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On the morning of the 14th, at eight o'clock, the funeral procession moved from Brandenburgh-house. The Queen's executors had previously made a protest against the removal of the body, and the measures which had been pursued with respect to it. According to the route which had been prescribed, the procession was to go from Hammersmith, through Kensington, into the Uxbridge-road, then down the Edgware-road into the Newroad; along the City-road, Oldstreet, and Mile-end, to Romford; and thence through Chelmsford and Colchester to Harwich. The crowd which attended was immense, though heavy rain fell in cessantly. The procession reached Kensington in solemn order, when, on its arriving at the Gravel-pits, and attempting to turn off to the left, the road was instantly blockaded by waggons and carts placed across the way. From half-past nine till eleven o'clock, the procession halted for orders, and at length moved towards London. On reaching Kensington-gore, a squadron of Life-guards, with a magistrate, sir R. Baker, at their head, tried in vain to open the Park-gates, the crowd vociferating in the mean time-" To the City !"— "the City!" On reaching Hydepark-corner, the gate there was found barricadoed with carts, and the procession moved onwards to Park-lane. This was also found blocked up, and the procession then turned back hastily, and entered Hyde-park, through which it proceeded at a trot, the soldiers having cleared away the obstacles at the gate. On reaching Cumberland-gate, it was found closed by the populace; and a

conflict ensued, in which the Park wall was thrown down by the pressure of the crowd, and the stones converted into missiles, which were hurled at the soldiers, in return for the use the latter had made of their sabres in attempting to clear the passage. Many of the military and horses were hurt; some of the troops resorted to their fire-arms, when two persons were unfortunately killed, and others wounded. The Edgewareroad was now blockaded; but, being quickly cleared, the procession moved on, till it arrived at the turnpike-gate near the top of Tottenham-court-road. There the mob made another stand. So dense was the barrier formed in the space of a few minutes, and so determined were the people, that a passage was found to be wholly impracticable; and sir R. Baker, to prevent the mischief which might have ensued, had he persevered in proceeding turned the procession down Tottenham-court-road. It thence proceeded into the Strand, and through the City. All the streets, including Holborn, through which a turn could have been made to the left, in order to enter the New-road or the City-road, were barricadoed. If ever there was a place where human passions should have subsided, and human enmities have been appeased, surely it was in the presence of the awful relics of poor mortality. Yet, even in the course of the journey to the sea-coast, there was almost a scuffle over the dead body in a church! The executors, during the night, affixed to the lid of the coffin a plate, inscribed with the sentence directed in the Queen's will-this was displaced by the authorities, after a strong

protest from the former gentle

men.

Sir Robert Wilson had taken an active part in the procession; and though he had no share in the riotous proceedings of the mob, it was no very seemly conduct in an officer bearing the king's commission to show himself at the head of a procession, which acted in opposition to lawful authority, and in obedience to a lawless mob, who openly resisted the civil and military power. He was shortly afterwards dismissed from his majesty's ⚫ service; but a liberal subscription made more than ample compensation to him for any pecuniary loss which he thus sustained. Sir Robert Baker, too, had acted with an irresolution and timidity ill becoming the head of the police, and was accordingly removed from that situation.

Inquests were held on the two unfortunate victims of the struggle at Cumberland-gate; and the conduct of some, both of the witnesses and of the jurymen, exhibited a melancholy example of the influence of party spirit. There were jurymen who acted as accusers rather than as judges, and witnesses, who gave or made evidence, not to promote the cause of justice, but to gratify their spleen. One of the juries returned a verdict of wilful murder against a Life-guards-man unknown; the other gave a general verdict imputing man-slaughter to the troops who acted. At the suggestion of a ministerial paper, a subscription was entered into for such of the Life-guards as had sustained injury from the violence of the populace; but a committee of the regiment declined the proffered recompense.

During these proceedings, the King was in Ireland. He had set out the day before the illness of the Queen commenced; but the news of her death reached him, before he had quitted the English shores. He landed at Howth on the 12th of August; and, in consequence of his late consort's decease, wished to have done so in private. But privacy was impossible, and the moment his approach was known, all Dublin poured forth its population to greet him. The enthusiasm rose to extravagance, and the King in return was all affability, condescending to shake hands cordially with the very lowest of the populace. He did not make his public entry into Dublin until the 17th of August. During the whole period of his stay in Ireland, he met with nothing but the most ardent demonstrations of loyalty. The King returned to London on the 16th of September; and, on the 24th, left it again to visit Hanover.,

It is melancholy to be obliged to add, that the events of October, November, and December, destroyed all the splendid anticipations, to which his majesty's visit to Ireland had given rise in the minds of those who possessed a superficial acquaintance with the character of that people. The gaudy and hollow bubble of conciliation soon burst, and a system of outrage, robbery, murder, and assassination commenced, scarcely to be paralleled in the annals of any civilized country. The counties of Limerick, Mayo, Tipperary, and Cavan, were the chief seats of the disturbance. In the former of these counties, outrages of the most horrible and aggravated nature were perpetrated.

A most respectable magistrate, a Mr. Going, was attacked upon the public highway, and, to use the vulgarly emphatic phrase in which the intelligence of his death was announced in Dublin, "his body was made a riddle of!" Seven mortal wounds were inflicted on him; and such was the daring ferocity of his assassins, that even the dead body was obliged to be guarded home by a military escort. As if to show that they were actuated solely by a sanguinary spirit, they left his watch and a large sum of money in his pocket untouched; and within an hour after the perpetration of the deed, it was announced to the country by bonfires on all the hills, and echoed by a savage yell of exultation from the villages. The Irish privy council immediately resolved to proclaim the district. In various other parts of the country, midnight meetings and robbery of arms were events of common occurrence. In the county of Tipperary eighteen persons, including women and children, were shot or burnt to death in one house. Shea, the father or master of the family, was the first to burst through the conflagration, in which his dwelling was involved by night; but meeting with monsters not

less savage than the raging element which he hoped to escape, he was by them instantly shot, and his body thrown back into the flames. His crime was, that he had recently removed some under-tenants from lands which they held at will. It was clear that common people were confederated-that they wished to dictate the regulation of property

that they had declared war against all public institutionsthat they resisted the payment of taxes and tithes, and had bound themselves by the profanation of an oath to enforce their wicked plans by plunder, torture, and murder!

A commission was sent into the disturbed districts for the purpose of bringing some of the perpetrators of these atrocities to justice; and several of them were in fact executed. Numerous bodies of troops were likewise dispatched into those districts. But notwithstanding every precaution and every remedy that could be devised, the country continued at the end of the year in a very unquiet state. Among other measures adopted, was that of sending the marquis Wellesley to replace lord Talbot as lord lieutenant.

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CHAP. VIII.

FRANCE. Coalition between the Ministry and part of the Côtè DroitFinances; Estimated Expenditure; Ways and Means-Bank of France-French Navy-Proceedings in the Chamber of Deputies with respect to the Slave Trade-Discussions on the Affairs of Naples The Censorship-Regulations of Colleges-Ecclesiastical Arrangements-Repeal of the Additional Tonnage on American Ships-Trials for Treason in the Chamber of Peers-Explosion in the Tuilleries-Disturbances at Lyons and Grenoble-Religious Fanaticism-Death of Bonaparté-Dissensions in the MinistryResignation of the Chiefs of the Côtè Droit-New Elections-Precautions on the Spanish Frontier-Trials for Political Offences.

THOUGH the ministers, into

whose hands the direction of public affairs in France came upon the death of the duke of Berri, were decidedly unfavourable to the Liberals, they were by no means devoted to, or wholly under the influence of the oppo. site party. The duke of Richelieu had always been a moderator between the two factions, rather than the decided partisan of either; and among those who held office under him in 1820, none of the leaders of the côtè droit were to be found. From that side of the chamber, he received only an occasional and doubtful support. In the course of the session of 1820, the keen opposition which he met with, and the small majorities which he was able to command, made him sensible of the necessity of looking round him for re-inforcements. Coalition with the Liberals was out of the question; for to unite with them, would be to abdicate his office; they would not be content with a subordinate share of influence and authority; if admitted as colleagues, they would

soon turn him and his friends out of office; and, though the duke had always shown himself personally indifferent to the possession of power, he could never think of voluntarily putting the reins of government into the hands of his adversaries, and of thereby bringing about a complete change in the situation of all his friends and adherents, and in the course of political events in France. He, therefore, turned his views towards the côte droit ; who, though of late, they had risen considerably in power, were still too weak to aspire to governing by their own proper strength, and would be useful allies to the ministers, without being in a situation to make themselves his masters. The policy, indeed, which they were inclined to follow, was, in many respects, inconsistent with the predominating interests, passions, and prejudices of the country; but, in a cabinet, where they would form only a feeble minority, their zeal would be so curbed and checked, as to prevent all dangerous excesses. As union with them was safe, so

neither could there be much difficulty in accomplishing it. A party, who could have no reasonable hopes of engrossing all authority, would be glad to accept a moderate share of the administration. Their leaders, especially M. de Villèle, who from 1815 to 1820, had acted an important part among them, and had distinguished himself by the steadiness and ability of his conduct, were by no means averse to an union with the ministry; by strengthening which, they conceived, that, at the same time that they gratified their own ambition, they confirmed and promoted the cause of good order. But they were held back from yielding readily to these views, by a prudent deference to their adherents; many of whom, they knew, were devoted to principles, which no wise statesmen would act upon in France, and expected from their chiefs, if once in office, a line of conduct, which circumstances would never per mit them to adopt.

The elections, which took place towards the end of 1820, by adding to the strength of the aristocratical party, made it still more requisite, than it had been in the former session, for the duke of Richelieu to come to some understanding with them. Negotiations were begun, were broken off, were again renewed; and at last, just at the close of the year, Messrs. Villèle, Corbieres and Lainé, were admitted into the cabinet. Their accession brought along with it the support of the more moderate members of the côte droit by the zealots, the three new ministers were regarded as deserters from the good

cause.

The first important measure brought before the chambers, was the project of a law, by which, besides opening a credit of 200 millions of francs, the first six twelfths of the land-tax, and of the tax on property, moveable and personal, were to be collected according to the rates of 1820; and, until the promulgation of a new law of finance, all the other taxes were to be received, according to the regulations enacted for the service of the preceding year. The minister of finance made this proposition on the 2nd of January; and, in doing so, expressed his regret, that it should be necessary to have recourse to any such provisional measure. The discussion was long and keen; but the côtè droit gave the ministers their support, and the measure was carried by a majority of 268 to 65.

On the 16th of January, the budget of the year was brought forward. The expenses were classed under two heads, the fixed and the administrative. The former, comprehending the interest of the debt, pensions inscribed in the Great Book, the sinking fund and the civil list, were estimated at 351,271,489 francs. Of this sum, 25 millions were appropriated to the civil list, 9 millions to the royal family, 40 millions to the sinking fund, and 189,052,764 to the discharge of the interest of the 5 per cent. consolidated annuities, and reconnoissances de liquidation. This interest was greater than in 1820, by upwards of 700,000 francs.

As to the general expenses, those of the presidency of the council and of the ministry of justice, were the same as in the former year. The expenditure

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