system, had now become a national concern. The number of Lycæums, and of commercial colleges, continued to be augmented, and the number of private seminaries were to be gradually diminished till the moment when they were all to be shut up. This system of national education, which had for its object the formation of soldiers as well as of scholars, was regulated on the principles of military discipline, rather than upon those of civil or ecclesiastical policy,† and served as a powerful engine to recruit the armies, by giving to the youth of France a military character. Nor was it to France alone that this system was confined; it extended to the inhabitants of all the territories annexed to the French empire, and aimed at giving to the youth of these countries the manners and the character which were to identify them with the French nation. The Empress Maria Louisa, to whose illustrious progeny the people of France looked for a successor to the Napoleon throne, this year presented the emperor with a son. The birth of this "august infant," upon whom so many destinies reposed, took place on the 2d of April, and the joyous event, which was communicated by telegraphic messages to every part of France, was celebrated in Paris by rejoicings, illuminations, and public thanksgivings. The second city in the empire afforded a title to the heir epparent, who, from the day of his birth, took BOOK IV, The birth of the King of Rome had fulfilled * By a decree, promulgated at the beginning of the year 1808, the imperial university of Paris was exclusively charged with the public instruction, and had the controul over every school and seminary of education throughout the empire. Without the permission of the grand master of the university, no individual was allowed to conduct an establishment of any kind for tuition, and every school-master was required to be a member of the university. This institution was composed of as many academies as there were tribunals or courts of appeal in France, and there were schools attached to each academy in the following order :-1. Universities, called Les Facultés ; 2. Lycæums; 3. Colleges, or Grammar Schools; 4. Institutions, or Seminaries; 5. Boarding Schools, called Pensionats; and 6. The Lesser, or Primary Schools. The universities were composed of five faculties, viz. theology, jurisprudence, physic, mathematical and physical science, and literature. The Lyceums however formed the most important part of the system; there were originally thirty-two of these institutions, but they were afterwards increased to forty-five, in order to bear a relative proportion to the increased extension of the French territory. Of the pupils, six thousand four hundred were educated at the public expense, and of this number two thousand four hundred were to be selected during the space of ten years from the foreign territories annexed to France. ↑ Exposition of the State of the French Empire in 1811. BOOK IV. CHAP. XV. 1811 CHAPTER XV. DOMESTIC HISTORY: Opening of the First Regency Parliament-Refusal of the Prince Regent to accept a Provision for the Royal Household-Motion regarding his Majesty's Health in 1804Commercial Distresses-The Bullion Question-Lord King's Demand of Cash Payments from his Tenants-Lord Stanhope's Act for upholding the National Currency-Ex-Officio Informations-New Office created in the Court of Chancery-Amelioration in the Discipline of the Army-British Subjects carrying on the Slave Trade made liable to Transportation-Lord Sidmouth's Bill to amend and explain the Toleration Act-Public Finances-Re-appointment of the Duke of York to the Office of Commander-in-chief-Lord Milton's Motion thereonState of his Majesty's Health-Affairs of Ireland-Letter of Mr. Wellesley Pole-Convention Act-Proceedings of the Catholics-Arrest and Trial of the Delegates to the Catholic Committee-National Education-Population Returns of 1811. AT the commencement of the present year, the two houses of parliament were principally occupied with those measures which the lamented indisposition of the king had rendered necessary to supply the deficiency in the exercise of the royal functions; and after the passing of the act for investing the Prince of Wales with the powers requisite, in the opinion of the estates of parliament, for exercising the office of regent, his royal highness took the prescribed oaths before the privy council, and from that time became the representative of the sovereign.* On the 12th of February, parliament was opened with the usual formalities, when the Prince Regent, regarding his situation as that of the ceremonial, rather than the efficient head of the state, declined to open the session in person. The speech, which was delivered by commission in the name of the regent, expressed the most unfeigned sorrow on account of the calamity which had imposed upon his royal highness the duty of exercising the royal authority; the Prince Regent, at the same time, congratulated parliament upon the success of his majesty's arms, both by sea and land; and trusted that he would be enabled to continue to afford the most effectual assistance to the brave nations of the peninsula. With regard to the United States of America, it was his earnest wish to bring the discussions with that country to an amicable termination, consistent with the honour of the crown and the maintenance of the maritime rights and interests of this kingdom; and he trusted to the zeal of parliament for adequate supplies in order to bring the great contest in which the country was engaged to a happy issue. In the house of lords, the Earl of Aberdeen moved the address, which was seconded by Lord Elliot, and carried without a division. In the lower house of parliament, the address, which was moved by Mr. Milnes, seconded by Mr. Richard Wellesley, encountered no other opposition than that which might seem to be implied in a declaration made by Mr. Ponsonby, that in acquiescing in the address he should not be precluded from discussing any particular topic in the speech when the subject came before the house in a separate and detached form. Another proof of the manner in which the Prince Regent regarded the temporary authority with which he was vested, was afforded by a communication made to the house of commons on the 21st of February, when the chancellor of the exchequer stated, that his royal highness, on being informed that a motion was intended to be made for a provision for the royal household, declared that he would not add to the burthens of the people, by accepting of any addition to his public state as Regent of the United Kingdom. This subject was further illustrated by Mr. Adam, who stated that the regent had put into his hands the letter from Mr. Perceval, relating to the intended provision, accompanying it with written instructions, that, should any proposition for an establishment, or a grant from the privy purse, be made to the house, he should inform that assembly that his royal highness wished to discharge the duties of the temporary regency without increasing his establishment. In case, however, of such circumstances occurring as might lead to a permanent regency, he conceived that the question would then be opened anew to the consideration of his royal highness. * See Vol. II. Chap. XII. p. 160. 1 amine the journals of the house of lords for the BOOK IV. Lord Castlereagh, as a member of admi- On the 26th of February, a motion was submitted to the house of commons on a subject in which the feelings of the country, and the dignity and essential interests of the crown, were deeply involved. In the course of the examination of the physicians before the committee of the two houses of parliament, in December last, touching the state of his majesty's health, it was necessary to advert to the malady under which the sovereign had laboured in the years 1801 and 1804, and some very curious and important particulars were elicited by this examination. It appeared from the evidence of Dr. Heberden, that in 1804 his majesty continued indisposed, and actually under the care of Dr. Simmons and his men, long after the bulletins were discontinued. At this period Lord Eldon was chancellor, and in that capacity was regularly and officially responsible for having procured the royal signature to public documents, and the royal assent to parliamentary acts, when, in the words of one of the physicians, "his majesty's judgment was in eclipse." On these grounds it was moved by Mr. Whitbread, that the examination of the physicians should be laid before the house; and the honourable gentleman pledged himself to prove, if the opportunity was afforded him, that the period of the royal incapacity lasted from the 12th of February, 1804, to the 10th of June in the same year; and that, during that period, Dr. Simmons and his subordinate agents exercised a controul over his majesty, such as is known to be exercised towards persons afflicted with the deprivation of reason: notwithstanding which, Lord Eldon was found, on the 5th and 6th of March, taking his majesty's commands on a proposed measure for the alienation of certain crown lands in favour of the Duke of York; and on the 9th, venturing to come down to parliament with a commission, purporting to be signed by the king, at a time when, by the acknowledgment of his physicians, his majesty was labouring under mental infirmity. During the period between the 12th of February and the 23d of April, when such unconstitutional proceedings were occurring, the Lord Chancellor Eldon was the only minister who had access to his sovereign, being at that moment in the exercise of the same judicial superintendence over the king as that which he is in the habit of holding over unhappy private persons, against whom a commission of lunacy has been issued. Similar transactions had, Mr. Whitbread said, taken place in the year 1801, at which time also Lord Eldon was chancellor; but as two of the persons then high in his majesty's councils were now lost to the country, it was not his intention to extend the inquiry to the events of that period. Mr. Whitbread concluded by moving for a committee "to ex Sir Francis Burdett maintained that ministers had usurped the sovereign power; that the king. was acting under restraint at the time that he was acting as king; and that the fact was not and could not be contradicted. If ministerial responsibility was any thing but a name, and if the king was not a mere puppet for the purpose of coming down to parliament in a gilt coach occasionally, this act of the ministers amounted to a high crime and misdemeanour. If ministers could go on without the kingly office, they were innocent; but as he thought that, while the constitution existed, they could not, the motion should have his cordial support. After a forcible reply from Mr. Whitbread, the house divided, when the motion for inquiry was negatived by a majority of one hundred and seventeen voices. The increasing commercial distresses of the nation were now so seriously felt that the attention of government was necessarily fixed upon them; and on the 1st of March, a committee of twenty-one members distinguished for their knowledge of commercial concerns, and nominated without any regard to political party, was CHAP. XV. 1811 1811 BOOK IV. appointed, on the motion of Mr. Perceval, to take into consideration the present state of the CHAP. XV. commercial credit of the country, and to make their report thereon. The report so prepared was presented to the house of commons on the 7th of March, and after stating the nature and cause of the existing embarrassments, proposed, that a loan of six millions should be made by government for the relief of the merchants. On the 11th of March, the report was taken into consideration, and on the motion of the chancellor of the exchequer, a bill was introduced into parliament and passed into a law, whereby the sum of six millions sterling was to be advanced to certain commissioners, for the assistance of such merchants as should apply for the same, on giving sufficient security for the re-payment of the money so advanced. It might naturally have been supposed that, in the midst. of so much embarrassment and distress, the money voted by parliament at the recommendation of the committee would have been eagerly sought after and soon exhausted; such was the case in 1793; the reverse however happened now, and the sums applied for were to a less amount than the provision made. In fact, a wide difference existed between the two periods; in 1793 the paper credit gave way, but now the commercial credit had failed; then the banks stopped, now the mercantile houses became insolvent; then there was a want of money, now there was a want of markets; this last indeed was the radical cause of the evil, and the proposed relief could not effect its removal; on the contrary, the commercial distresses continued to increase during the whole year, and displayed themselves by frightful lists of bankrupts in every gazette, amounting to an aggregate of which no former year in the annals of the country afforded a parallel. This There were, moreover, other symptoms of the unprecedented state into which the commerce and the credit of the kingdom had fallen, which could not be mistaken, especially when viewed in connection with the distresses of the merchant and manufacturer. It has already been seen, that early in the last session of parliament, a committee was appointed by the house of commons for the purpose of inquiring into the high price of bullion, and that the committee so appointed, in the report on the subject of their inquiry, gave it as their decided opinion, that the evils into which they were commissioned to inquire, were to be attributed to an excessive issue of bank notes, and that the only effectual remedy was to be found in the bank resuming its cash payments within a time to be limited. report, which had excited much public discussion, was brought under the consideration of the house of commons on the 6th of May, by Mr. Horner, who introduced the subject in an elaborate and luminous speech, and concluded by moving a series of resolutions, grounded upon the report of the bullion committee, and maintaining the same doctrines. It was hence contended, that the standard value of gold, as a measure of exchange, could not possibly fluctuate under any change of circumstances, though its real price was unquestionably subject to all the variations arising from the increase or diminution of the supply; that bank paper, measured by this standard, was depreciated; and that the consequence of this depreciation was, to render our exchanges with the continent unfavourable, to advance prices, to occasion immense losses to creditors, and materially to injure all monied incomes. But here two questions arose: what is meant by depreciation? and what is the real standard of value? In the attempt to solve these inquiries it was found that this subject which * The attention of the committee had been directed to three points: 1st, The extent and embarrassment that the trading part of the community at present experience; 2d, The causes to which they may be ascribed; and 3d, The expediency of affording parliamentary assistance. The committee refer to the evidence laid before them, from whence they conclude, that the manufacturers in the cotton trade of Glasgow and Paisley are at present suffering more severely and extensively than any other set of men. These sufferings the committee ascribe to the enormous speculations made to South America, in which the merchants of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, had engaged. They also found that great distress had occurred in a quarter much connected with this trade, viz. among the importers of produce from the West India Islands, and from South America ; a great proportion of the returns for the manufactures exported to those parts of the world coming home in sugar and coffee, for which they could not find a market. Another cause which might be considered as connected with and aggravating the existing distress, was the extent to which the system of warehousing the goods of foreign, as well as of native merchants, for exportation, had been carried. And the committee state, that, upon the whole, the embarrassments at present experienced, are of an extensive nature, and are felt in a considerable degree in other branches of business as well as in those already specified; but it does not appear that they exist in the woollen trade to a degree that would justify parliamentary relief. They further state, that having considered the happy effect of the relief afforded by parliament in the year 1793, they recommend similar accommodations to be afforded on the present occasion, and propose that exchequer bills should be issued to the amount of six millions sterling for that purpose; the amount to be repaid in four equal instalments, the first quarter on the 15th of January next, and the remainder in three quarterly instalments, so that the whole should be discharged in nine months from the time of the first payment. + See Vol. II. Chap. XII. p. 154, at first had seemed sufficiently simple, was in The majority with which the opinion and rents. # This notice had not attracted any degree of public attention till Lord Stanhope brought the matter under consideration in the house of lords. His lordship thought this proceeding so unjust 1811 in itself, so much calculated to shake the credit BOOK IV.. of the currency of the country, and the example so infectious, and likely to be followed by the CHAP. XV.. landlords throughout the kingdom, that in pursuance of what he considered a public duty, his lordship introduced a bill into the house of lords on the 27th of June, for preventing the current gold coin of the realm from being paid for more than its mint value, and for preventing bank notes from being received for any smaller sum than that for which they were issued. The fate of this bill was very extraordinary; The number of prosecutions for libellous * The following curious facts resulting from the state of British currency at the period now under consideration claim to be recorded: E. s. d. £. s. d. A Guinea made of standard gold, weight 5 dwts. 8 grains passes by law for only The same two grains lighter may be sold as bullion for 050 A Bank Token, weighing 10 dwts. and the silver 2§. an |