It was proposed also to form, in certain districts, relief committees,

which should be empowered to receive subscriptions, levy rates, and

take charge of donations from the Government; and that out of the fund

thus raised they should establish soup kitchens, and deliver rations

to the famishing inhabitants. Sir John Burgoyne, Inspector-General

of Fortifications, was appointed to superintend the works. Lord John

Russell referred to measures for draining and reclaiming waste land in

Ireland, and to advances of money for this purpose to the proprietors,

to be repaid in instalments spread over a number of years. On a

subsequent day, in answer to questions from Mr. Roebuck, the noble lord

gave a statement of the sums that had already been advanced. £2,000,000

had been issued on account of the Poor Employment Act of the last

Session. He expected that not less than £500,000 or £600,000 a month

would be spent from the present time until August, and he calculated

the whole expenditure would not be less than £7,000,000. There was

great difference of opinion on the subject of the Government plans. A

counter-scheme for the establishment of reproductive works deserves to

be noticed for the interest it excited and the attention it occupied

for years afterwards--namely, the railway plan of Lord George Bentinck.

Acts of Parliament, he said, had been passed for 1,582 miles of railway

in Ireland, of which only 123 miles had then been completed, while

2,600 miles had been completed in England. In order to encourage the

formation of Irish railways, therefore, he proposed that for every

£100 expended by the companies £200 should be lent by the Government

at the same interest at which they borrowed the money, Mr. Hudson,

who was "chairman of 1,700 miles of railroad," pledging his credit

that the Government would not lose a shilling by the transaction. By

adopting this plan they could give reproductive employment to 109,000

men in different parts of the country, for earth-works, fences, drains,

and watercourses connected with the lines. This would give support of

550,000 souls on useful work, tend to develop the resources of the

country, and produce such improvement that the railways constructed

would add £23,000,000 to the value of landed property in twenty-five

years, and would pay £22,500 a year to the poor rates. The purchase of

land for the railways would moreover place £1,250,000 in the hands of

Irish proprietors, for the employment of fresh labour, and £240,000

in the hands of the occupying tenants for their own purposes. The

Government also would reap from the expenditure of £24,000,000 on

railways in Ireland, an enormous increase of revenue in the augmented

consumption of articles of excise and customs. The noble lord's speech,

which lasted two hours and a half, was received with cheers from both

sides of the House. Leave was given to bring in the Bill, though it was

strongly objected to by Lord John Russell, Mr. Labouchere, and other

members of the Government. It was also opposed by Sir Robert Peel, who

exposed the unsoundness of the economic principles involved in it. The

Bill was rejected by a majority of 204, the numbers being 118 for the

second reading, and 322 against it. Notwithstanding this decision,

loans were subsequently advanced to certain Irish railways, amounting

to £620,000, so that the objection of the Government was more to the

extent than to the principle of Lord George Bentinck's measure.

As in the whole history of the world, perhaps, so great a calamity

as the Irish famine never called for sympathy and relief, so never

was a more generous response elicited by any appeal to humanity. The

Government and the Legislature did all that was possible with the means

at their disposal, and the machinery that already existed, or could

be hastily constructed, to meet the overwhelming emergency. The newly

established Poor Law system, though useful as far as it went, was quite

inadequate to meet such great distress. It had been passed while the

country was comparatively prosperous, and contained no provision for

such a social disorganisation as this famine. By the Acts of 1 and

2 Victoria, c. 56, no outdoor relief whatever could be given in any

circumstances. The size of the unions was also a great impediment to

the working of the Poor Law. They were three times the extent of the

corresponding divisions in England. In Munster and Connaught, where

there was the greatest amount of destitution and the least amount of

local agency available for its relief, the unions were much larger

than in the more favoured provinces of Ulster and Leinster. The union

of Ballina comprised a region of upwards of half a million acres, and

within its desert tracts the famine assumed its most appalling form,

the workhouse being more than forty miles distant from some of the

sufferers. As a measure of precaution, the Government had secretly

imported and stored a large quantity of Indian corn, as a cheap

substitute for the potato, which would have served the purpose much

better had the people been instructed in the best modes of cooking it.

It was placed in commissariat depôts along the western coast of the

island, where the people were not likely to be supplied on reasonable

terms through the ordinary channels of trade. The public works

consisted principally of roads, on which the people were employed as a

sort of supplement to the Poor Law. Half the cost was a free grant from

the Treasury, and the other half was charged upon the barony in which

the works were undertaken. The expense incurred under the Labour Rate

Act, 9 and 10 Victoria, c. 107," amounted to £4,766,789. It was almost

universally admitted, when the pressure was over, that the system of

public works adopted was a great mistake; and it seems wonderful that

such grievous blunders could have been made with so many able statesmen

and political economists at the head of affairs and in the service of

the Government. The public works undertaken consisted in the breaking

up of good roads to level hills and fill hollows, and the opening

of new roads in places where they were not required--work which the

people felt to be useless, and which they performed only under strong

compulsion, being obliged to walk to them in all weathers for miles, in

order to earn the price of a breakfast of Indian meal. Had the labour

thus comparatively wasted been devoted to the draining, subsoiling, and

fencing of the farms, connected with a comprehensive system of arterial

drainage, immense and lasting benefit to the country would have been

the result, especially as works so well calculated to ameliorate the

soil and guard against the moisture of the climate might have been

connected with a system of instruction in agricultural matters of

which the peasantry stood so much in need, and to the removal of the

gross ignorance which had so largely contributed to bring about the

famine. As it was, enormous sums were wasted. Much needless hardship

was inflicted on the starving people in compelling them to work in

frost and rain when they were scarcely able to walk, and, after all the

vast outlay, very few traces of it remained in permanent improvements

on the face of the country. The system of Government relief works

failed chiefly through the same difficulty which impedes every mode

of relief, whether public or private--namely, the want of machinery

to work it. It was impossible suddenly to procure an efficient staff

of officers for an undertaking of such enormous magnitude--the

employment of a whole people. The overseers were necessarily selected

in haste; many of them were corrupt, and encouraged the misconduct

of the labourers. In many cases the relief committees, unable to

prevent maladministration, yielded to the torrent of corruption, and

individual members only sought to benefit their own dependents. The

people everywhere flocked to the public works; labourers, cottiers,

artisans, fishermen, farmers, men, women, and children--all, whether

destitute or not, sought for a share of the public money. In such

a crowd it was almost impossible to discriminate properly. They

congregated in masses on the roads, idling under the name of work, the

really destitute often unheeded and unrelieved because they had no

friend to recommend them. All the ordinary employments were neglected;

there was no fishing, no gathering of seaweed, no collecting of manure.

The men who had employment feared to lose it by absenting themselves

for any other object; those unemployed spent their time in seeking to

obtain it. The whole industry of the country seemed to be engaged in

road-making. It became absolutely necessary to put an end to it, or

the cultivation of the land would be neglected. Works undertaken on

the spur of the moment--not because they were needful, but merely to

employ the people--were in many cases ill-chosen, and the execution

equally defective. The workers, desirous to protect their employment,

were only anxious to give as little labour as possible, in which their

overlookers or gangers in many cases heartily agreed. The favouritism,

the intimidation, the wholesale jobbing practised in many cases

were shockingly demoralising. The problem was to support 2,000,000

or 3,000,000 of destitute persons, and this was in a great measure

effected, though at an enormous cost to the empire.

[Illustration: FIGHTING AT THE BARRICADES IN PARIS. (_See p._ 551.)]

The following statement of the numbers receiving rations, and the total

expenditure under the Act in each of the four provinces, compared with

the amount of population, and the annual value assessed for poor-rate,

may serve to illustrate the comparative means and destitution of each

province:--

Greatest number Total

Population. Valuation. of rations Expenditure.

given out.

Ulster 2,386,373 £3,320,133 346,517 £170,598

Leinster 1,973,731 4,624,542 450,606 308,068

Munster 2,396,161 3,777,103 1,013,826 671,554

Connaught 1,418,859 1,465,643 745,652 526,048

--------- ----------- --------- ----------

8,175,124 £13,187,421 2,556,601 £1,676,268

In order to induce the people to attend to their ordinary spring work,

and put in the crops, it was found necessary to adopt the plan of

distributing free rations. On the 20th of March, therefore, a reduction

of twenty per cent. of the numbers employed on the works took place,

and the process of reduction went on until the new system of gratuitous

relief was brought into full operation. The authority under which

this was administered was called the "Temporary Relief Act," which

came into full operation in the month of July, when the destitution

was at its height, and three millions of people received their daily

rations. Sir John Burgoyne truly described this as "the grandest

attempt ever made to grapple with famine over a whole country." Never

in the history of the world were so many persons fed in such a manner

by the public bounty. It was a most anxious time--a time of tremendous

labour and responsibility to those who had the direction of this

vast machinery. This great multitude was, however, rapidly lessened

at the approach of harvest, which happily was not affected by the

disease. Food became comparatively abundant, and labour in demand. By

the middle of August relief was discontinued in nearly one half of

the unions, and ceased altogether on September 12th. It was limited

by the Act to the 1st of October. This was the second year in which

upwards of 3,000,000 of people had been fed out of the hands of the

magistrates in Ireland; but it was now done more effectually than

at first. Organised armies, it was said, had been rationed before;

but neither ancient nor modern history can furnish a parallel to the

fact that upwards of three millions of persons were fed every day in

the neighbourhood of their own homes, by administrative arrangements

emanating from, and controlled by, one central office. The expense

of this great undertaking amounted to £1,559,212--a moderate sum in

comparison with the extent of the service performed, and in which

performance the machinery of the Poor Law unions was found to afford

most important aid. Indeed, without such aid the service could hardly

have been performed at all; and the anticipations of the advantages

to be derived from the Poor Law organisation in such emergencies were

fully verified.

The relief committees were also authorised to adopt measures to avert

or mitigate the famine fever, which had prevailed to an awful extent.

They were to provide temporary hospitals, to ventilate and cleanse

cabins, to remove nuisances, and procure the proper burial of the dead,

the funds necessary for these objects being advanced by the Government

in the same way as for furnishing food. Upwards of 300 hospitals and

dispensaries were provided under the Act, with accommodation for at

least 23,000 patients, and the sanitary powers which it conferred were

extensively acted upon. The expense incurred for these objects amounted

to £119,000, the whole of which was made a free gift to the unions

in aid of the rates. The entire amount advanced by the Government in

1846 and 1847 towards the relief of the Irish people under the fearful

calamity to which they were exposed was £7,132,286, of which one half

was to be repaid within ten years, and the rest was a free grant.

The clergy, Protestant and Roman Catholic, almost the only resident

gentry in several of the destitute districts, worked together on the

committees with commendable zeal, diligence, and unanimity. Among the

Roman Catholic clergy, Father Mathew was at that time by far the most

influential and popular. The masses of the peasantry regarded him as

almost an inspired apostle. During the famine months he exerted himself

with wonderful energy and prudence, first, in his correspondence with

different members of the Government, earnestly recommending and urging

the speedy adoption of measures of relief; and next in commending

those measures to the people, dissuading the hungry from acts of

violence, and preaching submission and resignation under the heavy

dispensation of Providence. If the temperance organisation established

by Father Mathew had been perverted to political purposes by the Repeal

agitation, there is no doubt that it contributed in a very large degree

to the preservation of life and property during the two awfully trying

years of famine. "It is a fact," said Father Mathew--"and you are not

to attribute my alluding to it to vanity--that the late provision riots

have occurred in the districts where the temperance movement has not

been encouraged. Our people are as harmless in their meetings as flocks

of sheep, unless when inflamed and maddened by intoxicating drink. Were

it not for the temperate habits of the greater portion of the people

of Ireland, our unhappy country would be before now one wide scene of

tumult and bloodshed."

The consumption of Indian corn during the famine caused a great deal

of wild speculation in the corn trade. Splendid fortunes were rapidly

made, and as rapidly lost. The price of Indian corn in the middle of

February, 1847, was £19 per ton; at the end of March it was £13; and

by the end of August it had fallen to £7 10s. The quantity of corn

imported into Ireland in the first six months was 2,849,508 tons.

The action of private benevolence was on a scale proportioned to

the vast exertions of the Government. It is quite impossible to

estimate the amount of money contributed by the public for the relief

of Irish distress. We know what sums were received by associations

and committees; but great numbers sent their money directly, in

answer to appeals from clergymen and others, to meet demands for

relief in their respective localities. In this way we may easily

suppose that abuses were committed, and that much of the money

received was misappropriated, although the greater portion of it was

honestly dispensed. Among the organisations established for raising

contributions, the greatest was the British Relief Association, which

had for its chairman and vice-chairman two of our merchant princes--Mr.

Jones Loyd, afterwards Lord Overstone, and Mr. Thomas Baring. The

amount of subscriptions collected by this association, "for the relief

of extreme distress in Ireland and Scotland," was £269,302. The Queen's

letters were issued for collections in the churches throughout England

and Wales, and these produced £200,738, which was also entrusted to

the British Relief Association. These sums made together no less than

£470,040, which was dispensed in relief by one central committee.

One-sixth of the amount was apportioned to the Highlands of Scotland,

where there was extensive destitution, and the rest to Ireland. In

fact, the amount applied to these objects by the association exceeded

half a million sterling, for upwards of £130,000 had been obtained

by the sale of provisions and seed corn in Ireland, and by interest

accruing on the money contributed. In administering the funds placed at

their disposal, the committee acted concurrently with the Government

and the Poor Law authorities. It wisely determined at the outset

that all grants should be in food, and not in money; and that no

grant should be placed at the disposal of any individual for private

distribution. The committee concluded their report to the subscribers

by declaring that although evils of greater or less degree must attend

every system of gratuitous relief, they were confident that any evils

that might have accompanied the application of the funds would have

been far more than counterbalanced by the benefits that had been

conferred upon their starving fellow-countrymen, and that if ill-desert

had sometimes participated in their bounty, a vast amount of human

misery and suffering had been relieved.

But the chief source whence the means at their disposal were derived

was the magnificent bounty of the citizens of the United States

of America. The supplies sent from America to Ireland were on a

scale unparalleled in history. Meetings were held in Philadelphia,

Washington, New York, and other cities in quick succession, presided

over by the first men in the country. All through the States the

citizens evinced an intense interest, and a noble generosity, worthy of

the great Republic. The railway companies carried free of charge all

packages marked "Ireland." Public carriers undertook the gratuitous

delivery of packages intended for the relief of Irish distress. Storage

to any extent was offered on the same terms. Ships of war, without

their guns, came to the Irish shores on a mission of peace and mercy,

freighted with food for British subjects. Cargo after cargo followed

in rapid succession, until nearly 100 separate shipments had arrived,

our Government having consented to pay the freight of all donations of

food forwarded from America, which amounted in the whole to £33,000.

The quantity of American food consigned to the care of the Society of

Friends was nearly ten thousand tons, the value of which was about

£100,000. In addition to all this, the Americans remitted to the

Friends' Committee £16,000 in money. They also sent 642 packages of

clothing, the precise value of which could not be ascertained. There

was a very large amount of remittances sent to Ireland during the

famine by the Irish in the United States. Unfortunately, there are no

records of those remittances prior to 1848; but after that time we are

enabled to ascertain a large portion of them, though not the whole,

and their amount is something astonishing. The following statement of

sums remitted by emigrants in America to their families in Ireland was

printed by order of Parliament:--During the years 1848, £460,180; 1849,

£540,619; 1850, £957,087; 1851, £990,811.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Reign of Victoria (_continued_).

Insecurity of the Orleanist Monarchy--the Spanish Marriages--lord

Palmerston's Foreign Policy--meeting of the French

Chambers--prohibition of the Reform Banquet--the Multitude in

Arms--Vacillation of Louis Philippe--He Abdicates in favour

of His Grandson--Flight of the Royal Family--Proclamation of

the Provisional Government--Lamartine quells the Populace--The

Unemployed--Invasion of the Assembly--Prince Louis Napoleon--The

_Ateliers Nationaux_--Paris in a State of Siege--The Rebellion

quelled by Cavaignac--A New Constitution--Louis Napoleon

Elected President of the French Republic--Effect of the French

Revolution in England--The Chartists--Outbreak at Glasgow--The

Monster Petition--Notice by the Police Commissioners--The 10th

of April--The Special Constables--The Duke of Wellington's

Preparations--The Convention on Kennington Common--Feargus O'Connor

and Commissioner Mayne--Collapse of the Demonstration--Incendiary

Placards at Glasgow--History of the Chartist Petition--Renewed

Gatherings of Chartists--Arrests--Trial of the Chartist

Leaders--Evidence of Spies--The Sentences.

Louis Philippe, King of the French, had been the subject of constant

eulogy for the consummate ability and exquisite tact with which he had

governed France for seventeen years. It was supposed that the "Citizen

King" had at length taught his restless and impulsive subjects the

blessings of constitutional government, and that they were perfectly

contented with the free institutions under which it was now their

happiness to live. Guizot, regarded as one of the greatest statesmen

on the Continent, was at the head of affairs in 1847, and it was

hoped that his profound wisdom and keen sagacity would enable him to

guard the state against any dangers with which it might be threatened

by the Legitimists on one side or the Democrats on the other. But

the whole aspect of public affairs in France was deceptive, and the

unconscious monarch occupied a throne which rested on a volcano. The

representative government of which he boasted was nothing but a sham--a

gross fraud upon the nation. The basis of the electoral constituency

was extremely narrow, and majorities were secured in the Chambers by

the gross abuse of enormous government patronage. The people, however,

saw through the delusion, and were indignant at the artifices by

which they were deceived. The king, who interfered with his Ministers

in everything, and really directed the Government, was proud of his

skill in "managing" his Ministry, his Parliament, and the nation. But

the conviction gained ground everywhere, and with it arose a feeling

of deep resentment, that he had broken faith with the nation, that

he had utterly failed to fulfil his pledges to the people, who had

erected the barricades, and placed him upon the throne in 1830. The

friends of the monarchy were convinced that it could only be saved by

speedy and effectual reform. But the very name of Reform was hateful

to the king, and his aide-de-camp took care to make known to the

members of the Chambers his opinions and feelings upon the subject. M.

Odillon Barrot, however, originated a series of Reform banquets, which

commenced in Paris, and were held in the principal provincial cities,

at which the most eminent men in the country delivered strong speeches

against political corruption and corrupters, and especially against the

Minister who was regarded as their chief defender--Guizot.

While thus tottering on the verge of revolution the Orleanist monarchy

had the misfortune to affront the British Court. The reason of the

rupture is known to history as the affair of the Spanish marriages,

of which it is enough to say here that Louis Philippe succeeded in

marrying the young Queen of Spain to her cousin, the Duke of Cadiz,

who was imbecile, while at the same time he secured the hand of her

sister for his youngest son, the Duc de Montpensier. Thus he apparently

acquired the reversion of the throne for his family, but the _coup_ was

effected in defiance of pledges made repeatedly to Lord Aberdeen and

continued to his successor at the Foreign Office, Lord Palmerston. It

was undoubtedly the advent of the latter to power which hurried on the

conclusion of the intrigue. Louis Philippe and Guizot suspected him of

trying to secure the hand of the Queen of Spain for a prince of the

House of Coburg, and was justified to a certain extent by an imprudent

despatch sent by the English Foreign Secretary to our Minister at

Madrid. Thereupon the King of the French frightened the Queen-Mother of

Spain into giving her consent to the marriages, which were celebrated

simultaneously on the 10th of October, 1846. The calculating cunning

displayed by Louis Philippe and the deliberate sacrifice of a young

girl to sordid requirements of State aroused a feeling of universal

disgust. From Queen Victoria the proceedings provoked a letter to Louis

Philippe's queen, which concluded with the scathing remark--"I am

glad that I can say for myself that I have always been _sincere_ with

you." It was in fact, as her Foreign Minister wrote to his brother, "a

twister."

[Illustration: LOUIS PHILIPPE HEARS OF THE REVOLUTION. (_See p._ 551.)]

Thus the _entente cordiale_ was broken, and the two Powers were

left isolated in Europe, for the efforts of Louis Philippe to form

an alliance with the Austrian Court were without success. In the

circumstances Lord Palmerston's foreign policy during these eventful

years was inevitably somewhat unsatisfactory. When Austria, in defiance

of pledges, annexed the Republic of Cracow, he could only issue a

solitary protest, which was completely disregarded. In Portugal affairs

were once more in complete confusion, the Conservative party, headed

by the Queen, being in arms against the so-called Liberals led by Das

Antas. Palmerston left them to fight it out until foreign intervention

appeared inevitable from Spain, if not from France; then he made an

offer of help to the Queen Donna Maria, on condition that she would

grant a general amnesty and appoint a neutral Administration. The

terms were accepted by the Conservatives. The Liberal Junta submitted

on hearing that its fleet had been captured by the British, and the

civil war came to an end. Meanwhile, in Switzerland Lord Palmerston

was upholding the cause of the Diet against the secessionist cantons

known as the Sonderbund, by refusing to countenance the intervention of

the Powers in Swiss affairs, which was advocated by Prince Metternich

and also by Guizot. For a moment his position was dangerous, as Guizot

declared that the opportunity had come for France to take vengeance

upon England by forming another Quadruple Treaty, from which Great

Britain should be excluded. But the prompt victory of the Diet's

general, Dufour, over the forces of the Sonderbund saved the situation,

and owing to Palmerston's representations the victorious party

abstained from vindictive measures. Thus revolution was postponed in

Europe for another year, and Palmerston attempted similar results in

Italy, whither he sent Lord Minto, the First Lord of the Admiralty, on

a special mission to support constitutional reforms in Sardinia and at

Rome, where the new Pope, Pius IX. by title, was supposed to be the

friend of progress. But the blind hostility of Metternich prevailed.

The reforms granted by his puppet princes were wholly insufficient

in extent, and events in Italy were evidently hastening towards an

upheaval, when the train of the European explosion was fired in France.

The French Chambers were summoned for the 28th of December, and the

king opened them in person, reading a Speech which was vague, vapid,

and disappointing. It contained one passage, however, which was

sufficiently intelligible. It was a denunciation and a defiance of

Reform. He said:--"In the midst of the agitation fomented by hostile

and blind passions, one conviction sustains and animates me--it is

that in the Constitutional monarchy, in the union of the great powers

of the State, we possess the most assured means of surmounting all

obstacles, and of satisfying the moral and material interests of our

dear country." Next day a meeting of the Opposition deputies was held

in Paris at the Café Durand, in the Place de la Madeleine, when it

was proposed that they should all send in their resignations. This

would cause 102 elections, at which the conduct of the Government

would be fully discussed at the hustings in different parts of the

country. This was objected to by the majority, who were for holding

a banquet in defiance of the Government. A committee was appointed

to make the arrangements, and the announcement caused the greatest

excitement. On the 21st of February, 1848, the Government issued a

proclamation forbidding the banquet, which was to take place on the

following day. The prohibition was obeyed; the banquet was not held.

In the meantime, great numbers of people arrived in Paris from the

country, and immense multitudes from all the faubourgs assembled at

the Madeleine, in the Champs Elysées, and at the Place de la Concorde,

consisting for the most part of workmen and artisans. The people seemed

violently agitated, as if prepared for the most desperate issues. The

troops were under arms, however, and the king, who was in the gayest

humour, laughed with his courtiers at the pretensions of Barrot and the

reformers. The excitement, however, increased every moment. When the

troops came near the crowd, they were received with hisses and assailed

with stones. The Rue Royale, the Rue de Rivoli, and Rue St. Honoré,

were cleared and occupied by cavalry, and the populace were driven into

the back streets, where some barricades were constructed, and some

occasional shots exchanged between the military and the insurgents. The

principal struggles, however, were between the people and the Municipal

Guard, which they abhorred. Wherever they met through the city, the

conflict became fierce, sanguinary, and ruthless. But the National

Guard had no such animosity against the people; on the contrary, they

sympathised with them thoroughly, raised with them the cry of "_Vive la

Réforme_," and refused to act against them. The king could not be got

to believe this fact till the last moment.

On the 23rd the aspect of the insurgent multitude became more fierce,

daring, and determined. Guizot had announced the resignation of his

Cabinet; the king had sent for Count Molé, then for M. Thiers, who was

asked to form a new Ministry. He declined unless Odillon Barrot became

one of his colleagues. The king gave a reluctant consent, but Barrot

was not prepared to sanction measures of military repression. Marshal

Bugeaud, the hero of Algiers, whose exploits there made his name

terrible, had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the first military

division, and of the National Guard of Paris, but the National Guard

were not prepared to fight against the people. The people, knowing

this, shouted, "_Vive la Garde Nationale!_" and the National Guard

shouted, "_Vive la Réforme!_" In the evening, about seven o'clock, an

immense body of the working classes formed in procession, headed by men

carrying blazing torches, and marching along the Boulevards, chanted

two lines of the Girondists' song--

"Mourir pour la patrie,

C'est le sort le plus beau, le plus digne d'envie!"

This was only interrupted by the cries of "_À bas Guizot!_" "_À bas

les Ministres!_" These cries, everywhere received with electrical

enthusiasm, were uttered with the greatest bitterness about Guizot's

house, where an incident occurred that, whether intended or not, sealed

the fate of the Orleans dynasty. The people were pressing on the

military, and in the confusion a man named Lagrange stepped forward and

shot the commanding officer. The troops then fired point blank into the

dense mass, and many were killed. When the firing ceased, a funeral

procession was rapidly formed, the bodies were collected and placed

upon a large cart, their still bleeding wounds exposed under the glare

of torchlight. The effect may be imagined: it thrilled the whole city

with feelings of horror and revenge.

New barricades were now raised at the end of almost every street,

and the astonished army, who had received no orders either to attack

or retreat, remained passive spectators of the insurrection, a prey

to emotions of terror and grief. At daybreak on the 23rd Paris was

a vast battlefield. Upon the barricades, hastily constructed of

overturned omnibuses, carts, furniture, and large paving-stones, were

seen glistening weapons of every size and form. "Vengeance, vengeance,

for the murders committed under the windows of Guizot!" was the only

cry. The people did not for a moment doubt that the deed was done by

the order of that Minister. Their feelings were still more inflamed

by the appointment of Bugeaud. Even at this moment, however, the king

could with difficulty be brought to see his position. However, his

eyes were opened at last, when too late, and a proclamation was issued

announcing that Barrot and Thiers were charged by the king with the

formation of a Ministry; that the Chamber would be dissolved; that

General Lamoricière was Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard of

Paris, instead of Bugeaud (whose appointment was cancelled); and

concluding with the words, "_Liberté_, _Ordre_, _Union_, _Réforme_."

Barrot himself rode along the Boulevards to explain the nature of the

changes, but without effect. The people had lost all faith in the

king; they would trust him no more; nothing would satisfy them but his

dethronement. On the morning of the 24th of February the royal family

were assembled in the gallery of Maria, where breakfast was about to

be served. At this moment it was announced to the king that the troops

were quitting their ranks, and delivering up their arms to the people.

The Tuileries were now filled with deputies and functionaries of all

parties and ranks, all bringing the same tidings, that the city was

in possession of the insurgents; that the army had fraternised with

the people; that the École Polytechnique were behind the barricades;

that the troops had delivered up their muskets and cartouches, and the

Revolution was everywhere triumphant. The fatal word, "abdication,"

was pronounced. The king faltered, but the heroic queen energetically

resisted. But, while she spoke, the insurgents were attacking the last

post which protected the Tuileries. The fusillade which thundered in

the Place du Carrousel reverberated in the chamber in which the king

then stood, and already an armed multitude was entering the palace of

the ancient kings of France. Thereupon the king abdicated in favour of

his young grandson, the Count of Paris, whom his mother, the Duchess

of Orleans, presented to the Chamber of Deputies. It was, however, too

late; the Revolution had got the upper hand. The king and queen had

escaped through the garden of the Tuileries, and hastened to the gate

which opens upon the Place de la Concorde. After various vicissitudes

they arrived at Honfleur at eight o'clock, on the 26th of February,

and after many hairbreadth escapes and fruitless efforts to sail from

Trouville, they embarked on the 2nd of March at Honfleur, for Havre,

among a crowd of ordinary passengers, with a passport made out in the

name of William Smith. There he was received by the English Consul.

He embarked in the _Express_, which arrived at Newhaven on the 3rd of

March. The royal party reached Claremont, and remained there, under

the protection of Queen Victoria, whom he had not long since visited

in regal pomp, and whom he had welcomed with parental affection at

the Chateau d'Eu. Such are the vicissitudes of human life! He died at

Claremont on the 26th of August, 1850, in the seventy-sixth year of his

age.

The first proclamation issued by the Provisional Government was the

following:--"A retrograde Government has been overturned by the heroism

of the people of Paris. This Government has fled, leaving behind it

traces of blood, which will for ever forbid its return. The blood

of the people has flowed, as in July; but, happily, it has not been

shed in vain. It has secured a national and popular Government, in

accordance with the rights, the progress, and the will of this great

and generous people. A Provisional Government, at the call of the

people, and some deputies, in the sitting of the 24th of February, is

for the moment invested with the care of organising and securing the

national victory. It is composed of MM. Dupont (de L'Eure), Lamartine,

Crémieux, Arago, Ledru Rollin, and Garnier Pagès. The secretaries to

this Government are MM. Armand Marrast, Louis Blanc, and Ferdinand

Flocon." Scarcely had the ex-king found a resting-place on British soil

than every vestige of royalty was obliterated in France.

The 25th was a day of extreme agitation among the surging masses of the

Paris population. The Communistic party were struggling for ascendency,

and for the establishment of the Republic. An immense multitude

thronged the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville, in such a state

of excitement that Lamartine was obliged to come out and address them

from the windows five times. They were vociferous and imperative in

their demand that the red flag should float over the hotel, instead of

the tricolour, which they required to be pulled down. To this demand

Lamartine offered a courageous resistance, and by the magic of his

eloquence he succeeded in arresting the torrent of popular passion,

and turning its course. The multitude unanimously expressed their

enthusiasm in cheering and clapping of hands, and the orator was

almost suffocated by the pressure of the crowd, and the efforts of the

people to shake hands with him. On the 26th the Provisional Government

sat again at the Hôtel de Ville, and proclaimed the result of their

deliberations. It decreed the abolition of royalty, the proclamation of

a republic, the establishment of national workshops for all who needed

employment, and the abolition of the punishment of death for political

offences. On the next day, which was Sunday, an immense multitude

assembled at the Place de la Bastille, and there, on the steps of the

Column of July, M. Arago again proclaimed the Republic in presence

of the whole of the National Guard. Although the rain descended in

torrents and the weather was boisterous, the people remained out of

doors, and made the day a great festival, in honour of their victory.

It was agreed that a Constituent Assembly should be chosen on the 9th

of April, and should meet on the 20th; that the suffrage should be

universal, and voting by ballot; that all Frenchmen twenty-one years

of age should be electors; that all Frenchmen twenty-five years of age

should be eligible; that the representatives should be 900 in number,

and that each should be paid twenty-five francs a day during the

Session.

The army had declared for the Republic; the clergy were passive; but

the great difficulty was with the unemployed workmen of Paris, to

whom promises were made which it was utterly impossible to fulfil.

The Government undertook "to put an end to the long and iniquitous

sufferings of workmen, and to give employment to every one, at good

wages;" for which purpose a commission was appointed, whose president

was M. Louis Blanc, and his vice-president M. Albert, formerly a

manufacturer, to whose name the word _ouvrier_ was always attached.

This commission fixed the time of labour as ten hours for all

professions. One of the first fruits of its interference with the

labour market was a demand that the British workmen should be expelled

from the railways and different manufacturing establishments. In many

places they had to fly for their lives, to escape the fury of the mob.

The National Assembly commenced its sittings on the 4th of May in a

temporary wooden structure erected for the purpose. One of its first

acts was to pass a resolution--that the Provisional Government had

deserved well of the country. But the revolutionary passions out of

doors were far from being appeased. Secret societies and clubs were

actively at work, and on the 11th of May a placard appeared, citing a

proclamation of the Provisional Government dated the 25th of February,

in which it unwisely undertook "to guarantee labour for all the

citizens," and proceeding thus:--"The promises made on the barricades

not having been fulfilled, and the National Assembly having refused,

in its sitting on the 10th of May, to constitute a Ministry of Labour,

the delegates of the Luxembourg decline to assist at the fête called

'de la Concorde.'" On the 15th of May the Chamber was invaded by a

body of men, carrying banners in their hands, and shouting for Poland.

The President put on his hat, and the Assembly broke up. After a short

time he returned. The National Guard appeared in force, and quickly

cleared the hall. After these measures were taken to suppress the

counter-revolution, the Assembly resumed its labours. A proclamation

was issued, stating that the National Guard, the Garde Mobile, all

the forces in Paris and the neighbourhood, had driven before them the

insane conspirators, who concealed their plots against liberty under

the pretence of zeal for Poland.

The Fête de la Concorde took place on Sunday, the 21st of May, and

passed off without any attempt at disturbance. On the contrary, the

people were in excellent humour, and everything upon the surface of

society seemed in keeping with the object of the festivity. On the 26th

the Assembly decreed the perpetual banishment of Louis Philippe and his

family, by a majority of 695 to 63. But the ex-king was not the only

pretender who occupied the attention of the new Government; a far more

dangerous one was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of the Emperor and

then an exile in London. He had gone over to Paris when the Republic

was proclaimed, but acting on the advice of the Government, he quietly

retired from the country. So potent, however, was still the charm that

attached to the name of Napoleon, that his heir was elected a member

of the National Assembly by no less than four constituencies. It was

moreover discovered that money had been distributed in Paris by his

partisans; that placards in his favour were posted upon the walls, and

cries of "_Vive Napoleon!_" resounded through the city. Within four

days, three journals had been established in Paris preparing the way

for the candidature of Louis Napoleon as President. After a violent

debate, it was resolved by a large majority that he should be permitted

to take his seat as a representative. On the Monday following Paris

was excited by a rumour that Louis Napoleon had arrived, and while

Lamartine was speaking in the Assembly several shots were fired, one

at the Commandant of the National Guard, another at an officer of the

army, and this was done to the cry of "_Vive l'Empereur Napoleon!_"

"This," said Lamartine, "is the first drop of blood that has stained

our revolution; and if blood has now been shed, it has not been for

liberty, but by military fanaticism, and in the name of an ambition

sadly, if not voluntarily, mixed up with guilty manœuvres. When

conspiracy is taken _in flagrante delicto_, with its hand dyed in

French blood, the law should be voted by acclamation." He then proposed

a decree, causing the law of banishment of 1832 against Louis Napoleon

to be executed. It was voted by acclamation, the Assembly rising in a

body, and shouting, "_Vive la République!_"

[Illustration: LOUIS BLANC.]

In the meantime, the _Ateliers Nationaux_, or Government workshops,

had, as might have been expected, miserably failed to answer their

object, and the working classes were now in a state of great

destitution and dangerous discontent. The number of persons employed in

the national workshops had increased to 120,000; misery was extending

to all classes of society; one half of Paris was said to be feeding

the other half, and it was expected that in a short time there would

not be a single manufacture in operation in Paris. It was therefore

determined to reduce the number of workmen employed by the Government,

and the reduction was begun by sending back 3,000 who had come from

the provinces. But having passed the barrier, 400 returned, and sent a

deputation to the Executive Committee at the Palace of the Luxembourg.

The interview was unsatisfactory, and the deputation marched through

the streets, shouting, "Down with the Executive Commission! down with

the Assembly!" They were joined by great numbers, and it was soon

discovered that an insurrection had been fully organised; and, although

next morning the National Guard appeared in great force in the streets,

the people began to erect barricades at the Porte St. Denis, the Porte

St. Martin, in the Faubourg St. Antoine, and in various other places.

The Government had, however, made effectual arrangements for putting

down the riots; but the army, the National Guard, and the Garde Mobile

had to encounter the most desperate resistance. Paris was declared by

the Assembly to be in a state of siege, and all the executive powers

were delegated to General Cavaignac. Next day he was reinforced by

large numbers of National Guards from the provinces. Sunday came,

and the dreadful conflict still continued. In the evening of that

day the President of the Assembly announced that the troops of the

Republic were in possession of a great number of the strongholds of the

insurgents, but at an immense loss of blood. Never had anything like

it been seen in Paris. He hoped that all would that night be finished.

This day (June 25th) was signalised by the murder of the Archbishop of

Paris.

On the morning of the 26th the conflict was confined chiefly to the

Faubourg St. Antoine and the greatest stronghold of the insurgents,

the Clos St. Lazare. The barriers were built of paving stones of large

size, and blocks of building-stone. All the houses commanding them were

occupied by the insurgents. The city wall was perforated for a mile in

length with loopholes, and from behind it a deadly fire upon the troops

was kept up for two days by invisible enemies, who ran from loophole

to loophole with the agility of monkeys. General Lamoricière commanded

here, and having ordered cannon and mortars, he made breaches in the

barricades, and reduced many of the fortified houses to heaps of ruins.

The Faubourg St. Antoine was surrounded by troops on all sides. The

insurgents were summoned to surrender, and after some parleying, a flag

of truce was sent forward, and they finally submitted, permitting the

troops to take quiet possession of the district. General Cavaignac at

once announced the result to the President of the Assembly, stating

that the revolt was suppressed, that the struggle had completely

ceased, and that he was ready to resign his dictatorship the moment the

powers confided to him were found to be no longer necessary for the

salvation of the public. He resigned accordingly, but he was placed

at the head of the Ministry, as President of the Council. During this

tremendous conflict between the Red Republicans and the guardians of

society more than 300 barricades had been erected, 16,000 persons were

killed and wounded, 8,000 prisoners were taken, and the loss to the

nation by the insurrection was estimated at 30,000,000 francs.

The plan of a very liberal constitution was discussed for several

days, and ultimately adopted. It is unnecessary here to describe in

detail the principles of a constitution so short-lived. One of those

principles led to its speedy destruction. It was, that the President of

the Republic should be chosen, not by the Assembly, but by the nation

at large. This was a very extraordinary course for the Assembly to

take, because they must have known that Louis Napoleon would be elected

by universal suffrage; whereas their own choice would have fallen upon

Cavaignac. The following was the result of the voting:--Louis Napoleon,

5,434,226; Cavaignac, 1,448,107; Ledru Rollin, 370,119; Raspail,

36,900; Lamartine, 17,910; Changarnier, 4,790; votes lost, 12,600.

On the 20th of December Prince Napoleon was proclaimed President of

the French Republic, in the National Assembly, by the President, M.

Marrast, and took the oath required by the Constitution.

All Europe was astonished by the news of the French Revolution. The

successful insurrection of the working classes in Paris--the flight of

the king--the abolition of monarchy--the establishment of a Republic,

all the work of two or three days, were events so startling that the

occupants of thrones might well stand aghast at their recital, and

tremble for their own possessions. It would not have been surprising if

the revolutionary spirit emanating from Paris had, to a large extent,

invaded Great Britain and Ireland. The country had just passed through

a fearful crisis; heavy sacrifices had been made by all classes to

save the people from starvation; many families had been utterly ruined

by gigantic failures, and there was still very general privation

prevailing in all parts of the United Kingdom. In such circumstances

the masses are peculiarly liable to be excited against the Government

by ignorant or unprincipled agitators, who could easily persuade them

that their sufferings arose from misgovernment, and that matters could

never go right till the people established their own sovereignty--till

they abolished monarchy and aristocracy, and proclaimed a republic.

The Chartist agitation, though not formally proposing any such issue

of the movement, had, nevertheless, familiarised the minds of the

working classes with the idea of such a revolution. The points of

their charter comprised vote by ballot, universal suffrage, annual

parliaments, payment of the members, and the abolition of the property

qualification. Besides, the Chartist leaders had been in the habit of

holding what was called a National Convention, which was a kind of

parliament of their own, in which the leaders practised the art of

government. The train was thus laid, and it seemed to require only a

spark to ignite it; but a thick shower of sparks came from Paris, as if

a furnace had been emptied by a hurricane. It would have been almost

miraculous if there had been no explosions of disaffection in Great

Britain in such circumstances as these.

The first place that reeled under the electric shock of the French

Revolution was Glasgow. On the 5th of March, in the afternoon, a body

of 5,000 men suddenly assembled on the Green in that city, tore up the

iron railings for weapons, and thus formidably armed, they commenced

an attack on the principal shops, chiefly those of gunsmiths and

jewellers. The police, apprehending no outbreak of the kind, were

scattered on their beats, and could afford no protection until forty

shops had been pillaged and gutted, and property to the value of

£10,000 carried off or destroyed. Next morning about 10,000 persons

assembled on the Green, armed with muskets, swords, crowbars, and

iron rails, and unanimously resolved--"To march immediately to the

neighbouring suburb of Calton, and turn out all the workers in the

mills there, who, it was expected, would join them; to go from thence

to the gas manufactory, and cut the pipes, so as to lay the city at

night in darkness; to march next to the gaols and liberate all the

prisoners; and to break open the shops, set fire to and plunder the

city." They immediately set out for the Calton mills, meeting on their

way fourteen pensioners in charge of a prisoner. These they attempted

to disarm, but the veterans fired, and two men fell dead. Instantly

the rioters raised the cry, "Blood for blood!" and were wresting the

muskets from the soldiers, when a squadron of cavalry galloped up with

drawn swords. The people fell back, and the riot was suppressed. It

afterwards transpired that the Chartists in all the manufacturing towns

of the west of Scotland only awaited the signal of success from Glasgow

to break out in rebellion. The prompt suppression of the movement was

therefore a matter of great importance.

For some time a monster petition to the House of Commons was being

signed by the Chartists in all the towns throughout the United Kingdom,

and the signatures were said to have amounted to five millions. It

was to be presented on the 10th of April. Two hundred thousand men

were to assemble on Kennington Common, and thence they were to march

to Westminster, to back up their petition. Possibly they might force

their way into the House of Commons, overpower the members, and put Mr.

Feargus O'Connor in the Speaker's chair. Why might they not in this

way effect a great revolution, like that which the working classes of

Paris had just accomplished? If the French National Guard, and even

the troops of the line, fraternised with the people, why should not

the British army do likewise? Such anticipations would not have been

unreasonable if Parliamentary and Municipal Reform had been up to

this time resisted; if William IV. had been still upon the throne;

if a Guizot had been Prime Minister, and a York or a Cumberland at

the Horse Guards. The Chartists, when they laid their revolutionary

plans, must have forgotten the loyalty of the English people, and

the popularity of the young Queen. They could not have reflected

that the Duke of Wellington had the command of the army; that he had

a horror of riots; and that there was no man who knew better how to

deal with them. Besides, every one in power must have profited by the

unpreparedness of the French authorities, and the fatal consequences

of leaving the army without orders and guidance. All who were charged

with the preservation of the peace in England were fully awake to the

danger, and early on the alert to meet the emergency. On the 6th of

April a notice was issued by the Police Commissioners, warning the

Chartists that the assemblage of large numbers of people, accompanied

with circumstances tending to excite terror and alarm in the minds of

her Majesty's subjects, was criminal; and that, according to an Act of

the 13th of Charles II., no more than ten persons could approach the

Sovereign, or either House of Parliament, on pretence of delivering

petitions, complaints, or remonstrances; and that whereas information

had been received that persons had been advised to procure arms and

weapons to carry in procession from Kennington Common to Westminster,

and whereas such proposed procession was calculated to excite terror in

the minds of her Majesty's subjects, all persons were strictly enjoined

not to attend the meeting in question, or take part in the procession;

and all well-disposed persons were called upon and required to aid

in the enforcement of the law, and the suppression of any attempt at

disturbance.

Well-disposed people happily comprised the great mass of the population

of all ranks and classes, who responded with alacrity to the appeal

of the Government for co-operation. Great alarm was felt in the

metropolis lest there should be street-fighting and plundering, and

it might be said that society itself had taken effective measures

for its own defence. The 10th of April, 1848, will be a day for ever

remembered with pride by Englishmen, and posterity will read of it with

admiration. In the morning nothing unusual appeared in the streets,

except that the shops were mostly closed, the roar of traffic was

suspended, and an air of quiet pervaded the metropolis. No less than

170,000 men, from the highest nobility down to the humblest shopkeeper,

had been enrolled and sworn as special constables--a great army of

volunteers, who came forward spontaneously for the defence of the

Government. In every street these guardians of the peace might be

seen pacing up and down upon their respective beats, and under their

respective officers. Among them was Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte,

acting as a private, under the command of the Earl of Eglinton. No

soldiers appeared in the streets; but, during the previous night, the

Duke of Wellington had taken the most effective measures to prevent

any violation of the peace. Strong bodies of foot and horse police

were placed at the ends of the bridges, over which the Chartists must

pass from Kennington Common to Westminster, and these were assisted

by large numbers of special constables, posted on the approaches at

each side. And lest these should be overpowered by the Chartists in

attempting to force a passage, a strong force of military--horse,

foot, and artillery--was kept concealed from view in the immediate

neighbourhood. The public buildings were all occupied by troops and

strongly fortified. Two regiments of the line were stationed at

Millbank Penitentiary. There were 1,200 infantry at the Deptford

Dockyards. At the Tower 30 pieces of heavy field ordnance were ready

to be shipped by hired steamers to any spot where their services might

be required. The public offices at the West-end, Somerset House, and

in the City, were occupied by troops and stored with arms. The Bank of

England was strongly fortified, sandbags being piled all round upon the

roof, as parapets to protect the gunners, while the interior was filled

with soldiers. There were also similar barricades to the windows, with

loopholes for muskets. In the space of Rose Inn Yard, at the end of

Farringdon Street, a large body of troops was posted ready to move at

a moment's notice, and another in the enclosure of Bridewell Prison.

At several points immediately about Kennington Common, commanding the

whole space, bodies of soldiers were placed out of view, but ready for

instant action. The Guards--horse and foot--were all under arms, in

Scotland Yard and in other places.

In the meantime the Chartists had made their preparations. The

members of the National Convention met early in the morning at its

hall in John Street, Fitzroy Square, and after this the members took

their places in a great car, which had been prepared to convey them

to the Common. It was so large that the whole Convention and all

the reporters who attended it found easy accommodation--Mr. Feargus

O'Connor and Mr. Ernest Jones sitting in the front rank. It was drawn

by six fine horses. Another car drawn by four horses contained the

monster petition, with its enormous rolls of signatures. Banners with

Chartist mottoes and devices floated over these imposing vehicles. The

Convention thus driven in state passed down Holborn, over Blackfriars

Bridge, and on to the Common, attended by 1,700 Chartists, marching

in procession. This was only one detachment; others had started from

Finsbury Square, Russell Square, Clerkenwell Green, and Whitechapel.

The largest body had mustered in the East, and passed over London

Bridge, numbering about 6,000. They all arrived at the Common about

ten o'clock, where considerable numbers had previously assembled; so

the Common appeared covered with human beings. In all monster meetings

there are the widest possible differences in the estimates of the

numbers. In this case they were set down variously at 15,000, 20,000,

50,000, and even 150,000. Perhaps 30,000 was the real number present.

[Illustration: SOMERSET HOUSE, LONDON (RIVER FRONT).]

The great car which bore Feargus O'Connor and his fortunes was of

course the central object of attraction. Everything about it indicated

that some great thing was going to happen, and all who could get within

hearing of the speakers were anxiously waiting for the commencement

of the proceedings. But there was something almost ludicrous in

the mode of communication between the tremendous military power

which occupied the metropolis, waiting the course of events, in the

consciousness of irresistible strength, and the principal leader of the

Chartist convention. Immediately after the two cars had taken their

position, a police inspector, of gigantic proportions, with a jolly

and good-humoured expression of countenance, was seen pressing through

the crowd toward Mr. O'Connor. He was the bearer of a message from the

Police Commissioners, politely desiring Mr. O'Connor's attendance for a

few minutes at the Horns Tavern. Mr. O'Connor immediately alighted and

followed the inspector, whose burly form made a lane through the mass

of people as if he were passing through a field of tall wheat. Murmurs

were heard through the crowd. What could this mean? Was their leader

deserting, or was he a prisoner? A rush was made in the direction

which they had taken, and it was said that their faces were blanched

with fear, and that at one time they were almost fainting. Protected

by those who were near them, they reached Mr. Commissioner Mayne in

safety. The commissioner informed Mr. O'Connor that the Government

did not intend to interfere with the right of petitioning, properly

exercised, nor with the right of public meeting; therefore they did

not prevent the assemblage on the Common; but if they attempted to

return in procession, they would be stopped at all hazards; and that

there were ample forces awaiting orders for the purpose. The meeting

would be allowed to proceed, if Mr. O'Connor pledged himself that it

would be conducted peaceably. He gave the pledge, shook hands with the

commissioner, and returned to his place on the car. He immediately

announced to his colleagues the result of his interview, and the whole

demonstration collapsed as suddenly as a pierced balloon. Some brief,

fiery harangues were delivered to knots of puzzled listeners; but the

meeting soon broke up in confusion. Banners and flags were pulled down,

and the monster petition was taken from the triumphal car, and packed

up in three cabs, which were to convey it quietly to the House of

Commons. The masses then rolled back towards the Thames, by no means

pleased with the turn things had taken. At every bridge they were

stopped by the serried ranks of the police and the special constables.

There was much pressing and struggling to force a passage, but all

in vain. They were obliged to move off, but after a while they were

permitted to pass in detached parties of not more than ten each. About

three o'clock the flood of people had completely subsided. Had the

movement been successful to any extent, it would have been followed by

insurrections in the provincial towns. Early on the morning of the 10th

the walls of the city of Glasgow were found covered with a placard,

calling upon the people, on receipt of the news from London, "to rise

in their thousands and tens of thousands, and put an end to the vile

government of the oligarchy which had so long oppressed the country."

Another placard was issued there, addressed to soldiers, and offering

£10 and four acres of land to every one of them who should join the

insurgents. Strange to say, the printers' names were attached to both

these treasonable proclamations. They were arrested, but not punished.

The history of the Chartist petition was the most extraordinary part

of this whole business. It was presented on the 10th of April, by Mr.

Feargus O'Connor, who stated that it was signed by 5,706,000 persons.

It lay upon the floor of the House in five large divisions; the first

sheet being detached, the prayer was read, and the messengers of the

House rolled the enormous mass of parchment to the table. A day was

appointed to take its prayer into consideration; but in the meantime it

was subjected to investigation, and on the 13th of April Mr. Thornley

brought up a special report from the Select Committee on Public

Petitions, which contained the most astounding revelations. Instead of

weighing five tons, as Mr. O'Connor alleged, it weighed 5¾ cwt. The

signatures were all counted by thirteen law-stationers' clerks, in

addition to those usually employed in the House, who devoted seventeen

hours to the work, and the number of signatures was found to be only

1,975,496, instead of nearly 6,000,000. Whole consecutive sheets were

filled with names in the same handwriting; and amongst the signatures

were "Victoria _Rex_," Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, Sir

Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, etc. The Duke of Wellington's name was

written thirty times, and Colonel Sibthorpe's twelve times. Some of

the signatures were not names at all--such as "No Cheese," "Pug Nose,"

"Flat Nose," etc. There were also many insertions so indecent that they

could not be repeated by the committee.

The London Chartists contrived to hold their meetings and to march in

procession; and as this sometimes occurred at night, accompanied by

the firing of shots, it was a source of alarm to the public. There

were confederate clubs established, consisting chiefly of Irishmen,

who fraternised with the English Chartists. On the 31st of May they

held a great meeting on Clerkenwell Green. There, after hearing some

violent speeches, the men got the word of command to fall in and march,

and the crowd formed rapidly into columns four abreast. In this order

they marched to Finsbury Square, where they met another large body,

with which they united, both forming into new columns twelve abreast,

and thus they paced the square with measured military tread for about

an hour. Thence they marched to Stepney, where they received further

accessions, from that to Smithfield, up Holborn, Queen Street, and Long

Acre, and on through Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square. Here the

police interfered, and they were gradually dispersed. This occurred on

Monday. On Tuesday night they assembled again at Clerkenwell Green, but

were dispersed by a large body of horse and foot police. There was to

be another great demonstration on Wednesday, but the police authorities

issued a cautionary notice, and made effectual arrangements for the

dispersion of the meeting. Squadrons of Horse Guards were posted in

Clerkenwell and Finsbury, and precautions were taken to prevent the

threatened breaking of the gas and water mains. The special constables

were again partially put in requisition, and 5,000 of the police force

were ready to be concentrated upon any point, while the whole of the

fire brigade were placed on duty. These measures had the effect of

preventing the assembly. Similar attempts were made in several of the

manufacturing towns, but they were easily suppressed. In June, however,

the disturbances were again renewed in London. On Whit Monday, the 4th,

there was to be a great gathering of Chartists in Bonner's Fields,

but the ground was occupied early in the morning by 1,600 policemen,

500 pensioners, and 100 constables mounted. There was also a body of

Horse Guards in the neighbourhood. Up to the hour of two o'clock the

leaders of the movement did not appear, and soon after a tremendous

thunderstorm accompanied by drenching rain, caused the dispersion

of all the idlers who came to witness the display. Ten persons were

arrested on the ground, and tried and sentenced to various terms of

imprisonment.

It was thought time to put a stop to such proceedings, and several

of the leaders were arrested, namely, Messrs. Ernest Jones, John

Fussell, J. Williams, A. Sharpe, and Y. Vernon. They were committed

for sedition, but bail was accepted. At Ashton-under-Lyne, Birmingham,

Liverpool, and other places, Chartist and confederate disturbances took

place. The police hunted up their leaders, and in some towns seized the

papers of the clubs as well as the pikes and fire-arms which they had

concealed. There had, in fact, been an extensively ramified conspiracy,

the headquarters of which were in the metropolis. On the 11th of August

the police, acting upon information they had received, assembled at the

station in Tower Street, 700 strong, and suddenly marched to the Angel

Tavern in Webber Street, Blackfriars. Surrounding the house, Inspector

Butt entered, and found fourteen Chartist leaders in deliberation.

In a few minutes they were all quietly secured, and marched to Tower

Street. On searching the place the police found pistols loaded to the

muzzle, swords, pikes, daggers, and spear-heads, also large quantities

of ammunition. Upon one man were found seventy-five rounds of ball

cartridge. Some of the prisoners wore iron breastplates. Similar visits

were paid to houses in Great Ormond Street, Holborn, and York Street,

Westminster, with like results. In the last place the party got notice

and dispersed before the police arrived. One man, leaping out of a

window, broke his leg. Tow-balls were found amongst them; and from

this and other circumstances it was believed they intended to fire the

public buildings and to attack the police in every part of London.

The whole of the military quartered in London were under arms on the

night of the threatened attack, and an unbroken line of communication

was kept up between the military and the different bodies of police.

Twenty-five of the leaders were committed for felony, bail being

refused; their principal leader being a man named Cuffey.

The Chartist trials took place at the September Sessions of the Central

Criminal Court. The facts disclosed on the trial revealed, to a larger

extent than is usual in such cases, how completely the men who are

betrayed into such conspiracies are at the mercy of miscreants who

incite them to crime for their own base purposes. The witnesses against

Cuffey and others of the Chartists were all voluntary spies--the chief

of whom was a person named Powell--who joined the confederacy, aided

in its organisation, and had themselves appointed "presidents" and

"generals," with the sole purpose of betraying their dupes, in order

that they might be rewarded as informers, or, at all events, well

paid as witnesses. It was probably by those double traitors that the

simultaneous meetings of the clubs were arranged, so that the police

might seize them all at the same time. The trial lasted the entire

week. On Saturday the jury returned a verdict of "Guilty" against all

the prisoners. The sentence was transportation for life. Others were

indicted for misdemeanour only, and were sentenced to various terms of

imprisonment, with fines. About a score of the minor offenders were

allowed to plead not guilty, and let out on their own recognisances.

And so ended Chartism.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE REIGN OF VICTORIA (_continued_).

The General Election--Crime in Ireland--Increased Powers granted

to the Executive--Ireland on the Verge of Rebellion--Death of

O'Connell--Viceroyalty of Lord Clarendon--Special Commission in

Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary--The Commission at Clonmel--Rise

of the Young Ireland Party--The _Nation_--Meagher and Smith

O'Brien--They try to dispense with the Church--The Irish

Confederation--The _United Irishman_--News of the French

Revolution--Panic in Dublin--Lord Clarendon and Mr. Birch--The

Deputation to Paris--Smith O'Brien in Parliament--Preparations

for Civil War--Young and Old Ireland at blows--Arrest and

Trial of Mitchel, Smith O'Brien, and Meagher--Transportation

of Mitchel--Lord Clarendon's Extraordinary Powers--Smith

O'Brien in the South--Commencement of the Insurrection--Battle

of Ballingarry--Arrest of Smith O'Brien--Collapse of the

Rebellion--Trial of the Conspirators--Trials and Sentences--The

Rate in Aid--The Encumbered Estates Act--The Queen's Visit to

Ireland--Cove becomes Queenstown--A Visit to Cork--Kingstown and

Dublin--Departure from Dublin--An Affecting Incident--Belfast.

The disorganised state of Ireland, occasioned by the famine and

the enormous system of public relief which fostered idleness and

destroyed the customary social restraints that kept the people in

order, naturally led to much outrage and crime in that country. At

the close of the ordinary Session of 1847, the Parliament, which had

existed six years, was dissolved. The general election excited very

little political interest, the minds of all parties being concentrated

upon the terrible famine in Ireland, and the means necessary to

mitigate its effects. The first Session of the new Parliament

commenced on the 18th of November. Mr. Shaw-Lefevre was re-elected

Speaker without opposition, some leading Conservatives expressing

their admiration of the impartiality and dignity with which he had

presided over the deliberations of the House. The Royal Speech was

delivered by commission. It lamented that in some counties in Ireland

atrocious crimes had been committed, and a spirit of insubordination

had manifested itself, leading to an organised resistance to legal

rights. Parliament was therefore requested to take further precautions

against the perpetration of crime in that country; at the same time

recommending the consideration of measures that would advance the

social improvement of its people. In the course of the debate on the

Address the state of Ireland was the subject of much discussion; and

on the 29th of November Sir George Grey, then Home Secretary, brought

in a Bill for this purpose. In doing so, he gave a full exposition of

the disorganised state of the country. He showed that "the number of

attempts on life by firing at the person, which was, in six months

of 1846, 55, was in the same six months of 1847, 126; the number of

robberies of arms, which was, in six months of 1846, 207, in the same

six months of 1847 was 530; and the number of firings of dwellings,

which in six months of 1846 was 51, was, in the same six months of

1847, 116. Even this statement gave an inadequate idea of the increase

of those offences in districts which were now particularly infested

by crime. The total number of offences of the three classes which

he had just mentioned amounted, in the last month, to 195 in the

whole of Ireland; but the counties of Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary

furnished 139 of them--the extent of offences in those counties being

71 per cent. on the total of offences in Ireland, and the population

being only 13 per cent. on the whole population of Ireland." It was

principally to those counties that his observations applied; but as

the tendency of crime was to spread, they must be applied in some

degree also to King's County, Roscommon, and part of Fermanagh. The

crimes which he wished to repress were not directed against the

landlord class alone, but against every class and description of

landowners. Their ordinary object was the commission of wilful and

deliberate assassination, not in dark or desolate places, but in broad

daylight--of assassination, too, encouraged by the entire impunity with

which it was perpetrated; for it was notorious that none but the police

would lend a hand to arrest the flight, or capture the person, of the

assassin.

The murder of one landlord was sufficient to spread terror throughout

the whole class, the most recent and horrible case being used for this

purpose in the threatening notices. Thus, when Major Mahon was shot, a

letter was sent to the wife of another landed proprietor, warning her

that if her husband did not remit all the arrears of rent due by his

tenants, two men would be sent to dispatch him as they had dispatched

the demon Mahon. The Lord-Lieutenant had increased the constabulary

force in the disturbed districts, and called out the military to

aid in the execution of the law. But it was the opinion of the

magistrates in those districts that the powers of the executive were

not sufficient. The object of Sir George Greys measure was to extend

those powers--not to create any new tribunal, for trial by jury had

worked satisfactorily. What he proposed was that the Lord-Lieutenant

should have power to "proclaim" disturbed districts, to increase in

them the constabulary force to any extent he might think fit out of

the reserve of 600 in Dublin, to limit the use of firearms, and to

establish nocturnal patrols. He thought that by such a measure the

Government would be able to put down the crimes that were disorganising

society in Ireland. Sir Robert Peel supported the Government measure.

Mr. Feargus O'Connor divided the House against it; but was supported

by only twenty members. It was soon after read a second time, having

been strenuously resisted by some of the Irish members. It rapidly

went through committee, and was read a third time, when the minority

against it was only fourteen. The Bill passed through the Lords without

alteration.

[Illustration: TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. (_From a Photograph by Poulton

and Son, Lee._)]

Misery and privation in large masses of people naturally engender

disaffection, and predispose to rebellion; and this was the state of

things in Ireland at the beginning of the memorable year of 1848.

O'Connell had passed away from the scene. On the 28th of January,

1847, he left Ireland, never to return. He went to London for the

purpose of attending his Parliamentary duties, but shortly after his

arrival there he went for benefit of his health to Hastings. But a

still greater change of scene and climate was found necessary, and he

embarked for France, and proceeding to Paris, he was received with

great consideration by the Marquis of Normanby, and other distinguished

persons. In reply to a complimentary address from the electoral

committee, of which Montalembert was chairman, O'Connell said,

"Sickness and emotion close my mouth. I would require the eloquence

of your president to express to you all my gratitude. But it is

impossible for me to say what I feel. Know, simply, that I regard this

demonstration on your part as one of the most significant events of my

life." He went from Paris to Lyons, where he became much weaker. In

all the French churches prayers were offered on behalf of "_Le célèbre

Irlandais, et le grand libérateur d'Irlande._" At Marseilles he became

rather better; but at Genoa death arrested his progress. He expired on

the 15th of May (1847), apparently suffering little pain. He was on

his way to Rome, intending to pay his homage in person to Pius IX.,

but finding this impossible, he ordered that his heart might be sent

to Rome, and his body to Ireland. It has been remarked that O'Connell

was the victim of the Irish famine, and that its progress might have

been learnt from the study of his face. The buoyancy had gone out of

his step; he had become a stooping and a broken-down man, shuffling

along with difficulty, his features betraying despondency and misery.

His memory was respected by Englishmen, because of the devotion of his

life to the service of his country. Born of a conquered race and a

persecuted religion, conscious of great energies and great talents, he

resolved to make every Irishman the equal of every Englishman. After

the labours of a quarter of a century he obtained Catholic Emancipation.

It was the lot of the Earl of Clarendon to govern Ireland during the

most trying period of her history. It was a trying crisis, affording

great opportunity to a statesman of pre-eminent ability to lay broad

and solid foundations for a better state of society. But though a

painstaking and active administrator, Clarendon was not a great

statesman; he had no originating power to organise a new state of

things, nor prescience to forecast the future; but he left no means

untried by which he could overcome present difficulties. The population

had been thinned with fearful rapidity; large numbers of the gentry had

been reduced from affluence to destitution; property was changing hands

on all sides; the Government had immense funds placed at its command;

a vast machinery and an enormous host of officials operating upon

society when it was in the most plastic and unresisting state, a high

order of statesmanship could have made an impress upon it that would

have endured for ages. But Lord Clarendon's government, instead of

putting forth the power that should have guided those mighty resources

to beneficial and permanent results, allowed them to be agencies of

deterioration. The truth is, he was frightened by a contemptible

organisation, existing openly under his eyes in Dublin, for the

avowed purpose of exciting rebellion and effecting revolution. The

conspirators might have been promptly dealt with and extinguished in a

summary way; but instead of dealing with it in this manner, Clarendon

watched over its growth, and allowed it to come to maturity, and then

brought to bear upon it a great military force and all the imposing

machinery of State trials; the only good result of which was a display

of forensic eloquence worthy of the days of Flood and Grattan.

The opening of the year 1848 was signalised by the appointment of

a special commission, which was convened to try those accused of

agrarian murders in the counties of Tipperary, Limerick, and Clare. The

judges were the Chief Justice Blackburne and the Chief Baron Pigot.

The commission was pre-eminently successful. The trials commenced

at Limerick on the 4th of January. The Chief Justice, in his charge

to the jury, drew a melancholy picture of the demoralised state of

the country. He praised the patience and enduring fortitude of the

people under the visitation of famine, which were generally in the

highest degree exemplary, and he made this remarkable statement:--"I

do not find in the calendar before me, nor after the experience of the

last two circuits have I been able to find, a single case in which

destitution or distress, arising from the visitation of God, has in the

remotest degree influenced this illegal confederacy, or stimulated any

of those outrages." The first person tried was the notorious William

Ryan, nicknamed "Puck," one of the greatest ruffians ever brought to

the bar of justice. He was tried for the murder of a neighbour, named

John Kelly, into whose house he entered, and shot him dead upon the

spot, in the presence of his family. He was found guilty, and hanged on

the 8th of February. He was well known to have committed nine murders

during the previous year. A man named Frewin, a respectable farmer,

was transported for life, being found guilty of harbouring Ryan, and

screening him from justice. The next batch of prisoners consisted

of six ill-looking young fellows, all of whom appeared to be about

twenty years of age, charged with the abduction of the daughter of a

respectable farmer, named Maloney, for whom they were in the habit of

working, in order that another farmer, named Creagh, might marry her.

These cases may serve as illustrations of the state of the country at

that time. On the 10th of January between twenty and thirty of the

convicts were brought up together for sentence, and it seemed difficult

to believe that so ill-looking and desperate a set of villains could

be congregated in one place. They had all, with one exception, been

found guilty, without any recommendation to mercy from the jury. After

an impressive address from the judge, the sentences were pronounced,

varying in the amount of punishment assigned. But they heard their

doom with the greatest indifference. The commission next adjourned

to Ennis, the assize town of the county of Clare, where the results

were equally satisfactory. The judges arrived at Clonmel, the chief

town of Tipperary, on the 24th of January. There they found upwards of

four hundred prisoners in gaol, charged with crimes marked by various

degrees of atrocity. The trial that excited most attention here was

that of John Sonergan, for the murder of Mr. William Roe, a landed

proprietor and a magistrate of the county, who was shot in the open

day, upon the road near one of his own plantations. The scene which was

presented in this court on the 31st of January, was described in the

report of the trials as scarcely ever paralleled. Five human beings,

four of whom were convicted of murder, and one of an attempt to murder,

stood in a row at the front of the dock, to receive the dreadful

sentence of the law, which consigned them to an ignominious death.

Agrarian outrage had thus been effectually put down by the special

commission; but a much more formidable difficulty was now to be

encountered by the Government, which was called upon to suppress a

rebellion. In order that its origin may be understood, it will be

necessary to sketch briefly the rise and progress of the Young Ireland

party. It had its origin in the establishment of the _Nation_ newspaper

in 1842, by Thomas Davis, Charles Gavan Duffy, and John Mitchel.

Davis was a native of the county of Cork, a member of the Church of

England, and a barrister who had devoted himself to literature. He was

a man of genius and enthusiastic temperament, combined with habits of

study and a love of system. As a member of the Repeal Association,

and as a writer in the _Nation_, he constantly advocated national

independence. He was a vigorous writer, and also a poet. He was much

respected personally by all classes, and would have exerted a powerful

influence, but he was cut off by fever in the midst of his career. His

memory received the honour of a public funeral, which was one of the

largest and most respectable that had for some time taken place in

Dublin. Mr. Duffy, the proprietor and editor of the _Nation_, a Roman

Catholic and a native of Monaghan, had been connected with the press in

Dublin. Mr. Mitchel, also a northerner and a solicitor by profession,

was the son of a Unitarian minister in Newry. These men were all

animated by the same burning love of Ireland, and unmitigated hatred

of English domination. The _Nation_ soon attained a vast circulation;

its leading articles were distinguished by an earnestness, a fire, a

power, an originality and boldness, till then unknown in the Irish

press. Its columns were filled with the most brilliant productions

in literature and poetry, all designed to glorify Ireland at the

expense of England, and all breathing the spirit of war and defiance

against the Government. In addition to the _Nation_, they prepared

a number of small books, which they issued in a cheap form as an

Irish library, devoted chiefly to the history of their country, and

its struggles for independence. By their exertions, reading-rooms

were established throughout the country, and a native literature was

extensively cultivated. The orator of the party was Thomas Meagher,

at a later period general in the American army, son of a Waterford

merchant, who was afterwards member of Parliament. He was a brilliant,

fluent, ardent, daring speaker; his appearance and manners were those

of a gay, reckless, dashing cavalier; and his warlike harangues had

won for him the designation, "Meagher of the Sword." His speeches

fired his audience with wild enthusiasm. Since 1844, as we have seen,

Mr. William Smith O'Brien had become the leader of this party, which

differed in spirit and purpose from the Old Ireland party, of which

O'Connell had been so long the leader. O'Connell's agitation even

for Repeal was essentially religious. Ireland and the Roman Catholic

Church were indissolubly associated in his mind. His habits as a _nisi

prius_ barrister made him an advocate more than a statesman; and having

pleaded the cause of his Church for forty years, having been rewarded

and retained for so doing by an annual "tribute" collected in the

chapels of the kingdom, and having won his unparalleled popularity

and almost kingly power by his services in this cause, he could not

help regarding himself as the special champion of the Irish priests

and their people. For them he courted Whig alliances, for them he

abused the Tories, for them he sought Repeal, and for their sakes he

deprecated war. He knew that the Protestants of Ireland would never

sufficiently trust him or his ecclesiastical clients, to join them in

a war against English supremacy, which they disliked far less than

Roman Catholic ascendency. He knew that a war for Repeal must be a

civil and religious war; and he too well remembered the horrors of

1798, and was too well aware of the power of England, seriously to

encourage anything of the kind. He talked indeed about fighting at the

monster meetings, but he did so merely to intimidate the Government,

confident of his power to hold the masses in check, and to prevent

breaches of the peace. The State prosecutions and the proceedings

of the Young Ireland party worked in him the painful and almost

heart-breaking conviction that he had gone too far. Another essential

difference existed between the two parties regarding religion. The

Young Irelanders wanted to ignore religion in the national struggle.

Their object was to unite all Irishmen in the great cause, to exorcise

the spirit of bigotry, and to cultivate the spirit of religious

toleration. But neither the Protestants nor the Catholics were prepared

for this. The peasantry of the South especially would not enter into

a contest in which their priests refused to lead and bless them; and

these would neither lead nor bless except in the interest of their

Church. This truth was discovered too late by Mr. Smith O'Brien and Mr.

Meagher. The latter gentleman is said to have remarked in his prison,

"We made a fatal mistake in not conciliating the Catholic priesthood.

The agitation must be baptised in the old Holy Well."

When the two parties separated in 1846, the Young Irelanders

established the Irish Confederation, which held its meetings in the

Music Hall, Abbey Street, and whose platform was occupied by a number

of young men, who subsequently figured in the State trials--Mr.

Dillon, a barrister, who had been a moderator in Trinity College,

Mr. Doheny, solicitor, Mr. O'Gorman, and Mr. Martin, a Protestant

gentleman of property in the county Down. The object of the confederacy

was to prepare the country for national independence, "by the force

of opinion, by the combination of all classes of Irishmen, and the

exercise of all the political, social, and moral influence within their

reach." They disclaimed any intention of involving the country in civil

war, or invading the just rights of any of its people; and they were

specially anxious that Protestants and Roman Catholics should be united

in the movement. Resolutions to this effect were adopted at a great

meeting in the Rotunda, a revolutionary amendment by Mr. Mitchel having

been rejected, after a stormy debate, which lasted three days, and did

not terminate on the last day until one o'clock at night. This led to

Mitchel's secession from the _Nation_, and the establishment of the

_United Irishman_, in which he openly and violently advocated rebellion

and revolution. He continually insisted on the adoption of the most

diabolical and repulsive measures, with the utmost _sang froid_. Every

Saturday his journal contained a letter "To the Earl of Clarendon, Her

Majesty's Executioner-General and Butcher-General of Ireland." Plans

of insurrection were freely propounded; the nature and efficiency

of street fighting were copiously discussed; ladies were invited to

throw vitriol from their windows on the Queen's troops, and to fling

empty bottles before the cavalry that they might stumble and fall.

Precise instructions were given, week after week, for the erection of

barricades, the perforation of walls, and other means of attack and

defence in the war against the Queen.

Such was the state of things in Ireland when the news of the French

Revolution arrived and produced an electric effect throughout the

country. The danger of permitting such atrocious incitements to civil

war to be circulated among the people was obvious to every one, and yet

Lord Clarendon allowed this propagandism of rebellion and revolution to

go on with impunity for months.· Mitchel might have been arrested and

prosecuted for seditious libels any day; the newsvendors who hawked the

_United Irishman_ through the streets might have been taken up by the

police, but the Government still remained inactive. Encouraged by this

impunity, the revolutionary party had established confederate clubs, by

means of which they were rapidly enlisting and organising the artisans

of the city, at whose meetings the most treasonable proceedings were

adopted.

[Illustration: MUSTER OF THE IRISH AT MULLINAHONE. (_See p._ 568.)]

In the meantime rumours were in circulation, said to have emanated from

Dublin Castle, to the effect that a conspiracy existed to massacre

the members of the Government and the loyal citizens. However these

rumours may have originated, they spread a panic through the city.

People expected that when they woke some morning they would find the

barricades up in the leading streets, and behold an imitation of the

bloody scenes lately enacted in Paris. The Government seemed to share

the alarm. Strong bodies of soldiers were posted in different parts of

the city. Trinity College, the buildings of the Royal Dublin Society,

the Linen Hall, and the Custom House were occupied as temporary

barracks. The Bank of Ireland was put in a state of defence, and cannon

were placed on the roof in such a way as to command the streets.

Bullet-proof shutters were furnished for the front of Trinity College.

The Viceroy evidently apprehended some serious work, for he ordered

the troops in all these extemporised fortresses to be furnished with

rations for several days. These preparations for a siege continued

throughout the months of March and April. For more than three months

the chambers of the College were turned into barracks; the troops

were paraded in the quadrangles every morning. In all the fortified

positions the soldiers were kept under arms at unreasonable hours. In

fact the whole community was in a state of painful suspense, hourly

anticipating the attacks of an imaginary enemy. During all this time

there was not a single depôt of arms seized nor a single rebellious

leader arrested. The clubs, indeed, were meeting and plotting, and the

Government spies were amongst them, but they had made no preparations

for insurrection that should have excited alarm. There was much talk of

the manufacture of pikes, but the only instance made public was one in

which a blacksmith had been asked to make one by a detective policeman.

During this protracted agony of suspense and alarm business was almost

at a standstill. Nobody seemed to think or talk of anything but the

rebellion--the chances of success and the possibility of having to

submit to a republic. There could not be a more striking proof of

the inability of Lord Clarendon to cope with this emergency than his

dealings with the proprietors of the _World_, a journal with a weekly

circulation of only 500 or 600 copies, which subsisted by levying

blackmail for suppressing attacks on private character. It was regarded

as a common nuisance, and yet the Lord-Lieutenant took the editor into

his confidence, held private conferences with him on the state of the

country, and gave him large sums for writing articles in defence of law

and order. These sums amounted to £1,700, and he afterwards gave him

£2,000 to stop an action in the Court of Queen's Bench. Mr. Birch, the

gentleman in question, was not satisfied with this liberal remuneration

for his services; the mine was too rich not to be worked out, and he

afterwards brought an action against Sir William Somerville, then

Chief Secretary, for some thousands more, when Lord Clarendon himself

was produced as a witness, and admitted the foregoing facts. The

decision of the court was against Birch; but when, in February, 1852,

the subject was brought before the House of Commons by Lord Naas, the

Clarendon and Birch transactions were sanctioned by a majority of 92.

While the Irish Government was in this state of miserable trepidation,

the Dublin confederates carried on their proceedings with the most

perfect unconcern and consciousness of impunity. Among these

proceedings was the sending of a deputation to Paris to seek the aid

of the republican Government on behalf of the "oppressed nationality

of Ireland." The deputation consisted of Messrs. O'Brien, Meagher, and

O'Gorman. They were the bearers of three congratulatory addresses, to

which Lamartine gave a magniloquent reply about the great democratic

principle--"this new Christianity bursting forth at the opportune

moment." The destinies of Ireland had always deeply moved the heart of

Europe. "The children of that glorious isle of Erin," whose natural

genius and pathetic history were equally symbolic of the poetry

and the heroism of the nations of the North, would always find in

France under the republic a generous response to all its friendly

sentiments. But as regarded intervention, the Provisional Government

gave the same answer that they had given to Germany, to Belgium, and

to Italy. "Where there is a difference of race--where nations are

aliens in blood--intervention is not allowable. We belong to no party

in Ireland or elsewhere except to that which contends for justice,

for liberty, and for the happiness of the Irish people. We are at

peace," continued Lamartine, "and we are desirous of remaining on

good terms of equality, not with this or that part of Great Britain,

but with Great Britain entire. We believe this peace to be useful and

honourable, not only to Great Britain and to the French Republic, but

to the human race. We will not commit an act, we will not utter a

word, we will not breathe an insinuation, at variance with principles

of the reciprocal inviolability of nations which we have proclaimed,

and of which the continent of Europe is already gathering the fruits.

The fallen monarchy had treaties and diplomatists. Our diplomatists

are nations--our treaties are sympathies." The sympathies felt for

the Irish revolutionists, however, were barren. Nevertheless the

deputation who were complimented as "aliens in blood" shouted "_Vive

la République_," "_Vive Lamartine_," who had just declared that the

French would be insane were they openly to exchange such sympathy for

"unmeaning and partial alliance with even the most legitimate parties

in the countries that surrounded them."

Mr. Smith O'Brien returned to London, took his seat in the House of

Commons, and spoke on the Crown and Government Securities Bill, the

design of which was to facilitate prosecutions for political offences.

He spoke openly of the military strength of the Republican party in

Ireland, and the probable issue of an appeal to arms. But his address

produced a scene of indescribable commotion and violence, and he was

overwhelmed in a torrent of jeers, groans, and hisses, while Sir George

Grey, in replying to him, was cheered with the utmost enthusiasm.

In the meantime the preparations for civil war went on steadily on

both sides in Dublin, neither party venturing to interfere with the

other. Lest the Government should not be able to subdue the rebellion

with 10,000 troops in the strong points of the city, and artillery

commanding the great thoroughfares, with loopholes for sharpshooters

in every public building, an association was formed to provide loyal

citizens with arms and combine them in self-defence. The committee of

this body ordered six hundred stand of arms from the manufacturer, and

also some thousands of knots of blue ribbon to be worn by the loyal

on the night of the barricades. It was intimated that the Government

would pay for those things, but as it did not, an action for the

cost of the muskets was brought against a gentleman who went to

inspect them. Circulars were sent round to the principal inhabitants,

with directions as to the best means of defending their houses when

attacked by the insurgents. There were instances in which the lower

parts of houses were furnished with ball-proof shutters, and a

month's provisions of salted meat and biscuits actually laid in. The

Orange-men--regarded with so much coldness by the Government in quiet

times--were now courted; their leaders were confidentially consulted

by the Lord-Lieutenant; their addresses were gratefully acknowledged;

they were supplied with muskets, and the certificate of the master of

an Orange lodge was recognised by the police authorities as a passport

for the importation of arms.

A regrettable episode in this rebellious movement occurred on the

29th of April in the city of Limerick. The Sarsfield Club in that

place invited Messrs. Smith O'Brien, Mitchell, and Meagher to a public

_soirée_. The followers of O'Connell, known as the Old Ireland party,

being very indignant at the treatment O'Connell had received from the

Young Ireland leaders, resolved to take this opportunity of punishing

the men who had broken the heart of the Liberator. They began by

burning John Mitchel in effigy, and, placing the flaming figure against

the window where the _soirée_ was held, they set fire to the building.

As the company rushed out they were attacked by the mob. Mr. Smith

O'Brien, then member for the county of Limerick, was roughly handled.

He was struck with a stone in the face, with another in the back of

the head, and was besides severely hurt by a blow on the side. Had it

not been for the protection of some friends who gathered round him, he

would probably have been killed.

At length, after much mischievous delay, the Government ventured to

lay hands upon the disseminators of sedition and the organisers of

rebellion. On the 13th of May John Mitchel was arrested and committed

to Newgate. On the 15th, Mr. Smith O'Brien, who had been previously

arrested and was out on bail, was brought to trial in the Queen's

Bench, and arraigned on _ex officio_ information as being a wicked,

seditious, and turbulent person, and having delivered a speech for the

purpose of exciting hatred and contempt against the Queen in Ireland,

and inducing the people to rise in rebellion. He was defended by Mr.

Butt, a Conservative barrister, who spoke of the ancient lineage

and estimable character of the prisoner, concluding thus:--"Believe

me, gentlemen, all cannot be right in a country in which such a man

as William Smith O'Brien is guilty, if guilty you pronounce him, of

sedition." At the conclusion of this sentence the majority of the bar,

and of the people in court, rose from their seats and loudly cheered,

the ladies in the galleries waving their handkerchiefs. The jury were

locked up all night without refreshments, but they could not agree.

The next day Meagher was tried, with a similar result, and was hailed

by a cheering multitude outside, whom he addressed from a window in

the _Nation_ office. Mitchel, however, was tried, found guilty, and

sentenced to transportation for fourteen years; he was immediately

conveyed in the police prison van to a small steamer which waited in

the bay, and then to a man-of-war which conveyed him to Bermuda.

But it was not till the end of July that Lord Clarendon obtained the

extraordinary powers which he demanded for putting down rebellion.

These were conveyed in an Act to empower the Lord-Lieutenant to

apprehend and detain till the 1st day of March, 1849, such persons

as he should "suspect" of conspiring against her Majesty's person or

Government. On the 27th of July a despatch from Dublin appeared in the

late editions of some of the London morning papers, stating that the

railway station at Thurles had been burned; that for several miles

along the lines the rails had been torn up; that dreadful fighting

had been going on in Clonmel; that the people were armed in masses;

that the troops were over-powered; that some refused to act; that the

insurrection had also broken out in Kilkenny, Waterford, and Cork,

and all through the South. This was pure invention. No such events had

occurred. In order to avoid arrest, the leaders fled from Dublin, and

the clubs were completely dispersed. Mr. Smith O'Brien started on the

22nd by the night mail for Wexford. From Enniscorthy he crossed the

mountains to the county Carlow; at Graiguemanagh he visited the parish

priest, who offered him no encouragement, but gave him to understand

that, in the opinion of the priests, those who attempted to raise a

rebellion in the county were insane. He passed on to the towns of

Carlow and Kilkenny, where he harangued the people and called upon

them to rise. He arrived at Carrick-on-Suir on the 24th, and thence

he went to Cashel. Leaders had been arrested--namely, Duffy, Martin,

Williams, O'Doherty, Meagher, and Doheny. The Act, which received the

Royal Assent on the 29th of July, was conveyed by express to Dublin,

and immediately the Lord-Lieutenant issued a proclamation ordering

the suppression of the conspiracy, which should have been done six

months before. In pursuance of this proclamation, the principal cities

were occupied by the military. Cannon were planted at the ends of

the streets, and all but those who had certificates of loyalty were

deprived of their arms. The police entered the offices of the _Nation_

and _Felon_, seized all the copies of those papers, and scattered

the types. Twelve counties were proclaimed, and a number of young

men arrested having commissions and uniforms for the "Irish Army of

Liberation."

A Privy Council was held at Dublin Castle, at which it was determined

to offer rewards for the arrest of the principal conspirators--£500

for William Smith O'Brien, and £300 each for Meagher, Dillon, and

O'Doherty. The offence charged was, having taken up arms against her

Majesty. The rewards offered soon brought matters to a crisis. As soon

as the proclamations were posted up, Sub-Inspector Trant proceeded

from Callan, in the county Kilkenny, with a body of between fifty

and sixty of the constabulary, in the hope of capturing some of the

proclaimed rebels. Arrived on Boulagh Common, near Ballingarry, on the

borders of Tipperary and Kilkenny, they took possession of a slated

farmhouse, belonging to a widow named Cormack. This house they hastily

fortified, by piling tables, beds, and other articles against the doors

and windows. The insurrection actually commenced at a place called

Mullinahone, where, at the ringing of the chapel bell, large numbers

of the peasantry assembled in arms, and hailed Smith O'Brien as their

general. He was armed with a short pike and several pistols, which

he had fastened to a belt. On the 26th of July he went to the police

barrack, where there were but six men, and endeavoured to persuade them

to join him, promising better pay and promotion under the republic,

and telling them that they would resist at their peril. They refused.

He then demanded their arms, but they answered that they would die

rather than surrender them. He gave them an hour to consider, but

departed without carrying his threat into execution. On the 29th Mr.

Smith O'Brien appeared on Boulagh Common with increased forces, who

surrounded the house in which the constabulary were shut up. He went

into the cabbage garden to speak to the police at an open window. He

addressed one of the men, and earnestly pressed them to surrender and

give up their arms. The constable said he would call Mr. Trant. That

gentleman immediately hastened to the spot; but the rebel chief had

taken his departure. Apprehending an attack, Mr. Trant immediately

ordered his men to fire, when a battle commenced, which speedily

terminated in the defeat of the rebels, of whom two were killed and

several wounded. Two shots were aimed at Smith O'Brien without effect;

but one of them hit a rebel who was standing by his side brandishing

a pike. He was killed on the spot. Another party of police under the

command of Mr. Cox, and accompanied by Mr. French, the stipendiary

magistrate, came up at the instant, and fired on the rebels, after

which they fled in the greatest disorder. Eighteen were killed, and a

large number wounded. The police suffered no loss whatever. A large

detachment of the 83rd Regiment and about 150 of the constabulary,

with Inspector Blake, hastened to the defence of the besieged party;

but when they arrived the danger was over, and the police returned to

Callan. That evening twenty signal fires blazed on the mountain of

Slieve-na-mon. Next day, being Sunday, the military did not attend

public worship, and were everywhere kept on the alert. The greatest

excitement appeared amongst the peasantry at the Roman Catholic

chapels, who were in hourly expectation of being called upon to act,

the most anxious solicitude being painted upon the countenances of the

women. There is no doubt, from the temper of the population, that had

the priests given the word, there would have been a general rising. But

they almost universally condemned the conduct of the leaders as insane,

and as certain to involve them and all who joined them in destruction.

In the meantime, General Macdonald, at the head of his flying

column, consisting of 1,700 men, pursued the insurgents, while troops

and artillery were poured into Clonmel, Kilkenny, and Thurles. Near

the latter place General Macdonald encamped on the domain of Turtulla,

the seat of Mr. Maher, M.P. The butchers of Thurles refused to supply

the men with meat, and consequently provisions had to be brought from

the commissariat stores at Limerick, and large quantities of biscuits

from Dublin, the people having broken into the house of the baker who

supplied them with bread at Thurles and destroyed his furniture.

[Illustration: _By permission, from the Picture in the Corporation of

Leicester Art Gallery._

AN IRISH EVICTION, 1850.

FROM THE PAINTING BY F. GOODALL, R.A.]

[Illustration: SMITH O'BRIEN.]

After the flight from Ballingarry, and the desertion of his followers,

Smith O'Brien abandoned the cause in despair, and concealed himself

for several days among the peasantry in a miserable state of mind.

He had none of the qualities of a rebel chief, and he had not at all

calculated the exigencies of the position that he had so rashly and

criminally assumed, involving the necessity of wholesale plunder and

sanguinary civil strife, from which his nature shrank. Besides, he

soon found that the people would not trust a Protestant leader, and

that there was, after all, no magic in the name of O'Brien for a Roman

Catholic community. But to the honour of the peasantry it should be

spoken, that though many of them were then on the verge of starvation,

not one of them yielded to the temptation of large rewards to betray

him or his fugitive colleagues, and several of them ran the risk of

transportation by giving them shelter. In these circumstances, on the

5th of August, Mr. O'Brien walked from his hiding-place in Keeper

Mountain into Thurles, where he arrived about eight o'clock in the

evening. He went immediately to the railway station to procure a

ticket for Limerick. On the platform there were seventeen constables in

plain clothes, who did not know him; but a railway guard named Hulme,

an Englishman, recognised him, and tapping him on the shoulder, he

presented a pistol at him and said, "You are the Queen's prisoner."

A strong escort of police was immediately procured, and the prisoner

was conveyed in a special train to Dublin, where he was lodged in

Kilmainham gaol.

Thus ended the rebellion of 1848, which had so long kept the country

in a state of alarm. It is true that some of the leaders headed small

bodies of insurgents in the county of Waterford, and attacked several

police barracks, but in none of the affrays were the insurgents

successful. The police, who were not more than one to fifty of the

rebels, routed them in every instance without any loss of life on

their part. The constabulary were then 10,000 strong in Ireland, and

Smith O'Brien confidently counted upon their desertion to his ranks;

but though the majority of the force were Roman Catholics, they were

loyal to a man. Dillon and O'Gorman had escaped to France, but Terence

McManus, a fine young man, who had given up a prosperous business as a

broker in Liverpool, to become an officer in the "Army of Liberation,"

was arrested in an American vessel proceeding from Cork to the United

States. A special commission for the trial of the prisoners was

opened on the 21st of September, at Clonmel, high treason having been

committed in the county Tipperary.

The trial of the chief prisoner lasted nine days. The jury brought in

a verdict of guilty, but unanimously and strongly prayed that his life

might be spared. It was generally understood that this recommendation

would be acted upon, especially as the insurgents had killed none of

the Queen's subjects, and their leader had done all in his power to

dissuade them from the perpetration of crime. McManus and Meagher were

next tried, and also found guilty, with a similar recommendation to

mercy. When they were asked why sentence of death should not be passed

upon them, Smith O'Brien answered that he was perfectly satisfied

with the consciousness of having performed his duty to his country,

and that he had done only what, in his opinion, it was the duty of

every Irishman to have done. This no doubt would have been very noble

language if there had been a certainty or even a likelihood that the

sentence of death would be executed, but as no one expected it, there

was perhaps a touch of the melodramatic in the tone of defiance adopted

by the prisoners. The Government acted towards them with the greatest

forbearance and humanity. They brought a writ of error before the House

of Lords on account of objections to the jury panel; but the sentence

of the court was confirmed. The sentence of death was commuted to

transportation for life; but they protested against this and insisted

on their legal right to be either hanged or set free, in consequence of

which an Act was passed quickly through Parliament to remove all doubt

about the right of the Crown to commute the sentence. The convicts were

sent to Van Diemen's Land, where they were allowed to go about freely,

on their parole. Meagher and McManus ultimately escaped to America,

and Smith O'Brien after some years obtained a free pardon, and was

permitted to return home to his family, but without feeling the least

gratitude to the Government, or losing the conviction that he had

only done his duty to his country. Mr. (afterwards Sir) Gavan Duffy

was tried for high treason in Dublin, in February, 1849, but the jury

disagreed. He was again tried in April following, when the same thing

occurred, and Mr. Duffy gave security to appear again, if required,

himself in £1,000.

It was not to be expected that the difficulties of Ireland would have

passed away with the paroxysm of the crisis through which that nation

had been working into a better state of existence. The social evils of

that country were too deep-rooted and too extensive to be got rid of

suddenly. The political disturbances above recorded, coming immediately

after the famine, tended to retard the process of recovery. Another

failure of the potato crop caused severe distress in some parts of the

country, while in the poorer districts the pressure upon the rates

had a crushing effect upon the owners of land, which was, perhaps, in

the majority of cases, heavily encumbered. This led to the passing of

a measure for the establishment of a "rate in aid," in the Session

of 1849, by which the burden of supporting the poor was more equally

divided, and a portion of it placed upon the shoulders most able to

bear it. In anticipation of this rate the Chancellor of the Exchequer,

Sir Charles Wood, proposed an advance of £100,000 to meet the existing

pressure. The proposed "rate in aid" was sixpence in the pound, to be

levied in every union in Ireland, towards a general fund for the relief

of the poor, and this was connected with a provision that the maximum

rate should not exceed five shillings in the pound in any electoral

division. The proposition of the Government, with the exception of the

maximum rate clause, was agreed to after a good deal of discussion and

various amendments. In the House of Lords the Bill was carried with

difficulty, after much discussion and the moving of various amendments.

But at length the Legislature adopted a measure which attempted to

go to the root of one of the greatest evils that afflicted Ireland.

This was a Bill for facilitating the transfer of encumbered estates,

which was passed into law, and is generally known as the Encumbered

Estates Act. It was introduced by the Solicitor-General, Sir Samuel

Romilly, on the 26th of April. Nothing could be more unsatisfactory

than the state of landed property in that country. Many of the estates

had been in Chancery for a long series of years, under the management

of receivers, and periodically let at rack-rents. Many others which

were not in Chancery were so heavily mortgaged that the owners were

merely nominal. Others again were so tied up by family settlements,

or held by such defective titles, that they could not be transferred.

Consequently, a great portion of the landed property of the country

was in such a condition that capital could not be invested in it, or

expended on it. The course of proceeding in Chancery was so slow,

so expensive, so ruinous, and the court was so apparently incapable

of reform, that nothing could be expected from that quarter. The

Government, therefore, proposed to establish a commission, invested

with all the powers of that court, and capable of exercising those

powers in a summary manner, without delay and without expense, so

that an encumbered estate could be at once sold, either wholly or in

part, and a parliamentary title given, which should be good against

all the world. This important measure met with general approval in

both Houses. Indeed it was hailed with satisfaction by all classes of

the community, with the exception of a portion of the Irish landed

gentry. There were three commissioners appointed, lawyers of eminence

and experience in connection with land. By a subsequent enactment in

1849, it was regulated as a permanent institution, under the title of

the Landed Estates Court; the three commissioners were styled judges,

ranking with the judges of the Law Courts. The number of petitions or

applications for sale made to this court from the 17th of October,

1849, to the 1st of August, 1850, was 1,085, and of this number those

by owners amounted to 177--nearly one-sixth of the whole. The rental

of the estates thus sought to be sold by the nominal proprietors,

anxious to be relieved of their burdens, was £195,000 per annum, and

the encumbrances affecting them amounted to no less than £3,260,000.

The rental of the estates included in 1,085 applications, made by

others not owners, amounted to £655,470 per annum, and the debt upon

these amounted to the enormous sum of £12,400,348. One of the estates

brought before the court had been in Chancery for seventy years, the

original bill having been filed by Lord Mansfield in 1781. The estates

were broken up into parcels for the convenience of purchasers, many of

whom were the occupying tenants, and the great majority were Irishmen.

Generally the properties brought their full value, estimated by the

poor-law valuation, not by the rack rents which were set down in the

agents' books, but never recovered. The amount of capital that lay

dormant in Ireland, waiting for investment in land, may be inferred

from the fact that in nine years--from 1849 to 1858--the sum of

twenty-two millions sterling was paid for 2,380 estates. But in the

pacification of Ireland the Act accomplished far less than was hoped by

Sir Robert Peel, who practically forced the measure upon the Ministry.

Men of capital looked for a fair percentage for their investments: many

of them were merchants and solicitors, without any of the attachments

that subsisted between the old race of landlords and their tenants,

and they naturally dealt with land as they did with other matters--in

a commercial spirit--and evicted wholesale tenants who were unable to

pay.

Soon after the prorogation of Parliament in the autumn her Majesty

resolved to pay her first visit to her Irish subjects. At Cowes a royal

squadron was in readiness to convoy the _Victoria and Albert_ across

the Channel. The Queen was accompanied by Prince Albert, the Prince of

Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice. The

royal yacht anchored alongside the _Ganges_, her arrival off the Irish

coast being announced by the booming of artillery on the 2nd of August,

which was the signal for the lighting of bonfires upon the hills

around the picturesque town of Cove. In the morning a deputation went

on board, consisting of the Marquis of Thomond, head of the house of

O'Brien, the Earl of Bandon and several of the nobility and gentry of

the county, with the Mayor of Cork, and Mr. Fagan, M.P. for that city.

They were introduced to her Majesty by Sir George Grey, the Secretary

of State in attendance during the visit. Arrangements were then made

for the landing, and about three o'clock the Queen first set foot upon

Irish ground, amidst the most enthusiastic demonstrations of loyalty

from the multitudes assembled to bid their Sovereign welcome, mingling

their cheers with the roar of cannon, which reverberated from the hills

around. A pavilion had been erected for her Majesty's reception, and

over it floated a banner, with the word "Cove" emblazoned upon it.

The Queen had consented, at the request of the inhabitants, to change

the name of the place and call it "Queenstown," and when she left the

pavilion the first flag was pulled down and another erected in its

stead, with the new name. Thus the old name of "Cove" was extinguished

by the Queen's visit, just as the old name of "Dunleary" had been

extinguished by the visit of George IV.

The royal party then proceeded up the beautiful river Lee, to the city

of Cork, hailed by cheering crowds at every point along the banks

where a sight of the Queen could be obtained. All the population of

the capital of Munster seemed to have turned out to do homage to their

Sovereign. A procession was quickly formed. The Queen and the Royal

Family occupied carriages lent for the occasion by Lord Bandon. The

procession passed under several beautiful triumphal arches, erected at

different points. The public buildings and many private houses were

adorned with banners of every hue, evergreens, and all possible signs

of rejoicing. The windows, balconies, and all available positions

were crowded by the citizens, cheering and waving their hats and

handkerchiefs. When this ceremony had been gone through, the Queen

returned to the _Victoria and Albert_ in Queenstown Harbour. At night

the whole of that town was brilliantly illuminated. In Cork, also, the

public buildings and the principal streets were lit up in honour of her

Majesty's visit. Her Majesty, before she departed, was pleased to say

to Sir Thomas Deane that "nothing could be more gratifying" than her

reception.

About ten o'clock on the morning of the 4th of August the squadron

weighed anchor for Dublin Bay. They passed that night in Waterford

Harbour, and arrived at Kingstown on the afternoon of the following

day. When the Queen appeared on deck there was a tremendous burst

of cheering, which was renewed again and again, especially when the

_Victoria and Albert_ amidst salutes from yachts and steamers, swung

round at anchor, head to wind. At that time it is calculated that

there must have been 40,000 people present. Monday, the 6th of August,

was an auspicious day for the Irish metropolis. It opened with a

brilliant sun, and from an early hour all the population of Dublin

seemed astir. Trains began to run to Kingstown as early as half-past

six, and from that hour to noon the multitudes poured in by sea and

land in order to see and welcome their Queen. The Earl of Clarendon

(the Lord-Lieutenant), Lady Clarendon, Prince George of Cambridge, the

Marquis of Lansdowne, Sir Edward Blakeney, Commander of the Forces,

the Archbishop of Dublin, the Duke of Leinster, the chief judges, and

a number of peers and leading gentry, arrived early to welcome the

Sovereign. There was also a deputation from the county of Dublin,

consisting of the High Sheriff, Mr. Ennis, Lords Charlemont, Brabazon,

Howth, Monck, Roebuck, and others. The Queen landed at ten o'clock.

The excitement and tumultuous joy at that moment cannot be described.

There was a special train in waiting to convey the Queen to Dublin,

which stopped at Sandymount Station, where the procession was to be

formed. In addition to the innumerable carriages waiting to take

their places, there was a cavalcade of the gentry of the county and a

countless multitude of pedestrians. The procession began to move soon

after ten o'clock, passing over Ball's Bridge and on through Baggot

Street. At Baggot Street Bridge the city gate was erected. All was

enthusiasm, exultation, and joy. Nobody could then have imagined that

only one short year before there had been in this very city bands of

rebels arming themselves against the Queen's authority. All traces of

rebellion, disaffection, discontent and misery were forgotten in that

demonstration of loyalty.

On Monday night the whole city was brilliantly illuminated. The

excitement of the multitude had time to cool next day, for it rained

incessantly from morning till night. But the rain did not keep the

Queen in-doors. She was out early through the city, visiting the Bank

of Ireland, the National Model Schools, the University, and the Royal

Hospital at Kilmainham. There she cheered the hearts of the brave old

pensioners by saying, "I am glad indeed to see you all so comfortable."

The illuminations were repeated this evening with, if possible,

increased splendour, and the streets were filled with people in every

direction, all behaving in the most orderly manner. Her Majesty

held a levee in Dublin Castle on Wednesday, which was attended by

unprecedented numbers. On Thursday she witnessed a grand review in the

Phœnix Park, and held a Drawing-room in her palace in the evening. The

Queen left Dublin on Friday evening, followed to the railway station by

immense multitudes, cheering and blessing as only enthusiastic Celts

can cheer and bless. The scene at the embarkation in Kingstown Harbour

was very touching. The whole space and the piers were crowded as when

she arrived. The cheering and waving of handkerchiefs seemed to affect

her Majesty as the royal yacht moved slowly out towards the extremity

of the pier near the lighthouse. She left the two ladies-in-waiting

with whom she was conversing on deck, ran up to the paddle-box, and,

taking her place beside Prince Albert, she gazed upon the scene before

her, graciously waving her hand in response to the parting salutations

of her loyal Irish subjects. She appeared to give some order to the

commander, the paddles immediately ceased to move, and the vessel

merely floated on; the royal standard was lowered in courtesy to the

cheering thousands on shore; and this stately obeisance was repeated

five times. This incident produced a deep impression on the hearts of

the people, and it was this picture that dwelt longest on their minds.

[Illustration: THE QUEEN AT KILMAINHAM HOSPITAL. (_See p._ 572.)]

After a rough passage the squadron arrived, at three in the morning,

in Carrickfergus Road, about seven miles from Belfast. The water in

the Channel was not deep enough for the _Victoria and Albert_, and the

royal party went on board the _Fairy_ tender, in which they rapidly

glided up the lough, and anchored at the quay, where they landed in

order to see the town. Loyal mottoes told, in every form of expression,

the welcome of the inhabitants of the capital of Ulster. An arch of

grand architectural proportions, richly decorated with floral ornaments

and waving banners, spanned the High Street. Her Majesty visited the

Queen's College and the Linen Hall. Although a flourishing city,

Belfast had not then much to boast of architecturally, and therefore

there was not much to be seen. The numerous mills about the town

would remind the Queen more of Lancashire than of Ireland, giving her

assurance by that same token that Ulster was the most industrious

and most prosperous province of the Emerald Isle. If, in Cork, where

O'Connell had been obeyed almost as Sovereign of the country, the Queen

was hailed with such enthusiastic devotion, how intense must have been

the loyal demonstrations in a town out of which the Repeal chief was

obliged to fly secretly, to avoid being stoned to death.

CHAPTER XX.