civil war was again renewed in Ireland between the Orangemen and the
Catholics; it was a constantly recurring quarrel, as between two races
who entertained the greatest detestation for each other. All the people
who thought seriously on the subject felt that something must be done
for the Catholics; the reason for the former oppression having ceased
to exist, Ireland could not always remain in a state of slavery. Lord
Castlereagh was well acquainted with this country, where his youth had
been passed, and, whenever business left him leisure, was accustomed
to visit the ancient towers of Londonderry, the beautiful lakes, and
the old fishermen, whom his munificence assisted in rebuilding their
villages and their boats, portioning their daughters, or increasing
their own comforts. The bill for the admission of the Catholic lords
into parliament was then in debate; it was opposed by the Orange
party in Ireland, and, after passing the House of Commons, was thrown
out by the Lords; and this was the cause of the sanguinary troubles
which again threw Ireland into the most fearful state of disorder.
The ministry shewed no indulgence, for the country was deluged with
blood; and Lord Wellesley, then lord-lieutenant, declared at last that,
if they were desirous of saving that country, more agitated than the
ocean, it must be placed under a most vigorous system of legislative
exception.[52] The old laws of the conquest were put in force against
the parties of Whiteboys who ravaged the country, but by degrees these
demonstrations gave way before the severe measures used to repress them.
[52] Parliament decided upon the re-enactment of the Insurrection
Act, and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, in Ireland.--_Editor._
As soon as order was restored, it was necessary the ministry should
take measures to relieve the sufferings of the three kingdoms, and they
devoted themselves with the greatest attention to their difficult task.
It is a historical truth worthy of the remembrance of agitators, that
they occasion the slavery of all for the sake of the vain pleasure they
derive from some ovations to themselves. Despotism is the successor of
disorder, and there is more influence in reason and resignation than
in the noisy acclamations of the public streets. O'Connell appears to
me, to be just the man destined to bring about the complete subjection
of Ireland; he will be the destroyer of his country for the sake of
a little personal vanity, for the applause of 100,000 men, collected
round the hustings. The Tories did every thing that was possible for
Ireland when it was quiet: the emancipation of the Catholics was
promoted by the Wellesleys, nor did they stop there.
Lord Castlereagh, deeply sensible that there was real suffering among
all classes of the people, now unfolded his vast plan of economy, with
all the logic of Pitt in his admirable budget of 1798. Taking his
ground on the existence of much distress in the agricultural districts,
and in the principles of credit, he proceeded at once to retrenchments.
The expenses of the army and navy were reduced by two millions sterling
a-year; the interest of the public debt was reduced from 5 to 4 per
cent; and the sinking fund was considerably increased.[53] These
measures permitted the decrease of imposts, the suppression of all
additional taxes, and a system of loans to agriculture by means of
the bank, the grand instrument he always had recourse to, in order
to make advances to parishes, and more especially to the producers
of corn, so as always to keep down the price. It was an earnest
undertaking, and the last he had to carry on during this session. In
the meanwhile he could not fail to observe that the renown of his old
adversary, Canning, was marvellously increasing; he was becoming a
popular character, he was the favourite of the mob, while the firm and
persevering minister who had aroused the world, and saved England, was
branded with reprobation by the populace, who broke the panels of his
carriage. Ought he to allow himself--he, so proud and haughty, to be
drawn into the wake of Canning, on the boundless waste of revolutionary
ideas? Partially reconciled to his adversary on the Catholic question,
his lordship took only a secondary part in the debate; and he was stung
by the conviction, that, while in foreign relations his influence
was overpowered by the Holy Alliance, at home Canning was the person
considered most necessary to the administration, because he was better
suited to the new liberal situation in which they were becoming
entangled; and he repeatedly expressed his grief and vexation at this
circumstance. In England, where public questions are adopted like a
mission, and the feelings of statesmen on the subject are deep and
interwoven in their whole being, the destruction of a system involves
that of the man. Mr. Pitt was killed by the battle of Austerlitz,
and Lord Castlereagh belonged to that noble school. He whose life
had commenced in so poetical a manner, who had feared neither single
combat, nor the dangers of the raging waves in his shipwreck on the
Isle of Man, could not be afraid of death; but as his hour drew near,
his disposition became extremely irritable, and he expressed himself
in parliament with a degree of bitterness and sullen haughtiness: I
should almost say he looked with pity and contempt upon the opposition
of the Whigs, who were advancing towards fresh storms and disturbances.
There are times when people wish to have done with a situation which
oppresses them, and with adversaries of whom they are weary; they utter
their last words to their face, and after that they die without regret.
[53] This is a mistake.--_Editor._
Lord Castlereagh announced his intention of visiting the Continent,
with the intention, if not of being present at the congress of Verona,
at least of meeting the assembled sovereigns there; and Canning was in
hopes that, when his colleague had once left England, he would send
in his resignation, and consequently leave him at the head of affairs.
But matters were more rapidly drawing to a close: Lord Castlereagh
had been unwell for several days, and there was every appearance of
extreme nervous irritability about him; some expressions that fell
from his lips shewed that he had some sinister ideas in his head, and
when he went to take leave of the king, the state of his mind did not
escape the monarch, who had a great esteem for him. From that time he
constantly complained of a feeling of oppression in his head, and his
physician, Dr. Bankhead, reported that when he visited him he was calm,
though there were symptoms of impatience and caprice in his manner, and
a few short and hurried words were all that he could draw from him;
he let fall some observations on the troubles of life which raised
apprehensions of suicide, and he was watched: but on Monday, the 12th
of August, 1822, just as his physician entered his dressing-room, Lord
Castlereagh uttered these few words: "Doctor, let me fall on your arm;
it is all over!" and fell with the heaviness of a corpse. The blood
was flowing in torrents, from a deep wound which he had inflicted
in the carotid artery, with a small penknife he had concealed in a
letter-case. Such was the end of the man, who had conducted the affairs
of England with so much firmness and consistency for the last ten years!
Since then people have endeavoured to prove that he was raving mad,
and the opposite party have even asserted, that the energy of his
government shewed a tendency to mental alienation: would they not have
considered any man mad, who wanted to contend vigorously against them?
No, Lord Castlereagh was _not_ mad; he only felt the deep sorrow of
a statesman who, after having fulfilled a great duty, finds himself
forgotten and abandoned at the end of his career. Mr. Pitt had died at
his post while his work was progressing towards its accomplishment, and
Lord Castlereagh saw it completed by the fall of Buonaparte. But he,
in his turn, had to contend with the revolutionary opinions that were
again invading the world; Canning was like his evil genius, and as in a
long political career they were both constantly before the public, we
may inquire what services they rendered to England. Castlereagh gave
his country the pre-eminence she every where exercises; he signed the
treaties of 1815, he secured to her vast stations, colonies, and new
worlds, and he was forced to escape, by suicide from the reprobation
of the people; while Canning the declaimer, the renegade from the
opinions of Pitt, and who, though threatening all the cabinets, did
not dare to oppose the expedition to Spain in 1823, died peaceably in
his bed, and was crowned with universal applause. Alas! it is because
men who devote themselves to the serious affairs of their country, are
in general persecuted and misunderstood; for with the populace, noise
and clamour are thought more of, than good measures. Let it, however,
be said to the credit of England, that she is returning to the men
she formerly blamed. The noble hierarchy of statesmen which begins
with Pitt and Castlereagh, and extends to Peel, Lord Aberdeen, and the
Duke of Wellington, is now hailed as the school most fitted to afford
protection to Great Britain; and Fox, Sheridan, and Canning, are only
mentioned as eloquent speakers, who passed away long nights in the
House of Commons.
* * * * *
There is not the slightest doubt that the unfortunate termination of
Lord Castlereagh's existence was owing to delirium.--_Editor._
Printed by George Barclay, Castle Street, Leicester Square.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's
original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.