1841-1846.
Unpopularity of the Whigs--Fall of the Melbourne
Ministry--Peel's Cabinet--The Afghan War--Murder of Sir A.
Burnes and Sir W. Macnaghten--The Retreat from
Cabul--Annihilation of the British Force--The Corn Duties--The
Pioneers of Free Trade--Failure of Potato Crop in Ireland--Lord
John Russell's conversion to Free Trade--Peel and Repeal--Rupture
of the Tory Party--The Corn Duties repealed--Defeat and
Resignation of the Government--Review of Peel's Administration.
[Sidenote: Unpopularity of the Whigs]
The closing months of the Melbourne Ministry afford melancholy matter
for chronicle. The Government went on steadily losing popularity in the
country and forfeiting respect in Parliament. The sword, long impending,
descended at last. Mr. Baring, who had succeeded Spring Rice as
Chancellor of the Exchequer, had to confess to a deficiency in his
Budget of nearly two millions, which he proposed to meet by a
re-adjustment of the sugar and timber duties, which brought about the
defeat of the Government by a majority of thirty-six. Still, Ministers
did not resign. Russell had determined at length to make a bid for the
Free Trade vote, and gave notice of his intention to propose a permanent
reduction in the duty on corn. But the announcement fell flatly; people
only saw in this sudden conversion another desperate effort to retain
office, for the Whigs hitherto had been inflexible in resistance to Free
Trade demands. Melbourne had sworn roundly that of all the mad projects
he had ever heard of the surrender of duties was the maddest; and
Russell had been equally explicit, though employing fewer expletives.
The duty on imported corn had been established by legislation in 1815,
and was on a sliding scale according to current prices. The impost was
27_s._ on each quarter of wheat when the price fell below 60_s._, and
diminished in proportion as the price rose till it stood at 1_s._ when
the price of the quarter was 73_s._ and upwards.
[Illustration: TELEGRAPH CABLE SHIP "MONARCH."
This ship was built and is maintained by the Post Office specially for
the laying and repairing of submarine telegraph cables. She is fitted
with sheaves in the bows, over which the cables are led. The "Alert" is
another ship employed for the same purpose.]
[Illustration: A PORTION OF A TELEGRAPHIC OPERATING ROOM AT THE GENERAL
POST OFFICE, LONDON.
The number of telegraphic messages transmitted from the various London
offices in the year 1895-6 was 27,025,193, and the total for the United
Kingdom, 78,839,610. As many as six messages--three in each
direction--are now transmitted along a single wire at the same time.]
[Sidenote: Fall of the Melbourne Ministry.]
The next move in Parliament was a vote of no confidence, moved by Sir
Robert Peel, and then at last Lord John Russell announced that Her
Majesty had been advised to dissolve Parliament immediately. Writs were
made returnable on August 19, by which date the political tables had
been completely turned. The Conservatives who went to the country in a
minority of thirty returned with a majority of seventy-six. It is
notable that in recording this result the _Annual Register_ for the
first time exchanges the title of Whigs for that of Liberals.
[Sidenote: Peel's Cabinet.]
[Sidenote: The Afghan War.]
Before following the fortunes of the Administration formed by Sir Robert
Peel, reference must be made to mournful news which, while people at
home were crowding round the hustings and polling booths, were slowly
approaching this country from Central Asia. The most serious reverse to
British policy and the greatest disaster to British arms which have
happened in the present century were the outcome of events which may
thus briefly be recapitulated. In 1837 Captain Alexander Burnes,
Orientalist and traveller, arrived as British agent at Cabul, capital of
the province of that name, in the north of Afghanistan. The Prince of
that fragment of the ancient Empire of Ahmed Shah was Dost Mahomed Khan,
an usurper, it is true, but a popular hero, a soldier of remarkable
ability, and a sagacious and bold ruler. Dost professed the friendliest
feelings towards England, but, for some reasons now unknown, was
profoundly distrusted by the Foreign Office. Captain Burnes thoroughly
trusted Dost, but his repeated assurance failed to convince his
employers that in his disputes with neighbouring States, Dost greatly
preferred relying on English influence to accepting the advances
continually made to him by Russia and Persia. Burnes was instructed to
regard Dost as dangerously treacherous, and at last Lord Auckland,
Governor-General of India, made a treaty with Runjeet Singh, hostile to
Dost, and with the purpose of restoring Shah Soojah-ool-Moolk, whom Dost
had deposed from the throne of Cabul. A British force invaded Cabul,
overthrew the brave Dost, and enthroned Soojah, whom nobody wanted. But
Dost Mahomed was a foe of no ordinary mettle. On November 2, 1840, he
encountered the allied force of the English and Shah Sooja at
Purwandurrah, and if he did not actually win the battle, the gallantry
of his Afghan cavalry caused it to be drawn. Dost, however, was too wise
to believe that he could resist for long the force of England. On the
evening after the battle he rode into his enemy's camp and placed his
sword in the hand of Sir W. Macnaghten, the British Envoy at Soojah's
Court. Dost was honourably treated, his sword was returned to him, he
was sent to India and provided with a residence and pension.
[Illustration: _J. Doyle_ ("_H. B._").
LORD AUCKLAND,
1784-1849.
Governor-General of India, 1835-1841.]
[Sidenote: Murder of Sir A. Burnes and Sir W. Macnaghten.]
But Dost was the darling of his people. They hated Soojah, whom the
English had forced on them, and they rose in revolt against him. Burnes
was the earliest victim, for although, in truth, he had all along stood
stoutly for Dost, the insurgents believed him to have betrayed their
ruler. He and his brother and all their party, man, woman, and child,
were hacked to pieces. Akbar Khan, second and favourite son of Dost
Mahomed, now put himself at the head of the insurrection, and the
shameful part of the story began. Hitherto, there had been blunders
enough in English dealings with this brave people: but there is nothing
to blush for in blunders provided they are clear of disgrace; one
cannot, however, ignore the truth that, after a few weeks' fighting,
British troops, having been repeatedly beaten, became so demoralised
that their officers could not get them to stand before the fierce
Afghans. General Elphinstone, the chief in command, was an experienced,
able soldier; but his health had broken down before the insurrection
began, and he had written to the Governor-General begging to be relieved
of his command, which he felt he was physically unfit to continue.
Unfortunately there was some delay in appointing his successor, and the
trouble came before Elphinstone could be relieved. Against the personal
courage of Brigadier Shelton, the second in command, no reflections have
ever been made, but he proved lamentably supine at moments when prompt
action was most required. Affairs went from bad to worse with the
British force in cantonments outside Cabul, until at last Elphinstone,
grievously weakened by disease, could be brought to contemplate no
course but abject surrender. Abject surrender! not quite unconditional,
it is true, but on most humiliating terms, including the release of Dost
Mahomed and the immediate evacuation of Cabul by the British.
[Illustration: _Sir Keith A. Jackson._} {_From "Sketches in
Afghanistan."_
CABUL IN 1839.
Cabul, the seat of government of the Ameer of Afghanistan, is at the
present time (1897) an open town, though it was formerly surrounded by
walls of brick and mud. The only building of any importance is the Bala
Hissar, or Citadel, containing the apartments of the Ameer. Besides
being a place of great strategic importance, Cabul is the centre of the
trade of Central Asia.]
Bad as this was there was darker disgrace to come. The evacuation was
delayed--on the part of the British from a foolish "Micawber" hope that
"something would turn up"--on the part of the Afghans, no doubt, in
order that the advent of winter should make the passes impracticable.
Macnaghten, the British Envoy, seems to have been infected by the
prevailing demoralisation, and fell into a trap prepared for him by
Akbar Khan. At the very moment when he (Macnaghten) was negotiating
openly with the chiefs in Cabul he entered into a conspiracy with Akbar
to destroy them, to establish Shah Soojah as nominal monarch, and to
secure the appointment of Akbar as Vizier. Macnaghten's punishment made
no long tarrying, for Akbar was acting a subtle part. Macnaghten,
accompanied by three officers, rode out one morning to a conference with
Akbar on the west bank of the Cabul river. It was a solitary place, as
befitted the discussion of the contemplated treachery, but they had not
been conferring long before they were surrounded by a crowd of armed
country people. The British officers remonstrated with Akbar; at that
moment Macnaghten and his companions were seized from behind; a scuffle
took place; Akbar drew a pistol, a gift from the Envoy himself, and shot
him in the body. Macnaghten fell from his horse and was instantly hewn
in pieces; Captain Trevor was killed also, and the other two officers,
Mackenzie and Laurence, were carried off to the town.
[Illustration: _J. Doyle_ ("_H. B._").}
LORD ELLENBOROUGH,
1790-1871.
Governor-General of India, 1841-1844.]
[Illustration: _W. Simpson, R.I._} {_From Sketches and Descriptions
obtained on the spot._
THE REMNANT OF AN ARMY.
The gate shown is the Cabul Gate of Jellalabad. It was from the top of
that gate that the sentry on duty first caught sight of the solitary
figure, clad in sheepskin coat and riding a bay pony, lean, hungry, and
tired, who alone survived the massacres in the Khyber and Jugdulluck
Passes. Dr. Brydon's form was bent from weakness, and he was so worn out
with fatigue that he could scarcely cling to the saddle. The
snow-covered mountain in the background is the Ram Koond.]
[Sidenote: The Retreat from Cabul.]
[Sidenote: Annihilation of the British Force.]
Deeper and deeper grows the horror--more profound the shame--as the
story proceeds. General Elphinstone and Brigadier Shelton lay in their
cantonments with 4,500 fighting men, with guns, and camp followers to
the number of 12,000. Macnaghten's bloody remains were dragged in
triumph through the streets of Cabul, yet not an arm was raised to
avenge him. Major Eldred Pottinger was for cutting their way out and
dying on the field, but no one would listen to him: negotiations were
opened with Akbar Khan, and the British force were allowed to march out,
leaving all their guns except six, all their treasure and six officers
as hostages. They started, upwards of 16,000 souls, to march through the
stupendous Khyber Pass to Jellalabad in the very depth of winter. Akbar
Khan's safe-conduct proved the shadow of a shade; either he would not,
or, as seems to have been the case, he could not, protect them from
hordes of fanatic Ghilzies, who hovered along the route--shooting,
stabbing, mutilating the wretched fugitives. Akbar, indeed rode with
Elphinstone, and probably it was true, as he declared, that he could do
nothing with his handful of horse to keep off the infuriated hillmen. At
last it became evident that a choice must be made of a few who might be
saved either from a bloody death or from perishing of cold in the snow
and searching wind. Akbar proposed to take all the women and children
into his own custody and convey them to Peshawur. The awful nature of
the dilemma may be imagined when such a proposal was agreed to. Lady
Macnaghten was placed in charge of the assassin of her husband: with her
went Lady Sale, Mrs. Trevor, and eight other Englishwomen; and, as an
extreme favour, a few married men were allowed to accompany their wives.
General Elphinstone and two other officers were also taken as hostages.
The rest struggled on as far as the Jugdulluck Pass. Then came the end:
the hillsides were crowded with fierce mountaineers; the 44th Regiment
were ordered to the front; they mutinied and threatened to shoot their
officers, broke their ranks, and were cut down in detail by the Afghans.
A general massacre followed. Out of more than 16,000 souls who marched
out of Cabul, a sorry score of fugitives were all that left that
horrible defile alive. Sixteen miles from Jellalabad, only six remained:
still the murdering knife was plied, until, at last, one solitary
haggard man, Dr. Brydon, rode into Jellalabad to tell of the literal
annihilation of the army of Cabul, and announce to General Sale,
commanding in that place, that his wife was in the hands of Akbar Khan.
There is little more to add. It had been part of Elphinstone's shameful
bargain with Akbar Khan that Jellalabad and Candahar should be evacuated
before the army of Cabul should reach the former place, and orders had
been sent to General Sale in Jellalabad and General Nott in Candahar to
abandon these towns. Luckily, these officers were of the right British
stamp, and they refused to obey. Akbar Khan besieged Sale in Jellalabad;
Sale not only held that place but gave battle to the Afghans outside the
fort, routed them, and made ready to co-operate with General Nott at
Candahar for a forward movement on Cabul. But the faculties of Lord
Auckland, the Governor-General, seemed paralysed. Regardless of British
prestige, the very keystone of our rule in India, he ordered the
precipitate recall of all the troops in Afghanistan. Luckily, again, his
term of office was just drawing to a close, and Lord Ellenborough came
out to take the reins of government. At first he issued a proclamation
endorsing the withdrawal from Afghanistan, but more spirited counsel
prevailed in the end. The re-conquest of Cabul was accomplished by the
entry of General Pollock into the capital on September 15, 1842, when it
was found that the unfortunate Shah Soojah had paid the penalty of the
greatness thrust on him by English diplomacy, and had been assassinated
by the people he had been set to rule. Of the English ladies and
children who had been taken under the protection of Akbar Khan the story
has been written in a once famous book, Lady Sale's _Journal_. The
husband of that lady, General Sir Robert Sale, was sent to recover the
captives, who had suffered innumerable hardships. General Elphinstone
had died--the best thing that could happen for his fame; the rest were
found in a hill fort in the Indian Caucasus, in charge of a chief, who,
having heard of Akbar Khan's defeat, was easily bribed to surrender his
trust. The retreat from Cabul had begun on January 6, but the news did
not reach England till March 7.
[Illustration: _Thomas Sully._} {_By permission of Messrs. Graves._
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN 1838.
This portrait was painted from life at Buckingham Palace by Mr. Sully,
an American Artist, whose daughter, about the same age as Her Majesty,
took the Queen's place and wore the jewels while these were being
painted into the picture. Her Majesty came in while the young lady was
thus attired and conversed with her.]
[Illustration: _F. Winterhalter._} {_By permission of Messrs. Graves._
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, ABOUT 1845.
This illustration is from a very beautiful coloured lithograph prepared
in 1851 in compliance with Her Majesty's kind suggestion that a portrait
should be prepared which, in those days of expensive prints, might be
sold at a price within the reach of her less well-to-do subjects.]
[Sidenote: The Corn Duties.]
The Tories--or, as they must in future be called, the Conservatives--had
been carried to power by a strong wave of reaction in 1841, but it was
the destiny of their leader, Sir Robert Peel, to shake the fabric of the
Party to its base. There was a story current, of dubious authenticity,
about this statesman, how that in his early days his father, also Sir
Robert, warned Lord Liverpool that if the young man did not get office
immediately he would go over to the Whigs and be lost to his party,
whereupon Liverpool immediately appointed him Irish Secretary. No doubt
Peel was far more disposed for progress and reform than the average
Whig, and there was something paradoxical in the fate that made him
leader of the Tories. At first all went smoothly; the leader of the
House of Commons was chief of the Ministerial forces and master of the
Opposition also. But the first note of approaching storm was sounded on
the eve of the meeting of Parliament in February, 1842. The Duke of
Buckingham, Lord Privy Seal, resigned his office and seat in the Cabinet
on January 31. The reason for this, as the Duke afterwards announced in
Parliament, lay in the following expression in the Queen's Speech:--"I
recommend to your consideration the state of the laws which affect the
importation of corn, and of other articles, the produce of foreign
countries." This little sentence, wedged in among the usual ceremonial
or occasional paragraphs, contained the kernel of the Ministerial
programme, and at once excited extraordinary interest in the country. On
February 9, when Peel was to propound his scheme, the delegates of the
Anti-Corn Law League marched down in procession to Westminster, and it
required all the force of the police on duty to keep them from taking
possession of the lobby of the House of Commons.
[Illustration: _Lowes Dickinson._} {_National Portrait Gallery._
RICHARD COBDEN, 1804-1865.
The son of a yeoman farmer in Sussex. Entered Parliament as Member for
Stockport in 1841 and immediately took the lead in the House of Commons
of the party identified with the cause of Free Trade, a cause he had
already done much to strengthen. He opposed the Crimean War, and brought
about the fall of the Palmerston Government in 1857, by carrying a vote
condemning their action in regard to the Chinese War. He negotiated the
commercial treaty with France in 1860.]
[Illustration: _Frank Holl, R.A._} {_By permission of the Birmingham
Liberal Association._
JOHN BRIGHT, 1811-1889.
He was the son of a Rochdale cotton spinner; entered Parliament as M.P.
for Durham in 1843, and represented Manchester 1847-54, and Birmingham
from that date to his death. He was appointed President of the Board of
Trade in 1868, and in 1873 and again in 1881 Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and one of the
most eloquent and convincing speakers of the century. He is principally
remembered for his advocacy of the Repeal of the Corn Laws.]
[Sidenote: The Pioneers of Free Trade.]
[Sidenote: Failure of Potato Crop in Ireland.]
This League was a remarkable organisation under a no less remarkable
leader. Richard Cobden, the son of a yeoman farmer, was employed in his
youth in a London warehouse, and then became partner in a Manchester
cotton factory. He first attracted notice as a pamphleteer, attacking
some of the most cherished traditions of British statesmanship. He
travelled far and wide on the business of his firm, and in every country
he visited his thoughtful mind gathered material for the doctrines
inseparably associated with his name. He first entered Parliament in
1841, being recognised at that time as the leader of the movement in
the country against the corn duties. Mr. Charles Villiers had won for
himself the position of parliamentary head of the Free Trade party;
to him Cobden came not as a rival but as a wise, resourceful ally. A
third figure was soon to be added to this famous group in the person
of John Bright, a Quaker manufacturer in Rochdale. A notable trio,
each supplying the complement of the other's qualities; Villiers, of
aristocratic birth and connections, well acquainted with the rules and
peculiar temperament of the House of Commons, ardent, industrious,
and well informed; Cobden, a man of the people, temperate, just,
"the apostle of common-sense," and singularly persuasive; Bright,
intensely--sternly in earnest, possessing gifts of oratory denied to
his colleagues, but exercising them with a discretion rare among fluent
speakers. Lastly, one attribute shared equally by each of the three
men--absolute integrity and complete disinterestedness. They were
Radicals, but they dissociated themselves from all ties of political
party, looking for no reward from either side, but ready to support any
Minister who would carry out their views. Their appeal was addressed
to the understanding, not to the passions, of men: their aim was to
secure cheap food for the masses, but they never stooped to inflammatory
tirades against the classes. Hence the steady, rapid growth of the
League, and its irresistible influence on the Queen's Ministers. Mr.
Villiers had advocated for many years the total abolition of the corn
duties, and nothing less would now satisfy the League. Russell, who
scouted the very idea of absolutely free imports, had yielded so far as
to propose, in 1841, a fixed duty on foreign corn, greatly less than
the existing rate, which varied between 27_s._ and 1_s._ per quarter,
according to the market price. Peel came forward in 1842 with a more
liberal remission of duty, but although his Bill was passed by a very
large majority, all it did was to make the country party behind him
uneasy without conciliating the Anti-Corn Law people. No one but men
of the Manchester school--"Cobdenites," as they afterwards came to be
called--no one, either Whig or Tory, dreamt of denying that protection
was desirable, even necessary, for agriculture. Peel's first measure
was framed to protect wheat growers against a fall in the average
price below 56_s._ a quarter, and also to protect the consumer against
a higher price. But the corn duties had been fixed in 1815: a whole
generation had grown up under them: their outworks could not be tampered
with without risking the stability of the whole structure. It required
a momentum of extraordinary force to carry the movement against them
to success. That impetus came, in the autumn of 1845, from two sources
equally unforeseen. First arrived news of a destructive disease, wasting
the potato crop in Ireland. Potatoes had grown to be to the Irish
peasant what wheat is to English, what oats still were to Scottish
labourers. The Government were informed that one-third of the food of
the people was already destroyed, that the disease was still spreading,
and no estimate could be formed of how much of the crop could be saved.
Deadly disaster was imminent, and the Cabinet was summoned to many
anxious deliberations. The Prime Minister advocated that in order to
avert famine all ports should be thrown open to corn ships. He coupled
this advice with the warning that, once the duties were suspended,
he did not think it would be possible to re-establish them. The
warning weighed more with the Cabinet than the advice. Three Ministers
only--Lord Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, and Sidney Herbert--supported
Peel's proposal. It was set aside, and a Commission was appointed
instead to take measures to mitigate the immediate necessity in Ireland.
[Illustration: _Designed by J. Flaxman, R.A._} {_In the Royal
Collection._
SILVER GILT BOWL.
This beautiful specimen of art workmanship was made for King George IV.
when Prince of Wales; the gilding alone cost £2,000. The ladle was made
for the baptism of the present Prince of Wales.]
[Illustration: _H. G. Hine._} {_From "Punch."_
GENUINE AGITATION.
_A Scene from "Julius Cæsar," with Wellington as Ghost._
In reply to questions drawing attention to the Repeal Agitation in
Ireland, the Duke of Wellington in the Lords, and Sir Robert Peel in the
Commons, expressed (May 9, 1843) the resolution of the Government to
uphold the Union at all costs, and hinted at the probable adoption of
coercive measures. The artist has made O'Connell himself the victim of
agitation at this implied threat.]
[Illustration: _R. Doyle._} {_From "Punch."_
PAPA COBDEN TAKING MASTER ROBERT A FREE TRADE WALK.
The reference is to Sir Robert Peel's gradual conversion to the views of
the "Manchester School."]
[Illustration: _Sir G. Hayter._} {_In the Royal Collection._
1. Her Majesty the Queen.
2. Prince Consort.
3. Duke of Cambridge.
4. Duke Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
5. Princess Augusta of Cambridge.
6. Duchess of Cambridge.
7. Duchess of Kent.
8. King of Prussia.
9. Earl Delawarr, Lord Chamberlain.
10. Earl of Liverpool, Lord Steward.
11. Duke of Sussex.
12. Duchess of Buccleuch, Mistress of the Robes.
13. Bishop of London.
14. Archbishop of Canterbury.
15. Prince George of Cambridge.
THE CHRISTENING OF THE PRINCE OF WALES IN ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR,
January 25, 1842.]
[Sidenote: Lord John Russell's conversion to Free Trade.]
The other source of impetus referred to was Lord John Russell's
declaration at this juncture of his total conversion to the principle of
free trade in corn. His proposed modification in 1841 of the duties had
been less liberal than that of Peel in 1842. It had been a fixed duty
instead of a sliding scale. But there is no reason to doubt the
sincerity of his conversion or to suspect him of merely desiring to gain
a party advantage. The circumstances of the Anti-Corn Law party at the
moment were not such as to tempt the leader of the Opposition to embrace
their programme out of a mere desire to steal a march on his opponents.
[Illustration: 1837. 1897.
456,000 1,065,487
Tonnage of Colonial Shipping. Same scale as larger diagram.]
[Illustration: 1837.--2,335,000 tons. 1897.--12,293,539 tons.
THE GROWTH OF BRITISH COMMERCE, AS INDICATED BY THE TONNAGE OF BRITISH
SHIPS IN 1837 AND IN 1897.
The diagram illustrates at once the difference in type between the ships
of the two dates, and the increase in tonnage of the whole mercantile
marine, the latter being indicated by the comparative lengths of the
ships. Each dotted square represents a million tons.]
[Illustration: SECTION OF THE "GREAT EASTERN," THE LARGEST SHIP EVER
BUILT.
The "Great Eastern" was designed by Mr. Isambard K. Brunel, and built by
Mr. Scott Russell of Millwall, at a cost of £732,000. Her keel was laid
in May 1854 and she was launched on January 31, 1858. Her length was 692
feet; width between bulwarks, 83 feet; height, 60 feet; tonnage, 22,500;
displacement when loaded, 27,384 tons; horse-power, 11,000. 30,000
wrought-iron plates were used in her hulk. She was built on the
"cellular" principle, with two skins 2 feet apart, and driven by both
paddle wheels and screw. As a passenger steamer she did not succeed; but
she laid the first successful Atlantic cable (1866) and picked up and
repaired the earlier one which had parted in mid-ocean. She was
afterwards purchased for public exhibition and finally broken up in
1891.]
[Sidenote: Peel and Repeal.]
[Sidenote: Rupture of the Tory Party.]
The immediate effect of Russell's conversion, coming on the top of
alarming news from Ireland, was to send Peel forward on a course he had
been contemplating for years. He read a memorandum to the Cabinet on
December 2 recommending that Parliament should be summoned early in
January, and that he should submit a Bill for the practical and
immediate repeal of the Corn Laws. Lord Stanley and the Duke of
Buccleuch refused their support to this policy. The Duke of Wellington
said he was still in favour of maintaining the Corn Laws, but that if
Peel considered that their repeal was necessary for the maintenance of
his position "in Parliament and in the public view," he would support
the measure. The Cabinet adjourned till next day. By some accident--it
was said that a lady was the means of it--the _Times_ became possessed
of the secret, and on December 4 the startling announcement appeared in
its columns that the Cabinet had resolved on the Repeal of the Corn
Laws. The only modern parallel to the consternation ensuing in the clubs
and the country may be found in that which took place when, in 1886, it
was made known that Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet had decided to give Home
Rule to Ireland. Many refused to believe the statement in the _Times_,
alleging that it was impossible that a Cabinet secret could have leaked
out in this way. The _Standard_ published an emphatic, though not
authoritative, contradiction of the story. Excitement and dismay,
delight and disgust, contended for mastery wheresoever a few men
gathered together: in a few days all was known. Lord Stanley--the
"Rupert of debate," as Disraeli afterwards called him--and the Duke of
Buccleuch resigned their seats in the Cabinet. Peel would not consent to
proceed without the unanimous consent of his colleagues; on December 5
he went to Osborne and tendered his resignation to the Queen. Lord John
Russell was at once sent for to form a Ministry: he attempted to do so,
but failed: Lord Grey's distrust of Lord Palmerston's foreign policy
proving a fatal obstacle to it. Peel, on being required to do so by the
Queen, withdrew his resignation and resumed the duties of office. The
Duke of Buccleuch returned as Privy Seal, but Lord Stanley was not to be
reconciled, and Mr. Gladstone entered the Cabinet for the first time as
Colonial Secretary.
[Illustration: _J. Doyle_ ("_H. B._").} {_Political Sketches._
A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE CARES OF OFFICE AND THE EASE OF OPPOSITION.
Lord Aberdeen. Lord Palmerston.]
[Sidenote: The Corn Duties repealed.]
Parliament met on January 22, 1846. Expectation was at the boiling
point; it was one of those rare occasions, happening not more than once
or twice in an ordinary reign, when the ears of the whole country await
an announcement of interest to every class in it. Adopting an unusual,
almost unprecedented, course, the Prime Minister rose immediately after
the speeches of the mover and seconder of the Address: he entered into
no details of the measure foreshadowed in the Queen's Speech, but he
removed all shadow of doubt that the Ministry had resolved on the total
repeal of the corn duties. Those who know the ways of the House of
Commons will best understand the significance of a comment made by one
who was present. "He did not get a solitary cheer from the people behind
him except when he said that Stanley had always been against him ... and
then the whole of those benches rung with cheers." Perhaps nothing in
his speech gave deeper offence to his Party than the concluding
sentence, in which he declared that he found it "no easy task to ensure
the harmonious and united action of an ancient monarchy, a proud
aristocracy, and a reformed House of Commons."
[Illustration: _J. Doyle._ ("_H. B._").} {_Political Sketches, 1846._
AN AWKWARD SITUATION.
The Irish Famine of 1845 caused Sir Robert Peel to embrace the principle
of Free Trade; and his party, incensed at what they considered his
"treason," rejected his Coercion Bill, and brought about the fall of his
ministry.]
[Illustration: THE GROWTH OF MAIL STEAMERS REPRESENTED BY THE CUNARD
LINE FLEET FROM 1840 TO THE PRESENT DAY.
The year 1838 was the starting point of Atlantic Ocean racing. In that
year the _Great Western_ and the _Sirius_ crossed in 18 days and 15 days
respectively. The first Cunarder, the _Britannia_, appeared in 1840, and
made the westward passage in 14 days. The following year she crossed
eastward in 10 days. In 1851 the record was reduced to 9 days 18 hours
westward by the _Baltic_, and 9 days 20 hours 16 min. eastward by the
_Pacific_. In 1863 the _Scotia_, of the Cunard line, crossed eastward in
8 days 3 hours, and in the following year returned in 8 days 15 hours 45
min. Five years later the _City of Brussels_, of the Inman Line,
travelled between New York and Liverpool in 7 days 22 hours 3 min., but
the _Baltic_, of the White Star Line, lowered this by 2 hours four years
later. The _Arizona_ and _Alaska_ improved the speed between 1880 and
1885, the latter making the passage eastward in 6 days 22 hours. The
ill-fated _Oregon_ came eastward in 6 days 11 hours 9 min. in 1884,
while the _Etruria_ went westward in 6 days 1 hour 55 min. In 1889 the
_City of Paris_ lowered the eastward and westward journeys to 5 days 22
hours 50 min., and 5 days 19 hours 18 min., respectively, while two
years later the _Teutonic_ reduced this still further by 3 hours each
way. Finally the _Campania_ and _Lucania_ appeared in 1893, the latter
establishing the record eastwards of 5 days 8 hours 38 min. and
westwards of 5 days 7 hours 23 min. Mails have been carried per the
_Lucania_ between New York Post Office and the London Central Office in
156·7 hours.]
The spokesman of the angry Tories was one of whom much was to be heard
in coming years. Benjamin Disraeli had done nothing as yet to redeem the
apparently hopeless failure of his maiden speech in 1837. Outwardly, a
remarkable figure enough, in a Parliamentary sense he was no more than
obscure when he rose from his seat on the Government benches to lead the
first attack on the new policy. He was bitter, he was personal, but he
was adroitly opportune; and his fame as a statesman dates from that
day.
[Sidenote: Defeat and Resignation of the Government.]
[Illustration: _G. F. Watts, R.A._} {_In the National Portrait Gallery._
THE SEVENTH EARL OF SHAFTESBURY,
1801-1885.
The Rt. Hon. Anthony Ashley-Cooper entered Parliament, as M.P. for
Woodstock, in 1826. He was then known as Lord Ashley. In 1842 he secured
the exclusion of women and children from mines, and in 1844 the passing
of the Ten Hours Bill. He succeeded to the Earldom in 1851. His life was
devoted to practical philanthropy.]
The immediate result was a split--a secession. The House of Commons
ratified Peel's policy by a majority of ninety-seven, but Disraeli
himself has put on record the feelings which animated Peel's ancient
supporters. "Vengeance had succeeded in most breasts to the more
sanguine sentiment: the field was lost, but at any rate there should be
retribution for those who had betrayed it."
The opportunity for vengeance was not long delayed. The Corn Bill left
the House of Commons on May 15. On June 25 it passed the third reading
in the House of Lords, and the most momentous measure of Queen
Victoria's reign awaited only the Royal Assent to complete it. On that
very night the House of Commons were to divide on one of those Bills
conferring extraordinary powers on the Executive in Ireland which it has
been the fate of successive Governments to introduce--Coercion Bills, as
they are called for short. The Protectionists perceived what lay in
their power: if they threw their weight in with the regular Opposition
and O'Connell's Irish Catholics, they could defeat their lost leader.
About eighty of them did so: the rest stayed away and Ministers were
left in a minority of seventy-three.
Peel resigned: "he had lost a party but won a nation." He never returned
to office, but, though he did not live to see it, the principles for
which he fought and fell became those of the Conservative party.
[Sidenote: Review of Peel's Administration.]
During the five years of his last Administration he had restored
equilibrium to the national finances. He turned the deficit of two
millions to which he succeeded to a surplus of five millions in 1845. He
carried the grant to the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth against the
votes of half his own party, though it cost him the loss of his
colleague, Mr. W. E. Gladstone. Mr. Gladstone himself lived to abolish
the grant, for it was he who ruled the whirlwind that swept away the
Irish State Church in 1866, and the Maynooth grants disappeared with it.
Peel's Administration must also be credited with a marked advance in
legislation for the working classes. Lord Ashley (better known in later
years as Earl of Shaftesbury) had obtained the appointment of a
Commission to inquire into the employment of women in collieries: the
horrible evils thereby brought to light, the infamous degradation of
women and girls, harnessed like beasts of draught with a girdle round
their waist--unclothed, unwashed, and sometimes hopelessly
crippled--deeply moved the public mind, and the Act of 1842, prohibiting
the employment of females in mines, passed almost without opposition.
More prolonged was the resistance to the Factory Act of 1844, regulating
the hours of labour of youthful persons. This beneficent legislation
should not be overlooked in the glare of conflict over the Corn Laws.
[Illustration: _Sir E. Landseer, R.A._} {_In the Royal Collection (by
permission of Messrs. Graves)._
THE QUEEN, PRINCE CONSORT, AND PRINCESS ROYAL, AT WINDSOR CASTLE,
1843.]
[Illustration: _F. Winterhalter._} {_In the Royal Collection._
HER MAJESTY RECEIVING KING LOUIS PHILIPPE AT WINDSOR CASTLE, October 8,
1844.
Louis Philippe was the first French Monarch who ever set foot in the
British Islands on a visit of peace. The Prince Consort met him at
Portsmouth and accompanied him to Windsor, where the Queen awaited him.
At the banquet "he talked to me," writes the Queen, "of the time when he
was in a school in the Grisons, a teacher merely, receiving twenty pence
a day, having to brush his own boots, and under the name of Chabot." On
the following day he was installed Knight of the Garter. He left England
on the 13th.]