1830

WILLIAM IV.

899

that which existed in France. Charles X. had been deposed not merely because he claimed absolute power, but because he did so in the interests of the aristocracy as opposed to those of the middle

class, and in England too the middle class was striving to assert itself against the landowners who almost exclusively filled the two Houses. The lead was taken by the Birmingham Political Union, and all over the country demands were made for Parliamentary reform.

13. The End of the Wellington Ministry. 1830.-In the House of Lords, when a new Parliament was opened in November, Lord Grey-who as Mr. Grey had urged the necessity of reforming Parliament in the early days of the great French Revolution (see p. 827)-suggested to Wellington that it would be well to bring in such a measure now. Wellington not only refused, but added that if he had to form for the first time a legislature for the country 'he did not mean to assert that he could form such a legislature as they possessed now, for the nature of man was incapable of reaching such

The Duke of Wellington: from a bust by Francis in the National Portrait Gallery.

excellence at once; but his great endeavour would be to form some description of legislature which would produce the same results.' After this his ministry was doomed. On November 15 it was defeated in the House of Commons by a combination between the opposition and dissatisfied Tories, and Wellington at once resigned. He had done good service to the state, having practised economy and maintained efficiency. In London his ministry made its mark by the introduction, in 1829, of a new police, in the place of the old useless constables who allowed thieves to escape instead

1830

THE REFORM MINISTRY

6

901

of catching them. The nicknames of Bobby' and 'Peeler' which long attached themselves to policemen had their origin in the names of Robert Peel, by whom the force was organised.

14. Lord Grey's Ministry. 1830.-Lord Grey became the head of a ministry composed of Whigs and Canningites. Amongst the former were Lord John Russell, Lord Althorp who led the House of Commons, and Viscount Melbourne, a man of great abilities and great indolence of temperament, of whom it was said

Earl Grey: from a figure in Hayter's Reformed Parliament in the
National Portrait Gallery.

that his usual answer to proposals of reform was, 'Can't you let it alone?' Amongst the latter was Lord Palmerston, another Canningite, who had long been known as a painstaking official of considerable powers, but who now for the first time found a position worthy of them by becoming Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Brougham, a stirring but eccentric orator, was made Lord Chancellor to keep him from being troublesome in the House of ComTo Lord John Russell an inferior office was assigned, and he was not made a member of the Cabinet, but, in consequence

mons.

of the services which he had rendered to the cause of Parliamentary reform, he was entrusted with the task of bringing before the House of Commons the Bill which the new Government proposed to introduce on that subject.

15. The Reform Bill. 1831.-The Reform Bill was brought in by Russell on March 1, 1831. He had an easy task in exposing the faults of the old system. Old Sarum, which returned two members, was only a green mound, without a habitation upon it. Gatton, which also returned two members, was only a ruined wall, whilst

vast communities like Birmingham and Manchester were totally unrepresented. The proposal of the ministry was to sweep away sixty small boroughs returning 119 members, and to give only one member apiece instead of two to fortysix other boroughs nearly as small. Most of the seats thus placed at the disposal of the ministry were to be given, in almost equal proportions, to the counties and the great towns of England; a few being reserved for Scotland and Ireland. In the counties, the franchise or right of

voting which had hitherto been confined to the possessors of a freehold worth 40s. a year, was conferred also on persons holding land worth 10l. a year by copyhold, or 50l. a year by lease.' In the boroughs a uniform franchise was given to all householders paying rent of 10l. a year.

16. The Bill Withdrawn. 1831.-The Tories were numerous

1 The copyhold is so called because it is a tenure of which the only evidence is a copy of the Court Roll of a Manor. It is a perpetual holding subject to certain payments. Leasehold is a tenure for a term of years by lease.

1831

POPULAR EXCITEMENT

903

in the House of Commons, and opposed the Bill as revolutionary. Many of them shared the opinion of Wellington, who believed that if it passed the poor would seize the property of the rich and divide it amongst themselves. In reality, the character of the voters in the counties would be much the same as it had been before, whilst the majority of the voters in the boroughs would be the smaller shopkeepers who were not in the least likely to attack property. The second reading of the Bill, however, only passed by a majority of one, and a hostile amendment to one of its clauses having been carried, the Government withdrew the Bill and dissolved Parliament in order that the question might be referred to the electors.

17. The Reform Bill Re-introduced. 1831.-In times of excitement the electors contrived to impress their feelings on Parliament, even under the old system of voting. From one end of the country to the other a cry was heard of 'The Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill.' The new House of Commons had an enormous Whig majority. The Reform Bill, slightly amended, was again brought in by Russell, to whom a seat in the Cabinet had been at last given. In the course of discussion in the Commons a clause, known as the Chandos clause from the name of its proposer, was introduced, extending the franchise in counties to 50l. tenants at will. As these new voters would be afraid to vote against their landlords for fear of being turned out of their farms, the change was satisfactory to the Tories. Yei, after the Bill thus altered had passed the House of Commons, it was, on October 8, rejected by the House of Lords.

18. Public Agitation. 1831.-The news of the rejection of the Bill was received with a torrent of indignation. Meetings were everywhere held in support of the Government. In the House of Commons Macaulay-a young man afterwards the historian of the reigns of James II. and William III.—urged the ministry to persist in its course. "The public enthusiasm," he said, "is undiminished. Old Sarum has grown no bigger, Manchester has grown no smaller.. I know only two ways in which societies can be governed by public opinion and by the sword. A government having at its command the armies, the fleets, and the revenues of

...

1 A Bill before either House is read a first time in order that the members may be enabled to see what it is like. In voting on the second reading members express an opinion whether or no they approve of its general principle. In committee it is discussed clause by clause, to give the House an opportunity of amending it in detail; and a vote is then taken on the third reading to see if the majority of the House approves of it in its amended form. It is then sent to the other House, where it goes through the same process.