Public School History of England and Canada/England/Chapter 25
CHAPTER XXV.
A PERIOD OF REFORM.
1. George IV.—The last of the four Georges had been the acting king for ten years before his father’s death, and the nation knew him too well to expect much in the way of good from his hands. His admirers called him “The First Gentleman in Europe,” by which they meant that in polish of manner and external grace he was very fine gentleman. Nevertheless, he was, all through his life, a cowardly, licentious man, who would stoop to any act of meanness and treachery. Fortunately, his personal influence was small, and beyond raising a storm of national indignation at the beginning of his reign by trying in vain to force a Bill through Parliament to secure a divorce from his wife, Queen Caroline, his occupancy of the throne made little difference in English affairs.
2. Holy Alliance.—There was considerable unrest and discontent at the beginning of this reign, arising almost entirely from hard times, and the harsh laws passed by the Government against the right of the people to meet and discuss public affairs. One outcome of this feeling was an attempt, called the Cato Street Conspiracy, to murder the ministry, in 1820. The conspirators were seized, some were put to death, and others banished for life. Abroad, the Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the Kings of Prussia, France, and Spain, formed an alliance, called the “Holy Alliance,” to crush out any efforts that might be made by their subjects to increase their freedom, or secure their rights. This alliance was the result of the fear aroused by the French Revolution, and of the growing feeling in Europe in favour of liberty. The British Government, and Lord Castlereagh, the Foreign Secretary, in particular, were charged with being too friendly to the Holy Alliance, and too hostile to the oppressed people of other nations. But Castlereagh’s suicide, in 1822, removed one obstacle to a more liberal policy, and henceforth the tide of Reform began to flow more strongly, and with fewer interruptions.
3. Canning, Peel, and Huskisson.—After Castlereagh’s death, George Canning, a brilliant and liberal-minded statesman, became Foreign Secretary. Unlike Castlereagh, he was a friend of the oppressed everywhere, and while he managed England’s foreign affairs, her influence was thrown into the scale of freedom. He would not aid the Turks, who were trying to crush out a revolt in Greece, nor the Spanish, when their colonies in America rose to gain their independence. He saved Portugal from an attack from France and Spain, when Portugal sought to introduce Parliamentary Government, Nor was Canning indifferent to wrongs nearer home. He was an earnest advocate of the rights of Dissenters and
Roman Catholics, as well as of the slaves in the West Indies.
While Canning was using his influence abroad and at home in the interests of the wronged and oppressed, Robert Peel, the Home Secretary, was busy reforming the Criminal Laws. Sir Samuel Romilly, in the early part of this century, had tried earnestly to get Parliament to lessen the number of crimes punishable with death, and had succeeded in getting pocket-picking removed from the list _ of capital offences. There was, it is said, over 200 crimes for which a person could be hanged. To steal five shillings from a shop or a fish from a pond, to injure Westminster Bridge, was to incur the death penalty, and to be put into the same list with the forger and murderer. At last men saw the folly and cruelty of the Criminal Law, and Peel, in 1824, managed to get Parliament to consent to remove more than 100 of the smaller offences from the list to which the death penalty was attached.
Not less useful than Canning and Peel in carrying out reforms was Huskisson, the President of the Board of Trade. He saw that England was suffering from her trade and navigation laws, and from the unwise restrictions placed upon working-men. He succeeded in reducing the duties on silk and wool, and had the laws repealed which prevented workingmen from travelling to seek employment in other parts of the country, as well as the law which gave a magistrate the power to fix the wages of labouring men. Besides, he paved the way for freer trade by offering foreign vessels special advantages in English ports, on the condition that the same privileges were given by foreign nations to English vessels. The years 1825-6 were years of scarcity, and following as they did a commercial panic arising out of foolish speculation, there was much distress, and some rioting. The high duties on food had now to give way for a time, and Huskisson passed a law by which the duty on wheat fell as the-price rose, and rose as the price fell. This was the famous “sliding scale” of duties, which lasted till free trade came in. The distress and lack of employment led to a large emigration to Canada, Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, and the United States.
4. The Australian Colonies.—New South Wales in Australia was now a flourishing colony, and although at first settled by convicts it began about this time to receive a different kind of settlers. Many of the well-behaved convicts were given their freedom, and they and their descendants became good citizens. Other colonies were gradually: founded, such as Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia. Victoria now one of the most important colonies was once a part of New South Wales, and became a separate province in 1851. Large cities, in time, grew up, such as Sydney and Melbourne, the latter being founded in 1835.
5. Reveal of Test and Corporation Acts, 1828.—Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister, died in 1827, and Canning was chosen to succeed him. Much was expected from such a liberal and clear-sighted man, but Canning died a few months after taking office, and shortly afterwards the Duke of Wellington became Prime Minister with Sir Robert Peel as the leader in the House of Commons. Wellington was not a liberal or far-seeing statesman, but he was thoroughly honest and unselfish. And now after a century and a half of injustice, Roman Catholics and Dissenters were to have their wrongs righted. The Test and Corporation Acts had prevented Dissenters from holding offices in the towns and cities. In 1828 Lord John Russell brought in a Bill to do away with these laws and the measure was carried. Although willing to relieve Protestant Dissenters, the Government would not consent to repeal the laws shutting Roman Catholics out of Parliament. The laws against Roman Catholics were not so severe as they had been, for in 1817 they were allowed to enter the army and navy, and they had the right to vote for members of Parliament. Perhaps at this time the majority of the English people were as unwilling as Parliament and the Government to do justice to the Roman Catholics. But what a sense of justice would not do, necessity forced on the nation. Daniel O’Connell, an exceedingly clever and eloquent Irish barrister, persuaded the people of Clare County, Ireland, to elect him as a member of Parliament, although he knew he could not take his seat. In the meantime a large “Catholic Association” had been formed in Ireland, to agitate for the rights of the Catholics, and this Association became so powerful under O’Connell’s guidance, that the Government began to fear another civil war in Ireland, if measures were not taken to quiet the excitement,
6. Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill, 1829.—The Government, Parliament, and the majority of English people were all opposed to giving Roman Catholics their rights, but Wellington, who knew what war was, saw it was his duty to yield. The House of Lords, on more than one occasion had prevented justice being done, and now Wellington used his great influence with that body to have a Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill passed in 1829. Wellington and Peel had done their duty, but in so doing had made themselves unpopular with the English people. In 1833, the Quakers were allowed to become members of Parliament, and in 1858 the same measure of justice was meted out to the Jews.
7. William IV.—In June, 1830, George IV. died. His only daughter, the Princess Charlotte, had died in 1817, and this left William, Duke of Clarence, as his successor. William IV. had been a commander in the navy, and hence was called the “Sailor King.” He was a frank, hearty, well-intentioned man, who, in spite of the fact that his private life was none too pure, was popular with the people. He came to the throne at a time of great excitement in Europe. Revolution was in the air. The French drove out Charles X., and put Louis Philippe on the throne, and Belgium separated from Holland and became an independent nation. Had there been an unwise or unpopular king in England at this time, the excitement in favour of political reform might have led to another revolution.
8. Reform Bill of 1832.—While the war with Napoleon was going on, the English people had too much to think about to pay much attention to Parliamentary Reform. Now, however, that the. war was over, a more liberal government in office, and the dread of a revolution passed away, intelligent people began to see how unjust it was that large cities like Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds should have no representatives in Parliament, while many small towns had the privilege of sending one or two. Still worse, quite a number of places that once had a population, but had lost it, continued to send members. In some cases there were only a dozen or a score of voters, and it is stated that in a county in Scotland, only one man voted, and he elected himself. Then there were a great number of small villages that sent members at the command of the land-owners, on whose estate the villages were built. If the land-owner was in need of money, he sold the right to the seat to some man who wished to be a member of Parliament, and these “nomination” boroughs soon came to have a regular market value. In other boroughs, the voters were so few that a rich candidate could easily buy their votes. So it can easily be seen that the British Parliament did not really represent the British people. Yet many men, some of them intelligent and honest, dreaded any change, fearing that it would be the beginning of a revolution, or that good and able men would find it difficult to be elected, if votes were given to the people. One of these was Wellington, who thought that everything was just right, and that the system in use could not be improved.
It was the custom then to have a general election soon after a new sovereign came to the throne, and the election that took place in 1830, showed that Wellington and Peel had lost their popularity on account of the Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill. Soon after the new Parliament met the Government had to resign and Lord Grey became Prime Minister, with Lord John Russell as leader in the Commons. Russell lost no time in bringing in a Reform Bill, but it made so many changes that it passed its second reading by a majority of only one, and a little later an important change was made in it, when it came up again for discussion. The ministers now persuaded the king to dissolve Parliament, and have a new election. Although very few people had votes, yet the feeling was so strong throughout the country among the merchants, manufacturers, artisans, and working-men that the election resulted in giving the Bill a large majority. A second Reform Bill was now introduced in the Commons and carried by a majority of 109, but when it went before the House of Lords it was thrown out. This caused intense indignation, and great meetings were held in different parts of the country to denounce the Lords and to encourage the supporters of the measure. In some places there were riots and burnings, and people began to fear that a revolution was near at hand. Once more did the Government bring in the measure, and once more it was carried by a large majority in the Commons, and rejected in the Lords. Lord Grey and his colleagues now resigned, and Wellington tried to form a Government, but failed. Grey was recalled, not, however, before he had secured a pledge from the king, that he would, if necessary, create sufficient new peers to carry the Bill through the Lords. This alarmed the Lords and when the measure came before them in June, 1832, many stayed away from the House and in this manner the Reform Bill became law.
The changes made by this celebrated Bill were two-fold. First, it took away from many (56) small boroughs the right to send members to Parliament and it reduced the members of thirty other boroughs from two each to one. The members thus taken from small boroughs were given to large towns, cities, and counties in England, Scotland and Ireland. Secondly, the number of voters was greatly increased, for those who paid £10 a year rental in towns, and £50 a year In counties were given votes. Besides these, votes were given to copy-holders and lease-holders. The class that benefitted most by this change was the middle class, the labouring classes having to wait many years before the franchise was given to them. After the Reform Bill the old political parties changed their names, taking now the titles of Conservative and Liberal, instead of Tory and Whig.
9. Other Reforms.—Now that a reformed Parliament was elected, a great many much needed reforms were carried out. In 1833, after a struggle of fifty years, against slavery in the West Indies, Wilberforce died, but not before he saw it practically abolished, at a cost of £20,000,000 to the British nation. The same year laws were passed to protect children from over-work in factories, and a grant of money was made to schools for the poor. In 1834, the Poor-Law, which had become a great burden on the industrious portion of the population, was amended by compelling those who could not work or support their families to go to places called work-houses, where work was given them if they were able to do it. The change from out-door to in-door relief soon had a great effect in reducing pauperism.
Other important changes at this time were the Municipal Act (1835) providing for the election of the mayor and aldermen of towns and cities by the ratepayers, and a Bill (1836) permitting Dissenters to be married in their own chapels.
Nor must we forget improvements and reforms of another kind that were taking place. The need of better means to carry goods to market led to the making of Macadamized roads, that is roads made of broken stone, and introduced by a Scotchman called MacAdam. Nevertheless, good roads and canals were not sufficient to meet the demands of English industry, and it was not till George Stephenson, the son of a poor collier, had overcome the difficulties of moving waggons along iron rails by means of a locomotive or steam-engine, that English products could find easy conveyance to their markets. The first railroad was built in 1830, from Manchester to Liverpool, and the train travelled at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour.
Besides these, other improvements were going on, such as founding Mechanics’ Institutes, reducing the price of newspapers, building schools and colleges, and providing asylums for the insane. It is sad to think that, while so many things were being done to improve the lot of the poor, a great many were suffering from want, part of which was caused by the many improvements in labour-saving machines. So, in the year 1837, when William IV. died, there were many families in England that could scarcely afford to buy the coarsest food and clothing.