1801.
The Union with Ireland—Proclamations thereon—Alteration of
Great Seal—Irish Member called to order (footnote)—Discovery
of the Planet Ceres—Proclamation of General Fast—High price
of meat, and prosperity of the farmers—Suffering of the French
prisoners—Political dissatisfaction—John Horne Tooke—Feeding
the French prisoners—Negotiations for Peace—Signing
preliminaries—Illuminations—Methods of making the news
known—Ratification of preliminaries—Treatment of General Lauriston
by the mob—More Illuminations—Manifestation of joy at Falmouth—Lord
Mayor’s banquet.
“LE ROI EST mort. Vive le Roi.” Ring the bells to welcome the baby
Nineteenth Century, who is destined to utterly eclipse in renown all
his ancestors.
Was it for good, or was it for evil, that its first act should be that
of the Union with Ireland? It was compulsory, for it was a legacy
bequeathed it. There were no national rejoicings. The new Standard was
hoisted at the Tower, and at St. James’s, the new “Union” being flown
from St. Martin’s steeple, and the Horse Guards; and, after the King
and Privy Council had concluded the official recognition of the fact,
both the Park and Tower guns fired a salute. The ceremonial had the
merit, at least, of simplicity.
A long Royal Proclamation was issued, the principal points of which
were: “We appoint and declare that our Royal Stile and Titles shall
henceforth be accepted, taken, and used, as the same are set forth in
manner and form following; that is to say, the same shall be expressed
in the Latin tongue by these words, ‘_GEORGIUS TERTIUS, Dei Gratiâ,
Britanniarum Rex, Fidei Defensor_.’ And in the English tongue by
these words, ‘GEORGE the THIRD, by the Grace of God, of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith.’
And that the Arms or ensigns armorial of the said United Kingdom shall
be quarterly—first and fourth, England; second, Scotland; third,
Ireland; and it is our will and pleasure, that there shall be borne
therewith, on an escocheon of pretence, the Arms of our dominions in
Germany, ensigned with the Electoral bonnet. And it is our will and
pleasure that the Standard of the said United Kingdom shall be the same
quartering as are herein before declared to be the arms or ensigns
armorial of the said United Kingdom, with the escocheon of pretence
thereon, herein before described: and that the Union flag shall be
azure, the Crosses-saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick quarterly per
saltire countercharged argent and gules; the latter fimbriated of the
second; surmounted by the Cross of St. George of the third, fimbriated
as the saltire.” There is a curious memorial of these arms to be seen
in a stained-glass window in the church of St. Edmund, King and Martyr,
Lombard Street, which window was put up as a memento of the Union. In
the above arms it is to be noticed that the _fleur de lys_, so long
used as being typical of our former rule in France, is omitted. A new
Great Seal was also made—the old one being defaced.[12] On January 1,
1801, the King issued a proclamation for holding the first Parliament
under the Union, declaring that it should “on the said twenty-second
day of January, one thousand, eight hundred and one, be holden, and sit
for the dispatch of divers weighty and important affairs.”
On the 1st of January, also, was a proclamation issued, altering the
Prayer-book to suit the change, and, as some readers would like to know
these alterations, I give them.
“In the Book of Common Prayer, Title Page, instead of ‘The Church of
England,’ put ‘of the United Church of England and Ireland.’
“Prayer for the High Court of Parliament, instead of Our Sovereign, and
his Kingdoms,’ read ‘and his Dominions.’
“The first Prayer to be used at sea, instead of ‘His Kingdoms,’ read
‘His Dominions.’
“In the form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating of
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, instead of the order ‘of the Church of
England,’ read ‘of the United Church of England and Ireland.’
“In the preface of the said form, in two places, instead of ‘Church of
England,’ read ‘in the United Church of England and Ireland.’
“In the first question in the Ordination of Priests, instead of ‘Church
of England,’ read ‘of this United Church of England and Ireland.’
“In the Occasional Offices, 25th of October, the King’s accession,
instead of ‘these realms,’ read ‘this realm.’
“In the Collect, before the Epistle, instead of ‘these Kingdoms,’ read
‘this United Kingdom.’
“For the Preachers, instead of ‘King of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland,’ say, ‘King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland.’”
The Union gave seats in the Imperial Parliament to one hundred
commoners, twenty-eight temporal peers, who were elected for life,
and four bishops representing the clergy, taking their places in
rotation.[13]
The heavens marked the advent of the New Century by the discovery,
by the Italian astronomer Piazzi, of the Planet Ceres on the 1st
of January; and, to begin the year in a proper and pious manner, a
proclamation was issued that a general fast was to be observed in
England and Ireland, on the 13th, and in Scotland, on the 12th of
February.
The cry of scarcity of food still continued; wheat was mounting higher
and higher in price. In January it was 137s. a quarter, and it rose
still higher. The farmers must have had a good time of it, as the Earl
of Warwick declared in Parliament (November 14, 1800), they were making
200 per cent. profit. “Those who demanded upwards of 20s. a bushel
for their corn, candidly owned that they would be contented with 10s.
provided other farmers would bring down their prices to that standard.”
And again (17th of November) he said: “He should still contend that the
gains of the farmer were enormous, and must repeat his wish, that some
measure might be adopted to compel him to bring his corn to market,
and to be contented with a moderate profit. He wondered not at the
extravagant style of living of some of the farmers, who could afford
to play guinea whist, and were not contented with drinking wine only,
but even mixed brandy with it; on farms from which they derived so much
profit, they could afford to leave one-third of the lands they rented
wholly uncultivated, the other two-thirds yielding them sufficient gain
to support all their lavish expenditure.”
Still the prosperity of the farmer must have been poor consolation to
those who were paying at the rate of our half-crown for a quartern
loaf, so that it is no wonder that the authorities were obliged to step
in, and decree that from January 31, 1801, the sale of fine wheaten
bread should be forbidden, and none used but that which contained the
bran, or, as we should term it, brown, or whole meal, bread.
The poor French prisoners, of course, suffered, and were in a most
deplorable condition, more especially because the French Government
refused to supply them with clothes. They had not even the excuse that
they clothed their English prisoners, for our Government looked well
after them in that matter, however much they may have suffered in other
ways.
On the 18th of February Pitt opened his budget, and as an increase was
needed of over a million and three quarters, owing to the war, and
interest of loan, new taxes were proposed as follows:
£
Ten per cent. on all Teas over 2s. 6d. per
lb., which would probably produce 30,000
Doubling the tax on Paper except
Paper-hangings and glazed Paper ” 130,000
Drawback on the export of Calicoes to be
taken off, and extra duty of one penny
imposed ” 155,000
Increase of one-third on the tax on Timber,
Staves, and Deals ” 95,000
Sixpence per lb. export duty, and threepence
per lb. on home consumption to be levied
on Pepper ” 119,000
Twenty pence per cwt. extra on Sugar ” 166,000
A duty on Raisins ” 10,000
do. on Lead ” 120,000
Ten shillings per pleasure Horse if only one
were kept, and an additional ten for each
horse so kept ” 170,000
Horses used in agriculture 4s. each ” 136,000
Increase of stamp duty on Bills and Notes ” 112,000
Double stamp on Marine Insurance Policies ” 145,000
An additional duty on deeds of Conveyance ” 93,000
Modified Postal arrangements ” 80,000
The Penny Post to be Twopence ” 17,000
Other modifications of the Post-office ” 53,000
There had been political dissatisfactions for some time past, which was
dignified with the name of sedition, but the malcontents were lightly
dealt with. On the 2nd of March those who had been confined in the
Tower and Tothill Fields were liberated on their own recognizances
except four—Colonel Despard, Le Maitre, Galloway, and Hodgson, who,
being refused an unconditional discharge, preferred to pose as martyrs,
and were committed to Tothill Fields. Of Colonel Despard we shall have
more to say further on. Vinegar Hill had not been forgotten in Ireland,
and sedition, although smothered, was still alight, so that an Act had
to be introduced, prolonging the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in
that kingdom.
In this year, too, was brought in a Bill which became law, preventing
clergymen in holy orders from sitting in the House of Commons. This was
brought about by the election (this sessions) of the Rev. John Horne
Tooke for Old Sarum, a rotten borough, which in 1832 was disfranchised,
as it returned two members, and did not have very many more voters.
Tooke had been a partizan of Wilkes, and belonged, as we should now
term it, to the Radical party, a fact which may probably have had
something to do with the introduction of the Bill, as there undoubtedly
existed an undercurrent of dissatisfaction, which was called sedition.
Doubtless societies of the disaffected existed, and a secret
commission, which sat for the purpose of exposing them, reported, on
the 27th of April, that an association for seditious purposes had been
formed under the title of United Britons, the members whereof were to
be admitted by a test.
The question of feeding the French prisoners of war again turned
up, and as it was not well understood, the _Morning Post_, 1st
of September, 1801, thus explains matters: “Much abuse is thrown
out against the French Government for not providing for the French
prisoners in this country. We do not mean to justify its conduct;
but the public should be informed how the question really stands. It
is the practice of all civilized nations to feed the prisoners they
take. Of course the French prisoners were kept at the expense of the
English Government till, a few years ago, reports were circulated of
their being starved and ill-treated. The French Government, in hopes
of stigmatizing the English Ministry as guilty of such an enormous
offence, offered to feed the French prisoners here at its own expense;
a proposal,which was readily accepted, as it saved much money to this
country; but the French Government has since discontinued its supplies,
and thus paid a compliment to our humanity at the expense of our purse.
In doing this, however, France has only reverted to the established
practice of war, and all the abuse of the Treasury journals for
withholding the supplies to the French prisoners, only betrays a gross
ignorance of the subject.”
Of their number, the _Morning Post_, 16th of October, 1801, says,
“The French prisoners in this country at present amount to upwards
of 20,000, and they are all effective men, the sick having been sent
home from time to time as they fell ill. Of these 20,000 men, nine out
of ten are able-bodied seamen; they are the best sailors of France,
the most daring and enterprising, who have been mostly employed in
privateers and small cruisers.” Some of them had been confined at
Portsmouth for eight years!
M. Otto, in spite of the rebuff he had experienced, the former
negotiations for peace having been broken off, was still in London,
where he acted as Commissary for exchange of prisoners. Napoleon was
making treaties of peace all round, and, if it were to be gained in
an honourable manner, it would be good also for England. So Lord
Hawkesbury, who was then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
entered into communication with M. Otto, on the 21st of March,
signifying the King’s desire to enter into negotiations for peace,
and they went on all the summer. Of course all did not go smoothly,
especially with regard to the liberty of the English press, which
Napoleon cordially hated, and wished to see repressed and fettered; but
this, Lord Hawkesbury either would not, or dared not, agree to. The
public pulse was kept in a flutter by the exchange of couriers between
England and France, and many were the false rumours which caused the
Stocks to fluctuate. Even a few days before the Preliminaries were
signed, a most authentic report was afloat that all negotiations were
broken off; so we may imagine the universal joy when it was proclaimed
as an authentic fact.
It fairly took the Ministry by surprise when, on Wednesday, the 30th
of September, an answer was received from Napoleon, accepting the
English proposals. Previously, the situation had been very graphically,
if not very politely, described in a caricature by Roberts, called
“Negotiation See-saw,” where Napoleon and John Bull were represented
as playing at that game, seated on a plank labelled, “Peace or War.”
Napoleon expatiates on the fortunes of the game: “There, Johnny, now
I’m down, and you are up; then I go up, and you go down, Johnny; so we
go on.” John Bull’s appreciation of the humour of the sport is not so
keen; he growls, “I wish you would settle it one way or other, for if
you keep bumping me up and down in this manner, I shall be ruined in
Diachilem Plaster.”
But when the notification of acceptance did arrive, very little time
was lost in clinching the agreement. A Cabinet Council was held, and an
express sent off to the King, whose sanction returned next afternoon.
The silver box, which had never been used since the signature of
peace with America, was sent to the Lord Chancellor at 5 p.m. for the
Great Seal, and his signature; and, the consent of the other Cabinet
Ministers being obtained, at 7 p.m. Lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto signed
the Preliminaries of Peace in Downing Street, and his lordship at once
despatched the following letter, which must have gladdened the hearts
of the citizens, to the Lord Mayor.
“TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD MAYOR.
“_Downing Street, Oct. 1, 1801, at night._
“MY LORD,
“I have great satisfaction in informing your Lordship that
Preliminaries of Peace between Great Britain and France have been
signed this evening by myself, on the part of His Majesty, and by M.
Otto, on the part of the French Government. I request your Lordship
will have the goodness to make this intelligence immediately public in
the City.
“I have the honour to be, &c.,
“(_Signed_) HAWKESBURY.”
The Lord Mayor was not at the Mansion House, and the messenger had
to proceed to his private house at Clapham. His lordship returned to
town, and by nine o’clock the good news was known all over London.
The Lord Mayor read the letter at the Stock Exchange, and also at
Lloyd’s Coffee House, at the bar of which it was afterwards posted; for
Lloyd’s was then a great power in the City, from which all public acts,
subscriptions, &c., emanated, as was indeed but right, as it was the
assembly which embraced all the rich and influential merchants.
Among this class all was joy, and smiles, and shaking of hands. The
Three per Cents., which only the previous day were at 59½ rose to 66,
and Omnium, which had been at 8, rose to 18.
The news came so suddenly, that the illuminations on the night of
the 2nd of October were but very partial. We, who are accustomed
to brilliant devices in gas, with coruscating crystal stars, and
transparencies, would smile at the illuminations of those days. They
generally took the shape of a wooden triangle in each window-pane, on
which were stuck tallow candles, perpetually requiring snuffing, and
guttering with every draught; or, otherwise, a black-painted board with
a few coloured oil-lamps arranged in the form of a crown, with G. R. on
either side.
As is observed in the _Morning Post_ of the 3rd October, 1884: “The
sensation produced yesterday among the populace was nothing equal to
what might have been expected. The capture of half a dozen men-of-war,
or the conquest of a colony, would have been marked with a stronger
demonstration of joy. The illumination, so far from being general, was
principally confined to a few streets—the Strand, the Haymarket, Pall
Mall, and Fleet Street. In the last the Globe Tavern was lighted up at
an early hour, with the word _Peace_ in coloured lamps. This attracted
a considerable mob, which filled the street before the door. It was
apprehended that they would immediately set out on their tour through
the whole town, and enforce an universal illumination. This induced a
few of the bye-streets to follow the example, but nothing more. There
were several groups of people, but no crowd, in the neighbourhood of
Temple Bar. The other streets, even those that were illuminated, were
not more frequented than usual. St. James’s Street, Bond Street, and
the west part of the town; east of St. Paul’s, together with Holborn,
and the north part, did not illuminate. Several flags were hoisted
in the course of the day, and the bells of all the churches were set
a-ringing.”
To us, who are accustomed to have our news reeled out on paper tapes
hot and hot from the telegraph, or to converse with each other,
by means of the telephone, many miles apart, the method used to
disseminate the news of the peace throughout the country, seems to be
very primitive, and yet no better, nor quicker mode, could have been
devised in those days. The mail coaches were placarded PEACE WITH
FRANCE in large capitals, and the drivers all wore a sprig of laurel,
as an emblem of peace, in their hats.
The Preliminaries of Peace were ratified in Paris on the 5th of
October, but General Lauriston, who was to be the bearer of this
important document, did not set out from Paris until the evening of
the 7th, having been kept waiting until a magnificent gold box, as a
fitting shrine for so precious a relic, was finished; and he did not
land at Dover until Friday evening, the 9th of October, about 9 p.m.
He stayed a brief time at the City of London Inn, Dover, to rest and
refresh himself, sending forward a courier, magnificently attired in
scarlet and gold, to order horses on the road, and to apprise M. Otto
of his arrival. He soon followed in a carriage, with the horses and
driver bedecked with blue ribands, on which was the word PEACE. Of
course the mob surrounded him, and cheered and yelled as if mad—indeed
they must have been, for they actually shouted “Long live Bonaparte!”
At M. Otto’s house, the general was joined by that gentleman, who was
to accompany him to Reddish’s Hotel, in Bond Street. In Oxford Street,
however, the mob took the horses out of his carriage, and drew him
to the hotel, rending the air with shouts of joy; some amongst them
even mounting a tricoloured cockade. From the hotel window General
Lauriston scattered a handful of guineas among his friends, the mob,
who afterwards, when he went to Lord Hawkesbury’s office, once more
took out the horses, and dragged him from St. James’s Square to Downing
Street.
At half-past two the Park guns boomed forth the welcome news, and at
three the Tower guns proclaimed the fact to the dwellers in the City,
and the East end of London.
It was in vain that the general’s carriage was taken round to a back
entrance; the populace were not to be baulked of their amusement, and,
on his coming out, the horses were once more detached, men took their
places, and he was dragged as far as the Admiralty. Here he remained
some time, and was escorted to his carriage by Earl St. Vincent.
Said he to the mob, “Gentlemen! gentlemen!” (three huzzas for Earl
St. Vincent) “I request of you to be careful, and not overturn the
carriage.” The populace assured his lordship they would be careful
of, and respectful to, the strangers; and away they dragged the
carriage, with shouts, through St. James’s Park, round the Palace, by
the Stable-yard, making the old place ring with their yells, finally
landing the general uninjured at his hotel.
At night the illuminations were very fine, and there were many
transparencies, one or two of which were, to say the least, peculiar.
One in Pall Mall had a flying Cupid holding a miniature of Napoleon,
with a scroll underneath, “Peace and Happiness to Great Britain.”
Another opposite M. Otto’s house, in Hereford Street, Oxford Street,
had a transparency of Bonaparte, with the legend, “Saviour of the
Universe.” Guildhall displayed in front, a crown and G. R., with a
small transparency representing a dove, surrounded with olive. The Post
Office had over 6,000 lamps. The India House was brilliant with some
1,700 lamps, besides G. R. and a large PEACE. The Mansion House looked
very gloomy. G. R. was in the centre, but one half of the R was broken.
The pillars were wreathed with lamps. The Bank only had a double row of
candles in front.
Squibs, rockets, and pistols were let off in the streets, and the
noise would probably have continued all night, had not a terrible
thunder-storm cleared the streets about 11 p.m.
On the 12th, the illuminations were repeated with even more brilliancy,
and all went off well. One effect of the peace, which could not fail to
be gratifying to all, was the fact, that wheat fell, next marketday,
some 10s. to 14s. per quarter.
The popular demonstrations of joy occasionally took odd forms, for
it is recorded that at Falmouth, not only the horses, but the cows,
calves, and asses were decorated with ribands, in celebration of the
peace; and a publican at Lambeth, who had made a vow that whenever
peace was made, he would give away all the beer in his cellar, actually
did so on the 13th of October.
As was but natural, the Lord Mayor’s installation, on the 9th of
November, had a peculiar significance. The Show was not out of the way,
at least nothing singular about it is recorded, except the appearance
of a knight in armour with his page at the corner of Bride Lane, Bridge
Street, had anything to do with it; probably he was only an amateur, as
he does not seem to have joined the procession. In the Guildhall was a
transparency of Peace surrounded by four figures, typical of the four
quarters of the globe returning their acknowledgments for the blessings
showered upon them. There were other emblematic transparencies, but
the contemporary art critic does not speak very favourably of them. M.
Otto and his wife, an American born at Philadelphia, were _the_ guests
of the evening, even more than the Lord Chancellor, and the usual
ministerial following.
Bread varied in this year from 1s. 9¼d. on the 1st of January to 1s.
10½d. on the 5th of March, 10¼d. on the 12th of November, and 1s.
0¼d. on the 31st of December. Anent the scarcity of wheat at the
commencement of the year, there is a singular item to be found in the
“Account of Moneys advanced for Public Services from the Civil List
(not being part of the ordinary expenditure of the Civil List),” of a
“grant of £500 to Thomas Toden, Esq., towards enabling him to prosecute
a discovery made by him, of a paste as a substitute for wheat flour.”
Wheat was on January 1st, 137s. per quarter; it reached 153s. in March;
and left off on the 31st of December at 68s.
The Three per Cents. varied from 54 on the 1st of January, to 68 on the
31st of December.
[Illustration]