Mr. Gladstone (S603) now succeeded in carrying through a second Irish
Land Law (1881) (S603), which he hoped might be more effective in
relieving the Irish peasants than the first had been. This measure
was familiarly known as the "Three F's,"--meaning Fair rent, Fixity of
tenure, and Free sale. By the provisions of this act the tenant could
appeal to a board of land commissioners appointed to fix the rate of
his rent in case the demands made by the landlord seemed to him
excessive.
Next, he could continue to hold his farm, provided he paid the rate
determined on, for a period of fifteen years, during which time the
rent could not be raised nor the tenant evicted except for violation
of agreement or persistent neglect or waste of the land. Finally, he
could sell his tenancy whenever he saw fit to the highest bidder.
This law was later amended and extended in the interest of the peasant
farmer (1887).
The year following the passage of this second Land Act, Lord Frederick
Cavendish, chief secretary of Ireland, and Mr. Burke, a prominent
government official, were murdered in Phoenix Park, Dublin (1882).
Later, members of the Fenian society, and of other secret
organizations sympathizing with the small Irish farmers, perpetrated
dynamite outrages in London and other parts of England for the purpose
of intimidating the Government. These acts were denounced by the
leaders of the Irish National Party. They declared that "the cause of
Ireland was not to be served by the knife of the assassin or by the
infernal machine."
Notwithstanding the vindictive feeling caused by these rash deeds,
despite also the passage of the Coercion Bill (1887), the majority of
the more intelligent and thoughtful of the Irish people had faith in
the progress of events. They believed that the time would come when
their country would obtain the enjoyment of all the political rights
which England so fully possesses. It will be seen (S620) that about
ten years later they did gain a very important extension of the right
of local self-government.[1]
[1] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p.xxvii,
S33.
606. The Darwinian Theory of Evolution, 1859; the Persistence of
Force.
In the progress of science the Victorian period surpassed all previous
records in England except that made by Sir Isaac Newton's discovery of
the law of gravitation (S481). That great thinker demonstrated in
1684 that all forms of matter, great or small, near or distant, are
governed by one universal force of attraction. In like manner the
researches and investigations of the nineteenth century led to the
conviction that all forms of life upon the earth obey a universal law
of development. By this law the higher are evolved from the lower
through a succession of gradual but progressive changes.
This conception originated long before the beginning of the Victorian
era, but it lacked the support of carefully examined facts, and most
sensible men regarded it as nothing more than a plausible conjecture.
The thinker who did more than any other to supply the facts, and to
put the theory, so far as it relates to natural history, on a solid
and lasting foundation, was the distinguished English naturalist,
Charles Darwin.[1]
[1] Alfred Russel Wallace, also noted as a naturalist, worked out the
thoery of evolution by "natural selection" about the same time, though
not so fully, with respect to details, as Darwin; as each of these
investigators arrived at his conclusions independently of the other,
the theory was thus doubly confirmed.
On his return (1837) from a voyage of scientific discovery round the
world, Darwin began to examine and classify the facts which he had
collected, and continued to collect, relating to certain forms of
animal life. After twenty-two years of uninterrupted labor he
published a work in 1859, entitled "The Origin of Species," in which
he aimed to show that life generally owes its course of development ot
the struggle for existence and to "the survival of the fittest."
Darwin's work may truthfully be said to have wrought a revolution in
the study of nature as great as that accomplished by Newton in the
seventeenth century. Though it excited heated and prolonged
discussion, the Darwinian theory gradually made its way, and is now
generall received, though sometimes in a modified form, by practically
every eminent man of science throughout the world.
After Mr. Darwin began his researches, but before he completed them,
Sir William Grove, an eminent electrician, commenced a series of
experiments which resulted in his publishing his remarkable book[2] on
the connection of the physical forces of nature. He showed that heat,
light, and electricity are mutually convertible; that they must be
regarded as modes of motion; and, finally, that all force is
persistent and indestructible, thus proving, as Professor Tyndall
says, that "to nature, nothing can be added; from nature, nothing can
be taken away." Together, the work of Darwin and Grove, with kindred
discoveries, resulted in the theory of evolution, or development.
Later on, Herbert Spencer and other students of evolution endeavored
to make it the basis of a system of philosophy embracing the whole
field of nature and life.
[2] "The Correlation of the Physical Forces" (1846).
The Victorian period was also noted for many other great names in
science, philosophy, literature, and art. The number was so great
that it would manifestly be impracticable to devote any adequate space
to them here.[1]
[1] It will be sufficient to mention the novelists, Dickens,
Thackeray, Bronte, and "George Eliot"; the historians, Stubbs, Hallam,
Arnold, Grote, Macaulay, Alison, Buckle, Froude, Freeman, and
Gardiner; the essayists, Carlyle, Landor, and De Quincey; the poets,
Browning and Tennyson; the philosophical writers, Hamilton, Mill, and
Spencer; with Lyell, Faraday, Carpenter, Tyndall, Huxley, Darwin,
Wallace, and Lord Kelvin in science; John Ruskin, the eminent art
critic; and, in addition, the chief artists of the period, Millais,
Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Watts, and Hunt.
607. The Queen's Two Jubilees; Review of Sixty Years of English
History (1837-1897).
Queen Victoria celebrated the fiftieth year of her reign (1887); ten
years later (1897) the nation spontaneously rose to do honor to her
"Diamond Jubilee." The splendid military pageant which marked that
event in London was far more than a brilliant show, for it
demonstrated the enthusiastic loyalty of the English people and of the
English colonies.
The real meaning of the occasion is best sought in a review of the
record of those threescore years. They were, in large degree, a
period of progress; perhaps, in fact, no similar period in European
history has been so "crowded with benefit to humanity."
When Victoria came to the throne in her nineteenth year (1837) she
found the kingdom seething with discontent, and the province of Canada
approaching rebellion. In business circles reckless speculation and
the bursting of "Bubble Companies" had been followed by "tight money"
and "hard times." Among the poor matters were far worse. Wages were
low, work was scarce, bread was dear. In the cities half-fed
multitudes lived in cellars; in the country the same class occupied
wretched cottages hardly better than cellars.[2]
[2] See Cobbett's "Rural Rides, 1821-1832."
The "New Poor Law" (S403),[3] which went into effect in 1834, or
shortly before the Queen's accession, eventually accomplished much
good; but for a time it forced many laborers into the workhouse. The
result aggravated the suffering and discontent, and the predominant
feeling of the day may be seen reflected in the pages of Dickens,
Carlyle, and Kingsley.[1]
[3] The "New Poor Law": Between 1691 and 1834 the administration of
relief for the poor was in the hands of justices of the peace, who
gave aid indiscriminately to those who begged for it. In 1795 wages
for ordinary laborers were so low that the justices resolved to grant
an allowance to every poor family in accordance with its numbers. The
result of this mistaken kindness was speedily seen; employers cut down
wages to the starvation point, knowing that the magistrates would give
help out of the poor fund. The consequence was that the tax rate for
relief of the poor rose to a degree that became unbearable.
The "New Law" of 1834 effected a sweeping reform: (1) it forbade
outdoor relief to the able-bodied poor, and thus, in the end,
compelled the employer to give better wages (but outdoor relief is now
frequently granted); (2) it restricted aid to that given in
workhouses, where the recipient, if in good health, was obliged to
labor in return for what he received; (3) it greatly reduced the
expense of supporting the poor by uniting parishes in workhouse
"unions"; (4) it modified the old rigid Law of Settlement, thereby
making it possible for those seeking employment to take their labor to
the best market.
[1] See Dickens's "Oliver Twist" (1838), Carlyle's "Chartism" (1839),
and Kingsley's "Yeast" and "Alton Locke" (1849).
Notwithstanding the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832 (S582),
political power was still held chiefly by men of property who
distrusted the masses of the people. They feared that the widespread
distress would culminate in riots, if not in open insurrection.
The Chartist movement (S591) which speedily began (1838) seemed to
justify their apprehension. But the dreaded revolt never came; the
evils of the times were gradually alleviated and, in some cases,
cured. Confidence slowly took the place of distrust and fear. When,
in June (1897), the Queen's "Diamond Jubilee" procession moved from
Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's, and thence through some of the
poorest quarters of London, none of the dense mass that filled the
streets cheered more lustily than those who must always earn their
daily bread by their daily toil.
The explanation of that change was to be found in the progress of good
government, the extension of popular rights, and the advance of
material improvements. Let us consider these changes in their natural
order.