338 A NEEDLESS ALARM. Men's minds being excited by the events which had transpired in France, they naturally supposed that a royal progress, for which extensive preparations had been made, would not have been abandoned but for the discovery of some alarming plot. The Funds, which the Duke of Wellington's disastrous speech had lowered from 84 to 80, fell to 77.* Careful citizens fortified their doors with new bolts and bars, lined their shutters with iron plates, and laid in stores of arms and ammunition, in expectation of a general revolt of the proletariat.† Before the end of the week, the folly of the scare was apparent to everybody, and then everybody felt indignant with the Government for subjecting them to the humiliation. The opinion of the more thoughtful was expressed by Mr. Brougham, when he said: "I wish to Heaven that I had not lived to see the day when the forgetfulness of the people to the merits of the soldier, and the forgetfulness of the soldier to his own proper sphere of greatness, display to England, to Europe, and to the world, an occasion when he cannot accom - * 66 It was expected that there would be a great riot, and preparations were made to meet it. Troops were called up to London, and a large body of civil power put in motion. People had come in from the country in the morning, and everything indicated a disturbance. . . . The police (Peel's new police, organised under his direction), who are a magnificent set of fellows, behave very well, and it seems pretty evident that these troubles are not very serious, and will soon be put an end to. . . . Every sort of ridicule and abuse was heaped upon the Government, the Lord Mayor, and all who had any share in putting off the King's visit to the City; very droll caricatures were circulated." The Greville Memoirs,' i. 54, 55, 56. Molesworth, i. 50. Martineau, ii. 18. 66 339 pany the sovereign on his journey into the heart of an attached and loyal population." * *This incident suggested to Moore his satirical lines entitled 'Advertisement' : The "trusty baronet" was Alderman Sir Claudius Hunter, who was fond 340 MINISTERIAL DIFFICULTIES. Mr. Brougham had given notice of his intention to introduce a Reform Bill, by which he proposed to give votes to all copyholders, leaseholders, and householders; to allot members to Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, and other large towns; to deprive each nomination borough of one of its members; to disfranchise the subvoters in towns, but not in counties; to allow persons in towns to vote after six months' residence; to confine the polling to a single day; and reduce the number of members in the House to five hundred. The expectation was general that, on this motion, which was fixed for the 15th, the Ministry would be beaten. But it happened that, on the day previous, a motion for a Select Committee to examine the accounts connected with the Civil List, was brought forward by Sir H. Parnell; and, in spite of the vigorous opposition of Sir Robert Peel,* carried by a majority of twenty-nine (233 to 204). Ministers immediately determined on resigning, of disporting himself on a steed of "dazzling whiteness." The following epigram appeared in the John Bull of August 16th, 1830: THE ROYAL WONDERS. Two miracles at once! Compell'd by fate, Charles Lamb. * By the death of his father, a few weeks before, Mr. Peel had succeeded to the baronetcy and a very large fortune. DEFEAT AND RESIGNATION. 341 without waiting for a defeat on the Reform question. The latter would necessitate the appointment of a Cabinet pledged to carry out Mr. Brougham's plan, or submit another. By choosing the former, they exhibited their opponents as assailants of the royal prerogative, while to the King they themselves would appear as its martyrs. Accordingly, on the evening of the 16th, the Duke in the Upper House, and Sir Robert Peel in the Lower, announced the dissolution of the Government.* Lord Althorp, the Whig leader in the Lower House, immediately requested Mr. Brougham to defer his motion, which could not properly be discussed while the Government of the country was in an unsettled state. Brougham professed a proper amount of reluctance, but vowing he would ne'er consent, consented; adding, however, that as no changes which might take place in the Administration could possibly affect his individual position, he should bring forward his motion on the 25th, under any circumstances. Here we may pause to note some additional details of the career of this extraordinary man, who, for versatility of talents, multiplicity of acquirements, and instability of * Sydney Smith wrote:-"Never was any administration so completely and so suddenly destroyed; and, I believe, entirely by the Duke's declaration, made, I suspect, in perfect ignorance of the state of public feeling and opinion."- Life and Letters,' ii. 313. Lord Grenville to the Duke of Buckingham:-" It has been most unfortunate for him, and not less so for the question. Absolute resistance, in limine, to any reform, is manifestly no longer possible."-Courts and Cabinets of William IV.,' etc., i. 146. "It is universally believed that Peel pressed the Civil List question for the purpose of being beaten upon it, and going out on that rather than on Reform."-The Greville Memoirs,' ii. 64. 342 CHARACTER OF LORD BROUGHAM. character, has hardly ever been equalled. He possessed indeed, almost every intellectual gift except judgment and humour. His lack of the former quality accounts for many of the ill-advised, and his lack of the latter for many of the extravagant actions, which involved him in so much and such well-deserved censure. His eloquence was copious, vehement, impetuous; his knowledge of all subjects, and all times and places, marvellous; as a scientific inquirer, he earned no inconsiderable distinction; his style as a writer was full, rapid, and animated; he displayed a remarkable power of mastering the most difficult questions, and a not less remarkable power of explaining them so that they became intelligible to the most ordinary understanding; on various occasions he manifested the truest and deepest popular sympathies; his appearances in the honourable capacity of a law reformer were successful; he advocated the education of the people with a fervour which was almost passionate; his oratory was prompt to direct its thunder against bigotry and oppression; and yet when his influence in the House of Commons was at its height, when his power over the masses was most undisputed, those who knew him best were disposed to trust him least. And, in truth, he had no sobriety of temper, no singleness of purpose, no capacity of moderation or patience. He was the victim. of a colossal vanity; of an irritability that vented itself alike on friends and foes; of a jealousy that knew no bounds, and a selfishness that took no regard of decency. "Brougham," wrote Sir Samuel Romilly, "is a man of the most splendid talents and the most extensive ac |