepared to maintain that no part of the ordinance was illegal, however imperative it might, and must of necessity be without assistance and co-operation at home. In another paper, of the same date, he entered at great length into an examination of the conduct of ministers in the late proceedings, arraigning them with great severity for deserting him in the hour of need. He asked, "in what their opposition to the second reading of Lord Brougham's bill consisted? In a concession far more calculated to weaken my hands than would have been any vote of the house of lords, in which it is notorious that her majesty's government have never commanded a majority." His lordship added, "A vote of the house of lords adverse to her majesty's government, or merely condemnatory of any proceedings of mine, would have been considered almost as a matter of course in the present state of parties; and would, if it had been decidedly opposed by the ministers, have left my authority untouched, because it would have been attributed to the mere party motives of a powerful opposition." After remonstrating against the conduct of ministers, Lord Durham proceeded to vindicate his policy. As regarded the particular defect of the ordinance, his lordship contended that he had power to banish people from the province, to keep them in custody during the transit, and to land them at Bermuda or elsewhere. At the same time his lordship admitted that his jurisdiction did not extend further: once landed in Bermuda, the prisoners were subject only to the laws of the island. Lord Durham, after justifying his policy, made some remarks on the impossibility of governing the country with any effect; and then proceeded to consider Lord Glenelg's suggestions of the course which it was advisable to adopt in the present emergency. His lordship treated the suggestion of another ordinance, banishing from the province the eight persons who had been sent to Bermuda, as futile; and stated that he had strong objections to the suspension of the habeas corpus. He remarked:—"Men's notions of right and freedom would be more shocked at such an universal violation of every man's dearest rights, than by any summary process adopted for the punishment of the undeniable guilt of a few. In the event of a general outbreak, it might be proper that the government should be armed with the power of arresting objects of its suspicion without trial. But there existed no such necessity at present; and he did not think it justifiable to take away the franchise of a whole people, in order to punish a few known and dangerous individuals, or to guard against the misconduct of twenty-three men, by enveloping them in a general forfeiture of personal liberty." In conclusion Lord Durham intimated his intention of remaining a few weeks longer, only in order to complete certain measures then in progress. Upon the receipt of Lord Durham's first announcement of his intention to throw up his office, Lord Glenelg endeavoured to soothe his mind, by acknowledging that he had much reason to complain; and entreated him, upon public grounds, to reconsider his decision. His lordship, however, remained firm: he retained office only until arrangements had been made for some one to assume the reins of government. Before he left Canada he proclaimed the act of indemnity, and notified her majesty's disallowance of the ordinance. He accompanied the promulgation of these acts with a manifesto, in which he forgot alike what was due to the country and to himself. The tendency of this manifesto will be seen by Lord Glenelg's remarks upon it. He observed:—"The proclamation of the 9th of October, her majesty's confidential advisers regard not merely as a deviation from the course which has hitherto been invariably pursued by the governors of British possessions abroad, but as a dangerous departure from the practice and principles of the constitution. They consider as open to a most serious objection an appeal by such an officer to the public at large, from measures adopted by the sovereign, with the advice and consent of parliament. The terms in which that appeal has been made, in this instance, appear to her majesty's ministers calculated to impair the reverence due to the royal authority, to derogate from the character of the imperial legislature, to excite amongst the disaffected hopes of impunity, and to enhance the difficulties with which your lordship's successor will have to contend. The ministers of the crown having humbly submitted this opinion to the queen, it is my duty to inform you that I have received her majesty's commands to signify to your lordship her majesty's disapprobation of your proclamation of the 9th of October. Under these circumstances, her majesty's government are prepared to admit that your continuance in the government of British North America could be attended with no beneficial result." Lord Durham's manifesto was deservedly condemned by all parties, as unbecoming the office and character of the queen's representative: it procured for him, in the Times newspaper, the unenviable title of "the lord-high seditioner." In Canada, however, it increased the golden opinions entertained of him greatly. Public meetings were convened, and addresses expressive of sorrow at his resignation poured in upon him from all quarters. At home, also, there were those who admired his character and applauded his conduct. His lordship sailed from Quebec on the 1st of November, and on the 26th he arrived in Plymouth harbour. At Plymouth, Devonport, and Exeter he received complimentary addresses, and unfortunately he was betrayed upon these occasions into renewed indiscretions, the only excuse for which could be that he had received most serious provocation.

In his reply to the addresses at Devonport and Plymouth, Lord Durham boasted that he had "effaced the remains of a disastrous rebellion," and "had conciliated the esteem of a great and powerful nation, in which were to be found all the elements of danger or security to our North American possessions." Before he reached Exeter, however, where another address awaited him, he was compelled to say that he had foreseen another event, the intelligence of which had just been conveyed from Liverpool—the renewal of the rebellion in Canada.

On the departure of Lord Durham, the government again provisionally devolved upon Sir John Colborne. It was expected before he set sail that a renewal of the rebellion would take place during the winter. On the 20th of October, indeed, his lordship had informed Lord Glenelg that the indications of mischief were so numerous and urgent that it was no longer possible to conceal a consciousness of danger. The indications of conspiracy had, in fact, become undeniable. Throughout the French population there existed a formidable organization, bound together by oaths and secret signs. Knowing this, the loyalists in both provinces either took up their abode in the towns, or fled altogether from the British dominion. What made their situation the more critical was the reluctance of the militia and volunteers to take up arms. This was especially the case in Upper Canada, and it seems to have chiefly originated in their dissatisfaction with the lenity of the government. No sooner had Lord Durham departed than the danger became imminent. Arrests took place at Montreal on the following night: domiciliary visits were general; guards and pickets were dispersed in all parts of the city, and its approaches occupied. It was originally intended by the insurgents that the rising should take place at Montreal, on Sunday, the 3rd instant, when the troops were unarmed, and at church. The precautions of Sir John Colborne, however, defeated this scheme, and Beauharnois was selected for the theatre of war. The habitans were now, therefore, once more in arms against the British crown. A numerous party attacked the house of Mr. Ellice, late private secretary to Lord Durham, and that gentleman with three others were carried away by the rebels. On the same day an interesting incident occurred at Caughnawaga, an Indian village. While at church, the Indians were informed that a large body of armed men were secreted in their neighbourhood; and rushing from the sacred walls, they hurried home, seized what arms came to hand, raised the war-whoop, fell upon the enemy, and captured seventy prisoners, with scarcely a show of resistance. The Indians conveyed their prisoners to Montreal, bound with their own sashes and garters; and when Sir John Colborne thanked the chief of the party, he characteristically offered to bring in the scalp of every habitant in the vicinity within twenty-four hours. Sir John Colborne, however, did not think it prudent to give him such a commission, though use of these warriors was made during the struggle. Every day the number of the insurgents increased. Between the 3rd and 6th of November, four thousand were concentrated at Napierville, in La Prairie, under the command of Dr. Robert Nelson, Dr. Cote, and one Gagnor. Upon this point Major-general Sir James Macdonnell was directed to march; but before he could arrive the rebels had dispersed, and were beyond pursuit. In their route they were twice attacked and defeated by a small party of volunteers, losing in the whole sixty men killed, and having about an equal number wounded. The loyalist forces now scoured the insurgent districts, and it was found impossible to prevent many excesses from taking place. The village of Beauharnois was partially destroyed by fire, and the houses of disaffected persons in every part shared the same fate. But while the war was thus easily suppressed in Lower Canada, their American coadjutors were actively engaged on their side. On the evening of the 12th they effected a landing at a place called Prescott, in Upper Canada, to the number of five hundred men, carrying with them several field-pieces. These were, however, defeated by the troops under the command of Colonel Dundas, Major McBean, Colonel Young, and Captain Sandom. Nearly two hundred of them were taken, and conveyed to Kingston, to be tried by court-martial; many were slain, and the rest escaped across the river. Another attack was made by the American marauders on the 4th of December, near Sandwich, at the western extremity of Upper Canada. A steam-boat and the barracks were set on fire, and Dr. Hume, a military surgeon, having fallen into their hands, was barbarously murdered. On discovering this outrage, the militia, under the command of Colonel Price, assembled, and on their approach the enemy fled. Twenty-six of their number were slain in their flight, and twenty-five captured.

In the meantime Sir John Colborne and his special council were busy in the exercise of their legislative functions. Ordinances were passed for substituting martial law, for suspending the habeas corpus, for the attainder of persons against whom the sentence of courts-martial should be given, and for preventing, by highly penal provisions, the administering of unlawful oaths. It had been suggested by Lord Glenelg to Lord Durham, that a special court for the trial of "rebels and murderers" should be instituted. Sir John Colborne, however, preferred to resort to courts-martial for the disposal of prisoners recently captured. Soon after the dispersion of the insurgents, therefore, a general court-martial was convened, and twelve prisoners, all of French extraction, were arraigned before it. Two of these were acquitted, and the rest were sentenced to death; a sentence, however, which was only executed upon two of the most notorious—Cardinal, a notary, and Duguette, a tavern-keeper, who had commanded in both insurrections. In Upper Canada, where Sir George Arthur provisionally governed, the difficulties attendant upon the disposal of the prisoners were greater. The Upper Canadians demanded severity, and would not hear of mercy being extended to men whom they deemed robbers and murderers. A court-martial was assembled at Kingston for the trial of some of the recently captured prisoners; and several of them, as Van Schoultz, a Pole, who commanded the brigands, and three of his associates in command, Abbey, George, and Woodruff, were executed. Not long afterwards five more of the prisoners, three of whom had been engaged in the affair near Sandwich, suffered the same fate. At this time, indeed, according to Sir George Arthur's report, the feelings of the loyal portion of the inhabitants of the upper province, were in the highest degree exasperated. He writes:—"Never was there a task more difficult than to decide what course, under the existing circumstances of the country, should be pursued, so as to combine the least possible violation of public feeling with a sense of justice, preserving withal a due and necessary regard to mercy in its administration; mercy not only as regards the prisoners, whose fate was yet undecided, but which respectively has reference to the lives that may hereafter be sacrificed by the adoption of a present injudicious measure."

It may be mentioned that while these events were transpiring in Upper and Lower Canada, the remainder of the British North American provinces were in perfect harmony with the British government. In Newfoundland, indeed, there were the elements of discord between the colonial legislature and their rulers, superadded to which were religious dissensions; but these circumstances gave no cause for alarm. The broils prevailing there owed their existence to Roman Catholic agitation; but the Protestant interests were too strong to be shaken by them, or the government disturbed.

THE STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

During the whole of this year the war still continued in Spain. The Carlists were less successful and less enterprising than in the two preceding years; but their cause was not yet hopeless. A body of them was defeated at Yebenes, in the province of Toledo, and at Val de Penas in New Castile, by Major-general Flinta; but shortly after this latter defeat they took possession of Almaden, with its famous quicksilver mines, the only element of credit remaining with the queen's government. Basilio Garcia, however, failed in his endeavours to destroy the works of the mines; and having evacuated the town, retired into the mountains of Toledo, whence he harassed the surrounding country, and levied heavy contributions. While Basilio Garcia was carrying on war in Castile and Grenada, another body of Carlists, under the command of Count Negri, was making its way into the interior. He advanced as far as Segovia, but he then turned to the northward; and after presenting himself to no purpose before the walls of Valladolid, he hastened his retrograde march with all possible diligence towards the mountains. In the meantime Basilio Garcia had been again defeated at Bejar with great loss; and he hurried with the remains of his column into the province of Soria, where he effected a junction with Balmaseda. All this time Don Carlos was at Estella; but on the 10th of May, the discontent of the Nayarese in his service compelled him to withdraw to Tolosa. About this time Espartero, who had been elevated to the rank of captain-general of Spain, commenced active operations. He advanced to Pampeluna, and Don Carlos then removed to Glorrio. A series of conflicts now took place; and the struggle closed with the battle of Maella, in which Cabrera, who was the only Carlist general who in this year increased his reputation, defeated the Christino general, Pardinas, with great loss: out of 4,500 men only 1,500 men are said to have escaped: Pardinas himself was slain. But one of the most important events that took place during this year in Spain was an insurrection at Seville, headed by Cordova and Narvaez; this, however, was quelled by the activity of Espartero.

The history of Portugal for the year is marked by no very striking event. The efforts of the Cortes were chiefly directed to the averting of the catastrophe of a national bankruptcy, which was effected by the acceptation of a loan, conjointly tendered by the Mercantile Association, and the Lisbon bank. Early in March a street riot took place in the capital, and threw it into disorder for some few days; but it did not produce any result beyond the bloodshed which it occasioned. The Miguelite guerillas, however, ravaged Portugal, and especially the southern provinces, more this year than they had hitherto done. Remeihido, especially, who had been educated for the priesthood, committed many daring acts; but in the course of the summer he was attacked in his mountain-fastnesses by Colonel Fontoura, and after a sharp conflict his band was routed, and himself captured: he was shot at Faro.

In the month of March the king of Holland intimated to the conference at London sitting on the Hollando-Belgic question, that "having been constantly disappointed in his just expectations of being able to obtain by negociation better terms for his beloved subjects, he had become convinced that the only pledge which still remained for him to give of his regard for their welfare, and the sole means to attain his object, consisted in a full and entire assent on his part to the conditions of separation which the courts of Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, had declared to be unalterable and irrevocable." His majesty, therefore, declared his readiness to accept the twenty-four articles which had been agreed upon in the year 1831. Belgium, however, now refused to accede to the arrangement, by resolving not to cede Luxembourg. But the conference insisted peremptorily on its cession; and it was quite apparent that Belgium would be compelled to render obedience to its decree.

It may be mentioned that an important treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, was this year concluded between Great Britain and Austria, thus further cementing the ancient and natural alliance between two countries, of whom it has been said, "that for one hundred and fifty years they have always had the same enemies, though those enemies have not been the same."

CHAPTER L.

VICTORIA. 1839—1840


     State of Parties..... Meeting of Parliament..... The Corn-
     law Question..... The Affairs of Ireland discussed in
     Parliament..... Proceedings in Parliament respecting
     Jamaica..... Resignation of Ministers, and Failure of Sir
     Robert Peel to form a new Administration, &c...... National
     Education..... The Affairs of Canada..... The second Jamaica
     Bill, &c...... Bill for the Suppression of the Portuguese
     Slave trade, &c...... Motion for the Ballot..... Act for the
     better ordering of Prisons..... Motion for a Committee of
     the whole House to consider the National Petition.....
     Birmingham Riots, &c...... The Budget; proposed Reduction of
     Postage Duties, &c...... Prorogation of Parliament.....
     Affairs in the East Indies..... State of the Continent.

STATE OF PARTIES.

A.D. 1839

It has been noticed in a previous page that the relative strength of the two great parties in the country continued much the same as they were at the commencement of the year 1837. The Whigs, indeed, gained by the change which had taken place in the monarchy, inasmuch as by the death of the late king they were delivered from an avowed adversary, and by the accession of Queen Victoria they gained a known friend to their cause. The ministers, indeed, found considerable advantage in her support. Yet in the house of commons the number of' their supporters had upon the whole rather decreased since their accession to the government; and in the country generally their popularity may be said to have continued on the decline. One of the principal grounds in this change is to be found in the connection of government with the agitator O'Connell. Although that gentleman had rendered many services to the cause of reform, yet his delinquencies were so many, that he never enjoyed the sympathy of any considerable mass of the English people. Moreover, popery, of which he was one of the leaders, is still unpopular in this country, and the Conservatives sedulously took advantage of the connection of the ministers with him to raise apprehensions of Romanist intrigue and encroachment. This was, therefore, a great source of embarrassment to the ministry; and yet they could not offend this man of the people of Ireland by standing aloof from him. Another cause of embarrassment was the movement of the people calling themselves Chartists.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was opened by the queen in person on the 6th of February. The speech referred to the discontents in England and Ireland and the insurrection in Canada, and recommended improvements in the law, and reforms as the remedy for this state of things, while it expressed a determination to maintain the authority of the crown.

The addresses in the lords and commons were, as usual, the occasion of long party debates, in which all the irritating topics of the day were made the most of by the opposition. The affairs of Ireland and the East occupied the greatest prominence; next to these, Chartism and the general distress; while Canada and the Iberian peninsula afforded fertile subjects for the opposition speakers, with which to annoy the government. Free-trade, and the duties on the importation of corn, became a subject of important debate at this juncture. In the commons Sir Robert Peel threw himself, acrimoniously, and with all his energy, into this controversy, and used all the exploded arguments of the protectionists with the air of one who for the first time urged them upon the house. Mr. Villiers severely chastised the protectionist champion, showing how unscrupulously he played the part of a plagiarist even in the sophisms he employed. Mr. Duncombe had the bad taste to move an amendment, which he knew there was no hope of carrying, or of finding a tolerable minority to support, thus impeding the public business without any counterpoising benefit.

When the address was brought up, Mr. O'Connell animadverted in strong language upon the transfer of Limbourg and Luxembourg to Holland: it was one of the greatest cruelties ever committed that the five powers should impose such terms on Belgium. In reply, Lord Palmerston observed that by the treaty of Vienna Limbourg was annexed to the Seven United Provinces. Luxembourg, by the same treaty, was constituted a separate sovereignty, as a grand duchy, to be held by the same individual who should be king of the Netherlands; but by a separate title, and transmissible in a separate line of succession. The kingdom of the Netherlands went to the heirs general of the king, while Luxembourg would descend to the heirs male only: the king of the Netherlands in that character was not a member of the Germanic confederation, but he was a member as grand duke of Luxembourg; and when the grand duchy was formed, it became subject to the federal constitution, and to the regulations which bound the members of the confederacy. When the revolution broke out it extended to Luxembourg, and the king of the Netherlands applied for aid to the five powers. It was ultimately found that the only way of arranging the difficulties between Holland and Belgium was a separation; but the five powers did not feel themselves competent, nor were they competent according to the treaties which governed the relations of the states of Europe, to deal with the question as regarded Luxembourg. In the progress of the negociation the Belgian government expressed a strong desire that a portion of Luxembourg and Limbourg should form a part of Belgium; and the five powers had no objection to this, provided the consent of the Germanic confederation, which had full liberty to re-establish the grand duke in his rights, could be obtained. The diet gave permission, on condition that some equivalent portion of territory should be ceded by Belgium in return for what was detached from the duchy of Luxembourg. To these terms the Belgian government consented, and an arrangement was made, by which it was agreed that for the incorporation of a part of Luxembourg in the kingdom of Belgium an equivalent should be provided by the latter state. This arrangement formed part of the twenty-four articles; and it was perfectly true that these articles, as Mr. O'Connell had said, were accepted by Belgium, and not by Holland. When, however, these articles were incorporated into a regular treaty between Belgium and the five powers, then that treaty became a binding instrument on the contracting party: the five powers were entitled to keep Belgium to the terms of the treaty, and Belgium in turn was entitled to claim their observance of it. The Belgian government had, indeed, on various occasions appealed to the treaty as the charter of its rights; and it was preposterous that, after so regarding it for eight years, they should finally declare to all Europe, because it suited their convenience, that the fundamental articles of the treaty were of no obligation to them. His lordship concluded by saying that, so far from its being an injustice in the five powers to refuse to add Luxembourg to Belgium, it would have been an act of the grossest oppression if they had consented to make a violent seizure of that territory for the purpose of transferring it: all that was done was to leave the matter as it was settled at the congress of Vienna.

THE CORN-LAW QUESTION.

At this time a great many petitions had been presented to both houses of parliament on the subject of the corn-laws. On the 18th of February Lord Brougham moved that these petitions should "be referred to a committee of the whole house, and that evidence be heard at the bar." The Dukes of Buckingham and Richmond and Earl Stanhope opposed the motion; and Lord Melbourne thought that the plan proposed would have no other result than the obstruction of the business of the house, and to perplex and embarrass the question itself. The Duke of Wellington said that the proposed mode of inquiry was without a precedent, and contended that without protection agriculture could not prosper. The reduction of the duty even a trifle too much might involve the country in the utmost difficulty, by rendering the cultivation of the soil impossible, and thereby ruining a large class of industrious and at present happy people. The motion was negatived without a division.

The subject of the corn-laws was debated in the house of commons on the following day. Mr. Villiers moved, "that certain persons be heard at the bar of the house by their agents, witnesses, or counsel, in support of the allegations of the petition presented to the house on the 15th instant, complaining of the operation of the corn-laws." In support of this motion, Mr. Villiers considered at great length the effect of the corn-laws upon the manufactures and commerce of the country. Sir Francis Burdett objected to the course proposed; but, at the same time, he stated that it was his conviction that the landed interest, in which he was himself concerned, was under erroneous impressions on the subject. The debate which followed brought out speeches from many of the men who afterwards took so prominent a part in promoting or opposing the repeal of the corn-laws—such as Mr. Mark Philips (member for Manchester), Lord Stanley, Lord Howick, and Sir Robert Peel. The first-named made a useful and practical speech; Lord Stanley an absurd one; Lord Howick was as capricious and crotchetty as on most other occasions; Sir Robert Peel repeated himself and other hack orators on the side of the protectionists. Mr. Villiers made a calm and effective reply, in which he especially directed his skill as a debater to the exposure of the fallacies of Sir Robert Peel, whose ignorance or partizanship he handled with a calm and dignified severity. On a division the motion was rejected by three hundred and sixty-one against one hundred and seventy-two.

THE AFFAIRS OF IRELAND DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT.

On the 1st of January an Irish nobleman, Lord Norbury, was savagely murdered. His lordship was shot within sight of his own house, in clear daylight, with many people at hand, and yet the assassin escaped with impunity. The occurrence was the more shocking, because the deceased nobleman was a most exemplary character both as a man and as a landlord. His lordship expired on the 3rd of January, after forty-three hours of suffering; and on the same day a notification to the magistrates was issued by the lord-lieutenant of the county, requesting their attendance on the 10th instant, to consider the measures necessary to be taken in consequence of the late outrage. This meeting was held, under the auspices of Lord Osmantown, at Tullamore, and in the course of it resolutions to the following effect were unanimously adopted:—"That it appears to this meeting, that property had its duties as well as its rights; that the answer conveyed to the magistrates of Tipperary by Mr. under-secretary Drummond has had the effect of increasing the animosities entertained against the owners of the soil, and has emboldened the disturbers of the public peace. That finding from the circumstances mentioned in the former resolutions that there is little room to hope for a successful appeal to the Irish executive, we feel it a duty to apply to the people of England, the legislature, and the throne, for protection. That the magistrates assembled are determined to co-operate with the government in any manner pointed out by her majesty's ministers which may give the slightest hope of restoring tranquillity in this distracted country." In the meantime the opposite party made efforts of counteraction. Mr. O'Connell was indefatigable in stirring up his Precursor Society and other similar machines of agitation. Festivals were even held in honour of the demagogue; and at one of these Mr. O'Connell actually asserted that the assassin of Lord Norbury had left on the soil where he had posted himself, not the print of a rustic brogue, but the impress of a well-made Dublin boot. By this and other insinuations, indeed, the arch-agitator directed the minds of the audience to the conclusion that the earl had met his death at the hands of one bound to him by the nearest of natural ties—his son.

The state of Ireland being such, it naturally became a subject for discussion in parliament. On the 7th of March Mr. Shaw moved for returns of the number of committals, convictions, inquests, rewards, and advertisements for the discovery of offenders in Ireland, from 1835 to 1839, in order to enable the house to form a judgment with regard to the actual amount and increase of crime in that country. Lord Morpeth expressed his satisfaction at the course Mr. Shaw had taken; instead of appealing to parliament for a verdict of censure upon government, he had simply moved for papers. There could be no objection to the issue of any information respecting Lord Normanby's administration: he might, indeed, move for returns applicable to a period beyond the last four years, in the confidence that the late lord-lieutenant would have nothing to fear from the comparison. Mr. Colquhoun endeavoured to show, from a long enumeration of cases, that crime had been gaining ground under the system of agitation which prevailed, and which was connived at by the present government. Colonel Conolly, and Messrs. Villiers, Stuart, Litton, and Emerson Tennent, all urged the same serious charge against the Irish administration which had been made by preceding speakers, Mr. O'Connell, after delivering a violent speech, in which he was constantly interrupted, and in which he charged several members with coming to parliament for the sole purpose of villifying their native land, moved that after the word "Ireland" there be added the words, "also similar returns for England, Wales, and Scotland." The last speaker on this evening was Serjeant Jackson, who maintained that by almost every single exercise of patronage, and especially by the appointment of Lord Ebrington to the viceroyalty, government had favoured the cause of agitation. The debate was resumed on the 11th of March, when the house was addressed by Messrs. Lefroy, French, and Sir Charles Styles. As the latter gentleman was speaking the house was counted out, and the discussion, which had little reference to the motion, therefore dropped. The subject of the state of Ireland was introduced in the upper house on the 21st of March by Lord Roden, who moved for a select committee of inquiry into the state of Ireland since 1835, with respect to the commission of crime. His lordship, indeed, adopted the most inculpatory view of the question, and every circumstance in his delineation of the matter—the deeply-rooted ribbon conspiracy; the unredressed grievances of the persecuted Protestants at Achill, and the general insecurity of life and property, were, in his opinion, either created by the conduct of Lord Normanby, or had acquired an aggravated character under his auspices. In reply Lord Normanby vindicated his administration with very great ability. Lord Melbourne also ably defended the noble marquis. The Duke of Wellington and Lord Brougham offered an earnest and eloquent support to Lord Roden's motion. The two noble lords spoke as if they had had a previous concert and arrangement. This alliance of Lord Brougham with the Duke of Wellington did not silence Lord Plunkett. He begged to know what course Lord Brougham would pursue in the event of the motion being carried. Had he any measure of his own to propose, or was he willing to adopt the propositions of others? Was he willing to commit all the friends with whom he had hitherto acted, and to surrender all the principles and opinions which he had advocated throughout life? On a division, Lord Boden's motion was carried by a majority of sixty-three against fifty-eight: a result which gave great dissatisfaction to the ministers. On the day following, indeed, Lord John Russell gave notice of his intention to take the opinion of the house of commons on the government of Ireland in late years in the very first week after the Easter recess.

The vote of the house of lords also alarmed and gave umbrage to Ireland's agitators. Incensed by it, Mr. O'Con-nell crossed St. George's Channel as soon as the houses had arisen, in order to increase the turbulence of his country. Day after day was he to be seen on the corn exchange haranguing the multitude; on Sundays, after mass, he attended parochial meetings; and the columns of the newspapers were filled with the exercitations of his pen. On the 11th of April a grand meeting was held in the theatre-royal, to prepare petitions to the queen and the house of commons, declaratory of their confidence in the actual administration of Ireland. On this occasion Mr. O'Connell exerted all his eloquence to rouse the passions of his hearers, and their shouts told that he was but too successful. "Shout!" he exclaimed at the close of his harangue. The shout that that day emanated from that theatre would be heard in St. Stephen's, and it would cheer the heart of the queen at St. James's.

When the house of commons, resumed its sittings on the 8th of April, Lord John Russell gave notice of his intention on the 15th to propose the following resolution:—"That it is the opinion of this house that it is expedient to persevere in those principles which have guided the executive government of Ireland of late years, and which have tended to the effectual administration of the laws and the general improvement of that part of the United Kingdom." On the following day Sir Robert Peel gave notice that he should move an amendment on this resolution, and on the 12th the right honourable baronet brought forward the draught of his resolutions. They read thus:—"Resolved, that on the 13th day of March last, a motion was made in this house for the production of various documents connected with the state of Ireland, in respect to crime and outrage; including communications made to the Irish government relating to offences connected with ribbonism, and all memorials, resolutions, and addresses, forwarded to the Irish government by magistrates, or other official persons, in respect of crimes and outrages committed in Ireland, and the answers thereto. That the period included within the returns so called for extends from the commencement of the year 1835 to the present time; and that the motion made for the production of them was assented to by this house, no opposition to it having been offered to it on the part of her majesty's government. That on the 21st day of March last, the house of lords appointed a select committee to inquire into the state of Ireland since the year 1835, in respect to crime and outrage, which have rendered life and property insecure in that part of the empire. That, in consequence of the appointment of such committee by the house of lords, it has been proposed that this house should resolve, 'That it is the opinion of this house that it is expedient to persevere in those principles which have guided the executive government of late years, and which have tended to the effectual administration of the law, and the general improvement of that part of the United Kingdom.' Resolved, that it appears to this house, that the appointment of a committee of inquiry by the house of lords, under the circumstances, and for the purposes above-mentioned, does not justify her majesty's ministers in calling upon this house, without previous inquiry, or even the production of the information which this house has required, to make a declaration of opinion with respect to one branch of the public policy of the executive government, still less a declaration of opinions, which is neither explicit as to the principles which it professes to approve, nor definite as to the period to which it refers; and that it is not fitting that this house should adopt a proceeding which has the appearance of calling in question the undoubted right of the house of lords to inquire into the state of Ireland in respect to crime and outrage, more especially when the exercise of that right by the house of lords does not interfere with any previous proceeding or resolution of the house of commons, nor with the progress of any legislative measure assented to by the house of commons, or at present under its consideration." The adroitness with which these resolutions were framed are apparent, and needs no comment; they completely evaded all the difficulties of the case. The situation of the ministers was also rendered more difficult by the conduct of the radical section of the house, whose tactics were called into play on this occasion. They felt themselves bound, indeed, to support Lord John Russell's motion, but then they wished him to go further. No sooner had Sir Robert Peel sat down, indeed, than Mr. Duncombe stated that in the event of the noble lord's resolution being-carried, it was in his contemplation to move an addition to it in the following terms:—"And that it is expedient also to effect such further reforms in the representation of the people in parliament as would conduce to their contentment, and to the security and welfare of the kingdom at large."

On the 15th of April Lord John Russell moved his long-announced resolution of confidence on the part of the house in the executive government of Ireland. His lordship dwelt at great length on the constitutional right of the lords to make inquiry into the state of Ireland and the conduct of its government. He did not deny that right; but considering such a measure under all its circumstances, the indiscriminate vehemence of the inculpations allowed to circulate, the limitation of time, the very name of the mover, he could not but feel that he was called upon to demand from the house of commons a definite opinion upon the conduct of the Irish administration. Sir Robert Peel contended that the noble lord's resolution was partial and unintelligible. Mr. Spring Rice, in reply, contended that the vote of the house of lords was a vote of censure upon government; and he remonstrated against the unfairness of making the existence of crime in Ireland a charge against the present government, when nobody ever thought of censuring preceding administrations on account of turbulence and outrages in Ireland. At the close of Mr. Spring Rice's speech the debate was adjourned, and subsequently two adjournments took place. In the course of the debate ministers were supported by Messrs. Smith O'Brien, Bellew, Henry Grattan, Grote, Edward Lytton Bulwer, Hume, the O'Connor Don, Sir William Somerville, and others, and opposed by Messrs. Lascelles, Sidney Herbert, Lucas, Shaw, Colonel Conolly, Sir James Graham, and others. Mr. Shiel delivered a long and eloquent speech in defence of Lord Normanby. The debate was closed by Mr. O'Connell, whose statements, as usual, were more distinguished for their animated delivery than their accuracy. On a division Sir Robert Peel's amendment was negatived by three hundred and eighteen against two hundred and ninety-six; and Mr. Duncombe's rider by two hundred and ninety-nine against eighty-one.

IRISH MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS BILL.

On the 16th of February Lord Morpeth again moved for leave to bring in a bill for the regulation of municipal corporations in Ireland. It has been seen that the main point of dispute on this subject between the two houses was the amount of the franchise; the house of lords contending that it should be acquired by the occupation for twelve months of a tenement of the value of ten pounds, to be made up of the sum at which it was rated to the relief of the poor; and the house of commons, that the occupation of a tenement rated at the net annual value of eight pounds for six months should confer the qualification in question. It was proposed to retain this last franchise in the present measure; and the only material difference between the present and the former bill consisted in a provision which was now made for the eventual adoption of the English franchise. Lord Morpeth proposed that in whatever town, otherwise competent to receive such institutions, the poor-law act should have been in operation for three years, all persons resident for that period, and rated to any amount, should be entitled to vote for the election of municipal officers. The whole of schedule A, containing the towns in which corporations were to be established, remained the same; but with regard to schedule B, which enumerated those towns to which municipal institutions might be granted on petition of the inhabitants, it was proposed that, without the signatures of an absolute majority, the crown might establish corporations in those places as well as in any other town of three thousand inhabitants, in which there might be a number of persons occupying premises at not less than £4 per annum, sufficient to make up a constituency. On the second reading of the bill it met with a stern opposition of the conservative party; but it was eventually carried through by the small majority of twenty-six. The bill was committed pro-formâ on the 19th of April; but many delays took place in order that thirty-four clauses, which should have made part of the original measure, should be included. On the 4th of July, however, the house went into committee upon clause twenty, which referred to the value of the franchise. An attempt was made by Mr. Shaw to introduce a £10 qualification, which had been the ultimatum of the Conservatives in the last session: but after a short debate the original question was carried by one hundred and fifty-four against fifty-four. Some other minor amendments were subsequently proposed, but they were negatived; and the bill was finally carried in the commons by a majority of ninety-seven against seventy-six.

On the 22nd of July, the Irish Municipal Corporations bill was read a second time in the house of lords. On the 25th of July, before the house went into committee, Lord Lyndhurst gave notice of the amendments which he intended to move in the course of the evening, and of his intention to vote against the third reading, if the bill should come unaltered out of the committee. The only amendment of the noble lord which gave rise to any discussion after their lordships went into committee was for raising the qualification from £8 to £10. This was objected to by Lord Melbourne, who said, that he could not but think that their lordships were acting no very worthy part, in raising difficulties in the way of what they all considered desirable—the settlement of the question. The Duke of Wellington administered a severe rebuke to his lordship for uttering such a sentiment; and on a division the amendment was carried by a majority of ninety-three against forty-three. A number of minor amendments were also made in conformity with Lord Lyndhurst's suggestions; and on the 5th of August the bill was read a third time, and passed.

Lord John Russell moved the order of the day, for the consideration of the lords' amendments, on the 12th of August; on which occasion he stated that it was not advisable, in his opinion, to take objection to the bill on the question of privilege, on account of certain clauses transferring certain fiscal powers from the grand-juries to the new town-councils, which had been struck out in the other house, and to send it back to the lords. The only course to pursue would be to bring in a new bill either now or at the beginning of the next session. He moved, therefore, that the amendments be taken into consideration that day three months, in the hope that he might be able finally to adjust the question. This motion was agreed to.

On the 6th of August Lord Brougham brought forward several resolutions on the administration of justice in Ireland under the Marquis of Normanby. His lordship's remarks were chiefly confined to Lord Normanby's public measures; and the debate in general was conducted in a tone friendly to the noble marquis, even by the opposite party. At the same time the resolutions were carried by a majority of eighty-six against fifty-two.

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT RESPECTING JAMAICA.

It has been seen that in the earlier part of the preceding year the agitation on the subject of West India slavery had become general throughout the kingdom, and that it gave rise to discussion in parliament. An important bill was passed, entitled "An act to amend the act for the abolition of slavery." Many salutary provisions were made in this instrument for the further protection of the apprentices; and in order to serve the execution of such regulations of the former enactment as had been disregarded by the planters. This act was promulgated in Jamaica by the governor on the 1st of June; and on the 5th of the same month he convened the legislature of that colony. In his speech Sir Lionel Smith informed the assembly that he had called the house together to take into consideration the state of the island, and to recommend the early and equal abolition of apprenticeship for all parties. The assembly entered a warm remonstrance against the abolition amendment act; but nevertheless on the 16th of June the governor gave the royal assent to an act for the entire abolition of prædial apprenticeship from the 1st of August, 1838.

On the arrival in England of the news of this voluntary abandonment on the part of the planters of the remaining term of apprenticeship. Lord Melbourne presented to the house of lords an important bill, founded on the report of Captain Pringle, empowering her majesty in council to make rules for the government of the West India prisons, to appoint inspectors, and regulate other matters of necessary discipline. This bill was sent out and promulgated by the governor in a proclamation affixed to the doors of their house about six weeks before the meeting of the assembly. That meeting took place on the 30th of October, and their very first procedure was to pass four resolutions condemnatory of Lord Melbourne's bill; complaining of the violation of their rights by the parliament of Great Britain; asserting that as a body they (the assembly) had ceased to exist for any useful purpose to the people whom they represented; and that therefore they would abstain from the exercise of any legislative function, excepting such as might be necessary to preserve inviolate the faith of the island with the public creditor, until her majesty's pleasure should be known, whether her subjects of Jamaica, now in a state of freedom, should henceforth be treated as subjects, with the power of making laws for their own government, or as a conquered colony. Sir Lionel now prorogued the assembly for a few days; but when they again met they asserted their determination to adhere to their resolutions, and the result of their contumacy was the final prorogation of their house.

In consequence of these transactions, on the 9th of April Mr. Labouchere introduced a bill to suspend the existing constitution for five years. In the meantime it was proposed to make provision for the government of that colony by investing it pro tempore in the hands of a governor, and a council augmented by the accession of three persons, who would be sent from England as commissioners, especially qualified by experience to assist in the consideration of some of the more important topics to which their early attention would be directed, as the improvement of the negroes, the poor-laws, and prison discipline. This interval, it was said, would give time for the enactment of such laws as were called for by the transition state of the colony, and the government afterwards proposed to restore the ancient constitution, subject to the requisite modifications. The introduction of this measure was not opposed by the Conservatives. The bill arrived at the second reading on the 23rd of April, when Sir Robert Peel stated that he would again allow it to be read pro formâ. Counsel would then be heard at the bar against the measure: he was even content to have the bill committed, and take the discussion on the question that the speaker do now leave the chair. At the same time, before they proceeded to suspend the constitution of Jamaica for five years, and to vest so great an authority of taxation in an unpopular government, he could wish to give to the assembly the power of reconsidering their course, and returning to their duties. If the house of assembly should still adhere to their refractory courses, he was disposed to confide to ministers the power of carrying on the government for a time, until parliament should decide otherwise; or if it could be further shown that public business would be prejudiced by such delay, he would, make no more opposition to the bill. Counsel were then heard; the cause of the colony being pleaded by Sergeant Mereweather and Mr. Burge, the accredited agent of the colonies. The debate on the question was opened on the 3rd of May, when Sir Robert Peel expressed his disappointment that it had not been found practicable to come to some arrangement with regard to the government of Jamaica without any party conflict, or even any serious division on the course to be pursued. He thought that the temporary abrogation of a popular form of government was by no means desirable. Mr. Labouchere maintained that the result of the great experiment of emancipation would depend on the fate of this bill. The only chance of securing the investment of English capital, and ensuring success to the experiments to be tried of cultivating the estates by free labour, lay in the timely introduction of proper regulations. It would be vexatious if, after all, the negroes should take to squatting, and pass their lives in indolence; but half of the good work would have been achieved until the black was raised to the condition of a free and laborious citizen. As matters stood, the negroes refused to enter into contracts; the only method for obtaining from the black population the continuous labour which was notoriously indispensable for the cultivation of sugar, was to induce them to enter into an agreement to work uninterruptedly for a stipulated sum of money. So arbitrary and partial, however, was the power assigned by the present law of contract, that the negro was reluctant to engage on such conditions. This called for alteration; and so likewise did the law relating to the militia, as well as the vagrancy law and the constitution of the courts of justice. It would also be advisable to introduce some measure of relief for the poor; but nothing could be effected in the present discontinuance of all legislation. Mr. Labouchere added, that the present measure, though avowedly an arbitrary one, would, after all, only place Jamaica on the same footing with the other crown colonies, who were administered by a governor and council. He concluded by proposing two years and a half instead of five as the shortest interval within which the measures in contemplation could be prepared. Mr. Godson opposed the measure; and Mr. Charles Buller delivered a clever speech in its support. Mr. Hume expressed his reluctance to separate himself from the government on this question; but he could not vote in favour of such injustice. Sir George Grey vindicated the measure, noticing a variety of instances in which the assembly had eluded the recommendations of government in favour of the negroes, and referring, in proof of his assertion, to several conservative authorities.

The house then adjourned; and the debate was opened on the following Monday by Mr. Maclean. The bill on this night was supported by Sir Eardley Wilmot, and Messrs. Warburton and O'Connell; and opposed by Messrs. Grote, Gaily Knight, Goulburn, Gladstone, and Lord Stanley. The debate was closed by Lord John Russell, who enumerated a short summary of the arguments for the bill, and declaimed against those of his usual supporters who were about to desert him. On a division the measure was carried by a majority of five only, the numbers being, in favour of the bill, two hundred and ninety-four; against it, two hundred and eighty-nine.

RESIGNATION OF MINISTERS, AND FAILURE OF SIR ROBERT PEEL TO FORM A NEW ADMINISTRATION, ETC.

The result of the debate on the Jamaica suspension bill was followed by the resignation of the ministers. On the 7th of May the leading members of the administration in both houses declared their inability to carry on the government with advantage to the public service, and that they had in consequence tendered their resignations, which her majesty had graciously accepted. After the lapse of a week the house of commons again met, when Lord John Russell stated, that since he last addressed them Sir Robert Peel had received authority from her majesty to form a new administration; and that the attempt of the right honourable baronet having failed, her majesty had been graciously pleased to permit that gentleman to state the circumstances which had led to that failure. In explanation, Sir Robert Peel said that her majesty had invited the Duke of Wellington to assist her in the formation of a new government; and that his grace had informed her that, in his opinion, the chief difficulties a government would have to encounter would be in the house of commons; and for that and other reasons the noble duke had advised her majesty to send for him as the person best qualified to undertake the duties of prime minister. Her majesty accordingly sent for him, and when he waited on her, he stated his sense of the difficulties a new government would have to encounter; but that, having been a party to the vote of the house which led to those difficulties, nothing should prevent him from tendering to her majesty every assistance in his power. Subsequently he submitted the following list of names to her majesty for approval in the formation of the new cabinet:—The Duke of Wellington, Lords Lyndhurst, Aberdeen, Ellenborough, and Stanley; Sirs James Graham, and Henry Hardinge, and Mr. Goulburn. Sir Robert proceeded to state that no difficulties arose to lead to his relinquishing to form a new administration until Thursday; and that difficulty arose, he said, exclusively from that portion of the household which is filled by the ladies in her majesty's service. On the Wednesday night previous to this event, he had stated to those whom he proposed to submit to her majesty as ministers, the course he intended to pursue with respect to the household. He had little considered the subject; and with regard to the female part of it, he scarcely knew of whom it consisted. He took the red book in his hand, however, and there saw the different appointments. He then stated that with reference to all the subordinate appointments below the rank of a lady of the bedchamber, he should propose no change to her majesty; and that with respect to the superior class he took for granted they would relieve him from any difficulty, by at once relinquishing their offices. If such offices, however, should not be voluntarily relinquished, he gave it as his opinion that they should be subject to some change, although in some instances the absence of all political feeling might render any such change unnecessary. On the Thursday he saw her majesty, when he made a verbal communication to such an effect. He would not enter into the precise nature of this communication, but simply read two letters which had subsequently passed: one, conveying her majesty's impressions, and the other his own. These letters read thus:—

"Buckingham Palace, May 10th, 1839.

"The queen having considered the proposal made to her yesterday by Sir Robert Peel, to remove the ladies of her bedchamber, cannot consent to adopt a course which she conceives to be contrary to usage, and which is repugnant to her feelings."

"Whitehall, May 10th, 1839.

"Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has had the honour of receiving your majesty's note of this morning. In respectfully submitting to your majesty's pleasure, and humbly returning into your majesty's hands the important trust which your majesty had been graciously pleased to transmit to him, Sir Robert Peel trusts that your majesty will permit him to state to your majesty, his impression with respect to the circumstances which have led to the termination of his attempt to form an administration for the conduct of your majesty's service. In the interview with which your majesty honoured Sir Robert Peel yesterday morning, after he had submitted to your majesty the names of those whom he proposed to recommend to the principal executive appointments, he mentioned to your majesty his earnest wish, to be enabled by your majesty's sanction, so to constitute your majesty's household that your majesty's confidential servants might have the advantage of a public demonstration of your majesty's full support and confidence; and that at the same time, as far as possible consistently with that demonstration, each individual appointment in the household should be entirely acceptable to your majesty's personal feelings. On your majesty expressing a desire that the Earl of Liverpool should hold an office in the household, Sir Robert Peel requested your majesty's permission at once to offer to Lord Liverpool the office of lord-steward, or any other which he might prefer. Sir Robert Peel then observed, that he should have every wish to apply a similar principle to the chief appointments which are filled by the ladies of your majesty's household: upon which your majesty was pleased to remark that you must reserve the whole of these appointments, and that it was your majesty's pleasure the whole should continue, as at present, without change. The Duke of Wellington, in the interview to which your majesty subsequently admitted him, understood that this was your majesty's determination, and concurred with Sir Robert Peel in opinion, that, considering the great difficulties of the present crisis, and the expediency of making every effort in the first instance to conduct the public business of the country with the aid of the present parliament, it was essential to the success of the commission with which your majesty had honoured Sir Robert Peel, that he should have that public proof of your majesty's entire support and confidence, which would be afforded by the permission to make some changes in that part of your majesty's household, which your majesty resolved on maintaining entirely without change. Having had the opportunity, through your majesty's gracious consideration, of reflecting upon this point, he humbly submits to your majesty that he is reluctantly compelled, by a sense of public duty and of the interest of your majesty's service, to adhere to the opinion which he expressed to your majesty. He trusts he may be permitted at the same time to express to your majesty his grateful acknowledgments for the distinction which your majesty conferred upon him, by requiring his advice and assistance in the formation of an administration, and his earnest prayers that whatever arrangements your majesty may be enabled to make for that purpose, may be most conducive to your majesty's personal comfort and happiness, and to the promotion of the public welfare."

After reading these letters, Sir Robert Peel proceeded to notice certain misrepresentations with regard to his conduct in this affair, and to vindicate his policy in requiring the change alluded to in those letters. Lord John Russell replied at great length, and in reference to the point which proved a stumblingblock to Sir Robert Peel in his efforts to form an administration, said, that her majesty, after relating all the circumstances, was pleased to ask him whether he thought she was justified in making the refusal of a change in her household to the required extent? His lordship said, he replied that he thought her majesty was justified; and then she was pleased to observe, that as in the exercise of the powers of the crown she had hitherto given her support to the administration, she hoped I would consider myself bound now to support her majesty in return. His lordship then proceeded to state that on the next day a cabinet was held in Downing-street, at which her majesty's confidential servants having taken into consideration the letter addressed by her majesty to Sir Robert Peel, and the reply of the right honourable baronet, were of opinion that for the purpose of giving to the administration that character of efficiency and stability, and those marks of the constitutional support of the crown, which are required to enable it to act usefully to the public service, it is reasonable that the great officers of the court, and situations held in the household by members of parliament, should be included in the political arrangements made in a change of the administration; but they were not of opinion that a similar principle should be applied or extended to the offices held by ladies in her majesty's household. Lord John Russell concluded by saying that he conceived that those who thought her majesty justified in what she had done, should not refuse to assume the responsibility which belongs to their opinion; and that they should neither conceal nor evade the avowal of it, but should trust to the opinion of parliament, and of the country as to the result. In reply Sir Robert Peel said that Lord John Russell had relieved him from the greatest load of anxiety he had ever suffered under during his whole life; and as there was no important difference in their explanations, he thought it would be more respectful to her majesty to let the matter rest where it was. On the following evening a supplementary explanation of these matters was given in the lords; but as it would be mere repetition, it is not necessary to detail any portion of the speeches delivered. In the end the cabinet was reconstructed, and the first act of the house of commons, when it again met, was to elect Mr. Shaw Lefevre to the office of speaker, in the room of Mr. Abercrombie, who had three weeks previously declared his intention of resigning. Mr. Goulburn was nominated by the Conservatives in opposition to Mr. Shaw Lefevre; but the latter gentleman was elected by a majority of three hundred and seventeen against two hundred and ninety-nine. Mr. Shaw Lefevre took the chair accordingly.

NATIONAL EDUCATION.

Since the year 1833 parliament had granted annually the sum of £20,000 for the purposes of education. This money had been equally divided between the National Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. Government, however, were not satisfied with merely asking an increase; they required liberty to change entirely the mode of its distribution. Their views on this subject were first made known to the house on the 12th of February, when Lord John Russell, in presenting certain papers connected with education, gave an outline of his views upon it, and stated the determination of himself and colleagues respecting it. His lordship proposed that the president of the council, and other privy-councillors, not exceeding five, should form a board for the consideration of the manner in which the grants made by parliament should be distributed. He further stated that the first object of such a board should be the establishment of a good normal school; and, in order to make that as perfect as possible, attention should be mainly directed to four objects—religious instruction; general education; moral training; and habits of industry, applied in learning some trade or profession. This brief outline was regarded with various feelings by the house and the public. Sir Robert Inglis confessed the noble lord had proposed to do less evil than he expected; while Mr. Wyse complained that he proposed much less good than was hoped for. The manner in which this step was followed up by the government subsequently was unfolded in a minute of the privy-council. This minute recommended that the sum of £10,000 granted by parliament in 1835 towards the erection of normal or model schools, should be given in equal proportions to the National Society and the British and Foreign School Society; and that the remainder of the subsequent grants of the years 1837 and 1838 yet unappropriated, any grant that may be voted in the present year, be chiefly applied in aid of subscriptions for buildings; and, in particular cases, for the support of schools connected with these societies. The report further stated, that the committee did not feel themselves precluded from making grants in particular cases which shall appear to them to call for the aid of government, although the application may not come from either of the two mentioned societies. The opinion of the committee, it was stated, was that the most useful applications of any sums voted by parliament, would consist in the employment of those moneys in the establishment of a normal school, under the direction of the state, and not placed under the management of a voluntary society. Finally, the committee recommended that no further grant be made now or hereafter for the establishment or support of normal schools, or of any other schools, unless the right of inspection be retained, in order to secure a conformity to the regulations and discipline established in the several schools, with such improvements as may from time to time be suggested by the committee. The report added, that a part of any grant voted in the present year might be usefully applied to the purposes of inspection, and to the means of acquiring a complete knowledge of the present state of education in England and Wales. The day after these resolutions appeared, Lord Ashley moved a call of the house for the 14th of June. This motion was seconded by Lord John Russell, who embraced the opportunity of warning the members against the petitions which had been presented against the ministerial scheme. Great error and misrepresentation, his lordship said, prevailed on this subject throughout the country. At the same time he stated that government would not persist in their proposal to found a normal school. His lordship concluded by some remarks on the merits of the National and British and Foreign School Society; and by stating that he should be ready to go into the report of the committee of the privy-council, and should also propose that the vote of £30,000, of which he had given notice, should be divided as it hitherto had been, between the two societies. Lord Stanley objected to the proposition for giving a direct control over the moral and the religious education of the people to a board or committee exclusively political in its character, and having no fixed principle of action. His lordship also objected to the plan for giving a secular rather than a religious education; contending that schoolmasters entrusted with the instruction of youth should be of sound doctrine. He concluded by moving an amendment to this effect, "That an address be presented to her majesty to rescind the order in council for constituting the proposed board of privy-council." Lord Morpeth said that he conceived that the speech of Lord Stanley went to this extent—to separate by a specific vote of the house the executive government of the country from all superintendence and control over the general education of the people. He combated this notion at considerable length; arguing that so long as the state thought proper to employ Roman Catholic sinews, and to finger Unitarian gold, it could not refuse to extend to those by whom it so profited the blessings of education. Lord Ashley said that he considered the scheme propounded to the house to be hostile to the constitution, to the church, and to revealed religion itself, although he did not mean to assert it was unconstitutional. The remainder of the debate was conducted by Mr. Wyse, Mr. D'Israeli, Sir Robert Inglis, Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Gladstone, and Sir Robert Peel. The house divided on the original question, that the order of the day for a committee of supply be read, which was carried by a majority of two hundred and eighty against two hundred and seventy-five. In accordance with this vote Lord John Russell, on the 24th of June, moved that the house should resolve itself into a committee of supply, in which committee, after recapitulating many of the arguments previously urged by himself and other members, he proposed that £30,000 be granted by her majesty for public education in Great Britain for the year 1839. Lord Mahon said, he felt it his duty to meet the motion with a direct negative. The debate which followed was chiefly remarkable for an eloquent speech delivered by Mr. Shiel in support of the motion. After a few words from Mr. Goulburn in opposition to the grant, the committee divided, and Lord John Russell's proposition was carried by a majority of two only, the numbers being, for the grant, two hundred and seventy-five; against it, two hundred and seventy-three.

The subject of national education was introduced in the lords on the 5th of July, by the Archbishop of Canterbury; who, after defending the clergy from the attacks made on them by certain parties in regard to this government scheme, and entering into some details of the progress of education in this country, moved a series of resolutions condemnatory of the proposed system of education; and the resolutions were carried by a majority of two hundred and twenty-nine against one hundred and eighteen.

In consequence of this majority the lords went in a body to her majesty to offer their remonstrance against the proposed alteration in the manner of distributing the educational grant.

At a later period of the session Lord Brougham brought forward his plan for educating the people; but its merits were not canvassed by the house, and the consideration of it was adjourned till next session.

AFFAIRS OF CANADA.

On the 11th of February Lord Melbourne laid the report of Lord Durham, and other papers, on the table of the house of lords, expressing a hope at the same time, that before the Easter recess he should be enabled to introduce a measure for the purpose of putting a speedy end to the discontents in that part of the empire. This report had appeared in the columns of the Times newspaper some days before it was presented to either house of parliament; in allusion to which unusual circumstance, Lord Durham said he deeply regretted the premature publication of it. His subsequent statement, however, proved that it could not have been a matter of surprise to his lordship. There had been, he said, an understanding with the ministry that the document should be printed before the meeting of parliament, in order to save time, and accordingly two thousand copies were prepared; and he had himself half a dozen for circulation among his private friends. It would appear from this report that the chief cause of all the troubles that had disturbed Lower Canada was to be found in the spirit of exasperation that had grown up between the two races by whom it was peopled. It was possible, it stated, that under a better system of management this temper would never have been called forth, and that the present disparity between the numbers of the two races would not have existed. During the eighty years that had elapsed since the conquest of Canada, the French inhabitants had increased from sixty thousand to four hundred and fifty thousand souls, while the English settlers amounted to no more than a fourth of the entire population, notwithstanding the great influx of emigrants which had taken place between the years 1829 and 1837. Another source of evil pointed out by Lord Durham in his report was the lack of education in the colonies. According to returns laid before parliament in 1835, there were in Lower Canada, besides several Roman Catholic colleges, and a number of private seminaries for the higher branches of education, two grammar-schools, one at Quebec and the other at Montreal, and in the three districts of Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, thirty-seven free-schools, with nearly two thousand scholars. In addition to these there were established, under a provincial act of parliament, one thousand one hundred and seventy-one elementary schools, with thirty-seven thousand six hundred and fifty-eight scholars, distributed through the colonies, and placed under the superintendence of trustees annually elected by the inhabitants. The utility of these schools, however, may be estimated by this passage from Lord Durham's report:—"It came to my knowledge that out of a great number of boys and girls assembled at the school-house door of St. Thomas, all but three were admitted upon inquiry to be unable to read; yet the children of this large parish attend school regularly, and make use of books. They hold the catechism-book in their hands as if they were reading, while they only repeat its contents, which they know by rote." The only exception to this state of things made by Lord Durham was in favour of the Catholic clergy, who were represented by him as a respectable and well-conducted class of men, and well-disposed towards the government. The report further stated that there was no combination between the two races for public objects. All public meetings, no matter for what purpose they were called, were attended exclusively by one or the other of the races. They could not harmonize even in associations of charity; and the only public occasion on which they met was in the jury-box, and then they met only to obstruct justice. With such feelings existing in the colony, there could be no wonder that insurrections and tumults abounded.

No discussion arose on the presentation of Lord Durham's report to the lords. On the 15th of February the Duke of Wellington moved an address to her majesty for copies of the correspondence of Sir F. Head with her majesty's government on the affairs of Upper Canada; and also for copies of the correspondence of Sir J. Colborne and her majesty's government relative to the establishment of rectories in Upper Canada. Viscount Melbourne said he was ready to produce such portions of the correspondence as appeared to be necessary for the defence of Sir F. Head, or which afforded general information; he further suggested that the motion should be for "copies or extracts" as to the correspondence of Sir J. Colborne relative to the establishment of rectories. The Duke of Wellington, in reply, intimated that, although he thought the whole correspondence ought to be produced, he would alter his motion according to the suggestion of the noble viscount. The Earl of Aberdeen said it was impossible for the house to legislate upon the affairs of Canada without being in possession of this correspondence; and the Earl of Wick-low contended that there should be superadded any report given by Lords Gosford or Aylnaer. On the 19th of February Lord Winchilsea further moved, that a humble address be presented to her majesty, praying that she would be graciously pleased to order to be laid upon the table of the house any correspondence that had passed between her Majesty's government and Lord Durham, relative to the appointment of Mr. Turton as his lordship's secretary. This was a topic which had excited severe animadversion in parliament, as well as on the part of the public press; but it does not appear that government had anything to do with it, or that there were any papers to be produced. In the desultory conversation which followed, indeed, Lord Durham took the whole responsibility of the appointment on himself, and insisted that he was justified in making that appointment. He had known Mr. Turton from his earliest infancy; and he knew also his high professional reputation. He had been employed as advocate-general in India, by Lords Combermere and Amherst, and had discharged his office so much to the satisfaction of the governor and council in India, that they voted him five thousand sicca rupees, and a vote of thanks for his conduct. It was not to be endured, therefore, that he was to be taunted for appointing to this trumpery office a man who had previously filled the highest judicial functions in India. Lord Durham concluded by threatening that if this matter were proceeded in further by parliament he would not rest until he had obtained an inquiry into the case of every public man who had received official employment after having been convicted of the same kind of immorality as Mr. Turton.

On the 3rd of May Lord Melbourne presented the following message from the queen to the imperial parliament:—"Her majesty thinks it proper to acquaint the house of lords, that it appears to her majesty that the future welfare of her majesty's subjects in Upper and Lower Canada would be promoted by the union of the said provinces into one province for the purpose of legislating, from and after the period to be fixed by parliament. Her majesty therefore recommends it to the house, to consider such measures as may be submitted to them for that purpose. Her majesty is persuaded that the house of lords will be careful to combine a due regard for the peace and security of these important provinces with such provisions as may be conducive to the welfare of England, and the permanent freedom and prosperity of her majesty's North American provinces." The idea of uniting the two provinces originated in Lord Durham's report, in which he gave several cogent reasons for such a measure. The subject was taken into consideration on the 3rd of June, when Lord John Russell said it became his duty to call upon the parliament to lay the foundation of a permanent settlement of the affairs of Canada. In his speech, his lordship recapitulated the various circumstances connected with the subject of Canadian affairs. With reference to the recommendation contained in her majesty's message, Lord John said that the act of 1791 was founded on two principles: first, that by dividing the province into two the French population might remain in that portion called Lower Canada, whilst British emigrants would have free scope for their industry, and power to establish their own institutions and customs, in the other portion of the province, which was to be called Upper Canada. Another reason was, the French inhabitants being very loyal to the crown, of very simple habits, and possessing institutions to which they were attached, it was advisable that means for maintaining those institutions should be reserved to them. His lordship acknowledged that there might have been at the time reasons for introducing the constitutional act of 1791, but argued at great length that it was a mistaken act of policy. The grievances which had arisen out of it were manifold; and as a remedy for them he proposed the re-union of the two provinces. Other remedies had been suggested, but his lordship thought that they were not sufficient to meet the exigencies of the case. In support of his own proposition his lordship stated that there were many persons in Lower Canada anxious for such a union, and that the legislature of Upper Canada had decided in favour of the plan. The noble lord concluded by moving these resolutions:—I. "It is the opinion of the house that it is expedient to form a legislative union of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, on the principles of a free and representative government, in such a manner as may most conduce to the prosperity and contentment of the people of the united provinces. II. That it is expedient to continue until 1842 the powers vested in the governor and special council of Lower Canada, by an act of last session, with such alteration of those powers as may be deemed advisable." Mr. Hume protested against this plan, and Mr. Goulburn moved the adjournment of the house. Sir Robert Peel expressed his surprise to find that it was not the intention of her majesty's government to propose any legislative measure in the present session, having reference to Canada. His parliamentary experience was entirely against resolutions pledging the house to any particular course. The debate was adjourned to the following Monday, when Lord John Russell stated his intention of withdrawing his resolution, pledging the house to the abstract principle of a union of Upper and Lower Canada; giving as his reason for this change in the policy of government, the strong protest against such a measure on the part of the commons house of assembly of Upper Canada; a protest which was contained in a report drawn up by a select committee of that body and presented to her majesty. With reference to the second resolution, Lord John Russell proposed the continuation for three more years of the power now placed in the hands of the governor and special council of Lower Canada. On the resumption of the debate on the 13th of June, Lord John Russell moved for the withdrawal of the first resolution. He was still of opinion, he said, that at some future period such an union should be carried into effect, but in the meanwhile he thought it necessary that certain exciting topics should be disposed of by the legislature. Accordingly he proposed to introduce a measure for the continuance of the act of last session, for the suspension of the constitution until 1842, and at the same time amending that act in several particulars. The amendments proposed by his lordship were the alteration of the clause authorizing the governor to suspend the habeas corpus act; the alteration of the clause known as Sir William Follett's, limiting its operation to measures affecting the clergy, on the tenures of land; and the introduction of a new clause, giving power to impose rates and taxes not to be paid into the public treasury, but to be applied to such local purposes as watching and the roads. With regard to the bill for the union of the provinces, his lordship said, that he thought it might be necessary to change some of its provisions. The bill he would ask to introduce provided for the establishment of a central district at Montreal and its neighbourhood, where the meetings of the assembly should be held. The other parts of Upper and Lower Canada he proposed to divide into two districts. There would then be a central district, and four other districts. Each of these was to be subdivided into nine other districts, so that supposing each division to return two members, there would be ninety members for the electoral divisions. In addition to these, his lordship proposed that the four largest towns should return two members, making in the whole ninety-eight. After a brief discussion, leave was given to bring in the bill, and to amend the act of last session, appointing a provisional government.

It was not until the 4th of July that Lord John Russell moved the order of the day for the second reading of this bill. The discussion which followed was a mere repetition of former debates. The bill was then read a second time.

Lord John Russell moved the order of the day forgoing into a committee of the whole house on the 11th of July, when Sir William Molesworth moved a resolution, the object of which was to declare on the part of the house, that considerations of humanity, justice, and sound policy demanded that parliament should apply itself without delay to legislate for the permanent government of the Canadas.

The debate which followed threw no new light upon Canadian affairs, or the policy which ought to be pursued towards the people of the Canadian provinces. The discussions, however, demonstrated the incapacity of the government to deal with matters of such magnitude, and the desire of the opposition to sacrifice justice and expediency to party spirit. The house divided, and the original motion was carried by a majority of two hundred and twenty-three against twenty-eight.

In the committee Mr. Hume objected to the first clause, which appertained to the increased number of councillors, as only making an addition to despotism; but the clause was carried by a large majority. On the second clause being moved, Lord Stanley objected to it as enlarging the extraordinary powers already granted to the governor and council; but, after much discussion, it was carried by a majority of one hundred and seventy-six against one hundred and fifty-six. On the 4th clause being proposed, Sir Robert Peel moved an amendment to prevent any alteration in the law of tenures, which was agreed to; and the remaining clauses were then passed, and the report of the committee ordered to be received on the following Monday.

This bill was brought forward in the house of lords on the 20th of July, by the Marquis of Normanby, who, in introducing it, confined himself to its immediate subjects, and to an explanation of its intentions. The bill, as amended by the commons, was carried. Thus ended all attempts to legislate for the Canadas in the session of 1839: the great expectations formed at the commencement of the session on this important subject were doomed to be disappointed in the results. Conversations of a personal nature took place, but neither party approached the question as became the legislators of a great and mighty empire. Government, it is true, intimated that they had framed a plan for the union of the two provinces, but it was scarcely intimated before it was abandoned. Finally came forth the fragment of a measure which had not the confidence of either party, but which was nevertheless passed into a law.

THE SECOND JAMAICA BILL, ETC.

On the 30th of May Mr. Labouchere brought forward a second measure relative to the affairs of Jamaica. In the newly-proposed bill ministers had resolved to call together once more the colonial assembly, in order to allow them what had been termed a locus penitentio. This assembly represented the necessity of ameliorating the existing laws regarding vagrancy, the relation between master and servant, the state of the militia, and the electoral qualification. At the same time no fewer than seventeen annual acts of importance had been suffered by the assembly to expire, although in many cases the peace of the colony depended upon them. The first clause of the bill related to those matters which did not fall under the head of expired enactments, as vagrancy, contracts, and squatting. With reference to these questions, orders had already been transmitted to the crown colonies, and were now in successful operation. By the bill, therefore, the assembly of Jamaica would be referred to them, with injunctions to legislate in conformity with the spirit of those provisions; and should they fail to do so, it would be competent for the governor, with the aid of the council, after a certain interval, to make tire requisite laws, mutatis mutandis, upon the models which had before been indicated. The object of the second clause was to leave a certain time to the assembly for re-enacting the seventeen annual laws, and to invest the governor in council with authority to renew them, in the event of their failing to do so. A brief conversation took place, in which Sir Robert Peel declined offering any opinion on the merits of the bill in its present stage, and the house went into committee upon it. On the 10th of June Sir Edward Sugden proposed on this occasion to omit the first clause of the bill, after which he proceeded to dissect its provisions with considerable acuteness. Mr. Labouchere defended the measure, and Messrs. Gladstone and Goulburn objected to it. The latter said that tire present bill differed but little from the former, and, in his opinion, only differed for the worse, as it offered a premium to the council for disapproving of the acts of the assembly, in order that it might itself acquire the power of legislating in its place. On a division the clause was carried by a majority of two hundred and twenty-eight against one hundred and ninety-four: a result which was chiefly owing to the circumstance that the Conservatives were not prepared for so early a division, but which was nevertheless received with great cheering from the ministerial benches. The order of the day was moved for the third reading on the 19th of June, when Mr. Labouchere stated that the time left to the assembly for deliberation could be extended from the 1st to the 15th of October. The bill was then read without opposition; but Mr. Goulburn immediately rose to move the omission of the first clause, in which he was seconded by Mr. Hume. Lord John Russell urged that the rejection of that clause would prevent any useful legislation on the subjects embraced by its provisions, and that the constitutional difficulty rather rested on the second section. Sir Robert Peel contended that the government was about to give just grounds of complaint to the assembly. In reply, Mr. Labouchere admitted that the method in contemplation was not an agreeable mode of proceeding; but at the same time he argued that it was the best which, under the circumstances, could be adopted. On a division the clause was carried by a majority of two hundred and sixty-seven against two hundred and fifty-seven.

The second reading of the bill was moved in the house of lords on the 1st of July by the Marquis of Normanby, who made some stringent remarks on the conduct and constitution of the Jamaica assembly. On the following day, after the order of the day had been read for going into committee, Lord Lyndhurst moved the expunction of the first clause of the bill. The opposition charged the government with a desire to subvert the constitution of Jamaica, and to tyrannize over the colonists. Lord Brougham made the question an occasion to vent his personal spleen against the cabinet. The opinions expressed by his lordship were so utterly at variance with those which he had so often uttered when eloquently advocating the cause of the negro, as to betray his personal motives in his opposition to the bill, and to lessen public confidence in his justice and consistency. Lord Melbourne vehemently disclaimed, on the part of himself and colleagues, the least desire to abolish the Jamaican constitution, or to interfere with the rights of the people either in this country or in any of the colonies. What they had done had been done with deep regret and reluctance; and it was with the utmost unwillingness that they made both the previous and present propositions. On a division, the first clause was expunged by a majority of one hundred and forty-nine against eighty. Lord Brougham then moved an amendment to the second clause, limiting the power of the governor with regard to the renewal of money-bills; but was prevailed upon to postpone the discussion till Thursday, on which day, the other clauses having passed, it was agreed that the report should be brought up. When the order of the day for bringing up the report was read, his lordship moved as a proviso, "that nothing herein contained shall enable the said governor, with the assent of the said council, to continue or renew any acts for the raising or appropriating money." This amendment was strongly opposed by Lord Melbourne and other members of the cabinet, and it was negatived without a division. The report was then received, and on the 5th of July the bill was read a third time and passed. On the 9th of the same month Lord John Russell recommended the house to acquiesce in the amendments of the lords, which was agreed to; and thus the bill finally assumed the very shape which Sir Robert Peel at first suggested should be adopted.

BILL FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE PORTUGUESE SLAVE-TRADE, ETC.

On the 8th of March Sir Robert Inglis took occasion to remind Lord Palmerston of the address which had been carried on the subject of the Portuguese slave-trade, and begged to be informed whether the government had succeeded in obtaining a treaty with Portugal, or were prepared to resort to the measures promised by the noble lord in the event of the failure of such negociations. In reply, Lord Palmerston stated, that after four years spent in negociation, a note, which had just been received from Lord Howard de Walden, assured him that there was no longer any hope of procuring the assent of the Portuguese cabinet to a treaty for the suppression of the traffic. It was, therefore, the intention of government to introduce a bill which should give to her majesty's cruisers and commissioners the same right of search with regard to slave-trading vessels met with below the line, which they already possessed in the case of those which were found north of the equator. This bill was introduced on the 10th of July, and it passed through all its stages in silence until it arrived at the second reading in the house of lords. On that occasion Lord Minto said, that he deemed it necessary to state the present condition of the law relating to the slave-trade, and the existing treaties between Great Britain and Portugal. The most important of these treaties, his lordship said, was that of 1815, by which the slave-trade was declared illegal; and Portugal undertook to bring about its eventual abolition, consenting in the meantime not to suffer her flag to be employed in that traffic for any other purpose than to furnish slaves for her own transatlantic dominions. For this concession England had agreed to pay, and had paid, £600,000. In 1817, an additional convention was entered into, defining still more precisely the limits within which the slave-trade to the Brazils was to be exercised. By this treaty the Portuguese government undertook, within two months from the date on which it was signed, to pass a law declaring the commerce in question unlawful, and subjecting persons implicated therein to punishment. It was further stipulated that, within a specified period, Portugal should treat with this country for the final abolition of the slave-trade, and assimilate its legislation on the subject with that of Great Britain. His lordship went on to say, that when Portugal ceased to hold the Brazils, the slave-trade ought to have been abolished, as there were no longer any transatlantic possessions to which the terms of the treaty would apply. Yet, notwithstanding these engagements, the traffic had been carried on almost entirely under the flags of Portugal and Spain. With the latter country, however, we had concluded an efficient treaty, which gave us the power of seizing vessels equipped for the slave-trade, without waiting till they had taken on board their miserable cargo, which gave rise to hopes that this would have the effect of extinguishing the trade. It was desirable that we should obtain similar conditions from Portugal; and he was bound to say that the persons opposed to the abolition were not the Portuguese people, but certain influential parties who were interested in the maintenance of the contraband commerce, and continued to violate the treaty with the sanction of the Portuguese government. In conclusion, his lordship entreated the house to pass this bill, which had been introduced in redemption of the pledge given by government in the last session, and formed an indispensable preliminary to any undertaking upon a greater: scale. Through the influence of the Duke of Wellington the bill was rejected by a majority of thirty-eight against thirty-two.

On the 2nd of August Lord Brougham moved the following resolution on the same subject:—"That an humble address be presented to her majesty, praying her majesty, by all the means within her majesty's power, to negociate with the governments of foreign nations, as well in America as in Europe, for their concurrence in effectually putting down the traffic in slaves; and also, that her majesty will be graciously pleased to give such orders to her majesty's cruisers as may be most efficacious in stopping the said traffic, more especially that carried on under the Portuguese and Brazilian flags, or by the Brazilian and Portuguese ships, assuring her majesty that this house will cheerfully concur with the other house of parliament in whatever measure might be rendered necessary, if her majesty shall be graciously pleased to comply with this prayer." Lord Brougham intimated that he moved this address under the apprehension that if it went out to Portugal that the bill recently rejected was done so by the unanimous opinion of the house of lords, their lordships might be represented as giving a sanction, which none of them had ever contemplated, to so odious a traffic. The motion for an address, after some observations from the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and the Earl of Minto, was agreed to, and ordered to be communicated to the other house. On the 8th of August the Duke of Argyle, as lord-high-steward of the household, announced that her majesty had been waited on with the address, and returned the following gracious answer:—"I receive this address with great satisfaction. I will direct orders to be given to my cruisers in accordance with your wishes, fully relying upon your assurance that you will concur in the measures which will thus be rendered necessary."

On the same evening, in the house of commons, Viscount Palmerston moved for leave to introduce another bill in the place of that which had been rejected. After stating the grounds of objection against the former bill, the noble lord proceeded to unfold the nature of the clauses in the new bill. Although, he said, the crown might undoubtedly, by its prerogatives, take measures which would effectually put down Portuguese slavers, there were still inconveniences which demanded a remedy. The officers, his lordship said, acting under its orders, would be exposed to harassing suits in the courts of law at London; and, although we might capture ships, and deal with them accordingly, it would not be proper of this country to dispose of vessels which were the prima facie property of subjects of other states without having proved before some court of record the grounds of such proceedings. An act was therefore required to define what constituted a slave-trader. It was not considered necessary for the slaves to be on board: a ship equipped in a certain manner was a proof that she was engaged in the slave-trade; but the courts of admiralty could not condemn a ship on that ground without an act of parliament. It was further requisite, to enable the crown, by the same proceeding, to give to those who capture slave-vessels under this treaty bounties similar to those secured by conventions with other powers. These provisions, his lordship thought, would be sufficient to put down the commerce carried on by the Portuguese flag, and a great point would thereby be accomplished. After, indeed, that they had united all the flags in Christendom to put down this horrid traffic, the slavers might repudiate all flags, and divest themselves of every document which might enable th captor to identify them with any particular nation. That would be the last refuge of despairing crime; and in order to meet those circumstances, he would propose a clause by which such a ship should be dealt with as though it were an English trader, unless it appeared, in the course of the trial, that she belonged to some particular state, in which event the case should not be adjudicated by the court of admiralty, but dealt with as if at the outset she had been of the nation to which she was ultimately shown to belong. His lordship added, that when the nations of Europe were once united in giving a mutual right of search, or the power of condemning by a mixed commission, there would no longer remain any defence for carrying on the slave-trade under any European flag; and he reminded the house that he had already concluded treaties with Chili, Grenada, Venezuela, and that intelligence had recently arrived of a treaty made with Buenos Ayres. After a few words from Dr. Lushington, Sir E. Inglis, and Captain Pechell, leave was given to bring in the bill, and it was brought in and read a first time. The next evening it was read a second time, went through a committee, and passed the commons without a division.

The second reading of this new bill for the suppression of the slave-trade was moved by Lord Melbourne on the 15th of August. Previous to making this motion the noble viscount requested that the address of the house of lords on the slave-trade, together with her majesty's gracious answer, should be read; and after explaining the provisions of the measure, he stated that, in compliance with the prayer contained in the address, her majesty had given directions to her cruisers to take the most efficacious measures for putting down the traffic, and that this bill was necessary in order to fulfil their lordships' own intentions and wishes, as expressed in their petition to the crown. The Duke of Wellington still continued his opposition to this measure, and he moved as an amendment that it should be read that day six months. He was supported by Lord Ellenborough, who demanded that any orders which had been issued to her majesty's cruisers should be laid before the house. The measure, however, was supported by the Bishop of London, the lord chancellor, the Earl of Minto, and Lords Brougham, Denman, and Colchester, and the second reading was eventually carried by a majority of thirty-nine against twenty-eight. On the next evening, when the bill was in committee, Lord Lyndhurst moved an amendment to the following clause;—"That in case her majesty should please to issue orders to her cruisers to capture Portuguese vessels engaged in the slave-trade, or vessels of any state whatever engaged in the slave-trade, not having on board, or the masters whereof should neglect to produce, on demand, papers showing of what state she belongs;" which amendment was to this effect:—"That in case her majesty should please to issue orders to her cruisers to capture Portuguese vessels engaged in the slave-trade, or any other vessels engaged in the slave-trade, and Hot justly entitled to claim the protection of any flag." This amendment, which was intended to confine the operation of the bill to Portuguese vessels, and piratical vessels engaged in the slave-trade, after some remarks from Lord Brougham in opposition to it, was finally adopted, and on the 19th of August it was read a third time without discussion. After it had passed, the Duke of Wellington, who had put in a protest both against the second and third reading, stated, that he still retained all his objections to the principles of the bill; it still exhibited its criminal character, for it was a breach of the law of nations, a violation of international treaties, and would rather tend to encourage than to prevent the traffic against which its enactments were directed. On the motion of the chancellor of the exchequer the amendments were agreed to in the house of commons, and the measure became law.

MOTION FOR THE BALLOT.

Circumstances had revived the interest attending the question of voting by ballot, and thus encouraged, on the 18th of June Mr. Grote again brought the subject forward in the house of commons. The motion was seconded by Lord Worsley, and supported by Mr. Macauley; but was opposed by Lord John Russell, who, on this occasion, spoke with unusual energy. It was further opposed by-Lord Howick, Sirs J. Graham and Robert Peel, and Messrs. Gaskell and Milnes. On a division it was rejected by a majority of three hundred and thirty-five against two hundred and seventeen: one cabinet minister only voted with Mr. Grote; but others, who were in favour of it, absented themselves on the occasion.

ACT FOR THE BETTER ORDERING OF PRISONS.

During this session an act was passed for the "better ordering of prisons." By this act it was provided that prisoners might be separately confined, though that separate confinement should not be deemed solitary confinement. No cell was to be used for the separate confinement of any prisoner which was not of such a size, and lighted, warmed, and ventilated in such a manner as might be required by a due regard to health, and which did not furnish the means of enabling the prisoner to communicate at any time with an officer of the prison. Every prisoner so confined was to have the means of taking air and exercise at such times as should be deemed necessary by the surgeon, and was to be furnished with the means of moral and religious instruction, and with suitable books, as well as with labour or employment. All prisoners were to be divided into the following classes: namely, debtors in those prisons in which debtors might be lawfully confined; prisoners committed for trial; prisoners convicted and sentenced to hard labour; prisoners convicted and not sentenced to hard labour; and prisoners not included in either of the foregoing classes.

MOTION FOR A COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE TO CONSIDER THE NATIONAL PETITION.

On the 12th of July Mr. Attwood moved for a committee of the whole house, to take into consideration a "National Petition," which had been presented on the 14th of June. In making this motion, Mr. Attwood stated this petition was signed by 1,200,000 persons of the working classes. In it the petitioners urged five demands: namely, universal suffrage, vote by ballot, annual parliaments, remuneration of members for their attendance in parliament, and the abolition of the property qualifications. This proposal gave rise to a considerable discussion; but it was rejected by a majority of two hundred and thirty-five against one hundred and eighty-nine.

BIRMINGHAM RIOTS, ETC.

The defeat of Mr. Àttwood's motion was contemporaneous with alarming riots at Birmingham. These riots arose out of the proceedings of the Chartists. That dangerous body of men had recently resorted to many methods, in order to impose upon the majority of the people that they were the strongest party in the country, and that they could carry their plans into effect without resistance. One mode of proceeding was to go round from house to house with two books, and to say that those persons who subscribed should be registered in one book, while those who did not subscribe were entered in another. Those who put down their names paid a small contribution, and received in return a ticket, which was to be their security in a time of danger: non-subscribers were warned that a time would come when their refusal would be remembered. Another practice of these rash demagogues was to go in procession to the churches some time before divine service commenced, and to take possession of the body of the edifice; some smoking their pipes, and others wearing their hats. These Chartist combinations were very prevalent throughout the country, and in the early part of this year, these combinations in the different cities of the United Kingdom proceeded to the election of deputies, in order to form a national convention, which was to have moveable sittings, and to be entrusted with the ultimate direction of their proceedings. Out of this arrangement arose the "National Petition," mentioned in the previous article, and which was presented by Mr. Attwood on the 14th of June. Having discharged this duty imposed on them, the deputies proceeded to hold a national convention in the city of Birmingham. By this step great activity was contributed to the motions of the Chartists. It was their practice to assemble in great numbers every evening, on the open place called the Bull-ring. They met as usual on the 5th of July; but by this time the borough magistrates had communicated with the home-office, and it was resolved to send down sixty policemen from the metropolis to disperse them. The railway train delivered them at Birmingham that evening, and they proceeded to the scene of confusion, and directed the people to disperse. This injunction, however, was unheeded, and then the police filed off four abreast, and made for the monument of Lord Nelson, which stood in the centre of the Bull-ring, and which was decorated with the flags of the convention. The flags were captured by them; but the mob, when they saw them in the hands of the police, recovered them by force, broke the poles up into short sticks, and after a fierce struggle overpowered their antagonists: several of the policemen were seriously hurt, and more than one of them stabbed. At that juncture the 4th dragoons arrived on the spot; riding by concert up every avenue which led to the place, the Bullring was completely enclosed. Their appearance was the signal tor the people to disperse, and the routed mob proceeded, with the cavalry in close pursuit, down Digbeth and up Broomsgrove-street, to St. Thomas's church. Hero they tore up the palisades, and made a brief stand; but the tumult was eventually reduced: by midnight quiet was restored, and the military, planting a guard in the great square, returned to their barracks. In this encounter several Chartist leaders were captured; as Dr. Taylor, the Paisley delegate to the convention, and Messrs. Lovett and Collins. There was still, however, an under-current of agitation: in fact, the late event was but the precursor to a more furious storm. While it was taking place, Mr. Attwood brought forward his motion for taking the National Petition into consideration. The rejection of' his motion irritated the already inflamed minds of the Chartists. It was generally expected that Mr. Attwood would on the 15th of July address them on his old ground at Holloway-head. Under this apprehension the spot was occupied during the day by small groups of artisans, who amounted at half-past six to about two hundred. Several speakers addressed them; but when it was found that Mr. Attwood would not come, an orator recommended them to form into line, and parade through the principal streets. He recommended that they should walk orderly; but instead of that they proceeded tumultuously to the Bullring. No police were on the spot; and thus favoured, the mob, having been reinforced from all quarters, proceeded down Moor-street to the public office. All the windows of this building were broken by them; and, under the impression that neither the police nor the military were able to withstand them, the tumultuous concourse poured back into the square. Weapons were now sought: broken flagstones, heavy bludgeons, and scythes were brought into use, while some loosened the pavement for the purpose of arming empty hands with missiles. The work of demolition soon commenced: the houses of Mr. Bourne, a grocer, and Mr. Leggett, an upholsterer, were plundered and set on fire. A simultaneous attack was next made upon the Nelson hotel; and by casting the lighted brands into other shops, which had been forcibly driven in, the mob were on the point of kindling a general conflagration. At this point, however, the police made their appearance; and at ten o'clock they were followed by some magistrates and the military. The first onset was followed by complete discomfiture: before the troops came up the ringleaders escaped, and by midnight quiet again reigned. The morning, however, showed a dismal scene of devastation: besides the premises which were consumed by fire, nearly twenty shops were destroyed; and it was reckoned that £40,000 would not cover the damages.

In consequence of these lamentable occurrences, and the excited state of the northern districts of the kingdom, on the 22nd of July, Lord John Russell announced his intention of taking the requisite precautions for securing the tranquillity of the country, by placing at the hands of the magistrates a better organized constitutional force for putting the law into execution, and providing sufficient military means for supporting them in the performance of their duty. On the next evening he moved a resolution to authorize the treasury to advance £10.000 out of the consolidated fund, for the purpose of establishing an efficient police force at Birmingham, which was to be repaid out of the rates to be levied on the said town. In explanation of this resolution, his lordship stated, that there were difficulties in the way of an immediate organization of such a force on account of the excited state of Birmingham, and from the question lately raised in Manchester, with regard to the corporation, whether the municipal body of Birmingham had the power to impose a rate for the establishment of a police. Under these circumstances he proposed that the state should interfere so far as to advance certain funds, to be repaid by the town. This would not be a vote of supply, but a vote forming the foundation of a bill which should provide for the recovery of the money by a rate on the borough, to be imposed by an act of parliament, and, therefore, irrespective of the authority of the corporation. This resolution was carried, and a bill was brought in, which became law. Similar bills, with the exception of the advance of funds from the treasury, were subsequently applied to Manchester and Bolton, to remain in force until the power of the civil functionaries to raise a rate should be determined. A bill was also passed, with the same intention, to enlarge the powers of the justices of the peace for appointing county and district constables, and charging their support upon the districts to which they might be nominated. This measure, however, was not intended to be imperative; but justices in quarter-sessions were authorized to report to the secretary of state the necessity of an additional appointment of constables, wherever the circumstances of their district should call for such an augmentation, in a proportion not exceeding one for every one thousand of the population. At the same time magistrates were to create one or more chief-constables of the county, with whom should rest the nomination of petty-constables and a deputy. A further enactment forbade any constable under the provisions of this hill from voting at an election, or exercising any other employment. In order further to secure the peace of the country, Lord John Russell subsequently moved that an addition of five thousand men should be made to the present military establishment; and after an amendment by Mr. Hume, which was unsuccessful, the house went into committee, and a vote of £75,000 was carried for the increase of the army.

THE BUDGET—PROPOSED REDUCTION OF POSTAGE DUTIES, ETC.

The chancellor of the exchequer brought forward his financial statement on the 5th of July. From his statement it appeared that the expenditure had exceeded the estimates; chiefly in consequence of the war in Canada. The estimates were £46,974,000, and the expenditure £47,760,000, so that there was a deficiency of £786,636. Mr. Rice, however, stated that he did not think himself justified in laying a permanent charge on that account upon the country, and he proposed to meet the deficiency by a vote of exchequer-bills on a subsequent occasion, in the nature of a vote of credit. The chancellor of the exchequer next stated the estimated income and expenditure of the present year; the former being £48,128,000, and the latter £47,988,000, leaving an excess of £140,000.

In his statements the chancellor of the exchequer took a cheerful view of the commercial prospects of the country; and he referred to the increase of exports for the present year over those of 1838 as a symptom of returning prosperity. So confident was he of a return of prosperity, that he proposed to reduce the rates of postage. At this time there was a committee sitting on the post-office acts; and Mr. Rice moved this resolution:—"That it is expedient to reduce the postage charged on letters to the uniform rate of one penny, for every letter of a weight to be hereafter fixed by law; parliamentary privileges of franking being abolished, and official franking strictly regulated. This house pledges itself at the same time to make good any deficiency of revenue which may be occasioned by such an alteration in the rates of the existing duties." In moving this resolution the chancellor of the exchequer said that he proposed a penny rate, because he had been convinced by the arguments and evidence of the committee that the latter expedient would involve less loss to the revenue than a twopenny postage, which had been recommended by the committee. After some observations from Mr. Goulburn and Sir Kobert Peel, both of whom intimated further hostility to such a change, the resolution was agreed to without a division. On the 12th of July, when the order of the day was read for receiving the report of a committee on the postage-acts, Mr. Goulburn rose for the purpose of proposing a series of resolutions to be substituted for the report. These resolutions were:—"That with a deficiency of revenue during the three years ending on the 5th day of April, 1840, of not less than £8,860,987, it is not expedient to adopt any measure for reducing the rates of postage on inland letters to an uniform rate of one penny, thereby incurring the risk of a great present loss to the revenue, at a period of the session so advanced, that it is scarcely possible to give to the details of such a measure, and to the important financial considerations connected with it, that deliberate attention which they ought to receive from parliament." This amendment was opposed by the chancellor of the exchequer, and supported by Sir Kobert Peel. After a few words from Messrs. P. Thomson and Warburton in favour of the proposition, the original question was carried by a majority of two hundred and fifteen against one hundred and thirteen. The report was then brought up and read; and on the question that the resolution agreed to by the committee be read a second time, Sir R. Peel moved an amendment to omit such part of the resolution as pledged the house to supply any deficiency of the revenue occasioned by the reduction. This amendment, however, was rejected, and the report agreed to; and on the 18th of July Mr. S. Rice brought in a bill, intituled, "An act for the further regulation of the duties on postage until the 5th day of October, 1840." This bill was read a second time without a division, and by the 29th of July it passed the commons.

The second reading was moved by Lord Melbourne in the house of lords on the 5th of August; on which occasion the Duke of Wellington criticised the manner and circumstances under which it had been brought forward in the face of a deficiency of more than one million, which, considering the state of our affairs both at home and abroad, was likely to be greatly augmented by the 5th day of October, 1840. At the same time the noble duke said that he would vote for the bill, and would recommend their lordships to follow his example. Several other noble lords addressed the house, chiefly in favour of the measure; and the bill was then read a second time, and subsequently became law without further opposition.

In his remarks on the postage-bill the Duke of Wellington recommended ministers to reduce the amount of the floating debt, under the pressure of which the market had been labouring, by funding exchequer-bills. Apparently acting upon this suggestion, on the 12th of August Viscount Melbourne and the chancellor of the exchequer made public their determination, subject to the approval of parliament, to effect the funding of four millions of exchequer-bills in the three per cent, consolidated annuities. This arrangement was effected on the 17th.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

In the house of lords the labours of the session were brought to a close by a long and animated discussion on a motion made on the 24th of August, by Lord Lyndhurst, for "a return of all bills that had arrived from the house of commons since the commencement of the session, with the dates at which they were brought up." In his speech, the noble lord directed the attention of the house to the fate of four important subjects—the Irish municipal corporations, the affairs of Canada, the recommendations of the ecclesiastical commissioners, and tire administration of justice; after which he went on to pass under a searching review, the whole parliamentary conduct of ministers in the course of the expiring session. Lord Melbourne replied in an effective speech. Lord Brougham contended that the country would be glad to see the Conservatives return to office.

Parliament was prorogued by her majesty in person on the 27th of August. After being addressed by the speaker on the various measures which had occupied the attention of parliament, and after having given the royal assent to several bills, her majesty read the speech, which the lord-chancellor put into her hands, in her usual distinct and impressive manner. The speech referred to the various topics which had engaged the attention of parliament, and the differences which had lately sprung up between the British government and that of Persia.

AFFAIRS IN THE EAST INDIES.

Her majesty, in her speech on the prorogation of parliament, alluded to an army which the governor-general had led across the Indus. This "army of the Indus" was put in motion for the western frontier at the commencement of the present year; and the circumstances which led to so important a proceeding were briefly these. The kingdom of Affghanistan has been called the land of transition between eastern and western Asia: a proverb says, "No one can be king of Hindoostan without first becoming lord of Cabool." The founder of the Affghan empire was Ahmed Shah, who died in 1773. Ahmed Shah made several victorious incursions into the East; and his son, Timour Shah, followed his example. The decease of Timour Shah, however, delivered over the Affghan empire to the domestic hostilities of his sons; and the rival tribe of the Barukzyes took advantage of their dissensions to precipitate them from their sovereignty. When, indeed, Sir Alexander Burnes visited Affghanistan in 1833, the only portion which remained in the hands of a descendant of Ahmed Shah was the principality of Herat. The remainder was parcelled out in the following manner between the usurping family:—Dost Mohammed Khan ruled in Cabool; Sirdar Sooltan Mohammed Khan ruled Peshawar, although his two brothers. Peer and Sared Mohammed Khan, shared its revenues; and Candahar was governed by Kohun Dil Khan, assisted by Ruhun Dil and Shere Dil, his two brothers. The chief of Cabool owed his success to Futteh Khan, the chief of the great family of Barukzyes, and the most powerful of the Affghan nobles. Futteh Khan, in fact, governed the kingdom under the designation of vizier, while Mahmood abandoned himself to debauchery. If Mahmood, however, submitted to the ascendancy of his able minister, not so did his son, the prince Kamrau. By his orders Futteh Khan was seized at Herat and deprived of his eyesight; and a few months afterwards the unhappy vizier was literally hacked to pieces by the courtiers of Mahmood, in the presence of that monarch. In the days of his power Futteh Khan had distributed the different governments of his kingdom among his numerous brothers, and this act drove them into rebellion. Mahmood abandoned his throne without a struggle, and, although he retained Herat, with the title of king, became, in effect, a vassal of Persia. The Barukzye brothers were left to dispose of his dominions at pleasure, and they determined on recalling Shoojah to the throne, who after many perilous adventures had fallen into the hands of Runjeet Sing at Lahore. Shoojah escaped from Lahore; but the Barukzye brothers having taken offence at his arrogant treatment of one of their friends, transferred their support to his brother, Gyooh: the trappings of royalty were given to him, while they retained to themselves the power and revenues of the kingdom. The dismemberment of the Affghan empire, however, from this time proceeded more rapidly. Runjeet Sing seized some of its finest provinces, including Cashmere; Shere Dil Khan established himself at Candahar as an independent prince; Dost Mohammed made himself master of Cabool; Sirdar Sooltan Mohammed Khan became tributary governor of Peshawar; Balkh w-as annexed to the kingdom of Bokhara; and the Ameers of Scinde declared themselves independent. Gyooh fled to Lahore; and the only province of the kingdom which remained in the hands of a descendant of the royal family was Herat. The prince who governed Herat was Kamrau, who had directed that the eyes of his lather's vizier, Futteh Khan, should be put out. Without directly acknowledging the sovereignty of Persia, Prince Kamrau had been for some years in the practice of rendering an occasional tribute to the shah, as often as the governor of the Persian province of Khorassan was strong enough to extort it from him. At this time, however, the prince of Herat refused to perform any such engagement; and he even permitted his vizier to pass through Siestan into Khorassan, where he compelled the chiefs of Khiva and Khafin to pay tribute to his master, and carried away twelve thousand persons, and sold them as slaves. This conduct of Kamrau furnished Mohammed Shah, the Persian monarch—who had recently ascended the throne by tire assistance of British officers, and supplies of money from the English treasury—with a pretext for endeavouring to make himself master of Herat. There was an existing treaty between England and Persia, which stipulated "that if war should ensue between the Persian and Affghan governments, the English government should take no part in it; nor should give assistance to either party, except as a mediator, at the solicitation of both parties, for the purpose of producing peace." Had the Persian monarch limited his views to an attack upon Herat, this treaty would have been binding on the English nation; but it soon became evident that he extended them to Ghizni and Candahar. Mr. Ellis, who had been sent to Persia as British envoy in the year 1835, thus wrote at the commencement of the following year:—"The intention cannot be mistaken: Herat once annexed to Persia, may become the residence of a Russian consular agent, who would from thence push his researches and his communications, avowed and secret, throughout Affghanistan. Indeed, in the present state of the relations between Persia and Russia, it cannot be denied that the progress of the former in Affghanistan is tantamount to the advance of the latter, and ought to receive every opposition from the British government that the public faith will permit." Russian influence, was, in fact, predominant in the councils of Mohammed Shah, and the power of Russia appeared to stand higher in the general opinion than that of Great Britain. Moreover, the Russian ambassador was urgent upon the shah to complete his designs against Herat, and he even offered his military services in the expedition. Under these circumstances Mr. Ellis signified to the Persian ministers the extreme displeasure with which the English would look upon the prosecution of any extended schemes of conquest in Affghanistan: without disputing their right to obtain redress from the prince of Herat, he intimated that the British government would be better pleased if that purpose could be effected by negotiation; and offered to send a British officer to Herat for the purpose of facilitating the adjustment of the existing differences. To this proposal the Persian ministers at first assented, but they afterwards rejected it altogether. In the meantime Uzeez Khan arrived on a mission from Kohun Dil Khan and his brothers at Candahar, with the object of effecting an alliance offensive and defensive, with the shah, and uniting in the attack upon Kamrau. Towards the close of 1835, Dost Mohammed Khan, the chief of Cabool, also dispatched an agent to the court of Persia with letters, in which he offered to cooperate in an attack upon Herat, and sought in general the protection of the shall against the Sikhs. The real objects of the chiefs of Candahar was also to obtain protection from the same enemies; and neither they nor the chief of Cabool had any disposition to become feudatories of Persia. Thus supported, the shah set forth on his expedition; but owing to the appearance of the cholera by the 3rd of November, 1836, he had only reached Asterabad. His army was in fact reduced to such a deplorable condition, from the scarcity of provisions and the predatory incursions of the Turcomans, that all hopes of undertaking a winter campaign against Herat were given up, and, despite the remonstrances of the Russian plenipotentiary, the shah led back his forces into Persia. In the meantime Mr. M'Neill had succeeded Mr. Ellis, and he did not fail to make known the advice which had been tendered by the Russian ambassador in the late expedition; and Lord Palmerston directed the Earl of Durham, our envoy at Russia, to inquire of Count Nesselrode whether the Russian envoy was acting in accordance with the instructions of his government. It was stated in reply that if Count Simonich had acted in the manner mentioned, it was done in direct opposition to his instructions: he had been ordered to dissuade the shah from prosecuting the war at any time and in any circumstances. It was added, that our minister in Persia must have been misinformed; but in a subsequent despatch, Mr. M'Neill stated that tire information he had given had been confirmed by the concurrent testimony of all the Persians with whom he had conversed on the subject, including the prime-minister. The allegations against Count Simonich were, in fact, indisputable; and the prospect of a combination of Russian and Persian influence could not fail to alarm the government of India; and as the shah's designs against Herat were not given up, Mr. M'Neill was instructed to inform him that any attempt to prosecute schemes of aggrandizement in Affghanistan would diminish the cordiality existing between England and Persia. Mohammed Shah, however, was so far from giving up his designs upon Herat, that he sought to obtain a more intimate alliance with Russia; and he was so far successful, that an envoy was dispatched by him with presents from himself and the Russian envoy resident at his court, to Candahar and Cabool. His preparations for war were still continued; and in the midst of them a messenger arrived from Herat to negotiate an arrangement. Mr. M'Neil was invited to take part in the conference. The terms brought by the envoy from Herat were so advantageous that the British envoy recommended the Persian government to accept them, lest the British government should suspect that Persia, in persisting to prosecute the war, had other objects in view than those avowed. The conditions, however, were rejected, and it was evident that the shah would only be satisfied with the sovereignty of Herat. His troops were again put in motion on the 23rd of July; but in consequence of obstructions, on the 14th of October they had advanced no further than Nishapoor, about half the distance from Teheran to Herat. About this time an emissary from Russia appeared in the Persian camp, from whence he proceeded to Candahar and Cabool; everywhere giving out that he was sent to intimate the arrival of a large Russian army to co-operate with the army against Herat. Dost Mohammed, the chief of Cabool, had sent agents to St. Petersburg, as well as Teheran, to procure assistance against the Sikhs; and shortly after, he applied with the same intention to Lord Auckland, who had just arrived in India as governor-general. Lord Auckland decided on sending Captain Burnes on a commercial mission to Cabool; and that officer reached the capital of Dost Mohammed about the time that the Persian and Russian agents arrived in Candahar and Cabool. Negotiations were commenced between these various agents and the chief of Cabool; and they were not concluded when the Persian army arrived before Herat. The shah had previously captured the border fortress of Ghorian; but he was destined to meet with a different reception before the city of Kamrau Shah: week after week elapsed, and not the slightest impression was made upon its walls. While the siege was proceeding, Lord Auckland directed Mr. M'Neill to proceed to the camp, and make one more endeavour to effect a pacific adjustment, and to obtain redress. He had so far succeeded as to bring the mind of the shah to be favourable to a treaty; but all his efforts were again set aside by the arrival of Count Simonich, the Russian envoy, in the Persian camp. The siege, therefore, continued, nor could subsequent efforts made by Mr. M'Neill set it aside. His failure was made known to the British government; and on the 21st of May he received a despatch from Lord Palmerston, which authorized him to inform the shah that his designs were in complete contravention of the spirit of the alliance subsisting between the two nations; and that he must expect the cessation of intercourse in the event of such hostile proceedings being persevered in. In consequence of this direction Mr. M'Neill wrote the following letter to the Shah of Persia:—"I am directed to inform your majesty that if Herat should have surrendered to your majesty, the British government will consider your continuing to occupy that or any other portion of Affghanistan as an hostile demonstration against England. Your majesty is no doubt informed by your government of Fars, that a body of British troops, and a naval armament, consisting of five ships of war, have already arrived in the Persian Gulf, and that for the present the troops have been landed in the Island of Karrak. The measures your majesty may adopt in consequence of this representation, will decide the future movements and proceedings of that armament; but your majesty must perceive, from the view which her majesty's government has taken of the present state of affairs, and from the effect which must have been produced upon the minds of her majesty's ministers and the British authorities in India, and by the subsequent proceedings of the Persian government, with which they were not then acquainted, that nothing but the immediate adoption of measures complying with the demands of the British government, can induce the authorities acting under the orders of that government to suspend the measures that are now in progress for the defence of British interests, and the vindication of British honour." Before this declaration had come to the hands of the Shah, the Persian army, after six days of incessant battering, had made a general assault upon Herat; but although the troops went forward courageously, and had even planted their standards three several times upon the breach, they were finally defeated in their attempt: the Affghans attacked them sword in hand, with energy too resolute to be resisted, and drove them with great slaughter across the ditch: nearly two thousand Persians were slain. This failure, however, had not the immediate effect of forcing the Shah to raise the siege.

In the meantime Captain Burnes had failed in his mission to Cabool, and Lieutenant Leach, who had been sent to Candahar, had met with the same ill-success. A treaty had been concluded between Persia and the latter state, under the warrant of the Russian minister; and a treaty of nearly similar import was in progress at Cabool. Under these circumstances preparations were set on foot for marching an army into Affghanistan. The moment was very critical: there was a prospect of Persian dominion and Russian supremacy in all the Affghan states. By Russian subsidies, Kohun Dil Khan, chief of Candahar, besieged Furrah, a dependency of Herat; and Dost Mohammed Khan, chief of Cabool, commenced a system of hostile intrigues even in India. The Ameers of Scinde were called upon to join the league against the English even by the Shah himself; and his efforts were seconded by the Russian emissary, who had so successfully fulfilled his mission at Candahar and Cabool. But notwithstanding all these efforts, the failure of the recent assault of Herat, together with the debarcation of troops at Karrak, and the military preparations which were being made in the north of British India, finally led the Shah to comply with all the demands of the British ambassador, and to abandon his enterprise: the camp broke up on the 9th of September, 1838, and returned to Teheran. Later in the year Count Nesselrode disclaimed on the part of the Emperor of Russia all intentions of disturbing the tranquillity of the British possessions in India; and by the month of February, after considerable negociation, harmony was restored between the Russian and the British governments. The operations of the British army in India were not, however, wholly set aside by these events. At the time of the raising of the siege of Herat, and the retreat of the Shah of Persia, "the army of the Indus" was encamped at Simla, and was about to be put in motion for Feroze-pore, on the Sutledge. At Simla, Sir Harvey Faroe, who commanded the troops, under the direction of the governor-general, published a manifesto, which set forth the causes for the assembling of the army, and the objects which the British government had in view. As regarded the objects in view, the governor-general said, in the manifesto, that he felt the importance of taking steps for arresting the rapid progress of foreign aggressions towards our own territories, and that his attention was naturally drawn to the position and claims of Shah Soojah, who had, when in power, cordially acceded to measures of united resistance against internal enmity; and as the Barukzye chiefs were unfitted, under any circumstances, to be useful allies to Great Britain, or aid us in our measures of national defence, the governor-general felt warranted in espousing the cause of Shah Soojah, whose popularity had been proved by the best authorities. A tripartite treaty had, therefore, been concluded between the British government, Runjeet Sing, and Shah Soojah, whereby the maharaja of the Sikhs was guaranteed in his present possessions, and bound to cooperate in the restoration of the Shah. The manifesto further set forth that a guaranteed independence would be tendered to the Àmeers of Scinde; that Herat would be left in the possession of its present ruler; and that Shah Soojah should enter Affghanistan surrounded with his own troops, and supported against opposition, foreign or domestic, by a British army. As soon as these objects were effected, the British army was to be withdrawn from the Affghan territory; but British influence was to be used to further every measure of general benefit, and heal the distractions which had so long afflicted the Affghan people: even those chiefs whose hostile proceedings had been the cause of the measure, would receive a liberal and honourable treatment. The grand objects, therefore, for which the British troops were assembled at Simla, on tire Jumna, were to dethrone the hostile chiefs of Candahar and Cabool, and to re-establish the Shah Soojah in his dominions. On hearing of the raising of the siege of Herat, the intentions of the Indian government were in some degree modified. It was determined not to send forward the whole force, a part only being thought sufficient to effect the objects in view. The army of the Indus was in fact reduced to a corps d'armée, and it was to be commanded by Sir John Keene, the commander-in-chief at Bombay. The army was divided, and proceeded by two different routes; the Bombay division being destined to bring Scinde to submission. The first step of this division was to march upon Hyderabad, which was captured without any effectual resistance. The seizure of the capital was followed by the occupation of Kouratchee, the richest city in Scinde. By these means the Ameers were brought to contract a fresh treaty with the Indian government; agreeing to make an immediate payment of £300,000; to abolish the tolls on the Indus; to maintain an auxiliary corps of four or five thousand men under the command of British officers; and to pay a tribute amounting to nearly one-half of their revenue. Each Ameer, moreover, was for the future to look upon the English government as his suzerain, and procure his separate recognition at its hands. In the meantime the Bengal division was descending the bank of the Sutledge to unite with the Bombay army at Shikarpore, on the confines of Scinde and Affghanistan. The whole army assembled at Shikarpore, with the contingent of Shah Soojah, towards the beginning of March. The fatigues of the march, together with the assaults of the Beloches, had already made fearful havoc with the ranks of the expedition; and as they proceeded their sufferings increased. In the midst of trials and difficulties, however, they pressed forward., and towards the middle of April, they assembled beyond the reach of danger, in the valley of Pisheen. How dreadfully they suffered in their route may be inferred from the fact, that of 6,000 men which comprised the contingent of Shah Soojah, only 1,500 escaped. Their greatest dangers were encountered in the defiles of Bolau, where they not only had to contend with the natural difficulties of the pass, but with the elements and fierce wild robbers, who hovered upon their flank day and night. In the valley of Pisheen, however, the survivors recruited their strength, and then proceeded to action. Candah offered them no resistance; Kohun Dil Khan quitted the capital and took refuge with his brother, Dost Mohammed., at Cabool. The Bengal division entered the city of Candahar on the 24th of April, and the Shah Soojah was solemnly crowned on the 8th of May. The troops spent several weeks at Candahar, but on the 27th of June they marched forward to Ghisneh. Operations, however, did not recommence till the 21st of July. Ghisneh was captured, after a fierce struggle, on the 22nd, and the son of Dost Mohammed taken prisoner. The capture of this strong fortress made a great impression upon the Affghans. It was expected that the fortress would have kept the English in check for some time; and under this impression Dost Mohammed was proceeding towards the capital with his cavalry and a park of artillery. On hearing of the fall of Gisneh, however, his army broke up, and Sir J. Keene then resumed his march along the rich valley from Ghisneh to Cabool. Shah Soojah entered Cabool on the 7th of August; and his rival, Dost Mohammed, being abandoned by all but the members of his own Barukzye tribe, fled beyond the mountains of the Hazareh into Bokhara. In order to complete the conquest Major Outram was sent into certain disturbed districts between Cabool and Can-dahar to tranquillize the disaffected Ghilzee tribes, who had not yet acknowledged Shah Soojah, and replace the refractory chieftains with newly-appointed governors. Khelat was also reinvested: that fortress was captured by General Willshire, and the khan, Mehrat, with many of his chiefs, fell fighting, sword in hand. Having achieved these conquests, Sir J. Keene, leaving a detachment for the protection of Shah Soojah, returned home with the main body. Mr. M'Naughten remained as resident at the court of Cabool. Such was the issue of the campaign in Afghanistan. Subsequently her majesty rewarded the services of the more eminent actors in the war. The governor-general was created Earl of Auckland, Sir John Keene was created Baron Keene of Ghuznee in Affghanistan; and baronetcies were conferred on Mr. M'Naughten and Colonel Pottinger.

STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

This year witnessed the virtual conclusion of the war in Spain. The principal event which contributed to this consummation was the rupture between the chief Maroto and Don Carlos. Maroto, indeed, with the battalions of Castile, made their submission, and his defection was followed by twenty-one more Carlist battalions. The terms of this pacification were effected by Espartero; and having concluded them, he led his army towards Don Carlos at Lecumberri. Not daring to await his arrival, Don Carlos withdrew into the defiles of the Bastan; and from the Bastan he fell back to Elisonda; and, finally, on the 14th of September, with six Alavese and two Navarrese battalions, he took refuge in France. The French government assigned to him the city of Bourges for his temporary residence, and he was escorted thither by Marshal Soult. The Carlist chief, Cabrera, continued for some months to maintain his ground in the central provinces; but the struggle finally became hopeless, and at the commencement of the succeeding year, he, with 20,000 men, followed the example of his master, and took refuge in France. In Portugal the arrival of the bill which had been passed for the suppression of the slave-trade, gave rise to much dissatisfaction. The author of the measure, Lord Palmerston, was loudly charged with hostility to Portugal, and a great estrangement prevailed for some time between the two governments. The breach was widened by the demand made by the British upon the Portuguese government for the payment of the long pending civil and military claims due to the subjects of Great Britain. The requisition was, it is said, accompanied by a menace, that, in the event of a non-compliance, the British government would resort to coercive measures. During this year the territorial differences between Belgium and Holland were settled. The terms which the five powers resolved should be agreed upon between the two parties have been seen in a previous article; and it may be sufficient to state that Belgium, at least accepted them with great reluctance. In Turkey events occurred which attracted the notice of European powers. In 1838 the pacha of Egypt had refused to pay any further tribute to the Porte; and this announcement, together with the usurpation on the part of Meliemet Ali of attributes peculiar to the commander of the faithful alone, determined the sultan to make another effort for the reduction of his vassal. He assembled a large army on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, which menaced the Syrian dominions of the pacha; while Ibrahim, on the other hand, proceeded to concentrate his forces around Aleppo. The governments of France and England were apprehensive lest the discomfiture of the Turkish army should be followed by the arrival of a Russian force in the Bosphorus, in accordance with the stipulations of the treaty signed on an analogous juncture at Unkiar Skelessi. Under this apprehension the representatives of their respective courts at Constantinople and Alexandria were directed to make every effort to prevent war. Large concessions were made by Ibrahim through their mediation; but the interpreters of the law at Constantinople assured the sultan that it was the duty of every true believer to take up arms against an impious usurper, and a solemn declaration of war was accordingly read in all the mosques. In the month of June a great battle took place between the contending armies near Nezib, in which the Turks, under Hafiz Pacha, were utterly discomfited; six thousand of them were left dead on the field, and ten thousand were left in the hands of Ibrahim Pacha, together with fifteen thousand muskets, and more than one hundred pieces of artillery. The sultan did not live to hear of this disaster; he died on the 1st of July, and Abdul Mcdjio, a youth of seventeen, assumed the reins of empire. The death of Sultan Mahmoud the Second gave rise to negociation. The first act of the new sultan was to forward to the viceroy of Egypt an offer of pardon, together with the hereditary possession of the province of Egypt, on the condition that he conformed to his duties of obedience and submission. Mehemet Ali appears to have been willing to submit to these terms; but about the same time that he received them, Achmet, the capitan pacha, had revolted from the sultan, and had arrived at Alexandria. The Ottoman monarchy was tottering to its fall; but at this critical juncture England, France, Russia, Austria, and Prussia resolved to uphold the independence of Turkey, as an essential element of the balance of power. The year, however, closed before the negociations commenced were perfected.

CHAPTER LI.

VICTORIA. 1840—1841


     Meeting of Parliament:   Announcement of the Queen's
     Marriage..... Bill for the Naturalization of Prince
     Albert..... The Civil List..... Question of Privilege:
     Hansard and Stockdale..... Affairs of China..... Irish
     Municipal Corporations   Bill,  &c...... Financial
     Statement..... The   Union   of   the Canadas.....
     Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues Bill..... The Regency
     Bill..... Prorogation of Parliament..... Affairs  of British
     India..... The Marriage of the Queen..... State of the
     Continent.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.—ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE.

A.D. 1840

Parliament was opened on the 16th of January by her majesty in person. The opening of her majesty's speech was one of great interest. It read thus:—"My lords and gentlemen—Since you have last assembled, I have declared my intention of allying myself in marriage with the Prince of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha. I humbly implore that the divine blessing may prosper this union, rendering it conducive to the interests of my people, as well as my own domestic happiness; and it will be to me a source of the most lively satisfaction, to find the resolution I have taken approved of by parliament. The constant proofs I have received of your attachment to my person and family, persuade me that you will enable me to provide for such an establishment as may appear suitable to the rank of the prince, and the dignity of the crown." In continuance, her majesty congratulated parliament on the termination of civil war in Spain; expressed a hope that the five powers would be able to preserve the integrity of the Ottoman empire, and the peace of Europe; and referred to the success of the European and native troops in India with great satisfaction. Her majesty also declared her confident hope of adjusting our difference with the court of Persia; and intimated that serious attention had been given to her commercial relations with China. In conclusion, her majesty recommended to the early consideration of parliament two important measures relating to our home policy: namely, the state of the municipal corporations in Ireland, and the measures suggested by the ecclesiastical commissioners with respect to the church establishment in this country. In the lords the address was moved by the Duke of Somerset, and seconded by Lord Seaford. The Duke of Wellington fully concurred in the expression of congratulation to her majesty upon the alliance which had been announced to the country. But, his grace continued, every precedent of the reign of George III. had been followed in this matter except one, and that was the declaration that this prince was a Protestant. He knew the prince was a Protestant; but as this was a Protestant state, the fact that the prince was a Protestant should have been officially declared. The house of lords could not omit this; and therefore he moved the insertion of the word Protestant before the word prince, in the first paragraph of the address. Lord Melbourne said that he considered the amendment superfluous. The act of settlement required that the prince should be a Protestant, and it was not likely that ministers would advise her majesty to break through the act of settlement. All the world knew that Prince Albert of Saxe Cobourg was a Protestant, and that he was descended from the most emphatically Protestant house in Europe. Lord Winchilsea did not regard the insertion of the word Protestant as unnecessary. Near and dear relations of the prince had become Roman Catholics, and the husband of the Queen of Portugal, a first cousin of this very prince, was an avowed Romanist. In the close of his observations, Lord Winchilsea adverted to the alarming state of the country, and censured Lord Melbourne for having recently presented Mr. Owen to the queen—a man who was the notorious advocate of doctrines which struck at the root of all religion and morality. The amendment was agreed to, and the address, as amended, ordered to be presented to her majesty.

In the commons the address was agreed to; and her majesty subsequently replied to the addresses of both houses, expressing satisfaction at their loyalty and affection; thanking them for their support and concurrence in her intended marriage; and assuring them that it would be her endeavour to make her reign conducive to the happiness of all classes of the community.

BILL FOR THE NATURALIZATION OF PRINCE ALBERT.

On the 20th of January, in the house of lords, a bill for naturalizing his serene highness Prince Albert of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha was passed through all its stages. On the second reading, the Duke of Wellington objected that it was not only an act for the naturalization of Prince Albert, but contained also a clause entitling the prince, "for and during the term of his natural life, to take precedence in rank after her majesty, in parliament and elsewhere, as her majesty may think fit and proper; any law, statute, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding." Under these circumstances, his grace moved that the debate be adjourned, as the house had not sufficient notice of the contents of the bill, and as the title of it did not state anything respecting the precedence of the prince. Lord Melbourne replied, that the omission was purely accidental, and, in his opinion, of no importance. At the same time his lordship admitted that this bill differed in form from any other bills, inasmuch as it gave her majesty an ability to bestow on Prince Albert a higher station than that assigned to Prince George of Denmark, or Prince Leopold. But the reason for the difference, he contended, was to be looked for in the relative situation of the parties. The arrangements with regard to the marriage of the Princess Charlotte were temporary; in this act it was intended to raise the prince to a station next to that of the queen; and no opposition had been offered to this course by those peculiarly interested in point of rank. After a few observations from Lords Brougham and Londonderry, the debate was adjourned till the following week, when the lord-chancellor stated that he should propose that power be given to the crown to allow the prince to take precedence next after any heir-apparent to the throne.

Subsequently, however, Lord Melbourne, in moving the committal of the bill, expressed himself so anxious that it should pass with all possible expedition, that he had determined to leave out all relating to precedence, and reduce it to a naturalization bill, as expressed in the title. In that shape the bill passed without further opposition. In the commons the bill was passed without discussion.

THE CIVIL-LIST.

On the 24th of June, after moving that the paragraph in the queen's speech relative to Prince Albert's annuity be read, Lord John Russell went into a long detail of precedents of grants to princes and princesses allied to the royal family of England; and concluded by moving "that her majesty be enabled to grant an annual sum of £50,000 out of the consolidated fund, for a provision to Prince Albert, to commence on the day of his marriage with her majesty, and to continue during his life." The debate was adjourned for a few days, and on its resumption Mr. Hume moved as an amendment, that £21,000 be voted annually to Prince Albert, instead of £50,000. In his opinion, indeed, no grant should be made during her majesty's lifetime. The chancellor of the exchequer replied to Mr. Hume, and several members spoke in opposition to the grant; after which the house divided, on the amendment, which was lost by a majority of three hundred and five against thirty-eight. Ministers, however, were doomed to be defeated on this question. Colonel Sibthorp had given notice that he would move an amendment that £30,000 should be the extent of the annuity; and on the defeat of Mr. Hume's motion, the gallant colonel rose to move this amendment. On a division it was carried by a large majority, the numbers being two hundred and sixty-two against one hundred and fifty-eight. This was a great triumph over the ministers, and Colonel Sibthorp was so elated by it, that he endeavoured to follow it up a week or two afterwards by moving for the insertion of a clause in the bill for Prince Albert's provision, to the effect that the annuity of £30,000 should cease altogether in case his serene highness should reside for a less period than six months consecutively in each year within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or should ally himself in marriage with any foreign princess who should not be a Protestant, or should cease to profess and adhere to the Protestant religion as by law established in these realms. Both Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Russell contended that such restrictions were inexpedient and inconsistent, and the gallant colonel, finding that there was no chance of success, did not press his motion to a division.

QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE—HANSARD AND STOCKDALE.

In the year 1835, a bill was proposed in the house of lords, by the Duke of Richmond, for the purpose of appointing inspectors of prisons. In the report of these inspectors, which was printed by Messrs. Hansard, it was stated, that amongst other books in use by the prisoners, one published by John Joseph Stockdale, in 1827, was of the most disgusting nature, the plates being obscene and indecent in the extreme. In 1836, Stockdale brought an action against Messrs. Hansard for the sale of this report, on the ground that the allegation therein contained about the work was a libel. The defendants pleaded two picas: first, "Not guilty;" and, secondly, "That the words complained of in the declaration were true." The jury gave a verdict for the defendants on the second plea; and in his charge to the jury, Lord Denman said that the fact of the house of commons having directed Messrs. Hansard to publish all their parliamentary reports, is no justification for them, or for any bookseller, who publishes a parliamentary report containing a libel against any man. On the 6th of February, 1837, Messrs. Hansard communicated to the house of commons that legal proceedings had been instituted against them by Stockdale, for the publication of the report, in which he conceived himself to have been libelled. A select committee was then appointed by the house to examine precedents, and report upon the question of its privileges in regard to the publication of reports and other matters. This committee decided in favour of the privilege, which would protect any publication ordered by the house from being made the subject of an action for libel; and the house of commons, on the 30th of May, 1837, passed the following resolutions:—"First, that the power of publishing such of its reports, votes, and proceedings as it shall deem necessary, or conducive to the public interest, is an essential incident to the constitutional freedom of parliament, more especially of this house, as the representative portion of it.—Second, that by the law and privileges of parliament, this house has the sole and exclusive jurisdiction to determine upon the existence and extent of its privileges; and that the institution or prosecution of any action, suit, or other proceedings, for the purpose of bringing them into discussion or decision before any court or tribunal elsewhere than a parliament, is a high breach of such privilege, and renders all parties concerned therein amenable to its just displeasure, and to the punishment consequent thereon." The action, however, went on; and Messrs. Hansard pleaded to the declaration to the effect that the publication in question was a privileged one, on the ground that it was issued by the authority of the house of commons. This plea was demurred to as insufficient in point of law; and judgment was given by the court against the defendants, and damages afterwards assessed, which were paid over to the plaintiff. On the 31st of July, 1839, Messrs. Hansard again informed the house that similar legal proceedings were threatened against them on behalf of a Mr. Polack on account of some alleged defamatory matter contained in a report of the state of New Zealand, which had been published by order of the house of commons. In this case they were directed by the house not to take any step towards defending the action with which they were threatened; but subsequently Mr. Polack communicated to the house that proceedings had been commenced without his sanction, and that he had no intention of taking any legal steps in the matter. The matter seemed thus set at rest; but on the 26th of August, Stockdale commenced a third action against Messrs. Hansard, for again publishing the same libel; the sale of each copy of the report containing the alleged libel being, in contemplation of law, a fresh publication of it. This was also communicated to the house of commons; and Messrs. Hansard were again directed that the action should not be defended. In consequence of this direction Messrs. Hansard served Stockdale with formal notice of the resolutions of the house of commons; but notwithstanding this, on the 26th of October, Stockdale filed a declaration in the said action, wherein the damages were laid at £50,000. On the 1st of November intercalatory judgment was signed for want of a plea; and then Messrs. Hansard again caused notices against proceeding with the said action, together with fresh copies of the resolutions, to be served upon Stockdale. The action, however, went on; notice was given that a writ of inquiry of damages would be executed before the sheriff of Middlesex on the 12th of November. This writ was executed, when the sheriffs' jury assessed the damages at £600. Stockdale then applied to the court of Queen's Bench for a rule to compel the sheriff to return the writ of inquiry. This was ordered; and on the 23rd of November a writ of fieri facias was issued and lodged with the sheriff, who thereupon took possession of the printing-office, premises, and stock in trade of Messrs. Hansard. On the 16th of December, Mr. Winsland, a builder, purchased of the sheriff goods belonging to Messrs. Hansard to the amount of £695. The sheriff, however, had not paid this money into the hands of Stockdale, when, on the 16th of January, the case of Messrs. Hansard was brought before the commons by Lord John Russell, who presented a petition from them, which prayed for such relief, under the circumstances, as the house should deem proper. His lordship said that it was incumbent upon the house to come to a decision upon the question. There was, he continued, many ways in which they might dispose of it. They might act upon their ancient and undoubted right, and vindicate the violation of their privilege by the ancient mode of commitment. That was the most constitutional course, and the one most consistent with the dignity and privileges of the house. Again, the house could, if it thought fit, direct that Messrs. Hansard should plead in all cases of future action, and thereby bring the question of privilege before the courts. They could abandon all their privileges, confining all their papers to a circulation among the members only; or they might proceed, if they thought it necessary to have the papers circulated for general use, to provide for the settlement of the question by a bill brought in for that purpose. But their present position was one which ought not to continue; and he should move that, John Joseph Stockdale, the plaintiff, Thomas Barton Howard, his attorney, William Evans, the sheriff, Mr. Burchell, the deputy under-sheriff, and the bailiff who acted in this case, be called to the bar of the house, and then it would be in the power of the house to adopt that course which, under all circumstances of the case, it might think proper to pursue. After a long discussion, in which Sir. E. Sugden, the attorney-general, and other members took part, this motion was agreed to by a majority of two hundred and eighty-six against one hundred and sixty-seven. On the following clay, January 17th, the order of the clay for taking into consideration the petition of Messrs. Hansard was read, and Lord John Russell moved that John Joseph Stockdale be called to the bar. He was accordingly called in, and placed at the bar, when the attorney-general interrogated him concerning the facts of the different actions against Messrs. Hansard in which he was plaintiff. After examining him, he was ordered to withdraw; when Lord John Russell moved that John Joseph Stockdale, having brought an action against Messrs. Hansard for the publication of a report ordered by this house to be printed, has been guilty of a high contempt and breach of the privileges of the house. Mr. Law proposed as an amendment that Mr. Stockdale be discharged from his attendance at the bar; but, after an animated discussion, the original question was carried by a majority of two hunded and forty-nine against one hundred. Lord John Russell then moved, that John Joseph Stockdale, for the said breach of privilege, be committed to the custody of the sergeant-at-arms, and that the speaker do issue his warrant for the committal. After a brief discussion, this was carried by a large majority; and on the next day the sheriffs and bailiffs were called in, and, after examination, ordered to attend on the following Monday. On that clay, the 20th of January, Lord John Russell said that it became him now to state the precise course which should be taken in the present stage of the proceedings; and, after going at length into the whole question of privilege, he moved, "that it appeared to the house that an execution in the cause of Stockdale v. Hansard had been levied to the amount of £640, by the sale of the property of Messrs. Hansard, in contempt of the privileges of that house; and that such money then remained in the hands of the sheriff for Middlesex." If that resolution should be carried, he should move further, "that the said sheriff be ordered to refund the said amount forthwith to Messrs. Hansard." Mr. F. Kelly opposed this motion, and moved, by way of amendment, the following resolutions:—"That, it appearing to this house that an action has been brought against James Hansard and others, for the publication by them, under an order of this house, of certain papers containing libellous matter upon John Joseph Stockdale, and that judgment has been obtained, and execution issued by due course of law against the said James Hansard and others in such action: it is expedient that the said James Hansard and others be indemnified against all costs and damages by them sustained in respect of such action." This amendment was supported by Sir Edward Sugden, and opposed by Sir Robert Peel and the attorney-general; and, on a division, the original motion was carried by a majority of two hundred and five against ninety. Subsequently the sheriffs were called in, and committed to the custody of the serjeant-at-arms; and Mr. Howard, the attorney of Stock-dale, reprimanded by the speaker at the bar, when he was discharged. The matter, however, was not yet at rest.

On the 27th of January Lord John Russell gave notice that he had received a petition from Messrs. Hansard, stating that a fresh action had been commenced against them by Stockdale, and that a writ of summons had been issued upon them on the 25th of January, by Thomas Burton Howard, as attorney for Stockdale. A motion was carried, ordering the said Thomas Burton Howard, forthwith to attend the house: but it was not till the 6th of February that he could be found, and on that evening he was ordered to be committed to her majesty's gaol of Newgate. Subsequently, on the 17th of February, Lord John Russell presented another petition from Messrs. Hansard, to the effect, that the fifth action had been renewed against them by Stockdale, for the same cause as before, and praying to be directed as to the course they should pursue. His lordship moved to the effect, that Stockdale, by commencing this fresh action, had been guilty of a contempt of the house, and of a breach of its privileges, and that the sheriffs, under-sheriffs, and others, who should aid in the prosecution of the said action, would be guilty of a contempt of the house, and of a violation of its privileges, and would subject themselves to the severe censure and displeasure of the house. This was carried; and on the following evening Thomas Howard, jun., the attorney in this action, was, on the motion of the attorney-general, committed to the custody of the sergeant-at-arms. In the meantime several motions had been made for the discharge of the sheriffs from prison, on the plea of ill-health. These had been all negatived; but on the 5th of March, Mr. Sheriff Evans was allowed to be set at liberty, being at the same time directed to attend at the bar of the house on Monday, the 6th of April. On the same evening Lord John Russell moved for leave to bring in a bill to give summary protection to persons employed in the publication of parliamentary papers, which was carried by a large majority; and the bill was brought in and read a third time on the 12th of the same month. On the 31st of March the sergeant-at-arms appeared at the bar, and acquainted the house that on Saturday last the assistant-sergeant and four other officers of the house had been served with notice that an action had been commenced against them in the court of Queen's Bench, at the suit of Thomas Burton Howard. Under the impression that a verdict would certainly be given for the defendants, the attorney-general moved that they should be allowed to appear and defend the action; a motion which, after a few words in opposition by Viscount Howick, was carried by a majority of one hundred and forty against ninety-one. On the 6th April the bill relating to the protection of persons employed in the publication of parliamentary papers was sent up to the lords; and, after making some amendments in committee, the lords passed it and returned it to the commons, who agreed to the amendments; and on the 14th April the royal assent was given to it by commission. On the 15th of April, on the motion of Sir R. Inglis, Mr. Sheriff Evans and Mr. Howard, jun., were discharged. Messrs. Thomas Burton Howard, sen., and Stockdale were still left in Newgate; but, on the 15th of May, on the motion of Mr. T. Duncombe, they were liberated likewise, and thus terminated this much-agitated and important question. In the course of the discussion in the commons the ablest lawyers spoke in favour of the particular privilege of free publication claimed by the house, as essential to the due discharge of its functions as a constituent branch of the legislature; but many of them dissented from the doctrine that it was a breach of their privilege to bring them under the cognizance of a court of law. Above all, they thought that having once submitted the case to the court of Queen's Bench, by pleading in the action, they were bound to respect the judgment of the court; and if they considered it erroneous, to bring it under the review of a court of error, in the legal and constitutional mode, and not proceed by arbitrary imprisonment against officers who merely acted in their ministerial capacity, and who would have stood exposed to the process of attachment, if they had refused to obey the writs which the court called upon them to execute. Sir William Fol-lett, indeed, broadly stated that the commons were enforcing their privileges in a manner that could not be maintained; that they were assuming powers which the constitution did not give them; and that he was not able to vote for any of the committals which had taken place. He did not deny that the house was the exclusive judge of its own privileges, and that they had the power of committal; but he did not think that if a servant of the house should be questioned for any act done under their orders, that they had a right to deprive the courts of law of their jurisdiction over that servant.

AFFAIRS OF CHINA, ETC.

During the last year a serious collision took place between the Chinese authorities and the British subjects at Canton. This arose out of the contraband traffic in opium. The government of China resolved to put an end to the commerce altogether, and with this view an imperial commissioner arrived at Canton. He resorted at once to decisive measures, by demanding that every particle of opium on board the ships should be at once delivered up to the government to be destroyed; at the same time requiring a bond that the ships would never again dare to introduce that article. In the event of any opium being thereafter brought, the goods were to be confiscated, and the parties were to submit to death. Should the foreigners fail to comply with these requisitions, Commissioner Lin threatened that they would be overwhelmed by numbers and sacrificed. The whole foreign community was thrown into a state of the deepest distress at these demands; and the chief superintendent, Captain Elliot, considered it to be his duty to take his own countrymen under his protection. He issued a circular, requiring the surrender into his hands of all the English opium actually on the coast of China. On the 3rd of April, however, 20,283 chests of opium were delivered over to the commissioner, from the ships which had assembled for that purpose below the Bocca Tigris. Some merchants had been imprisoned by the Chinese authorities; but on the 4th of May leave was given for all to quit Canton with the exception of sixteen individuals, who ultimately took their departure with injunctions never to return. Captain Elliot immediately ordered every subject of her majesty out of the river; but he did not himself remove from Canton until the 25th of May, when the proscribed persons had been released, and there remained no other British subject in jeopardy. When they were out of danger, he immediately wrote to the governor-general, detailing the course of violence and spoliation which had broken up this great trade; and at the same time applied for armed vessels from the Indian station to protect life and property. Later in the year the breach was widened by an affray which took place at Macao, between some English sailors and Chinese villagers, in which, unfortunately, one of the latter was killed. Commissioner Lin demanded of Captain Elliot that the homicide should be given up; but this was refused, and in consequence an edict was issued by Lin prohibiting any provisions or other articles being supplied to the British at Macao. The British superintendent subsequently removed his residence to Hong Kong, off which lay the Volage frigate, commanded by Captain Smith. At the latter end of the year Commissioner Lin issued an edict against the importation of any British goods, in which he ordained that a bond should be required from any vessel entering the port, certifying that it did not contain any British property on board, and consenting to the confiscation of the ship and cargo, if any such should be therein discovered. In his edict, Commissioner Lin gave all foreigners to understand that it was no use to deceive the Chinese; for there were skilful translators and interpreters among them, who would certainly ascertain the country from whence they came. In this state of affairs. Captain Elliot sent a petition to Commissioner Lin,' entreating for the restoration of the trade with Canton, until he received further advice from England. The commissioner replied by a haughty refusal; enumerating all the offences of which, in the eyes of the "great pure dynasty," the British had been guilty; and declaring that, until the murderer of the Chinese was given up, there could be no intercourse allowed between the two nations. But notwithstanding this peremptory refusal, a temporary adjustment of the matters in difference so far took place, that Commissioner Lin permitted the commerce of Great Britain to be carried on below the Bocca Tigris until further instructions should be received from England. The high-commissioner still insisted that the captains of all vessels which traded with Canton should sign the required bond; and this was unfortunately consented to by Mr. Warner, master of the ship Thomas Coutts. The consequence of this consent was, that Commissioner Lin determined to break off the arrangement concluded, unless the whole British shipping which was re-entering the Bocca Tigris should agree to the same terms: if not, the vessels were again to depart, or be destroyed. Matters now proceeded to extremities; and the Chinese soon received a lesson from British artillery. Finding that the inhabitants of the celestial empire were preparing to attack the fleet, and that Admiral Kwan lay in considerable force near Chuenpee, two English frigates, the Volage and Hyacinth, were removed to that neighbourhood. Captain Elliot now prepared another address to Commissioner Lin, and then went on board the Volage frigate. That vessel took up her station, on the 2nd of November, not far below the first battery, where an imposing force of war-junks and fire-vessels was collected. On the 3rd, the Chinese squadron, consisting of twenty-nine sail, anchored close to the British vessels, and their attitude became so menacing that Captain Smith, of the Volage, resolved to compel them to return to their former anchorage. A brief action took place, which told with terrible effect on the celestials: one war-junk blew up at a pistol-shot distance from the Volage, three were sunk, and several others water-logged. In about half-an-hour Admiral Kwan and his squadron retired in great distress to their former anchorage, no obstruction being offered to their retreat. But notwithstanding their palpable defeat, as the English ships soon after set sail for Macao, the Chinese claimed the victory. But this was only the beginning of their sorrows. At the close of the year the English government determined to send an expedition into the Chinese seas, which should be sufficient to attain all the ends we had in view, and compel the great pure dynasty to acknowledge the principles of international law which were acted upon by all the civilized nations of the earth. This armament, which consisted of eight ships of war with frigates, transports, and steamers, arrived at its place of rendezvous at Singapore, in the month of April of the present year. It was placed under the command of Admiral Elliot; Commodore Sir J. J. Gordon Brewer was next in command, and Major-General Burrell had the command of the military force. Previous to this an edict had been issued, warning all foreign vessels from anchoring near the devoted English ships, lest they should be involved in the destruction preparing for the latter—"lest the gem should be consumed with the common stone." The first arrival of this armament in the Canton river was her majesty's ship Alligator, Captain Kuper, on the 9th of June. Previous to this the Chinese authorities at Canton had sent a boat-load of poisoned tea, packed in small parcels, to be sold to the English sailors. This boat was captured by Chinese pirates, and her cargo sold to their own countrymen, many of whom died in consequence. A proclamation was issued, by the Chinese authorities, offering rewards to all who should destroy the English, and who should be able to capture an English man-of-war. An attempt was indeed made to burn the British shipping, but this happily failed, and then Sir J. J. Gordon Brewer gave public notice, that on and after the 28th of June, a blockade of the river and port of Canton would be established. The commodore, however, witli several ships, sailed northward in the direction of Cliusan, and he was followed on the 28th by Admiral Elliot and Captain Elliot. The Chinese authorities now bestirred themselves vigorously to meet the danger. By a proclamation issued on the 2nd of July, the people were called upon to unite heart and hand with the government in opposing the barbarians. All the proclamations and precautions of the Chinese, however, were vain. On Sunday, the 5th of June, the British captured Chusan: for the first time British cannon wrested from his celestial majesty a portion of his dominions.

The policy of government with reference to the affairs of China was made the subject of a series of condemnatory resolutions in parliament. These were brought forward by Sir James Graham on the 7th of April, who introduced the subject by calling the attention of the house to the magnitude of the interests involved in our relations with China. The right honourable baronet then went into a detailed history of the disputes of which a brief account is given above; and finally concluded by moving, that "it appears to the house, in consideration of the papers relating to China, presented to this house by command of her majesty, that the interruption in our commercial and friendly intercourse with that country, and the hostilities which have since taken place, are mainly to be attributed to the want of foresight and precaution on the part of her majesty's present advisers in respect to our relations with China; and especially to their neglect to furnish the superintendent at Canton with powers and instructions calculated to provide against the growing evils connected with the contraband traffic in opium, and adapted to the novel and difficult situation in which the superintendent was placed." Mr. Macauley replied to Sir James Graham; and a long debate ensued, in which the motion was supported by Sir W. Follett, Messrs. Thesiger, Sidney Herbert, W. E. Gladstone, and G. Palmer; and opposed by Sirs George Staunton, S. Lushington, and J. C. Hobhouse, and Messrs. Hawes, C. Buller, and Ward. The debate was closed by powerful speeches from Sir Robert Peel in support of the motion, and Viscount Palmerston against it. On a division the motion was negatived by a majority of two hundred and seventy-one against two hundred and sixty-two.

THE IRISH MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS BILL, ETC.

The second reading of the Irish municipal corporations bill was moved on the 14th of February in the commons by Viscount Morpeth. It was carried by a majority of one hundred and forty-nine against fourteen; and the house, on the 24th of February, went into committee on the bill, when several amendments were proposed and negatived. The bill was read a third time in the commons on the 9th of March; but the second reading was not moved in the lords until the 4th of May. The Earl of Winchilsea moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months, which amendment was supported by the Marquis of Westmeath; but the Duke of Wellington recommended their lordships to vote for the second reading; and, after a few words from Viscount Melbourne, it was carried by a large majority. The house went into committee on the 19th of June, when the Bishop of Exeter delivered a powerful speech against it. Their lordships, however, went into committee, and Lord Lyndhurst proposed several amendments, which were ordered to be printed. On a subsequent evening, Lord Lyndhurst explained the nature of his amendments, and when the house was in committee, he moved and carried an amendment which went to preserve the inchoate rights of freemen, which under this bill were threatened. Several other amendments were agreed to without a division, and some clauses were struck out; and on the 6th of July the bill was recommitted in the house of lords. The third reading was moved by Viscount Duncannon on the 31st July, when Lord Lyndhurst proposed and carried an amendment relating to the recorder of Dublin. He proposed to strike out of the 161st clause, which had reference to the holding of the recorder's court, these words, "or as the lord-lieutenant shall from time to time think fit to direct." This proposition was resisted by ministers, but was carried by a majority of sixteen. On the question that the bill do now pass, it was again opposed by the Bishop of Exeter, who predicted that "it would not, and could not come to good;" but it passed, and the bill was, on the 3rd of August, brought down to the commons.

After a brief discussion in the lower house, managers were appointed to conduct a conference with the lords on the subject of their amendments, and the result was more harmonious than heretofore: in some things the commons gave way to the lords, and in others, the lords gave way to the commons; and by this mutual concession, the bill finally received, on the 10th of August, the royal assent.

On the 14th of February Mr. Labouchere moved the second reading of the importation of flour info Ireland bill, which, after some opposition offered by Mr. E. Tennent, was carried by a majority of one hundred and fifty-four against one hundred and two.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT, ETC.

The ministerial budget was brought forward on the 15th day of May. The total income of the year 1840 amounted to £47,685,000, and the total expenditure £49,300,000; leaving a deficiency of £1,457,000. With a view of meeting this deficiency, however, a vote of £1,000,000 of exchequer-bills had been taken, which reduced the balance to £457,000. Mr. Baring calculated the expenditure of the current financial year to be £49,432,000, and the income £46,700,000. To meet the deficiency he proposed to increase the assessed taxes fen per cent.; the customs and excise five per cent.; to lay an additional duty of fourpence per gallon on all spirits, British, colonial, and foreign; and to take a vote of credit of £395,000. He, expected, also, that by a more strict collection of the assessed taxes he should obtain £150,000. His income and expenditure would thus be made equal; but as the increase to be derived from raising the duties would not be available to the full extent this year, he thought it would be necessary to take a vote of credit for £350,000. He concluded by moving resolutions authorizing him to make the proposed additions to the taxes.

THE UNION OF THE CANADAS.

On the 23rd of March Lord John Russell moved for leave to bring in a bill for the union of the Canadas. His lordship said, that he had allowed no time to elapse since the arrival of the propositions from the governor-general of Canada, who had taken the greatest pains to ascertain the sentiments of the people in that colony upon the measure he was about to introduce. In his opinion the union would not have been expedient, had it been repugnant to the feelings of the Canadians themselves. "But," continued his lordship, "the council of Lower Canada have been called together, and have passed resolutions agreeing to the principle of an union, but leaving the details to the imperial parliament. In Upper Canada, the measure has been much discussed, both in the assembly and the legislative council; and, after a full consideration of the whole question, a resolution in favour of the union was passed, unfettered by any restrictions or conditions." His lordship proceeded to state the nature of the proposed union. With regard to the legislative council and assembly, it was proposed, that, together with the governor, they should form the legislature; and that the crown, or the governor on the part of the crown, should appoint the legislative crown councillors. The nomination of the council was to be for life, the only disqualification being bankruptcy or crime. It was further proposed that the number of representatives sent by Upper and Lower Canada should be equal, with the power of adding members as the population increased. Thirty-nine members were to be allowed to each province, and distributed without any great alteration of the existing boundaries. In Upper Canada, the towns of Kingston, Hamilton, Brockville, London, Niagara, and Cornwall, and in Lower Canada, Montreal, Quebec, and the three Rivers were each to send one member; the rest of the members for each province were to be returned by districts which were to be denominated "counties." Lord John Russell next entered upon the question relating to the laws, and to the mode in which they were to be enacted. A general power only was to be given to the assembly to enact laws: certain subjects were to be reserved for the assent of the crown, such as those pointed out by the constitutional act of 1791. It was proposed that money-votes should not originate with the assembly; but that a message from the governor, giving the assembly the power of addressing him, should precede any vote on such matters. A permanent appropriation was to be made for the governor and judges, and the civil secretary and all the various expenses connected with the civil establishments were to be voted, either for a period of years, or during the life of the queen. It was also proposed that the duties included in the act introduced by the Earl of Ripon, and collected under the 14th George III., should become part of the crown revenue. His lordship continued to say, that in Upper Canada there was already the form of a municipal government: there were townships and elective offices; and they had likewise districts formed of two or more counties, which were attached to the local courts for the administration of justice: but their powers were limited. He proposed that the power of these municipal councils should be increased, and that they should be enabled to lay a tax of threepence an acre upon all lands. The same authority in local matters was to be granted to the municipal courts in Lower Canada—that of forming districts and settling the boundaries of such districts. His lordship concluded by making some remarks on the clergy reserves, in the course of which he stated that a bill had been passed by the Upper Canada assembly, which proposed that the clergy reserves should be sold, and that one half of the proceeds should be given to the churches of England and Scotland, and that the remaining half should be divided among the clergy of all denominations of Christians recognised by certain acts of the province, such as that of registration. His lordship thought that this bill would give general satisfaction; but Mr. Hume stated that the noble lord was mistaken in supposing that such a bill would settle discontent in Canada. The Canada union bill was read a first and second time without opposition; and on the 29th of May Lord John Russell moved that the house should go into committee on its details. After a few words in opposition from Messrs. Pakington and O'Connell, and in support of it by Messrs. Gladstone and Charles Buller, the house went into committee, and the various clauses of the bill were all agreed to almost unanimously. The third reading was carried by a majority of one hundred and fifty-six against six. In the course of the discussion Sir Robert Peel had suggested that the civil-list should be charged on the consolidated fund of the provinces, and Mr. Ellis had proposed the omission of all the clauses relating to district councils; and on a subsequent evening Lord John Russell intimated that he should adopt those suggestions. On the second reading in the house of lords, on the 30th of June, a considerable discussion took place; but the bill was allowed to go into committee without a division. In committee the Duke of Wellington moved that the commencement of the operation of the act should be postponed to fifteen months, instead of six, after its passing, as proposed by government; and Lord Ellenborough moved a clause to empower the governor and two-thirds of the council to suspend any member guilty of unworthy and disreputable conduct. Both these amendments were agreed to, and the bill afterwards was read a third time. A bill introduced by Lord John Russell for the sale of the Canada clergy reserves also subsequently passed, without much opposition, through both houses of parliament.

ECCLESIASTICAL DUTIES AND REVENUES BILL.

During Sir Robert Peel's administration in 1835 an ecclesiastical commission had been appointed for the purpose of considering what changes could be made in the distribution of the revenues of the church of England with benefit to the establishment and to the community at large. These commissioners had made their report, and her majesty in her speech at the opening of parliament had advised the prosecution of the measures recommended by the commissioners. The plan chiefly consisted in a modification of the constitution of chapters and cathedral colleges, and in the reduction of the expenses of cathedral establishments to a large amount; the saving to be expended in the augmentation of small livings, and the supplying the existing want of spiritual instruction by means of additional churches and resident clergymen. The measure for these purposes, which was introduced in the commons by Lord John Russell, created but little discussion and still less opposition; but in the house of lords it was not looked upon with so much favour. The second reading was moved by Lord Melbourne on the 27th of July, and was carried by a majority of ninety-nine against forty-eight. The house subsequently went into committee, and some amendments were proposed, but none which affected the leading principles of the bill.

THE REGENCY BILL.

In consequence of a message from the crown, a bill was passed during this session, appointing his royal highness Prince Albert regent in the possible event of her most gracious majesty's decease, during the minority of any issue to her majesty, whilst such issue should be under the age of eighteen years, and for the care and guardianship of such issue. This bill was introduced by the lord-chancellor on the 16th of July, and was passed with the unanimous approbation of both houses of parliament.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued by her majesty in person on the 11th of August. The speech congratulated both houses on the termination of the civil war in Spain; and informed them that the government of Portugal had made arrangements for satisfying certain just claims of some of her majesty's subjects, and for the payment of a sum due to this country under the stipulations of the convention of 1827. Her majesty further said that she was engaged, in concert with the Emperors of Austria and Russia and the King of Prussia, in measures tending to effect the permanent pacification of the Levant. After alluding to the disputes with China, her majesty proceeded to make some remarks on the subject of Canada and the legislative bodies of Jamaica, &c.: and the speech concluded with an expression of regret that it had been found necessary to impose additional burdens upon the people.

AFFAIRS OF BRITISH INDIA.

The army of the Indus having achieved the object for which it had been sent to the north-western extremity of India, by seating Shah Soojah-ool-Moolk on the throne of Cabul, and by storming the fortresses of Ghuznee and Khelat, commenced its retrograde march in the middle of October. 1839. The army marched in two divisions, one to Bengal, under Sir J. Keene and the other to Bombay, by the Bolau Pass and Scinde. At this time Dost Mohammed seemed shorn of his power; he had retired across the Hindoo Koosh, the passes of which were guarded, and the chiefs of Balkh and Bokhara refused to join him. But although the prowess of British arms had wrested from him the throne of Afghanistan, Shah Soojah was by no means secure of it a moment longer than he was supported by European aid, The precarious tenure by which he held his power was seen early in this year, when Syed Hoshein, the chief of Koona, sent a letter to his majesty, couched in the most insulting terms, and stating that, as he had heard the Russians were advancing, it was his intention to join them. On hearing this Sir Willoughby Cotton, who commanded one division of the force which was returning to Bengal, despatched Colonel Orchard from Jellalabad, with a body of troops to attack the fort of Pooshat, where the Koona chief resided. Pooshat was captured, but Syed Hoshein escaped. The state of Affghanistan, however, still remained unsettled, for Dost Mohammed was employed with restless activity in intriguing among the native princes, with a view to recovering the throne which he had lost; and at the close of the year the British troops which had been left to support Shah Soojah imperatively demanded refreshment and repose. In testimony of the services of the army of the Indus, Lord Auckland resolved that all the corps, European and native, in the service of the East India Company, which proceeded beyond the Bolau Pass, should have on their regimental colours the word "Affghanistan," and such of them as were employed in the reduction of the fortress of that name the word "Ghuznee" in addition. In the same general order he stated, on behalf of the queen's regiments, that he would recommend to her majesty that the same distinction should be granted to them. Besides this complimentary notice, Lord Auckland ordered that a donation of six months' full or field batta should be given to officers and men of every rank attached to the army who advanced beyond the Bolau Pass.

THE MARRIAGE OF THE QUEEN.

Her most gracious majesty Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha on the 10th of February. This event gave great satisfaction to the people generally, both in the dominions of her majesty and in the duchy of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha.

STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

During this year the Carlists in Spain were compelled to give up the contest which they had so long carried on against the queen regent. All the principal places held by the chiefs of that party still remaining in the country, fell into the hands of the Christino generals; and Cabrera and Balemaseda took refuge in France, while Borso, another Carlist leader, was captured and shot. In the spring of this year a question arose with the Neapolitan government and the British cabinet, which led to hostilities on the part of England, and at one time threatened to involve other powers in Europe in a general quarrel. This question related to the "sulphur monopoly." A treaty existed which gave certain commercial advantages to England in respect of sulphur, and the treaty set forth that the Neapolitan government was not to grant any state mercantile privileges hostile to the British interests. But notwithstanding this distinct stipulation, the King of Naples granted some natives of France, in 1838, as well as others of different countries, a monopoly of all the sulphur produced and worked in Sicily. Great Britain naturally considered this grant to be a direct infraction of the stipulation of the existing treaty; and Lord Palmerston called on the Neapolitan government for the immediate termination of the monopoly, and full indemnity for all losses sustained by British subjects arising therefrom. The king professed to comply: Prince Cassaro, the minister for foreign affairs, wrote a note to Mr. Kennedy, stating that the monopoly should be abolished, and that the King of Naples acted thus in deference to England. Shortly afterwards, however, his Neapolitan majesty signified to the British minister that he had determined not to consent to the demands of Great Britain, he not considering the sulphur contract a violation of the treaty of 1816. The British government now proceeded to enforce its demands: orders were sent to Admiral Sir R. Stopford, in the Mediterranean, to hold himself in readiness to commence active hostilities against the Neapolitan flag. Hostilities commenced on the 17th of April by the British ships of war in the vicinity of Naples; an embargo was laid on all in the ports of Malta that bore the Sicilian flag. At first the king prepared to resist: but he was induced finally to accept the proposed mediation of France, in adjusting the quarrel, on the principle that the monopoly should be dissolved, and an indemnity given to the contractors. Early in May amicable relations between the courts of England and Naples commenced. In the month of July this year, the affairs of the Levant were brought to a crisis. A convention was signed at London between England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia—France declined to concur in it; whereby the following ultimatum was offered to the viceroy of Egypt. He was to have the hereditary sovereignty of Egypt, and the possession of the pashalic of St. Jean d'Acre for life. If within ten days from the notification of these terms the pasha should not accept them, the Sultan was to offer him Egypt alone; and, if he still persisted in refusing, the four powers were to compel him by force to accede to the proposed settlement. Disliking the terms, Mehemet Ali endeavoured to gain time by offering a negociation with the Porte: Rifat Bey was sent to Constantinople with certain proposals; but these were not deemed satisfactory; and the Sultan, acting upon intemperate advice, pronounced the formal deposition of the Sultan of Egypt from his pashalic, and sent a firman to Alexandria to notify that event. Mehemet Ali intimated his intention of repelling force by force; and it was then resolved by the four powers that the ports of Syria and Egypt should be declared to be in a state of blockade. Captain Napier immediately captured some Egyptian vessels off the coast of Syria; and on the 9th of September, Admiral Stopford appeared off Beyrout, and the next day made preparations for bombarding and taking that town and fortress. Beyrout was captured, and the troops of Ibrahim Pasha, which consisted of 14,000 men, subsequently dispersed, while he himself fled to Damascus. The ports of Syria and Alexandria were now strictly blockaded, and in a short time after, Tripoli, Tortosa, and Latakia were evacuated by their Egyptian garrisons, St. Jean d'Acre was next captured, and the Egyptian garrisons in Caiffa and Jaffa immediately evacuated those places; and while they were endeavouring to force for themselves a passage through Palestine into Egypt, were taken prisoners of war. The Syrian tribes, which had hitherto been in the interest of the Pasha of Egypt, now declared in favour of the Sultan, and on the 19th of November the Seraskier was informed that the garrison and inhabitants of Jerusalem had returned to their allegiance to the Porte. About this time negociations were commenced between Commodore Napier and the Pasha of Egypt, but the year closed before a convention was ratified. In Holland, this year was signalized by the abdication of its monarch, William I. In the month of October he voluntarily laid down the crown, and was succeeded by his eldest son, the Prince of Orange, who ascended the throne by the title of William II. In Prussia there was also a change in the monarchy: Frederick William III. expired at Berlin on the 7th of June, and he was succeeded by his son Frederic William IV.

CHAPTER LII.

VICTORIA. 1841—1842


     Meeting of  Parliament..... Poor-law Amendment Act.....
     Jews'  Civil  Disabilities Removal Bill..... Church of
     Scotland; Non-intrusion Question, &c...... Law Reform.....
     Financial Statements..... Discussion on the Corn-laws.....
     Resolution of Want of Confidence in the Government.....
     Prorogation  and Dissolution of Parliament..... State of
     Parties..... Meeting of the  new House of   Commons,
     &c...... Resignation of Ministers..... Sir Robert   Peel's
     Administration..... Statement of Sir Robert Peel as to his
     intended   Course of Proceeding-,  &c...... Financial
     Statement..... Poor-laws, &c...... East India Affairs.....
     State of the Continent.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

A.D. 1841

Parliament was opened by her majesty in person, on the 26th of January. Her majesty's speech chiefly referred to the posture of affairs in the Levant and China, and to serious differences which had arisen between Spain and Portugal about the execution of a treaty concluded by those powers in 1835, for regulating the navigation of the Douro.

On the 4th of February the Earl of Minto moved the thanks of the house to Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, G.C.B., and the officers and men under his command in the late operations on the coast of Syria. This motion was carried nem. con. The same unanimity prevailed also in the commons on the same subject.

POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT.

On the 29th of January Lord John Russell moved in the house of commons for leave to bring in "a bill to continue the poor-law commission for a time to be limited, and for the further amendment of the laws relating to the poor in England." The powers of the commissioners were to be continued for ten years, and when his lordship had made this known, several members, as Sir. Burdett, and Messrs. Wakley and Hume, opposed such an extension of powers to them. Leave, however, was given to bring in the bill on the 8th of February; and an important debate took place on the second reading. The debate was opened by Mr. D'Israeli, who opposed the bill, and moved that it should be read that day six months. Mr. Wakley seconded this amendment. The motion was carried by a majority of two hundred and one against fifty-four. But although the principle of the bill was thus emphatically confirmed, yet on several occasions the attacks upon it were renewed by its opponents with much acerbity. Upon the motion for the committal of the bill, Mr. Townley Parker moved, and Mr. Grimsditch seconded the motion, that it should be committed that day six months: but this was negatived by a large majority, and the bill was committed. When the bill was in committee, government gave up the longer period of ten years for the continuance of the powers of the commissioners, and reduced it to five, in deference to the opinion expressed by Sir Robert Peel, and other members. After this, the bill was considerably delayed in its progress by a great variety of amendments suggested by members on both sides of the house, to several of which government assented, and one or two of which were carried against the wishes of ministers.

JEWS' CIVIL DISABILITIES REMOVAL BILL.

During this session, Mr. Divett, one of the members for Exeter, introduced a bill, the object of which was to do away with the declaration required by the municipal corporations act from all persons taking corporate offices, by reason of which members of the Jewish persuasion had been debarred from holding civic magistracies. This bill was opposed on the second reading by Sir R. Inglis; but on a division it was carried by a majority of one hundred and thirteen against twenty-four. On the third reading Mr. Gladstone moved that it be read that day six months; a motion which was seconded by Mr. Pringle; both objecting to the principle of the bill, as hostile to the constitution and repugnant to the feelings of Christians. Mr. Macauley and Lord Sandon supported, and Mr. Goulburn and Sir R. Inglis opposed the measure. The third reading was carried in the commons by a majority of one hundred and eight against thirty-one; but the bill experienced a different fate in the house of lords. It passed a second reading; but on the third reading its rejection was moved by the Bishop of Llandaff, which was carried by ninety-eight against sixty-four: the bill was consequently lost.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND: NON-INTRUSION QUESTION, ETC.

On the 1st of May, the Duke of Argyle introduced a measure with reference to the right of patronage in the church of Scotland: a question which had been long the subject of controversy. In introducing his bill, the noble duke, after referring to the history of the various acts of the legislature affecting the right of patronage in the church of Scotland, proceeded to read some letters from Drs. Gordon and Chalmers, and others of the dominant party in the church, with the view of showing that the total abolition of patronage, as by law established, was not the means by which this party desired the settlement of the existing differences. The object of the bill proposed, the noble duke subsequently explained, was to give effect to the principle of non-intrusion on the right of the congregation to give their approval or dissent to the appointment of any presentee that might be offered them by the patron. He felt convinced, he said, that unless some measure to this effect were passed, the most lamentable consequences to the church of Scotland would ensue, and there can be no doubt but a secession of a large number of the members of the church would take place; while, if the principle of non-intrusion were conceded, the surest means would be taken to put an end to the agitation of those who were opposed to patronage. Lord Aberdeen said that he wished to give full expression to the genuine and honest feelings and wishes of the people in these matters, but he could not give his support to a measure which might lead to the monstrous consequence of compelling the presbytery to reject a presentee, though he were objected to for no other reason than because he had been presented, or because he had been compelled to take the oath of allegiance. Lord Dunfermline and the earl of Haddington opposed, and the marquess of Breadalbane supported the measure, and it was read a first time. On the 27th of May, the general assembly of the church of Scotland deposed seven clergymen of the presbytery of Strathbogie, and these seven ministers appealed to parliament. A petition was presented from them on the 15th of June, by Lord Aberdeen, in which they called upon the house to save them, by its interference, from the consequences of the sentence which had been pronounced. This petition gave rise to a discussion in the house of lords, but no step was taken for the restoration of the deposed ministers.

LAW-REFORM.

During this session there was a further mitigation of the criminal code. Two bills were introduced for this purpose in the house of commons. The first of these was introduced by Mr. Kelly, who proposed to abolish the punishment of death for all the crimes still capital, except murder and treason. This motion was seconded by Mr. Ewart, and the bill was brought in; but shortly afterwards a measure was introduced on the part of government, by Lord John Russell, which proposed to abolish the punishment of death in certain cases of embezzlement; for the offence of returning from transportation; for burning ships, where the act involved no treasonable intent; and for the crime of rape. Mr. Kelly approved of this measure as far as it went, but contended for the superiority of his own more comprehensive measure. He particularly objected to leaving the offence of setting fire to ships in the royal dockyards capital, and to retaining the punishment of death for attempts to murder. Mr. Kelly's bill went first into committee; but he experienced so many defeats that he was induced to leave government to deal with their own measures on the same subject. The result was, that near the close of the session a bill was passed, whereby the punishment of transportation for life is substituted for death in all cases of forgery and embezzlement, which had before remained capital, and the crime of rape is made subject to the same mitigated penalty.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

On the 31st of April, the chancellor of the exchequer entered into his financial statement. When he came forward last year, he said, he had anticipated that the expenditure would amount to £49,499,000, and the income to £48,641,000; leaving a deficiency of £858,000. The results of the year had proved less favourable than he had anticipated: the expenditure had amounted only to £49,285,000, but the income had only reached £47,443,000, leaving a deficiency of more than £1,840,000. He calculated that the expenditure for the ensuing year would be £50,731,226, and the income £48,310,000, which would leave a deficiency of £2,421,000 to be provided for. In order to raise the revenue, Mr. Baring proposed to deal with the two articles, timber and sugar. The present duty on colonial timber, he said, amounted to ten shillings a load, and on Baltic timber fifty-five shillings. These duties he proposed to modify, by raising that on colonial to twenty shillings, and reducing that on Baltic to fifty shillings a load, by which he anticipated an increased revenue of £750,000. He next explained that the alteration which he intended to propose in the sugar-duties would still leave a protection of fifty per cent. to colonial sugar. He would leave, he said, the duty on colonial sugar at the present amount of twenty-four shillings per cwt., but that on foreign sugar, amounting to sixty-three shillings, he proposed to reduce to thirty-six shillings per cwt.; from which change he expected an augmentation of revenue of £700,000. There would still, he said, be a deficiency to be provided for. But Lord John Russell had that evening given notice of his intention at an early period to submit the question of the corn-trade to the consideration of the house; and if the propositions of his noble friend were agreed to, he should be under no uneasiness about the deficiency; if not, it would be his duty to make provision by direct taxation. Messrs. Hume, Ward, Villiers, and other members, expressed their satisfaction at the propositions of the chancellor of the exchequer, while Lord Francis Egerton, Viscount Sandon, Sir Robert Peel, and Messrs. Goulburn and Christopher, complained of them, and especially of the announcement of an intended alteration in the corn-laws. The debate on the budget was protracted to a considerable length, and the nature of the discussion will be seen in the following article.

DISCUSSION ON THE CORN-LAWS.

The announcement made by Mr. Baring, that an alteration in the corn-laws was contemplated by government, caused the anti-corn-law party to set to work with activity to organize new associations, to despatch lecturers and emissaries, which might rouse the public mind throughout the country, and to get up requisitions for public meetings in the principal towns. In parliament, also, the opposition lost no time in coming to the attack. On the 3rd of May, the Duke of Buckingham presented one hundred and twenty petitions against a repeal of the corn-laws.

In the house of commons, Viscount Sandon gave notice of the following resolution, which he would move on going into the committee of ways and means: "That, considering the efforts and sacrifices which parliament and the country have made for the abolition of the slave-trade and slavery, with the earnest hope that their exertions and example might lead to a mitigation and final extinction of those evils in other countries, this house is not prepared, especially with the present prospects of the supply of sugar from the British possessions, to adopt the measure proposed by her majesty's government for the reduction of the duty on foreign sugars." Lord John Russell gave notice, in the event of the house not going into committee on the sugar duties, and Viscount Sandon's resolution being put from the chair, he should move a counter-resolution; namely, "That it is the opinion of this house, that it is practicable to supply the present inadequacy of the revenue to meet the expenditure of the country, by a judicious alteration of protective and differential duties, without any material increase of the public burdens; that such a course will, at the same time, promote the interests of trade, and afford relief to the industrious classes, and is best calculated to provide for the maintenance of the public faith and the general welfare of the people." A third notice was given by Mr. O'Connell, to the effect that any diminution of the duty on foreign sugar should be limited to that which was produced by free labour, and not extend in any way to the produce of slave labour. The debate on the sugar question was preceded by the presentation of petitions both for and against the alterations proposed by government. In commencing the debate, which lasted eight nights, Lord John Russell took the formal motion for going into committee out of Mr. Baring's hands, and availed himself of the opportunity for pre-occupying the ground, and anticipating the arguments of his opponents. In his speech his lordship remarked, that if this had been merely a financial question, he should have left it in the hands of the chancellor of the exchequer. He regarded it, however, as constituting, by the variety and magnitude of its relations, a great national subject. Government were well aware, he continued, at the commencement of the year, that the finance of the country was matter of great difficulty, and would require great attention. Their resolution to consider the corn-laws was formed before the 11th of March, when the notice was given that the colonial duties would be reviewed.

Government had to meet a deficiency of £2,400,000. It was open to the house to have objected to the expenditure at the time; but now to oppose the going into committee of ways and means, without suggesting any other plan as preferable to that of the government, was unworthy of a great party. Ministers had preferred the plan of altering the import duties, as now proposed, for the purpose of relieving instead of oppressing the people. Being prepared to deal with sugar and timber as questions of revenue, they would not have been justified in excluding the other great question, that of corn; especially with their opinions on the merits of that question, and their belief that, sooner or later, it must be made the means of an extensive change in the commercial situation of this country. Before the house had gone into committee, Lord John Russell had announced the rate of duties which he meant to propose on corn; namely, on wheat, a duty of eight shillings per quarter; on rye, of five shillings; on barley, of four shillings and sixpence, and on oats, of three shillings and sixpence. His lordship now said that the duties he meant to propose, added to the charge of freight, would constitute a sufficient protection, keeping the price of wheat, in all probability, at from fifty to sixty shillings a quarter. With respect to sugar, he considered the true principle was protection, not prohibition. He entered into some details, for the purpose of showing that West Indian interests would be protected under the proposals of ministers, and that freedom of commercial intercourse among nations had a tendency to improve and cheapen the productions of each. By the admission of foreign sugar, his lordship said, the industry of the West Indies would be stimulated to better means of production, and the English labourer would obtain his sugar on more reasonable terms. His lordship next entered into various statistical details, to prove that the great measure of slave emancipation had been eminently successful; and that the condition of the negroes was not only promising, but prosperous. On Lord John Russell's resuming his seat, Viscount Sandon rose to propose a resolution of which he had given notice.

Lord John Russell then moved pro forma the resolution of which he had given notice as an amendment to Viscount Sandon's; but it was negatived without a division; and that of Viscount Sandon's being carried, the house adjourned. After this defeat it was generally expected that ministers would resign; but on the next day business was resumed, and carried on as though nothing of importance had happened; and when business was over Lord John Russell simply moved that the house at its rising should adjourn to the Monday following. The Earl of Darlington, on hearing this, said that he had been relieved of all suspense as to the intentions of government: it was plain that they meant to stay in office with a tenacity unparalleled in the history of governments, and with the deliberate decision of the house of commons unequivocally declared against them. He asked when Lord John Russell intended to bring forward the question of the corn-laws. And his lordship replied, "On Friday, the 4th of June;" but before that day arrived ministers had suffered another signal defeat, and were compelled to postpone the subject.

RESOLUTION OF WANT OF CONFIDENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT.

On the first day on which the house met after its temporary adjournment, Sir Robert Peel gave notice that he should move, on the 27th of May, this resolution:—"That her majesty's ministers do not sufficiently possess the confidence of the house of commons to enable them to carry through the house measures which they deem of essential importance to the public welfare; and that their continuance in office under such circumstances is at variance with the spirit of the constitution." On the day named the right honourable baronet introduced this resolution with a speech of considerable length and ability. The debate which ensued lasted five nights; in the course of which much was said for and against the motion. The leading speakers in support of it were Lord Stanley, Sirs James Graham and William Follett, and Messrs. Christopher and Sergeant Jackson; those against it were Viscount Morpeth, Sir George Grey, Dr. Lushington, and Messrs. Macauley, Handley, O'Connell, and Shiel. Towards the close of the debate, Lord John Russell denied that the motion was in the spirit of the constitution, and ably defended his own conduct and that of his colleagues in retaining office. Sir Robert Peel briefly replied; and on a division the motion was carried by a majority of three hundred and twelve against three hundred and eleven. After this division, Lord John Russell announced that he would state on the following Monday the course which the government should resolve under existing circumstances to pursue.

PROROGATION AND DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.

At the meeting of the house on the following Monday, after moving the order of the day for the committee of supply, Lord John Russell said that he and his colleagues had come to the determination not to bring on the alteration of the corn-laws as a government measure. He further stated that, after the late division, he felt that tire government could expect no further majorities in the house of commons, and that they would not make any further struggle for the retention of their offices until the opinion of the nation had been ascertained. A desultory conversation followed, in which his lordship expressly declared that the intentions of government were to advise that no time should be lost in dissolving the present Parliament, and that a new one should be summoned without delay. Subsequently the house resolved itself into a committee of supply; and the estimates were voted without opposition. The session was now virtually at an end, although the condemned parliament lingered on for about a fortnight after the ministerial announcement of a dissolution. In the course of that period Lord John Russell announced many bills, in more or less advanced stages, as abandoned; but he still sought to carry the bill for the better administration of justice. This bill, however, was opposed by Sir E. Sugden, who moved that it should not come into operation till the 10th day of October. This motion was carried; and Lord John Russell then declared his determination to throw up the bill altogether. It thus fell to the ground; but it was revived in the next session, and then passed into a law. After this discussion nothing worthy of note occurred; and on the 22nd of June, parliament was prorogued by the queen in person, after having previously given her assent to the appropriation and other bills. The lord-chancellor then declared parliament to be prorogued to Tuesday, the 29th of June; and on the following day the queen's proclamation was issued, by which the parliament thus prorogued was declared to be dissolved; and writs for a new one were issued, returnable on the 19th of August. Thus terminated the first session of 1841; a more barren and unprofitable one than which is not to be found in the annals of modern parliaments. It lasted nearly five months, and yet all the great questions brought forward were still in an unsettled state. It has indeed been well remarked, that "the whole operations of this session might have been at once blotted out of the records of parliament, with scarcely any sensible effects upon the laws or institutions of the country."

STATE OF PARTIES.

On the dissolution of parliament both the great parties in the state—the Conservatives and Liberals—prepared themselves for the struggle which was immediately to ensue at the general election. The hopes and expectations of the two parties were essentially different. On the one hand, the Conservative party had been for some time increasing in numbers throughout the country. Their ranks had been recruited by those who had been accustomed to identify themselves with their opponents, but who believed that the time was come when the exigencies of the country demanded a strong and efficient government, and who were willing to accord to Conservative statesmen the merit of being ready to support all measures of real amendment; knowing that they only had the power of carrying such measures into effect. There were, moreover, many who although they stood aloof from the Conservative party, and professed jealous suspicion of its future policy, who were not averse to give it once more a trial in the possession of power. It was clear, indeed, that the Conservative party at this period stood the highest in the estimation of the people. The landowners and farmers were united in their favour, and the mercantile body, alarmed at the attack which had been made upon our West Indian and Canadian interests in the articles of sugar and timber, agreed, too, in an anxious desire for their return to power. The Liberal party, however, could still reckon confidently upon the support of the Radicals; and they had an advantage even from their recent defeat. The defeat happened in consequence of certain financial measures which they brought forward in their budget, which measures assumed the character of a removal of disabilities from trade. This afforded good grounds for an appeal to the people, and an attack upon monopoly. Land-owners and West Indian proprietors were styled monopolists: the former, because the legislature had imposed a duty on corn for the protection of agriculture; and the latter, because their interests were protected by a duty on sugar. In like manner it was attempted to excite popular odium against other classes, as favoured in the acquisition of wealth at the expense of the community: all who supported the Conservatives were subjected to the same charge, while the supporters of government were exultingly denominated anti-monopolists. The watch-word of the Liberal party was, in truth, "anti-monopoly;" and a strenuous effort was made to enlist popular feeling in its behalf. This cry, however, did not succeed.. Even the city of London, which had before returned four Liberals, now returned only two, which were coupled with two Conservatives. As for the elections, in the counties they went everywhere against the ministry: and in the towns and manufacturing districts the cry of "Low wages!" was raised against that of "Cheap bread!" with considerable effect. In a word, the returns proved more favourable to the Conservative party than the most sanguine among them had anticipated; and it appeared certain that Sir Robert Peel would command a stronger and more efficient majority than had supported any minister for a long period.

MEETING OF THE NEW HOUSE OF COMMONS, ETC.

The new session of parliament was opened by commission on the 19th of August, and the speech was read by the lord-chancellor on the 24th of the same month. The speech referred to a treaty concluded on the 15th of July, 1840, between her majesty and the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Russia, and the Sultan, the objects of which, it was said, had been fully accomplished. The speech also informed the house that her majesty had ordered the return of her minister to the court of Persia, and announced that the differences which had arisen between Spain and Portugal about the execution of a treaty concluded by those powers in 1835, for regulating the navigation of the Douro had been amicably adjusted. In reference to the disputes with China, a hope was expressed that the emperor would see the justice of the demands which her majesty's plenipotentiaries had been recently instructed to make. The speech concluded thus:—"My lords and gentlemen,—We are more especially commanded to declare to you that the extraordinary expenses which the events in Canada, China, and the Mediterranean have occasioned, and the necessity of maintaining a force adequate to the protection of our extensive possessions, have made it necessary to consider the means of increasing the public revenue. Her majesty is anxious that this object should be effected in the manner least burdensome to her people: and it has appeared to her majesty, after full deliberation, that you may at this juncture properly direct your attention to the revision of duties affecting the productions of foreign countries. It will be for you to consider whether some of these duties are not so trifling in amount as to be unproductive to the revenue, while they are vexatious to commerce. You may further examine whether the principle of protection upon which others of these duties are founded be not carried to an extent injurious alike to the income of the state and the interests of the people. Her majesty is desirous that you should consider the laws which regulate the trade in corn. It will be for you to determine whether these laws do not aggravate the natural fluctuation of supply—whether they do not embarrass trade, derange the currency, and by their operation diminish the comfort and increase the privations of the great body of the community." In the house of lords the address was moved by Earl Spencer, and seconded by the Marquess of Clanricarde, both of whom in their speeches vindicated the conduct of government, and advocated the repeal of the corn-laws. The address was opposed by the Earl of Ripon, who arraigned government on many points, more especially on their financial operations. He concluded a long and able speech by proposing as an amendment, that an address be presented to her majesty, "humbly to represent to her majesty, that we observe with great concern that the public expenditure has of late, in each of several years, exceeded the annual income, and that we are convinced of the necessity of adopting measures for the purpose of remedying so great an evil: To assure her majesty that we are deeply sensible of the importance of those considerations, to which her majesty has been graciously pleased to direct our attention in reference to the commerce and revenue of the country, and to the laws which regulate the trade in corn: That in deciding the course which it may be advisable to pursue with reference to such matters, it will be our earnest desire to consult the interest and promote the welfare of all classes of her majesty's subjects: That we feel it, however, to be our duty humbly to submit to her majesty that it is essential to the satisfactory results of our deliberations upon these and other matters of public concern that her majesty's government should possess the confidence of this house and of the country; and respectfully to represent to her majesty that that confidence is not reposed in the present advisers of her majesty: To assure her majesty that in the gracious expression of her majesty's deep sympathy with those of her subjects who are now suffering from distress and want of employment, we recognise an additional proof of her majesty's tender regard for the welfare of her subjects; and that we cordially join in the prayer of her majesty that all our deliberations may be guided by wisdom, and may conduce to the happiness of her people." Viscount Melbourne expressed himself to the effect that the Earl of Ripon's motion came like a thunder-clap upon him. He was ignorant that there existed in the house the spirit on which the motion seemed to proceed. The Duke of Wellington, after alluding to the various allegations brought against government by the Earl of Ripon, said that they sufficiently justified him in calling on that house to vote against the address. He continued to animadvert upon, and to condemn the introduction of her majesty's name in the royal speech, in such a way as to give the country to believe that those who opposed the proposed alterations in commerce opposed her majesty. At the same time the noble duke passed a warm eulogium upon the general conduct of Viscount Melbourne in his relation to the crown, frankly admitting that the noble viscount had rendered the greatest possible service to her majesty, in making her acquainted with the mode and policy of the government of this country; initiating her into the laws and spirit of the constitution; and teaching her to preside over the destinies of the empire of Great Britain. His grace concluded by making some severe remarks on the budget, about which so much had been said; and by expressing himself to be still adverse to any alteration in the corn-laws. The noble duke was followed by the Duke of Richmond, who, in a short speech, advocated the interests of the agriculturists. The Marquess of Lans-downe said that the government had not proposed a repeal of the corn laws in toto, as the Duke of Richmond seemed to have understood: they simply contemplated some change. After a few words from the Earl of Coventry and the Marquess of Northampton, in support of the amendment, and from Lord Brougham, partly in favour of the address, and partly condemnatory of the measures of government, their lordships divided on the original question, when there appeared for it only ninety-six, and against it one hundred and sixty-eight; so that ministers were left in a minority of seventy-two.

In the commons the first business performed was the election of a speaker, and Mr. Shaw Lefevre was re-elected by the consent of all parties. The house then adjourned; after which several days were consumed in swearing in members. This being done, the speaker having read from the chair the speech delivered in the other house by the lords-commissioners, an address was moved in consonance with it by Mr. Mark Phillips, and seconded by Mr. John Dundas. An amendment was moved by Mr. J. S. Wortley, which expressed the regret of the house at the recent increase of expenditure; its determination to provide for that increase; its earnest desire to promote the welfare of her majesty's subjects; and respectfully to represent to her majesty the necessity that her ministers should enjoy the confidence of the country, which the present administration did not possess. This amendment was seconded by Lord Bruce; and a long discussion followed, in which many members expressed their views. The result showed that ministers were even deserted by some of their tried friends: even Mr. Roebuck declared that he should vote in favour of the amendment. On this occasion Mr. Cobden, who had been elected in the new parliament, and who was destined to be the greatest antagonist of the corn-laws that had ever appeared in the house of commons, came forward to express his views on the subject. On a division the amendment was carried by a majority of three hundred and sixty, against two hundred and sixty-nine. When the house of commons met for the purpose of receiving the report on the amended address, Mr. Sharman Crawford proposed another amendment, to the effect that the house would feel it their duty so to extend the suffrage as to give to the working classes their just weight in legislation; but this was negatived by an overwhelming majority.

RESIGNATION OF MINISTERS.—SIR ROBERT PEEL'S ADMINISTRATION.

At the next meeting of the house of commons, Lord Marcus Hill appeared at the bar, and read this answer to the address:—"It is the greatest satisfaction to me to find that the house of commons are deeply sensible of the importance of those considerations to which I directed their attention in reference to the commerce and revenue of the country, and the laws which regulate the trade in corn; and that, in deciding on the course which it may be desirable to pursue, it will be their earnest desire to consult the welfare of all classes of my subjects. Ever anxious to listen to the advice of my parliament, I will take immediate measures for the formation of a new administration." The division on Mr. J. S. Wortley's amendment had so emphatically declared the sense of the new house of commons upon the continuance of the Whig government, that no other course remained to them but retirement from office. Accordingly, on the 30th of August, Viscount Melbourne in the lords, and Lord John Russell in the commons, intimated that they and their colleagues had resigned, and that they only continued to hold their respective offices till their successors were appointed. The task of forming a new government was assigned by the queen to Sir Robert Peel, and this time he was successful; the change embracing the queen's household. The following were the principal members of the new administration:—the Duke of Wellington was leader in the lords; Sir Robert Peel himself was first lord of the treasury; Lord Lyndhurst became lord-chancellor; the honourable H. Goulburn, chancellor of the exchequer; Lord Wharncliffe, president of the council; the Duke of Buckingham, privy-seal; Sir James Graham, home-secretary; Earl of Aberdeen, foreign secretary; Lord Stanley, colonial secretary; Earl of Haddington, first lord of the admiralty; Lord Ellenborough, president of the board of control; Earl of Ripon, president of the board of trade; Sir H. Hardinge, secretary-at-war; Sir E. Knatchbull, treasurer of the navy and paymaster of the forces; and Lord Lowther, postmaster-general. After the new government was formed, writs were moved for in the commons for various places, in consequence of the acceptance of office of those members who belonged to that house; and the house afterwards adjourned until the 16th of September.

STATEMENT OF SIR ROBERT PEEL AS TO HIS INTENDED COURSE OF PROCEEDING, ETC.

The re-election of the members of government took place without the loss of a seat, and the house of commons reassembled on the day appointed. Business was commenced by Sir Robert Peel moving pro forma for a copy of the letter of the first commissioners of woods and forests, on the subject of warming and ventilating the new houses of parliament. The right honourable baronet on this occasion stated his intentions as to the course to be pursued with respect to the public business of the country.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Mr. Goulburn brought forward his financial statement in a committee of ways and means on the 27th of September. He first stated what was wanted, showing that the house was called on to provide for a deficiency of £2,467,432. This sum, he said, did not differ materially from the deficiency anticipated by his predecessor; and to meet it he proposed funding a portion of the unfunded debt. He had, indeed, already made proposals to the public, which, he said, had been completely successful; the subscription he had obtained would enable him to give the requisite relief. The sum subscribed exceeded £3,500,000; and the terms he had offered were not higher than those offered by Mr. Spring Rice in 1838. The bonus would be found to be about 18s. 10d. per cent. With respect to the requisite supply, immediate taxation was out of the question; and he should therefore propose a mode of supply, which as a permanent resource he should deprecate, by an issue of exchequer-bills or a sale of stock, at the option of government. He suggested this alternative method, in order that the market might not be presently flooded again with a quantity of exchequer-bills equal to that from which it had just been relieved. Mr. Goulburn concluded by moving a resolution in accordance with the plan which he had explained, for funding the recent subscriptions in three per cent, consols. This proposition met with considerable opposition from Mr. Baring and other members; but the resolutions necessary for carrying it out were, nevertheless, passed without a division.

POOR LAWS, ETC.

The only measures of importance brought forward this session, after the supplies had been granted, were the bill for the better administration of justice in the court of Chancery, and the poor-law commission continuance bill. The former of these measures was merely a revival of that which was thrown up by the former government, as seen in a previous page; and it now quickly passed both houses, and received the royal assent. The latter subject gave rise to more opposition and debate. It was brought forward by Sir Robert Peel on the 21st of September, by moving for leave to bring in a bill to continue the office of commissioners for six months only; namely, till 31st July, 1842. In the course of the discussion, Mr. Lefroy bore testimony to the generally successful working of the Irish poor-law. On the house going into committee, Mr. R. Yorke moved an instruction to the committee, to the effect that the poor-law commissioners should not be empowered to enforce separation between man and wife, except where application for relief arose from idleness, vice, or crime. The honourable member quoted the injunction of Scripture against separating those whom God had joined together, and called on members on the ministerial side to redeem the pledges they had given to their constituents. After some discussion, this instruction was negatived.

The bill went through the committee and passed.

Parliament was prorogued by lords-commissioners on the 7th of October.

EAST INDIA AFFAIRS, ETC.

It has been seen in the last chapter that Dost Mohammed was still in arms. About the close of the last year his army was completely routed at Bamean by Brigadier Dennie, and he then fled across the Hindoo Koosh into the Khoohun territory. In the mean time, Sir Robert Sale was employed in reducing the strongholds of the partizans of the ex-king in Kohistan; a work in which he experienced considerable difficulty, owing to the determined manner in which the forts were defended. Dost Mohammed subsequently summoned his son Afzul Khan to join him, and he moved from the Nijrow towards the Ghorebund Pass, leading into the Kohistan valley, to effect the junction. Sir Robert Sale, hearing of this movement, resolved to frustrate its object, and breaking up his camp at Bolan, proceeded towards Purwau. At Purwau a battle took place, and Dost Mohammed again received a signal defeat. His soldiers refused to make any further efforts against the British forces, and Dost Mohammed threw himself upon the generosity of his foes, surrendering himself to Sir William M'Naghten on the 3rd of November. His confidence was not misplaced; he was permitted to take up his residence at Loodianah, and a yearly pension of three lacs of rupees (£30,000) was granted to him. His treatment was so generous that he wrote to his three sons, who were in different parts of the country, to follow his example, and deliver themselves up to the British. During the remainder of this year Afghanistan remained comparatively tranquil; nothing occurred of a hostile nature except the capture of the old fort of Khelat-i-Ghilzee by Major Lynch, on which occasion the garrison was destroyed by a mistake, an event which caused great commotion among the whole of the Ghilzee tribe, as will be seen in a future page. It may be mentioned that in Scinde, during this year, the fortress of Khelat, which had again fallen into the hands of the enemy, was recaptured, and the whole of the Punjaub fell into a state of disorganization; but the British were not called upon to interfere in the internal dissensions which shook the throne, so long and ably occupied by our steadfast ally, Runjeet Sing, whose death gave rise to the commotions.

In China, after Chusan fell into our hands. Admiral Elliot, accompanied by Captain Elliot, sailed to the Pe-che-lee harbour, where he arrived on the 9 th of August, 1840. On the 30th of that month an interview took place between Captain Elliot and Keshen, the-imperial commissioner, the third man in the empire, and the negociations were protracted until the 15th of September, on which clay the admiral sailed away from the Peho. When the squadron returned to Chusan, it was discovered that Admiral Elliot had consented to transfer the negociations from the Pe-che-lee to Canton, where all details were to be settled, and where the Chinese government promised to arrange everything to the satisfaction of the British. Negociations were carried on; but in the meantime Keshen was busily employed in erecting new batteries at the Bogue, barricading the bars in the rivers by sinking boats laden with stones, throwing up breast-works near Canton, and levying troops. It was so evident that the Chinese commissioner was insincere, that hostilities recommenced on the 7th of January. Two of the Bogue forts were reduced, and Keshen then offered to adjust matters without delay. These arrangements were made between Captain Elliot and the imperial commissioner:—"1. The cession of the harbour and island of Hong-Kong to the British crown. All just charges and duties to the empire upon the commerce carried on there to be paid as if the trade were conducted at Wham-poa. 2. An indemnity to the British government of 6,000,000 of dollars, 1,000,000 payable at once, and the remainder in equal annual instalments, ending in 1846. 3. Direct official intercourse between the two countries upon an equal footing. 4. The trade of the port of Canton to be opened within ten days after the Chinese new year (the 2nd of February), and to be carried on at Whampoa till further arrangements are practicable at the new settlement. Details to remain matter of negociation." The terms of this convention were much censured; and Lord John Russell declared in the house of commons, on the 6th of May, that they were not approved of by her majesty's government; that Captain Elliot had been recalled; and that Sir Henry Pottinger had been appointed plenipotentiary in his stead. In the meantime it had become evident that the Chinese had no intention of fulfilling these engagements. On the morning of the 19th of February, a hostile shot was fired at the boat of the Nemesis steamer from North Wangtong, and hostilities again commenced. The British squadron now attacked the Anunghoy batteries, which were soon silenced, and they then landed, and both the ships and land troops proceeded towards Canton. The British colours were soon hoisted on Howqua's fort; and while Sir George Brewer and General Gough were preparing to attack those forts which still remained between them and Canton, the Kwang-chow Foo, as prefect, accompanied by the Hong merchants, came down and admitted that Keshen had been degraded, and that no commissioner had yet arrived to treat for peace, or make any new arrangements. Keshen had, it appeared, delayed the execution of the treaty until he could obtain the emperor's confirmation of it. The emperor, however, looking upon the English "as dogs and sheep in their dispositions," and considering that "both gods and men were indignant at their conduct, refused to ratify a treaty with them; and Keshen was ordered to be delivered over to the board of punishment." The Chinese again contemplated hostilities, and in the month of May the British commanders again determined to advance upon Canton. All the surrounding forts were captured, and it was determined that the city should be taken by assault; but a flag of truce was hoisted on the walls, and Captain Elliot again requested Sir H. Gough to suspend hostilities. He was employed, he said, in a settlement of the difficulties upon the following conditions:—"1. The imperial commissioner, and all the troops, other than those of the province, to quit the city within six days, and to remove to a distance exceeding sixty miles. 2. 6,000,000 dollars to be paid in one week for the use of the crown of England; 1,000,000 dollars payable before to-morrow at sun-set. 3. British troops to remain in their actual positions till the whole sum be paid. No additional preparations on either side; but all British troops and ships of war to return without the Bocca Tigris as soon as the whole be paid. Quang-tong also to be evacuated; but not to be re-armed by the Chinese government till all the difficulties are adjusted between the two governments. 4. The loss occasioned by the burning of the Spanish brig, Bilbaino, and all losses occasioned by the destruction of the factories, to be paid within one week." In consequence of this arrangement, the British flag was lowered in the various captured forts, and the troops inarched out, and returned to Tsing-hae. The 6,000,000 of dollars amounted to about £120,000, and Captain Elliot appropriated about half that sum to reimburse those who had surrendered their opium-chests to him at the commencement of the disturbances; but this payment was subsequently disallowed by the British government. Matters were at this point, when, on the 9th of August, Sir Henry Pottinger, the new plenipotentiary, arrived in the Canton waters, accompanied by Sir William Parker, who assumed a command of the fleet in the Chinese seas. Having published a copy of his credentials, authorizing him to negociate and conclude with the minister vested with similar power and authority on the part of the Emperor of China, any treaty or agreement for the arrangement of the differences now subsisting between Great Britain and China; and having warned all her majesty's subjects and foreigners against putting themselves in the power of the Chinese authorities, during the anomalous and unsettled state of our relations with the emperor, Sir Henry Pottinger embarked for Hong-Kong, whither Sir William Parker had preceded him. The superseded plenipotentiary, Captain Elliot, left China on the 24th of August.

STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

An important treaty was signed in London in December, between France, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain, whereby the former powers agreed to adopt the English laws relating to the slave-trade. Spain still remained in a state of insecurity. A quarrel took place between that country and Portugal, relative to the navigation of the Douro, and both countries prepared for war; but the question was finally settled without an appeal to arms. Later in the year there was an insurrection at Pampeluna and Vittoria, in behalf of the queen-mother, and a desperate attempt was made to seize the queen in the palace at Madrid, but, through the energetic measures of Espartero, the insurrection was suppressed: Don Diego Leon, one of its leaders, was tried and executed. During this year the long agitated question of the East rapidly approached a settlement. On the 11th of January. Mehemet Ali gave up the whole of the Turkish fleet; and about the same time a finnan was sent from Constantinople, whereby the sultan accorded to Mehemet the hereditary possession of Egypt. At the same time also Ibrahim Pacha was directed by his father to evacuate Syria. Several causes, however, combined against the complete restoration of peace between the sultan and the pacha; and the year closed before negociations were concluded.

CHAPTER LIII.

VICTORIA 1842—1843


     Meeting of Parliament..... Debate on the Corn-Laws:
     Proposition of Ministers on the subject of the Corn-
     Laws..... Financial Measures; Income-Tax Bill, &c—New
     Tariff..... Mr. Villiers's Motion on the Corn Laws..... The
     Great Chartist Petition..... Bill for Restraining the
     Employment of Women and Children in Mines and
     Collieries..... Bribery at Elections..... Law Reforms.....
     Bill for the Protection of the Royal Person..... Copyright
     Act..... Poor Law Amendment Bill..... Prorogation  of
     Parliament..... East India Affairs, &c.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

A.D. 1842

Parliament re-assembled on the 3rd of February. The session was opened under circumstances of unusual splendour, occasioned by the presence of the King of Prussia, who had arrived in England, in order to stand sponsor at the christening of the infant Prince of Wales. Her majesty again addressed lier parliament in a speech of considerable length, and which embraced a variety of interesting and important topics. The chief of these were, the birth of an heir to the throne, the treaty which had been concluded with the other great powers of Europe for the suppression of the slave-trade: the pending negociations with China; the restoration of friendly intercourse with Persia; and a treaty which had been concluded with the Emperors of Austria and Russia, and the Kings of France and Prussia, having for its object the security of the Turkish empire, and the maintenance of the general tranquillity. In conclusion, her majesty recommended attention to the state of the finances and expenditure of the country; urged the consideration of the corn-laws; stated that measures would be submitted for the amendment of the law of bankruptcy; and expressed regret at the continued distress in the manufacturing districts.

In the house of commons, on the 4th of February, Sir Robert Peel gave notice that he would, on the 9th, move that the liouse resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to take into consideration the laws which affect the importation of corn. The address was agreed to nem. con.

DEBATE ON THE CORN-LAWS—PROPOSITION OF MINISTERS ON THE SUBJECT.

On the 9th of February, the day on which Sir Robert Peel had announced he would develop the ministerial plan for the alteration of the corn-laws, extraordinary interest was exhibited both in and out of the house of commons. Every avenue of the house was thronged at an early hour by persons eager to obtain admission; and when the doors were opened every seat in the strangers' gallery was instantly occupied. A number of the anti-corn-law delegates attempted to station themselves in the lobby; but being prevented by the police they stationed themselves outside the house, where they saluted the members as they passed with the cries of "No sliding-scale!" "Total repeal!" "Fixed duty!" &c. Shortly after five o'clock Sir Robert Peel moved: "That this house resolve itself into a committee, to consider the trade in corn." He then requested that the clerk of the house should read that portion of her majesty's speech which related to that subject. This being done, he observed that it was difficult to discuss this subject without making statements or admissions which would be seized upon by his opponents: but that he trusted to the reason, moderation, and judgment of parliament. The right honourable baronet then proceeded to state that he would not excite a hope that his measure would tend immediately to mitigate the existing commercial distress, and to enumerate the causes which had given rise to that distress. He then adverted to the various opinions obtained in the country as to a change of the corn-laws. Some opposed, he said, all change; others demanded immediate and instant repeal; and others required some modification. His own opinion was, that a total repeal of the corn-laws would aggravate the manufacturing distress; the prosperity of the two classes being identical. There were advantages in a fixed duty which did not apply to a variable duty; but the objection to the principle of imposing any duty on corn was equally applicable to both. Nor could, he argued, a fixed duty be permanent: he did not think they could impose any amount of fixed duty sufficient for the protection of agriculture in years of average supply, which they could determinately and fixedly impose in times of distress and scarcity. Sir Robert Peel next entered into a variety of arguments to show that this country, in ordinary years, was able to supply its own population. From the arguments he used he came to the conclusion that it was not advisable for parliament to alter the principle of the existing law; and the alteration which he would therefore propose went on the principle of retaining a duty on corn, varying inversely with the price of corn in the home market. He continued by observing that the maintenance of that principle involved the maintenance of a system of averages; and after expressing doubts whether there had not been much exaggeration as to the frauds and combinations to influence the averages, he thus stated the proposals of government respecting them:—"We shall propose to take the averages in the present mode, from the factor, the miller, or the purchaser. We shall propose that the duty of collecting the returns shall devolve on the excise. The excise is perfectly competent to this duty; it has officers employed in each market-town fully competent for the discharge of this duty by having greater duties to perform, and who will be able at a comparatively small increase of expense to fulfil this employment; and by their intelligence, their business habits, and the responsibility which attaches to them as public officers, they will afford far greater security against fraud than can be obtained by intrusting this duty to private individuals." After stating that the averages were to be taken in all the principal corn-markets, Sir Robert stated the amount of protection to be given to the produce of this country. Having shown how the duty varied under the existing laws, and that they induced fraud, and having made some remarks on the term "remunerating price," he thus described his new scale:—"We propose that when corn is at 50s. and under 51s. in price, a duty of 20s. shall be taken; but that in no case shall that duty be exceeded. We propose that when the price is 51s. and under 52s., the duty shall be 19s.; and after this we propose that there shall be what I should term a rest in the scale. That at the next items of price the duty should be uniform. Thus it would be: When the price is 52s. and under 53s. and 54s., 18s.; and when 54s. and under 55s., still 18s. When the price is 55s. and under 56s., we propose that the duty be 17s.; when 56s. and under 57s., that it shall be 16s.; and when 57s. and under 58s., that it shall be 15s.; and when 58s. and under 59s.. that it shall be 14s.; and when 59s. and under 60s., that it shall be 13s.; when 60s. and under 61s., that it shall be 12s.; when 61s. and under 62s., that it shall be lis.; when 62s, and under 63s., that it shall be 10s.; when 63s. and under 64s., that it shall be 9s.; when 64s. and under 65s., that it shall be 8s.; and when 65s. and under 66s., that it shall be 7s. At the three next items of price I propose another rest in the scale similar to the former. I should propose on the next three a duty of 6s., that is to say, when the price is 66s. and under 67s., when it is 67s. and under 68s., and when it is 68s. and under 69s. In each of these cases the duty would be 6s. When the price is 69s. and under 70s., I propose a duty of 5s.; when 70s. and under 71s., a duty of 4s.; when 71s. and under 72s., a duty of 3s.; when 72s. and under 73s. a duty of 2s.; and when 73s. and under 74s., a duty of Is. the quarter. When that price is arrived at, I propose that the duty should altogether cease; the sum of the proposition, then, is this, that when corn in the British market is under the price of 51s. the quarter, a duty of 20s. shall be levied, which duty shall never be exceeded, for I am quite satisfied that it is useless to take any greater amount of duty." With respect to other grain than wheat, Sir Robert Peel proposed to adopt the proportion of value and duty which he found in the present law. "Colonial wheat and flour," he continued, "shall be imported at a duty of 5s. whenever the price of British wheat is below 67s.; that when the price of British wheat exceeds 67s. it shall then be admissible at a duty of 6d. I propose to give the same advantage to colonial wheat, respecting the reduction of prices at which it shall be admissible, as is given to other descriptions of wheat. But considering that the sudden drop in the prices from 5s. to 6d., on account of the difference of Is. in the price, is at variance with the principle of the law, which seeks to establish as equable and uniform a reduction of duty as possible, we propose to make this arrangement respecting colonial wheat—that when the price of British wheat is under 55s., the duty upon every quarter of British colonial wheat shall be 5s.; that when at 55s. and under 56s., it shall be 4s.; and when at 56s. and under 57s., it shall be 3s.; and when at 58s. and upwards it shall be Is., thus taking away that sudden fall in the amount of duty, levied upon colonial wheat, which takes place under the existing law; but giving the colonial wheat that advantage in the reduction of the price which is given to other descriptions of wheat." Sir Robert Peel finally thus recapitulated the reduction which his new scale would effect:—"When corn is 59s. and under 60s., the duty I propose is 13s. When the price of com is at 50s., the existing duty is 36s. 8d., increasing as the price falls; instead of which I propose, when corn is at 50s., that the duty shall be only 20s., and that the duty shall in no case be exceeded. At 56s., the existing duty is 30s. 8d.; the duty I propose at that price is 16s. At 60a., the existing duty is 26s. 8d., the duty I propose at that price is 12s. At 63s., the existing duty is 23s. 8d.; the duty I propose is 9s. At 64s., the existing duty is 22s. 8d.; the duty I propose is 8s. At 70s., the existing duty is 10s. 8d.; the duty I propose is 5s. Therefore it is impossible to deny, in comparing the duty which I propose with that which exists at present, that it will cause a very considerable decrease of the protection which the present duty affords to the home grower, a decrease, however, which, in my opinion, can be made consistently with justice to all the interests concerned." In conclusion, Sir Robert Peel disclaimed the idea of legislating in favour of particular interests, and expressed his conviction that the present was a favourable time for the settlement of the question. After a few words from Lord John Russell, and a brief reply from Sir Robert Peel, the house adjourned. On the following day Lord John Russell gave notice that he should, on the ensuing Monday, move a resolution condemnatory of a sliding-scale. The resolution was couched in these terms:—"That this house, considering the evils which have been caused by the present corn-laws, and especially by the fluctuations of the graduated or sliding-scale, is not prepared to adopt the measure of her majesty's government, which is founded on the same principle, and is likely to be attended by the same results." Mr. Villiers next announced that, on going into committee, he should take the sense of the house on the policy of imposing any duty whatever on foreign corn or food imported into this country. A third notice was given by Mr. Christopher that he should move in committee a scale of wheat duties, instead of Sir Robert Peel's, imposing a maximum duty of 25s. when the price is 50s., and a minimum duty of Is. when the price is 73s., the duty falling by Is., as the price rises by Is.; except that at the rise of price from 59s. to 60s., the duty falls by 2s. The debate commenced on the 14th, when Sir Robert Peel moved that the speaker do leave the chair, in order to a committee of the whole house on the corn-laws. Lord John Russell then brought forward his amendment, and stated his objections to the sliding-seale. He remarked:—"The first objection I have to a sliding-scale, is, that a high, I would say a prohibitory duty, always forms part of it. I could understand a scale not exceeding 10s. or 12s., and going down to 4s., to 3s., or to Is.; but I find that whenever gentlemen speak of a sliding-scale, it is of such a nature as to contain a prohibitory duty. The first duty, when the price is at 50s., and under 51s., is 20s.; and I shall now proceed to show that that is a prohibitory duty. I have looked over the papers containing the latest information. From the information obtained by Mr. Meek, who was sent to the north of Europe expressly to collect information on the subject, it appears that the original price of Dantzie wheat, when brought from the interior of the country, is 35s.; that the charges, which seem to satisfy that gentleman's mind amount in all to 10s. 6d.; thus making the price at which it could be sold in England in ordinary years 45s. 6d. If you add to that the proposed duty of 20s., you make the entire price of Dantzie wheat, 65s. 6d., when the price at home, is 50s.; showing of course that 20s. amounts to a prohibitory duty. In the same way at Odessa, as stated in the consul's returns, the price would be 26s.; adding to which 10s. for freight, and some further charges, which cannot be taken or less than 5s., as on the former occasions, and adding then the proposed duty of 20s., you would have the price up to 61s-, without counting the profit of the merchant who had to deal with this corn; and therefore, though you may say that you have reduced the duty to 20s., to 19s., and to 18s., yet in all three instances it can be shown that the duty is prohibitory; and that when the price is at 55s. or 56s., the price at which the right honourable gentleman said it would please him to see it, nobody can tell why, there would then be a prohibitory duty upon foreign corn." Lord John Russell concluded by moving his amendment. The amendment was opposed by Mr. E. Gladstone, who thought that some of Lord John Russell's opinions ought to have led him to support the government. The debate which followed lasted three nights, and the principal speakers were, on the ministerial side, Lord Sandon, Sir J. Graham and E. Knatchbull, and Messrs. Childers, Ormsby Gore, and B. Ferrand; and in favour of the amendment, Lord Worsley, and Messrs. C Wood, Labouchere, Ward, E. Buller, and Roebuck. The greater part of the speeches delivered consisted of recapitulations and reproductions of the reasonings and statements used by the leaders of either party. On a division the amendment was rejected by a majority of three hundred and forty-nine against two hundred and twenty-six. The house having thus pronounced in favour of the principle of a sliding-scale of corn-duties, it might have seemed illogical and superfluous afterwards to discuss a proposition of which the affirmative had been involved in the preceding decision; namely, whether corn should be subjected to any duties at all. Nothing daunted, however, Mr. Villiers brought forward his intended motion to that effect; a motion which, after five nights' debate, was rejected by a majority of three hundred and ninety-three against three hundred and three. Subsequently Mr. Christopher brought forward his scale of duties as a substitute for those of Sir Robert Peel; but the original proposition was carried by an equally overwhelming majority. In committee various amendments were proposed, but they were all rejected or withdrawn, and the bill was, on the 5th of April, read a third time, and passed.

The second reading of the corn-law bill was moved in the house of lords, on the 18th of April, by the Earl of Ripon. Lord Brougham rose and moved the total and absolute repeal of the duty on foreign corn; but his amendment was rejected by an overwhelming majority. On the following day, on the motion to go into committee, Viscount Melbourne moved, "That it is the opinion of this house that a fixed duty upon the importation of foreign corn and flour would be more advantageous to trade and more conducive to the general welfare of all classes of the people than a graduated duty, varying with the average of prices in the markets of this country." This proposition gave rise to a lengthy discussion; but it was rejected by a majority of one hundred and seventeen against forty-nine. Subsequently Lord Brougham moved these resolutions:—"That no duty ought to be imposed upon the importation of foreign corn, for the purpose of protecting the agriculturist, by taxing the introduction of food. That no duty ought to be imposed upon the importation of foreign corn, for the purpose of regulating trade, by taxing the introduction of food. That no duty ought to be imposed upon the importation of foreign corn, for the purpose of raising the revenue, by taxing the introduction of food." These resolutions were rejected, as were others moved by Earl Stanhope, Lord Beaumont, and Lord Mountcashel, and the bill passed in its original state.

FINANCIAL MEASURES—INCOME-TAX BILL, ETC.

On the accession of Sir Robert Peel to office he was embarrassed with great financial difficulties. For the ensuing year he had to deal with a deficiency of £2,570,000; with contingencies in China and India of uncertain amount. The present juncture, indeed, demanded a remedial measure of a bold and comprehensive character, and Sir Robert did not fail to bring forward such a measure. On the 11th of March, in a committee of ways and means, the right honourable baronet said, that for the year ending April, 1843, the estimated revenue would be £43,350,000, and the estimated expenditure £50,819,000, leaving a deficiency of £2,469,000. With the contingencies in India and China, indeed, he calculated that the deficit, in the two years ending May next, would not be less than £4,700,000. How, he asked, were these deficiencies to be met? Should the system of loans and exchequer-bills be continued? Was there the prospect of any considerable reduction in expenditure? Was the present deficiency a casual one? Should he impose a tax on articles of consumption and the necessaries of life? Should he revive old taxes? Should he go back to the post-office? or revive the taxes upon salt, leather, or wool? Finally, should he resort to locomotion for the purposes of taxation? All these expedients Sir Robert repudiated; and he fixed upon one which, while it justly gave offence to a large body of the people, has proved to fully answer the end for which it was designed. This was an imposition of an income-tax of sevenpence in the pound upon all incomes from £150 and upwards, and in which was included not only landed but funded property, whether in the hands of British subjects or of foreigners. He estimated the assessable yearly value of the land at £39,400,000; of houses, at £25,000,000; and of tithes, shares in railways and mines, and other similar property, at £8,400,000: total, £72,800,000. From this he would deduct one-fourth for the exemption which he proposed to give to all incomes under £150, and then the tax thus far would give him £160,000. The occupiers of land, assessed at half their rent, would yield £120,000. Next came funded property. The dividend paid in 1841 was £29,400,000, from which he would deduct £1,000,000 in respect of savings' banks; but he added upon bank, foreign, and other stocks £1,500,000, making a total of almost £30,000,000, from which, deducting one-fourth for incomes under £150 a year, he would derive £646,000. Sir Robert Peel next proceeded to incomes of trades and professions, from which he expected to obtain £1,253,000; and he then stated that from the incomes of public officers he calculated upon £150,000. The total would be £3,771,000. With respect to the duration of this impost, he said, that government might probably require it for five years; but he would in the first instance propose its continuance for three years. In case of war he should deem it reasonable that Ireland should bear her proportion of this tax; but during peace, and for a limited period, he should prefer to raise the quota of that country by other means. He proposed, therefore, a duty of one shilling per gallon upon spirits; the equalization of the stamp-duty with that of England; and a tax of four shillings upon coal exported in British vessels from this country. The aggregate revenue from these sources and the income-tax in England would be about £4,380,000; constituting a considerable surplus, after covering the deficiency on the votes of annual expenditure. This surplus Sir Robert Peel proposed to apply in relaxing the commercial tariff. The duties on raw materials were in no case to exceed five per cent.; the duties upon articles partially manufactured were to be diminished, the highest being twelve per cent.; and upon complete manufactures no duty was to be imposed higher than twenty per cent. He laid upon the table this amended scale of duties, which had been distributed under twenty different heads; in which, he said, would be found an abatement in about seven hundred and fifty articles, and that on about four hundred and fifty the duty had been left untouched. The total diminution of revenues occasioned by the reductions was estimated by the right honourable baronet at about £270,000. He regretted to say that upon sugar, ministers could not offer any reduction; but with respect to coffee he proposed a reduction of fourpence upon British, and eightpence upon foreign, which he calculated would cause a loss of £171,000 to the revenue. On the subject of timber, he said that his measure would be the reverse of that which was brought forward by his predecessors in office; he would advise a great reduction of duty, which would benefit all classes, from the agriculturist to the shipbuilder. His propositions were to lower the duty on foreign timber to twenty-five shillings a load, and to let in the timber of Canada at a duty of one shilling a load; causing a probable loss to the revenue of £600,000. There were yet two other reductions he had to propose: one upon the export of certain British manufactures, and another upon stage-coach duties. These two heads of reduction would produce a loss of £70,000. On the whole these reductions, in addition to the excess of expenditure, would increase the deficit to about £3,700,000; but the estimated produce of the income-tax would not only cover this, but leave more than £500,000 applicable to the contingencies of war in India and China. Sir Robert Peel concluded with an earnest appeal to the house to support the name which the English had inherited from their forefathers, untarnished: and he then moved his first resolution, which was to grant a duty on Irish spirits. No discussion followed Sir Robert Peel's speech: the motion was agreed to, and the house resumed.

A few nights subsequently, Sir Robert Peel entered into an explanation of the details of the measures he had announced; especially with respect to the machinery by which the income-tax was to be collected. On the motion to go into a committee of ways and means, Mr. T. Baring found fault with Sir Robert Peel's calculations; and he was followed by Lord Howick, who strongly censured the income-tax, and Lord John Russell, who condemned the construction of tire tariff for not working out its own principle, but sparing certain articles, as sugar, merely from fear of the influential interests connected with them. After three several motions by Messrs. Cobden, H. Berkeley, and Bernai, "That the chairman do report progress," which were all negatived by large majorities, Sir Robert Peel was compelled to defer the measure till the 4th of April. The income-tax was resumed immediately after the Easter recess. The first resolution, to impose a tax of sevenpence on every pound upon all incomes, except the incomes of occupiers of land, was put and carried without discussion. On the second resolution, however, imposing a tax on the occupation of laud, calculated at the rate of threepence-halfpenny in the pound on the yearly value being read, Lord John Russell pointed out the operation' the tax might have in inducing landlords to split their farms, so as to make the rental of each below the amount liable to taxation; and gave notice that, on the report of the resolutions, he should move this amendment:—"That it has been stated to this house, on official authority, that the deficiency of income to meet the expenditure of the country, may be estimated for the years ending the 5th day of April, 1842, at £2,350,000, and on the 5th day of April, 1843, at £2,569,000. That this house is fully sensible of the evil of a continued inadequacy of the public income to meet the expenditure, and will take measures for averting the same in future years. That, by a judicious alteration of the duties on corn, by a reduction of the prohibitory duty on foreign sugar, and an adjustment of the duties on timber and coffee, the advantage of a moderate price to the community may be combined with an increased revenue to the state. That, in addition to those main articles of general consumption, the interests of trade will be promoted by the repeal or reduction of various prohibitory and differential duties, and that extended commerce will improve the revenue, whilst it gives employment to industry. That the amount of taxes taken off, or reduced, from the termination of the last war to the end of the year 1836, exclusive of the tax on income, may be stated in round numbers at £23,873,000. That the income-tax, having been first imposed in a period of extreme emergency and during a most perilous war, was repealed on the re-establishment of peace; and having been again imposed on the renewal of war, was again repealed in 1816, on the termination of hostilities. That considering the various means of supplying the deficiency without enhancing the price of the necessaries of life, or embarrassing trade, it is the opinion of this house that the renewal of a tax, inquisitorial in its character, unequal in its pressure, and which has hitherto been considered as the financial reserve of the nation in time of war, is not called for by public necessity, and is therefore not advisable." The second resolution was then put and agreed to; as was also the third, equalizing certain stamp-duties in Ireland with those of England; and the report was ordered to be brought up. Lord John Russell's amendment came on for discussion on the 8th of April, when his lordship, in a speech of great length, charged the government with taking too gloomy a view of affairs, comparing the present aspect of the finances with that when an income-tax was formerly proposed. If new taxes must be resorted to, his lordship recommended a tax on the succession to real property, or the revival of some of the repealed assessed taxes. Mr. Goulburn defended the ministerial policy; and Sir Robert Peel vindicated himself from the charge of over-rating difficulties, and contrasted the state of finances which the Melbourne government found on entering office in 1835, with that which they left on their departure, in the British and Indian empire. The debate on Lord John Russell's amendment lasted four nights, most of the principal speakers on both sides taking part in it. On the fourth night the house divided; when it was lost by a majority of three hundred and eight against two hundred and two. The report was then brought up and read, and leave given to bring in a bill founded on Sir Robert Peel's resolutions. On the motion for the first reading of the bill, on the 18th of April, Lord John Russell moved that it be read a first time that day six months. A debate of considerable length ensued, in which arguments urged for or against the measure were repeated; after which the amendment was rejected by a majority of two hundred and eighty-five to one hundred and eighty-eight. The bill was then read a second time, and a few days afterwards the house went into committee. In committee the first question discussed was the period when the tax should commence; and the time finally decided was the 5th of April, 1842. The original proposition respecting schedule A was then affirmed, as was also schedule B. On schedule C Mr. Ricardo moved an amendment to exempt terminable annuities, and to subject them to special scales according to their market value; but, on a division, the motion was rejected by a large majority. In considering schedule D, which rendered incomes derived from professions, trades, and employments liable to the tax of sevenpence in the pound, Mr. Roebuck moved that it be fixed at half that sum. This motion was warmly supported by several speakers; but it was rejected, as was also another amendment to defeat this clause, moved by Mr. Sharman Crawford. Sir Charles Napier made a proposition on schedule E, to exempt officers in the army and navy from taxation; but this was also rejected: and after this the progress of the bill went on rapidly, more than eighty clauses being disposed of in one night's debate. A second sufficed to get through the bill; amendments moved by Messrs. Baring, Hume, and Benjamin Wood, being all rejected by large majorities. On the third reading, Mr. Sharman Crawford moved an amendment, to the effect that the present house of commons could not be considered a fair representation of the people; and that therefore it was unfit that any system of increased taxation should be imposed by parliament until all just causes of complaint, with regard to the mode of electing members, should be redressed. Lord John Russell himself opposed this motion, and it was at once rejected; and after some further discussion on the bill, it was read a third time by a majority of one hundred and ninety-nine against sixty-nine. The bill then passed.

NEW TARIFF.

The question of the income-tax being thus settled, government proceeded to carry into effect the other great branch in their financial scheme—the alterations in the tariff or customs duties. A complete copy of the tariff was placed in the hands of each member of parliament previously to the 5th of May, on which day it was announced that it would be moved to go into committee on this important subject. On that day the proceedings in the house of commons, were commenced by an elaborate preliminary statement on the part of the prime-minister, in which he showed that the general object of the present government was to simplify the existing law. Sir Robert Peel then went over in detail some of the chief alterations proposed in duties on what is called raw material. Among the articles under this denomination were clover-seed, woods, ores, oils, extracts, and timbers, on all of which he proposed to reduce the duties. On articles of foreign manufacture, Sir Robert continued to explain that he proposed to levy an amount of duty, generally speaking, not to exceed twenty per cent. He next proceeded to combat the argument of his opponents, that he had begun at the wrong end, that he should have reduced the duties on articles of provision, and have dealt more largely with the corn-laws. Taking the whole tariff, he contended that it would be seen that the cost of sustenance was greatly reduced. At that moment, he said, under the old law the duty on foreign wheat would have been 27s. a quarter; under the new law it was 13s. Then again, beef, fresh or slightly salted, was absolutely prohibited; but he proposed to admit it at 8s. a hundred-weight. He further proposed to lower the duties on lard, hams, salmon, herrings, hops, &c. Sir Robert then explained that in the amended tariff, on the representation of straw-plait makers, the duty had been increased from 5s. to 7s 6d. in the pound; at the same time he showed that it would be no protection to them, inasmuch as the article was of such a nature that it could be easily smuggled into this country without detection. He then endeavoured to convince those who feared the reduction of duties on live cattle, that their alarm was groundless, arguing that the English grower had substantial security in the quality of the article, and that England from this circumstance might become an exporting country. Mr. Labouchere said that he had heard the speech of the right honourable baronet with great pleasure. At the same time he asserted that the late government had announced a tariff reform; and that it was only the want of success which attended its plans with respect to corn, timber, and sugar, which had prevented it from submitting to the house measures of a similar character to those now brought forward. After a protracted discussion, the house divided on the question, that the speaker do now leave the chair, which was carried by a majority of two hundred and nineteen against one hundred and fifty-two. On the 13th of May, on the motion of going into committee on the customs' duties bill, Lord Howick proposed this resolution:—"That in making a new arrangement of the customs' duties, it is not expedient to impose different rates of duty upon the same articles when imported from foreign countries or from British possessions, in any case where no such difference now exists; and that in those cases in which such a difference already exists, it is not expedient that it should be increased." He argued that such differences would injure the revenue without benefiting the consumer; while they would force colonial traders into precarious existence. This view of the case was ably combated by Mr. Gladstone; and on a division the motion was negatived by a majority of two hundred and eighty-one against one hundred and eight. The house considered the tariff in detail after the Whitsuntide recess; when the duties on cattle and provisions excited keen discussion, the agricultural members being alarmed at the prospect of foreign competition, which they anticipated from the reduced duties. On the house going into committee on the 23rd of May, the motion being made, "That in lieu of the present rates of duty now payable on the articles enumerated in the annexed schedules, there shall be raised, levied, and paid upon the importation of the said articles into the United Kingdom, the rates of duty proposed in the annexed schedules;" Mr. Miles moved, by way of amendment, the following words:—"All live stock imported from foreign countries being charged by weight." In support of his amendment Mr. Miles went into a variety of calculations to show the injury that would result to the farmer from the proposed arrangement of duties, contending that the United States, Denmark, Holland. Prussia, and the various states of Germany, would fatten cattle for the English market, and thus render it impossible for the farmers at home to compete with the foreign breeder. He was supported by the Earl of March, and Messrs. H. Palmer and G. Heathcote, and opposed by Lords Alford and Norreys, Colonel Wyndham, and Messrs. Gaily Knight and Gladstone. The latter said that a material omission in Mr. Miles's argument, was the want of proof that a large quantity of cattle could be imported so as to injure the English farmer. Lord John Russell, in continuation, said that he rejoiced to hear the principles laid down by Sir Robert Peel; but he argued that they should have been extended to the corn-laws. Other members spoke on both sides of the question; and after a reply from Mr. Miles, the amendment was rejected by a majority of three hundred and eighty against two hundred and sixty-seven. When the committee resumed on the following day, Mr. Miles moved an amendment, imposing a duty of 5s. 6d. per cwt. on live cattle, and 9s. 4d. per cwt. on the dead meat. This amendment, however, was withdrawn; and one moved by Mr. Villiers, that the duty of one shilling per head on oxen and bulls be substituted for the government proposition, was rejected. The items in the tariff were then taken seriatim. Discussions took place, and amendments were proposed on the duties affecting swine and hogs, foreign fish, apples, butter, potatoes, timber, cotton manufactures, foreign silk, &c.; but in each case the duties affixed by government were affirmed by large majorities. The third reading of the customs' act was at length moved on the 28th of June, on which occasion Mr. John Jervis moved a clause to grant a drawback on coals proved to be exported for the consumption of British steam-vessels. This motion was rejected; and on the question that the bill do pass, Lord John Russell made some few remarks on its general provisions, and Sir Robert Peel acknowledged the support which he had generally received from both sides of the house. The question being then put from the chair, the bill was read a third time, and passed in the midst of loud cheers.

The customs' act was read a first time in the house of lords two days after it had passed the commons, and the Earl of Ripon moved the second reading on the 5th of July. Two days afterwards the house went into committee on the bill, and every amendment proposed by opposition lords was negatived without division, and the bill passed through committee, and was reported.

The subject of the duties on sugar was brought forward in a committee of ways and means, on the 3rd of June, by the chancellor of the exchequer, who explained the reasons why government could not consent to the admission of foreign sugar at a lower rate of duty, and moved a resolution that the present duties should be continued one year; which proposition, after a lengthened discussion, was confirmed.

MR. VILLIERS'S MOTION ON THE CORN-LAWS.

On the 11th of July, it having been moved to go into committee of supply, the opposition party brought forward the subject of the state of the nation. Mr. Villiers having moved as an amendment for the appointment of a select committee on the laws regulating the importation of corn, with a view to their total repeal, prefaced his motion with a speech, in which he said that he brought the subject forward in compliance with the request of the anti-corn-law delegates; and because, in the late discussion on the state of the nation, a taunt had been thrown out on the ministerial side, that, if the opposition thought that a repeal of the corn daws would remedy the evil, they ought to submit that proposition to the house. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fielden, and supported by Mr. Aglionby, who declared the new sliding-scale was a delusion. Sir Charles Napier and Mr. Gaily Knight conceived that these debates ought not to be protracted: it was an unfair way of conducting any opposition to a government. Sir Robert Peel bitterly complained of the continual interruption to public business, and of the impediments opposed to a fair trial of the new corn-law. Lord J. Russell, Viscount Howick, Sir John Hanmer, and Mr. Cobden supported the motion; but, on a division, it was rejected by two hundred and thirty-one against one hundred and seventeen.

While these discussions were taking place in the house of commons, the same class of topics were brought forward in the house of lords by Lord Brougham, who moved that a select committee be appointed to inquire into the distress of the country. This motion was supported by Lord Kinnaird and the Marquis of Clanricarde; and opposed by the Earl of Ripon, Viscount Melbourne, and Earl Stanhope. On a division it was rejected by a majority of sixty-one against fourteen.

THE GREAT CHARTIST PETITION.

The most striking shape in which the grievances of the working classes presented themselves to the notice of the legislature during this session, was the presentation of a petition, which, for bulk and signatures, was unparalleled in the annals of parliament. The signatures attached to it exceeded 3,000,000; and in conveying it to the house of commons, it required sixteen men to support it. It was, in fact, too large to be admitted into the door of the house of commons; and, in order to effect its enhance, it was divided into sections. It was presented by Mr. T. Dun-combe, who, in calling the attention of the house to its contents, thanked them for the kind and respectful manner in which it had been received. The petition, he remarked, had nearly 3,500,000 signatures; and, making allowance for the signatures of youths and females, he was prepared to prove that there were above 1,500,000 of families of the industrious classes subscribers to that petition. The prayer of the petition was for the enactment of the great constitutional changes which form the "six points" in the Chartist creed, to which was added a demand for the abolition of all kinds of monopolies. Mr. Duncombe concluded by moving, "that the petitioners of the national petition be heard at the bar of this house, by themselves, their counsel, or agents, in support of the allegations of then-petitions." The motion was seconded by Mr. Leader. The spirit of this petition was bitter, and its language offensive. It was pervaded by a desire for class legislation, and propounded doctrines subversive of the rights of property, and of the national faith and credit. On a division, the motion was negatived by two hundred and eighty-seven against forty-nine.

BILL FOR RESTRAINING THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN MINES AND COLLIERIES.

In a previous session, after having been the means of carrying a humane law to prevent the cruelties inflicted on children employed in factories, Lord Ashley procured the appointment of commissioners for inquiry into the employment of children. These commissioners examined into the state of young persons in mines and collieries; and the course of their inquiries brought to light more than the sufferings of children alone; for they found the cases of the women in many places equally pitiable. This subject was brought forward by Lord Ashley in the house of commons on the 7th of June, when his lordship moved for leave to bring in a bill for restraining the employment of women and children in mines and collieries. The speech of Lord Ashley disclosed a state of things in the mining districts the most appalling. Cruel oppressions were perpetrated by the mine owners and overseers, especially upon women and children; and frequently parents showed an utter callousness to the sufferings of their offspring. The work assigned to girls and young women was destructive of health, and was conducted under circumstances so indecent that it was difficult for the noble speaker to state the details to the house. The commons received the intelligence with amazement and indignation; they had no conception that such outrages upon female decency, and upon humanity, existed in England. Lord Ashley proceeded to state the means, which he should call upon the legislature to adopt for an immediate removal of the most hideous and appalling features of the system he had described. The means explained by his lordship were fourfold: the total exclusion of female labour from all mines and collieries in the country; the exclusion of all boys under thirteen years of age; the prevention of the employment of males under twenty-one years of age as engineers; and the abolition of apprenticeship. Lord Ashley concluded his able and humane speech in this appropriate and emphatic language of scripture:—"Let us break off our sins by righteousness, and our iniquities by showing mercy to the poor." A hearty concurrence was manifested on all sides of the house in the proposition; and the bill having been brought in, was passed rapidly through all its stages, and finally read a third time amidst loud cheers. Before the measure came into the upper house, it was announced by Lord Wharncliffe that ministers would be passive respecting it, each individual member taking what part they deemed prudent. The second reading was moved by the Earl of Devon, who, after vindicating the measure, contended that without any evidence the house would be justified in preventing the employment of women in the places described. Subsequently, the earl explained the alterations which it had been thought advisable to make in the bill; namely, the postponement of the time at which the employment of females should cease until the 1st of March next; the abandonment of a clause for regulating the hours during which children should be employed; the restricting the term of apprenticeship in any mine or colliery to eight years instead of entire prohibition; and the enacting that no boy be apprenticed under ten years of age. Several noble lords spoke for and against the measure; but the motion for going into committee was carried by forty-nine against three. In committee several amendments were successively proposed by Lords Beaumont, Littleton, Skelmersdale, Dunmore, and Mount Cashel; but they were all rejected, and the several clauses were agreed to, with some verbal amendments, and the bill reported. The third reading was opposed by Lord Londonderry, but without success; and the bill passed. The amendments were subsequently agreed to in the commons.

BRIBERY AT ELECTIONS.

On the 6th of May, Mr. Roebuck, having given notice previously of his intention, moved for a committee of inquiry into the election of the members for Reading, Nottingham, Lewes, Penryn, and Harwich. In making this motion Mr. Roebuck entered into particulars concerning these elections, in all of which he contended bribery had been practised. He wished to inquire into these transactions in order to expose them to the people of this country. He had not, he said, confined his accusations to one side of the house or the other. He had made no party question of it: he stood up for the purity of the house; and, God willing, it should be made pure. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fitzroy, member for Lewes, who warmly challenged inquiry into his conduct. Captain Plumridge, also, member for Penryn, declared that he had never given one penny towards the expenses of his election. On the other hand, Mr. Elphinstone, another of the accused members, declared frankly that, in his election, both parties had been guilty of bribery, and that if the inquiry had proceeded, none of the four candidates for his seat would now have been members of parliament. After a lengthened discussion a committee was appointed, and at the latter part of July the report of this committee was presented to the house, shortly after whicli Mr. Roebuck gave notice of his intention to move the following resolutions:—"That the compromises of election petitions, as brought to the knowledge of this house by the Report of the Select Committee on Election Proceedings, must, if for the future they be allowed to pass without punishment or censure, tend to bring this house into contempt with the people, and thereby seriously to diminish its power and authority. That all such practices are hereby declared to be a violation of the liberties of the people, and a breach of the privileges of this house; which it will in all future cases inquire into, and severely punish. That whereas in the late elections for Harwich, Nottingham. Lewes, Reading, Falmouth, and Penryn, and Bridport, the present laws have been found insufficient to protect the voters from the mischievous temptations of bribery, it be ordered that Mr. Speaker do issue no writ for any election of members for the said towns, till further legislative enactments have been adopted to protect the purity of elections." In moving these resolutions Mr. Roebuck said that they mentioned no names, but simply provided for future mischiefs. He had proved all his assertions, and much more: and would the reflecting and honest people of England believe, that in buying up poor voters, in debauching, poor constituencies, and afterwards shielding themselves by a contemptible quibble, and buying off the consequences, the conduct of members was either honourable to themselves, or beneficial to their constituents? He believed the people would say the chief criminal was the briber; the rich man who went down with money in his pocket to a large constituency.—some of them oppressed by poverty—and offered them bribes to sell their consciences. A lengthened and stormy debate took place; but the resolutions were all negatived. But, notwithstanding the house of commons refused to affirm these resolutions, the investigation that had taken place had some practical result. One of the terms on which the petition against the return of one of the members for Reading was compromised, was the acceptance of the Chiltern hundreds within a limited time. When that time arrived, however, for carrying this stipulation into effect, an unexpected difficulty occurred. The chancellor of the exchequer now made aware, by the publication of the report, for what the application was preferred, declined to grant it; and the individual who had bound himself to resign his seat, found it beyond his power to do so. The course of proceeding adopted by the chancellor of the exchequer became the subject of discussion in the house of commons on the 6th of August, when Lord Palmerston moved for "copies of any correspondence which had taken place since the 1st day of July last, between the chancellor of the exchequer and any member of this house, upon the subject of the stewardship of the Chiltern hundreds;" the result of which motion was that the copies were ordered. Subsequently, the writs for filling up vacancies created by the unseating or collusive resignation of members at Ipswich, Southampton, Nottingham, and Newcastle-under-Lyne were all ordered to be issued. The disclosures before the committee concerning Sudbury, induced Mr. Redington, the chairman, to bring in a bill for the disfranchisement of that borough; but though this bill was supported by government, and passed through the commons, owing to the late period at which it was sent up to the lords, it only reached a second reading in that house. The writ, however, was suspended sine die. In connection with this subject, it may be mentioned that Lord John Russell brought in a bill for the prevention of bribery, and remedying some of the abuses to which election proceedings were liable; which bill, with some modifications in committee, passed both houses, and received the royal assent.

LAW REFORMS.

In the early part of this session the lord-chancellor gave notice of bills respecting bankruptcy, lunacy, and county courts. Adverting first to the subject of bankruptcies, he commenced by paying a compliment to Lord Brougham, upon the improvements in that department of the law which he had introduced. His lordship continued:—"That system, however, excellent as it was, comprised within its jurisdiction only a circuit of forty miles round London. He proposed to extend the metropolitan district to a hundred miles round London; which would add a fifth to the business of the commissioners, without inconvenience to them. For the country, it was proposed to appoint commissioners at five central points, in five great towns, beyond the London district, invested with the same power which was at present reposed in the London commissioners. They would perform the same quantity of duty now performed by the London commissioners, having a similar range and a similar jurisdiction." The course respecting the law of lunacy was somewhat similar. His lordship remarked:—"The law of lunacy was administered like that of bankruptcy, the London commissioners having jurisdiction for twenty miles round the metropolis; and the country commissions being like those of bankruptcy, directed to persons of little or no experience, though the inquiries were of the nicest and most delicate character. He proposed that two commissioners should be appointed, for the purpose of executing all those commissions, not only in the metropolitan districts, but throughout the country. From an examination of details he was satisfied that those two commissioners would be amply sufficient for discharging those and other important duties connected with lunacy. The payment of commissioners by fees would be abolished, and they would be added to the visitors at present appointed to inspect the condition of lunatics. They would be taken from among the highest members of the bar." Concerning the county courts, his lordship said that he was averse to any sweeping change: his measure went merely to extend their jurisdiction. They were presided over by the county clerk, whose jurisdiction extended to forty shillings. "If," said his lordship, "I appoint a particular place, and give them a jurisdiction to the extent of five pounds, and appoint persons of respectability and learning, I think I do not innovate upon ancient institutions." His lordship proposed further, that for the recovery of debts to the amount of twenty pounds, persons should be appointed judges of these courts, who should not reside in the provinces where they administered the law, but that they should make circuits, like the judges of the land, into the provinces with which they were not acquainted, and where they had no local connections or prejudices. His lordship proposed that there should be six or eight circuits in the year, to be made by barristers of a certain standing, to be appointed by the crown; who should return to the metropolis after the circuits, where they could mix with their colleagues in the profession, and thus give a security for the uniformity of the law which they administered. The bills were generally approved of, and they passed the upper house unopposed. In the commons an attempt was made to induce government to postpone the consideration of them; and that relating to the county courts was postponed till the following year, but those respecting bankruptcy and lunacy were passed. Another bill, introduced by Sir James Graham, for the amendment of the law relating to the registration of votes in England, was delayed; and three bills proposed by Lord Campbell, to alter the administration of the house of lords as a court of appeal, to alter the system of appeal to the judicial committee of the privy council, and to amend the administration of the court of chancery, were rejected. A question of general interest respecting the marriage law was also raised this session in the commons, by Lord Francis Egerton, who moved for leave to bring in a bill to alter the laws relating to marriage within certain degrees of affinity. The chief feature of this bill was, that it would enable a widower to marry a deceased wife's sister; but, on a division, the motion for leave to bring in the bill was lost by one hundred and twenty-three against one hundred.

BILL FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ROYAL PERSON.

During this session, in consequence of an attempt upon the queen's life, by an insane person of the name of Bean, Sir Robert Peel brought in a bill on the subject, which met with the unanimous approbation of the house. In introducing this bill, after adverting to the act passed in the reign of George III., for the protection of that monarch, Sir Robert said that he proposed to extend the change of procedure involved in that act, namely, the abolition of the forms usually attendant on trials of high treason, &c, to cases where the offence was that of compassing the wounding of the sovereign. Concerning the class of offences against which his measure was to provide, Sir Robert remarked:—"I propose that, after the passing of this act, if any person or persons shall wilfully discharge, or attempt to discharge, or point, aim, or present at or near the person of the queen, any gun, pistol, or other description of fire-arms whatsoever, although the same shall not contain explosive or destructive substance or material; or if any person shall strike, or attempt to strike the person of the queen with any offensive weapons, or in any manner whatever; or if any person shall wilfully throw or attempt to throw any substance whatever at or on the person of the queen, with intent, in any of the cases aforesaid, to break the public peace, or with intent, in any of the cases-aforesaid, to excite the alarm of the queen; I propose that any party so offending—that is, intending to hurt the queen, or to alarm the queen, shall be subject to the same penalties which apply to cases of larceny; that is, he be subject to transportation not exceeding seven years. I propose, also, another punishment, more suitable to the offence, and more calculated to repress it, that there be a discretionary power of imprisonment for a certain period, with authority to inflict personal chastisement." In continuance, Sir Robert Peel expressed an opinion that such a punishment would awe miscreants capable of harbouring such designs, and that the provisions of the bill would be amply sufficient for the purpose of protecting her majesty. "For," he added, "observe what we have to guard against—it is not any traitorous attempt against the peace of the nation by conspiring to take away the life of the sovereign, but it is the folly or malignity of wretches who are guilty of acts prompted by motives which are scarcely assignable. The law, in its charity to human nature, has omitted to provide for the case of any being formed like a man who could find a satisfaction in firing a pistol at a young lady, that lady a mother, and that mother the queen of these realms. It never entered into the conception of former law-makers that anything so monstrous should arise, as that the queen of these realms should not enjoy a degree of liberty granted to the meanest of her subjects. I am sure the house will respond to the proposition to give the security of this law for the protection of her majesty." The bill was passed with unanimity.

POOR-LAW AMENDMENT BILL.

During this session government proposed and carried a bill re-enacting the poor-law commission for five years, abolishing the Gilbert unions, and forming districts for the purposes of education and various minor matters. This bill, however, was not carried without much opposition.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued on the 12th of August by the queen in person. Having given the royal assent to several bills, her majesty expressed her grateful sense of the assiduity and zeal with which both houses had applied themselves to the discharge of their public duties. In her speech her majesty also alluded to the measures which had been taken into consideration; thanked her parliament for the loyalty and affectionate attachment shown to her person by the act passed for her protection; and made some allusions to reverses which had befallen a division of the army westward of the Indus, and to a victory gained at Jellalabad.

EAST INDIA AFFAIRS, ETC.

During the preceding year the British power in India came into hostile collision with the Ghilzies. This collision was thus brought about. The Khoord Cabul Pass is a long and dangerous defile through which the road between Cabul and Jellalabad runs, and which, therefore, it was necessary to keep open for the purpose of safe intercourse between Cabul and British India. This part of Affghanistan was occupied by the eastern Ghilzies: and it was thought advisable to purchase from them the right of traversing the pass without molestation. An agreement was, in fact, entered into with the Ghilzee chiefs, whereby it was stipulated that a certain sum of money should be paid them yearly out of the Cabul treasury, if they would keep the pass open, and offer no molestation to our troops on their passage between Cabul and Jellalabad. Owing, however, to the financial difficulties of the Cabul treasury, or to some mismanagement on the part of the officer who was appointed to disburse the money, the whole amount of the stipulated sum was not paid, and the Ghilzies immediately rose in arms and closed the passes. It was necessary to open it by force; and Major-general Sir Robert Sale was sent by General Elphinstone from Cabul for that purpose. The brigade which Sir Robert commanded entered the pass on the 12th of October. The Ghilzies were posted behind a breastwork near the middle of the pass; and as the assailing body approached, the enemy withdrew from this position, and occupied the steep and precipitous ridges of the mountains on either side, from whence they opened a well-directed fire. General Sale was wounded in the ankle and obliged to leave the field; and Lieutenant-colonel Dennie then took the command. Under his direction one section of the brigade got possession of the heights, and their guns were established in a deserted fort on the southern gorge of the pass; but the other division marched back through the defile to the camp at Boothak. But, although the Khoord Cabul Pass was thus cleared, the force under General Sale was compelled to fight with the enemy during eighteen days in their route to Gundamuek, which was reached on the 30th of October. After this the British troops commanded the route to Sookhab; and on the 12th of November they reached Jellalabad. In the meantime a fearful tragedy, which ended in the total destruction of our Cifeul force, had commenced in that city. The British troops were placed in a cantonment on the north side of the city, which cantonment consisted only of a low rampart and narrow ditch, in the form of a parallelogram, thrown up along the line of the Kohistan road, one thousand yards long and six hundred broad, with round flanking bastions at each corner, every one of which was commanded by some fort or hill. The "Mission Compound," where Sir William M'Naghten, the envoy, and his suite resided, was attached to the cantonment on the north side, and surrounded by a single wall. On the eastern side, about a quarter of a mile off, the Cabul river flowed in a direction parallel with the Kohistan road; and between the river and cantonments there was a wide canal. In itself this cantonment was most insecure; but General Elphinstone threw a bridge over the river so as to render the communication between the Seeah Sung camp and the cantonment still more easy. The most extraordinary oversight, however, was the allowing the commissariat stores to be placed in an old fort detached from the cantonment, and in such a state as to be wholly indefensible. The troops were thus placed when a rebellion took place under Ameenoollah and Abdoolhah Khan. It commenced by an attack on the dwellings of Sir Alexander Barnes and Captain Johnson, who resided in the city of Cabal; Sir Alexander, his brother, Lieutenant Burnes, and Lieutenant Broadfoot were murdered. On discovering this, General Elphinstone sent an order to Brigadier Shelton to march forthwith with a body of troops to the Bala Hissar, or royal citadel, situated at the eastern extremity of the city; the rest of the troops in that camp were withdrawn into the cantonment, and the whole of the camp followers when collected amounted to twelve thousand, exclusive of women and children. A long and miserable siege now took place. The Affghans surrounded the cantonments, and poured in a constant fire from every quarter; and, at length, on the 11th of December, the commissariat fort being captured by the enemy, Sir William M'Naghten was compelled to sign this humiliating agreement with the rebel chief:—"That the British should evacuate the whole of Affghanistan, including Candahar, Ghuznee, and Jellalabad: that they should be permitted to return unmolested to India; and that supplies should be granted to them on their road thither—certain men of consequence accompanying them as hostages; that means of transport should be furnished to the troops; that Dost Mahomed Khan, his family, and every Affghan then detained within our territory should be allowed to return to their own country; that Shah Soojah and his family should have the option of remaining at Cabul or proceeding with the British troops to Loodianah, in either case receiving from the Affghan government one lac of rupees per annum; that an amnesty should be granted to all who had taken the part of Shah Soojah; that all prisoners should be released; that no British force should ever be sent into Affghanistan, unless invited by the Affghan government." The chiefs, in retiring from the conference, took with them Captain Trevor as a hostage. Much delay took place in carrying any of these terms into effect; and in the meantime a trap was laid for Sir William M'Naghten, into which he fell. On the 22nd of December two Affghans came into the cantonment, and had a private conference with him, in which they made a proposal on the part of Akbar Khan, that Ameenoolah Khan should be seized the next day, and delivered up to the British as a prisoner; that the Bala Hissar should be occupied by one of our regiments: that Shah Soojah should continue king, and Mahomed Akbar become his Wuzeer, or prime-minister; and that our troops should remain in the cantonment until the following spring. To these specious terms the envoy unwarily assented; and on the 23rd of December, accompanied by three officers, he left the Mission-House to attend a conference with Mahomed Akbar Khan in the plain toward Seeah Sung. While in the act of conference, however, Sir William M'Naghten and the officers were seized from behind by armed men; and he and Captain Trevor were murdered; the other officers escaped with difficulty. The situation of the British troops was now evidently desperate, and Major-general Elphinstone deemed it necessary to provide for their safety by again attempting to negociate with the enemy. A convention was entered into, in pursuance of which the troops commenced their march on the 6th of January. In the whole there were 4,500 fighting men about 12,000 camp followers, and a large number of women and children. Their retreat was most disastrous. The snow lay deep upon the ground, and the rear-guard had scarcely quitted the camp before it was attacked by the enemy. As far as Bareekhur the whole way was strewed with the dead and dying, who were immediately stripped and left naked by the Affghans; while the merciless Ghuzees hacked the dead corpses to pieces with their long knives. While at Bareekhur a communication was opened with Akbar Khan, who now offered to restrain the Affghans from further outrages, provided hostages were delivered to him as a security that the British would not march beyond Tezeen, until General Sale had evacuated Jellalabad. The proposal was accepted, and Major Pottinger and Captains Lawrence and Mackenzie became hostages. The troops now proceeded to the Khoord Cabul Pass; but Akbar Khan's promise was futile: they had to force the difficult pass with considerable loss. The next morning the treacherous chief sent to the encampment, professing his concern at his inability to restrain the Ghilzies, who had been most active in the attacks of the preceding day; but he offered to protect the ladies, provided they would put themselves under his care. Eight ladies, including Lady Sale and Lady M'Naghten, placed themselves under his protection; those who had husbands being solaced by their company. In resuming the march the contest recommenced, and it did not cease until they reached Jugdulluck. Few, however, reached that place. Of the whole force which had left Cabul, amounting to more than 16,000 persons, not more than three hundred are said to have escaped. At Jugdulluck, Akbar Khan effectually interfered, and the unfortunate British were allowed to occupy, without molestation, a ruined enclosure, where they lay down, worn out by fatigue, and helpless, in the snow. Out of this number only one man, Dr. Brydon, lived to reach Jellalabad; the rest, subsequent to the protection afforded them by Akbar Khan at Jugdulluck, were all slain, either by the Affghan troops, or by the inhabitants of the villages through which they passed in their flight. As for General Elphinstone, he was detained prisoner by Akbar Khan, who sent for him under pretence of treating personally with him.

The enemy now approached Jellalabad, which was occupied by Sir Robert Sale, who had maintained his position there since the day on which he reached it. This gallant general had been engaged in several encounters with the enemy, in which he had uniformly punished them. When the enemy approached Jellalabad, Lady Sale, then a prisoner in the hands of the Affghans, wrote a letter, exhorting lier husband to defend his position; saying that she preferred death to dishonour. Sir Robert Sale refused, when summoned, to abandon his post, and he was consequently besieged by the enemy. Vigorous efforts were soon made to relieve the besieged garrison. Lord Auckland was about to retire from the government of India, and a new governor-general, Lord Ellenborough, had arrived at Calcutta on the 18th of February. In the meantime Sir Jasper Nicholls, who was commander-in-chief of the British forces in India, was urged by Lord Auckland to push on to Peshawar as many troops as he could spare. A body of 3500 men arrived at Peshawar on the 27th, but he having failed to force the Khyber Pass, was compelled to remain passive until joined by Major-general Pollock, who, when he arrived, took command of the forces destined for the relief of Jellalabad. A portion of the forces under his command consisted of Sikhs, the troop of the Maha Rajah Shere Sing, ruler of the Punjaub, under General Abitabile. On the arrival of Major-general Pollock at Peshawar, accounts were received from Jellalabad, representing General Sale as in want of immediate succour. Two brigades, consisting of 4,000 men, under the command of Colonel Bolton, had not yet joined his forces; but General Pollock nevertheless resolved to advance forthwith, having under his command about 8,000 men. The task he had to perform was one of the most difficult nature. From Jamrood, on the eastern side, the Khyber Pass extends for twenty-eight miles towards Jellalabad; and the defiles had hitherto been considered as impassable to an army if opposed by an enemy. The pass was defended by the Khyberries; but, despite their opposition, his whole force cleared it by the 14th of April; the first instance in history of an army forcing its way through these dreaded defiles in face of an enemy. The Sikh troops were left in possession of the pass, and on the morning of the 16th of April the troops, under the command of General Pollock, came in sight of Jellalabad, and were loudly greeted by the beleaguered garrison.

Before the arrival of General Pollock at Jellalabad, General Sale had, however, gained some important victories over his adversaries. The most important victory was obtained on the 7th of April, and Sir Robert Sale thus describes the contest:—"The troops issued from the Cabul and Peshawar gates at daylight this morning. So far from the Sirdhar (i.e. Akbar Kahn) having made any dispositions to avoid the encounter, his whole force (not falling short of 6,000 men) was formed in order of battle, for the defence of his camp, its right resting on a fort, and its left on the Cabul river; and even the ruined works, within eight hundred yards of the place, recently repaired, were filled with Ghilzie marksmen, evidently prepared for a stout resistance. The attack was led by the skirmishers, and a column, under Captain Havelock, which drove the enemy in the most satisfactory manner from the extreme left of his advanced line of works, which it pierced, and proceeded to advance into the plain; whilst the central column directed its efforts against a square fort upon the same base, the defence of which was obstinately maintained. With the deepest regret I have to record that, whilst nobly leading his regiment to the assault, Colonel Dennie, C.B., of her majesty's thirteenth light infantry, received a shot through his body, which shortly after proved fatal. The rear of the work having been finally gained by passing to its left, I gave orders for a combined attack upon the enemy's camp. It was in every way brilliant and successful. The artillery advanced at the gallop, and directed a heavy fire upon the Affghan centre, whilst two of the columns of infantry penetrated his line near the same point; and the third forced back his left from its support on the river, into the stream of which some of his horse and foot were driven. The Affghans made repeated attempts to check our advance by a smart fire of musketry, by throwing forward heavy bodies of horse, which twice threatened in force the detachments of foot under Captain Havelock, and by opening on us three guns screened by a garden wall, and said to have been served under the personal superintendance of the Sirdhar; but in a short time they were dislodged from every point of their positions, their cannon taken, and their camp involved in a general conflagration. The battle was over, and the enemy in full retreat in the direction of Lugliman by about seven a.m. We have made ourselves masters of two cavalry standards; recaptured four guns lost by the Cabul army and Gundamuck forces; and seized and destroyed a great quantity of materiel and ordnance stores, and burned the whole of the enemy's tents. In short, the defeat of Mahomet Akbar in open field, by the troops whom he had boasted of blockading, has been complete and signal." After his defeat Akbar Khan retired in the direction of Cabul, but his troops deserted from him to a man. Such was the state of affairs when the junction between the forces of General Sale and General Pollock took place at Jellalabad. The garrison was suffering severely from want of provisions, but plentiful supplies soon began to pour in from Peshawar, and the two generals subsequently resolved upon offensive operations. At this time the monarch whom the British power had placed on the throne at Cabul was dead: he had ordered a general levy of troops to be made in his capital, to march upon Jellalabad; and, while he was on his way to join these troops at Seeah Sung, he was fired upon by fifty Juzdilchees, who were placed in ambush, and was killed. General Pollock remained at Jellalabad upwards of four months, during which time his troops suffered severely from sickness, and their ranks were greatly thinned by death; and it was not until the 20th of August that he commenced his march towards Cabul. The prisoners, male and female, which were captured by Akbar Khan were in separate forts within the valley of Tezeen, where General Elphinstone died; and during the period of General Pollock's stay at Jellalabad, Akbar Khan sent two of the British officers in captivity to treat for the liberation of the whole. He wished, however, to make our evacuation of Affghanistan the condition of restoring the prisoners; but as this proposal could not be entertained, all negotiations ceased, and the prisoners were subsequently removed from Tezeen to forts between Cabul and Bameean. Previous to his departure from Jellalabad, General Pollock had issued a manifesto to the chiefs at Cabul, stating his intention of marching upon the city, and promising them that if they restored the prisoners, their property would be protected and their city spared; but that if they allowed Akbar Khan to remove them, they must all be held responsible for the consequences, and that every house in Cabul should be razed to the ground. At length, on the 20th of August, General Pollock advanced from Jellalabad. The first conflict with the enemy took place at Mammoo Khail, about two miles from Gundamuck, where about 12,000 troops under the command of the chiefs Hadji Ali and Kyrrollah Khan were defeated. The two chiefs retreated towards Cabul, and General Pollock advanced thither on the 7th of September. On the 8th he reached the Soorkah, a small river, from which he had to traverse the formidable pass in order to arrive at Jugdulluck, which is about twenty miles distant. An obstinate opposition was made to his progress from the heights by which this pass is surrounded; but it was overcome by the prowess of the British forces, and the enemy took refuge in flight. Their onward march still lay through a difficult country; but General Pollock did not again encounter the enemy until he arrived at the valley of Tezeen. Here the pass was occupied by Akbar Khan himself; and while the British troops were halting to allow the cattle to recover from the effects of the fatigue of their forced march, they were attacked by the Affghans, though without success. A general action took place on the 13th of September, which General Pollock has thus described:—"The valley of Tezeen, where we were encamped, is completely encircled by lofty hills; and on the morning of the 13th it was perceived that the Affghans had occupied in great force every height not already occupied by our troops. I commenced my march towards the mouth of the Tezeen Pass, where I had left two guns, two squadrons of her majesty's third dragoons, a party of first light cavalry, and the third irregular cavalry. The enemy's horse appeared in the valley, with the intention of falling upon the baggage; but the dragoons and native cavalry made a most brilliant charge, and with such effect that the whole body of the enemy's force was completely routed, and a number of them cut up. The Pass of Tezeen affords great advantages to an enemy occupying the heights; and on the present occasion Mahomed Akbar neglected nothing to render its natural difficulties as formidable as numbers could make it. Our troops mounted the heights, and the Affghans, contrary to their general custom, advanced to meet them, and a desperate struggle ensued; indeed their defence was so obstinate that the British bayonet, in many instances, alone decided the contest. The light company of her majesty's ninth foot, led by Captain Lushington, ascending the hills on the left of the pass under a heavy cross-fire, charged, and overthrew their opponents, leaving several horses and their riders, supposed to be chiefs, dead on the hill. The slaughter was considerable; and the fight continued during the greater part of the day, the enemy appearing resolved that we should not ascend the Huft Kothul. One spirit seemed to pervade all, and a determination to conquer overcame the obstinate resistance of the enemy, who were at length forced from their numerous and strong positions; and our troops mounted the Huft Kothul, giving three cheers when they reached the summit. Here Lieutenant-colonel Cunningham, with a party of sappers, pressed the enemy so hard, that they left in their precipitation a twenty-four pound howitzer and limber, carrying off the draft-bullocks. Having heard that another gun had been seen, and concluding that it could not have gone very far, I detached a squadron of dragoons, under Captain Tritton, and two horse-artillery guns, under Major Delafosse, in pursuit; the gun, a twelve-pound howitzer, with bullocks sufficient for two guns, were soon captured. The dragoons again got among the enemy, and succeeded in cutting up many of them. Captain Broad-foot with the sappers advanced, and, with the dragoons, happened to fall in with another part of the enemy, of whom upwards of twenty were killed. I have ascertained there were about 16,000 men in the field opposed to me, of whom a considerable portion was cavalry. Mahomed Akbar Khan, Mahomed Shah Khan, Ameen Oolla, and many other chiefs with their followers were present." After this decisive battle Akbar Khan made no further resistance; and on the 15th of September they encamped on the race-ground at Cabul. During their march from Jellalabad, Prince Futteh Jung had arrived in the camp as a wanderer; and on the 16th, General Pollock, accompanied by him, marched to the Bala Hissar, and there planted the British colours. Several of the English prisoners had already joined the camp; and before the 21st of the month, the whole of them, with the exception of Captain Bygrave—who was subsequently liberated—were restored to British protection. By these successes the stain brought upon the British arms was effaced, and the prestige of our name regained its former influence in the East. It was, however, resolved that we should leave Cabul; and a proclamation to that effect was made by the governor-general. But, before leaving Cabul, General Pollock despatched General M'Caskill with a body of troops into Kohistan, where the Affghan chiefs were still assembled in considerable force. On the 29th of September, General M'Caskill made himself master of the strong town of Istalif, totally defeating the numerous bodies of Affghan troops collected for its defence, under Ameenoollah Khan and other chiefs of Cabul and Kohistan. This town was set on fire; and a work of plunder and savage slaughter commenced, which brought a great stain upon the British arms. For two days the place was given up to fire and sword; and all the bitterness of hatred was manifested by the soldiery, both European and native. "Not a man was spared; the Affghans were hunted down like vermin; and whenever the dead body of an Affghan was found, the Hindoo sepoys set fire to the clothes, that the curse of a 'burnt father' might attach to his children." General Pollock also determined to destroy the Char Chouk, the principal bazaar in Cabul, where the remains of the unfortunate Sir William M'Naghten had been exposed to insult. This bazaar was destroyed by gunpowder; and indeed the whole city, with the exception of the Bala Hissar and the quarter of the Kuzzilbashes, was laid in ruins. About this time General Pollock was joined by General Nott from Candahar; and on the 12th of October the two armies left Cabul, the advanced column being under the command of General Pollock, and that in the rear under General Nott. No event of consequence occurred during their march, and on arriving at the fortress of Jellalabad it was levelled with the dust, and rendered unfit for human habitation. Along the whole line of march, indeed, every kind of devastation was committed by the troops, who were exasperated by the sight of the unburied skeletons of their unfortunate companions in arms, who fell during the fatal retreat early in this year. When the British forces at length emerged from the Bolan Pass, which they did on the 1st of October, thereby evacuating the whole of Affghanistan, they had left behind them a name which will long be execrated in that country. It is true they had suffered deep wrongs; but mercy to the vanquished is a nobler quality than unlimited revenge. The spirit of revenge appears to have pervaded the whole of the British community in India. Even the governor-general, Lord Ellenborough, exhibited it in a proclamation issued to all the princes, and chiefs, and people of India. He writes:—"My brothers and my friends,—Our victorious army bears the gates of the temple of Somnauth in triumph from Affghanistan, and the despoiled tomb of Sultan Mahmoud looks upon the ruins of Ghuznee. The insult of eight hundred years is at last avenged. The gates of the temple of Somnauth, so long the memorial of your humiliation, are become the proudest record of your national glory—the proof of your superiority in arms over the nations beyond the Indus. To your princes and chiefs of Sirhind, of Bajwarra, of Malwa, and Guzerat, I shall commit this glorious trophy of successful war. You will yourselves, with all honour, transmit the gates of sandalwood through your respective territories, to the restored temple of Somnauth. The chiefs of Sirhind shall be informed at what time our victorious army will first deliver the gates of the temple into their guardianship at the foot of the bridge of the Sutlej." In another proclamation Lord Ellenborough announced that all the Affghans then in the power of the British government should be permitted to return to their own country, and that the Affghan chiefs who were thus released, were, before they passed the Sutlej, to present themselves at the durbar, or levee, of the governor-general in his camp at Ferozepore.

The insurrection at Cabul, which has been described, was not confined to that quarter of Affghanistan. At the time it broke out, General Nott was in command at Candahar, with a force of nearly 10,000 men. The hostility of the Affghans in this part of the country soon displayed itself; Candahar was invested by a large body of insurgents under the command of Mahomed Atta. This chief was joined by Sufter Jung, one of the sons of Shah Soojah; but Tiniour, the eldest brother of that family, remained nominal governor of Candahar. His fidelity, however, was afterwards suspected, and he was placed in confinement. On the 12 th of January the insurgent chiefs took up a strong position on the right bank of a river running through the Achuzye country, about five miles from Candahar. They mustered about 5,000 men; and General Nott attacked them with a force consisting of five regiments and a half of infantry, 1,000 horse, and sixteen pieces of artillery. The position of the army was formidable, being protected in front by canals and a marsh, and both flanks resting on strong gardens. The enemy, however, was routed, and compelled to flee in all directions. Tin's success was followed by another victory over the insurgents, on the 10th of March; after which they disappeared from the neighbourhood of Candahar. The situation of the British troops, however, at Candahar, Khelat-i-Ghilzee, and Gliuznee, being thought precarious in the midst of a population universally hostile, Brigadier-general England, who commanded the forces in Scinde, determined to march to the relief of General Nott. In his route General England encountered a formidable opposition at the Rujjuk Pass, where Mahomed Seedez, with a large army, was posted to impede his progress. In an engagement, General England, indeed, lost nearly one hundred men, and he was compelled to return to Quetta: This attempt, therefore, for the relief of Candahar failed; and, not long before this, the British had another humiliation in the surrender of Ghuznee. Ghuznee was garrisoned by about 1,000 troops, under the command of Colonel Palmer, and when the general rising on the part of the Affghan population took place, that fortress and Khelat-i-Ghilzee, in which was a garrison of five hundred men, were invested by the insurgents. Colonel Palmer was obliged to capitulate; and on the 6th of March the garrison marched out from the citadel, and were quartered in a portion of the town immediately below. Scarcely, however, had the troops taken possession of the quarter assigned them by the terms of the capitulation, when they were suddenly attacked by the infuriated Ghuznees. Day after day the murderous attacks continued; and in the end the whole were either slain, or sent in camel-chairs to Cabul, to be kept in custody by Akbar Khan. It was these events that determined General Nott, on evacuating Candahar, in order to co-operate with General Pollock, in case the resistance offered by Akbar Khan should be of such a nature as to render a reinforcement of the British troops necessary. Candahar was evacuated on the 7th and 8th of August, and the troops marched onwards without molestation till they came to Gonine, about thirty miles south-west of Ghuznee. Here General Nott found that Shumsooden, the Affghan governor of that fortress, was awaiting his approach with about 12,000 men. This force, however, was quickly defeated, and their guns, tents, and ammunition captured; General Nott then moved on Ghuznee, which he found full of armed men, under the command of Sultan Jan. Ghuznee was stormed, and the enemy driven from thence in all directions; after which the city and the whole of its works were destroyed. General Nott now advanced upon Cabul, and at Mydan he again encountered the enemy; but the British troops dislodged them from their strong positions; and General Nott effected a junction with General Pollock without further molestation.

In China the British troops still pursued an inglorious war. In the month of August, last year, Sir Henry Pottinger and Sir W. Parker had sailed for Hong-Kong, which was the place of rendezvous for the ships destined for the expedition to the northward. On the 21st they sailed from that island, and anchored on the 25th in the harbour of Amoy. This city is said to have been inhabited by about 70,000 people; and the Chinese army garrisoning it was 10,000 strong. The number of guns possessed by the garrison was about five hundred; and the place was so strongly fortified by nature and art, that the Chinese fancied the place to be impregnable. Amoy, however, wanted a brave and skilful garrison; and lacking this, the place was soon captured. The mandarins and soldiers fled, leaving the city occupied by only a few coolies. This success was attained without the loss of a man on the part of the British; and the number of Chinese killed is supposed not to have exceeded one hundred and fifty. Sir Hugh Gough was mainly instrumental in effecting this conquest; but, on the 30th of August, the troops were withdrawn from the city, a garrison of five hundred men only being left on the island of Cohun-soo, which is distant about 1,200 yards from Amoy. In the proclamation addressed by Sir H. Pottinger on this occasion to "her Britannic majesty's subjects in China," he says:—"Her majesty's plenipotentiary deems it quite superfluous to say one word as to the manner in which this important service has been performed. The facts require no eulogium. The Chinese government vainly imagined that they had rendered Amoy impregnable; but they were undeceived in presence of the viceroy of the provinces of Chekeang and Fokien (who, with a number of high officers, witnessed the attacks from the heights above the town), in the short space of four hours from the firing of the first gun; and had the opposition been a hundred times greater than it was, the spirit and bearing of all employed showed that the result must have been the same." The state of the weather prevented the expedition from putting to sea and continuing its progress northward before the 5th of September. On the 21st it reached the Chusan group of islands, and afterwards reconoitered the Tinghae and Chusan harbour. The walls of Tinghae were escaladed, and the British colours soon waved over the fortifications. In this attack upon Tinghae the enemy suffered severely; several mandarins were killed, while, on the side of the British, two only were killed, and twenty-four wounded. The next place attacked was Chinghae, which was captured with the same ease, although it was enclosed by a wall thirty-seven feet in thickness, and twenty-two feet in height. Sir William Parker writes concerning this conquest:—"About eleven o'clock we had the gratification of seeing the British colours planted by the troops in one of the batteries on the opposite side of the shore: and in a few minutes the others on that side were all carried, and the Chinese observed flying in every direction before our gallant soldiers on the heights. At a quarter past eleven the wall of the citadel was breached by the fire from the ships; and the defences being reduced to a ruinous state, the Chinese abandoned their guns, which they had hitherto worked with considerable firmness, and a large portion of the garrison retreated precipitately towards the city. Not a moment was lost in making the signal for landing the battalion of seamen and marines, with the detachments of artillery and sappers. Before noon, the boats were all on shore; every impediment presented by the difficulty of landing on rugged rocks was overcome, and the force gallantly advanced to the assault, with a celerity that excited my warmest admiration. An explosion at this time took place in a battery near the citadel gate; and the remnant of the garrison fled without waiting to close it. The citadel was therefore rapidly entered, and the union-jack displayed on the walls. Our people had scarcely passed within them when another explosion occurred, happily without mischief, but whether by accident or design is uncertain." Captain Herbert having secured this post, quickly re-formed his men, and advanced towards the city; the Chinese still occupying in considerable force the walls of it, as well as the two batteries beneath the hill on the river side, against which our troops had already turned some of the guns taken on the right bank. A few volleys of musketry speedily dislodged them from both positions, and the battalions of seamen and marines pushed on in steady and excellent order to attack the city.

The wall was escaladed in two places, and in a short time complete possession was taken of Chinghae, the Chinese troops having made their escape through the western gate. Subsequently Sir Hugh Gough captured Ningpo with the same facility, after which no event of importance occurred during the past year. Early in the present year the district cities of Yuydo, Tsikee, and Ftmghwa were temporarily occupied by the British troops; and the Chinese made a bold but ineffectual attempt to recover Ningpo. After their unsuccessful attack upon Ningpo, the Chinese attempted to annoy the British garrison by obstructing the supply of provisions. A body of about 4,000 Chinese soldiers were encamped at the town of Tse-kee, about eleven miles westward of Ningpo; but they were quickly driven from thence by Sir Hugh Gough with great loss. Ningpo was evacuated by the British on the 7th of May, and on the 16th the fleet came to the city of Chapoo, which was captured. Sir H. Pottinger, who had recently been to Canton rejoined the squadron before it sailed from Chapoo: and its subsequent operations were detailed by him in a "circular," dated on board the steam-frigate Queen, in the Yang-tze-Kiang river. Its operations were first chiefly confined to the destruction of batteries along the Woosung river; after which the fleet entered the great river Yang-tze. In this river operations were directed against the cities of Suyshan, Chin-Keang-foo, and Nankin. The two former were captured: but when preparations had been made for attacking the latter, Sir Hugh Gough and Sir William Parker received instructions from Sir Henry Pottinger to suspend hostilities, in consequence of negociations which he was carrying on with the Chinese high officers who had been appointed by the emperor to treat for peace. Full powers had been given to three commissioners, Keying, Elepoo, and Newkéén, to negociate a treaty of peace which was finally concluded on the 26th of August. The conditions of this treaty were:—That the Chinese should pay 21,000,000 dollars; that the ports of Canton, Amoy, Foo-chow-foo, Ning-po, and Shang-hae, should be open to British merchants, with permission to consular officers to reside there; that the island of Hong-Kong should be ceded to the British in perpetuity; that correspondence should be conducted on terms of perfect equality between the officers of both governments; and that the islands of Chusan and Kolang-soo should be held by the British until the money payments were made and arrangements for opening the ports completed.

CHAPTER LIV.

VICTORIA. 1843—1844


     State of the Country..... Meeting of Parliament.....
     National Distress..... The Corn-law Question..... Address to
     the Crown on the Subject of Education..... Affairs of India,
     &c...... The Corn-law  Question  resumed..... Irish
     Affairs..... Financial   Statements,   &c......
     Education..... Church   Extension, &c...... Law Reform.....
     Prorogation of Parliament..... Agitation; Ireland.....
     Formation of the Free Church in Scotland..... The State  of
     India..... Continental Affairs.

STATE OF THE COUNTRY.

A.D. 1843

AT the opening of this year the aspect of public affairs was such as to create disquietude and anxiety. In every branch of trade and industry there was great depression, which was by some attributed to the workings of the new tariff, and by others to a groundless panic occasioned by that measure. Whatever it arose from it certainly existed; and the fact of its existence was clearly proved by the diminished consumption of those articles which contribute in so large a proportion to the public revenue. The total decrease in the excise, stamps, customs, and taxes on the quarter was £1,379,057, which was equivalent to a total yearly deficiency of £5,516,222. The distress which prevailed naturally give rise to various opinions as to the remedies to be applied. Some suggested and advocated the repeal of the corn-laws; others threw the blame upon the income-tax, and the other financial measures of Sir Robert Peel's government; some attributed the distress to the poor-laws; and others pointed to emigration as the natural safety-valve and outlet for the pressure of a too rapidly increasing population. All these subjects were discussed at length in both houses of parliament; but few practical results arose from these discussions.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was opened by commission on the 2nd of February. The speech, read by the lord-chancellor, referred to a treaty which had been concluded with the United States of America and the adjustment of differences which, from their long continuance had endangered the preservation of peace. Allusion was also made to the termination of hostilities in China; and a hope expressed "that, by the free access which would be opened to the principal mart of that populous and extensive empire, encouragement would be given to the commercial enterprise of her majesty's people." The speech continued:—"In concert with her allies, her majesty has succeeded in obtaining for the Christian population of Syria, the establishment of a system of administration which they were entitled to expect from the engagements of the Sultan, and from the good faith of the country. The differences for some time existing between tire Turkish and Persian governments had recently led to acts of hostility; but as each of these states has accepted the joint mediation of Great Britain and Russia, her majesty entertains a confident hope that their mutual relations will be speedily and amicably adjusted. Her majesty has concluded with the Emperor of Russia a treaty of commerce and navigation, which will be laid before you. Her majesty regards this treaty with great satisfaction, as the foundation for increased intercourse between her majesty's subjects and those of the emperor." The affairs of India and the events in Afghanistan were next adverted to; satisfaction being expressed at the victories obtained "on the scenes of former disasters." Concerning the decrease of revenue the speech remarked:—"Her majesty regrets the diminished receipt from some of the ordinary sources of revenue. Her majesty fears that it must be in part attributed to the reduced consumption of many articles, caused by that depression of the manufacturing industry of the country which has so long prevailed, and which her majesty has so deeply lamented. In considering, however, the present state of the revenue, her majesty is assured that you will bear in mind, that it has been materially affected by the extensive reductions in the import duties which received your sanction during the last session of parliament, and that little progress has hitherto been made in the collection of those taxes, which were imposed for the purpose of supplying the deficiency from that and other causes. Her majesty feels confident that the future produce of the revenue will be sufficient to meet every exigency of the public service." The speech concluded by adverting to her majesty's recent visit to Scotland; to disturbances which had taken place in some of the manufacturing districts; and to measures connected with the improvement of the law which were to be brought forward during this session.

The address was agreed to, and the house adjourned.

In the house of commons also the address was agreed to without a division, and the house adjourned.

NATIONAL DISTRESS.

Allusion had been made in the royal speech to the distress which pervaded the country at this time; and in this state of things Lord Howick give notice for a committee of the whole house to investigate the causes of this distress. The debate commenced on the 18th of February, by Lord Howick, calling attention to the paragraph in her majesty's speech referring to diminished revenue. This having been read by the clerk at the table, his lordship then moved that the house do now resolve itself into a committee upon the said passage in her majesty's speech. The debate on the motion continued during five nights: various members on both sides of the house supporting or opposing the motion. On the fifth and last night Mr. Cobden said that his chief objection to the motion was, that it did not include agricultural as well as manufacturing distress. The agricultural labourers were in a wretched state; neither them nor the farmers were any gainers by the corn-laws. With neither of these classes had landlords any right to identify themselves. The landlord was no agriculturist: he might live all his days in London or in Paris. He was no more an agriculturist than a shipowner was a sailor. The real agriculturists were beginning to get a glimmering of light upon this question. The member for Dorsetshire had attacked the league; he protested against the notion that the league had been the movers of sedition and assassination. He would next inquire why the present motion was to be resisted by the government. When Sir R. Peel took the reins of government, he took with them the responsibility of introducing the measures necessary for the country..The ministers were advocates of free-trade: why did they not carry it into effect? They adopted it, it was said, only in the abstract: the house had nothing to do with abstractions. Length of time was pleaded; he should like to know whether that would be a defence to the claim of a just plaintiff in a court of law? It could not be said that the period was unsuitable; the year lay before them, and there was no pressure of legislative business, publie or private. Had government any other remedy? They had last year imposed a corn-law which gave umbrage to all classes of mercantile men. That law had not given any extension to regular trade, and had ruined the speculators. The tariff had reduced the duty on seven hundred articles, and had omitted the only two which would have done anything for tire people—corn and sugar. Sir R. Peel had it in his power to carry the measures necessary for the people; and if he had not that power as a minister, he would have it by resigning his office. The right honourable baronet should be held responsible individually: the electoral body would compel him to do them justice. Sir Robert Peel declared that no responsibility which Mr. Cobden could fix upon him, or induce others to fix upon him, should deter him from doing his duty. He then proceeded to analyse the nature of the motion, in order to show that it could not be conceded. It was not a motion, he said, to inquire into the causes of the distress; but a motion that the house should resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, Lord Howiok having some proposition to bring forward for the relief of the distress. Lord John Russell justified the form of the present motion, and the fitness of the time at whicli it was brought forward; but on a division it was rejected by a majority of three hundred and six against one hundred and ninety-one.

ADDRESS TO THE CROWN ON THE SUBJECT OF EDUCATION.

On the 28 th of February Lord Ashley moved the following resolution in the house of commons:—"That an humble address be presented to her majesty, praying that her majesty will be graciously pleased to take into her instant and serious consideration the best means of diffusing the benefits and blessings of a moral and religious education among the working classes of her people." The motion was agreed to.

AFFAIRS OF INDIA, ETC.

In the early part of this session, some interesting discussions occurred in both houses of parliament, on the recent events and military operations in India. The first of these discussions took place on the 9th of February, when Mr. Vernon Smith moved for the production of some papers relative to Indian affairs. The motion was agreed to.

The following resolutions, after considerable discussion, were carried in both houses:—"That the thanks of this liouse be given to the Right Honourable Lord Ellenborough, governor-general of the British possessions in the East Indies, for the ability and judgment with which the resources of the British empire in India have been applied to the support of the military operations in Affghanistan. That the thanks of this house be given to Major-general Sir George Pollock, G.C.B., to Major-general Sir William Nott, G.C.B., to Major-general Sir John M'Gaskill, K.C.B., to Major-general Richard England, and the other officers of the army, both European and native, for the intrepidity, skill, and perseverance displayed by them in the military operations in Affghanistan, and for their indefatigable zeal and exertions throughout the late campaign. That this house doth highly approve and acknowledge the valour and patient perseverance displayed by the noncommissioned officers and private soldiers, both European and native, employed in Affghanistan, and that the same be signified to them by the commanders of the several corps, who are desired to thank them for their gallant behaviour." About the same time resolutions were passed both in the lords and commons, with respect to the services of the fleet and army employed in the late operations in China. The affairs of India became the subject of discussion again in the house of commons on the 2nd of March, when Mr. Roebuck moved for a select committee to inquire into the causes which led to the late war in Affghanistan; but it ended in mere words: the motion was rejected by a majority of one hundred and eighty-nine against seventy-five.

THE CORN-LAW QUESTION RESUMED.

This great question—a question which interested all parties, and all classes of society—formed the subject of several debates during this session. It was first brought prominently forward by Mr. Ward, who, on the 14th of March, moved, "That a select committee be appointed to inquire whether there are any peculiar burdens especially affecting the landed interest of this country, or any peculiar exemptions enjoyed by that interest; and to ascertain their nature and extent." This motion was negatived, after a lengthened discussion, by a large majority; but, on the 13th of May, the whole subject of the corn-laws was brought under discussion upon the motion annually brought forward by Mr. Villiers, for a committee of the whole house to consider the duties on the importation of foreign corn. This was met by Mr. Gladstone with a direct negative. The most remarkable speeches delivered were those of Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Cobden. Mr. Cobden combated the notion that if the corn-laws were repealed, the whole system of revenue must be cut down; and declared that the anti-corn-law league would persist in agitation until the attainment of their object. On a division, the motion was rejected by a majority of three hundred and eighty-one against one hundred and twenty-five. Another general debate on the same subject occupied the house on the 13th of June, when Lord John Russell again proposed the consideration of the corn-laws in a committee of the whole house; which, however, was negatived by a large majority. But, previous to this debate, a measure partially effecting the operation of the corn-laws had been proposed in the house of commons by Lord Stanley, the secretary for the colonies. His lordship moved the following resolutions—"Resolved that, on the 12th day of October, 1842, an act was passed by the legislative council and legislative assembly of the province of Canada, and reserved by the governor-general for the signification of her majesty's pleasure, imposing a duty of 3s., sterling money of Great Britain, on each imperial quarter of wheat imported into Canada, except from the United Kingdom, or any of her majesty's possessions, and being the growth and produce thereof. That the said act recites that it was passed in the confident belief and expectation that, upon the imposition of a duty upon foreign wheat imported into the province, her majesty would be graciously pleased to recommend to parliament the removal or reduction of the duties on wheat and wheat flour imported into the said United Kingdom from Canada. That, in consideration of the duty so imposed by the said act of the legislature of Canada, it is expedient to provide that, if her majesty shall be pleased to give her sanction to the said act, the duties imposed upon wheat and wheat flour imported into the United Kingdom from Canada should be reduced. That, during the continuance of the said duty, in lieu of the duties now payable upon wheat and wheat flour imported into the United Kingdom from Canada, under an act passed in the last session of parliament, entitled 'An act to amend the laws for the importation of corn,' there shall be levied and paid the duties following:—viz., for every quarter of wheat, 1s.; for every barrel of wheat, meal, or flour, being one hundred and ninety-six pounds, a duty equal in amount to the duty payable on thirty-eight and a half gallons of wheat." In moving these resolutions, Lord Stanley said that exaggerated notions of the measure had prevailed on all sides; and if he had not given a direct promise to the Canadian legislature, he would not have brought forward a question tending to create uneasiness among them. He brought it forward, in fact, only as a boon to Canada, which he had reason to expect, and of which the refusal would be highly injurious to her interests and feelings. His proposal was, not to let American wheat into England, but to let into England Canadian wheat, and flour ground in Canada, from whatever growth it might be manufactured. That was in accordance with the broad principle of the navigation act—"that all manufactured goods shall be deemed to be the produce of the country in which they are manufactured." The resolutions of Lord Stanley, after a stormy debate, were confirmed by a majority of two hundred and forty-four against one hundred and eighty-eight. A few days afterwards the house went into committee on them, when Lord John Russell moved an amendment, which proposed to omit that part of them which referred to the Canadian legislature, his lordship objecting to the making of the legislation of the imperial depend on that of the colonial parliament. Lord Stanley defended the course taken by government as necessary to secure the object; and after a desultory conversation, the amendment was negatived. Another amendment, to the effect that no alteration should be made in the corn-law of the preceding session, and in the degrees of protection which it afforded to British agriculture, was moved by Lord Worsley; but this also was negatived; and after some further discussion the house divided on the original resolutions, which were carried by a majority of two hundred and eighteen against one hundred and thirty-seven. On the 2nd of June, a bill founded on the resolutions was brought in when Lord Worsley moved that it be read that day six months. This led to a renewed debate on the measure: but ultimately the second reading was carried by a majority of two hundred and nine against one hundred and nine. A debate in the house of lords took place on the committal of the bill, which was moved by Earl Dalhousie on the 4th of July. Lord Brougham seconded the motion, not "because the measure was a step in the right direction "—that is, towards the removal of the corn-laws—"but because it removed an anomaly." Earl Stanhope moved, as an amendment, that the bill be committed that day six months; and he was supported in his opposition by the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Radnor, and Lords Beaumont and Teynham. The amendment was, however, negatived by a majority of fifty-seven against twenty-five. The house subsequently went into committee, and the bill passed without amendment.

IRISH AFFAIRS.

Towards the close of the session the unusually agitated state of Ireland, produced by the repeal movement, noticed in a subsequent article, gave rise to angry debates in parliament. In the month of May ministers proposed a bill requiring the registration of firearms, and restricting the importation of arms and ammunition. The second reading of this bill was moved on the 29th of May by Lord Eliot, the secretary for Ireland, who, in introducing the subject, gave a short history of the origin and successive renewal of the Irish arms acts, beginning with the 33rd George III. c. 2, and ending with the bill introduced by Lord Morpeth in 1838. This measure was opposed with uncommon energy and skill by the Irish Roman Catholic members, and by several liberal Protestants among the representatives of Ireland. Messrs. Hume, Roebuck, Buller, and other liberal representatives of Great Britain were also its strenuous opponents. Mr. Shiel, always eloquent, made a brilliant speech in resisting it, which won members of various schools of politics to his opinion. The general feeling of the house and of the country was in favour of the bill, and the Protestants of Ireland declared by their petitions, and through their representatives, that it was necessary to their safety, as in many districts of the country property and life were in constant danger, armed bands of lawless ruffians prowling about by night, committing outrage, incendiarism, and murder upon those who were obnoxious to their political or religious opinions. The second reading was carried by a majority of two hundred and seventy against one hundred and five. On the motion for committing the bill, Mr. Smith O'Brien moved as an amendment, "that a select committee be appointed to inquire whether the condition of Ireland was such as to require statutory enactments different from those of Great Britain; and, if so, to ascertain to what cause the difference of legislation was to be attributed." This amendment was negatived without a division, and the bill was then ordered to be committed. In the committee the measure encountered the most pertinacious and protracted opposition from many members, who moved repeated amendments, and divided again and again on some of the most obnoxious sections. It was, in fact, the 9th of August before the Irish arms bill reached its final stage in the house of commons. On that day Lord Eliot moved that it should be read a third time, which motion was met by an amendment by Lord Clements, that it be read a third time that day six months. Another warm discussion followed, but the bill was carried by a majority of one hundred and twenty-five against fifty-nine. In the house of lords two nights' discussion took place upon the bill; but it met with a much easier passage in that house, and towards the close of August it passed into law.

In the meantime discussions of a different nature took place in both houses of parliament on Irish affairs. On the 14th of July Lord Clanricarde moved resolutions declaring the dismissal of certain magistrates by the Lord Chancellor, for taking part in the movement in favour of repeal, unconstitutional, unjust, and inexpedient. Their dismissal, he said, had given a great impulse to the prevailing agitation, manifested by the rise in the repeal-rent; and he imputed the state of Ireland, bordering on anarchy, to the policy of the present government. The Duke of Wellington met these resolutions by a direct negative, and contended that repeal agitation originated in the time of the later ministers; the acts impugned were forced upon the present administration. A long discussion ensued; but on a division the resolutions were negatived by a majority of ninety-one against twenty-nine. The state of Ireland again came under discussion in the house of lords on the 8th of August, when Lord Rod en presented a petition from upwards of five thousand of her majesty's Protestant loyal subjects residing in the county of Down, praying for measures to repress the rebellious spirit in Ireland, and expressing surprise at seeing the marked difference made between Protestants and Roman Catholics in respect of the enforcement of the law against processions.

In the house of commons, on the 4th of July, Mr. Smith O'Brien moved, "That this house will resolve into a committee for the purpose of taking into consideration the causes of the discontent prevailing in Ireland, with a view to the redress of grievances, and to the establishment of a system of just and impartial government in that part of the United Kingdom." The debate which this motion gave rise to occupied five nights, and, unlike the other debates on Irish affairs, it was conducted in a calm, practical, and dispassionate temper. The chief speakers for the motion were Messrs. Wyse, Charles Wood, Smythe, Mr. J. O'Con-nell, Captain Rous, and Viscount Howick; against it, Lord Eliot, Sirs J. Graham and R. Peel, and Messrs. B. Cochrane, Lascelles, and Colquhoun. On a division the motion was negatived, by a majority of two hundred and forty-three against one hundred and sixty-four.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

Mr. Goulburn made his annual statement of ways and means on the 8th of May. His statements were by no means cheering. The revenue, he said, calculated upon by Sir Robert Peel for the year, from the customs, had been £22,000,000, but the actual produce had only reached £21,750,000. On the estimated produce of the excise, there had also been a deficiency of £1,200,000; and upon the whole the revenue had fallen short of the estimate by somewhat more than £2,000,000. That defalcation, however, had been diminished to about £1,250,000, by a payment from China of about £725,000. Against the deficiency thus constituted also was to be set the produce of the income-tax, which had exceeded the expectation formed of it: the net revenue from that source would be about £5,100,000. It might be asked, Mr. Goulburn continued, in what way he intended to meet the deficiency:—he had no new measure to propose; his calculation was, that the causes which had occasioned the deficiency of the last year were of a temporary character; that in the next and subsequent years there would be a surplus of revenue, and out of that he proposed to discharge the deficiency of the past year. Mr. Goulburn next proceeded to present his estimate for the ensuing year. There were two heavy charges, he said, which did not form part of the ordinary expenses of the year—the one a payment of £800,000 to the owners of opium seized in China; the other a payment of £1,250,000 to the East India Company, on account of expenses borne by them for the Chinese war. He proposed to advance the money requisite for these two payments, and to take repayment from the future remittances of China. The total estimate of revenue stated by Mr. Goulburn was £50,150,000, in which, however, he included a sum of £870,000 from the Chinese government; and the total estimated outlay was £49,387,645, which being deducted from the £50,150,000, would leave a surplus of £762,000 in favour of revenue above expenditure. In conclusion, the chancellor of the exchequer said, that though he was not in a condition to make a flattering statement of the country's resources, he trusted the time was not far distant when he should be able to come down with a proposal for easing the industry of the country by important resolutions. He moved a vote of £47,943,000, which, after some discussion, was granted.

At a later period of the session the state of the public finances was made the subject of debate in the house of lords. On the 14th of August Lord Monteagle moved this series of resolutions:—"1. That this house observes with much concern and disappointment, that the expectation held out of a surplus revenue, exceeding £500,000, for the year ending the 5th of April. 1843, has not been realized; but that there has been an actual deficiency of £2,421,000, notwithstanding the imposition of a tax on property, the application to the public service within the year of £511,406, obtained from the government of China, and a receipt exceeding £1,300,000, as duties upon grain imported. 2. That the charge for the permanent debt has been increased during the last two years, the exchequer balances have been reduced, and upwards of £1,000,000 exchequer-bills held by the trustees of the savings' banks converted into stock. 3. That under these circumstances it is most peculiarly the duty of the legislature, and of her majesty's government, to enforce the strictest economy which is consistent with the public service, and to adopt all such measures as may increase the ordinary revenue, by insuring to British industry, whether agricultural, manufacturing, or commercial, its widest and freest extension, and its largest reward; thus averting from the country the calamity of the re-enactment of a tax upon property in time of peace, and promoting the well-being of all classes of her majesty's subjects." The object of Lord Monteagle in introducing these resolutions was to vindicate the Whig administration of the public finances, and to show that the same line of conduct which had been censured in the late ministry had been pursued by the present government. His lordship delivered a long and able speech to this end, which was replied to with equal ability by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Brougham.

Another question, involving fiscal considerations, which occupied the attention of parliament, related to the sugar duties. Government proposed a renewal of tire duties of the year preceding, on which the free-trade party in the house of commons made their usual protest against the preference shown to the produce of the British colonies. On the 22nd of June, when it was moved that the speaker should leave the chair, in order to the house going into committee on the subject, Mr. Cobden moved: "That it is not expedient to compel payment of a higher price for colonial than for other commodities; and that, therefore, all protective duties on colonial produce ought to be abolished." As this resolution, however, extended further than the mere sugar question, on which it had been moved "that the speaker leave the chair," it could not be put; and the house then went into committee on the sugar duties. In committee Mr. Ewart, who condemned the policy of government on this subject, proposed that one uniform duty on foreign and colonial sugar should be levied; but this motion was lost by a majority of one hundred and thirty-five against eighty-five. Mr. Hawes subsequently proposed that the house should cease to maintain an impost which was equivalent to total prohibition, and should lower the duty to 34s.; but this was negatived by a still larger majority, and the proposition of government was confirmed. On a later day, the 17th of July, another important article of traffic was brought under consideration. As an amendment on the motion for going into a committee of supply, Mr. Charles Wood moved "that the house do resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to consider so much of the 5th and 6th Victoria, c. 47, customs' act, as relates to the duties on the importation of foreign sheeps' and lambs' wool." Mr. Wood supported his motion on the ground that the trade had been declining for nearly thirty years; but it was opposed by the chancellor of the exchequer; and after a desultory conversation, it was rejected by a majority of one hundred and forty-two against seventy. About the same time, however, government showed that they were not disinclined to all further commercial relaxation; for at their instance the restrictions on the importation of machinery, imposed by an act of King William the Fourth, were taken off. A bill for this purpose was brought in by the president of the board of trade, and, being supported by all parties in the house, passed without difficulty. After some opposition from Earl Stanhope, it was subsequently carried in the lords, and was incorporated finally into "an act for amending the customs," which received the royal assent before the close of the session.

EDUCATION.

It has already been seen that, on the motion of Lord Ashley, an address was voted to the crown on the subject of the education of the working classes. The queen's answer to this address was delivered by Earl Jermyn at the bar of the house, on the 8th of March. It read thus:—"I have received your loyal and dutiful address. The attention of my government had been previously directed to the important object of increasing the moral and religious education among the working classes of my people; and the assurance of your cordial co-operation in measures which I consider so necessary, confirms my hope that this blessing will be secured by legislative enactment." On the same day Sir James Graham introduced his promised bill for regulating the employment of children and young persons in factories. Its clauses were, in fact, strongly opposed both in parliament and by the people, being objected to chiefly on the ground of giving a too exclusive management of the schools to the clergy of the church of England, thereby prejudicing dissenters and Roman Catholics. This objection was forcibly urged by several members in the discussion which ensued; while, on the other hand, it was controverted by several members with equal force. Avoiding this source of contention, Lord Ashley earnestly enforced the arguments respecting the necessity of the measure. The bill was finally read a second time. The measure, however, met with so much opposition from the dissenting and Roman Catholic bodies, and appeared to be so distasteful to a large section of the community, that Sir James Graham, on the 1st of May, produced a series of amendments which had been prepared by government. But although the bill was thus altered to meet the views of all classes, it was still strenuously opposed by several members, though eventually it was recommitted. Such was the animosity still displayed by the Roman Catholic and dissenting bodies against the measure, that government at length came to the resolution of abandoning it. The home secretary announced this intention on the 15th of June, on which occasion he promised to state on an early day the future intentions of government. In fulfilment of this promise, on the 19th he declared that government did not mean to give up the remainder of the factories' bill; and on his motion it was recommitted.

CHURCH EXTENSION, ETC.

On the 5th of May Sir Robert Peel brought forward, in a committee of the whole house, a plan for relieving the spiritual wants of the kingdom by the endowment of additional churches, and augmentation of small livings. In explaining his measure, the right honourable baronet said that at the end of 1834 he had advised the crown to issue a commission to ascertain whether aid might not be obtained for religious instruction from ecclesiastical resources. The result of the inquiries of this commission had been to show that the revenues of certain bishoprics, cathedrals, and other ecclesiastical establishments, were larger than their purposes required. The commissioners recommended the transfer of such surplus receipts of the church to a new fund, which now amounted to £25,000. Out of this fund about £16,700 per annum had been applied to the augmentation of small livings; and other analogous purposes had been marked out, which, with the sum applied for, would absorb about £32,000. In a few years the fund would be increased by the falling in of canonries and other preferments; and the question was whether it would be better to wait till that increase should have been realized, or to anticipate that increase by some immediate measure. Government were in favour of the latter course, and for this purpose it would be necessary to combine the instrumentality of two bodies—the ecclesiastical commissioners and the board of Queen Anne's bounty for the augmentation of small livings. The latter board possessed about £1,200,000, invested in the funds; and what he now proposed, was to authorize the advance of £600,000 by this board, to the ecclesiastical commissioners, on the security of the before-mentioned revenue of the ecclesiastical fund, existing and hereafter accruing. This advance to the extent of £30,000 a year he would apply in endowments for ministers of the church of England; and that annual sum, with the interest on the principal at three per cent., being £18,000 a year, would in seventeen years exhaust the whole. By that time the accumulation in the hands of the ecclesiastical commissioners would, even upon the narrowest calculation, exceed £100,000 a year, and the commissioners would thenceforth continue the £18,000 a year interest, and the proposed augmentation of £30,000 a year, together with the £32,000 already applied, or destined by them to similar or analogous purposes; and they would then possess a considerable surplus, applicable to future improvement. In conclusion, Sir Robert Peel said that he should have rejoiced if he could likewise have carried a grant of public money for these purposes with general good-will; but he did not think that a public grant without such good-will would have effectually accomplished the benefits which he anticipated from the application of ecclesiastical revenues. Several members spoke in terms of approbation of the measure, and the motion was unanimously voted.

The great secession in the church of Scotland gave occasion to the introduction of a bill proposed by Lord Aberdeen, on the part of the government to remove doubts respecting the admission of ministers to benefices. This bill provided that the presbytery, or church court, to which objections should be referred to be cognosced, should be authorized to inquire into the whole circumstances of the parish, and the character and number of persons by whom the objections and reasons should be preferred; and if the presentee should be found not qualified or suitable for that particular parish, the presbytery should pronounce to that effect, and should set forth the special grounds upon which their judgment was founded. The bill further abolished the veto, to guard against any doubt or difficulty on that point; providing that it shall not be lawful for any presbytery, or other ecclesiastical court, to reject any presentee upon the ground of any mere dissent or dislike, expressed in any part of the congregation of the parish in which he was presented, and which dissent or dislike should not be founded upon objections or reasons to be fully cognosced, judged of, and determined in the manner aforesaid, by the presbytery, or other ecclesiastical court. Lord Aberdeen declared his belief that the adoption of this measure would retain in the establishment a numerous body of ministers then in a state of suspense. Those parish ministers who had seceded were about two hundred and forty, or one-fourth of the whole number; the unendowed ministers, about two hundred, or about one-third of the entire clergy of Scotland. He-did not apprehend, he said, any fatal consequence from the secession; but the bill would tend to tranquillise those who remained within the pale. The measure encountered the most strenuous opposition of Lords Brougham, Cottingham, and Campbell in all its stages; but it passed the upper house, and was introduced in the commons by Sir James Graham on the 31st of July. After explaining the nature of the bill, and supporting it by all the arguments he could bring forward in its favour, the right honourable baronet expressed a hope that the church of Scotland would find a haven of peace and security, and in that spirit of hope and peace he moved its second reading. Mr. Wallace said that the bill would create more doubts than had heretofore existed, and would make the people renounce the church; on which grounds he moved that it be read that day six months. This amendment was supported by Lord John Russell, and Messrs. Rutherford, Hume, Cochrane, and Alexander Campbell. On the other hand the bill was supported by the solicitor-general, Sir George Clerk, Mr. Hope Johnstone, and Sir Robert Peel; and on a division the second reading was carried by a majority of ninety-eight against eighty. The opponents of the measure renewed their attempts of throwing it out on the motion for going into committee, when Mr. P. M. Stewart moved that it be committed that day three months; but this was negatived, and the bill finally passed, and received the royal assent.

LAW REFORM.

Several reforms in the law were made during this session. One of the most important of these changes was the registration act. This passed the commons without any difficulty; and the second reading of the bill was moved in the upper house by Lord Wharncliffe, on which occasion his lordship thus explained its leading provisions. The objects of the bill, he said, were first, to establish in every part of the country a real and bona fide list of voters; secondly, to settle certain doubts with respect to qualifications which had arisen in the revising barristers' courts; and, thirdly, to prevent the personation of voters, or the possibility of individuals voting twice at the same election. One of the greatest alterations in the bill was that which related to the right of voting, as it depended on the payment of taxes. As the law at present stood a person could not have his name placed on the list of voters unless he had paid all his rates and taxes up to the time of making his claim. By this bill it was provided, that persons should be allowed to have their names inserted in the list of voters if they paid, on or before the 20th of July next ensuing after making their claim, all the poor's-rates and assessed taxes payable from them for twelve calendar months before the 6th day of the preceding April. One great objection to the existing law was, that the decisions of the revising barristers were final; but by this measure an appeal from their decisions, on legal points, was allowed to the court of common-pleas. Provision was also made to clear up doubtful points as to the right of voting in counties, and likewise with reference to the place where a claim to the right of voting should be made, when the party resided in an extra-parochial district where there was no overseer. Another important point provided for by the bill was that which related to votes on account of trusts on mortgage estates. It was now provided that no mortgagee of any lands or tenements should have a vote for members unless he was in actual possession or receipt of the rents and profits of the lands or tenements mortgaged; but that the mortgager in actual possession, or in receipt of the rents or profits, should be allowed to vote in respect of the property, notwithstanding the mortgage. Another bill carried this session made some alterations in the law relating to defamation and libel. By this bill, which was introduced by Lord Campbell, it was made lawful to give evidence of the truth of the allegations complained of in any criminal proceedings for libel, but subject to this limitation—that the truth shall not, ipso facto, constitute a defence, unless the party shall also make out that the publication of it was for the public benefit. Provision was also made for the case of publication of libellous matter by inadvertence in newspapers. In such case the defendant was empowered to plead the facts in extenuation, and also to pay money into court by way of amends. Other clauses were directed against that nefarious system practised by some conductors of newspapers, who drive a trade in slander; while others imposed additional penalties upon those who make the publication of libels, or the threat of such publication, a means of extorting money from individuals. Two other measures brought in by government during this session—namely, a measure for the reform of the ecclesiastical court, and a bill for the extension of county courts—were not received with so much favour as the preceding: both met with stern opposition, and were in consequence postponed.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued by the queen in person on the 24th of August. In the speech her majesty alluded with satisfaction to the various measures passed during the session; and thanked both houses for the measures they had adopted for enabling her to give full effect to the several treaties which had been concluded with foreign powers. Her majesty also alluded to the lawless combinations and commotions which had disturbed the public peace in some districts of Wales; and to the agitation in Ireland for a repeal of the legislative union.

AGITATION IN IRELAND, FORMATION OF THE FREE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND, ETC.

After the attainment of the Roman Catholic relief act, Mr. O'Connell had from time to time held out the repeal of the legislative union to the deluded people of Ireland as the great ultimatum, in his view, for their benefit. His exertions in this pursuit were at times relaxed, or diverted in favour of some other object; and there were many who thought his sincerity in this matter demanded a doubt. During this year, however, he took up the cause of repeal with redoubled energy. Abandoning the house of commons, he gave himself wholly up to the task of raising the banner of national independence in Ireland. In this work he resorted to the same plan of organization which had been adopted with success in prosecuting the Roman Catholic claims. An association, indeed, for the furtherance of repeal, provided with all the machinery requisite to give effect to its comprehensive designs, formed the main instrument by which the union was to be assailed. This body, which was styled the National Loyal Repeal Association, consisted of associates, members, and volunteers. The distinction of these classes was marked out by money-payments; for it was the "rent" to which the agitator was mainly looking. Thus associates were to pay one shilling each; while members were to pay one pound each. Cards were issued to all sections of the association; but those issued to members, or those who paid the most "rent," were distinct from the rest. This card bore the names of four places in Ireland, the scenes of fights in which the Irish had conquered either the Danes or the English. A printed document described these victories. In another part of the card the geographical position of Ireland was contrasted with various states with the following words underneath:—"Ireland has not a parliament." The card further set forth the revenue expended by Ireland during the last great war in France, and stated that the commander-in-chief, and two-thirds of the officers and men of the English army and navy on that occasion were Irishmen. Added to these features there was a scroll at the top of the card, bearing the following words:—"Resolved unanimously that the claims of any body of men, other than the king, lords, and commons of Ireland to make laws to bind this kingdom are unconstitutional, illegal, and a grievance;" which resolution was agreed to by the Dungannon volunteers in 1782. At the bottom of the card was an extract from a speech of Mr. Saurin, declaring the union not to be binding on conscience. In addition to the several kinds of members, the Repeal Association comprised officer's, consisting of general inspectors, repeal-wardens, and collectors. Repeal-wardens were appointed by the association on the recommendation of the clergymen of their parishes; and a book of instruction was prepared, in which the several functions which they were to execute were described. One leading branch of their duties was the transmission and circulation among the associates in every district of certain newspapers devoted to the repeal cause, to be purchased out of the subscriptions in aid of the general object. The main object of the association appears to have been to provide a machinery of the most effective kind for the collection of funds, and to train the people to combination, and prepare them for simultaneous movements at the bidding of their leaders. How well calculated it was for the former object the weekly reports of the "rent" show; and its effectiveness in the latter design was proved by the "monster meetings," which were held at Trim, Mullingar, and other places throughout Ireland. At all these meetings the most violent language was used by Mr. O'Connell and his coadjutors; and government was importuned to adopt some energetic measures for the suppression of this dangerous conspiracy. The only measures, however, adopted by the ministry for some time was the Irish arms bill, and the removing from the commission of the peace the names of those magistrates who attended or participated in any of the repeal meetings. But the more lenient government showed itself, the more bold and insolent the repealers became. At a "monster meeting" held at Tara on the 15th of August, Mr. O'Connell spoke out with unequivocal significancy. Another "monster meeting" was subsequently held at Roscommon, which Mr. O'Connell said, from its numbers, ought "to strike their enemies with terror, and to give their friends a great consolation." At a later period of the year other "monster meetings" were held; and at each succeeding meeting the language of the repealers grew bolder and bolder. At length government was roused to action. A great meeting was announced for the 8th of October, to be held at Clontarf, the scene of an Irish victory over the Danes; and the programme of the proceedings to take place on this occasion, and the regulations to be observed by those who should attend it, had been announced with more than common ostentation and solemnity. Against this meeting government issued a proclamation; and as soon as the issue of it was known, Mr. O'Connell called a special meeting of the repeal association, at which, speaking with marked calmness, he said, in consequence of the step taken by government, there would be no meeting on the next day at Clontarf. A counter-proclamation was adopted by this meeting, in which the abandonment of the intended assembling at Clontarf was announced, and the people were exhorted not to assemble. As, however, the proclamation and the counter-proclamation were issued only the day before the intended meeting was to take place, thousands knew nothing of their promulgation, and consequently repaired to Clontarf, in the expectation of meeting their leaders. Instead of Mr. O'Connell and his associates, they met with troops; and thus disappointed, they returned home. Happily the day passed off with tranquillity; for, notwithstanding the vast concourse who thronged to the scene throughout the day, no disturbance took place. But the operations of government against the repealers did not stop here. À few days afterwards the public were startled by the announcement of the arrest of Mr. O'Connell and his coadjutors, on charges of conspiracy, sedition, and unlawful assembling. Mr. O'Connell entered into recognisances, himself in £1000, with two sureties of £500 each, to abide his trial on the charges preferred against him. Both Mr. O'Connell and his coadjutors were bound to appear on the first day of Michaelmas term, at the court of Queen's-Bench at Dublin; and on their appearance the grand jury brought in the indictment, "a true bill;" but the proceedings of the trial were so much hindered by the various pretexts of the prisoners' counsel, that it was finally agreed that it should be deferred till the 15th of January, 1844.

One of the most remarkable events which occurred in the course of this year, was the secession of a considerable number of the ministers and laity of the established church of Scotland from that body. This secession arose out of a controversy which had been raised upon the limits of ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction, and the agitation which had been produced in tire minds of the non-intrusion party since the adverse decision of the law-courts and the house of lords in the Auchterarder case. The final act of separation took place in the month of May, during the meeting of the General Assembly of the church of Scotland. A committee had been appointed to consider the propriety of separation; and on the 22nd of May, at a general meeting in the church of Dr. Candlish, the report of this committee was produced, and a resolution incorporating the recommendations of the report was adopted, in which it was resolved that an act of separation should be reported to the Assembly on the morrow. The next day, accordingly, the act of separation was produced; which act solemnly renounced for those who should affix their names to it the status, privileges, and emoluments derived from the establishment, reserving to ministers the right to act as pastors of particular congregations, or portions thereof, adhering to them, with the rights and benefits accruing from the ministers' widows' fund. This document contained an order that the act of separation should be transmitted to the Moderator of the General Assembly—denominated by the seceders "Ecclesiastical Judicatory, by Law Established." The signing of the document occupied four hours, and the act of separation was then transmitted to the General Assembly. The number of ministers who signed it, or were enrolled in the list of the secession during its first assembly, was three hundred and ninety-five; but the ranks of the separatists were subsequently swelled by the addition of a considerable number of ministers and others, who from time to time gave in their adhesion to the "free church." This secession is one of the most remarkable ecclesiastical revolutions on record; and its effects were extensively felt throughout Scotland. The secession even gave rise to outrages on the part of the people. In the course of the autumn several serious disturbances took place throughout the country in connection with the free church movement; but it is just to remark that those who took part in these disgraceful proceedings formed only a minority cf the people: the general demeanour of the population during this change in their domestic affairs, was that of peace and good order.

In South Wales there was a commotion of a very different nature. The disturbances which took place there, and which were denominated the "Rebecca riots," were equally singular and unexpected. The grievance which gave rise to them was the heavy and vexatious tolls to which the peasantry were subjected by the mismanagement and abuses of the turnpike-system. Galled by this burden, they resolved to take the law into their own hands, and to break down the gates in every part. There was, in fact, a crusade against toll-gates commenced during this year, in almost every part of South Wales. The supposed head or chief of the gate-breakers was called "Rebecca," a name derived from this passage in the book of Genesis: "And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Let thy seed possess the gates of those which hate them." (Gen. xxiv. ver. 60.) "Rebecca," who was in the guise of a woman, always made her marches by night; and her conduct of the campaign exhibited much dexterity and address. Herself and band were mounted on horseback; and a sudden blowing of horns, and firing of guns, announced the arrival of the assailants at the turnpike selected for attack. The work of demolition was soon effected: gate, posts, and tollhouse were razed to the ground; and the work was no sooner done than the mysterious assailants galloped off, firing their guns and blowing their horns; and no trace was to be found of the quarter whence they had come, or to what place they had retreated. At first the trustees re-erected some of the gates; but "Rebecca," and her associates speedily demolished them; so that the trustees were finally compelled to desist, and to leave the roads free from toll. All the efforts of the magistrates were unavailing; and they were obliged to appeal to government for protection and support. In the meantime the unchecked success of the insurgents began to work its natural effect in beguiling them into further violations of the laws. Other grievances, as the poor-law amendment act, the working of the new tithe-law, the fees paid to magistrates' clerks in the administration of justice, and the alleged extortionate rents taken by the landowners for their farms, were all considered burdens too heavy to be borne, and fit objects for removal. Meetings were held in secluded spots, where plans for carrying on the warfare against the ills to be redressed were concocted; and these deliberations soon broke out into action. On the 10th of June "Rebecca" and her followers visited Caermarthen, and in open day proceeded to attack the workhouse. In the midst of their work of demolition, however, the military arrived, and the whole force was compelled to decamp, leaving behind them about one hundred, who were taken prisoners. The insurrection, notwithstanding this, still continued, and even assumed a more malignant aspect. Houses in which persons lived who were obnoxious to the rioters were attacked; and a growing feeling of alarm and insecurity pervaded the peaceable and well-disposed portion of the community. One poor woman, who kept the Hendy turnpike-gate, on the confines of Glamorganshire and Caermarthenshire, was barbarously murdered by the rioters; and such was the influence of fear exercised over the minds of the jurymen who investigated the case, that they brought in a verdict to the effect, "That the deceased died from suffusion of blood, which produced suffocation, but from what cause is to the jurors unknown." By the continuance of these outrages, government at length sent down to Wales a large body of troops, under a general officer, who was to take the command of the disturbed districts. At the same time a strong body of the London police was sent to exercise their skill in ferreting out the rioters, who had long escaped detection. These measures did not wholly prevent violence under cover of night; but, in a short time, some of the more active leaders of the riots were captured in an affray with the county police, on the borders of Glamorganshire; and from this event, and various other causes, the spirit of disturbance, towards the close of the year, began to decline. Perhaps the most effectual cause of this decline was a prospect of the redress of those hardships which had formed the theme of so much complaint. In October government sent down a commission, which was to examine into the operation of the turnpike-laws, and other alleged grievances of the country. From the report of this commission, poverty and the hardness of the times had more to do with the outbreak than any other specific cause; but, at the same time, the inquiries instituted, and the report itself, showed that the turnpike-laws as administered in Wales did afford a real and substantial ground of complaint.

DISPUTES WITH AMERICA.

During last year the boundary question, which had formed a subject of dispute between England and America, had been happily adjusted by Lord Ashburton, who had been sent to the United States for that purpose. There still, however, remained serious questions of dispute between the two countries; namely, the Oregon territory, the right of search, and the non-payment of state debts. In the year 1818, a treaty between Great Britain and America had been ratified by the prince-regent; and in the month of January, 1819, by the President of the United States, the third article of which stipulated that "whatever territory may be claimed by one or other of the contracting parties on the north-west coast of America, to the west of the Rocky Mountains, as also all bays, creeks, or rivers thereon, shall be free and open to the ships, citizens, and subjects of both powers for ten years from the date of the signature of the present convention." In accordance with this stipulation of the treaty, the Oregon territory had been conjointly occupied up to the present time—the period of ten years being afterwards indefinitely extended by consent of both governments. In the early part of this session of congress, the president announced that he was about to negotiate with the British government for finally settling the claims of the two countries to this territory. Whilst these negotiations were pending, a bill for the occupation and military organization of the Oregon territory was brought into congress by Mr. Linn. This bill, which stated that "the title of the United States to the territory of Oregon is certain, and will not be abandoned," was carried by a majority of twenty-three against twenty-two. On being sent down, however, to the house of representatives, the committee on foreign affairs reported against it, and it was abandoned for this session. Another object which gave rise to dissension between the government of Great Britain and the United States, was the repudiation of public debts by several states of the union. A third subject of dispute between the governments of Great Britain and America was the right of search. Conflicting interpretations existed between them of the treaty of Washington, which gave rise to a tedious and disputatious correspondence. The year closed, also, before the question was settled; but at the same time, though there were signs of an open rupture between the two governments, yet there were circumstances which gave rise to a well-founded hope, and it has happily proved to be correct, that the swords of England and America would not again be drawn against each other. There was especially a desire existing in America of entering into a commercial treaty on the basis of mutual reductions of import duties; so that it was clear that the Americans saw, equally with the English, that it was their best interests to avoid that dread ultimatum—war.

THE STATE OF INDIA.

The events of the present year in India, although not so exciting as those which occurred in the last, possess deep interest. In Affghanistan nothing of importance occurred after its evacuation by the British, except that Dost Mahomed, who had been permitted to leave our territories when we left Affghanistan, concentrated the chief power of that country in his own hands, and became in effect its ruler. A more important event occurred in the annexation of Scinde to our dominions in the East. Scinde lies between the 23° and 29° of N. latitude, and the 67° and 70° of E. longitude. It is bounded on the south and south-east by the Indian Ocean and Cutch; on the west by Beloo-chistan; on the north by the southern portion of Affghanistan and the Punjaub; and on the east by a sandy desert, separating it from the districts of Ajmeer. The river Indus flows nearly in the centre of the country, through its whole extent, from north to south; and a little below the city of Tatta is divided into two great branches, between which lies a delta, through which smaller channels force their way. Scinde had recently been governed by four chiefs of the Beloochee tribe called Talpoor. The name of the eldest of these chiefs was Futteh Ali Khan, who had the principal direction of affairs, inasmuch as he had been the chief instrument in overthrowing the dynasty of the Caleras, on the ruins of whose throne the Talpoor chiefs sat. The brothers of Futteh Ali Khan were Gholam Ali, Kunn Ali, and Moorad Ali; and the four brothers enjoyed a joint sovereignty over Scinde, under the name of the Char Yar, or the "Four Friends." All these rulers died by the year 1833, the whole leaving male issue except Kunn Ali. Their deaths were followed by a civil war between the sons of the deceased chiefs, which resulted in a distribution of territory amongst them. They were distinguished respectively as Ameers of Hyderabad, Khyrpore, and Meerpore. At the beginning of the present year, the Ameers of Scinde consisted of the following persons:—at Hyderabad, Nusseer Khan, Shabad Khan, Hussein Ali Khan, Mahomed Khan, and Sobhdar Khan; at Khyrpore, Rustum Khan, Nusseer Khan, Ali Moorad Khan, and Chakur Khan; at Meerpore, Shere Mahomed Khan. All of these were Talpoor chiefs, and several of them had sons who were associated with them in the government. They ruled over Scinde with a rod of iron, living entirely for themselves, and wallowing in wealth, while their people were living in the most wretched condition. In 1832, a treaty, bearing date the 20th of April, was executed between the British government in India and Meermoorad Ali, who at that time was the principal Ameer of Scinde, in which a bond of friendship was entered into, and mutual commerce was agreed upon. Another treaty was concluded in 1834, by which the British obtained a reduction of tolls upon vessels navigating the Indus; and it was agreed that a native British agent should be allowed to reside at the mouth of the river. In 1838, in consequence of the incursions of Runjeet Sing, the ruler of the Punjaub, in the Scinde territory, which were checked by British mediation, it was further conceded that an accredited British minister should reside at Hyderabad, attended by such an escort as might be deemed suitable by his government. Captain Pottinger was appointed to this service. It was soon found, however, that the Ameers of Scinde were not in heart friends of the British. When, in the autumn of 1838, the great military expedition into Affghanistan was undertaken, a large body of Bengal troops marched through a portion of Upper Scinde towards the Bolan Pass. The Bombay troops, also, under the command of Sir John Keane, took their route into Cabul by the way of the Indus; in doing which they encountered great difficulty in prosecuting their onward progress, from the jealousy and disaffection of the Ameers. Their conduct, in fact, became so hostile, that a force was sent from Bombay to be stationed as a reserve in Scinde, to keep the Ameers in check. This force was established at Kurrachee; and before the army of the Indus left Hyderabad in February, 1839, another treaty was concluded with the Ameers, by which it was stipulated that a British force should be stationed to the westward of the Indus: that three of the Ameers—Noor Mahomed, Nusseer Khan, and Meer Mahomed—should pay one lac of rupees (£10,000) each annually, to defray part of the expenses of this force; that all tolls on boats navigating the Indus within the Scinde territories should be abolished; and that the Ameers should rule absolutely in their respective territories; and in case of difference, the British representatives in Scinde should mediate between them. A similar treaty was also concluded with the Khyrpore Ameers; and shortly afterwards Shere Mahomed, Ameer of Meerpore, on his own application was allowed, on the payment of half a lac of rupees yearly, to participate in the treaty granted to the Ameers of Hyderabad. From this time up to the end of 1840, when serious disturbances occurred at Khelat, the state of Scinde was comparatively tranquil. There were, however, strong reasons to suspect that the Ameers were holding communications with the refractory Brahoe tribes, with a view of attacking the British on a favourable opportunity. At this time Major Outram was British resident at Hyderabad; and he had on several occasions to mediate in family discords between the courts of Hyderabad and Khyrpore. In the year 1840 Noor Mahomed died, and was succeeded by his two sons, Meer Sliahdad and Meer Hossein Ali. Their uncle, Nusseer Khan, wished, on the death of his brother to be acknowledged by the British government as the rais or head of the Hyderabad branch of the Tulpoor family, which distinction was not conceded. From that time he seems to have meditated plans of active hostility against the British. The indications of his enmity were so apparent, that he was threatened by Lord Ellenborough with the loss of his dominions if he proved faithless. But he was not the only Ameer hostile to the British government. They were all in arrears with reference to the contribution they were bound by treaty to supply towards the support of the British force at Tatta; and when pressed for payment they evaded compliance, and concerted measures of hostility against us, which rendered it possible they would attack our forces on the first favourable opportunity. Under these circumstances Sir Charles Napier was invested with the chief command of all the forces in Scinde, and also with the authority of a political functionary. He was invested with authority by the governor-general of India, to propose a new treaty to the Àmeers of Hyderabad and Khyrpore, which was to contain these stipulations:—That the Ameers should be relieved from the payment of any subsidy for the support of British troops; that the British government should have the right to fell wood within one hundred yards of either bank of the Indus for the use of steamers; and that Karrachu, Tatta, and three other towns, with a strip of land on each side, should be ceded in perpetuity to the British government. Sir Charles Napier appointed Major Outrarn to conduct these negociations; and as it was necessary to maintain a resolute front in the management of this treaty, Sir Charles himself marched in February with his troops towards Khyrpore. Meer Rustum Khan fled from his capital to a fort in the desert called Emaumghur, whither he was followed by Sir Charles Napier, who, on arriving at this fort, and finding it deserted, destroyed it with gunpowder, that it might not form a place of refuge. The Ameers were at first adverse to the terms of the treaty; but ultimately they agreed to the stipulations, which were signed on both sides. There was, however, treachery among the Beloochee chieftains. On the 15th of February the British residences at Hyderabad were attacked by a body of 8000 troops, with six guns, who were commanded by Meer Shahdad Khan. Major Outrarn, and the small garrison, of about one hundred men, were compelled to take refuge in flight: they fled to the Indus, where they were received on board one of the British steamers, which conveyed them to Sir C. Napier at Hala. This event was the signal of war; and bitterly did the Ameers pay for their treachery. A great battle was fought at Meeanee, in which the Beloochee rulers suffered a signal defeat: about 5000 of their followers were slain, and the whole of the enemy's artillery, ammunition, standards, and camp, with considerable stores, were captured by the British. Meer Rustum Khan, and Meer Nusseer Khan; Meer Wullee Mahomed, of Khyrpore; Meer Nusseer Khan, Meer Shadad Khan, and Meer Hossein Khan, all came into Sir Charles Napier's camp, and surrendered their swords as prisoners of war. Hyderabad, also, was given up to the British commander; and on the 20th of February the British flag waved over that city. The contest in Scinde, however, was not yet over. There was still a large body of troops on the banks of the Fullahi, one of the branches of the Indus, under the command of Shere Mahomed. This body of troops, indeed, consisted of 20,000 men, and they were strongly posted behind one of the large nullahs by which that country is intersected in all directions; but after a combat of three hours they were wholly defeated, and all their standards and cannon were captured. After this latter victory Sir Charles Napier took possession of Meerpore, and on the 4th of April the fortress of Oomercote, an important stronghold in the desert, opened its gates to the victorious British. By these events Scinde was subdued, and the "Scindian population," says the conqueror, "everywhere expressed their satisfaction at the change of masters." At a subsequent period of the year Shere Mahomed and Shah Mahomed gathered each an army around them, in order to recover their lost power; but the former was defeated by a detachment under Captain Jacob, and the latter by another detachment under Colonel Roberts. No further disturbance took place this year in Scinde, and the governor-general was able to announce that that country had become a part of our eastern dominions. The six fallen Ameers were conveyed to Bombay; and although they were treated kindly, they arrived there "the very pictures of unmingled grief and hopeless despondency." It should be mentioned that Ali Moorad, the Ameer of Khyrpore, remained faithful; and a portion of the territories of the Koostum Khan and Nusseer Khan was transferred to him; but he seems to have imagined that he ought to have had all that the British had taken from the defeated Ameers. Shortly after the country was conquered Sir Charles Napier was appointed governor of Scinde, and empowered to take such measures as might appear best calculated to suppress the slave-trade in every part of the country, and to abolish all duties of transit in every part occupied by the British army. The gallant conduct of Sir Charles Napier obtained the warmest praise of the people of England.

During this year, also, the British troops gained two brilliant victories over the Mahratta forces. The events which led to these contests are briefly these. On the decease of the Maharaja, Jhunkojee Rao Scindia, the British government acknowledged as his successor the Maharaja Jyajee Rao Scindia, who was the nearest in blood to the late Maharaja. During the minority of the new ruler of Mahratta the dignity and power of regent were conferred upon the Mama Sahib. The widow of the late Maharaja and the chiefs concurred in this adoption of a regent, and the British government confirmed their choice. After a short time, however, notwithstanding the remonstrance of the British resident, Mama Sahib was violently compelled to quit the Gwalior state. On this occurrence becoming-known, the British resident was instructed to withdraw from Gwalior; and a British army was sent into Scindia, "not as an enemy, but as a friend to the Maharaja, bound by treaty to respect his highness's person, and to maintain his sovereign authority against all who were disobedient and disturbers of the public peace." Having established a strong government at Gwalior, capable of maintaining the authority of the Maharaja, the British armies were subsequently ordered to withdraw to their own territory. They were not, however, destined to return without a severe conflict with the Mahratta forces. They had left Agra in the early part of December; and on the 23rd they crossed the Chumbul river, and halted at Hingona, about twenty miles distance from Gwalior. The governor-general was with the British troops; and during the interval of five days' halt at Hingona, the Mahratta Vakeels, or agents for the Gwalior Durbar, had an interview with him. He supposed that they were desirous of peace, but war was in their hearts. They were evidently desirous only of gaining time by negociation to assemble and concentrate their forces. This at last became so evident that the governor-general determined on active measures of hostility. While the main body of our army moved on under the command of Sir Hugh Gough from Agra, another division, under Major-general Grey, advanced on Gwalior from Bundle Khand. The main division crossed the Khoraee river early in the evening of the 29th of December; and they found the Mahratta forces drawn up in front of the village of Mahrajpoor, in a strong position. The British troops were about 14,000 strong, with forty pieces of artillery; and the Mahrattas numbered 18,000 men, including 3000 cavalry, and one hundred guns. An obstinate battle was fought, in which the British lost about one hundred killed, and had about seven hundred wounded; while the Mahrattas are said to have lost more than three thousand men. The British were victorious, not only defeating the enemy, but capturing many of their standards, and most of their guns. On the same day, Major-general Grey, with a force of only 2000 men gained another victory at Punniar over a Mahratta force, estimated at 12,000 in number. The consequence of these victories was the submission of the Mahratta Durbar to the demands of the Indian government; Colonel Stubbs was appointed by the Maha Ranee governor of the fort of Gwalior, which commands the city; the Mahratta troops were disbanded: and a British contingent, consisting of seven regiments of infantry and two of cavalry, was to be maintained in the country at the cost of the Gwalior government, which government was also to pay forthwith the expenses of the campaign.

During this year Sir Henry Pottinger issued a proclamation, in which he announced that the ratification of the treaty, mentioned in the last chapter, between Great Britain and China had been exchanged, and that he had concluded with the Chinese high commissioner, Keying, a commercial treaty and tariff. The ports to which the British were admitted by this treaty were those of Canton, Amoy, Foo-chow-foo, Ningpo, and Shanghae; and an order in council was issued, in which her majesty prohibited her subjects from resorting, for the purposes of trade and commerce, to any other ports than these in the dominions of the Emperor of China, under a penalty not exceeding £100 for every such offence, or a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months, at the discretion of the court before which the conviction should take place. Mr. T. Lay was appointed consul at Canton, and Sir Henry Pottinger formally assumed the government of the island of Hong-Kong. The town destined for the seat of government, and the residence of merchants and others, was founded on the northern side of the island, and named Victoria. It was not long before the cupidity of trade displayed itself. Sir Henry Pottinger had refused to allow opium to be stored in warehouses in Hong-Kong; and six of the merchants at Victoria withdrew to Macao on account of this decision. In consequence of this manifestation of dissatisfaction, a proclamation was published in order to point out the risk which those subjected themselves to who were resolved at all hazards to import opium.

CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS.

An interesting event took place in September of this j'ear, when her majesty Queen Victoria, accompanied by Prince Albert, paid Louis Philippe a visit in his own dominions. They arrived in their steam-yacht at Tréport, close to Eu, where the royal family of France were sojourning; and after receiving a most cordial reception from their illustrious host and the French people, they proceeded on their voyage to Ostend. About the same time one of the French monarch's sons, the Prince de Joinville, was married to Princess Francisca, the sister of the Emperor of Brazils, and the Queen of Portugal. But while in France all were merry as a "marriage bell," the unhappy country of Spain was disturbed from one end to the other by insurrections. Madrid was even captured by Generals Narvaez and Aspirez, who headed the insurgent forces; and Espartero was compelled to take refuge on board an English ship of war at Cadiz, after having in vain bombarded Seville. Espartero proceeded to Lisbon, whence he issued a manifesto to the Spanish nation, after which he sailed to England. At the close of this year, indeed, Spain was torn in pieces by factions, though the queen was still enabled to keep her seat on the throne.

CHAPTER LV.

VICTORIA. 1844-1845


     Meeting of Parliament..... Motion of the Stoppage of
     Supplies..... Affairs of India..... Irish Affairs: Irish
     Municipal   Franchise, The   Irish Church Question, Irish
     Charitable Trusts  Bill,  Roman Catholic Penal Acts Repeal
     Bill..... Restrictions on Labour in Factories, &c..... The
     Corn Laws and Free Trade Question..... Financial
     Statements..... Sugar Duties Bill,   &c...... Bank Charter
     and   Banking   Regulations..... Dissenters' Chapels
     Bill..... Sees of Bangor and St. Asapli..... Miscellaneous
     Measures of the Session..... Prorogation of Parliament.....
     The State of India..... Proceedings against Mr.
     O'Connell..... Continental Affairs.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

A.D. 1844

Parliament was opened by the queen in person on the 1st of February. Her majesty's speech first alluded to her friendly relations with foreign powers; to the treaty concluded with China; to the annexation of Scinde to the British empire in India; to the estimates; and to the improved condition of several important branches of the trade and manufactures of the country. The speech then recommended attention to the revision of the charter of the Bank of England; to the state of the law and practice with regard to the occupation of land in Ireland; and to the law of registration in that country.

The debates on the address in both houses were not in any way remarkable, except for a bold speech by Mr. Sharman Crawford, demanding redress of the grievances of which the people of both England and Ireland complained. A contest also occurred between Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel in reference to the duties on the importation of foreign corn, the opposition leader maintaining that a fixed duty was desirable, and the ministerial leader advocating the system of variable duties, called a sliding-scale.

MOTION FOR THE STOPPAGE OF SUPPLIES.

In his speech during the discussion on the address, Mr. Sharman Crawford had threatened to move the stoppage of supplies. In accordance with this threat, on the 6th of February, after enumerating the grievances which the house had refused to inquire into, such as class legislations consisting of various commercial monopolies, he moved his resolution. After a few words in favour of the motion by Mr. Hume, and against it by Colonel Sibthorp and Mr. Trelawny, it was negatived by a majority of one hundred and thirty against twenty-two.

AFFAIRS OF INDIA.

During this session the policy of government in relation to the affairs of India became the subject of discussion on several occasions. On the 12th of February motions were brought forward in both houses for the thanks of parliament to Sir Charles Napier and the army employed in the operations of Scinde, which motions were agreed to unanimously. Soon after this an event occurred which produced a startling effect. On the 21st of April Sir Robert Peel, in answer to a question put to him by Mr. T. B. Macaulay, said, "I beg to state that, on Wednesday last, her Majesty's government received a communication from the court of directors, that they had exercised the power which the law gives them, to recall at their will and pleasure the governor-general of India." This announcement soon spread abroad; and in the house of lords, on the 29th of April, Lord Colchester addressed to the Duke of Wellington these questions:—"Whether the communication from the court of directors to government alleged any reason for the recall of the governor-general? If so, whether there was any objection to state such reason? and whether the reasons were considered satisfactory by government?" In reply, the noble duke stated that reasons had been given for the recall of the governor-general, but that those reasons had not been concurred in by her majesty's government; nay, more, they remonstrated against the measure. The noble duke, in fact, roundly condemned the court of directors for taking such a step, pronouncing it to be the most indiscreet exercise of power he had ever known. Several discussions subsequently took place in both houses of parliament on the recall of Lord Ellenborough; and motions were moved for copies of the correspondence between the court of directors and her majesty's government relative to this subject; but these motions were negatived, and the discussions led to no practical result. They were, in truth, only made the medium of giving utterance to party sentiments and opinions.

IRISH AFFAIRS.

The subject which gave rise to the most animated discussions in parliament this session was the ministerial policy towards Ireland; especially their conduct in reference to the trial of Mr. O'Connell and his associates. On the 13th of February, the Marquis of Normanby moved in the house of lords, a resolution condemnatory of the government administration of Irish affairs. After a very long and angry discussion, the debate was adjourned, and on the next evening was continued by Earl Fitzwilliam and Lord Monteagle on one side, and the Earls of Haddington and Ripon on the other. On a division, the motion was negatived by a majority of one hundred and seventy-five against seventy-eight.

In the house of commons, on the 13th, Lord John Russell, in a speech of three hours' continuance, opened a discussion on the subject of Irish policy, which was protracted for nine evenings. The motion which he made on this occasion nominally aimed at the appointment of a committee of the whole house to consider the state of Ireland. The debate which ensued presented much sameness and repetition. On a division, Lord John Russell's motion was negatived by a majority of three hundred and thirty-four against two hundred and twenty-five.

It had been announced in the speech from the throne that government would, in the present session, take up the question of the registration of voters in Ireland. In fulfilment of this announcement, Lord Eliot, early in April, introduced a bill into the house of commons for that purpose; leave was given to bring in the bill; but it was evidently so distasteful to the Irish members and their supporters, that, on the 1st of July, Sir Robert Peel announced that it was abandoned by government.

On the 9th of May Mr. Hume moved:—"That an humble address be presented to her majesty, praying that she will be graciously pleased to consider whether it would not be for the advantage of Ireland, and for the interest of the United Kingdom, to abolish the office of lord-lieutenant of Ireland." Mr. Hume contended that this office was one of the principal causes of repeal agitation, and that by abolishing it peace would be restored to the country. His motion was seconded by Captain Bernai, and opposed by Lords John Russell and Eliot, Sir Robert Peel, and Captain Layard. Ultimately, Mr. Hume withdrew his motion. On the 11th of July Mr. Ward brought on his annual motion about the Irish church. On a division it was rejected by a majority of two hundred and seventy-four against one hundred and seventy-nine.

A measure of great importance to the Roman Catholic community in Ireland was introduced by government, and passed during this session; namely, a bill which had for its object the making of a provision for the better security and regulation of moneys settled upon charitable and religious trusts. This bill was first introduced in the house of lords, where it passed with very little opposition. Sir James Graham moved its second reading in the commons on the 29th of July. In making this motion, he explained the law as it then stood relative to the management and supervision of charitable bequests and donations in Ireland. The existing system was regulated by a statute passed at the beginning of the present century, by which a board was constituted for the government and administration of charitable trusts. This board consisted almost exclusively of Protestants; whereas nearly three-fourths of the bequests placed under its jurisdiction were Roman Catholic endowments. By the bill now proposed, it would be enacted that the master of the rolls, the chief baron of the exchequer, and the judges of the Prerogative Court, should be ex officio members of the board; and that in the presence of them, or any of them, one or the other should preside, according to his rank—first, the master of the rolls; in his absence, the chief baron of the exchequer; or, in the absence of the other two, the judge of the prerogative court. The bill next provided that the crown should appoint ten commissioners, five of whom should be Protestants, and five Roman Catholics. By the sixth section it was further provided, with respect to matters concerning the doctrine, discipline, or constitution of the church of Rome—that if a question arose as to the status or condition of any person who had a right, or claimed to have a right, under any of the deeds of bequest brought under the consideration of the commissioners, such question should be referred, if the claimant were a Roman Catholic, to the Roman Catholic commissioners only; and it was provided that they should grant a certificate of their decision, which certificate should be received as evidence. One of the principal objections to the existing law was removed by the tenth clause, which limited the power of the commissioners to apply donations and bequests according to the intention of the donor or donors. The thirteenth clause also obviated the existing difficulty under the statute of mortmain, which made bequests chargeable upon land for a given class of persons, or their successors. This clause would enable real or personal property, without limitation as to its amount, to be held in perpetuity, for building and maintaining chapels, for building and maintaining residences for the Roman Catholic clergy, or for the use of the priests for the time being, for the purpose of any particular charge. In conclusion, Sir James Graham said that he could only anticipate one objection to the bill on tire part of the Roman Catholics, and that arose from the peculiarity of their ecclesiastical jurisdiction. He believed they would object to the decision of any ecclesiastical matters relating to their church by persons who were not in holy orders of the church of Rome; but he would remind them that under the existing law, such matters might be brought before the supreme judicial tribunal of the country—the judge of that court, the lord-chancellor, being a Protestant. According to the present bill, however, such matters would be left to the decision of a board, composed of Protestants and Catholics equal in number. The bill was loudly condemned by Messrs. More, O'Ferral, Bellew, and Shiel; while, on the other hand, Lord Arundel thanked government for the conciliatory spirit it displayed. Mr. Hume said that the bill seemed to him to be framed in a spirit of peace, and he wished all the Irish grievances were met in the same feeling. The proposed tribunal was a fair and proper one, and he should be glad to see as good a one for the administration of English charities: there ought to be "justice to England." The second reading was carried by a majority of seventy-one against five; and on the motion that the bill should be committed, Mr. M. J. O'Connell gave notice that he should in committee move amendments. The bill having been subsequently reported, and being moved for a third reading, Mr. Dominick Browne expressed a wish for its postponement. The Roman Catholic hierarchy, he said, was entirely opposed to it; although he admitted that he believed it to be proposed in a spirit of conciliation. He moved that the bill be read that day three months; but the amendment found no one to second it; and after a few observations from Mr. M. J. O'Connell, who now expressed himself in favour of it, the bill passed.

During this session Lord Beaumont, a Roman Catholic peer, brought in a bill for the abolition of a number of penal acts, for the most part obsolete, though still retained in the Irish statute-book. The lord-chancellor urged Lord Beaumont to abstain from pressing his bill, as government were about to revise the whole of the penal laws; but finding his lordship resolved to press the matter, he took the bill into his own hands. The measure having been amended by the lord-chancellor, was brought before the house of lords on the 30th of July. In explaining the various enactments which it was intended to repeal, Lord Lynd-hurst said that the first was a statute of Elizabeth's reign, directing a particular form of prayer to be used, under a penalty of three months' imprisonment for a first offence, six months for a second, and for life for a third. The second act intended to be repealed punished the denial of the sovereign's supremacy in ecclesiastical and religious matters: first, with forfeiture of goods and chattels; second, with the penalties of a premunire; and for a third offence, with the penalties of high-treason. Another act made reconcilement to the see of Rome high-treason; and imposed a fine of two hundred marks on every priest performing, and one hundred marks on every person hearing the ceremony. By another, a Jesuit remaining in England a certain number of days was made liable to be prosecuted for high-treason; and persons residing abroad for the purpose of being educated, who should not return within six months after proclamation to that effect, were also rendered liable to the penalties of high-treason. Other statutes imposed penalties on any Roman Catholic who should be found more than three miles distant from his abode; on parents who sent their children abroad to be educated; and for not going to church. Another act declared any one newly converted to the Roman Catholic faith, and his children, if educated in that faith, incapable of holding any place of trust or profit. A statute of William and Mary enacted that no Roman Catholic should come within ten miles of the metropolis, and forbade them to have any weapons of defence in their houses. By the same bill it was also provided that if they possessed a horse worth more than five pounds, it was liable to be forfeited and seized. The bill would also repeal the act of the 31st George III., which act was an extraordinary jumble of legislation: they had an act of Elizabeth which required a party to take a certain oath, and if he refused he was guilty of high-treason; but by the subsequent act they provided that if he took another oath, and a much milder one, he was free: yet if a man professing the Roman Catholic religion did not take either of the oaths, he would be guilty of high-treason, and liable to all the penalties which attached to that crime. The only "non-content" to this measure in the house of lords was the Bishop of London: and he only opposed it because government had taken it up at the eleventh hour, and without consulting the hierarchy. The second reading was moved in the house of commons on the 5th of August by Sir Robert Peel, who took occasion to explain that it did not do away with any security which had been taken for the established church by the act passed in 1829 for the relief of Roman Catholics; the acts to be repealed were mere dead letters, encumbering and discrediting the statute-book. Mr. Hawes requested to know whether, if obsolete statutes of a similar nature were to be found on the statute-book, applicable to the same or other denominations of Christians, government would be prepared to frame a measure for repealing them. Sir Robert Peel replied that he would not make any pledge upon the subject; but if there were any statutes which compelled a conscientious dissenter from the church of England, upon a heavy penalty, to attend divine service in that church, he could see no objection to its being erased from the statute-book. The bill then passed, and received the royal assent.

RESTRICTIONS ON LABOUR IN FACTORIES, ETC.

On the 5th of February Sir James Graham introduced a bill for the regulation of labour in factories. In explaining the proposed enactments, he said, that with respect to age, it was resolved that the term "child" should be defined to mean children between nine and thirteen, instead of eight and thirteen. Such children were not to be employed for more than six hours and a half each day, and were not to be employed in the forenoon and afternoon of the same day. In the existing law, "young persons" were defined to be persons between the ages of thirteen and eighteen: he did not wish any alteration in this respect; but he should propose that such young persons should not be employed in any silk, cotton, wool, or flax manufactory, for any portion of the twenty-four hours, longer than from half-past five o'clock to seven in the summer, and from half-past six o'clock to eight in the winter:—thus making thirteen hours and a half each day, of which one hour and a half, should be allowed for meals and rest. In respect to females, they were not, under any circumstances, to work more than twelve hours. By this bill, moreover, the recovery of lost time, from the use of steam and water, would not be allowed, except where the power used was water-power only: no person so employed was to work more than thirteen hours. Inspectors would be empowered to notify to mill-owners whenever they observed that any portion of their machinery was dangerous, and that in their opinion it required to be cased or covered up: and if after such notification any accident should occur injurious to any of the workmen employed, then the inspector would be empowered to institute a suit for recovering compensation for such injury, and the damages awarded should be given to the injured party. As to education, all that the bill would do, would be to give the child from eight to thirteen years old time for receiving instruction: he was not to be employed more than six hours and half daily—the remaining portions of the day might be devoted to education. Leave was given to bring in the bill, and the house went into committee upon it on the 15th of March. On one of the clauses being proposed which fixed the limitations of the hours of labour, Lord Ashley, after forcibly depicting the effects of factory labour, the injury it inflicted on those employed in it as the system now existed, both physically, mentally, and morally, moved that the night, instead of being computed from eight o'clock in the evening, should be computed from six o'clock. This amendment gave rise to an animated and earnest debate, which lasted two nights; and on a division, it was carried by a majority of one hundred and seventy-nine against one hundred and seventy. The proposal of government having been thus negatived, Sir James Graham said it would not be consistent with his duty to drop the measure at the present stage. On the eighth clause, Lord Ashley would have to move the substitution of "ten" for "twelve" hours, and the question could then be considered in a more substantive form. On the next day Lord Ashley said that it was his intention to make this proposition; and if affirmed, he should then prepare a clause, enacting that the present duration of labour, twelve hours, should continue till the 1st of October, 1844; the period should then fall to eleven hours, to continue so till the 1st of October, 1846, when the period of ten hours should commence. In pursuance of this intention, on the 22nd, when the eighth clause was taken into consideration, which provided that no young person should be employed daily more than twelve hours, Lord Ashley moved an amendment, substituting "ten" for "twelve." A contest followed this motion; but the debate which ensued was characterized by very little novelty, and on a division it was rejected by a majority of one hundred and eighty-eight against one hundred and eighty-one. At the same time the clause for twelve hours was rejected by one hundred and eighty-six against one hundred and eighty-three. Sir J. Graham then moved that the chairman report progress; stating that he should take until the following Monday, the 25th, to consider the course proper for him to adopt under these circumstances. On the 25th Sir James Graham announced that government had resolved to abandon the bill in order to bring in a new one. This was not effected without considerable opposition; but ministers finally triumphed, and leave was given to bring in a new bill on the 27th. The new bill stood for the second reading on the 22nd of April; previous to which Lord Ashley announced that he was determined to move, on the third reading of the bill, the addition of certain clauses, for the purpose of carrying out the amendments which he had proposed in the former bill. On the 22nd, the second reading of the bill having been moved, with an understanding that the main question was to be considered at a subsequent stage, Mr. T. Duncombe said that in agreeing to such a course Lord Ashley had surrendered the whole case. He now merely proposed to take a flying shot at the bill when it was leaving the house after the third reading: if that shot missed, the bill would be gone before he could fire a second barrel. Under these circumstances, on the order of the day for going into committee of the whole house, he would move that the bill should be referred to a select committee above stairs. This motion was made, but it was rejected, and the bill passed through committee without alteration. The debate on the third reading commenced on the 10th of May, and was continued for two nights by adjournment. The new bill enacted that no young person should be employed more than "twelve" hours daily, as in the abandoned measure: but Lord Ashley, according to his notice, moved on this occasion a clause restricting the hours of labour to eleven from October, 1844. On a division, however, this amendment was negatived by a majority of two hundred and ninety-seven against one hundred and fifty-nine, and the bill then passed the commons. In the house of lords this controverted bill passed without much discussion.

THE CORN-LAWS AND FREE-TRADE QUESTION.

During this session, as Sir Robert Peel had proclaimed at its commencement the intention of government to maintain the recent settlement of the corn-laws, the exertions of the free-trade party in parliament were confined to two or three desultory motions, rather indicating their protest against the existing system than tending to practical results. On the 12th of March Mr. Cobden brought the corn-law question before the house of commons, in the shape of a motion for a committee to inquire into the effects of protective duties on agricultural labourers and tenants. This motion gave rise to a considerable debate, but it was negatived by a majority of two hundred and twenty-four against one hundred and thirty-three. About the same time Mr. Ricardo moved, "That an humble address be presented to her majesty, praying that her majesty will be graciously pleased to give directions to her servants not to enter into any negociation with foreign powers which would make any contemplated alterations of the tariffs of other countries; and humbly expressing to her majesty the opinion of this house that the great object of relieving the commercial intercourse between this country and foreign nations from all injurious restrictions will be best promoted by regulating our own customs' duties, as may be most suitable to the financial and commercial interests of this country, without reference to the amount of duties which foreign powers may think it expedient for their own interests to levy on British goods." In advocating this motion, Mr. Ricardo dwelt on the inutility of all our recent commercial diplomacy; and contended that our objects might be as effectually attained by judicious legislation with respect to our imposts, as by intricate negociations with respect to exports. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ewart, and supported by Sir J. Hanmer and Mr. Hume; but there not being forty members present, the house was counted out. Mr. Villiers brought forward his annual motion against the corn-laws on the 25th of June. He moved:—"That it appears by a recent census, that the people of this country are rapidly increasing in number. That it is in evidence before this house that a large proportion of her majesty's subjects are insufficiently provided for with the first necessaries of life. That, nevertheless, a corn-law is in force, which restricts the supply of food, and thereby lessens its abundance. That any such restriction, having for its object to impede the free purchase of an article upon which depends the subsistence of the community is indefensible in principle, injurious in operation, and ought to be abolished. That it is therefore expedient that the act 5 & 6 Vic. c. 14, shall be repealed forthwith." The debate on this motion occupied two evenings. Mr. Villiers supported it on the same ground which had been traversed by former argument on the same subject. By the facts and arguments which he adduced, he contended that he established these positions:—"That the supply of food had been deficient; that great inconvenience had resulted; and that the protective system had led to the cultivation of the land in a most slovenly manner." Mr. Gladstone, on the part of government, announced his intention of calling upon the house to give a direct negative to the original resolutions. Lord John Russell said that the motion placed him in a difficult position: he could not vote for the total and immediate repeal of the protective duty, neither could he assent to maintain the existing corn-law. Sir Robert Peel, who spoke towards the close of the debate, said that the performance of the evening had been for the benefit of the company which usually performed at Covent Garden Theatre. Mr. Villiers, in closing the debate, said, that there was nothing for him to reply to, since no one had controverted his arguments. The speech which Sir Robert Peel had delivered would please the agriculturists; but he had made the same sort of speech for them in 1839, and had thrown them overboard afterwards, because the state of the season and the distress of the people had made it indispensable to give some relief to the country. He predicted that the same thing would happen again. The motion was rejected by a majority of three hundred and twenty-eight against one hundred and twenty-four.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

At this time, in consequence of the great abundance of capital in tire market, there was a general impression that the time had arrived when a considerable saving might be effected to the country, by a reduction in those stocks which bore the highest rate of interest. Early in the present session, indeed, it was discovered that government contemplated a plan for reducing the three and a half per cent, consols, which, at the commencement of the year, had reached the price of 102 1/2. This plan was developed by Mr. Goulburn, in a lucid and able speech, on the 8th of March. He was about to ask the house, he said, to deal with the largest sum for which any government had been called on to propose a regulation, being no less than £250,000,000 of money. Never, he continued, was there a period when capital, seeking an investment, was so plentiful, and the rate of interest so low as at present; and there was nothing in the circumstances of the times which gave any reason to suppose that this state of things would prove transient. The condition of the public finances also was favourable to the proposed object; for, thanks to the firmness of the house of commons, the revenue once more exceeded the expenditure. In explaining this measure, he said that he was not disposed to purchase an immediate relief by increasing the burdens of succeeding times. He had, therefore, rejected the idea of lowering the present interest by augmenting the capital of the debt. His intention was to propose the conversion of the three and a half into a three and a quarter per cent, stock, which should continue until October, 1854, after which period the interest should be reduced to three per cent., with a guarantee that for twenty years there should be no further reduction. By this measure the public, from October, 1844, to 1854, would save £625,000 per annum, which saving, from and after 1854, would become £1,250,000 per annum. Mr. Goulburn also proposed to make such arrangement that, from next October, the payments of interests would be nearly equalized in each quarter. His speech was received with loud demonstrations of approbation from both sides of the house; and the resolution being put, was carried unanimously. The bill brought in, to give it effect, passed rapidly through its stages in the house of commons; and it was carried through the upper house with equal unanimity and facility, all being convinced that it was a sound and practical measure, and honest withal to the public creditor.

The annual financial statement for this year was made on the 24th of April, when Mr. Goulburn had the satisfaction of showing that the receipts exceeded the expenditure. There had been an increase of amount in all the estimates: in the customs, the excise, the stamps, the taxes, the post-office, and the property-tax. The estimate of the total revenue was £50,150,000; the sum received £52,835,134, showing an increase of about £2,700,000. The expenditure also was less than the estimate by £650,000; and the total result was that, instead of the estimated surplus of £700,000, the gross surplus amounted to £4,165,000. From this, however, there was the deficiency of last year to be taken, namely, £2,749,000; and when this was discharged there was a net surplus of £1,400,000 over the expenditure of the year ending April, 1844. The total estimate of the revenue for the year following was £51,790,000, and the expenditure £49,643,170, whereby an apparent surplus of £3,146,000, or, making a deduction for a portion of the debt to be discharged next year, £2,376,000. Mr. Goulburn proceeded to say that this balance having been anticipated, he had been pressed from all quarters to reduce various taxes. He would gladly have done so, but the source of the surplus was not permanent: it was mainly the income-tax which was to be considered next year, in order to determine whether it should be prolonged, as had originally been proposed, for two years beyond the first. If other taxes were now hastily reduced before the operation of the tariff could be known, the house might have no alternative next year but to continue this tax. It was under these circumstances that he resisted large reductions; but he thought there were some articles upon which remission might be afforded, with a fair prospect of making up revenue by an increased consumption, and with a probability of increasing the consumption of other articles. The items which he proposed to select for such remission were glass, vinegar, currants, coffee, marine insurance, and wool, upon the aggregate of which the amount of duty to be remitted would be £387,000 per annum. Later in the session he intended to take the sugar duties into consideration; when he should recommend that England should admit, at a differential duty of ten shillings per cwt., the sugar of those states which do not cultivate that commodity by slave-labour. After considerable discussion, in which several members recommended the reduction or abolition of other taxes, the motion of Mr. Goulburn was agreed to; and the customs duties bill, and other bills founded on his proposition, subsequently passed through both houses with unanimity.

SUGAR-DUTIES BILL, ETC.

The great conflict of parties was reserved for the sugar duties. The chancellor of the exchequer's views on this subject were propounded on the 3rd of June, when, after delivering a lucid and able speech on the sugar duties at present existing, and explaining his intended alterations in those duties, he moved:—"That towards raising the supply granted to her majesty, the several duties now payable on sugar be further continued for a time to be limited, save and except that from and after the 10th day of November next, there shall be charged on brown Muscovado, or clayed sugar, certified to be the growth of China, Java, or Manilla, or of any other foreign country, the sugar of which her majesty in council shall have declared to be admissible as not being the produce of slave-labour, £114s. the cwt., together with the additional duty of £5 per cent, on the afore-mentioned rate. That from and after the 10th day of November next her majesty be authorized by order in council to give effect to the provisions of any treaty now in force, which binds her majesty to admit sugar, the produce of a foreign country, at the same duties as are imposed on sugar the produce of the most favoured nation." Lord John Russell had announced that he would propose an amendment for including slave-grown sugar in that foreign produce which was to be admitted at diminished duties; but Mr. Goulburn said he could not believe that the house would consent to throw away the whole of that large amount which the country had recently paid for the abolition of slavery, by creating, through a new rise of prices, an additional stimulus to the importation of slaves into the foreign colonics. Lord John Russell, however, combated the views of government at great length; after which he moved, as an amendment, "That towards raising the supply granted to her majesty, instead of the duties of customs now payable on sugar, there shall be charged on brown, or Muscovado sugar, the produce of any foreign country, the sum of £1 14s. per cwt." In support of his motion the noble lord argued, that the time was come when the sugar duties ought to undergo a full consideration. It was proposed, he said, to admit the sugar of Java and Manilla as free-grown, though the policy of these countries was questionable in point of personal freedom; but the sugar of Porto Rico was excluded, because our conscience was shocked at the notion that some part of it might have been produced by slaves. But what was thus forbidden directly, was allowed circuitously; we were willing to refine and export this slave-grown sugar, and to take the hemp and tallow of Russia in its stead, which seemed to be an easy way of letting down our consciences. This savoured of hypocrisy. If the United States were permitted to send us their sugars, which they would do to the extent of 50,000 tons per annum, they would take slave-grown sugar into their own consumption to the same extent; and to that whole extent, therefore, would give encouragement to slave-grown sugar. No implicit faith, moreover, was to be placed in the certificates of the Americans. Messrs. Gladstone and Baring defended the government measure; and Messrs. Hume, Labouchere, and M. P. Stewart opposed it. On a division Lord John Russell's amendment was negatived by one hundred and ninety-seven against one hundred and twenty-eight. A few days afterwards, a bill founded on the chancellor of the exchequer's resolutions was brought in, and was read a second time without discussion. But the most critical crisis for ministers had yet to be encountered. On the 14th of June, the house having resolved itself into committee on the sugar-duties bill, Mr. P. Miles objected to the change proposed by ministers in the old amount of protection as a measure which was not expedient, and not final in its settlement; wherefore he moved as an amendment, "That, from the 10th of November next, the duty on British colonial sugar should be. 20s.; on the sugars of China, Java, and Manilla, 30s.; with a duty of 34s. upon the foreign sugars, when imported at a certain degree of refinement, and with an addition, as usual, of five per cent, upon the whole." This amendment was seconded by Mr. H. Baillie, who described the measure of government as causing general dissatisfaction; and asserted that, while it violated the principle of refusing encouragement to the foreign slave-trade, it gave but partial advantages to the British people. A long discussion took place, in which many members took part; and on a division government was defeated by a majority of two hundred and forty-one against two hundred and twenty-one. The committee then adjourned to the 17th; on which day Sir Robert Peel rose to put the house in possession of the course which government intended now to pursue. After explaining the nature of the sugar duties, and their views in the proposed alterations, and asserting that he believed a concurrence between the friends and the opponents of ministers had been concerted in the late division, he said the course which government would now take, and on which all members would be free, who had not engaged to vote for Mr. Miles's proposal of 20s., would be to propose, as an amendment, that 24s. should be the duty. They wished it to be known in the countries east of the Cape what the intentions of government were. Sir Robert Peel went on to explain the reasons why he did not content himself with merely proposing a renewal of the present sugar duties; after which, he said, that he was not insensible to the impediments which had been opposed to the progress of ministerial legislation. In certain of their measures, government had failed to obtain the approbation of some whose support they valued: but they were not prepared to purchase that approbation at the price of refraining from the policy which they deemed essential to the welfare of the country. They had felt it their duty to make a relaxation of duties; in that course they held it their duty to persevere: and he was anxious that on so important an occasion there should be no deception and no reserve. Lord John Russell considered that the proposal of Sir Robert Peel was neither more nor less than that the house should retract its former vote, and thus disgrace itself with the country. For his own part he was not much moved by their threats of quitting office, as he had not been one of the general supporters of the government. He justified the degree of concert which had taken place between Mr. Miles and the opposition; and asked if there had not also been a combination on his side. In conclusion, he warned the house that if they gave Sir Robert Peel the victory on this occasion, they would henceforth be wholly in his power. Mr. P. Miles denied that the conspiracy existed of which the right honourable baronet had spoken, and expressed his regret that he intended to persevere with his bill: he should have thought he would have been justified in paying due deference to the decision of a majority of that house, and postponing his measure till another session. Messrs. Cochrane and Labouchere opposed; and Sir Howard Douglas, and Messrs. Kemble and Warburton expressed their intention to vote with ministers. Mr. D'Israeli was not a little lost in wonder when he heard the threatened resignation of ministers; and facetiously congratulated the administration and the country, that instead of resigning, the right honourable baronet had simply moved an amendment. Several other members took part in the debate; and on a division Mr. Miles's motion was negatived this time by a majority of two hundred and fifty-five against two hundred and thirty-three; after which Sir Robert Peel's amendment, that 24s. and 84s. should be inserted, was agreed to. In committee further discussion occurred, and several amendments 'were moved; but they were all negatived and the bill finally passed the commons.

The principal debate in the house of lords took place on the 2nd of July, when Lord Dalhousie moved the third reading. In his speech, the noble lord showed the prejudicial effects of the emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies on the supply of labour, and the consequent diminished production of sugar. This diminution had increased the price; and it became requisite to provide a supply from other quarters to answer the increase of demands. It was for this purpose that the present measure was introduced. By the act, which it was intended to supersede, all foreign sugar was subjected to a duty of 63s. per cwt. and five per cent.; and British sugar to a duty of only 24s., and five per cent. This bill proposed to leave the duty on sugar, the produce of the British possessions, as it then stood, namely, 24s. and five per cent.; but it proposed to effect an important alteration with respect to foreign sugar, by allowing the sugar of China, Java, and Manilla to be admitted at a duty of 34s. and five per cent., such sugar being the produce of free labour; and it also proposed to give to her majesty in council a power to admit, under peculiar circumstances, sugar, the produce of other countries with which we had reciprocal treaties, such being-certified to be bona fide the sugar of those countries, and the produce of free labour. The bill was opposed by the Marquis of Lansdowne, Earl St. Vincent, and Lord Mont-eagle; and supported by the Earl of Radnor, and Lords Ashburton and Brougham. After a few words from Earl Dalhousie, in reply, it was read a third time, and passed without a division.

BANK CHARTER AND BANKING REGULATIONS.

In the speech at the opening of parliament, her majesty had alluded to measures about to be brought forward for the regulation of the Bank of England, and the administration of banking concerns in general. On the 6 th of May, in accordance with this announcement, the house having resolved itself into a committee upon the Bank charter, Sir Robert Peel explained these measures. The act of 1833, he said, had empowered the government to notify to the Bank, before August, 1844, that parliament meant to deal anew with the subject; and government now proposed that parliament should exercise that power of notification. The right honourable baronet went on to consider the principle of value. What, he asked, was a pound, and what the engagement to pay a pound? He contended that the word meant more than an abstraction—that it meant a certain weight of precious metal; and the engagement of a maker of a promissory note was to pay on demand a definite amount of that metal and fineness. A real measure of value in this just sense had existed till the year 1797, when bank paper became issuable without being convertible into metal. For some years the subject attracted little attention, until the bullion committee of 1810 propounded a sounder theory. This theory, however, was unsatisfactory to the people at large, and a notion became general that a pound was merely an abstraction. Some writers had argued, he continued, that gold was unfit to be a particular medium, because it was an article of commerce. There were several theories upon this subject. For instance, Mr. Ricardo conceived that paper should be convertible only when the notes tendered for specie should reach to upwards of a certain high amount; but he preferred, to adhere to the present system of a single gold standard, and a five pound note convertible into gold. The right honourable baronet next proceeded to state his views respecting the principle for the regulation of a paper currency, making a distinction between bills of exchange and those promissory notes, which, being payable to bearer, served the direct purposes of money. He next stated the outline of the practical measures he was prepared to recommend. He remarked: "I propose, with respect to the Bank of England, that there should be an actual separation of the two departments of issue and banking—that there should be different offices to each, and a different system of account. I likewise propose that to the issue department should be transferred the whole amount of bullion now in the possession of the Bank, and that the issue of bank-notes should hereafter take place on two foundations: first, on a definite amount of securities, and, after that, exclusively upon that of bullion; so that the action of the public would, in this latter respect, govern the amount of the circulation. There will be no power in the Bank to issue notes on deposits and discount of bills; and the issue department will have to place to the credit of the banking department the amount of notes which the issue department by law will be entitled to issue. With respect to the banking business of the Bank, I propose that it should be governed on precisely the same principles as would regulate any other body dealing with Bank of England notes. The fixed amount of securities on which I propose that the Bank of England should issue notes is £14,000,000; and the whole of the remainder of the circulation is to be issued exclusively on the foundation of bullion. I propose that there should be a complete and periodical publication of the accounts of the Bank of England, both of the banking and issue departments, as tending to increase the credit of the Bank, and to prevent panic and needless alarm. I would, therefore, enact by law that there should be returned to the government a weekly account of the issue of notes by the Bank of England; of the amount of bullion; of the fluctuations of the bullion; of the amount of the deposits; and, in short, an account of every transaction, both in the issue department and the banking department of the Bank of England; and that the government should forthwith publish, unreservedly and weekly, a full account of the circulation of the Bank." Sir Robert Peel next explained the regulations proposed by him for private banks. The general rule, he said, would be to draw a distinction between the privilege of issue, and the conduct of banking business: the object being to limit competition, but to make the great change with as little detriment as possible to private interests. From this time no new bank of issue would be constituted; but all those existing would be allowed to retain the privilege, upon condition that they do not exceed the present amount, to be calculated upon the average of a term of years. This would enable the Bank of England to know the extent of issue with which it would have to compete. While the issues would be restricted, banking business would be facilitated; the privilege of suing and being sued, at present withheld from joint-stock banks, would be accorded; the law of partnership would be so altered, that while the acts of an individual director, or otherwise authorized partner, would bind the whole, the acts of an unauthorized partner would not do so; and joint-stock banks in London, at present forbidden to accept bills for a date of less than six months, would be placed on an equality with other banks, and allowed to accept bills of any amount and any date. If the last privilege were abused by the circulation of small bills, he would then appeal to parliament to correct the evil. All joint-stock banks would be required to publish a full and complete periodical list of all partners and directors, and banks of issue to publish an account of their issues. Joint-stock banks would also be prohibited from having shares of less than £100, £50, or some fixed amount; and no new joint-stock bank should be constituted except upon application to a government department, on registration of prospectuses, and probably registration of shares and paid-up capital. Reverting to the proposition respecting the Bank of England, Sir Robert Peel remarked:—"It is to be allowed issues to the extent of a fixed amount of securities, £14,000,000. The existing loan of £11,000,000 to government, at three per cent., will be continued, there appearing no advantage in change.

"The remaining £3,000,000 will be based upon exchequer bills and other securities, over which the Bank will have entire control; with the power, however, of limiting its issues on that portion of the securities, to restore the exchanges, and so forth: there could hardly be a case in which the securities could safely be diminished to less than £11,000,000. The Bank will also be allowed to extend its issues beyond the £14,000,000 on emergency, but only with the assent of three members of the government; and in such case the whole of the net profit on any amount beyond the £14,000,000 will revert to government. A case might arise such as the sudden extinction of £2,000,000 of the provincial currency, which would need an extension of the Bank currency to fill the gap. Without seeing any great advantage in the 'legal tender' clause, it is proposed to continue it, in order to facilitate the circulation of bank paper. The pecuniary arrangements between the Bank and government have to be explained, The Bank retains the privilege of issuing notes on securities to the amount of £14,000,000, at three per cent., which would yield £420,000. From this there are deductions to be made. The total cost of the Bank on an issue of £20,000,000, has been estimated at £117,000; but take it at about £113,000, which, taken from £420,000, leaves £307,000. There is then to be deducted about £60,000 composition with the Stamp-Office for the privilege of issuing notes. Then there is about £24,000 paid by the Bank to those bankers who undertake to issue Bank of England notes: taking-one per cent, on a payment of three per cent. The result, after subtracting these items, is £220,000 derived from the issuing of notes. Hitherto the Bank has paid £120,000 to government for its privileges: its privileges are now to be affected; but on the other hand increased stability is to be given to its banking business; and I propose that in future the Bank should still pay that sum, besides the £60,000 for the composition with the Stamp-Office, making in all about £180,000. Government pay to the Bank £240,000 for the management of the public debt; and the difference between the two last sums would be the balance that government would have to pay over to the Bank." After stating that the present measure would not be extended to Ireland and Scotland, Sir Robert Peel concluded with moving a string of resolutions which embodied the above propositions. His scheme met with general approbation; and on the 20th of May, the house having gone into committee on the resolutions, Sir Robert Peel made some further explanations upon points in the detail of the measure. He would suppose, he said, that the circulation in the country was £8,000,000; that the country banks would desire, by agreement with the Bank of England, to reduce this by one-half; and that it might become necessary for that establishment to make fresh issues in order to supply the vacuum. The cases then in which he would allow the Bank to do so, would be those of a country bank failing, or closing, or commuting its own circulation for that of the Bank of England. With respect to the question, whether the bullion on which the Bank of England was to issue its notes should include silver, he proposed that it should; but without departing from the great principle that there must be but one standard, and that standard a gold one; all he meant was, that if a party brought silver to the Bank, the Bank might, within a certain limit, give its notes in exchange for it. If this were not permitted, the Bank having no interest in keeping a supply of silver, would probably cease to keep it; but it was important for the country to have access to such a supply, not only for domestic circulation, but with reference to foreign commerce. He proposed, therefore, to permit an issue of notes upon silver bullion, in the proportion of one-fifth of the whole, or one part in silver to four in gold. With respect to banks of issue, he would save them their circulation until parliament should make further order, and he would compute that circulation upon the average of its amount from the 6th May, 1842, to the 6th May, 1844, requiring henceforth a weekly publication of it. Where one bank took the business of another, the benefit of the averages of the extinguished bank should be given in the circulation of the surviving bank. If a bank should increase its branches, it would not be allowed to increase its total issues. If private banks should coalesce, the consolidated concern, being still a private bank, should be permitted to retain the benefit of the circulation of all the component banks, but a change of character would not be permitted: joint-stock banks would not be authorized to buy up the circulation of private banks. Sir Robert Peel next explained the way in which he intended that the new plan should operate with respect to those banks which had been issuing Bank of England notes, and announced that the Bank of England was prepared to enter into negociations with other banks for arrangements under which its notes should be circulated by them. He concluded by adverting to some exceptions which had been taken to some parts of his measure, in doing which he showed that they were founded upon safe and just principles. After a brief discussion, the resolutions were passed, and the second reading of the bill founded upon them was moved on the 13th of June. Mr. Hawes moved as an amendment:—"That no sufficient evidence has been laid before the house to justify the proposed interference with banks of issue in the management of their circulation." This motion was supported by Messrs. Hastie, Woolehouse, C. Buller, Gisborne, and Williams; and opposed by the chancellor of the exchequer, Sirs R. Peel and W. Clay, and Messrs. Hume and Warburton. On a division it was negatived by a majority of one hundred and eighty-five against thirty; and after some further discussions in committee, in which some members attempted to introduce modifications in the bill, all the original propositions were carried, and, with the exception of a small section, witli the general concurrence of the house. In the house of lords it received very little discussion. The first and second readings passed sub silentio; and it went through committee without any division: the Earl of Radnor and Lord Ashburton only expressing fears of its practical working.

DISSENTERS' CHAPELS BILL.

During this session a bill was brought into the house of lords by the lord-chancellor for confirming the possession of religious endowments in the hands of dissenters, and arresting such litigation as had recently taken place in the case of Lady Hewley's charities, which were endowed by her for Calvinistic Independents, but which had gradually passed to the Unitarians, whose occupancy was successfully opposed. The lord-chancellor's bill proposed to terminate all further legal controversy respecting the right to voluntary endowments connected with dissenting chapels, by vesting the property in the religious body in whose hands it had been for twenty years. The bill was opposed in the house of lords by the Bishops of London and Exeter, the Earl of Winchilsea, and Lords Kenyon, Teynham, and Mountcashel; but it was carried by a large majority. Before it came under discussion in the house of commons a vigorous opposition was manifested against it, especially by the Trinitarian dissenters. Public meetings were held, and petitions were sent up from all quarters against the obnoxious proposition. Under these circumstances, on the 6th of June, when the second reading of the bill was moved, the attorney-general explained its objects, which, he said, had been misunderstood. The alarm which this bill had created, namely, that it would have the effect of encouraging Unitarian doctrines, he contended was wholly unfounded. An act had been passed in 1813, legalizing the foundation of schools and chapels for the benefit of the Unitarians, and placing them upon the same footing as other Protestant dissenters. The question then arose respecting foundations which might have been made before 1813, when the Unitarians were excepted out of the Toleration Act: namely, would they or ought they to take from that body, which was now legal, and could legally endow chapels, that which they possessed, because it was given them before the year 1813? The first clause of the bill put not only Unitarians, but all Protestant dissenters on the same footing; it rendered the toleration act retrospective. The second clause, he continued, related to dissenting chapels only; not to general charitable foundations. By the present law, the will of the donor must be binding; but it was not to be assumed, in the case of every religious charity, that it was founded for a particular sect, even though the donor held the doctrine of that sect. It was said, that the bill would encourage trustees to violate their trusts, and hand over the property for purposes not intended by the donor. It could do no such thing. Dissenting chapels were thus founded:—Congregations of dissenters wishing to establish places of meeting and chapels for worship, formed together voluntary associations, which associations subscribed funds, purchased the land, and built the chapels. In the first instance these chapels were vested in trustees; but he was told that so little had the trustees to do with the arrangement or control of these chapels, that in the great majority of cases when the original trustees died, no fresh ones were appointed to succeed them: the congregation relying upon possession. In this country every question of private right was decided upon usage; twenty or thirty years' possession prevailed against both the crown and the church. Why then should it not be applied to the property in dissenters' chapels? He was told that the consequence might be, that property now possessed by Presbyterians or other dissenters would in the lapse of time fall into the hands of the Unitarians. How could it be so? By the bill the usage must be that of the congregation. Notwithstanding this explanation, the bill was strenuously opposed in the commons by Sir Kobert Inglis, who moved that it should be read a second time that day six months, and by other members of the house, who looked upon it as outraging and insulting the Christian feeling of the country. On a division the amendment of Sir Robert Inglis was negatived by a majority of three hundred and seven against one hundred and seven. The house then went into committee on the bill, and having made some unimportant amendments to it; it passed and was sent up to the lords, where it again became the subject of discussion. It was opposed in its progress by the Bishop of London, who moved "that the amendments be taken into consideration that day three months," but this was negatived by two hundred and two against forty-one, and the bill then passed.

SEES OF BANGOR AND ST. ASAPH.

During this session the Earl of Powis renewed his proposition for repealing so much of the act of the 6th and 7th William IV. as related to the union of the sees of St. Asaph and Bangor. In Ins speech the noble lord laid great stress on the numerous petitions from every county in North Wales, and from many in South Wales and England, as testifying the unanimous feeling pervading the clergy throughout both countries and all classes in Wales against the suppression of one of those ancient bishoprics. On its second reading, the measure was opposed by the Duke of Wellington and the Archbishop of Canterbury; and supported by the Bishops of St. Davids, Lincoln, Exeter, London, and Salisbury, and the Earls of Winchilsea and Harrowby. On a division, it was carried by a majority of forty-nine against thirty-seven; but though the second reading was thus carried, a difficulty arose in another quarter, which frustrated the endeavours of the friends of North Wales to preserve the integrity of its episcopate. On the motion for its third reading, the Duke of Wellington announced that the bill was one which touched the prerogative of the crown, and that he was not authorized to give her majesty's consent to its further progress. The manner in which the question of the crown's prerogative arose in this case was explained by the lord-chancellor. His lordship remarked, that during the vacancy of a see, the temporalities belonged to the crown; and any alterations in a see, therefore, affected the pecuniary interests of the crown; and there could be no doubt that where the pecuniary interests of the crown were concerned, its consent was necessary. He doubted whether he was authorized in putting a question affecting the royal prerogative without the consent of her majesty; and he suggested the appointment of a committee to search for precedents. À committee was appointed, and under these circumstances Lord Powis announced his determination to withdraw the bill, stating at the same time his conviction that the matter would not rest where it was. He believed that during the whole period the house of Hanover had been on the throne there was no precedent to be found to sanction the present course adopted by government. There was no measure that parliament had expressed a wish for them to consider, in which the crown had introduced its authority to prevent the further consideration of that measure.

MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES OF THE SESSION.

In the course of the session there were several acts passed of great utility without any prominent discussion. One of the most important of these was an act for the regulation of railways, which was brought in by Mr. Gladstone, and which embodied a variety of enactments designed to protect the public against the injurious effects of monopoly and combination, by vesting in the government a controlling power over such companies as should thereafter come to solicit powers from parliament, and a right of intervention for the reduction of charges and tolls whenever the profits of a railway should exceed the maximum of ten per cent, on its capital. The act also contained salutary regulations for securing economy and comfort in travelling to the poorer classes. Another act passed contained provisions of practical importance for the regulation of joint-stock companies. The main object of this measure was to protect the public against fictitious and delusive schemes, by requiring from all joint-stock companies the observance of certain conditions for the purpose of ascertaining their real character, and subjecting them to an efficient responsibility. There was to be a system of registration under a proper superintendence, whereby the names and descriptions of the projectors, and the particular nature and objects of the undertaking were required to be enrolled at an office established for that purpose. Upon compliance with these regulations, certain privileges were to be accorded to the company, and some anomalies and inconveniences heretofore existing removed. Reports were also to be made annually to parliament by an officer to be appointed under the act, relating to such companies as should have come within its provisions during the year. A third Act remodelled the entire system of turnpike-road management in South Wales, the abuses of which had given rise to the Rebecca riots. The leading principle of this measure was the consolidation of trusts, the debts of those existing being paid off by a system of arbitration, to be conducted by three commissioners appointed by government; the money required for this purpose being lent by the treasury, and secured on the rates of the several counties. The consolidation having been effected, all the roads in each county were to be administered by a now executive body, consisting partly of ex-officio members, partly of magistrates, and partly of ratepayers. A further alteration was made this session in the original poor-law amendment act, the principal feature of which was an alteration in the enactments of the statute of 1835, relating to the maintenance of illegitimate children. By this alteration, a more efficient mode of obtaining from the father a provision for his child's maintenance was placed in the power of the mother, by means of a proceeding in which she herself was entitled to make the application, and not, as under the original law, the officers of the parish: more stringent remedies were also substituted for enforcing the remedy against the putative father than had before existed. Towards the close of the session, repeated discussions of an animated nature took place in both houses of parliament, on the subject of a petition which was presented by Mr. Thomas Duncombe, from Serafino Calderara, Joseph Mazzini, W. J. Linton, and William Lovett, complaining that their letters had been opened at the post-office. Mr. Duncombe, in the commons, and the Earl of Radnor in the lords, moved for committees of inquiry, which were ultimately appointed; and these committees made their reports during the session; from which reports it appeared that the warrants of the secretary of state had only been issued in peculiar emergencies; and that the cases in which his power had been exercised formed a small annual average, and did not amount to an invasion of private correspondence, which the assailants of government had represented. No other result arose out of the conflicts upon this subject than a bill introduced by Lord Radnor, in the house of lords, for the abolition of the power complained of; but this bill did not proceed beyond the first reading.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued by commission on the 5th of September. The speech announced that her majesty had given her cordial assent to the bill for regulating the issue of bank-notes; adverted to some discussions which had taken place with the government of the king of the French on events calculated to interrupt the friendly relations of the two countries, but which danger had been averted; congratulated the houses on the improvement which had taken place in the condition of manufactures and commerce; and expressed high satisfaction at the spirit of loyalty and cheerful obedience to the law manifested in all parts of her majesty's kingdom. The commissioners concluded:—"We are commanded by her majesty to assure you that when you shall be called upon to resume the discharge of your parliamentary functions, you may place entire reliance on the cordial co-operation of her majesty in your endeavours to improve the social condition and to promote the happiness and contentment of her people." Thus ended this important session—a session signalized in the addition to the statute-book of severed important measures, conceived in a safe and judicious spirit of reform, well suited to the circumstances of the country and to the temper of the age.

THE STATE OF INDIA.

The event of chief interest connected with the present year was the recall of Lord Ellenborough, the governor-general, by the unanimous vote of the court of directors. This subject, as noticed in a previous page, gave rise to discussion in both houses of parliament. What were the real motives of the directors of the East India Company in exercising their right of recalling a governor-general, which from non-use had almost become obsolete, and in thus acting in direct opposition to the views and wishes of her majesty's government have never been fully developed; and the public have therefore been driven to conjecture on the subject. The most probable opinion, perhaps, may be, that the directors were offended at his evident mania for military achievements. Throughout the whole of his administration he showed his desire of conquest; and even when he left India he did not scruple to say, at a farewell entertainment given him by the military society of Calcutta, that the only regret he felt in leaving India was that of being separated from the army; and that the most interesting period of his life was that which he had passed in cantonments and camps. Another cause of offence may have been derived from his proclamations, which were offensive to good taste, and which justly exposed him to ridicule. His behaviour towards the directors also was by no means judicious; for, although he had bound himself to attend exclusively to their orders, he was by no means an obedient servant. But whatever may have been the directors' motives, Lord Ellenborough was recalled from his government, and Sir Henry Hardinge was, at the suggestion of Sir Robert Peel, appointed his successor; and he arrived in India in the month of July.

In Scinde nothing of importance occurred this year. The worst foe which the British had to encounter there was the climate, owing to which a distressing sickness prevailed among the troops. In consequence of this several Bengal native regiments were ordered to march on Scinde; and, although they at first refused to march, from an impression that they were destined for foreign service, they finally marched thither, with the exception of the thirty-fourth native infantry; and that regiment was ignominiously broken at Meerut, in presence of all the troops at the station.

During this year a governor-general was appointed over our recent acquisitions in China, in the person of Mr. Davies, well-known for his admirable work on China, and who had resided many years at Macao, as chief superintendent under the East India Company. Mr. Davies arrived on the 7th of May at Hong Kong, the seat of the new government; and, at the end of July, Sir Henry Pottinger, whose mission to that empire had been attended with such complete success, sailed for England.

PROCEEDINGS AGAINST MR. O'CONNELL.

It has been seen in the last chapter that the trial of Mr. O'Connell and his associates for a seditious conspiracy was postponed till the commencement of the present year. It was intended that the trial should commence on the 15th of January; and, although the defendant sought to obtain a postponement of it till the 1st of February, this intention was carried out. On that day the Court of Queen's Bench was crowded with barristers and spectators, in the expectation that the trial would commence. Before the jury were sworn, however, Sir Coleman O'Loghlen, on the part of Mr. O'Connell, challenged the array, on the ground of the irregularities in the preparation of the jury lists, stating at the same time that the challenges of the other counsellors, or traversers, as they were called, because they had traversed the indictment, were identically the same, and would be handed in very shortly. The attorney-general demurred to the challenge; on which the question previously debated was re-argued. The judges, however allowed the demurrer; and then the court adjourned without swearing the jury. On the 16th, after some delay, twelve jurymen were sworn, when Mr. Napier opened the pleadings; after which Mr. Smith, the attorney-general, opened the case. The court adjourned at five o'clock; and next day the hearing of evidence commenced, which continued up to the 11th day of the trial, January 26th, on which day the case for the prosecution closed. On the next day Mr. Shiel opened the case for the defence, as counsel for himself and Mr. John O'Connell. In his speech he contended that Mr. O'Connell shrank with abhorrence from the sanguinary aims imputed to him; and bitterly complained that poems and articles in newspapers should be brought as evidence against him, as if he were the editor of the several journals from which that evidence had been collected. It was like making, he said, Mr. Cobden answerable for all that appeared in the Chronicle, or the Globe, or the Sun: he was accused, in fact, of conspiracy with men who, so far from conspiring together, were rivals. "They pay their addresses to the same mistress; but they cordially detest each other." How formidable, then, was this doctrine of legal conspiracy! In 1819, when England was in a perilous condition, it was proved that men were drilled by night near Manchester; yet an English jury would not find Henry Hunt guilty of conspiracy. Mr. Shiel next undertook to show that his clients' objects were legal, and sought by legal means; and concluded with an impassioned address to the jury on behalf of Mr. O'Connell and all the traversers. He asked:—"Shall I, who stretch out to you in behalf of the son the hand whose fetters the father had struck off, live to cast my eyes upon that domicile of sorrow in the vicinity of this great metropolis, and say, 'Tis there they have immured the liberator of Ireland with his fondest and best beloved child. No; it shall never be! You will not consign him to the spot to which the attorney-general invites you to surrender him. No! When the spring shall have come again, and the winter shall have passed—when the spring shall have come again, it is not through the windows of this mansion that the father of such a son, and the son of such a father, shall look upon those green hills on which the eyes of so many a captive have gazed so wistfully in vain; but in their own mountain home again they shall listen to the murmurs of the great Atlantic; they shall go forth, and inhale the freshness of the morning air together; 'they shall be free of mountain solitude;' they will be encompassed with the loftiest images of liberty upon every side; and if time shall have stolen its suppleness from the father's knee, or impaired the firmness of his tread, he shall lean on the child of her that watches over him from heaven, and shall look out from some high place, far and wide, into the island whose greatness and whose glory shall be ever associated with his name. In your love of justice; in your love of Ireland; in your love of honesty and fair play, I place my confidence. I ask you for an acquittal, not only for the sake of your country, but for your own. Upon the day when this trial shall have been brought to a termination; when, amidst the burst of public expectancy, in answer to the solemn interrogatory which shall be put to you by the officer of the court, you shall answer, 'Not guilty,' with what a transport shall that glorious negative be welcomed! How will you be blessed, adored, worshipped! And when retiring from the scene of excitement and of passion, you shall return to your own tranquil homes, how pleasurably will you look upon your children, in the consciousness that you will have left them a patrimony of peace, by impressing upon the British cabinet that some other measure beside a state prosecution is necessary for the pacification of your country." On the thirteenth day Mr. Moore addressed the jury on behalf of the Reverend Mr. Tierney, and Mr. Hatchell for Mr. Ray. On the fourteenth day Mr. Fitzgibbon spoke on behalf of Dr. Gray, his address occupying two days. In the course of his address an extraordinary scene took place, in consequence of a challenge which the attorney-general had sent to Mr. Fitzgibbon to fight a duel. Of this circumstance Mr. Fitzgibbon took every advantage. After handing the note to the judges which contained the challenge, he said that he left him to their lordships to answer for his conduct. Mutual recriminations and explanations followed; but the matter resulted in Mr. Smith's withdrawing the note, which was allowed by the consent of all parties. On the four following days, Messrs. Fitzgibbon, Whiteside, M'Donnah, and Henn, successively addressed the court for different clients. On the nineteenth day, Mr. O'Connell commenced his defence. He began by showing that he had a right to demand from the jury a favourable verdict; after which he came to the consideration of the case itself; in doing which he retraced, with more or less of variety, arguments already employed. In referring to the indictment, he said that it was the history of the last nine months; and that he defied the most brilliant imagination to grasp the monstrous accumulation of matter. Its entire strength rested on the meaning of that cabalistic word, "conspiracy." He continued:—"If, my lords, I look into the dictionary for the meaning of that word, I find that it is 'a secret agreement between several to commit a crime;' and that is the rational, common-sense definition of it. This word, however, in recent times, has been taken under special protection by the government; and the definition of it now is, not only a secret agreement between several to commit crime, but they have taken two loops to their bow, and the further depiction given of it is, to effect, or attempt to effect, a legal object by means that are considered illegal; and thus a conspiracy is spelt out by the construction put upon the means that are used to attain the object sought, however legitimate that object may be. It has been admitted even by the crown, that in this case there is no privacy, no secresy, no definite agreement to do anything whatsoever; but, above all, no secret agreement, no secret society, no private information. It has been admitted by the crown that there has not been even one act of private communication; that everything was openly avowed, published to the world; that this 'secret conspiracy' had no secrecy at all. What a monstrous thing it would be to hold that that was a conspiracy which everybody knew of, everybody heard of, and three-fifths of the people of this country were engaged in. And what was the evidence of those conspirators assembling together? That Mr. Such-a-one attended at such a meeting; that Mr. Barret attended at a certain meeting; and that Mr. Duffy attended once or twice; that I. myself attended; and this is the way the charge of conspiracy is to be spelt out. Is it common sense that that should be denominated a conspiracy? Conspiracy! where was it made? when was it made? how was it made? Was it made in winter, or in summer? in spring or in autumn? Was it made on a holiday, or on a Sunday, or on a week day? Tell me the hour, the week, the month, the year it was made? In which of the three quarters of the twelve months did the gestation of this conspiracy commence? Who proposed it? Who seconded it? Who was present at it? I don't know whether it was said that I was present at the concoction of this conspiracy, or this agreement, private or public, or who else was there. When and where did it take place? Ought I not, at all events, to have the advantage of being-able to prove an alibi? No; but you must go over nine months, and toss up which time or place you may select. Do you not believe that if there was a conspiracy it would be proved, and that the only reason it was not proved, is, because it did not exist? The attorney-general told you it did exist; that it must have existed: but that is all imaginary; and you are called upon to find me 'guilty' if you imagine that this agreement was entered into. I don't want to speak of the talents of the attorney-general. I admit the ingenuity, the talent, and the industry with which he conducted this case. He was eleven hours, eleven mortal hours detailing the facts to you. What did he tell you the conspiracy consisted of? He made a long statement, and when he came to the end, he told you to go back to the beginning, find out the conspiracy, and what it consisted of. I say, gentlemen of the jury, without tire least affectation, if any gentleman could have found out evidence of a conspiracy, it would have been found by the attorney-general." Mr. O'Connell proceeded at great length to defend the means of his agitation, and then proceeded to vindicate its object—the repeal of the union. On the latter subject he remarked:—"I mean first to demonstrate that the English Parliament has, from the remotest period at which she possessed the power, governed Ireland with a narrow, jealous, restrictive, and oppressive policy. By way of parenthesis, I would first beg of you to recollect the history of the woollen manufactures of Ireland, in the reign of a monarch whom you are not disposed to condemn. I shall next demonstrate in succession, that the transactions of 1782 were intended to be a final adjustment, and that it was then intended and agreed that the Irish parliament, after having achieved its independence, should maintain it, and that the union was forced upon the Irish people against their consent, by the most criminal means. I shall next show you in detail the many evils that resulted from the union, and the gross injustice of the enactment of that statute. I shall show you the increasing distress and destitution which have arisen from that statute; and that there is no probability of restoring prosperity to this country, or of avoiding ultimate separation from England, save by the restoration of her parliament." In support of these propositions, Mr. O'Connell read extracts from the writings and speeches of various statesmen, both native and foreign. In conclusion he said to the jury:—"I leave the case in your hands. I deny I have done anything to stain me. I reject with contempt the appellation of conspirator. I have acted boldly, in the open day, in the presence of the magistracy: there lias been nothing secret or concealed. I have struggled for the restoration of the parliament of my native country. Others have succeeded before me; but, succeed or fail, it is a struggle to make the fairest land in the world possess those benefits which nature intended she should enjoy." On the next day some evidence was gone into on behalf of the defendants, in the course of which it was proved that on the 16th of July, when an arch was erected bearing the inscription, "Ireland, her parliament, or the world in a blaze," Mr. O'Connell expressed disapprobation of it, and Mr. Steele stood by to see that it was taken down before the people were fully assembled. The next two days were chiefly occupied by the solicitor-general's reply, which recapitulated the principal points of the evidence, and stated its bearings upon the different charges laid in the indictment. After he had concluded, the lord-chief-justice commenced the charge: in doing which he first explained the nature of the indictment, and of the single offence with which the traversers were charged, "conspiracy;" then explained the law of public discussion and public meeting; next proceeded to consider the evidence that had been given; then commented on the large funds collected in Ireland, England, Scotland, and America, towards the "exchequer" of the association; and finally, alluding to the scheme for bringing into disrepute the courts of justice as established by law through the arbitration courts, showed in what maimer the conspiracy was to be inferred. He asked:—"Have you or have you not Dr. Gray coming forward and telling the assembled multitude that the time was coming when they would be taken out of the hands of those petty tyrants who at present preside in their courts of justice? Have you or have you not Mr. O'Coimell himself adverting to the same system at the Clifden and other subsequent meetings; recommending the appointment of arbitration courts, and the placing thereon the magistrates who had been dismissed? And have you or have you not Mr. John O'Coimell making a speech recommending the same systems, and appearing himself to act under the appointment of the repeal association, in presiding over an arbitration court established in Blackrock?" The jury retired about half-past seven o'clock, and the judges withdrew. Later in the evening, Mr. Justice Crampton returned, and remained in court to await the return of the jury. They brought in a verdict of "guilty" against all the traversers on various counts; but stated "no finding" upon others, deeming them too comprehensive. This verdict was handed back by Mr. Justice Crampton, saying, that it was imperfect: they must find a verdict of "guilty" or "not guilty" upon every part and every person. Finally, they were ordered to be locked up till Monday, on which day they were summoned, and an issue paper was given them, which set forth the five several issues in the indictment in a distinct shape, against which they were directed to write their finding. This was done, and all the prisoners were found guilty on one or other of the counts, and some of them, including Mr. O'Coimell, on them all, Sentence was pronounced on the 30th of May against the traversers, with the exception of the Reverend Mr. Tierney, against whom the attorney-general did not press judgment, by Mr. Justice Burton in these terms:—"With respect to the principal traverser, the court is of opinion that he must be sentenced to be imprisoned for the space of twelve calendar months; and that he is further to be fined in the sum of £2000, and bound in his own recognizances in the sum of £5000, and two sureties in £2500, to keep the peace for seven years. With respect to the other traversers, we have come to the conclusion that to each shall be allotted the same sentence: which is, that they be imprisoned for the space of nine calendar months, each of them to pay £50 fine, and enter into their own recognizances of £1000, and two sureties of £500, to keep the peace for seven years." In accordance with this sentence the traversers were imprisoned: but in consequence of the sympathy, real or supposed, which they met with in the English parliament, their full sentence was not carried into execution. On the 9th of August, Messrs. Shiel, Wyse, Lord John Russell, and others, called upon government to release them from imprisonment; and the result of this appeal was, that on the 4th of September, the judgment of the house of lords was pronounced, reversing the judgment of Mr. O'Connell and his co-defendants. The prisoners were freed from confinement; but the result of the trial was, that the virulence of the agitation for repeal abated.

CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS.

France this year was engaged in a war with the Emperor of Morocco, over whose forces the French troops triumphed on the banks of the river Isly on the 14th of August. The result of this battle was a treaty between the two countries, in which the Emperor of Morocco engaged to prevent troops from assembling on his frontiers for the invasion of Algeria. During the autumn, Louis Philippe and the Emperor of Russia paid a visit to Queen Victoria, and stayed a few days in England, where they were treated with all due honours. In Spain the civil war which had so long convulsed the nation was ended; but it was succeeded by a state of doubtful tranquillity, and isolated insurrections broke out in various parts of the country, which were only put down by force of arms. The same fate awaited Portugal: there was a revolt of troops at Torres Novas, headed by Count Bomfin; but the rebels having shut themselves up in Almeida, that place was invested with government troops, and finally surrendered, the leader of the insurrection taking refuge in flight. In Greece the most important event was the framing of a constitutional charter by the National Assembly, consisting of one hundred and seven articles, which was signed and ratified, after some hesitation, by King Otho. During this year the King of Prussia narrowly escaped assassination at Ischl by the Burgomaster Tschech, who fired two shots from a double-barrelled pistol in quick succession against the carriage. In the early part of the year a conference took place at Vienna of plenipotentiaries from the different German states to frame measures to secure themselves by all the means in their power against the slightest change in the existing order of things, which at this time were threatened by a formidable parly, in the different states hostile to all authority. In Sweden this j'ear witnessed the death of Bernadotte, the king of that country, the most permanently successful of all the generals who took part in the French revolution. Although of obscure birth and a foreigner, he was called upon to wear the crown of Sweden by the unanimous voice of the nation; and he so identified himself with their interests, that he reigned in peace and died universally beloved by his subjects. In Switzerland disturbances took place this year in the Valais and at Lucerne: but order and tranquillity were quickly restored by the federal troops of that country.

CHAPTER LVI.

VICTORIA. 1845-1846


     Meeting of Parliament..... Finance and Commercial
     Policy..... Retention of the Income Tax, &c...... The Sugar
     Duties Question..... Corn Laws and Free Trade..... The
     Affairs of Ireland..... Maynooth Improvement Bill, &c......
     Academical Education in Ireland..... Colonial Policy.....
     Question of the Oregon Territory..... Miscellaneous
     Measures  of   the   Session..... Prorogation of
     Parliament..... The Affairs of India..... The State of the
     Continent.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

A.D. 1845

Parliament was opened by the queen in person on the 4th of February. The speech first referred to the prosperous state of trade and commerce; to the royal visits made to her majesty by the Emperor of Russia and the King of France; to the estimates for the ensuing year; and to the peace which at this time prevailed in Ireland. Her majesty continued:—"I recommend to your favourable consideration the policy of improving and extending the opportunities of academical education in Ireland. The report of the commission appointed to inquire into the law and practice in respect to the occupation of land is nearly prepared, and shall be communicated to you immediately after its presentation. The state of the law in regard to the privileges of the Bank of Ireland, and to other banking establishments in that country, and in Scotland, will no doubt occupy your attention. The health of the inhabitants of large towns and populous districts in this part of the United Kingdom has been the subject of recent inquiry before a commission, the report of which shall be immediately kid before you. It will be highly gratifying to me if the information and suggestions contained in that report shall enable you to devise the means of promoting the health and comfort of the poorer classes of my subjects. I congratulate you on the success of the measures which three years since were adopted by parliament for the purpose of supplying the deficiency in the public revenue, and arresting the accumulation of debt in the time of peace. The act which was passed at that time for imposing a tax upon income will shortly expire. It will be for you to determine whether it may not be expedient to continue its operation for a further period, and thus to obtain the means of adequately providing for the public service, and at the same time of making a reduction in other taxations. Whatever may be the result of your deliberations in this respect, I feel assured that it will be your determination to maintain an amount of revenue amply sufficient to meet the necessary expenditure of the country, and firmly to uphold that public credit which is indispensable to the national welfare. The prospect of continued peace, and the general state of domestic prosperity and tranquillity, afford a favourable opportunity for the consideration of the matters to which I have directed your attention; and I commit them to your deliberation, with the earnest prayer that you may be enabled, under the superintending care and protection of Divine Providence, to strengthen the feelings of mutual confidence and goodwill between different classes of my subjects, and to improve the condition of my people."

FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL POLICY—RETENTION OF THE INCOME-TAX, ETC.

The great scheme of commercial reform alluded to in her majesty's speech at the opening of the session was brought forward by Sir Robert Peel, in a committee of ways and means, on the 14th of February. The right honourable baronet commenced by saying that though he had considerable experience in the discharge of official duties, and though he had often addressed the house on matters of great public concern, he could not approach the subject on which he had then to address the committee without great anxiety, and a deep consciousness how inadequate and imperfect the explanation would be which he should endeavour to place before it. After the declaration made in her majesty's speech, that it was the intention of ministers to propose the continuance of the income-tax for a certain number of years; he had no other alternative than to submit to the house the general views which the government took of the financial condition and the commercial policy of the country. In explaining their views, after referring to the estimate of the probable revenue and expenditure made by the chancellor of the exchequer in April, 1844, and, after showing that the surplus revenue, on which he had calculated for the whole year had been greatly exceeded by the actual amount of revenue received on the 5th of January, 1845, he proceeded to estimate the surplus revenue which would be in the exchequer on the 5th of April in the present year, at a sum not less than £5,000,000. He next submitted to the house an estimate of the probable receipt of the revenue for the year ending the 5th of April, 1846, on the assumption that the house would not sanction the income-tax. He calculated that the receipts up to that period would be £51,000,000, and the expenditure £48,557,000; but if they deducted from this surplus the revenue derived from half a year's income-tax, which would become due in the interim, and from the payment of the instalment from China, there would then be a small deficiency in the revenue as compared with the expenditure of the year. The question then arose, whether ministers were justified in demanding, under such circumstances, an increased expenditure on account of the public service. He was satisfied that they were justified. He did not propose an increase in the army, but he could not consent to its diminution. The military estimate for the present year would be £6,600,000; and there were reasons which induced him to propose an increased estimate for the navy; namely, the growing necessity for a further protection to our commerce in every part of the globe, and in the establishment of three new naval stations—one on the coast of Africa, another in the Pacific, and a third in the Chinese seas. He should propose an increase of four thousand men, which would cost £184,000; and in respect of the vote for the navy, and tire ordnance connected with the navy, there would be in the votes of this year an increase of nearly one million. He thought the revenues of the next year would meet this increased expenditure, even if the house would not consent to continue the income-tax. It was quite clear, however, that if it did not continue the income tax, there would be a decrease of revenue in the following year. The question, therefore, which he must put to the committee was, whether they would run the risk of deficiency by making no provision to meet it, or whether they would postpone the consideration of the deficiency till the year 1846. But ministers were induced to propose the continuance of the property-tax for a further period. If the committee sanctioned it, the revenue on the 5th of April, 1846, would amount to £53,700,000; and so long as the other sources of revenue were productive, might be calculated at that sum, deducting only a sum of £600,000 from China, which would only be receivable for one year more. He would take the amount then at £53,100,000, and deducting £49,000,000, the estimated expenditure, from that sum there would be a net surplus of £4,100,000, or if the committee acquiesced in the increased naval estimates, £3,409,000. Sir Robert Peel next approached the most important question of all; namely, the mode in which this surplus was to be applied to the relief of taxation. If the property-tax were continued, ministers intended to make a great experiment with respect to taxation; and in explaining their views Sir Robert Peel said that he would first take the customs, and submit to the house a proposition with respect to the duty on sugar. On brown Muscovado sugar, which now paid a duty of 25s. 3d., he proposed to reduce the duty to 14s.; on free-labour sugar he proposed that the protecting duty should not exceed 9s. 4d., and therefore the duty would be 23s. 2d.; on British plantation sugars he proposed that the duty should be 16s. 4d., instead of 25s. 3d.; that the duty on sugar imported from India should be 21s. 9d.; and that the duty on free-labour foreign sugar should be 21s. 9d.—thus retaining the whole amount of discriminating duty which was imposed last year, but applying that discriminating duty in a different manner; giving 9s. 4d. as a protection on Muscovado sugar, and an increased protection of lis. 4d. on the more valuable and costly article. Sir Robert Peel said that he proposed to reduce the duty on molasses; and after giving an estimate of the supply of sugar which he considered likely to come from our possessions this year, stated that the effect which would be produced on the price of sugar by this reduction in the duty would be a reduction of three halfpence per pound. The estimated loss to the revenue from this source would be £1,300,000. Sir Robert Peel next proceeded to state that in the tariff of 1842 he had abolished generally the duty on all exports, with the exception of some few articles: he now proposed to abolish the duty on all articles. By this plan the export duty on coal would cease to exist, which would be a loss to the revenue of £120,000. He next proceeded to a consideration of the duties on raw materials used in manufactures: the tariff included eight hundred and thirteen such articles, and he proposed to remove the duties applicable to four hundred and thirty of them; which would occasion a loss to the revenue of about £320,000. He next stated that he was prepared to abolish the duty on cotton-wool, which would cause a loss to the revenue of not less than £680,000. These were all the alterations he proposed in the customs; and the right honourable baronet next proceeded to the excise-duties. Among the duties which he proposed to to repeal was the auction-duty on the transfer of property. He likewise proposed that auctioneers, instead of taking out several licences, at an expense of five pounds each, for selling different articles, should take out one general licence only, at fifteen pounds each; and as the number of auctioneers was 4000, this would produce a revenue of £60,000. Sir Robert Peel next stated that he proposed to relieve the article of glass from all duty, the loss of revenue arising from which would be £642,000. This was the whole of the articles, he said, on which he proposed a remission of taxation; and the total immediate loss which the revenue would sustain by their repeal or abolition, would amount to £3,338,000, which would nearly absorb the surplus of £3,409,000. He confessed that this was a bold experiment; but, responsible as he was to parliament for its success, he was not afraid to ran the risk of making it. He then proposed to the committee to continue the income-tax for a further limited period of three years; because he had a confident persuasion that the reduction in the price of articles of great importance would be, if not a complete, yet a great compensation for its burden. He would not say that it might not be wiser to give a longer time than three years for testing this experiment; but he thought that parliament ought to have a control over the duration of such a tax. Sir Robert Peel concluded by expressing a hope that the house would be prepared to decide on the principle of his resolutions on the following Monday, the 17th, and after several members had made some brief remarks on isolated parts of the plan, most of them expressive of satisfaction with it, he moved that the chairman report progress; and gave notice that on the following Monday he would move—"That it is the opinion of the committee, that, towards raising the supply to her majesty, the respective duties on property, professions, trades, and offices, and the stamp duties in Ireland, granted by two several acts passed in the fifth year of her present majesty, be continued and further granted to her majesty for a time to be limited." This resolution was read in a committee of ways and means on Monday, the 17th of February, after which Lord John Russel addressed the committee, factiously opposing the scheme of the premier, without offering any sound practical suggestion, or propounding any principle. Several amendments were moved by various members; but they were all negatived, and the bill passed through committee. A discussion of considerable length was renewed on the 10th of March, by Mr. Charles Duller, but the bill was read a third time and passed.

In the house of lords the principal discussion on the income-tax took place on the 4th of April, when the third reading of the bill was moved by the Earl of Ripon. The bill was read a third time and passed.

THE SUGAR-DUTIES QUESTION.

On the 24th of February, the house of commons having resolved itself into a committee of ways and means, Mr. Gibson, with a view of obtaining a permanent arrangement of the sugar-duties, moved, as an amendment upon the resolution of Sir Robert Peel, a resolution stating that no arrangement of these duties would be satisfactory and permanent, which did not involve an equalization of duty on foreign and colonial sugar. In support of this resolution Mr. Gibson called the attention of the house to a plain matter of justice in taxation, and asserted that it was not consistent with the fair performance of their functions, when they were resolving themselves into a committee of ways and means to consider of a supply to her majesty, in order to enable her to meet the expenditure of the country, to levy another tax, which was not paid either to the crown or to the exchequer, but to a class of men who had not made good their claim to any compensation fora grievance inflicted on them. The protection afforded to the West India proprietors, he said, was not for revenue, for it defrauded revenue; not for the protection of the producer, for his produce had not been increased; not for the benefit of the exporter at home, for the export to those colonies were stationary; and not to be defended on the score of consistency, since Sir Robert Peel was going to admit cotton, the produce of the East Indies and the United States of America, on the same terms. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ewart, and supported by Lord Howick, and Messrs. Ricardo, Cobden, Villiers, Miles, and Bright. On the other hand, it was opposed by Sir George Clerk, and Messrs. James, Gladstone, Labouchere, and Goulburn. On a division it was rejected by a majority of two hundred and seventeen against eighty-four. Subsequently several amendments were moved, but without success, with the exception of one proposed by Mr. Hawes; namely, to the effect—"that provision be made in the bill for the drawback of the amount of the duty reduced on such duty-paid sugar as now remains in the queen's warehouses." This amendment was at first resisted by Mr. Goulburn; but finding that the house was in favour of it, Sir Robert Peel consented to make arrangements, not to return the whole duty, but to make compensation for the loss. On this understanding Mr. Hawes withdrew his amendment, and the bill passed through committee. Various discussions took place, during the progress of the hill, upon the other parts of the ministerial tariff, but they were all affirmed, and the bill then passed. Its progress through the upper house was speedily effected.

CORN-LAWS AND FREE TRADE.

This long-agitated and great question formed a prominent subject of debate during this session. The first occasion which led to a general discussion of the policy of the protective laws as regards agriculture, was furnished by a motion made by Mr. Cobden, on the 13th March, "for a select committee to inquire into the causes and extent of the alleged existing agricultural distress, and into the effects of legislative protection upon the interests of landowners, tenant-farmers, and farm-labourers." In support of this motion Mr. Cobden endeavoured to prove the existence of distress among the farmers; asserting that half of them were in a state of insolvency, and that the other half were paying rents out of their capital, and were fast hastening to the same melancholy condition. Mr. Cobden next contended that there was a want of security in tenure, and that this fact not only prevented the application of capital, but that it also kept the land in a bad state of cultivation. The farmer without a lease was afraid that if he made any improvement in his farm, he should be called upon to pay a higher rent; and he proved this fact by reference to the language used by many distinguished members of agricultural associations. He asked why land should not be let on the same condition as manufactories, which were let with a schedule of the state of the manufactory; and when the tenant left them he was bound to make compensation for any damage which it might have suffered. Having advocated the plan of leasing farms at great length, Mr. Cobden proceeded to contend that a free trade in corn would be more beneficial to the farmers and to the labourers than to any other class of the community. He had thought so before the new tariff; and he contended so now with tenfold confidence. He then described the lamentable condition of the agricultural peasantry; and asked the landlords, after they had brought their labourers to such a melancholy state, whether they could have anything to fear from risking this inquiry? What had government done for them in their financial scheme? Nothing that was calculated, if he had heard aright, to benefit the agricultural population. Well, then, what would they do? Protection had been a failure when it reached a prohibitory duty of 80s. a quarter; it had been a failure when it reached the pivot price of 60s.; and it was a failure now when they had got a sliding-scale; for they had admitted the lamentable condition of their tenantry and peasantry. Let them accede, then, to his proposition for a committee, and he would pledge himself to explode the fallacy of agricultural protection, and to put an end to the present system within two years from the publication of its report. Mr. S. Herbert, secretary at war, announced that government would meet Mr. Cobden's motion with a direct negative. On a division the motion was negatived by a majority of two hundred and thirteen against one hundred and twenty-one.

On the 3rd of June Mr. Ward resumed his exertions to obtain a select committee to inquire into the existence of the peculiar burdens and exemptions of the landed interests. Taking advantage of an admission contained in a speech of Sir James Graham, that during the last twelve months pauperism had diminished, and trade and commerce had improved in the country because the price of wheat was low, Mr. Ward said that he was not going to underrate the benefit produced by an abundant harvest, but he believed that still greater benefit had been effected by the the liberal policy of government. The idea that there were any peculiar burdens on the land, was a fallacy peculiar to English gentlemen brought up in the school of the corn-laws. He denied that the land-tax, poor-rates, tithes, county-rates, highway-rates, the malt-tax, and similar impositions, were peculiar burdens on land; but if they were, he contended that there were to be set against them the exemptions enjoyed by the land in not being liable to the legacy and probate duty, and in the cultivation of it being relieved from the horse-tax, from the tax on husbandry servants if employed for domestic services, and various other taxes. Mr. Ward moved for a select committee of inquiry into this subject; and his motion was supported by Dr. Bowring, and Messrs. Cobden and Vernon Smith. Sir John Tyrell opposed it, as did also Messrs. Sidney Herbert and Newdegate. On a division it was rejected by a majority of one hundred and eighty-two against one hundred and nine.

The subject of the corn-laws was taken into more complete consideration on the 26th of May, when, pursuant to notice, Lord John Russell moved the following resolutions:—"That the present state of political tranquillity, and the recent revival of trade, afford to this house a favourable opportunity to consider of such measures as may tend permanently to improve the condition of the labouring classes. That those laws which impose duties, usually called protective, tend to impair the efficiency of labour, to restrict the free interchange of commodities, and to impose on the people unnecessary taxation. That the present corn-law tends to check improvements in agriculture, produces uncertainty in all farming speculations, and holds out to the owners and occupiers of land prospects of special advantage which it fails to secure. That this house will take the said laws into consideration, with a view to such cautious and deliberate arrangements as may be most beneficial to all classes of her majesty's subjects. That the freedom of industry would be promoted by a careful revision of the law of parochial settlement which now prevails in England and Wales. That a systematic plan of colonization would partially relieve those districts of the country where the deficiency of employment Iras been most injurious to the labourers in husbandry. That the improvements made of late years in the education of the people, as well as its more general diffusion, have been seen with satisfaction by this house. That this house will be ready to give its support to measures founded on liberal and comprehensive principles, which may be conducive to the further extension of religious and moral instruction. That a humble address be presented to her majesty to lay the foregoing resolutions before her majesty." In support of these resolutions, Lord John Russell made a long and comprehensive speech, embracing the several topics to which they had reference. Adverting to the corn-laws, he said, that experience had shown that the present system was founded in error, and produced the very evil against which it was intended to guard. The graduated scale was a complete failure, and equally injurious to the purchaser and consumer. It was contrary to all true commercial principles, and was perfectly ruinous to the farmer. It also tended to check all improvements in agriculture, and to render the cultivator of the soil careless as to the system of cultivation which he pursued. Mr. Sharman Crawford moved as an amendment that the following words be inserted after the word "opportunity," in the first clause:—"To give immediate attention to the claims, so repeatedly urged in the petitions of the people, for the extension of the parliamentary suffrage, as well as—." Sir James Graham, in reply, said that he agreed to the first resolution moved by Lord John Russell, but not to the rest; and, therefore, he moved the previous question. The house divided on Mr. Crawford's amendment, which was negatived by a majority of two hundred and fifty-three against thirty-three. Sir James Graham then moved the previous question, which was carried by a majority of one hundred and eighty-two against one hundred and four.

Mr. C. Villiers, according to his annual custom, on the 10th of June submitted to the house of commons a motion for the appointment of a committee of the whole house for the purpose of considering his resolutions for the abolition of all restrictions on the importation of foreign corn. On a division, the motion was negatived by a majority of two hundred and fifty-four against one hundred and thirty-two.

AFFAIRS OF IRELAND—MAYNOOTH IMPROVEMENT BILL.

On the 3rd of April, Sir Robert Peel brought in a measure for improving and increasing the grant to the college of Maynooth. The intention of the premier had been made known before, and a large number of petitions were on that evening presented against any such grant; in reference to which Sir Robert Peel said that he had given timely notice of his intention to consider the case of Maynooth in a friendly spirit; and therefore he was not unprepared for the demonstration which had been made, and which no doubt proceeded from persons actuated by conscientious scruples. In continuation, he observed, that it appeared to the ministers there were three courses which they might pursue:—to continue the present system, and grant without alteration; to discontinue the vote altogether, and to repudiate all connexion with Maynooth; or liberally to adopt, improve, and extend the institution provided for the education of the Roman Catholic priesthood. He proceeded to discuss these three courses in succession; and after showing that they could not conscientiously adopt the two first, he said:—"There remains, therefore, but one other course, and that is the course we are prepared to take. We are prepared, in a liberal sense and confiding spirit, to improve that institution, and to elevate the tone of education there. Will you not take that course?" Sir Robert Peel then stated the proposals of government to the house. The trustees of Maynooth college, he said, could purchase land to the extent of £1,000 per annum; but they could not receive it on any other terms than for the lives of the trustees; he proposed to incorporate the trustees by the title of "the trustees of Maynooth college;" and to enable them to hold real property to the amount of £3,000 per annum, should members of the Roman Catholic faith be desirous to contribute to the college so incorporated. The stipend of each professor did not now exceed £120 per annum; instead of defining what should be the amount paid to each professor, he proposed to allot to the trustees a certain sum, which should be placed at their discretion for the payment of salaries. The sum would admit of a payment of £600 or £700 per annum to the president of the college; of £260 or £270 to the professors of theology; and of £220 or £230 to the other professors. A sum not exceeding £6,000 would be allotted to the trustees for making provision for the officers of that institution. At present there were about four hundred and thirty students in the college, divided into three classes: the twenty Dumboyne students, the three senior classes, and the four junior classes. It was proposed to allot £40 per annum to each of the Dumboyne students: and to make provision on the whole for five hundred free students; that there should be two hundred and fifty students in the four junior classes, and two hundred and fifty in the three senior classes, these being divinity students. For the maintenance of each of these students, it was proposed that a sum should be placed at the disposal of the trustees of £28 on the average. It was further proposed that to each of the students in the three senior classes, £20 per annum should be allowed for their own personal expenses. The sum required for the students would be £14,560; the total sum for the establishment, £26,360. It was further proposed that the college should be made, in appearance and in fact, worthy of an institution of the kind; and that proper provision should be made for the accommodation of the presidents and professors; and for every purpose ministers asked for a vote, not annual, of £30,000. Sir Robert Peel further stated, that it was proposed the board of works should undertake the repairs of the college, as they did of the other public buildings, in order that they might be conducted with the greatest economy; and that the expenses of the repairs should be an annual vote, included in the annual estimates for the board of works, as in other cases. Instead of the present ex-officio ministers—the lord-chancellor and the judges—it was further proposed that the crown should appoint five visitors, who were to visit the college once a year, and as often as the lord-lieutenant might direct. These visitors were not to interfere with any matters relating to the doctrine and discipline of the church of Rome; but for those objects three more visitors would be elected by the other five, as at present to be members of the Roman Catholic church. Such, Sir Robert Peel continued, was an outline of the measure. It had not been the subject of any stipulation with the authorities of the Roman Catholic church: but the ministers had intimated their intentions to these dignitaries; and they had every reason to believe they were satisfied with, and grateful for, the measure. He added, in conclusion:—"We do not think that there is any violation of conscientious scruples involved in our proposition. We believe that it is perfectly compatible to hold steadfast the profession of our faith without wavering, and at the same time to improve the education, and to elevate the character of those who, do what you will—pass this measure or refuse it—must be the spiritual guides and religious instructors of millions of your fellow-countrymen." Sir Robert Inglis met the motion for leave to bring in this bill by a direct negative. Messrs. Law, Bruce, Grogan, and others, followed with similar expressions of sentiment. Mr. Plumptre especially expressed in strong terms his repugnance to the proposal on religious grounds; avowing, as the basis of his objections, the belief that the Roman Catholic religion was idolatrous. On the side of the liberal, all were in favour of the motion, except Mr. T. Duncombe, who expressed himself averse to all religious establishments supported out of the public revenue. Some on the conservative side, as Lords Francis Egerton and Sandon, and Mr. J. S. Wortley, spoke in favour of the measure. Several of the Irish members anticipated a great improvement in the Roman Catholic priesthood, and Lord John Russell, while he supported the motion, expressed a hope that it was the commencement of a series of measures which would unite the two countries in an enduring bond. On a division, the motion for leave to bring in the bill was carried by a large majority; but the measure, though destined to become law, was subsequently most strenuously opposed, both in and out of parliament. Those who were ardently attached to the vital principles of Protestantism felt an apprehension that the endowment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Ireland, and the rapid downfall of the established church in that country, if not in England also, was involved in such a measure; and their zeal being thus awakened, no exertions were spared to frustrate the plans of government. On the second reading of the bill being moved on the 11th of April, the measure was opposed by Mr. Colquhoun. Mr. Colquhoun concluded by moving that the bill be read a second time that day six months. Mr. Grogan followed on the same side; and the Earl of Arundel and Mr. Gladstone supported the measure: the latter stating that he did so in opposition to the prevailing opinion, and to his own deeply cherished prepossessions. Mr. D'Israeli said that Sir Robert Peel had declared there were three courses open to him. "In a certain sense, and looking to his own position, he is right: there is the course the right honourable gentleman has left; there is the course that the right honourable gentleman is following; and there is usually the course which the right honourable gentleman ought to pursue. Perhaps, sir, I ought to say that there is a fourth course; because it is possible for the house of commons to adopt one of those courses indicated by the right honourable gentleman, and then having voted for it, to rescind it." Mr. D'Israeli proceeded to complain of the course pursued by Sir R. Peel towards his supporters, in which he indulged in private personalities, which was strongly condemned by Mr. Roebuck, who described his speech as being poor in execution as it was malicious in motive. Mr. Roebuck proceeded to defend the measure; and he was followed by Messrs. Fox Maule and Stafford O'Brien, both of whom opposed it. Mr. Macauley considered it merely a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence: it was not a question of principle, but purely a question between £9000 and £26,000. Mr. Shaw energetically opposed the endowment; and Lord Lincoln and Mr. Sidney Herbert supported it. Mr. Byng, the venerable member for Middlesex, also declared himself in favour of the measure; and Lord Ashley and G. A. Hamilton opposed it; Lord Ashley had never known a measure more important for good or evil, not even excepting the Roman Catholic relief bill. His lordship contended that the proposal of government amounted to almost a declaration, that, as far as the power of enactments and statutes extended, the Roman Catholic religion should never cease to be the religion of Ireland. But while Lord Ashley opposed the measure, he disclaimed being actuated by any feeling of hostility towards the people of Ireland. If he thought, indeed, that this concession would really content the people of Ireland, he would pause before he came to a decision in the matter. The bill was further supported by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lords John Manners and Russell, Sirs George Grey and James Graham, and Messrs. Cobden, Smyth, and Shiel. On the other hand it was opposed by Messrs. Bright, dimming, Bruce, Blackstone, Ferrand, Sharman Crawford, T. Duncombe, Muntz, and Law. The debate was closed by Sirs Robert Inglis and Robert Peel; the former against, and the latter for the measure. On a division the second reading was carried by a majority of three hundred and twenty-three against one hundred and seventy-six. The battle, however, was not yet ended. On the order of the day being read for going into committee, Mr. Ward moved the following resolution as an amendment:—"That it is the opinion of this house, that any provision to be made for the purposes of the present bill, ought to be taken from the funds already applicable to ecclesiastical purposes in Ireland." A long debate ensued on this motion, which was continued for two nights; but on a division it was negatived by a majority of three hundred and twenty-two against one hundred and forty-eight. On the 25th a resolution, authorising a grant of £30,000 for improving Maynooth college, and for the payment of the amount requisite for salaries and other expenses, out of the consolidated fund, was passed by the house; but on the motion for bringing up the report, opposition to the measure was renewed by Mr. Law, who moved as an amendment that it be brought up on that day six months. Another lengthened debate took place, but the motion was negatived by one hundred and twenty-eight against fifty-two; and several other amendments, subsequently moved by Mr. Hindley and other members, were rejected by large majorities. The whole question was reopened on the motion for the third reading, and a discussion commenced which continued for three nights; but the third reading was carried by a majority of three hundred and seventeen against one hundred and eighty-four. The last attempt to defeat the measure was a motion by Mr. T. Duncombe, on the question, "That the bill do now pass," proposing a clause to limit its operation to three years. This was objected to by Sir Robert Peel, and the proposal was negatived by a large majority, after which the bill was passed.

The second reading was moved by the Duke of Wellington in the house of lords, on the second of June. Lord Roden had given notice of intention to move, as an amendment, for a select committee to inquire into the character of the education given at Maynooth; and he now rose for the purpose of thus endeavouring to get rid of the bill. Instead of the measure being looked upon in Ireland, he said, as a boon, it was looked upon as one extorted by fear. He quoted a letter from Dr. Higgins, one of the Roman Catholic bishops, to show that no conciliatory effects could result from the measure. Nor was it his opinion that it would improve the education given at Maynooth: rather, it would afford facilities for recruiting the priesthood from the lower classes of the people. He maintained that the system of instruction given there had anti-social and disloyal tendencies, which he illustrated by a reference to the text-books, and details in the history and conduct of the institution. The Bishop of London supported the amendment: he could not consent to any measure which would make the college of Maynooth an integral part of the constitution. The Earl of St. Germains and Lord Beaumont vindicated the measure; and the Duke of Manchester and the Bishop of Cashel opposed it. The debate having been adjourned, was resumed by the Earls of Hardwick and Carnarvon, who supported the bill. The Earl of Winchilsea followed, and condemned the bill in vehement terms; and the Marquis of Normanby defended it as a proper concession to a nation of which seven-eighths were Roman Catholics. The Archbishop of Dublin supported the measure. The Bishop of Exeter argued against the measure that the college was not originally meant to be endowed by the state; and denied that the improved visitation which the bill professed to give would be a system of education. The debate having been again adjourned, was resumed by Earl Spencer and the Bishop of Norwich. On a division, Lord Roden's amendment was negatived by a majority of one hundred and fifty-five to fifty-nine; and the house having again divided on the original resolution, the second reading was carried by a majority of two hundred and twenty-six against sixty-nine. Subsequently, a discussion took place on the committal of the bill. On the motion for the third reading another debate took place; and the Bishop of Llandaff moved that the bill be read a third time that day six months; but on a division this amendment was negatived by a majority of one hundred and eighty-one against fifty. On the question that the bill do pass, the Earl of Winchilsea moved another amendment to the effect that the operation of the bill should be limited to a period of three years; but tins also was negatived, and the bill then passed.

ACADEMICAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND.

Another scheme, emanating from government, for the improvement of the Irish people, was a plan for the extension of academical education in Ireland. This measure was developed by the secretary of state for the home department. On moving for leave to bring in the bill, on the 9th of May, Sir James Graham said that the object in bringing it forward was to improve the social condition of Ireland. The difficulty of accomplishing such an object, he said, would be discerned, when he stated that the plan which he conceived to be the most essential was the diffusion of the benefits of education among the higher classes of the people. Religious differences formed the great obstacle to the adjustment of the general question of education in Ireland. For a long series of years the religion of the majority of the Irish people had been treated by the state as hostile. That notion, however, had been gradually abandoned: the penal laws had either been removed, or were in the course of removal, although traces of them were still perceptible, and operating most noxiously in their interference with the education of the people. Sir James Graham next proceeded to discuss what was the best mode of educating the people of Ireland, contending that it consisted in the absence of all religious tests. It wras on this principle that the bill he proposed was founded. Government recommended to the house the establishment of three provincial institutions for education in Ireland, and founded upon the same principles as the metropolitan colleges of London and Edinburgh. Cork was proposed as the site of the college for the south; Galway, or Limerick, for the west; and Deny, or Belfast, for the north of Ireland. He could not pledge himself for the exact amount of the expense which would be necessary to carry this proposal into execution; but he conceived that £30,000 would be wanted for the erection of each college; and he would therefore mention £100,000 as a sum amply sufficient for that purpose. He further recommended the sum of £6000 for each of the colleges, to meet the annual expenses of the officers of these institutions, and of the prizes to be established for the encouragement of learning. Sir James Graham then gave a sketch of the different officers whom he would establish in these institutions. In each college there was to be a principal and ten or twelve professors; and at Belfast and Cork there would be a medical school attached to each college. The professors were to be nominated by the crown; and the crown was to possess the power of removing them for good cause. There were no professorships of divinity to be established; but religion was not to be neglected; on the contrary, every facility would be given for the voluntary endowment of theological professorships; but the attendance at these lectures would not be compulsory, for the fundamental principle of the measure would be the avoidance of all interference, positive or negative, in all matters affecting the conscience. The right honourable baronet went on to state that there was already an academical institution at Belfast for the Presbyterians of the north of Ireland, which was supported by a parliamentary grant, at the cost of £2100 per annum; and government proposed to continue this grant. There was another subject, he said, with which, although a difficult one, he was prepared to grapple. The bill only founded colleges in Ireland: the question was:—"Should these three colleges be incorporated into one great central university, or should parliament invest each of them with the power of granting degrees in the arts, sciences, and medicine?" He proposed that the bill should afford her majesty means to establish a new university in Dublin for this purpose—Trinity College being founded on Protestant principles, and therefore excluding Roman Catholics or dissenters from all privileges—or to incorporate into the existing university these colleges. Lord Palmerston promised ministers the fair and honest support of the Whigs. The measure was opposed by Sir Robert Inglis; but leave was given to bring in the bill, and it was read a first time. On the motion for the second reading, which was moved on the 2nd of June, a debate was commenced, which continued by adjournment for two nights. The debate was opened by Lord John Manners, who moved that it be read a second time that day six months: his belief was, that if it passed in its present shape it would prove a curse, and not a boon to Ireland. Sir James Graham defended it from this charge. He proceeded to state some proposed alterations in the bill. The first change proposed was with regard to the visitorial power of the crown. He proposed to give the crown the power of appointing visitors, which visitors would have authority to inquire into any abuse which might arise in these institutions, and to apply an effective remedy thereto. He also now thought that there should be attached to each of the colleges a hall or halls in which religious instructions might be given to the students by pastors of their own religion; and he was disposed to add a clause to that effect. The Roman Catholic bishops had presented a memorial praying that a fair proportion of the professors and office-bearers in the new colleges should be members of the Roman Catholic church; that Roman Catholic professors should fill the chairs of history, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, geology, and anatomy; that there should be a Roman Catholic chaplain in each of the colleges, to superintend the moral and religious instruction of the Roman Catholic pupils, and that each of these chaplains should be provided with a suitable salary; and that all Roman Catholic professors should be appointed to a local board of trustees. Sir James Graham could not consent to such demands: as a majority of the students would belong to the Roman Catholic church, it was probable that a majority of the professors would belong to it also; but they could not be exclusively provided by the measure. Mr. E. B. Roche, who had at first hailed the measure as a boon, now declared his intention of opposing its further progress, because the nomination of all the professorships was in the crown, and there was no "fixity of tenure" for any administration which entertained friendly sentiments toward the Roman Catholic population of Ireland. Sir Robert Inglis repeated that this bill was "a gigantic scheme of godless education;" and agreed with Mr. O'Connell in thinking that these new institutions would be deficient in that species of education which was the only legitimate one for an immortal being—education in the duties which every man had to perform, and the principles on which those duties rested. The second reading was supported by Lord John Russell, who nevertheless wished to amend it in committee, and Lord Mahon, and Messrs. Redington, Milnes, Osborne, Wyse, and R. M. O. Ferrol; and opposed by Messrs. Acland, B. Hope, and Hamilton. Mr. Acland called attention to the fact that some of the speakers in behalf of the bill gave an unqualified support to it; and contended that not one of them had proved that it would give such education as would be useful in any respect to Ireland. Sir Robert Peel spoke at great length in behalf of the measure; and announced that, if adopted, and the plan worked well, government would consider whether the three colleges should be incorporated into a university, and what power that university should have in conferring degrees. After a few words from Messrs. M. J. O'Connell and Shaw in favour of the second reading, though not of entire approval of the measure, the amendment was negatived by a majority of three hundred and eleven against forty-six, and the bill was read a second time. Upon the resolution of the committee of the whole house for the grant being reported, Mr. O'Connell took occasion to declare his protest against it; and to thank Sir Robert Inglis for calling it "a godless system of education." Subsequently, on the committal of the bill, he again declared his objections to its principle: and Lord John Russell coincided with him in his statement, that unless the bill was made acceptable to the Roman Catholics, by providing for the religious instruction of the pupils, it would be useless. On the first clause, relating to the grant of £100,000 for building the three colleges and necessary buildings, Lord John Russell proposed, as an amendment, to include among the buildings to be thus paid for, halls for the accommodation of the students. This motion, however, was negatived; as was also another, moved by Mr. Wyse, on the clause which declared that the appointment of professors should be vested in the crown, and after a time limited should revert to parliament. Mr. Wyse desired that the professors should be chosen, after an investigation into their qualifications, by a competent board of examiners; but Sir Robert Peel opposed the amendment, as premature, and likely to operate to the discouragement of the students.. Several other amendments were proposed in committee, but they were all rejected; and on the third reading Mr. Bernai Osborne introduced a collateral discussion upon the revenues and management of Trinity College, Dublin, by proposing the following resolution:—"That an humble address be presented to her majesty, praying that she will be graciously pleased to direct an inquiry to be made into the amount of the revenue of Trinity College, Dublin, from rents of college-lands, endowments, and bequests, fees on matriculation, on taking degrees, and from every other source; also into the manner in which that income is expended; the number of senior and junior fellows, of professors, scholars, and all other officers of the college, with the amount of salary and allowances to each of them, with a view to ascertain whether the income or funds at present applied solely to the benefit of Protestants in Trinity College, Dublin, might not be beneficially extended so as to make Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters eligible if otherwise qualified, to all scholarships, and to all such fellowships, professorships, and other offices in Trinity College, Dublin, as are not intended for ecclesiastical purposes immediately connected with ecclesiastical endowment." Mr. Osborne, in support of this resolution, contended that Trinity College was not founded with Protestant money, but with the property of the Roman Catholic Earl of Desmond, confiscated by Elizabeth in 1592; and that it was not until forty years afterwards, in the time of Strafford, that Roman Catholics were mentioned, and rendered ineligible for the professorships. The motion was opposed by Sirs Thomas Freemantle and R. Inglis, the latter of whom denied that the college was founded with Roman Catholic money. It was erected on the site of the old monastery of All-Hallows, which having become vested in the mayor and citizens of Dublin, by grant from Henry the Eighth, was by them given for the establishment of this college. The funds for its erection and endowment were raised by a contribution among the gentry of Ireland, for which purpose a circular letter was sent to them by the Lord-deputy Fitzwilliam, the archbishop, and the lords of the council in 1791: the original foundation of the college might, therefore, he said, be as purely Protestant as could be imagined. The motion was supported by Messrs. War-burton and Shiel, the latter of whom contended that Queen Elizabeth's charter did not contemplate exclusively Protestant objects. But it was rather on the ground of justice than on such grounds, he said, that this subject ought to be discussed. He remarked:—"There are seventy scholarships; the scholars have lodging and commons for a nominal sum, with £10 a-year and £40 a-year in the last three years: the scholarships being exclusively Protestant. So long," he continued, "as you keep up Trinity College in its supremacy you will make your measure of academical education, for all political purposes, an entire failure. Your provincial academies will be marked with all the characteristics of mediocrity, which will only render the elevation of Trinity College more conspicuous by the inferiority with which it will be surrounded. How stunted and dwarfed the groves of our new academies when compared with the rich luxuriance of the gardens of Trinity! I had a thousand times rather you had applied your £18,000 a-year to the establishment of new fellowships and new professorships in the metropolitan and national institutions; because if you had done so, Englishmen would have got a value—a value in peace, a value in contentment, a value in pacificatory results—for their money. Now your measure, for political purposes—I say, for political purposes, though I won't deny that the advantages of education will be distributed to a certain extent—but your measure, though for political purposes it may partially succeed, yet as a message of peace it will be a failure." Sir Robert Peel contended that he and his colleagues had exerted themselves to make equality in Ireland, at the expense of giving umbrage to the majority of the people in this country. He appealed to the enlarged grant to Maynooth, and to the way in which the charitable bequests act had been carried out, as showing the conciliatory disposition of the government. Yet, after all their exertions for peace they were doomed to be disappointed. He regretted Mr. Shiel's speech on account of the use that would be made of it in this country. It would be said—"See how unavailing all attempts are to conciliate the Roman Catholics of Ireland. Regardless of the warnings, the feelings, and fears of their friends, they hoped by proposing certain measures, that they would make an impression on the Irish mind; but, instead of this, the leading Roman Catholic member in the house of commons gets up and tells them that, unless they went ten times as far as they had yet gone, they would have an insurrection in Ireland." This he believed, however, was not the feeling of the Irish people; he believed that government had made an impression on the feelings of the Irish people. After a few words from Lord John Russell, the house divided on Mr. Osborne's amendment, which was negatived by a majority of one hundred and sixty-eight against ninety-one, and the bill was then read a third time and passed.

The second reading of the Irish education bill was moved in the house of lords by Lord Stanley on the 21st of July. The Earl of Shrewsbury opposed the measure. Government he said, had been overawed by the fanatic feeling of the English people; and he urged ministers to withdraw the bill for a season, and reintroduce it in a shape better suited to the wants and wishes of Ireland. The bill was further opposed by the Earl of Carnarvon, who protested against the divorce of religion from education, and expressed his fears that such a precedent might be applied to Oxford and Cambridge. The bill was defended by the Duke of Newcastle, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Bishop of Norwich, and Lords Brougham, Beaumont, and Clifford. The second reading was affirmed without a division; and subsequently the bill passed through committee, and was read a third time without any fixed opposition.

COLONIAL POLICY.

In the early part of this session intelligence had arrived which announced a disastrous collision in New Zealand between the natives and the settlers at the Bay of Islands, and which terminated in defeat and serious loss on the part of the latter. This intelligence produced considerable sensation in the public mind, more especially among those connected with the colonists in those islands. The New Zealand Company loudly accused the colonial office, and the administration of the governor, Captain Fitzroy; while other parties contended that the evil which had arisen had been in a great measure induced by the company itself. The event became the subject of several discussions in parliament. The first of these discussions took place on the 11th of March, when Mr. Somes moved for all copies of correspondence between the colonial office and the governor of New Zealand, respecting the issue of debentures and the rendering them a legal tender in that colony, the taxes proposed in the legislative council, the outrages recently committed by the natives in the Bay of Islands, and a proclamation issued by the governor of New Zealand, allowing the sale of land by the natives at a less price than that fixed by the act of the 5th and 6th Victoria. This motion was seconded by Mr. Aglionby, who asked whether government was not aware that in that colony inconvertible paper had been made by the governor a legal tender for sums as low as two shillings? whether the governor had previously received authority by warrant from the colonial department to issue such debentures to the amount of £15,000? whether it was true that in a colony that was to flourish by its agriculture a tax of 10s. had been levied on every sheep imported, and a similar tax on every dog imported to herd them? what the house thought of a governor who placed a tax of £1 on every house in which more than three rooms were inhabited? and whether the governor had vindicated the character of this country by protecting the whites from the outrages of the natives? Nine of our countrymen, he continued, had been tomahawked after they had given up their arms: had the governor made inquiry into the circumstances of this massacre? or had he gone, as was reported, to the murderous tribes, and declared himself satisfied? He also wanted to know in what manner the honour of the British flag had been vindicated, after it had been cut down at the custom-house; and made several inquiries respecting the sale of lands in New Zealand, observing that when he had obtained an answer to his questions, he should bring forward a distinct motion on the subject, and should call for further information. Mr. Hope, the under-secretary, protested against the course pursued by Mr. Aglionby, demanding why he did not boldly come forward, make his charge against government, and endeavour to substantiate it. He proceeded, however, to answer the questions put by Mr. Aglionby. The government, he said, had disapproved of the debentures issued by the local governor, ami they had been withdrawn. Respecting the taxes imposed in New Zealand he knew nothing, as government had been an unusually long time without intelligence from that colony. With respect to the outrages at the Bay of Islands, troops had been sent for their repression; and the governor, he thought had sufficiently vindicated the honour of the British flag. On the other subjects of interrogation he had no information to communicate. Other members took part in the discussion; and finally the motion was agreed to.

A more lengthened discussion on the condition of this colony took place on the 17th of June, on which occasion Mr. Charles Buller brought forward a series of resolutions relating to the policy pursued towards New Zealand. In his speech he contended that the colonization of New Zealand, after it had been successfully commenced by the New Zealand Company, had been marred by the interference of her majesty's government. He proceeded to show the superiority of the scheme of colonization adopted by the company with that pursued by the colonial office. After pointing out the great importance of New Zealand in a national and political point of view, and the fair field which it afforded for the development of the capital and labour of England, he showed that at the time when it was first colonized, strong reasons existed for colonizing it regularly, lest it should be colonized irregularly. The whole of the native population did not exceed 100,000 souls, and they were principally concentrated in the northern parts of the island. Was that a circumstance which ought to prevent any other country from colonizing the southern parts of it, which were almost totally unoccupied, or the northern parts, which were almost all left uncultivated? It was wicked to deny the right of civilized man to cultivate the wilderness; but he was bound to treat the savage with kindness, and to communicate to him the advantages of civilization. The New Zealand Company had treated the savage with kindness, making him ample compensation for the land purchased of him, by setting a part of it to his service after it had been brought into cultivation. The colonial office, however, conceived that its duty was discharged towards the savage when it had obtained for him a large price for his land, and had not taken any measure to apply it to his future amelioration. Mr. Buller next entered into a minute history of the proceedings of the colonial authorities in New Zealand, from the time of the conclusion of the treaty of Waitangi, down to the present period; and vindicated the conduct of the New Zealand Company, showing that their settlements had been founded on a scale of liberality and munificence hitherto unknown in the history of English colonization. Their principal object had been merely to protect themselves from loss, whilst engaged in diffusing the arts and industry along with the laws and language of England; yet Lord Stanley had adopted measures which had marred all their prospects of future success. Mr. Buller proceeded to enter into a discussion of the land question between Lord Stanley and the New Zealand Company. He contended that the company had a right to expect to be put in possession by government of the number of acres awarded to them; yet, after spending £800,000 of its own, and £300,000 more on credit, obtained from the public, it had not obtained the grant of a single acre. Its capital was exhausted; its proceedings were suspended; and, what was worse, the unhappy emigrants had been debarred from all access as owners to the land which they had purchased with hard cash in England. The crops which they had raised were destroyed by fire, and their lives had been menaced; and when they applied for redress to the colonial office, that aid had been coldly refused. They now apprehended a general massacre; and yet Captain Fitzroy prohibited them from arming themselves in self-defence. His policy had inspired the New Zealanders with an overweening confidence, and our countrymen with fierce resentment; and the consequence would be that the first would perish under the attacks of the last, as they would be no more in the hands of Englishmen than mere children in the hands of full-grown men. In conclusion, Mr. Buller expressed his conviction that Lord Stanley had put down the most promising experiment of colonization that had ever been attempted by England; and moved that the house resolve itself into a committee of the whole house to consider the resolutions. The motion was seconded by Mr. Milnes, who contended that a case had been made out for the interference of the house. Mr. Hope defended the character of Lord Stanley at great length, denying that his lordship was influenced by any hostility either to colonization or to the New Zealand Company. He was not prepared, he said, to justify all the acts of Captain Fitzroy; but he was convinced that he did himself frequent injustice by the scanty reports he sent home. In reply to the allegation that the colonial office was chargeable with all the disasters of the colony, he insisted that they were mainly attributable to the hasty proceedings of the New Zealand Company, in taking possession of that island without authority from the crown. Mr. Hope next proceeded to give an account of the state of the colony according to the latest advices received from thence; endeavouring to show that the settlers and the natives generally were on good terms, and that there was no fear of a collision between them. He concluded by entering into a consideration of the resolutions, and by declaring that government would not consent to them. The debate was then adjourned, and on the following day it was resumed by Captain Rous, who brought some grave charges against the New Zealand Company. He did so, he said, for the purpose of giving the directors of that company, who had been described as philanthropic gentlemen, an opportunity of replying to those charges. Mr. Aglionby, in reply, protested against them; but declined to enter into a refutation of them on the present occasion: the details of them all had been inquired into in the previous session by the select committee, and on every one of them a verdict of acquittal had been given by that committee. Other members who took part in the debate for the motion were Lords Howick and John Russell, and Messrs. Ellice, Hawes, Mangles, Colquhoun, and Shiel; against it, Sirs Robert Peel, James Graham, Robert Inglis, and Howard Douglas and Mr. Cardwell. After a brief reply from Mr. Buller, the house divided on the motion, which was negatived by a majority of two hundred and twenty-three against one hundred and seventeen.

Towards the end of the session the New Zealand question again became the subject of a lengthened investigation. Intelligence continued to be received from New Zealand of the hostile disposition and violent conduct of the natives, and the precarious tenure on which the lives and properties of the settlers depended. Under these circumstances, on the 21st of July, a petition was presented by the New Zealand Company, praying the house "not to separate without taking measures calculated to allay the apprehensions prevalent among the colonists of New Zealand, and to revive confidence in the company, by which its usefulness would be restored, the friendly communication between the colonists and the aboriginal races renewed, and the prosperity of New Zealand secured." On the same day Mr. C. Buller proposed a resolution to the effect, that "the house regarded with regret and apprehension the state of affairs in New Zealand, and that those feelings were greatly aggravated by the want of any sufficient evidence of a change in the policy which had led to such disastrous results." A long debate ensued, which was continued by adjournment; but on a division the motion was negatived by one hundred and fifty-five against eighty-nine. A few nights afterwards, on the vote being proposed, in a committee of supply of £22,565 for New-Zealand, Mr. J. A. Smith stated that negociations had been resumed between the Colonial office and the New Zealand Company, and that the result only waited the final approval of Lord Stanley, who was absent from town. He asked, if the hope of a favourable issue were not realized, whether Sir Robert Peel would afford another opportunity, before the close of the session, for some remarks on the present state of New Zealand, Sir Robert Peel promised to do so; but expressed a strong desire to co-operate in the colonization of New Zealand, and to bring the differences with the company to a conclusion. It would seem that government were now, indeed, convinced that the policy of the government of New Zealand was unfavourable to the prospects of the colony; for about this time Captain Fitzroy was recalled. Government also appears to have been convinced that some better policy must be adopted; for Mr. Hope, on the occasion of the last debate on New Zealand, stated, that a gentleman unconnected with the subject had been called in to give his advice, and he was now engaged in arranging the matter for his full consideration.

QUESTION OF THE OREGON TERRITORY.

The great question of this year between Great Britain and the United States was the boundary-line running through the Oregon territory. The proposals of the British government to Congress were not acceded to; and up to this period, negociation, in which the British cabinet had shown themselves desirous of terminating the dispute amicably, had failed. The American authorities asserted a valid claim to all the territory, and were unwilling to allow any portion of it to be given up to England. In the present year, the dispute assumed more the aspect of war than it had hitherto done; for Mr. Polk had been chosen president, and he was decidedly hostile to the claims of the British to this or any portion of this territory. His hostility was clearly unfolded to the world by his presidential message to congress.

The inaugural address of President Polk being of such a belligerent nature, naturally created strong apprehensions in the public mind of England of an intended encroachment upon our rights in the matter of the Oregon territory. The subject was introduced in the house of lords, by Lord Clarendon, on the 4th of April, with a view to elicit from government some information as to our relations with the United States upon this question, and the course it was intended to pursue, in case congress, acting upon the president's express opinion, should proceed to take possession of the country. His lordship expressed an anxious hope, that, while whatever could be justly claimed by the United States should be readily conceded, government would not shrink from vindicating, if necessary, the nation's honour, and upholding her interests. In reply, Lord Aberdeen said that our position was precisely the same as it had been for the last eighteen years, under the treaty of 1827. The provisions of that treaty had been prolonged for an indefinite period, subject to the right of either party to terminate it by giving a year's notice. This could not be done without a vote of congress, and that body would not assemble until December; so that sufficient time was still left to bring the matters in dispute to a satisfactory conclusion.

The same subject was brought before the commons on the same day by Lord John Russell.

The Oregon question was introduced into the discussions of the American Senate on the 15th of December, by General Cass, who made a violent speech in favour of President Polk's views of the subject. Referring to the above debate in Parliament, and particularly to the speeches of Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel, he dwelt strongly upon the rapacities of England; and congratulated his country that it had secured Texas in spite of her attempts to wrest it from America. The object of the speech of General Cass was clearly to involve the United States in a war with Great Britain; but there were men in the American senate who, conscious of the weakness of their cause, stood in the breach. This year closed, however, before the dispute was terminated: it was still left open to arbitration.

MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES OF THE SESSION.

Early in the present session Lord-chancellor Lyndhurst introduced a bill into the upper house, having for its object the relief of persons, of the Jewish persuasion from certain tests which had previously been required from them upon their election to municipal offices. The bill was read a second time in the house of lords on the 10th of March, without a division; and having passed through that house, it came down to the commons, where the second reading was moved by Sir Robert Peel on the 17th of July. It was opposed by Sir Robert Inglis, who regretted that Sir R. Peel had lent the sanction of his name to it. And moved that it be read that day three months. On a division the amendment was negatived by a majority of ninety-one against eleven. The second reading was then carried, and the bill subsequently became law.

During this session a bill was introduced by the Lord-advocate for the amendment of the poor-laws in Scotland. The chief objects of this bill were thus described by Sir James Graham on the debate on the second reading:—"Provisions had been made for local inspection; for a responsible supervision by a board sitting in the capital; for perfect publicity; for an appeal to the sheriff of the county on the part of the poor man to whom relief was refused; for empowering the sheriff to order relief; and, if the quantum were too small, for a power of appeal, without expense, to the central board, which had complete power, without limitation, to deal with the quantum of relief; and on the other hand, if the quantum was too great, the parish might appeal to the court of session. Provision had also been made for subscription to lunatic asylums; for the education of pauper children; for medical attendants; and for building poor-houses in large cities." This bill encountered much opposition in both houses; but it finally passed into law, with very trifling alteration made in the house of lords.

Among the minor fruits of this session were two bills introduced by Lord Ashley; one for the regulation of juvenile labour in calico-print works, and the other to provide for the better care of lunatics. The former of these bills was a supplement to Lord Ashley's exertions in former sessions, for the protection of persons employed in factories. In introducing the latter, Lord Ashley startled the house by some distressing statements of the abuses by which the law had been perverted in the treatment of pauper lunatics.

Mr. Duncombe opposed it; but the feeling of the house was strongly in its favour, and it was adopted.

Two bills were this year brought in by Sir Robert Peel, for the regulation of banking in Scotland and Ireland, based on similar principles to that by which he had remodelled the English banking system in the preceding year. In explaining these measures he first touched upon a peculiarity in Irish banking as distinct from Scottish—the existence of the national bank of Ireland. It enjoyed the exclusive privilege of issuing and paying notes, except of large amounts and at longdates, within a circle of sixty-four English miles radius. Its capital was £6,729,000.; and there was a debt due by government of £2,630,000, on which three and a half per cent, interest was paid. There were eight other banks of issue in Ireland—joint-stock banks: those banks had four thousand shareholders, and many thousand more customers; to many of whom it was a serious inconvenience that they could not transact business through the national bank. He proposed, with the willing concurrence of its directors, to withdraw all the exclusive privileges of the national bank, except that he would continue to it the government business, and the present rate of interest on the government debt, as payment for conducting the official business. He would also abolish the oaths in that establishment, distinguishing Roman Catholic office-bearers from Protestants. The bank would also make a weekly return, like that of the Bank of England. In Scotland, as in Ireland, there were no private banks of issue: all were joint-stock banks. There were nineteen banks, to which number they were restricted by the acts of last session. Three had charters; two were incorporated under act of parliament; the rest were not incorporated. It would be better to give them all charters of incorporation; but still he would make that permissive. He would not abolish the power of issuing notes under five pounds in amount either in Scotland or Ireland—he would not run the risk of encountering the opposition which such a proposal would excite; though he did not know that the use of tire small notes could be justified by argument. He would not establish any fixed proportion between the notes under £5, or above; but he would, as in the case of the English banks, restrict the future issues of the banks to the amount of the average issues for a ces tain time past; namely, the period of the 27th of April, 1844, thirteen lunar months. In Ireland it was necessary to take an extended time, because there had been a greater increase on the issues within the last three or four months. He would solve the doubt in Scotland as to the question of law, whether Bank of England notes were a legal tender or not, by making them not a legal tender. There was in this country a security against derangement of the currency, in the general diffusion of gold coin, probably not less than £30,000,000 or £35,000,000, through every part, a security which did not exist in Ireland or Scotland: he would therefore oblige any excess of the issues of the banks, over the amounts now fixed, to be based not on bullion or Bank of England notes, but on bullion alone; gold or silver bullion; making silver under two pounds a legal tender. It would be advantageous to encourage an increase of silver, especially in Ireland. The banks would, in future, be obliged to make weekly returns of the notes in circulation: but in Scotland, returns of the circulation each day would be fallacious, on account of exchanges with other banks; and therefore he would continue the present system of making a return of the last day in each week; the average would be struck on the returns for four weeks, and the circulation, or any excess, calculated on that average. Several statistical particulars, such as the amount of gold in each bank, or distinction between the £5 and the lower notes, the description of issues, &c, would be required; but the information thus exacted by government would be in confidence: the monthly returns published by the stamp-office resembling those now made in England. The average circulation of the Scotch banks in the thirteen months since the 27th of April was £3,041,000; but there was in the November of each year an excess in the issues of about £500,000, which would of course have to be based on bullion. The average circulation in Ireland would in future be, of the national bank, £3,706,000; of the other banks, £2,565,000; in all. £6,271,000. As there was in Scotland no national bank to supply any deficiency caused in the circulation by the failure of any joint-stock bank, he would give permission for any bank to dispose of its circulation to another bank; the aggregate of the two amounts to be taken as the joint circulation. To avoid any inconvenience or precipitancy, the plan would not come into operation until the 1st of January, 1846. Sir Robert Peel concluded by expressing his belief that this plan would add to the stability of the circulation in the United Kingdom, and would be an equitable way of making Ireland and Scotland bear their share of the burden of providing a guarantee against commercial panic. These bills passed through both houses without much discussion, and became law.

During this session a measure was passed by government for facilitating the enclosure of commons in England and Wales, by appointing a board of commissioners with extensive powers, and removing the necessity of obtaining private acts of parliament for the enclosing of lands.

The business of the session was closed by Lord John Russell's taking the opportunity for a formal motion for papers, to enter into a critical review of the results of the session, and the general policy of the administration.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued by the queen in person on the 9th of August. After the speaker had addressed her majesty on the measures of the session, and some bills had received the royal assent, her majesty read the royal speech.

THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA.

In the early part of this year the important subject of railroads in India was taken into serious consideration. Various companies were formed in England, for the purpose, if possible, of carrying out schemes of railway communication in that country. In order that full preliminary information might be obtained before any project was sanctioned, the court of directors sent a despatch to the governor-general, directing him to take the subject into his best consideration, as one in which the interests of India were deeply concerned.

Until the close of the year, peace pervaded the whole of India, and Sir Henry Hardinge was employed in promoting the interests of the natives, by giving his attention to the important question of education. While thus humanely employed, the state of our north-western frontier summoned him to engage in warlike preparations. The Anglo-Indian dominion on the left bank of the Sutlej was suddenly invaded by a Sikh army. What part the government at Lahore took in this invasion is uncertain. It is alleged on the part of the Ranee, the queen-mother, and the other advisers of the youthful monarch, Dhuleep Singh, and the Durbar at Lahore was at the mercy of the army; and that the restless and mutinous Sikh soldiers, in defiance of government, determined to cross the Sutlej, in hopes of finding the British unprepared, and carrying off an immense quantity of booty. This sounds like fiction; and it would rathe appear that the Lahore government, standing in awe of the Sikh army, was glad of any pretext for finding it employment in British India, in order to avoid violence within the Punjaub territory. Be this as it may, the Sikhs invaded our borders; and we had no alternative but to treat the invasion as a formal declaration of war on the part of the Lahore government, and to take measures for proceeding against the Punjaub government as a hostile state. On the 2nd of December Sir Henry Hardinge arrived at Umballah; on the 6th he removed from Umballah towards Loodianah; and on the 12th his whole force marched towards the Sutlej, and took up a position at Busseeau, an important point, where the roads leading from Umballah and Kurnaul meet. It was not till the 13th that the Sikh army crossed the Sutlej, and on that day Sir Henry Hardinge issued the following proclamation:—"The British government has ever been on terms of friendship with that of the Punjaub. In the year 1809 a treaty of amity and concord was concluded between the British government and the late Maharaja Runjeet Singh, the conditions of which have always been faithfully observed by the British government, and were scrupulously fulfilled by the late Maharaja. The same friendly relations have been maintained with the successors of Maharaja Runjeet Singh, by the British government, up to the present time. Since the death of the late Maharaja Shere Singh, the disorganized state of the Lahore government has made it incumbent on the governor-general in council to adopt precautionary measures for the protection of the British frontier; the nature of these measures, and the cause of their adoption were at the time fully explained to the Lahore Durbar. Notwithstanding the disorganized state of the Lahore government, during the last two years, and many most unfriendly proceedings on the part of the Durbar, the governor-general in council has continued to evince his desire to maintain the relations of amity and concord which had so long existed between the two states, for the mutual interests and happiness of both. He has shown on every occasion the utmost forbearance, from consideration to the helpless state of the infant Maharaja Dhuleep Singh, whom the British government had recognised as the successor to the late Maharaja Shere Singh. The governor-general in council sincerely desired to see a strong Sikh government re-established in the Punjaub, able to control its army and protect its subjects. He had not, up to the present moment, abandoned the hope of seeing that important object effected by the patriotic efforts of the Sikhs and people of that country. The Sikh army recently marched from Lahore towards thu British frontier, as it was alleged, by the orders of the Durbar, for the purpose of invading the British territory. The governor-general's agent, by direction of the governor-general, demanded an explanation of this movement; and no reply being returned within a reasonable time, the demand was repeated. The governor-general, unwilling to believe in the hostile intentions of the Sikh government, to which no provocation had been given, refrained from taking any measures which might have a tendency to embarrass the government of the Maharaja, or to induce collision between the two states. When no reply was given to the repeated demand for explanation, and while active military operations were continued at Lahore, the governor-general considered it necessary to order the advance of troops towards the frontier, to re-enforce the frontier posts. The Sikh army has now, without a shadow of provocation, invaded the British territories. Tire governor-general must, therefore, take measures for effectually protecting the British provinces; for vindicating the authority of the British government; and for punishing the violaters of treaties and the disturbers of public peace. The governor-general hereby declares the possessions of Maharaja Dhuleep Singh, on the left, or British bank of the Sutlej, confiscated and annexed to the British territories. The governor-general will respect the existing rights of all jagheerdars, zemindars, and tenants in the said possessions, who, by the course they now pursue, evince their fidelity to the British government. The governor-general hereby calls upon all the chiefs and sirdars in the protected territories to co-operate cordially with the British government, for the punishment of the common enemy, and for the maintenance of order in these states. Those of the chiefs which show alacrity and fidelity in the discharge of this duty, which they owe to the protecting power, will find their interests promoted thereby; and those who take a contrary course will be treated as enemies to the British government, and will be punished accordingly. The inhabitants of all the territories on the left bank of the Sutlej are hereby directed to abide peaceably in their respective villages, where they will receive efficient protection by the British government. All parties of men found in armed bands, who can give no satisfactory account of their proceedings, will be treated as disturbers of the public peace. All subjects of the British government, and those who possess estates on both sides of the river Sutlej, who by their faithful adherence to the British government, may be liable to sustain loss, shall be indemnified and secured in all their just rights and privileges. On the other hand, all subjects of the British government, who shall continue in the service of the Lahore state, and who disobey this proclamation, by not immediately returning to their allegiance, will be liable to have their property on this side of the Sutlej confiscated, and declared to be aliens and enemies of the British government." On crossing the Sutlej, the Sikh army, under the command of Sirdar Tej Sing, invested Ferozepore on one side, and took up an intrenched position at the village of Ferozeshah, about ten miles in advance of Ferozepore, and nearly the same distance from Moodkee. Ferozepore was garrisoned with about 5000 troops, with twenty-one guns, under the command of Major-general Sir John Littler. The great object of the governor-general was to effect a junction between the separated portions of the Anglo-Indian army before an attack could be made upon them by the Sikhs. For this purpose orders were issued by the governor-general, while on his route, to the force at Umballah, with Sir Hugh Gough at their head, to move up towards Ferozepore by rapid marches. On the 18th those troops reached the village of Moodkee, and on that day a battle was fought, which will be best told in Sir Hugh Gough's own words. In his dispatch he writes:—"Soon after mid-day, the division under Major-general Sir Harry Smith, a brigade of that under Major-general Sir J. M'Caskill, and another of that under Major-general Gilbert, with five troops of horse-artillery, and two light field-batteries, under Lieutenant-colonel Brooke, of the horse-artillery, and the cavalry division, consisting of her majesty's 3rd light-dragoons, the body-guard, 4th and 5th light-cavalry, and 9th irregular cavalry, took up their encamping ground in front of Moodkee. The troops were in a state of great exhaustion, principally from the want of water, which was not procurable on the road, when, about three p. m., information was received that the Sikh army was advancing; and the troops had scarcely time to get under arms and move to their positions, when the fact was ascertained. I immediately pushed forward the horse-artillery and cavalry, directing the infantry, accompanied by the field-batteries, to move forward in support. We had not proceeded beyond two miles, when we found the enemy in position. They were said to consist of from 15,000 to 20,000 infantry, about the same force of cavalry, and forty guns. They had evidently either just taken up this position, or were advancing in order of battle against us. To resist their attack, and to cover the formation of the infantry, I advanced the cavalry, under Brigadiers White, Gough, and Martier, rapidly to the front, in columns of squadrons, and occupied the plain. They were speedily followed by the five troops of horse-artillery, under Brigadier Brooke, who took up a forward position, having the valley then on his flanks. The country is a dead flat, covered, at short intervals, with a low, but in some places, a thick low jungle, and dotted with sandy hillocks. The enemy screened their infantry and artillery behind this jungle, and such undulations as the ground afforded; and whilst our twelve battalions formed from echellon of brigade into line, opened a very severe cannonade upon our advancing troops, which was vigorously replied to by the battery of horse artillery under Brigadier Brooke, which was soon joined by the two light field-batteries. The rapid and well-directed fire of our artillery appeared soon to paralyse that of the enemy. And as it was necessary to complete our infantry dispositions without advancing the artillery too near the jungle, I directed the cavalry, under Brigadiers White and Gough, to make a flank movement on the enemy's left, with a view of threatening and turning that flank, if possible. With praiseworthy gallantry, the 3rd light-dragoons, with the 2nd brigade of cavalry, consisting of the body-guard and 5th light-cavalry, with a portion of the 4th lancers, turned the left of the Sikh army, and, sweeping along the whole rear of its infantry and guns, silenced for a time the latter, and put their numerous cavalry to flight. Whilst this movement was taking place on the enemy's left, I directed the remainder of the 4th lancers, the 9th irregular cavalry, under Brigadier Martier, with a light field-battery, to threaten their right. This manouvre was also successful. Had not the infantry and guns of the enemy been screened by the jungle, these brilliant charges would have been productive of greater effect. When the infantry advanced to the attack, Brigadier Brooke rapidly pushed on his horse-artillery close to the jungle, and the cannonade was resumed on both sides. The infantry under Major-generals Sir Harry Smith, Gilbert, and Sir John M'Caskill, attacked in echellon of lines the enemy's infantry, almost invisible amongst wood and the approaching darkness of the night. The position of the enemy was such as might have been expected from troops who had everything at stake, and who had long vaunted of being irresistible. Their ample and extended line, from the great superiority of numbers, far outflanked ours; but this was counteracted by the flank movements of our cavalry. The attack of the infantry now commenced, and the roll of fire from this powerful arm soon convinced the Sikh army that they had met with a foe they little expected; and their whole force was driven from position after position, with great slaughter, and the loss of seventeen pieces of artillery, some of them of heavy calibre; our infantry using that never-failing weapon, the bayonet, whenever the enemy stood. Night only saved them from worse disaster; for this stout conflict was maintained during an hour and a half ot dim starlight, amidst a cloud of dust from the sandy plain, which yet more obscured every object." This victory, however, was dearly purchased: amongst those who fell was Sir Robert Sale, the hero of Jellalabad, and Sir John M'Caskill. After remaining encamped for two days, Sir Hugh Gough moved with his whole force towards Ferozeshah, where the Sikh army was posted in a strongly entrenched camp, defended by a formidable park of artillery. Here a junction was formed between the troops under Sir John Littler and those of Sir Hugh Gough. About four o'clock on the afternoon of the 21st, the united forces advanced to attack the entrenched camp of the Sikhs. At this time Sir Henry Hardinge himself had joined Sir Hugh Gough; and he took an active part in the events of the day, as second in command. The camp of the enemy was in the form of a parallelogram, of about a mile in length, and half a mile in breadth, including within its area the strong village of Ferozeshah: the shorter sides looking towards the Sutlej and Moodkee, and the longer towards Ferozepore and the open country. The British troops moved against the last-named place, and their operations were thus detailed by Sir Hugh Gough:—"The divisions of Major-general Sir John Littler, Brigadier Wallace, and Major-general Gilbert, deployed into line, having in the centre our whole force of artillery, with the exception of one on either flank, and one in support, to be moved as occasion required. Major-general Sir Harry Smith's division and our small cavalry force moved in second line, having a brigade in reserve to cover each wing. I committed the charge of the left wing to Lieutenant-general Sir Henry Hardinge, while I personally conducted the right. A very heavy cannonade was opened by the enemy, who had dispersed over their position upwards of one hundred guns, more than forty of which were of battering calibre: these kept up a heavy and well directed fire, which the practice of our far less numerous artillery, of much lighter metal, checked in some degree, but could not silence: finally, in the face of a storm of shot and shell, our infantry advanced, and carried these formidable entrenchments: they threw themselves upon their guns, and with matchless gallantry wrested them from the enemy; but when the batteries were partially within our grasp, our soldiery had to face such a fire of musketry from the Sikh infantry, arrayed behind their guns, that, in spite of the most heroic efforts, a portion only of the entrenchment could be carried. Night fell while the conflict was raging. Although I now brought up Major-general Sir Harry Smith's division, and he captured and long retained another part of the position, and her majesty's 3rd light-dragoons charged, and took some of the most formidable batteries, yet the enemy remained in possession of a considerable portion of the great quadrangle, whilst our troops, mingled with theirs, kept possession of the remainder, and finally bivouacked upon it, exhausted by their gallant efforts, greatly reduced in numbers, and suffering extremely from thirst, yet animated by an indomitable spirit. In this state of things the long night wore away. Near the middle of it, one of their heavy guns was advanced, and played with deadly effect upon our troops. Lieutenant-general Sir Henry Hardinge immediately formed her majesty's 80th foot, and the 1st European light-infantry. They were led to the attack by their commanding officers, and animated in their exertions by Lieutenant-colonel Wood, who was wounded in the outset. The 80th captured the gun; and the enemy, dismayed by this countercheck, did not venture to press on further. During the whole night, however, they continued to harass our troops by fire of artillery, wherever moonlight discovered our position. But with daylight of the 22nd came retribution. Our infantry formed in line, supported on both flanks by horse-artillery, whilst a fire was opened from our centre, by such of our heavy guns as remained effective, aided by a flight of rockets. A masked battery played with great effect upon this point, dismounting our pieces, and blowing up our tumbrils. At this movement Lieutenant-general Sir Henry Hardinge placed himself at the head of the left, whilst I rode at the head of the right wing. Our line advanced, and, unchecked by the enemy's fire, drove them rapidly out of the village of Ferozeshah and their encampment; then, changing front to its left, on its centre, our force continued to sweep the camp, bearing down all opposition, and dislodged the enemy from their whole position. The line then halted, as if on a clay of manoeuvre, receiving its two leaders, as they rode along its front, with a gratifying cheer, and displaying the captured standards of the Khalsa army. We had taken seventy-three pieces of cannon, and were masters of the whole field. The force assumed a position on the ground which it had won; but even here its labours were not to cease. In the course of two hours, Sirdar Tej Sing, who had commanded in the last great battle, brought up from the vicinity of Ferozepore fresh battalions and a large field of artillery, supported by 30,000 Ghorepurras, hitherto encamped near the river. He drove in our cavalry parties, and made strenuous efforts to regain the position at Ferozeshah. This attempt was defeated; but its failure had scarcely become manifest, when the sirdar renewed the contest with more troops, and a large artillery. He commenced by a combination against our left flank; and when this was frustrated, made such a demonstration against the captured village, as compelled us to change our whole front to the right. His guns during this manouvre maintained an incessant fire; whilst, our artillery ammunition being completely expended in these protracted combats, we were unable to answer him with a single shot. I now directed our almost exhausted cavalry to threaten both flanks at once, preparing the infantry to advance in support, which apparently caused him suddenly to cease his fire, and to abandon the field." This victory, by which the enemy was driven to the banks of the Sutlej, was not achieved without heavy loss; and among the slain were Major Broadfoot, political agent in the north-western provinces, Colonels Wallace and Taylor, and Major Fitzroy Somerset, military secretary to the governor-general. The Sikh army retreated on the fords of the Sutlej, and, disheartened by the capture of its artillery, and the loss it had sustained in killed and wounded, crossed over to the other side of the river. Early in the next year the victorious British followed them, and pressed onwards to Lahore. Terms of peace were agreed on; and one of the stipulations between the two states was the disbandment of the Sikh force. The importance of these victories was acknowledged by government, and the people of England at large; who joined in admiration of the conduct of the governor-general, the commanders, and the troops, by whom the victory was achieved.

In the vicinity of Scinde Sir Charles Napier was employed in military operations against the mountain desert tribes on the right bank of the Indus, north of Shikarpoor.

This was a hazardous service, requiring, as Sir Henry Hardinge remarked, "on the part of the general, the utmost prudence, skill, and foresight; and on the part of the troops, the greatest fortitude in enduring the fatigues and privations to which they were exposed." In these operations, however, Sir Charles Napier was completely successful. On the 9th of March he wrote to the governor-general an account of his victory in these terms:—"I have to report to you the conclusion of the war against the mountain and desert tribes, who, driven into their last refuge, the stronghold at Truckee, have this day laid down their arms: the fort of Deyrah is destroyed; and Islam Boogtie, the only chief not a prisoner, is said to be a lonely fugitive in the Ketrau country, far in the north, and ruled by a chief whose daughter Islam married. To detail the movements which led to this result, would produce a despatch of greater length than is necessary; nor, indeed, could it be well understood, as no map exists of this part of Schwistan and Cutchee; suffice it therefore to say that the mountain tribes occupy a country of extensive deserts and barren mountains, stretching about one hundred and forty miles from east to west. Into this apex, or smaller part, we succeeded in driving the robber chiefs; but with great difficulty, for this part of the country is full of the most dangerous defiles. To enter them with a regular force is an operation which threatens it with destruction. The only credit to be acquired in such a war is that which results from patience, under privations created by the dearth of water, and the difficulty of getting supplies. These deprivations were borne by this whole force with so much good humour as to show that the eager desire of every one to do his duty absorbed all other feelings; and deserves my highest praise. These privations fell especially hard upon those hard-working and much-enduring men, called camp-followers. The result of this campaign may be divided into two parts—the physical effect and the moral effect. With regard to the first the results are as follows:—First, the total destruction of the robber tribes; Deyriah Khan, chief of the Jackranies, Dinanah Moondrannee, Sooliman Ramdanee, and Toork Ali, and their tribes, all surrendered on the 5th, accompanied by Jumea Khan, nephew of Beeja Khan Doomkie, with a large portion of that tribe. These men I pardoned, and saved from plunder, but on condition of their being transplanted into the Scinde territory. The great chief, Beeja Khan, and the rest of the Doomkies, refused to surrender on the proffered conditions. They held out till this day, when they were forced to submit unconditionally, together with Meer Hussen Notanee, a leading chief ot the Boogtie tribe, and his followers; also Mundoo Khan Doomkie, nephew to Beejar Khan, and Wuzeer Doomkie, son of Beejar Khan: Ali Sher Boordie, a minor desert chief, surrendered a week ago, and was the first who broke the coalition. The chiefs and their tribes who have held out have been deservedly plundered by the troops which I had despatched in all directions to intercept their retreat, with their baggage, cattle, and household furniture; almost everything has been taken except what was in possession of their women and children, who have been in no way molested, or even approached by the troops. The moral effect of this expedition has been:—1st. To spread a wholesome respect for our arms among the neighbouring nations, who, seeing that tribes so warlike and honoured among them have been broken to pieces without daring to fight a battle, even when posted in the celebrated fastness of Truckee, will form a just idea of the British power. Indeed, I have already received, within the last few days, letters from neighbouring tribes, asking me to attach their territory to Scinde, to be under the British rule, and thus to be protected from the pillage and misery in which they live. 2nd. The moral effect in Scinde will be to give confidence to the people; especially those bordering on the desert frontier, whose cries against the government during the last summer, for not affording them protection against the robber tribes, were both frequent and just; but the great heat at that time rendered it impossible to give them that protection. The example now made of the robber tribes, will show the people of Scinde that the government has both the will and the power to protect them."

THE STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

The war which France had waged in Algeria for a considerable period continued throughout the whole of this year and was marked by several reverses experienced by its forces.

Little of interest occurs in the annals of Spain during this year. The chiefs, Zurbano and Muro, were captured near Logrono, and were both shot. The hopes of Don Carlos were now cut off, and he was under the necessity of issuing this farewell address to the Spanish nation:—"Spaniards, my faithful defenders, called to the crown of Spain by imprescriptible rights, my sole desire has constantly been, the happiness of my beloved country. That happiness now requires my renunciation in behalf of my very dear eldest son, Charles Louis, prince of the Asturias. No sacrifice could be too great to me when the welfare of my land was at stake. I have willingly made that of the renunciation in behalf of my son, whom you will acknowledge as my lawful successor, and surround with the same affection and fidelity. He will, on his side, know how to reward, as they deserve to be, your loyalty and constancy in upholding the sound principles which alone can save Spain. In quitting public life, I feel great satisfaction and consolation in expressing my gratitude for the heroic achievements by which you have astonished the world, and which will ever remain engraven on my heart. Farewell, my constant defenders and faithful companions. Pray unto God with me that He may take pity on the miseries of our country, and vouchsafe us quieter and happier days." During the year some disturbances occurred at Madrid, and the state of Catalonia caused government considerable uneasiness; but these insurrectionary movements were finally put down, though not without loss of life.

At Rimini, in Italy, on the 23rd of September, a revolt broke out against the papal authority. A number of persons, armed with muskets, assembled in the Square-del-Corso; and when the garrison was called out the soldiers joined the populace, and a provincial junto was appointed. Other towns followed the example of Rimini, and emigrants from the Tuscan dominions united with the insurgents. Their leaders were Counts Biancoli, Pasi, and Beltrami; and they took up a position near Faenza; but being attacked by detachments of pontifical and Austrian soldiers at this place, they were finally compelled to fly for refuge into the Tuscan states, where they were protected by the grand duke, and whence, subsequently, they set sail for Marseilles.

During this year the King of Holland paid a visit to her majesty Queen Victoria, to which event, on his return to his dominions, in his speech to the States-general, he thus referred:—"The visit which I have paid to her majesty the Queen of England will contribute, I hope, to consolidate the good understanding which exists between the two countries and their governments. For my part, I shall retain the most agreeable impression of the welcome which I received on that visit."

CHAPTER LVII.

VICTORIA. 1845-1846


     State of Public Affairs at the Commencement of this Year,
     &c...... Meeting of Parliament..... Settlement of the Corn
     Law Question.

STATE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THIS YEAR, ETC.

A.D. 1846

The close of the last year and the commencement of the present, were marked by great activity among all classes on the subject of the corn-laws. The agents of the anti-corn-law league were everywhere active. Meetings were held in every part of England; and converts to the free-trade doctrine were made daily. Even the farmers at this time began to think that their interests were concerned in the matter; and some landowners adopted the views of the great leader of the movement, Mr. Cobden. A stimulus was given to the exertions of the free-traders in the failure of the potato crop in the autumn of 1845, both in England and Ireland. It was generally felt, indeed, that some alterations in the corn-laws must be made, and that government itself would be compelled to throw the trade open. While the hopes of the free-traders in Sir Robert Peel were thus excited, those of his own party seemed proportionably cast down. They, too, held meetings, and formed agricultural protection societies in every part of the United Kingdom. It was, in truth, evident to every man that a change was coming; and while the mass hailed the prospect with delight, the great landowners, witli some exceptions, stretched every nerve to stem the onward progress of free-trade principles. The hopes of the one party, and the fears of the other, were heightened by the quarrel with America concerning the Oregon territory. It was thought by all that the abolition of the corn-law would for ever destroy all chance of war between England and the United States, inasmuch as the latter country would see that its interest was concerned in cultivating that great blessing of life—peace. Coming events thus cast their broad and ample shadows before.

From the thirteenth century, downwards, there are numerous instances on record of the interference of the legislature with the course of trade in every department. A few centuries ago, indeed, it was usual to fix the prices of many articles of consumption; and that of corn was more interfered with than any other. One circumstance which led to this interference was scarcity; and another, the want of adequate means of internal communication, which often rendered it more profitable to the corn-factor to ship the surplus produce of our maritime districts to a neighbouring country, than to send it to other counties in England. As a remedy for these evils, exportation was prohibited. But such a measure, inasmuch as exportation would not take place except when a better price could be got abroad than at home, was a palpable injustice to the grower. On the other hand, when the general supply was supposed to be more than sufficient, importation was prohibited; but as wheat could never be imported except when it was cheaper in foreign countries than in our own, an injustice was done to the consumer. These restrictions failed to effect their object, and a third party was then fixed upon as the object of further legislation; from alternately restricting the export and import of corn, stringent restrictions were laid on the buying and selling of corn within the country itself. The buying of corn in one place, to sell in another, was even looked upon as an unnecessary and improper interference on the part of the dealers. Both the farmers and the people looked upon them as interlopers: men who had no right to deal in corn, and who, to enhance their own gains, increased the price without any profit to the former, and the manifest detriment of the latter. The complaints against them were so general that the legislature interfered. Protection to the growers of corn pervaded the legislature down to the period of 1815; but so badly were the arrangements for this purpose laid, that the protective laws were often abortive. Generally, the country raised more corn than it consumed—a sufficient cause for rendering protection inoperative. In 1773 the period closed during which this country commonly raised a surplus of corn beyond its own consumption, and the duties on importation became oppressive. Mr. Robinson brought forward the resolutions which were embodied in the celebrated corn-law of 1815. The report of a committee in 1814 fixed the remunerating price at 80s., and it was proposed absolutely to prohibit the importation of foreign wheat till it reached that price, and of colonial wheat till it reached 67s.; when over those prices, respectively, the imports were to be free. This measure was in itself oppressive, but it was made doubly so by the mode adopted for fixing the averages. These were fixed every three months upon the prices of the previous six weeks, and continued the same until the expiration of the quarter. However great might be the demands of the country for import, no rise of price could affect the scale of duties until the arrival of the next period for fixing the averages. The measure created a great sensation throughout the country, and met with much opposition in both houses of parliament; but it passed into law. Agriculturalists now considered that the price of 80s. per quarter for their corn was certain, and cheerfully entered into contracts with their landlords upon that basis. It soon, however, proved to be mere delusion. The three next years witnessed deficient harvests, which had the effect at one time of raising the price to 112s. 7d.; but the ports were at length opened, and in September, 1817, the price had fallen to 74s. The harvest of 1819 was an average one, and the price of corn through' the year, ranged at 72s. But this was a remunerating price, and the farmers and landowners were induced to increase the breadth of land sown, in the hope of selling the produce at remunerating prices. They were still convinced that the act of 1815 was efficient to protect their interests, and they should still flourish. But the harvest of 1821 was abundant, and the effect was such as to surprise, though it did not instruct them. The price of corn in July, 1821, was 51s., and the two next harvests being abundant likewise, the price sunk in August, 1822, to 42s. The law of 1815, therefore, had the effect of seducing the farmer into a course of conduct which induced ruin rather than prosperity. Committees were appointed to inquire into the causes of distress then prevailing among them. These inquiries were useless; but, by the year 1824, much of the capital invested in the poorer description of soils, under the stimulus of the high prices of previous years, was withdrawn, and less corn being brought to market, the price rose considerably, and an improved condition of the farmer took place accordingly. For several years nothing was done permanently to settle the terms upon which foreign corn could be admitted into the market. Colonial corn was still excluded till the average price reached 67s. In 1825, however, an act was passed, admitting corn from our North American colonies at a fixed duty of 5s. per quarter, till July, 1827; and by another act passed at the same time, corn from our other colonies was admitted at reduced duties: the stocks of corn in bond were further admitted for consumption at lower duties. In 1826 there was a partial failure of the corn-crops, and an order in council was issued in September 1st, admitting for home consumption oats and oatmeal, rye, peas, and beans, on the ground that there was great cause to fear that much distress might ensue to all classes of his majesty's subjects. A meeting of parliament was summoned in November, to indemnify ministers for this order in council, on which occasion Mr. Canning announced the intention of government early in the ensuing session to introduce a general measure on the corn-trade. This measure was brought forward soon after the next meeting of parliament; and its plan was a sliding-scale, with a more regular and artificial range of duties than those of the existing law; the object being to keep the price of wheat somewhere between 55s. and 65s. This bill passed the house of commons by a large majority; but the bill met with so much opposition in the upper house, that Mr. Canning, whose health was now declining, dropped the measure, and announced another of a similar character early in the ensuing session. Before that period arrived, however, Mr. Canning died, and the task of introducing the measure of 1828 fell to the share of Mr. C. Grant, then president of the board of trade. His resolutions differed from those of Mr. Canning, chiefly in making the protection afforded when the average price should range between 60s. and 70s. more restrictive by an amount varying from 3s. to 7s. per quarter. The new scale was also less regular in its construction; and thus afforded greater inducements to the commission of frauds upon the averages. This bill, notwithstanding, passed both houses: it being accepted by the landed interest as the best to be obtained in the then state of parties, and by their opponents as a step towards further reform. The scale of duties as established by this law fixed the price of 1s. per quarter when the average of six weeks per quarter was 73s.; but when the average was 60s. no less a sum than 36s. 8d. was to be paid for duty. From this period down to 1842 no further change took place in the corn-laws, though year after year the subject was agitated in one shape or the other, and committees were appointed to inquire into the state of agriculture. In the year 1842 her majesty's speech at the opening of the session recommended the taking of "the state of the laws which affected the import of corn" into consideration, and expressed regret at the continued distress in the manufacturing districts. For the measure brought forward by Sir Robert Peel, the reader is referred to the parliamentary debates of that year; it will be sufficient here to state, that in his resolutions he retained the sliding-scale, and introduced such amendments as he conceived would diminish the oscillations previously experienced under that mode of levying the duties. Up to the year 1846, Sir Robert Peel resolutely defended the measure passed in 1842; giving a decided negative to all the free-trade propositions moved by Lord John Russell and Messrs. Cobden and Villiers, with other members of parliament. His constant reply was, to these propositions, that his experience of the present system was not such as to induce him to propose "further change at present." He was at length convinced by the arguments of his opponents that the corn-laws were no longer tenable. He resigned office, promising Lord John Russell, whom he recommended to her majesty as his successor, his support in the final adjustment of this great question. There was no one, however, able to settle this question but himself; and when Lord John Russell failed in forming an administration, he resumed office with a fixed resolution, at the risk of being denominated a changeling and a deceiver of party, to open the English ports to all the world. How he grappled with and settled the question will be seen in the ensuing debates.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament reassembled on the 19th of February. As her majesty proceeded to the walls of St. Stephen, a significant incident occurred: at the corner of Bridge-street, one of the spectators exclaimed, "No monopoly!" at which her majesty smiled, graciously bowing, at which a hundred voices united in the shout of "God save the queen!" The speech delivered by the queen first referred to friendly relations with allied powers; to an adjustment of differences between the Ottoman Porte and the King of Persia, to negociations pending for the pacification of the states of Rio de la Plata, in which for several years a desolating and sanguinary war had existed; and to the convention concluded with France last year for the more effectual suppression of the slave-trade. On the dispute with America her majesty remarked:—"I regret that the conflicting claims of Great Britain and the United States, in respect of the territory on the north-western coast of America, although they have been made the subject of repeated negociation, still remain unsettled. You may be assured that no effort consistent with national honour shall be wanting on my part to bring this question to an early and peaceful termination." Having adverted to the estimates, and to the crime of assassination in Ireland, which was more flagrant than even in former years, her majesty proceeded to say:—"I have to lament that in consequence of a failure of the potato crop in several parts of the United Kingdom, there will be a deficient supply of an article of food which forms the chief subsistence of great numbers of my people. The disease by which the plant has been affected, has prevailed to the utmost extent in Ireland. I have adopted all such precautions as it was in my power to adopt for the purpose of alleviating the sufferings which maybe caused by this calamity; and I shall confidently rely on your co-operation in devising such other means for effecting the same benevolent purpose as may require the sanction of the legislature. I have had great satisfaction in giving my assent to the measures which you have presented to me from time to time, calculated to extend commerce, and to stimulate domestic skill and industry, by the repeal of prohibitory and restrictive duties. The prosperous state of the revenue; the increased demand for labour, and the general improvement which has taken place in the internal condition of the country, are strong testimonies in favour of the course you have pursued. I recommend you to take into your early consideration, whether the principles on which you have acted, may not with advantage be yet more extensively applied, and whether it may not be in your power, after a careful review of the existing duties upon many articles the produce or manufacture of other countries, to make such further reductions and remissions as may tend to insure the continuance of the great benefits to which I have adverted, and, by enlarging our commercial intercourse, to strengthen the bonds of amity with foreign powers."

Before proceeding with the address, Sir Robert Peel announced that on the next Monday, he should propose the appointment of a committee to consider the mode in which the house should deal with railway bills; and that on Tuesday, the following day, he would make, in committee of the whole house, a statement as to the intention of her majesty's government with respect to the commercial policy of the country, and the corn-laws.

The address was moved in the commons by Lord Francis Egerton. Lord Francis had long been a noted Conservative, and a supporter of the corn-laws; but he now avowed himself favourable to free-trade. The address was seconded by Mr. Beckett Denison. Sir Robert Peel rose to explain the late ministerial crisis, and his own views and measures. He attributed the cause which led to the dissolution of the cabinet, to that great and mysterious calamity—the failure of the potato crop. At the same time he confessed, that it would be uncandid to attribute undue importance to that one cause. "That particular cause," he continued, "appeared to me to preclude any further delay, and to require immediate decision—decision, not only upon the measures which it was necessary at the time to adopt, but as to the course to be ultimately taken with regard to the laws which govern the importation of grain." Sir Robert Peel continued to say he should have wished that another parliament should have had the opportunity of considering this question; but in the course of last autumn occurred that visitation of Providence, the consequences of which it was still difficult to foresee—the failure of the potato crop in Ireland, and in some parts of England—and it became a question whether it was not desirable to take immediate steps to meet the threatened evil. Government had instituted inquiries, and had received much correspondence from foreign countries on the subject; and from all the accounts they had received, it became evident that something must be done. The right honourable baronet next came to the explanation of what had occurred in the cabinet, and how he had been led to tender his resignation. He would not have abandoned his post, he said, if he had been supported by an unanimous government; but that was not the case, and he had no alternative but to quit office. Her majesty accepted his resignation, and of her own choice sent for Lord John Russell, who undertook the task of forming an administration. Their appeared every probability that the question would have devolved on his lordship; but before he went to Windsor to take a final farewell of the queen, he learned that Lord John had failed to form a government. On meeting Sir Robert, the queen informed him that so far from taking leave, she was obliged to require him to continue his services; and the colleagues who differed from him not having advised the formation of a cabinet on the principles of protection, and Lord John having failed, he did not hesitate to withdraw his resignation. Accordingly he resolved to meet parliament, prepared to submit those measures which he thought necessary to meet the emergency. These measures would be brought forward on Tuesday next, and therefore he would not anticipate the discussion. Lord John Russell rose to explain his conduct during the recent negociations, and how he had failed in forming an administration. Having received her majesty's commands, he called together those with whom he had been in the habit of acting, and had stated that he would endeavour to frame an outline of a measure on the corn-laws. He had previously been informed by Sir Robert Peel that it was not advisable he should state the details of the measure he should have brought forward under the responsibility of his own government: and, therefore, he had to consider what it would be the duty of his government to propose, should he succeed in forming one. The result of his exertions on this subject would be best explained by reading a letter which he addressed to her majesty:—"Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has the honour to state that he has found it impossible to form an administration. Lord John Russell was aware from the first moment, when your majesty was pleased to propose this commission, that there were very great difficulties in the way, which it required the most cordial co-operation on the part of his friends, and the firm support of a large portion of those who followed Sir Robert Peel to surmount. Those who have served your majesty and your royal predecessor in cabinet-offices during the administration of Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne, who were now in political connexion with Lord John Russell were consulted by him. They agreed on the principles by which they would be guided in framing a measure for the repeal of the corn-laws. Thus one great difficulty was surmounted. But, as the party which acts with Lord John Russell is in a minority in both houses of parliament, it was necessary to ascertain how far they were likely to obtain the support of Sir Robert Peel. Your majesty is acquainted with all that has passed on this subject. Lord John Russell is quite ready to admit that Sir Robert Peel has been willing, from the commencement to the end, to diminish the difficulties in the course of a new government prepared to attempt the settlement of the corn-laws. But Sir Robert Peel could not, of course, rely on the support of his political friends should the proposed measure be in their eyes dangerous and unwise. In this uncertainty of obtaining a majority in the house of commons it was absolutely necessary that all those who were prominent in the political party to which Lord John Russell is attached should give their zealous aid, and act in concert in the new administration. Lord John Russell has, in one instance, been unable to obtain this concert; and he must now consider this task as hopeless, which has been from the beginning hazardous. Lord John Russell is deeply sensible of the embarrassment caused by the present state of public affairs. He will be ready, therefore, to do all in his power, as a member of parliament, to promote the settlement of that question which, in present circumstances, is the source of so much danger, especially to the welfare and peace of Ireland. Lord John Russell would have formed his ministry on the basis of a complete free trade in corn, to be established at once, without gradation or delay. He would have accompanied that proposal with measures of relief to a considerable extent of the occupiers of land from the burdens to which they are subjected. But he will be little disposed to insist, as a member of parliament, on what may seem to your majesty's advisers an impracticable course. The country requires, above all things, an early and peaceable settlement of a question, which, if not soon settled, may, in an adverse state of affairs, cause a fearful convulsion." Lord John Russell concluded by expressing the obligations he felt to her majesty for the gracious manner in which she entrusted him with the task of forming the administration; and by stating that, whether in office or out of office, he should be ready to give his assent to measures calculated to benefit the country, without reference to the proposer. Mr. D'Israeli was not so liberal in his sentiments. As the champion of protection, he asked, what would be thought of a statesman who, having served under four sovereigns, came forward and declared that, after an observation of three years, he had found it necessary to change his convictions on a subject which must have presented itself for more than twenty years to his notice?

The peers waved their right to discuss these great topics on the first night of the session; awaiting the discussion in the commons. The Duke of Richmond endeavoured to bring on a debate; but ministers were taciturn; and after a long and discursive speech delivered by Lord Brougham, which touched upon the subjects of the Oregon dispute, the corn-laws, and Irish affairs, the address was carried. In the course of the evening, the Duke of Richmond wished the Duke of Wellington to explain the reasons which induced the government to accept and to re-accept office; but his grace said that he could not do so without her majesty's permission. On the following Monday, however, the noble duke explained their reasons in his own plain, straightforward, and characteristic manner. What these reasons were has been touched upon before.

SETTLEMENT OF THE CORN-LAW QUESTION.

The house of commons resolved itself into committee on Tuesday, the 3rd of February, to consider that portion of the speech from the throne referring to the commercial policy of the government. Sir Robert Peel commenced his speech by bespeaking the patient indulgence of the house. He was about to act, he said, on the assumption adopted in the queen's speech, that the repeal of prohibitory duties, and the relaxation of protective duties is in itself a wise policy. He was about to act on the presumption, that during the last three years, notwithstanding the relaxation of heavy taxes, there had been increased revenue, increased demand for labour, increased commerce, increased comfort, contentment, and peace in the country. Passing on to the explanation of his views and designs, the right honourable baronet said, that within the last three years, the tariff, that is, the whole scheme of customs' duties, had been submitted to the review of parliament; and the general principle of the changes then effected was, to remit the duty on raw materials, and to subject foreign manufactures to a duty of twenty per cent. Notwithstanding the fears of a falling revenue, those remissions were carried further: in 1844, the duty on wool was altogether reduced; in 1845, the duty on cotton-wool. Almost the only articles of the nature of raw material still subjected to duty were timber and tallow; and he now proposed to reduce these. Tallow, which was chiefly imported from Russia, had a duty on it of 3s. 2d. per hundred weight; he proposed, mainly with a view to our own interests, and partly to induce Russia to follow our liberal policy, to reduce it to Is. 6d. With respect to timber, he could not yet state particulars, as the details needed careful adjustment. The course which government would probably take would be a gradual reduction of the existing amount of duty, where it should rest a certain time lower than at present: the reduction being so apportioned, if possible, as to prevent any derangement of internal trade by inducing parties to withhold the supply of timber, in the hope of realising a large amount of duty; and yet at the same time, as the importation of timber from the Baltic partook in some respect of a monopoly, care would be taken that the reduction of duty should be an advantage, not so much to the producer as to the consumer. Having given the manufacturer the advantage of a free command, without any impost, of the raw materials which enter into his fabrics, he should call upon the manufacturers of the three great articles which entered into consumption as the clothing of the great body of the community, to give a proof of the sincerity of their convictions as to the impolicy of protective duties, by consenting to relax the protection on their manufactures. These three great articles were linen, woollen, and cotton manufactures; and he asked the manufacturers of these at once to set the example to others, by relaxing, voluntarily and cheerfully, the protection they enjoyed. It should not be said, that he considered only the "great interests," and injured the minor interests. As the case now stood, the great articles of the cotton manufacture, such as calicos, prints, &c, were subject to a duty of 10 per cent, on importation; while cottons made up, as cotton stockings, &c, were subject to a duty of 20 per cent. With respect to the former articles, he proposed that they should be duty free; and that the duty of 20 per cent, on the manufactured articles of cotton in a more advanced state should be reduced to 10 per cent. He proposed also to call on the manufacturers of linen and woollen to relinquish protection on the coarser manufactures used in the clothing of the great body of the people. There would be some loss to the revenue; but he believed that the importation of some articles competing with the production of our manufacturers would stimulate their skill; and, with the capital and enterprise of this country, he did not doubt but they would beat foreign manufactures. At present woollen goods which were made up were subject to a duty of 20 per cent.: he proposed they should be reduced to 10 per cent. Flax was a raw material, he continued, imported free of duty: the duty will be taken off the coarser manufactures; on the finest and made up kinds it would be reduced one half. Silk enjoyed apparently a protection of 30 per cent., practically ranging indeed to 78, or even 145 per cent, on some made up articles, such as net and bonnets, or turbans: but a false reliance was placed on that protection. It was a delusion: many houses in London and Paris undertook to introduce silken goods into this country at half the duty. The revenue and the trade were robbed by the smuggler; and the manufacturer was deluded by an unreal protection. With respect to silks, he proposed, therefore, to adopt a new principle. The general rule would be, enumerating each article of silk manufacture, to levy a duty of so much per pound, giving an option to the custom-house officers of levying for every £100 value of silk, a duty of 15 per cent. Sir Robert Peel went on to explain the reduction of duties on paper-hangings, carriages, metal manufactures, soap, &c, most of which articles are noticed in a subsequent page. By the measure of 1842, he continued, the tariff was greatly simplified. There were one thousand articles still on the list, five hundred of which were free of duty: he proposed that many other articles should be relieved from duty. Brandy and foreign spirits were to be reduced from 22s. 10d. per gallon to 15s. With respect to sugar, he could not enter into details; and he feared his proposition would not satisfy all parties. He would still exclude slave-labour sugar; but on free-labour sugar, the differential duties would be reduced from lis. 8d. for clayed sugar, to 8s.; for Muscovado, from 9s. 4d. to 5s. 10d. He next came to the articles connected with agriculture; first taking those not immediately used as food for the people. On leek and onion seed, he said, the duty was 20s. per cwt.: he proposed to reduce it to 5s. With reference to maize, or Indian corn, he proposed that the duty upon it should hereafter and immediately be nominal. By removing this duty he did not conceive that he was depriving agriculture of any protection. Maize was generally used in the United States, and partly for human food: and he believed that, though it was disregarded in this country, on parts of the Continent it was made into excellent food. His object in providing for its free importation was the better feeding of cattle, which would be an advantage rather than a detriment to the agriculturist. Buck-wheat was to be subject to the same rule: maize and buck-wheat, and the flour of these corns, were to be admitted duty free. "Rice feed," as a substitute for the expensive article of linseed-cake was also to be introduced, for the better feeding of cattle, duty free. He now came to the food of man. He feared that his proposal would not satisfy both sides—those who insisted on protection, and those who insisted on its total abolition. He could assure both that his desire was, without any favour or undue partiality, to suggest that which he believed to be just, and calculated to terminate that conflict, the continuance of which all must regret. He considered that it was for the public advantage, at least, to lay the foundation of a final settlement of this question; but he was not about to propose the immediate repeal upon grain. But first he explained his course with reference to other articles. Butter, the duty of which was 20s. per cwt., hops £4 10s., and cured fish 2s., were each to be reduced one half. On those articles which constituted meat as distinguished from grain, namely, fresh or salted beef, salt or fresh pork, potatoes, vegetables of all sorts, and un-enumerated articles of the kind, he proposed a total repeal. The duties on live animals also would be abolished. Some urged him to make a distinction in the importation of lean or fatted cattle, as it was unfair to levy an equal amount on both kinds: his proposal to admit materials for fattening cattle would meet that objection. He hoped that these advantages would be considered as somewhat a compensation for any immediate loss that might be felt by the introduction free of the other animals. He asked those connected with agriculture, while he was proposing these reductions, to bear in mind that he had already proposed the removal of protection from some of the great articles of manufacture connected with clothing in this country. He directed their attention not merely to the protection connected with the land, but asked them to remember that he had called on the manufacturers to set the first example of the relinquishment of protection. They would bear in mind that their farm servants and domestics would be able to command a cheaper supply of clothing; and they would, therefore, be disposed to follow the example of those whom he had called upon to make the first example of relinquishment. Sir Robert continued:—"I will now state, with the permission of the house, the proposal which I mean to make on the subject of grain. I propose that, from the passing of the act, some articles shall be admitted duty free. On the one hand, I do not propose the immediate repeal of the corn-laws; but in the hope of a final arrangement, of preventing undue apprehensions, and giving time for the adjustment of agriculture to the new state of circumstances, though I propose a temporary continuance of protection, I propose it on the distinct understanding, that, after the lapse of a certain time, foreign grain shall be imported into this country duty free. I am deeply convinced that any intermediate proposal would be of no avail. It would have been entirely out of my power to explain or to suggest any modification of the existing corn-law with a guarantee that it should be continued. The choice is either between the maintenance intact of the existing amount of protection in every particular, or laying the foundation for an ultimate settlement by means of ultimate freedom. I propose, therefore, a considerable reduction in the existing amount of duties; and I propose that the continuance of the duty so reduced shall be for a period of three years; that it shall then continue till that period of the year in which I believe there will be least inconvenience in the termination of that protection. I propose that on and after the 1st of February, 1849, oats, barley, and wheat shall be subject only to that nominal rate of duty which I have proposed to apply to maize and buck-wheat. But what shall be the intermediate state of the law during the continuance of these three years?" Sir Robert Peel then explained the duties on wheat, oats, and barley, which will be found in a subsequent page; after which, he stated that the arrangement of them would be accompanied by other provisions, calculated, if not to give compensation, at least to advance the interests of the agriculturists. "Take," he said, "some of the burdens on land, and see whether they are not capable of alleviation, not by their transfer to others, but by introducing reforms into their administration. Take that admitted grievance, the highway-rates. As railways advance, the parish highways will become of increased importance. There are 16,000 local authorities that have charge of these highways. There is a nominal surveyor to each parish—a surveyor who knows nothing about rates. Such a division of authority makes lax expenditure and bad management. An existing act of parliament authorizes the union of parishes for the management of highways; but the act is permissory—the union must be voluntary; and in very few cases has advantage been taken of the statute. I propose to make what is now voluntary, compulsory. Taking the scale of the poor-law, there will be 600 district authorities, instead of 16,000." Further aid would be given to agriculture in loans of public money for improvement of estates, to persons applying for assistance; the public to be secured against ultimate loss. The loans were to be made by the exchequer-bill commissioners, and the administration of the measure entrusted to the newly-appointed inclosure-commissioners; the preliminary expenses to be borne by the applicant for aid. An annual repayment by instalments was to be secured as a rent-charge, having priority over other charges; but the commissioners would have the discretion left to them of allowing objections made by parties already having a charge on the land. This alteration, Sir Robert said, he believed would lay the foundation for great agricultural improvement throughout the country. He further proposed to relieve the counties of the whole expense of prisoners, and place it upon the consolidated fund: the charges of that fund to be subject to periodical review in the house. The estimated cost of that change was £64,900. In England half the expense of the prosecutions, in Scotland all, is paid by the treasury: he proposed to make the treasury pay the whole in England and in Ireland. The relief would not be great; but it would be of importance, as giving greater control over prosecutions: the estimated expense in England was £100,000; in Ireland, £17,000. At present part of the police force in Ireland was borne by the land: he proposed to impose the whole expense on the state. He proposed, also, that government should bear a share in the cost of medical relief under the new poor-law act; half to be defrayed by government, half by local authorities—the estimated cost was £100,000 for England, and £15,000 for Scotland. Aid also would be given in providing education in workhouses; the unions to appoint, and government to pay the schoolmasters. The expense of this would be £30,000. Finally, government proposed to pay the poor-law auditors in England and Ireland, which would cost £15,000. Sir Robert concluded by thanking the house for the patience with which they had listened to his financial exposition.

A long and desultory conversation followed this explanation of the ministerial measure of free trade; several members avowing their determined hostility, and others promising unlimited support. At the suggestion of Sir Robert Peel, Monday, the 9th of February, was fixed for the day on which the discussion should commence. In order to enable the reader to understand rightly the reductions and alterations proposed in the tariff, it is necessary to glance at the resolutions proposed by Sir Robert Peel in committee of the whole house on the customs and corn act. The first resolution related to the importation of corn, grain, meal, or flour, setting forth the duties to paid until the 1st day of February, 1849, when the duties were wholly to cease. Thus, on wheat, when under 48s. per quarter, 10s. duty was to paid; and this duty was to be lowered Is. on the rise of wheat up to 53s., when there was to be a duty paid of 4s. for every quarter. Barley, oats, rye, peas, and beans, wheat-meal and flour, barley-meal, oat-meal, rye-meal, pea-meal, and bean-meal were by tire same resolution, taxed in equal proportion, until the 1st day of February, 1849, when these duties were likewise to cease and determine; or, at least, to pay only a nominal duty of 1s. per quarter on wheat, let the price be what it might, and the other corn in proportion to its value. By the second resolution, in lieu of duties of customs then chargeable on certain articles, reduced duties were, from the passing of the bill, to be exacted. These articles consisted of what might be termed the necessaries and luxuries of life; and the duties were reduced on some to the amount of one hundred per cent. The articles enumerated in the resolution were agates, or cornelians; ale and beer; almonds; amber (manufactures of); arrowroot; band-string twist; bailey, pearled; bast-ropes; twines, and strands; beads: coral; crystal; jet; beer or mum; blacking; brass manufactures; brass (powder of); brocade of gold or silver; bronze (manufactures of); bronze-powder; buck-wheat: butter; buttons; candles; canes; carriages of all sorts; casks; cassiva-powder; catlings; cheese; china or porcelain; cider; citron; clocks; copper manufactures; copper or brass wire; cotton; crayons; crystal (cut and manufactured); cucumbers; fish; gauze of thread; hair, manufactures of hair or goats' wool, &c.; hams; harp-strings; hats or bonnets of straw, silk, beaver, felt, &c.; hops; iron and steel, wrought; japanned or lacquered ware; lace, made by the hand, &c.; latten-wire; lead (manufactures of); leather (manufactures of)—calashes, boots, and shoes, of all sorts; linen, or linen and cotton, viz., cambrics, lawns, damasks, &c.; maize, or Indian corn; musical instruments; mustard-flower; paper, painted or stained paper, &c.; pencils, lead and slate; perfumery; perry; pewter; pomatum; pots of stone; puddings and sausages; rice; sago; seeds, garden, &c.; silk (manufactures of), &c.; silk-worm gut; skins (articles manufactured of); soap, hard and soft; spa-ware; spirits, viz., brandy, geneva, and other foreign spirits, &c.; steel manufactures; tallow; tapioca; tin; tobacco; tongues; turnery; twine; varnish; wafers; washing-balls; wax (sealing); whipcord; wire; woollen manufactures. If any of the articles here enumerated was the production of a British possession, they were to be admitted at a reduced duty. Thus, while the woollen goods of foreign countries were to pay £10 for every £100 value, those of British possessions were only to pay £5. By a third resolution the duties of customs, chargeable upon certain goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United Kingdom, were to cease and determine. These goods, wares, and merchandise were—living animals: viz., asses, goats, kids, oxen, and bulls; cows, calves, horses, mares, geldings, colts, foals, mules, sheep, lambs, swine, and hogs, and sucking-pigs; bacon; beef (fresh and salted); bottles of earth and stone; casts of busts, statues, or figures; caviare; cranberries; cotton manufactures, not being articles wholly or in part made up, not otherwise charged with duty; enamel; gelatine; glue; hay; hides, tawed, curried, or in any way dressed, not otherwise enumerated; ink for printers; inkle (wrought); lamp-black; linen, manufactures of linen, or of linen mixed with cotton, or with wool, not particularly enumerated, or otherwise charged with duty, not being articles wholly or in part made up; magna-grocia ware; manuscripts; maps, and charts; matresses; meat, (salted or fresh), not otherwise described; medals; palmetto-thatch manufactures; parchment; pens; plantains; potatoes; pork, fresh and salted; silk, thrown or dyed, viz., silk, single or tram, organzine, or crape-silk; thread, not otherwise enumerated or described; woollens, viz., manufactures of wool, not being goats' wool, or of wool mixed with cotton, not particularly enumerated or described, not otherwise charged with duty, not being articles wholly or in part made up; vegetables, all, not otherwise enumerated or described; and vellum.

Sir Robert Peel announced the intentions of government with respect to the reductions in the timber duties on Tuesday, the 10th of February. He was anxious to make the statement at the earliest opportunity, on account of the importance of the subject, and as the American mail was on the eve of sailing from Liverpool. "We propose," he said, "to make ultimately a reduction in the differential duty on foreign timber, so that the duty shall remain after the reduction at 15s., instead of the present amount. I think on hewn timber the duty is now 25s.; we propose to reduce it 15s. But, with the view of insuring to the consumer as great a benefit as possible, the Baltic timber-trade partaking now very much of the nature of a monopoly, in consequence of the very great demand for it, we do not propose that the reduction shall be immediate. We propose that from the 5th of April, 1847, the period of the year we think most suitable for making a reduction of duty, the duty on hewn timber shall be reduced by 5s.; and on the 5th of April, 1848, by another 5s. With respect to sawn timber maintaining the same proportions, the reduction of duty ought to be 6s. on the 5th of April, 1847, and another 6s. on the 5th of April, 1848. With respect to the smaller description, such as lath-wood, spars, and oars, the reduction will be proportionate."

Such were the great measures of free-trade brought forward by the government. By the people they were not met with any national demonstration, or by any well-pronounced declaration. The signs of the prevalent opinion, however, were well seen in various quarters, particular as well as general, official as well as popular. Meetings were held in various parts of the country, but success was very partial; and if there was no enthusiastic and unqualified manifestation of the abolition of the corn-laws on the part of "the country," the opposition to it proved, to be disjointed and petty in the extreme. In parliament the Conservatives put forth all their remaining strength to check the onward progress of free-trade. On the 10th of February, the day fixed for the resumption of the discussion, a "monster debate" commenced, which, as will be seen, continued for some weeks. It was brought on by Mr. P. Miles, who, on the motion that the house resolve itself into a committee, moved that it should do so on that day six months. The measure was further opposed by Lord Norrys, Sirs W. Heathcote and J. Walsh, and Mr. W. S. Lascelles: Lord Sandon and Mr. Cochrane, both of whom were Conservatives, supported it. Lord John Russell proceeded to discuss the mode in which Sir Robert Peel had treated the question. With the principles of the measure he agreed; but he advocated immediate abolition of the corn-laws, and hoped that Sir Robert Peel would reconsider that part of his plan. His lordship concluded by drawing a contrast between the disinterested support which the Whigs were now giving to the free-trade measures of a Tory government, and the factious opposition which the Tories gave to the same measure when proposed by a Whig government. He thought that if the free-trade measures of the Whig government had been allowed to pass when originally proposed, much of the sufferings of 1842 would have been avoided; and that if Sir Robert Peel had then been true to himself, he would have escaped, much of the invective now heaped upon him. After a few words from Sir Robert Inglis and Captain Fitzmaurice in support of the amendment, and from Mr. S. Herbert in favour of the measure, he having "changed his opinion on the subject," on the motion of Mr. S. O'Brien, the debate was adjourned. The debate continued by adjournment up to February 28th, before any division or amendment took place: the opposition wishing to stop it on the very threshold. On the last night of the debate the house was addressed by Mr. Cobden, who complained that extraneous matter had been introduced into the discussion to a greater extent than had ever been introduced previously into any corn-law debate. The two main topics, he said, on which it had turned, were the conduct of ministers and the propriety of an appeal to the country. The people of England believed that the discussion on the first topic was a quarrel got up for no other purpose than to evade the real question, and to conceal from public observation that there was no justification for the corn-laws. He assured their opponents that the more they covered ministers with obloquy, the more sympathy they would obtain from the country. In point of fact they were making ministers popular: if Sir Robert Peel were to visit the manufacturing districts, his march through them would, be one continued triumph. Even Sir James Graham, who had rendered, himself unpopular by certain measures, by his magnificent contribution to free trade, and still more by the nightly attacks which had been made upon him during this debate, had become an object of popular sympathy in Manchester and Liverpool. As to the wish of the protectionists to appeal to the country, nobody knew better than they did, that they had no chance of obtaining a majority at the next election. Three months ago he had said that the advocates of a free trade had no chance of obtaining that majority; but now that the protectionists were a broken party, and had lost all the talent and intelligence which formerly directed their tactics, the case was altered, and it wras they who had now no chance of success in an appeal to the constituency. Speaking of the intelligence of the people on this subject, Mr. Cobden remarked:—"I will tell you what my thoughts were, as T sat at home patiently reading these debates. As I read speech after speech, and saw the fallacies which I had knocked on the head seven years ago reappearing afresh, my thought was, What fun these debates will afford the men in fustian jackets! All these fallacies are perfectly transparent to these men; and they would laugh at you for putting them forward. Dependence on foreigners! Who in the world could have supposed that that long-buried ghost would come again to light! Drain of gold! Wages rising and falling with the price of bread! Throwing land out of cultivation, and bringing corn here at 25s. a quarter! You forget that the great mass of the people now take a very different view of these questions from what you do. Seven years ago they gave in to your reiterated assertions that wages rise and fall with the price of bread. You had a very fair clap-trap against us, as we happened to be master manufacturers, in saying that we wanted to reduce wages. But the right honourable baronet at the head of the government, and the right honourable baronet, the home-secretary, are not suspected by the English people of having such motives on these questions. The English people have no disinclination to refer to high authorities on these matters. They assume that men high in office have access to accurate information; and they generally suppose that those men have no sinister motive for deceiving the great body of the people on a question like the present. You see I do not underrate the importance of your leaders having declared in favour of free trade. On the contrary, I avow that that has caused the greatest possible accession to the ranks of the free traders. Well then, the working classes, not believing that wages rise and fall with the price of bread, when you tell them that they are to have corn at 25s. per quarter, instead of being frightened, are rubbing their hands with the greatest satisfaction. They are not frightened at the visions which you present to their eyes of a big loaf, seeing they expect to get more money, and bread at half the price. And then the danger of having your land thrown out of cultivation! Why, what would the men in smock-frocks in the south of England say to that? They would say, 'We shall get our land for potato-ground at 1/2 d. a lug, instead of paying 3d. or 4d. for it.' These fallacies have all been disposed of; and if you lived more in the world, more in contact with public opinion, and less within that charmed circle which you think the world, but which is anything but the world—if you gave way less to the excitement of clubs, less to the buoyancy which arises from talking to each other as to the effect of some smart speech in which the minister has been assailed, you would see that it is mere child's play to attempt to balk the intelligence of the country on this great question, and you would not have talked as you have talked for the last eleven days." Mr. Cobden proceeded to discuss the effect of the march of free trade on farmers; proving to demonstration that they were not alarmed by it, and that they were at the very time the discussion was going forward, and with a certainty of the repeal of the corn-laws in prospect, taking farms at a higher rent, and engaging to drain lands at great cost. Speaking of public opinion on protection, he said:—"What is this boasted protection? The country has come to regard it as they regard witchcraft—as a mere sound and a delusion. They no more regard your precautions against free-trade than they regard the horse-shoes that are nailed over stables to keep the witches from the horses. They do not believe in protection; they have no fear of free-trade; and they are laughing to scorn all the arguments by which you are trying to frighten them. How can protection, think you, add to the wealth of a country? Can you by legislation add one farthing to the wealth of a country? You may by legislation, in one evening, destroy the fruits and accumulations of a century of labour: but I defy you to show me how, by the legislation of this house, you can add one farthing to the wealth of this country? That springs from the industry and intelligence of the people of this country." In conclusion, Mr. Cobden called upon the protectionists cheerfully to make concessions for the good of the community. The debate was closed by Lord George Bentinck, who condemned the proposition of government as vicious in principle, and likely to be deeply injurious, not only to agriculturists, but to all the great interests of the country, On a division, the amendment was negatived by a majority of three hundred and seven against two hundred and forty.

This great fact was now apparent to all men. The Conservatives, however, did not yet give up the struggle, though they fought as men in despair. Having failed in defeating the measure in the whole, they sought to defeat it in its details. On the house resolving itself into committee on the customs' acts, amendment after amendment was moved by them; and when these were all negatived, they commenced another struggle to defeat the second reading. A division on the second reading took place on the 28th of March, which was carried by a majority of three hundred and two against two hundred and fourteen. Nor yet was the battle won. As if exhausted by the struggle, both parties rested awhile from the strife; but it recommenced on the 5th of May, on a motion that the house resolve itself into a committee of the whole house on the corn-importation bill. This was opposed by Lord George Bentinck, who was considered as the champion of protection; he moved that the speaker do leave the chair that day three months. No division took place on his lordship's amendment, and the house resolved into committee on the corn-law importation act. Amendments were moved on some of its clauses, but they were all either negatived or withdrawn; and by the 9th of May the report was brought up. Sir G. Burrell moved that the report should be received that day six months; but after a long discussion, which was more distinguished for personal attacks than for sober argument, the amendment was withdrawn, and the bill was ordered to be printed, and to be read a third time on the 12th. The third reading was on that day moved by Sir James Graham, and the final struggle in the house of commons on this great subject commenced. The Marquis of Granby moved that the bill be read a third time that day six months; and in doing so, he did not believe the measure would pass the legislature; but if it did, he hoped their anticipations of evil would prove inaccurate, and that the anticipations of Sir Robert Peel, however vague, would be verified. The debate on the third reading continued by adjournment up to the 16th of May, its opponents putting forth all their strength to defeat it—arguing and pleading for the corn-laws as though the very existence of England depended on their continuance.

On a division, the third reading was carried by a majority of three hundred and twenty-seven against two hundred and twenty-nine, and the bill was then read a third time, and passed amidst loud cheering.

The report of the customs' duties bill was brought up in the commons on Monday the 18th of May, and though strenuously opposed by Lord George Bentinck, and others of his party, was agreed to without a division; and on the morrow it was read a third time without either discussion or division, and passed.

On the 18th the corn-importation bill was introduced into the lords by the Duke of Wellington, who moved its first reading. The Duke of Richmond said that he could not permit the bill to be read even a first time without entering his protest against it. The first reading was carried without a division, the Duke of Richmond being the only peer who expressed dissent. The Duke of Wellington gave notice that he would move the second reading of the bill on Monday the 25th. This motion was introduced, however, on that day by the Earl of Ripon. The Duke of Richmond moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months; feeling it to be a measure likely to inflict a deadly blow upon British agriculture and the national greatness. The debate continued by adjournment up to Thursday the 28th of May, most of the peers being anxious to deliver their sentiments on this great subject. Lord Ash-burton justified the principles of protection. The system of protection, he said, was founded upon three grounds: it was necessary in order to secure industry; it secured us against dependence on foreign countries for food; and there were peculiar burdens upon the land, for which landowners were entitled to compensation. The debate was closed by the Duke of Wellington, who justified the measure in an emphatic speech, and warned their lordships, that if they rejected it, it would only be to have another brought before them. On a division, the second reading was carried by a majority of two hundred and eleven against one hundred and sixty-four.

The customs' duties bill was read a first time, after the stern opposition of the Duke of Richmond, in the house of lords, on the 20th of May. The second reading was moved by the Earl of Dalhousie on the 4th of June; in doing which is lordship stated generally the ground on which it was based. The noble lord went through the detail of the several articles of the tariff on which reductions were proposed, and concluded by repudiating the notion that the measure was one of pure free trade, and therefore did not go far enough: it was no free-trade measure at all; but one for the removal of prohibitive, and the gradual repeal of protective duties. The Duke of Richmond said, that after the decision to which their lordships had come on the corn-importation bill, he felt it was little use to trouble them with any remarks; and therefore he should content himself with moving that the bill be read a second time that day six months. After a few words from the Earl of Wicklow and Lord Ashburton against the bill, and from Earl Grey and Lord Monteagle in its support, the bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Monday week. Before proceeding with the tariff, however, their lordships went into committee on the corn-importation bill. The first night of the committee's sitting was Friday, June 12th; and the opponents of the measure brought forward so many amendments, that the several clauses were not gone through till the 19th. On that day, after all the amendments had been negatived, it was arranged that the report should be brought up on the 22nd; that afterwards the tariff bill should be proceeded with, as far as possible, and continued on the following day; and that on the 25th the corn-bill should be read a third time. In accordance with this agreement the report of the corn-bill was brought up on the following Monday, and the house went into committee upon the tariff-bill. Several amendments were proposed and negatived, and at length the opponents of the measure gave up the contest. On the following day the bill was reported without amendments, and ordered to be read a third time on Thursday with the corn-importation bill. Upon the motion for the third reading of these bills several noble lords, in opposition, urged their previous arguments, and entered their solemn protests against them; but all opposition was futile: they passed their final stage triumphantly, and on the morrow, Friday, the 26th, the royal assent was given to them by commission, and they became laws.

Thus triumphed Sir Robert Peel. Yet with his triumph as a patriot came his downfall as a minister. Simultaneous with these great and twin measures, the corn-bill and the customs-bill, he had brought in a protection life-bill for Ireland. The premier, in bringing in this bill, was aware that the Whigs, who had supported him in his great free-trade measures, would be to a man adverse to any coercive measure for that country; and his only hope of success was that those of his recent colleagues whom he had so grievously offended by striking the final blow at their darling measure, the corn-laws, would forget their resentment, and act according to their conscience, in a matter which, under ordinary circumstances, and according to their usual policy, would have obtained their hearty support. That hope was vain. They, his former stanch adherents, considered that government had forfeited all claim to their confidence, and therefore declined "to supply them with unconstitutional powers." The protection life-bill was thrown out by the commons—the Tories uniting with the Whigs, that they might crush a man whom they had idolized—by a majority of seventy-three, although it was urged by stern necessity, and enforced with the whole weight of a triumphant cabinet. On the day after the triumph of the corn-bill and the customs-bill, the premier went down to Osborne-house to tender the resignation of his ministry, in his retirement he carried with him the sympathy and admiration of the great body of the people. All felt that he had not only benefited England by these great measures, but all the world. Nor must the name of Cobden be forgotten in this achievement. The retiring premier, indeed, nobly attributed the whole triumph to that long-tried champion of free-trade. But the names of Peel and Cobden will ever be associated in the annals of the country, as the names of those who struck the final blow at laws which enriched the few at the cost of the whole population.

CHAPTER LVIII.

VICTORIA. 1846


     Position of the Conservative Party on the Defection of Sir
     Robert Peel, and the Parliamentary   Success of his  Free-
     Trade  Measures..... Formation of a Whig Cabinet..... The
     Sugar Duties..... Dreadful Condition   of Ireland.....
     Decline of Mr. O'Connell..... The Young Ireland Leaders.....
     Colonial Affairs..... War with the Sikhs..... Foreign
     Affairs..... Coolness with France..... Spanish Marriages

POSITION OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY ON THE DEFECTION OF SIR ROBERT PEEL, AND THE PARLIAMENTARY SUCCESS OF HIS FREE-TRADE MEASURES.

A.D. 1846

The adoption of a free-trade policy by Sir Robert Peel disorganised the conservative party, then more frequently designated Protectionist. The chief difficulty arose from the scarcity of talent in its ranks, and, therefore, the apparent impossibility of procuring a leader. At last the commons and the country were startled by the announcement of a new conservative chief in the person of Lord George Bentinck. So unfavourable were the antecedents—at all events, the immediate antecedents—of this nobleman, that the announcement of his name as the leader of the Protectionists excited the mirth of parliament, which found a loud echo in the country. After the public press had lampooned him—the Times scarcely condescending to launch its thunders, only allowing a distant rumble to be heard—after the Examiner had exhausted its pungent and polished satire, and Punch had caricatured the noble member for King's Lynn, and while yet his own party scarcely ventured to hope anything from his leadership, Lord George proved himself an orator and a debater, a party tactician, and an energetic, vigilant, intelligent chief of opposition. Perhaps no public man ever burst so suddenly upon the house of commons as a leading party politician. He had been well known as a member of parliament, had conciliated general esteem, and won extensive respect, as a private gentleman, from both sides of the house; but as a politician he had scarcely been noticed, nor had he taken any pains to make himself felt in debate: his irruption, so to speak, upon the ranks of the ministerialists, was sudden and effective. Mr. Disraeli has written an elaborate memoir of the noble lord, which exaggerates his capabilities and achievements, and in a style less eloquent than showy, holds up his policy to the admiration of his country. Mr. Disraeli, however, pays in many respects a tribute that is no more than just to the memory of Lord George, and his book affords material for an impartial judgment. At that period the noble lord was a distinguished patron of the turf: all England knew him as a sporting gentleman, a first-rate judge of horses, and an extensive winner on the course. In allusion to his habits in these respects, it became a popular sneer that the Conservatives required "a stable mind," after the versatile performances of Sir Robert Peel, and they had at last found such in Lord George. But although his whole mind had apparently been given up to the turf, it was not actually so. He had been a member of parliament for eighteen years, and was a shrewd observer of party, as he was of men and things in general life. Before entering parliament he had for three years served as private secretary to Mr. Canning, whose sagacity was seldom at fault in the selection of persons of indisputable ability. The great statesman was connected with Lord George, for he married the sister of the Duke of Portland. The young nobleman's powers of observation were such, that he was not likely to be in constant and intimate communication with such a man as Canning, without gleaning some political intelligence and experience. After Lord George entered parliament he remained for some time in the army, but gradually abandoned his military tastes for those of the turf, and his speculations in that direction were carried out on a scale of unprecedented magnitude. Politically, his sympathies and opinions appear to have been what might be designated Conservative-Whig. When the partisans of Mr. Canning left the Duke of Wellington's administration, Lord George Bentinck ranged himself in opposition. Under Earl Grey's administration, he sat on the ministerial side of the house. The Mends of Mr. Canning, who were associated with Lord Grey, entertained high opinions of Lord George's talents for official and administrative service, so that he was requested to accept office, but he declined. These offers were repeatedly renewed, under the same auspices, and as often rejected. He desired to be unfettered in his parliamentary position, and freely gave up the chances of Downing Street for those of the race-course. He voted for the reform bill, and afforded a cordial and constant support to that and nearly every measure of the whig administration, until Lord Stanley abandoned the party. To that noble lord he was personally and politically much attached, and of Mr. Spring Rice, afterwards Lord Monteagle, he also had a high opinion; but no friendship nor influence was sufficient to retard what may be called his retrograde course: like his friend, Lord Stanley, he became less and less a Whig, and finally stood in the foreground of Conservatism. He was a warm supporter of the Irish Roman Catholics, but did not appear ever to have understood their political tactics. His sympathy for what is termed Pusey-ism may have accounted for his leanings to the Irish Romanist party, although in this respect, according to Mr. Disraeli, "he was for the Established Church, and nothing more." According to the same author he was a Whig of 1688. It is admitted that his personal prejudices were strong; but those who allow this maintain that he had no prejudice as to things, but examined all doctrines and theories with a strong common sense and a clear judgment. His painstaking to inquire after truth is much vaunted by his biographer; but his speeches as leader of the Protectionists do not reveal this quality,—for while no orator of the time, not even Sir Robert Peel, relied more upon statistics, or at least made a larger use of them, no advocate of any cause was ever more unfortunate in the data selected as groundwork for argument. Such was the man in whom the conservative opposition found a leader, when despairing of being again able to form an effective and organised opposition. It was on the 27th of February, 1846, that Lord George made his début in his new capacity. His speech was excellent in everything but its logic. Modest yet courageous in manner, plain but not ungraceful in style, his address told upon the house. The tone, however, was too aristocratic for the place and the times, and his arguments proved that he had not mastered the controversy, into the midst of which he had so chivalrously launched. He brought forward numerous details; but his facts were, as they say in Ireland, "false facts." He had not investigated the science of political economy, or the condition of the nation, but had only "crammed," as they say in college phrase, for the occasion and the controversy. He had industriously read whatever was written, and listened to whatever was said on the side of protection, but had not followed the counsel of an ancient adviser—audi alteram partem; and the result was that even the most transparent fallacies of the Protectionists were uttered by him with an air of serious but honest importance, as if they were truths which he was raised up irrefragably to establish by new and original arguments. When a free trade in corn was at last sanctioned by the legislature, Lord George continued to offer an industrious, courageous, and ingenious opposition, and by the vigour of his mind and the incessant energy of his attacks, kept up the party life of the opposition, which he resuscitated and led. Lord George looked upon himself as the champion of a class; to save or serve the aristocracy, irrespective of the interests of the masses of the people, was, in his opinion, patriotism, and he was willing "to spend and be spent" in that service. Throughout the debates on the customs bill, and upon the measures of reduction of duties generally which Sir Robert Peel proposed, Lord George offered an animated and pertinacious, although unavailing opposition.

At this juncture the state of Ireland was melancholy in the extreme. Unlawful confederacies were formed among the peasantry and small farmers, and outrages of the most sanguinary character were perpetrated in the open day. Disaffection pervaded the masses of the Roman Catholic population, and language of daring menace was employed towards the government by the popular leaders of every rank, both in and out of parliament. Neither life nor property was safe, in any part of the country, except where the Protestants predominated. The loyal and peaceable petitioned for some measures of protection, and this class was indignant that the government did not propose laws which would afford security to the well-disposed. Sir Robert Peel listened to these demands, and prepared a bill, known as the "life-protection bill," which was very stringent in its nature, and proposed utterly to disarm the whole population, except under restrictions which would not be felt by the peaceable inhabitants, but would reach effectually the disaffected masses. This bill was at first supported by both the Whigs and Tories, acting under a sense of the common danger to society in Ireland, which would exist so long as the refractory populace had easy access to arms. The efforts to procure both fire and side-arms, all over the country, were extraordinary; this fact alarmed the Whigs, and made them feel disposed to support Sir Robert: the Conservatives were always ready to entertain repressive measures for Ireland. Both parties at last perceived that the tendency of the bill was to strengthen Sir Robert's government, and, therefore, although they supported the first reading, they determined to give it, in its future stages, a determined opposition. The ground taken by Lord John Russell, as the whig leader, was, that if Ireland was criminal she was also oppressed; that measures of coercion and redress should proceed pari passu. He would not support repression, unless accompanied by relief. Lord George Bentinck, as the conservative leader, took different ground. He admitted that the state of Ireland was such as to require extra constitutional remedies, but such ought not to be entrusted to any but constitutional ministers; that Sir Robert did not advise her majesty in the spirit of the constitution, and he (Lord George) would not therefore confide so large a responsibility to his administrative discretion. The union of the two parties ensured the minister's defeat, although the first reading was carried after seven nights' debate. Sir W. Somerville, then a popular and influential member of the whig party, proposed an amendment on the 9th of June, when the bill was brought up for a second reading; the amendment was its postponement for six months, and was carried by a large majority. This decided the fate of the Peel administration. During the debate Lord George Bentinck gave an unhappy proof of his inaccuracy of statement and party spirit. He accused Sir Robert Peel of having made up his mind in favour of Roman Catholic emancipation, before he turned Mr. Canning out of office on that very question. This allegation was made in terms of the bitterest reproach, and was placed in such a form and light before the house, as, if true, must have left the impression that Sir Robert was a man destitute of all principle and honour. The following Friday, the 12th of June, the honourable baronet exculpated himself in one of the happiest speeches which he ever delivered in parliament. On this occasion Mr. Roebuck defended Sir Robert, and assailed Lord George with much justice and more acrimony; but the speech was well received by the house, and by the country, and increased the honourable member's reputation as a debater and a politician. Mr. Hume, then in the zenith of his influence, followed up the blows so heavily dealt by Sir Robert and Mr. Roebuck. The efforts of Lord George's followers to cover his disastrous defeat were feeble and fruitless. It was not until the 20th that the amendment proposed by Sir William Somerville on the 9th was carried, and on the 29th the announcements were made in the lords and commons that ministers had resigned. The Duke of Wellington made it known to the lords, as the ministerial leader in that house, and never was a similar communication so laconically delivered. Sir Robert made a long speech, vindicating his policy and his personal consistency, and declaring his unabated confidence in the measures in favour of free-trade, which he had been enabled to carry, and which he averred would bring peace, contentment, and prosperity to the country. The farewell address of the minister was rendered still more remarkable than it otherwise would have been, by his announcing that the Oregon dispute with the United States had been amicably adjusted. This was well received by the house and by the country, although, perhaps, neither had given such attention to the nature of the differences between the two countries on that subject, or the character of the adjustment. The foreign policy of Sir Robert had neither been firm nor dignified, and the basis of the settlement of the Oregon dispute was simply concession on the part of England. There can be no great merit in a minister preserving peace by giving up everything, or nearly everything, for which he might have to go to war. On this principle our foreign politics would be easy enough to all administrations, and the only talent really necessary would be, the ability to persuade parliament that, in conceding what was justly ours, we saved the expense of defending it, and that such a course was wise, honourable, and statesmanlike. The spirit infused into our foreign policy by Sir Robert, and which the Earl of Aberdeen too faithfully represented, proved, afterwards, costly alike to our resources and our honour.

On the resignation of Sir Robert, her majesty sent for Lord John Russell, and confided to him the task of forming an administration. His lordship succeeded in this object, and presented himself to parliament as first lord of the treasury and prime-minister, with Lord Cottenham as lord-chancellor, Lord Lansdowne as president of the council, Mr. Charles Wood as chancellor of the exchequer, and the three chief secretaries of state—home, foreign, and colonial—were Sir G. Grey, Lord Palmerston, and Earl Grey.

The public were not displeased with the formation of a whig ministry, although, had the parliament been dissolved upon the question simply of Sir Robert or Lord John, the former would have had an overwhelming majority. Some discontent was expressed with the prevalence of the Grey family in the cabinet—three members of that connexion in three of the principal offices gave too much patronage and influence to a single family, especially as their nepotism had brought discredit upon the late earl, even in the height of his popularity. The chancellorship of the exchequer, and the home and colonial secretaryships, being now in the hands of this aristocratic house, the departments, it was alleged, would be overwhelmed with scions and proteges of the noble lord, the representative of the race. Some of the liberal journals sneered at the administration as "the Grey government" from the beginning, and prepared the minds of the more radical portion of the people for an administrative failure. The conservative press caught up the tone of the Radicals, and ridiculed the new whig government in similar terms, affecting to feel a constitutional alarm and jealousy at the prevailing influence of "the Grey sept."

When Lord John appeared in the house as the head of the government, Mr. Duncombe, one of the members for Fins-bury, a popular and patriotic commoner, challenged the premier to make a full and explicit statement of the principles upon which he intended to administer the affairs of the country. This appeal met with a noble response in a clear, manful enunciation of free-trade principles, justice to Ireland, peace as far as that could be maintained in justice and honour, and the "maintenance and extension of religious liberty, which, together with its civil liberty, had made England conspicuous as one of the greatest nations of the world."

The first parliamentary measure introduced by the Whigs was a plan for the better regulation of the sugar duties. On the 20th of July Lord John introduced his plan, which he professed would meet the wishes and expectations of the producer, the consumer, and the treasury. His proposal was substantially a protective duty of twenty shillings the cwt. upon all foreign Muscovada sugar, to be diminished annually in a certain ratio, so that in 1851 it would be only fifteen shillings and sixpence, and after that year permanently fourteen shillings. This was a great advantage to the consumers as compared with the old prohibitory duty of sixty-three shillings, and the protective duty of twenty-three shillings and fourpence. Lord John met the objections of "the negroes' friends," as to the admission of slave-grown sugar, by showing that the exclusion of such sugar was impracticable, inasmuch as by treaty, states producing slave-grown sugar were entitled to demand its admission under "the most favoured nation clause." To conciliate the West-India interest, his lordship announced that it was his intention to introduce a bill giving the queen power to assent to any act of the West-India legislatures, modifying or abolishing the differential duties established there in favour of British goods. As these differential duties were only five or seven per cent., the West-India interest considered that his lordship mocked them by a show of concession. The whole of that interest was "up in arms," as their parliamentary and colonial opposition, moral and political, was described. This interest had not joined the Conservatives in resisting the repeal of the corn laws, but, nevertheless, it now supplicated conservative support in impeding the measures of the ministry. The English landed interest was anxious to strengthen itself by the aid of the West-India planters and merchants, and therefore affected to be generous, and to repay evil by good. Lord George Bentinck's boastful words were paraded before all monopolists to induce their co-operation with his party—"If we are a proud aristocracy, we are proud of our honour, inasmuch as we have never been guilty, and never can be guilty, of double-dealing with the farmers of England, of swindling our opponents, deceiving our friends, or betraying our constituents." The West-India party was happy to gain help from any quarter, and joined "the farmers' friends" in adopting Lord George Bentinck as their leader. The premier had proceeded by "resolution," as it is constitutional to do in all measures affecting the public revenue. When the resolution was reported, Lord George moved as an amendment, "That in the present state of the sugar cultivation in the East and West-India possessions, the proposed reduction of duty upon foreign slave-grown sugar is alike unjust and impolitic, as tending to check the advance of sugar produced by British free labour, and to give a great additional stimulus to slave labour." In support of this amendment the noble mover paraded a vast array of "facts and figures," which made a wonderful show of industry and knowledge; but his statistical statements were illusory as his logic was unsound. The awkward manner in which his amendment was expressed embarrassed his arguments and those of his party, justifying the description of him in the following passage of his memoir, written by Disraeli:—"He had not much sustained his literary culture, and of late years, at any rate, had not given his mind to political study." Sir Robert Peel gave the government a qualified and hesitating support. He started so many objections to the government measure that the opposition might have fairly looked for his support, but he answered his speech by his vote. In the course of his oration he predicted evils which never came to pass, and after all that had occurred, even his own glorious triumph in repealing the corn laws, the speech proved that he was not only an unwilling reformer, but that he had not clear and fair convictions of the truth of the great principles of political economy, that he was still the man of mere political expediency, and almost as jealous as ever of all bold attempts at theoretical or practical reform. The support of Sir Robert, such as it was, saved the government, for on this question, at all events, he held the balance of power. The debate lasted through the nights of the 27th and 28th, the West-India interest affecting great horror of slavery, and depicting the encouragement the measure would give to that evil in terms of great and even pious alarm. Never did a party resort more scandalously to cant and hypocrisy to serve a purpose than this, on the memorable occasion of "the sugar debate." The resolution was carried, and a bill embodying it rapidly passed the commons, but was resisted in the lords with much tenacity of purpose. This was in a considerable measure the result of a remarkable petition presented to that house by Mr. Clarkson, of whom Mr. Wilberforce had been a disciple. Mr. Clarkson was a philanthropist and a Christian, but neither a political economist nor a politician. The Bishop of Oxford proposed an amendment, on the second reading, which would have virtually destroyed the bill; but the original motion was carried, and the remaining stages were unobstructed.

This was a most important measure to the comfort of the people and the commerce of the country. The government was logically and politically right; and the Whigs left the impression upon the country, by the bill itself, and the arguments by which they conducted it through the house, that they had been of late successful students in the important department of economics. A considerable stir among the wealthy and influential body of English citizens, the Society of Friends, was created, by the support which Mr. Bright, Mr. Crewdson, and others of the Quakers of the north of England, gave to the sugar bill. The body at large considered that support inconsistent with their professed principles. Mr. Bright, and those who took his views, eloquently defended themselves against the criticisms of the Friends, and Mr. George Thompson, the celebrated anti-slavery lecturer, espoused their cause with great ardour. Mr. Bright and his fellow-labourers of the Quaker persuasion were in a minority. The great body of the Friends disapproved of his conduct, and the old anti-slavery party throughout the country joined in the disapprobation. Mr. Bright was not a man to be deterred by friends or foes from pursuing a course which he thought right, and he persisted in giving to the government a very hearty and efficient support. The Manchester school accepted the bill with great favour, and upheld the ministry in carrying it. Large assemblages were convened in Manchester and the manufacturing districts, but especially in South Lancashire, Cheshire and Staffordshire, on behalf of the measure, and the various chambers of commerce and commercial associations passed resolutions or sent petitions in its favour. It was a good beginning for Lord John as premier, and conduced to the tenure of office which he was enabled to maintain.

THE CONDITION OF IRELAND.—DISTURBED STATE OF THE COUNTRY.—DISAFFECTION

OF THE POPULACE.—FAILURE OF THE POTATOE CROP.—DISTRESS.—AGITATION BY THE YOUNG IRELANDERS.—DECLINE OF O'CONNELL.

Some notice has been taken of the condition of Ireland as leading to the dissolution of the Peel ministry. It is appropriate to resume here the thread of Irish history. The affairs of that country, politically and socially, became rapidly worse. From day to day the people of England were startled with tidings of fierce conflicts which faction waged, the disloyalty of the great majority of the people, the relentless cruelty with which the Ribbon Society exacted its victims, and the continued pressure of famine and sickness upon the physical life of the people. Ireland, so long conversant with misery, was still to taste the cup in all its bitterness. Everything meant for her good by the legislature brought with it some new form of evil, or aggravated some that existed. She had sought and obtained emancipation, but while her arms wore no longer a manacle, she still clanked her broken chain, and with it smote her benefactors or wounded herself. The removal of restrictions from commerce, effected by Sir Robert Peel, she regarded as an injury; the majority of Irishmen believed that the repeal of the corn laws was designed to enrich England at the expense of Ireland, and that it was the most fatal blow ever given to her agricultural and commercial prosperity. There were many enlightened Irishmen who advocated the repeal of the laws which made the food of the people dear;—of seven men who met in Manchester to form the anti-corn-law association, out of which sprang "the League," at least two were Irishmen. Perhaps the man to whom that cause was originally indebted, more than to any other, was Archibald Prentice of the city just named, a native of Scotland; but among his earliest and most earnest coadjutors were Irishmen. The merchants of the three principal cities in Ireland—Dublin, Cork, and Belfast—favoured Sir Robert Peel's law, especially those of the enlightened and enterprising town last named; but the Irish agriculturists, and the inhabitants of the country generally, resented it as a new Irish grievance! Lord George Bentinck did not misrepresent the feeling of the Irish people towards the free-trade movement, when he claimed the country, with some exceptions only, as on his side. Even the educational boon, so recently accorded by parliament, was regarded as a religious affront. "The Queen's colleges" were denounced by Mr. O'Connell and the priests as "godless colleges." In parliament he opposed, in Ireland he vituperated it.

A new phase of mischief gradually ripened during the year 1846. O'Connell had taught the people habits of political organisation, and while he had so wielded the masses thus organised as to prevent insurrection, he kept the government in continual alarm, lest some sudden outbreak should rend society and deluge the country with blood. The "agitator" professed to hold the doctrine of moral force in opposition to physical force; but while he proclaimed that the liberties of Ireland were "not worth the shedding of one drop of blood," and in long letters and speeches declared that whoever committed crime was his enemy, and the enemy of Irish freedom, he palliated those crimes, when committed, defended the criminals, shifted the blame to the Protestants, the local authorities, the government, the law, or the Saxon; and so wrote and spoke as was calculated to lead the perpetrators of outrage to regard themselves as having an excuse for their crimes, in their own condition or that of their country. The general feeling of the disaffected in reference to Mr. O'Connell's exhortations of peace was, that he was only sincere so far as expediency dictated; that he had no other objection to physical force than his conviction that the prospects of success did not warrant recourse to it. Accordingly, whilst a great display was made of carrying out his "moral force" policy, and his "pacificators" were the ostensible preservers of the peace,—taking the credit themselves, or claiming it for their chief, of preventing an open insurrection,—murder, incendiarism, assault, and religious persecution were carried out in detail. When any were arraigned, no scruples were entertained as to the means by which conviction might be prevented; perjury, intimidation, and assassination were among these instrumentalities. When convicted, the criminal was regarded as suffering for his religion and country, although the crime for which he was condemned was some cruel and cowardly assassination, or attempt to commit such. "The liberal press," as the newspapers devoted to the agitation were designated, was filled with extenuations or denials of the culprit's guilt, and the most vengeful attacks were made upon all who sought to enforce the laws, and preserve peace and life from the ruffian hands of the Ribbonmen, and "the moral force agitators." Lord John Russell has often resorted to finesse in his parliamentary tactics which has not always done him honour, but he never erred in this respect more egregiously than when, withdrawing the Irish arms bill, he reported that the law had its unimpeded course, that juries did their duty, and that crime was effectually restrained. So far from juries doing their duty, it was difficult in the provinces to obtain convictions, where a portion of the jury were O'Connellites, if the person before them was arraigned for an agrarian offence, or an outrage against the persons of those who were loyal. Neither Whigs, nor Protestants who were politicians of a school yet more free, nor liberal Roman Catholics who respected the law, or enforced their rights as landlords, were spared by the secret societies, any more than the most rabid Tories or the most flaming Orangemen. A reign of terror prevailed through the country; the perpetrators of outrage were everywhere, and the popular masses sympathised with them. An illustration of the state of things then prevailing was afforded in the following paragraph from the Illustrated London News of the 21st of February, 1846:—

"On Friday (last week) Bryan Seery was executed at Mullingar. The conviction took place under the following circumstances:—Some time since Sir Francis Hopkins was shot at by a man in Westmeath; Sir Francis tried to seize the assassin, but he escaped; and afterwards Seery was captured. The sole witness to the prisoner's identity with the assassin was the prosecutor: the defence was the common Irish defence—alibi, which was of course sworn to stoutly, as it always is in Ireland. One jury could not agree to the verdict, two Roman Catholics standing out against conviction: a second jury condemned the man: efforts to procure commutation of his sentence failed, and he was left for execution. Seery, at the place of execution, solemnly denied his guilt. A circumstance highly characteristic of the feeling of the public occurred. The morning was calm—the sounding of bugles and peeling of drums were heard in all directions: there was a perfect cessation of business in the town. About ten o'clock all the shops were closed, and not a single human being was to be seen in the streets—not one individual came in from the country. Thus the people determined to mark their opinion of this awful tragedy, for all regard Seery as a martyr. At eleven o'clock the military were paraded before the gaol, and not one human being appeared before the scaffold but themselves and the police. Even the magistrates of the county stayed away—not one of them appeared, except Mr. Uniacke, who walked up and down with Captain Despard. Under the imposing head of the 'Mullingar Tragedy,' the reporter of the Dublin Freeman furnishes that journal with a long and highly-coloured account of the interment of Bryan Seery. The melancholy spectacle took place on Sunday, in the presence of vast multitudes of the country people, whose numbers were estimated by the writer to amount to fifty thousand or sixty thousand souls."

On other occasions the populace attended the execution of criminals in large numbers, and exhibited their sympathy by demonstrations of respect and of regret for their fate, speaking of them as "the blessed martyrs" for their religion, or their country, or both. An execution took place at Nenagh, in the county of Tipperary, early in June, which was thus noticed in a paper, neither unfavourable to the rights of the people, nor the exercise of the utmost clemency on the part of the government towards the misguided:—"Three men were executed at Nenagh on Friday (last week), pursuant to their sentences; two—namely, Patrick Hayes and Patrick Rice—for conspiring to murder the late Mr. Patrick Clarke; and one, named William Fogarty—for shooting at Mr. M'Donald, a steward in the slate quarries. An immense multitude collected to witness the scene. The three men were accompanied to the drop by Roman Catholic clergymen. They died after a brief struggle, having made no public confession of their crimes. A large police force of one hundred and fifty men, and a company of the 72nd depot, comprised the guard in attendance. All was quiet and peaceable, says a local paper, and nothing heard but the moanings of the friends of the culprits. After the usual time of hanging, the bodies were lowered into coffins, and given to the relations. The long respite obtained by these men whilst various points of law were urged in their favour, gave much additional interest to their cases."

Executions did not, however, extinguish the prevalence of crime, nor were the precautions of the executive sufficient to wrest the weapon from the murderous hand. A Galway paper, in "the liberal interest," recorded a murder near the junction of that county with the county of Clare, immediately after the execution at Nenagh, and various others of a similar character throughout the country. This atrocity was very much in character with those which disgraced the whole south and west of Ireland, and which, to a less extent, took place in the north and north-eastern portions of the land:—"We regret to state that, on the night of Thursday (last week), a barbarous murder was committed at a village near Woodford, in this county. The unfortunate object of the assassin's vengeance was a man named Pat Hill. Two persons came into his house, and brought him out of his bed to a place about forty yards distant, and there inflicted no less than forty-two bayonet wounds on his person, besides a fracture of the skull. His wife, hearing his screams, went to his assistance, and, having begged for mercy, she was told by the heartless ruffians that if she did not go away, she would herself be treated in a like manner. Having completed their purpose, the miscreants, who are unknown, walked off, and their victim almost immediately expired. An inquest was held at Portumna, when a verdict of 'Wilful murder' was returned against persons unknown. Deceased was in rather comfortable circumstances, and bore a most excellent character."

While disaffection, secret societies, fanatical intolerance, and wide-spread personal outrage cursed unhappy Ireland, the failure of the potato crop intensified every other form of evil to which the country was subjected. Very early in the year it was obvious to intelligent observers that the failure of 1845 would be exceeded in 1846. The distress developed itself very early. In February the Rev. W. B. Townend, rector of Aghadda, in the diocess of Cloyne, county of Cork, published a letter, in which he thus described the sufferings and the prospects of the people:—"In this part of Ireland we are in a frightful state—the humbler classes are all living on the contaminated potato; the sides of fields and gardens literally covered with rotten ones, thrown away. The detail of destruction is endless. That employment should be wanted for the people, while one-third of Ireland is as much waste as the woods in Canada, and the rest badly cultivated, not affording half labour, is a strange anomaly."

Later in the year the Rev. J. B. Tyrwhitt, an English clergyman of the Established Church, settled in Keny, published an account of the sufferings and prospects of the people of the south and west of Munster, truly appalling. The reverend gentleman wrote in the celebrated Vale of Iverah, where the O'Connells held property, and exercised an almost absolute sway:—"The prospects of the people of this very poor barony, and all along from the River Kenmare, Sneem, Darrynane, to Cahirciveen, and thence towards Killorglin, is harrowing and startling. The whole potato crop is literally destroyed, while over a very wide surface the oat crop presents an unnatural lilac tinge to the eye; at the same time, in too many instances, the head is found flaccid to the touch, and possessing no substance. The barley crop, too, in many places, exhibits the effect of a powerful blight. In some places, also, where turnips have been grown, they present—as, indeed, has been the case in other parts of the county—a healthier exterior in top and skin, but, on being opened, are found deeply impregnated with a taint similar to that which has smitten the potato, to such an extent, that one cannot stand in the blackened fields without being overpowered by the offensive effluvia."

From the county of Clare statements arrived in London, if possible, more appalling. Early in April pestilence manifested itself in various places, and the county of Tipperary was disturbed by famine riots, independent of the normal disturbances which subjected that county to such misery, and earned for it so terrible a reputation. At Clonmel food riots assumed a formidable appearance, and the military had to guard the flour mills. The Roman Catholic clergy exerted themselves successfully to soothe the minds of the peasantry, and prevent that increase of their sufferings, which would result from the plunder of private property. The peasantry of Ireland were not addicted to robbery, and whatever outrages fanaticism, political and religious, might goad them to commit, the necessities of their famishing wives and children alone could cause them to resort to plunder. Thus, at a large and peaceable meeting of the peasantry in the county of Galway, at the end of April, they made this declaration:—"If employment be not immediately given, we can no longer stand the distress under which we are suffering." Of course it was necessary to put down tumult and protect property, and very painful were the duties which in consequence devolved upon the civil and military power. Ex uno disce omnes. At Kilsheelan, between the counties of Tipperary and Waterford, an occurrence took place, which was described in the language of one of the leading journals of the south of Ireland in the following terms:—"On Thursday morning, in consequence of information received by the magistrates, they very prudently had cars stationed in the barracks for the prompt conveyance of the troops in case of necessity; and subsequent proceedings will show how very judicious and prudent their arrangements were. In a short time an express arrived in town stating that an immense mob was plundering the boats at Kilsheelan, within four miles of Clonmel, and forthwith a party of the 33rd got on the cars and proceeded to the scene of outrage, together with a party of the 1st Royal Dragoons, under the command of Major Galloway. Mr. J. Bagwell, Mr. W. Riall, Major Shaw, and Sub-inspector Fosberry accompanied them, and when within a short distance of the scene of plunder, word reached them that the robbery going on was most extensive. Mr. Fosberry and a mounted policeman immediately galloped on, and when they reached the spot, the scene which met their view is more easily imagined than described. An immense multitude were plundering the boats; a vast quantity of Indian corn, the property of Mr. Going, of Caher, was destroyed or made off with, and a quantity of wheat, the property of Mr. T. Hughes, was also stolen and destroyed. The military quickly came up, and a regular engagement took place. Stones were firing in all directions—several soldiers were struck; Mr. Fosberry received a blow of a stone in the leg, and it was not until some time had elapsed that this lawless rabble were subdued, and thirteen of them taken prisoners and brought into our gaol. Nothing could exceed the coolness of our magistrates, officers, and soldiers during this rencontre, and we are happy to say that a portion of the wheat was retaken."

Such was the state of Ireland up to the harvest time of 1846, when, unhappily, all the fears of men, such as have been quoted, and the predictions of Sir Robert Peel, were fulfilled. There was another failure of the harvest; the crops of potatoes and oats suffered to such an extent as to increase, many fold, all the miseries previously experienced, and the dangers previously apprehended. Five millions, five hundred thousand tons of potatoes, and five millions two hundred thousand quarters of oats, below the average, was produced that harvest. The estimated loss in money, from the deficient produce of the year, was sixteen millions pounds sterling!

The efforts to mitigate these evils were manifold. Subscriptions were raised in every part of the British Isles, and, indeed, in every part of the British empire. From various places on the continent, especially France, donations were transmitted in either money or food. The Sultan of Turkey sent a generous contribution to the common stock of relief. From the United States of America supplies also came. The world might be represented as laid under contribution to relieve the miseries of Ireland. The government also made great exertions. Sir Robert Peel's administration made secret and extensive purchases of Indian corn, which were sold, or distributed gratuitously, according to circumstances. By donations for public works, and "general presentments," Sir Robert Peel also prepared for the coming disaster. He had expended in this way more than eight hundred thousand pounds, a little more than the half of which had been repaid by rates levied in Ireland under the powers intrusted to the grand juries. Lord John Russell, soon after he passed his sugar duties bill, made proposals to parliament calculated to meet the distress as it then existed, and in some measure to anticipate the relief which he foresaw would be required. He proposed to empower the lord-lieutenant to summon sessions of counties and of baronies, to consider the propriety of making public works for the relief of the poor, and to give to those sessions, under certain circumstances, authority to determine upon what works were desirable or necessary, which the board ot works would upon such decision execute. The imperial treasury was to make advances for carrying on these works, to be repaid in ten years at three and a half per cent, interest. Grants of £50,000 each would be made to certain poor districts which would be unable to repay advances. His lordship moved resolutions embodying these proposals, which were carried, and a bill founded upon them passed through both houses with the utmost rapidity. The introduction of these measures seemed to produce a good effect on Ireland, for crime and outrage abated. The ministers took advantage of this circumstance to claim great merit for their administration, and, on the 28th of August, when parliament was prorogued by commission, the speech delivered ascribed to her majesty great satisfaction in the relief so cordially provided by parliament for the Irish poor, and the beneficial effects produced. These tokens of returning peace were as the morning dew, which soon passes away, and the measures of parliament, notwithstanding their magnitude, were soon proved to be inadequate. The government acted, however, with generosity and courage, although their wisdom and administrative aptitude were not equally conspicuous. During a portion of the interval of the reassembling of parliament, in January, 1847, the government, unauthorised by parliament, expended a million sterling per month. The cabinet felt assured that parliament would indemnify and England approve. Immense supplies of Indian corn and other articles of food were carried by government steamers to such points of the coast as were convenient for their prompt dispersion to the interior. The labourers on the public works were paid from one shilling to one shilling and sixpence per day. In the county of Mayo, where the distress was peculiarly aggravated, nearly half a million sterling was expended in public works, in districts the Ordnance valuation of which was little more than half that amount. These works were unproductive, and baronies were pledged to their whole value, some for a year, and others for several years, in repayment of the grants, although the plan of repayment to the government was, that only half the amount advanced should be refunded. Many private individuals, both in Ireland and in Great Britain, exhibited a noble generosity; and the heroic self-sacrifice of clergymen, medical men, and others, in the midst of the famine and plague-stricken people, cannot be too much commended. The liberality and exertions of the Irish residents in England and Scotland was much to their own honour and to the reputation of their country. Notwithstanding all these exertions, the aid of the government and of private individuals was abused, and the annals of the world do not contain any narrative of ingratitude and selfishness more base than those which record the transactions of certain classes of the Irish people during that terrible crisis. Many of the landed gentry took occasion to have their own fences and private roads repaired at the public expense, and there were few parts of the country where "public works" did not mean improvements of the domains, and the creation of roads to the mansions of the gentry. The Roman Catholic chapels, and the ways of access to them, were also treated as "public works." The conduct of "the Board of Works" was far from unimpeachable, and men distinguished in her majesty's service cut a poor figure in connection with the inquiries and discussions to which the modes of managing the public relief ultimately led. The moral effect of the charity was most injurious to the country, whatever its material advantage in the urgency of the occasion. This was exemplified in many ways. The peasantry were unwilling to bestow a fair amount of labour upon works of acknowledged utility, although paid nearly double the ordinary rates of wages; they lazily preferred public works, so that there was a scarcity of hands to gather in the imperfect harvest until the government partially withdrew its competition from the labour market. Considerable numbers of farmers, some of whom held as many as sixty acres of land, applied for tickets from the relief committees, and were placed upon the public works, thus drawing off the money from the legitimate objects of aid. Small farmers in numbers received gratuities of Indian corn and other food, whose means were such as ought in common decency and common honesty to have prevented such an application. The local committees acted with partiality and injustice, and numbers of the peasantry perished of starvation, while the greedy, who were not necessitous, preyed upon the public charity. In the county Clare, five thousand persons were struck off the lists of those who were employed by the labour rate, and who, it is scarcely necessary to add, rendered no return for the money they had received, for the ostensible labour was in these cases a sham. The most scandalous of all the exhibitions of want of probity which the crisis developed was the revival of efforts to procure arms. The peasantry, farmers, town-population—all of every rank—sought to possess themselves of weapons of war, especially firearms. The demand for powder and percussion-caps was as eager as for weapons. Birmingham was kept busy; every hand in the gun-making trades there was employed; Sheffield was also labouring at sword cutlery, and in the manufacture of daggers and bayonets; while the smithies of Ireland were extensively engaged in the manufacture of pike heads. The money expended by benevolent persons and by the government on the vast scale which the emergency and a noble compassion dictated, was employed to procure arms which those who purchased them intended to turn upon the hands that fed them as soon as opportunity allowed. Whatever thanks might be felt by the peasantry towards those who on the spot gave of their private store to mitigate the pangs of the sufferers, no gratitude was entertained to the British public or to the government. Starving Ireland armed to strike down her benefactors with weapons procured by the misuse of the boon whicli these benefactors had extended. However painful it may be to relate the story of such turpitude, truth constrains it: the Irish peasant begged, that he might arm against the charitable hand that succoured him. Persons actually perished leaving some, money, with which surviving relatives, in the depths of their misery, purchased arms. It was thought that no other opportunity so favourable would arise to turn the gold of the Saxon into steel, which might be pointed against his own breast. The object most at heart with the famishing crowds was the ascendancy of their religion, to be accomplished by the subjugation of British authority; for this they famished and bought muskets and horse-pistols, powder and percussion caps, old swords and bayonets. To such an extent was this carried that in Clonmel, a town of about 18,000 inhabitants, and where the people rioted for food, as already recorded, nearly twelve hundred stand of arms were sold in a few days. These were purchased by the silver which the government Board of Works had paid in the charitable employment of the people on non-productive labour.

Much difficulty arose, in the distribution of gratuitous supplies of food, from the routine of the public offices. So complex were the details which the under-officials were obliged to observe, that men actually perished while a useless routine correspondence was being conducted. It was satirically said by an English observer, "the delivery of a few quarters of English corn to those who want it requires as much correspondence and documentary forms as a chancery suit."

The refusal of grand juries to "present" was another obstacle to the prompt relief of the people. They were unwilling to carry into force the presentment act, because the money advanced should be one-half repaid, and, while held as a loan, be chargeable with interest. These bodies, which refused presentments on grounds that it was not desirable or necessary to make them, were amongst the most clamorous in the kingdom for their share of patronage in dispensing the money and food for which no repayment was to be made.

POLITICAL AGITATION.—YOUNG IRELAND.

During the progress of all this misery and turbulence, and while the government required to put forth all its energies to mitigate the one and suppress the other, Ireland was torn by political factions, and the voice of party was never for a moment silent. On previous pages the reader will find the state of Irish parties depicted as they stood in 1845. Throughout the year 1846 some new phases of the political spirit of the people were presented. O'Connell still declared that the only remedy for Ireland was the repeal of the union; and that while he gave a modified support to a whig government, so long as it sincerely attempted the melioration of Irish circumstances, he merely did so to prove that he was not a partisan, and in the hope of eventually bringing all men to believe that no effectual redress for the wrongs of Ireland was to be expected from the imperial legislature—that Ireland's only hope lay in "a native parliament." This the great agitator declared he would obtain by moral force only, if the people of Ireland abstained from rebellion, and preserved the moral attitude of a united demand for the repeal of the legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland. Gradually there arose in "the Repeal Association" a more spirited section, which went by the designation of "Young Ireland." These men laughed at O'Connell's moral force doctrines, or denounced them with disdain. At first they professed unbounded respect for himself, and an approval of his aims, but an irreconcileable antipathy to his measures. They maintained the right of all men to use arms in defence or in the assertion of liberty; proclaimed that Ireland was too noble a country, and the Irish too fine a race, to be subjected to a provincial status. "Ireland a nation—not a province," so often proclaimed by O'Connell, became in earnest the watchword of this new and vigorous party. They derided the time-serving and place-hunting of O'Connell's partisans, and declared that, by asking places from the English government for his followers, O'Connell had corrupted and dishonoured his country. They also opposed "the rent," which O'Connell received as a tribute from the people, and a means of enabling him to employ various agencies for the prosecution of his labours. He had given up the practice of his profession, to him most lucrative, in order to devote himself wholly to what he believed to be the good of his country, and, accordingly, the people contributed liberally to enable him, as the leader of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, to hold his place without indignity in the face of the parliament and people of England. In theory this contribution was at all events creditable to the generosity and zeal of the Irish people, and no discredit to O'Connell himself. Nor can it be alleged with truth that he accepted it from mercenary motives, or used it selfishly. His fortune was small; his position required large expenditure; and it is notorious that the money he received was not hoarded, nor used to enrich his family, but employed for political and often charitable purposes which had the entire approbation of the donors. The Young Irelanders, however, at first furtively and anonymously, afterwards more or less openly, and, finally, in the columns of the newspaper press, and in the Repeal Association itself, stigmatised the rent as mercenary. This new party divided influence with "the Liberator" upon the boards of the Corn Exchange, and in public meetings generally, and was the cause of great distraction in the councils and operations of the Repeal Association. At first they treated O'Connell as conscientiously wrong-headed on the subjects of moral and physical force; but they gradually widened their ground of attack, and suggested that he was actuated by corrupt motives, not for his own advantage, but in order to obtain places for a host of needy adventurers who constituted what was termed his "tail." Finally, they denounced him as a coward, and the abettor therefore of a cowardly policy: that being afraid to place himself at the head of his armed countrymen, he affected to abhor bloodshed, and held out a hope which he knew to be delusive—that Ireland could conquer the restoration of her legislature by moral, in contradistinction to physical force.

Before noticing further the effect of these differences upon O'Connell and the Irish repeal party, it is desirable to glance at the character and talents of the leading Young Irelanders, as these men will occupy much prominence in the history of succeeding years. Thomas Davis was generally alleged to be the founder of this section of the repeal party. He was only a student in Trinity College, Dublin, when he first entered upon political life. He imbibed early in youth a passionate love of country, and retained it until his death, which, to the general regret, occurred in a few years after he had entered upon political life. Mr. Davis was a poet, although not of a high order; several specimens of good ballad composition are amongst his remains. He cultivated classic literature with success; as an antiquary and an historian acquired reputation; wrote energetically and fluently; spoke in public with earnestness and force, but had none of the graces of the finished orator, and he despised all "rhetorical artifices." In conversation he was persuasive, but in public debate deficient in this quality; and while he possessed courage to confront mobs, or dictators, as he did also to meet an armed host in his country's service, he was not characterised by that presence of mind in public discussion, so necessary for effective repartee and popular power. He was in religion a Protestant, and a member of the Established Church; but it is obvious, from his various papers in connection with Irish affairs, that he was not a very earnest Protestant, and was entirely unacquainted with theological studies. His letters and speeches also show that he was not conversant with political economy, and that his social views were unsound. He was a man of many excellences, a true friend, an amiable companion, an honest and brave patriot, a gentleman, a scholar, and a litterateur.

The next most notable person among the leaders of the Young Irelanders was William Smith O'Brien. Like Thomas Davis, his integrity was indisputable. A member, and the representative of probably the oldest family in Europe, descended from the celebrated Brien Boroighome, who was monarch of Ireland in the twelfth century, he was proudly jealous of the honour of his lineage and of his name, and never did man bear a proud name with more unsullied honour than O'Brien. He mourned over the sufferings of his country with a tender and compassionate heart, and he ascribed these sufferings to bad government. It was his desire to remove all grievances by constitutional means, but his experience as a member of the imperial parliament led him to believe that Ireland never could receive proper legislative consideration until the union was repealed. Perceiving that O'Connell's agitation was never likely to effect that object, despising the mean and corrupt practices by which that agitation was attended, and being filled with horror at the occurrence of so much agrarian crime, he came to the conclusion that an armed attempt to sever Ireland from Great Britain was the duty of Irishmen, and the only hope left for her political or social redemption. Mr. O'Brien was a member of the Church of England, and his sympathies were with the evangelical section. He was well acquainted with the great fundamental differences between the church of Rome and Protestant communions, and was conscientiously and firmly a Protestant, while his mental habits and religious principles alike made him the consistent friend of religious liberty. It was generally supposed that his views of government were monarchical; and as he was the undoubted representative of the Irish monarchy, it was also believed that he had sufficient ambition to look forward to the time when independent Ireland would restore to him his family honours. The personal and moral influence of Mr. O'Brien were such as to qualify him to be a leader. He was much loved, and deserved to be so. As a man he was amiable, as a gentleman courteous, as a friend true. Intellectually, he was not fit to conduct a powerful party through great dangers. Scholarly and accomplished, he was yet not profoundly read, nor did he possess any great power as a writer or speaker. He could not shake the senate like Grattan, Flood, or Curran, nor could he move the popular will by his pen, like Moore or Davis. Whatever he undertook for Ireland was in the spirit of a patriot, and his courage was as unquestionable as his truth. He had studied too little the character of his countrymen, and the political influence of their religious predilections, or he probably would never have embarked upon the stormy sea of the repeal agitation. Had he pondered deeply the philosophy of Irish character, and of the Protestant and Roman Catholic religions, by which the people were so extensively and sincerely influenced, he must have foreseen that the Irish Roman Catholic population would never enter upon any political enterprise to which their priests were opposed; that the priests would never favour any political scheme that did not comprise the ascendancy of Rome; and that the Irish Protestants, deeply and thoroughly convinced of that fact, would not extensively join any confederacy for political purposes where the priesthood could possibly exercise any authority. All these things William Smith O'Brien, from his position as an Irish Protestant gentleman, ought to have known; knowing these things, he never could have plunged into the raging surge of an Irish popular insurrection. He meant honestly, failed signally, and suffered himself to be involved in a hapless enterprise, because he had not sufficiently studied the people among whom he lived, nor the religious influences to which they were subjected.

A third leader of this party was Thomas Meagher, who afterwards called himself O'Meagher, son of a wealthy and respectable Roman Catholic citizen at Waterford. Mr. Meagher was the youngest of all the Young Ireland leaders.

He had been educated at the Jesuit College, Stonyhurst, Lancashire, where it would appear that one principle undermined another in his education; for while he came forth a Roman Catholic politician and a patriot, he found that the consistent profession of the one came into such frequent collision with the other, that his honest and manly mind could not reconcile them, and, as some regarded it, he sacrificed his creed to his country. Sir Jonah Barrington represents the Roman Catholic leaders of his day as sacrificing their country to their church. Thomas Meagher certainly appeared to perform the converse of this. His enunciations of religious opinion were boldly liberal, and utterly incompatible with the ascendancy of his own or any other church. In this respect, as, indeed, in every other, he preserved throughout his course a most laudable consistency. He probably comprehended the principles of civil and religious liberty better than any other member of the Young Ireland confederacy. Young Meagher was full of ardour for the cause of repeal. Like Davis and Smith O'Brien (to both of whom he was attached by the tenderest friendship), he believed it to be the salvation of his country. His soul was inflamed with love of her, and he consecrated his genius and his life to her resuscitation by the modes which alone appeared to him calculated to restore her from political death. Intellectually, Mr. Meagher was superior to any other leader of the party. Davis had neither the compass nor versatility of Meagher, who was the only finished orator of the remarkable group of men whom he intellectually outshone. Some of his orations are as chaste and fervent as Emmet's, as rich and varied as Curran's, as intellectual as Grattan's, as logical as Flood's, and as graceful and eloquent as Shiel's. There are few specimens of political oratory in the English language which rival some of the speeches of this young tribune. He was almost as gifted with his pen as with his tongue. His letters abound with pathos, and poetry of thought and feeling; his descriptions are graphic and lifeful; his analysis of character accurate and discriminating; his aspirations noble and pure. There was a pleasing fascination in his oratory and writing which never passed away. One can hardly think of his sad story without remembering also the simile of his national poet:—


     "You may break, you may ruin the vase if you will,
     But the scent of the roses will hang round it still."

John Mitchell was another remarkable member of this fraternity. He was a solicitor, a Protestant, and a Dissenter. He was the most fiery of all "the rebels," as these agitators ultimately became. Mitchell was a native of Ulster, and possessed much of the spirit of the old Presbyterian United Irishmen of 1798; indeed, some of their leaders were his relations. He possessed a vigorous intellect, great energy of thought and action, overbearing-purpose, and unflinching courage. His information was not extensive, nor his judgment profound, and yet he was a well-educated, well-read, and very thoughtful, reflective man. He was adapted to be the sole leader of an insurrection where the object might be clear, the undertaking desperate, and the work short. His nature was not adapted either to lay an extensive plan, or co-operate with other men of mental power in the execution of such. He was crotchetty and impracticable, a man of rash judgment and hasty action-as brave and as tenacious as a bulldog. In private life he was gentle and loving; it was easy, as a friend or companion, to argue with John Mitchell, but impossible to co-operate with him as a compatriot. He had not the mind of a statesman, nor had he the prudence and policy requisite for a popular leader anywhere, much less in Ireland, at a crisis of her history so peculiar. This gentleman did much to precipitate the insurrection which drew down upon Ireland, so soon after the period of which we write, disgrace and ridicule. Like Smith O'Brien, he did not thoroughly understand the people he was to lead, nor those of his countrymen to whom he and they were so certain to be opposed, nor did he compute the religious prepossessions by which those distinct parties were respectively influenced. Mr. Mitchell was nominally a Unitarian in his religious creed, but he held very lax notions of this theology, and verged to Deism.

His views of political economy were erroneous and impracticable; yet he seemed to pride himself upon his absurd economical theories. He seemed to have no fixed views of government; he was neither monarchist, aristocrat, nor republican: his opinions seemed to be incompatible with all organised government, except a popular despotism, such as the French empire exemplified. Hatred to England, her name, race, and institutions, seems to have amounted to a monomania with him; yet he was not himself of Celtic lineage. His intolerance of opinion and rashness of action would have been utterly unendurable, were it not for the directness of his aims, the sincerity of his motives, the disinterestedness of his spirit, and the suavity of his disposition. The only other member of the Young Ireland party deserving notice as a chief was Charles Gavin Duffy, the editor and proprietor of the Nation newspaper. Mr. Duffy was a Roman Catholic, and professed unbounded respect for the priests. He was generally suspected of coquetting with them to secure their patronage of the Young Ireland cause, and that at heart he despised the popular subserviency to them. There was much in his speeches and literary articles to confirm this view, but there was also a great deal to lead to the belief that he was at heart "a priest's man." Certainly their reverences did not think, or, at all events, appear to think him, a very particular friend to their order, for they frequently opposed the circulation of his paper, and denounced himself. He bravely,-'-but respectfully battled with them, and lost the game-the circulation of his paper fell as the Roman Catholic tone of it was lowered. Whether this circumstance had any influence, as was alleged, it is beyond doubt that, while he continued to maintain his young Ireland theories, he became more chary of combat with the clergy, and no paper put forth a more wild and daring ultra-montanism than the Dublin Nation, at the very time that its columns were filled with passionate poetry dedicated to the rights of country and of kind. Articles asserting that all Irishmen should be held equal before God and the law, and that Orange ascendancy and all party ascendancy was destructive to Ireland, were strangely in contiguity with others asserting the most despotic claims for the church of Rome that ever were put forth in her name. On the whole, the inference might be fairly drawn from the writings and speeches of Mr. Duffy that he hated England with an indiscriminating and malignant rancour; that her peculiar virtues were as hateful to him as her vices, her glorious deeds as her errors; and that he hated her for the power with which she supported a certain degree of civil and religious liberty, as much as from any grievances of which his country had to complain, or any distaste he entertained to her race, her habits, or the idiosyncracies of thought by which her people were characterised. He was anxious to see his country independent and prosperous, and in order to be so, wished to see a severance from England, and a full and unmitigated ascendancy of the Roman Catholic religion. Personally, Mr. Duffy was too generous, kind-hearted, and manly to persecute, and would have been among the first to endanger himself by interposing to protect another from the chain or brand of the persecutor; but the tone of his writings, and the writings of those who found readiest access to the columns of his journal, was relentlessly bigoted. If mobs fell upon zealous, or, it may be, over-zealous clergymen or Scripture-readers, the Nation always extenuated the ruffianism, and abused the objects of popular violence. Some reason for this course, applicable only to the particular case, or to a class of cases under which it was ranged, was always relied upon in justification of these bitter outbreaks of intolerance, but the paragraphs in which the vituperation found vent always disclosed some bigoted principle which constituted the core of the article. O'Connell obtained an unhappy celebrity for his violence in religious disputation, but there was always a waggery in his most virulent sectarian harangues which relieved them, and left the impression that his bigotry was professional or forensic rather than heartfelt, but the Nation newspaper allowed no humour to shed a ray of relief upon the dark sentences of its intolerance. If indomitable fortitude, endurance, and perseverance could win a cause, Charles Gavin Duffy would have secured all for which he afterwards struggled and suffered. The political economy of Mr. Duffy, judging from the columns of the Nation, was not much more enlightened than that of his coadjutors.

Such were the men who constituted the leaders of the Young Ireland section of the Repeal Association. There were others who possessed eloquence, courage, and patriotism, but they did not occupy the front rank. With this fresh, youthful, earnest, intellectual, and uncompromising body of young men O'Connell had to compete almost single-handed; for although he was well supported by the priests, and by the old hacks of the association, he alone could confront intellectually so gifted an array of antagonists, or maintain, with any chance of victory, his side in the logomachy which was perpetually proceeding within the circle of the Repeal Association. Moore, in one of his melodies, represents the demon of discord as annually appearing in the Boyne, and casting forth the burning arrows which were ignited by his breath; but the scene of the fiery fiend's operations might be well supposed as changed to "Conciliation Hall," and his arrows thence flung over the inflammable isle. However indifferent the loyalists might be to the conflicts between Old Ireland and Young Ireland, the government could not be so, for "O'Connell's tail" was, if no ornament, of some use on the ministerial benches. O'Connell denounced the Whigs, but intrigued to keep them in power, or help them to obtain it. The old Ireland party had votes in parliament, and gave them with more or less fidelity on the side of Lord John's administration; whereas the Young Irelanders had yet to gain the heart, if not the ear of their country, and were not recognised as a power, except so far as they constituted an imperium in imperio within the circle of the Repeal Association. The bolder doctrines of this young party tended also to inspire a spirit of determined and organised revolt, which the government could not observe without concern, and the temper of the people was so embittered by the feuds of their leaders, as to be at least an unfavourable set-off against the probability that these contests would impair the moral influences of those who waged them. As a specimen of the state of feeling between these two parties, the proceedings of the Repeal Association for June 22nd may be adduced. At that time Sir Robert Peel was still in office, if not in power; but every one in Ireland believed that the Whigs would soon resume place, and that O'Connell would pass from the sphere of unqualified opposition to that of qualified support. The Young Irelanders took advantage of these impressions to weaken O'Connell's influence as a leader. This cut him to the heart: he received the tidings in London, and chafed under the vigilant restraint which this opposition in his own parliament placed him as to the policy he might adopt at St. Stephen's. He wrote to the association a letter, which showed his annoyance and apprehension; the following is an extract, the most pertinent to the purpose for which the reference is made:—"It is with the bitterest regret and deepest sorrow that I witness the efforts which are made by some of our juvenile members to create dissension and circulate distractions amongst the repealers. It is manifest that the great majority of the Repeal Association must exert themselves strenuously to support the association, or the persons to whom I allude will divide its ranks, and finally destroy the association itself. For my poor part, I will not be an idle spectator of such a struggle. 'Tis true that the people may be induced to desert me, but I never will desert the people. I perceive that it is—I will not use the proper term—but I will say, most unhandsomely suggested that, in the event of the Whigs coming into power, the repeal cause is to be abandoned, or postponed, or compromised. I utterly deny the assertion. While I live the repeal cause shall never be abandoned, postponed, or compromised, to advance any persons to power, to support any party or faction. I have long since; nailed the colours of repeal to the mast, and they shall, during my life, never be taken down, unless to cover the entry of the Irish members into the Irish parliament in College Green."

The contests between the two sections of repealers ended in the secession of the Young Irelanders from the Repeal Association. O'Connell was at heart glad of this, for his physical and intellectual energies were flagging, and the constant tantalising to which he was subjected in the association by these young men irritated his nervous system, and impaired his health. He made a show of conciliation, and sent a Roman Catholic clergyman of considerable importance, the Rev. Dr. Miley, to open negotiations with Smith O'Brien, whom he did not hesitate publicly to declare was the only man of weight among them. O'Brien was not to be won by the voice of the charmer, and O'Connell became furious, attacking the literary men, who principally led the Young Irelanders, in terms which gave offence to the whole press, and strengthened the ranks of his opponents. The Whigs treated the Young Irelanders contemptuously, but endeavoured by every means in their power to conciliate the old repeal party. Not only was the arms bill dismissed from parliament, but place and patronage was at the beck of O'Connell; and many of his followers, notwithstanding their anti-English feeling, and the need of their services which they supposed their country had, accepted situations in England and the colonies. The magistrates who had been dismissed by Sir Robert Peel's government for attending repeal meetings, or joining the association, were all restored to the commission of the peace. Dublin Castle unbarred its venerable portals to those who had ceased to be welcome there, because of their connection with the repeal agitation. O'Connell's reiterated declaration, that the Young Ireland leaders did not possess the intelligence, experience, tact, or discretion to conduct any great movement, much less one of such magnitude and peril as they proposed, made a deep impression on the minds of the people, and checked the insurgent progress of these eloquent declaimers.

A circumstance occurred in the English house of commons, in the early part of the year, which damaged the prestige of Smith O'Brien, and although O'Connell exerted himself in parliament on his behalf, the event gave the arch-agitator satisfaction. He had many a private joke at the expense of O'Brien, and few men could wound with a brighter point than O'Connell in his best moods of satire. Mr. O'Brien was nominated on a committee, and refused to serve, alleging that the affairs of his country were so neglected that he would not attend to any other business than such as related to it. This was untrue, the affairs of Ireland had for some years occupied much of the attention of the house, and, moreover, if Mr. O'Brien did not choose to be amenable to the rules of the assembly, he ought to have resigned his seat. Persisting in his refusal to serve on the committee, he was, by order of the speaker, taken into custody by the serjeant-at-arms, and confined to a chamber within the precincts. After some time he was released, upon the motion of Mr. Shaw, an Irish Conservative member. The obstinate conduct of Mr. O'Brien, on this occasion, vindicated no principle and asserted no right; it caused his own pure patriotism to be suspected, and brought his country and himself into ridicule.

Such was the political condition of Ireland when 1846 closed in cold and gloom over its sickening, starving population. The year expired in the midst of the most frightful social condition to which any European people had ever been reduced. O'Connell too truly described it, in one of his strange and varied harangues in the Repeal Association, in the following manner:—He commenced by saying, that he deeply regretted to be obliged to announce that the state of the country was tenfold worse than it was that day week. The frost had set in, and cold and hunger were doing their work—in fact, starvation was stalking through the land. In Connaught there were no less than forty-seven deaths from starvation within the week—not merely reports of deaths, but forty-seven cases in which coroners' juries returned verdicts of death from starvation. This was a horrible state of things, and he hoped that they would soon be put an end to. The landlords had come forward to give relief—at least, to some extent; but the merchant classes, he regretted to say, were holding back. He had seen no meeting of these men; however, he soon hoped to hear of one; and, in the name of the forty-seven starved and murdered victims, he would implore of them, and the men of all classes, to come forward and render every assistance in their power to relieve the distress.

The orator on that occasion was less than just to the merchants, and somewhat more than just to the landlords. It was brought to light by certain correspondents of the London press, that on Mr. O'Connell's own land the state of the people was most deplorable; that this was so even before the failure of the crops; that the ordinary condition of his tenantry bordered upon famine. Mr. O'Connell was, in fact, "a middle man;" he rented extensive lands, and sub-let at a very large profit. The persons who were his tenants were ground down with an oppressive rent, and vainly endeavoured, without capital, profitably to cultivate their "takings." On the land over which he had himself full control, the people had little ground of complaint, and much cause for gratitude. Although he did not come out unscathed from the controversy, which was raised about the state of the people on his own lands, he was as much sinned against as sinning—there was an unfair effort to fasten upon him an imputation of selfishness, which, at all events, he confuted.

Such was Ireland in 1846. Much was done for her; but she suffered not only in spite of these benevolent efforts, but even by them. She sorrowfully exemplified the song of her bard—


     "Thy suns, with doubtful gleam.
     Weep while they rise."

The effect of the opposition of the Young Irelanders upon O'Connell was signal; he evidently began to droop; his physical power no longer endured. The attacks made upon him by the London press, in connection with his conduct as a landlord, deeply depressed him; for although he positively denied the imputations, and furiously assailed his critics, he felt to the core the exposure of whatever was wrong in his conduct on that matter. The failure of the potato crop, and the starvation of the people, were all that seemed necessary to complete the physical decline of this remarkable man. It was remarked in Dublin, at the close of the year, that his voice had so far failed that he could scarcely be heard in the Repeal Association; indeed, similar complaints had been made in parliament months before. He walked as if weary; his head drooped, and he wore a prodigious mass of clothing, especially about his throat and chest. He might be sometimes seen walking between his sons, leaning on their arms, his head bowed down, as if to escape the winter's blast, and his body bent as if unable any longer to walk upright. Sometimes he might be seen passing to or from the association on a "jaunting car," so muffled up that only those conversant with his habits could have identified him. The public power of O'Connell was evidently drawing to a close.

AFFAIRS OF INDIA.—BATTLE OF ALIWAL.—TOTAL EXPULSION OF THE SIKHS

FROM THE WEST BANK OF THE SUTLEJ.—SUBMISSION OF THE LAHORE GOVERNMENT.—INSURRECTION OF THE CASHMERE PEOPLE.

The year 1846 was an eventful one for India and for British interests there; it opened in the midst of one of the most formidable warlike straggles ever witnessed since the English first began their conquering progress under Clive. Although the Sikhs had experienced such defeat at Mood-kee and Ferozashooshah, they were not yet disheartened, but were determined to maintain the war. By the close of 1845 they had been driven from all their posts of importance on the left bank of the Sutlej, except their strong works at the bridge of Sobraon. Early in January, 1846, they began operations by crossing the river, so as to draw supplies from the fertile resources of the territory from which they had been so recently, and after such hard fighting, expelled. The Sirdar Runjoor Singh Majeethea crossed over to the bank opposite Philoor, and occupied Baran Hara. This place was situated between the old and new courses of the Sutlej, and was favourably situated for the purpose of cutting off the communications of the British, and of alarming the garrison of Loodiana, then one of the most important places in that part of the country. Brigadier-general Godby held command of the garrison at Loodiana, which consisted of only three regiments of native infantry; but other troops were rapidly moving up to reinforce it. Some of those troops had to march from Umballah. While Runjoor Singh was crossing the Sutlej and taking up a position at Baran Hara, the British were also engaged in active operations. Lord Gough had sent a detachment from the division of Sir Hairy Smith against Dhurrumkote. The town was defended by a fort, and it was reported that the garrison would make a desperate resistance. Sir Harry Smith in person commanded the troops sent against the place, and proceeded with such celerity, that the town and fort became an easy conquest. The garrison proved to be entirely composed of irregular auxiliaries to the Khalsa, and they made no show of determination. The movements of the sirdar, already described, became so threatening to Loodiana, that Sir Harry Smith was ordered, upon the reduction of that place and the security of the stores of grain which it contained, to manouvre for the defence of the menaced British garrison; and Brigadier-general Wheeler was ordered, with the second brigade of Sir Harry's division, to follow in support. General Smith marched rapidly from Dhurrumkote to Jugroon, and then, to use the language of General Gough, "breaking down" from Jugroon, he marched towards Loodiana. This movement was extremely hazardous, for the sirdar's forces were by far the more numerous, and his infantry, active and well disciplined, burned to avenge the previous disasters. Runjoor marched his forces parallel to those of the British general, opening upon him, as occasion allowed, a heavy cannonade; for the Sikh forces were well supplied with cannon, and their gunners were capable of maintaining, with coolness and skill, a well-directed fire. Both parties showed great skill in manoeuvring, and the major-general required all the ability which he displayed to extricate himself from the superior force, which pursued his march and harassed all his movements. On several occasions, the whole force of Major-general Smith was in imminent peril, but its gallant commander never quailed, was never thrown off his guard, and was not in a single instance out-generalled. On one occasion the enemy obtained, by his superior numbers, a most advantageous position, which placed the small British force in great peril, for, bending round one wing of his army, the sirdar enveloped the flank of the British. The English general with admirable coolness, extricated his brigade, retiring by échelons of battalions, suffering heavily, but maintaining the order and steadiness of his troops until the imminency of the peril was over, when he opened his communications with Loodiana, at once securing his own force, and affording safety to the garrison. Brigadier-general Wheeler was unable at once to follow up these movements; the skilful and complicated manoeuvres which Sir Hairy made to evade the enemy threw the brigadier off the communication. The Sikhs were, on the whole, encouraged by these proceedings; they had interrupted the communication of Generals Smith and Wheeler, captured considerable baggage, acted for some time on the aggressive, and inflicted loss upon the British. It was, therefore, with some confidence, that they took up an intrenched position at Budhawal, resting for support on the fort connected with that place. The position was not, however, a safe one. Smith and Godby were on one Hank, and Wheeler, cautiously feeling his way, hung dangerously upon the other. The sirdar became alarmed lest Wheeler should be reinforced, and the British generals should then fall on both his flanks; he accordingly fell back upon the Sutlej, a movement bad in strategy, but which was forced upon him by the movements of the English generals—unless, indeed, he had suddenly, with great rapidity and boldness, attacked them in detail. Wheeler and Smith formed a junction, and moved clown upon the abandoned post of Budhawal. Here General Smith was further reinforced, and he found himself at the head of a body of men, European and native, sufficiently formidable to justify him in acting at once upon the offensive. Before General Smith could attack the new position of the sirdar, the latter was reinforced by a brigade of cavalry, twelve guns, and a small division of infantry, probably numbering about four thousand men. Finding himself at the head of a force numerically so superior to the British, the enterprising sirdar once more took the offensive; but instead of attacking the army of Sir Harry Smith, he attempted to intercept his communications with the main army, by the occupation of Jugroon. To prevent the accomplishment of this object, the English general determined to bring on a general engagement. Accordingly, on the morning of the 28th of January, the British force made directly for the enemy, with whom they came up after a march of six miles. The Sikhs were in position along a ridge of elevated ground, close to the village of Ullewall, or, as it is called in the British despatches, Aliwal. The right of the enemy rested upon a somewhat precipitous ridge, while the left was defended by intrenchments. As the British cavalry came near the enemy, they deployed, and advanced boldly, presenting an imposing array, especially the European lancers. The ground was favourable for cavalry; it was like a fine English sward. The troopers then took ground to the right and left by brigades, the infantry advancing in column. From the Sikh camp the scene was more brilliant; as the cavalry broke away the columns of the advancing infantry appeared full in view, the sheen of their bayonets brightly gleaming in the eastern morning sun. Still more brilliant was the scene as the advancing columns deployed into line, for what sight so impressive, where masses of men constitute the objects of interest, as lines of British infantry drawn up in the array of battle '? The cavalry now assumed direct échelon to the rear of both flanks of the infantry. The artillery were placed on either flank and in the centre. A review day in Hyde Park, Aldershot, or in the undulated and picturesque Phoenix Park, at Dublin, could not present a more orderly and trim appearance than this magnificent line of British soldiers, drawn up before the acclivities of Aliwal. There was no wind, no dust. The sun was bright, but not so hot as might be expected in that climate, and the troops moved with noiseless foot, hoof, and wheel over the hard grass, as if it were a fairy scene, and the baton of the British chief were the wand of an enchanter, every movement of which called into gay and brilliant reality some new feature of the "glorious pomp and circumstance of war." Viewed from the British lines, the Khalsa host was also imposing, as its dark masses of infantry were ranged along the position, from whence they looked sullenly down upon their skilful and gallant foe. The Sikh cavalry, in constant and unnecessary motion, gave some life to the stillness which brooded over the long lines of the compact and motionless infantry of the Khalsa army. It was a moment of extreme suspense, for upon the fortune of this battle much depended. If the sirdar repulsed the British, he would undoubtedly cutoff their communications, oblige them to fall back upon Loodiana, and paralyse the advance of Lord Gough upon Sobraon. If the British conquered the enemy's lines, the sirdar's army had no retreat; the river was in his rear, and it was in no place easily fordable, nor had he other means of crossing, adequate to the safe retreat of such an army—defeat and destruction were to him the same. It was a day for valour to aid men; life, hope, honour to both armies depended upon the deeds to be that day enacted upon the grassy slopes of Aliwal.

The superiority of the enemy in numbers enabled him, by his left, to outflank the British; Sir Harry Smith, accordingly, ordered the troops to break into open columns and take ground to the right. The British line had advanced one hundred and fifty yards; it was now ten o'clock, and suddenly from the whole of the Khalsa position a fierce cannonade was opened. At first the balls fell short, but as the British advanced, the enemy's shot told fearfully upon their ranks. Still, under this heavy fire, the line was halted, that the general might execute a manoeuvre which appeared to open a prospect of more speedy victory. The village of Aliwal was discovered to be the key of the position, and the British general, by moving his right successfully upon it, could with great advantage operate against the left and centre of the enemy's line. This the English commander executed in the most brilliant manner: the first brigade of his own division, under Brigadier Hicks, immediately supported by Brigadier Godby's brigade, which had constituted the garrison of Loodiana, gallantly stormed the village of Aliwal, and from this new vantage-ground opened a deadly fire upon the right of the enemy's left, and his left centre. Sir Harry then ordered his whole line to advance, which was gallantly achieved, the 31st (or Young Buffs) European regiment distinguishing itself, although the native regiments showed a noble emulation to be first in front. The cavalry on the enemy's left were now in a position to act effectively against the British, but the brigade of cavalry on our right flank, commanded by the skilful and clashing Brigadier Cureton, charged them, sabring numbers, and driving the rest pell-mell upon their infantry, whom they threw into confusion. Another body of British cavalry, consisting of the light-horse and the body-guard, made a second charge equally brilliant. The intrenchments of the enemy, filled with infantry, were now brought into view; but General Smith ordered Godby's brigade to change front and take them en revers; this manouvre increased the confusion of the enemy, whose infantry gave way, leaving several guns in the hands of the victorious brigade. These movements on the enemy's left were decisive of the action, but the British behaved equally well on other portions of the field. Brigadiers Wheeler and Wilson assailed their right, storming their lines and capturing their guns. The Khalsa army reeled back, broken and despairing, and sought the river, in the vain hope that they might manage to cross by fording or by boats. The rapid movements of the British turned the retreat of the enemy into a disorderly and desperate flight. The sirdar had, however, made some provision for defeat; he had occupied strongly the village of Bhoardec, so as to cover the retreat to the river, and if possible to cover also the passage. Here the 16th Lancers behaved splendidly. The enemy had a strong force of infantry drawn up on one flank of the village; the 16th charged them; the foe stood the charge heroically; the 16th penetrated their square; the Sikh square, notwithstanding the efficiency of the lance in such warfare, closing behind the cavalry as they charged through. The lancers wheeled, and this time used the sword more than the lance, disconcerting the arrangement of the enemy, and breaking their square. The 3rd Light Cavalry completed the work of destruction, bursting through the formation of the infantry, and putting great numbers to the sword. The fighting might be said, to be in some sense more desperate after the battle was lost and won than during the operations upon which stragetically its issue depended. While these brilliant, cavalry charges were occurring on the right of the village, her majesty's 53rd carried the village itself by storm, and the 30th native infantry, wheeling round by the left of the houses, took the fugitives in rear. The same masterly skill and heroic valour which was shown in taking Aliwal conquered Bhoardee, the last hope of the defeated; for although about 1000 Khalsa infantry rallied under a high bank to check the destructive advance of the English, there was no longer any hope of covering a retreat across the river. Even this rally only added to the slaughter and the ultimate confusion: a heavy fire of musketry from 1000 men, closely directed, was galling to our soldiers, but the 30th native infantry took them, at the point of the bayonet, and as they retreated, twelve guns which were previously moved up to within three hundred yards, opened a deadly fire of canister, mowing down the fugitives in a manner which even those engaged in deadly strife thought it awful to witness. To complete the horror of this flight, her majesty's 63rd, who moved up

CONTINUATION

OF

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND,

BY E. H. NOLAN

Volume IIId VICTORIA.

Contents

List of Illustrations

CHAPTER XLVIII.

THE ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES—EULOGIES OF THE LATE SOVEREIGN IN BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

BILL FOR PROVIDING THE SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN.

THE BUDGET, ETC.

ALTERATIONS IN THE CRIMINAL LAW, ETC.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

STATE OF PARTIES AND ELECTIONS.

CITY BANQUET TO THE QUEEN.

OPENING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT.

THE SUBJECT OF THE CIVIL LIST DEBATED.

THE SUBJECT OF THE PENSION LIST.

INTELLIGENCE FROM CANADA—DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT—ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.

STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

CHAPTER XLIX.

PARLIAMENT REASSEMBLES—DEBATES ON CANADA—ADDRESS TO THE THRONE

THE QUESTION OF ELECTION COMMITTEES, ETC.

MOTION FOR THE BALLOT.

PARLIAMENTARY QUALIFICATION BILL.

PERSONAL ATTACKS.

REVIVAL OF ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION, ETC.

DEBATES ON THE IRISH POOR-LAW BILL—THE BILL CARRIED.

MOTION FOR THE REPEAL OF THE APPROPRIATION CLAUSE—MINISTERIAL PLAN FOR SETTLING THE TITHE QUESTION.

COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS UPON THE IRISH MUNICIPAL BILL—THE BILL REJECTED, ETC.

THE CORONATION.

DEBATES IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE IRISH TITHE QUESTION.

THE IRISH POOR-LAW BILL CARRIED IN THE LORDS.

PROJECTED FORMATION OF A COLONY IN NEW ZEALAND, ETC.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, ETC.

MOTION FOR THE REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS.

VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LAW.

A SELECT COMMITTEE TO INQUIRE INTO THE OPERATION OF THE POOR-LAWS.

COMBINATIONS IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND.

JOHN THOM. ALIAS SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY.

COMMITTEE ON CHURCH LANDS.

ACT FOR ABOLISHING PLURALITIES, ETC.

THE SUBJECT OF EDUCATION DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT.

THE QUESTION OF CANADA RENEWED.

QUEEN PROROGUES PARLIAMENT.

DISAFFECTION AMONG THE WORKING CLASSES.

PROPOSED REDUCTION OF THE RATES OF POSTAGE.

THE STATE OF IRELAND.

THE AFFAIRS OF CANADA.

THE STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

CHAPTER L.

STATE OF PARTIES.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

THE CORN-LAW QUESTION.

THE AFFAIRS OF IRELAND DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT.

IRISH MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS BILL.

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT RESPECTING JAMAICA.

RESIGNATION OF MINISTERS, AND FAILURE OF SIR ROBERT PEEL TO FORM A NEW ADMINISTRATION, ETC.

NATIONAL EDUCATION.

AFFAIRS OF CANADA.

THE SECOND JAMAICA BILL, ETC.

BILL FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE PORTUGUESE SLAVE-TRADE, ETC.

MOTION FOR THE BALLOT.

ACT FOR THE BETTER ORDERING OF PRISONS.

MOTION FOR A COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE TO CONSIDER THE NATIONAL PETITION.

BIRMINGHAM RIOTS, ETC.

THE BUDGET—PROPOSED REDUCTION OF POSTAGE DUTIES, ETC.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

AFFAIRS IN THE EAST INDIES.

STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

CHAPTER LI.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.—ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE.

BILL FOR THE NATURALIZATION OF PRINCE ALBERT.

THE CIVIL-LIST.

QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE—HANSARD AND STOCKDALE.

AFFAIRS OF CHINA, ETC.

THE IRISH MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS BILL, ETC.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT, ETC.

THE UNION OF THE CANADAS.

Volume IIId

VICTORIA.