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feel that all this vehement applause resulted directly from CHAP. the public belief that he sincerely desired reform, and intended to support his Ministers by the whole weight of his prerogative in their endeavours to promote it. The people, from time to time, began to show symptoms of impatience and distrust; menaces were every now and then thrown out, which the Ministers were obliged openly to condemn, but which, nevertheless, very materially promoted the object they had in view, which was to make the King understand the ticklish condition of his present 1 Roebuck, popularity, and the serious and imminent risk attending ii. 121, 124. a positive rejection of the measure."1

which the

induced to

Parliament.

Notwithstanding all these arts, which they practised 62. with great skill, the Whig leaders found it no easy matter, Means by when the crisis arrived, to induce the King to dissolve King was Parliament. The Cabinet were unanimous in recom- dissolve mending it, regarding, with justice, General Gascoigne's amendment as the first of a series of measures intended to defeat the bill. But the Sovereign expressed the utmost reluctance to take the decisive step. The story told, and generally credited at the time, of his being so anxious to do so that he said, when informed the royal carriages were not in readiness to take him to the House, "Then call a hackney-coach," is now known to have been a well-devised fable; and the following is the account of this transaction, given by the historian of the Whigs, whose known intimacy with Lord Brougham, as well as the fact of his statement not having been contradicted by his lordship, entitles it to confidence: "On the morning of the 22d, Lord Grey and the Lord-Chancellor waited on the King, in order to request him instantly to dissolve Parliament. The necessity of a dissolution had long been foreseen and decided on by Ministers; but the King had not yet been persuaded to consent to so bold. a measure; and now the two chiefs of the Administration were about to intrude themselves into the royal closet, not to advise and request a dissolution, but to request the

XXIII.

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CHAP. King on a sudden, on that very day, and within a few hours, to go down and put an end to his parliament, in the midst of the session, and with all its ordinary business unfinished. The bolder mind of the Chancellor took the lead, and Lord Grey anxiously solicited him to manage the King on the occasion. So soon as they were admitii. 148, 149. ted, the Chancellor, with some care and circumlocution, propounded to the King the object they had in view.1

1 Roebuck,

63.

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King's re-

overcome.

April 22.

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The startled monarch no sooner understood the drift of the Chancellor's somewhat periphrastic statement, sistance is than he exclaimed, in wonder and anger against the very idea of such a proceeding, 'How is it possible, my lords, that I can, after this fashion, repay the kindness of Parliament to the Queen and myself? They have just granted me a most liberal civil list, and the Queen a splendid annuity, in case she survive me.' The Chancellor confessed that they had, as regarded his Majesty, been a liberal and wise Parliament, but that, nevertheless, their further existence was incompatible with the peace and safety of the kingdom, and both he and Lord Grey insisted upon the absolute necessity of their request, and that this request was in pursuance of a unanimous decision of the Cabinet, and that they felt themselves unable to conduct the affairs of the country in the present condition of Parliament. But, my lords,' said the King, 'nothing is prepared; the great officers of state are not summoned.' 'Pardon me, sir,' said the Chancellor, bowing with profound apparent humility; we have taken the great liberty of giving them to understand that your Majesty commanded their attendance at the proper hour.'

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But, my lords, the crown, the robes, and other things needed, are not prepared.' I entreat your Majesty's pardon for my boldness; they are all prepared and ready, the proper officers being desired to attend in proper form and time.' 'But, my lords, you know the thing is wholly impossible; the guards, the troops, have had no orders, and cannot be ready in time.' Pardon me, sir; we know

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how bold the step is, but presuming on your Majesty's CHAP. great goodness, and your anxious desire for the safety of your kingdom, and happiness of your people, I have given the order, and the troops are ready.' The King started in serious anger, flamed red in the face, and burst forth with, What, my lords! have your dared to act thus? Such a thing was never heard of. You, my LordChancellor, ought to know that such an act is treason-high treason, my lord.' Yes, sir,' said the Chancellor, ‘I do know it; and nothing but my thorough knowledge of your Majesty's great goodness, of your paternal anxiety for the good of your people, and my own solemn belief that the good of the State depends upon this day's proceedings, could have emboldened me to the performance of so unusual, and, in ordinary circumstances, improper a proceeding. I am ready, in my own person, to bear all the blame, and receive all the punishment which your Majesty may deem meet; but I again entreat your Majesty to listen to us, and follow our counsel.' After some further expostulations by both the ministers, the King cooled down and consented. The speech to be delivered by him on the occasion was ready prepared, and in the Chancellor's pocket. He agreed to it, and dismissed his ministers for the moment, with something between a ii. 150, 152. menace and a joke on the audacity of their proceedings."1

1 Roebuck,

64.

scene in the

While this extraordinary scene, fraught with the future destinies of England, was going on in the King's closet, a Violent still more violent exhibition occurred in the House of House of Commons. That House had met early, as it was well Commons. known that a dissolution was about to take place; and on the presentation of a petition in favour of reform, Sir R. Vivian took occasion to arraign Ministers violently for their intention of dissolving Parliament. Sir Francis Burdett rose and contended that Sir Richard was out of order, as the question of dissolution was not before the House. The Speaker was appealed to, who decided that Sir Richard was in order. The Reformers, however, per

XXIII. 1831.

CHAP. sisted in maintaining that he was not so, and the discussion was going on with great vehemence when the cannon were heard which announced his Majesty's approach. Upon Martineau, this a scene of indescribable violence ensued. The cries Parl. Deb. were loud for Sir R. Peel, who rose, and was addressing

ii. 36, 37;

iii. 1804,

buck, ii.

156, 158.

1806; Roe- the House with undisguised emotion, when the admonitory knock of the Usher of the Black Rod summoned the House to attend his Majesty to the House of Peers.1

65.

House of

A scene scarcely less violent was in progress in the Scene in the House of Lords when the King approached their hall. Peers when That House also had met early to discuss a motion made dissolved by Lord Wharncliffe for an address to his Majesty not Parliament. to dissolve Parliament, and the most vehement language

the King

had passed on both sides in the course of the debate. As usual in such cases, each party accused the other of being out of order, and Lord Brougham from the Woolsack said, "I never until now have heard that the Sovereign has not the right to dissolve the Parliament when he sees fit to do so, more particularly when the House of Commons have considered it proper to take the extreme and unprecedented step of stopping the supplies." Lord Londonderry upon this started up, denying the imputation; and Lord Mansfield afterwards rose, and was addressing the House with great energy on the awful predicament of the country, and the conduct of Ministers" in conspiring together against the safety of the State, and making the iii. 1806, Sovereign the instrument of his own destruction"-when 1808; Mar- the arrival of the King cut short his speech.2 The King, with a flushed cheek, and an unusual brightness in the eye, ascended the throne, and said in a loud and shrill voice,

2 Parl. Deb.

tineau, ii.

35, 36; Roebuck, ii. 154.

66

My Lords and Gentlemen, I have come to meet you for

* This statement of the Opposition having stopped the supplies, though very current at the time, and supported by the authority of the Woolsack, is now universally admitted to have been erroneous. It originated in the Opposition having, in the preceding evening, carried a motion to postpone the consideration of the ordnance estimates which stood for that evening-a postponement which Sir James Graham, who was in the secret of the Cabinet, and knew what was coming next morning, said, with a significant smile, was equivalent to a stopping.-ROEBUCK, vol. ii. p. 154.

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the purpose of proroguing this Parliament, with a view to CHAP. its instant dissolution!" A loud murmur arose, which prevented the remainder of the speech from being audible; and at its close both Houses adjourned amidst a scene of tumult and excitement never before witnessed within the walls of Parliament.

66.

the elec

And now commenced a scene which never before since the Great Rebellion had been witnessed in Great Britain, Violence at and never, it is to be hoped, will be seen again. The tions. enthusiasm in favour of the "bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill," was such that it not only led to great and justifiable efforts on the part of the reforming party to secure as great a number as possible of seats at the coming election, but to the most outrageous and disgraceful excesses. Large subscriptions were made at the Reform Club in London, and active working committees appointed to carry on the contest, and so far all was right; and the same thing was done by the Tories. But, in addition to this, the press, both in London and the provinces, almost unanimously broke out into the most violent language, and openly recommended the most flagitious measures. To the disgrace of English literature be it said, the first in talent, and the first in circulation, took the lead in this crusade against independence of thought; counselled the use of the "brickbat and the bludgeon," and recommended the Reformers to "plaster the enemies of the people with mud, and duck them in horse-ponds." 1 1 Times, The advice was not long of being followed. The Re- 1831. formers, especially in Scotland and Ireland, took advantage of the vast numerical majority they possessed to break out into the most violent excesses, which only demonstrated to impartial men how little fitted they were for the exercise of power. In London, the Lord Mayor sanctioned a general illumination on the dissolution of Parliament; and in Edinburgh, and other towns, where

* The Morning Post, Standard, and John Bull, at this period, were almost the only honourable exceptions.

March 29,

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