violence.* Division, as might naturally have been expected, ensued in the Cabinet, and more than one resignation was tendered to his Majesty ; but one only-that of Mr Canning, as President of the Board of Controlwas accepted, who was succeeded by Mr Bragge Bathurst, and the Government, as a body, ventured to weather the storm. CHAP. X. 1821. 91. ment, and The result showed that they were right, and had not miscalculated the effect of just and courageous conduct Return of popularity on the English mind. Though liable to occasional fits of Governof fervour, which for the time have often looked like na- causes of it. tional insanity, the English mind, when allowed time for reflection, and not precluded from thinking by the pressure of suffering, quickly in general regains its equilibrium, and never so much so as after a decisive victory. In the present instance, the change in the public feeling was so rapid and remarkable, that it attracted the notice of the King himself, and his Ministers felt no difficulty in meeting Parliament. Nor is it surprising that this was so; for reflection soon taught the nation that their zeal, how generous and honest soever, had been exerted on an unworthy object; that the Queen was by no means the immaculate character they supposed; and that * "Matters here are in a very critical state. Fear and faction are actively, and not unsuccessfully, at work; and it is possible we may be in a minority and the fate of the Government determined in a very few days."-Lord SIDMOUTH to Mr BATHURST, 27th October 1820. "I cannot describe to you how grievously I suffer, and have suffered, on account of the dangerous and deplorable situation in which our country, the King's Government, and indeed all of us, have been placed-a situation from which I profess to see no satisfactory or safe deliverance."-Ditto to ditto, 28th October 1820. "One day, at this time, when Lords Castlereagh and Sidmouth were walking through Parliament Street, they were violently hooted at by the mob. 'Here we go,' said Lord Sidmouth, the two most popular men in England.' 'Yes,' replied Lord Castlereagh, through a grateful and admiring multitude.'"-Life of Sidmouth iii. 330, 333. 6 "It is clear beyond dispute, from the improvement of the public mind, and the loyalty which the country is now everywhere displaying, if properly cultivated and turned to the best advantage by Ministers, that the Govern ment will thereby be enabled to repair to the country and to me those evils, of the magnitude of which there can be but one opinion."-GEORGE IV. to Lord ELDON, Jan. 9, 1821; TwIss's Life of Eldon, ii. 413. X. 1821. CHAP. however culpable and heartless the King's conduct had been to her in the outset of her married life, latterly at least the principal fault had been on her side; in truth, also, be the fault where it may, her habits abroad had been such as rendered her unfit to be placed at the head of English society. The trial, they saw, was of her own seeking; she was offered the title of Queen, and a handsome provision abroad; and they could not regard without regret the enthusiasm which had prevailed in favour of a woman whom the highest court in the kingdom, upon evidence the force of which all must feel, had virtually pronounced guilty. The battle had been a drawn one the people could pride themselves on their victory, the Ministers on the evidence by which they had justified their proceedings; and both parties having thus something to gratify their self-love, their mutual irritation was lessened, and reconciliation resulted from a proceeding which presaged at first irreparable alienation. 92. Parliament, proceed ings. Parliament met, after being prorogued in the end of Meeting of November, on the 23d January, and Ministers were able and first to congratulate the country with reason on the improved condition of the people, and more contented temper of the public mind. In truth, the change in both respects was most remarkable; and Ministers, who had anticipated a narrow division, if not a defeat, on the question of the Queen, and their conduct in regard to her, were, to their surprise, supported by large majorities in both Houses, which on 6th February rose to 146 in the Commons. This great victory in a manner terminated the contest of parties on that painful subject. It was now evident that the long proceedings which had taken place on the Queen's trial, and the weighty evidence which had come 1 Parl. Deb. out against her, had completely changed the public iv. 460, 507; opinion on the subject, and that even the Radicals must 1821, 15, 21. look out for some fresh subject of complaint in their attempts to overturn the Government.1 Ann. Reg. Such a subject would, but for the manly and judicious X. 1821. 93. foreign af course adopted by the Government, have been afforded CHAP. by the course which foreign affairs had taken at this period. The revolutions in Spain, Portugal, Naples, and Piedmont, and the ferment in Germany, had deeply Debates on agitated the public mind. It was hard to say whether fairs. the hopes these events had awakened in one party, or the fears in another, were most preponderant. All observed, many hoped, some feared, from them. The Congresses of Laybach and Troppau, of which an account has already been given,1 which had been assembled 1 Ante, c. viii. § 70. avowedly to consider the course to be adopted by the great Continental powers in regard to these portentous events, afforded a fertile field for eloquent declamation on the part of the Liberal leaders; and Lord Grey in the Upper House, and Sir James Mackintosh in the Lower, in moving for the production of papers relative to these events, took occasion to inveigh strongly against the dangerous attempts, evidently making by the Continental powers, to stifle the growth of freedom, and overturn constitutional monarchies in all the lesser states around them. Ministers resisted the motion, but declared at the same time that the English Government were no parties to these congresses, and that they had officially notified to the powers there assembled their dissent from the principles and right of interference there advanced. It was known that this statement was well founded, and Parliament, satisfied with having obtained such an assurance from the Government, and with the strong declaration of English feeling from the Opposi-2 Ann. Reg. tion, supported Ministers in both Houses by large majo- 104. rities.2 1821, 102, Mackin forts to im Sir James Mackintosh continued in this Parliament, as 94. he had done in the last, his able and indefatigable efforts Sir James to obtain a relaxation of the monstrous severities and tosh's efanomalies of the English criminal code. His increasing prove the success, though not unmixed with checks, demonstrated law. that public opinion was rapidly changing on this impor criminal X. 1821. CHAP. tant subject, and that the time was not far distant when, practically speaking, the punishment of death would not be inflicted in any case except deliberate murder, in which, both on the authority of the Divine law and every consideration of human justice, it never should be abrogated. As this blessed change has now (1853) for above ten years been practically in operation, it is superfluous to enumerate all the steps by which it was effected. Suffice it to say, therefore, that it was by the efforts of Sir Samuel Romilly, and after him of Sir James Mackintosh, that the necessity of this great reform was first impressed on the public mind, and by the adoption of their principles by Sir Robert Peel when he became Home Secretary, that it was on a large scale carried into effect. The only thing to be regretted is, that when the penalty of death was so justly taken away for so many offences, care was not taken at the same time to increase the certainty and enlarge the efficiency of secondary punishments; and that from the long-continued neglect by the colonial secretaries of the obvious expedient of always mingling, in due proportion, the streams of gratuitous Government, with forced penal emigration, the country has in a great measure lost the immense advantage it might otherwise have derived from the possession of such outlets for its surplus population and dangerous crime; and that the colonies have been led to regard with horror, and strive to avert, a stream which, duly regulated, might, and certainly would, have been hailed as the greatest possible blessing. 95. Mr Can ing speech Emancipa Mr Plunkett, on the 28th February, brought forward a motion regarding Roman Catholic Emancipation, and ning's strik- it soon became evident, that if the mantle of Romilly on Catholic had descended on Mackintosh, that of Grattan had tion. fallen on the shoulders of Plunkett. As this subject will be fully discussed in a subsequent part of this History, when the passing of Catholic Emancipation is narrated, it would be superfluous to give the arguments X. 1821. advanced on both sides; but there is one speech in the CHAP. Commons, and one in the Lords, from which brief extracts must be given, from the importance of the sentiments which they conveyed. Mr Canning was the most eloquent supporter, Mr Peel the most determined opponent, of the measure. "We are," said the former, "in the enjoyment of a peace achieved in a great degree by Catholic arms, and cemented by Catholic blood. For three centuries we have been erecting mounds, not to assist or improve, but to thwart nature; we have raised them high above the waters, where they have stood for many a year frowning proud defiance on all who attempted to cross them; but, in the course of ages, even they have been nearly broken down, and the narrow isthmus now formed between them stands between "Two kindred seas, Which, mounting, viewed each other from afar, And longed to meet." Shall we, then, fortify the mounds which are almost in ruins? or shall we leave them to moulder away by time or accident?—an event which, though distant, must happen, and which, when it does, will only confer a thankless favour-or shall we at once cut away the isthmus that remains, and float on the mingling waves iv. 1311. the ark of our common constitution?" 1 1 Parl. Deb. Mr Peel. On the other hand, it was argued by Mr Peel, in words 96. which subsequent events have rendered prophetic: "I do Answer by not concur in the anticipation that the emancipation of the Catholics would tend to re-establish harmony in the State, or smooth down conflicting feelings. I do not wish to touch prospectively upon the consequences of intemperate struggles for power. I do not wish to use language which may be construed into a harsh interpretation of the acts and objects of men who proceed in the career of ambition. But I must say this much, that if Parliament admits an equal capacity for the possession of power between Protestant and Catholic in this respect, they will |