m A A 1 2 7 REGl ONAL 7 1 n 7 3 == O ■ 3^ 9 THE REFORM MINISTRY, AND THE REFORMED PARLIAMENT. L JTourth ^tfitton. LONDON: JAMES RIDGWAY AND SONS, PICCADILLY. • 8 2 f • i'lice Two Shillings and Sixpence, A71 Edition of this Pamplilct maij he had fur distribution, at 51. per hundred. (0 \ TABLE OF CONTENTS. \ CO N' Introduction . . . . - Ireland — Remedial Measures of the Government in 1831 &1832 t— ^ Defence of the Coercive Bill >. Irish Church Bill az «c Grand Jury Bill 29 Jury Bill .... Commission of Inquiry into Corporations ■ State of the Poor Irish Tithe Bill Abolition of West India Slavery Finance — Expenditure . Taxation Navy .... ^ Committee on Army Appointments 2 Excise «> Bank Charter East India Charter 13 Trade — ** Tea Bill Reduction of Duties on Soap, &c. • on Gums, &c. Consolidation of Commercial Laws Sugar Refining Act . Commercial Mission to France Trade Committee Factory Commission and Factory Bill Law Reform — Commission for the Arrangement of the Statute Law Common Law — Act for the Amendment of the Law Court of Chancery — Regulation of Offices Act Abolition of Offices Act — Bill for separating the Legal and Judicial Functions of the Great Seal, &c. C3 OS Page I 5 G 8 8,9 9 9 9 10 10 18 25 28 30 32 35 43 49. 51 51 52 52 53 53 55 56 56 58 CO 63 301847 CONTEXTS. Page Law Reform — Privy Council Act . . . . . 63 Criminal Law — Act to abolish Punishment of Death in certain caseg of Burglary . . .65 Real Property Law — Act for Limitation of Actions 66 ■ for abolishing Fines and Recoveries . . . . .67 for amendment of Law of Inheritance and of Dower Registry Bill . Local Courts Bill Imprisonment for Debt Bill . Ecclesiastical Court Bill Difficulties of Law Reform . Corporations Scotland — Scotch Burgh Bill . Corporation Commission Commission of Inquiry into the Laws, Courts of Justice, &c Alteration in mode of Collecting the Revenue in Scotland . Pooii Law Amendment — State of the Poor Laws Emigration Bill Poor Law Commission Annuity Bill . Foreign Policy — Greece Belgium Portugal Turkey Poland Italy . France Conclusion . 68 69 69 71 71 72 74 76 76 77 77 78 81 82 87 89 90 94 96 97 99 99 101 THE REFORM MINISTRY REFORMED PARLIAMENT '' I SHOULD wish to ask the Noble Lord, (said the Duke of Wellington to Earl Grey, in a speech on the Reform Bill,) how any Ministry will hereafter be able to conduct the King's Government, with a Parliament such as will be returned by this Bill." Well, — the experiment has been tried. The first Session of the Reformed Parliament has closed. — That Parliament which, according to the prophecies of one side, was to bring with it little else than anarchy — which, according to the hopes of the other, was at once to relieve all our burthens, and redress every abuse. Of course, the fears and the hopes of both sides were exaggerated. It must, nevertheless, be admitted that those who feared had more reasonable foundation for their alarm, than those who hoped had for their expectations. Any 2 Parliament reformed or unreformed might have gone far to corrupt or destroy the institutions of the country ; they might have brought about that anarchy which w^as prophesied or affected to be feared ; but no Parliament could have done all that was pretended to be hoped. No Parliament would have done all this, even if we suppose the whole body to have had the clearest views as to what was expedient, and to have been unanimous in the pursuit of their objects. That there is a nearer approach to wisdom and honesty in the present Parliament than in any of its predecessors, we think is shewn by the events of the Session ; but still it is only an approach ; and highly as we estimate the merits of the Reformed House, we still must admit, that if it gave peculiar advantages to a public- spirited Ministry, it exposed such a Ministry to peculiar difficulties. Previous administrations have usually had but one set of opponents : opponents united in their principles, and all actuated by common motives. The battles they had to fight, and the questions they had to debate, were circum- scribed within limits, admitted by both sides. — It is the fortune of the present Govern- ment to be encountered by two hostile factions, the Tories and the Radicals, who appear to agree in no principle either of preservation or destruc- tion, and have no object common to both, except that of endeavouring to persuade the people of the imbecility of the Ministers. 3 What has been done I is their orv. It is obvious that the parties opposed to the Ministers would give different answers to this question. The Tories, if compelled to employ some definite terms, would probably assert that too much had been done ; and the Radicals, too little. But it must be remembered that the present Ministers are invested with the highest trust which it ever fell to the lot of men to execute. Their junction with either of the adverse parties must be fatal to the cpiiet of the country, and defeat, for a long period, all the good we have obtained or may expect. They must trust to the good sense of the great body of their fellow-citizens to permit them gra- dually and steadily to repair the injuries which the country has sustained by a misgovernment of nearly fifty years, and claim a confidence for integrity for the future, by an impartial review of what has already passed. The present Ministry wisely commenced the work of general reform by a reform in the con- stituency of the House of Commons. And surely in effecting this great measure, no party can accuse them of want of integrity, or courage. They demolished by this blow the groundwork which had supported all preceding administra- tions. — All that, for which former parties con- tended, and for which they sought to be in place. — With this reform, patronage, the main lever of former politicians, inevital)ly perished. 4 and has left the present Ministers, as it wilf leave all future administrations, dependent solely on the support of the people. Their ene- mies did not then accuse them of doing no- thing. The Tories announced the value of the measure by their terror, and theRadicals by their joy. As compared with the great measure of Reform, all others appear subordinate. The im- pression it created, the excitement it produced, still agitates the public mind. Its magnitude conceals the importance of all other political measures. Every step which has followed it appears diminutive, when compared with this mighty stride. It renders men dissatisfied with the delay required for the details of inferior changes, with which the welfare of large masses of the community is interwoven, and which can- not be carried into execution without either great precaution or great injustice. The subjects which have principally occupied the attention of the Ministers and of Parliament, during the past Session, may be divided under the folio wino- heads : — Ireland. Slavery. Finance. Bank Charter. East IndiaCharter. Trade. Law. Corporations. Scotland. Poor Laws. Foreign Policy, On each of these subjects we shall make a few observations, and shall conclude by a short estimate of the conduct and character of the Members of the New Parliament. These detailfi may be dry, but it is only by facts that either the Ministers or the Parliament can be judged ; it is only by a detailed consideration of what has been done, that men can judge whether Lord Grey was sincere when he jDroclaimed that Reform should be " the means to an end," and whether the new constituency deserved to rouse the suspicions expressed by the Duke of Wel- lington, or the terrors of Mr. Croker. IRELAND. The state of Ireland was the first great ques- tion brought before Parliament ; and in fact was the most prominent subject of the Session. It is true that there were other Cj[uestions of great moment and urgency, but the state of Ireland admitted no delay. When the present Government took office, the storm which had been gathering for the previous half century had burst. The first remedies which they applied were such as, if they had been adopted by their predecessors, might have been sufficient. Measures were adopted for removing the collision between the tenantry and the clergy as to tithes, and for throwing the maintenance of the Establishment upon 6 the Landlord ; * Public Education was made equally accessible to the Catholic and the Protestant ; Agriculture f" and Manufactures were encouraged ; '\. a large fund was appro- priated for the promotion of public w^orks ; the road to prosperity was opened, if the peace- ful and industrious portion of the community could only obtain protection while treading it. But that protection they had not, nor did it appear that in the existing state of the law they could have it. We are wi'ong, per- haps, in using the word law, for law, in its usual acceptation, that is, an instrument by which the persons and properties of the innocent are secured, had almost ceased to exist ; and the question was, shall Ireland be suffered to fall into the sanguinary barbarism of Abyssinia, or, what- ever be the difficulty, whatever be the risk, what- ever even be the certain sacrifice, shall she, at that risk, or at that sacrifice, be restored to civilization? Read Lord Althorp's catalogue of one year's crimes for Leinster — murders and attempts to murder, 163 — robberies, 387 — burglaries, 182 —burnings, 194 — houghing cattle, 70 — other wilful and malicious injuries to property, 407 — serious assaults, 744 — illegal notices, 913. The Ministry saw, that unless they could at * 2d and 3d. Wm. IV. c. 119. t An Act for improving- certain Waste Lands in Ireland, 2 and 3 Wm. IV. c. 52. J An Act for the better Regulation of the Linen Manufac- ture, 2 and 3 \\w, IV. c. 77. 7 once devise some remedy, all was lost. Of what avail would it have been, that they had at- tempted palliations ? No remedy, no relief could be applied, till the moral state of society was re- novated ; till some political, as well as personal liberty was restored. Ministers did not disguise from themselves or the House, that the Coercion Bill was an infringement of the Constitution. They put it forward expressly as an infringe- ment, but as a necessary infringement. It was thus referred to by Lord Grey, in his speech on the Irish Church Reform Bill, when he said, " I feel more strongly in reference to the immediate question of Ireland, in con- sequence of the necessity, — the unfortunate necessity, — under which we found ourselves, at the beginning of this Session, of propos- ing a law which, as we did not conceal from ourselves or from the public, was a measure of extreme severity, a departure from the spirit of the Constitution, only to be justified in a case of extremity. God forbid, my Lords, that the measure should become permanent ; since its continuance can only be rendered expe- dient by the continuance of evils, which ought to be remedied in the interval of tranquillity which it affords." — The measure passed both Houses by large majorities ; the country as well as Parliament admitted its necessity. Its success has been the very highest of which a preventive measure is capable. It has succeeded, not only without having been abused, but almost without having been em- 8 ployed. Only one county (Kilkenny) has been proclaimed; this was done on the 10th of April; and the following is the result. The outrages in that county in the year 1833, were, Jan., 196.— Feb., 178.— March, 144.— April, 47.— May, 15. The measure next in importance, was the Irish Church Bill ; one of a series of measures in- tended to remove those causes of complaint, and disturbance, which rendered the Coercive Law necessary. The provisions of this bill have been so recently discussed, that it would be useless to enter into any detail. Its most important fea- tures were, the abolition of Church Rates, or, as they are called in Ireland, Vestry Cess, the suppression of 10 bishopricks out of 22, and the application of their revenues to purposes of re- ligious instruction. Those w^ho look forward with eagerness to reform in the English Church establishment, hailed the measure not only as an act of justice to Ireland, but as affording some clue to what may be the feelings and conduct of Ministers, when they shall redeem their promise, by en- tering on the arduous task of Church Reform in England. The Grand Jury, and the Jury bills, also were subjects of vast importance in the affairs of Ire- land ; a great part of the business of Grand Ju- ries, in Ireland, is the making presentments for public works, chiefly roads. These were usually made by persons most interested in the work to be done, often the Grand Jurors themselves^ 9 and often for making roads, from which the public derived no benefit. None l)ut those acquainted with the jobbing, and the malver- sation of an Irish Grand Jury, could conceive the abuses attending and incidental to their presentments. A few years ago, the evil was partially remedied ; but enough remained to make the existence of these presentments a grievous burthen on the country. The Act passed provides, that a cert«iin num- ber of persons, paying the highest amount of county rate, shall be associated with the magis- trates at Sessions, to judge of their presentments, and that all works to be executed, shall be done by open contract, and a certain portion of the rate-payers are vested with a control over the expenditure. The object of the Jury Bill was to promote the better administration of justice, by securing the impartial selection of Juries, and preventing the intimidation of witnesses, which was done by assimilating the law of Ireland as far as pos- sible to that of England, under Sir R. Peel's Jury Act ; this was aided by the change of Venue Bill, which gave an opportunity of removing the trial of offences beyond the reach of local heats and animosities. Two Commissions have been issued, from which much good may be expected — one for inquiring into the Corporations of Ireland, and the other for inquiring into the state of the labouring classes in Ireland. Mr. Sergeant 10 Perrin is at the head of the former, the Arch- bishop of Dublin and the Catholic Primate are members of the latter. Such names are a secu- rity to the public that the inquiries will be effi- ciently conducted. One of the last Acts of the Session was for the relief of the Clergy in Ireland, and to afford time for settling the terms upon which an equit- able commutation of tithe might eventually be effected. As we can say no good, so we shall not say any- thing of the conduct of the Opposition Lords on some of these measures ; whether they became, in the eleventh hour, convinced of their necessity, or whether they at last found it was not expe- dient to place themselves in direct opposition to the Commons, need not here be discussed. What, however, can be said for the sincerity of those, who, opposing the Irish Church Reform Bill solely on religious grounds, could choose no more appropriate a leader than the Duke of Cumberland ! ! THE ABOLITION OF WEST INDIA SLAVERY. On this subject, at the commencement of the Session, the minds of reflecting men were fixed with intense, and anxious expectation. That it would — that it must, be brought under the con- sideration of the Reformed Parliament, in their first Session, no one could doubt, who had noted the zeal of its promoters, and the hold which it had evidently taken upon the public 11 mind. The excited hopes, and growing intelli- gence of the Slave population rendered its final settlement at no distant period, inevitable, and every day of its postponement was fraught with aggravated danger. Yet the gigantic extent of the subject, the vast commercial interests in- volved in its development, the conflicting prin- ciples and prejudices which were to be encoun- tered, the great moral and political problems which were to be discussed and solved, might well justify the apprehensions of those who felt that, while the crisis was inevitable and the dan- ger imminent, the difficulties which were to be encountered were hardly less than insuperable. On the other hand, to allow such a question to be thrown loosely before Parliament, the Coun- try, and the Colonies ; to furnish the mere assertion of a principle, independently of the practical details by whicji it would be carried into effect ; to have left the subject in the hands of those who were not responsible for the working of the great experiment, would mani- festly have been a dereliction of duty on the part of Ministers, a shrinking from the high and ar- duous task which they had to perform, which would in itself have ensured failure, and real- ized the most disastrous anticipations of the most timid. Unappalled, therefore, by the mag- nitude of the difficulties, increased, as those difficulties were, by the excitement under which the subject must be brought forward, and the exorbitant demands of the West Indians and tlic Abolitionists, Ministers boldly and wisely de- termined to grapple with the question ; and in the name of his colleagues, Lord Althorp pro- mised that it should be done. The performance of that promise is the Act for the Abolition of Slavery ; and a brief ex- amination of its three principal features-^the Extinction of Slavery — the Compensation to the Proprietors, and the Apprenticeship of the eman- cipated Negroes, will shew that Ministers have faithfully redeemed their pledge : and that Par- liament has honestly, prudently, and fearlessly performed its part. The Act provides for the entire extinction of Slavery in the British Colonies on the 1st of August, 1834. From that day, Slavery becomes altogether illegal ; it is no longer protected, nor even re- cognized by the law ; it is denounced, pro- scribed, abolished for ever, throughout all the dominions which own the British sway. Can we hesitate in pronouncing that this e-dvly period fixed for this great act of justice, is completely satisfactory to every friend of liberty and humanity. Is it not immediate Emancipation ? With regard to the compensation, the sum of 20,000,000/. which the Act provides to be distributed among the Proprietors of Slaves, has been considered by the proprietors resident in this country sufficiently satisfactory to induce them to promise their co-operation here, and their influence in the Colonies, in carrying into 13 (.;ffect tlie intentions of the Government, and the enactments of the Imperial Legislature ; and there is no risk of the liberality of the Country being abused, since it is provided that no part of the Compensation is to be paid to any Colony, unless it has adopted and conformed to the hu- mane views of the mother country. When it is considered that in the early part of the discussions on this branch of the subject the Abolitionists denied in toto the rio;ht of the Proprietors to the services of their Slaves, or to any compensation for the loss of those services, and that, on the other hand, the West India Pro- prietors valued their Slaves alone at 44,000,000/. and further, that during the whole Session the public mind has been more than usually sensi- tive to the burthen of taxation, and more than ever alive to the necessity of every practicable economy and retrenchment — it must be admitted that to produce a satisfactory result has required great firmness as well as discretion on the part of Ministers. Had the Act merely granted emancipation to the Slave, and compensation to the Proprietor, it might have been satisfactory to those whose personal and pecuniary interests were directly affected, but it certainly would not have been safe. It was absolutely necessary that some plan should be devised, which should prevent the emancipated slave from relapsing into the con- dition of the savage; which should afford op- 14 portuiiity for adapting the laws and institutions Vessels . j 9,754 716,810 9,583 745,677 54,813 4.063,047 53,.506 4,161,109 Total . . 10,567 798,497 10,483 837,366 59,801 4,582,118 58,324 4,684,671 50 been given by a subsequent Bill for regulating the importation of this article. Hitherto the sale of Tea has been confined to one place, the port of London. Under this Bill, the importation will be permitted at every port of any importance, throughout the United Kingdom. The merchant of Liverpool, of Hull, of Glasgow, or of Cork, will, in future, import his cargo, or his parcel of Tea, at his own wharf, and lodge it in his own warehouse. The dealers of Manchester, and Leeds, and Paisley, may supply themselves at the nearest port, and have no longer occasion to resort to London, to await the periodical sales of the Leadenhall Street Company. On the other hand, the duties, from ad valorem sums of 100/. per cent, have been changed to moderate rated duties according to the quality of the Tea, which is divided into three classes, lay- ing, respectively. Is. Qd. 2s. 2d. and 35. af- fording, according to the sale prices of the last year, a reduction in duty, upon this im- portant article, of from fifteen to twenty-fiver per cent. A variety of other measures mark equally the attention they have received at the hands of the Reformed House and of the Govern- ment. Acting upon the principles avowed last Session, at the very opening of the present, the Government resolved on devoting all that could be saved by economy, or spared from the exigencies of the State, to the relief of prostrated 51 industry ; to give additional facilities to our ma- nufacturing establishments, and remove restric- tions which fettered the developement of our skill and ingenuity. The duties on Soap, on Raw Cotton, on Ma- rine Insurances, and on Advertisements, were greatly reduced, and as this appropriation of a large portion of surplus revenue of the country precluded the possibility of relieving other great branches of commerce, that are oppressed by high duties, the Government applied the small additional relief they were able to afford, to the repeal or reduction of the duties on a large number of articles, the sale of which was mate- rially prejudiced by a system of taxation which greatly increased the price of the article, with- out any proportionate advantage to the Re- venue. Upon the principles pursued last Session, when the duties upon upwards of 300 articles, of apparently small importance, but really of the greatest to the manufactures of the country, were reduced, — more than 150 different kinds of gums, dyes, semi-metals, and other articles, consumed in the Laboratory of Commerce, have been either admitted free of duty, or at a greatly reduced charge. The result of these reductions has been most successful, and it has shewn what may be done by the judicious application of small means. The consumption of many of the articles has more 52 than doubled,* and they have been applied to a variety of purposes, from which their former high prices had excluded them. The whole Commercial Laws of the Empire, its Navigation Laws, its Warehousing System, the Laws relating to its Colonial Possessions, the Registry of Shipping, the Regulation of the Customs, and the Duties spread over one hun- dred Acts of Parliament, have been consoli- dated and brought into one volume, to the great convenience both of the merchant and the revenue officer. In spite of the clamour of some ignorant and interested individuals, a law has been introduced and passed, applying the principles of bonding to the great Manufacture of Sugar. The produce of all the world can now be imported into this country for refining, and the skill and capital of our manufacturers in this branch of industry are no longer con- fined to the produce of our own Colonies, for the preparation of the suppl}^ of refined Sugar * Return for half year ending April 5, 1832, S,- April 5, 1833. 1833. lbs. 124,188 59,937 308,890 666,516 70,651 178,676 20,797 30,594 99,938 25,006 75,622 Vermicelli & Macaroni 41,012 79,864 1832. lbs. Anatto 50,451 Balsam Copaiba - 24,938 Boracic Acid 216,181 Cocoa Nuts 313,074 Gum Animi 43,535 India Rubber 29,958 Manna 8,296 Mastic 8,106 Sena 55,678 Sponge 15,483 Valeria 57,071 53 for the European markets ; without, however, any interference with the monopoly of the Colo- nists in the market for consumption at home. Whilst these measures too have been carried on at home, no efforts have been wanting on the part of the Government to extend and pro- mote our Foreign Trade, by influencing other States to adopt the same liberal policy which has been found so advantageous here. A Com- mercial mission to France has already had the happiest effects. The removal of the prohibition on the export of Raw Silk from that country, an object declared last year, before a Committee of the House of Commons, to be of vital im- portance to our Silk Manufactories, has been already carried into effect ; but what is of far greater consequence, a change of public opi- nion, throughout the whole of the French Em- pire, upon this great subject has arisen, which promises the most beneficial results to both coun- tries. Freedom of Commerce, has been the universal cry, and the manufacturing and com- mercial bodies take the lead in advocating the adoption of a sound and liberal system of com- mercial policy towards England. Nor has Parliament been less active, or less zealous in its endeavours to ascertain the actual condition of the manufacturing and commercial interests, than in its efforts to improve them. A Committee was appointed for this purpose at the suggestion of the declaimers about distress, and a laborious and lengthy investi- 54 gation into all the principal branches of our national industry has been carried on. The evidence has been laid before the public ; and although no Report, owing to the alleged want of time, has accompanied it, sufficient proof will be found in the testimony of the principal witnesses, of the sound and healthy condition of all the great interests which were inquired into. Indeed, the greatest of all, perhaps, con- sists in the absence of any Report, which, it is understood, was mainly caused by those Mem- bers of the Committee who were the loudest in their complaints of the distressed condition of the country. Whilst those Members who en- tertained a diflferent opinion of the condition of the industrial state of the country, were most anxious to give an exposition of the results to which inquiry led ; those who demanded it, shrank from any Report, conscious, that if founded on the evidence, it could not support their own views, and were thus glad to shelter themselves under silence, from the exposure of the real truth. — This speaks for itself. The attention of Parliament has not been con- fined to the interests of the higher or even of the middling classes of the Commercial community ; it has heard the complaints of the workman as readily as those of his master. — The Factory Bill was elaborately discussed, and there has been no question which has drawn forth more talent or information. The Members for the Manufac- turing Towns took the most distinguished part 55 in the debate. The House would probably have yielded to the dictates of its feelings, if Go- vernment had not interposed, at the risk of some unpopularity : the average labour of the working classes in the agricultural and manufacturing districts being 12 hours a day, the reduction of it to 10, which must have been the inevitable result of Lord Ashley's bill, would have propor- tionably affected the productive powers of the country, and the Government would not consent to this without inquiring into the facts on which the measure was held necessary. A Commission of Inquiry was accordingly appointed, and al- though some of the questions of the Commis- sioners were injudiciously framed, a vast body of information on the state of the Manufac- turing Districts was collected, and a Bill sub- stituted for Lord Ashley's, not only less danger- ous to the commercial prosperity of the country ; but even better calculated to answer the bene- volent purposes of those who conscientio.ssly supported the original measure. This Bill re- duces the daily labour of children ; and what is of equal importance, provision is made in it for the education of the children of the manufac- turing classes, and this too in a form wliich invites and admits of the co-operation of bene- volent persons of all religious sects. Inspectors will be appointed to give effect to the measure, and their exertions, if successful, will procure for the next generation the advantage of a manufacturing community of iijcreased intelli- gence and morality. 56 LAW REFORMS. In enumerating tlie different labours of the Session, those relating to the Reform of the Law and the Law Courts, are amongst the most important. What has been completed, and what is in progress, gives ample reason to expect that nearly the whole of that masterly outline chalked out by the present Lord Chan- cellor, in his Law Reform speech in the House of Commons, will ere long be filled up and perfected. The Courts of Common Law, the Court of Chancery, and the Privy Council, the Criminal Law, and the Laws of Real Property, have all experienced the benefit of the interfe- rence of Parliament ; a Commission has issued for arranging the Statute Law ; and it may be said without exaggeration, that more has been done for our junsprudence during the Session, than during the whole of the preceding century. The administration of justice in the Courts of Common Law, has been placed on an im- proved footing, by an Act for the Amendment of the Law, which removes many of the abuses which it is difiicult to conceive should have been allowed to exist in the jurisprudence of an enlight- ened country. It authorizes the Judges to make regulations as to pleadings, so that the parties may know the exact question at issue, instead of being left to search for it in the maze of the record, and then obliged to bring up witnesses at a vast 57 expense, to prove facts which are not intended to be disputed. A security is given against unjust demands, by reducing from 20 years to 10, the period in which an action might be brought upon a Bond, except the creditor be under a legal disability, or there should have been a written acknowledgment, or part payment of the debt during the interval. Many legal fic- tions and scholastic sophisms, which have sur- vived the ends for which they were introduced, are destroyed. Pleas in abatement are limited and regulated ; the executors and administra- tors of a deceased person are no longer protected from actions by those whose real or personal property he may have injured. Juries are allowed to give interest in actions for goods or money: and what is far above all, variances in pleading are to be judged by their real im- portance, and not to condemn the unfortunate suitor to pay the penalty of an error which is wholly immaterial, by the loss of his action. The arbitration of suits is facilitated, by mak- ing the submission of the parties to the Arbitra- tor final, whatever may be their disposition to revoke it, and the attendance of witnesses before the Arbitrator is enforced, — so that proceedings in arbitration are relieved from the objections which have been held to counterbalance their cheapness and convenience. The spirit of Reform has also intruded into the Court of Chancery, and shaken the prescrip- 58 tive right which that Court seemed to possess to an immunity from the improvements which time had introduced into the administration of the other branches of the law. The Lord Chan- cellor brought a Bill for the reform of his Court into the House of Lords, early in the Session. Such a Bill could not fail to call forth the oppo- sition not only of all the officers whose inte- rests were to be affected by it, but also that of former Lord Chancellors, who having themselves suffered the existence of the evils without an attempt to correct them, could not look without jealousy on a proceeding of their successor cal- culated to afford to the suitors that benefit which under the auspices of his predecessors had been so long withheld from them. The Bill was accordingly referred to a Select Committee, where the examination of witnesses lasted several weeks, and would probably have been continued to the end of the Session, as the only means of defeating the measure, had not the Lord Chancellor, to avoid this evil, entered into a compromise with his opponents by post- poning part of his plan to the next Session. Thus mutilated, the Bill descended to the Com- mons, and after it had undergone the ordeal of another Committee there, w^as passed amidst the cheers of the whole House. This approbation had been well earned, for the measure, shorn as it is of its due proportions, is still most impor- tant. It strikes a heavy blow at the root of two 59 of the worst evils in the proceedings of the Court, the delay and the expense. These are necessarily to be found in the offices where the details of the business of the Court are carried on, — the Six Clerks' Office, the Regis- trars' Office, and the Masters' Office, and all were comprised in the Bill as it was brought forward by the Chancellor ; but the Six Clerks were wrenched from his grasp by their friends in the House of Lords, and the Bill was confined to the Registrars and the Masters. Both these offices have undergone an entire revision. The Regis- trars derived their emolument from drawing up the Decrees of the Court, and were paid accord- ing to the length of the Decree. No one doubted that five-sixths of the Decree, in the form in which it was drawn, was superfluous ; but the suitor was obliged to take it, at the call of the Registrar, who derived from it the remunera- tion for his labour. The time of the Registrar and the money of the suitor were thus sacri- ficed to a wretched system. The length of the Decree caused great delay to take place before it could be completed ; and until it was complete it was of no use to the suitor. The shortening of the Decrees and Orders, and the consequent reduction of fees, have at once re- moved these grounds of complaint. The con- cise forms in which the Decrees will be here- after prepared, ensure expedition, and the re- duced scale of fees will allow them to be given at a very moderate cost. The saving to the 60 public will amount to no less than 17,050/. per annum.* The Masters' Office was in a still worse con- dition than the Registrars. The cost and delay of the proceedings there were intolerable, owing to a rule, that no document conld be read be- fore the Master, until it had been copied in his office ; the charge for such copy being paid to the Master. The parties in vain protested against taking copies of what was of no use to them, or any one else : the rule was inflexible, and, in the case of poor suitors, very often operated as a total denial of justice. No wonder that the word copy-money is so odious to the suitors of the Court. Nothing, perhaps, could be more objectionable, except the other great abuse termed "gratuities," which formed a great source of the income of the Master's Clerk. This was a consideration paid him by the parties for expedition, so that the rich man had thus the means of securing for himself the precedence. One of the Masters, to his honour be it spoken, shocked at a striking instance of venality which occurred in his own office, abolished these gratuities without waiting for a compulsory clause in an Act of Parliament. Both copy-money and gratuities are now abo- lished ; and the Masters and their Clerks are paid by salaries, which will reduce the expense Present Iiirome. Future. Saving. * Master of the Report Office . .£4,300 1,000 3,300 Resistnusaiicllheir Clerks . . 27,800 14.050 13,750 61 of the office from 52,000/. to 35,000/. being- a saving to the public of 17,000/. per annum. Present Income. Future. Saving. 10 Masters, averaging 3900Z. a-yeareach, - - - - £39,000 25,000 14,000 10 Chief Clerks, averaging 1300^. per ann. each - - 13,000 10,000 3,000 Thus the savings to the suitors will be the whole 39,000/., inasmuch as the whole of their future salaries are to come from the Suitor's Fund, which is in a state to admit of this con- tribution, without any injury to the public. The two Examiners of the Court of Chancery are reduced to 700/. per ann. each, which makes an additional saving of 1000/. per annum. Another stain upon the Court of Chancery has been the number of offices to 'which light duties and large emoluments were attached, to the cost of the suitor, out of whose purse these emoluments are paid. These and other offices, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, being all executed by deputy, were usually filled by the members of his family, or his immediate depen- dants. The fruits of one of them, yielding 7,500/. per annum, are now enjoyed by a cler- gyman who had the good fortune to be nephew to a deceased Chancellor, and another of them was for many years held l)y the three daugh- ters of Lord Chancellor Northington. — Tlie total amount received by these officers was 24,4767. per annum. Although this grievance has ex- isted time out of mind, the present Lord Chan- cellor is the only one who has liad tiie courage 62 to apply the remedy, and the disinterestedness to make the sacrifice. By the Lord Chancel- lor's Act, introduced by the Solicitor-General, the salaries of these offices are made proportion- ate to the duties to be performed, and they will henceforth cost the public no more than 2,800/. per annum, being a saving of 21,G70/.* It should be remarked also that two of these offices, producing together the net income of 2,600/., becoming vacant before the passing of the Act, it became necessary at once to appoint some person to discharge their duties, the Lord Chan- cellor appointed his brother, but by the regula- tions of this Act, that appointment is at once cancelled, and the saving to the public accrues immediately; all the other holders of these * Savings in Offices in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, as now regulated : Present Income Do. of Deputy Future Income Savinp of Principal. and expenses, and expenses. ^' Clerk of Hanaper, £2800 - 550 - 200 - 315 Clerk of Crown, 1100 - 1000 - 800 - 1300 Clerk of Patents, . 810 - 395 - 400 - 805 Registrar of Affidavits, 1800 - 1000 - 1000 - 1800 Clerk of Custodies, 1347 - 375 - 200 - 1522 Clerk of Presentations, 43 - 100 - 50 - 93 Clerk of Dispensations, 316 — - 50 - 266 Patentee of Spa, 352 - 682 - — - 1034 Chaff Wax, . 1300 - 400 - 50 - 1650 Sealer, 800 - 200 - 50 - 950 Prothonotary, . 100 abolished — - 100 Clerk of Enrolments > in Bankruptcy ) This Office was revised under a Bill brought in by Mi •. Freshfield. Patentee in Bankruptcy 7500 - 1500 - — - 9000 £18,268 6,202 2,800 21,670 63 offices, insisting on the benefit of their vested rights, tlie public are debarred from the advan- tages of the arrangement as to them during their lives. Thus the suitors in Chancery will be re- lieved by a reduction of cost to the amount of 63,670/. per annum ; and it must not be for- gotten, that this is in addition to the reduction of 28,000/. effected in the cost of proceedings in Bankruptcy, by the Bill introduced by the Lord Chancellor in 1831. The last of the Lord Chancellor's legal Re- forms this Session was a Bill for the separation of the judicial from the political functions of the Great Seal, for the appointment of a Chief Judge, and the establishment of a Court of Appeal in Chancery. The salary of the Lord Chancellor was proposed to be reduced from 14,000/. to 8000/. a year. The great pressure of business caused the Bill to be postponed to next year. The substitution of an efficient Court, com- posed at least of four Judges, for the old mode of hearing Appeals at the Privy Council, is another of the important changes effected this Session. It must be admitted that a single Judge hear- ing and deciding on questions of great moment was not a very good specimen of a Court of Appeal ; particularly when it is considered that the questions brought before the Privy Council are generally questions involving some of the G4 most abstruse points of foreign law . questions, in which the interests of millions of people (as in the case of India) are involved. The re- peated complaints of our colonists who suffered under the infliction of this mode of trying ap- peals, to say nothing of the uncertainty and de- lay, it must be admitted, were any thing but ill-founded. By the present arrangement, first the expen- sive anomaly of the appeal to the delegates (requiring in each case a separate commission,) has been removed : and an efficient Court con- stituted ; powers have been given for the exa- mination of evidence, and enforcing the deter- minations, as finally pronounced by the King- in Council, on the recommendation of the Court. Some technical difiiculties had for a quarter of a century prevented the hearing of from fifty to one hundred Appeals from the Native Courts of India, involving property in dispute to the amount of nearly a million of money, and entailing by this delay and sus- pense, an incalculable mass of misery and in- justice. These, the present law has removed ; and the Natives of India will no longer suppose that the power of Appeal has been bestowed on them in mere mockery ! But there is another, and a far more im- portant question connected with this subject : namely, the promise which this Reform holds out, that, ere long, the constitution of the highest Court of Appeal will receive that con- 65 sideration, and undergo that improvement which its present constitution so urgently demands. It is but reasonable to suppose that the same views, and the same spirit which induced the present Ministry to propose and perfect this amendment, will not be backward in giving efficiency and perfection to the Court which is the highest known to the constitution, and that this Reform of the Appellate Jurisdiction of the Privy Council will lead to the establishment of a well organized and efficient Court of Appeal, instead of that now existing ; which is, in fact, in nine cases out of ten, an Appeal to a single Judge, (and not seldom from his own decisions,) assisted only by a Bishop and a lay Lord, attending under penalty, and according to a rota. The severity of our criminal code has been mitigated by an Act abolishing the punishment of death upon persons entering and stealing in a dwelling-house.* Heretofore the simple fact of entering a dwelling-house, either by day or night, and stealing '•' any article of any value whatever," subjected the offender to the highest penalty of the law. Transportation and impri- sonment are substituted for this sanguinary pro- vision. The Acts for the amendment of the Laws of Real Property will form a memorable epoch in our civil history. That whicli is the most ge- * This Act was introduced by Mr. I.cnnard, M.P. for Mai- den, with the support of Government. F G6 neral and practical, the Limitations of Actions Bill, may be designated as a salutary and long- demanded law for the quieting men in the pos- session of their estates. No single change in the Law so sweeping or so important has been made within the last century. It is one of the soundest and the most vital principles of the law of property, that he who has a right shall pursue it within a reasonable time, or be at once shut out. As the law stood, in some cases, claims mioht be made at almost an indefinite period, when all chance of defence was gone, witnesses dead, &c. The length of time allowed for prosecuting suits gave rise to the rule that no one could be considered as having a good title to land unless he could shew an undis- puted possession of at least sixty years ; nay, from particular circumstances he was often com- pelled to trace it through Ihe course of a whole century or more. Hence the expense and difficulty relating to the sale of lands. By the new law, the time for claim is reduced to twenty years, with a saving of ten years more in cases of disability. All the old uncer tain and fantastic remedies are at once swept away, and with it the profits and pickings of lawyers ; the remedy for the recovery of property reduced to one uniform and simple standard, and the Statute Books and the Digests are at once relieved of a mass of rubbish. One of the advantages next in importance to thus shutting out stale claims, is, that henceforth, 67 the rule which makes a sixty years' title ne- cessary, must be materially abridged by the Courts, say at least one half, and thus one half of the expense of tracing titles will be removed. The Act for abolishing fines and recoveries is another important change. Till now, in the nineteenth century ! (laymen will scarcely be- lieve it,) whoever wished to bar an entail, musf suffer a recovery, as it is termed ; that is, mus actually have a suit commenced before he could acquire any power of dealing with that pro- perty which in effect w^as his own. The whole matter, as regarded the forms and the fees, was proceeded in pure earnestness. The rest was a fiction, and put money in the pockets of the attornies. This farrago of rubbish, inflicted grievous and two-fold evil. First, the expense, next the risk which attended this ticklish proceeding ; but expense was nothing to the risk. For though the suit was fictitious, yet the Court was so far in earnest, that a single slip, an accidental misapplication of some principle of law, (and the laws relating to these proceedings were amongst the most diffi- cult and recondite relating to property,) the leaving out a word perhaps, vitiated the whole proceeding. It was no uncommon thing to see a person who had purchased an estate, turned out of the possession by a claimant under an old en tail, on the ground of some technical error in the recovery. The levying a fine was a pro 68 ceeding somewhat similar, and accompanied by the same absurd formalities, with the like ex- pense, and often with the like results. The new law has at last annihilated these anomalies. Volumes upon volumes have been written on the operation and effects of Fines and Recoveries, and on the various actions for the limitations of actions which, by these two Statutes just past, are converted into harmless lumber, only to be looked into in future times by the antiquarian. Can it be believed, that it was on the introduc- tion of such measures as these, that Lord Eldon, groaning over the change, weeping at the loss of those forms and subtleties, in which he had delighted for more than half a century, tried to sound the alarm, and cried out, that if they passed, if fines and recoveries were made a dead letter, every country gentleman ought to hire a young barrister, and take him with him into the country as a sort of legal garde cham- petre ? There are two other measures connected with real property, for the amendment of the law of Inheritance and the laws relating; to Dower, removing several anomalies and incon- veniencies. Amongst the rest, the absurd dogma of the laws of Inheritance which prevented a father or mother from inheriting the lands of a child. As the law stood, the estate of the child went to the remotest collateral relation, nay, even escheated to the king for want of heirs, rather than ascend to a parent. This absur- 69 dity, and some others, such as that law which prevented a brother or sister of the half blood from inheriting, have been removed. One, however, important measure suggested by the Commissioners, the bill for establishing a Gene- ral Registry, and which was brought forward after very considerable care and preparation, has been rejected by the House of Commons. Though this is to be regretted, yet it is impos- sible but that when that general attention has been given to the subject, and its vital impor- tance, as regards the title and possession of all landed property ascertained, the hasty decision of the last Session will be recalled. It is not the House of Commons alone which has rejected an important law improvement. The House of Lords threw out the Local Courts Bill, a rejection far more to be regretted than the loss of the Registry Bill. With care and good counsel a man had a fair chance of main- taining a title to his property, but according to the existing state of the law, as it regards debts and suits not involving property to a large amount, the very existence of justice is practi- cally denied. On what evidence was the Local Courts Bill founded ? Why, on the testimony of whole classes of those most interested in the change of the law ; of those who had suffered grievously from it in pocket. Did not witness after witness state to the Common Law Com- missioners that the remedy, as it now stands, is worse than the evil ? Did not whole firms say, 70 we never sue for small debts ? Is it not prover- bial that an attempt to recover a debt for a small amount is little else than throwing good money after bad ? Does any man, without a long purse, attempt to seek redress for injury? Are not people constantly ruined by a successful law suit? How was this measure introduced? Was it a hasty, crude, theoretical scheme, seeking change for the sake of change, making judges and places merely for patronage ? or was it one that the public have been, with one ac- cord, calling for as a right ? one that has been recommended and supported by all parties at various times, when the subject was discussed ? — The bringing justice to every man's door, — a following up, or rather restoring, the judicial constitution of the Countr3^ The measure came recommended by the united voices of the Com- mon Law Commissioners, all practising lawyers of eminence. Neither was there any fear of bias on the score of politics, for, with one exception, every one of those was known, more or less, to be opposed to the views of the present Govern- ment. Is it likely that, with what may be con- sidered the prejudices of such men against a change, they should have been induced hastily, and without reference to consequences, to re- commend so important a measure, without cau- tiously balancing the evil against the good ? What in reality were the principal arguments against the measure ? that cheap justice was a nuisance, and that the Judges (not having 5000/. 71 a-year), and who lived in the country, would become at once bad lawyers and corrupt judges. This is not the place to discuss such points ; to balance between that justice which is cheap and attainable, and that which from its price is prac- tically beyond the reach of the many ; or to con- sider the pay necessary to make a judge capa- ble of deciding on a 20/. debt, a petty action of slander, or of assault and battery. Coupled with the Local Courts Bill, is the measure for the Abo- lition of Imprisonment for Debt, — another great stride in Reform — one long called for by every philosopher and statesman who has considered the subject. A Bill for this purpose was intro- duced by the Solicitor General, but owing to the necessity of making changes in its provisions, in consequence of the rejection of the Local Courts Bill, it was withdrawn, not however without full promise of its being renewed in the next Session. Before quitting the head of Legal Reform, the Bill brouo'ht in for the Consolidation of the Ec- clesiasticalJurisdictions, must be noticed, though it has not been carried through. The measure has been prepared, and this, like those reforms before noticed, is made in consequence of the recom- mendations of a Commission which was issued for consideration of the best mode of removing many of the anomalies, and many of the cum- brous processes wliich exist in the numerous Ecclesiastical Courts spread over this country. By the recommendation of the Commissioners, the whole testamentary jurisdiction of the dif- 72 ferent Ecclesiastical Courts, (some hundreds in number,) will be abolished, and to the long and inconvenient proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Courts reformed. Power is given to the judges to try the causes, as other causes are tried, to hear evidence viva voce. The absurd and obso- lete powers of punishing in the Ecclesiastical Courts for brawling, defamation, incest, adul- tery, fornication, &c. are to be swept away. These changes, with many other important provisions relating to the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts, and the discipline of the Church, will, when completed, form part of an important and widely extended Reform. We have entered at some length into a detail of the Law Reforms, seeing their great practical importance to the well-being of the country, and how much these improvements tend to restore the tone of content to men's minds, and as affording a convincing proof of the labours of the Session, more especially when the particular difficulties of effectinor; these Reforms are con- sidered. Difficulties which, arising first from the complexity of the subject, the variety of aspects under which every point must be con- sidered, the mass of detail to be attended to ; and, lastly, the interested and endless hostility arising from Attornies, Barristers, Clerks, and holders of offices, with large fees and small duties. Are seventy Commissioners of Bank- rupts to be swept away ; seventy, nay, seventy times seventy enemies are at once raised up, 73 those who have been quietly living in the en- joyment of the fees in decent obscurity, come forth open-mouthed ready for the fight — fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, friends ; nay, the very expectants of these places, the loss of the mere potentiality of the possession of which at a future period is considered a robbery, all, in one loud cry, denounce the injustice and impugn the system which brings Reform in this depart- ment. Professional men, wedded to forms and ancient practices, seek to alarm the public by mysterious warnings of the approaching disso- lution of all the bonds which hold property together ; compensation for overgrown salaries, down to the smallest contingent fee, is cla- moured for, or humbly begged. And before the Reform can be effected, the assertions and the arguments of the one class are to be contradicted and refuted, the claims of the other are to be estimated with care, and reasonably satisfied, in addition to all the labours and knowledge re- quisite to render the measure entirely perfect and complete. Those only, we suspect, who have traced the progress of such a measure of Reform as we have alluded to, through all its mazes, can be really aware of the difficulty with which such a measure is achieved, or the patience and temper which are required for its accomplishment. 74 CORPORATIONS. Amongst the most important of the Com- missions appointed by the Government is that for inquiry into Corporations — a measure, of perhaps the most importance of any which was originated during this Session ; one, and only inferior in value to the Reform Act itself. It is the grand assault on the last hold of Tory corruption, and abused patronage. No evil called more loudly for reform — no abuse weighed more heavily on the general mass of the inhabitants of Corporate Towns, than the admi- nistration of the Corporate Property, and the undue exercise of powers, originally designed for the benefit of the people. If the representation of the country required re- form, if that had become corrupt from age, misuse, and change of the times, surely all must admit that every argument which was used in further- ance of a Reform in Parliament, may, with at least equal justice and like force, be urged for a complete revision and reform of Corporations. The Commission which has been appointed, and the names of those to whom it is directed, will ensure searching and complete inquiry. And it is only by such previous inquiry, by an accu- rate and detailed statement of the circumstances which relate to each town, and to the mode in which the powers confided has been exercised, that real and substantial justice can be done, or the means of sound legislation obtained. 75 It may be fairly assumed, that where malver- sation has existed, where privileges exist incon- sistent with the good government of the people, neither the one nor the other will be allowed to remain. A guide, indeed, to the views of the Minis- ters, on this subject, may in some respects be found in the Bill brought into the House of Lords this Session, though not as yet proceeded with : this makes provision for the incorporation of the new boroughs ; the voters for the bo- rough are to become burgesses of the corpora- tion. The burgesses of each ward are to elect the common-councilmen, who are to elect the mayor and aldermen, town-clerk, and other officers. One main feature of this measure is, that no property can be acquired by the corporation ; and hence their poverty will be the best guaran- tee for their honesty. And as there will be no patronage, there can be no jobbing. The mayor and aldermen are to be the magis- trates for the town, and by their frequent meeting in petty sessions to ensure speedy jus- tice : and they, with a given number of the common-council are to form a committee, for the sole purpose of regulating an efficient police, which, in fact, may be considered the most important object of their incorporation. 76 SCOTLAND. Connected with Corporation Reform, is the material change whicli has been made, this Session, by which the whole system of self- election in the Scotch burghs has been entirely abolished. This flagrant abuse, which was introduced nearly four centuries ago, under pretence of avoiding the tumults incidental to popular elec- tion, had long ago produced its natural fruits, in the utter delapidation of the revenues of most of their communities, in an almost unbrokea series of corruption and embezzlement, and, at last, in the general discontent and indignation of all who were exposed to its influence. It was in vain, that the attention of Parlia- ment, and Parliamentary Committees had been called to the system ; the power of corrup- tion was too great to admit of its being de- stroyed, till the voice of the people prevailed in a Reformed House of Commons. A liberal constitution, in most respects similar to that conferred by the English Corporation Bill, has been given to these boroughs, and in like manner Scotch Commissioners have been appointed to search into and apply a complete remedy to past municipal abuses. In addition to this important measure, a Com- mission has issued for a general inquiry into 77 the state of the laws, and courts of justice^ with the view of introducing an extensive reform in both ; and, from what passed in Parliament, it appears, that measures for preventing the mal-administration of Church patronage are under the consideration of the Government. In the last Session, an Act passed, by which the judicial duties of the Court of Exchequer were so regulated, as eventually to be executed at a charge of only 600/. a year, instead of 8000/. per annum, which latter sum, be it observed, was a reduction from 70,000/. per annum, the original cost. The most considerable duties of the Barons of the Treasury, were, as Lords of the Treasury of Scotland, acting under the direction of the Treasury in London. Much abuse, and no ad- vantage was derived from this : and this Ses- sion an Act was passed, transferring to the Board of Taxes in London, the whole duties of the Barons in respect to the revenue of taxes. This measure, and one in progress for the con- solidating the collection of the revenue of Stamps and Taxes, will effect a considerable saving. Hitherto, the revenue of Scotland, amounting to about five millions, has been brought to a general fund of collection in Edinburgh, and transmitted thence, at a rate of exchange disad- vantageous to the public. An arrangement is nearly completed, by which the remittances will be effected directly from the points of collection, and on terms more advantageous. Besides this 78 saving-, the arrangement will put an end to the office of Receiver General and Paymaster. POOR LAW AMENDMENT. The last of the domestic questions which we proposed to consider, is Poor Law Amendment ; and, as it is the subject in which the least appa- rent progress has been made, it may be advisable to state, at some length, not only what has been done, but also the obstacles which have pre- vented more from being effected. The mode in which that subject was dealt with, during the forty-five years for which Mr. Pitt and his followers held office, is a most instructive ex- ample of the wisdom, public spirit, diligence, and courage of that party. When, in the year 1795, the question, long after it had engaged the attention of all thinking individuals, at last was taken up by public men, the popular party, the party on whose side most sympathy was enlisted, was that of the receivers of relief. Mr. Pitt, therefore, after a speech, in which he expressly proposed to apply every possible stimulus to population, and was ready, if he followed out his own principles, to remove, as far as he could, all inducement to industry, or providence, brought in a Bill quite worthy of such a preface ; a Bill to legalise Parish al- lowance in aid of wages, to those who had fa- milies, or, were unable, or unwilling, to earn their whole subsistence by labour ; to enable 79 persons possessed of property to claim public cliarit}^, and even to demand a cow, or, in the words of the Bill, " any other domestic animal," to be supplied at the expense of the public. This Bill, indeed, failed ; but the Act which Mr. Pitt actually introduced, the 36 Geo. III. cap. 23 ; the Act, which, for the avowed pur- pose of preventing Parish relief from being ad- ministered in a mode " injurious to the comfort, domestic situation, and happiness" of paupers, gave to the Magistrates their present, and, indeed, more than their present discretionary powerover the parochial funds, was, perhaps, more mischievous than the Bill which was rejected. Under the sanction of that Act, the monstrous system under which we are now suffering ; the system which proclaims, that indigence, what- ever be its cause, whatever be the idleness, or improvidence, or profligacy of the applicant, gives a right to comfortable subsistence out of the property of others, was fostered and ex- tended, until it forced itself on the attention even of a Tory Administration, Committees of the Lords and of the Commons were appointed in 1817, and reported, that, " unless some efii- cacious check were interposed, there was every reason to expect the neglect and ruin of the land, and the waste and removal of other pro- perty, to the utter subversion of the happy order of society so long upheld in these kingdoms." The check which the legislature interposed to meet these evils was characteristic. The 80 59 George III. cap. 12, was passed. An Act, consisting of thirty-seven salutary provisions, almost every one of which is carefully and effec- tually neutralized by an exception or a qua- lification. The enacting clauses are without doubt to be attributed to the eminent person whose name the Act usually bears. The ex- ceptions and qualifications w^ere the wisdom of the Lords and of the unreformed Commons. Who can wonder that such an Act did not in- terpose the efficacious check demanded by the report, or that the evil thus tenderly handled by the Legislature, pursued its appointed course ? The public, however, are not to blame for this. Writer after writer proclaimed the ap- proaching ruin. Committee after committee ex- amined evidence, and reported the necessity of amendment. Bill after bill was introduced, read a first time, and dropped. All parties felt their danger ; all, except the Government, en- deavoured to avert it ; but the task was difficult, unpopular, and dangerous. The Government was wise in its generation ; and so the matter rested till, in the autumn of 1830, the mine exploded. It was at this calamitous period, when, in half the counties of England, the agricultural population were in arms, when barns and corn-ricks and thrashing machines were blazing, the clergy flying their homes, the magistrates capitulating with the rioters, and the farmers secretly, or even openly urging SI them on ; it was in the midst of this storm that the Tories abandoned the hehii, and having run the vessel among the breakers, railed- on the Whigs to tack and preserve her. Among ^he innumerable subjects of Reform, which forty years of indecision and procrastina- tion had accumulated, it was imhappily some time before Poor Law Reform could be attended to. An Emigration Bill, as a means of facilita- ting such Reform, was among the first measures of the new Government. It was abandoned, however, from a fear that, as an insulated mea- sure, it might be worse than useless ; and the more urgent business of Parliamentary Reform, by absorbing the attention of the Public, and in a great measure that of the Government, made it impossible, during its pendency, to consider the whole question of Poor Law Improvement ; but the instant the Reform Bill had passed, that question was taken up. It was then supposed by many persons, perhaps by almost all, that the facts of the case were generally understood, and that a Government measure might be founded on the existing evidence. The Ad- ministration, however, thought otherwise ; they distrusted the ex-parte evidence obtained by Committees, from an examination of not more than 40 or 50 witnesses, all of whom came full of their own views, and anxious to supply tes- timony in their favour. They believed that the inquiry must be local, that witnesses must G 82 not be summoned, but sought for; that the pauper, the overseer, and the farmer must be seen in situ ; that workhouses must be visited ; vestry meetings and petty sessions attended, and the story of the independent labourer, the small proprietor, and the overseer, heard and considered, as well as that of the great farmer and the country magistrate : and that instead of a chairman and four or five other persons lis- tening two or three hours a day for two or three weeks to voluntary witnesses, twenty or thirty persons ought to be employed for months in inspecting the actual workings of the system. But as the body of persons who were to make that inspection must be too numerous to be able to prescribe any one mode of proceeding, or to agree in any report, it was determined to ap- point a Central Commission, whose business it should be to direct the mode of inquiry, to appoint the itinerant Commissioners who were to make the actual inspection of the country, and after having received their separate reports to frame one final report, summing up the evi- dence, and proposing the measures which it should show to be desirable and practicable. The Central Commissioners were accordingly appointed in the beginning of the year 1832. Scarcely any of them could be considered adherents of the present Government. Of the three principal Commissioners, the Bishops of London and Chester, and Mr. Sturges Bourne, 83 the two former had been raised to. the Bench by previous administrations, and the third might be considered a political adversary. It was hoped that a Report might be obtained which would enable Parliament to take up the question in that, or at least the succeeding Session. The fii'st proceeding of the Commissioners was to circulate printed questions on those points which appeared to them most material, either from their actual importance, or from their being subjects on which little information was in print. While the replies to these questions were coming in, several of the Commissioners visited different parts of the Country, in order to as- certain the mode of inquiry to be pointed out to their itinerant, or, as they have been usually called, Assistant Commissioners. The experi- ence derived from these journeys, the practical knowledge possessed by some of the Commis- sioners, and the information derived from the answers to about two or three hundred sets of printed questions, enabled the Commissioners to frame Instructions for their Assistant Commis- sioners. When these had been framed, a busi- ness which necessarily took much time, the Assistant Commissioners were appointed. To appoint them previously would have been use- less, as no person could be expected to take an important and responsible office without the means of knowing what was expected from him. 84 The choice was by no means easy : much know- ledge, activit}'^, good sense, and diligence were required, joined to the power of composition and arrangement; and though the mere ex- penses of the Assistant Commissioners were paid, they received no remuneration for their time and labour. Several candidates for As- sistant Commissionerships declined the office when informed of the terms ; others withdrew their applications after they had considered the Instructions, and some, after having accepted it, were prevented by illness or other unforeseen causes, and some attempted and gave it up. At length, however, a number of Assistant Commissioners were obtained, and set in motion, sufficient, not to give a full account of the Poor Law Administration of the whole of England, or even of a considerable portion of it ; but to give such a sample of its administration as might enable the public to infer its general state. The Assistant Commissioners were directed to make their Reports before the end of November, 1832. If the Central Commissioners hoped that this direction would be complied with, they either under-rated the difficulty of the inquiry, or over-rated the dilioence of their Assistants. It is believed, that no Reports were delivered before the end of the year 1832, and that many were not received until the January following. As they were received, they were sent to the House of Commons' printers to be printed, in anticipation of the order of the House. 85 In the mean time, returns to the printed Questions were received to an extent far beyond what could have been anticipated. It is under- stood, that nearly 2000 Parishes, in fact about one-seventh of England, have sent returns. These, as they were received, were digested, and their substance was, in like manner, sent to the Par- liamentary printers. A third branch of the Evidence collected by the Central Commissioners, consists of commu- nications voluntarily made to them by different individuals ; many of them of considerable length and importance ; particularly those on the subject of Labour Rates and Education, a portion of which has been already printed and distributed by order of Parliament. The difficulty of getting printed this enormous mass of evidence, and the impossibility of making full use of it, while in manuscript, for the purposes of the final Report, is understood to be the sole cause which prevented the Central Commissioners from presenting a Report before the termination of the Session. In the mean time some benefit has been de- rived from the labours of the Commission, not only by the publication of the paper on Labour Rates, to which we have already adverted, but by the appearance of some Extracts from their Evi- dence. These Extracts were published in com- pliance with a requisition from the Home Office, and are believed to contain, not a selection of striking passages, and extraordinary statements. 86 but a mere fair average of the contents of the Reports from the Assistant Commissioners. Such as they are, they fully shew the wisdom of Government in not resting satisfied with the existing information on the subject of Poor Law Administration. If we compare the number, the variety, and the importance of the facts, and of the inferences contained in that small vo- lume, with all the folios that have proceeded from Parliament on the same subject, how far do the powers of individual research appear to exceed those of a Parliamentary Committee ? There is every reason to expect, that before the commencement of the next Session, the Commissioners, having taken such ample time for deliberation, will be able to propose, not perhaps the best conceivable measure, but the best that in the present state of political know- ledge, public opinion will sanction, or a prudent Ministry introduce. A measure which, if it do not attempt at once to destroy the abuses which have been the growth of half a century, will im- mediately check their increase, and ensure their gradual extirpation. And it may be added, that the possibility of such a result, a result on which the future welfare of England depends, appears to be due solely to the present administration. Their predecessors seem never to have contem- plated such an undertaking, or to have had the least notion of the means by which it could be effected. In the mean time there was passed silently,. 87 and without the suggestion or assistance, or even the commendation of those who talk so loudly of their exclusive concern for the welfare of " the people,'' who assume to be the sole guardians of the working classes — a measure which promises more substantial benefits to those classes than any which has succeeded the establishment of Friendly Societies and Savings Banks. Persons acquainted with those Institutions, are aware that, of the Friendly Societies, a large pro- portion are based on erroneous principles, in- volving their ultimate ruin, and that in the majority of them, the hard earnings of the con- tributors are exposed to partial or entire loss, from the rapacity or the ignorance of the ma- nagers. To avoid these disasters, a labouring- man may have deposited in a Savings Bank the surplus earnings of his labour from childhood ; but when in the decline of life he wishes to relax his toils, he may lose his deposit, from want either of knowledge or of means to invest it produc- tively and securely. These calamities are dread- fully frequent, and not only throw an indepen- dent and noble-minded labourer into the work- house, to avoid which he has been abstinent through life, but produce more general mischief by the discouragement of provident habits. One such instance may crush the frugality of a whole village. From fourteen to sixteen millions of the earnings of the labouring classes are exposed to these casualties. Again, a seaman 8^ or a labourer in a distant service wishes to have his surpUis wages sent home and applied to the payment of a weekly stipend to his aged father or mother ; but there is no trusty person who will take care of the deposit, or trouble himself with the apportionment and payment of the instalments. In a thousand instances the la- bouring classes have not the opportunities of giving effect to family affections or friendly sympathies, possessed by those who have guardians and executors at their command, and can claim the services of the highest officer of the state. By the Ministerial measure of the 3d Will. IV. c. 14, Government has taken upon itself the guardianship of these cases. By that Act, the Depositors in Savings Banks, and others, are enabled to purchase Government Annuities, for life or for years, and either immediate or deferred. Experience may enable the Govern- ment to extend the amount beyond its present limit of 20/. a year. Tables of Insurance have already been framed, and have been sanctioned by the Treasury. The whole of the money ad- vanced is returnable in case the contracting party does not live to the age at which the annuity is to become payable, or is unable to continue the monthly or annual instalments. This measure will secure the beneficial appli- cation of a vast amount of savings most merito- riously accumulated, and in innumerable ways 89 contribute to the comforts, and the advance- ment of the social condition of the great mass of the people. FOREIGN POLICY. In order to take a just view of our foreign relations, we must carry our eyes back for a moment to the condition of things when the present Government first took the helm. Three important questions were then pending, in all of which Great Britain either had taken a prominent part, or had a paramount interest. The affairs of Greece, Belgium, and Portugal. The Greek question, as far as England was concerned, began with the protocol of April, 1826, which was signed at Petersburgh by the Duke of Wellington, and which was followed by the treaty of July, 1827, signed in London, by Lord Dudley. The object of these instruments was to separate Greece from Turkey, and to place the Greek nation, within a territory to be specially defined, in a state of independence and self-government. When the present Administration succeeded to office, they found an agreement entered into by their predecessors, with the Porte, by which limits were to be imposed upon Greece, so nar- row and so ill-chosen, that, while important districts of Greece would have been left to Turkey, the Greeks would have had no defen- sible frontier, and perpetual collision would have taken place between the Turkish and Greek 90 population. Such a settlement could only have laid the foundation for future quarrels. The present Government despatched Sir Strat- ford Canning to Constantinople, to endeavour to make a more rational arrangement. That able ambassador was completely successful ; and he obtained the consent of the Porte to an amended boundary, as excellent, in every respect, as the former one had been defective. Prince Otho of Bavaria, selected as King of Greece by the three mediating Pov^ers, in virtue of an authority from the Greeks themselves, has since arrived in his dominions, where he was enthusiastically received ; and Greece, reviving from the tomb, and awakening from the death- like torpor of ages, takes her place among the Christian and civilized nations of Europe. May we not hope that this country, once the peculiar seat of the arts, of science, and of civil liberty, may prove itself not unworthy of the fortunate condition to which it has now been raised. The Belgian question, like the Greek, had its origin in events antecedent to the formation of the present Government. They found on this subject a course chalked out to them by their predecessors. They might modify it as they advanced, but could not, even if they had wished to do so, retrace steps already taken. The revolution in Belgium broke out in August, 1830. The King of the Netherlands, in October, called upon his allies, and Great 91 Britain among the rest, to send him troops to quell the revolt ; the British Government, under the Duke of Wellington, refused to do so ; the Dutch were almost entirely expelled from the Belgian provinces ; and the King of the Nether- lands, unable to put down the rebels by his own means, or to get succour from his allies, en- treated that a Conference might be assembled, and that an armistice might be imposed on the two parties ; himself and his revolted subjects. His request was complied with ; and in the beginning of November, the Conference met in London ; and its first act was to declare to the two parties that they should fight no more, and that the line of demarcation between them, dur- ing an armistice unlimited as to time, should be the line which, before the union in 1814, sepa- rated the old Dutch provinces from the provinces of Belgium. This decree at once established the principle of separation. For the Belgians had declared themselves independent, and the King of Holland was told, the war was to cease. He could not therefore recover his lost territory, except by the consent of the Belgians, and that consent it was evident he never could obtain. The task then of the present Government was so to settle the terms on which separation should take place, as to provide for the interests and security of all parties concerned. The arrangement is not yet completed, but it is supposed to be verging towards its close ; and if Belgium finally becomes an independent, consti- 92 tutional, commercial, and neutral state, it will contribute more to preserve the peace of Europe in such a condition of existence, than in any other which could have been assigned to it. The difficulties which have been encountered, have arisen from the obstinacy of the King of the Netherlands ; an obstinacy which during the last two years has burdened the Dutch with expenses, the permanent charges arising from which, will almost counterbalance the relief afforded them by the division of the debt be- tween them and the Belgians. The citadel of Antwerp was to be evacuated in fifteen days, by the armistice which the King of the Netherlands himself had invoked in Novem- ber, 1830 ; but the possession of that fortress enabled him to harass the Belgians, and to inter- cept their trade on the Scheldt. He therefore refused to give it up. England and France pro- posed to the other three Powers to declare, that Belgium should strike off from her debt to Hol- land, a million of florins for every week during which, after a certain time, the Dutch should continue to occupy any part of the Belgian Terri- tory, The three Powers refused to agree to this proposal ; England and France therefore were obliged to resort to force : hence the siege of Antwerp, and hence the Dutch embargo. These vigorous measures disconcerted all the calcula- tions of the Dutch King and his partizans, whe- ther English Tories, or Continental Absolutists. Baffled in their schemes, they vented their anger 93 ill predictions. The Citadel would never be taken ; the Prussians would march to relieve it ; the Russians would pour down from Poland ; Austria would take the field ; and the tide of a general war would sweep the French back to their own frontier. But Prussia only grumbled, and coquetted about Venloo ; Austria never stirred ; and Russia contented herself with some angry boasts of what she would have done, if she had been nearer to the scene of action. The prophets then foretold* that Chasse, sooner than surrender, would blow up himself and his gar- rison, and bury all under the ruins of the place. But old Chasse went on quietly smoking his pipe ; retiring from one cellar to another, as the bombardment advanced ; and, at length, when the breach was practicable, and he had got to his last casemate, he surrendered, as people in such situations generally do. Then the embargo was said to be an utter failure ; harmless to the Dutch, ruinous only to ourselves ; it was unheard of to continue it so long ; we ought to go to war, or else release the Dutch ships ; the measure was illegal, and, at * The Tories appear on this as on other occasions, to liave been influenced by their wishes rather than inspired by the spirit of prophecy. Mr. Alexander Baring, the chief of the prophets, was thus led to pay an involuntary compliment to the talent of our Foreign Minister, when he observed, " li' the Noble Lord can get the army of Marshal Gerard out of Bel- gium, which I admit would be a great act — almost a master- piece of diplomacy, &c." — Any. 18, 1831. 94 the same time, ridiculous. These were the ar- guments and assertions by which the Tories tried to persuade Parliament to force the Government to take the embargo off. But Parliament turned a deaf ear to them ; the embargo continued ; and the consequence was, the Convention of the 21st of May. By that Convention the character of the Belgian question was entirely changed. The Dutch agreed to an unlimited armistice ; and Europe was secured against any danger of a general war, resulting from the difference be- tween Holland and Belgium. The question of peace or war was from that moment settled : what remained to be arranged, was a matter of florins, of tolls, and of duties ; — questions, im- portant, indeed, to the two parties, but not threatening the peace of the rest of Europe. This was the fruit of the siege of Antwerp and of the embargo ; and thus has the result fully justified the wisdom of those measures. The affairs of Portugal are drawing to a con- clusion. The tyranny, which for five years has weighed down that wretched country, has been dashed to the ground. Miguel's fleet has been captured ; the siege of Oporto has been raised ; 2,500 brave Portuguese have marched in tri- umph from the Guadiana to the Tagus ; Donna Maria has been proclaimed in Lisbon, and a Bri- tish Minister has again presented himself at the Court of the Rightful Sovereign of Portugal. British valour has, as usual, been associated with Portuguese freedom, and Cape St. Vincent has 95 again witnessed the exploits of naval heroism. The English Government has, with respect to these affairs, steadily adhered to the course which it had chalked out for itself. It has been rigidly neutral in the contest ; but then it has required other Powers to be so too. When Don Pedro's expedition sailed from Terceira, a Spanish army assembled on the con- fines of Portugal, under pretence of observation, but obviously ready to strike a blow in support of Don Miguel, if an opportunity should offer. But the events of 1826 had not been forgotten, and the experience of the conduct of Spain in that year was not thrown away. The British Government did not trust solely to the assurances of the Cabinet of Madrid, but prepared itself for all events. A powerful squadron under Admiral Parker was sent to the Tagus, with orders, as was stated in Par- liament, to take active part for Don Pedro, the moment a Spanish force should enter Portugal to assist Don Miguel. Spain and England have kept faith with each other ; and though openly avowing their opposite wishes as to the result of the war, both have stood aloof, leav- ing the contending parties to fight the matter out unaided. The part which England took in this struggle was, to keep the ring, and see fair play ; and victory has remained with the cause of justice and of right. There can be no doubt that, if a Tory Government had been established in England, some pretence or 9C other would have been found, to let the Spa- nish army loose, and Portugal would have been still doomed to languish under the tyranny of Miguel. The result of this conquest is most important, and will be extensively felt. The struggle was not simply between Pedro and Maria on one side, and Miguel on the other ; Portugal was the arena on which the great European battle was to be fought by appointed champions. The To- ries of England, the Carlists of France and Spain, the Holy Alliance, and the enemies of liberty all over Europe, were the backers of Mi- guel ; the friends of justice and of rational go- vernment were the partisans of Maria ; and if the cause of the Queen should continue victo- rious, the moral effect of her success will be felt throughout the whole of Europe. While the attention of Europe was absorbed by events in the West, a sudden storm arose in the East, which threatened the destruction of the Turkish Empire. The throne of the Sul- tan was first menaced by his rebellious vassal, and then endangered by his protecting ally. The Porte has, for the present, escaped from both perils ; the Egyptians have retired from Asia Minor, and the Russians have left Con- stantinople. It is the business of the British Government to take care that neither shall return again. The war between Mahomet Ali and the Sul- tan was not an ordinary case of civil war 97 between a sovereign and his subjects, with which other States oua;ht not to interfere. That contest threatened so materially to affect the distribution of power in the East, that the Governments of Europe were entitled to look upon it as a matter in which their own inte- rests were directly involved. Turkey may be a barbarous and uncivilized State ; but if it were dismembered, what would become of its fragments? Would Europe gain by substitut- ing, at Constantinople, Russian civilization for Turkish barbarism ? Would the benefit to hu- manity make up for the political evil ? Could the crime of another partition be thus atoned for? Could we say Scelcra ipsa nefasque Hac mercede placent ? Undoubtedly not. The Russian empire is large enough for the purposes of good government, and for the safety of the rest of Europe ; and Constantinople must never be added to the do- minions of the Tzar. To name Russia, is to think of Poland ; but, alas, what have we to say about that ill-fated and devoted country! It lies prostrate at the feet of its conqueror, enduring all the miseries which exulting revenge can inflict upon a sub- dued, and no longer resisting antagonist. Are the statements which have been made on this matter exaggerated? for the honour of humanity we wish they may prove so ; but if they are, II 98 why have they not been refuted 1 But, indeed, the published acts of the Russian Government speak for themselves. Have not those acts been calculated to crush national spirit and extin- guish national feeling ; to wound the hearts of individuals, and to add private affliction to pub- lic calamity ? Could England have prevented all this ? That is the question which belongs to our present inquiry. We fear we must answer in the negative ; at least we believe that if Eng- land and France had attempted to throw their shield over Poland, the certain and immediate consequence would have been a general war in Europe, while Polish deliverance would have been a doubtful result. The kingdom of Poland has no sea-port with which England can communicate ; and it is se- parated from France by the interposition of half of Germany. Austria and Prussia were ready to have supported Russia, and each had an army of 100,000 men on the Polish frontier, ready to march at a moment's notice. If we had declared war against Russia, on behalf of Poland, we should have had to wage that w^ar against Austria and Prussia also. But what would those three Powers have done ? They would all have united to crush the Poles, which, as their armies were placed, would have been but the work of a fort- night ; and then we should have had to w^age a general war in Europe, not to save the Poles, but only to avenge their fall. The war, too, would necessarily have been a w'ar of political 9y principle, at a moment when the recent events in France and Belgium had excited, to the highest pitch, the passions of mankind, and had brouo'ht into active conflict the most extreme opinions. We believe our Government judged wisely. But the Polish nation sleeps, and is not dead. Some day or other it may still awake : we trust that the brighter day which must await it, will be prepared first by a milder and juster, and therefore wiser policy on the part of Russia, and will not be preceded by a renewal of violence and bloodshed. But no administrative inge- nuity can extinguish a great people, and no physical force can permanently keep such a people down in misery and bondage. With respect to the affairs of Italy and Germany, the British Government appear not to have taken a prominent part ; but the correspondence of Mr. Seymour, which was published some time since in the newspapers, shews wdiat their course has been as to the former. The counsels given by the English Government, seem to have been such as it became the Government of a free country to give, and those counsels appear not to have been pressed further than was consistent with a respect for the independence of other States. With France, our relations continue to aflTord a striking contrast to former periods of our his- tory. Time was, when England and France fancied themselves natural enemies ; when the foes of the one became of course the friends of 100 the other. These days are passed away ; may they never return ; long may two great and intelligent nations reap from the friendly inter- course of peace, advantages far beyond any which the most successful war could afford to either. The union of England and France has, during a period of unexampled difficulty, pre- served the peace of Europe ; and we may safely predict that wdiile that union subsists, that peace will not be broken. A general war would now be a contest, in which England, France, and the people of every country in Europe would be ranged on one side; and thedespoticGovernments with their armies would stand on the other. The immediate issue could not be doubtful, the ul- terior results might be tremendous. The English Government, we are convinced, will never court such a conflict ; the arbitrary Governments of the Continent will be too wise to provoke it. England, then, never had a clearer course before her, and never held a more dignified, or more honourable station. She stands umpire between hostile and excited parties ; she holds the ba- lance between extreme and opposing principles ; her task is " Pacis imponere morem ;" and this task she may continue to perform no less to her own advantage, than for the benefit of the rest of the civilized world. 101 We have now given a brief and imperfect out- line of the principal transactions of tlie Session. We have shewn that in no Session within living memory, so much has been undertaken or so much completed. In politics as in war, fame depends on success, and it is by the future suc- cess of their measures, not by their good inten- tions, that the Ministry will be judged by poste- rity. The best exposition of their intentions is, perhaps, to be found in the speech to which we have already referred, delivered by Lord Grey on the second reading of the Irish Church Re- form Bill.* We will add, however, a few remarks * " We had arrived at that situation ia which one of two principles of government must prevail. We must either have taken the bold, hazardous, and, I think, the fatal determina- tion of depressing all spirit of Reform by severe coercive mea- sures ; or we must, conforming to the spirit and feeling of the times, endeavour to correct those abuses which affect the Con- stitution, and the various institutions of the country. The first is a line of policy which every government ought to repu- diate, aud we never could be parties to a system which must lead, in the first instance, to the establishment of another ' Holy Alliance,' for the purpose of extinguishing the spirit of liberty throughout Europe. It would be a vain and futile at- tempt ; — ending in a war of opinion, and perhaps, for a time, in the destruction of that liberty and independence for the maintenance of which this country has made so many sacri- fices. The other alternative, therefore, only was left to us ; and we have endeavoured to bring forward those measures of Reform which have been submitted to your Lordships, and to the other House of Parliament, strictly, I repeat, upon Con- servatrve principles — wishing to cover the weak parts of the Government, and strengthen it against the attacks of its 102 of our own on the general tone of the adminis- tration, and on the temper in which they have carried on the government. They have been reproached for want of firmness and decision ; for having been too ready to modify, or even abandon their own views ; in fact, for having been too ready to be guided by public opinion. It certainly is conceivable that an administration might deserve such a reproach, but it must be admitted to be rather an unusual one. The or- dinary fault of Governors is just the reverse. Conceit, indifference to the advice of others, and presumptuous confidence in one's own know- ledge and sagacity, are the usual concomitants of power. They have belonged even to the weakest administrations, and are the besetting sins of a strong one. That the present is a strong administration no one can doubt who looks at its overwhelming majorities : if it have been too humble in the exercise of its strength, if it have paid an undue degree of attention to the sugges- tions of friends or even of enemies, it has been guilty of an error which may be easily pardoned, since experience shews that it is one not likely to be repeated. But we do not believe that any enemies, and to secure tlie confidence of its friends — to re- move what even its friends deplore, and to oppose those wild and extravagant projects which, while they promise peace and freedom, must end in despotism or anarchy. This, my Lords, is the line of policy we have adopted ; we have pursued a straight and steady course ; and having only the permanent good of our country at heart, we have thrown ourselves wiih confidence on jhe generosity of our countrymen." 103 such error has been committed. We beheve that such a reproach can be made only by those who do not understand the times in which they live, and who apply to the present constitution the traditions of one that has ceased to exist. When the House of Commons consisted of par- tisans, when every speech and vote was part of a system, when measures were introduced not because they were useful but because they were plausible, and opposed not because they were likely to do harm to the country, but lest they should do good to their proposers, — it might be the duty of a Government living in such an at- raiosphere of selfishness and insincerity, to form its plans in silence, and to carry them through with obstinacy, well knowing that what was good would be most likely to be attacked, and that whatever was proposed as an amendment was probably designed to be mischievous. To get rid of this wretched system was the great object of the Reform Bill : and it Jtas been got rid of. A majority of the Members of the House of Commons are partisans not of the Mi- nistry or of the Opposition, but of good govern- ment. — And ought their warnings to be disre- garded ? Ought the voice of those who speak in the name of the whole people to have no more weight than if they were a body of mere nomi- nees ? Or laying aside what ought to be done, can this be done ? Who can doubt that it can- not? Who can doubt that the willingness with which the present administration has listened to 104 suggestions, the earnestness with wliich it has sought, in every quarter, and by every means, for information, the frankness with which it has not only allowed but forwarded every inquiry,* must be imitated, and it cannot well be surpassed, by all who succeed them in the high office of pre- sidino- over the deliberations of a Reformed House of Commons ? The character which we have thought it our duty to give to the Reformed House, is certainly opposed to the anticipations of the enemies, and some of the friends of Parliamentary Reform. We will own, that, in some respects, it differs from our own anticipations. We expected, in- deed, diligence from that House, and diligence far exceeding that of any public assembly it has bestowed. It has sat, upon an average, nine hours each day during a Session of 142 days, making: altog-ether 1270 hours; whilst even the last Parliament, under the excitement of the Reform Question, did not sit, in what is termed their long Session, above 918 hours. The Com- mittees exceed in number, in regularity of at- tendance, and, as may be perceived from the ex- tract given in the annexed list,)" in variety of subjects, those of any former Session. * Witness the Committees granted, as soon as asked for, on the Metropolitan Police, Army and Navy Appointments, Cold Bath Fields Meeting', Land Revenues, &c. Days. t Municipal Corporations - _ - 28 Scottish Entails ----- 6 Royal Burghs in Scotland - - - 18 105 We expected much from the Members for the new constituencies in these Committees, but our hopes have been surpassed. They have shewn an attention and impartiality, with an amount of knowledge and business-like talent, such as is not usually found even in those who have enjoyed the benefit of long Parliamentary experience. It must, however, be admitted, that the merits of the Reformed House, in these respects, are less generally known than they ought to be. Though almost all the real business of the House is done in Committee, the absence of reporters leaves the public in ignorance of the persons and the labour by which it has been effected. And though the debates on the Factory Bill, and on the other practical questions in which the new Members principally distinguished them- selves, were reported, yet, in compliance with Days. Fines and Recoveries - - - 6 Sale of Beer - - . - 20 Grand Juries in Ireland 10 Metropolitan Police - - _ 27 Army and Navy Appointments 28 Agriculture . - . . 25 Trade - . . _ . 36 Letters Patent - - - - 12 Land Revenues - - - - 25 Stafford Borough - - _ 11 Admiralty Courts ... 11 Dramatic Performances 6 Irish Spirits - _ . . 11 Cold Bath Fields Meeting 12 Chancery Offices Regulation 13 lOG the general indifference of readers to the details of such measures, their speeches were so briefly- stated, as to give a most inadequate representa- tion of their merits. One of the threats of 1832 was, that a Re- formed House would not consist of Gentlemen. Never was there a more unfortunate prophecy. If the exhibition of manly and generous feel- ing, if the determination to see fair play, the disapprobation of any unjust, or unprovoked attack, the abhorrence of shuffling, or disin- genuous proceedings, the reliance on personal integrity, the marked attention shewn to those who preferred the general welfare of the coun- try to the real or supposed interests of their constituents, and the contempt of those who ventured to profess themselves the mere mouth- pieces of the rapacity or prejudices of those who sent them, — if these are characteristics of Gentlemen, where shall we look for an assembly better deserving that title ? Not, certainly, among the nominees of Peers, or the delegates from Corporations. They have sometimes dis- played impatience, but it has been impatience of vanity or presumption. Some persons have incurred ridicule ; but not those who in a homely manner, or a provincial dialect, ten- dered sincerely the results of their inquiries or experience. Some have even been refused a hearing ; but only those from whom nothing would have been heard but declamation, for the purposes of display or agitation. The 107 fault found, and perhaps not unjustly found, with the House, has been its toleration and in- dulgence, a fault the least likely to increase. In the most important of all merits of a legis- lative body, sincere public spirit, the superiority of the present House is still more striking. This again we expected ; but our expectation was mixed with fear, that so large a body, no longer under the strict discipline of private in- terest and party feeling, might be wanting in that general confidence in the Executive, which is essential to steady government. That by rashly interfering with the proceedings of the administration, where all the grounds for those proceedings could not be shewn, as is the case, for instance, in matters of foreign policy, or where the subject is too vast to be mastered by any but those who have made a business of it, as is the case in many questions of finance, and commercial and manufacturing regulation, they might force the Ministry either on mischeivous measures, or on resignation. Apprehensions, far exceeding these, were felt, or pretended to be felt, by the opponents of the Reform Bill. Night after night we were told, that a reformed House would acknowledge no leaders ; or, at least, no leaders on the ministe- rial benches ; that it would use the services of the present, or any future Ministers, but only as its servants, only so far as they would implicitly follow the dictates of its fraud, or violence, or caprice. Has this been so ? is there any re- 108 proacli which has been more profusely heaped on the present House, by its enemies, than that of subservience to Ministers ? Has any former House shewn itself more conservative, not of the abuses, but of the blessings, of the Con- stitution ? And if there is any portion of the House which less deserves this praise, if there is any portion which has been more inclined than the rest to sacrifice the substantial interests of the Country to popular clamour, or popular sympathy, has this portion belonged to the In- dependent, or to the Ministerial, or to the Tory part of the House? In spite of the opposition, sometimes separate, but more frequently com- bined, of Tories and Radicals, there never, so far as the House of Commons is concerned, has been a stronger Administration. It is true, that their strength has not been founded on the basis which formed the strength of their predecessors, so far as their predecessors were strong. It has not been derived from a body of mercenaries, blindly adherent while adherence seemed to their interest, and violently hostile as soon as hostility appeared profitable. The present Mi- nistry are powerful ; but it is the power of a Leader, not of a Master. It will last as long as they deserve it, and they ought to wish that it should last no longer. THE END. R. SKEEK, PRINTER, 29, MAIDEN LANE, COVENT GARDEN. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below W6 U^9S MAR 9R^|9«^rLD JUN2 9 196:^ DEC 1 8 1»7 1W0 WEEKS FROM MTE Of RCCEIft -i2,'3(i(n;)M)) DWVMt-SiiY OF CAUmimiA LOS AT^GELES LIBRARY UCLAYoung Research Library JN216 .L54r L 009 586 472 4 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 277 173 9