the bedchamber crisis—peel's explanation—the whigs return to office—mr. shaw lefevre is elected speaker—education scheme—it is carried in a modified form—post office reform—rowland hill's pamphlet—the proposal scouted by the authorities—select committee appointed—the scheme becomes law—cabinet changes—political demonstrations—announcement of the queen's marriage—lady flora hastings—the queen's speech—insertion of the word "protestant"—debate on the prince's precedence—his income fixed by the commons—stockdale v. hansard—stockdale's second and third actions—stockdale and the sheriffs committed—his fourth and fifth actions—russell's bill settles the question—other events of the session—the queen's marriage—oxford's attempt on her life—his trial for high treason—foreign affairs; the opium traffic—commissioner lin confiscates the opium—debates in parliament—elliot's convention—it is disapproved and he is recalled—renewal of the war—capture of the defences of canton—sir henry pottinger assumes command—conclusion of the war—the syrian crisis; imminent dissolution of the turkish empire—the quadrilateral treaty—lord palmerston's difficulties—the wrath of m. thiers—lord palmerston's success—fall of acre—termination of the crisis—weakness of the ministry—the registration bills—lord howick's amendment—the budget—peel's vote of censure is carried—the dissolution—ministers are defeated in both houses—resignation of the melbourne ministry.

after the lapse of a week the house of commons met again on the 13th of may, when lord john russell immediately rose and stated that since he had last addressed them sir robert peel had received authority from her majesty to form a new administration; and the right hon. baronet having failed, her majesty had been graciously pleased to permit that gentleman to state the circumstances which led to the failure. sir robert peel then proceeded to detail all the facts necessary for the explanation of his position to the country. he had waited upon the queen according to her desire, conveyed at the suggestion of the duke of wellington, who had been sent for by her majesty in the first instance. the queen candidly avowed to him that she had parted with her late administration with great regret, as they had given her entire satisfaction. no one, he said, could have expressed feelings more natural and more becoming than her majesty did on this[462] occasion, and at the same time principles more strictly constitutional with respect to the formation of a new government. he stated his sense of the difficulties a new government would have to encounter; but having been a party to the vote that led to those difficulties, nothing should prevent him from tendering to her majesty every assistance in his power. he accordingly, the next day, submitted the following list for her approval in the formation of a new ministry:—the duke of wellington, lord lyndhurst, earl of aberdeen, lord ellenborough, lord stanley, sir james graham, sir henry hardinge, and mr. goulburn. it was not until thursday that any difficulty or misconception arose to lead to his relinquishing his attempt to form an administration. his difficulty related to the ladies of the household. with reference to all the subordinate appointments below the rank of a lady of the bedchamber he proposed no change; and he had hoped that all above that rank would have relieved him of any difficulty by at once relinquishing their offices. this not having been done, he had a verbal communication with her majesty on the subject, to which he received next day a written answer as follows:—

"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."

to this communication sir robert peel returned the following reply:—"sir robert peel presents his humble duty to your majesty, and has had the honour of receiving your majesty's note this morning. 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 attempts to form an administration for the conduct of your majesty's service. in the interview with which you honoured sir robert peel yesterday morning, after he had submitted to your majesty the names of those he proposed to recommend to your majesty for 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 at the same time, so far as possible, consistent with such demonstration, each individual appointment in the household should be entirely acceptable to your majesty's personal feelings. on your majesty's expressing a desire that the earl of liverpool should hold an office in the household, sir robert peel immediately requested your majesty's permission at once to confer on lord liverpool the office of lord steward, or any other office 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 retain the whole of these appointments, and that it was your majesty's pleasure that the whole should continue as at present, without any change. the duke of wellington, in the interview to which your majesty subsequently admitted him, understood also 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 mission with which your majesty had honoured sir robert peel that he should have such public proof of your majesty's entire support and confidence, as would be afforded by the permission to make some changes in 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 interests of your majesty's service, to adhere to the opinion which he ventured to express to your majesty." subsequent explanations proved that the gaucherie of sir robert peel was chiefly responsible for the crisis. he was right in principle, but he was wrong in the abrupt manner in which he appeared to force the change of the ladies upon the queen. the duke, with his usual shrewdness, had foreseen that the accession of a female sovereign would place the conservatives at a disadvantage, because, said he, "peel has no manners, and i have no small talk."

on the following evening lord melbourne, having explained why he resigned, said, "and now, my lords, i frankly declare that i resume office unequivocally and solely for this reason, that i will not abandon my sovereign in a situation[463] of difficulty and distress, and especially when a demand is made upon her majesty with which i think she ought not to comply—a demand, in my opinion, inconsistent with her personal honour, and which, if acquiesced in, would make her reign liable to all the changes and variations of political parties, and render her domestic life one constant scene of unhappiness and discomfort." the whigs, therefore, returned to office, but not to power.

as soon as the ministry had been restored, the house reassembled for the election of a new speaker in the room of mr. abercromby, who had declared his intention of resigning, having no longer sufficient strength to perform the arduous duties imposed on him by his office. when his intention was announced, he received, through sir robert peel and lord john russell, the highest testimony of the esteem in which he was held by the two great parties, not only for his conduct in the chair, but also for his strenuous exertions to improve the mode of conducting the private business of the house. this was in accordance with precedent, but as a matter of fact mr. abercromby was a very weak speaker, and his ruling had been repeatedly questioned by the house. he was chosen speaker in 1835. on his resignation of that office he was raised to the peerage as lord dunfermline. mr. handley nominated mr. shaw lefevre, member for north hants, as a person eminently qualified to succeed to the vacant chair. mr. williams wynn, a member of great experience and reputation in the house, proposed mr. goulburn, member for the university of cambridge. the motion was seconded by mr. wilson patten. it was a party contest, and tested the strength of the ministry and the opposition. the house divided on the motion that mr. shaw lefevre do take the chair, which was carried by a majority of eighteen, the numbers being 317 and 299.

since the year 1833 the sum of ￡20,000 was all that had been granted by parliament for popular education. up to this time the national society and the british and foreign school society had, without distinction of party, enjoyed an equitable proportion of the benefit of this grant. the government were now about to propose an increase, but they determined at the same time to change the mode of its distribution, and their plan gave rise to a great deal of discussion on the subject during the session. the intentions of the government were first made known by lord john russell on the 12th of february when he presented certain papers, and gave an outline of his views. he proposed that the president of the council and other privy councillors, not exceeding five, should form a board, to consider in what manner the grants made by parliament should be distributed, and he thought that the first object of such a board should be the establishment of a good normal school for the education of teachers. lord john said that he brought forward the plan not as a faultless scheme of education, but as that which, on consideration, he thought to be the most practical in the present state of the country. the new committee on the 3rd of june passed several resolutions, one of which was that in their opinion 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 under the management of a voluntary society. they admitted, however, that they experienced so much difficulty in reconciling the conflicting views respecting the provisions they were desirous of making—in order that the children and teachers instructed in the school should be duly trained in the principles of the christian religion, while the rights of conscience should be respected—that it was not in their power to mature a plan for the accomplishment of their design without further consideration. meanwhile the committee recommended that no grant should thenceforth be made for the establishment or support of normal schools, or any other schools, unless the right of inspection were retained, in order to secure a conformity to the regulations and discipline established in the several schools, with such improvements as might from time to time be suggested by the committee. the day after the committee had adopted these resolutions lord ashley moved a call of the house for the 14th of june, when lord john russell, in seconding the motion, stated that government did not intend to insist upon their proposal to found a normal school. this was a weak concession to the church party, but it did not prevent lord stanley, the author of a similar measure for ireland, from attacking the bill with the full violence of his eloquence. the vote was to be increased to ￡30,000. the house, after a debate of three nights, divided, when the grant was voted by a majority of only two. on the 5th of july the subject of education was introduced to the notice of the lords by the archbishop of canterbury, who defended the church, and objected to the giving of government grants in a manner calculated to promote religious dissent. he[464] was answered by the marquis of lansdowne. the bishop of exeter, the bishop of london, and several other prelates addressed the house, and gave their views on this great question. the archbishop of canterbury had brought forward a series of resolutions embodying the church views of the subject. these lord brougham vigorously opposed. the house divided on the previous question, when the first resolution, the only one put to the vote, was carried by a majority of 111. this resolution condemned the order in council, and in consequence of it the lords went in a body to the queen to offer their remonstrance against the proposed change in the mode of distributing the grant. the remaining resolutions were voted without a division. nevertheless the ministry succeeded in carrying a modified scheme, by which it was provided that the inspectors to be appointed by the committee of the privy council should be chosen with the approval of the bishops, and should present their reports to the bishop of their diocese as well as to the committee of the privy council. thus the church practically monopolised the grant.

the year 1839 will be always memorable for the establishment of the system of a uniform penny postage, one of those great reforms distinguishing the age in which we live, which are fraught with vast social changes, and are destined to fructify throughout all time with social benefits to the human race. to one mind pre-eminently the british empire is indebted for the penny postage. we are now so familiar with its advantages, and its reasonableness seems so obvious, that it is not easy to comprehend the difficulties with which sir rowland hill had to contend in convincing the authorities and the public of the wisdom and feasibility of his plan. mr. rowland hill had written a pamphlet on post office reform in 1837. it took for its starting-point the fact that whereas the postal revenue showed for the past twenty years a positive though slight diminution, it ought to have shown an increase of ￡507,700 a year, in order to have simply kept pace with the growth of population, and an increase of nearly four times that amount in order to have kept pace with the growth of the analogous though far less exorbitant duties imposed on stage coaches. the population in 1815 was 19,552,000; in 1835 it had increased to 25,605,000. the net revenue arising from the post office in 1815 was ￡1,557,291; in 1835 it had decreased to ￡1,540,300. at this period the rate of postage actually imposed (beyond the limits of the london district office) varied from fourpence to one and eightpence for a single letter, which was interpreted to mean a single piece of paper, not exceeding an ounce in weight. a second piece of paper or any other enclosure, however small, constituted a double letter. a single sheet of paper, if it at all exceeded an ounce in weight, was charged with fourfold postage. the average charge on inland general post letters was nearly ninepence for each letter. in london the letter-boxes were only open from eight in the morning to seven p.m., and a letter written after that hour on friday did not reach uxbridge earlier than tuesday morning.

these mischiefs it was proposed wholly to remove by enacting that "the charge for primary distribution—that is to say, the postage on all letters received in a post town, and delivered in the same or in any other post town in the british isles—shall be at the uniform rate of one penny for each half-ounce; all letters and other papers, whether single or multiple, forming one packet, and not weighing more than half an ounce, being charged one penny, and heavier packets to any convenient limit being charged an additional penny for each additional half-ounce." and it was further proposed that stamped covers should be sold to the public at such a price as to include the postage, which would thus be collected in advance. by the public generally, and preeminently by the trading public, the plan was received with great favour. by the functionaries of the post office it was at once denounced as ruinous, and ridiculed as fanciful. lord lichfield, then postmaster-general, said of it in the house of lords, "of all the wild and visionary schemes i ever heard, it is the most extravagant." on another occasion, he assured the house that if the anticipated increase of letters should be realised, "the mails will have to carry twelve times as much in weight, and therefore the charge for transmission, instead of ￡100,000, as now, must be twelve times that amount. the walls of the post office would burst; the whole area in which the building stands would not be large enough to receive the clerks and the letters." in the course of the following year (1838) petitions were poured into the house of commons. a select committee was appointed, which held nearly seventy sittings, and examined nearly eighty-three witnesses in addition to the officers of the department. its report weakly recommended the substitution of a twopenny for a penny rate, but this was overruled by the cabinet. during the session of parliament that followed the presentation of[465] this report, about 2,000 petitions in favour of penny postage were presented to both houses, and at length the chancellor of the exchequer brought in a bill to enable the treasury to carry it into effect. the measure was carried in the house of commons by a majority of 100, and became law on the 17th of august, 1839. a new but only temporary office under the treasury was created, to enable mr. hill to superintend (although, as it proved, with very inadequate arrangements) the working out of his plan. the first step taken was to reduce, on the 5th of december, 1839, the london district postage to one penny, and the general inland postage to fourpence, the half ounce, except as respected places to which letters were previously carried at lower rates, these rates being continued. on the 10th of january, 1840, the uniform penny rate came into operation throughout the united kingdom; the scale of weight advancing from one penny for each of the first two half-ounces, by gradations of twopence for each additional ounce or fraction of an ounce, up to sixteen ounces. the postage was to be prepaid, or charged at double rates, and parliamentary franking was abolished. postage stamps were introduced on the 6th of may following. the facilities of despatch were soon afterwards increased, especially by the establishment of day mails. but on the important points of simplification in the internal economy of the post office, with the object of reducing its cost without diminishing its working power, very little was done. for the time being the loss incurred by the change was more than ￡1,000,000.

sir rowland hill, 1847.

[see larger version]

nevertheless, the results actually attained in the first two years were briefly these: first, the[466] chargeable letters delivered in the united kingdom, exclusive of that part of the government's correspondence which formerly passed free, had already increased from the rate of about 75,000,000 a year to that of 208,000,000; secondly, the london district post letters had increased from about 13,000,000 to 23,000,000, or nearly in the ratio of the reduction of the rates; thirdly, the illicit conveyance of letters was substantially suppressed; fourthly, the gross revenue, exclusive of repayments, yielded about a million and a half per annum, which was sixty-three per cent. on the amount of the gross revenue of 1839, the largest income which the post office had ever afforded. these results, at so early a stage, and in the face of so many obstructions, amply vindicated the policy of the new system. but by its enemies that system was declared to be a failure, until the striking evidence of year after year silenced opposition by an exhaustive process.

the parliamentary proceedings of 1839 were closed by an elaborate review of the session by lord lyndhurst, which he continued annually for some time while the liberals were in power. this display took place on the 24th of august, when the noble and learned lord moved 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. he could point to the fact that ministers had with difficulty carried a colourless jamaica bill, and had once more failed to pass the irish corporation bill.

in fact the ministry remained deplorably weak, despite the numerous changes in the cabinet. the marquis of normanby, who had been a failure at the home office, changed places with lord john russell, who went to the colonial office. mr. francis baring was made chancellor of the exchequer in the place of the most incompetent financier of modern times, mr. spring-rice, who was raised to the peerage by the title of baron monteagle, and soon afterwards appointed comptroller of the exchequer, with a salary of ￡2,000 a year; sir john newport having retired from that post on a pension. the earl of clarendon became lord privy seal, and mr. macaulay secretary at war, with a seat in the cabinet in the room of viscount howick, who had quitted the administration because he had disapproved of the political import of the changes, taken altogether, and they were unalterably fixed without seeking his concurrence. mr. charles wood, the brother-in-law of lord howick, also resigned shortly afterwards, and sir charles grey was refused promotion.

the proceedings of parliament having ceased to occupy public attention, the time had come for political demonstrations of various kinds in the country, giving expression to the feelings that had been excited by the state of public affairs and the conduct of the government. the first and most remarkable of these was a banquet, given at dover, on the 30th of august, to the duke of wellington as lord warden of the cinque ports, at which nearly 2,000 persons sat down to dinner. the toast of the day was proposed by lord brougham, who occupied a peculiar position, as a liberal ex-chancellor opposing a liberal administration, and wishing to see them supplanted by their conservative opponents. he was greeted with tumultuous cheering when he rose to propose the health of the duke of wellington. he had, according to greville, intruded himself upon the company, and made a speech in which bombast alternated with eloquence. the reply of the duke of wellington was a perfect contrast to brougham's oratorical flight, in its quietness and modesty. but if the great chiefs of the conservative party were moderate in the expression of their feelings during the vacation, some of their followers went to the opposite extreme of violence and indiscretion. at a dinner of the conservative registration society, on the 30th of october, mr. bradshaw, the member for canterbury, dared to speak of the young queen in the following terms:—"brought up under the auspices of the citizen king of the belgians, the serf of france, and guided by his influence, the queen thinks if the monarchy lasts her time, it is enough," and so on. in proportion to the violence of the manifestations of disloyalty among the tories, was the fervour of loyalty evinced by mr. o'connell and his followers in ireland. at a meeting at bandon, on the 5th of december, the famous agitator, in the midst of tremendous cheering, the entire assembly rising in response to the concluding appeal, said:—"we must be, we are, loyal to our young and lovely queen. god bless her! we must be, we are, attached to the throne, and to the lovely being by whom it is filled. she is going to be married. god bless the queen! i am a father and a grandfather; and in the face of heaven i pray with as much honesty and fervency for queen victoria as i do for any of my own progeny."

the prince consort.

from the painting by f. x. winterhalter in the national gallery.

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in the meanwhile her majesty was pleased to communicate to the members of the privy council assembled at buckingham palace on the 23rd of[467] november, her intention of contracting an alliance with a prince of the family of saxe-coburg and gotha. the story of her affection for her cousin is well known through sir theodore martin's admirable "life of the prince consort." the declaration was made by her majesty in the following terms:—"i have caused you to be summoned at the present time in order that i may acquaint you with my resolution in a matter which deeply concerns the welfare of my people and the happiness of my future life. it is my intention to ally myself in marriage with the prince albert of saxe-coburg and gotha. deeply impressed with the solemnity of the engagement which i am about to contract, i have not come to this decision without mature consideration, nor without feeling a strong assurance that, with the blessing of almighty god, it will at once secure my domestic felicity, and serve the interests of my country. i have thought fit to make this resolution known to you at the earliest period, in order that you may be fully apprised of a matter so highly important to me and to my kingdom, and which, i persuade myself, will be most acceptable to all my loving subjects." upon this announcement the council humbly requested that her majesty's most gracious declaration might be made public, which her majesty was pleased to order accordingly.

the approaching marriage of the queen was anticipated by the nation with satisfaction. we have seen, from the height to which party spirit ran, that it was extremely desirable that she should have a husband to stand between her and such unmanly attacks as those of mr. bradshaw. an occurrence, however, took place in the early part of the year very painful in its nature, which added much to the unpopularity of the court. this was the cruel suspicion which was cast upon lady flora hastings by some of the ladies about the queen, and is supposed to have caused her early death. she was one of the ladies in attendance on the duchess of kent; and soon after her arrival at court it was generally surmised, from the appearance of her person, that she had been privately married, the consequence of which was that, in order to clear her character, which was perfectly blameless, she was compelled to submit to the humiliation of a medical examination. shortly afterwards she died of the disease which was suspected to be pregnancy, and the public feeling was intensified by the publication of the acrimonious correspondence which had taken place between her mother on the one side and lady portman and lord melbourne on the other.

the session of 1840 was opened by the queen in person. the first two paragraphs of the royal speech contained an announcement of the coming marriage. the speech contained nothing else very definite or very interesting; and the debate on the address was remarkable for nothing more than its references to the royal marriage. the duke of wellington warmly concurred in the expressions of congratulation. he had, he said, been summoned to attend her majesty in the privy council when this announcement was first made. he had heard that the precedent of the reign of george iii. had been followed in all particulars except one, and that was the declaration that the prince was a protestant. he knew he was a protestant, he was sure he was of a protestant family; but this was a protestant state, and although there was no doubt about the matter, the precedent of george iii. should have been followed throughout, and the fact that the prince was a protestant should be officially declared. the duke, therefore, moved the insertion of the word "protestant" before the word "prince" in the first paragraph of the address. lord melbourne considered the amendment altogether 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. the precedent which the duke had endeavoured to establish was not a case in point, for george iii. did not declare to the privy council that the princess charlotte of mecklenburg-strelitz was a protestant, but only that she was descended from a long line of protestant ancestors. all the world knew that the prince albert of saxe-coburg was a protestant, and that he was descended from the most emphatically protestant house in europe. but the house decided to insert the phrase.

on the 20th of january a bill was introduced to the house of lords for the naturalisation of the prince. by this act, which passed the next day through the house of commons, the prince was declared already exempt, by an act passed in the sixth year of george iv., from the obligations that had previously bound all persons to receive the lord's supper within one month before exhibition of a bill for their naturalisation. and the bill was permitted to be read the second time without his having taken the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, as required by an act passed in the first year of george i. but on the second reading in the house of lords the duke of wellington objected that it was not merely a bill[468] for naturalising the prince, but that it also contained a clause which would enable him, "during the term of his natural life, to take precedence in rank after her majesty in parliament, and elsewhere as her majesty might think fit and proper," any law, statute, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. the duke of wellington stated that as the title of the bill said nothing about precedence, the house had not received due notice of its contents; he therefore moved the adjournment of the debate. lord melbourne remarked that the omission was purely accidental and, in his opinion, of no importance; at the same time he admitted that this bill did differ in form from other similar bills, as it gave the queen power to bestow on prince albert a higher rank than was assigned to prince george of denmark, or to prince leopold. but the reason for the difference was to be found in the relative situation of the parties. lord brougham, however, pointed out a practical difficulty that might possibly arise. according to the proposed arrangement, if the queen should die before there was any issue from the marriage, the king of hanover would reign in this country, and his son would be prince of wales. prince albert would thus be placed in the anomalous position of a foreign naturalised prince, the husband of a deceased queen, with a higher rank than the prince of wales. lord londonderry decidedly objected to giving a foreign prince precedence over the blood royal. in consequence of this difference of opinion the debate was adjourned till the following week, when the lord chancellor stated that he would propose that power should be given to the crown to allow the prince to take precedence next after any heir apparent to the throne. subsequently, however, lord melbourne expressed himself so anxious that it should pass with all possible expedition, that he would leave out everything about precedence, and make it a simple naturalisation bill, in which shape it immediately passed.

the question of the prince's income was not so easily disposed of. on the 24th of january, lord john russell, having moved that the paragraph relating to the subject should be read, quoted, as precedents for the grant he was about to propose, the instances of prince george of denmark, prince leopold, and queen adelaide. as far as he could judge by precedent in these matters, ￡50,000 a year was the sum generally allotted to princes in the situation of the prince consort to the queen of england. he therefore moved—"that her majesty be enabled to grant an annual sum not exceeding ￡50,000 out of the consolidated fund, as a provision to prince albert, to commence on the day of his marriage with her majesty, and to continue during his life." the debate having been adjourned for a few days, mr. hume moved, as an amendment, that only ￡21,000 should be granted. colonel sibthorpe moved that ￡30,000 be the sum allowed. mr. goulburn was in favour of that sum. the amendment proposed by mr. hume was lost by a majority of 305 against 38. when colonel sibthorpe's amendment became the subject of debate, lord john russell, alluding to professions of respect made by lord elliot for her majesty, and of care for her comfort, said: "i cannot forget that no sovereign of this country has been insulted in such a manner as her present majesty has been." lord elliot and sir james graham rose immediately to protest against this insinuation, as in all respects most uncalled-for and unjustifiable. the house then divided on the amendment, which was carried by a very large majority, the numbers being—ayes, 262; noes, 158: majority for the sum of ￡30,000, 104. such a signal defeat of the government, on a question in which the sovereign naturally felt a deep interest, was calculated to produce a profound impression upon the country, and in ordinary circumstances would have led to a change of ministry; but it was regarded as the result of an accidental combination between heterogeneous materials, and therefore lord melbourne did not feel called upon to resign. however, the decisions caused, says sir theodore martin, considerable pain and vexation to the queen.

a remarkable conflict took place this year between the jurisdiction of the house of commons and that of the court of queen's bench, which excited great interest at the time, and has important bearings upon the constitutional history of the country. the following is a brief narrative of the facts out of which it arose:—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. the inspectors were appointed, and, in the discharge of their duty, reported on the state of newgate. the house ordered the report to be printed and sold by the messrs. hansard. in this report it was stated that the inspectors of that gaol found amongst the books used by the prisoners one printed by john joseph stockdale in 1827, which they said was "a book of the most disgusting nature, and the plates are obscene and indecent in the extreme." on the 7th of november, 1836, stockdale[469] brought an action for libel against the messrs. hansard for the sale of this report, which was alleged to be false. sir john campbell, who was counsel for the defendants, argued that the report was a privileged publication, being printed by the authority of the house of commons, and on that ground they were entitled to a verdict. but lord denman, in his charge to the jury, said: "i entirely disagree from the law laid down by the learned counsel for the defendants. my direction to you, subject to a question hereafter, is, that the fact of the house of commons having directed messrs. hansard to publish all the parliamentary reports is no justification for them, or for any bookseller who publishes a parliamentary report containing a libel against any man." in addition, however, to the plea of "not guilty," there was a plea of justification, on the ground that the allegations were true, and on this the jury found a verdict for the defendants. on the 16th of february, 1837, the messrs. hansard communicated the facts to the house of commons. a select committee was consequently appointed to examine precedents, and report upon the question of its privileges in regard to the publication of its reports and other matters. they reported in favour of the privilege which would protect any publication ordered by the house of commons, and resolutions based upon the report were adopted.

another action was brought by stockdale; the printers were directed to plead the privilege of the house. the court gave judgment against the plea, and damages were afterwards assessed, which the house of commons ordered the messrs. hansard to pay. on the 31st of july those gentlemen again communicated to the house that similar legal proceedings were threatened by mr. polac, on account of alleged defamatory matter in a parliamentary report on the state of new zealand. the house of commons passed another resolution, reaffirming its privilege, and directing hansard not to take any defence to the threatened action, which, however, was not proceeded with. but stockdale, on the 26th of august, 1839, commenced a third action for the publication of the report, which continued to be sold. the printers then served him with formal notice of the resolutions of the house and of their intention not to plead. stockdale, notwithstanding, on the 26th of october filed a declaration in the said action, wherein the damages were laid at ￡50,000; and on the 1st of november interlocutory judgment was signed for want of a plea. on the 2nd of november notice was served that a writ of inquiry of damages would be executed before the sheriff of middlesex on the 12th of the same month. the writ of inquiry was accordingly executed, when the sheriff's jury assessed the damages at ￡600; the consequence of which was that the sheriff took possession of the printing-office, premises, and stock-in-trade of the printers of the house of commons. but he was placed in a dilemma with regard to the sale, which was ultimately prevented by the amount of damages being paid into the sheriff's office on the night previous. on the 16th of january following, lord john russell presented a petition from the messrs. hansard, which recited the facts of the case, and prayed for such relief as, in the circumstances, the house might think fit. the course which lord john recommended was, that the persons who had violated the privileges of the house should be summoned to their bar. he therefore moved that stockdale, with burton howard, his attorney, william evans, the sheriff, the under-sheriff, and the deputy-under-sheriff, be summoned to the bar of the house. there was a long discussion on the legality of the course to be pursued. the motion was carried by a majority of 119. on the 17th of january, therefore, stockdale was called to the bar, and interrogated by the attorney-general as to the facts of the different actions. the house then resolved that stockdale should be committed to the custody of the serjeant-at-arms. it was also resolved that the sheriffs should be called to the bar. they were accordingly brought in by the serjeant-at-arms, dressed in their scarlet robes. on the 21st of january they petitioned the house, expressing their sorrow for having incurred its displeasure, and stated that they believed that they had only done their duty towards their sovereign and the queen's bench, whose sworn officers they were. they prayed, therefore, that they might not be amerced or imprisoned. lord john russell moved that the sheriffs, having been guilty of a breach of the privileges of the house, should be committed to the custody of the serjeant-at-arms, which was carried by a majority of 101. the same course was adopted with regard to mr. howard, the attorney, who was called in and reprimanded by the speaker.

but the queen's bench was by no means disposed to surrender its own privileges, even to the house of commons. on the 24th of january sir william gossett, serjeant-at-arms, appeared at the bar of the house, and said that he had last[470] evening been served with a writ of habeas corpus, commanding him to bring up the bodies of the sheriffs, william evans, esq., and john wheelton, esq., then in his custody. the attorney-general rose, and said he had no hesitation in advising the house to direct the serjeant-at-arms to return answer to the court of queen's bench that he held these two individuals in custody by the warrant of the speaker. he then moved a resolution to that effect, which was adopted, and the court of queen's bench acquiesced.

on the 3rd of february mr. darby brought forward a motion that the sheriffs should be discharged from the custody of the serjeant-at-arms. this gave rise to a long and animated debate. the attorney-general opposed the motion, contending that until they made their submission the house could not dismiss them with due regard to its dignity. sir william follett replied to the arguments of the attorney-general, and was answered by the solicitor-general. the debate was adjourned, and was resumed on the 7th. at its conclusion the house divided on the question that the sheriffs be discharged, which was negatived by a majority of 71. on the 12th mr. sheriff wheelton was discharged on account of ill-health, a motion for the release of the other sheriff having been rejected.

the house, meanwhile, seemed to have been getting still more involved in the meshes of these difficulties. stockdale commenced a fourth and fifth action against hansard; an order was issued for the arrest of his attorney for contempt, and he was ultimately lodged in newgate. but he afterwards brought actions against all the officers of the house that had been concerned in his arrest and had searched his premises. on the 17th of february lord john russell informed the house that he had a petition to present from messrs. hansard to the effect that a fifth action had been commenced against them by stockdale for the same course as before. it was then moved that stockdale, and the son of howard, his attorney, a lad of nineteen, and his clerk, by commencing this action had been guilty of a contempt of the house. this was carried by a majority of 71, and they, too, were imprisoned.

these vexatious proceedings, including a great number of debates and divisions, led to the passing of an act for more clearly defining the privileges of the house of commons, which had made itself unpopular by its course of proceeding towards the sheriffs, who had only discharged duties which they could not have evaded without exposing themselves to the process of attachment. on the 5th of march, accordingly, lord john russell moved for leave to bring in a bill relative to the publication of parliamentary papers. he said, in the course of his speech, that at all periods of our history, whatever might have been the subject—whether it regarded the privileges of parliament or the rights of the crown or any of the constituted authorities—whenever any great public difficulty had arisen, the parliament in its collective sense, meaning the crown, lords, and commons, had been called in to solve those difficulties. with regard to the measure he was about to propose, he would take care to state in the preamble of the bill that the privilege of the house was known only by interpretation of the house itself. he proposed that publications authorised by either house of parliament should be protected, and should not be liable to prosecution in any court of common law. leave was given to introduce the bill by a majority of 149, in spite of the opposition of the solicitor-general, sir thomas wilde; the house went into committee on the bill on the 13th of march, and it passed the third reading on the 20th of the same month. it was read a second time in the lords on the 6th of april; and the royal assent was given to it by commission on the 14th of the same month.

at the commencement of the session a notice of a motion of want of confidence in the ministry was given by sir john yarde buller. he assigned as reasons for bringing forward the motion the disturbed and unsatisfactory state of the country, which he ascribed to the system of popular agitation, "nurtured and fostered," as he alleged, by the ministers during the preceding two years. after a debate of four consecutive nights the motion was rejected by 308 votes to 287. the division was fairly satisfactory, and another source of gratification to the ministry was the passing of the irish municipal bill, which became law in spite of a characteristic protest from bishop phillpotts, who regarded the measure "as a deliberate and wilful abandonment of the cause of true religion which had provoked the justice of almighty god and given too much reason to apprehend the visitation of divine vengeance for this presumptuous act of national disobedience." in this session sir robert peel at last terminated the scandals connected with election committees by a plan which authorised the speaker to appoint a general committee of elections, with the duty of selecting election committees to try each particular[471] case. sir francis baring's budget was a considerable improvement upon those of his indifferent predecessor, mr. spring-rice, whose careless finance had produced no less than four successive deficits. he acknowledged a deficit of ￡850,000, and asked for a vote of credit. he further imposed an additional tax of 4d. a gallon on spirits, increased the customs and excise by 5 per cent., and the assessed taxes by 10 per cent.

the queen's marriage has been referred to in connection with the proceedings in parliament. the details of that interesting event, and other incidents affecting her majesty's happiness which occurred during the year, will now be recorded. the royal party assembled in the morning of the 10th of february at buckingham palace, whence it had been arranged that the members of her majesty's family and those of prince albert's, accompanied by the officers of state, should proceed to st. james's palace. the entire route along which the royal cortège was to pass was lined by the horse guards, while the trumpeters, in their state uniforms, were stationed at intervals to announce the approach of the royal bride and bridegroom. first, the ladies and gentlemen of her majesty's household, in seven royal carriages, arrived at the garden entrance of st. james's palace; and then followed the splendid state coach containing her majesty, her royal highness the duchess of kent, and the mistress of the robes. the closet behind the throne room had been draped with silk and prepared for the reception of the queen. there her majesty, attended by her maids of honour, train-bearers, and bridesmaids, remained until the lord chamberlain of her household marshalled the procession to the chapel royal. soon after her majesty had entered the closet, the clash of "presented arms," the roll of drums and flourish of trumpets outside, told that the bridegroom had arrived. at a quarter to one o'clock the ring was placed upon her majesty's finger; outside, the guns thundered forth the intelligence; but their loud booming was nearly drowned by the long-continued shouts of acclamation which arose from the thousands who thronged the park. at the conclusion of the service the queen dowager cordially embraced and kissed the bride, and the prince acknowledged queen adelaide's congratulations by kissing her hand. the bride and her royal consort drove at once to buckingham palace, and the noble assembly that had witnessed the ceremony retired. after a splendid breakfast at buckingham palace the bride and bridegroom took their departure for windsor castle. the sun shone out in cloudless lustre just at the moment of their leaving the gateway; the vast concourse of people assembled outside the palace hailed this as a happy omen, and as the carriage containing the royal pair drove off, the air was rent with the most enthusiastic cheering.

about four months passed happily away, when another event occurred which was very near furnishing a startling illustration of the truth that there is no certain tenure of human happiness. on the night of wednesday, the 10th of june, london was agitated by a report of an attempt upon the life of the queen. next day an investigation took place at the home office, from which the public and the reporters of the daily press were excluded. the following are the facts:—at a quarter past six on wednesday evening, the queen, accompanied by prince albert, left buckingham palace, in a very low, open phaeton, to take her customary drive in hyde park before dinner. the carriage had proceeded a short distance up the road when a young man, who had been standing with his back to the green park fence, advanced to within a few yards of the carriage, and deliberately fired at the queen. the postilions paused for an instant. the prince ordered them, in a loud voice, to drive on. "i have got another!" exclaimed the assassin, who discharged a second pistol, aimed at the carriage, which also proved harmless. the queen and the prince went as far as hyde park corner, and then turned to the duchess of kent's mansion, in belgrave square. meanwhile, the assassin remained near the spot, leaning against the park fence, with the weapons in his hand. several persons laid hold of him, and he was conveyed by two policemen to the gardener's lane station-house. after staying a short time with the duchess of kent, in belgrave square, the queen and her husband proceeded to hyde park, where an immense concourse of persons, of all ranks and both sexes, had congregated. the reception of the royal pair was so enthusiastic as almost to overpower the self-possession of the queen. they soon returned to buckingham palace, attended by a vast number of the nobility and gentry, in carriages and on horseback. a multitude of persons collected at the entrance to the palace, and vehemently cheered the queen, who, though pale and agitated, repeatedly bowed and smiled in return.

the name of the prisoner was edward oxford. he was about eighteen years of age, and of an[472] unprepossessing countenance. he was a native of birmingham, which town he had left nine years before. he was last employed at a public-house, "the hog in the pond," at the corner of south molton street and oxford street. his trial for high treason was begun in the central criminal court on thursday, july 9th, and ended next day. the judges were lord denman, baron alderson, and justice patteson. the jury returned the following special verdict:—"we find the prisoner, edward oxford, guilty of discharging the contents of two pistols, but whether or not they were loaded with ball has not been satisfactorily proved to us, he being of unsound mind at the time." an argument followed between counsel as to whether this verdict amounted to an absolute acquittal, or an acquittal on the ground of insanity. lord denman said that the jury were in a mistake. it was necessary that they should form an opinion as to whether the pistols were loaded with bullets or not; but it appeared they had not applied their minds to that point, and therefore it would be necessary that they should again retire, and say aye or no. did the prisoner fire a pistol loaded with ball at the queen? after considerable discussion upon the point, the jury again retired to consider their verdict. during their absence the question was again argued, and it appeared to be the opinion of the judges that the jury were bound to return a verdict of "guilty" or "not guilty" upon the evidence brought before them. after an absence of an hour they returned into court, finding the prisoner "guilty, he being at the same time insane." the sentence was that he should be imprisoned during her majesty's pleasure, according to the act 40 george iii., providing for cases where crimes were committed by insane persons.

meanwhile the aspect of foreign affairs was hardly reassuring. britain was at war with china and afghanistan, and within measurable distance of war with france and the united states. postponing for the present our review of the first afghan war and the differences with america, which will be dealt with more properly under the history of sir robert peel's ministry, we proceed to give a short sketch of the chinese war and the syrian crisis. the exclusive right of the east india company to trade with china ceased on the 22nd of april, 1834, and from this time dates the great dispute about the opium traffic. the first free-trade ship sailed from england on the 25th of the same month. lord napier was sent out to china to superintend british commerce, and arrived at macao on the 15th of july. he died soon after his arrival, and was succeeded by mr., afterwards sir, john davis. but the chinese were not disposed to recognise the authority with which he was vested. during 1835 and 1836 matters went on peaceably under the superintendence of the second and third commissioners, mr. davis and sir t. robinson, the former of whom returned to england, and the latter was superseded by captain elliot, r.n., who in vain renewed the attempt to establish an official connection with the chinese authorities. the opening of the trade in 1834 gave a powerful stimulus to all kinds of smuggling, and especially in opium, the importation of which into china was prohibited by the imperial government, in consequence of its deleterious qualities. during the following years, however, the supply of that drug was increased enormously, and the smuggling trade was carried on along the coasts of the northern provinces, in defiance of the laws of the country. the imperial government was naturally indignant at these encroachments, and became, moreover, seriously alarmed, perhaps not so much for its demoralising effects, as for the continued drain of specie which it occasioned. in march, 1839, lin arrived at canton, as imperial high commissioner, to enforce the laws in this matter. he immediately issued an edict requiring that every chest of opium on the river should be delivered up, in order to be destroyed; and that bonds should be given by traders that their ships should never again bring any opium, on pain of forfeiture of the article and death to the importer. lin having taken strong measures to carry this edict into effect by blockading the british merchants, captain elliot proceeded to canton, and issued a circular letter to his countrymen, requiring them to surrender into his hands all the opium then actually on the coast of china, and holding himself responsible for the consequences. on the 21st of may the whole of the opium, to the amount of 20,283 chests, was given up to the chinese government, and immediately destroyed. but even this great sacrifice did not propitiate commissioner lin. on the 26th of november he issued another interdict, ordering the cessation of all trade with british ships in a week; and in january, 1840, an imperial edict appeared directing that all trade with britain should cease for ever. further numerous outrages were committed by the chinese against british sailors. in consequence of these proceedings an armament was sent forth to teach the chinese the principles of international law. the first part of the armament reached the canton river in june, 1840, under the command of captain elliot. having established a rigorous blockade in the river, the british, on the 5th of july, took possession of the large island of chusan, in the eastern sea. it proved very unhealthy, and one man out of every four died. proceeding still farther to the mouth of the peiho, in the yellow sea, captain elliot attempted to overawe the chinese. but the sea was too shallow to enable him to land his troops, and he was forced to put back to chusan.

[473]

marriage of queen victoria. (after the picture by sir george hayter.)

[see larger version]

[474]

it was in these circumstances that sir james graham, on the 7th of april, brought forward a series of resolutions on our relations with china, and the government escaped defeat by a narrow majority of ten. a vote of censure would inevitably have been passed, had not the duke of wellington expressed his cordial approval of the ministerial policy. his followers were furious. "i know it," said the duke to charles greville, "and i do not care one damn. i have no time to do what is not right."

meanwhile the war had continued, and with the commencement of 1841 fortune began to favour the british. the chinese position at the mouth of the canton river was forced, and the emperor was compelled to send a commissioner, keshin by name, to treat with the "outer barbarians." keshin cunningly transferred the scene of negotiations to canton, in order to secure time to strengthen the forts and prepare for defence. he accordingly employed the interval busily in erecting new batteries at the bogue, barricading the bars in the river by sinking boats laden with stones, throwing up breastworks near canton, and levying troops. the british commissioner, wearied and irritated by these proceedings, gave directions to commodore bremer to proceed at once to compulsory methods of bringing the chinese to reason. on the 7th of january, therefore, he opened fire on the bogue forts, on two of which the british flag very soon floated. next morning, when everything was ready to attack the principal fort, annughoy, a flag of truce was sent by the chinese, and hostilities were suspended. keshin offered to adjust matters immediately, and on the 20th a circular appeared, signed by captain elliot, and dated macao, addressed to "her britannic majesty's subjects," stating that her majesty's plenipotentiary had to announce the conclusion of preliminary arrangements between the imperial commissioner and himself, involving the following conditions:—1st. the cession of the harbour and island of hong kong to the british crown. 2nd. an indemnity to the british government of 6,000,000 dollars, to be paid in annual instalments in six years. 3rd. direct official intercourse between the two countries upon equal footing. it was quite evident that her majesty's plenipotentiary did not understand the sort of people he had to deal with; otherwise, he would not have arrested the operations of commodore bremer till he had all the principal forts in his possession. in fact he was completely duped by keshin.

the convention, which did not contain a word about the opium trade, gave great dissatisfaction at home, and lord john russell declared in the house of commons, on the 6th of may, that it had been disapproved of by the government; that captain elliot had been recalled, and sir henry pottinger appointed plenipotentiary in his stead. the chinese, meanwhile, soon violated their engagements. on the 19th of february an english boat was fired upon from north wang-ton, in consequence of which the squadron under captain sir h. flemming senhouse attacked the forts on the 26th of february, and in a very short time the british colours were flying on the whole chain of these celebrated fortifications, and the british became masters of the islands without the loss of a single man. proceeding up the river towards the whampoa reach they found it fortified with upwards of forty war junks, and the cambridge, an old east indiaman. but they were all silenced in an hour, when the marines and small-arm men were landed and stormed the works, driving before them upwards of 3,000 chinese troops, and killing nearly 300. next day sir gordon bremer joined the advanced squadron, and the boats were pushed forward within gunshot of howgua's fort; and thus, for the first time, were foreign ships seen from the walls of canton. on the 2nd of may the cruiser came up, having on board major-general sir hugh gough, who took command of the land forces. on approaching the fort it was found to be abandoned, as well as those higher up the river, the chinese having fired all their guns and fled. the prefect or governor of canton then made his appearance, accompanied by the hong merchants, announcing that keshin having been recalled and degraded, and the new commissioner not having arrived, there was no authority to treat for peace. captain elliot again hesitating, requested the naval and military commanders to make no further movement towards the city until it was seen what was the disposition of the provincial authorities at canton, and admitted the[475] city to a ransom of ￡1,250,000. but sir g. bremer observed in a despatch that he feared the forbearance was misunderstood, and that a further punishment must be inflicted before that arrogant and perfidious government was brought to reason. he was right; for on the 17th of march a flag of truce, with a message sent by captain elliot to the imperial commissioner, was fired upon by the chinese. in consequence of this, a force under captain herbert, who was in advance of the rest of the armament, carried in succession all the forts up to canton, taking, sinking, burning, and otherwise destroying the flotilla of the enemy, and hoisted the union jack the same day on the walls of the british factory.

at this juncture sir henry pottinger succeeded captain elliot, with orders to bring the war to a satisfactory conclusion. his measures were prompt; amoy fell on the 26th of august, chusan, which had been abandoned, was recaptured in september, and the chinese experienced further reverses in 1842. at length the chinese saw that resistance was vain, and that they must come to terms, as the "barbarians" could not be exterminated. full powers had been given to three commissioners to negotiate a treaty of peace, which, after various conferences, was concluded on the 26th of august, 1842. it embraced the following stipulations:—the payment by the chinese of an indemnity of ￡4,375,000 in addition to the ransom of ￡1,250,000 already surrendered; the opening of the new ports of canton, amoy, fou-chow-fou, ning-po, and shang-hai to british merchants, with permission to consular officers to reside there; the cession of the island of hong kong to the british in perpetuity; correspondence to be conducted on terms of perfect equality between the officers of both governments; and the islands of chusan and ku-lang-su to be held by the british until the money payments were made, and arrangements for opening the ports were completed.

far more serious than this smallest of little wars was the crisis that had simultaneously overtaken the levant. for years the turkish empire had been on the brink of dissolution, partly through its own weakness, partly through the ambition of mehemet ali, the pasha of egypt. in 1838 he had been prevented only by a vigorous remonstrance of lord palmerston's from declaring himself independent and attacking the turkish army on the euphrates. for months the two forces stood face to face, and then the turks by their own folly provoked the catastrophe. disregarding the advice of the french and british governments, the sultan mahmoud sent his troops across the river. on the 24th of june, 1839, they were cut to pieces by the egyptians, on the 29th the sultan died, on the 30th the turkish admiral achmet pasha sailed off to alexandria, and handed over his fleet to mehemet ali. it was evident that prompt intervention of the powers could alone preserve the ottoman empire from disintegration. but, as soon as lord palmerston broached the subject, the french government refused to take part in a general agreement for the maintenance of the porte; in fact, its sympathies were openly expressed on the side of the pasha. thereupon lord palmerston resolved to proceed without louis philippe. his overtures to the russians were cordially received; austria raised no objections. on the 15th of july, 1840, the quadrilateral treaty was signed, by which the british, austrian, prussian, and russian representatives on the one hand, and the turkish ambassador on the other, bound themselves to compel the pasha to yield half of syria to the porte, and pledged themselves to use force to give effect to their demands.

thereupon a period of the utmost suspense ensued. the british cabinet was of very divided mind; there was a strong peace party, headed by lord holland and lord clarendon, with which lord john russell, after much hesitation, eventually threw in his lot. again and again he threatened resignation, and it needed all the diplomacy of the prime minister and the strong remonstrances of the queen to induce him to remain at his post. even more serious was the attitude of the french government. m. thiers, who had become prime minister in march, was furious at the humiliation to which his predecessors' shilly-shally had exposed his country. he blustered about going to war, talked about increasing the fleet and calling out the reserves, and tried to persuade the british ambassador, sir henry bulwer, that the king, his master, was even more bloodthirsty than himself. all in vain; lord palmerston had taken the measure of his opponents. he knew that, though thiers might mean fighting, louis philippe had no such intention; he knew, too, that the pasha, whom the world thought to be invincible, was a mere man of straw. his opinion was justified by the easy success of the joint british, austrian, and turkish squadron. beyrout fell early in september, saida, the ancient sidon, surrendered before the end of the month, and on the 3rd of[476] november commodore napier reduced to ruins, after a bombardment of only three hours, acre, the fortress hitherto held to be impregnable, from which even napoleon had turned away in despair. the fall of acre settled, for the time being, the eastern question. already louis philippe had seen the necessity of abandoning words which were not to be followed by deeds. he had refused to countenance the bellicose speech from the throne with which m. thiers proposed to open the chambers in october; that minister had in consequence resigned, and had been succeeded by marshal soult with m. guizot as his foreign minister. still lord palmerston refused to readmit france to the european concert until the egyptian resistance was at an end. however, his more pacific colleagues induced him to allow the french government to take part in the diplomatic discussion, which led to the ultimate settlement of the crisis in the following july. by that treaty the independence of the porte was guaranteed by a provision that the bosphorus and dardanelles should be closed to ships of war of all powers in time of peace, while the pasha was punished for his contumacy by being compelled to surrender the whole of syria, retaining by way of compensation the hereditary possession of egypt.

at the opening of 1841 the country might be said to be free from all excitement on the subject of politics. there was no great question at issue, no struggle between rival parties seemed impending. many of the principal topics which in former years had agitated the public mind had been settled or laid to rest. the chartist riots seemed to have abated the desire of the leading reformers to extend the suffrage to the working classes. still the government was lamentably weak, and only existed on sufferance. nor did the conduct of affairs in the house of commons tend to strengthen their position. the reintroduction by lord stanley of his bill to regulate the registration of voters in ireland led to much angry discussion with damaging results to the government, who had already suffered grievous defeats in attempting to arrest the progress of the measure during the previous session. two days later lord morpeth brought in a government bill for the same object. the main features of the plan were to abolish certificates; to make the register conclusive of the right to vote, except where disqualification afterwards appeared; to establish an annual revision of the registers, and to give a right of appeal equally to the claimant and the objector. the main point of difference between this and lord stanley's bill consisted in the tribunal to which the appeal was to be made. the government proposed for this purpose the creation of a new court, consisting of three barristers of a certain standing. an additional feature of the government bill was a proposal to settle the question of the basis of the franchise by fixing upon the poor law valuation as the standard; and the bill proposed to enact that every occupier of a tenement under a holding of not less than fourteen years, of the annual value of ￡5, should have the right of voting previously enjoyed by persons who had a beneficial interest of ￡10. the conservatives complained of the unfairness of thus introducing by surprise a fundamental alteration in the elective franchise of ireland, founded upon principles unknown both in england and scotland. it was represented as a new reform bill for ireland, tacked on as a postscript to a bill for amending the registration. the ￡5 franchise, it was argued, would in effect be little short of the introduction of universal suffrage. the house divided on the respective merits of the rival bills, when the government measure was carried by a majority of five. the result was hailed with cheers from both sides of the house, the opposition regarding the victory as little better than a defeat. lord john russell at first announced that he would proceed immediately with the measure, but he afterwards moved its postponement till the 23rd of april. during the interval lord morpeth announced the conversion of the ministry to the principle of an ￡8 rating. when the question was introduced again, on the 26th of april, it gave rise to a party debate. while the house was in committee on lord morpeth's bill, lord howick proposed an amendment to the effect that the tenant, in order to entitle him to the franchise, should have a beneficial interest in his holding of ￡5 a year over and above the rent. lord morpeth proposed as a qualification for the franchise a lease of fourteen years, and a low rating of ￡8. lord howick proposed that the yearly tenant should be entitled to vote as well as the leaseholder if he had an annual interest of ￡5 in it; but lord morpeth contended, and showed from statistics, that this principle would disfranchise more than three-fourths of the ￡10 tenant voters in several of the counties. in short, it would have the effect of almost entirely disfranchising the existing occupying constituency of ireland. on a division, lord howick's amendment was carried by 291 to 270. finally the bill was reduced to such a jumble of[477] contradictory amendments that it was impossible to proceed with it. thus ended the great struggle of the session. much time had been wasted in party debates and fruitless discussions, and the proposal to give the irish people the benefit of the reform act by putting its perishing constituencies on a proper basis, simple as it may seem, utterly failed. lord stanley also abandoned his measure, and there the matter ended. the whole of the proceedings plainly indicated that the doom of lord melbourne's feeble cabinet was at hand.

attack on the chinese junks. (see p. 474.)

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the budget did not retrieve the popularity of ministers. sir francis baring proposed to make up for an estimated deficit of ￡2,421,000 by an alteration of the timber duties producing ￡600,000 a year, and an alteration of the sugar duties producing ￡700,000. both these changes were in the direction of free trade, and a still more significant proposal was the repeal of the existing corn law, and the substitution of a low fixed duty of 8s. a quarter on wheat. the house, however, would not accept such a budget from a government whose premier had in the previous year declared that "the responsible advisers of the crown would not propose any change in the corn laws." after a debate of eight nights the ministry were defeated on the sugar duties by 317 votes to 281. still they did not resign, and the opposition in consequence had recourse to a direct vote of censure.

on the 31st of may, pursuant to notice, sir robert peel brought forward a motion of want of confidence in the government, in the following words:—"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." the right hon. baronet referred to a number of precedents for the course he adopted—namely, the cases of sir robert walpole, lord north, mr. pitt, lord sidmouth, lord liverpool, the duke of wellington, and himself, each of whom resigned, failing the support of a majority of the house of[478] commons; and he insisted that lord melbourne was bound to follow their example. a debate of two nights followed: it was interrupted by the whitsun holidays, after which it was resumed and lasted three nights more, during which all sorts of topics were discussed, and all the shortcomings of ministers were dwelt upon, and urged against them with great earnestness. the burden of the charges against them was, that they were causing the greatest public mischief by leaving important questions in doubt, setting party against party, and stirring society to its very foundations. at length the house went to a division, when there appeared for sir robert peel's motion, 312; against it, 311, giving a majority of 1 against the government. at the meeting of the house on the following monday the most lively anxiety was manifested as to the course ministers would pursue. lord john russell stated that, after the late division, he felt that in that house of commons the government could expect no further majorities, and that they were resolved to appeal to the country. the determination, it is now known, had been opposed by the premier, but he was overruled by the more sanguine members of the cabinet.

parliament was dissolved on the 30th of june, and at the general election the ministerial party was smitten hip and thigh. the city of london exhibited a most remarkable defection from the whigs on this occasion. it had returned four liberals to the late parliament, one of whom was lord john russell himself. on this occasion they returned two conservatives and two liberals; mr. masterman, a conservative, being at the head of the poll. lord john russell was also returned, having beaten his conservative opponent by a majority of only 7. another significant triumph of the conservatives was won in the west riding of yorkshire, one of the most liberal constituencies in the kingdom. there lord morpeth and lord milton—the candidates, of all others, most likely to succeed—were beaten, after a tremendous contest, by the hon. s. wortley and mr. denison. for dublin, also, two conservatives were returned—messrs. west and grogan; mr. o'connell being defeated. in england and wales the conservatives had a majority of 104. in scotland the liberals had a majority of 9, and in ireland of 19. the majority in favour of the conservatives in the united kingdom was 76. the cries that had most to do in producing this result were, on the one side, "cheap bread," and on the other, "low wages."

on the 19th of august the new parliament assembled. the session was opened by commission; the royal speech, which was read by the lord chancellor, contained a paragraph referring to the duties affecting the productions of foreign countries, and suggesting for consideration the question whether the principle of protection was not carried to an extent injurious alike to the income of the state and the interests of the people; whether the corn laws did not aggravate the natural fluctuations of supply; and whether they did not embarrass trade, derange the currency, and by their operation diminish the comfort and increase the privations of the great body of the community. here was a distinct enunciation of the principles of free trade in the speech from the throne, for which, of course, the ministers were responsible. the address in the house of lords was moved by earl spencer, a decided free trader, and seconded by the marquis of clanricarde. the debate was relieved from nullity by the duke of wellington's testimony to the conduct of lord melbourne towards the queen. the duke said—"he was willing to admit 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, independently of the performance of his duty as the servant of her majesty's crown; teaching her, in short, to preside over the destiny of this great country." the house divided, when it was found that there was a majority of 72 against the government.

the first business in the house of commons was the re-election of mr. shaw lefevre as speaker. on the 24th of august the address was moved by mr. mark philips, and seconded by mr. john dundas. mr. wortley then moved an amendment similar to the one which had been carried in the house of lords, in which he went over all the charges against the government. his motion was seconded by lord bruce, and supported by mr. disraeli. the debate lasted several nights. sir robert peel delivered a long and very able speech, in which he reviewed the whole policy of the government. he was answered by lord john russell, whose speech closed the debate. the division gave to sir robert peel a majority for which no one seemed prepared. the numbers were—for the ministerial address, 269; for the amendment, 360; majority against the government, 91. on the 30th the resignation of ministers was announced.