THE
ENGLISH GOVERNMENT
AND
CONSTITUTION,
LONDON
rUlSTED BY SrOTTISWOODE AND CO.
SEW-STREET SQUARE
AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORY
OF
THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT
ANTI
CONSTITUTION
FROM THE REIGN OF HENRY VII. TO THE PRESENT TIME.
BY
JOHN, EARL RUSSELL.
' Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like
a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks ; methinks I see her
as an eagle renewing her mighty yo\ith, and kindling her nndazzled eyes at the
full midday beam, purging and unsealing her long-abused sight at the fountain
itself of heavenly radiance, while the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds,
with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means,
and in their envious gabble would prognosticate a year of sects and scliisms.'
MiLTOX.
NEW EDITION.
LONDON :
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
THE LIBRARY
KSI university of CALIFORNIA
W/ / SANTA BARBARA
U^
TO
THE MEMORY
OP
CHARLES, EAIIL GREY,
TIIF. CONSTANT FUIEND OF MH. FOX
IN rrnLic and in private life;
rm; rNi)\iiNTi;i) ciiAJirroN of oivii, and hkliciot-s FRr.rnoM
IN all TLME.S ANn in all I'lUCUMSTANCES ;
I'lIF. ICNLIOIITENKI) LOVF.Ii OF HIS COUNTUV IN ALL IIFIt
PERILS AND PEUPLEXITIKS,
THIS HOOK
IS DEDICATED
AS A TOKEN OF AFFECTION AN» AUMIUATION,
l!Y
THE AUTHOR,
THE LIBRARY
Ka UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
, SANTA BARBARA
U^
TO
THE MEMORY
«»F
CHARLES, EARL GREY,
THE CONSTANT FRIEND OF MR. FOX
IN PUBLIC AND IN PRIVATE LIFE;
THE UNDAUNTED CHAMPION OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
IN ALL TIMES AND IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES ;
THE ENLIGHTENED LO\'ER OF HIS COUNTRY IN ALL HER
PERILS AND PERPLEXITIES,
THIS BOOK
IS DEDICATED
AS A TOKEN OF AFFECTION AND ADMIRATION,
BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE
TO
THE PRESENT EDITION,
I HAVE ATTEMPTED in the present edition to
perform the task which I had till now aban-
doned as hopeless — namely, to amalgamate the
recent with the earher work ; and instead of
giving the retrospect from 1820 to 1864 in the
shape of an Introduction, I have placed it at
the end as a concluding chapter.
Besides this leading difference, some addi-
tions and many omissions distinguish the pre-
sent fi'om the last edition.
E.
^ '' '\
CONTENT^S:
CHAPTER I. ■
PAGE
FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT AND
CONSTITUTION ....... 1
CHAPTER II.
HENRY THE SEVENTH 12
CHAPTER III.
HENRY THE EIGHTH 16
CHAPTER IV.
THE REFORMATION . 21
CHAPTER V.
QUEEN ELIZABETH ....... 26
CHAPTER VI.
JAMES THE FIRST . . . . . •. .31
CHAPTER VII.
CHARLES THE FIRST ...... 38
CHAPTER VIII.
CAUSES OF THE DISSOLUTION OF THE ENGLISH FORM OF
GOVERNMENT UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST . . 56
a
•^fSf
CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER IX.
PAGE
CROMWELL, CHARLES THE SECOND, AND JAMES THE
SECOND
CHAPTER X.
59
THE REVOLUTION
(•••*•• b"l
CH^^PTER XI.
DEFINITIONS OF LIBERTY 68
CHAPTER XII.
CIVIL LIBERTY . . • f
69
CHAPTER XIII.
PERSONAL LIBERTY . . . . . . . 77
CHAPTER XIV.
POLITICAL LIBERTY ....... 87
CHAPTER XV.
LAWYERS . . . . .
98
CHAPTER XVl.
RISE OF PUBLIC CREDIT UPON THE BASIS OF A FREE
CONSTITUTION . . . . . . .100
CHAPTER XVII.
PARTY ......... 104
CHAPTER XVIII.
WILLIAM AND MARY. ANNE . . . . .112
CHAPTER XIX,
IMPEACHMENT. — BILLS OF PAINS AND PENALTIES . .117
CHAPTER XX.
GEORGE THE FIRST AND GEORGE THE SECOND , . 124
CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER XXI.
PAGE
GEORGE THE THIRD. — BEGINNING OF HIS REIGN.
AMERICAN WAR 132
CHAPTER XXII.
THE SENSE OF JUSTICE 135
CHAPTER XXIII.
OF AN EXTREME REMEDY AGAINST THE ABUSES OF
POWER ; AND OF MODERATION IN THE USE OF
THE REMEDY . . . . . . .137
CHAPTER XXIV.
CRIMINAL LAW 140
CHAPTER XXV.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS . 145
CHAPTER XXVI.
POOR-LAWS . . 150
CHAPTER XXVII.
WAR WITH THE FRENCH REPUBLIC . . . .153
CHAPTER XXVIII.
LIBERTY, THE GREAT SOURCE OF THE WEALTH OF NA-
TIONS, AND ESPECIALLY OF THAT OF ENGLAND . 155
CHAPTER XXIX.
NATIONAL DEBT .161
CHAPTER XXX.
THAT A FREE GOVERNMENT REQUIRES PERPETUAL JEA-
LOUSY AND FREQUENT RENOVATION . . .168
CHAPTER XXXI.
CONSTITUTION OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS . . .172
Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXII.
PAGE
STANDING ARMY ISt)
CHAPTER XXXIII.
OF THE INFLUENCE OF JURIES IN INTERPRETING AND
MODIFYING THE LAWS . . . . . 194
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INFLUENCE OF THE CROWN ..... 200
CHAPTER XXXV.
LII'.ERTY OF THE PRESS. — PROBABLE FATE OF THE ENG-
LISH CONSTITUTION . . ... . . 204
CONCLUDING CH AFTER . .210
NOTES . . . .279
THE ENGLISH GOYERNMENT
AND
CONSTITUTION.
CHAPTER I.
FIEST PEINCIPLES OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT
AND CONSTITUTION.
' It is now the generally received opinion, and I think a probable
opinion, that to the provisions of that reign (viz. of Henry the
Seventh) we are to refer the origin, both of the unlimited power of
the Tudor?, and of the liberties wrested by our ancestors from the
Stuarts ; that tj'ranny was their immediate, and liberty their remote
consequence ; but he must have great confidence in his own sagacit3%
who can satisfy himself that, unaided by subsequent events, he could
from a consideration of the causes have foreseen the succession of
effects so different.' — Fox's His tori/ of James II.
It would undoubtedly have required a sagacity of
no ordinary kind to have predicted, at the com-
mencement of the arbitrary sway of the House of
Tudor, the course of weak misrule and daring op-
position,— of fierce contention, and not less cruel
victory, which, marking with a line of blood the
history of the Stuart dynasty, at length ended in a
peaceable revolution, and the establishment of regular
liberty. But those who have seen the harvest can
have no doubt that the seed was in the ground ;
and at this day it ought to be ^dthin our power to
point out Avhat were the elements of freedom in the
state of England, during the reign of the Tudors,
which have been since developed in her matchless
B
2 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CH. I.
constitution. Among them, we may, without hesita-
tion, enumerate the follomng circumstances.
In the first place, the sovereignty of England did
not reside in the King solely. All matters of great
state importance were made subjects of deliberation
in the King's high court of Parliament, which was
called together expressly for that purpose. In case
of war, it was the business of that assembly to con-
sider of means for carrying it on : if the succession
was disputed, or a regency required, an appeal was
made to their judgment ; and all laws intended to
be permanently binding on the people received the
sanction of their authority. Nor did the princes
of the House of Tudor attempt by any means to
diminish or undervalue the importance of Parliament.
The crown of Henry the Seventh rested on a Par-
liamentary Act. Henry the Eighth repeatedly
employed the name, and acknowledged the power
of Parliament to change the succession. In the
reign of Elizabeth, the offence of saying that the
Queen by the authority of Parliament had not power
to dispose of the succession to the crown was made
high treason during her life, and a misdemeanour
with forfeiture of o-oods and chattels after her decease.
Thus, however arbitrary the acts of these sovereigns,
nothing was taken from the reverence due to the
Parliament, the great council of the King, the grand
inquest of the nation, and the highest court in the
kingdom. The power given to Henry the Eighth,
to issue proclamations equal in valichty to laws, was
indeed a direct blow to parliamentary government.
But this Act was in force only eight years, and con-
tained a proviso that these proclamations should not
be contrary to the established laws of the realm.
During the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, the Par-
liament, however subservient, was yet a principal
instrument in carrying on the government. Hence
arose a necessity, not indeed that a King of England
CH. I.
ENGLISH COxVSTITUTION. 3
should relinquish all hope of exercising tyrannical
power, but that, if successful, he must have his Lords
and Commons accomplices in his tyranny. If these
bodies therefore should ever claim practically that
share in the state Avhich the laws virtually allowed
them, or if they should refuse their support to the
measures of the CroAvn, the King must either sub-
mit to their claims, or by discontinuing parliaments,
give fair warning to the people that the form of
government was changed.
Secondly. The nobility were not separated from
the people by odious distinctions, like the other
feudal nobility of Europe. Various causes have
been assigned for this difference ; without discussing
them, I shall content myself with stating the fact.
It would not be correct to suppose, however, that
the feudal system has not existed in England in a
very odious shape. After the Conquest, the feudal
tenure seems to have been adopted by all the
principal landholders of England, in a great council
held in the year 1086.* Wardships, liveries, primer
seisins, and ouster-lemains, values and forfeitures of
max-riage, fines for alienation, tenures by homaoe,
knight -service and escuage, as well as aids for
marrying the King's daughter, and knighting his
son, all ligaments of the feudal system, are enume-
rated as part of the law of England, by the Act of
Charles II., which abolishes them. Happily, how-
ever, the system was not allowed to throw its roots
very deep into the soil. A practice, which Avas
growing general, of sub-infeudations, or granting
inferior feuds by the mesne lords, Avith the same
conditions as the chief, was restrained by the Act of
Quia emptores (18 Edw. I.), which directs that
upon all sales, or grants of land in fee, the sub-
tenant shall hold, not of the innnediate, but of the
* Blackstone, h. ii. c. 4.
B 2
4 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE ctj. I.
superior lord. A corrective to the tyranny of the
feudal system was also to be found in the constitu-
tion of our county courts, the cradle of our liberties,
in which are to be found the origin of our juries,
and the model of our parliaments. Here the free
tenants met to do justice between man and man ;
and here, it is probable, they deliberated on the
means of affording the assistance they were bound
to give, to defend their country against an enemy.
Thus much with respect to the free tenants.
The state of the villeins is, pei'haps, a subject of
still more importance. The main difference between
the two classes was this. The free tenant held his
land, on condition of performing certain fixed ser-
vices ; the villein also frequently held land, but was
bound to perform services, base in their nature, and
generally undefined in their extent. Here was real
servitude. How soon it began to be abrogated we
know not, but we are told by Sir Thomas Smith,
who was secretary to Edward VI. and Queen Eliza-
beth, that in all his time he never knew any instance
of a villein in gross, that is, of a villein transferable
by sale, and not attached to the soil, in the king-
dom ; and that the few villeins attached to the soil
who remained, were such only as had belonged to
bishops, monasteries, and other ecclesiastical corpor-
ations. The last claim of villenage recorded in our
courts, was in the fifteenth year of James I. This
great change, which had been silently operating
in the condition of the people of England, is probably
to be attributed to various causes, — the absence of
foreign armies, — the necessity of conciliating the
people during the civil wars, — and above all, the
"(^ inherent justice and jwety of the nation.
^^ ~' There were several ways in which a villein at-
tached to the soil could obtain his freedom. He
might be manumitted. Or if his lord brouo-ht an
action agamst him, the lord was supposed to allow
I ^a. Mit,'%'^ im^ . I
rs. T. ENGLISH CONSTITUTION.
his freedom. Or if he went into a town and settled
there, he, in a certain time, enjoyed its immunities,
and became free. Or, lastly, if he could show that,
for time out of mind, he and his ancestors had been
registered in the roll of the lord's court, as having
possession of the land he held, he obtained a pre-
scriptive right against his lord. This was done by
producing a copy of the court roll, and hence tlie
term copyholder. It has been supposed by some
that copyhold was known before the conquest. At
whatever time it originated, the early prevalence of
freedom is nobly characteristic of the English na-
tion. Villenao-e was known in France till near the
end of the eighteenth century ; in Spain it was only
abolished in the nineteenth ; in Germany it is hardly
extinct ; in Kussia it was abolished by the present
Emperor, to his immortal honour, in 1864. But the
spirit of the Eno;lisli^jDeople, and the equality of the
"common-7aw, have always Been a just corrective of .-~-..
the degrading institutions and customs imported y£^
from other countries. Magna Charta itself is a,*"^
noble and singular proof of the ^s^ipipathy .then <;^
existing between the barons and the people of Eng-\ >>
land. Philippe de Comines speaks of the humanity \ %..
with which the nobility treated the people in the
civil wars. It would seem that Englishmen have
always felt that, if the order of civil society required
the relations of supei-ior and inferior ranks, nature
conferred feelings and capacities with unpartial
justice upon all.
Intimately connected with this spirit, is the ab- ^
sence of any distinction between gentleman and -
roturier. Sir Thomas Smith is perliaps the first
author who takes notice of the difference of the
title of gentleman in England and on the Continent.
I subjoin an extract from his work: — 'Ordinarily .j
the King doth only make knights and create barons, ^.
or liigher degrees ; for as for gentlemen, they be "^
>
^n^
6 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CH. I.
made good cheap in England. For whosoever
A studieth the laws of tli,e realm, who stndieth in the
^ J universities, who professes liberal sciences, and, to
ibe short, who can live idly and without manual
/ labour, and will bear the port, charge, and counte-
I ance of a gentleman, he shall be called Master, for
' that is the title which men give to esquires and other
gentlemen, and shall be taken for a gentleman : for
true it is with us as is said, Tanti eris aliis quanti
tibi feceris ; and, if need be, a king of heralds shall
also give him, for money, arms newly made and in-
vented, the title whereof shall pretend to have been
found by the said herald in perusing and viewing of
old registers, where his ancestors, in times past, had
been recorded to bear the same. ... A man may
make doubt and question whether this manner of
making gentlemen is to be allowed or no ; and for
my part I am of that 025inion, that it is not amiss.
For, first, the prince loseth nothing by it, as he
should do, if it were as in France : lor the yeoman
or husbandman is no more subject to taile or tax in
England than the gentleman : no, in every payment
to the King, the gentleman is more charged, which
he beareth the gladlier, and dareth not gainsay for
to save and keep his honour and reputation.'* — ' The
law,' says Mr. Hallam, ' has never taken notice of
gentlemen.f From the reign of Henry III., at
least, the legal equality of all ranks below the peer-
age was, to every essential purpose, as complete as
at present. Compare two writers nearly contem-
porary, — Bracton with Beaumanoir, and mark how
the customs of Eno-land and France are disting^uish-
able m this respect. The Frenchman ranges the
* 'De Repulilica Anglorum,' raged by marrying villeins, or
lib. i. c. 20, 21 others as burgesses. But the
t The iStatute of Merton cer same Act allows that such mar-
tainly aliords an exeejition to this riages, if made by the ward's con-
remark, when it speaks of the sent after fourteen years of age,
wards of noblemen being dispa- are legal. — J. B.
CH. I. ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. 7
people under three divisions, — the noble, the free,
and the servile ; our countryman has no generic
class but freedom and villenage. No restraint seems
ever to have lain upon marriage. The purchase of
land held by knight-service was always open to all
freemen. From the besrinning our law has been no
resjjecter of persons. It screens not the gentleman
of ancient lineage from the judgment of an ordinary
jury, nor from ignominious punishment. It confers
not, nor ever did confer, those unjust immunities
from public burthens which the superior orders ar-
rogated to themselves upon the Continent. Thus,
while the privileges of our Peers, as hereditary
legislators of a free people, are incomparably more
valuable and dignified, they are far less invidious in
their exercise than those of any other nobility in
Europe. It is, I am firmly persuaded, to this jiccu-
llarly democratical character of the English monarchy
that we are indebted for its long permanence, its
regular improvement, and its present vigour. It is
a singular, a providential circumstance, that, in an
ao-e Avhen the gradual march of civilization and com-
merce was so little foreseen, our ancestors, deviating
from the usages of neighbouring countries, should,
as if deliberately, have guarded against that expan-
sive force, which, in bursting through obstacles
improvidently opposed, has scattered havoc over
Europe.' *
Thus we see that the nobility of England formed no
separate caste. Their sons, not excepting the eldest,
were, in all respects, pai^t and parcel of the commons
of the land. It was decided, by votes of Parlia-
ment, both in the reign of Henry VIII. and in that
of Elizabeth, that the eldest son of the Earl of Bed-
ford was entitled to sit in the House of Commons.
No decision could well be more auspicious. The
* Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 19.
8 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CH. I.
heirs to a peerage, instead of feeling that petty pride,
and indulging that insolent ignorance, which high
rank has so great a tendency to breed, were mem-
bers of an assembly in which they deliberated with
the knights, citizens, and burgesses of the land : they
thus imbibed the feelings, and became acquainted
with the wants of the people. When a struggle was
to be made for freedom, many of them sympathised
in the cause ; scarcely any quitted their country ;
thus their importance survived even the democratic
revolution of 1649.
Thirdly. The last and the greatest element of
freedom which existed in England was the constitu-
tion of her House of Commons. Some persons, in-
deed, have considered that all virtue was taken away
from that body by a law of Henry VL, which limits
the right of voting in counties to forty-shilling free-
holders ; and have dated the fall of the liberties of
England from the period when villenage was gra-
dually giving way to freedom. To such an opinion
I certainly do not subscribe. Nor is it my intention
to enter here into any controversy respecting the
origin of our representation ; a discussion belonging
properly to an earlier period than that we are now
speaking of. The points to whicli I shall now confine
my remai'ks are the Principle of Representation, and
the Nature of our own Representation generally.
It has been observed, that in the ancient com-
monwealths, the people, who decided on public
affairs, were all of a higher order than those of the
poorer class, who in England read newspapers and
take an interest in political questions. But this is
a complete mistake. Slaves, it is true, had nothing
to do with political functions, but the poorest arti-
sans, who were free, had a voice in the public coun-
cils. The manner in which their votes were to be
given formed a difficulty which the ancient statas
did not altogether successfully vanquish. It the
CH. I.
ENGLISH CONSTITUTION.
9
promiscuoiis multitude were admitted, with equal
suffrages, into the public assemblies, as at Athens,
the decisions were hasty, passionate, unjust, and ca-
pricious. If a method was adopted, as that of centu-
i ries at Rome, of giving a weight to property against
^1 I numbers, it was difficult to avoid putting the scale
^^ entirely in the hands of the rich, enabling them
to outvote the poor, and thus making an odious dis-
^ tinction between the richer and poorer, higher and
^ *^ lower classes of the community. This evil was
V greatly felt at T^.ome, and the expedient of setting
^^p another and independent assembly, which decided
^fby numbers only, was a very rude and a very im-
jv/ V:^ perfect remedy.*
^"VT;.^ The principle of representation nearly, if not en-
; V^ tirely, overcomes these obstacles. A certain number ^*?^^^ ^ , "^
^ ^^ of persons are chosen by the people at large, whose ^i^ ^ , S^
Vj;^ commission it is to watch over the interests of the
J!/^community. Consisting naturally and inevitably of , ,. .^ v^ - ^
persons of some fortune and education, they are notr^^ <q^
so likely to be borne away by the torrent of passion ^"^ ^*j
Vif' as the general, unsifted mass of the nation. -'-^^"•^ V
pending upon the people ultimately for their power, "'Vi. ^
they are not so liable to act from personal interest, '* *"
or a corporation spirit, as a body of men whose ^
.^^ power is attached for ever to their rank in the State. S
^^S If the representative assembly is entrusted for no '**''^]i
^ very short period with the concerns of the people, "j^s/s
;>^
and if the members of it are always capable of being % ^
re-elected, it will evidently become enlightened on/^ 5;^
all the interests, and capable of discussing, ^-ith abi-
lity, all the great movements of the State. The
most powerful minds in the nation will be brought ^ 1
* See Hume's Essays. Essay on some Eemarkable Customs.
' My soul aches
To know, when two authorities are up,
Neither supreme, how soon confusion
May enter 'twixt the gap of both.
Coriolanv.s, act iii.
^i ^^r]
fel-
10 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CH. I.
to bear on any important measure of policy or jus-
tice ; and, at the same time, the humblest individual
'in the country is _§ure, through some channel or
other, to find a hearing for his injuries in the pre-
' sence oF'the representatives of the whole people.
It is essential to remark, that in the English
House of Commons the knights sate in the same
assembly with the citizens and burgesses. There
are few things in our early Constitution of more im-
, portance than this. Cities and toAvns, however ne-_
cessarv their assistan'ce lor o-ranting aids and taxes,
. are not likely to obtain, in a feudal country, that
A' I "Hnd of respect from the other bodies in the State"
wmch would enable them to claim a large share of
political power. The separation of the mercantile
class from the rest of the community was perhaps
one of the chief causes of the failure of the Spanish,
and other early constitutions similar to our OAvn. It
is at the j^resent day (1865) the greatest defect in
the constitution of Prussia, depriving the Senate of
all popular character, and the House of Representa-
tives of their proper weight, and the moderating in-
fluence of men of landed property. But in England,
the knights, who represented the landed property of
the country, gave a stability and compactness to the
frame of the House of Commons, and placed it on a
broad foundation, not easily shaken by any king who
should attempt its overthrow.
The sitting of the knights, citizens, and burgesses
in one assembly, was perhaps partly owing to that
equality of civil rights, which has before been men-
tioned ; no imaginary distinction separated the coun-
try knight of ancient lineage from the city merchant
of recent fortune. It was not, however, always the
rule, and has rather been established by one of those
happy unions of fortune and counsel to which the
English Constitution owes so much ; — I know not,
indeed, if I ought to call it fortune. It was a part
ciT. r.
ENGLISH CONSTITUTION,
11
of the practical wisdom of our ancestors to alter and
vary the form of our institutions as they went on ;
to suit them to the circumstances of the time, ai)d
reform them according to the dictates of experience.
They never ceased to work upon our frame of go-
vernment, as a sculptor fashions the model of a
favourite statue. iLiOB.iir.t'.tliat till of late years
had fallen into disuse, and the disuse w^s attended
with evils of the most alarming magnitude.
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12
CHAPTEE II.
HENEY THE SEVENTH.
' The King, to speak of him in terms equal to his deserving, was
one of the best sort of wonders, a wonder for wise men. He had
parts, both in his virtues and his fortune, not so fit for a common-
place as for observation.' — Lord Bacon, Life and Reign of Henry VII.
The battle of Bosworth Field put an end to the
long and destructive contest which had wasted the
blood, and disfigured the fair face of England, in
the quarrel between the Houses of York and Lan-
caster. Such a contention is little less disgraceful
to mankind than it would have been to have made
the white and red roses the subject, instead of the
symbols, of hostility, and affords but too much
ground for the assertion of a democratic writer, that
hereditary right has caused as long and as sanguinary
wars as elective monarchy.
Henry, who was crowned in the field of battle,
lost no time in proving he was as well able to keep,
as to acquire a throne. He unmediately summoned
a parliament, and obtained from them the passing of
a statute, not declaring that he was lawful heir to
the crown ; not asserting the right of conquest, or
of election ; but enacting ' that the inheritance of
the crown should rest, remain, and abide in the
king.' He procured this statute to be confirmed by
the Pope's bull. In the same spirit of peace and
moderation he caused many exceptions to be inserted
in_ the Acts for attainting the adherents of King
Richard. A fcAv years afterwards he procured a
law to be passed, declaring that no one should be
called in question for obeying a king de facto. He
CH. ir. HENRY THE SEVENTH. 13
thus quieted the minds of his subjects, and added
more to the stabihty of liis government than he
could possibly have done by displaying what Bacon
calls the wreath of five,-^to wit, his own descent,
and that of his queen, the claim of conquest, and
the authorities, parliamentary and papal. Among
these titles, that of the House of York seems to have
given him Httle satisfaction, and he took care not to
crown his queen for a considerable time after his
marriage. Indeed, it is certain that, whether from
prejudice or policy, his Lancastrian partialities in-
fluenced his conduct during the whole of his reign.
One of Henry's first endeavours was to procure a
law to jDrevent conspiracies among the great, and
riots among the people. In a parliament assembled
in the third year of his reign, Morton, Archbishop
of Canterbury and Chancellor of the kingdom, spoke
the following words : — ' His Grace (^. e. the King)
saith, that it is not the blood spilt in the field that
Avill save the blood in the city ; nor the marshal's
sword that "will set this kingdom in perfect peace ;
but that the true way is to stop the seeds of sedition
and rebellion at the beginnings, and for that purpose
to devise, confirm, and quicken good and wholesome
laws against riots and unla"\vful assemblies of people,
and all combinations and confederacies of them by
liveries, tokens, and other badges of factious depen-
dence ; that the peace of the land may by these
ordinances, as by bars of iron, be soundly bound in
and strengthened, and all force, both in court,
country, and private houses, be suppressed.'
The chief laAV passed by Parliament with the
view here explained, Avas an Act confirming the
authority of the Star Chamber in certain cases.
The Star Chamber, composed of prelates, peers,
counsellors, and judges, had an undefined jurisdic-
tion without the intervention of a jury over many
offences not capital, and over actions proving a
14 HENEY THE SEVENTH. CH. n.
design to commit offences not actually committed.
* But that which was principally aimed at by this
Act,' says Lord Bacon, 'was force and the two
chief supports of force, combination of multitudes,
and maintenance or headsliip of great persons.' The
danger to liberty, of entrusting power so large and
arbitrary to persons named by the CroAvn, does not
appear to have struck any one at this time ; and
Lord Bacon is la^dsh in his praises of the Star
Chamber, calling it one of the sagest and noblest
institutions of this kingdom. But long civil war
induces a people to surrender liberty for peace, as
long peace induces them to encounter even civil
war for liberty. One of the next Acts of the Par-
liament was the sanction of an arbitrary tax. This
species of tax, known by the name of Benevolence,
had been raised by Edward IV., ^\athout the con-
sent of Parliament, and abolished by Richard III.
in a very remarkable statute. It was now revived
by Act of Parliament on the occasion of a war "with
France. But the real object was to amass money ;
for Henry had scarcely landed in France when he
concluded a peace by which he was to receive
745,000 ducats (about £186,000 sterling) and a
tribute of 25 crowns yearly.
This reign was much disturbed by rebellion. At-
tachment to the House of York, and the burthen of
taxes, seem to have been the chief causes of discon-
tent. Bacon attributes an insurrection in the North
to respect for the memory of Richard III., — a proof
^ that his government, iu that part of the kingdom at
least, had not been very oppressive.
The chief end of Henry's administration was to
J ,i restrain the inordinate power of the great barons.
; ' Two laws enacted for tins purpose, the'onenfacili-
V^ I I tating the sale of entailed lands by what fs^called
1 1 <r I breaking an entail, and another suppressing retainers,
- ■ 'were,with other statutes, and the extensive authority
Qtjrn^
CH. II. HENEY THE SEVENTH. 15
given to the Star Chamberj eininently conducive to
the object for which they were framed. In thus
directing liis policy, Henry adopted views prompted y
indeed by his own jealous temper, buj; Avlilchulti- O
mately were beneficial to his country. The course""
of justice became steady, disorders were suppressed,
the tranquillity of the whole coanhy was secured;
and the Commons, being no longci- oppressed by
feudal power, or distracted by domestic war, Avere
enabled to acquire, first Avealth, then inrgortance,
and lastly freed_om. Bacon, it is true, attributes
many of the disturbances which still afflicted the v^*S.
country during this reign to the neglect and distrust
of the nobility shown by the King. But the fault, •' • d... ' i
if it were one, was on the right side. Had not ::: '
Henry governed liis nobles with a strong;" hand, a ,
powerful oligarchy might have perpetuated in this ^/\-
country the barbarous licence of Poland. The arts, Aj /4^ n r
the letters, and the strength of the kingdom, under '
the sway of Ehzabeth, are in great part to be at-
tributed to the policy of li er grandfather.
The last years of Hem y v\ ere disgraced by the
cruel and arbitrary exaclious of which Empson and
Dudley were the vile and execrated instruments.
His successor, with a generous magnanimity not un-
common in the world, gave up the oft'enders, and
profited by the offence ; sent the collectors to the
scaffold, and kept the money in his treasury.
'iff
V i
9l\ .
T
16
CHAPTER III.
HENEY THE EIGHTH.
' When love could teach a monarch to be wise,
And gospel light first dawn'd from Bullen's eyes.' — Gray.
The reign of Henry the Eighth is justly esteemed
the most arbitrary in our annals. Yet it affords
many cunous precedents of the authority of Par-
liament. One of the first of these is the Act grant-
ing tonnage and poundage. The King had levied
these duties for some time by his own prerogative.
But in the sixth year of his reign he met with resis-
tance, and was obliged to apply to Parliament for
their sanction. The Act that was passed is curious.
It condemns those who had resisted, but at the same
time grants to the King, de novo, the duties of ton-
nage and poundage. Upon the whole, this prece-
dent, though inconsistent with itself, makes against
the power assumed by the Crown. For if the King
had the right to raise those duties, the Act would
have been merely declaratoiy. The making a new
enactment proves, with whatever terms it might be
qualified, that the King was not previously entitled
by his prerogative to levy tonnage and poundage,
and that his orders on this subject might be resisted
Avith impunity. So, indeed, the Act seems to have
been understood ; for at the commencement of the
four follomng reigns, we find the duties in question
regularly granted by Parliament, in the first year of
the reiffn*.
£3
* Statutes 1 Edw. VI. c.l3, 1 Acts, tonnage and poundage are
Mary, st. 2, c. 18, 1 Eliz. c. 20, granted for life. They are all
I James, c. 33. By all these amongst the last Acts of the
CH. III. HENRY THE EIGHTH. 17
Another remarkable precedent is afforded by an
indiscreet step of Wolsey. Wishing to impose a
very heavy tax, he determined to go himself into the
House of Commons, for the purpose of silencing,
by his presence, all opposition. ISIany were dis-
posed to resist his admission into the House ; but
when that point had been conceded, the Speaker,
Sir Thomas More, opposed the opinion of the
majority, that he should be admitted with a few fol-
lowers only. The Speaker was of opinion that they
should receive him ' with all his pomp, with his
maces, his pillars, his pole-axes, his cross, his hat,
and the great seal too.' The Cardinal being thus
admitted, made a long and eloquent oration against
the King of France, declared that the King could
not do otherwise than join with the Emperor against
him, and demanded of the Commons the sum of
£800,000 as the estimated charge of the war. 'At
this request,' as we are told by the great-grandson
and biographer of Sir Thomas More, ' the House
was silent; and when the minister demanded some
reasonable answer, every member held his peace.
At last, the Speaker, falling on his knees, with much
reverence, excused the silence of the House, abashed,
as he said, at the sight of so noble a personage, who
session. Notwithstanding thesa violent and unprecedented enor-
statutes, Mr. Hume asserts, that mity in this unhappy prince.'
Henry's ' successors, for more And with reason. These duties
than a century, persevered in the were not granted to Charles, as
like irregular practice, if a prac- they had been to his predecessors,
tice may deserve that epithet, in and he attempted to revive the
which the whole nation aequi- practice whicli was not permitted
esced, and which gave no oifence. to Henry VIII. Whether Mr.
But when Charles I. attempted Hume is right in supposing that
to continue in the same course, Edward, Mary, Elizabeth, and
which had now received the James levied these duties, during
sanction of so many generations, the few months they were not in
so much were the opinions of force, or whether he has not fallen
men altered, that a furious tern- into an error, in supposing they
pest was excited by it, and histo- were levied before they were
rians, partial or "ignorant, stiU granted by Parliament, I will not
represent this measure as a most presume to determine.
C
18 HENRY THE EIGHTH. CH. in.
was able to amaze the wisest and most learned men
in the realm ; but with many probable arguments
he endeavoured to show the Cardinal that his com-
ing tliither was neither expedient nor agreeable to
the ancient liberties of that House ;' and,in conclusion,
told him, ' that except all the members could put
their several thoughts into his head, he alone was
unable, in so weighty a matter, to give his grace a
sufficient answer. Whereupon the Cardinal, dis-
pleased with the Speaker, suddenly rose up in a rage
and departed.' The result was, that a subsidy was
granted, but much less than the Cardinal had asked.
In 1526, Wolsey sent commissioners by his own
authority to levy a sixth part of the goods of the
laity, and a tenth part of the goods of the clergy ;
but the commissioners were resisted, and Henry
■was obliged to disavow his minister, and annul the
commission.
Yet in the same reign in which so much spirit
was shown, a magistrate of London was sent to the
wars in Scotland, where he was soon after killed,
because he had refused to contribute to a bene-
volence.* What a confusion of law and custom !
how uncertain the bounds of right and prerogative !
The arbitrary nature of the government of Henry,
on every subject but that of taxes, is well known.
In all his violations of law and justice he was strenu-
ously supported by his Parliament. When he wished
to rid hunself of his mves. Parliament assisted hun ;
when he desired to put to death his ministers. Par-
liament condemned them without a trial ; when at
length he chose to make laws by his own will only.
Parliament gave him authority to do so. It is no
wonder, therefore, to find him holding high the
privileges of Parliament. A curious instance of this
occurs in the case of a Mr. Ferrers, a member of the
* Henry's History of England.
CH. III. HENRY THE EIGHTH. ' 19
House of Commons, Avho was arrested for debt.
The House immediately released him, and imprisoned
those who had arrested him. Henry upon this oc-
casion made the follo\Adng speech to the House on
the question of privilege : — ' He first commended
their wisdom in maintaining the privileges of their
House ; which he would not have infringed in any
point. He alleged that he, being at the head of
the Parliament, and attending in his own person in
the business thereof, ought in reason to have piivilege
for himself and all his servants in attendance on him.
So that, if Ferrers had been no burgess, but only
his servant, in respect of that he ought to have
privilege as well as any other. For I understand,'
says he, ' that you enjoy the same privilege, not only
for yourselves, but even for your cooks and horse-
keepers. My Lord Chancellor here present hath
informed me, that when he was Speaker of the Lower
House, the cook of the Temple was arrested in Lon-
don, on an execution upon the statute of staple.
And, because the said cook served the Speaker in
that office, he was taken out of execution by the
privilege of Pai-liament. Like^vise, the judges have
informed us, that we at no time stand so high in
our estate royal as in the time of Parliament ; when
we, as head, and you as members, are conjoined and
knit together into one body politic; so that whatso-
ever is done or offered during that time against the
meanest member of the House is judged as done
against our own person and whole court of Parlia-
ment. The prerogative of which court is so great,
that, as our learned in the laws inform us, all acts
and processes, coming out of any other inferior
coiu-ts, must for that tune cease and give place to
the highest.'
Thus did Henry exalt the power of the Parlia-
ment, which had so vigorously supported him. But
it does not appear that in so doing they had gone
c 2
20 HENRY THE EIGHTH. CH. iii.
beyond the wishes of their constituents. Henry
seems upon the whole to have been a popular
tyrant ; and there is some truth in the remark of
Mr. Hume, that the English of this age, like Eastern
slaves, were inclined to admire those acts of violence
and tyranny which were exercised over themselves
and at their own expense.
21
CHAPTER IV.
THE EEFOEMATION.
* He that -would do right to religion cannot take a more effectual
course than by reconciling it with the happiness of mankind.' —
Tillotson.
The Reformation in England was by no means
similar in its history to the great revolution of
men's minds which took place in Switzei^and, Scot-
land, and Germany. It was begun by the King, in
consequence of his desire to put away his wife and
marry another ; and this quarrel was not only un-
connected with the doctrine of Luther, but that
doctrine was at the same time condemned, and its
supporters capitally punished. Had the Pope been
as complying as he had often been before, Henry
VIII. would have been, if not one of the most pure
and holy saints, one of the most faithful and zealous
servants that the Church of Pome could boast of
possessing. Even after the breach seemed irrepa-
rable, propositions were made from Pome, and were
accepted by Henry ; * but as his messenger did
not arrive on the day fixed, the Emperor's party in
the Consistory took advantage of the failure of
punctuality to obtain a vote closing the door upon
reconciliation for ever. The messenger of the King
of England arrived only two days too late to recon-
cile his master mth the Pope, and arrest the progress
of religious light in this country.
The breach Avith the Church of Pome would still
not have led immediately to the Reformation, had
not Cranmer, holding the high station of Archbishop
* Burnet's Hist, of Eef., vol. i. p. 136.
>,22 ^ TfiE EEFORMATION. CH. IV.
of Canterbury, with Ci'oiAwell, many of tlie»Peers,
and a large number of the educated class, endea-
voured to conduct the nation, step by step, to abjure
the errors and superstitions of the Roman Catholic
worship. At the same tune, they were obliged, even
for the sake of the cause they favoured, to retain
many ceremonies to Avhich the people were attached,
and which the English reformers copied from the
lioman Church, as the Koman Church had originally
copied some of their ceremonies from the heathen
worship.
The first step which Henry took against the
" ~ ^ Church of Eome after the divorce was the dissolu-
tion of the monasteries. The motive which induced
him to adopt this measure was probably a spirit of
rapacity ; for with all his power he found it a very
, ..difficult matter to squeeze money from his subjects.
With the sum to be derived from the sale of the
monasteries, he proposed to make harboui's all round
- the coast of England ; a plausible pretext, rather
than a bona fide reason, for his confiscatiQO§.^^ Those
of the nobility who had adopted the opinions of the
reformers, gave willingly in to the measure, and no
doubt their zeal was quickened by the share they
got of the spoil. The abuses which prevailed in the
.monasteries were not, however, a groundless pre-
text. The relations of the visitors who were ap-
r_ . ' pointed by the King to reform the monasteries, and
report their state, display gi'ounds for believing that
they were anytlyu^ rather than seminarieg of piety
► ^' ■S-^^ and morality.* . • \ C'^Ueviv/v(^- ;. .^ /> /^
» - ^"""^ , The next steps taken in the road of reformation/
T^ were some directions respecting the worship of
* Burnet, Hist, of Eef., book tunity of replying. It would be
«' i- p- 198. Dr. Lingard, indeed, difficult, on the other hand, to
refu.ses credit to those charges: suppose all the facts alleged to
_^, he observes with truth that they be fabrications. Monks and nuns
were ex parte statements, to ' are not infallibly or impeccable
.which the accused had no oppor- beings, a f'/'i- 7j^ ~'*^ jp ^
CH. IV.
THE REFORMATION.
23
^
images and praying to saints, and, what was much
more important, a permission to the people to read
a translation of the Bible, in St. Paul's Church, /^f /" i
The peoplg flocked to the place, and one person w.is C/^ - ^^\^
generally chosen to read aloud to the rest, till the
^Ts^ ^ alarm ed at the concourse, forbade the prac-^^
tice, as a disturbance to the service of the church.
The destruction of some of the images exposed to*
the public sevei'al scandalous cheats.* ^
The outset of the Reformation in England was |
marked by a more cruel and insupportable religious
tyranny than had ever subsisted under the Papal
dominion. In the times of Popery, the articles' of ^y
faitH were placed in the custody of the priest ; and
the people received from him some knowledge of
the doctrines of Christianity, some notion of the
duties of morality, and an unbounded reverence for
the authority and magnificence of the Church. But
Henry VIII., after partly removing the veil of
ignorance from the eyes of his people, required
them not to go a single step fui'ther than he himself
did ; and commanded the nation by Act of Parlia-
ment to believe six articles of faith therein laid
down, and whatever else the King might choose to
\
or
dain.
r i
To punish men for their opinions on speculative . •
^gxiigles^fjbelief, is one of the luxuries "wETch tyranny" 1
has inventecT in modern tunes. >Dionysius and Do- / y- y]/^
mitian knew notIiing'~o? it. It was enjoyed by \
Henry to its full extent. He was not, like Philip II. i # tf
or Charles" IX., merely the minister of bigotry of ■ - *
which he was himself the disciple. He taught from
his own mouth the opinions which were to regulate his
subjects ; he contained in his own breast the rule of
orthodoxy; and he had the triumph of confuting the
heretic whom he afterwards had the gratification to
burn.
* Note (A) at the end of the vohime.
24 THE EEFORMATION. cu. iv.
The religion established by Henry VIII. was so
far from being the reformed church of Luther or of
Calvin, that he prided himself on maintaining the
Roman Catholic faith after he had shaken off the
supremacy of the Pope. His ordinances indeed
vibrated for a short time betAveen the old and the
new rehgion, as he listened more to Cranmer or to
Gardiner ; but the law of the Six Articles, which
contains the creed he finally imposed on his people,
maintains and confirms all the 1 e adin g articl es of the
Homan belief. They were as follows : —
First, That, in the sacrament of the altar, after
the consecration, thei'e remained no substance of
bread and mue, but under these forms the natural
body and blood of Christ were present. Secondly,
That communion in both kinds was not necessary
to salvation to all persons by the law of God.
, Thirdly, That priests after the order of priesthood
might not marry by the law of God.^ Fourthly,
/'~ That vows of chastity ought to b^v^bse^^ed by^the
laAV of God. Fifthly, That the use of private masses
ought to be continued ; which, as it w^as agreeable
to God's law, so men received great benefit by
them. Sixthly, That auricular confession was ex-
pedient and ncQess^giry, and ought tp he retained in
the Church. \: ■''■■^■^'■^; C'K- /iitHciht^Hi^'n^4>
The actual Reformatit»n in England was the work ^"^
of the Duke of Somerset, Protector, in the early >
part of the reign of Edward VI. In the first year "^
of that reign, he sent visitors to persuade the people -^
not to pray to saints, to procure that images should
be broken ; and to exhort the nation generally, to
leave oif the use of the mass, dirges, and prayers in
a foreign language. By Act of ^Parliament in the
same year he prohibited speaking against giving the
sacrament in both kinds ; in that "and the two fol-
lowing years he established the liturgy of the Church
of England. The law of the six articles was re-
.CH. IV. THE EEFORMATIOX. 25
pealed. The Reformation in England was thus
made by the Crown and the aristocracy. The
people, though agitated by religious disputes, seem
to have been hardly ripe for so great a revolution.
Insurrections of a serious nature took place in
Devonshire, Norfolk, and elscAvhere. The preach-
ing of the Roman Catholic priesthood produced so
strong an impression, that all the means of authority
were put in motion to counteract it. The clergy
were first ordered not to preach out of their parishes
Avithout a licence, which of coui-se was granted only
to the favoured sect; and this not proving sufficient,
preaching was altogether prohibited,* — a singular
step in the history of the Reformation !
On the other hand, Mary, on succeeding to the
throne, found it an easy matter to revive the ancient
Avorship. Nor did she hesitate to call frequent new
Parliaments, who each went beyond the former in
the road of reconciliation. The first refused to re-
establish the law of the six articles ; but only one
year afterwards, the nation was formally reconciled
to the Church of Rome, and the Parliament thanked
the Pope for pardoning their long heresy. He said,
with equal candour and truth, that he ought to
thank them for putting a rich country again under
his dominion.
* Bui-net, Hist Kef.
%
26
CHAPTER V.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
' Sur ce sanglant tUitre, ou cent heros p^rirent,
Sur ce trone glissant, dont cent rois descendirent,
line femme, a ses pieds enchainant les destms,
De I'eclat de son r^gne ^tonnait les humains.
C'<^tait Elisabeth ; elle dout la prudence,
De I'Europe a son ehoix fit pencher la balance,
Et fit aimer son joug a I'Anglois indompt^
Qui ne pent ni servir, ni vivre en liberie.
Ses peuples sous son regne ont oubli^ leurs pertes ;
De leurs troupeaux feconds leurs plaines sont couTcrtes,
Les guerets de leurs bles, les raers de leurs vaisseaux,
lis sont craints sur la terre, ils sont rois sur les eaux.
Leur flotte imperieuse, asservissant Neptune,
Des bouts de I'uniTers appelle la Fortune ;
Londres jadis barbare est le centre des arts,
Le magasin du monde, et le temple de Mars.' ■
LaHenriade, chant 1.
Queen Elizabeth is the greatest of English, per-
haps of all modern sovereigns. In a period remark-
able for long and sanguinary wars, she made her name
respected abroad, without a waste of blood or trea-
sure ; and, in a time of great political ferment, she
maintained the most absolute authority at home,
without any loss of the affections of her people.
She obtained glory without conquest, and unlimited
power without odium.
The means by which results so extraordinary
were obtained, comprise all the springs of her
foreign and domestic policy. Three principal
sources of her fame and success, however, may be
discerned.
First. — She made herself the head of the Pro-
testant interest in Europe. To do this, it was not
CH. V. QUEEN ELIZABETH. 27
necessary to place herself in the front of a con-
federacy of belligerent powers. It was sufficient to
give the sanction of the name of England, a rich
and united kingdom, to the cause which she sup-
ported. The spirit and enterprise of her subjects,
with some assistance from her, did the rest. By
this policy, also, she pleased the popular feeling of
her kingdom, and opened a channel in which all
the restless action of her nobility and gentry might
be borne out and find a current. The national fame
was likewise a gainer by the reputation acquired
by English knights and soldiers, in fighting against
the League in France, and Philip II. in the Nether-
lands. The country assumed her proper station in
the van of the defenders of liberty ; the blood of
Sir Philip Sidney was shed in the cause of the
freedom of the world ; and tyrants trembled at
the name of Elizabeth and of England.
Secondly. — She took care not to ask too much
money of the people. Her treaties with Henry IV.
and with the Netherland States resemble more the
hard bargain of a Swiss Canton than the generous
alliance of a powerful and friendly sovereign. She
well knew that Parliament held the purse, and must,
therefore, become absolute master of a distressed or
expensive sovereign. In her situation economy was
power. Happy would it have been for Leo X., for
Charles I., for Louis XVL, if they and their im-
mediate predecessors had been aware of this key-
stone of their fate ! The Reformation, the civil
wars of England, and the revolution in France, had
their rise in disordered finances. Men may perhaps
submit to be oppressed, but will not easily consent
to pay a dear price for the oppression.
Thirdly. — She yielded to the popular voice, and
cultivated popular favour, whenever it could be done
with dignity and safety. She could be severe and
kind by turns. Thus, having at one time excited
^
i
4 ••
'(?,
28 QUEEN ELIZABETH. CH. V.
great murmurs among the House of Commons by
forbidding liberty of speecb, she soon thought pro-
per to revoke her commands. But nothing shows
her policy better than her conduct respecting mo-
nopolies. There was hardly any article of which
a monopoly was not granted by the Crown. The
evil grew so grievous that even Elizabeth's House
of Commons echoed w4th angry speeches and
universal complaint. The Queen instantly yielded.
She did not acknowledge that the debates of the
House of Commons had any weight with her, but
she informed them, through her Secretary of State,
that she consented to quash those monopolies that
were illegal, and to submit to an inquiry with re-
spect to the rest. Secretary Cecil made an apology
to the House for having compared them to a schoolj._
and said, he By no means intended to deny the
freedom of speech.*
In her manners also the Queen took care to show
the greatest confidence in the people. No one
knew better how to buy the nation's heart with
a phrase, to declare, on occasion, that her treasure
was better in her subjects' purses than in her own
coffers, and that her best guards were the affections
of her people. She was well aware that nothing is
so pleasing as the condescension, of supreme power.
She therefore displayed her greatness by the pomp
of her state, and her goodness by the affability of
her language.
By such means Queen Elizabeth was enabled to
maintain a stable authority over an unquiet people
in a restless age. France was distracted by civil
war ; the King of Spain was employed in a bootless
and bloody quarrel with his insurgent subjects in
the Netherlands ; Germany was shaken in every
limb by the Beformation ; but the Queen of Eng-
* Note.(B) at the end of the Tolume.
CH. V. QUEEN ELIZABETH. 29
land reaped the reward of prudence and courage
in the tranquillity and affectionate obedience of her
kingdom and people. Her power was enormous.
When the Commons remonstrated, she speedily dis-
solved them. At one time she told them not to
meddle in affairs of state. Still less did she permit
any proposal of alteration in the Church ; and she
repeatedly imprisoned, or procured to be imprisoned,
those who gainsayed her high pleasure in these mat-
ters.* She dispensed Avith those laws Avhich were
unpalatable to her, and regulated the behaviour of
her people by ordinance and arbitrary mandate. She
forbade the cultivation of woad, as offensive to her
royal nostrils. The Court of Star Chamber and the
Court of High Commission not being sufficiently
arbitrary, it was ordered that every person who im-
ported forbidden books, or committed other offences
specified, should be punished by martial law. Those
who employed the press as an organ of discussion
were speedily condemned. Mr. John Udall, a Puri-
tan minister, charged with having written ' a slander-
ous and infamous libel against the Queen's Majesty,'
was tried for a felony, and convicted. The sentence
was never executed, but the poor man, after several
years' confinement, died in prison. The judge told
the jury to find him only author of the book, for the
offence of writing it had been already determined to
be felony by the judges. A gentleman who had
written a book to dissuade the Queen from marrying
a French prince, was sentenced by a law of Queen
Mary to lose his hand. A Puritan of the name of
Penry was condemned and executed for seditious
papers found in his pocket. Struck by these arbi-
trary proceedings, Mr. Hume has compared the
government of Elizabeth to the modern government
of Turkey, and remarking that, in both cases, the
*lsote (C) at the end of the volume.
30 QUEEN ELIZABETH. CH. v.
sovereign was deprived of the power of levying
money on his subjects, he asserts ' that in both
countries this Hraitation, unsupported by other pri-
vileges, appears rather prejudicial to the people.' It
is needless to say much on this fanciful analogy, so
unworthy of a great historian. Did it ever happen
that a Turkish house of commons prevailed on the
Sultan to correct the extortion of his pashas, as
the English House of Commons induced Elizabeth
to surrender the odious monopolies? Did Queen
Elizabeth ever put to death the holders of those
monopolies without trial, in order to seize their ill-
gotten wealth ? In fact, the authority of the House
of Commons made some advances during the reign
of Elizabeth. The very weight of the power that
was used to crush their remonstrances shows the
strength of their resistance. The debates of the
House of Commons during this reign fill a volume
and a half of the old parliamentary history. An
attentive observer of this country, at that period,
would scarcely have failed to remark, that the force
of free institutions was suspended, but not destroyed,
by the personal influence of Elizabeth ; and while
he acknowledged that no sovereign ever carried the
art of reigning further, he would perceive that the
nation had granted her a lease for life of arbitrary
poAver, but had not alienated for ever the inheritance
of freedom.
It was happy for the country that Queen Eliza-
beth found it her interest to embrace the Protestant
religion, and that, by the foolish as well as atrocious
plots of the Koman Catholics, she was forced to
cultivate still more strongly the aflTections of the
Protestant party. Boast as we may of our Consti-
tution, had Queen Elizabeth been a Roman Catholic,
or James 11. a Protestant, there would have been
no liberty in England.
'>>VM^t^
31
CHAPTER VI. ^
JAMES THE FIRST.
'Every one pointed to her (Queen Elizabeth's) white hairs, and
said with that peaceable Leontius, " When this snow melteth, tiiere
will be a flood." ' — HalVs Sermons.
During the latter years of Elizabeth, all classes of
people were unpatient for the accession of her suc-
cessor. There is nothing so irksome to mankind as
continued demands for a long series of years from
the same person npou their admiration and their
gratitude. In proportion as the novelty wears out,
weariness succeeds to wonder, and envy to weariness;
the many, like fastidious ci'itics, begin to find faults
where they saw nothing but beauties before, and
some are angry that there are so few faults to find.
The young love to censure what the old extrava-
gantly praised, and the giddy are disgusted Avith the
monotony of excellence. There might perhaps,
however, be other causes why the English nation
should desire the reign of James. A new spirit had
arisen during the latter years of Elizabeth, both in
religion and politics. A large party, known by the
name of Puritans, had been formed, or rather, in-
creased and united, who aimed at a further reforma-
tion in the Church. The llomish ceremonies, which
had been preserved in our form of worship, found no
indulgence in the minds of this stern sect ; and, had
the Puritans been able to execute their wishes, the
power and revenues of the bishops would have been
submitted to their crucible. Their bold and uncom-
promising principles led them also to free principles
32 JAMES THE FIEST. ch. vi.
of government; their understandings quickly stripped
a king of his divinity, and their hearts raised the
subject to a level with the sovereign. Besides
the progress of these opinions, a new standard of
political right had been introduced by the general
study of Greek and Roman authors. Not only had
the glories of the ancient republics kindled a flame
in the breasts of generous men, but the diffusion of
classical knowledge ixad prepared the upper classes
of society to require more enlightened methods of
proceeding, and a more regular distribution of
powers and privileges than had ever before been
found necessary. The community was advanced in
wealth, in arts, in literature, and in morals. Above
all, the Reformation was a perpetual source of in-
quiry and discussion ; the minds of men had taken a
start towards improvement, and nothing could stop
their course.
The reforms which this new world manifestly de-
manded, were naturally postponed till after the
death of Elizabeth. Her age and her reputation
merited, her vigour and experience enjoined, for-
bearance. But James, a foreign king, without re-
putation of glory or of firmness, did not enforce by
his character the same submission. A resolution
seems to have been taken to insist upon all the
ancient privileges of Parliament, together with all
the legal liberties of the subject ; and if these should
be found incompatible with the old prerogatives of
the Crown, or the new pretensions of the Tudor
dynasty, to make the King yield to his people, and
not the people to the King.
James soon had ample occasion to remark the
disposition of his subjects. Not all the rejoicings
which attended his march, nor the new honours
wdiich he so lavishly threw away, could disguise the
truth. A petition from upwards of a thousand
clergymen of the Puritan persuasion was presented
to the King on his road to London, praying for ' a
CH. VI. JAMES THE FIRST. 33
reformation in the church service, ministry, livings,
and discipline.' He issued writs for the calling of a
Parliament, accompanied with instructions to the
people what kind of persons they should elect, com-
manding them not to choose ovitlaws, and bidding
them send the returns to his Court of Chancery.,
there to be examined and judged. In pursuance of
these instructions, the election of a Sir Francis
Goodwin, chosen for the county of Buckingham,
an outlaw, was declared to be void ; a new writ was
issued from the Chancery, and Sir John Fortescue
was returned in his room. The Commons declared
the election of Sir Francis Goodwin to be valid, and
that all matters concerning the election of IMembers
of Parliament were cognizable in the House of
Commons only. This had been an old subject of
dispute with Queen Elizabeth ; the precedents were
assertions on both sides, and no decisive conclusion.
The Commons had voted that the ' discussing and
adjudging of such like differences belonged only to
the House ; ' and had passed a resolution that out-
laws might be elected : the Judges had declared
that they could not, and Queen Elizabeth had com-
plained to her last House of Commons that outlaws
were admitted. James, after contesting the point,
proposed that both Goodwin and Fortescue should
be set aside, and a new writ should be issued hy the
warrant of the House. The right of the Commons
to decide in all matters of election was thus admitted.
In the same Parliament, a warden of the Fleet
was arrested by the House for ha^^ng imprisoned a
member ; a compensation for wardship and purvey-
ance was proposed ; and a conference with the Lords
was desired on the subject of religion. The instruc-
tions given by the Commons to those who were to
conduct the conference are remarkable. A relaxa-
tion is desired for such as were unable to reconcile
themselves to the cross in baptism, the rino- in mar-
D
34 JAMES THE FIKST. CH. VI.
riage, and the surplice ; but on the subjects of faith,
and the sacraments, every person in the kingdom is
to be required by Parhament to conform to the law
of imiformity. So far were the ideas of these re-
formers from real tolei'ation ! James was alarmed
at each and all of the pretensions of the Commons,
and there remains a draft of a very able addi-ess
reported from a Select Committee of that House
(though never adopted by the House itself), com-
plaining of the misinformation he had received, and
entering at large into every subject which had been
discussed. They mention the ill-treatment they had
received on the subject of their privileges during the
latter years of Queen Elizabeth ; attribute their
acquiescence to respect for her sex and age ; and
express their surprise and sorrow that in this first
Parliament of King James, their rights should have
been more invaded than ever.* The session ended
without any decisive resiilt : except tonnage and
poundage, the King obtained no supply ; and except
on the question of new Avrits, the Commons got no
redress.
The alarm of the Gunpowder Plot produced plen-
tiful grants to the King. At the end of December,
1609, James dissolved his Parliament, and with the
exception of a session of two months in 1614, more
than ten years passed over without any sitting of
Parliament. Forced loans, arbitrary taxes from
private persons, and new monopolies, supplied the
wants of his treasury in the interval. At length, in
the year 1620, a Parliament met, to which every
Englishman ought to look back with reverence.
Having first voted the King two subsidies, and
having discouraged all recurrence to past complaints,
they set themselves vigorously to examine the pre-
* Mr. Hume, has laboured, but which, it seems, makes against
without success, to weaken the his theory,
authority of this document,
CH. VI. JAMES THE FIRST. 33
sent grievances of the subject. James adjourned
them, and imprisoned Sir Edwin Sandys, one of
their most useful members. Undismayed by this
step, they petitioned the King, on liis next meeting,
to defend his son-in-law the Elector Palatine against
the Catholic interest of Europe, to break off the
match of his son with Spain, and to turn his sword
against that formidable power. James threatened
the Commons with punishment: they maintained
their privileges : he told them they were derived
* from the grace and permission of our ancestors and
us.' To this pretension they returned the following
memorable answer : —
' The Commons, now assembled in Parliament,
being justly occasioned thereunto, concerning sun-
dry liberties, franchises, privileges, and jurisdictions
of Parliament, do make this protestation following : —
That the liberties, franchises, privileges, and jurisdic-
tions of Parliament are the ancient and undoubted
birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England;
and the arduous and urgent affairs concerning the
King, State, and the defence of the realm, and of
the Church of England, and the making and main-
tenance of laws, and redress of mischiefs and griev-
ances, which daily happen within this realm, are
proper subjects and matter of counsel and debate in
Parliament ; and that in the handling and proceed-
ing of those businesses, every member of the House
hath, and of right ought to have, freedom of speech,
to propound, treat, reason, and bring to conclusion
the same; that the Commons in Parliament have
like liberty and freedom to treat of those matters in
such order as in their judgments shall seem fittest ;
and that every such member of the said House hath
like freedom from all impeachment, imprisonment,
and molestation (other than by the censure of the
House itself) for or concerning any bill, speaking,
reasoning, or declaring of any matter or matters,
D 2
36 JAMES THE riEST. CH. VT.
touching the Parliament, or Parliament business ;
and that if any of the said members be complained
of and questioned for anything said or done in Par-
liament, the same is to be showed to the King, by
the advice and assent of all the Commons assembled
in Parliament, before the King give credence to any
private information.'
James, greatly Avroth at this proceeding, sent for
the Journal of the House of Commons to liis council,
and tore out the protestation with his own hand.
He dissolved the Parliament ; he imprisoned Coke,
Selden, Pym, Phillips, and Mallory,* all members
of the dissolved House of Commons. He was not
aware that the force of the protestation he tore out
was not in the parchment or the letters of a book,
but in the hearts and minds of his subjects ; and he
little expected that, by confining the persons of a
few commoners, he was preparing the imprisonment
and death of his son.
If we look at the position of the adverse parties
at this time, we shall see that James was attempt-
ing, most unseasonably, a neAv mode of government.
The nature of the Gothic monarchies was generally
the same. The king, who had first ruled together
with his people in rude harmony, came, in time, to
exercise certain poAvers of government which he
called prerogative; and the people who, in early
times, assembled on every occasion to discuss griev-
ances, and laws, and treaties, became in the progress
of civilization divided into cities, and had their pri-
vileges set down in general and particular charters
which they called their liberties. Both prerogative
and privilege were liable to misconstruction, and
sometimes overflowed their banks ; but the King
always spoke with respect of the liberties of his
subjects, even Avhen he illegally imprisoned their
* The people should have these John Hampden, the founders of
names by heart. They ■were, with the liberties of England.
CH. VI.
JAMES THE FIRST.
37
persons ; and the people professed their veneration
for monarchy, even Avhen they deposed their king.
Queen Elizabeth, acting in this spirit, abjured the
notion of infringing the rights of her subjects, at
the same time that she occasionally encroached
upon, and always narrowly confined, the rights she
professed to maintain. She acknowledged the liber-
ties of the people without doubt or hesitation, but
made use of her own dictionary for the definition ;
of the term. James attempted a new system : he '
denied the existence of privileges altogether, except
by sufferance ; and without possessing the wisdom of
an ordinary man, he claimed, in an inquiring age,
the infallibility of the Deity. * As it is atheism
and blasphemy,' he said, ' in a creature to dispute
what the Deity may do, so it is presumption and
sedition in a subject to dispute what a king may do
in the height of his power. Good Christians will
be content with God's Avill^ rovoalcd in His word^
andgood subjects will" re<t in ihc King's will, rg-
veal^inTiis law.' Such Avas the impious folly
of' James! His sayings do him credit as a wit;
his learning was not unbecoming a scholar; but
his conduct made him contemptible as a king.
How vain then to pretend that all the ancient
privileges of the English nation were to depend
upon his nod !
\Aci U.<! /
r
/•Cwj'
38
CHAPTER YII.
CHAELES THE FIRST.
' There was ambition, there was sedition, there was -violence ; but
no man shall persuade me that it was not the cause of liberty on one
side, and of tyranny on the other.' — Lord Chatham, quoted by Grattan
{Letter to the Citizens of Dublin, 1797).
The accession of Charles I. found the nation en-
gaged in hostilities with Spain, which was then
esteemed the most powerful monarchy in Europe.
An attempt has been made to throw upon the
first Parliament of Charles the charge of bad faith
and want of generosity, because they did not, pre-
viously to all inquiry into grievances, grant to their
young King a sufficient sum to enable him to
prosecute with due vigour the war which they had
brought on by their advice and encouragement.
Now, even if it were true that the Commons were
the authors of the war, still it Avould not follow
that they did wrong in considering the abuses of
the executive government, before they supplied it
with fresh means of setting law and economy at
defiance. A ligid inquiry into the public means
and the public expenses was at all events justly
due to the nation, of which they were the repre-
sentatives. In point of fact, however, the war was
not theirs, but Buckingham's ; it had been refused
to the parliamentary address of the people, and
granted to the private pique of the favourite.*
*' Instead of judiciously mol- ceived some aSronts upon some
lifying the misunderstandings be- arrears he had made) rims the
twixt the two Houses and the King into a war with that nation.'
King, he (Buckingham) unad- — Wa')-wick'sMe'moirs,-p.lZ. (fir
visedly (for in Spain he had re- Philip "Warwick was a courtier.)
CH. vn. CHAELES THE FIRST. 39
In considering the requests of the House of
Commons from the commencement of the reign, we
must never lose sight, as they never lost sight,
of the ancient statutes of the realm. By Magna
Charta it is established, that no freeman is to be
imprisoned, or otherwise injured, but by the judg-
ment of his peers, or the law of the land : therefore
the judgments of the Star Chamber, and the commit-
ments by the Sovereign's pleasure, were anomalous
innovations. By a law of Edward I. no taxes Avere
to be raised except by the authority of Parliament ;
therefore forced loans, benevolences, and mono-
polies were illegal. By two laws of Edward III.
Parliaments were ordained to be held once a year
or oftener ; therefore an attempt to govern vnih-
out the regular ad-vdce and continual authority of
Parliament, amounted to a subversion of the esta-
blished constitution of the State. Nor is it to any
purpose, even as an argumentum ad hominem, to say
that frequent violations of all these laws took place
under the reign of particular sovereigns, especially
the Tudors. The uninterrupted practice of trial
by jury, the solemn usage of granting supplies in
Parliament, and the frequent meetings of that high
court, prove that none of these rights had become
obsolete, and that the exertions of prerogative in-
compatible -with them were irregularities to be
amended, and not examples to be followed.
The great stand made by Hampden and his asso-
ciates, against the payment of ship-money, was the
immediate cause Avhich prevented the establishment
of arbitrary monarchy in England, as in France and
Spain. He refused to pay to the King the sum of
twenty shillings : the Judges in Westminster Hall
decided against him, but the country was roused,
and overbalanced by their sympathy the judgment
of a court of law. Let us hear the testimony of
Lord Clarendon on this subject ; his reasoning is so
40 CHARLES THE FIRST. CH. Vlli
pregnant, that I make no apology for inserting it at
length. ' Lastly, for a spi'ing and magazine that
should have no bottom, and for an everlasting sup-
ply of all occasions, a writ was framed in a form of
law, and directed to the sheriff of every county of
England, " to provide a ship of war for the king's
service, and to send it, amply provided and fitted,
by such a day, to such a place ;" and with that writ
were sent to each sheriff instructions, that, " instead
of a ship, he should levy upon his county such a sum
of money, and return the same to the Treasurer of
the Xavy for his Majesty's use," with direction in
what manner he should proceed against such as re-
fused : and from hence that tax had the denomination
of ship-m&ney, a word of a lasting sound in the
memory of this kingdom, by which for some years
really accrued the yearly sum of £200,000 to the
king's coffers : and it was in truth the only project
that was accounted to his own service. And, after
the continu^ed receipt of it for about four years toge-
ther, it was at last (upon the refusal of a private
gentleman to pay twenty or thirty shillings as his
share), Avith great solemnity, publicly argued before
all the judges of England in the Exchequer Cham-
ber, and by much the major part of them the King's
right to impose asserted, and the tax adjudged law-
ful ; which judgment proved of more advantage and
credit to the gentleman condemned (Mr. Hampden)
than to the Kino-'s service.
' For the better support of these extraordinary
ways, and to protect the agents and instruments who
must be employed in them, and to discountenance
and suppress all bold inquirers and opposers, the
Council Table and Star Chamber enlarge their juris-
dictions to a vast extent, " holding " (as Thucydides
said of the Athenians) " for honourable that which
pleased, and for just that which profited ;" and being
the same persons in several rooms, grew both courts
CH. VII. CHARLES THE FIRST. 41
of law to determine right, and courts of revenue to
bring money into the treasury ; the Council Table
by proclamations enjoining to the people what was
not enjoined by the law, and prohibiting that which
was not prohibited, and the Star Chamber censuring
the breach and disobedience to those proclamations
by very great fines and imprisonment, so that any
disrespect to any acts of state, or to the persons of
statesmen, was in no time more penal, and those
foundations of right by which men valued their secu-
rity, to the apprehension and understanding of wise
men, never more in danger to be destroyed.
* And here I cannot but again take the liberty to
say, that the circumstances and proceedings in those
new extraordinary cases, stratagems, and impositions,
were very unpolitic, and even destructive to the ser-
vices intended. And if the business of ship-money,
being an imposition by the State, under the notion
of necessity, upon a prospect of danger, which private
persons could not modestly think themselves qualified
to discern, had been managed in the same extraor-
dinary way as the royal loan (which was the imposing
tlie five subsidies after the second Parliament spoken
of before) was, men would much easier have sub-
mitted to it, as it is notoriously known that pressure
was borne with much more cheerfulness before the
judgment for the King than ever it Avas after ; men
before pleasing themselves Avith doing somewhat for
the King^s service, as a testunony of their aifection,
v/hich they were not bound to do, many really be-
lieving the necessity, and therefore thinking the
burthen reasonable ; others observing that the advan-
tage to the King was of importance, Avhen the damage
to them was not considerable, and all assuring them-
selves that when they should be weary, or unwilling
to continue the payment, they might resort to the
laAv for relief, and find it. But when they heard this
demanded in a court of law, as a right, and found it.
42 CHAELES THE FIRST. cir. vir.
by sworn judges of the law, adjudged so, upon such
grounds and reasons as every stander-by was able to
swear was not law, and so had lost the pleasure and
deliffht of beino; kind and dutiful to the Kino;, and
instead of gi\dng, were required to pay, and by a
logic that left no man anything which he might call
his own ; they no more looked upon it as the case of
one man, but the case of the kingdom, nor as an im-
position laid upon them by the King, but by the
judges, which they thought themselves bound in
conscience to the public justice not to submit to. It
was an observation long aofo bv Thucvdides, " that
men are more passionate for much injustice than for
violence, because," says he, " the one coming as from
an equal seems rapine, when the other, proceeding
from one stronger, is but the effect of necessity." So,
when ship-money was transacted at the Council Board,
they looked upon it as a work of that power they were
all obliged to trust, and an effect of that foresight
they were naturally to rely upon. Imminent neces-
sity and public safety were cou^dncing persuasions ;
and it might not seem of apparent ill consequence
to them, that upon an emergent occasion the regal
power should fill up an hiatus, or supply an impo-
tency in the law. But Avhen they saw in a court of
law (that law that gave them title to, and posses-
sion of, all that they had) reason of state urged as
elements of law, judges as sharp-sighted as secretaries
of state, and in the mysteries of state ; judgment of
law grounded upon matter of fact, of which there
was neither inquiry nor proof, and no reason given
for the payment of the thirty shillings in question,
but what included the estates of all the standers-by ;
they had no reason to hope that doctrine, or the pro-
moters of it, Avould be contained Avithin any bounds,
and it was no wonder that they, who had so little
reason to be pleased mth their own condition, were
no less solicitous for, or apprehensive of, the incon-
veniences that might attend any alteration.
CH. VIT. CHARLES THE FIRST. 43
' And liere the damage and mischief cannot be
expressed that the Crown and State sustained by
the deserved reproach and infamy that attended
the judges, by being made use of in this and li,ke
acts of power, there being no possibility to pre-
serve the dignity, reverence, and estimation of the
laws themselves, but by the integrity and innocency
of the judges. And no question, as the exorbitancy
of the House of Commons, in the next Parliament,
proceeded principally from their contempt of the
laws, and that contempt from the scandal of that
judgment: so the concurrence of the House of
Peers in that fury, can be imputed to no one thing
more than to the irreverence and scorn the judges
were justly in, who had been always before looked
upon there as the oracles of the law, and the best
guides to assist that House in their opinions and
actions. And the Lords now thouo;ht themselves
excused for SAvervino; from the rules and customs of
their predecessors (who, in alteiing and making of
laws, in judging of things and persons, had always
observed the ad^dce and judgment of those sages)
in not asking questions of those Avhom they knew
nobody would believe, thinking it a just reproach
upon them (who out of their courtship had sub-
mitted the difficulties and mysteries of the laW, to
be measured by the standai'd of Avhat they called
general reason, and explained by the Avisdom of
State) that they themselves should make use of the
licence, which the others had taught them, and de-
termine that to be laAV, Avhich thev thovio;ht to be
reasonable or found to be convenient. If these
men had preserA'ed the simplicity of their ancestors,
in severely and strictly defending the laws, other
men had observed the modesty of theirs, in humbly
and dutifully obeying them.
' Upon this consideration, it is A'ery obserA'able
that, in the Avisdom of former times, Avlien the pre-
44 CHAELES THE FIRST. ch. tii.
rogative went highest (as very often it hath been
swollen above any pitch we have seen it at in our
times), never any court of law, very seldom any
judge, or lawyer of reputation, was called upon to
assist in an act of power ; the Crown well knomng
the moment of keeping those the objects of rever-
ence and veneration wdth the people ; and that
though it might sometimes make sallies upon them
by the prerogative, yet the law would keep the
people from any invasion of it, and that the king
coidd never suffer, Avliilst the law and the judges
were looked upon by the subject, as the asylum for
their liberties and security. And therefore you
shall find the policy of many princes hath endured
as sharp animadversions and reprehensions from the
judges of the law, as their piety hath from the
bishops of the church ; as having no less influence
upon the people, under the reputation of justice, by
the one, than under the ties of conscience and reli-
gion, by the other. To extend this consideration
of the form and circumstances of proceeding in
cases of an unusual nature a little further ; as it
may be most behoveful for princes, in matters of
grace and honour, and in conferring of favours upon
their people, to transact the same as publicly as
may be, and, by themselves or their ministers, to
dilate upon it, and improve the lustre by any ad-
dition, or eloquence of speech (where, it may be,
every kind Avord, especially from the prince himself,
is looked upon as a new bounty) ; so it is as re-
quisite in matters of judgment, punishment, and
censure upon things or persons (especially when
the case, in the nature of it, is unusual, and the
rules in judging as extraordinary) that the same be
transacted as privately, and -with as little noise and
pomp of Avords, as may be. For (as damage is much
easier borne, and submitted to by genei'ous minds,
than disgrace) in the business of ship-money, and
CH. vii. CHARLES THE FIRST. 45
many other cases in the Star Chamber and at the
Council Board, there were many impertinences,
incongruities, and insolencies, in the speeches and
orations of the judges, much more offensive, and
much more scandalous, than the judgments and
sentences themselves. Besides that, men's minds
and understandings were more instructed to discern
the consequence of things, which before they con-
sidered not. And undoubtedly my Lord Finch's
speech in the Exchequer Chamber made ship-
money much more abhorred and formidable than
all the commitments by the Council Table, and all
the distresses taken by the sheriffs in England : the
major part of men (besides the common uncon-
cernedness in other men's sufferings) looking upon
those proceedings with a kind of applause to them-
selves, to see other men punished for not doing as
they had done ; which delight was quickly deter-
mined, when they found their own interest, by the
unnecessary logic of that argument, no less concluded
than Mr. Hampden's.
' He hath been but an ill observer of the passages
of those times we speak of, who hath not seen many
sober men, wdio have been clearly satisfied with
the conveniency, necessity, and justice of many sen-
tences, depart notwithstanding extremely offended
and scandalized with the grounds, reasons, and
expressions of those who inflicted those censures ;
when they found themselves, thinking to be only
spectators of other men's sufferings, by some unne-
cessary inference or declaration, in probable danger
to become the next delinquents.'
In this able summary we have a clear statement
of the causes of disagreement between the King and
his people, a demonstration of the tyranny as well
as the folly of the King, and a satisfactory explana-
tion of the disti'ust of the people.
Lord Strafford, most unfortunately for liimself.
46 CHARLES THE FIRST. ' ch. vii.
for his King, and his country, fell out of the ranks
of the friends of liberty, and encouraged Charles to
persist in a resistance, which, perhaps, he might
otherwise have abandoned. Devoid of all public
principle, and the slave of his malignant passions,
even the patriotism of Strafford is to be attributed
to his animosity to the Duke of Buckingham. With
a mixture of baseness and boldness seldom equalled,
he made himself the tool of his personal enemy, for
the purpose of breaking down all the safeguards of
the subject, contained in that petition of right,
which he had been among the foremost to ask for
and obtain. He had not the excuse of saying that
he opposed new pretensions of the Commons, or
that he had left his friends when they went beyond
the bounds of legality and loyalty. The measures
in which he assisted were violations of those laws
which it was liis glory to have recognised and estab-
lished. He had himself said, ' We must vindicate :
— what ? new things ? no : — our ancient, legal, and
vital liberties, by reinforcing the laws enacted by
our ancestors ; by setting such a stamp upon them,
THAT NO LICENTIOUS SPIRIT SHALL DARE HENCE-
EORTH TO INVADE THEM.' When Deputy in Ire-
land, he made large promises to the Roman Catholics
to serve the King's present convenience, -without
any intention of keeping them. He solicited an
earldom, as the reward of his services, with an un-
portunity that shows his ambition to have been of
the meanest kind. When in the north, he persecuted
with the utmost cruelty a Sir David Fouhs, who had
omitted to pay him some trifling mark of respect.*
His conduct to Lord Mountnorris in Ireland was of
the same kind. Upon the whole, he was a violent,
unprincipled man, destitute of any elevation of soul ;
for his request to the King to let him die can
* Macdiarmid's Lives, vol. ii. p. 121.
CH. VII. CHAELES THE FIRST. 47
hardly be thought sincere ; and there can be little
doubt that, till the end of his career, he expected
to rise to supreme power by pressing his foot upon
the necks of the people. The intrepidity of his
character, his powers of eloquence, the virtues of
his private life, and, above all, the unjust manner
in which he was condemned to death, have rescued
his name from that abhorrence with which every
lover of his country would otherwise have regarded
it. The execution of Strafford casts a stain upon all
parties in the State. The House of Commons were
instigated by passion ; the House of Lords acted
from fear ; and Chai'les, from some motive or other,
which, at all events, was not the right one. The
admission of the mob to overawe the deliberation of
Parliament was a sure sign that laAv was about to be
subverted.
In a contest between a king who refuses any limi-
tation of his prerogative and a people who require it,
there can be no equitable agreement. The ordinaiy
authority of a limited king, the power of calling out
an armed force, of proroguing and dissolving Parlia-
ment, cannot be entrusted to a sovereign whose main
object it is to destroy, by means of a party, all limi-
tation. William III., Anne, and the first sovereigns
of the House of Brunswick, might be safely en-
trusted with the prerogative, because no party in the
nation wished to see arbitrary power in their hands ;
but Charles I. could not, because the Cavaliers Avould
have been unanhnous in repealing the restrictions
imposed by Parliament. Hence, when the popular
party had provided sufficient checks for the people
against a king, they were obliged to devise fresh
ones against King Charles. After the plot of the
royalists in the army, and still more when war had
actually commenced, they were forced to ask for se-
curities unnecessary and improper in ordinary times.
This forms the only justification of the law respect-
48 CHARLES THE FIRST- CH. vn.
ino- the militia, the bill for continuing the Parliament,
and the articles of Uxbriclge. It was too much to
expect that the victor-ious party should lay down
their arms, quietly permitting the liberties they had
wrested from the Crown to be again surrendered by
a packed Parliament ; and their own lives to be at
the mercy of a king to whom the power of the sword
had been again entrusted. The difficulty was in-
separable from the case. The king's prerogative is
so great, that nothing but the established opinion of
the whole nation can prevent his absorbing every
other authority in the State.
The events of the reign of Charles, if we apply the
principle I have laid down, are not difficult to account
for. The King commenced by quarrelling with Parlia-
ments, and by an attempt to raise money Avithout their
authority, punishing at the same time in an arbitrary
manner all who ventured to speak or write in behalf
of the ancient liberties of their country. In this
career he found, in high stations, and even on the
bench of judges, willing and unprincipled instruments.
At length he was obliged to call a Parliament. They
reformed abuses, punished the tools of tyranny, and
insisted upon keeping in their own hands the armed
force of the country, lest the King should use the
fii'st moment after the dissolution of Parliament to
re-establish his illegal power. Charles preferred try-
ino; the chance of war to asjreeino; to these conditions.
In the course of the war, his papers, taken at the
battle of Naseby, convinced the Parliamentary party
that any concessions he might make would be, in his
mind, concessions to power and not to right, and
that he would think himself entitled, if he should
ever have the means, to repossess himself of his former
authority. It there came to light, that, at the time
when he treated with the two Houses, he entered a
protest in the council book declaring that they were
not a Parliament, in the face of his own designation
CH. VII, CHArxLES THE FIEST. 49
of tliem as such. Heuce it appeared clear, that he
thought himself at liberty to use any means to re-
acquire that absolute power which he considered his
birthright. And here, in my mind, was the error
of Lord Clarendon and the constitutional Koyalists.
Literally their proclamations and proposals were
more conformable to the Constitution than those of
their adversaries ; it is evident that the Parliament
went, in their proposed terms of peace, beyond the
limits of the ancient laws of the kingdom, and
that they proposed to bind the prerogative of
Charles more closely than precedent, and example,
and legal rule would justify. But if we pass from the
letter to the spirit of the controversy, we shall see
that the Parliament were endeavouring, by new re-
strictions on royal power, to obtain a necessary se-
curity for the performance of the old, and that the
King was attempting, by the oiFer of plausible terms,
to get into his hands the power of destroying all op-
ponents, and breaking down every barrier to his will.
The very conscience of Charles ordered him to de-
ceive his enemies and make himself absolute.
In the course of the contest the period arrived
when, in the opinion of Hyde and Falkland, the King
had conceded enough, and the Parliament could not
without danger to the monarchy insist upon more.
Their views and their conduct have received the
high sanction of Mr. Hallam. After quoting the
words of Lord Chatham, ascribed to him by Mr.
Grattan and recorded in the motto of this chapter,
Mr. Hallam says, ' But as I know (and the history
of eighteen years is my witness), how little there
was on one side of such liberty as a wise man would
hold dear, so I am not yet convinced that the great
body of the Royalists, the peers and gentry of Eng-
land, were combating for the cause of tyranny.' *
* Hallam's Const. Hist, of England, vol. ii. p. 146, ed. 1854.
50 CHAELES THE FIRST. CH. Vtl.
The question, however, wavS not whether the peers
and gentry of England who followed Charles I. were
combating for the cause of tyranny. The question for
Hampden and Pym to consider was, whether, if they
trusted to Charles L, they had any security against
tyranny ? Charles V. of Germany had in the pre-
ceding century put down liberty and established
tyranny in Castile, Aragon, and Tuscany; Charles
VIII. of France had put down the representative
States of France, by which act, says De Comines,
he laid a heavy burthen on his soul. Let us admit
to the great historical sagacity of Mr. Hallam that
the Grand Remonstrance ' was hardly capable of
answering any other purpose than that of reani-
mating discontents almost appeased, and guarding
the people against the confidence they were begin-
ning to place in the King's sincerity.'* Still the
question for Hampden and Pym to consider was,
whether they coidd advise or allow the people to
place confidence in the King's sincerity ; and whether,
if they did so, the English Government would not be
reduced to the form which the French Government
had assumed under Louis XIII., and the Spanish
under Philip II. There can be no doubt, I think,
that, in the Grand Remonstrance, the majority of
the Commons went beyond the limits which consti-
tutional statesmen in ordinary times are bound to
respect. But the King, it is clear, never intended to
observe the promises he made, or to keep within the
boundaries of any law which he swore to observe.
In his opinion breach of faith was wise policy,
arbitrary government just prerogative, and the pu-
nishment of any of his subjects who resisted his will
a rightful exercise of sovereignty. The popular party
had to defend not only their liberties but their lives ;
to wrestle with the violence and treacheiy of Charles
in order to preserve their own heads from the block
* Hallam's Const. Hdst. of England, vol. v. p. 121.
CH. VII. CHARLES THE FIRST. 51
and their country from the slavery of France and
Spain.*
Let us for a few moments, by way of illustration,
contemplate the King's conduct in the attempt to
arrest the Five Members.
He had recently made Falkland his secretary of
state. That excellent man had been most reluctant
to accept the office, and had only yielded to the urgent
solicitations of his friend Mr. Hyde. He thus be-
came the person chiefly responsible in the King's
Council. Lord Clarendon, in a passage which has
been omitted in the earlier editions of the History,
and which has been placed in an Appendix by later
editors, says, in reference to the plan for seizing the
Five Members : ' In this restraint, the King, con-
sidering rather what was just than what was expe-
dient, tcithout communicating it to any of his Council,
and so not sufficienthj loeighing the circumstances and
way of doing it, as ivell as the matter itself, resolved,^
&c. . . . ' and so on the third day of January,
about two of the clock in the afternoon, he sent for Sir
Edward Herbert, his attorney-general, and delivered
a paper to him in writing, which contained a charge
against those he meant to accuse; and commanded him
forthwith to go to the House, and in his name to
accuse those persons to the House of Peers of high
treason. The attorney accordingly went, and stand-
ing up told their lordships, that he did in his Majesty's
name and by his especial command, accuse the Lord
Kimbolton, a member of that House, Mr. Pym, Mr.
Denziel Hollis, Mr. John Hampden, Mr. William
Strode, and Sir Arthur Haslerig, of high treason
and other misdemeanours,' &c.f This is very ex-
plicit. But Lord Clarendon goes further, and after
saying who did not counsel the King, mentions ex-
* See especially Forster's ' Es- Members,' who, by the M-ay , never
says on the Grand Eemon strance ' were arrested,
and on the ' Arrest of the Five - 1 Hist. App. vol. ii. p. 604.
E 2
52 CHAELES THE FIRST. CH. vil.
pressly Avto did. For after saying that Lord Digby
pretended to Lord Kimbolton that he did not know
from whom that counsel proceeded, Lord Clarendon
adds, ' Whereas he (Lord Digby) was the only person
who gave the counsel, named the persons, and par-
ticularly the Lord Kimbolton,' &c.*
Althouoh both Mr. Hallam and Mr. Forster dis-
trust Lord Clarendon's account, it is very difficult to
get rid of this explicit testimony. If true, which I
cannot but believe, it shows Charles to have been ut-
terly incapable of acting as the King of a constitutional
monarchy ; it shows that, after inducing Lord Falk-
land, Sir John Culpepper, and Mr. Hyde to be his
advisers, he accused of high treason a peer and five
members of the House of Commons without their
previous knowledge. There can be no doubt, I think,
that if by violence he had been able to procure their
condemnation, he would have executed Pym and
Hampden, as his son afterwards executed Russell and
Sydney. Thenceforward the question could be decided
by arms alone ; and while we may find it difficult to
decide how far the cause of the Commons was the
cause of liberty, it is clear, I think, that the cause of
Charles was the cause of tyranny. Charles was, in
fact, incapable of keeping faith with those Avho re-
sisted his will.
When the civil war was at an end, and Charles
was defeated by his subjects, a new party had arisen,
who went a step beyond the Presbyterians, both in
religion and politics. The toleration which the
Presbyterians had originally asked, in matters of
dress and ceremonial, the Indej^endents wished to
extend to fiiitli and doctrine, and were thus the
earliest advocates of religious liberty. The political
freedom which the Presbyterians hoped to enjoy un-
der the ancient kingly government of England, the
* Hist. vol. ii. p. 129,
CH. vii. CHARLES THE FIKST. 53
Independents thought would best be secured by a
republican constitution. Their views with respect
to the King were tinged by the most erroneous
notions, drawn from Scripture. They imagined the
Sovereign ouo-ht to die, that the sins of the war
might be expiated by him, and not by them. Lud-
low, in vindication of the King's execution, quotes,
with self-applause, a passage from the Book of
Numbers : — ' That blood defileth the land, and the
land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed
therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.' He
continues, ' And, therefore, I could not consent to
the counsels of those who were contented to leave
the guilt of so much blood upon the nation, and
thereby to draw doAvn the just vengeance of God
upon all ; when it was most evident that the war
had been occasioned by the invasion of our rights,
and open breach of our laws and constitution on the
King's part.'* This reason, if good for any thing,
makes it not only the right but the duty of a
party victorious in civil war, to put to death their
adversaries in cold blood. Strange infatuation !
Charles fell a sacrifice at last, because Cromwell
had lost his popularity by negotiating with him, and
wished to regain his credit with his army. He had
found reason to suspect, in the course of the negotia-
tion, that Charles, always insincere, had no real in-
tention of beino: reconciled with him, and that the
~ 1
democratic troops whom he commanded were ready
to break out into mutiny in consequence of liis sup-
posed apostasy. In his anger he said, ' I A\ill cut off
his head, with the crown upon it.' Cromwell's re-
conciliation was written in the King's blood. The
deed, unjust and unwise as it must be esteemed,
was, as Mr. Fox has said, not done in a corner.
Elizabeth had not brought Mary to a public
* Ludlow's Memoirs, i. 267.
54 CHARLES THE FIRST. CH. Tli.
trial. Machiavel, in a chapter in which he shows,
' that a people accustomed to live under a prince,
if by any accident it becomes free, with difli-
culty preserves its liberty,' says that, ' for the diffi-
culties and evils which must be encountered, there
is no more powerful, or more effectual, or more salu-
tary, or more necessary remedy than to put to death
the sons of Brutus,' that is to say, to give a striking
example of severity against those who would be the
chiefs of a counter-revolution.* Such, no doubt, was
the manner in which Cromwell viewed the death of
Charles. It put an end to all hesitation, broke the
spirit of the Royalists, and pledged him for ever to
the enemies of the Stuarts.
By the nation at large the capital punishment of
the King was not demanded, and very soon lamented.
T\Tien living, he was a baffled tyrant ; when dead, a
royal martyr.
Charles was an obstinate, prejudiced, and foolish
man, possessed of considerable talents, exempt from
most vices, and possessing but few virtues.
The fate of the Parliament was much more im-
portant to the State than that of the King. From
the moment they were obliged to raise an army,
their independence was in danger. The exclusion of
the eleven members was an act of force, destructive
of legal government. The diminution of their num-
bers, till at last they consisted of not more than one
hundred, and often less ; their subordination to mili-
tary members, and their taking refuge with the army,
were the preludes to their final exclusion and disso-
lution. The minds of men, which had been led into
the war by reverence and attachment to legal forms
and established precedents, were now left without
star or comjmss to guide them. Many, no doubt,
had supposed that a war against Charles I. was, like
* See Note (D) at the end of the volume.
OH. Til. CHARLES THE FIRST. 55
a war against Henry III., a proper method of seek-
ing a redress of grievances. They imagined that,
after some contest, the King would yield to his sub-
jects in arms, and consent to resettle the nation.
But when they found all established authority sub-
verted, all government made a matter of question
and conjecture, they knew not where to look for
liberty or for law. In their utter inability to remedy
this confusion, they turned their eyes to the strong-
est, and sought protection for their property and
their lives.
56
CHAPTER VIII.
CAUSES OF THE DISSOLUTION OF THE ENGLISH FOEM
OF GOVEENMENT UNDEE CHAELES THE FIEST.
' Cunctas nationes et ui-bes, populus, ant primores, aut singuli
regunt ; delecta ex his et constituta reipublicae forma laudari facilius
quam evenire, vel, si evenit, haud diuturna esse potest.' — Tacitus.
Such was the deliberate judgment of Tacitus ; a
judgment, indeed, contradicted by the event, but
wliich nevertheless is marked with the utmost per-
fection of thought, to which speculative reasoning
could reach. Indeed, the history of the English
Government, whilst it finally disproves, affords, in its
course, ample justification for the opinion of Tacitus.
Let us first consider what, in his profound mind,
must have struck hun as an obstacle to the success
of a constitution made up of monarchy, aristocracy,
and democracy. Was it the difficulty of forming a
balance between the three powers ? Surely not.
Any schemer may lay out the plan of a constitution,
in which the three powers shall each possess the
authority, which in theory it ought to have. Indeed,
there is scarcely any constitution which a man of
sense can draw up that will not appear more plau-
sible in this respect than the English. What more
absurd, a priori, than that the King should have the
sole power of making peace and war, whilst the
Commons have the sole power of granting money ?
It is not then the difficulty of balancing powers
which has been overcome by the successful refutation
our history affords to the dictum of Tacitus. The
grand problem which has been solved is, how the
three powers shall come into action without dis-
CH. viii. CHARLES THE FIRST. 57
turbance or couvulsiou. INIany a workman can make
an automaton; few indeed can make him play at
chess. More than one sculptor can form a beautiful
statue ; none but Prometheus could give it life.
The first disturbance whicli is likely to occur in
such a constitution as ours, is a collision between the
King, as sovereign, and Parliament formed of Lords
and Commons, considered as his advisers. The
King, by the Constitution, has, and must have, the
power of naming his own servants, who are to carry
on the business of the executive government. But
if these servants violate the laws, betray the cause,
mistake the interests, or squander the blood of their
country, it is as certain that the great council of
the nation must have the power of demanding and
enforcing their dismissal. Two such opposite pre-
tensions have naturally given rise to contest and
calamity.
In the reigns of Henry III., Edward II., and
Kichard II., the misrule of the King's servants led
to the total subversion of his authority; and on more
than one occasion, commissioners were appointed
by Parliament, who exercised all the prerogatives
which the law has placed in the King. Such provi-
sions amount to a revolution in the State for the time
being.
Ai'tev the accession of the House of Tudor,
another kind of revolution took place ; and the
King, in his turn, swallowed up the powers of Par-
liament.
When Charles I. and his people began their dis-
sensions, the great chasm, which separated one part
of the Constitution from another, again opened, and
threatened destruction to the State itself. The first
opposition party, afterwaixls called the Presbyterians,
perceived the difficulty, and they imagined the
method of solving it since so successfully adopted.
Their expedient for ensuring a peaceable and long
58 CHARLES THE FIRST. CH. viii.
duration to our limited monarchy was, that the
friends of the people should become the ministers
of the Crown. Charles accepted the proposal, and
named the persons to be promoted ; but was soon
disgusted with their advice, which ill accorded with
his own arbitrary notions. He plunged rashly into
a civil war, and it quickly became too late to expect
accommodation. New politicians naturally arose,
who maintained that it was folly to expend so much
blood for the uncertain hope of the King's sanction
to popular men and popular measures, when equal
benefits might be secured by abolishing the kingly
office altogether. Thus the prophecy of Tacitus was
again accomplished; the nobles had overwhelmed
the King and the people ; the King had domineered
over the nobles and the people ; and now the people
extinguished the King and the nobles. The three
powers of the realm, although each had a legal right
to its portion of authority, were still confounded,
trampling upon, and triumphing over one another.
The Constitution was still in its chaos. The hour,
in which the elements were to be parted ; in which
variety and contrast were to subsist without disorder;
when the King and the Commons were to separate
from, and yet support each other, was not yet
arrived.
At length, however, George I. and his successors
understood that harmony could only be obtained by
giving the confidence of the Sovereign, to men who
had already obtained the confidence of the House of
Commons. The House of Stuart refused this essen-
tial condition, and lost the crown; the House of
Hanover complied with it, and may theylong occupy
the throne !
59
CHAPTER IX.
CROMWELL, CHARLES THE SECOND, AND JAMES
THE SECOND.
' But certainly it can never be worth the scratch of a finger to
remove a single person, acting by an arbitrary power, in order to set
up another with the same unlimited authority.' — Ludlow.
Cromwell did much for his country. He aug-
mented her naval glory, and made her name formi-
dable to all the legitimate sovereigns, to whom his
birth was a subject of derision : the smile on their
faces was checked by the terror in their hearts. He
made use of this wholesome intimidation to secure
the liberty of foreign Protestants, and before he died
he perceived the danger to Europe from the growth
of the French poAver, which he thenceforth deter-
mined to restrain. At home he held the balance,
upon the whole, evenly and steadily ; he gave to no
sect the preponderance of State favour ; and were it
not that the questionable nature of his claim pro-
voked rebellion, and made severity necessary to him,
he would not have been a harsh ruler. Many Avould
admire his character had he been born a sovereign,
and some would praise him with more cordiality had
he never become one.
The quarrels between the army and the Par-
liament, and the generals of the army among them-
selves, resemble more nearly the dissensions between
the Senate and the soldiery of Rome on the choice
of an Emperor, than anything else in modern history.
They were the obvious preludes of a restoration.
The Restoration was in its turn the presage of cruel
executions, of violated faith, of gratuitous confidence.
60 CHARLES THE SECOND. en. ix.
of transient joy, and bitter disappointment. The
execution of Sir Hariy Vane disgraced both Cla-
rendon and Charles, and is one of the most cruel
and perfidious acts in English story. Nor in the
course of a long reign did the King perform any-
thing to atone for the vengeance of the exile. He
trampled on the rights, and shed the best blood
of the nation, from which he had received the
crown : he crouched at the feet of France, at a
time when, of all others, England ought to have
resisted French ambition; and thus made himself
odious as a tyrant, only to become contemptible as
a slave. Yet the Restoration once determined upon,
there is much to be said for those who have been
constantly the objects of censure for bringing in
the King without conditions. The best security for
liberty was, that the King could have no revenue
without the consent of Parliament : if that power
were wisely reserved, no condition was necessary ;
if it were improvidently parted with, none could be
effectual. Clarendon saw this, and did his duty to
his country. James also saw it, and hated Clarendon
for his conduct. Nor is the subsequent despotism of
Charles any proof of the improvidence of those who
restored him. The pension from Louis XIV. was
a resource which set at defiance all limitations on
kingly power : had William III. accepted pay from
the French kinsr, he misht have laughed at the
remonstrances of his Parliament.
The characters of Charles II. and Shaftesbury,
the one indolent and careless, the other violent and
rash, both inconsistent and unprincipled, gave a
variegated colour to the whole reign. A profligate
king, a religious people ; excess of tyranny, excess
of faction; the worst of governments, the best of
laws ; the triumph of party, the victory of despotism,
are all to be found in this short period. It is diffi-
cult to say for what reason Charles, a witty and
heartless man of pleasure, embarked in the vast
CH. IX. CHAELES THE SECOND. 61
imclertaking of makino; himself absolute. Perhaps
his easy temper made him yield to the suggestions
of his brother ; perhaps he merely consented to the
advice of his courtiers. The ready way of accom-
plishing this design, once adopted, was, as he con-
ceived, to obtain money and troops from France.
And as his father's throne had been overturned by
religious fanaticism, he proposed to lay the founda-
tion of his own upon a religion of blind obedience.
The scheme not running on smoothly, however, he
gave it up, partly from laziness, and partly from
prudence, — contenting himself with charitable do-
nations from France, from time to time. The viru-
lent opposition of Shaftesbury, and the attempt to
exclude his brother from the throne, again rovised
him to exertion ; and when he had got rid of the
Oxford Parliament, he seems to have determined
never to call another.
This open suspension of all constitutional liberties.
Parliament disused, the Press in the chains of a
censorship, the Habeas Corpus Act little regarded,
juries mere tools of tyranny, seems to have induced
the friends of liberty to consider whether the time
for resistance was not arrived.
Barillon relates, in his correspondence with his
court, that the opposition were at this time divided
into two parties, one led by Shaftesbury which
preached rebellion, and the other, called the South-
ampton House Party, led by Lord Russell, which
dissuaded all recurrence to force. Lord Kussell,
however, though he perceived that the people were
disposed to be quiet; and though he knew, as he
said on his trial, that a rebellion could not be made
then, as formerly, by a few great men, seems to
have been persuaded to attend a meeting at the
house of Shepherd a wine-merchant, where the
means of resistance were discussed. Lord Russell,
as Lord Howard, was obliged to confess, said but
little, and his offence was, as Lord Russell himself
62 CHARLES THE SECOND. CH. ix.
said, misprision of treason at most. For Lord Rus-
sell never seems to have changed the opinion he had
formed against the proposed rising. But the evidence
obtained was quite sufficient for the Court. By
means of perjured witnesses, unjust constructions of
law, and a servile jury, he was convicted and ex-
ecuted. Sydney, with even less evidence against
him, followed Bussell to the scaffold. Charles re-
velled in their blood, and went on in his riotous and
vicious course. Thus, vsdthout activity or anxiety,
by merely taking advantage of events as they arose,
he procured for himself an authority which those of
his family who made kingcraft their occupation, never
possessed. He subdued the liberties of England,
because it gave him less trouble than to maintain
them. But still, though unsuccessful, the men, who
could propose and carry through the House of Com-
mons a bill for the exclusion of the next heir from
the throne, evinced a spirit of honesty and freedom
which no hazard could quell. The Bill of Exclusion
was the legal warning of the Revolution.
The reign of Chai'les II., as has been observed,
was an era of bad government, but of good laws.
The Act of Habeas Corpus was the greatest of
these laws. It is the best security for liberty ever
devised ; but it must not be supposed that it was
invented during this reign. The writ itself is old,
and various laws mention and confirm it, but it
never was made capable of certain application till
the time of Charles II. ; and even after that time,
the island of St. Nicholas, in Plymouth harbour,
continued to be used as a state prison, beyond the
reach of law.
James formed his designs on a very different
mould from those of his brother. Rash, obstinate,
and bigoted, he settled in his own mind tliat he
would make himself an arbitrary king, and the
Roman Catholic religion the religion of the state.
Which of these projects he intended to finish first,
CH. IX. JAMES THE SECOND. 63
I own, does not seem to me to be woi'th very anxious
dispute, since it is very clear that both objects were
in his view. He pursued them with that stupid
obstinacy which is so frequently fatal to a man
without talent. His want of sense was accompanied,
as it often is, with a want of heart; and as he coidd
not himself reason, he felt no pity for those who
could. ' It is in my power to pardon,' he said to
one of his victims. ' I know it is in your power,
but it is not in your nature to pardon,' was the
reply. His opinions appeared to his own mind in-
fallible truths, and he knew no mode of convincing
those who doubted, but by executions.
The faults of the House of Stuart may all be
traced to the scholastic pedantry of James I. Gene-
rally speaking, these sovereigns were not tainted
with the spontaneous cruelty, the unjust caprice, or
the sordid fear, which go to the formation of a tyrant.
But they were intimately persuaded that they were
destined to inherit arbitrary power ; and they went
on inflicting taxes and fines, and confiscation, and
death, from a bigoted persuasion of their own divine
right to govern as they pleased. James I. drew
this notion from the old civil lawyers, and their
imitators in Italy and Germany. He bequeathed it
to his son, who lost his head in consequence of his
perseverance in maintaining it. His grandson James,
in trying to carry it fully into execution, fell un-
pitied from the throne. The whole family have since
been exiles, and the last male descendant of James II.
died a cardinal at Rome. This was paying dear for
the failure of an erroneous theory ; but England
would have paid a still dearer price had it succeeded.
The House of Tudor had made Parliaments their
organs, and had succeeded. The House of Stuart
had endeavoured to govern in defiance of Parliament,
and failed. Charles I. died on the scaifold, and
James II. in exile in the cause of unsuccessiul
tyranny.
64
CHAPTER X.
THE EEVOLUTION.
' He who wishes to reform an ancient state, and constitute it into
a free country, ought to retain at least the shadow of the old forms.'
— Machiavel.
There are few examples of revolutions whicli have
led to immediate good. This consideration ought
to induce men who have any influence over their
countrymen to be very cautious how they engage in
projects which may put to hazard all that exists,
unless they have a very sure prospect of obtaining
what is proposed.
The Revolution of 1688 appears to my mind the
perfection of boldness, and of prudence.
The Tory party in general were not so much
alarmed at the subversion of liberty, as at the inno-
vations introduced in religion. ' Church and King,'
in the order in which those words are used, was their
motto and their faith. In their anxiety to preserve
the Church, they appealed to the Prince of Orange ;
but they never intended he should supplant the
legitimate King. The Earl of Nottingham proposed
in the House of Lords that the Prince of Orange
should be regent ; the Duchess of Marlborough
bears testimony to her husband's surprise upon
finding that the crown was to be transferred to
William ; and the Earl of Danby avowed, upon
Sacheverell's trial, that it had never been his wish
or expectation that James should be dethroned.
Had those who invited, the Prince of Orange to
England satisfied themselves with obliging James
to call a Parliament, the rest of his reign must have
CH. X. THE EE VOLUTION. 65
passed in continual jealousy. It would have been
still more absurd to have given William the power,
and James the title of king. That title, which is
not the private patrimony of an individual, can only
belong properly to the person who is qualified to
exercise the office. The Princess of Orange being
the nearest of blood (except the infant son of James),
and a Protestant, the Prince of Orange (himself the
nephew of James) Avas the fit person to be king. He
had, besides, this merit in the eyes of the Whigs,
that his right to the crown, and the right of the
people to their liberties, were thenceforth to be
placed on the same foundation, and opposed to the
same Pretender.*
The more violent of the Whigs were not satisfied
with changing the dynasty. They looked to exten-
sive reforms both in Church and State : they wished
to change our ecclesiastical laws, and remodel the
House of Commons. Others desired to abolish the
monarchy, and constitute a republic. But the
leaders of the Revolution knew, with Machiavel,
that nothing so much tends to give stability to a
chanjre of government, as an adherence to old forms
and venerated institutions. They knew that, to
enter upon a discussion of new projects, however
plausible, at such a moment, and in the face of a
large adverse party, would expose their work to be
presently overthrown, and could only lead to endless
conflicts and unsatisfactory decisions. For these
reasons, the leaders of the lievolution contented
themselves with confirming, by solemn statute, all
the ancient liberties of England, and protesting
against those particular violations of them which
had taken })lace in the late reign. Whether the
securities they took Avere sufficient to form the basis
* Had the crown continued in sent day (1865\ on the head of
the House of 8tuart, it would the ex-Duke of Modena.
have been, I believe, at the pre-
F
6Q THE REVOLUTION. CH. X.
of a good government, oi' whether they were but
half-measures, satisfying the eye, but not the appe-
tite, Ave shall see in the following chapters.
It is cui'ious to read the conferences between the
Houses on the meaning of the words ' deserted ' and
' abdicated ; ' and the debate in the Loi'ds, whether
or not there is an original contract between king and
people. The notion of a tacit contract, by which
the king and his subjects are to be guided in their
relations with each other, is certainly not correct.
The king, without any contract whatever, is bound
to carry into execution the laws which are entrusted
to his care. This is the simple duty of his office.
But if at any time the people should require of him
new liberties, he is bound to give them the species
of government which the state of the nation, and
the knowledge of the age, may demand. The foun-
dation of every durable government is the common
consent of the realm.
The notion of an original contract, however; was
the theory of the friends of liberty in every part of
Europe. The Spaniards had asserted it in the
beginning of their contest with Charles Y. ; and,
indeed, it had a foundation in the origin of all the
feudal governments. The only debate in the House
of Lords was between those who asserted the ori-
ginal contract and those who maintained the divine
right of kings. In short, the question was, whether
or not kings derived their power from the people.
It was decided that they did ; and the next resolution
was, in substance, that James had abused that
power, and had thereby become amenable to the
nation. For such is the clear meaning of the vote
of the tAvo Houses, declaring that James, having
broken the orio-inal contract betAveen king: and
people, havmg violated the fundamental laws, and
having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, had
abdicated the throne, and that the throne was thereby
CH. X. THE REVOLUTION. 67
vacant. Nothing could be more creditable to the
temper and justice of the English people than the
calm discussion of this question — nothing more de-
cisive of their wisdom and love of freedom than the
judgment which they pronounced.
f/f.. -^ /.y
F -^
68
CHAPTER XL
DEFINITIONS OF LIBEKTY.
' The liberties of nations are from God and nature, not from
kings.' — Algernon Sidney.
Many definitions have been given of liberty. But
none of these are comprehensive enough, and indeed
liberty is not all of one kind. A nation may have
one kind, and be quite deprived of another. The
greatest advantages, however, which a community
can procure to itself, by uniting under one govern-
ment, may, perhaps, be contained under the titles
of Civil Liberty, Personal Liberty, and Political
Liberty.
By civil liberty, I mean the power of doing that,
and that only, which is not forbidden by the laws.
This definition comprehends the security of person
and of property.
By personal liberty, I mean the power of doing
that which in itself is harmless, as speaking or
writing, and of which the abuse only is criminal.
Beligious freedom and eligibility to office may also
be comprehended under this head.
By political liberty, I meaii the acknowledged and
legal right of the people to control their government,
or to take a share in it.
Each of these kinds of liberty should be allowed
to exist in as great a proportion as possible. They
were all comprehended by Cromwell's Representa-
tive under the names of ' the peace and security,
the rights and privileges of the people.'
I
69
CHAPTER XII.
CIVIL LIBERTY.
'The laws of England are the birthright of the people thereof ;
and all the Kings and Queens who shall ascend the throne of this
realm, ought to administer the government of the same, according to
the said laws ; and all their oflBcers and ministers ought to serve
them respectively according to the same.' — Statute 12 ^ 13 Will. III.
c. 2.
Civil liberty comprehends the security of person
and property. For if a man is only allowed to do
that which the law permits, he is liable to punish-
ment should he raise his hand against his neighbour
in violation of law ; and if he is free to do all that
the law does not forbid, he cannot be called in
question for a legal exercise of his rights.
* In walking over a large field with about thirty
attendants and slaves, Hassan told the owner that
he had done wrong in sowing the field with barley,
as water-melons would have grown better. He then
took some melon-seed out of his pocket, and gi^'iug
it to the man, said, " You had better tear up the
barley, and sow this." As the barley was nearly
ripe, the man, of course, excused himself from com-
plying with the Kashef 's command. " Then I will
sow them for you," said the latter ; and oi'dered his
people immediately to tear up the crop, and lay out
the field for the reception of the melon-seed. The
boat was then loaded with the barley, and a family
thus reduced to misery, in order that the governor
might feed his horses and camels for three days on
the barley-stalks.' * Every one must feel that, in a
* Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia, vol. i. p. 94.
70 CIVIL LIBERTT. CH. xn.
country wliere this could happen, there can be no
security for property.
Tavernier tells us of a king of Persia, who ordered
the heads of all the beasts he had killed in one day's
chase to be set up in the form of a pyramid. When
it was done, the architect came and told him that
the pyramid was complete, with the exception of one
large head for the summit. * I think yours will do
very well for that,' said the king ; and to this brutal
joke sacrificed an innocent man. In such a country
there can be no security for life.
When Athens was in its splendour, there arose
that detestable class of men, who gained their liveli-
hood by informing against the best and worthiest of
their fellow-citizens, and holding out to the rapacity
of a sovereign mob the temptation of a rich for-
feiture. It should never be forgotten by those who
are disposed to admire a democratic government,
that the word sycophant had its origin in the most
popidar of all democracies.
Nicophemus and Aristophanes, public function-
aries, were accused of malversation. On some
change in the government, they were imprisoned,
and secretly made away with without a trial. Their
property was confiscated. The amount disappoint-
ing the greedy accusers, a prosecution was instituted
against the brother of the widow of Aristophanes
for embezzling the sum that was deficient. What is
the language of his advocate upon his trial ? An
appeal to feelings of justice and generosity ?. No :
he plainly intimates the rapacity of the judges. * I
know how difficult it will be,' he says, ' to refute
the received opinion of the great riches of Mcophe-
mus. The present scarcity of money in the city,
and the wants of the treasury which the forfeiture
has been calculated upon to supply, will operate
against me.' *
* Mitford's History of Greece, voL v. p. 96.
CH. XII. CIVIL LIBERTY. 71
Durins: the reioni of terror in France, men were
put to death for relationship to suspected jjersous,
for acquaintance with the condemned, for having
wept at the death of the King, and a thousand vague
and trivial offences.
Thus unlimited despotism and uncontrolled de-
mocracy are found to be equally unfavourable to the
existence of civil liberty. The examples I have
adduced are extreme cases ; but in every state,
where either the monarch, the aristocracy, or the
multitude is allowed to have exorbitant power, civil
liberty is incomplete ; that is to say, a subject of such
a government cannot be sure that, even when he
obeys all the laws, he may not be taxed or im-
prisoned by arbitrary mandate. Witness the gabelle
and the Bastille of the French monarchy, the prisons
of Venice, and the banishments of Florence. All
these states were professedly under the government
of laws, but to some of their citizens these laws were
but a shield of paper. It may, however, generally
be observed, that the violations of justice in a mon-
archy are more frequent ; in a democracy, more
striking. It seems more natural and tolerable that
a king, revered as a kind of superior being, should
oppress a slave, than that an assembly of freemen
should maltreat an equal.
Let us now see how civil liberty is pro\'ided for
in England. It is declared by the King, in Magna
Charta, the earliest and the best law upon our
statute-book, that no freeman shall be any way de-
stroyed, unless by the judgment of his peers, or the
law of the land : ' Nullus liber homo ciliquo viodo
destriiatiir, nisi per leyole judicium parium suorum,
aut per legem terra.'' This admirable law, however,
was frequently violated in times of disorder. It
was renewed veiy frequently ; but notwithstanding
these renewals, and the claims of the Petition of
Right, the subject had no effectual remedy against
72 CIVIL LIBERTY. CH. XII.
wrong, till a law of Chai'les II. provided means for
an easy execution of the ancient writ of Habeas
Corpus. This Act, well known by the name of the
Habeas Corpus Act, commands, that upon written
complaint from or on behalf of any person confined
in prison, except on a charge of high treason or
felony, the Lord Chancellor and the Judges shall,
upon pain of forfeiting the sum of £500, deliver a
writ, ordering him to be brought into court. The
writ is to be delivered, and the prisoner is to be
brought into court within twenty days ; and if his
offence is bailable, he is to be discharged upon offer-
ing bail, and entering into a recognizance to appear
at his trial. If his offence is charged as treason or
felony, and if the prosecution is not followed up
■^^'ithin the second term after his commitment, he is
to be discharged. If no offence is specified in the
warrant of commitment, his imprisonment is illegal,
and he must be instantly discharged. Besides this
protection, the Judges go into the country twice
every year, with a commission of gaol-delivery for
clearing all the prisons. These securities, however,
availed not against James II., who employed the
island of St. Nicholas, in Plymouth harbour, for a
State prison, in the same manner as Cromwell had
before made use of the isle of Jersey. Since the
Revolution, however, the Act of Habeas Corpus,
when in operation, has always been found of power
to protect the subject. Of the suspensions of that laAv,
I shall speak hereafter ; I would now remark only,
that the suspensions prove the practical efficacy of
the Habeas Corpus Act, as much as the renewals of
Magna Charta prove the practical inefficacy of that
great compact. All the precautions taken to prevent
arbitrary imprisonment, however, would be worth
nothing if the trial when it took place could be un-
fairly and oppressively conducted. To prevent so
dreadful an enl, we have the institution of trial by
CH. XII. CIVIL LIBERTY. 73
jury. The slierlfF, a man of substance in the county,
returns from twelve to twenty-three freeholders
(usually men of property), to serve as a Grand Jury.
To them a bill of indictment, or accusation, is pre-
ferred ; they examine witnesses in support of it ;
and unless they find probable grounds to proceed
upon, the bill of indictment is thrown out, and the
prosecution cannot be persisted in. To form the
second, or Petty Jury, who are to try the cause, the
sheriff returns the names of freeholders, or persons
otherwise qualified according to law, to the number
of not less than forty-eight, nor more that seventy-
two. The names are put into a glass, and the
twelve first draAvn form the jury. At this period,
the prisoner may challenge any whom he can reason-
ably accuse of partiality, or whose characters have
been degraded by the sentence of a court of justice.
In treason, he may challenge peremptorily thirty-five.
When the trial is over, the twelve jurymen remain
enclosed together without separating or conferring
with others, till they can deliver a unanimous verdict.
Nothing can appear less perfect in theory than the
institution of trial by jury. What can be more
liable to abuse, it may be said, than the choice given
to the sheriff, an officer appointed by the Crown?
What more prejudicial to an accused person than
the previous decision of twenty-three men of wealth
and figure, formed upon hearing one side of the
question only ? What more likely to create con-
fusion of right and Avrong, than to require a unani-
mous verdict, and thus make the c:wilt or innocence
of a prisoner depend on the mental incapacity, the
moral obstinacy, or even the physical strength of a
single juror? These objections I shall not attempt
to answer : the veneration Avhich the Eno'lish have
for trial by jury, like the admiration they entertain
for Shakspeare, must be taken as a practical proof
of its excellence : and it would be as absurd to at-
74 CIVIL LIBERTY. CH. xil.
tempt to demonstrate that a people long free attribute
their freedom to a slavish institution, as to endea-
vour, like Voltaire, to prove that a people long civi-
lised admire barbarous and ridiculous poetiy. It
must be admitted, however, with respect to trial by
jury, that it is liable to be perverted in bad times,
and that the condemnation of Sydney was an act
which equalled, if it did not surpass in violence, the
attainder of Straiforci. This institution, therefore, is
rather an instrument of liberty in her prosperity,
than a protector in her adversity ; it is to be trusted
as the companion, but not to be relied upon as the
survivor of free parliaments, and a free press. During
the reigns of Henry VIII. and Charles II. juries
were effectually perverted, and became the submis-
sive organs of tyranny. But, since the Revolution,
the general respect that has prevailed for right and
justice, has prevented abuse, and, upon the whole,
juries have kept the balance even between the safety
of government and the liberty of the subject.
Trial by jury leaves, properly speaking, but little
poAver to the judge. When, the trial is over, the
judge recapitulates the CAddence, and explains the
law upon the subject. The decision upon the. facts
is left entirely to the jury. If they find the prisoner
guilty, the judge pronounces the sentence affixed by
law. This arrangement, the best ever imagined,
leaves nothing to the judge but what is absolutely
required, and cannot easily be abused. It is neces-
sary, for the sake of regularity and accuracy of
judgments, that some one present should have that
knowledge of the laws, which can only be acquired
by long and exclusive study : and it is much better
that he should speak on the trial, than that he should
assist at the decision, for numbers are ready at the
bar to observe lest he misrepresent the law.
Notwithstanding this proper division, juries, in
the time of Charles II., were controlled and dictated
CH. XII. CIVIL LIBERTY. / 5
to by court judges, who were appointed and re-
moved, in proportion to their subserviency. To
prevent this abuse, an Act passed, early in the reign
of King William, providing that judges should be
appointed during good behaviour, and should be
removable only by addresses from both Houses of
Parhament, — an Act which completely answered its
purpose of making the judicial power independent of
the executive, and gave an authority to the name
and character of an English judge, which it had
never before possessed. We must not forget, how-
ever, that there is yet another security which is,
perhaps, more valuable than any. The trial is pub-
lic, and the accused is brought face to face with his
accuser, before the country. This publicity controls
both judge and jury.
Security of projjerty is also well provided for.
By a law of Edward I. it was enacted, that no aids
or taxes should be taken from the subject, but by
common assent of the realm. What this means we
shall see in a following chapter. It having been
found, notwithstanding this law, that the King, by
means of the Star Chamber, was able to impose ar-
bitrary penalties, it was enacted in the law which
abolished that tribunal, that it should not be lawful
for the King in council, by English bill, or any
arbitrary way whatsoever, to call in question the
property of the subject.
The courts in Westminster Hall, the circuit of
the judges in the country, the body of the magis-
trates, consisting of the principal gentlemen of the
county in which they act, giving their perpetual
attendance at home, and meeting in quarter and
petty sessions to administer the law gratuitously,*
* I have inserted this word, howeTcr, for their trouble, and a
as we hear the unpaid magis- power which the barons of old
trates so highly praised for dis- struggled so hard to possess and
interestedness. They have power, exercise.
76 CIVIL LIBERTY. CH. xir.
are all instruments eng-ao-ed In executincj that noble
article of the Great Charter, — ' We will not deny,
nor delay, nor sell right or justice to anyone.' We
have reason to rejoice in the observation of De
Lolme, who remarked with pleasure, within the
precincts of the King's residence at Windsor, in-
scribed in an enclosed space, — * Whoever tres-
passes on these grounds, will be prosecuted accord-
ing to laAv ; ' thus claiming for the King the common
security of the poorest cottager in the land. Nor
has it been found, that the exalted station of the
royal family has ever enabled them to trespass on
the property, or disturb the private rights of indi-
viduals.*
* See Note (E) at the end of the volume.
77
CIL'VPTEIl XIII.
PEESONAL LIBERTY.
' Per me ho adoitata nell' intero la legge d' Inghilterra, ed a queUa
mi attengo ; ne fo mai nessuno scritto che non potesse liberissima-
mente e senza biasimo nessuno dell' autore essere stampato nella
beata e veramente sola libera Inghilterra. Opinioni, quanti se ne
Miole : individui ofFesi, nessuni : costumi, rispettati sempre. Queste
sono state, e saranno sempre le sole mie leggi; ne altre se ne
pud ragionevolmente amettere, n^ rispettare.'
AxFiEEi, Vita, t. ii. p. 133.
Next to civil liberty, in the order I have laid
down, comes personal liberty. By personal liberty,
I mean the freedom from restraint upon actions
which are not criminal in themselves. The chief
liberties of this class are the freedom of speaking
and writing, and freedom of conscience in matters
of religion. The absence of all exclusive personal
privileges, such as signorial rights, exemption from
taxes, monopoly of civil and military offices, must
be reckoned also in this class ; for that which is a
privilege to one class of men is a restraint upon
another.
The liberty of speaking and writing was allowed
in ancient times, not only in free States, but wher-
ever despotism fell into the hands of a mild sove-
reign ; and so palling to the ear is the continual
monotony of praise, that in the absolute kingdom
of Persia, where the sovereign is thought to be the
very image of the Divinity, a jester was always
kept, whose business it Avas to tell the truth, and
yet to tell it in such a way that the King might,
if he pleased, laugh at the fable, and neglect the
moral. The fool of modern kings was a creature
78 PERSONAL LIBERTY. CH. Xlil.
invented for the same purpose. Sucli were the de-
vices which sovereigns adopted for the sake of hear-
ing a little free observation, at a time when nations
were divided into the court and the country. The
com-t never spoke of the King's actions but to praise
them, and the country never spoke of them at all.
Such was still the state of Europe when Machiavel
wrote * The Prince,' and he takes it for granted,
in that much-debated work, that the mass of the
people can be kept wholly ignorant of the real cha-
racter of their sovereign. The progress of know-
ledge has overturned the basis of his whole system,
and were Machiavel to write at this day, he would
probably recommend to kings a totally different line
of conduct.
The policy pursued by the governments of Eu-
rope in later times has been extremely various.
Austria and Spain long assumed as a principle that,
as a general freedom of discussion must produce
much calumny on private persons, much seditious
writing against authority, and much matter offen-
sive to morality and religion, it is prudent for the
State, and humane to the writers, to place the press
under the guardianship of censors appointed by the
government. By this method, it was asserted, all
fair and temperate discussion may be allowed ; Kbels
are crushed in the egg, before they have worked
mischief; and public justice is spared the necessity
of inflicting severe punishment. But in fact there
is no method of restraining the abuse of the press
previous to publication wliich does not control the
use : the imperfect civilisation of Austria and Spain
bear witness to this truth. The government of
France, without sanctioning so strict a system of
ignorance as that of Spain, refused to allow pub-
lication without restraint. But the mitigated pro-
hibitions of the French censors in some degree
contributed to spread the false notions which ob-
CH. xin. PEESONAL LIBERTY. 79
tained voffue at the be£rInniDf]: of their revolution.
Everytliing might be attacked by an equivocal jest,
although nothing could be combated by direct rea-
soning ; and the able writers of the last century
soon found that the best institutions were as open
to a sneer as the grossest abuses. General decla-
mation and affected sentiment were allowed, till the
opinions of men fell into general confusion. At
length the throne was shaken, the altar sapped,
and a mine ready to burst under their foundations,
before anyone had had a fair opportunity of urging
an argument in their behalf. The policy of Eng-
land has been, since the Revolution, completely the
reverse both of the Spanish and the French. Dur-
ing the reign of Elizabeth, as we have seen, the
most severe punishments were awarded to libellers.
During the reign of James I. and the early part of
Charles I., a censorship was established by means
of a License Act. Cromwell adopted the same po-
licy, which was continued by Charles and James.
The License Act of the latter expii-ed in 1694, and
has never been renewed. The government of Eng-
land thus deliberately, not in the heat of the revo-
lution itself, but without clamour, without affecta-
tion, without fear, and at once, adopted a free press.
The principle then sanctioned is, that as speaking
and writing and printing are things in themselves
indifferent, every person may do as he pleases, till,
by writing what is calumnious or seditious, he
offend against the laws. That a great advantage is
afforded to personal liberty -by the. existence of a
free press, is what no man can doubt. Reflection
may convince us that this liberty is also beneficial
to the community at large. Genius can never
exei't its powers to their full extent when its flight
is limited and its direction prescribed. Truth can
never be ascertained when all discussion is regu-
lated by those who hold the reins of government.
80 PERSONAL LIBERTY". CH. xill.
to ■whom the discovery of truth is not always ac-
ceptable. Neither is it true, as some foreigners
imagine, that no government can withstand the
daily attacks of the press. Men knoAv when they
are prosperous, and although they love to grumble
at their rulers, the most brilliant rhetoric will not
persuade a nation already in possession of liberty
that it is wise to risk a civil war in order to obtain
a change in the form of government. Popular
clamour, if it be no more than clamour, is more
noisy than formidable, and by a "wise, beneficent
govermnent may be safely endured. The slander-
ous wliisper of the Emperor of Rome's courtiers
was ten times more dangerous to a good minister
than is the angry hubbub of the King of England's
people.
The right of petition is another right by which
men are enabled to express their opinions, and to
set forth their grievances. When Charles IL was
engaged in a contest mth his Parliament, this right
was much discountenanced; and it was therefore
declared by the Bill of Rights — ' That it is the
right of the subject to petition the King, and that
all commitments and prosecutions for such petition-
ing are illegal.' This right is still a very important
one.
The rights we have now been stating, viz. those
of printing and petitioning, invest the people with
no actual power or authority. But they are of
infinite importance in controlling and guiding the
executive power. The influence of a free press,
however, has never been so thoroughly felt as it is
now, and therefore, till I come to recent times, I
shall defer any further observation res})ecting it.
We come next to religious liberty, upon Avhich
subject the authors of the Revolution did as much
as they could, and by their maxims laid the foun-
dation of much more.
CH. XIII. PERSONAL LIBERTY. 81
We have seen how little of the spirit of charity and
forbearance mixed with the reformation of Henry
VIII. It is painful to think that Cranmer con-
tinued the same severity during the short reign of
Edward, and that an unfortunate woman was burnt
for some incomprehensible refinement respecting a
mystery of our faith.
When the Papal power was for the second time
overthrown by the accession of Elizabeth, no pro-
gress was made towards the establishment of reli-
gious liberty. From this time dates the great schism
amongst the English Protestants, known, according
to their respective parties, by the names of Puri-
tans and Conformists. A congregation of refugees,
settled at Frankfort in the reign of Queen Mary,
omitted in their worship the Litany, and some other
parts of King Edward's liturgy. A Dr. Coxe arriv-
ing there from England, interrupted the service by
a loud response, omitted in the new form of prayer.
After some contest, and some expedients not quite
worthy of the cause of religion, he succeeded in
driving his opponents from the place, and establish-
ing the liturgy of Edward. Other congregations,
however, had made similar reforms, and when the
exiles returned to England there arose an open dif-
ference between the Conformists, among whom were
Grindal, Parker, &c., and the Puritans, who rec-
koned among them John Knox, Bale, Fox the
author of the ' Book of Martyrs,' &c. The chief
deviations introduced by the Puritans in practice
respected the use of the surplice, the cope, the cross
in baptism, and kneeling at the communion ; but in
principle there was a much wider schism. The Con-
formists acknowledged the Church of Rome as a
true church, though corrupted; and they maintained
that the King, as supreme head of the Church, had
authority to correct all abuses of order and wor-
ship. The Puritans abjured the Church of Rome
G
82 PERSONAL LIBERTY. CH. xiil.
altoijether, and contended that it belonsred not to
the Khig, but to assemblies of the reformed clergy,
to pronounce upon ceremonies and worship.*
It is not surprising that Elizabeth should have
warmly espoused the cause of the Conformists. Na-
turally inclined to the splendours of the Roman
Catholic service, and fully impressed with the fulness
of her authoi'ity in the Church as well as in the
State, she proceeded to punish the adverse sect. In
doing this she acted upon a principle common to
both sides, — that uniformity of faith and unifonnity
of worship were absolutely necessary. Agreeably to
these notions, she obtained an Act of Parliament for
instituting a Court of High Commission, and in-
vested them with powers of fine and imprisonment
w'hich the law had not granted. She offered bishop-
rics to Miles Coverdale, Knox, and others of the
Puritan faith, but in vain ; nothing, she found, could
shake their constancy. iVIany of the most upright re-
formers attested their sincerity by their deaths. Bar-
rowe. Greenwood, and Penry were amongst the most
distinguished of the reformers capitally punished for
their i-elisrious or ecclesiastical faith.
James I., ver}^ soon after liis accession, gave a
sufficient warning that he was an enemy to tolera-
tion. For, having appointed a Conference at Hamp-
ton Court between the Conformists and the Puritans,
he took upon himself to manage the controversy for
the former, and after three days' dispute, speaking
amid the applause and flatteiy of the clei'gy, he
turned to their opponents and said, ' If this be all
your party have to object to the established religion
of tliis kingdom, I will make them conform, or expel
them out of the land.'
He was as good as his word. The Court of High
Commission required the Dissenters to appear before
* Neale's 'History of the Puritans,' vol. i. p. 144. See Note (F)
at the end of the Tolume.
CH. XIIT. PERSONAL LIBERTY. 83
:hem, and to affinn solemnly upon oath that whicli
they could not conscientiously believe. Ruinous
fines and long imprisonments were the penalties of
disobedience. One person, accused of denying the
divinity of Christ, and another charged with sixteen
heretical opinions, were burnt alive.
Oliver Cromwell was raised by a sect which, the
first in England, perhaps in Europe, made toleration
a part of its doctrine. But it was a toleration of
opinions, like the Presbyterian toleration of vest-
ments, intended chiefly for their own convenience.
Cromwell himself, who probably carried as far as
any man of his day a wish for indulgence, yet in the
Instrument of Government, after a solemn declara-
tion in favour of religious liberty, finishes the article
on this subject by expressly excluding Papists and
Prelatists from the benefit of the general freedom.
Thus, with liberality in profession, the law, in fact,
authorises persecution.
The declaration of Charles II., from Breda,
offered new hopes of a mild and conciliatory system.
But such hopes Avere grievously baffled by the laws
passed' soon after his accession. Those who attended
any meeting for religious purposes 'in any other
manner than was allowed by the liturgy or practice
of the Church of England,' were punished for the
first offence by £5 fine and three months' imprison-
ment ; for the second, by £10 fine and six months'
imprisonment ; and for the third, by transportation,
and death in case of return.* By the Five Mile
Act, dissenting clergymen were forbidden to preach
within five miles of a market-town. During the
last years of Charles, these laws against Dissenters
were rigorously enforced.
At length, by the Act of 1 William and Mary,
c. 18, intituled ' An Act for exempting their Majes-
* See note (G) at the end of the Tolume.
84 PERSONAL LIBERTY. CH. XIII.
ties' Protestant subjects, dissenting from the Church
of Eno-laud, from the penalties of certain laws,' com-
monly called the Toleration Act, all persons Avho
took the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and
subscribed the declaration against Poj^ery, were ex-
empted from penalties ; and meeting-houses were
regularly registc d, provided the service was per-
formed with doors unlocked. Since that time the
Protestant Dissenters of England have been allowed
to perform their worship in the manner which they
think most acceptable to God. At the same period,
an attempt was renewed, wliich had been made in
the reign of Charles II., to bring about a reconcilia-
tion between the Conformists and Dissenters. In
this pious work, called the ' Comprehension,' Tillot-
son and Burnet took an earnest and Christian share.
They proposed to amend the liturgy in several
points ; to divide the services ; to leave out parts of
the prayers which had given offence, and, by a few
■\=\ase and reasonable concessions, to restore to the
Church a large multitude of her banished children.
Articles for this purpose were prepared ; but the
clergy, in convocation, defeated these benevolent
schemes, and insisted on exclusion and discord.
Among the concessions made to religious libei'ty,
there were none in favour of the Roman Catholics.
On the contrary, new laws were passed, of excessive
severity, tendintr to render the Roman Catholics
poor and ignorant, heaping penalty upon penalty,
and making them, as it were, slaves among a nation
of freemen. Yet it must not be supposed that a
nation so humane as the English acted in this harsh
and unusual spirit of bitterness without deep pro-
vocation. The reigns of Elizabeth, of James I., of
Charles 11. , and of James II. had been disturbed
by Roman Catholic plots more or less sanguinary,
some using as their means the assassination of the
sovereign, others the introduction of a foreign army.
CH. XIII. •PERSONAL LIBERTY. 85
l3ut all tending to extinguish tlie liberties, and de-
stroy the independence, of England. That the
precautions adopted by the English Parliament were
wise, I will not affirm ; but I cannot deny that they
were the result of many injuries.
Under the head of Personal Liberty should be
placed eligibility to offices civil and military. The
policy of the great States of the world has been often
narrow, illiberal, and unjust, upon this branch of
true freedom. Rome excluded for centuries her
plebeian genius and valour from the rewards due to
distinguished services. Modern France, at first, by
custom of administration, and afterwards by positive
edict, closed the door of military eminence to all
ambition that was not of noble descent. Venice
gave the command of her fleets to her patricians,
and of her armies to strangers. England rejects all
these odious distinctions of class and birth. The
ploughman's son may climb to the command of her
military and naval forces ; to the post of Lord High
Chancellor, or the dignity of Archbishop of Can-
terbury. This just and wise equality has amply
rewarded, by its effects, the State Avhich established
it. Not only has England reaped the benefit of
talents which would otherwise have been lost in ob-
scurity, but, by this impartial share in the dignities
of the State, society, instead of forming two hostile
classes of noble and plebeian, has been united in one
compact power. In a well-known conference be-
tween the Lords and Commons, it was stated, by Lord
Somers, and other managers on the part of the
Lords, that there can scarcely be a more unhappy
condition for an Englishman, than to be rendei'ed
incapable of serving his country in any civil or
military office. It must be observed, however, that
religious disabilities have been well known to the
law of England. Protestant Dissenters were ex-
cluded from office by the Test and Corporation Acts.
86 PERSONAL LIBERTY. CH. xin.
And although, for more than a century, they have
been tacitly admitted, by an Indemnity Bill passed
every year, in favour of any who may have omitted
to take the oaths, their freedom cannot be said to
have been complete before the year 1828. The
Roman Catholics, it has already been observed, were
likewise excluded from all power. By the various
Acts of Charles II., William III., and Anne, all
offices, civil and military, and even the doors of the
Houses of Lords and Commons, were shut against
them. It was not till 1829 that these barriers were
opened, and Roman Catholics admitted to Parlia-
ment, and the leading offices of the State.
87
CHAPTER XIV.
POLITICAL LIBEKTY.
' I believe the love of political liberty is not an error ; but, if it is
one, I am sure I shall never be converted from it, and I hope you
never will If it be an illusion, it is one that has brought forth more
of the best qualities and exertions of the human mind than aU other
causes put together ; and it serves to give an interest in the affairs
of the -svorld, which without it woxild be insipid.' — Fox, Letter to
Lord Holland.
The two kinds of liberty of which we have spoken,
viz. civil and personal liberty, have existed to a
certain degree in States which we usually term des-
potic. The monarchies of modern Europe have all
been more or less governed by fixed laws, deriving
their sanction from prescription. The monarchy of
Prussia, Avhich is altogether unlimited, allowed, from
the time of Frederick II., great latitude of religious
and political discussion.
It is clear, however, that the definition of liberty,
which describes a man as free who is governed by
laws, is incomplete. So long as the supreme power
of the State is placed in hands over which the people
have no control, the tenure of civil and personal
liberty must be frail and uncertain. The only effi-
cient remedy against oppression is for the people to
retain a share of that supreme power in their own
possession. This is called political liberty. And
what is called a love of liberty, means the wish that
a man feels to have a voice in the disposal of his
o^Yn property, and in the formation of the laws by
which his natural freedom is to be restrained. It
is a passion inspired, as Sidney truly says, by Na-
ture herself. In the manner of exercising this
88 POLITIC AX LIBERTY. CH. xiv.
power, and satisfying this desire of the people, and
in the portion of control retained by them, free
States have differed ; and in these forms consist their
respective constitutions.
Authors who have Avritten upon these subjects
have distinguished three powers, viz. the Judicial,
the Legislative, and the Executive. These powers,
they maintain, ought to be separated. But the
Legislative and the Executive never have been,
and never can be so, thoroughly. The Judicial,
indeed, which, properly exercised, means nothing
more than applying general rules or laws to par-
ticular cases, with a careful exercise of discrimina-
tion, may be so separated ; and we have already
seen that, in the English Constitution, this division
has been very wisely made.
The Judicial Power in England is, as we have
seen, placed in the hands of persons rendered inde-
pendent of the Crown by the law of William III.,
which makes them removable only upon an address
by the two Houses of Parliament. Since this time
the character of English judges has been held in
deserved estimation: — of their personal integrity,
and their conscientious attachment to the law, no
doubts or suspicions have been entertained. The
corruption of Tressilian and the unprincipled -vio-
lence of Jeffreys, have never been repeated. The
utmost that can be said is, that, historically
speaking, the judicial bias in political causes has
been naturally and inevitably in favour of the
Crown. Anyone who follows the State trials, will
perceive that the judges, in their interpretations
of law, and still more in their sentences, reflect too
lively an image of the inclination of the Govern-
ment of the day ; mild when the minister is mode-
rate, severe when he is intemperate. Such has been
the fault of the judges of England ; but one which,
seldom pushed to any great extent, even in language.
CH. XIV. POLITICAL LIBERTY. 89
and never to any violent or palpable misconstruc-
tion of law, is perhaps as slight a stain upon the
ermine of justice as human nature will permit.
Happily, too, precedents are now so numerous, and
so carefully recorded, that a judge cannot, in the
face of the Bar and of the country, very greatly
deviate from the line of duty. Hence, the confi-
dence of the people in the impartial distribution of
justice still remains entire ; so much so, indeed, that
he who takes a view of our imperfect code, together
with the attachment borne to it by the people, will
see that the honest administration of the law re-
conciles the country to many defects in the law
itself.
The two other Powers may be properly called
the Executive and the Deliberative. The term
Legislative implies merely making laws, which, in
no State that I remember, has been totally disjoined
from the Executive. These two powers are, in fact,
in every constitution, continually influencing and
acting upon each other. In Parliament composed
of King, Lords, and Commons, resides the supreme
government of this nation : the two Houses of Parlia-
ment constitute the great council of the King ; and
upon whatever subject it is his prerogative to act,
it is their privilege to advise. Acts of executive
government, however, belong to the King; and
should Parliament not interfere, his orders are suffi-
cient. In legislation, nothing is valid, unless by
the concurrence of all three.
The three branches of the legislature form what
has been called the balance of the constitution : it
would have been more just to have compared them
to what is called in mechanics, a combination of
forces ; for the combined impression, the vis im-
pressa received from the three powers, decides the
direction of the whole.
The House of Commons, as it has before been
90 POLITICAL LIBERTY. CH. xiv.
observed, was intended to represent the people at
large ; and up to the time of the Revolution, it
had been found to do so sufficiently well. Even
the pensioner Parliament of Charles II. had, in its
last days, spoken fairly the sense of the people.
In the beginning of AYilliam's reign, therefore, the
House of Commons may be considered as a just
representative of the nation.
The next element of the legislature was the
House of Lords.
The Peerage serves two great purposes in our
constitution.
First, it is a great and splendid reward for na-
tional services, whether by sea or land, in the navy
or the army, in the king's council or on the judge's
bench : it places a stamp upon eminent merit, and
constitutes the posterity of the ennobled person a
perpetual image of his achievements, and a me-
morial of their recompense. Secondly, the House
of Peers collectively form a council for weighing,
with caution and deliberation, the resolutions of the
House of Commons. If the more popular assembly
is sometimes led away, as it is natural it should be,
by sudden impulses or temporary clamour, this
hereditary senate may interpose its grave and
thoughtful opinions, to suspend the effect of an
intemperate vote. In the possession of such an
assembly, indeed, consists the difference between a
constitution of pure democracy and one of mu-
tual control. The United States of North America,
therefore, which is strictly a government of mutual
control, is not without its Senate, as well as its
House of Pepresentatives.
Such is the Parliament or deliberative power of
England.
The next object of importance to a State is, to
place, in hands worthy to hold it, the power of nego-
tiating treaties ; of deciding upon foreign relations ;
CH. XIV. POLITICAL LIBERTY. 91
of directing, in time of war, the operations of fleets
and armies ; and, in short, all that is called the
Executive Power. This power has been generally
disposed of in one of two ways.
The first is, that of putting it into the hands of
one person, called an Emperor, Sultan, or King,
Avithout any control. The obvious disadvantage of
this mode is, that talent is not hereditary ; and, as
it was well put by Lord Halifax, ' no man chooses
a coachman because his father was a coachman be-
fore him.' It is a necessary consequence of this
form of government, that the peace and security of
the State entirely depend upon one ill-educated
man ; for it is extremely difficult, if not impos-
sible, that, in an absolute monarchy, a king should
receive a good education. All his passions and all
his follies are indulged ; his ignorance is called
genius, and his imbecility wisdom.* But, above
all, no object can be offered to him that can ex-
cite labour or emulation. Other men, whether
nobles or artisans, can only be distinguished from
amongst their equals by the excellence of their
moral character, the superiority of their talents, the
wealth they have inherited or acquired, or the ad-
vantages they have derived from industry. But a
king, without any exertion, moral or intellectual,
is placed above every one. Hence, in utter dearth
of all useful ambition, he tries to be celebrated by
driving,! or fiddling, or some other ai't of easy at-
tainment ; or else, which is much worse, he aims
at fame by commanding armies, and destroying pro-
vinces. The State, in the meanwhile, totally under
his guidance, becomes weak with his weakness,
vicious with his vice, poor with his extravagance,
* 'Bred up in ignorance and sloth,
And ev'rv rice that nursps both.' — Swift.
t ' II excellt' a conduire un char dans la, camere.' — Eacme, See
also Bacon's E-isays.
92
POLITICAL LIBERTY.
CH. XIV.
and wretched from his ambition. Absolute mon-
archy, then, is a schem-e for making one man worse
than the rest of the nation, and then obliging the
whole nation to follow his direction and example.
Another method of providing for the government,
which is at least more plansible, is that of putting
the executive power in the hands of a citizen, elected
to office for a certain period, and subject to the con-
trol of the people at large.
The inconvenience of this method is, that he who
has once attained to so high a station, and has be-
come in undisputed pre-eminence the first person
in the State, naturally endeavours to retain power
for a longer time than it was granted, and even for
his life. But even if he should unite, what is very
seldom united, a desire of performing great actions
with a just fear of infringing the liberties of his
country, yet the minds of men are naturally so sus-
picious that, no sooner has an eminently gifted citi-
zen raised himself above his fellows, than they suspect
hhn of a desire of making himself absolute, and dis-
pense vsdth his services, that they may not be obliged
to pay them with their liberty. On one or other of
these rocks, if not both, nearly all democracies have
spht. Athens banished her best citizens by the
ostracism. Eome drove from her Camillus, Corio-
lanus, Marius, and, above all, Scipio ; and yet fell at
last a victim to Cassar's military power, and his
ambition to be king. Holland, after numerous con-
tentions, sank under the sovereignty of the Prince
of Orange. Sparta and Venice are mentioned by
Machiavel as exceptions to the general rule. But
Venice also bought her security dear ; for it was
only obtained by a custom of excluding from military
command all her own citizens, and giving to stran-
gers the richest prizes a State has to bestow. The
method adopted by Sparta was somewhat similar to
that of England, to which we shall now pass.
CH. XTV. POLITICAL LIBERTY. 93
The executive power of England is placed nomi-
nally iu the hands of an hereditary king. His
powers are known and defined by law, and are there-
fore less liable to be exceeded than those of any
extraordinary office not known to the Constitution.
This was the argument most ably urged by White-
locke and his coadjutors to the Protect r Cromwell,
to induce him to accept the title of King.* At the
same time, the current of law, and the established
reverence paid to majesty, foi-m a complete bar to
any great man who might wish to make himself
absolute. So confirmed is public opinion, that a
victorious general never dreams of overthrowing the
liberties of his country. The Duke of Marlborough
was dismissed from his command as easily as an
ensign ; and the Duke of Wellington returned from
all his victories and pre-eminences to occupy an
office of inferior importance in a cabinet which had
not to boast either of singular popularity or com-
manding genius.
But wliilst the King's prerogative forms on the
one side an almost invincible barrier to the ambition
of any subject who might msh to become sovereign
of the State in which he was born a citizen, it is on
the other side restricted by the general control of
the people. Thus the King has, by his prerogative,
the command of the army ; but that army is only
maintained by virtue of a law to punish mutiny and
desertion, passed fi-om year to year. The King has
a right to declare Avar ; but if the House of Com-
mons denies supplies, he cannot carry it on for a
week. The King may make a treaty of peace ; but
if it is dishonourable to the country, the ministers
who signed it may be unpeached. Nor is the King's
personal command any excuse for a wrong adminis-
tration of power. The Earl of Danby was im-
* See the conferences on this subject. They are to be found iu the
Pariiameiitary History.
94 POLITICAL LIBERTY. CH. xiv.
peached for a letter which contained a postscript in
the King's own hand, declaring it was written by
his order. The maxim of the Constitution is, that
the King cannot act without advisers responsible by
law ; and so far is this maxim carried, that a com-
mitment by the King, although he is the fountain of
justice, was held to be void, because there was no
minister responsible for it.
From the doctrine of the responsibility of minis-
ters, it follows that they ought to enjoy the confi-
dence of the Commons. Otherwise their measures
will be thwarted, their promises will be distrusted ;
and, finding all their steps obstructed, their efforts
will be dii-ected to the overthrow of the Constitution.
This actually happened in the reigns of Charles I. and
Charles II. There was but one mode of preventing
a recurrence of the evil. It was by giving to the
King a revenue so limited, that he should always be
obliged to assemble his Parliament to carry on the
ordinary expenses of his government. On this.point,
more important than any provision of the Bill of
Rights, a warm contest took place at the Revolution
in the House of Commons. The Tories, wishing to
please the new King, argued, against all justice and
reason, that the revenue which had been given to
James for his life belonged de jure to William for
his life. The Whigs successfully resisted this pre-
tension; and passed a vote, granting £420,000 to
the King, by monthly payments. The Commons
soon afterwards had all the accounts of King James's
reign laid before them. It appeared that his go-
vernment, without any war, cost, on an average,
£1,700,000 a year; a revenue of only £1,200,000
a year was given to William, -with the expenses and
debt of a formidable war to be provided for.
By this arrangement, the Crown was made depen-
dent on Parliament ever after. Without even offer-
ing any advice, by a mere symjitom of an intention
CH. XIV. POLITICAL LIBERTY. 95
to stop the supplies, the whole system of the King
might be defeated, and his ministers dismissed from
the council-board. Hence the House of Commons
has the power to control most certainly and efiFectu-
ally the acts of the supreme magistrate. AYhatever
struggles have been made since, have been made
■svithin the House of Commons. Ambitious men,
instead of attempting, according to their several
views, to abolish the monarchy, or dispense with
Parliaments, have either souo;ht to reach the Kino-'s
closet through the favour of the people's representa-
tives, or to serve the Crown by corrupting that
assembly, and poisoning the sources from Avhich their
authority Avas derived. But whatever may have
been said of the prevalence of the latter of these
methods of government, it is certain that, for some
time after the Revolution, power was retained longest
by those statesmen whose political principles were
stamped by the approbation of their covmtry. A
friend of liberty was no longer forced to the alter-
native of defying the authority of his sovereign, or
perishing by the axe of the executioner ; the same
sentiments which he had spoken to the people, he
was able to repeat to the King ; and the same
measures Avhich he had recommended as an indi-
vidual member of Parliament, he was afterwards
empowered to propose as the adviser of his sovereign.
Thus harmony was produced between the different,
and hitherto jarring, parts of our Constitution; while
the means by which that harmony was attained gave,
at the same time, a vent to emulation, liberty to the
people, authority to Parliament, a boundary to the
ambition of political leaders, and stability to the
throne. In this manner were the great principles of
English liberty brought into action by the Revolu-
tion of 1 688, whose authors, unambitious of the fame
of founding a new form of government, obtained for
96 POLITICAL LIBERTY. CH. xiv.
the nation the full benefit of those venerable rio;hts
and liberties, for which their ancestors and them-
selves had toiled and suffered. This great work,
thus gloriously completed, was at once a lesson to
the great to avoid oppression, and to the people to
pi'actise moderation.
We L /e now gone through the different parts
of that form of government which some paradoxical
men have had the conceit to undervalue. Those
who have been shaken by nothing that they have
read in history, and who still maintain that liberty
cannot flourish under our barbarous and feudal
monarchy, may yet perhaps be struck by the follow-
ing passage from an impartial judge.
M. de Talleyrand, in speaking of America, after
remarking the partiality which the Americans en-
tertained for English maxims and manners, goes on
thus : — ' Nor should one be astonished to find this
assimilation towards England in a country, the dis-
tinguisliing features of w4iose form of government,
whether in the federal union, or in the separate
States, are impressed with so strong a resemblance
to the great lineaments of the English constitution.
Upon what does individual liberty rest at this dav
in America ? Upon the same foundations as English
liberty ; upon the Habeas Corpus and the trial by
jury. Assist at the sittings of Congress, and at those
of the legislatures of the separate States ; attend
to the discussions in the framing of national laws :
whence are taken their quotations, their analogies,
their examples ? From the English laws ; from the
customs of Great Britain; from the rules of Par-
liament. Enter into the courts of justice : what
authorities do they cite ? The statutes, the judg-
ments, the decisions of the English courts. To no
purpose do the names of republic and of monarchy
appear to place between the two governments dis-
CH. XIV. POLITICAL LIBERTY. 97
tinctions which it is not allowable to confound: it
is clear to every man who examines his ideas to the
bottom, that in the representative constitution of
England, there is something republican ; as there is
something monarchical in the executive power of the
Americans.'
98
CHAPTER XV.
LA^TlEKS.
' Eex sub lege.' — Bracton.
Among other cavillings at the practice of our Con-
stitution, there has been raised a cry against the
influence of lawyers. From the earliest times, how-
ever, that influence has been beneficial to the country.
Bracton, who was a judge in the reign of Henry III.,
and Fortescue, who was chief justice in that of
Henry VI., are among the earliest authorities in
favour of the liberties of the country. In the be-
jrinninor of the contest vnth the Stuarts, the names
of Coke and Seklen appear with auspicious lustre
on the side of freedom. In the second contest vnth.
the Stuarts, among a host of lawyers, with the vene-
rable Serjeant Maynard at their head, appears the
virtuous, the temperate, the wise and venerated
Somers. From him we pass to Lord Co"wper, a
Whig chancellor, who yet opposed the Bill of Pains
and Penalties against Atterbury, as an unnecessary
violation of justice. The next in succession, as a
friend to liberty, is Lord Camden, who, by his
admirable judgments on the question of general
warrants and on libel, saved the country from the
slavish doctrines with which it was threatened to be
inundated.
In the House of Commons, the members who have
taken a chief part in the debates have generally
been lawyers. This is the natural result of their
habits of speaking, and Ave see them on one side of
the House as well as on the other. On the side of
freedom we may reckon a series of bi'ight names.
CH. XV. LAWYERS. 99
that began with the beginning of our Constitution,
and, I trust, will continue to its close.
It were needless to come down to more recent
examples, were it not that I should be sorry to omit
any opportunity of expressing my admiration for
that great genius whose sword and buckler protected
justice and freedom during the disastrous period
of the French Revolution. Defended by him, the
Government found, in the meanest individual whom
they attacked, the tongue of Cicero and the soul of
Hampden, an invincible orator and an undaunted
patriot. May the recollection of those contests, and
those triumphs, brighten the last days of this illus-
trious man, and excite those who have embraced the
same studies to seek for a similar inspiration ! *
Such instances might persuade us that the study
of the law, by giving men a better knowledge of
their rights, gives them a stronger desire to preserve
them, and, by affording them a nearer view of our
Constitution, enables them the better to appreciate
and cherish its excellences. Unfortunately, how-
ever, there are instances, on the other side, of men
wdio, attracted by the brilliant rewards in the pro-
fession of the law which the Crown has to give, have
made themselves the tools of tyranny and corruption.
But this is by no means an exclusive attribute of
lawyers. The mean Lord Strafford, who sold his
country for an office and a peerage, was a country
gentleman; and the false Lord Bolingbroke, who
betrayed his benefactor, and endeavoured to restore
a race of despots, was a wit and a man of fashion.
* Lord Erskine was yet living when this passage was written.
h2
100
CHAPTER XVI.
EISE OF PUBLIC CEEDIT UPOX THE BASIS OF A FEEE
CONSTITUTIOX.
' I know nothing more remarkable in the government of Genoa
than the bank of St. George, made up of such branches of the
revenues as have been set apart and appropriated to the discharging
of several sums that have been borrowed from private persons during
exigencies. They have never thought of violating public credit, or
of alienating the revenues to other uses than to what they have been
thus assigned.' — AddisorCs Bemarks an Italy.
Soon after the restoration of Charles II., a scheme
was proposed to him by Sir George Downing, the
whole merit of which consisted in laying down a
rule for the exact and regular payment of interest
for all money the King should borrow. With the
Tiew of affording to merchants security for the
performance of this agreement. Downing, "v\T[th the
consent of the King, introduced a clause into a bill
of supply, appropriating to the different jDurposes
therein mentioned the money granted in the bill.
Clarendon, who relates the affair, was highly indig-
nant at tliis new check upon the prerogative, and,
along with others, remonstrated in strong terms with
the King. The rest of the story I will relate in
Clarendon's own words. ' He (King Charles) en-
larged more in discourse, and told them " that this
would be an encouragement to lend money, by making
the payment with interest so certain and fixed, that
there could be no security in the kingdom like it,
when it should be out of any man's power to cause
any money that should be lent to-morrow to be paid
before that which was lent yesterday, but that all
should be infallibly paid in order ; by which the Ex-
CH. XVI. EISE OF PUBLIC CREDIT, ETC. 101
cliequer (which was now bankrupt, and without any
credjt) would be quickly in that reputation, that all
men would deposit their money there ; and that he
hoped, in a few years, by observing the method he
now proposed, he would make his Exchequer the
best and the greatest bank in Europe, and where all
Europe would, when it was once understood, pay in
their money for the certain profit it would yield, and
the indubitable certainty that they should receive
their money." And, with this discourse, the vain
man (Sir George Downing) who had lived many
yeai-s in Holland, and would be thought to have
made himself master of all their policy, had amused
the King and his two friends, undertaking to erect
the King's Exchequer into the same degree of credit
that the Bank of Amsterdam stood upon, the insti-
tution whereof he undertook to know, and from
thence to make it evident, " that all that should be
transplanted into England, and all nations would
sooner send their money into the Exchequer, than
into Amsterdam, or Genoa, or Venice." And it can-
not be enough wondered at that this intoxication
prevailed so far, that no argument would be heard
against it, the King having, upon those notions, and
Avith the advice of those counsellors, in his own
thoughts new modelled the whole government of
his Treasury, in which he resolved to have no more
superior officers. But this was only reserved within
his own breast, and not communicated to any but
those who devised the project, vdthout weighing
that the security for moneys so deposited in banks
is the republic itself, which must expire before that
security can fail ; which can never he depended on in
a monarchy, where the monarcWs sole word can cancel
all those formal provisions which can be made (as
hath since been too evident), by vacating those as-
signations which have been ma'de upon that and the
like Acts of Parliament, for such time as the present
102 KISE OF PUBLIC CREDIT UPON CH. xvi.
necessities have made counsellalDle ; which would not
then be admitted to be possible.'*
From the above passage of Lord Clarendon, it is
e\ident he thought public credit incompatible with
arbitrary monarchy. His opinion was fully justified
by the subsequent conduct of the King, whom he
counselled. Charles II. was accustomed to borrow
money from the bankers, payable on receipt of the
taxes, very much in the manner of our present Ex-
chequer bills, but at 8 or 10 per cent, interest instead
of 3 or 4. At the commencement of the second
Dutch war, when the taxes came in, he closed the
door of the Exchequer, and refused to pay. Such
conduct, it is evident, must be quite fatal to so sen-
sitive a plant as public credit, which can only grow
under the temperate influence of just and free laws.
The infamy of this swindling transaction of Charles
was in some measure repaired in the reign of Wil-
liam III., when a large portion, at least of the sum
owing, was funded as stock, and made to form part
of the national debt.
AVith the revolution came an expensive war
against the most powerful monarch in Europe, and
the nation had to support the choice it had made of
a sovereign by saci-ifices of every kind. In this
situation, the party that governed the country be-
thought themselves of making use of those resources
of public credit which had already been found of
powerful effect in Holland and in Venice. Thus the
Bank of England was established a few years after
the Revolution. About the same time, the silver
currency was restored to a just standard, a measure
which for a time created a scarcity of coin in the
country : a general stoppage of trade took place ;
and the paper of the Bank of England, soon after
its establishment, fell to 20 per cent, discount. In
order to remedy these evils, Mr. Montague, Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, who may be considered the
* ClarLndon, Hist. Eeb., vol. i. pp. 316, 317.
CH. XVI. THE BASIS OF A FEEE CONSTITUTION. 103
founder of our financial system, collected all the
debts outstanding, which amounted to five millions,
imposed taxes for the payment of the whole, and, in
order to relieve the want of currency, issued bills
payable on the receipt of the taxes, since called
Exchequer bills. Public credit revived, the capital
of the Bank was increased, and the currency became
sufficient for the wants of the country.
From this time loans were made of a vast in-
creasing amount with great facility, and generally
at a low interest, by which the nation was enabled
to resist her enemies. The French wondered at
the prodigious efforts that were made by so small a
power, and the abundance with which money was
poured into the treasury. They saw, to their dis-
may, that, while Louis could hardly obtain, by the
most humiliating means, sums sufficient to provide
his armies, G/'eat Britain, firm and undismayed,
found for ever fresh resources in the wealth and
confidence of her merchants. Books were written,
projects drawn uj), edicts prepared, which Avere
to give to France the same facilities as her rival ;
every plan that fiscal ingenuity could strike out,
every calculation that laborious arithmetic could
form, was proposed, and tried, and found wanting ;
and for this simple reason, that, in all their projects
drawn up in imitation of England, one little element
was omitted, videlicet, her free constitution.*
All the money voted by the House of Commons
is, at present, strictly tied up to special purposes, by
an Act of Appropriation passed at the end of every
session of Parliament : the very measure which ex-
cited the loyal horror of Lord Clarendon.
* Among other schemes, the have ordered that every grena-
King of France ordered that dier of six feet high should in
every coin should pass for a no- future pass for seven feet high,
minal value higher than it had and thus think to increase the
hitherto passed for. Addison strength of his army. — Frte-
wittily said that he might as well holder.
104
CHAPTER XVII.
PARTY.
' Party is a body of men united for promoting, by their joint en-
deavours, the national interest, upon some particular principle, in which
they are all agreed. Men thinking freely will, in particular instances,
think differently. But stUl, as the greater part of the measures
■which arise in the course of public business are related to, or depen-
dent on, some great leading general fHnci-pUs in government, a man
must be peculiarly unfortunate in the choice of his political company
if he does not agree with them, at least nine times in ten. And this
is all that ever was required for a character of the greatest unifor-
mity and steadiness in connection. How men can proceed without
connection at all, is to me utterly incomprehensible. Of what sort
of materials must that man be made, how must he be tempered and
put together, who can sit whole ^ears in Parliament, with five hun-
dred and fifty of his fellow-citizens, amidst the storm of such
tempestuous passions, in the sharp conflict of so many wits and
tempers and characters, in the agitation of such mighty questions, in
the discussion of such vast and ponderous interests, without seeing
any one sort of men, whose character, conduct, or disposition would
lead him to associate himself with them, to aid and be aided in any
one system of public utility ? ' — Burke.
The reign of Queen Anne is as remarkable for the
violent contentions, as that of George I. for the
complete ascendency, of party. It is worth while
to consider the effects both of the contention and
the triumph. Let us first, however, endeavour in
a few words to explain the existence of party-divi-
sions, and to vindicate the integrity of those who
avow that they belong to party. The general defence
of political connection, indeed, may be left where
Mr. Burke has placed it. There can be nothing
more striking, or more sound, than his writings on
this subject. But, although his reasoning never has
been and never can be answered, a certain degree
of favour still attends the man who declares himself
CH. xvn. PAETT. 105
not to belong to party, as if he were clearing him-
self from the imputation of dishonesty or selfishness.
The division of England into two great parties
began, as I conceive, and still continues, in con-
sequence of wide and irreconcilable differences of
opinion.
The Tories, at the conunencement of the reign of
James I., looked upon the exaltation of the Crown
as their favourite object. Allowing, as they now
do, that the King is entrusted with his power for
the public good, they yet thought that pubhc good
required complete freedom in the exercise of his
prerogative, so long as the law is not infringed.
While he remained, therefore, within the legal
bounds assigned to him, they were, to say the least,
extremely unwilling to control liis power. If he
stept beyond them, or placed the country in great
danger, they were ready to oppose the Crown by
their votes in Parliament, or in any other legal
manner. It followed from their doctrine, however,
that their tendency always was to support the King
in the first place, in all his measures, and to re-
fuse their sanction only when those measures had
placed the country in peril so imminent, that they
were obliged reluctantly to disclose their own
opinions.
The Whigs looked towards the people, whose
welfare is the end and object of all government.
They maintained that, as the King's advisers are
responsible for his measures, it is the duty of Par-
liament to examine and pronounce whether those
measures are wise and salutary. They were, there-
fore, ready to interfere with any exercise of the
prerogative which they thought unwise or impro-
per ; and to insist (too haughtily, perhaps, at times)
upon the adoption of that line of policy which they
considered as best adapted to the wants and wishes
of the country.
106 PARTY. CH. XVII.
Such appears to me a just general representation
of Whig and Tory opinions, from the commence-
ment of the reign of James I. to the end of that of
George II.
If I have made a fair statement, it was inevitable
that the two parties should separate, and remain
divided.
Let me now suppose a young Member of Parlia-
ment coming to London at the beginning of the
reign of Queen Anne. He adopts, let us suppose,
the opinions of the Tories. He votes generally,
but not always, with that party. He naturally
becomes acquainted with some of them. He talks
over the questions that are coming on for some time
before. These conversations lead to a more intimate
union ; his opinions are listened to, and his doubts
melt away in the course of amicable discussion.
Sometimes, when the measure is one of party po-
licy rather than of principle, he surrenders his own
opinion to that of the statesman most respected by
the society of which he is a member. He thinks it
more probable that several able, and a large body of
patriotic men, arguing from the same principles as
himself, should form a right decision, than that he
alone in the whole House of Commons should, from
given general principles, have derived a true conclu-
sion. He is, in short, a party man. Thus it is that,
without any violation of conscience, party is formed
and consolidated, and men acquire that kind of
'esprit monacaV which, according to the remark of a
very sagacious foreigner,* prevails in the political
confederacies of England.
Let us now proceed to the effects of party con-
tests.
Among the bad effects of party is to be reckoned
the want of candour it necessarily produces. Few
* The Abbe Galiani.
CH. XYII.
PARTY. 107
men can enter into the heat of political contention,
backed by a body of friends, who animate and sup-
port each other, without attributing to their adver-
saries bad intentions and corrupt motives, of which
they are no more capable than themselves.
Another evil i§, that men become unwilling to
give way to the natural bent of their minds, when
their understandings would lead them to admit any
error upon which their adversaries have insisted, or
to render them liable to reproach for weakness and
inconsistency. Obstinacy in supporting wrong, be-
cause an admission of what was right and true
w^ould give a triumph to opposition, has led many a
minister of England into a course injurious to the
country.
In attributing this evil to party, I by no means
intend to lay upon the same cause the blame of the
exaggeration which accompanies political discus-
sion. Such exao-o-eration I believe to be inevitable.
It is true, indeed, that every statesman has at times
occasion to Aveigh Avith some degree of doubt the
reasons for or against a measure which he after-
wards supports or opposes, with as much warmth
and confidence as if there could not be two opinions
on the subject. But it does not follow that it Avould
be right or useful to produce in public all the argu-
ments which have gone throuo-h his mind before he
came to a decision. What would be the effect, for
instance, of the speech of a minister proposing an
address in su))port of a new war, who should lay a
stress upon the hazards by which it would be at
tended, and the new burthens it must infallibly pro-
duce ? Nothing, it is evident, but discouragement,
and perhaps a disgraceful treaty. For the slightest
words Avhich a man lets fall in opposition to his
ultimate opinion, are of more weight against that
opinion than the strongest arguments he can use
in its favour. Those who agree with him are all
108 PARTY. CH. xvn.
disheartened, and those who differ from him are
all encouraged. Nor does tliis proceed from the
factitious spirit of party, but from human nature
herself. Public affairs are so constituted, that the
truth scarcely ever lies entu-ely on one side ; and
the human mind is so formed, that it must either
embrace one side only, or sink into inaction.
Nor do I impute to party the corruption by which
votes in Parliament are obtained. Some persons,
I know, imao-ine that the mmister has recourse to
corruption only because it is necessary to strengthen
himself against the Opposition. But it is evident
that, in a free government like ours, the ministers
will always make use of the influence of patronage
that is in their hands to procure themselves ad-
herents. For a minister knows very well that he
must have adherents. He cannot reasonably found
liis administration on the support wliich he may be
able to obtain by his arguments in favour of each
particular measure. Now, of the two ways of pro-
curing adherents — the attachment of interest and
that of party — party is by far the best. Many a
man, I fear, would abandon his opinions, and fall
off from his principles, for the sake of office, who
yet will not desert a party to which he is engaged
by passion and affection, as well as by reason.
Party, therefore, instead of being the cause of
corrupt and undue influence, is often a substitute
for it. Some, indeed, think it possible that the
world may be governed by pure intention and the
force of argument only. But it is well said by Mr.
Wilberforce, when speaking of religion, ' JSIan is
not a being of mere intellect. Video meliora pro-
hoque, deteriora sequor, is a complaint which, alas !
we might all of us daily utter. The slightest soli-
citation of appetite is often able to draw us to act
in opposition to our clearest judgment, our highest
interests, and most.resolute determination.' ' These
CH. XVII.
PARTY. 109
observations,' proceeds the enlightened author, ' hold
equally in every instance, according to its measure,
wherein there is a call for laborious, painful, and
continued exertions, from which we are likely to be
deterred by obstacles, or seduced by the solicitation
of pleasure. What, then, is to be done in the case
of any such arduous and necessary undertaking?
The answer is obvious: — You should endeavour
not only to convince the understanding, but also to
affect the heart ; and for this end you must secure
the reinforcement of the passions.' *
The good effects of party in this country are nu-
merous and weighty. One of the chief of them is
that it gives a substance to the shadowy opinions of
politicians, and attaches them permanently to steady
and lasting principles. The true party-man finds
in his own mind certain general rules of politics,
like the general rules of morals, by which he de-
cides every new and doubtful case. The belief that
those principles are just, enables him to withstand
the seductions of interest, and the ingenuity of pro-
jects : liis conduct acquires somewhat of the firm-
ness of integrity and wisdom.
The union of many in the same vicAvs enables a
party to carry measures which would not otherwise
gain attention. There often occurs a proposal emi-
nently useful, yet not calculated to catch popular
favour, which, by the stout and strong Avorking of
a party, at length becomes law ; that which is an
overmatch for the strength of an individual, is ac-
complished by the united force of numbers. The
waggon arrives at last at its destination ; but a
loose horse will probably return to the place
from which he set out. It likewise often happens
that party succeeds where the people have failed.
The enthusiasm of a whole nation is in its nature
* Wilberforce's Practical View of Christianity, p. 60.
110 PARTY. CH. XVII.
evanescent. If successfully resisted at first, it often
sinks into apathy, and the country remains passive,
though not satisfied, under the weight of a defeat.
But a party is pledged; the character of the in-
di^dduals belonging to it depends upon their con-
sistency ; their principles are handed down from
father to son, and become the mould from which
successive generations receive the form and pressure
of their politics. It may be observed, on the other
side, that many instances can be quoted of parties
who, on coming into power, have shrunk from their
original professions; but they are not so frequent
as those of a complete and radical change in the
popular voice with respect to the objects of its pre-
dilection or aversion.
The greatest benefit of all that is conferred by
party is, perhaps, that it embodies the various opi-
nions of the nation for the time being. Those
opinions are at times so violent, that, had they not
a vent in Parliament, they would break the ma-
chine to pieces. Happily the people, when they
overturned Sir Robert Walpole, placed confidence
(a confidence little justified, perhaps) in his op-
ponents; and when Lord North appeared to have
ruined his country, the nation looked for safety to
Lord Rockingham and Mr. Fox. There may be
a revolution in this country ; but it is hardly pos-
sible that the country should not first try what may
be done by a change of counsels. Thus the great
and final reason of nations, the right of resistance,
is not likely to be used till better and safer means
have been tried. To possess such means is a great
advantage for the nation which can employ them.
In reckoning up the bad eflfects of party, I have
not spoken of the animosities and violent conten-
tions it produces. Mock philosophers are always
making lamentations over political divisions, and
contested elections.
CH. XTII.
PARTY. Ill
Men of noble minds know that they are the work-
shop of national liberty, and national prosperity.
It is from the heat and hammering of the stithy
that freedom receives its shape, its temper, and its
strength.
112
CHAPTER XVIII.
WILLIAM AND MARY.— ANNE.
' Un roi fait aiUeurs entrer aveugl^ment ses peuples dans toutea
ses vues ; mais a Londres un roi doit entrer dans celles de son peu-
ple.' — Voltaire, Sikle de Louis XIV.
Let us now proceed to the histoiy of the two
parties from the Revolution to the reign of George I.
We have seen that the Whigs refused to grant
King William a permanent income that might
render him independent of his people ; and he dis-
solved the Parliament in 1690 with some disgust.
The next House of Commons was a Tory one ; and
Sir John Trevor, a violent Tory, was made First
Commissioner of the Treasury. He undertook to
distribute bribes in such a manner as to secure the
votes of the majority ; being the first systematic
corruption after the Revolution. Trevor was after-
wards punished for bribery in a question relating
to the Orphans' Bill. There arose at this time a
fierce struggle between Whigs and Tories for
the favour of the King, and the confidence of the
people. The dismissal of Monmouth and War-
rington attested and established the success of the
Tories. The Tory party were supported by the
small proprietors of land and the gentry of the
country, who feared a bias to innovation on the
part of the Whigs both in politics and religion.
On the other hand, the Whigs were esteemed by the
people as having been the original opposers of ar-
bitrary power, and had the credit, as well as the
responsibility, of the new settlement. In order to
support it, they came forward with their wealth
CH. xvin. QCEEN ANNE. 113
in a time of embarrassment, and also prevailed upon
their fiiends in the city, Avhicli Avas then, as in
former times, a stronghold of liberty, to lend largely
to the government. By these means, the Whigs at-
tached men of great wealth to the new establishment,
and distinguished themselves to their advantage
from the Tories, who were un^villing, or unable,
to advance considerable sums. Hence the Kino- who
had placed his confidence in Ranelagh, Rochester,
and Seymour, afterwards discovered an inclination
to trust the Whigs, raised Somers and ShrcAvs-
bury to high situations, and gave his tardy consent
to the Triennial Bill. After the peace of Ryswick,
the Whigs defended the maintaining of the Dutch
Guards, in which perhaps they were right, though
the line they took exposed them to mvich popular
odium. The defeat of this favourite wish of our
deliverer is a proof how extremely weak the royal
authority was at this peiiod. It would not be so
easy perhaps to defend the Whig party in their
t I'aasactions respecting a new East India Company.
(Still less can they escape blame for having suffered
in silence the conclusion of the treaty of partition.
By this treaty, William imprudently trusted him-
self to the faith of the French King, and unwarrant-
ably disposed of the whole of the Spanish monarchy
during the life of the reio-nino- sovereio;n. The
partition, thus previously arranged, at once pro-
voked the Spaniards and enraged the Emperor. It
was rash in policy, unfounded in justice, and im-
practicable in execution. With arms thus impru-
dently furnished by their adversaries, the country
party violently attacked the Whigs in the House of
Commons : Orford and Somers were removed and
disgraced : a Tory ministry was established, and
was the last of King William.
Queen Anne came to the throne with violent pre-
judices in favour of Tory politics, both in Church and
I
1 14 QUEEN ANNE. CH. XVin.
State, and severe bills against occasional conformity
were received with applause by a House of Commons
composed chiefly of that party. But the natural
inclinations of the Queen yielded to the advice of
INIarlborough, who, though himself a Tory, became
convinced that Lord Rochester would not actively
support the war, and that the Whigs alone sympa-
thised with the sentiments of King William as ex-
pressed in the last speech that he delivered to his
Parliament. Feeling that a vigorous opposition to
the arms of Louis XIV. could alone save the liber-
ties of Europe, Marlborough advised his mistress to
give her countenance to the Whig party. Lord
Cowper was made Lord Chancellor ; but still the
Queen hesitated to give her consent to the admission
into her councils of persons whose politics she de-
tested ; and year after year passed in struggles at
court to obtain the higher offices of State for Sunder-
land and Somers. It would not be just to ascribe
these demands of the Whig leaders to the mere love
of office : their ambition was of a higher kind. They
aspired to rule the State according to their own sys-
tem of policy, but they found that all their efforts
were thwarted by the "\^dlful negligence of the Tories,
who filled less conspicuous places in the administra-
tion. Godolphiu tells us, that there was not a Tory
in any ministerial office who did not require to be
spoken to ten times over before he would execute
anything that liad been ordered, and then it was
done with all the difficulty and slowness imaginable.
This conduct, dangerous if not treasonable in the
midst of a perilous war, certainly goes far to justify
the importunity of the Whigs to remove Sir C.
Hedges from the post of Secretary of State, in order
to give him a more permanent and profitable but
less responsible office.*
* See Conduct of the Duchess of Marlborough. Coxe's 'Life of
jMarlborough.'
CH. xvra. QUEEN ANNE. 115
The Whigs held their power by a precarious
tenure. The Queen, originally adverse to them, was
rendered implacable by their haughty invasion of the
cabinet ; and she Avas daily excited to little acts of
hostility by Mrs. Masham, who had succeeded the
Duchess of Marlborough in the government of her
weak head and ignoble heart. There needed only
a popular and plausible occasion for discarding the
general who rendered the name of England illustrious
by his victories, and the statesman whose reputation
was founded equally on his wisdom and his love of
liberty. The occasion soon happened : Marlborough
and Somers fell : Harley and St. John rose upon
their ruin : and nothing but the personal rivalry of
these two unprincipled men saved the Hanover suc-
cession.
It must be owned, that the Whigs gave heedlessly
a handle to the designs of their enemies. The trial
of Dr. Sacheverel was imprudent. Under an estab-
lished government it was not wise to proclaim without
necessity the doctrine of resistance ; nor could there
be much peril in leaving a fanatical clergyman to
vaunt his absurdities unmolested. The solemnity
of an impeachment, the marshalling of all the forces
of the State against a private individual, could not
fail to excite afresh that cry in favour of the High
Church which ought to have been allowed to sleep
in peace. In consequence of the popularity of Sa-
cheverel, and the well-known opinions of the Queen,
a House of Commons was obtained completely favour-
able to the Tories. And here begins the history of
those last four years of Queen Anne, in which the
press was restrained, intolerance favoured, our allies
deserted, our enemies encouraged, and a disadvan-
tageous peace conckided. Indeed, had not Queen
Anne died before the measures of the Jacobites
were prepared, the Elector of Hanover might never
I 2
116 QUEEN ANNE. CH. xviil.
have been able to ascend the throne, to which the
Act of Settlement had called him.
We have now gone over the struggles of party
durino- the times of the first two sovereio;ns who
reigned after the Revolution. They were times in
which political integrity was rare, and political ani-
mosities violent, but the people were admitted as an
umpire between the contending forces ; and, upon
the whole, the rise and fall of each party seems to
have been proportioned to its merits. In so saying,
I must except the elevation of Harley and of St.
John : men who were base enough to flatter Marl-
borough for the purpose of lulling and supplanting
him, ought to have remained in obscurity. With
this exception, however, the contest between the two
parties was a contest between two lines of policy, in
which the welfare of the State was involved, and
between two great principles, on one or other of
which the foundations of the English government
must be made to depend. Men of great talents,
vast property, and long experience, distinguished
themselves on one side or the other ; and to which-
ever side the nation leant, more practical liberty,
more personal security, and more tranquilUty from
religious persecution, as well as more fame and con-
sideration abroad, were enjoyed by the nation than
had ever been known in England.
I
117
CHAPTER XIX.
IMPEACHMENT,— BILLS OF PAINS AND PENALTIES.
' The Parliament have also power to punish any who judge for
man and not for the Lord ; who respect persons or take gifts, or any
way misdemean themselves in their offices.' — Whitelocke, Notes on the
King's Writ.
It is absolutely necessary to the preservation of an
established form of government, that there should
exist a legal method of bringing to punishment those
who endeavour to subvert it. For this reason the
executive magistrate is always entrusted with the
means of proceeding to a trial against persons Avho
conspire against his or their lawful authority.
In the same way, and for the same reasons, there
must exist in a free State a method of accusing those
persons who have abused the authority confided to
them for the purpose of usurping undue power, or
corrupting the citizens, or obtaining ends adverse to
the general interest of the community. In this case
tlae discretionary power of proceeding to trial cannot
rest with the executive magistrate, for he is gene-
rally the party complained of; it must reside in the
popular branch of the State. It is therefore wisely
provided in our government, that the House of Com-
mons should have the right of impeachment. This
extraordinary power, thus confided to the represen-
tatives of the people, enables them to denounce, as
o-uilty of high treason, all Avho shall violate the law
upon this subject. It enables them also to denounce,
as o-uilty of high crimes and misdemeanours, all minis-
ters of State whose conduct is injuiious to the interest
of the nation. Some, I know, have maintained that
118 IMPEACHMENT. CH. XIX.
an impeachment can only lie against an indictable
offence ; but this doctrine is in plain contradiction to
three out of four of the impeachments which have
taken place. To take one instance only : — In the
case of the ministers who signed the Treaty of Par-
tition, the House of Commons resolved on April 1,
1701, ' That William Earl of Portland, by negotiat-
ing and concluding the Treaty of Partition (which
was destructive to the trade of this kingdom, and
dangerous to the peace of Europe), is guilty and
shall be impeached of high crimes and misdemea-
nours.' — Now what petty jury could take upon thera
to say that a treaty was destructive to the trade of
England; or to bring in a verdict of guilty on a
charge of endangering the peace of Europe ?
The same thing may be said of the impeachments
against Oxford and Bolingbroke for signing the
Treaty of Utrecht. Those who argue that impeach-
ments can only be brought for an indictable offence,
say, ' It is true a jury could not try these offences ;
but that is only an objection to the jurisdiction ;
every misconduct in office is a misdemeanour at com-
mon laAv.' This answer, it is evident, reduces the
difference to nothing ; for if certain offences can be
prosecuted by impeachment only, it does not matter
whether the cause is to be found in the want of law,
or the defect of jurisdiction, to bring them before
any other court.
It is impossible for the King to stop the progress
of an impeachment. His pardon under the great
seal cannot be pleaded in bar of trial. His prero-
gative of prorogation, or even of dissolution, may
suspend, but does not put an end to the proceedings.
These two securities for justice were contended for
during the trial of the Earl of Danby, in the reign
of Charles II. ; the first was established at the
Revolution, and the second confirmed during the
impeachment of Mr. Hastings.
CB. XIX. IMPEACHMENT. 119
It is much more difficult, in a free State, to estab-
lish impartial judges than to find courageous accusers.
There can hardly be any body of men who are at
once qualified to form an opinion on political ques-
tions, and not disqualified by having formed one
before they are called upon to judge. This latter
fiiult, it must be owned, is found in our House of
Lords. It is diflacult, if not impossible, to bring a
principal minister before them, on whose conduct
they have not already pronounced judgment in their
own minds. For this reason we find, that when the
Lords are in favour of the accused. Lords and Com-
mons generally conspire to produce a quarrel between
the Houses, and thus avoid giving judgment. So it
happened in the cases of Lord Danby, Lord Somers,
and many others. The experience of later times has
not made impeachments more easy in the trial, or
more impartial in judgment. The impeachment of
Hastings was a long punishment ; and in the last
case of impeachment the Lords were found to vote
more from a sense of political or personal friendship
than from a sense of justice ; and some came to the
decision without having heard a word of the evi-
dence. Impeachment, upon the whole, is rather a
scarecrow to frighten public delinquents, than a real
security for public justice. In former times it drove
many a bad minister from the council-board ; at
present that end is attained, when it is attained, by
simpler means. Yet, perhaps, the bloodless result
of impeachments is one of the modes by which the
lenity of our parties towards each other has been
preserved.
Bills of attainder and bills of pains and penalties,
passed by Parliament, are of a very different nature
from impeachments. They have been generally, if
not always, used on occasions of great moment and
uro^ency. Two circumstances seem to be requisite
to all bills of this kind: — First, That it is impos-
120 IMPEACHMENT. Cff. XIX.
sible to convict the offender by due course of law.
Secondly, That his escape would be in the liighest
degree injurious to the State. Great indeed must
be the mischief that would arise from the impunity
of a criminal, to overbalance the evil of shaking
the common security of the subject, disturbing the
regular course of justice, and affording an example
of punishment inflicted on one who cannot be con-
victed of a crime.
Instances of bills of attainder and bills of pains
and penalties are, unfortunately, too numerous on our
statute-book. But, in early times, bills of attainder,
however unjust in their operation in particular in-
stances, had not the character they have at present.
Originally, the high court of Parliament was not a
court only in name, but was chiefly emj)loyed in
deciding causes, and particularly in judging all the
great criminals whose power placed them beyond the
reach of a jury. The offences for which such cri-
minals were condemned were, hoAvever, offences of
which a jury might legally have taken cognisance.
Thus it Avas with the Spencers, the adherents of
Richard III., and others. The reign of Henry VIII.
opens to us a more alarming scene. A bill of attain-
der was passed against Empson and Dudley at the
accession of that king, for the exactions of which
they had been guilty under the reign of his father.
As these exactions had been sanctioned by an Act
of Parliament, there was surely great injustice in
condemning those who had acted under it to a capital
punishment. The act of attainder was also unneces-
sary ; for Empson and Dudley had been previously
convicted of treason at Guildhall, for an attempt to
maintain themselves by force.* So strong was the
popular feeling against them, however, that they
probably met Avith as little justice from a jury as
from a Parliament.
* State Trials. Burnet's Hist. Keformation.
CH. XIX. IMPEACHMENT. 121
In the same reign of Henry VIII., Queen Cathe-
rine Howard was condemned to lose her head, by a
bill of attainder, forincontinency before her marriage
with the King. When the bill was in progress, the
Lords, by the desire of Henry, sent a message to her,
to ask her if she had anything to say in her defence.
She, however, confessed her guilt ; and in those
times she did not think of com})laining that she was
to suffer death for a crime unknown to the laws.
In the year 1539, a most dangerous precedent was
made. The Marchioness of Exeter and the Countess
of Salisbury refusing to answer the accusation
against them, were attainted by Act of Parliament.
* About the justice of doing this,' says Burnet, 'there
was some debate ; and to clear it, Cromwell sent for
the judges, and asked their opinions, Whether a man
might be attainted in Parliament, without being
brought to make his answer ? They said it was a
dangerous question ; that the Parliament ought to
be an example to all inferior courts ; and that when
any person was charged with a crime, he, by the
common rule of justice and equity, should be heard
to plead for himself. But the Parliament being the'
supreme court of the nation, what way soever they
proceeded, it must be good in law ; and it could
never be questioned whether the party was brought
to answer or not.' * The precedent thus begun was
soon made worse, as all bad precedents are ; in this
case, however, the person was well chosen : it was
Cromwell himself. Instead of declining to plead, he
petitioned to be heard ; but his request was refused,
and an attainder passed on the mere assertion of his
enemies.
Of the bill of attainder against Strafford I have
before spoken. There can be no excuse for the man-
ner in which the bill was forced throuiih. It must
o
* Burnet, Hist. Rcf., p. 265.
122 IJIPEACimENT. CH. XIX.
be observed, however, that few cases of State neces-
sity can be imagined so strong as that which could
be ursced for the condemnation of Strafford. Some
of the moderate among the Presbyterian party* were
for sparing his life ; but they were hurried on by
others of a more bloody temperament. The bill of
banishment against Clarendon had this strong founda-
tion, that he had withdrawn himself from justice :
yet this ground seem^ to me not to be sufficient for
such a proceeding. I am not, however, disposed
very greatly to blame the act of attainder against Sir
John Fenwick. A person accused of high treason,
and about to be tried in the due course of law for
that offence, who pretends he is going to reveal his
treason, and takes advantage of his fraud to spirit
away a witness, seems to me to have removed him-
self beyond the pale of all law. His crime was one
of the most dangerous nature.
There is not so much to be said in favour of the
bill of pains and penalties against Atterbury. It
is urged in justification, that Walpole could have
brought evidence enough against him to have con-
victed him of high treason in a court of law. Whether
• • •
he could have done so or not, it remains as a stain
upon his memory for ever, that, for the purpose of
banishing this busy priest, he should have induced
Parhament to condemn him upon the evidence of
letters not in his own hand, and after the death of
the person supposed to have written them.
The protest signed by Lord Cowper and thirty-
nine other Peers on this occasion, contains a sound
and satisfactory doctrine on the subject of all bills
of this nature.
* We are of opinion,' say these Lords, * that no
law ought to be passed on purpose to enact that any-
one be guilty in law, and punished as such, but
* The Earl of Bedford, Mr. Pym, Mr. Selden, &c.
CH. XIX. IMPEACHMENT. 123
where sucli an extraordinary proceeding is evidently-
necessary for the preservation of the State.
' We clearly take it to be a very strong objection
to this mode of proceeding, that rules of law made
for the security of the subject are of no use to him
in it, and that the conclusion from hence is very
strong ; that, therefore, it ought not to be taken up,
but where clearly necessary, as before affirmed ; and
we do desire to explain ourselves so far, upon the
cases of necessity excepted, as to say we do not
intend to include a necessity, arising purely from an
impossibility of convicting any other way.'
Setting aside bills of pains and penalties as of
dangerous example, it may be alleged that the regu-
lar power of impeachment is the security for the
responsibility of the ministers of the Crown. As the
power of refusing supplies enables the House of
Commons to insist that no persons should be advisers
of the Crown as ministers who do not enjoy the con-
fidence of the House of Commons, so the power of
impeachment is a security against high crimes and
misdemeanours on the part of persons who possess
that confidence. The impeachment of Lord Mel-
ville, who possessed fully the confidence of the
House of Commons, may be quoted as a case in
point. But it must also be truly said that these two
po^vers of the House of Commons, namely, that of
refusing supplies and of impeachment, have proved
so efficient, that it was quite enough they should be
understood to exist, in order to procure all the ad-
vantages they were intended to secure. A refusal
or even a delay of supplies on the part of the House
of Commons would alarm the country, and shake
public credit ; the impeachment of a minister may be
voted in Parliament, but could hardly in practice be
prosecuted to conviction. Tliese terrors have had
their day, and their disuse is the proof, not of their
uselessness, but of their efficacy.
124
CHAPTER XX.
GEOKGE THE FIRST AND GEOEGE THE SECOiNT).
' I shall continue, during the short remainder of my life, most
steadily attached to the ancient freedom of my country (as it was
practically enjoyed under those honest old gentlemen, George the
First and Second), and your gi-ateful servant,
'John Hoene Tookb.'
Mr. Home Tooke's Address to the Electors
of Westminster, June 26, 1802.
The tranquil accession of the House of Hanover to
the throne of these reahns is the greatest miracle
of our history. The ministry of Queen Anne, great
part of the Church, and almost all the country
gentlemen, were against this violation of the rules
of legitimacy, merely in order to preserve the ci\il
and religious liberty of the country ; it was the
triumph of the enlightened few over the bigotry
of millions.
The accession of George I. was the era when
government by party was fully established in Eng-
land. During the reign of William, Whigs and
Tories had been employed together by the King;
and althouijh the distinctions of a AVhig; ministrv
and a Tory ministry were more decidedly marked
during the reign of Anne, yet Marlborough and
Godolphin, Avho formed great part of the strength
of the Whig ministry, were Tories; and Harley
and St. John, who put themselves at the head of
the Tory administration, had held, a short time
before, subordinate offices under the AVhis^s. But
the complete downfal of the Tory administration,
who had signed the peace of Utrecht, and the
Avell-founded suspicion which attached to the whole
CH. XX. GEORGE THE FIRST AND GEORGE THE SECOND. 125
party, of favouring the claim of James II. 's son,
]>laeed George I. entirely in the hands of the
Whigs. At the same period, the financial diffi-
culties which followed the winding-up of the war,
and the great practical talents of Walpole as a
statesman, contributed to give a greater importance
to the House of Commons than ever, and to place
within that House, if I may so express myself, the
centre of gravity of the State. Besides these causes,
much weight and authority, according to the opinion
of Speaker Onslow, were added to the House of
Commons by the Septennial Act.
We now find, therefore, a party ruling the coun-
try through the House of Commons ; a species of
government which has been assailed with vehe-
mence, with plausibility, eloquence, and wit, by
Swift, and Bolingbroke, and the whole Tory party
in the reigns of George I. and II. ; by Lord Bute
and the King's friends in the commencement of the
reign of George III., and by a party of Parlia-
mentary reformers at a later period. The sum
of their objections to it is this: — That it mixes
and confounds the functions of the King with those
of the House of Commons ; that the King hereby
loses his prerogative of choosing his own servants,
and becomes a slave to his powerful subjects ;
whilst, on the other hand, the House of Commons,
by interfering in the executive government, open
their door to corruption, and, instead of being the
vigilant guardians of the public purse, become the
accomplices of an ambitious oligarchy. Now this
objection, if good, is fatal to our whole constitu-
tion ; for we have seen, in reviewing the reign of
Charles I., that a King whose servants are quite
independent of Parliament, and a Parliament Avhich
is adverse to all abuses of power, cannot exist to-
gether : submission from one of the parties, or civil
war, must ensue.
126 GEORGE THE FIRST AND CH. XX.
The question, then, for us to consider is, not
whether the government of the two first Princes of
the House of Brunswick was a corruption of the old
English constitution, but whether it was upon the
whole a good or an evil form of government.
The first consideration that must strike us is,
that the liberty of the subject was maintained.
The chief exceptions to this remark are, the sus-
pension of the Habeas Corpus Act on the discovery
of Layer's plot, and the attainder of Bishop Atter-
bury. Of the latter I have already spoken. The
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act on Layer's
plot has always seemed to me unnecessary ; but
it is impossible to form any correct judgment on
this point, and it must not be forgotten that all
the chief Jacobites of England were at that time
intrig-uino: at Rome to bring in the Pretender.
These exceptions to the general liberty of the
subject are trifling and temporary ; few periods
in the history of any nation have been so little
disturbed by violations of personal freedom as that
of the administration of AValpole.
Another remark nearly allied to the fbrmer is,
that the triumph of party was not marked in Eng-
land as it has been in nearly every republic that
ever existed, ancient or modern, by a cruel and
unsparing persecution of their adversaries. The
history of the divisions of the parties of aristocracy
and democracy in the minor States of Greece, — of
the parties of Marius and Sylla, of Caesar and
Antony and Octavius at Rome, — of the Guelfs and
the Ghibelines, the Bianchi and the Neri, in Italy,
— of the Catholics and the Huguenots in France, —
is a history of proscriptions, confiscations, massacres,
and murders; but the reign of the first Prince of the
House of Hanover, is a time when little severity, and
still less rancour, is to be found. Although many of
the Tories were known to be adverse to the Protestant
CH. XX. GEORGE THE SECOND. 127
settlement, yet little was done against them, besides
the banishment of Bolingbroke, Ormond, and Atter-
bury. The temper of Walpole inclined him to
mildness and moderation. He knew many who
corresponded with the Pretender, of whom he took
no notice. It is said that, one day, Wyndham, or
Shippen, made a violent speech, which excited a
murmur, and a cry of ' Tower ! ' ' Tower ! ' among
his opponents. Sir Robert Walpole rose : * I know
the honourable gentleman expects me to move
that he be sent to the Tower; I shall disappoint
his expectations, however, for I shall do no such
thing.'
The strength of Walpole's administration lying
chiefly with the House of Lords and the aristocratic
part of the country, he was enabled to carry on for
many years a pacific system. Peace, at all times
a blessing, was then most desirable. The politic
union between England and France took away all
the fears so long inspired by the overgrown ambi-
tion of Louis XIV. of seeing Europe enslaved, and
a king forced upon us by foreign powers. Thus
the country, uncUsturbed either by invasions of
liberty at home, or by wars abroad, enjoyed a
respite from the violent contests in which she had
so long been engaged. And, upon the whole, the
people had reason to be satisfied with the govern-
ment of Walpole. Montesquieu, who has most
contributed to spread an admiration of the English
constitution over the Continent, and to hold it out
as a fit model for imitation, took his notions of it
from this period. At the same time, however, there
was a fault in the temper of Walpole's govern-
ment, the most fatal of any to the permanence of
a spirit of freedom in a nation. With the view
of soothing the angry passions which disturbed the
early part of his career, he gradually Aveakened,
and had nearly extinguished, every large and liberal
128 GEORGE THE FIRST AND CH. XX.
feeling in politics. To maintain ' ovir bappy es-
tablishment' was the great end of his adminis-
tration ; an object wliich, however praiseworthy,
was little calculated to excite vigour of thought, or
energy of character. For this, jjerhaps, no blame
is justly imputable to him. What we may complain
of, with truth, is, that in his choice of means he
showed a low opinion of human nature, and ad-
dressed himself rather to the interested views of
individuals, than to any public sense of the benefit
of the whole. Thus he went on depraving the
times in which he lived, and the times again de-
praving him, till the State was divided into a num-
ber of low parties and petty chiefs.
The administration of Walpole fell at last by
unjust clamours about the right of search, and
a general impatience for change. No government
can withstand a combination of the stupid and
the foolish, or, as Henry VIII. termed them, the
' dull party' and the ' rash party.' In England, the
Tory party had always had the benefit of the weight
and influence of the stupid part of the nation. The
unlettered squires embraced with cordiality the notion
of the divine right of kings. Addison has given a
perfect picture of one of them in a number of the
' Freeholder.' The dog that has the sagacity to
worry a dissenter, the squire's complaints of the pro-
gress of trade and commerce, and his resolution to
resist any government that is not for non-resistance,
are characteristic of the Tory country-gentlemen of
that day. Even at the time of the dissolution of
"VValpole's administration, Pulteney, in talking of
the disposal of places, said, that the Tories, not being
men of calculation, or acquainted with foreign lan-
guages, did not pretend to the liigher offices of the
State. The Whigs, on the other hand, had in their
origin dei'ived some support from the folly of man-
kind. The wisdom of Somers, and the steady pa-
CH. XX. GEORGE THE SECOND. 129
triotism of Lord Cavendish, did not excite so much
enthusiasm as the handsome person of the Duke
of Monmouth ; and the story of the warming-pan
brought as many adherents to the cause of the Revo-
lution, as the Habeas Corpus Act and the Bill of
Rights. The foolish were, however, naturally es-
tranged from Walpole by his calm conduct, and the
unpretending wisdom of his measures. They united
themselves with the stupid, and formed, as might
have been expected, an overwhelming majority in
the nation.
It is astonishing to see how little, after twenty-
five years of power, could be brought against Wal-
pole, even when his enemies were in office. His
conduct in the South Sea business appeal's upon the
whole to have been extremely judicious. Corruption
in boroughs to an extent at which their posterity
would not blush, is indeed related by the Secret
Committee. Large sums, too, the disposal of which
his agents persisted in keeping secret, are unac-
counted for. The attempt to indemnify them from
all proceedings in order to get evidence from them
against their principal, failed in the House of Lords.
The effect of the long stagnation of public spirit
in the country is lamentably seen in the changes of
ministry which took place after the resignation of
Walpole. Principle seems to have made no part of
the faith of statesmen ; and all political contention
was reduced to a scramble for office, between little
bands of men whose rank and fortune only rendered
their conduct more contemptible. Lord Melcombe's
diary affords a faithful and very disgusting picture
of the manner in which these small factions rose
alternately one upon the other, forming every day
new combinations, and varying their connections in
every possible way, without ever deviating into an
honest and consistent line of public rectitude.
It is singular, and at the same time melancholy to
130 GEORGE THE FIRST AND CH. XX.
observe how much influence was retained by a per-
son so totally devoid of clearness of head, and even
of common manly sf)irit, as the Duke of Newcastle.
By intriguing to overturn Walpole, his colleague,
and by bargaining in boroughs, he became the most
powerful amongst the Whigs. But his incapacity
and dishonesty were one of the chief causes of the
ruin of the party, who did not for a long time recover
the disgrace of having served under such a chief.
There is one man, however, whose life forms an
exception to these remarks, and who did much to
waken the country from the lethargy into which it
was plunged. I mean, of course. Lord Chatham.
He was in almost every respect the reverse of Wal-
pole. Walpole lowered the tone of public men, till
it became unequal to any generous effort : Chatham
raised his voice against selfishness and corruption,
and his invectives even now make the cheeks tingle
with indignation. Walpole acted upon the love of
ease, the prudence, and the timidity of mankind :
Chatham appealed to their energy, their integrity,
and their love of freedom. It must be acknowledged
that Walpole had some merits which Lord Chatham
wanted. He pursued from the beginning one steady
and, upon the whole, useful line of State-policy:
Lord Chatham acted from the impulse of the moment;
and if he followed his feeling of the day, he little
cared how inconsistent it might be with his former
sentiments. Walpole seemed to aim at what was
most expedient ; Chatham, at what was most striking:
the former secured the guarantee of France to the
Protestant succession ; the latter attacked her pos-
sessions and humbled her name. Walpole looked to
prosperity, Chatham to glory ; the one carefully
amassed the means which the other magnificently dis-
sipated. Walpole was successful nearly to the end
of his life. The cause of his long power is to be
found both in the steadiness of his conduct, and his
CH. XX. GEORGE THE SECOND. T31
care to unite together a large and respected party in
favour of his government. Lord Chatham succeeded
in nothing after the accession of George III. He
had neither sufficient consistency of character to in-
spire confidence in those who were to act with him,
nor did he set a proper value on the importance o£
party in this country. If Walpole had thought too
much of individuals, Lord Chatham consulted them
too little. Provided he made up his mind to a mea-
sure, he seems to have thought that he could always
find men to carry it into effect. His temper made
him reject or quarrel with those who were best fitted
by integrity and general views to assist him, but who
differed with him in the smallest point ; and he sought
aid from others Avho flattered, jidiculed, betrayed, and
supplanted him.
Hence it was that the political character of Eng-
land was not raised out of the mire into which it had
fallen, by the splendid talents, generous virtues, and
lofty views of the first William Pitt, Earl of Chatliam.
K 2
132
CHAPTER XXI.
GEOEGE THE THIRD.— BEGINNING OFHISEEIGK—
AMERICAN WAR.
'Moreover, I have a maxim, that the extinction of party is the
origin of faction. — Letter of Horace Walpole to Mr. Montague, Dec.
11, 1760.
When George III. came to the throne, little ap-
parent alteration took place in the internal govern-
ment of the country. An Act was passed to continue
the judges in their offices notwithstanding the demise
of the Crown. Although it was obvious that such an
Act diminished in no way the power of George
III., but only took away one means of influence
from liis successor, yet this measure was represented
as an act of unparalleled generosity on the part of
the young King. As a proof of royal patriotism, it
is nothing ; and as an addition to the liberties of the
subject, it is not worth mentioning. The Act of
William III., which made the judges independent of
the pleasure of the Crown, and gave them their
offices during good behaviour, was the true security
for their independence. What has been done since
has been merely ornament.
The important feature of the new reign was
the experiment of a new project of government.
Among other disastrous consequences of the want
of public spirit in England, was a total neglect of the
political education of the young King; hence he came
to be placed in the hands of men who had but re-
cently shaken from their minds their allegiance to the
House of Stuart. It occurred to these persons that,
in the general blight of political virtue and public
CH. XXI. GEORGE THE THIRD. 133
confidence, an opportunity was afforded for raising
the household standard of the sovereign, and rallyino-
around his person the old relics of the Jacobite part/,
with the addition of all who, in the calculation of
chances, might think the favour of the sovereign as
good an interest as the countenance of any minister
whatever. To foi-m and consolidate this party, they
studiously spread all the doctrines which place the
whole virtue of a monarchy in the supreme sanctity
of the royal person. They endeavoured to obtain a
certain number of seats in the House of Commons,
which, with the help of a proportionate quantity
of patronage, might make the tenure of any minis-
try uncertain. They made loud professions of
honesty and of conscience, which, when examined,
consisted in an obstinate adjherence to certain narrow-
minded tenets, and did not prevent the most shame-
ful violations of sincerity and truth, whenever it
suited their purpose to deceive and to betray. They
assiduously planted their maxims of government in
the mind of their royal pupil ; and as he was natu-
rally slow, obedient, good-tempered, and firm, he
too easily admitted, and too constantly retained, the
lessons of his early masters.
Almost everything conspired to favour the pro-
jects of this mischievous faction. The disunion of
the Whigs ; the contemptible character of the Duke
of Newcastle ; the inconsistency and vanity of Lord
Chatham ; the decay of Jacobitism ; the predilec-
tion of the people in favour of the young King, the
first of his family born in England, all strengthened
the new sect. The prejudice of the nation against
Lord Bute, as a Scotchman, was the only set-off
against a host of favourable circumstances.
^ The system had flourished for some years in full
vigour, when Mr. Burke gave the powerful exposi-
tion and the sound and statesmanlike refutation of
it, which we read in the ' Thoughts on the present
134
GEORGE THE THIRD.
CH. XXI.
Discontents.' Tliis, which is one of the few stan-
dard works on the practical art of government
which the world possesses, did not and could not
immediately destroy the monster which it attacked.
But it rendered a service to this country scarcely
less essential, by instilling into the minds of young
politicians, who at that time were greatly increas-
ing in number throughout the country, those wise
and beneficial principles which their Whig ances-
tors had practised, but which the old intriguers of
that day had entirely forgotten.
The American War, disastrous as it was to the
councils and to the arms of the country, was emi-
nently useful in reviving the spirit of liberty. The
speeches of Lord Chatham, the speech on conci-
liation with America of Mr. Burke, and above all
the fervid eloquence of Mr. Fox, revived the genius
of the Whig party, and made them truly that ' con-
servatory of free principles ' which they must ever
be, if they aspii-e to their proper place in the Com-
monwealth.
1
135
CHAPTER XXII.
THE SENSE OF JUSTICE.
* Sous quelque idee de l^gerete et d'inconsideration qu'on se plaise
a nous representer le peuple, j'ai eprouve que souvent il embrasse a
la verity certaines vues, vers lesquelles il se porte avec ehaleur, ou
plutot avec fureur ; mais que ces vues ont pourtant toiijours pour
objet quelque interet commun, et d'une certaine generalite, jamais
un interet purement partieulier, comme peuvent etre les ressentimens
et les passions d'un seul homme, ou d'un petit nombre de personnes.
Je hasarde nieme de dire, que sur ce point le juge le moins faillible
est la voix de ce peuple meme.' — Sully, 1. 14.
One of the conditions necessary for the mainte-
nance of that species of freedom which excludes all
arbitrary power, is, that the people should be ready
to take part with the weak oppressed, against the
powerful oppressor. Madame de Stael remarks of
the French people of her own day, that they per-
ceive unmediately where power lies, and always
range themselves on that side. The truth of this
observation may be demonstrated by referring to
the events of the Kevolution, or attending to what
happens in any one year in France. The quality
essential to freedom, however, is one directly the
reverse. The people ought to feel a continual
j ealousy of, power ; and when th ey see any man born^
down unjustly, they ought to perceive immediately,
that the cause of that man is the cause of the whole
nation.
This is happily the case with the English people.
Nothing but the sympathy of the people could have
raised to such importance and celebrity the cause of
Hampden, when he refused to pay a few shillings to
the Crown. The imprisonment of a ]\Ir. Francis
Jenkes, for making a patriotic speech in the Com-
mon Council of London, roused the indignation
136 THE SENSE OF JUSTICE. CH. xxit.
of all lovers of their country, and was the immediate
cause of the Habeas Corpus Act.
Such, too, was the case of John Wilkes. Mr.
Wilkes, though detested and despised by good men,
as a hypocrite in public and a profligate in private
life, was defended by all who loved their country,
when arbitrary measures were resorted to for the
purpose of oppressing him. He was arrested by
virtue of a general warrant, wherein his name was
not mentioned, and he was designated only as the
author of the ' North Briton,' No. 45. At the same
time his papers were seized, and he was by this
means discovered to be the author of an obscene
Hbel, called the ' Essay on Woman.' It is evident
that the authority to issue general warrants was a
very dangerous power, and might have been used
to renew those arbitrary arrests which took place
under the Stuarts. Hence all the friends of free-
dom espoused the cause of Wilkes. Lord Chatham,
then Mr. Pitt, spoke with abhorrence of the man
and of his works, but with indignation of the means
that had been used to oppress him ; and the coun-
try who would have rejoiced to have seen him le-
gally punished, would not allow him to be unjustly
persecuted. They felt not for Wilkes, but for the
law ; they would have praised the jury which con-
victed him ; they censured the minister who op-
pressed him ; and in the cry of Wilkes and Liberty,
they adopted a contemptible person for the sake
of a sacred principle. A motion against general
warrants was defeated by a small majority in the
House of Commons ; but Wilkes obtained at length
large damages against the ministers who had abused
their power, and put an end to general warrants for
ever. So I trust it may always be, when any
individual, however humble, however odious, or
however despicable, is pursued by illegal or unjust
methods !
1
137
CHAPTER XXIII.
OF AN EXTRE]\IE REMEDY AGAINST THE ABUSES OF
POWER ; AND OF MODERATION IN THE USE OF THE
RExMEDY.
. . . Esto
Liberque ac sapiens. — Persius.
As a very numerous body are found Incapable of
transacting foreign affairs with that secrecy, or of
deciding upon them with that celerity, Avhich the
foreign relations of a State so often require, every
■wise State has found it expedient to transfer a large
portion of power out of the hands of large numbers,
and to entrust it to a single person or select council.
Hence the great council of Venice was, by the
advice of the wisest senators, excluded by degrees
from all deliberations which required delicacy and
despatch. Hence the Republic of Holland found it
necessary to name a few persons to whom all foreign
negotiations were confided.
But for whatever purpose power may be confided
to a few persons, or however worthy they may be
of the trust reposed in them, human nature is such,
that there ought always to remain with the people
an extreme remedy by which they may punish the
abuse, or restrain the power itself that has been
abused. In States really free this extreme remedy
will always be found to exist, either by custom or
by law. Thus the Roman people, when they felt
themselves aggrieved, retired to the Mons Sacer, or
refused to be inscribed as soldiers in the army that
was about to march against the foreign enemy.
There could not be apparently two more dangerous
expedients ; but such was the moderation of the
138 AGAINST THE ABUSES OF POWER. CH. xxiir.
Roman people, that I know not they ever pushed
their resistance beyond the bounds of reason. In-
deed, the long period that elapsed before the
plebeians could be elected to any office in the.
State, and the many years that followed after the
law passed allowing them to be military tribunes,
before any plebeian Avas really chosen, are sufficient
proofs of their temperance, both in advancing a
claim and in making use of a right.
The English have, in the same manner, an ex-
treme remedy. If the king abuses a just, or at-
tempts to exercise an oppressive power, the repre-
sentatives of the people have the right to refuse
the money required to carry on the government.
This remedy, however, was for a long time far
from being so efficacious as those employed by the
Roman people. In spite of the resistance of the
nation, Charles II. and James found means, with
the aid of packed Parliaments, and drafts on the
French treasury, to slip the bridle from their necks.
In fact, until the expulsion of the Stuarts, our kings
enjoyed a revenue independent of Parliament, which
enabled them to keep their Commons out of sight in
ordinary times. The parliamentary check was made
perfect at the Revolution ; but the influence of the
Crown in the body which ought to exercise it, has
continually deadened its effect. The voice of the
people, however, has sometimes enforced the consti-
tutional interference of the House of Commons.
The most remarkable instance, perhaps, of the use
of this right took place at the end of the American
war. The House of Commons declared, by a reso-
lution, that the further prosecution of offensive war
on the continent of North America tended to
weaken this country, and to prevent a reconciliation
with America. An address in conformity to this vote
having been carried to the throne, and the King
having returned a gracious answer, complying with
CH. xxur. AGAINST THE ABUSES OF POWER. 139
the address, the House of Commons voted that
they should consider as enemies of his Majesty
and this country all those who should advise the
further prosecution of the war in North America,
for the purpose of reducing the revolted colonies
to obedience by force. In this, as in a few other
instances, although the word supplies is not men-
tioned, it must always be understood ; and there is,
in fact, a tacit menace of refusing supplies in every
intei-ference of the House of Commons with the
exercise of the prei'ogative.
This power, it is quite clear, would enable the
House of Commons, if so disposed, to declare them-
selves the sovereigns, and to take away every efficient
prerogative from the Crown; but such is the
moderation of the English people, that they have
never desired so formidable an increase of their
own power or that of their representatives. At the
Revolution, when the whole question was open,
they did not take away a single grain of the powers
necessary to maintain the monarchy. So, at the
present day, the true reason why the Crown main-
tains its prerogative and the House of Lords their
privileges unimpaired lies in the temper of the
nation. The country has a deep-rooted affection
for kingly government, and would highly resent
any attempt to change or destroy this keystone of
the Constitution : nor, as far as I can observe, is
this sentiment confined to particular orders of men ;
it pervades the Avliole country from one end to the
other.
140
CHAPTEK XXIV.
CRIMINAL LAW.
' The discretion of a judge is the law of tyrants : it is always un-
known: it is different in different men: it is casual, and depends upon
constitution, temper, passion. In the best, it is oftentimes caprice ; in
the worst, it is every vice, folly, and passion to which human nature
is liable.' — Lord Camden,
Until the years which followed the peace of 1815,
our legislators were so much engrossed by political
events, that criminal law met wdth little attention.
Thus a merchant or squire went into the House
of Commons, exasperated by the loss of his broad-
cloth, or the robbery of his fish, and immediately
endeavoured to restrain the crime by severe pe-
nalties. Mr. Burke used to relate that, being
stopt one night as he was leaving the House of
Commons, and requested by the clerk at the table to
stay to make a House, asked what was the business
in question. — ' Oh ! sir,' said the clerk, ' it 's only a
new capital felony.' Hence it was that, every man
judging that to be the most deadly offence by which
he was himself a sufferer, the Parliament permitted
the statute-book to be loaded with the penalty of
death for upwards of two hundred offences. Among
the crimes so punishable, we find the offences of
cutting down a tree ; being found with the face
blackened upon the high road ; being in company
with the persons called gipsies. These continued
to be capital crimes till the year 1820, and one of
them at least still longer.
These extreme cases are not, however, the most
mischievous. The absurdity of the law is an anti-
CH. XXIV. CKIMINAL LAW. 141
dote to its cruelty. There were other offences,
punishable with death, which are really in them-
selves very serious crimes, but not of so atrocious a
character as to reconcile any humane man to their
being visited with so severe a penalty. Of this kind
are many offences against the bankrupt laws ; pri-
vately stealing from the person ; stealing from a
dwelling-house to the amount of 40^.; privately steal-
ing from a shop to the amount of 5 s. ; and many
others. The mischiefs produced by these sanguinary
laws were not however, as might have been expected,
a very great frequency of capital punishment, and
general insensibility in the people.
The evils peculiarly felt were two : — First, as it is
justly stated by Mr. Justice Blackstone, there is a
general disposition not to convict of a crime to which
an inordinate punishment is affixed. Cases were in-
niunerable in which juries have found goods of great
value, and even £10 and £20 notes, to be under
forty or five shillings value, in order not to convict
a thief of a capital offence.*
Mr. Harmer, who had been solicitor for two thou-
sand persons condemned to death, informed the
Criminal Law Committee that an old offender always
preferred being tried for a capital offence, as it gave
him a better chance of an acquittal. It is instruc-
tive to reflect that something of the same kind
happened at Athens. A criminal, when convicted,
was asked before the people how he would be
punished; and an old offender always named the
most severe punishment, to excite compassion in
his judges. It was partly because Socrates, instead
of following this custom, replied that his sentence
ought to be that he should be kept all his life at
the expense of the State, that he was condemned to
death.
Notwithstanding this well-known disposition of
* See the excellent speech of Mr. Buxton on the Forgery Bill, 1821.
142 CRIMINAL LAW. CH. xxiv.
human nature, so accustomed were we to rely on the
efficacy of capital punishments, that in any discus-
sion on repealing a criminal law, the question in
many men's minds always was, not whether the
offence Avas actually prevented by that law, but
w^hether' the offence is sufficiently grave to deserve
that it should be prevented by so severe a method.
People are apt to consult their own sense of this
matter, instead of looking to that of jurymen.
Secondly. Another great evil in the former state
of the law was its uncertainty. Two men, for in-
stance, were tried at Launceston for sheep-stealing :
both were found guilty ; one was condemned to
death, and the other to be transported for seven
years. It is e^adent there is no proportion in the
punishments. What is the reason ? The one had a
good character, the other a bad one. So that in
England a man was hanged, not for the crime of
which he was found guilty, but for the general
course of his life. Now this is a matter upon which
the prisoner was not tried. Such a system leads to
injustice, cruelty, and confusion. It takes away the
only motive for capital punishment, viz. the ben.efit
of example. It does little or nothing towards the re-
pression of the crime punished. It makes the pun-
ishment of death useless, and therefore cruel; for
every criminal will hope that his character will not be
found so bad as to make him forfeit his life. It
puts a man upon his trial for actions which the law
does not profess to try, and upon which he cannot
be prepared with a defence. Thus it happened a
few years ago, that a man of notoriously bad cha-
racter, after going through a course of larceny and
burglary with impunity, was at last, to the great sur-
prise of his neighbours, his jury, and liis prosecutor,
hanged for cutting down young trees.*
* See the evidence respecting this case given hefore the Criminal
Law Committee.
CH. XXIV. CRIMINAL LAW. 143
Many persons however, till a recent period,
thought it extremely dangerous to admit that our law
was in such a state as to require reform. Absolute
sovereigns have not been affected by this dangei*.
The King of Prussia (Frederick the Great), during
part of his long reign, placed his whole system of
law under discussion, and during a remaining portion
a project of new laws was under the eye of the pub-
lic for general criticism and consideration ; the King
thus taking away from the authority of the old law
without substituting anything in its place. Catherine
of Russia, and Napoleon, were the authors of new
codes. Many of the sovereigns of Europe have
altered their whole criminal jurisprudence. Why is
it, that all tliese governments have undertaken the
task without fear or hesitation, and that a party in
England was so long fearful of any innovation what-
ever in our old system ? The reason I believe to be
this, — that a very large portion of the higher ranks
in England never have understood, and never will
understand, the real security of the English Govern-
ment. These persons, seeing authority continually
attacked, imagined that the throne would be sub-
verted, if any part of our bad laws were removed.
They were not aware that the real foundation of
royalty and aristocracy in England is the opinion
the people have of their utility to the country, and
that the retaining any absurd or bigoted or cruel
statute, instead of preserving, undermines and de-
stroys the respect paid to the assemblies which have
the charge of improving and amending, as well as of
strengthening and preserving, the volume of our
laws. ^
The question of secondary punishments is the
most difficult of any. The words of Mr. Harmer
afford perhaps the best rule, shortly expressed, on
this subject. ' If I were asked,' said this gentleman,
in an examination before a committee of the House
144
CKIMINAL LAW.
CH. xxir.
of Commons, ' what description of punishments
would, in my opinion, be productive of benefit, I
would answer. Such as might force the delinquent
into a course of discipline wholly opposite to his
habits. Idleness is assuredly a part of his character,
which industry would counteract. Set him to
labour. He is probably debauched, and abstinence
would be advantageous to both his mind and his
body : apply it. He has been accustomed to disso-
lute companions, separation from whom would essen-
tially ameliorate him : keep him in solitude. He
has hitherto rioted in uncontrolled liberty of action.
I propose that he should be subjected to restraint,
and the observance of a proper decorum.'
145
CHAPTER XXV.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
' As it is in the body, so it is in the mind ; practice makes it what
it is ; and most even of those excellences, which are looked on as na-
tural endowments, will be found, when examined into more narrowly,
to be the product of exercise, and to be raised, to that pitch only by
repeated actions.' — Locke, of the Conduct of the TJnderstandmg .
The education of youth, which has employed so
many pens, produced so many sublime writings, and
undergone so little practical alteration, is not to be
thoroughly discussed in a few words. Some remarks,
suggested rather by observation of the world than
by any original speculation, may perhaps be allowed.
Men of enlarged views, and hearts glowing with
the love of mankind, have often conceived that
youth might be taught more knowledge than is dis-
tributed and less vice than is permitted or winked
at in the public schools of England. With this pro-
ject in their heads, and the most laudable love of
their children in their hearts, many parents have
given their children a private education. They
have instructed them in ten branches of knowledge
instead of two, and have preserved their morals and
their health during the first eighteen, or perhaps
twenty years of their life. But how often have we
seen these promising flowers drop off without being
succeeded by fruit in due season ! The lessons
which are learnt by a boy in the lingering and life-
less manner of a private study, without the excite-
ment of emulation, perhaps without the fear of
correction, make no lasting impression on the mind.
The restraint of a nursery of twenty years, gives a
zest to the pleasures and the vices for an indulgence
m which boyhood alone can be any palliation. The
L
146
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
CH. XXV.
period when tlie talents and strength of the man
ought to be unfolded is wasted in the new pursuits
of idleness and debauchery. At the same time, the
habits contracted at home, where the young patrician
met with no equal, unfit him for the rub of the great
world, and fix for ever those defects of temper which
early contradiction and early society might have ex-
tirpated. Such is often, though not certainly, the
result of an education intended to produce a prodigy
of perfection, and laid out with the hope of givmg
its unhappy object a pre-eminence over the ill-trained
generation of his equals and contemporaiies. The
mistake in these instances seems to arise from the
want of considering, that the object of education is
not only to store the mind, but to form the character.
It is of little use that a boy has a smattering of mi-
neralogy, and is very fluent at botanical names ; it
will be of no avail to him to talk of argil and poly-
andria, if he cries when he loses at marbles, and is
lifeless or timid when he is obliged to play a game at
cricket. Now, a public school does form the character.
It brings a boy from home, where he is a darling, where
his folly is wit, and his obstinacy spirit, to a place
where he takes rank according to his real powers
and talents. If he is sulky, he is neglected ; if he is
angry, he gets a box on the ear. His character, in
short, is prepared for the buffetings of grown men, —
for the fagging of a lawyer, or the fighting of a sol-
dier. Now, this is of much more importance than
the acquisition of mere knoAvledge. Many men only
begin to acquire their knowledge between twenty
and thirty, few men change their characters after
twenty. Considering the question in this view, it
is of little importance to enumerate the names of
• eminent men in England who have not been brought
up at public schools. Many of these rose from
middle life, and to them my argument does not apply.
The son of a tradesman or a farmer meets hardships
enough, without being sent to any school : lie is
CH. XXV. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 147
ordered to serve a customer, or look after the liay-
makers ; and learns practical life much sooner than
any gentleman's son can possibly do. If the view
that has been here opened is a right one, parents
ought to beware how they withhold from their sons,
if sufficiently strong and healthy, the advantages of
a public school. The democratic character of the
nobility of England, the democracy of the aristocracy,
if I may be allowed so to call it, is very much to be
attributed to the gregarious education they receive.
In this manner, her public schools form a part of the
constitution of the country. If they produce some
vice, and a good deal of rudeness, they subdue pride,
selfishness, and conceit ; they create emulation,
friendship, a love of truth, and a manly strength of
mind. Let anyone watch the education of a youth
of high expectations in Spain or Italy : he will see
hun followed everywhere by a servile flatterer, under
the name of a preceptor, learning nothing but the
varnish and the falsehood of the Avorld, — the idol of
his parents, and the torment of their friends. Men
of sense, who have undergone this dangerous ordeal,
all speak with envy and admiration of the public
schools of England.
Let it be granted, however, that more may be
taught by pi-ivate tuition. I am far from agreeing
that, for this reason, the boy of the pi'ivate tutor
will have any advantage over the boy of the public
school. His knowledge will be out of place ; his
exertions of mind will fail of their efi^ect, because
they will not fit in with the minds of other men.
His superiority in some branches of learning will
be unheeded, and his inferiority in others Avill make
him ridiculous. Upon the whole, there is perhaps
no point from which a man can start, in any profes-
sion or pursuit, so advantageous as a complete and
thorough knowledge of what is knoAvn by other
young men, among whom he wishes to excel.
L 2
148 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. CH. xxv.
It being conceded that a boy of high expec-
tations ought to be brought up at school, I am
not disposed to contend that the education of our
public schools is exactly what is right, or that it
is all that is right. These schools were insti-
tuted at a time when all knowledge was contained
in the Grreek and Latin classics, and no sound
opinion or polished taste was to be found out of the
learned languages. From this gi-oundwork, how-
ever, the moderns have raised a prodigious edifice,
both of science and of literature, of the whole of
which our school education, from eight to eighteen,
takes no notice whatever. The first thing, however,
it must be admitted, is to learn how to learn : ' Ilfaut
apprendre a apprendre ; ' and for this it is requisite
that the first thing taught should be difficult to ac-
quix*e and be retained when it is acquired. I know
nothing so good for this purpose as the Latin gram-
mar. Boys, it is said, do not understand it. They
do understand, however, that a nominative case goes
before the verb ; and they come in a short time to
learn where each part of speech must be placed, and
how it depends upon another. If Mr. Locke is right
in his estimate of the importance of words, this is a
point of great consequence. And who can doubt
that he is right? It is to a dogged application to
the Latin grammar perhaps that the precision of
men, when compared to women, in this country, is
in great part to be attributed.*
The Latin grammar learnt, easy prose, then the
poetry of Virgil, some arithmetic, the Greek gram-
mar. Homer, some geometry, and a little geography,
might come in their due order. Above all, I would
make boys learn faithfully an abridgment of the
History of England, and of the first and last volumes
of Blackstone.
* I hear "mXh pleastire that have agreed upon an improved
the masters of our public schools Latin grammar. (1864.)
»
CH. XXV. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 149
French should be learnt early, in order to ac-
quire the pronunciation, and because it is the
general language of Europe ; German and other lan-
guages, as far as it is possible. It will be sufficient
to lay a foundation for learning, at a more mature
age, those parts of knowledge that are likely to be
sought voluntarily, and may be acquired easily.
I know not whether it would be practicable to in-
troduce improvements of the kind I have mentioned
into our great public schools. If the masters should
resist, what could be easier than to make a founda-
tion for a certain number of boys, with the qualifica-
tions of being the sons of poor officers, who might
afterwards choose their profession ; and to institute
at the same place a school where education might be
conducted in a manner suitable to the knowledge of
the present age ?*
As it is at present, there is no doubt that women
of the hio;her ranks have much more knowledire
and information, when their education is attended
to, than men have. But I cannot see any reason
why our boys should not, wliile they have the ad-
vantages of public schools, at the same time be taught
to do a sum in the rule-of-three, and make themselves
masters of the fact that James I. was not the son of
Queen Elizabeth.f
* This is done to some extent made or making, and the process
at Wellington College. (1864.) -will be greatly accelerated by the
t All the improvements sug- excellent Report of the Public
gested in this chapter, written Schools Commission. (1864.)
forty-five years ago, are either
150
CHAPTER XXVI.
POOR-LAWS.
' Generally it is to be foreseen {provided) that the population of a
kingdom, especially if it be not mown down by wars, exceed not the
stock of the kingdom by which it is to be maintained.' — Bacon.
There was nothing, perhaps, in the whole state of
England, which forty years ago was more threaten-
ing to its tranquillity, and the permanence of its
Constitution, than the administration of the poor-
laws. The perversion which had been made of them
from the orio;inal meaning of the statute of Eliza-
beth, had at length fallen most heavily upon those
who thought to draw from that abuse a selfish gain.
The statute of the 49th of Elizabeth seems to
have had its rise in a general increase of idle poor
tlu'oughout the country. The notion that this in-
crease was owino^ to the dissolution of the monas-
teries is now given up ; it having been clearly
shown that the same complaint was made in Spain
about the same time.* It is more probable that the
introduction of legal order, and the cessation of in-
ternal war not long before, both in England and
Spain, threw upon society a great number of vaga-
bonds, Avho were accustomed to live by vagrancy
and plunder. The Act of Elizabeth directed that
the old and impotent should be provided for, and
that the strong and healthy should be set to work.
The first of these two directions is the law of a
tender and humane people, and will, I hope, ever
remain upon the statute-book of England. The
* This important fact was first brought to light in the ' Edin-
burgh Review.'
en. XXVI. POOR LAWS. 151
second direction is not equally easy of execution.
A few casual I)eggars, indeed, might be provided for
in this way ; but when, from stoppage of trade, or
any other cause, there exists a superabundant popu-
lation, it is manifest that anv work which could be
done by the unemployed, would only be augmenting
the stock of a market already overflowing. When
this was found to be actually the case, the overseers,
instead of furnishing work, supplied the unemployed
with money. With the fluctuations of commerce,
the issue of a fictitious currency, the vast increase
of taxes, and, above all, in the years of scarcity
during the great war, a new difficulty arose : — men
who had large families found themselves unable to
support them, although they were themselves em-
ployed, from the very low rate of wages compared
wath the price of food. Instead of a rise of wages,
the natural and obvious remedy for such an e\'il, it
was agreed that a cei'tain sum of money should be
paid for the support of each child at the house of
his father. In this provision, introduced under the
pressure of temporary distress, the farmer saw a
means of reducing the price of labour. Having the
market of labourers overstocked, and therefore at
his command, he refused to give to the unmarried
labourer more than was sufficient to support life ;
he gave the same to the married labourer, and paid
out of the poor-rates the exact sum necessary for
the subsistence of the labourer's children. By this
scheme the ignorant employer thought he had re-
duced the price of labour to the lowest possible :
and there have not been Avanting men of enlightened
minds disposed to exalt the scheme as the perfection
of rural economy. The natural consequence of such
a scheme, however, was in the first place to lower
the character of the labourer : to make him pass his
life in dependence, and see himself, instead of being
able to rear an industrious family from the savings
152 POOR-LAWS. CH. XXVI.
of his wages, reduced to the condition of a public
mendicant. This consequence, perhaps, might not
have given any disquiet to the employer ; but there
is another as certain and as necessary : and that is,
that marriages will no longer be regulated by the
demand for labour ; and that a labourer, seeing that
his children will be fed out of the public fund, will
marry when it suits his inclination, without a penny
in his pocket. Hence an immense growing popula-
tion, with a defective and diminishing market; a rapid
supply, without any adequate demand. And there
existed forty years ago no apparent reason why the
evil should not continue to increase, until, at length,
the whole profits of cultivating the land were swal-
lowed up by the expense of maintaining a colony of
useless mouths. If that had happened, the farmer
and the labourers must have fallen together; and
there would have been thrown upon society a num-
ber of people ignorant of all duties, deprived of all
sense of independence, and accustomed to derive
their means of subsistence without labour from the
public funds. Such a result, it is manifest, would
have been more calamitous than any revolution that
has yet happened in the world. Happily, the
farmers at length felt the evil themselves, and endea-
voured, by one way or another, to apply a remedy.
The evils of the jjoor-laws at length became so
great as to incline men to wish for their total repeal.
But I am inclined to think that, great as was the
mischief of the former system, the entire abolition of
the poor-laws would have been still greater. In a
country subject to such violent transitions from the
revolutions of trade and commerce, it would be cruel
and inhuman to expose the labouring classes t* the
ruin that would follow a period of agricultural or
manufacturing distress. The poor-laws required to
be pruned, not rooted up : the use of the knife, and
not of the axe. Happily the true remedy was at
length applied.
153
CHAPTER XXVII.
WAE WITH THE FEENCH EEPUBLIC.
' It is imprudent to attack a people who are divided amongst
themselves, with a view of conquering them, in consequence of their
disunion.
' There was such disunion in the Eoman repuhlic between the
people and the nobihty, that the inhabitants of Veii, together with
the Etruscans, thought that they could extinguish the Eoman name
by taking advantage of these dissensions. Having raised an army
therefore, and made incursions upon the territory of Eome, the senate
sent against them Cneius ManHus and Marcus Fabius, whose army en-
camping near the enemy, the people of Veii did not cease from attack-
ing, both by arms and by reproaches, the Eoman name ; and such was
their rashness and insolence, that the Eomans, who were disunited,
became united, and engaging the enemy, defeated and routed them.
We see therefore how much men deceive themselves, as we have before
observed, in the line of conduct they adopt, and how it frequently hap-
pens that, in thinking to obtain an object, they lose it. The people
of Veii beUeved, that by attacking the Eomans disunited, they should
defeat them ; and the attack, on the contrary, caused the union of the
Eomans, and their own ruin : for the causes of dissension in repul Jics
are generally idleness and peace ; the causes of union are fear and war.
. . . The people of Veii therefore were deceived in their opinion,
and were, in short, in one day overcome by the Eomans. And so for
the future will be deceived whoever, in a similar way, and for a simi-
lar cause, shall think to oppress a nation.' — Machiavel, Discourses.
The war against France, undertaken in 1793, ex-
emplified at its commencement the wise observa-
tions which I have Quoted from Machiavel. The
more apparent the attempts of the Allied Powers
to regulate her internal government, the greater
her vigour, the more brilliant her victories, the more
extensive her conquests. At length, tempted by-
military trophies and successful treaties, she confided
herself to a sovereign who, abusing his genius and
his force, endeavoured to make himself despotic
lord of the whole continent of Europe. The Whig
154 WAR WITH THE FRENCH EEPUBLIC. CH. xxvii.
ministry of 1806 found it impossible to make peace
with him ; and, with few exceptions, all parties in
Eno-land agreed in thinkino; the continuance of the
war just and necessary. The Spanish people, in
1808, rose in the same cause which the French
people had defended in 1793 — the cause of national
independence. At length, drunk with unexampled
power and glory, and irritated by a perpetual thirst
of action, the Emperor of France carried his great
army of conquerors to perish amid the frosts of
Russia. The nations roused themselves, restored
national governments, and hurled the conqueror from
the throne. The republic had triumphed, the uni-
versal monarchy was defeated.
lo5
CHAPTER XXVIII.
LIBERTY THE GREAT SOURCE OF THE WEALTH OF
NATIONS, AND ESPECIALLY OF TH/iT OF ENGLAND.
' Liberty, the parent, of commerce ; the parent of wealth ; the
parent of knowledge ; the parent of every virtue ! ' — Speech of Sir
James Mackintosh, on the Foreign Enlist7nent Bill.
The object of political economy, it is well known, is
the wealth of nations. Quesnay, who is generally
styled the inventor of this branch of knowledge,
considei-ed agricultural labour as the only source of
public wealth : Smith superseded him, and taught
that wealth consisted in all material products. He
therefore called the labour which raised such pro-
ducts from the earth, or which added a value to
them by industry, productive labour; while he
styled the labour which neither created such pro-
ducts, nor added a value to them, unproductive.
The first class included agriculturists and manufac-
turers ; the second, kings, judges, clergy, soldiers,
actors, &c. M. Say has since amended this definition,
and has proposed to include under the head of pro-
ductive labour, all labour which is useful, whether
of body or mind. Thus he considers the labour of
a professor of civil law as valuable as that of a
weaver of stockings. M. Say, however, though he
makes this distinction, very soon loses sight of it,
and in the rest of his work we find little traces of
the opinion. The opinion of Adam Smith still re-
mains the corner-stone of his own system, and of that
of his disciples.
Withoixt discussing these definitions, which are
not very scientific, I conceive the object of political
econoiny to be, to remove obstacles that may impede
the progress of a nation to wealth.
156 THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. CH. xxvm.
In entering upon the enquiry how this object
may best be effected, let us take a view of those
States which history or a recent time exhibits to our
view as peculiarly prosperous, or peculiarly wretched.
In the latter, we should perceive a languor, a dis-
taste to labour, an indifference to emulation, narrow
parsimony, and a wretched way of living ; in the
former, we should observe incessant activity, vigorous
enterprise, the arts flourishing, learning encouraged,
comfort and ease diffused through every class. Pro-
ceeding to enquire into the circumstances which
produced this difference, we should find liberty to
be the great exciting cause of industry in the States
whose prosperity has been the most remarkable.
It appears certain, that wherever the spirit of the
Government itself has not repressed the love of gain,
as at Sparta, the industry of free citizens has ex-
celled the efforts of slaves, deprived of motives by the
jealousy of their masters. Let us turn our eyes to the
proud merchants of Florence, Venice, and Holland,
making their little States the envy and terror of great
monarchies. Let us refer, on the other hand, to the
people of France, living in wretched dependence on
arbitrary taxes, and forced to conceal their food
from di-ead of their Government. Let us pause a
moment to consider what was, forty years ago, the
different situation of England and Spain. By the
report of a committee of the Cortes, it appeared that
the utmost amount of taxation which, in their jvidg-
ment, Spain could bear, was about £6,000,000 ; in
the same year, England and Scotland cannot have
paid less than £60,000,000, and, including poor-rates
and county-rates, nearer £70,000,000. What was
the cause of this prodigious difference of wealth?
Was it that the English laws on trade and commerce
were so greatly superior in wisdom to those of the
Spaniards? This can hardly be alleged to be the
case : our own laws on these subjects were, up to the
CH. XXVIII. THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. 157
peace of 1814, the products of protection and pro-
hibition, the most absurd and irrational of any sys-
tem of national economy. Is it that Spain entirely ne-
glected the new lights of the age ? On the contrary,
she endowed a professorship of political economy in
the University of Salamanca ; a step which was not
taken so early, that I know, by any other great State
in Europe. She has had, in the course of the last
century, ministers who had the most enlightened
views of public wealth ; but despotism blasted all
their efforts, and every tree they planted, after a few
feeble shoots, withered and died beneath its poisonous
influence; — the very desire of accumulation was
wanting, for all the privileges of civilisation, the
expanded mind and generous knowledge of freemen,
were forbidden by the Inquisition. England, on the
other hand, blest with equal laws, and affording scope
for the expansion of the best faculties of man, has
been rewarded for her liberality by the efforts which
industry, genius, and talent will always make when
not impeded by despotic or bad government.
But let us listen on this subject to two great
orators, at a period when the exertions of the coun-
try to retrieve its losses during the American War
had been crowned with unexampled success. Mr.
Pitt, the minister, said —
* Such are the circumstances which appear to me
to have contributed most immediately to our present
prosperity. But these again are connected with
others yet more important. They are obviously and
necessarily connected -with, the duration of peace, the
continuance of which, on a secure and permanent
footing, must ever be the first object of the foreign
policy of this country. They are connected still
more with its internal tranquillity, and mth the
natural effects of a free but well-regulated govern-
ment. What is it which has produced, in the last
hundred years, so rapid an advance beyond what can
158 THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. CH. xxvili.
be traced in any other period of our history ? What
but that, during that time, under the mild and just
government of the illustrious princes of the family
now on the throne, a general calm has prevailed
through the country beyond what was ever before
experienced ? And we have also enjoyed, in greater
purity and perfection, the benefit of those original
principles of our Constitution, which were ascertained
and established by the memorable events that closed
the century preceding ? This is the great and
governing cause, the operation of which has given
scope to all the other circumstances which I have
enumerated. It is this union of liberty with law
which, by raising a barrier equally firm against the
encroachments of power and the violence of popidar
commotion, afibrds to property its just security, pro-
duces the exertion of genius and labour, the extent
and solidity of credit, the circulation and increase of
capital ; which forms and upholds the national cha-
racter, and sets in motion all the springs which
actuate the great mass of the community through all
its various descriptions. The laborious industry of
those useful and extensive classes, the peasantry and
yeomanry of the country; the skill and ingenuity of
the artificer; the experiments and unprovements of
tlie wealthy proprietor of land ; the bold specula-
tions and successful adventures of the opulent mer-
chant and enterprising manufacturer ; — these are all
to be traced to the same course, and all derive from
hence both their encouragement and their reward.
On this point, therefore, let us principally fix our
attention ; let us preserve this first and most essen-
tial object, and every other is in our power ! Let
us remember that the love of the Constitution, though
it acts as a sort of natural instinct in the hearts of
Englishmen, is strengthened by reason and reflec-
tion, and every day confirmed by experience ; that
it is a Constitution which we do not merely admu'C
cii. XXVIII. THE "WEALTH OF NATIONS. 159
from traditional reverence, wliich we do not flatter
from prejudice or habit, but which we cherish and
value because we know that it practically secures
the tranquillity and welfare both of individuals and
of the public, and provides, beyond any other frame
of government which has ever existed, for the real
and useful ends which form at once the only true
foundation and only rational object of all political
societies.'
Mr. Fox, the leader of Opposition, on the other
hand, 'took occasion to pay a compliment to the
eloquence of Mr. Pitt, and to the philosophical prin-
ciples of government on which he had argued. He
said the i-ight hon. gentleman had enumerated the
causes of national prosperity with truth and splen-
dour. He subscribed to his statement cordially,
and, if he did not himself go over the same ground,
it was because he had nothing to add to what had
been already said. But he begged to be understood
that these reasons were all applicable to the pro-
sperity of the country, not merely to the prosperity
of the revenue. The right hon. gentleman had fairly
said that, above all, they were to be ascribed to the
hapj^y form of our Constitution.'*
We may be satisfied with the testimony of two
such witnesses to the fact, that our free constitution
is the source of our prosperity.
The first and main cause of the wealth of nations,
then, is liberty. Passing from this part of the sub-
ject, the next great incentive to industry is order.
This can only be procured by the union of religion,
morality, and law. It is order which assures to
every one the tranquil possession of the Avealth that
he may have acquired; it is the regular authority
of the law which confers a value on a house in
Middlesex above one in Turkey. Who Avould lay
* Parliamentary Debates, 1792.
1 60 THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. CH. xxvm.
out his capital in purchasing the fee-simple of the
finest estate in the wilds of Tartary ?
Connected with order, and the respect paid to
property by the law, is good faith on the part of the
Government. Any man would prefer the security
of a banker of Amsterdam to that of an Arab chief;
or the word of a London coal-merchant, to the most
solemn bond of the Sultan of Bokhara. These
three things, therefore, may be considered as the
true springs of national wealth — freedom, order, and
public faith.
Next to these great motive powers, is a wise dis-
position of the economical laws of the nation. The
whole of the precepts, however, to be given on this
subject resolve themselves into one — remove all ob-
stacles to industry. As far as wealth is concerned,
the fewer restrictions the better. This is the great
truth proved by Smith, and his coadjutors in France
and England, in opposition to the absurdities of the
mercantile system.
' Laissez faire, et laissez passer,' said the French
merchant to Colbert ; and after two centuries of
struggle against restrictions, monopohes, protections,
bounties, diiFerential duties, and regulations for di-
recting industry and fixing wages, we can say nothing
more wise or more concise.
161
CHAPTER XXIX.
NATIONAL DEBT.
' The common people do not work for pleasure generally, but from
necessity. Cheapness of provisions makes them more idle ; less woi-k
is then done, it is then more in demand, proportionally, and of course
the price rises. Dearness of provisions obliges the manufacturer to
•work more days and more hoiu-s ; thus more work is done than equals
the usual demand ; of course it becomes cheaper, and the manufac-
tures in consequence.' — Franklin's Political Fragments.
' It may now be affirmed, without fear of contradiction, that wo
find it as easy to pay the interest of eight hundred millions, as our
ancestors found it a century ago to pay the interest of eighty mil-
lions.' — Macaulay's History, vol. vi., ed. of 1864.
The capital of the national debt, at the accession of
George L, and when all the accounts of the great
War of the Succession may be supposed to have
been settled, amounted to £54,000,000, the interest
to £3,351,000. Sir Robert Walpole instituted a
sinking fund, on Avhich great eulogiums were made,
and of which great hopes were entertained. In
1739 the capital of the debt was £46,954,000, the
interest £1,963,000; so that he diminished the in-
terest about £1,400,000, and the capital about
£7,000,000.^ The Spanish War, however, which
commenced in 1739, increased the capital of the debt
by £31,300,000, and the interest by £1,096,000.
The peace which followed diminished the capital by
£3,700,000, and the interest by £664,000. But in
1763, after the Seven Years' War, the national debt
amounted to £146,000,000.
From that time to the breaking out of the Ameri-
can War, the national debt was diminished by
£10,739,000.
At the close of the American War the national
debt amounted to £257,000,000.
M
162 NATIONAL DEBT. CH. xxix.
The celebrated sinking fund of Mr. Pitt, esta-
blished in 1786, reduced the national debt, during the
peace, by £4,751,000, and the interest by £143^000.
On the 5th of January, 1817, after the close of
the war, the national debt amounted to ^848,282,247.
In four years from that tune, that is, on the 5th of
January, 1821, the debt amounted to £845,100,931,
being a diminution of little more than three millions.*
During more than a year of this time a new sinking
fund had been in operation, voted by Parliament to
amount to £5,000,000 a year.
Such has been the alternate progress of national
debt and sinking fund — the one advancing by giant
steps, and the other, although much vaunted, never
having, in the course of a century, made half the
progress that Avas made by the national debt in the
single vear 1815. He must be a sano-uine man in-
deed who expects the sinking fund to overtake his
ojiponent.
Such being the state of the case, it is more than
ever necessary to examine what this debt is, what
are its effects on the prosperity of the country, and
what is likely to be the idtimate result. This last
enquiry is indeed one of great uncertainty. Causes
the most unlooked-for may intervene, and entirely
change the direction of political events.
The first operation of the national debt is as fol-
lows: — The minister borrows, we will say £300, of
a merchant who has the money in his coffers. He
engages to pay £15 of interest. For this purpose
he lays a tax of £5 on a landed proprietor, another
£5 on a farmer, and another £5 on a tradesman, all
supposed for the present to have equal incomes, and
to pay the tax equally. The first operation of the
tax is generally the following: — The farmer and
* Account of the Total Amount and Ireland, presented to the
of the National Debt of England House of Commons, Sess. 1821.
CH. XXIX. NATIONAL DEBT. 163
tradesman add the tax to the price of their com-
modity. Thus the tradesman pays a part of the tax
of the farmer, and the farmer part of that of the
tradesman. A tax, it is evident, still remains upon
the shoulders of each. The tradesman and farmer
must therefore either work harder, and produce more
of their own commodity, or they must be contented
with less profits, retrench their expenses, and buy
less of the commodities of their neighbour. The firs;''
takes place in a flourishing condition of a community,
and the second in a poor, Aveak, and exhausted state.
It is by the continual efforts of men to produce more,
and to accumulate, that a country rises to prosperity ;
it is by the saving and narrowing of accumulation
and expense that a nation falls into decay.
There is another manner in which a tax is paid
that is still worse. It is by diminishing the profits
of a particular trade. Thus, if a tax of great amount
had been laid on shoe-buckles, the sellers of that
article, unable to obtain the payment of the tax,
would have been obliged to content themselves with
less profit. The trade which is thus unequally taxed
is soon abandoned.
We must not lose sight, however, either of the
landed proprietor or the stockholder. The proprietor,
it is e\ddent, must pay, besides his own part, a part of
the tax of the farmer and the tradesman, and he has
no means of repaying himself. For this reason the
economists supposed that the proprietors of land paid
all the taxes. But they may, if they please, retrench
their consumption, and that too with much more ease
than the tradesman ; as a livery-servant is more
easily parted with than an artisan.
The stockholder, in the meantime, if he is a con-
sumer, pays to the tradesman and the farmer part of
the tax which is raised for his benefit. But he has
greater facilities of avoiding expense than any other
branch of the community.
M 2
164 NATIONAL DEBT. CH. xxix.
There can be little doubt that, for a certain time,
a national debt is beneficial in its effects. It pro-
motes a rapid circulation of money ; it brings new
capitalists into the market, A\ath more enterprise and
more invention than the old proprietors of land ; it
oblio;es the labourer to work harder, and at the same
time produces new demands for labour. But when
the national taxes have increased to a certain amount,
these effects are nearly reversed. Prices are so pro-
digiously increased to the consumer, that all prudent
men retrench both their consumption and their em-
ployment of labour. The greater projiortion of the
general income of the country is transferred from
the hands of men who have the means of laying it
out in agriculture or manufactures, into the hands of
great merchants whose capital overflows the market,
and returns again upon the land in the shape of
mortgages. There is, at the same time, a great want
of money in some quarters, and a great abundance
in others. Such are the effects of a large national
debt upon individuals. But there is another view
in which this debt is an umnixed evil. I mean, as
it impairs and exhausts the resources of the State.
The expenses of former wars render it at last difficult
for a nation to raise taxes for its defence. So much
of the rent of the landholder is taken from him, that
the minister dares not ask for more, as it would be
equivalent to the confiscation of the land itself.
Mr. Hume has speculated with great ingenuity on
the consequence of the national debt arriving at this
pitch. He supposes that one of three methods must
be resorted to. The first is, that the scheme of some
projector should be adopted, Avhich could only tend
to increase the confusion and dismay, and the nation
would thus 'die of the doctor.' The next is a
national bankruptcy — a plan that he seems to look
upon with some approbation. The third, and last, is,
that the nation should persevere in jiaying the full
I
en. XXIX. NATIONAL DEBT. 165
interest. He speculates on such a determination,
and compares it in the following manner with his two
former suppositions : — ' These two events, supposed
above, are calamitous, but not the most calamitous.
Thousands are thereby sacrificed to the supply of
millions. But we are not without danger that the
contrary event may take place, and that millions
may be sacrificed for ever to the temporary safety
of thousands. Our popular government, perhaps,
Avill render it dangerous for any man to venture on
so desperate an expedient as that of a voluntary
bankruptcy. And though the House of Lords be
altogether composed of proprietors of land, and the
House of Commons chiefly, and consequently can
neither of them be supposed to have great pi-opertv
in the funds ; yet the connection of the members
may be so great with the proprietors, as to render
them more tenacious of public faith than prudence,
policy, or even justice, strictly speaking, requires.
. . . The balance of power in Europe, our grand-
fathers, our fathers, and we, have all esteemed too
unequal to be preserved without our attention and
assistance. But our children, Aveary of the struggle,
and fettered -wath encumbrances, may sit down secure,
and see their neighbours oppressed and conquered :
till at last they themselves and their creditors lie
both at the mercy of the conqueror.' * The picture
of things at home he draws in the following man-
ner : — ' No expedient remains for preventing or sup-
pressing insurrections but mercenary armies : no
expedient at all remains for resisting tyrannv :
elections are swayed by bribery and corruption
alone : and the middle power between king and
people being totally removed, a grievous despotism
will prevail. The landholders, despised for their
* This course, thus forf-.^pen 'wise policy ; Init it is, in fact, the
liy Mr. Hunif, lias been lately poll /y of the Tories, in the reign
reconimendeil as a new ;ind a of Queen Anne. (1864.)
1G6 NATIONAL DEBT. CH. xxix.
poverty, and hated for their oppressions, will be
utterly unable to make any opposition to it.'*
If we look to foreign nations, we shall see that
Venice, after wars of glory, arrived, in the begin-
ning of the last century, at that stage of decay of
w^hich Mr. Hume speaks. Her revenue was not
sufficient to pay the interest of her debt. She sus-
pended payment, but still was unable to support the
expense of her government. It requires, however,
more space than we have here, to examine the
complicated causes of her downfall.
Holland Avas also borne down in her latter years
by the Aveight of her debt. It is still enormous in
proportion to her wealth and population.
France beo;an the Revolution with a debt she
could not support. By a summary process, in the
middle of the Avar, she virtually abolished the greater
part of it. No country, hoAvever, has yet been
precisely in the situation of England. Commerce
and credit are not confined to a spot, but run
through every vein in her body ; and a national
bankruptcy Avould give a sudden check to industry,
the effects of Avhich would not easily be repaired.
Very mistaken notions prevail Avith respect to the
good effects Avhich would follow from applying a
sponge to the debt. Of these mistakes, none is
more mischie\'ous than the notion which many en-
tertain and inculcate, that the labourer who receives
I8s. a week, of which several are consumed by the
taxes on beer, &c., AA^ould, if these taxes were taken
off, receive the same 18s., and obtain more than
twice as much for them. The real price of labour,
it must be recollected, is regulated by the supply
and demand. The money-price, of course, will vary
Avith the money-price of the provisions, house-rent,
clothes, candles, &c., which are required for the
* Hume's Essays. Essay on Public Credit.
CH. XXIX. NATIONAL DEBT. 167
maintenance of the labourer. If the demand for
labour remains the same, and by a reduction of
taxes the articles Avhich the labourer uses are re-
duced in price from I8s. to 8^., his wages will fall
from 18^. to 8s. But it will be said that the
farmer and manufacturer, having more capital to
lay out on labour, the reduction of taxes will bring
an increased demand. This, indeed, may ultimately
be the case ; but it is not likely that such effect
would follow a sudden stoppage of the j^ayment of
the dividends. So many consumers are spread over
this country, Avho derive their income, either directly
or indirectly, from the funds, that the first effect of
a national bankruptcy would be a great diminutioia
of demand, and a general depreciation of agricul-
tural and manufactured produce throughout the
country.
Happily, we have not at present any reason to
fear that we shall be placed in the ugly alternative
of national bankruptcy or national ruin. But we
must not, for this reason, undervalue the CAdl of a
great national debt. An income-tax of two shillings
in the pound would not be more than sufficient to pay
the interest of sums borrowed to pay the expense of
our American and French wars, and no one would
think lightly of the burthen of that tax greatly
increased in order to defray the expenses of fresh
wars.
168
CHAPTER XXX.
THAT A FREE GOVERN]\IENT REQUIRES PERPETUAL
. JEALOUSY, AND FREQUENT RENOA^ATION.
' Le goiivernement d'Angleterre est plus sage parce qu'il y a rm
corps qui rexamine continuellement, et. qui s' examine continuelle-
ment lui-meme : et telles sont ses erreurs, qu'elles ne sont jamais
longues, et que par I'esprit d' attention qu'elles donnent a la nation,
elles sont souvent utiles.' — Montesquieu, Grandeur et Decadence des
Bomains, chap. viii.
All experience of human nature teaches us the
fact, that men who possess a superiority, real or
imaginary, over their fellow-creatures, will abuse
the advantages they enjoy. A man cannot drive a
one-horse chaise without looking down upon those
who walk on foot ; much less can a mortal be en-
trusted with the uncontrolled guidance of an em-
pire, and not be guilty of insolence or oppression
tOAvards those who are styled his subjects.
The History we have been reviewing is pregnant
with examples of the encroachments of power, and
the decline of virtue in those who are appointed
to govern. The House of Tudor enlarged their
prerogative beyond the boundaries of all former
times ; the House of Stuart improved upon those
bad precedents, and claimed, de jure, that despotic
authority which the Tudors had exercised de facto.
When this sin was washed away in the blood of
the royal martyr, Cromwell, who had been ap-
pointed to command the forces of a free Common-
wealth against an ambitious Sovereign, made use
of the influence he had obtained to set iip his own
authority still higher tlian that of England's here-
ditary kings. When Charles II. was restored to
CH. XXX. A FREE GOVERNMENT, ETC. 169
the throne of his father, by the indulgence of a
forgiving nation, he imposed upon her a yoke at
once more galling and more degrading than that
of any former monarch. William III. passed his
life in continual struggles with his subjects to ob-
tain new prerogatives or prevent fresh restrictions
on the royal power. When, by the accession of
the House of Hanover, the Whigs at length be-
came completely triumphant, they also fell oif from
virtue, and the martyrs and patriots of the seven-
teenth century were succeeded in the eighteenth
by a race of pettifoggers and peculators. Nothing
can show more clearly the necessity of perpetual
jealousy than the corruption of the Whig party :
inheriting all the great principles of liberty, and
forming the only free government of any import-
ance in Europe, power proved to them a Capua,
and success induced them to forget the means
and neglect the qualities by which they had ob-
tained it.
It is true, that the continual agitation of public
questions in England has in it something very alann-
ing to persons at a distance. I remember when
the question of the Liberty of the Press was dis-
cussed in the Spanish Cortes of 1811, an orator,
who spoke against a free press, held out the fate
of England as a warning, and asked the assembly
if they wished to see as many factions, and as many
tumults, as prevailed in Great Britain. But these
things are more dreadful in appearance than in
reality. Tavern-speeches, contested elections, field-
meetings, and tumultuary processions, often seem to
portend the instant destruction of the order of
society ; but the sound and the smoke are greater
than the mischief, and the people, accustomed to
the noise, pursue their occupations with as much
composure as the crew of a frigate manoeuvre the
vessel amid the roar of the Avind. The evils of
170 A FREE GOVERNMENT CH. xxx.
despotism, through less striking, occasion far more
suffering : the one is like an eruption of the skin,
of little importance, though visible to every eye ;
the other is a mortal, deep-seated disease, which
unseen attacks the noblest and most vital parts of
the frame.
These observations apply, in my opinion, to the
agitated question of Parliamentary Reform. It ap-
pears to many, even in England, that the discus-
sion of this subject is fraught with the mightiest
dangers, and cannot terminate but in the convul-
sion of society. It aj^pears to me, on the contrary,
that these discussions arising out of the state of the
people, and carried on with the whole nation for
an audience, so far from being mischievous, tend to
excite that spirit of enquiry and investigation which
is necessary to the freedom of the State.
AVhether Keform is carried or not, it cannot but
be of the utmost service to direct the attention of
the people to the conduct of the House of Commons,
and to oblige them to become, either by their con-
stitution or by the fear of shame, the vigilant
guardians of the public interests. The discussion
of the question of Reform -will beneficially serve to
prevent that stagnation of the public mind, and that
blind confidence in the depositories of power, Avhich
are fatal to a free State.*
One melancholy reflection seems to result from
what has been said. Liberty, which requires per-
petual agitation, perpetual jealousy, and perpetual
change, must be exposed to more hazards, and
therefore be less durable in its nature than des-
potism, which to subsist requii-es only to be un-
altered. A despotism, indeed, which is founded
upon ignorance, and which carefully excludes the
external light, may, if not invaded from without,
* Written in 1821, but applicable in some degree to 1865.
CH. XXX. REQUIRES PERPETUAL JEALOUSY. 171
he the most permanent of all governments ; for the
debasement of the peojjle, Avhich is one of its means
of immediate government, is likewise a security
against any future change. It would seem, indeed,
that freedom, like all the best and finest produc-
tions of this world, is one of the most frail and
ti'ansitory. But let not despotism boast her ad-
vantage : half a century of freedom within the cir-
cuit of a few miles of i-ock, brings to perfection
more of the greatest qualities of our nature, displays
more fully the capacity of man, exhibits more
examples of heroism and magnanimity, and emits
more of the divine light of poetry and philosophy,
than thousands of years and millions of people col-
lected in the greatest empire of the world can ever
see accomplished in the darkness of despotism.
172
CHAPTER XXXI.
CONSTITUTION OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
' It is true that wliat is settled by custom, though it be not good,
at least it is fit. And those things -which have gone long together
are, as it were, confederate within themselves. Whereas new things
piece not so well ; but thoTigh they help by their utility, yet they
trouble by their unconformity. All this is true if time stood still :
which contrariwise moveth so round, that a froward retention of
eustom is as turbulent a thina: as an innovation ; and they that
reverence too much old times are but a scorn to the new. It were
good, therefore, that men in their innovations would follow the ex-
ample of time itself, which, indeed, innovateth greatly, but quietly.'
— Lord Bacon.
"We have hitherto said scarcely anything of the con-
stitution of the House of Commons. From the time
of Edward I. it has been composed of knights who
represented the freeholders or landed property of
counties, and of citizens and burgesses, who repre-
sented the commercial interests of cities and boroughs.
What these boroughs so distinguished were, is a
question lost in remote antiquity. It appears clear,
however, that the writ sent to the sheriff merely
directed him to send to Parliament bvir^esses for the
boroughs within his countv, and that the sheriff is-
sued his precept to such of the places called boroughs
as he thought fit. Whether they were so called
from charter or prescription is uncertain. This
service being attended by wages to the members,
was considered as a burden ; and several boroughs
petitioned and obtained leave to be relieved from it.
During the contest of the Houses of York and
Lancaster, however, the House of Commons having
become of more importance, and having not unfre-
en. XXXI. HOUSE OF COMMONS. 173
quently a voice in the disposal of the crown, the
privilege of electing members to have a seat in it
grew into a desirable privilege. The Charter of
W^enlock, granted by Edward IV., which is said to
be the first in which the privilege of sending members
to Parliament is expressly mentioned, grants that
privilege as a matter of favour, and as a reward of
services performed by the proprietor of the borough.
A little before this, the right of voting at county
elections was restrained to 40s. freeholders, on ac-
count, it is said, of the tumults and affrays which
were likely to occur at those elections — a proof that
they were already objects of interest. The kings of
the House of Tudor, it will be recollected, although
they raised themselves above the people, acted not
■vdthout, but through the Parliament. The House
of Commons began to debate according to present
forms under the sovereigns of this family. During
the reign of Elizabeth, it happened, for the first
time, that a member was found guilty of bribing the
returning officer. In the reign of James, after
four hundred years' discontinuance, Agmondesham
was restored to the privilege of sending members.
Wendover and Marlow were restored at the same
time. Amongst the arguments in favour of their
right, we find the follomng, in an abstract of the
case drawn in 21 Jac. I.*—' Thirdly, the use in
these ancient times being, that the burgesses, attend-
ing in Parliament, were maintained at the charge of
the boroughs; when the boroughs grew poor, the
boroughs only for that reason neglected to send their
burgesses to the Parliament ; therefore, now seeing
they were contented to undei'go that burthen, or to
choose such burgesses as should bear their own
charges, there was no reason to deny that petition.
Lastly, it was urged in behalf of the burgesses, that
* Browne Willis, Notitia Parliament aria, vol. i. p. 120.
174
CONSTITUTION OF THE
CH. XXXI.
the liberty of sending burgesses to Parliament is a
liberty of "that uatvire and quality, that it cannot be
lost by neglect of any borough ; for every burgess so
sent is a member of the great council of the kingdom,
maintained at the charge of the borough ; and if
such a neglect may be permitted in one borough, so
may it be in more, and consequently in all the
boroughs in England ; and then it might follow that,
for want of burgesses, there would be no Parlia-
ment.'
In consequence of this decision, there was re-
turned, for Wendover, Mr. John Hampden, ' who
beareth the charge.' In this and the succeeding
reio-n, the folio wins; boroughs were restored by Par-
liament : —
Ilchester .
. 18 Jac. I
Agmondesham
. 21 Jac. I
Wendover
. Ditto.
Great Marlow
. Ditto.
Cockermoiith .
. 16 Car. I
Okehampton
. Ditto.
Honiton .
. Ditto.
Ashbiirton
. Ditto.
Milbome Port
. Ditto.
Malton .
. Ditto.
Northallerton
. Ditto.
Seaford .
. Ditto.
Twenty-four were restored by the Sovereign himself:
these apparently were willing to bear the charge.
Fifty-one boroughs that had sent members have
never been restored at all. From the reign of Henry
YIII. to the accession of Charles I., the House of
Commons received an addition of 156 members. In
Cornwall alone, Edward VI. added 12 members,
Mary 4, and Elizabeth 10.
Cornwall, it appears, was chosen as the best place
to fix these members, because the Crown, in right
en. XXXI. HOUSE OP COMMONS. 175
of the duchy, had great influence there, by means
both of mines and lands. Tliese additions clearly
show the desire of the Crown to obtain dependents
within the House of Commons. Such unhealthy ex-
crescences, however, did not prevent the Petition of
Right, or guard the throne from the Roundheads.
At a time when projects were teeming on all sub-
jects, for the amendment of the whole body of the
law, of the Church, of the State, and even of the
calendar, it was not to be expected that the House of
Commons should be without its reformer. Especially
it was to be expected that a plan should be recom-
mended for making representation equal and uniform.
Accordingly, a proposal of this nature came from the
masters of all reforms of that day — the army. The
plan was adopted in its chief principles by Cromwell
in the two Parliaments he called after becoming
Protector; but neither the temper of the times, nor
the genius of the man, permitted the experiment to
be made in such a manner as to give it the slightest
value. From the first of these two Parliaments
Cromwell experienced a decided opposition to his
authority ; and it was dissolved because it presumed
to discuss the question whether the government
should be in a single person. In the second, after
various means used to influence the electors, no
person was allowed to enter ^nthout a certificate from
the Council of State, and thus 100 members were
excluded. Richard Cromwell, either discouraged
by these essays, or yielding to the growing partiality
for old forms and methods, assembled a Parliament
in the ancient manner. Lord Shaftesbury, however,
Avho was the first after the Restoration to violate
the independence of Parliament, by insisting that
all returns should be judged of in Chancery, was
also the first to renew and keep alive the doctrine
of Parliamentary reform. In a paper published
after his death, he complains not only of the undue
176 CONSTITUTION OF TUE CH. xxxi.
length of Parliaments, and the corrupt practices of
boroughs, but insists on the great speculative griev-
ance that Cornwall sent more members than Wales.
Some of his friends, and especially Mr. Samuel
Johnson, chaplain to Lord Russell, endeavoured to
move the question at the Revolution, but both the
great parties studiously avoided the discussion.
From that time to that of Lord Chatham, the prin-
ciple of reform, though favoured by some illustrious
men, chiefly Tories, seems to have slept in peace ;
at the same time, however, the grievance greatly
increased. Borouschs became more and more venal :
and the number of placemen in a house of 556 mem-
bers is said to have been not less than 200. But
the people take little or no interest in the question
of reform, or indeed in any question purely constitu-
tional, except when they are suflEering real evils
from misgovernment. It should be mentioned, how-
ever, that in 1745 a Tory motion for annual Par-
liaments, intended probably to shake the Hanover
succession, was rejected by a majority of only 32.
Lord Chatham, finding from experience how diffi-
cult it was to rouse the House of Commons to a due
sense of ministerial abuses, proposed, as a measure
of expediency, that a hundred members for counties
should be added to the representative body. This
plan was obviously founded on utility only : in the
plu-ase of its illustrious author, it was a plan * to in-
fuse new life into the Constitution.'
The American war having placed the misrule of
our statesmen in a glaring light, Mr. Pitt, in 1781,
in 1782, and in 1785, made motions in the House
of Commons itself in favour of different plans of
reform ; all, however, professing to amend only a
part of the representation, and resting, like those
of his father, on the basis of utility and experience.
There Avere, however, other doctrines afloat. Dr.
Jebb, and, after him, Mr. Cartw^ight, broached the
CH. XXXI. HOUSE OF COMMONS. 177
theory of personal representation ; which, following
out the principles of Mr. Locke, pretended to estal)-
lish, as a natural and indefeasible right, the claim
of every man to have a vote. Neither this theory,
however, nor the plan of Mr. Pitt, which was sup-
ported by Home Tooke and all the temperate-
reformers of that day, met with any success. Mr.
Pitt became at first cold, and then totally silent on
the subject.
The question slept till the French devolution,
which disturbed everything, woke it anew. A so-
ciety, consisting of many of the ablest men of that
day, drew up the paper called the Petition of the
Friends of the People. This was no less than a bill
of indictment against the governing assembly of
Great Britain. The history and the state of the
boroughs is minutely detailed ; and an elaborate
attempt is made to show that a few individuals have
the command of the House of Commons, and of
course it follows, of the persons and purses of every
man in Britain. There is one pai't of this statement,
however, which is manifestly irrelevant to the sub-
ject. A large number of county members and others
are enumerated as elected by the influence of peers
or certain wealthy commoners. It is alleged, that
not only do 84 persons nominate directly 157 mem-
bers, but that 70 others, by indu-ect influence, in
counties and large towns, return 150 more; and
thus a pretended proof is given, that a few persons
elect a majority of the House of Commons. Now
every one who knows England, knows that the free-
holders of the same political opinions in a county,
whether magistrates or shopkeepers, generally agree
to give their votes to the same candidate. The
qualities which they seek for in a candidate, it is
also known, are, generally, not eloquence, or even
abilities, but sense, integrity, and property. Pro-
perty itself is supposed, in some manner, to be a
N
178 CONSTITUTION OF THE cn. xxxi.
guarantee of character. It therefore happens, that
the person among them who has most land, if he has
other common requisites, is the member ; and if that
person happens to be a Peer, then his brother or his
son. Thus it is not the tenants only of a man of
pi'operty, but his party in conjunction with his
tenants, who make him knight of the shire. A
complaint, therefore, that the eldest son of a certain
Peer is always returned member for a covmty in
Avliich he has a large estate, instead of the wisest
shopkeeper or labourer in the county, is not a griev-
ance fit to be stated to the House of Commons,
although it might make part of an essay on the
character of the English people, or of a general
treatise on human nature.
Laying this objection aside, however, the main
scope of the petition admits of this answer : — ' You
complain of the formation of the House of Com-
mons, such as it has existed from the Revolution to
the present time. You prove that the frame of our
government during that time has been a corru})t
combination for private purposes. But our fathers
and our grandfathers have told us, that during that
time they were very free and very happy. Their
testimony is confirmed by the ablest lawyers, the
greatest philosophers, the most enthusiastic poets
of the times. Your theory goes to overthrow the
testimony of Blackstone, Montesquieu, Thomson,
Cowper, and a hundred otliers, who have declared
England to be in their time in the enjoyment of
complete freedom. Now government is a matter of
experience, and not of speculation ; we ^Yi\l, there-
fore, rest contented with things as they are.'
Such an objection as this appears to me to be
sound. For the complaint is made, not of a single
or particular grievance, but of the majority of the
governing body of the State, such, or nearly such,
as they had existed for a hundred years of liberty
CH. xxxr. HOUSE OF COMMONS. 179
and glory. To exi)lain this furtlier : if a petition
■were presented complaining of the bankrupt laAvs, it
clearly would not be a good objection to say, ' Our
ancestors have been free and happy with the bank-
rupt laws, therefore we will not change them.' But
if a petition were presented, stating that the division
of our government into three powers was a most
absurd one ; that it was ridiculous to give one man
as much power as 658 representatives of the whole
people : that it was out of all reason to admit into
the House of Lords a spendthrift or an idiot, because
his father had been a statesman or a favourite ; that
the veto of the king was a barbarous invention un-
worthy of a polished nation ; we should answer,
' The theory may be bad, but the practice has been
excellent.'
Mr. Fox, fully sensible of the weight of this
answer, came forward in 1797 and put the question
upon totally different grounds. He declared the
situation of the country to be so perilous as almost
to make him despair of the safety of the State. He
argued, that the conduct of the ministers had been
such as to brino; the commonwealth to utter ruin :
and no expedient remained but to recur to first
principles, and reconstitute the State. Admitting
the evil to have been fully as great as Mr. Fox
represented it, his reasoning was far from proving
the propriety of the remedy. For that evil certainly
did not arise from disreo-ardino; the voice of the
people in the "American and French wars. ' Liberty
is in danger of becoming unpopular to Englishmen,'
says Mr. Burke, in the American war. ' In short,'
says Mr. Fox, during the French war, ' liberty is
not popular. The country is divided (very un-
equally, I admit) betwixt the majority, who are
subdued by fears or corrupted by hopes ; and the
minority, who are Avaiting sulkily for opportunities
N 2
180 CONSTITUTION OF THE CH. xxxi.
of violent remedies.' * What a strange resource, then,
to make the Leoislature more democratic !
But when we are examinmg the principles of the
English Government, it is necessary to endeavour,
as far as we are able, to lay down some general
rules for the formation of the asseml)ly of the Com-
mons of a limited monarchy. A few may suffice,
both for the author and tlie reader.
First, All parts of the country, and all classes of
the people, ought to have a share in elections. If
this is not the case, the excluded part or class of
the nation will become of no importance in the eyes
of the rest ; its favour will never be courted in the
country, and its interests ^vill never be vigilantly
guarded in the Legislature. Consequently, in pro-
portion to the general freedom of the community
will be the discontent excited in the deprived class,
b}' the sentence of nullity and inactivity pronounced
upon them. Every system of uniform suffrage, ex-
cept universal, contains this dark blot. And uni-
versal suffrage, in pretending to avoid it, gives the
whole power to the highest and the lowest, to money
and to multitude, and thus disfranchises the middle
class, the most disinterested, the most independent,
and the most unprejudiced of all. It is not neces-
sary, however, although every class ought to have
an influence in elections, that every member of every
class should have a vote. A butcher at Hackney,
who gives his vote perhaps once in twelve years at
an election for the county of MidfUesex, has scarcely
any advantage over another butcher at the same
place, who has no vote at all. And even if he had,
the interest of the State in these matters is the chief
thing to be consulted; and that is as well served by
_ * Letter to Lord Holland. are full of avowals that he had
See also Mr. Fox's Speeches at become unpopular by his op-
tho beginning of the war, which position to it.
CH. XXXI. HOUSE OF COMMONS. 181
the suflfrage of some of each class, as by that of all
of each class.
It is an aro-ument too ajrainst makino; the ri<xht of
suTirage too common, that the privilege of giving a
vote gains a value, from not being too generally jjos-
sessed, or too frequently exercised : were it used
every year, by everybody, it would be as little re- .
garded as the golden j^ebbles were by the childi-en
of El Dorado.
Secondly, Enlightened men of every class should
be capable of being elected. The highest in rank,
excepting the Peers, should be admitted, because
they give to a popular assembly new importance,
and receive from it additional stability. Above all,
their presence and concurrence unite the aristocracy
and the people in a common sympathy, planing away
the pride of the one, and the enxj of the other. Men
who have risen by commerce ought, most undoubt-
edly, to be capable of admission, both to give an en-
couragement to the honest exertions of all sorts of
men, and to make every class feel intimately per-
suaded that they are represented in fact as Avell as
in name. These two sorts of persons require only
the legal permission to enter the Legislature : thev
are sure to find themselves there. But there is an-
other class who ought to form a part of any good
representative body, whose election is not so sure, —
I mean those who are distinguished by their learnino-
or their talents, but not by their fortune or their
commerce "v^-ith the world ; men who have devoted
their youth to the acquirement of the knowledge of
English law, laws of nations, history of the constitu-
tion, political economy ; but Avho are excluded l)v
their want of pecuniary means, their temper, or their
habits, from popular contests. For it is not to be
denied that a body of 10,000 farmers or tradesmen
will choose no man who is not known to them, either
by his station in the country, or by a course of
182 CONSTITUTION OF THE ck. xxxi.
popular harangues. If, then, you make none but
elections by large bodies, you either shut out the
aristocracy of talent from your assembly, and con-
stitute them into a body hostile to your institutions,
or else you oblige them to become demagogues by
profession : things both of them very pernicious, and
very dangerous to the State. It is useful, there-
fore, to have some elections by persons who, from
their station in society, are acquainted "\dth the cha-
racters of the men of talent of the day. This may
be done either by forming some elective bodies of a
few persons, Avith a high qualification, or by giving
to property a commanding influence in the return of
a propoi'tion of members.
Thii'dly, The grand principle of all, derived from
the two foregoing, is, that the representative body
should be the image of the represented ; not that
it should represent property only, or multitude only,
or farmers, or merchants, or manufacturers only ;
not that it should govern TA-ith the pride of an in-
sulated aristocracy, or be carried to and fro by the
breath of transient popularity ; but that it should
unite somewhat of all these things, and blend these
vai'ious colours into one agreeable picture. The
House of Commons should be, as jNIr. Pitt said,
an assembly united with the people by the closest
.sympathies. Nor is it meant by this expression to
say, that it should be for ever following the upper-
most passion of the people. The decisions of the
House of Commons should be such as either to sa-
tisfy the people at the moment, or capable of satisfy-
ing them upon plain reasons, when the alignments
and the facts are laid before them. If the decisions
of the representative body are not fit to do this, not
only are they a bad House of Commons, but they
would form a bad senate or a bad privy council.
Let us now see whether the Enoflish House of Cora-
mons IS formed upon principles similar to those I
have mentioned.
CH. XXXI. HOUSE OF COMMONS. 183
1st. The general sclieme of the representation is
evidently calculated to give the right of voting to
persons of all classes. Landed property is rejjre-
sented in counties ; commercial, in cities ; and the
boroughs contain various modes of suffrage, and are
subject to various influences; in one place of a great
landowner, in another of a club, in another of the
multitude. These, too, are all so blended together —
the towns have so much influence in county elec-
tions, and landed proprietors so much influence in
the neighbouriug city or town, that one kind of
members does not feel much jealousy of another
kind. It is always a great misfortune when they
are pitted against each other.
But although no class is excluded from our con-
stituent body, there were parts of the country which
before the Reform Act were very inadequately repre-
sented. The county of Lancaster, and the county of
York, comprising Manchester, Bolton, Leeds, Shef-
field, Halifax, and Huddersfield, and containing
2,500,000 of inhabitants, were represented by four
persons. This was evidently a practical grievance,
and as such it was felt.
2nd. Enlightened men of every class have found
their way at all times into the English House of
Commons. Those Avho had property in land were
candidates for their respective counties ; those Avho
had made their fortune by commerce or manufac-
tures, easily established an interest in cities with
v/hich they had some connection, or in towns (there
are many such) where, without bribery, the inhabit-
ants required a man of fortune to support their public
institutions, and give them his custom in laying out
his income. There remains the aristocracy of talent,
who before the Reform Act arrived at the House
of Commons by means of the close boroughs, where
they gencrallv were nominated by Peers or Com-
moners who liad the property of these boroughs in
their hands. In this manner the greater part of our
184 CONSTITUTION OF THE CH. xxxi.
distinguished statesmen have entered Parliament.
The use of such members to the House itself, and to
the country, is incalculable. Their knowledge and
talents give a weight to the deliberations, and in-
spire a respect for Parliamentary discussion, which in
these times it is difficult for any assembly to obtain.
The speeches, too, of able and eloquent men produce
an effect on the country, which is reflected back
again on the Parliament ; and thus the speech of
one member for a small borough was often of more
benefit to the cause of truth and justice than the
votes of twenty silent senators.
3rd. Did the Commons of England before the Re-
form Act represent the people ? Perfectly well when
the people and the Government agreed ; but when
they separated, the decisions of the House of Com-
mons leant more to the side of the Government than
to that of the people. This may be proved by examin-
ing the history of the last two years of the American
war. The majorities on these occasions were small,
and they consisted chiefly of borough membei's.
The same thing happened on the Walcheren expedi-
tion, and after the peace of Paris, on divisions i-e-
lating to the scale of expenditure which the ministers
kept up. The country was decidedly one way ; and
the House of Commons, by small majorities, de-
termined in the opposite direction. The proof of
this is made by analysing the divisions, and seeing
how the county members Jiave voted. Thus, on Mr.
Dunnino-'s motion in 1780, ministers out of 215
members counted only 11 county members, whilst
their opponents out of 233 had 69. The desertion
of 20 members was then sufficient to turn the scale.
On the Walcheren expedition, the English county
members against ministers were nearly as three to
two, but the majority of the whole House was in
favour of the administration. In 1817, on the ques-
tion of appointing a finance committee with less than
en. XXXI. HOUSE OF COMMONS. 185
five placemen upon it, the county members divided
27 to 15 for the Opposition; the House at large, 178
to 136 for ministers. On a motion for reducing two
Lords of the Admiralty, the county members Avere
35 to 16 ; the House, 208 to 152 the other way.
It thus appears that during two periods of crisis, the
county members, who, as we have seen, are men of
property, inclined to the Crown always from station,
and generally by party, have been in minorities upon
the popular side. It is sufficiently clear, therefore,
that other parts of the House of Commons are far
indeed from representing the people. The boroughs
especially are liable to this censure. The boroughs
generally gave a large majority to ministers ; but
the smaller boroughs gave five and six to one, and
the Cornish boroughs sixteen or seventeen to one in
their favour. There is one kind of borouerhs which
was known before the Reform Act, which was a chief
cause of this disorder. This was a species of bo-
rough of which the seat was sold by the electors to
the highest bidder. Many of those who represented
this kind of borough came into Parliament with what
were called commercial -vdews. These views were
to advance their own interests as much as possible at
the Treasury, and to vote on all questions and at all
seasons with the Treasury. Many boroughs also had
what was called a patron — sometimes an attorney,
sometimes a baronet, and sometimes a peei*, who sold
them in the market, and took fifty per cent, for his
trouble.
We have now arrived at the conclusion, that the
House of Commons did not adequately represent
the people, and that the small boroughs prevented
that vigilant stewardship of the public revenue which
is the bounden duty and peculiar function of that
assembly. It follows, as an immediate consequence,
that the small boroughs betrayed the trust which
was reposed in them for the good of the community,
186 CONSTITUTION OF THE CH. xxxr.
and that they might without injustice have been
deprived of the vahiable privilege they possessed.
But we then come to another question. It is not
certain, because we have a right to do this, that it
may not be better to bear the ills we have, or that
the remedy may not be worse than the disease. Let
us then pass in review one or two of these re-
medies.
Let us, for instance, consider the effects of a plan
to divide the country into districts, and extend the
right of suffrage to all persons paying direct taxes.
If this plan were accompanied by a triennial bill, it
would certainly render the House of Commons an
assembly very obedient to the popular voice ; but
there is some danger that many of the advantages of
representation would be lost. The very scoj^e and
object of representation is to obtain a select body,
who may not only have a sympathy with the people,
but who may, by the habits of business which their
number permits, and the judgment Avhich their elec-
tion implies, manage the interests of the country
somewhat better than each town and county could
do by petition and public meeting. If you render
the House of Commons a mere echo of the popular
cry, you lose, on many questions, all the benefit of
having a body in some degree capable of directing
public opinion. I am aware that this argument
may be easily pushed too far. I can only repeat, to
explain my meaning, that the House of Commons
ono;ht to make such decisions as are either ao;reeable
to the people at the time, or when they are not so,
the weight of argument should be so great as to con-
vince the country, within a short time afterwards,
that the resolution or vote was adopted, not from
any corrupt or sinister motive, but from an enlai'ged
and sagacious view of the public interest.
Many arguments might be used to show that a
House of Commons elected by one class only would
CH. XXXI. HOUSE OF COMMONS. 187
not form a body so well fitted to repi*esent the
people as one chosen by many different classes. It
is sufficient to say, however, that tliere seems to be no
necessity for changing the whole frame of our repre-
sentation. For my own part, I cannot understand
hoAv an Englishman can have read the histories of
Athens, of Sparta, of Venice, of France, of Spain —
how he can have looked into the history of the
Avorld — how he can have thrown a single glance at
the oovernments existino- in the world at the end of
the eighteenth century— how he can have weighed
the miserable result of the most benevolent plans,
and the most brilliant schemes of o-overnment, and
not cling the closer to his native home. Whatever
may be said by theoretical writers, it is impossible
not to see that the laws afford a greater protection
to civil, personal, and political liberty in England,
than the general averaije of o-overnments attain.
' The blessings of the constitution under which we
live ' is not, after all, an unmeaning phrase. They
are acknowledged by foreign nations, and. by the
great majority of the people of this country. The
true coin of our freedom may be dipt and worn,
but still it is better than any paper security that
may be offered to us. We speak, we write, wo
think, we act, Avithout fear of a Bastille or an In-
quisition. We wear liberty about us as a garment ;
and the remains of the spirit of old times are of
sounder and better flavour than a new constitution,
however admirable, which requires new maxims of
conduct, and would, produce new feelings of right
and justice.
There was, hoAvever, another principle, or basis
upon which measures of reform might in 1821 have
been founded.
We have seen that, towards the end of the
American, and after the conclusion of the French
Avar, the decisions of the House of Commons Avere
188 THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. CH. xxxi.
contrary to the well-known sense of the people.
But the majoi'ities Avere small, and perhaps an in-
stance mil hardly be found of a majority of more
than one hundred, on a question on which the
country itself was not extremely divided. Now, as
it is a maxim of Newton and succeeding philoso-
phers, not to admit more causes than are sufficient
to explain the phenomena ; so also it ought to be
the maxim of a statesman, not to propose more in-
novations than are sufficient to cure the e\dl.
I have elsewhere, however, fully explained my
opinion on this subject.*
I shall only state, in conclusion, that upon the
whole, the authority of our greatest statesmen has
leant to a partial, and not a general reform. Mr.
Pitt's first proposition was to add 100 members
to counties ; he next moved for a committee ; and
the last time he brought forward the subject, in con-
junction Avith Mr. Wyvill and the great body of
reformers, he proposed to buy the franchises of 36
boroughs, and of some close corporations, who
should be willing to part with them. But he never
proposed to pull down the house in order to build
it up again from top to bottom after a modern plan.
Mr. Fox, during the Avar of the French revolution,
went much farther. But his sober opinions, as well
as those of a person illusti'ious by his own charac-
ter, as well as by his friendship for Mr. Fox, may, I
think, be collected from the speech of Loi'd Grey,
on bringing forward a motion for a committee on the
state of the nation, in ISlO.f
* See Speeches in the House of Commons on Eeform, 1821-1822-
1831-1832.
f See concluding chapter.
189
CHAPTER XXXII.
STANDING AKMY.
' Nothing ought to be more guarded against in a free State than
making the military power, when such a one is necessary to be kept
oa foot, a body too distinct from the people.' — Blackstone,h. i., c. 13.
In every free State, a Standing Army has been an
object of attention and suspicion, and various methods
have been resorted to, to prevent the dangers which
might be expected to liberty from so formidable an
instrument of power. In a view of the constitution
of England, the subject of the standing army cer-
tainly ought not to be oinitted.
In ancient times, the king had a right to call for
the attendance of his military subjects in any Avar
in which the kingdom might be engaged, but the
term of service Avas never more than a summer,
and the feudal troops ranged under the banners of
their lords, retained their special allegiance, and
added nothing to the civil authority of the king.
Henry VII. is said to have been the first of our
sovereigns Avho maintained a body guard for his
own person. Henry VIII., and after him Queen
Elizabeth, began the practice of sending lord lieu-
tenants into the counties Avith authority to array
and command a part of the population for the de-
fence of the county.
From this institution arose the Avell-knoAvn pre-
tension of Charles L to the command of the militia;
a pretension Avhich, hoAvever countenanced by the
practice of his immediate predecessors, had no au-
thority in law. At the accession of Charles II.,
190 STANDING AEMT. CH. xxxii.
however, the questioa was decided by Parliament
in favour of the Crown ; and a statute Avas passed,
enacting that the command of the mihtia, as well
as of all other forces raised, or to be raised, in the
kingdom, should reside in the king. Charles was,
extremely jealous of this part of his prerogative ;
and on one occasion, when a inilitia bill was passed
by the House of Commons, he said he Avould not
let the militia out of his hands, no, not for one
hour. He made use of the power granted him by
Parliament to raise a standing army, varying in
numbers, according to the circumstances of peace
or war, and supported in times of peace by the
subsidies of Louis XIV. He is said to have been
the first king of England who went to open his
Parliament under the protection of the sword.
James II. increased the standing army to 30,000
men, and endeavoured to " make them the instru-
ments of his designs by a strong infusion of Roman
Catholic officers ; but the English soldiers disap-
j)oiuted his expectations, and, by their shouts at the
acquittal of the bishops, convinced the tyrant that
his ti'ouble had been thrown away. At the Revo-
lution, it was provided by law that no standing
army should be maintained in these kingdoms, un-
less by authority of Parliament. Since that time,
an Act has passed every year, enabling the king
to punish mutiny, desertion, and other military
offences ; the number of men to be maintained
during the year being always inserted in the body
of the Act. Thus we are secured at least against
the renewal of an attempt similar to that made by
Charles and James to keep up a military force, in
defiance of the authority of Parliament, and by
means proceeding from other sources. There is
not much gained, hoAvever, by this provision ; the
cost of maintaining an army is so great, that it
CH. xxxii. STANDING ARMY. ■ 191
could scarcely be defrayed otherwise than by Par-
liamentary funds.
During the reign of William, extreme jealousy of
a standing army was shown by the House of Com-
mons. After the peace of Ryswick, they obliged
the king to dismiss his Dutch guards, though
William sent down a message to the House of
Commons, written with his own hand, imploring,
in very earnest terms, that he might be allowed
to retain his favourite veterans. But the Commons
were inexorable. Nay, they voted at the same time
that the Avhole standing armv should be disbanded ;
but, upon consideration of the necessity of guards
and garrisons, they in the following year agreed to
vote 7,000 men for the defence of England, and
12,000 fur Ireland. Let it be remarked, that, at this
period, Louis XIV. was on the throne of France,
supporting the title of the exiled king of England,
and revie^^dng in his camp at Compiegne an army
of 80,000 men, part of 450,000 Avhom he main-
tained during w^ar. Some among us will perhaps be
surprised at the JDoldness of the English House of
Commons, both in thwarting their oAvn, and in de-
fying a foreign sovereign ; yet we shall not j^erceive
that they had any reason to repent of their rash-
ness ; for, during the succeeding war, the conqueror
of Blenheim and Ramilies renewed for England
the military glories of Crecy and Agincourt.
At the accession of the House of Hanover, the
standing army appears to have been increased.
Fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen thousand men were
usually voted by the Parliament of England, and a
separate establishment maintained in Ireland. This
number seems to have been the average of the
greater part of the last century. In our own
days, the number has been much more largely in-
creased.
192 STANDING AKMT. CH. xxxii.
A standing army being thus, as it were, engrafted
" upon the constitution of EngLand, it remains to be
seen what are its effects upon the government, and
Avhether any real danger is to be apprehended from
it. From the Revohition to the present day, there
have never been wanting a certain nlimber of per-
sons, whether moved by patriotism or by faction,
who have warned the country of the evils to be ap-
prehended from a military establishment, and pointed
out the subversion of the freedom of Rome and other
popular States by a standing army, as an example
for us to avoid. I am inclined to doubt, however,
Avhether the parallel be a just one. Republics have
been destroyed by standing armies, because armies
have assisted their chiefs in establishing a perpetual
dictatorship, and in overthrowing the senates and
the laws in behalf of a military despotism : but in
England, neither experience nor the present state of
the country can excite any reasonable dread of the
usurpation of a successful general. The monarchical
form of our government seems to be a preventive of
this evil. Neither is it much to be apprehended that
the sovereim himself will make use of the standino-
army to cashier the Parliament, and subvert the
constitution by force. Opinion is too much settled,
and the institutions of the country are too vigorous,
to admit of so desperate a project : the army itself
likewise is too deeply connected with the other
classes of the country, to concur in a scheme for
putting down the established authorities of the realm.
It is true, indeed, that the virtue of the army is, as
Lord Chatham said, our chief protection against this
danger ; but seeing how the army is constructed, it
is a sufficient security.
The open subversion of our liberties by the force
of the standing army is then not impossible cer-
tainly, but extremely improbable. Yet we are not
CH. XXXII. STANDING ARMY. 193
to conclude that because there is little clanger of the
army destroying our freedom, like the troops of
Marius or Ctesar, or of its becoming the sei'vile
instrument of a king in a design of making himself
absolute, that therefore a large standing army may
not be a reasonable object, if not of alarm, yet of
some suspicion and jealousy.
194
CHAPTER XXXIIL
OF THE INFLUENCE OF JURIES IN INTERPRETING
AND MODIFYING THE LAWS.
Virtue ! without thee
There is no ruling eye, no nerve in States ;
War has no vigour, and no safety peace ;
Ev'n justice warps to party, hiws oppress,
Wide through the land their weak protection fails.
First broke the balance, and then scorn'd the sword.
Thomson.
The proposition, that good laAvs without virtue in
the society where they are established are of little
or no avail, is one so generally admitted, that it seems
useless to waste a word respecting it. Perhaps there
is not a more comprehensive or a more humane code
of laws, than that Avhich was provided in Spain for
the government of the Indians of Mexico and Peru ;
but, unfortunately, the legislators were at Madrid,
and the people to be protected working for their
masters in America, without the power of enforcing
their legal rights ; so that the code was of no force
or value whatsoever. The converse of the proposi-
tion I have selected, hoAvever, although perhaps not
formally contradicted, is not so generally impressed
upon our minds. Men are easily led to believe, that
where liberty and wealth have flourished, there must
be some very singular excellence, some unfailing
virtue, inherent in the laws by which the State has
been governed. It would be an easy task to prove,
that neither at Athens, nor at Kome, nor at Florence,
nor in Holland, has the form of laws reached to any
great perfection. This would probably be admitted ;
and yet many would persevere in thinking that in
England our ancestors had discovered some secret
CH. xxxm. INFLUENCE OF JURIES. 195
for making faultless laws. Blackstone has contri-
buted much to spread this opinion. All that was
established had, in his eye, a peculiar sanctity, and
he praises the English Constitution Avith the enthu-
siasm of a scholar who is admitted to view the picture
of a great master. The fault, indeed, was on the
right side. If he refrained from pointing out many
obvious improvements, he also kept alive that respect
for our ancient liberties, which speculative states-
men find to be the greatest obstacle to their arbi-
trary innovations. It is impossible, however, to
attempt any general view of tiie history of our go-
vernment, and not to be struck with the modifica-
tions and forced interpretations which have been
accepted, in order to make the law of the land agree
with the security of the State and the safety of the
subject.
The first instance I shall mention is the treason
law. For three centuries, we have been accustomed
to appeal to the Act of the 25 Edward III. as the
perfection of wisdom and liberty on the subject of
treason. Yet what is this law, when we come to
examine it? The bold and spirited compact of a
turbulent nobility with a feudal king, totally unfitted
for a commercial and civilised society. It provides,
that the penalties of treason shall apply to those
only who conspire against the life of the King, or
actually levy war against him,* Such a law as this,
it is evident, Avas well calculated to })rotect the
barons from being arrested for disaffection, and to
give them the poAver of holding their private councils
for rebellion undisturbed. In the progress of society,
however, it was discovered, that a conspiracy to levy
war, far from being an ordinary or light offence, was
a crime of the utmost magnitude, dangerous alike to
the safety of the King and the tranquillity of the
* Of the other offences made treason by the bill it is aot neces-
sary to take notice here.
o 2
196 INFLUENCE OF JUEIES. CH. xxxiii.
country. What was to be done? It was obvious,
that a conspiracy to levy Avar Avas not treason by the
Act, for no men could have been so absurd as to have
specified the actual levying of Avar as treason, Avhen
they had already included a conspiracy to levy war
under the head of compassing the King's death. If
a conspiracy to levy Avar amounted to compassing
the King's death, a fortiori the actual war must have
borne that meaning. Had they wished to include
this offence of conspiracy to levy war in their statute,
they Avovild undoubtedly have said, levying war
against the King, or conspiring to levy Avar. Indeed,
so certain Avas the meaning of the laAv of EdAvard,
that a ncAv law making a conspiracy to levy war
amount to high treason was enacted, and afterwards
repealed with other ncAV treasons at the beginning of
the reio-n of jNIary. In this dilemma, the laAvyers
cut the Gordian knot. They decided, that '' com-
passing or imagining the death of the King,' meant
conspiring to depose him, or to imprison him, or to
use force for the purpose of making him change his
counsellors or his measures ; for any of these acts
might lead to his death.* They interpreted the
offence of IcA-ying Avar against the King to mean a
riot for any general purpose, as to pull doAvn inclo-
sures or meetino--houses. These violent constructions
of laAv, first imagined under the reign of the Tudors,
and put in force to shed the blood of good men
under the Stuarts, crept in and flourished till they
received the sanction of the upright and A-enerable
Judge Foster in the reign of George I. In those
times of mild government, hoAvever, the engine was
little wanted, and it Avas reserved for Mr. Pitt to
* Foster, the great authority trite moral observation into a
on these subjects, sa^'s, that eon- snare for taking away a man's
spiring to imprison the King, is life, under pretence of explain-
compassing his death ; because ing a law of the fourteenth cen-
the graves of princes are near tiiry, is a refinement as absurd
their prisons. To stretch this as it is cruel.
CH, XXXIII. IxNFLUENCE OF JURIES. 197
direct it against the lives of his old supporters the
reformers, during the French revolutionary war.
But juries refused to carry the construction as far
as the minister desired. It was proved, indeed, to
their satisfaction, that Hardy and others had joined
in associations which had no other object than to
overturn the institutions, one and all, by which the
throne was surrounded. The Chief .lustice declared
there could be no doubt respecting the construction
of the law. But it was impossible to convict Hardy,
without making all political association in opposition
to the ministry liable to capital indictment, and the
prisoners were therefore acquitted. After the peace
of 1815, some raving demagogues Avent beyond any-
thing that appears of Hardy and the constitutional
society. They resolved not to obey the laws, and
they recommended in their speeches physical force,
as the only means of obtaining redress. Certain of
them were committed for high treason. But the
Government, recollecting the lesson their prede-
cessors had received, declined to prosecute for that
offence ; and thus tacitly abandoned a pretension
dangerous to the safety of every man in the country.
At the same time, there can be no doubt that if an
accused person Avere proved to have levied troops for
the direct purpose of insurrection against the King,
a jury would find him guilty of high treason. The
law of high treason, insufficient at first for the se-
curity of the State, and afterwards a snare for the
subject, has thus been worked out at last into a
barrier, alike providing for the stability of the
offended throne and the safety of the innocent
accusod.
Let us now pass to the law of libel — the security
by which the liberty of the press is to be protected.
Blackstone tells us that libels, in the sense in which
we are speaking, are ' malicious defamations of any
person, and especially a magistrate, made public by
198 INFLUENCE OF JURIES. CH. XXXIII.
either printing, writing, signs, or pictures, in order
to provoke him to wrath, or expose him to public
hatred, contempt, and ridicule.' He tells us that
' the communication of a libel to any one person is a
publication in the eye of the law ; ' and that ' it is
immaterial, with respect to the essence of a libel,
whether the matter be true or false.' Thus, then,
a man may be punished for any writing on the con-
duct of a minister which may expose him to public
hatred, contempt, and ridicule ; although the allega-
tions contained in it be true, and it has only been
shown to one person. To make this power more
formidable, the judges were wont formerly to main-
tain that they alone had the power of deciding whe-
ther the writing were libel or not ; and that the jury
were only called upon to decide upon the fact of the
publication. Here indeed is a law of tyrants ! How
has the liberty of the press ever survived it ?
The miracle is soon explained. — The prosecutor
on the part of the Crown formerly contented himself
with putting in the paper and proving the publica-
tion, leaving it to the judge to pronounce the writing
libellous. The counsel for the accused always dwelt
upon the hardship of convicting any man for the
publication of a writing without examining whether
that writing were innocent or pernicious. The jury
felt the injustice of the proceeding, and generally
acquitted the accused. The libel bill of Mr. Fox, of
1791, while it afforded a just protection to the public
press, was no less necessary to the Government
itself. By this bill, juries were constituted judges of
the law as well as of the fact ; that is to say, they
were entitled to decide not only whether the writing
in question had been published or no, but also whe-
ther it were libellous. Thus the spirit of the people
produced the amendment of a bad law.
Many other cases might be mentioned, in which
the verdicts of juries have operated to check the
$
CH. xxxia. INFLUENCE OF JURIES. 199
execution of a cruel or oppressive law, and in the end
to repeal or modify the law itself. The direct per-
juries of juries on the subject of criminal law have
been already mentioned ; the verdicts given in cases
of bankruptcy would afford many other instances of
the same kind. Thus, not only are juries in fact the
real judges in England, but they possess a power no
judge would venture to exercise, namely, that of re-
fusing to put the law in force. Undoubtedly this
is a very dangerous authority, more especially as
juries, consulting in secret, deciding without reason
assigned, and separating without being afterwards
responsible, are free from all control but that of their
own consciences ; yet, exercised as it has been with
temper and moderation, the discretion of juries has
proved extremely salutary. It has been the cause
of amending many bad laws which judges would have
administered with exact severity, and defended with
professional bigotry; and, above all, it has this im-
portant and useful consequence, that laws totally
repugnant to the feelings of the community for which
they are made, cannot long exist in England.
I have thought it useful to devote this chapter to
an effect of the institution of trial by jury, hitherto
little remarked ; but I am unwilling to conclude it
without expressing, in the strongest manner, my own
sense of the value of the institution itself. It is to
trial by jury, as much perhaps as even to representa-
tion, that the people owe the share they have in the
government of the country ; it is to trial by jury also
that the Government mainly owes the attachment of
the people to the laws.
200
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INFLUENCE OF THE CROWN.
' Men are naturally prepense to conniption ; and if he, •whose will
and interest it is to corrupt them, be turnished with the means, he
will never fail to do it. Power, honours, riches, and the pleasures
that attend them, are the baits by which men are drawn to prefer a
personal interest before the public good ; and the number of those
who covet them is so great, that he who abounds in them will be
able to gain so many to his service as shall be sufficient to subdue
the rest. It is hard to find a tyranny in the world that has not been
introduced this way.' — Algernon Sidney.
The celebrated resolution of 1780, ' That the in-
fluence of the Crown has increased, is increasing,
and ought to be diminished,' may seem to carry its
own refutation along; with it. A House of Commons
that can vote a resolution so hostile to the Crown, it
may be said, can have little reason to dread its in-
fluence. This objection, however, would be more
specious than solid. The influence of the Crown
acts by slow but continual pressure ; the opinion of
the people, by sudden impulse. Thus a series of
measures injurious to the interests and honour of the
country are persisted in for a long time by mere
force of authority and the private advantages which
individuals acquire by supporting the system. At
length the evil is carried beyond bearing: the people
see they have been misled and benighted, and deter-
mine to dismiss their ffuides. But even then the
holders of power have innumerable means of soften-
ing, perhaps of totally averting their disgrace, and
they proceed for some time longer conducting the
nation through fresh difficulties, and involving the
State in new and greater perils. Thus it was in
CH. XXXIV. INFLUENCE OF THE CROWN. 201
1780: the party who had carried the abstract reso-
lution before mentioned, found themselves in a mino-
rity a few Aveeks after, when they attempted to deduce
from it a practical result.
The reign of Charles II. is said to have been the
period when the plan of influencing the members of
the House of Commons by gifts and favours of the
Crown was first systematically framed. The name
of ' Pensioner Parliament,' given to the House Avhich
sate in that reign for seventeen years without dis-
solution, is a sufficient index of the general opinion
concerning it. Many of the poorer members sold
their votes for a very small gratuity. Offices and
favours were granted to the speakers most worth
buying ; the rest were glad of a sum of money. The
trifling sum of £10,000 was allowed by Lord Clifford
for the purjwse of buying members. This was in-
creased by Lord Dauby. By the report of a Com-
mittee of Secrecy, ai)pointed in 1678, it appears that
many members received money or favours of one
kind or another for their votes.
There can be no doubt that the practice was con-
tinued during the reign of William. Sir John
Trevor was convicted, when Speaker, of receving
bribes from the City of London, to procure the pass-
ing of the Orphans Bill. ]\Ir. Hungerford was
expelled for the same offence.
These facts show how unjust it is to charge Wal-
pole with having been the first who governed England
by corruption. That he employed corruption among
his means cannot, indeed, be doubted. He did it
with a coarseness which, by destroying the shame at-
tendant upon it, overthrew the low barrier of virtue
still subsisting, and extended the vice which thus
openly displayed itself. . He is said to have affirmed
that he did not care who made members of Parlia-
ment, so long as he Avas allowed to deal with them
when they Avere made. Perhaps these stories Avere
202 INFLUENCE OF THE CROWN. CH. xxxir.
unfounded ; but they threw discredit on his govern-
ment.
At the time of Lord North's administration, the
influence of the CroAvn was exerted in the most pro-
fuse, most shameful, and most degrading manner.
The friends and favourites of the minister were
allowed to have a share in the loan, which they sold
the moment after at a gain of ten per cent.* Mr.
Fox, in his speeches, more than once accuses Lord
North of having devoted £900,000 of a loan to con-
ciliate support. It is remarkable that Mr. Fox
allows, at the same time, that it is natural that a
minister, in making a loan, should favour his own
friends, and that it is not to be expected any minis-
ter will ever act otherwise. He does not venture to
blame Lord North for this practice, but only for the
abuse of it. Some members of Parliament actually
received at that time a sum of money for their votes.
Every office of government was a scene of confusion,
waste, and prodigality, admirably adapted for the
interests of all who wished to enrich themselves at
the expense of honour, patriotism, and conscience.
A cry for reform in the expenditure, louder than
that which had overturned Walpole, was raised, and
produced the resolution mentioned at the beginning
of the chapter. The wish of the nation extended to
parliamentary as well as economical reform. Mr.
Pitt skilfully made himself the organ of both, and
on the strength of his professions obtained that
credit from the people which was denied to the
party who, after a long and unpopular opposition
to the American war, had lost the fruits of their
exertions by joining the minister who carried it on.
After the close of the American war, Mr. Burke's
Bills, and the regulations of Lord Shelburne, made
a diminution of 216 places. Mr. Pitt abolished 200
* Eose's ' Influence of the Crown.'
CH. XXXIV. INFLUENCE OF THE CROWN. 203
inferior offices in the salt department, the salaries of
Avhich amounted to £25,000 a year.* In addition
to these, thirty-two placemen have been, since 1780,
excluded from Parliament by Mr. Burke's Bills, ,
and Mr. Rose adds to the list fifteen contractors.
Sinecures, too, have been abolished.
All these reductions of the means of influence,
however, are of little importance ; public opinion
has far outgrown the influence of the Crown, and
has subdued everything to its ow^i pervading omni-
potent authority.
* Eose on the Influence of the Crown. £d. Review, vol. xvi. p. 191.
204
CHAPTER XXXV.
LIBEKTY OF THE PRESS.— PEOBABLE FATE OF THE
ENGLISH CONSTITUTION.
' If it be desired to know the immediate cause of all this free
•writing and free speaking, there cannot be assigned a truer than your
own mild, free, and humane government : it is the liberty, Lords and
Commons, which your own valorous and happy councils have pur-
chased us ; liberty, which is the nurse of all great wits. We can
grow ignorant again, brutish, formal, and slavish, as ye found us ;
but you then must first become that which ye cannot be, oppressive,
arbitrary, and tyrannous as they were from whom ye have freed us.
That our hearts are now more capacious, our thoughts now more ex-
cited to the search and expectation of greatest and exactest things,
is the issue of your own virtue propagated in us. Give me the
liberty to know, to utter, and argue freely, according to conscience,
above all liberties.' — Milton.
There is no enquiry more interesting than the ex-
amination into the present state of our laws and
manners, with a view to ascertain the probable fate
of our Constitution.
In considering this question there is no more broad
foundation for hope and confidence than the Liberty
of the Press. It seems difficult to conceive a people
passing at once from the general diffusion of political
knowledge to the utter darkness of despotism, and
the prohibition of all discussion which such despotism
would require.
But, in speaking of the press, let us always bear
in mind that it is ill to talk of its liberty without
its licentiousness. Every attempt to curb its licen-
tiousness, otherwise than by the verdict of a jury,
after an offence committed, must likewise restrain
its liberty. To do one without the other, were as
difficult as to provide that the sun should bring our
CH. XXXV. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 205
flowers and fruits to perfection, but never scorch
our faces.
Many have a mistaken notion of what the press
is. They su})pose it to be a reguhir independent
power, like the Crown or the House of Commons.
The press does nothing more than afford a means of
expressing, with able argument and in good language,
the opinions of large classes of society. For if these
opinions, however well sustained, are paradoxes con-
fined to the individual who utters them, they fall as
harmless in the middle of thirty millions of people,
as they would do in a private })arty of three persons.
Thus it is that the true censor of the press is the
national mind ; for it is not the sentiment of A., the
editor of one newspaper, or of B., the editor of
another, which controls the course of government.
These gentlemen are little, if at all, known ; with
one or two exceptions, their names are never men-
tioned. It is their skill in embodying in a daily
journal the feelings and the reasonings which come
home to the business and the bosoms of large por-
tions of their countrymen, that obtains for their
writings fame and general acceptance. But it would
be vain for these persons, powerful as the daily press
is, to endeavoiir to make the people permanently
discontented with laws which they loved, and a
minister whom they revered. They would not be
dreaded, and the newspaper which took that erratic
course would not be even read. Equally vain
would it be for a vicious, oppressive, and odious
Government to suppress the liberty of printing. It
was not the press which overturned Charles 1., nor
could the Inquisition preserve to Ferdinand VII.
his despotic power. The dark cabal, the secret con-
spirator, the sudden tunudt, the solitary assassin,
may all be found where the liberty of printing has
never existed. And were a Government to sup-
press it where it does exist, without taking away
206 LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. CH. XXXV.
the matter of sedition, more crime and less security
would probably be the result of their foolish panic
and powerless precaution.
In lookino; at the celebrated g-overnments of anti-
quity, and those of modern times which have not
admitted a free press, it must strike every one that
they have declined, not from any vice inherent in
the institutions by which they were governed, but
by the gradual decay of national virtue, and the cor-
ruption of the people themselves, as well as of their
leaders. In Sparta arid in Rome this corruption
may, in the beginning, be attributed to an influx of
wealth acting upon a nation Avhose liberties and
whose morals were founded upon poverty and the
contempt of riches. But the precipitate fall of a
State, like that of Rome, into an abyss of profligacy
and venality, can only happen when the whole people,
stained by political and moral vices, are delivered
from a sense of shame by the want of any eflfectual
restraint upon their actions. In both these circum-
stances, England has the advantage of Rome. Her
institutions are not founded on the postulate that her
manners must be rude and her legislators poor. Com-
merce and industry of every kind have been favourites
of the law from the commencement. Nor is it easy to
emancipate our rulers or our elective body from the
sense of shame. Their actions are not submitted to
the opinions of a single city, but scanned publicly
by thirty millions of people — nay, by Europe, by
America, by the whole globe. The nation itself is
too numerous to be generally seduced by the oflScers
of the Crown. In a village of one hundred house-
holders, two, or perhaps four, may be gained by
government influence ; but the other ninety-six are
free to choose their politics and their newspaper.
Nor could any anonymous writer venture to appeal
to any but the good principles of our nature. No
one has yet seen the newspaper or pamphlet which
CH. XX XT. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 207
openly defends the venality of judges, or the inflic^
tion of torture, any more than the tragedy which
holds up cowardice to our admiration, or endeavours
to make envy amiable in our eyes. Even the worst
men love virtue in their studies.
In ordinary times, it is evident the exercise of
this censorship must be beneficial to the country.
No statesman can hope that his corrupt practices, his
jobs, his obliquities, his tergiversations, can escape
from a vigilance that never slumbers, and an industry
that never wearies. Nor is it an important obstacle
to sound opinion, that the daily newspapers are the
advocates of party, rather than searchers after truth:
they act like lawyers pleading in a great national
cause; and the nation, like a jury, after hearing
both sides, may decide between them. Neither are
the advantages to be derived from publicity merely
speculative. We see instances of them every day.
One of the most remarkable effects of public opinion
that can be quoted is, perhaps, the personal integrity
of our statesmen with respect to money. In the
time of Charles II., and a long time afterwards, the
greatest men in the country were not inaccessible to
what, in these days, Ave should call bribery. In
the time of Lord North, many members of Parlia-
ment were influenced by money in its most gross
and palpable shape. In these days it is impossible
not to allow that there is much more personal deli-
cacy, more honesty, and, I will add, a higher sense
of honour, among our statesmen than formerly.
The greatest benefit, however, that we derive
from publicity, is that it corrects and neutralises the
vices of our institutions, even when they are not
immediately amended by it. Thus, to come at once
to the greatest instance of this : the House of Com-
mons was, before the Reform Act, so composed, that
had it been shut up, and had it admitted no influence
from without, the people would have found that its
208 LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. CH. XXXT.
spirit was so gone, its organs so decayed, its acts
so unpalatable, that they would have submitted to
such a o;overnment no longer. But the talent of a
simple member often outweig-hed the sense of the
whole House ; and a minister, after protecting a
favourite abuse, year after year, by confident speeches
and overwhelming majorities, silently retreated, and
abandoned the ground on which he appeared to
have taken an impregnable position. The House
of Commons themselves, too, could not fail to be
influenced on great questions by the general opinion
of the people out of doors. If they could have
met and discussed measures of State day after day,
made speeches that are to be read in Caithness and
in Cork, exposed their whole conduct and argu-
ments to the view of the country, and yet have
paid no attention to the feelings of that country,
they would have been more or less than human.
Thus, in favour of the preservation of our free
Constitution, we have the general diffusion of the
lioht of knowledge, the long-settled habit of libertv,
and the security of funded propei'ty depending upon
that liberty. We have a people of virtuous habits,
a high standard of morality, and more of the im-
provements and embellishments of life combined
with energy and purity than perhaps ever existed
together. We have a political Constitution which
favours, instead of repressing, wealth, commerce,
learning, and the fine arts ; we have the whole civil-
ised world as the audience before whom our states-
men must defend their conduct.
These considerations seem to point out a way of
safety through all our dangers. We have seen that
when our people strongly and manfully express their
opinion, their voice prevails. If, then, they resist
Avith energy the slow creeping abuses and the violent
sudden innovations that weaken and deface the edi-
fice of our freedom, it may be preserved entire.
CH. XXXV. LIBERTY OF THE TRESS. 209
But in order to this, our gentlemen, superior to
childish fears, must submit to hear noisv orators
without shrinkino- ; they must cut away with a
steady hand the disease Avhich menaces the nobler
parts of our political frame. In plain words, they
must consent to reform what is barbarous, what is
servile, what is corrupt in our institutions. The}'
must make our o-overnment harmonise one part with
another, and adapt itself to the state of knowledge
in the nation. I would fain hope that it will be so :
I trust that the people of this great community,
supported by their gentry, will afford a s])ectacle
worthy of the admiration of the Avorld. I liope
that the gentry Avill act honestly by their country,
and that the country wall not part with the blessings
which it obtained by the endurance of all the miseiies
which can oppress a nation, — by sutfering perse-
cutions, by confronting tyranny, by encountering
civil war, by submitting to martyrdom, by con-
tending in open war against Powers that were the
terror of the rest of Europe. I would fain believe
that all ranks and classes of this country have still
impressed upon their minds the sentiment of her im-
mortal Milton — ' Let not England forget her pre-
cedence of teaching nations how to live.'
210
CONCLUDING CHAPTEE.
Such were the hopes, and such the doubts and
fears, with which I regarded, about the year 1820,
the future history of the English Government and
Constitution.
In the preface to the work of which the present is
a new edition, I said, ' Let Englishmen bear in mind
that the old monarchies of the Continent were so
vicious in structure, and so decayed in substance, as
to require complete renovation, while the abuses of
our Constitution are capable of amendments strictly
conformable to its spirit, and eminently conducive
to its preservation.'
Events have justified this distinction, France
has undergone the lievolution which overthrew
Charles the Tenth, and the Revolution which over-
threw Louis-Philippe. Italy has effected a com-
plete and happy revolution. Austria is undergoing
an auspicious change in her constitution ; Prussia
has hardly commenced the process ; Spain and Por-
tugal have not fully completed it. England, on her
side, has made many peaceful reforms, of which I
propose in this chapter to trace the outline.
So lono; as the alarm created bv the French
Revolution lasted, the party Avhich had sustained
Lord North in the American war and Mr. Pitt in
the French war remained unbroken. During nearly
sixty years of power, that party had devoted all its
energies to the suppression of colonial or domestic
revolt, and the prosecution of war against a foreign
enemy.
The few measures of a liberal character which
II
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 211
marked this epoch, Mr. Burke's Bills of Economical
Keform, and the Abolition of the Shive Trade, were
the fruit of the short intervals when office was held
by the Whig party in 1782 and 1806.
But as tlie fear of foreign jacobinism and domestic
disturbance subsided, the Whig party gained gra-
dually upon public confidence. Still their triumph
over ancient prejudices and compact party strength
would have been remote, had not the great Tory
body separated itself into two diA-isious.
The one using the name of Mr. Pitt abhorred his
Avise views regarding Catholic disabilities and com-
mercial ])olicy, and, according to the happy compari-
son of Mr. Canning, adored him only in the hours
of his eclipse.
The other division, while retainlno; their old alle-
glance to the Avar policy of 1793, and the severe
restrictive laAvs Avhich accompanied it, yet saAv in the
altered circumstances of the time reasons for break-
ing down the barriers which separated one portion
of the King's subjects from another, for appealing to
the reason rather than the passive submission of the
people, and for letting 'persuasion do the Avork of
fear.'
These different vicAvs occasioned from time to
time much rumbling and jarring, and finally such
an upheaving of the fiery element as to burst the
solid mass and heavy level, which for more than
half a century had lain incumbent upon the soil of
Great Britain.
Of those Avho took the more enlightened vicAv of
the interests of their country, Mr. Canning, Mr.
Huskisson, Lord Palmerston, and Mr. Grant were
the first.
At a later period. Sir Bobert Peel, Lord Aber-
deen, Lord Lincoln, Mr. Gladstone, and jNIr. Sidney
Herbert found the Tory yoke intolerable, and joined
the party of progress. In the same period the Radical
P 2
212 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
party, which during the Avar had been composed of
a few scattered remnants, became under Mr. Joseph
Hume a considerable, consistent, and active body.
The separations, the adhesions, and the foi-nia-
tions took phxce at different times, and on different
questions. But substantially the great changes
which have taken place during forty years, between
1823 and 1863, have been the Avork of these parties,
sometimes acting together, or, as more frequently
happened, co-o])erating from, opposite benches and
advancing in dift'erent columns, but with equal
regard to the promotion of the great principles of
Reform.
The state of England in 1823 Avas not auspicious.
In 1817 the Habeas Corpus Act Avas suspended,
and spies Avere sent from the Home Office into the
manufacturing counties, Avho, acting according to
their nature, and not according to their instruc-
tions, stimulated the crimes Avhich Avere afterAvards
punished on the scaffold.*
In 1819, bills Avere introduced by Lord Castle-
reagh, described by him as measures ' of severe
coercion.'
The o-eneral state of the laws, finances, and trade
of England Avas most backAvard. The criminal laAv
Avas full of capital penalties, some for \'ery trifling
offences, such as cutting doAAai a groAving tree, or
beiuff seen Avith the face blackened on the hio-h-
road. Foreign trade was cramped by monopolies
and restrictions. Taxes Avere imposed on the neces-
saries of life ; excise duties Avere A-ery onerous, and
the duties (f customs, extending to many hun-
dred articles, produced vexation to merchants, and
narroAved the comforts of the people.
* See ' State Trials,' toI. xxxii. the ' State Trials.' loco cit. Oli-
p. 859, and ' Parliamentarj' De- rer, the spy, did all iu his power
bates,' vol. xxx\'i. pp. 1003 and to promote insurrection.
1016. with other references in
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 213
Protestant Dissenters Avere only indirectly admit-
ted to office. Roman Catholics and Jews Avere
expressly excluded both from Parliament and from
political offices. Parliamentary lieform Avas success-
fully opposed. Ea^cu Avhen a corrupt borough A\'as
extinguished, the populous and flourishing borough
of Leeds Avas not enfranchised, because it Avould be
a noAclty. The press Avas restricted by a fourpenny
stamp on each ncAAspaper, and prosecutions Avere
rife ao;ainst those aaIio indulged in too g-reat freedom
of criticism.
The state of foreign affiiirs AA^as A'ery lamentable.
The three great northern PoAvers, Kussia, Austria,
and Prussia, haA'ing succeeded to the Continental
despotism of Napoleon Avithout his genius {impar
Congressus Achilli, as Lord Byron has it) had
ordered that no liberty should be alloAA^ed, no re-
form introduced AA^ithout their sanction.* In this
spirit they had suppressed, in 1821 and 1823, the
revolutions of Naples, Piedmont, and Spain ; thus
deceiving and betraying the people of Europe Avho
had fought in 1813 and 1814 for liberty as Avell as
independence. Against those atrocious acts England
had protested feebly in 1821, forcibly in 1823, — in
both cases fruitlessly.
As the Tory party Avere in poAA^er in 1823, it Avas
natural that the task of innoA'ation should commence
on a question upon Avhich Tory precedents Avould
favour the ao-o-ressors.
The French Commercial Treaty of 1713 Avas
made by the Tories, and pulled to pieces by the
Whio;s. The French Commercial Treaty of 1786
Avas concluded by the Tories, and opposed bv the
Whigs.
On this side, therefore, Mr. Canning and Mr.
Huskisson, Mr. Peel and Mr. Robinson, commenced
* See Note H.
214 CONCLUDING CHAPTEE.
their attacks upon the outworks of the existhig
system.
The silk manufocture had been bound in the
swaddling-clothes of the State from the days of its
infancy.
Mr. Huskisson took a liberal but at the same time
a very tem})erate course on this subject. The im-
port of foreign silk manufactures had been hitherto
prohil)ited; he proposed to admit them after a pre-
paration of two years, Avith an import duty of thirty
per cent.*
The next work taken in hand, but by the Whio;s
and not by the Government, was the removal of
restrictions on religious liberty.
In 1828, the House of Commons consented to
repeal the Test and Corporation Acts, Avhich Avere
a relic of intolerance, and inflicted an undeserved
stigma on Protestant Dissenters. This measure was
carried, as I have intimated, against the w^eight of
the Government.
But in the next year the disabilities which at
once oppressed and degraded the Roman Catholics
of England and Ireland were removed, on the pro-
position of the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel,
and Lord Lvndhurst. From the beirinnino; of the
century, ]Mr. Fox and ]\Ir. Pitt, Mr. Windham and
Lord Grenville, Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Canning,
Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Grattan, had proved in
Parliament the justice and the Avisdom of admitting
Roman Catholics to all the benefits of the Constitu-
tion. But until jNIr. O'Connell roused the physical
force of Ireland to a point of violence which was
almost rebellion, no concession could be obtained.
In 1829, that which had been contemptuously re-
fused to reason and eloquence, was amply conceded
to menaces and masses.
* See Note I.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 215
Sir Robert Peel, however, rendered ample justice
to the \\'^higs, while he proposed the measure of
which they had been the consistent advocates.
When the debate on the second reading of the
Catholic Relief Bill was drawing to a close, and the
triumph of the great cause of religious freedom was
assured, Sir Robert Peel, at the conclusion of his
speech, gave his true but no less generous testimony
to the merits of his forerunners and his opponents.
He said, ' One parting word, and I here close. I
have received in the speech of my noble friend, the
Member for Donegal, testimonies of approbation
which are grateful to my heart ; and they have been
liberally awarded to me by gentlemen on the other
side of the House, in a manner Avhich does honour
to the forbearance of party among us. They have,
however, one and all, awarded to me a credit which
I do not deserve, for settling this question. The
credit belongs to others, and not to me. It belongs
to Mr. Fox, to Mr. Grattan, to Mr. Plunkett, to the
gentlemen opposite, and to an illustrious and right
honourable friend of mine who is now no more. By
their efforts, in spite of my opposition, it has proved
victorious.' *
The political party which for sixty years had
swayed, with very brief intervals, the destinies of
the State ; which had led the nation to the Ame-
rican and the French wars ; which had resisted all
reform and protected all abuse ; which had main-
tained all that was bigoted and persecuted all that
was liberal, — broke down under this great failure.
The lio-ht now burst in : after the (general election
the ministry was defeated, and Lord Grey, the new
Prime jNIinister, proclaimed the advent of peace,
retrenchment, and reform.
On the subject of peace the rising of Belgium
* Parliamentary Debates, new series, vol. xx. p. 1289.
216 CONCLUDING CHArTER.
gave an opportunity to Lord Grey of acting as a
minister on those principles of which lie had been the
unavailing advocate in opposition.
The questions raised by the Belgian insurrection
were complicated; the Noi'thern Powers beheld with
some alarm a revolution effected by popular tumult,
and the French Government had some difficulty in
restrainino- the national wish for annexation.
On the 21st of June, upon the opening of Parlia-
ment, the speech from the throne contained the fol-
lowinjT amiouncement: — ' The discussions which have
taken place on the affiiirs of Belgiiim have not yet
been brought to a conclusion, but the most complete
agreement continues to subsist between the Powers
whose Plenipotentiaries have been engaged in the
Conferences of London. The principle on which
these conferences have been conducted has been that
of not interfering with the right of the people of
Belo;ium to reo-ulate their internal affairs, and to
establish their government according to their own
idews of what may be most conducive to their future
welfare and independence, under the sole condition,
sanctioned by the practice of nations, and founded
on the principles of public law, that in the exercise.
of that undoubted rio;ht the security of neio-hbourino;
States should not be endangered.' *
The discussions thus declared by the King in
June 1831, to be not yet brought to a conclusion,
went on for some years afterwards, but by the firm-
ness, perseverance, and ability of Lord Palmerston
Avere at length terminated, and the acknowledgment
and guarantee of all the great Powers established
the independence of Belgium.
The Avork of retrenchment was pursued Avith
vigour, and many useless places were abolished,
Avhile the salaries of the most important and efficient
officers of the State Avere considerably reduced.
* Hansard's Debates, tliird series, vol. iv. p. 85.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 217
Soon after Lord Grey had formed his Ministry,
Lord Durham asked me to call upon him in Cleve-
land Row, He informed me that Lord Grey Avished
him to consult me with respect to the formation of
a committee, to draw up the outlines of a plan of
Parliamentary Reform. After some deliljeration, we
agreed to propose to Sir James Graham, then First
Lord of the Admiralty, and Lord Duncannon, then
First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, to form
with us a committee for this purpose.
Lord Durham then asked me to frame, for the
consideration of the committee, a sketch of the prin-
cipal heads of a measure of Reform, to be submitted
to Lord Grey, and if approved by him to be proposed
to the Cabinet.
Thus invited to propose a plan on a great, im-
portant, and difficult subject, 1 felt bound to recon-
sider the general jn'inciples upon Avhich a sound
measure of reform should rest.
On this head I had often recurred to the reflec-
tions of Mr. Burke.
' It is this inability to AATestle vnth difficulty,' says
that wonderful man, 'which has oblio;ed the arbitrarv
assembly of France to commence their schemes of
reform with abolition and total destruction. But is
it in destroying and pulling down that skill is dis-
played ? Your mob can do this as Avell, at least, as
your assemblies. The shalloAvest understanding, the
rudest hand, is more than equal to the task. . . .
The errors and defects of old establishments are
visible and palpable. It calls for little ability to
point them out ; and where absolute power is given,
it requires but a word AvhoUy to abolish the vice and
the establishment together. . . . At once to pre-
serve and to reform is quite another thing. When
the useful parts of an old establishment are kept,
and Avhat is superadded is to be fitted to Avhat is re-
tained, a vigorous mind, steady persevering attention,
218 CONCLUDINa CHAPTER.
various powers of comparison and combination, and
the resources of an understanding- fruitful in expe-
dients, are to be exercised ; they are to be exercised
in a continued conflict with the combined force of
opposite vices, with the obstinacy that rejects all im-
provement, and the levity which is disgusted A\ith
everything of which it is in possession.' *
Lord Grey, the best exponent of the principles of
Mr. Fox, and now about to put into practice the
advice he had often given in vain, had in his great
speech of 1810 expressed these wise and memorable
opinions for the consideration of the House of Lords.
' He indeed must either have been pi-ematurely
wise, or must have learnt little by experience, who,
after a lapse of twenty years, can look upon a sub-
ject of this nature in all respects precisely in the
same light. Still, after as serious and dispassionate
a consideration as he could sive to what he believed
to he the most important question that could employ
their Lordships' attention, it was his conscientious
opinion that much good would result from the adop-
tion of the salutary principles of Reform, gradually
applied to the correction of those existing abuses to
which the progress of time must unavoidably have
given birth ; taking especial care that the measure
of Reform should be marked out by the Constitution
itself, and in no case exceed its wholesome limits.'
After expressing his admiration for Mr. Fox,
' than whom there never existed one who more
fully understood the principles or more affection-
ately appreciated the blessings of the venerable
institutions under which he lived,' Lord Grey con-
tinued — ' Never, my Lords, can I forget his poAverful
observations when, in his place in Parliament, he
stated his conviction of the absolute impossibility
of providing for all the variety of human events by
* Biirke's ' Eeflections,' &c. : Works, vol. v. pp. 303-4.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 219
any previous speculative plans. For, said he, *' I
think that if a number of the wisest, ablest, and
most virtuous men that ever adorned and improved
human life were collected together and seated round
a table, to devise a priori a constitution for a State, —
it is my persuasion that, notwithstanding all their abi-
lity and virtue, they would not succeed in adapting
a system to the purposes required, but must neces-
sarilv leave it to be fitted by o-reat alterations in the
practice, and many deviations from the original de-
sign." And this opinion he was Avont to illustrate
by the familiar but apt exam})le of building a house,
which, notwithstanding all the study and considera-
tion previously bestowed upon the plan, Avas never
yet known to supply every want, or to proA-ide all
the accommodation, which in the svdjsequent occupa-
tion of it Avere found to be necessary. Nay, he used
to remark that, hoAvever fine to look at a regular
paper plan might be, no house Avas so habitable and
so commodious as one Avhich Avas built from time to
time, piecemeal and Avithout any reo-ular desio;n. To
those princi})les of practical reform, so AA^isely en-
forced by that great statesman, I am determined to
adhere,' &c.
In the same speech. Lord Grey referred to a de-
claration of the ' Association of the Friends of the
People,' signed by the Duke of Bedford, then Lord
John Russell : —
' We are convinced,' say the framers of that de-
claration, ' that the people bear a fixed attachment
to the ha])py form of our goA'crnment, and to the
genuine princi})les of our constitution. These Ave
cherish as the objects of such aftection, not from
any implicit reverence or hal)itual superstition, but
as institutions best calculated to produce the hap-
piness of men in civil society ; and it is because Ave
are couA'inced that abuses are undermining and
corrupting them, that Ave have associated for the
220 CONCLUDING CHAPTEE.
preservation of those principles. We wish to reform
the Constitution because we wish to preserve it.' *
When, therefore, I was invited by Lord Grey and
Lord Dvn-ham to frame a plan to be proposed to
Parliament, and perhaps to become the law of the
land, it was not my duty to cut the body of our old
parent to pieces and to throw it into a Medea's
caldron with the hopes of reviving the strength
and vigour of youth. To do so would have been
to commit a folly, Avhich I had myself reprobated so
long ago as the year 1819. On the 14th December
of that year, I had said, ' the principles of the con-
struction of this House are pure and worthy. If
we should endeavour to change them altogether,
we should commit the folly of the servant in the
story of Aladdin, who is deceived by the cry of
" New lam])s for old." Our lamp is covered with
dirt and rubbish, l)ut it has a magical power. It
has raised up a smiling land, not bestrode Avith over-
grown palaces, but covered with thickset dwellings,
every one of w^hich holds a freeman enjoying equal
privileges and equal protection with the proudest
subject in the land. It has called into life all the
busy creations of commercial prosperity. Nor when
men were wantinoi; to illustrate and defend their
country have such men been deficient. V^ hen the
fate of the nation depended upon the line of policy
they should adopt, there were orators of the highest
degree placing in the strongest light the arguments
for peace and war. When we were engaged in war,
we had warriors ready to gain us laurels on the
land, or to Avield our thunders on the sea. When
again we returned to peace, the questions of inter-
nal policy, of education of the poor, and of criminal
law, found men ready to devote the most splendid
abilities to the welfare of the most indigent class
* Declaration of the Associa- May 12, 1792. Hansard's De-
tion of the Friends of the People, bates, Tol xvii. pp. 5G2, 564.
CONCLUDING CHArXER. 22!
of the community ! And, Sir, shall wc change an
instrument which has produced effects so wonderful,
for a burnished and tinsel article of modern manu-
facture ? No ! small as the remaining treasure of
the Constitution is, I cannot consent to throw it into
the wheel for the chance of obtaining a prize in the
lottery of constitutions!'*
With these strong impressions on my mind, I Avas
not likely to deviate from the track of the Constitu-
tion into the maze of fancy, or the wilderness of
abstract rights.
In 1797, Mr. Grey had proposed to increase the
number of county members, and to give four hundred
members to districts of town and country in which
every householder should have a vote, Mr. Lamb-
ton had, on the 19th of April, 1821, proposed a
similar plan.f
I had myself in 1822 gone very largely into the
question, and had proposed as a resolution, ' That
the ])resent state of the representation of the people
in Parliament requires the serious consideration of
this House.'
Mr. Canning, at the end of a long and very bril-
liant speech in opposition to my motion, had given
me reason to expect that in some future year I
might succeed. 'I cannot help,' he had said — 'I
cannot help conjuring the noble lord himself to
pause before he again presses it ujion the country.
If, however, he shall persevere, and if his perse-
verance shall be successful, and if the results of
that success shall be such as I cannot hel]> appre-
hending, his be the triumph to have i)reci]iitated
those results ; be mine the consolation that to the
utmost and the latest of my power I have opposed
them.^:}:
* Parliamentary Debates, vol. 309; and for Plan, see Appendix,
xli. p. 1105. in the i^aine volume.
t Hansard's Parliamentary J Parliamentary Debates, new
Debates, new series, vol. v. p. series, vol. vii. p. 136.
222 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
Thus encoiirao;ed and thus warned, I neglected
neither the encouraiiement nor the warninfj.
There were e\'idently two modes in which reform
might be approached. The one was to consider
the right of voting as a personal privilege possessed
by every man of sound mind, and of years of dis-
cretion, as an inherent inalienable right, belong-
ing to him as a member of a free country. Ac-
cording to this theory, the votes of the whole male
adult population form the only basis of legitimate
government.
Other political writers and eminent statesmen,
while of opinion that a free and full representation
of the people forms a necessary condition of free
government, acknowledge no personal right of voting
as inalienable and essential. They consider that the
purpose to be attained is good government; the free-
dom of the people within the State, and their secu-
rity from without ; and that the best mode of attain-
ing these ends is the problem to be solved.
It seemed to me that these last reasoners were in
the right. A rej»resentation which should produce
bad, hasty, passionate, unjust, and ignorant de-
cisions, could not conduce to that welfare of the
people which is the supreme law. If it be said that
no part of the property of the peo|)le ought to be
levied in taxes by the Government, without tlie con-
sent expressed or implied of the whole community,
it may be answered that a man's life and liberty are
as valuable to him as his pro])erty ; vet no one con-
tends that the judicial body and the jury in criminal
trials should be selected bv universal suifrajxe. On
the contrary, the greatest care is taken to place on
the judicial bench men qualified by learning and
experience, and to form the list of the jury out of
a portion of the community whose station in life
affords some security for their average intelligence,
information, and honesty. Similar care ought to
COXCLUDIXG CHAPTER. 223
be taken to entrust to a portion of the community,
qualified by honesty and inteUigence, the mighty
power of selecting the House of Commons.
The theory of ^Ir. ]MiIl. that eyery man ouo-ht to
haye a yote, but a yote weighted according to a sort
of handicap, seems to me yisionaiy in the extreme.
I cannot perceiye, should it be once admitted in
prinoi[)le that in order to form a free goyernment it
is necessary that eyery man should haye a yote,
that it is practicable, or possible, to put eyery man's
yote into a scale : to count a merchant or a banker
for more yoices than a baker or a grocer, and still
less, how it is possible to gauge the intellect of
labourers or artisans of superior talent or know-
ledge, and enter them as weighing more than a
fundholder or a merchant, a landholder or a (jreat
capitalist, whose mind has not been cultiyated. or
whose talents haye ne-\er been yery brioht. For,
besides the interminable disputes, the neyer-endino-
jealousies, the aj^peal of a wise baker against a foolish
banker, the doubt and suspicion thrown upon the
integrity of the examiners, who in fact must decide
the election between the Liberal and Conseryatiye
candidate, — is there, after all, any reason to say
that a man who knows the higher mathematics, who
can calculate compound interest, who is wonderful
in his knowledge of geography, is a better elector
of a member for the county than the man who goes
to market eyery Saturday, or is at the coyert ^ide
eyery ^londay morning ? After all, were not the
distinctions made by our ancestors, that a man who
has a freehold of 40^. a year shall yote for the
county, and a man who pays scot and lot shall yote
for the borough, and that those who haye not these
qualifications shall not yote. — were not these dis-
tinctions much more simple, much less inyidious,
much more attainable by industry and thrift, and
after all quite as philosophical a basis of represen-
224 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
tation as the metaphysical categories of modern
times ? * '
It seemed to me at least that it would be sufficient
to lay down some such conditions as the following,
as necessary qualifications for the body of electors.
1. That thev should be of averao;e intellio-ence.
2. That they should, upon the whole, form a secu-
rity for stability of pro})erty.
3. That although bribery cannot be altogether
excluded, the body of electors, as a mass, should not
be tainted by corru]>tion.
4. That the electoral body should be identified
with the general sense of the community — in short,
■wdth the public opinion of the time.
Such being the objects in view, there were two
modes by Avhich they Avere to be sought. One mode
Avould be by the definition of the franchise ; the
other, by the distribution of the seats.
It appeared to me that the first mode alone would
not be sufficient.
In large cities, population would outweigh pro-
perty. In large counties, property would control
population.
To complete the House of Commons, there were
required some seats where property could support
the claims of an intelligence not popular with the
masses, and possibly not rich in land or funds.
In the old system, jNIr. Burke, defeated at Bristol,
had been returned for ISIalton ; Mr. Fox, nearly
overpowered at Westminster, had been returned for
Orkney ; Mr. Grey, rejected by Northumberland,
had found a seat at Ajipleby. Such a resource, I
thought, should not be entirely lost.
It Avas desirable, in short, as it appeared to me,
while sweeping away gross abuses, to avail ourselves,
as far as possible, of the existing frame and body of
our institutions.
* See Note J.
CO.NX'LUDING CIIArXER. 225
Thus, if the due weight and influence of property-
could be maintained by preserving the representa-
tion of a portion of the small boroughs with an im-
proved franchise, it was desirable rather to build
on the old foundations than to indulge our fancy or
our conceit in choosino; a new site and erectins; on
new sod — perhaps on sand — an edifice entirely dif-
ferent from all which had hitherto existed.
At the same time, I was deeply impressed with
the conviction of Lord Grey, that none but a large
measure would be a safe measure ; that to nibble at
disfranchisement, and to cramp reform by pedantic
adherence to exisitino; rio-hts, Avould be to deceive
expectation, to whet appetite, and to bring on that
revolution which it was our object to avert.
I endeavoured, therefore, to cut away what was
rotten, to preserve what was worth preserving, and
to introduce what would strengthen and improve.
I have now before me the plan which I framed in
accordance with Ijord Durham's desire. It is in-
dorsed on the back in Lord Durham's handwritino- —
No. I.
Lord John RusseWs Plan*
And in my handwriting —
Submitted to Lord Durham, Lord Duncannon,
and Sir James Graham.
Dec. 1830. J. R.
The plan itself, which is Avritten on a sheet of
writing-paper, is in the i aside. It contains the fol-
lo'wing heads, with some alterations and erasures in
pencil : —
* What is Iiere in italics is in the MS. ip the hand'svTitiDg of Lord
Durham.
226
COXCLUDINa CHAPTER.
Fift^ boroughs of tlie smallest
Umion, according to the cen-
ts of 1821, to be disfranchised.
II. Eifty more of the least con-
aij^%'me to send in future only-
one member to Parliament.
III. In all ^lities and bi*)«mughs
wni<^i preserve tSe right of Seiid-
ing nS^nl^ers to Pa^iament, [w-
sons quSHfied to serv^on juriesS
to have tli^ rio-ht of votni<x.
IV. In cities and boroughs
which preserve the right of send-
ing members to Parliament, no
person to vote except in the City
of London, Westminster, and
Soutlnoark, unless he is a house-
holder rated at £10 a year, has
paid his parochial taxes for three
years witliin three months after
they became due, and has resided
in the city or borough for six
months previous to the election.
V. Eio-hteen laro;e towns to
sentjli)!- members to Parliament.
-The unrepresented parts of Lon-
don to send four or six additional
members. Twenty counties to
send two additional members
each.
VI. The rioht of votino; in the
ncAv towns to be, in householders
rated at £i^ a yt^av, riv iw pciat^us
qualified to Bcrvc uii juiics.
All. Copyholders and lease-
he )ld,9^'S' having an interest of more
^tlln tAventy-one years to vote in
counties.
This v:oul(l disfran-
chise all liorou(/hs of
1,400 inhahitants.
This would apply to
Borotif/hs of 3J0G0
inhahitants.
CONCLUDING CnAPTER. 227
VIII. The poll to be taken in
hundreds of divisions of counties,
but not more than riCdni uitli
the oon i jcnt of the candidatoj.
IX. In cities and borouo-hs the
poll to finish on the second day.
X. No n^w right of \oting- to
beV^cquired na counties iNy any
projWty of lessSA^aluc thanS^lO
a year\
The first two proposals were agreed to, Lord
Durham having first ascertained from the population
returns that the first list of fifty would comprehend
boroughs under 2,000 and not 1,400 inhabitants, and
the second list of fifty, boroughs under 4,000 and not
3,000 inhabitants.
These two lists, with some modifications of the
data of disfranchisement, formed Schedules A and
B of the Reform Bill.
A discussion then took place on the right of
votinn; for borouohs. We agreed that it should be
uniform, our opinion being that the freemen and the
scot-and-lot voters had, in process of time, become
generally either dependent or corrupt.
We endeavoured to fix a qualification which should
give the right of voting to the greatest number of
independent men, and, as far as we could roughly
guess, be an equivalent for the old householder
rio-ht of voting of the seventeenth century. We
fixed the right of suifrage by filling up the blank
with ten pounds.
This was the same qualification Avhich I had ])ro-
posed for Leeds, when I introduced, in 1820, a Bill
for granting to that town the franchises forfeited by
the corrupt and convicted borough of Grampound.
We agreed in subsequent meetings to introduce this
right of voting in every town sending members to
Q 2
228 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
Parliament ; thus giving to ' the community ' (ac-
cording to the old term of our charters) the power
which had been long enjoyed by close corporations.
This decision opened Bath, Portsmouth, Scarbo-
rough, Cambridge, and many other towns, to the
inhabitants. AVe also settled a list of towns to be
enfranchised, and of counties to receive additional
representatives. Having the assistance of Lord Dun-
cannon for Ireland, of Mr. Cockburn, then the Scotch
Solicitor-General, for Scotland, and of Mr. Stanley,
now Lord Stanley of Alderley, for the additions to
the Welsh boroughs, we attempted to adapt our re-
form to the state of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales,
no less than of England. The task was an arduous
one, and in more than one particular we fell into
errors of detail. The statistical data, especially,
upon Avhich we had relied for the preparation of our
list of boroughs to be condemned, were not a suffi-
cient basis for tlie superstructure Ave raised upon
them. The population tables gave parishes and not
towns as their units; and thus while, in some in-
stances, the })arish stretched beyond the borough, in
others the borough comprised several parishes.
But, Avith the exception of diificulties thus arising
from our inexperience, the plan itself had a marvel-
lous success.
AYhen the proposals Avere completed, Lord Durham
Avrote an admirable report upon the plan, which Avas
presented, in the name of the committee, to Lord
Grey. The plan, ajjproved by him, A\'as unanimously
adopted by the Cabinet, and Lord Grey, carrying
it himself to Brighton, explained it fully to the King,
by whom it Avas readily and cheerfully sanctioned.
It sliould be mentioned that, in one of the last days
of our sittings, vote by ballot Avas, against my ear-
nest advice, adopted by tlie committee. It Avas, on
the recommendation of Lord Grey, omitted by the
Cabinet. In talking over the Avhole matter Avith
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 229
Lord Grey, I stated my impression that, if the })lan
was kept secret till the moment of its being an-
nounced to Parliament, its popularity would ensure
its success ; but that, if prematurely divulged, an
adverse vote mii^ht stifle the infant in its cradle.
In this opinion Lord Grey fully concurred, and so
strongly impressed upon his colleagues the necessity
of secrecy, that, of more than thirty persons who
knew the plan, not one was found indiscreet.
Tiie scene in the House of Commons on the 1st
of March was unexampled. The ])lan went so far
beyond all expectation, that the Whigs wondered
whether it could possibly be carried; the Tories
concluded that it certainly could not ; and the Kadi-
cals, Avith justifiable exultation, felt sure that no
temporary defeat could destroy a plan to which the
Whig leaders, the friends of Mr. Canning, and the
reformers throughout the country, would thereafter
be irrevocably pledged. Sir Henry Hardinge, speak-
ing to Sir James Graham in the Lobby, said, ' Well,
you are honest fellows ; you have acted up to your
principles ; but I suppose you all go out to-morrow
mornino;
!'
The cheers of exultation from some members on
the Opposition side were quite as loud as from any
supporters of the Ministers.
Sir Robert Peel had convened some of his chief
supporters a few days before, to consider the course
to be taken. They acquiesced generally in his
opinion that the introduction of the Bill should not
be resisted ; indeed, Sir Kobert Inglis was the only
person present Avho gave a contrary opinion. As
this decision of Sir Kobert Peel was in itself a great
mistake in policy, and in fact rendex'ed all subsequent
opposition hopeless, such a course, on the part of so
eminent a party leader, may excite surprise. But
it may be thus accounted for. Two years before.
Sir K. Peel, wishing to save his country from the
230 CO^■CLUDING CHAPTER.
risk of civil war, had sacrificed all his prejudices, all
his pride, and the confidence of his party, to he that
' daring pilot in extremity ' Avho should place his
country in harbour, at any loss of power or fame for
himself. But the immolation had been painful in
the extreme. Some time afterwards, meeting Sir
Thomas Frankland Lewis at an inn in Wales, Sir
Frankland started the subject of the Reform Bill,
and said that he Avondered that such a statesman as
his companion had not saved the country from the
wild revolutionary measure of the Ministers, and in-
troduced a safe and moderate Reform Bill of his own.
Sir Robert answered, in substance, that nothing
would induce him to do again what he had done on
the Catholic question.* He had himself quoted, in
those debates, the lines of Dryden —
' 'Tis qiiickly said, but, oh ! how hardly tried
By haughty souls to human honour tied,
The sharp convulsive pangs of agonising pride ! '
To this excited feeling of disappointment and disgust
is, I think, to be attributed the unwillingness of the
great leader of the Tory party to incur the responsi-
bilities of office, and undertake the conduct of a
Reform Bill. In the meantime, the seven days of
debate on the introduction of the Bill gave time for
the flame of enthusiasm to rise, and not time for it
to abate. A second blunder of the Tory party be-
stowed upon them a majority, and gave Lord Grey
an opportunity, of which he instantly availed him-
self, of advisino; the Kins; to dissolve Parliament.
The triumph of the Reformers, so long a defeated
minority, was signal and general ; for, of eighty-two
members for the forty counties of England, seventy-
six were returned jjledged to support the Reform
Bill of Lord Grey.
It would take too much space to relate the vicis-
* From Sir T. Frankland Lewis. His phrase as reported to me
was, ' I would sooner lie dead upon that floor.'
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 231
situdes of the Reform Bill. It was carried in the
House of Commons mainly by the entire confidence
felt in the integrity and sound judgment of Lord
Althorp. ' Sir,' he said, rei)lying to a very acute
and ingenious speech, ' the hon. and learned gentle-
man's arguments are very ])lausible. I do not re-
collect the reasons which prove his objections to be
groundless, but I know that those reasons were per-
fectly satisfactory to my own mind.' And the House
voted, by a great majority, against the plausible argu-
ments, and in favour of the unknown replies. Lord
Althorp, as leader of the House, determined that
the Keform Bill should not be brought forward for
discussion unless either he or I were present. He
took for his special task the frame and wording of
the clauses, which he prepared witli the assistance
of the law officers and the Reform lawyers in the
House of Commons, while I took the division of
counties, and the boundaries of boroughs, with Lord
Hatherton and Admiral Beaufort, actijig as commis-
sioners, appointed for the purpose.
Many were the difficulties of ascertaining the
true boundaries of existing boroughs, and of fixing
the new limits of the boroughs to be preserved or
created.
Happily, with the aid of the two persons I have
named, and with reports from assistant-commissioners,
these difficulties were fairly and impartially sur-
mounted, and the Bill passed the House of Commons.
In the House of Lords the obstinate resistance
of the majority, marshalled under tlie authority of
the Duke of Wellington, and guided by the powerful
ability of Lord Lyndhurst, Avas at length overcome
by the perspicuous wisdom and consistent integrity
of Lord Grey, supported by the wonderful eloquence
and viirour of Lord Brouo;ham, and borne aloncr to
triumph by the invincible energy and enthusiasm
of the people. The recollection of the struggle
232 CONCLUDING CIIArTER.
of May 1832 will never pass from the memory of
those who bore a part in that great but bloodless
lievolutioii.
The liefonn Bill thus became an Act of Parliament.
For upwards of thirty years it has been part and
})arcel of the Constitution of these realms— for
thirty years the Constitution has been more loved
and respected than it ever was before — for thirty
years the success of measures approved after free
and o-eneral discussion has been no longer obstructed
by the nominees of individuals, or by representatives
who purchased seats for corrupt boroughs in order
to protect monopoly, maintain colonial slavery, and
reject the claims of civil and religious freedom.
Having had such an experience of the reforaied
Parliament, we can tell how far it has in its working:
answered the expectations and fulfilled the purposes
of its authors. Lord Grey had expressed these pur-
poses in the clear and constitutional language Avhich
was habitual to him when he advised the King, in
June 1831, to use these terms in his speech on the
Oldening of Parliament : — ■
' I, have availed myself of the earliest opportunity
of resorting to your advice and assistance after the
dissolution of the late Parliament. Havino- had re-
course to that measure for the purpose of ascertain-
ing the sense of my })eople on the expediency of a
reform in the representation, I have now to recom-
mend that important question to your earliest and
most attentive consideration, confident that in any
measures which you may prepare for its adjustment,
you will carefully adhere to the acknowledged prin-
ciples of the Constitution, by Avhich the prerogatives
of the Crown, the authority of both Houses of Par-
liament, and the rights and liberties of the people
are equally secured.'*
* Hansard's Debates, third series, vol. iv.
CONCLUDING CHAPIER. 233
It cannot be denied that under the operation of
the Keform Act, the prerog'atives of the Crown, in
spite of many sinister prophecies to the contrary,
have been secure.
As little can it be affirmed that the authority of
the House of Lords has been infringed or menaced.
Notwithstanding Mr. Canning's alarming predictions,
supported by his quotation from INIr. Fox, imj^lying
that if the House of Lords did not please the House
of Commons, they would be overthrown by that de-
mocratic body, in its reformed shape, the authority
of the House of Lords has been ' cherished and pro-
tected ' by the House of Commons.
But the functions of the House of Commons have,
since the days of Walpole, been far more important
than those of the House of Lords.
It is theirs to guard the liberties of the people.
It is theirs to protect every subject of the realm
in the enjoyment of his property and his legal
rights. It is theirs to point out to the Crown, by
extending their confidence to one party and refusing
it to another, by giving it to certain men and re-
fusing it to certain other men, which is the party,
and Avho are the statesmen qualified to govern this
mighty empire, to administer its laws, to preserve
its honour in the face of other nations, to advise the
Crown in matters of peace and war, to maintain the
character of the nation unsullied, and its station
neither impaired by timidity, nor imperilled by rash-
ness.
It is obvious that a House of Commons, fully
competent to guard the liberties of the peoi)le, and to
secure them against any unlawful or unjust invasion
of property, may be unfit to fulfil the third function
which the Constitution has assigned to them.
It is manifest that the reformed House of Conmions
have adequately performed the first and second of
these duties ; have they been competent to the third ?
234 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
To this I might answer in general terms, that it
must be admitted that, Avhether of the Liberal or of
the Conservative party, men fitted for the task have
been at the disposal of the Crown and of the nation,
in the various departments of Government.
But may there not still be improvements ? Each
of the last four Ministries have been willing to add,
as it were, a supplement to the Reform Act. For
my part, I should be glad to see the sound morals
and clear intelligence of the best of the working
classes more fully represented. They are kept out
of the franchise which jMinisters of the Crown have
repeatedly asked for them, partly by the jealousy
of the present holders of the suiFrage, and partly by
a vague fear that by their greater numbers they will
swallow up all other classes. Both those obstacles
may be removed by a judicious distribution of the
proposed suifrage, and by a happy sense on the part
of the public that an addition of the votes of the
most intelligent of the working classes to the consti-
tuent body will form a security, and not a danger.
The ten-pound householders are, it is generally
admitted, unwilling to share with others the privilege
of voting for a member of Parliament. This reluc-
tance, I imagine, would be felt, though in a less
degree, were the extension lateral instead of vertical
— in other terms, if it were proposed to build a wing
to the house instead of another story.
Be the reluctance, however, Avhat it may, we may
presume that the body of ten-pound householders
are at the least as pervious to public opinion as the
old close corporations of Bath, Scarborough, Ports-
mouth, &c. If so, they will yield to any clear
demonstration of the national Avill, as expressed by
elections, public meetings, the press, and other
channels of public opinion.
It must be added, that the opponents of any
plan for lowering the franchise have placed their
resistance on the most odious as well as the most
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 235
untenable ground. The small shopkeepers do not
differ much in position, and are not at all superior
in intelligence to the workmen receiving tAvcnty,
thirty, or forty shillings a Aveek in wages, residing
in the same town. The declared exclusion of work-
ing men, as intemperate and ignorant, is so invidious,
that their immediate superiors, who live in ten-pound
houses, Avill not like to remain long in the position
of barring the door at once against the best of
their customers and the most enlightened of their
neighbours.
The other and more formidable olijection is, that
the new-comers will swamp the old voters. This
objection, though not very carefully distinguished
or analysed by those who make it, rests on one of
two grounds. The first is, that the voters who live
in houses below the value of ten pounds are unfit to
have a vote ; the second is, that this class is so
numerous, that if admitted, all other classes will
virtually be disfranchised.
With respect to the first objection, the answer
must be — If they are unfit to vote, do not admit
them at all. AVhy take a poison into the constitution,
relying upon some antidote, the efficacy of Avhich has
not yet been tried ? AVhy give ignorant and dis-
honest men the power of capsizing the vessel ? AVhy
admit them among the crew at all ? But, in fact,
the working men of England are not as a bodv
either ignorant or dishonest. They largely avail
themselves of those facilities to acquire political and
historical knowledge, which, by the cheapness of
books and of newspapers, have of late years so much
increased. Their daily employments, depending as
they do upon their industry, skill, and steadiness, are
a guarantee for the character of the majority among
them.
The addition of such men to the number of electors
is, therefore, a security, and not a danfjer. It will
tend to improve the quality of the elected body, and
236 CONCLUDING CIIAPTER.
to render Parliament more sound in its g-eneral
views, and more attentive to the national interests.
In fact, those who have declared the Avorkiug men
of England unfit to exercise the francliise, erect a
barrier where none ought to exist.
For the Avorking men do not form a caste apart,
separate in their feelings and their interests from
the rest of the community ; they are not likely to
disregard those connections and ties which bind
them, like the up})er and middle classes, to their po-
litical party or religious communion ; nor are they
likely to feel less for the honour and welfare of
England than any other class in the nation.
All the endeavours made in this direction by
the Conservative party are, I conceive, mistaken in
judgment and unmse in policy. They tend to make
a democracy where it does not exist ; to enclose
our political Constitution within a pale of privilege ;
and to brand with deo-radation men Avho ouo;ht to be
honoured for their honesty and intelligence.
Thus, instead of giving to our Constitution ncAv
securitv, the efforts of those who maintain that the
franchise must never be lowered, or that, if ex-
tended, it should be only in a lateral direction, are
tendins: to create a new danger. The working; class
are not very eager to have the franchise. It is a
privilege which must be accompanied Avith increased
risk of differences and jars between employers and
employed. But when the working class are told
that they are an ignorant class, an intemperate class,
and a dishonest class, those Avho might have borne
the injury very patiently will hardly put up with
the insult. It is an imprudent as well as an untrue
imputation. It tends to make that very hostility of
classes which it pretends to deprecate.
The extension of the franchise, therefore, should
be vertical as well as lateral. Numbers have proved
their fitness ; let numbers be admitted.
What should be the precise amount of rent or of
coxcLUDixa cnAriER. 237
rate which should entitle the inhabitant of a bor<»ii<^h
to vote, or whether the old householder right of
voting with three years' occupation might ncH use-
fully be the test, I will not here pretend to deter-
mine. A lodger suffrage of £10 rent might, perha})s,
be added.
The objection, that by such an increase of borough
votes the whole representation would be given to
one class, is an objection to which I should allow
the greatest Aveight, were there any foundation for
it. I should allow it weight, not because 1 think
that a House of Commons exclusively representing
working men would instal anarchy, destroy pro-
perty, or uproot the monarchy. They would, I am
persuaded, do none of these things. But I should
attach weight to the objection, because I think a re-
presentation of one class would not give an image of
the property, the experience, the knowledge, the
wisdom of England, so well as one of the character
of our present House of Commons.
For what is that character ? It is a character of
extreme diversity of representation. Elections by
great bodies, agricultural, commercial, or manufac-
turing, in our counties and great cities, are balanced
by the right of election in boroughs of small or
moderate population, which are thus admitted to
fill up the defects and complete th^ fulness of our
representation.
For instance, Mr. Thomas Baring, from his com-
mercial eminence, from his high character, from his
world-wide position, ought to be a member of the
House of Commons. His political opinions, and
nothing but his political opinions, prevent his being
the fittest person to be a member for the City of
London. But the borouo-h of Huntinodon, with
2,654 inhabitants and 393 registered voters, elects
him willingly.
Let us tukc another instance. Sir George Grey,
from his sound judgment and experience in political
238 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
affairs, ought to be a member of any deliberative
assembly pretending to represent England. But,
in Xortliuuiberlaud, the territorial influence of the
Duke of Northumberland must work his perpetual
exclusion from the representation of the county.
jNIorpeth, with 13,796 inhabitants, but only 446
electors, returns him to Parliament.
Sir Roundell Palmer is omnium consensu well
qualified to enlighten the House of Commons on any
question of municipal or international law, and to ex-
])ound the true theory and practice of law reform. He
could not stand for Westminster or jNliddlesex, for
Lancashire or Yorkshire, with much chance of suc-
cess. But he finds a seat at Richmond, a borouo-li with
5,134 inhabitants and only 306 registered voters.
Dr. Temple says, in a letter to the ' Daily ^sews,'*
— ' I know that when Emerson aa^s in England, he
reofretted to me that all the more cultivated classes in
America abstained from politics, because they felt
themselves hopelessli/ sioampedj'
It is very rare to find a man of literary taste and
cultivated understanding exposehimself to the rough
reception of the electors of a large city. The small
boroughs, by returning men of knowledge acquired
in the study, and of tem])er moderated in the inter-
course of refined society, restore the balance which
Marylebone and Manchester, if left, even with the
ten-pound franchise, undis})uted masters of the field,
Avould radically disturb. But, besides this advan-
taire, thev act with the counties in o-iviuo- that due
influence to pro[)erty, without Avhich our House of
Commons Avould very inadequately represent the
nation, and thus make it feasible to admit the
householders of our larije tinvns to an extent which
Avould otherwise be inequitable, and possibly lead to
injurious results.
* May 19, IS 65.
CONCLUDING CIIArTEE. 2.39
These are the reasons why, in my opinion, after
abolishing 141 seats by the Keform Act, it is not
expedient that the smaller boroughs should be ex-
tinguished by any further large pi'ocess of dis-
franchisement. The last Reform Bill of Lord
Palmerston's Government went quite far enough in
this direction.
The £12 rated franchise, which is now the law in
Ireland, might well be adopted for English and Irish
counties. But these matters require time, thought,
and concert.
There must be a country prepared to ask for a
Reform Bill, and a House of Commons ready to
entertain it. Parliament should then treat the
Constitution as a skilful physician treats an honoured
patient, not as a prison surgeon cuts into the body
of a criminal delivered over to him for dissection.
In that way will be preserved in its spirit and
integrity that assembly which Sir James Graham
rightly called the ' noblest assembly of freemen in
the world ! ' It is by such a body that the Crown
is advised, but never insulted ; that the House of
Lords is impelled, but always respected. It is
thus that a Government is maintained which the
Liberals of the world love for its freedom, and the
Conservatives of the world envy for its stability !
When the question can be fairly entertained, I
trust the sufFraf!;e Anil be extended on fj-ood old
English principles, and in conformity with good old
English notions of representation.
I should be sorry to see the dangers of universal
suffrage and of unlimited democracy averted, or
sought to be averted, by such invidious schemes
as granting to the rich a i)lurality of votes, or by
contrivances altog-ether unknown to our habits,
such as the plan of iSIr. Hare, though sanctioned
by the high authority of so profound a thinker as
Mr. Mill.
240 COSCLUDINQ CHAPTER.
If there were to be any deviation from our cus-
tomary habits and rooted ideas on the subject of
representation, I should like to see such a change as
I once proposed, in order to obtain representatives
of the minority in large and populous counties and
towns. If, when three members are to be chosen,
an elector were allowed to jrive two votes to one
candidate, we might have a Liberal country gentle-
man sitting for Buckinghamshire, and a Conser-
vative manufacturer for Manchester. The local
majority would have two to one in the House of
Commons, and the minority would not feel itself
disfranciiised and degraded.
Yet even this change would be difficult to intro-
duce, and would perhaps be unpalatable in its first
working.
We are a people who love our free institutions,
not only because they are good, but also because
they are old. When our ancestors banished
♦Tames II. and changed the Avhole practice of the
Constitution, they took care to assert that he had
abdicated the throne, and to display the pre-
cedent of Kichard II. as a justification of their
conduct.
Institutions, it is true, do not grow like a tree ;
they are the Avork of man's hands, and are not fit
subjects of our idolatry. Yet there is something
venerable in old privileges. Mechanical inventions
and physical discoveries have no assignable limits,
but it is difiScult to believe in this aije of the world
that there are models of government, still untried,
promising a cup of felicity and of freedom which
England has not yet tasted.
The limit appears to me to have been rightly laid
down by Lord Grey. That which tends to increase
the security of the prerogatives of the Crown, the
authority of both Houses of Parliament, and the
rights and liberties of the people, may well be ac-
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 241
cepted ; the plan which has other objects, and looks
to a different form of government, ought at once to
be rejected.
Let it not be forgotten, that the intolerance of a
despotism and the intolerance of a democracy are alike
unknown in the temperate zone of our ancient form
of government ; that the liberty to think as we please,
and speak as Ave think, which was a rare felicity in
the time of the lioman Empire, is the common, vul-
gar, and general happiness enjoyed under a British
Sovereign ; that the freedom of thought, of inven-
tion, of discovery, of writing and of publishing,
which is a pledge for the progress of our people in
science, in religion, and in morals, is also the best
security for our political liberties.
This general diffusion of opinion fills up many a
void in vhe form of our institutions.
But I am not without apprehension on a different
score. There appears to me a danger more pressing
and more insidious than that of universal suffrage
o
and democracy.
This danger is, that with a view of satisfying the
demands of those who require an extension of the
suffrage some apparent concession may be made,
accompanied by draAvbacks, or securities, as they
will be called, inserted with a view to please the
large Conservative party in the two Houses of
Parliament. This is no imaginary danger: Lord
Althoi'p in vain warned the members of his own
party against granting to £50 tenants at Avill the
same right of voting in counties as had been hitherto
enjoyed by independent forty-shilling freeholders.
The sound of extension of franchise tickled the ears
of the Reformers ; the Chandos clause was carried,
and, as Lord Althorp predicted, the county repre-
sentation has been weighed down by the influence
of the o-reat landowners.
At the very moment of carrying the Kefomi
R
242 CONCLUDING CHAPTEI!.
Bill, Lord Grey was beset by the section called the
Waverers, who eiideavoui-ed to induce him still
further to deo-rnde the county electoral body, bv
transferrin": to the boroug-hs the votes of the lorty-
shilliug freeholders in towns and boroug-hs.
By a similar provision, coupled with a power
of sending votes by the post, the last Conservative
Reform Bill would have created thirty or forty
nomination boroughs, and this perha])S in a Avay
unperceived by the professed authors of the Bill.
In fact, the subject is full of unknown pitfalls,
and it is far better for the great Liberal party in
the country to place no Aveiglits in the scale against
democracy, to trust to no nice tricks of statesman-
ship, no subtle inventions of ingenious theorists,
than to be parties to a plausible scheme Avhich,
under the guise of an improvement of the Reform
Act of Lord Grey, might sweep away its fruits, and
give worthless husks in exchange.
The fund of popularity with Avhich the Reform
Act enriched the Ministry, made it incumbent on
them to lisk that popularity in striking down
abuses Avliich were strong in interests and pre-
scription.
Among these there was no perversion of law so
injurious to the welfare, or so threatening to the
future peace of the community, as the abusive ad-
ministration of the Poor LaAv. During the most
critical period of the French Avar, a practice had
arisen in the South of England of paying out of
the poor-rates a portion of the wages of labour, —
that portion to be measured by the number of the
labourer's family. Hence the parents became
the stipendiaries of the parish, and their income
was measured, not by their industry as labourers,
but by the nund^er of their children. In this Avay,
the sons became the useless and superfluous mem-
bers of a communitA' Avhich had increased, not ac-
CONCLUDING chapt;:!?. 243
corfliiiQ; to natural laws, but according to artificial
contrivance.
Jn 1830, the evils arisino; from these mistakes of
ig;norance and want of foresio;ht had o-athered to the
most alarmino- height. For some Avinters, youno-
men of eighteen and twenty had been put to nomi-
nal work as an excuse for giving them a scanty and
eleemosynary Jiav. Their days were spent in idle-
ness ; their nights in ])oaching, thieving, drinking,
and excess. Their disorder o-rew to outrag-e and
riot ; tlie sky Avas reddened by nocturnal fires ; tlie
fields Avere the scenes of combat, and the farmers
came forth as yeomanry cavalry to suppress the in-
surrections of their labourers.
It Avas the determination of Lord Althoi'p, the
Duke of Richmond, and the other members of Lord
Grey's Cabinet, to gra])ple Avith this friglitful evil.
Mr. Senior, Archbishop Whately, and others, had,
on the grounds of science and political economy,
])ro\-ed the destructive nature of the abuses Avhich
2)re vailed. A Commission Avas named, a remedy
was recommended, a Bill A^as framed, considered
and a})proved by the committee of the Cabinet, of
Avliich Lord Melbourne, Lord Althorp, the Duke
of Richmond, Lord Ri])on, and I Avore members.
Thus Avas framed the Poor LaAv Amendment
Act. It Avas introduced into the House of Commons
by Lord Althorp; and such Avas the difficulty of the
task, that nothing Init his perseverance, patience,
and thorougli knoAA ledge of the subject Avould ever
haA'e carried it against the interests, the ignorance,
and the deeply-seated prejudices Avith Avhich he had
to contend.
Another task of equal urgency Avas to restore
tranquillity to Ireland, and supjn'css the agi-arian
disturbers of that part of the kingdom. In the
year 1833, a severe l)ut temporary measure Avas
passed for that purpose. At the same time, the
R 2
244 CONCLUDING ClIAPTEU.
Irish Cliurcli was reformed, the number of bishops
reduced, and the Establishment rendered more
efficient.
In the same year, slavery in our colonies was
abolished, twenty millions being yoted as compen-
sation to the proprietors of slaves, — a sum generous
as a gift, but inadequate as an indemnity. Still,
the erasure of such a blot on our civil policy, and
the grant of freedom to 800,000 human beings,
Avas an act of Avhich the Reformed Parliament
might justly be proud. The present Lord Derby
was the mover on the part of the Government in
these measures, and raised his fame as a legislator
and an orator by surpassing energy in action, and
eloquence in debate.
In 1835, the municipal corporations of England,
Scotland, and Ireland were reformed, and those
bodies, often the seats of monopoly and the hotbeds
of corruption, were subjected to vigilant popular
control.
A year or two afterwai'ds, Sir Robert Peel de-
clared that this reform had proved, as he expected,
a conservative measure. Indeed, it may be said
that every measure which effaces a blot in our insti-
tutions, which removes a topic of just complaint,
and affords a remedy for an obvious and offensive
grievance, tends to confirm the attachment of the
people to their government, and is thus a conserva-
tive measure.
' There are,' said Lord Palmerston, in his great
speech of 1850, ' revolutionists of two kinds in the
world. In the first place, there are those violent,
hot-headed, and unthinking men, who fly to arms,
who overthrow established governments, and who
recklessly, without regard to consequences, and with-
out measuring difficulties and comparing strength,
deluge their country with blood, and draw down
the greatest calamities on their fellow-countrymen.
CONCLUDING CILVl'TEI^. 245
These are the revohitionists of one class. But there
are revohitionists of another kind, — blind-minded
men who, animated by antiquated })re)udices, and
daunted by i!j;norant apprehensions, dam up the
current of human improvement, until the irresistible
pressure of accumulated discontent breaks down
the opposing barriers, and overthrows and levels to
the earth those very institutions which a timely ap-
plication of renovating- means would have rendered
strong and lasting.'* Of such a nature were the
renovating means which, ap})licd between 1830 and
1850, have restored to our institutions a strength
which Avas about to decay.
In the same year, 1835, the commutation of tithes
for a fixed rent-charge — a measure which Mr. Pitt
had meditated in vain —was successfully carried.
At first, the country gentlemen in the House of
Commons were inclined to think the Bill proposed
too favourable to the Church ; but, with some mo-
difications, restricting the amount of charge, the
commutation was accepted by all parties. In three
years, or little more, the whole arrangement was
carried into effect ; and, from this time, the clergy-
man has no longer been exposed to hai-assing con-
flicts with his parishioners, and the farmer has no
longer been compelled to share Avith the tithe-owner
the profits of improvements, of which he and the
landowner bear all the expense. Thus, works of
drainage, and the cidtivation of waste lands, Avhich,
under the former state of things, were not under-
taken because unrennmerative, became practicable,
and have, to the great advantage of the country,
])een carried into effect.
Similar changes have since been commenced on
the subject of church leases, thus giving a security
* Debate on Foreign roliey, June 2;', 18*30. Ilansiud, vol. exii
p. 432.
246 CONCLUDING CnAPTEP.
to capital and industry, while the Church receives
an equitable compensation.
During the period when Lord Brougham held
the Great Seal, law reforms of considerable im-
portance Avere made. Not only did he abolish
many offices, but he reduced many others, and abso-
lutely surrendered a sinecure of £10,000 a year,
which had provided for the fimily of one of his pre-
decessors for nearly half a century.
But the economical reforms of Lord Brougham,
his absolute relinquishment of advantages which
legally belonged to his high office, and of the means
of ample provision for his family, were only parts
of a great public career. The extraordinary speech
on Law lieform which he delivered in 1826 ;
the comprehensive principles which he enunciated,
and the prodigious details which flowed easily and
smoothly from his capacious mind, astonished and
deli2:hted the world. His suggestions in 1826 were
his plans in 1831 ; and whether we look to the
Court of Chancery or to the Common Law Courts ;
to the organisation of the Judicial Committee, in
place of the general irregular body of the Privy
Council and the unwieldv Court of Delegates ; or to
the institution of County Local Courts, obstructed,
delayed, but finally enacted ; we shall see in all
these instances a o-reat intellect flashing*; throuo-h
the fogs of law, throwing its light on the defects
of a venerated fabric, and SAveeping away the cob-
Avebs which had so lono- concealed what was un-
sightly or unsound.
Lord Brougham also shared in another work of
improvement, begun by Sir Samuel Komilly and Sir
flames Mackintosh, and promoted, in some measure,
by Sir Robert Peel. I allude to the reform of the
Criminal Law. ^Vhen Sir Samuel Komilly first
raised the voice of enlightened humanity on this
subject, it was declared by the great sages of the
CONX'LUDING CIIArTER. 247
law, that unless a man were subject to be hano^ed
for stealing to the amount of 405. in a dwellino--
house, no person Mould be safe in his home.
On the 21st of May, 182.3, Sir James Mackin-
tosh proposed by resolutions a great reform of the
Criminal Law.
He proposed that the punishment of death should
be taken away in the cases of larceny from dwelling-
houses, from shops, and on navigable rivers ; for
the greater part of the offences made capital by the
Black Act, and all the offences made capital by the
Marriage Act ; for horse-stealing, sheep-stealing,
and cattle-stealing : for foro;ery and utteriuLT
torged instruments ; sendino- threatening; letters,
and various other offences.
He was opposed by Sir Robert Peel, who, while
he agreed to abolish the ])unishment of death for
several offences for Avhieli it was scarcely ever put
in force, could not agree to part with the security
that punishment afforded in cases of larceny to the
amount of -iOs. in a dwelling-house.
On a division, the previous questiim was carried
by 86 to 76. Sir Robert Peel, however, intro-
duced several valuable amendments in the Criminal
Law.
In the year 1832, capital punishment Avas abo-
lished for horse-stealing, sheep-stealing, larceny to
the value of £5 in a dwellino-house, coinino- and
forgery, except of wills and powers of attorney to
transfer stock.
In the year 1833, for house-breaking.
In 1834, for returning from transportation.
In 1835, for sacrilege and letter-stealing by ser-
vants of the Post Office.
In 1837, uj)on the Queen's accession, the offences
subject to ca])ital punishment were virtually reduced
to the following :—
Murder and attempts to murder; burglary with
248
CONCLUDING CIIAPTEB.
violence to person ; robbery Avitb cutting or wound-
ing ; arson of dwelling-houses, persons being therein ;
rape, Avith some few offences of rare occurrence.
In 1841, capital punishment was further abolished
for rape, embezzlement, and riot.
In 1861, for all offences except murder and high
treason. The practical effect of these changes has
been the following diminution in the number of
persons sentenced to death, and of those actually
executed : —
1823
1824
1825
Sentenced to Death.
968
1066
1U36
Executed.
. 64
. 49
. 60
1833
1834
1835
931
480
523
. 33
34
. 34
1837
1838
1839
438
116
56
8
6
. 11
1843
1844
1845
97
57
49
. 13
. 16
. 12
1853
1854
1855
55
49
56
8
5
7
1860
1861
1862
48
50
29
. 12
. 15
. 15
In taking the
averaije of decenni
al periods
Kl —
1823 to 1832
1833 „ 1842
1843 „ 1852
1852 „ 1862
Sentenced to Death.
. . . 1279-5 .
. . . 325-2 . .
61-6 .
. . . 50-9 . .
Executed
. 56-3
. 17-1
. 10-7
. Ill
we
Taking the proportions to the population, the
diminution is still more striking.
CONCLUDING CHArTER. 249
Sentenced to Death.
Executed
(^ne ill
One ill
1823 to 1832
. 10123 .
. 229-177
1833 „ 1842
. 45-834 . .
. 813-185
1843 „ 1852 . .
. 274-692 . .
. 1,581-390
1853 „ 1862 .
, . 373-220 .
. 1,711-434
The first set of numbers in these tables, shows
the great changes which have taken place in the
law; the number of capital sentences has diminished
from 1279 to 51, or from 1 in 10,123 in the
population to 1 in 373,220. The second set of
numbers shows the changes in the application of the
law to be from 56 to 11, or from 1 in 229,000 of the
population to 1 in 1,711,000. The great diminution
in the number of executions evidently took place at
the accession of the present Queen.*
But if these chanj^es show the increased huma-
nity of our people, under our very imperfect system
of secondary punishment, it may well bear a ques-
tion whether murder is prevented by retaining the
punishment of death for eight, ten, or fifteen per-
sons in a year.
For my own part, I do not doubt for a moment
either the right of a community to inflict the })unish-
ment of death, or the expediency of exercising that
right in certain states of society.
But when I turn from that abstract rio;ht, and
that abstract expediency, to our own state of society,
— when I consider how difficult it is for any judge
to separate the case which requires inflexible justice,
from that which admits the force of mitigating cir-
cumstances, — -how invidious the task of the Secretary
of State in dispensing the mercy of the Crown, — how
critical the comments made by the public, — how
soon the object of general horror becomes the theitie
of sympathy and pity, — how narrow and how limited
the example given ])y this condign and awful ])unish-
ment, — how brutal the scene of the execution, —
* See Note K.
250 COXCLUDIXG CHAPTER.
•
I come to the conclusion that nothino; atouIcI be lost
to justice, nothing lost in the preservation of inno-
cent life, if the punishment of death were altogether
abolished.
In that case, a sentence of a long term of separate
confinement, followed bv another lono; term of hard
labour and hard fare, would cease to be considered
as an extension of mercy.
If the sentence of the judge, in cases of murder,
Avere imprisonment for life, there would scarcely ever
])e a petition for remission of punishment sent to the
Home Othce. The guilty, unpitied, Avould have time
and opportunity to turn repentant to the Throne
of Mercy.
In the year, 1837 a mighty question in regard to
the ixovernment of Canada was brought before
Parliament.
In 1791, Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville had given
to that proAdnce an innn-acticable Constitution.
The province was inhabited by Frenchmen, whose
manners were those of the age of Louis XIV., with
no taint of the lievolution, and no mark of im-
provement. It should have been the task of the
English Government to infuse into the province
English freedom, English industry, and English
loyalty.
Instead of that sensible course, it was the object
of Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville to separate English
energy from French inertness ; to shut up the
industry of the English in the up})er part of the
colony, and to preserve the Lower Province as a
sort of museum, where a French noblesse, with
feudal titles and orders of knighthood, and tithes
and seio-norial rio-hts, mio-ht be crystallised for ever as
a memorial of the happiness of France before her
jacobin Revolution.
But ' fancy's fairy frostwork ' melted away before
the light of human progress. The titles and orders
projected never were created ; all fell into confu-
CONCLUDING CHAriER. 2.51
sion ; a legislative Council, formed of enlightened
men, attached to British connection, monopolised
all the patronage of the Crown, and became odious
to the French popular party. The representative
assembly of Lower Canada refused supplies.
Lord Bathurst, Colonial Secretary, having in his
•possession a clock that would not go, took its regu-
lation into his own hands. He voted by his own
authority the supplies to the Crown, which the As-
sembly refused to vote.
But this policy could not last many years. Par-
liament, on the advice of ministers, rejected the
proposals of the French Canadians for a Legislative
Council of their own nomination. The consequences
quickly followed. Lower Canada, pent up in feud-
alism, rebelled for privileges and tithes ; lji)per
Canada, pent up in democracy, rebelled for a republic.
Lord Durham was sent out by Lord Melbourne's
Government to solve this mysterious problem. He
examined it with the eye of a statesman ; penetrated
the views of the various discordant parties, and pro-
nounced for Union. The moment was a critical
one. Some said, ' Let the French Canadians have
their way, or you will have a repetition of the
American war.' Others said, ' The grant of what
is called " responsible government " is a grant of
independence : it must be resisted.'
Between these two extreme courses the British
Government took their stand. They came to an
understanding with the representatives of the Ca-
nadian Liberals, that under the term ' responsible
government' should be included all questions of in-
ternal but none of external policy. Responsible
government, thus defined, Avas granted.
Mr. Powlett Thomson, sent out as Governor to
effect the LTnion, put to himself the question, ' Am
I the sovereign, or am I the minister?' and he
answered it by determining that he was the minister.
252 CONCLUDING CKArXEI?.
Doubtless the machinery of Colonial Government,
with the internal affairs left to the guidance of the
Colonial Ministry, and the external affairs, with the
naval and military departments, placed under the
control of the Queen's Government, became exceed-
ingly complicated^ — more complicated even than the
British Constitution itself. But with o-ood will and
good sense nothing is impossible : revolt and dis-
aifection were the results of the Act of 1791 ; obe-
dience and loyalty have been the results of the Act
of 1837.
There was, indeed, one inevitable but not irreme-
diable defect in the Act of Union. Lord Sydenham
could not have obtained a majority in its ftivour
unless he had agreed that the number of represen-
tatives of the Lower Province should be equal to
that of the Upper. But it was obvious that if the
population of the Uj>per Province should, by the
breaking down of the barrier between it and England,
and by its natural fertility and richness, greatly in-
crease beyond that of the Lower, justice and policy
would alike require some change of the equality built
upon a shifting soil. This is what has now happened.
It will task the wisdom of Parliament to fix the
foundations of the new building, but the omens are
favourable.
Many subjects of great importance occupied at this
time the attention of Parliament.
Ireland had been treated in 1829 as Mr. Pitt had
proposed she should be treated in 1800. But this
long denial of justice had produced discontent and
disaffection ; had caused rural outrages of the most
atrocious character ; had left the country a prey to
tyranny on the part of the landlords, plots and con-
spiracies on the part of the priests and the peasantiy.
Lord Anglesey, when Lord Lieutenant, had said
that the King had no party in Ireland but the King's
troops.
CONCLUDING CIIAl'TER. 2.33
The Governments of Lord Melbourne and his suc-
cessors did much to remedy what could only be re-
medied by time and justice. The tithe question was
settled, and the burden, removed from the peasantry,
was placed upon the landlords. A yjoor-law, which
is in fact not so much a law of charity as a law of
jmblic order, was carried. An Encumbered Estate
Act, introduced in 1847, and afterwards amended by
Sir John liomilly, opened the way to improved rela-
tions of landlord and tenant. The rio'ht of votino; in
counties, taken away from the serfs called forty-
shilling freeholders in 1829, was given to occupiers
rated at £12 a year. A sum of eight millions ster-
ling was distributed by the Imperial Government
during the potato famine of 1848.
The measure introduced in 1835, granting a por-
tion of the Church Revenues of Ireland to purposes
of Education, was unpopular in England, and v/as
not carried in the House of Lords. But it is hardly
possible that a Church Establishment should be [)re-
served undiminished for about one-ninth of the pojni-
lation of Ireland. When England shall examine this
question dispassionately, it may be expected that,
although the State will not entano-le itself with the
support of a Roman Catholic clergy, as Mi-. Pitt
projected, the whole people of Ireland will be allowed
to derive some benefit from so large a revenue.
National Education and Public Improvements of
various kinds might receive at least a portion of the
revenue raised from the land for the benefit of the
people.
In 1828 and 1829, Parliament had thrown open
the doors of office and of the Legislature to Protestant
and Roman Catholic Dissenters from the Established
Church.
From 1831 to 1841, ten years had been devoted
to the grant of political and municipal privileges in
the three kingdoms.
254 COXCLUDING CHAPTER.
In 1840, the period had arrived for reducing du-
ties of customs, abolishing monopoly, and freeing
commerce from many restrictions.
The two Humes — jNIr. Joseph Hume, the Member
of Parliament, and Mr. Deacon Hume, an officer of
the Board of Customs — opened the road along which
the free-trade army marched first in doubtful battle,
but ultimately in assured triumj^h.
]Mr. Charles Yilliers, ]\Ir. Cobden, and Mr. Bright
moved the total and immediate repeal of the Corn
Laws. The Whig Ministry, without going this
length, pro})Osed that the sliding scale of duties on
wheat should be exchano-ed for eio-ht shillino-s fixed
Cj <_? O
duty ; that the ]»rohibition of foreign sugar should
be deduced to a dififerential duty of twelve shillings
a hundredweight, and the protective duty on timber,
instead of ten shillings on colonial and fifty-five
s-hillino-s on Baltic timber, should be twentv shillinos
on colonial and fifty shilhngs on Baltic timber. But
the proposal for the admission of foreign sugar was
rejected by a Protectionist majority of thirty-six, and,
on a dissolution, a majority of ninety-one seated Sir
Bol)ert Peel as the head of a new administration.
But if the Protectionists counted on Sir Robert
Peel to confirm the reign of monopoly, they were
wofully deceived. It is true that, with characteristic
prudence, he left for a time unassailed the corn of the
landed gentry and the sugar of the West Indian colo-
nies. But he struck down all the minor monopolies,
and advancing like a great general, left the fortresses
of corn and sugar held by mere garrisons in a con-
qiiered country.
Thus it happened that, in 1846, the introduction
of foreign corn was sanctioned with a duty, not of
eight shillings, but of one shilling, and Sir Robert
Peel, amid the ciirses of his party, but the applause
of the people, conferred an inestimable benefit on his
country.
CONCLUDING CnATTEi;. 255
On tliis occasion, as on that of the Catholic Relief
Bill, Sir Robert Peel was the first to give credit to
those by whom he had long been op})osed.
' I said bel'ore, and I said truly,' he declared, ' that
in proposing onr measures of commercial policy I
had no wish to rob others of the credit jnstly due to
them. I must say, Avith reference "to honourable
gentlemen ojtposite, as I say with reference to our-
selves, that neither of us is the party which is justly
entitled to the credit of them. There has been a
combination of parties generally opposed to each
other, and that combination and the influence of
Government have led to their ultimate success ; but
the name which ought to be associated with the suc-
cess of these measures is not the name of the noble
Lord, the organ of the party of which he is the leader,
nor is it mine. The name Avhieh ought to be, and
Avill be associated with the success of those measures,
is the name of one who, acting, I believe, from pure
and disinterested motives, has, with untiring enerofv,
T 1 1 »
made appeals to our reason, and has enforced those
appeals with an eloquence the more to be admired
because it was unaffected and unadorned ; the name
Avliich ought to be chiefly associated with the success
of these measures is the name of Richakd Cobden.'*
This just tribute did the highest honour to the f\iir-
ness and magnanimous candour of the statesman who
uttered it.
In the same year, 1846, the Ministry Avhich suc-
ceeded him swept away the differential duties on
sugar, and reduced those duties in a manner which
Avill be presently explained.
In 1848, the Navigation LaAvs Avere repealed ; and
on that occasion Sir James Graham, in a memorable
speech, recorded the benefits of the repeal of the corn
laws, and celebrated the triumphs of free trade.
* Parliamentary Debates, third series, vol. Ixxxvii. p. 1054.
256 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
Some of the fruits of this signal change of policy,
partly sanctioned by the very Parliament which had
been elected to defend the Corn Laws and to gua-
rantee the gains of protection, and partly carried into
effect by the succeeding Parliament, remain to be
recorded.
But other beneficial reforms must be added to the
o;lorious catalogue.
In 1861, a Treaty of Commerce with France
broke the fetters which restrained our intercourse
with a cuuntry abounding in wine, in oil, in silk, in
beautiful fabrics, but deficient in coal, in iron, and
in cheap manufactures.
In this task, the Emperor of the French pro-
posed, and the British Cabinet accepted, the plan of
the Treaty ; but Richard Cobden was the chief
worker in carrying the design into effect.
Nor was the measure merely one of free trade.
Two nations, the foremost in the world for intellect,
for triumphs in peace, and for triumphs in war, were
thereby connected by a thousand links which may,
it is to be hoped, convert a relation of ancient hos-
tilitv into one of friendly and peaceful rivalry.
Tlie results of these free-trade and financial mea-
sures remain to be noticed.
Let us first take the official value of the imports
and exports of British, Colonial, and Foreign goods
in 1842, 1853, and 1863 — in short, the whole extent
of our commerce : —
Imports— 1842 £ 65,253,286
18r)3 123,099,313
18G3 171,913,852
Exports— 1842 £113.841,802
1853 242,072,224
„ 1863 313,113,188
Next, the real value of Exports of British and
Irish manufacture : —
CONCLUDING CHAriER.
257
1842
1853
1803
£47,381,023
98,9;!:3,781
146,489,768
The real value of some few of the more impor-
tant articles of British manufacture may next be
recorded : —
1842
1853
1S63
£
£
Cotton Goods . . .
13,907,884
25,817,249
39,.424,010
Earthenware and Por-
celain • . . . .
000,430
1,338,370
1,334,275
Hardware and Cutlery
1,398.487
3,665,051
3,826,784
Linen Manufactures .
2,346,749
4.758,432
0,509,970
Machinery ....
554,653
1,985,536
4,365,023
Iron and Steel . . .
2,457,717
10,845,422
13.111,477
Woollen Yarn
637,305
1.450,786
5,005,432
Woollen Manufactures
5 185,045
10,172,182
15,518,842
Silk, thrown and manu-
factured ....
590.1.89
2,044,361
2,229,691
It will be recollected that, in 1823, Mr. Iluskis-
son contended, amid a storm of obloquy, that silk
manufacturers could, after due time for preparation,
withstand a competition protected by a duty of only
30 per cent. ; that, in 1845, Sir Kobert Peel reduced
the protection to 10 per cent. ; and that, in 1861,
Mr. Gladstone took it away altoo;ether.
Yet, in 1823, the declared value of the total
of British silk goods exported amounted only to
i?35 1,409; and, in 1863, the thrown and manufac-
tured silk exported amounted in value to £2,229,000.
Let us take two further articles, sugar and ships.
In 1841, I had proposed to reduce the duties on co-
lonial and foreign sugar to 24^. and 36^. respectively,
thus giving colonial sugar a protection of 12^. a cwt.
This was rejected as insufficient. In 1846 I pro-
posed a duty of 14^. a CAvt. on Muscovado sugar of
the British colonies, and, instead of the prohibitory
s
258
CONCLUDING CHAPTEE.
duty of 63^. on foreign sugars, a duty on foreign
Muscovado sugar of 21.<?. ; and that, from July 1851,
a duty of 14^. should be applied alike to all Musco-
vado siigars, taking away protection altogether. This
was approved. The consumption of raw sugar has
been, in spite of a subsequent increase of duty during
the Russian war, which lasted till 1863, —
Cwt.
Cwt.
Cwt.
1842
3,868,437
1853
7,272,833
1863
9,202,524
In 1841, the consumption of sugar was 17 lb.
a
head; in 1853, it was 26| lb. a head; in 1863, it
was 35f lb. a head. Such were the blessings con-
ferred by a relief from taxation, which enabled the
people to consume an article of wholesome food, free
from high and prohibitive duties.*
In 1848, Mr. Labouchere, as the organ of the
Government, carried the repeal of the Navigation
Laws — a measure at wdiich the shipowners stood
ao-hast, and at which even Adam Smith had hesi-
tated. The consequence has been, in regard to
the increase of tonnage, —
British .
Foreign .
1842
1853
1863
5.415,821
1,930,983
9,064,705
6,316,456
15,203,047
7,762,116
In regard to th6 coa- ting trade, which was thrown
* Hansard's Delates, vol. Ixxxvii. p. 1319. See also Tol. xxxriii.
pp. 260, 251.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 259
open to foreign shipping in 1854, the increase has
been —
1842. 18o3. 180:5.
British . 10,785,450 12,S'20,745 17,46.J,G3J
Foreign . — — 81,897
So much do the streno-thenino; breezes of freedom
prove better nurses of hardy offspring than the con-
fined atmosphere of monopoly and restriction.
Let us now turn for a few moments to our finan-
cial chancres.
More than a century ago, after the Seven Years'
War, historians and [)hilosophers pointed out that
we had heavy taxes on salt, on candles, on leather,
and on soap ; on coals carried by sea ; on every
article of manufactvire which was not prohibited ; on
malt, beer, glass, pa|)er, newspapers. The land-tax
amounted to 3^. in the pound. They inferred that
the debt would break our backs.*
Yet, after more costly and more burthensome
wars than we had ever before sustained, the taxes on
necessaries have been taken off; the taxes on glass
and paper, and most of the taxes of excise, have
been abolished ; and the land-tax remaining fixed,
while the rent of land has greatly increased, has been
much lio-htened.
In the meantime, the wealth of the country has
so much augmented, that the income-tax of 2s. in the
pound, which only produced 15 millions in 1815,
would have produced 26 millions in 1864.
If it be said that Ireland is now subject to the tax,
it must be reckoned, on the other hand, that the cui-
rency of 1815 Avas depreciated 25 per cent., while
that of 1865 is equal in value to gold.
There are two ways, however, in which it is usual
* See especially Sinclair's History of the Revenue, with the Ap-
pendix.
8 2
260 CONCLUDINa CHAPTER.
to give an exaggerated view of our expenditure and
of our taxation : — of our expenditure, by lumping,
as a proof of our yearly extravagance, the taxes
applied to pay the interest of our national debt; the
expense of paying the judicial and police establish-
ments of the country ; the civil list ; and the half-
pay and pensions due to the officers, soldiers, and
sailors of our army and navy.
No one proposes to diminish the vast sums payable
under these heads by a single shilling, but they are
made to figure among the totals of our expenditure,
and pass muster as proofs of our national waste, ex-
travagance, and profusion.
The other way is that of exaggerating the burthen
of taxes by taking, not the rate of the tax, but the
sum paid. Thus, if '24iS. a cwt. is charged on sugar,
and that rate is reduced to 12s., it is clear that the
burthen on the people is greatly reduced. But if the
quantity consumed under the high duty is under four
millions of hundredweights, and under the low duty
is above nine millions, it is clear the sum paid from
this source will be increased, and a pretence is ob-
tained for saying the burthens of the subject are
auo'mented.
Thus, if a shilling income-tax produced 7-^ mil-
lions of revenue in 1815, and a sixpence income-
tax, in 1865, were to produce 8 millions, it would
be said that the burthen on the people had been in-
creased.
What is really to be ascertained is : how much a
man is taxed in proportion to his means ; a tax of a
million in a poor country may be more oppressive
than a tax of five millions on a population of equal
numbers in a kino-dom,
Ingeniis 6pibusque et festd pace virentem.
On the subject of foreign politics much obscurity
pievails in the minds of men as to the principles by
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 261
which British policy has been guided in the past,
and will be o-uided in the future. Much of this ob-
scurity arises from the double sense which is attached
to the term intervention. The usual and more pro-
per meaning of the term intervention is, interference
in the internal affairs of other nations. The new and
less accurate a})plication of the term is to all inter-
ference in the disputes of independent nations. The
correct use of the term is when it is applied to the in-
tervention which took place by Austria, Prussia, and
Russia in the internal affairs of Piedmont and of
Naples in the year 1821, and by France and the
Northern Powers, in the internal affairs of Spain,
in the year 1823. The incorrect use of the term
is, when it is appHed to the interference prompted
by Mr. Canning, in the year 1826, when England
interposed, as she was bound by treaty to do, in de-
fence of the independence of Portugal.
It is obvious that great confusion would arise from
using the same term and ap|)lying the same argu-
ment to the two kinds of interference.
All public writers have declared that a nation has
the right to settle its own form of government, pro-
vided it does not injure other nations in its mode of
doing so; just as every householder may regulate
his own house, provided he does not cause a nui-
sance to the neighbourhood.
But if one nation attacks another, all nations are
at liberty to judge whether their interests, and the
general iudependence, ai-e affected thereby.
Thus, the first kind of intervention should, as a
rule, be forbidden and avoided. Of late years, we
have seen the kind of intervention in the internal
affairs of other nations, against Avhich Lord Castle-
reagh protested in the case of Na})les in 1821, and
Mr. Cannmg in the case of Spain in 1823, entirely
renounced, in the case of Italy, both by Austria and
by France.
It is true that France has interfered in the inter-
262 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
nal affairs of Rome and of Mexico, and that EnMand
has interfered in the internal aifairs of China ; but
in these instances it has been declared that such in-
tervention was exceptional and temporary, and was
contrary to the general principles upon which the
foreign policy of England and France were founded.
But the case would be quite different if, when a
great Power attacks a small independent State with a
view to conquest, other Powers were as a rule to re-
main quiescent. In that case we may be sure that two
consequences would follow : — first, that there Avould
soon remain none but great Powers; and, secondly,
that all those great Powers would have a despotic
form of government, no other being endurable in the
eyes of mighty sovereigns in the command of numer-
ous and formidable armies. Such Avas in fact the
danger which threatened Europe both before and
after the great catastrophe of 1814.
Against such dangers free and independent na-
tions are bound to make provision. This provision
in favour of the weaker States is in fact the system
called the balance of power, which all European
nations conceive themselves bound to regard in their
treaties and acquisitions.
It does not follow, however, that in every case of
invasion with a view to interfei'^nce in the internal
concerns of a State, neutral Powers are bound to
resist the invader.
Thus, when, in 1823, France, under the protection
of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, designed to invade
Spain, and suppress its free Constitution, a very
difficult question arose for the Government and
Parliament of Great Britain. The jSIinisters of
England, while protesting against this interference
with the internal government of an indej^endent
State, doubted whether Spain might not wisely and
prudently so modify her Constitution as to disarm
the hostility of France. The Duke of Wellington,
the saviour of S;;anish independence, advised such
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 2G3
modifications. The Spanish Government, rejected
all such advice, and stood, as she was entitled to do,
on her right.
But was England bound to assist Spain in arms,
whatever might be tlie consequences ? Lord Liver-
pool and Mr. Canning declined to give such assist-
ance, and placed their refusal on the following,
among other reasons. After relating the course of
the recent negotiations. Lord Liverpool thus con-
tinued :—
' It may now be expected by your Lordships, that
I should state the reasons why His Majesty's Go-
vernment consider neutrality to be the policy of this
country, and I have no wish to abstain from that
statement. In considering the duty of this Govern-
ment, as to the alternative of neutrality or war, I
am bound, in the first instance, to advert to our
own domestic situation and policy. Now, my Lords,
I have no hesitation or difficulty in again declaring
what I stated on the first day of the session, that if
either the honour or the essential interests of this
country should require us to engage in war, we have
the means of carrvinsj on war with effect.
' But, my Lords, when I say this, I must add,
that after the unexampled contest which we waged for
two-and-twcnty years, from Avhich we are just now
recovering, — a contest as unexampled in magnitude
and extent as in its duration, — after all the hard-
ships and suff'erings which, in consequence of our
unparalleled exertions, the country has undergone, —
it cannot be consistent with true wisdom or sound
policy to re-plunge the country into all the evils
and inconveniences of a new war, witliout a clear
and obvious necessity, more particularly at a time
when we find our connnerce and manufactures not
only recovering from the depression which they
more sensibly experienced on the conclusion of peace
than while hostilities were raging, but advancing
to a degree of prosperity which they never before
264 CONCLUDING CIUPTER.
enjoyed; and when we find our agriculture -the last
interest to recover, because the last to suffer — be-
(riunino- to revive from the difficulties and distress
under which it has been labouring. I ask, if there
is any rational man, my Lords, who does not feel
that, at such a moment, it is most desirable that this
country should continue at peace, if peace can be
preserved consistently with our honour, and consist-
ently with our essential interests; and that we should
not throw a great proportion of the advantages which
Ave now enjoy into the hands of other countries, —
a result which must inevitably happen, if war, no
matter under what circumstances, should unfortu-
nately occur ? I do not wish to state these advan-
tages, my Lords, for more than they are worth ; but
they are worth much, and ought to have their due
weight upon your Lordships' minds.'
Mr. Canning, to the same purport and the same
end, said —
' Neither will I discuss over again that other pro-
position, already sufticiently exhausted in other de-
bates, of the applicability of a purely maritime war
to a struggle in aid of Spain, in the campaign in
which her fate is to be decided. I will not pause to
consider what consolation it would have been to the
Spanish nation — what source of animation, what en-
couragement to perseverance in resisting their in-
vader—to learn, that though we could not, as in the
last war, march, to their aid, and mingle our banners
with theirs in battle, we were, nevertheless, scouring
their coasts for prizes, and securing to ourselves an
indemnification for our own expenses, in the capture
of Martinico. To go to war, therefore, directly, un-
sparingly, vigorously, against France, in behalf of
Spain,"in theVay in Avhich alone Spain could derive
any essential benefit from war co-operation — to join
her with heai't and hand — or, to wrap ourselves up
in a real and bond fde neutrality, — that was the true
alternative.
CONCLUDING CHAriER. 265
* Now, before I quit the Peninsula, a single word
more to the honourable Member for Westminster
and his constituents. Have they estimated the bur-
thens of a Peninsular war? God forbid that, if lui-
nour, or good faith, or national interest required
it, we should decline the path of duty because it is
encompassed with difficulties ! But at least we
ought to keep some consideration of the difficulties
in our minds. We have experience to teach us,
with something like accuracy, what are the pecuniary
demands of the contest for which we must be pre-
pared, if we enter into a war in the Peninsula. To
take only two years and a half of the last Peninsular
war, of which I happen to have the accounts at hand,
from the beginning of 1812 to the glorious conclusion
of the campaign of 1814, the expense incurred in
Spain and Portugal was about £'33,000,000.'
Again, in speaking of the prospects of the war,
if undertaken, he said —
' Let no man flatter himself that a war now
entered upon would be a short one. Have we so
soon forgotten the course and progress of the last
war? For my part, I remember well the antici-
pations with which it began. I remember hearing
a man, who will be allowed to have been distin-
guished by as great sagacity as ever belonged to the
most consummate statesman, — I remember hearing
Mr. Pitt, not in his ])lace in Parliament (where it
might have been his object and his duty to animate
zeal and to encourage hope), but in the privacy of
his domestic circle, among the friends in whom
he confided, — I remember well hearing him say,
in 1793, that he expected the war to be of very
short duration. That duration ran out to a period
beyond the life of him Avho made the prediction.
It outlived his successor, and the successors of that
successor, and at length came suddenly and unex-
pectedly to an end through a combination of mira-
266 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
culous events, such as the most sanguine imagina-
tion could not have anticij^ated. With that example
full in my recollection, I could not act upon the
presumption that a new war once begun would
be speedily ended. Let no such expectation in-
duce us to enter a path which, however plain and
clear it may appear at the outset of the journey,
we should presently see bi'anching into intricacies,
and becoming encumbered with obstructions, until
we were involved in a labyrinth, from which not we
ourselves only, but the generation to come, might
in vain endeavour to find the means of extrica-
tion.' *
INIany, especially of the Whig party, blamed Lord
Liverpool and IVIr. Canning for the course Avhich
they pursued on this occasion. But I think it
would now be generally acknowledged that they did
all that they were called upon to do, and that to
have gone to war for Spain at that time would have
been an unnecessary, and probably a fruitless sacri-
fice of blood and treasure.
Two causes have of late years excited to a very
high degree the public sympathy. Nor can it be
denied that public sympathy was rightly bestowed.
The cause of Poland, so cruelly conquered, and
so treacherously used in the first partition, must al-
ways commend itself to the heart of a generous
nation.
The cause of Denmark, when attacked by Powers
who had bound themselves by treaty to respect that
integrity they were the first to violate, naturally
excited pity and indignation.
But when it became a question whether England
should take up arms in either case, it was necessary
to look narrowly into the cause for which these arms
were to be used.
* Hansard's Debates, new series, vol. viii.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 267
Was the cause of the Polish Insurgents the same
as the cause of the observance of the Treaty of
Vienna ?
But the Polish insurgents repudiated and re-
nounced that Treaty, and, had the war been suc-
cessful, would never have consented to be bound
by it.
In the case of Denmark, Great Britain proposed,
in September 1862, terms of agreement which would
have preserved the integrity of Denmark, have ful-
filled the promises made in 1851 by Denmark to
Austria and Prussia, and have prevented for all
time the interference of Germany in the internal
affairs of the kingdom of Denmark.
By whom were these terms accepted, and by whom
were they rejected ?
They were accepted by Austria and Prussia, and
rejected by Denmark.
When, therefore, the Poles wished to create a
great kingdom of Poland, comjirising, besides the
territory known by that name, Lithuania, Podolia,
and Volhynia, was England bound to go to war on
their behalf? — or when the Danes, in violation of
their promises, attcmj)ted to incorporate Schleswig
with the kingdom of Denmark, was Great Britain
bound to abet them in such a pretension?
In all such cases, if what is rigidly just cannot
be obtained, no right course remains but a recom-
mendation to both sides to a^ree to reasonable
terms of accommodation ; nor does it follow, because
such terms are rejected Avith haughty disdain at the
moment, that they will not serve to temper the
violence even of those who in their hour of pride and
passion so rejected them. A further reflection occurs
on the provisions of the Treaty of Vienna regarding
Poland, and on the Treaty of London regarding
Denmark. The Great Powers undertook that Russia
should maintain the Constitution of Poland, what-
268 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
ever it might be. But they did not and could not
eno;ao;e that the Poles should maintain their union
with Russia, even if Kussia gave them the most
liberal Constitution, and observed it with the most
scrupulous fidelity. So also regarding Denmark.
The Great Powers engaged themselves to respect
the integrity of Denmark. But they did not and
could not enoajre that the Danish Government
should treat their German subjects with justice or
good faith.
All such Treaties, therefore, however commend-
able in intention, are almost impossible to execute,
and the best way in future is to avoid all such
impracticable compacts.
Nor does it follow, because a State is weak, that
it must always be in the right ; nor, because it is
powerful, that it must always be in the wrong. A
fair examinatiou of the question in dispute, and a
fair adjustment of opposite claims and complaints,
is often a long and troublesome process to which
nations will scarcely submit. It is far easier to
act from sympathy, or anger, or ]>ride. And yet, if
impartial reason had been listened to, how many
fruitless wars might have been spared, how much
blood and treasure mio;ht have been saved to the
nations of the world !
When I come to sum up, even in an imperfect
catalogue, the many improvements which have
taken place in the United Kingdom, her Colonies,
and Foreign Relations since 1824, I find Parlia-
ment reformed. Slavery abolished. Test and Cor-
poration Acts repealed, Roman Catholic disabili-
ties repealed, Jewish disabilities partially repealed,
Tithes commuted in England and Ireland : Muni-
cipal Corporations reformed in England, Scotland,
and Ireland ; Poor Law reformed in England, en-
acted in Scotland and Ireland, Bishops' revenues
equalised in England ; large sums made applicable
CONCLUDING CIIAPTEn. 2f)9
to spiritual destitution and small livings ; Educa-
tion of the poor promoted; Customs duties reduced
from many hundred to twelve ; differential duties
abolished ; j)rotective duties repealed or reduced ;
Corn Laws repealed ; Taxes on glass, soap,
coals, candles, paper, newspaper stamps, and many
other articles, repealed. Independence of I>el-
gium and Greece established. Unity of Italy re-
cognised.
Turning in my mind these various changes which
have been accomj)lished by the regular working of
Parliamentary Government, and seeing in 1863 so
very different a state of public feeling from that
which prevailed in 1817, in 1819, and in 1830, I
remarked, in a speech in Scotland, that the people
seemed to have adopted a motto inscribed on a
stone, at the side of the road at the top of one of
their Scotch mountains, ' Kest, and be thankful.'
I added, that for my part I was not disposed to
quarrel with that feeling of the people at that time ;
although, doubtless, there were other hills to be .
climbed, and other roads to be made. It was suffi-
ciently obvious, I thought, without my pointing it out,
that neither the road-maker nor the traveller, when
he has got to the top of the hill, though he may rest
his Aveary limbs, and contemplate for a time with
gratitude and admiration the space he has tra-
versed, and the prospect around him, thinks of
making a per[)etual bivouac on the summit he has
reached. He may hope, indeed, that his future
course may be less arduous, the rocks less steep,
the torrents less difficult to traverse, the marsh less
unsafe to the tread ; but he will still move on after
his period of re})ose, and pursue his journey, all the
more confident in his path from the success he has
already achieved.
But, to drop metaphor, it seems no violent as-
sumption to suppose, after overcoming the strength
270 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
of resistance armed with legislative power in the bo-
roughs disfranchised by the Reform Act, — the force
of religious prejudices entrenched in the Acts which
excluded Roman Catholics, Protestant Dissenters,
and Jews from the privileges of the Constitution —
the powerful combination of interests Avhich guarded
the Corn Laws and all other monopolies, — that after
the victorious issue of all these contests, the remain-
insr struo'<Tles with selfishness and icrnorance will not
offer the same difficulties, nor be achieved at the
same hazards. I speak, of course, in the expecta-
tion that no great organic changes are to be attempted
by any considerable party in the State.
The foUowino- anecdote is told in Lord Sidmouth's
Life: — 'In September 1791, after Burke's breach
with Fox, Pitt invited him for the first time to dine
Avith him : Lord Grenville, Burke, Addington, and
Pitt constituted the party. After dinner, Burke was
earnestly representing the danger which threatened
this country from the contagion of French principles,
when Pitt said, " Never fear, Mr. Burke, dej^end
on it, we shall go on as we are till the Day of
Judgment." " Very likely, sir," replied Mr. Burke;
" it is the day of no judgment that I am afraid
of." ' *
In considering whether the people of these islands
w^ould increase their political freedom and social
happiness by deliberately adopting or unconsciously
gliding into a more democi'atic form of government,
we should take care not to be misled by the notion
that we should thereby be placing ourselves under
the sway of pure reason. In North America, after
the separation from England, monarchy, aristocracy,
and church establishments Avere impossible ; but the
wisest of the founders of the great Republic, such
men as Washinaton and Hamilton, beheld Avith
o
* Life of Lord Sidmouth, vol. i. p. 72.
CONCLUDING CIIArTER. 271
anxiety the absence of those barriers by which the
stream of democracy might be somewhat restrained.
They knew well that the hope of forming a govern-
ment on pure reason was a pure delusion. j\Ian
may be rendered' more humane by civilisation,
better informed by education; but to extirpate his
passions, to prevent the aberrations of his will, is
impossible.
The man of railways and iron-clads; the man
of the electric telegra])h and the steam-press ; the
man who can weigh the attraction of the planets
to each other, and divide an inch into 10,000
parts ; the man whose telescope can bring the
moon within a few hundred miles of the earth, and
whose power of analysis can ascertain the com-
pound metals of the sun, — this man, in capacity so
like a God, is, in his appetites and his passions, in
his love and his hatred, in his rapacity and his am-
bition, different only in degree from the Achilles
and Ajj-amemnon of Homer.
Was it pure reason which induced the men of
1864 to rush in arms against each other, and to
meet in mortal combat, both in Europe and in
America ?
It is because man is a creatui'e of passion and of
imagination, as well as of reason, that in the con-
stitution of a government by which he is to be ruled
and directed, it is the concern of wisdom and of
foresight to avail themselves of all the influences
which may give moderation, force, and sanctity to
the supreme authority. Such may be, in a mon-
archy, the reverence paid to Royalty, the awe in-
spired by religion, the respect which grows around
an ancient aristocracy, the attachment to long-
established laws, the refinement of ])olished man-
ners, and the social kindness which adorns and
animates the domestic relations of a cultivated
people. Let no one imagine that Avithout such
272 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
influences, or some of them at least, a political
constitution can reach its highest perfection.
In like manner also, it is clear that, in a Republic,
by wise provisions, by giving reasonable duration
to a well-constituted Senate, and by placing in
the hands of learned and upright judges the ad-
ministration of fixed and impartial laws, the chief,
ends of government may be obtained. For what
are the chief ends of government ?
There was a time (not yet forgotten) when it was
supposed to be the duty of government to inculcate
religious truth, and to punish the teachers of re-
ligious error.
There was a time when it was supposed to be the
duty of a government to provide for the wealth of
the community ; when the Inquisitors of State of
Venice sent assassins to put to death those who
carried the mechanical skill of a Venetian work-
man to foreign parts ; a time Avhen Colbert put in
the pillory the French weavers Avho did not make
the warp and the woof of the length and breadth
Avhich he in his Avisdom prescribed ; a time Avhen
the same Minister punished with great severity the
men guiltv of havino- exchanged the manufactures
of Holland for the Avines of France.
There Avas a time, also, Avhen it Avas thought the
duty of a government to fix the price of bread
and meat, and the minimum of wages ; Avhen men
who refused to part Avith corn for less than its
value, or to give for labour more than it was
Avorth, Avere considered the proper objects of the
criminal laAV.
But these errors, and many like them, are fast
passing aAvay. It is ]ioav knoAvn that the proper ob-
jects of government are to secure freedom and order
AA-ithin, and independence from any enemy without.
These are tasks heavy enough, noble enough, to re-
quire the energies of the highest pohtical mind? for
&
CONCLUDING CirAPTEIf. 273
their fulfilment. As fur the rest, the utmost li--
berty of thought and expression, the utmost lati-
tude of domestic industry and foreign trade, should
neither be watched mth jealousy nor ham})ere(l
with restrictions, but protected as the fairest fruits
of a free constitution. The task of EnoHsh legis-
Lation for half a century has been to break the
chains which fettered civil, commercial, and reli-
irious freedom.
Thus far I have spoken of the measures that
have been proposed and carried during these forty
memorable years. But some triljute is due to the
departed leaders by Avhose large discourse, looking
befoi'e and after, these measures have been devised,
and by wdiose folloAvers, still living, they have been
upheld and defended.
First of these stands Earl Grey, to whom Avhen
living this work w^as first dedicated. Endowed
with the noblest spirit, the truest wisdom, he con-
tended throughout for the grant of all the privileges
of the Constitution to the Roman Catholics of
Ireland, and for an enlarged and reformed repre-
sentation of the people. He stood by the side of
Mr. Fox during his great struggle against the
French Avar. His private letters, published by his
son, show an abhorrence of all that is mean ami
narrow, Avliich, if it deprived him of ])OAver under
George III. and George IV., was worthy of his
illustrious friend, and- nuxst counnend hiui to the
veneration of posterity.
George Canning belonged during the war to
the school of Pitt. He was their animating o-oniius
during the Spanish liberating Avar, — at a time Avhen,
according to an expression of jNIadame de Stael,
' the Tories of England Avere the ^Vhigs of Europe;'
and if, by a happy inspiration, he had accej)ted
the Foreign Office towards the close of that war,
he Avould surely have throAvn into the Treaty
T
274 CONCLUDING CIIArTER.
of Vienna of 1815, some of tlie respect for the
independence of nations, some of that grateful re-
gard for the rights and liberties of the German,
the Spanish, tlie Italian, and the Polish people, which
he felt, and in which that Treaty is so mournfully
deficient. For Avhen Mr. Canning in 1823 succeeded
Lord Castlereagh, when little could be done to repair
former errors, he yet by the high tone of his speeches,
and by one or two acts of vigour, greatly raised the
spirit of the nation, and gave hopes to those friends of
liberty on the Continent, who, after shedding their
blood to overthrow a foreign military despotism, had
been deserted when Euro])e had been delivered,
and imprisoned or banished for their exertions in
behalf of freedom.
]\Ir. Canning had not the force of argument
of Plunkett or of Brougham, but his taste was
classical, his diction beautiful, and his wit of the
most polished as well as of the most pointed kind.
' They who oppose improvement because it is in-
novation,' said jNIr. Canning, ' may one day have
to submit to innovation which is not improvement.'
Such was his wise spirit, and in that spirit he
supported warmly the free-trade measui'es of Mr.
Huskisson.
Sir Robert Peel was the third amonc: the lead>?rs,
now no more, who contributed by his inHuence, by
his abilities, by the mastery Avhich he obtained over
the minds of young statesmen of the Conservative
party, to guide the struggling bark of his country
into the haven of safety. I do not need to speak
of his powerful understanding, of his ready memory
for all which could illustrate or enforce the con-
clusions to which he desired to lead the sos^ereign
assembly of the empire ; of his eloquence when
eloquence was required ; of his still more prevailing-
power of marshalling ftxcts, of giving life to statis-
tical details ; of the ability he showed in unproving
CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 275
the currency, in restoring the finances, in main-
taining the dignity of Government. For this Inight
himinary has not so far sunk into the twiliglit of
past years but that its radiance still cheers and
warms the horizon it has left.
But there is a singularity in the career of Sir
Robert Peel which will long startle and perplex the
readers of the history of these times. His father,
on a solemn occasion, declared that he had devoted
him, as a successor of Pitt, to the service of his
country. Twice he Avas the undisputed head of the
Tory i)arty, — a Minister in possession of the confi-
dence of the Crown, the leader of a compact majority
of the House of Commons. TAvdce he risked, twice
he lost the eminence of power, and the adhesion of a
party majority.
Tlie first time he did so to give peace to Ire-
land, and avoid a dangerous conflict. He said, at
the conclusion of a speech to which I have ah-eady
alluded, — ' I am Avell aware that the fate of this
measure cannot now be altered : if it succeed, the
credit Avill belong to others ; if it fail, the respon-
sibility will devolve upon me and those with whom
I have acted. These chances, with the loss of
private friendship, and the alienation of public
confidence, I must have foreseen and calculated
upon before I ventured to recommend these mea-
sures. I assure the House that, in conducting them,
I have met with tlie severest blow which it has ever
been my lot to experience ; but I am convinced
that the time will come, though 1 may not live
to see it, Avhen full justice will be done by men
of all parties to the motives upon Avhich 1 have
acted, — when this question will be fully settled, and
when others Avill see that I had no altcrnntive but
to act as I have acted. They Avill then admit that
the course which I have followed, and Avhich I am
still prepared to follow, whatever imijutation it may
t2
276 CONCLUDING CIIAPTEB.
expose me to, is the only course which is now ne-
cessary for the diminution of the undue, illegiti-
Tiate, and dangerous power of the Roman Catholics,
and for the maintenance and permanent security
of Protestant interests.' *
On his last surrender of power, having lost the
confidence of his party in that year upon the Corn
question, as he had lost it in 1829 upon the Catholic
question, he said, at the conclusion of his s})eech on
the 29th June 1846 — ' Within a few hours, pro-
bably, that power which I have held for a period
of five years Avill be surrendered into the hands of
another, — without repining, without complaint on
my part, with a more lively recollection of the
support and confidence I have received dvu'ing
several years, than of the opposition which, during a
recent period, I have encountered. In relinquish-
ing power, I shall leave a name severely censured, I
fear, by many Avho, on public grounds, deeply regret
the severance of party ties, — deeply regret that
severance, not from interested or personal motives,
but from a firm conviction that fidelity to party
engagements, the existence and maintenance of a
great party, constitutes a poAverful instrument of
government. I shall surrender power, severely cen-
sured also by others who, from no interested mo-
tives, adhere to the principle of Protection, consi-
derino- the maintenance of it to be essential to the
welfare and interests of the country. I shall leave
a name execrated by every mono})olist, who, from
less honourable motives, clamours for Protection be-
cause it conduces to his own immediate benefit ;
but it may be that I shall leave a name sometimes
remembered v>ith expressions of goodwill in the
abodes of those whose lot it is to labour, and to
earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow,
when they shall recruit their exhausted strength
* Parliamentar}- Debates, new series, vol. xx. p. 1290.
CONCLUDING CIIAPTER. 277
with abundant and untaxed food, the sweeter be-
cause it is no longer leavened by a sense of in-
justice.'*
No one, 1 think, can doubt that on the first
occasion, the justice and expediency of removing
Roman Catholic disalnlities — on the second, the
justice and expediency of repealing the Corn Laws,
had fully penetrated his clear and sagacious mind.
To give effect to his convictions, he forfeited the
confidence of that i)arty which had nurtured his
talents, and adopted him as its chosen child and
champion. In this sense —
' Fuit in parentem
Splendide mendax '
But he had another parent, of stronger affinity and
paramount claims : his country, her Avelfare, her
safety, had a right to his filial duty, and for her
sake he twice made a sacrifice for which he de-
serves her perpetual and grateful connnemoration.
But, having made the sacrifice of opinions deeply
rooted, and party ties warmly cherished, no one can
doubt, I think, that he did right when, on the first
occasion on which the want of confidence displayed
itself, he surrendered office. To have relied on old
opponents to support him in measures which, in
1831, must have been measures of Parliamentary
reform, and, in 1846, measures for the abolition of
the differential sugar duties and the repeal of the
Navigation Laws, would have been a weak and
unworthy course. A resignation of power was
the only fit consummation of a career which could
not otherwise have been unquestioned in its mo-
tives, or, indeed, have borne peace to his own
bosom, f
But Sir Robert Peel was to me only a public
man. There are others among the departed who
* Parliamentary Debates, vol. Lsxxix. p. 1054.
t See Note L.
278 CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
by me must be ever loved, ever honoured, ever
mourned: — Lord Holland, the inheritor of Mr.
Fox's pnnciples, the attached friend of Lord Grey ;
Lord Lansdowne, the temperate and AA-ise promoter
of every liberal reform ; Lord Althorp, the honest-
est, the most disinterested of statesmen. Holland,
Lansdowne, Althorp, Melbourne, Carlisle, have
been friends by the side of whom I have contended
on some of the gravest affairs involvino- the fate of a
nation, with whom I have lived and conversed in
hours of the most familiar society, and on all occasions,
public or private, grave or gay, with entire confidence,
Avith mutual trust, without a drop of the gall of envy
or of jealousy. To their eminent, to their happy
and amiable qualities, I should like to have given a
full and grateful testimony.
But I must refrain : it is the object of this Chapter
to point out that Earl Grey, Avith the generation of
statesmen Avho have guided the nation since the
close of the great Avar, — AA'hose task it has been to
heal its Avounds, and bring plenty to be the com-
panion of peace, — haAe not deserved ill of their
country.
279
NOTES.
— "^ — Si^
Note (A). Page 23. O '
' For tlieir images, some of them were brought to^ '^'l^rj
London, and were there at St. Paul's Cross, in the sights "J ^ «
of all the people, broken ; that they might be fully con- " ' • \ <
vinced of the juggling impostures of the monks. And A '
in particular, the crucifix of Boxley, in Kent, commonly > ~. -» ^
called the Hood of Grace, to which many pilgrimages cr
had been made ; because it was observed sometimes to ^ .'•x X<,
bow, and to lift itself up, to shake and to stir head, hands,,.'' j!^ P
and feet, to roll the eyes, move the lips, and bend tlic a '
T)rows ; all which were looked on by the abused multi^- - [/^ ;
tude, as the efi'ects of a divine power. These were now*> - \ -
publicly discovered to have been cheats. For the spring^ \ {v •
were showed by which all these motions were made.'- ^ v.
Upon which, John Hilsey, then Bishop of Rochester, ' • '^ ^ •
made a sermon, and broke the rood in pieces. There
was also another famous imposture discovered at Hailes,'^
in Gloucestershire ; where "the blood of Christ was"^
showed in a vial of crystal, which the people sometimes \^
saw, but sometimes they could not see it : so they were'S v^^i^
made_beli e;ve, that they were not capable of so si gnal a ^^ "f^
favour asjbng^agjbhey were in mortal sin ; and sotheyV-
continued to make presents, till they bribed Heaven t^^
give them the sight of so blessed a relic. This was now<*^
discovered to have been the blood of a duck, which they^
renewed every week: and the one side of the vial was.^ ?*? ^
so very thick, that there was no seeing through it, but ^ ^*^
the other was clear and transpui'ent : and it was so y "'
placed near the altar, that one in a secret place beliind
could turn either side of it outward. So when they had
drained the jiilgrims that came thither of all they had
brought with them, then they afforded them the favour
of turning the clear side outward : who upoiis. that went^
& ^<^: ./'^s^^^^
280 NOTES.
home very well satisfied with their iournev, and the ex-
pense they had been at. There was brought out of
Wales a huge image of wood, called Darrel Gatheren,
of which one Ellis Price, visitor of the diocese of St.
Asaph, gave this account : On the 6th of April 1537,
" That the people of the country had a great supersti-
tion for it, and many pilgrimages were made to it : so
that, the day before he ^s'rote, there were reckoned to be
above five or six hiindred pilgrims there : some brought
oxen and cattle, and some brought money ; and it was
generally believed, that if any oifered to that image, he
had power to deliver his soul from hell." So it was
ordered to be lirought to London, where it served for
fuel to burn Friar Forrest. There was an huare imaore
of Our Lady at Worcester, that was had in great rever-
ence ; which, when it was stripped of some veils that
covered it, was found to be the statue of a bishop.' —
Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 242.
' But the richest shrine in England was that of Thomas
Beckett, called St. Thomas of Canterbury the Martyr.
For three hundred years he was accounted one of the
greatest saints in heaven, as may appear from the
accounts in the Ledger-books, of the offerings made to
the three greatest altars in Chi-ist's Church, Canterbury.
The one was to Clu-ist, the other to the Virgin, and the
third to St. Thomas. Li one year there was offered at
Christ's altar £'3. 2s. 6d. ; to the Virgin's altar,
£6S. 5s. 6d. ; but to St. Thomas's altars, £832. 12s. Sd.
But the next year the odds grew greater : for there was
not a penny offered at Christ's altar, and at the Virgin's
only £4. Is. Sd. ; but at St. Thomas's, £954. 6s. Sd. By
such offerings, it came that his shrine was of inestim-
able value. There was one stone offered there by Louis
VII. of France, who came over to visit it in a pilgrimage,
that Avas believed the richest in Europe.' — Burnefs
History of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 244.
Note (B). Page 28.
The following speech of Secretary Cecil, on mono-
polies, is altogether characteristic of the reign of
Elizabeth : —
Mr. Secretary Cecil stood up, and said, ' There needs
NOTES. 281
no supply of the memory of the Speaker ; but, because
it pleased him to desire some that be about him to aid
liis delivery, and because the rest of my fellows be
silent, I will take upon me to deliver something which I
both then heard and since know. I was present vdih
the rest of my fellow-councillors, and the message was
the same that hath been told you ; and the cause hath
not succeeded from any particular course thought upon,
but from private informations of some particular per-
sons. I have been very inquisitive of them, and of the
cause why more impoi'tunity was now used than afore ;
which, I am afraid, comes by being acquainted "with
some course of proceeding in this House. There are
no patents now of force which shall not presently be
revoked ; for what patent soever is granted, there shall
be left to the overthrow of that patent a liberty agreeable
to the law. There is no patent if it be malum in se,
but the Queen was ill apprised in her grant. But all to
the generality be unacceptable, I take it, there is no
patent whereof the execution has not been injurious.
Would that they had never been granted ! I hope there
shall never be more. (All the House said, Amen.) In
particular, most of these patents have been sujiported
by letters of assistance from Her Majesty's Privy
Council : but whosoever looks upon them shall find, that
they carry no other style than with relation to the
patent. I dare assure you, from henceforth there shall
be no more granted. They shall all be revoked. But to
whom do they repair with these letters ? To some out-
house, to some desolate ^vidow, to some simple cottage,
or poor ignorant people, who rather than they would be
troubled, and undo themselves by coming up hither,
■will give anything in reason for these caterpillars'
satisfaction. The notice of this is now public, and you
will perhaps judge this to be a tale to serve the time.
But I would have all men to know thus much, that it is
no jesting with a court of Parliament, neither dares
any man (for my own part I dare not) so mock and
abuse all the states of this kingdom, in a matter of this
consequence and importance. I say, therefore, there
shall be a proclamation general throughout the realm,
to notify Her Majesty's resolution in this behalf And
because you may eat your nieat more savoury than you
282 NOTES.
have done, every man sliall have salt as good and cheap
as he can buy it or make it, freely, without danger of
that patent, which shall be presently revoked. The
same benefit shall they have which have cold stomachs,
both for cicpia vit(e and aqua coinposita, and the like.
And they that have weak stomachs, for their satisfac-
tion shall have \'inegar and elegar, and the like, set at
liberty. Train-oil shall go the same way ; oil of blubber
shall march in equal rank ; brushes and bottles endure
the like judgment. The patent for pouldayy, if it be
not called in, it shall be. Woad, which, as I take it, is
not restrained either by law or statute, but only by pro-
clamation, (I mean from the former so\^dng,) though for
the saving thereof it might receive good disputation,
yet, for your satisfaction, the Queen's pleasure is to
revoke that proclamation ; only she prayeth thus much,
that when she cometh on progress to see you in your
counties, she be not driven out of your towns by suffer-
ing it to infect the air too near them. Those that desire
to go sprucely in their rulfs may, at less charge than
accustomed, obtain their wish ; the patent for starch,
which hath so much been prosecuted, shall now be
repealed. But, not to make any farther performance of
the well-uttered and gravely and truly delivered speech
of the Speaker, I must crave your favours a little longer
to make an apology for myself. I have held the favour
of this House as dear as my life, and I have been told
that I deserved to be taxed yesterday of the House. I
protest my zeal to have the business go forward in a
right and hopeful course ; and my fear to displease Her
Majesty by a harsh and rash proceeding made me so
much to lay aside my discretion, that I said, it might
rather be termed a school than a council, or to that
effect. But by this speech, if any think I called him
schoolboy, he both wrongs me and mistakes me.
' Shall I tell you what Demosthenes said to the clamours
which the Athenians made ? That they were pueriles et
dirjnos pueris. And yet that was to a popular State. And
I wish that whatsoever is here spoken may be buried
"v\athin these walls. Let us take example of the Je^\'ish
synagogue, who would always sepeUre senaium cum
honore, and not blast their own follies and imperfections.
If any man in this House speak wisely, we do him great
NOTES. 283
wrong to interrupt him ; if foolishly, let us hear him
out, — we shall have the more cause to tax him. And I
do heartily pray that no member of this House may/>Zz<s
verbis ofendere quam, consiUojuvare.' — New Parliamentary
History, vol. i. p. 934 ; 1601.
Note (C). Page 29.
Speaking of the imprisonment of Mr. Wentworth,
who was committed, by order of the House, to the Tower,
for a speech in which he said the Queen had committed
dangerous faults, Mr. Hume says, ' The issue of the affair
was, that after a month's confinement, the Queen sent to
the Commons, infornung them, that, from her special
grace and favour, she had restored him to his liberty,
and to his place in the House. By this seeming lenity,
she indirectly retained the power which she had assumed
of imprisoning the members, and obliging them to
answer before her for their conduct in Parliament. And
Sir Walter Mildmay endeavoured to make the House
sensible of Her Majesty's goodness, in so gently remitting ^/
the indignation which she might justly conceive at the /*
temerity of their member. But he informed them, that
they had not the liberty of speaking what and of whom
the}" j[)leas('d: and that indiscreet fi-eedoms, used in that
"House, had, l)()th in the present and foregoing ages, met
with a proper punislunent. He warned them, therefore,
not to abuse further the Queen's clemency, lest she be
constrained, contrary to her inclination, to turn an
unsuccessful lenity into a necessary severity.' *
This account is somewhat incorrect. Upon referring
to the Journal of Sir Simon D'Ewes, which Mr. Hume
has quoted, Ave find that the Queen did not inform the
House by her message, that she had restored Mr. Went-
worth to his libert}' and his place in the House ; but
that ' whereas a member of the same, on the first day of
this session, February 8th, in a set speech, uttered divers
offensive matters against Her Majesty, and for the same
had been committed prisoner to the Tower hy that House,
yet Her Majesty was graciously pleased to remit her
justly-occasioned displeasure for the said offence, and to
284 NOTES.
refer the enlargement of tlie party to the House.^ So
that she by no means ' indirectly retained the power
which she had assumed of imprisoning the member,' by
her proceedings in this case, whatever they may have
been on other occasions. This explanation, too, takes
away the edge from Sir Walter Mildmay's speech, the
important part of which I here subjoin. It mil be seen,
that it consists of generalities, and that Mr. Hume has
culled out those parts only which suited his theory. It
, must never be forgotten in reading Mr. Hume, that he
p- found an opinion established in England, that the Stuarts
> had governed like tyrants, and Elizabeth like a good
l«/w-jO*j,jj3atriot. He attacked tliis, as he did all other established
... *^'^^t^nions, from a love of argument and_ of paradox. He
« is to the Whig writers and his^tofians "wli^ "Bayle is to
Jifj^/l/f'.i tbe ancient and modern philosophers. Sometimes he
^*til'f g'oes so far_as to doubt the benefit of libertjaltogettiej
'' */ But it IS time to pass tn Sir Waltci' Mil (Imay .'— TPhat
for so gracious a dealing it was our bounden duties to
^. yield unto Her Majesty our most humble and hearty
thanks, and to beseech Almighty God to enlarge her
days as the pnly sta^^qfjour^felisit^,; and not only so,
HBut tolearn also, \>j this example, how to behave oui--
*^ selves hereafter ; and not, under the pretence of liberty,
to forget our bounden duty to so gracious a Queen.
True it is, that nothing can be well concluded in a
< ' council, where there is not allowed, in debating of causes '
brought in, deliberation, liberty, and freedom of speech ;
otherwise, if in consultation men be either interrupted
^ ^«- or terrified, so as they cannot, nor dare not, speak their
. , ^ if"' opinions freely, like as that council cannot but be reputed
for a servile council ; even so all the proceedings therein
^'^ shall be rather to satisfy the wills of a few, than to de-
termine that which shall be just and reasonable. But
herein we may not forget to put a difference between
liberty of speech and licentious speech ; for by the one
men deliver their opinions fi-eely, and mth this caution,
that all be spoken pertinently, modestly, reverently, and
discreetly ; the othej" contrariwise uttereth all imper-
tinently, rashly, arrogantly, and irreverently, without
respect of person, time, or place ; and though freedom of
speech hath always been used in this great council of
Parliament, and is a thing most necessary to be preserved
NOTES. 285
amongst us, yet the sams was never, nor ong-lit to be,
extended so far, as tliougli a man in this House may
speak what and of whom he hst. The contrary whereof,
both in our own days and in the days of our prede-
cessors, by the punishment of such inconsiderate and
disorderly speakers, hath appeared. And so to return,
let this serve us for an example, to beware that we
offend not in the like hereafter, lest that, in forgetting
our duties so far, we may give just cause to our gracious
Sovereign to think that this her clemency hath given
occasion of further boldness, and thereby so much grieve
and provoke her, as, contrary to her most gracious and
mild consideration, she be constrained to change her
natural clemency into necessary and just severity ; a
thing that I trust shall never happen amongst w-ise and
dutiful men, such as the membei-s of tliis House arc
thought always to be.'
This speech, with a ver}^ few alterations in language,
would make a fair official speech in our own day.
Note (D). Page 54.
The same cause may have operated with Napoleon
against the life of the Due d'Enghien. It is singular-
also, that in the rest of the chapter, Machiavel seems to
have given directions to persons in the situation of
Cromwell and Bonaparte. He tells us, that those who
have become ' tiirmnl ' of their country ought to examine
what the people wish for, and that they will always find
they >vish for two things : the one, revenge upon those
who have been the cause of their servitude ; and the
other, the Testoration of their liberty. In the first of
these, the new prince may satisfy them completely. In
the second, he may satisfy them in part. For if he
analyses the wish of the people for liberty, he will find
that a small part only desire it for the sake of power,
and that the great majority only desire liberty that they
may live in security. The few he may either I'emove,
or raise to such posts and dignities as will satisfy them ;
the many will be contented by the enactment of just
laws, and a strict observance of them on the part of the
sovereign. Thus, he says, the kings of France disposed
of the arms and money of the State ; but in other
286 KOTES.
things, obejecl tlie laws. IS'apoleon, who was a great
reader of Machiavel, seems to have taken the ad^ace
which is here given by the most profound of pohtical
writers.
Note (E). Page 76.
It ma}" not be uninteresting to the reader, to read an
account of two cases in which the poor man, with the
law on his side, triumphed over the pretensions of the
highest persons in the kingdom. The first is the more
curious, as a relation of it is contained in a letter of
Lord Thurlow to a nephew of Mr. Justice Foster. It
was a prosecution against the Princess Ameha for stop-
ping up a footpath in Richmond Park.
' Dear Sir,
' I ^T-ite, at the hazard of your thinking me imperti-
nent, to give you. the pleasure of hearing that of your
uncle, which, in all probability, you will not hear from
him, — I mean the great honour and general esteem
which he has gained, or rather accuiaulated, by his in-
flexible and spirited manner of trjdng the Richmond
cause, which has been so long depending, and so
differently treated by other judges. You have heard
what a deficiency there was of the special juiy, which
was imputed to their back^vardness to serve a prosecu-
tion ag-ainst the Princess. He has fined all the absentees
£20 apiece. They made him wait two hoiu's, and, at-
last, resort to a tales. When the prosecutors had gone
through part of their evidence. Sir Richard Lloyd, who
went do^^^I on the part of the Crown, said, that it was
needless for them to go on upon the right, as the Crown
was not prepared to try that, this being an indictment
which could not possibly determine it, because the ob-
struction was charged to be in the parish of Wimbledon,
whereas it was, in truth, in Mortlake, which was a dis-
tinct parish from Wimbledon. They maintained their
own poor, upheld their own chui-ch, and paid tithes to
their own parson ; and Domesday Book mentions Mort-
lake. On the other side, it was said that Domesday
Book mentions it as a baron's fee, and not as a parish ;
and that the Sui-vey in the time of Henry VIII. mentions
Wimbledon cum capellis suis anncxis, and, also, that a
NOTES. 287
grant of it in the time of Edward VI. makes a pro\'ision
of tithes for the vicar, to officiate in the chapel of Mort-
lake. The judge turned to the jury, and said, he thouglit
they Avere come there to try a right which the subject
claimed to a way through Richmond Park, and not to
caA-il about little law objections which have no relation
to that right. He said, it is proved to be in Wimbledon
parish ; but it would have been enough, if the place in
which the obstruction was charged had been only re-
puted to be in Wimbledon, because the defendant and
jury must have been as sensible of that reputation as
the prosecutors : but had it not been so, he should have
thought it below the honour of the Crown, after this
business had been depending three assizes, to send one
of their select council, not to try the right, but to hinge
upon so small a point as this. Upon which Sir Richard
Lloyd made a speech, setting forth the gracious disposi-
tion of the King in suffering this cause to be tried,
which he could have suppressed ^vitl\ a single breath, by
ordering a nolle lyrosequi to be entered. The judge said,
he was not of that opinion. The subject is interested
in such indictments as these, for continuing nuisances,
and can have no remedy but tliis, if their rights be
encroached upon ; wherefore he should think it a denial
of justice to stop a prosecution for a nuisance, which
his whole prerogative does not extend to pardon. After
which, the evidence was gone through ; and the judo-e
summed up shortly, but clearly, for the prosecutors.*
' It gave me, who am a stranger to him, great pleasure
to hear that we have one English judge, whom nothin<>-
can tempt or frighten, ready and able to hold up the
laws of his country, as a great shield of the rights of
the people. I presume it will give you still greater, to
hear that your friend and relation is that judge : and
that is the only apology I have to make for troubling
you with this.
' I am, dear Sir,
' Tour most humble Servant,
'E. Thurlow.'
'I'ig-Tree Cowt, Inner Ttmple,
April 11, 1758.'
{Life of Sir 21. Foster, p. 85.)
* The defendant was convicted. See Burr. 908, 909.
288 NOTES.
The otter case is related of tlie father of Mr. Home
Tooke, a ponlterer, in London.
' As Mr. Home hved in Xeyrport Street, he was, of
course, a near neighbour to His Royal Highness Fre-
deric, Prince of Wales, father to his present Majesty,
who then kept his court at Leicester House. Some of
the officers of the household, imagining that an outlet
towards the market would be extremely convenient to
them, as well as the inferior domestics, orders were
immediately issued for this purpose. Accordingly, an
adjoining wall was cut tlrrough, and a door placed in the
opening, without any ceremony whatsoever, notwith-
standing it was a palpable encroachment on, and violation
of, the property of a private indi\'idual. In the midst
of this operation, Mr. Home appeared, and calmly re-
monstrated against so glaring an act of injustice, as the
brick partition actually appertained to him, and the
intended thoroughfare would lead through, and conse-
quently depreciate the value of his premises.
• It soon appeared, however, that the representations
of a dealer in geese and turkeys, although backed by
law and reason, had but little effect on those who acted
in the name, and, in this instance, abused the authority
of a prince, who was probably unacqiiainted wdth the
circumstances of the transaction.
' On this, he appealed from " the insolence of office "
to the justice of his country ; and, to the honour of our
municipal jurisprudence, the event proved different from
what it would have been, perhaps, in any other kingdom
of Europe ; for a tradesman of Westminster triumphed
over the heir-apparent of the English crown, and orders
were soon after issued for the removal of the obnoxious
door.' — Life of Home Tooke, vol. i. p. 11,
. Note (F). Page 82.
Mr. Hume makes what I conceive to be a remark cal-
culated to mislead, when he says, in his history of
Charles I. — ' Some men of the greatest parts and most
extensive knowledge -that the nation at this time pro-
duced, could not enjoy any peace of mind, because
obhged to hear prayers offered up to the Di^-inity by a
priest covered with a white hnen vestment.'
NOTES. 289
The point is certainly ingenious, but, as I conceive,
obtained by a sacrifice of candour. Both parties allowed
that the surplice was in itself a matter of indifference.
The objections to the orders concerning the surplice
alleged on the part of the Puritans were three : —
1st. That as it was in its essence a matter of indiffer-
ence, it ought not to be enjoined like an ai'ticle of faith,
but every one should be left to do as he pleased.
2nd. That although in itself a matter of indifference,
it was not so to the common people ; for many of them
thought no worship to Grod could be effectual, unless
performed in a consecrated garment, and thus the practice
kept alive a superstitious notion.
3rd. Above all, the Puritans urged that no secular
person had the right to give orders on this subject. Mr.
Cartwright says, ' Christ, and no other, is head of the
church. 'Ro civil magistrate, in councils or assemblies
for church matters, can either be chief moderator, over-
ruler, judge, or determiner ; nor has he such authority
as that without his consent it should not be lawful for
ecclesiastical persons to make church-orders or cere-
monies.
*
In the same sense Mr. Axton, when examined by his
bishop, said, ' I admit Her Majesty's supremacy so far as
if there be any error in the governors of the church, she
has power to reform it ; but I do not admit her to be an.
ecclesiastical elder or church governor. 'f It is true, the
Puritans would call the surplice ' idolatrous gear, ' and
other worse names, when they had grown warm in con-
troversy ; but they told Archbishop Parker that had the
habits and a few ceremonies been left indifferent, they
never would have left the chui-ch ; but ' it was the
compelling these things by law made them separate.' J
In fine, the doctrine of the Puritans, or Presbyterians,
asserted the ' word of God contained in the Old and New
Testament to be a perfect rule of faith and manners. '§
They maintained that the church ought to be governed
by this rule only, — that ceremonies and observances
* Neale, vol. i. p. 133. f Ibid. p. 260.
I Neale, vol. i. p. 230.
§ Confession of Faith of Members of the Prophesyings. Neale,
p. 276.
U
290 NOTES.
slioiild be as few as possible, and sliould not be imposed
by command of any superior whatever, but left to the
free choice of the church itself. They condemned not
other churches that differed in ceremonies from theirs,
but protested against all dictation on the subject. They
held that 'no pastor ought to usurp dominion over
another ; ' and that ' the pastor should be chosen by the
congTegation.' *
Thus we see that the question of the surplice was
connected witlx a great scheme of ecclesiastical reform,
— a scheme adopted and established in the native country
of Ml-. Hume ; and which, whatever may be thought of
its efficacy to make men better and wiser, was at least
not uiiworthy of ' men of the greatest parts and most
extensive knowledge.'
Note (G). Page 83.
This Act was passed in 1664. There is nothing more
remarkable in our history, or less noticed, than the noble
manner in which the Dissenters forgot, in favour of the
common cause, the severity with which they were ^
treated. In 1672 they urged the House of Commons to
pass the Test .Act without any clause in their favoui%
contenting themselves with a motion for a separate bill
of toleration, which was not likely to pass. After the
persecution of the reigTi of Charles II. they joined the ■
church during the reign of James ; neither alienated by
the harsh treatment they had received, nor allured by
the indulgence ofiered on the part of the King. It is to
be regretted that the church have found it inconsistent
Tv-ith their duty to imitate the liberality and public spirit
of their dissenting bretlu'en.
Note (H). Page 213.
Circular to the Austrian, Prussian, and Mussian Ministers,
at Foreign Courts. — Layhach, May 21, 1821.
.(Extract.)
' Les changements utiles ou necessaires dans la legisla-
* Confession of Faith of the Prisoners in Newgate. Neale.
NOTES. 29 I
tion et dans raclrainistration des £tats ne doivent emaner
que de la volonte libre, de rimpulsion rcflechie et eelaireo
de ceux que Dieu a rendus responsables du pouvoir.
Tout ce qui sort de cette ligne conduit necessairenient
au desordre, aux bouleversements, a des niaiix bien plus
insupportables que ceux que Ton pretend guerir.
' Penetres de cette verite eternelle, les souverains
n'ontpas hesite a la proclamer avec franchise etrigueur ;
ils ont declare, qu'en respectant les droits et I'indepen-
dance du pouvoir legitime, ils regardaient comnie legale-
ment nuUe et desavouee, par les principes qui constituent
le Droit Public de I'Europe, touts pretendue reforme
operee par la revoke et la force ouverte. lis ont agi, en
consequence de cette declaration, dans les evenements
de N^aples, dans ceux du Piemont, dans ceux meme qui,
sous des circonstances tres-differentes, niais par des
combinaisons egalenient criniinelles, viennent de li\Tei'
la partie orientale de I'EurojDe a des convulsions
incalculables.'
Note (I). Page 214.
A petition presented in February 1824, signed by all,
or nearly all, the principal silk nianvifacturers of the City
of London, may, in these days, excite some surprise. It
was directed chiefly against Mr. Huskisson's proposed
reduction of the prohibitory duty on manufactured silks
to tliirty per cent, ad valorem. The petitioners stated,
'that they have learnt with the utmost surprise, that it
has been proposed to adopt so important a measure as
that of a reduction from 5.s". iSd. to >6d. per pound upon
Italian and China raw silk ; from 4s. to 3tZ. per lb. on
Bengal raw silk ; and from 14.s. 8(7. to 9s. Qd. per lb. upon
Italian thrown silk, and the admission of foreign manu-
factured silk goods to importation in this country with-
out any j^revious communication with the important
branches of the trade, all of which are thrown into the
greatest consternation and alarm by the contemplated
measure. '^ — Hansard'' s Debates, new series, vol. x. p. 371.
On the 24th of February 1826, commenced the de-
cisive debate and di^^Lsion which gave the victory to
the cause of free trade. It was in tliis debate that Mr.
U 2
292 • NOTES.
Canning said — 'But it is singular to remark liow ready
some people are to admire in a g'reat man the exception
rather than the rule of liis conduct : such perverse wor-
ship is like the idolatry of barbarous nations, who can
see the noonday splendour' of the sun without emotion,
but who when he is in eclipse come forward with hymns
and cymbals to adore him. . . . Treading with unequal
pace in his footsteps, I do not think it our duty to select
by preference those footmarks in which, from the slip-
periness of the times, he may have trodden awTy.' —
Hmisard's Debates, vol. xiv. p. 856.
The numbers on a division were —
For a Committee to inquire ... 40
Against 222
Majority . . . 182
N'OTE (J). Page 224.
The following extracts from Mr. Mill's work will show
that I have not done him injustice. I quote from the
Essay on Representative Government.
[Page 172.] ' When two persons who have a joint
interest in any business differ in opinion, does justice
require that both opinions should be held of exactly equal
value ? If -Rath equal virtue, one is superior to the other
in knowledge and intelligence — or if with equal intelli-
gence, one excels the other in virtue — the opinion, the
judgment of the higher moral or intellectual being, is
worth more than that of the inferior ; and if the in-
stitutions of the country virtually assert that they are
of the same value, they assert a thing which is not. One
of the two, as the wiser or better man, has a claim to
superior weight : the difficulty is in ascertaining which of
the two it is ; a thing impossible as between individuals,
but, taking men in bodies and in numbers, it can be
done with a certain approach to accuracy.
[Page 173.] 'Now, national affairs are exactly such a
joint concern, with the difference, that no one need ever
be called upon for a complete sacrifice of his o^vti opinion.
It can always be taken into the calculation, and counted
KOTES. 293
at a certain figure, a higher figure being assigned to the
suffrages of those whose opinion is entitled to greater
weight. There is not, in this arrangement, anything
necessarily imddious to those to whom it assigns the
lower degrees of influence. Entire exclusion from a
voice in the common concerns is one thing : the concession
to others of a more potential voice, on the ground of
greater capacit^^for the management of the joint interests,
is another. The two things are not merely different,
they are incommensurable. Evei-y one has a right to
feel insulted by being made a nobody, and stamped as of
no account at all. No one but a fool, and only a fool
of a pecuhar description, feels offended by the acknow-
ledgment that there are others whose opinion, and even
whose wish, is entitled to a greater amount of consider-
ation than his. To have no voice in what are pai-tly
his own concerns, is a thing which nobody willingly
consents to ; but when what is partly his concern is also
partly another's, and he feels the other to understand
the subject better than himself, that the other's opinion
should be counted for more than his own, accords with
his expectations, and with the course of things which .in
all other affairs of life he is accustomed to acquiesce in.
It is only necessary that this superior influence should
be assigned on grounds which he can comprehend, and
of which he is able to perceive the justice.
[Page 174.] ' The democracy, at least of this country,
are not at present jealous of personal superiority ; but
they are naturally, and most justly so, of that which is
grounded on mere pecuniary circumstances. The only
thing wlrich can justify reckoning one person's opinion
as equivalent to more than one, is individual mental su-
periority : and what is wanted, is some approximate
means of ascertaining that. If there existed such a
tiling as a really national education, or a trustworthy
system of genei^al examination, education might be tested
directly. In the absence of these, the nature of a per-
son's occupation is some test. An employer of labour is
on the average more intelligent than a labourer ; for he
must labour with his head, and not solely mth his hands.
294 NOTES.
A foreman is generally more intelligent than an ordinary
labourer, and a labourer in tlie skilled trades than in the
unskilled. A banker, merchant, or manufacturer, is
likely to be more intelligent than a tradesman, because
he has larger and more comphcated interests to manage.
[Page 176.] ' The "local" or "middle-class" examina-
tions for the degree of associate, so laudably and public-
spiritedly established by the University of Oxford, and
any similar ones which may be instituted by other com-
petent bodies (pro^dded they are fairly open to all
comers), afford a ground on which plurality of votes
might ^dtli great advantage be accorded to those who
have passed the test. All these suggestions are open to
much discussion in the detail, and to objections which it
is of no use to anticipate. The time is not come for
giving to such plans a practical shape ; nor should I
wish, to be bound by the particular proposals which I
have made. But it is to me evident, that in this direc-
tion lies the true ideal of representative government ;
and that to work towards it, by the best practical con-
trivances which can be found, is the path of real pohtical
improvement.
[Page 177.] ' Let me add, that I consider it an abso-
lutely necessary part of the plurality scheme, that it be
open to the poorest indi\-idual in the community to claim
its privileges, if he can prove that, in spite of all diffi-
culties and obstacles, he is, in point of intelligence,
entitled to them. There ought to be voluntary exami-
nations, at which any person whatever might present
himself, might proA'e that he came up to the standard of
knowledge and ability laid dowTi as sufficient, and be
admitted, in consequence, to the plurality of votes. A
privilege which is not refused to anyone who can show
that he has realised the conditions on which in theory
and principle it is dependent, would not necessarily be
repugnant to anyone's sentiment of justice ; biit it would
certainly be so, if, while conferred on general presump-
tions not always infallible, it were denied to direct
proof.' — John Stuart Mill: Rejjresentative Government.
(
NOTES. 295
Note (K). Page 249.
In the year 1832, capital piTnishment was abolished
for cattle-stealing, horse-stealing, sheep-stealing, larceny
to the value of £5 in a dwelling-house, coining, and for-
gery (except of wills and powers-of-attorney to transfer
stock) ; and the effect is apparent in the decrease in the
number of capital sentences from 1,449 in 18o2, to 931
in 1833. It was further abolished — in 1833, for house-
breaking ; in 1834, for returning from transportation ;
and in 1835, for sacrilege, and letter-stealing by servants
of the Post Office ; and, in consequence, a further great
decrease is shown in the numbers sentenced to death in
1834-35-36 and 37.
By the Acts passed in 1837 (1st Vict.), the offences
subject to capital punishment Avere virtually reduced to
the following : — murder, and attempts to murder ; rape
and carnally abixsing girls under ten years of age ;
unnatural offences ; burglary with, violence to persons ;
robbery attended with cutting or wounding ; arson of
dwelling-houses, endangering the lives of persons being
therein. It remained also for treason ; piracy where
murder was attempted ; showing false signals to cause
shipwreck ; setting fire to Her Majesty's ships of war ;
riot, and feloniously destroying buildings ; and enabezzle-
ment by servants of the Bank of England. But these
latter offences are of rare occurrence.
Following the passing of these Acts, the number of
capital sentences fell to 116 in 1838, and to 56 in 1839.
In 1841 (4 and 5 Vict.) it was further abolished for rape
&c., embezzlement &c., and riot &c. The average
number of capital sentences for the folloAA^ng years,
from 1840 up to 1861 inclusive, amounts only to 59"5.
Under the Acts passed in 1861 for the Consolidation
of the Criminal Statutes, murder and treason alone
remain subject to capital sentence ; and the capital
couA-ictions in each of the years 1862 and 1863 have
been 29 (one in 1862 having been for an attempt to
murder, committed before the Acts of 1861 came into
operation).
Home Office,
22/i6Z Novemher, 1864.
296
NOTES.
Statement of the Number of Persons Sentenced to Death for
Murder ; of the Total Number Sentenced to Death ; of the Num-
ber Executed for Murder ; and of the Total Number Executed in
each Year since 1823, inchxsive : with the Average of the Numbers
for each Period of ten Years, 1823-32, 1833-42, 1843-52, 1853-62,
and the Numbers for 1863, with tlie Proportion of the Average
Numbers to the Population tor each Period of ten Y'ears.
SENTENCED
TO DEATH.
EXECUTED.
YEAR.
For Murder.
Total
Number.
For Murder.
Total
Number.
1823 .
12
968
10
54
1824
17
1,066
15
49
1825
12
1,036
10
50
1826
13
1,203
10
57
1827
12
1,526
11
70
1828
20
1,165
18
59
1829
13
1,384
13
74
1830
16
1,397
14
46
1831
14
1,601
12
52
1832
20
1,449
15
54
Average of the ten
Years
14-9
1,279-5
12-8
56-5
Proportion of the "
Average to Popu-
lation .
1 one in
one in
one in
one in
j" 863,234
10,123
996,039
229,177
1833 .
9
931
6
33
1834 .
13
480
12
34
1835 .
24
523
21
34
1836 .
20
494
8
17
1837 .
11
438
8
8
1838 .
25
116
5
6
1839 .
12
56
10
11
1840 .
18
77
9
9
1841 .
20
80
9
10
1842 .
16
57
9
9
Average of the ter
Years
^ 16-8
325-2
9-7
171
Proportion of the
T
Average to Popu-
lation .
1 one in
one m
one in
one in
f 887,230
45,834
1,536,646
813,185
NOTES. 297
Statement of Persons Sentenced to Death, etc. — continued.
SENTENCED
TO DEATH.
KXECirrED.
YEAR.
For Murder.
Total
Number.
For Murder.
Total
Number.
1843 .
22
97
13
13
1844 .
21
57
16
16
1845 .
19
49
12
12
1846 .
13
56
6
6
1847 .
19
51
8
8
1848 .
23
60
12
12
1849 .
19
66
15
15
1850 .
11
49
6
6
1851 .
16
70
9
10
1852 .
16
61
9
9
Average of the ten
Years
17-9
61-6
10-6
10-7
Proportion of the I
Average to Popu- I
lation . . J
one in
one in
one in
one in
945,300
274,692
1,596,309
1,581,390
1853 .
17
55
8
8
1854 .
11
49
5
5
1855 .
11
50
7
7
1856 .
31
69
16
16
1857 .
20
54
13
13
1858 .
16
53
11
11
1859 .
18
52
9
9
1860 .
16
48
12
12
1861 .
26
50
14
15
1862 . .
28
29
15
15
Average of the ten
Years.
19-4
50-9
11-
111
Proportion of the 1
Average to Popu- ^•
lation . . J
•
one in
979,222
one in
373,220
one in
1,726,992
one in
1,711,434
1863 .
29
29
22
22
N.B. — The Proportion to Popuhition is calculated on the mean
numbers of two Censuses for each period, 1821 and 1831, 1831 and
1841, 1841 and 1851, 1851 and 1861.
In 1855, one; in 1856, four; in 1858, three; and in each of the
years 1860, 1862, and 1863, one of the numbers convicted of murder
were foreigners.
298
»i
KOTES.
IRELAND.
Statf.mext of the Number of Persons Sentenced to Deatli for Mur-
der: of the Total Number Sentenced to Death; of the Number
Executed for Murder ; of the Total Number Executed in each
year since 1823, inclusive : with the Average of the Numbers for
each period of ten Years, 1823-32, 1833-42, 1843-52, 1853-62,
and the Numbers for 1863 ; with the Proportion of the Average
Numbers to the Population for each period of ten Years.
YEAR.
SEXTEXCKD TO DEATH.
EXECUTED.
For Murder.
Total
Kumber.
For Murder.
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
Average of the ten
Years
Proportion of the
Average to Popu-
lation .
1.
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
Average of the ten
Years
Proportion of the
Average to Popu-
lation .
I
21
49
17
28
22
33
28
28
27
19
241
295
181
281
346
211
224
262
307
319
one in
267,816
266-7
one in
27,313
18
41
9
17
12
16
21
14
25
17
19-0
one in
383,400
38
237
26
49
197
31
31
179
19
22
175
12
21
154
10
8
39
3
30
66
15
15
43
—
17
40
5
11
25
4
2,4-2
115-5
12-5
one in
one in
one in
329,390
69,015
637,700
Total
Number.
61
60
18
34
37
21
38
39
37
39
38-4
one in
189,703
39
43
27
14
10
3
17
5
4
16-2
one in
492,053
NOTES. 299
Statement of Persons Sentenced to Death, etc. — continued.
SESTEXCKD to DEATH.
EXECUTED.
YEAR.
For Murder.
Total
Number.
For aiurder.
Total
Number.
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
18.52
12
19
9
9
23
44
\\
14
16
20
13
14
25
60
1
17
17
22
4
8
3
4
8
24
8
2
3
5
9
3
/
18
28
8
2
6
Average of the ten
Years
15-6 I 20-5
6-4
8-6
Proportion of the
Average to Popu- ■
lation . . J
! one in
I 472,035
one in
359,207
one in
1,150,586
one in
855,250
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
13
4
4
6
5
5
2
5
1
6
15
6
3
8
8
8
2
7
2
6
7
3
2
4
2
1
4
9
4
3
4
2
1
4 1
1
Average of the ten
Years
51
6-7
2-3
2-7
Proportion of the "1
Average to Popu- \
lation . . J
one in
1,210,916
one in
921,742
one in
2,685,076
one in
2,287,287
1863 .
3 4
3
4
N.B. — The proportion to population is calculated on the mean
numbers of two Censuses for each period, 1821 and 1831, 1831 and
1841, 1841 and 1851, 1851 and 1861.
300 NOTES.
]!^OTE (L). Page 277.
It is a satisfaction to coBtend in honourable rivalry
with sucli men as Sir Robert Peel. But in looking at
some of the libels in wliicli lie and bis opponents were
maligned, even very lately, I have often thought of
the words of the Great Conde, as related by the Cardinal
de Retz, on the occasion of his looking at some of the
pamphlets and reviews in the Prince's room. ' M. le
Prince, en voyant que j'y avals jete les yens, me dit :
" Ces miserables nous ont fait, vous et moi, tels qu'ils
auraient ete s'ils s'etaient trouvos dans nos places." '
The Cardinal adds very justly, — ' Cette parole est
d'un grand sens.' *
* Mem. de Ketz, t. 2. p. 343.
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