XXII. 1830. character, Mrs Jordan, by whom he had a numerous family, since CHAP. ennobled by the title of Earl of Munster. He was in the sixty-fifth year of his age when he ascended the throne, 52. and had been married for several years to the Princess His personal Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, who became Queen of and Queen. England. She was a model of every feminine virtue, and endowed with no small amount of masculine courage and resolution. She had borne him two princes, both of whom died in infancy, and there was no longer any hope of a direct succession to the crown-a subject of regret at the time, but which has long since been forgotten in the virtues and popularity of the illustrious Princess who upon his demise succeeded to the throne. 53. condition Ministers after the accession of IV. The usual expressions of condolence on the demise of the late monarch, and congratulation on the accession of Precarious the new, by both Houses, did not long suspend the strife on of of parties in Parliament; on the contrary, it only became more keen and impassioned; for the death of the former William king had removed the personal antipathies which had been one great cause of the long exclusion of the Whigs from power, and the known intimacies and facility of character of the new opened to them a fair prospect of speedily regaining it. The first proceedings in Parliament, accordingly, were marked by a great tenderness of the liberal leaders towards the reigning monarch. They had long suffered from a rupture with the throne, and they were resolved not again to incur a similar difficulty. The Tories were retained in their places by William; but it was well understood that they held them on sufferance only, and that as soon as, by a coalition of parties, they 1 Ann. Reg. were thrown into a minority in the House of Commons, 1830, 133, the Sovereign would without reluctance call the leaders buck, i. 256. of Opposition to the helm.1 * The Whigs were determined not to have another personal quarrel with the Sovereign, and thus put themselves in a painful position when called to the presence of the Sovereign, and called to act in his name. Whatever might happen, therefore, they were resolved to be on good terms with the King, having experienced the mischief done to their party by their unhappy strife with 134; Roe CHAP. 1830. 54. the question cy, in the event of the King's death. The first question on which the temper of the Liberals to the new Sovereign was evinced was regarding a passage in the Address, in which the Ministers recommended, Debate on in answer to a message from the Sovereign, that Parliaof a Regen- ment should sit till provision was made for carrying on the public service, and then be dissolved. Earl Grey in the Lords, and Lord Althorpe in the Commons, moved for a provision for a Regency, in the event of the demise of the Sovereign in the interval before the new Parliament assembled. The debate was chiefly remarkable for the lavish encomiums bestowed by the Whig chiefs, and especially Mr Brougham, on the new King; but the motion, which was entirely a party move, was unsuccessful in both Houses, being defeated in the Lords by a majority of forty-four, and in the Commons by one of fortysix. These numbers indicated an approximation to Parliament, equality between the two parties for long unknown in 2769. Parliament, and presaged a change in administration at no distant period.1 June 30. 1 Mirror of 1830, 2689, 55. Two questions occurring during this session of ParliaProsecution ment powerfully contributed to influence the public mind, of the press, and West and increase the unpopularity of Ministers, already preIndia Ques- pared by so many concurring causes. The first of these tion. was a debate on certain prosecutions of the press, especially the Morning Journal, which had been instituted by Sir James Scarlett, the Attorney-General, for libels against the Government. Instead of adopting the wise course of disregarding such attacks altogether, and replying to them only by integrity and wisdom of administration, it was deemed necessary to proceed against them by ex-officio information-a mode of proceeding unpopular at all times, and especially when instituted by a functionary who had himself been one of the warmest his predecessor. Sir Robert Peel had¡ indulged in panegyric on the late, Mr Brougham employed his powers in eulogising the new Sovereign. Nothing, therefore, was heard but a chorus of praise of the dead and the living.”—ROEBUCK, vol. i. p. 256. CHAP. 1830. supporters of the liberty of the press. Government, at a critical moment, was seriously damaged in public estimation by this injudicious proceeding. The second was a motion brought forward by Mr Brougham, towards the close of the session, on the subject of colonial slavery. July 13. His motion was, that "this House do resolve, at the earliest practicable period next session, to take into its serious consideration the state of the slaves in the colonies of Great Britain, in order to the mitigation and final abolition of slavery." The motion was resisted by Government, and thrown out by a majority of 29, the numbers being 56 to 27; but Mr Brougham made a powerful speech on the occasion, which harrowed up the feelings of the humane throughout the country, and procured for him the representation of the West Riding of Yorkshire at the next election. This debate, though conducted in a very 1 Mirror of thin House, deserves to be noticed as the commence- 1830, 2881; ment of that vehement feeling on the subject of slavery Brougham's in the country, which soon after, for good or for evil, forced on the unconditional measure of NEGRO EMAN- 137, 141. CIPATION.1 Parliament, Speeches, .132; Ann. Reg. 1830, and dissolu and French Parliament was prorogued by the King in person on 56. 23d July, and next day a proclamation for its dissolu- Prorogation tion appeared, the writs being returnable on 14th Sep- tion of Partember. Never had the country been appealed to under t such critical circumstances, or a fortuitous combination of Revolution. events produced such momentous effects on the British empire. The very day after the proclamation dissolving Parliament appeared in the London Gazette, the famous ordinances were signed by Charles X., and the contest began in the streets of Paris which terminated in the overthrow of the French monarchy. Incalculable were the results of this fortuitous, perhaps providential, coincidence. The elections, which began in the end of August or beginning of September, took place during an excitement, in consequence of that event, which never had been paralleled, since the Great Rebellion, in English history. XXII. 1830. CHAP. All hearts were moved, all minds fired, all sympathies awakened by it. The national mind, grave and sedate on ordinary occasions, was then roused to a pitch almost of frenzy. It is in such characters that the passions, when once thoroughly excited, are ever the strongest and most irresistible. Unbounded was the enthusiasm excited in the whole middle classes, and a large part of the higher, by that great event. The English mind was sympathetic with the cause of freedom all over the world; and warmly interested in the first French Revolution at its outset, and detached from it only by the excitement of the war and its own atrocities, it now lent itself without reserve to the great and comparatively bloodless effort in favour of liberty made in the neighbouring kingdom. The heroism displayed by the citizens during the conflict, the clemency and abstinence from pillage by which the triumph was distinguished, the celerity and completeness of the victory, diffused a universal enchantment. All ranks, though from different motives, joined in it. The ardent and philanthropic beheld with thankfulness a great triumph, almost unstained by human blood, achieved for the arms of freedom; the middle classes were elated by the prospect of a citizen-king being placed on the throne, and their armed representatives in the National Guard disposing of the crown; the press was charmed at the sight of the editors of newspapers becoming ministers of state; the Radicals were in transports at beholding a dynasty overthrown by a well-concerted urban revolt, and a monarch of the people's choice, "surrounded by republican institutions," assuming the reins of government. Fearful of the consequences, and trembling for themselves, the aristocratic leaders and farseeing of the educated classes kept aloof, and awaited the course of events before they declared decidedly on the subject: but their numbers were too few to weaken the universal transports; and the liberal chiefs, to preserve the lead to which they had been accustomed, were compelled, 10 1830, 144, 145; Roo buck, i. 291, 296; Martineau, ii. 7, 12. often in secret against their will, to take the lead in the CHAP. expression of the general enthusiasm. XXII. 1830. 57. the elections to the Libe This general excitement, which went on daily increasing for some months after the Revolution of 1830 took Result of place, appeared with decisive effect upon the results of the favourable elections. It was not the number of the victories gained rals. by the Liberals so much as their character which was the decisive thing. Not one cabinet minister obtained a seat by anything like a popular election, while their opponents carried the greatest constituencies without a contest, or by 'triumphant majorities. Mr Brougham was returned without opposition for the West Riding of Yorkshire. "The squires," said he, "were all against me, but I canvassed the towns and villages, and soon convinced them that resistance was hopeless." Devonshire, after a violent contest, was carried by Lord Ebrington, a decided Whig, and the support of the same party brought in Sir Thomas Acland, a liberal Tory. Middlesex brought in Mr. Hume by a large majority, and in Cambridgeshire the old-established influence of the Rutland family was defeated in consequence of the indignation of the freeholders at the duke's vote in favour of the Catholics. These changes in the counties were nearly all owing to the strong opinion of the rural population on that question, and the ulcerated feelings with which they regarded those who, as they thought, had betrayed them. But in the great towns the result was the same, though springing from a general sense of suffering in consequence of the change of prices rather than from religious feelings. Liverpool returned Mr Huskisson and General Gascoigne, both hostile, though on different grounds, to the Government. London, Westminster, Aylesbury, and nearly all the great towns, returned Opposition members. Even Mr Croker lost his seat for Dublin University. In the general result of the election, it was calculated that Ministers had lost fifty seats, making a difference of a hundred on a vote: and the character of the changes was |