443 On the other hand, the mass of political ad- | time be introduced. The other, that the venturers, introduced into the market of general satisfaction which it was the object eloquence to speak for hire, and sell their of the bill to procure, should follow its abilities for salary, might with great advantage to the public be retrenched. Proceeding on these views, one hundred and fifty seats in the House of Commons were abolished. They were all taken from the smaller boroughs. Those which remained were thrown open, if hitherto close, to all householders whose houses, shops, warehouses, or offices were of the value of ten pounds a-year. The qualification for voting in the scot and lot, or potwalloping boroughs, was raised to that sum. adoption. Not of course the satisfaction of the whole community, is here meant, but general acquiescence, and a prevailing indisposition to further change. It has been already shown, that had the plan been of the moderate or trifling kind which many persons would have preferred, the question would not have been settled, and perpetual agitation must have ensued. The same evil would have been incurred had the plan been more destructive in its disfranchisement, and more democratic in The seats thus obtained were distributed its constructive clauses. The noble and with regard to the altered circumstances of the wealthy classes, rooted in the soil by the country. The representation of Eng- prescription, and extending their branches land was reduced from five hundred and widely by the influence of property, would thirteen to five hundred. Eight additional have resented and resisted any scheme by seats were given to Scotland, and five to which numbers alone. should govern this Ireland, whose representation had been great Empire. Or, if defeated by the force more recently fixed. Upwards of sixty of popular enthusiasm, they should be comwere allotted to the English and Welsh pelled to yield to the storm, they would counties. Manchester, Leeds, Birming- have taken advantage of a calmer day, and ham, Sheffield, Halifax, Rochdale, Stoke- excited the aristocratic powers of combinaupon-Trent, Stroud, the metropolitan dis- tion to overthrow the fragile fabric, and tricts of the Tower Hamlets, Finsbury, scatter its unsettled foundations. Marylebone, and Lambeth; other populous But when the landed proprietors found, towns, the seats of manufactures, or the that by registering voters they could make centres of accumulated property, were now, their weight be felt in the new legislature; for the first time, admitted into the repre- when the merchants and manufacturers sentation. The opposition made to a re- discovered, that the new men had their duction in the numbers of the House of place amongst the highest in the senateCommons in no way affected the extent of it was seen, that though the rotten planks disfranchisement, but added to the number were removed, and the rudder had been of counties and towns which sent members strengthened, the lines of the constitution for the first time, or in augmented number. had not been altered, nor stability sacriNo one who surveys this scheme impartially, can fail to see, that while a great blow was struck at the old system of close boroughs-having no character of popular choice in their size or constitution,-the property of the country, considered as a whole, obtained more than an equivalent. ficed to buoyancy and speed. The most powerful of the Tory nobles, the most jealous laudatores tempores acti, began to survey their new abode; to study its advantages; to accustom themselves to the broad lights and spacious passages of the modern building; and finally, to accommodate themselves to the restored habitation: it was found that the bees could still make honey, and had even more room in the new Hive than in the old It has been said that the declared inten- Excipiat (neque enim plus septima ducitur ætas). It is obvions, that while the authors of the Reform Act were governed by these considerations, they must have viewed with scorn the imputations so harshly cast upon Treasury, Departments, King's Household, &c.. Customs, Excise,. Ireland, Miscellaneous, DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR Ambassadors, Envoys Extraordinary, and Min Emol'ts. Emol'ts.! in 1829. in 1833 Saving. £20,900 £ 14,800 £6100 52,825 36,100 16,728 19,940 7500 12,410 17,876 $455 9421 11,286 2000 9286 64,520 18,400 46,120 14,300 7200 7100 52.492 38,000 14,492 49,903 them, that they sought to secure the permanent predominance of their own party. They must have foreseen, that a plan of Home, Foreign, and Colonial representation which gave great power to property, and maintained the landed interest on a high, though somewhat lowered eminence, would give the Tory party, compact and strong as that party was, as good a prospect of governing the country as any other. In fact, the French Revolution had thrown into that party many of the oldest Whig families; and the government of Mr. Pitt had brought to their aid a great portion of the mercantile community. It was impossible, without wrenching power from its natural position, to exclude such a party from the prospect of regaining the government. But as the authors of the Reform Bill never contemplated such a dislocation, The great reductions in our naval and so likewise they never sought for or ex-military force made it possible to diminish pected such a result. Their followers the burden of taxationmight indeed imagine that a party which had become so unpopular by its resistance to reform, would not soon rise again. But the framers of the Reform Bill had calculated on the variations in the popular compass, and were not surprised at the change 'One of the earliest acts of Earl Grey's government was to reduce their own salaries, those of all the great officers of state, and others whose salaries exceeded £1000 per annum. In two years, viz., 1831 and 1832, not less than 1265 offices, with salaries amounting to £220,000, were abolished, in the different establishments of the government. In the customs alone, 414 offices were reduced, and a saving of £29,000 per annum, effected. In the excise 507 were reduced, and an annual saving of £145,250 effected. Similar reductions were made in the diplomatic and consular departments. At Malta, Gibraltar, Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, &c., a saving of £134,000, out of a charge of £411,000, will be the consequence of the reductions made. In Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Trinidad, British Guiana, &c., similar reductions have been made. 'The total saving in the government established in the colonies will be £224,000, out of a charge of £573,000. The following table shows the reductions: isters Plenipotentiary, Ministers resident abroad, Secretaries,. Consuls, &c.. General Total, 55,30 45,990 'When the ministry came into office in 1830, they found the revenue of the country amounting to £50,056,616; of which sum about £35,000,000 was required for the payment of The estimated excess of income over expendithe debt, civil list, and other fixed charges. that period and the present, Lord Althorp has ture was that year £700,000; but, between repealed the duty on coals, amounting to £900,000; on candles, to £500,000; on soap, to £600,000; on printed cottons, £550,000; assessed taxes and farming stock, to £440,000; on marine insurances, to £100,000; on slates, tiles; on advertisements on tax-carts; small receipt stamps; on travellers, clerks, book-keepers, office-men, &c.; making a total of £3,335,000. These taxes were repealed in 1832 and 1833. 'The same ministry, in 1834, repealed the house-tax, £1,200,000; the window tax on farm-houses; on husbandry horses, used occasionally for riding or drawing; on shepherds' dogs; on post horses, used occasionally in husbandry; on starch, £75,000; and on almanacs; making, with the house-tax, a total of £1,581,000 repealed in 1834. In addition, the annual payment of the interest on the West India compensation, viz., £750,000 has been provided for; so that the total reduction in the years 1832, 1833, and 1834, with this payment, amounts to no less than £5,700,000. 'Every effort has been made to remove unnecessary and injurious shackles upon trade, either by reducing taxes which pressed on industry, or removing vexatious regulations or exclusive privileges. With this view, the tax upon printed cottons, amounting to £2,000,000 gross, and £600,000 net, was repealed. The cotton-tax, which was substituted for about half this amount in 1831-repealed in 1833. The duties upon upwards of 400 articles used in manufacture, of more or less importance, many of them very considerable-either materially reduced or altogether repealed; reductions amounting to not less than £400,000. The package and scavage dues, amounting to £16,000 a-year, have been abolished; and the port dues of the City of London reduced to less than one half. The Custom-house laws have been consolidated, and made simple and easy of access.' The discussions regarding Ireland which occurred when the new Parliament met, we reserve for the conclusion of our remarks. One of the first questions to which the Reform Ministry turned their attention, was the mode in which slavery in the West Indian colonies should be treated. There could be no doubt among liberal and enlightened men on the abstract vices of slavery. Whatever may be the evils of despotism in government, they are as a grain of sand compared to the enormous grievance of personal slavery. The spirit of the Christian religion, the laws of humanity, the rules of sound policy, alike forbid that man should be the chattel property of man-his to force to labor-his to corrupt his to torture-his to kill. Indeed, so repugnant is this institution to human nature, that it requires the most violent means to preserve it. Horses grow fond of their stable, and exult in bearing their master to the chase or the charge; dogs feed from their masters' hands, and watch with untiring affection over their masters' lives. But man, turning to him' who made us of such large discourse, looking before and after,' cannot easily and willingly lend 'such capability and godlike reason' to the uses of bondage. His mind revolts at toil enforced by the whip for the benefit of another; his affections are outraged by the licentious violence which robs him of the bride of his bosom; his spirit looks upward to God, and prays for deliverance from the unholy compact. It is therefore necessary, in order to maintain slavery, to degrade, as far as possible, the human nature to the brute. With this view idleness or disobedience must be followed by instant chastisement; religious or intellectual instruction must be debarred; indulgence must be given in the shape of childish amusement or physical pleasure, without any mixture of sweet companionship or moral elevation. Such was slavery in the British West Indies during the last century. Such was the system which the government of England, of all parties, encouraged by public opinion, fostered, promoted, and upheld. After the abolition of the slave trade by the Whig ministry of 1806, the philanthropists who had raised their batteries against that iniquitous traffic had employed the same artillery against slavery itself. The government, imbued with the Tory maxim-of leaving ill alone, had seen this movement with displeasure. Their opponents, with the remarkable exception of Mr. Brougham, had not been forward to incur the responsibility of the mighty change contemplated by the society for the abolition of slavery. Still opinion grew more and more resolute against the system. It was thought necessary to do something. The Ministry put in force a code of regulations, mitigating in appearance the evil denounced; forbidding the flogging of women, allowing certain markets for the slaves to dispose of their produce; enforcing fixed allowances of food and clothing. Experience soon showed that these regulations were founded on wrong principles. In fact, the ground between slavery and freedom is a shifting quicksand. In slavery, the human animal has a chance of being as humanely treated as the other cattle on the owner's estate. If he is obedient, docile, industrious, he may thrive and grow fat as well as the ox and the ass, and every thing that is his. An intelligent, kind-hearted master, an honest and good-tempered overseer, may effect much in the way of mitigation by discretion. But mitigation by law is another thing. The slave learns that his master's master has interfered in his behalf. He inquires from his friends what are the securities he has obtained. He seeks to put in force his new and unaccustomed rights. But the master examines, with no less attention, and with more sagacity, the negro code. He knows that Parliament intended labor to be still compulsory, and he ascertains the means by which it is to be enforced. The negro and the planter, from bondsman and master, become plaintiff and defendant. The negro finds he has many ways of counteracting his master; the master finds he has many more ways of defeating the negro. Complaints multiply; punishments increase in proportion; the amount of work diminishes; the indulgence of the planter is at an end. Inspection, arbitration, courts of justice, only aggravate the discord which prevails; slavery is still the law and compulsory labor the recognized obligation; the sanctioned mitigations are evaded or despised; the negro people become more short, it was proved, to the conviction of the Cabinet, that the experiment of emancipation did not involve either political anarchy or social annihilation. and more exasperated, and are viewed with increased suspicion. Toil beyond human endurance, punishments exceeding human justice, are rigorously enforced; population rapidly diminishes, and the planter, turned tyrant, surveys, with dismay, his bloodstained produce and his perishing people. It is not necessary, in this place, to discuss the particular merits of the plan brought forward by the government for the emancipation of the slaves. That plan was afterwards greatly modified. Instead of a loan of Fifteen Millions, to be repaid by the labor of the slaves, the magnificent sum of Twenty Millions was granted by Thus it happened in Demerara. The whole number of slaves, on estates wholly or partially cultivated in sugar, was, in 1829, 47,456. In three years, to May 1832, the deaths were 5573; and the total the Commons of England, as their share diminution of numbers 2745, or 5 per of the loss to be incurred by emancipation: cent.* On some estates the mortality was the period of twelve years was reduced to larger. The increase of sugar from 1826- seven, and the seven were, in fact, no more 9 to 1829-32, was from 662,000 cwt. to than five. 806,000 cwt. In 1829, when the slave population was 61,627, the number of punishments was 17,359; in 1831, the slave of conception by which this scheme was population being 98,000, the number of punishments was 21,656. Be the merits of the machinery what they may, no one can deny the boldness marked. No less than Eight Hundred Thousand human beings were, in a few years, to be raised from slavery to freedom; their children were all to be born free; a community of freemen was to be established in all the colonies of the British crown; and the vain boast of the American constitution, that all men are equal, was to become a re The nation, which had incurred eight hundred millions of debt for the sake of maintaining its independence, or its power by war, added twenty millions to that debt for the sake of humanity and conscience in peace. Pressed by no insurrection, in no penury of resources, in no failure of military force, Great Britain declared herself ready for any sacrifice of wealth, or even any hazard of diminished Empire, in order to abolish all distinction of race or color, and establish for ever the freedom of her negro sub In Jamaica, where the Orders in Council had not operated, the difference in the increase of sugar, from 1823-6 to 1826-9 was only from 1,354,400 cwt. to 1,389,000 cwt., and the decrease of population was only from 334,000 to 327,000.† Still the change proposed was of an aw-ality for the subjects of the King of England. ful nature. Statesmen, entrusted with the destinies of their fellow-subjects of all ranks and conditions, could not leap to the dogma of the religious societies, that slavery must be abolished without qualification, and the consequences left to chance. Anarchy, rebellion, and murder, were, in their eyes, evils of no less enormity than slavery itself. A safe way out of the labyrinth might be found; to fire the building for the sake of escape, would be the stratagem of desperate men, but not of a wise government. Inquiry was the first step that was adopt-jects. ed. Committees of both Houses were appointed, and members of the Cabinet placed upon each. The evidence before these committees was at once appalling and satisfactory. The evils of slavery were fully proved. But it was likewise shown that many of the blacks had acquired, under benevolent masters, very considerable property; that migratory gangs worked for wages with great benefit to their employers and themselves; that Baptist and other Missionaries had taught the most intelligent among them the privileges of the Christian faith, and the duties of free subjects. In *Lord Howick's Speech, May 14, 1833. + Lord Stanley's Speech, May 14, 1833. The Tory party looked on, cautiously and coldly, while this measure was making its way through Parliament. Lord Ellenborough denounced its introduction as hazardous and premature; had the West Indian interest thought itself equal to resistance, it was tolerably clear that factious aid would not have been wanting; when that interest accepted the Twenty Millions, the party reluctantly acquiesced in the emancipation of the blacks. The discussions of this year exhibited in a strong light the debating ability of Lord Stanley. At the commencement of the session, he overpowered the Irish Repealers by his vehement invective; afterwards, he carried on at the same time the Church Temporalities Bill of Ireland, and the at the smallest cost to the owners and ocSlavery Abolition Bill, with unrivalled cupiers of land. This plan received the clearness of statement, readiness of reply, approbation of Mr. Pitt; and every obstaand facility of managing the details of cle which the law interposed to prevent the complicated measures. substitution of rates for wages was thrown down, to favor the progress of the scheme. The act of George the First, enabling the parishes to restrict relief the able-bodied to the workhouse, was repealed. Magistrates laid down rules for the distribution of public funds, and published tables for the guidance of overseers, founded on the numbers of a laborer's family, and the price of the peck of flour. In the same year the Bank Charter was renewed. Lord Althorp maintained sound views on the subject of currency, in accordance with those of Mr. Horner, Mr. Huskisson, Lord Grenville, Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Ricardo, and Sir Robert Peel. The details of the measure do not require any notice here. The prominent question for Parliamentary discussion in 1834, was the Bill for the Amendment of the Poor Laws. The renewal of the Charter of the East India Company was the occasion of a great- By this system, society was placed in the er change. The commercial character of greatest peril. According to the natural that Company was extinguished. The trade distribution of wages and labor, a young to China was thrown open. The English man earning the value of his work, is merchant was free to carry on his commer-obliged to calculate, before he marries, cial speculations with a nation of three whether those earnings will enable him to hundred millions. The East India Com-support a wife, and bring up a family of pany remained the sovereign of India on children, until those children are able to terms which, after some negotiation, appear earn their own subsistence. This foreto have been considered on both sides equita- thought marks him for a reasonable being, ble and just. Thus, this great change was and keeps up in the community of laborers accomplished among the minor achieve- to which he belongs, that power of comments of the government of Lord Grey. manding adequate food, house room, and raiment, which constitutes comfort in his own vast and important class. But when his wages are measured by the lowest amount of money on which he can live, and the provision for a married couple is made by the parish, all motive for provident forethought is taken away, and the temptation to early marriage, strong enough in itself, has no counterbalancing fear. Want cannot afflict the favorite of the law; no starving children will reproach him with exposing them to hunger and nakedness. The state offers a premium to all who marry. Thus, to quote a trite instance two laborers were thrashing together in a barn, their day's work was the same, the value of their labor to their employer exactly the same; yet, one received only eight shillings for a week's work, the other received fifteen. The reason was, that one was single, the other married. It is obvious that a poor man, and a pauper, are in different stations of life. A day-laborer may be poor; but so long as he lives on his earnings, he does not differ, in the character of his employment, from the lawyer, the physician, or the tradesman, who receives his yearly income from the proceeds of his industry. The pauper has no such resource. In failure of all means of support, he applies to the community for sustenance-the community thus appealed to gives him work and maintenance if he is able to labor, maintenance alone if he is unable. Such was the principle of the Poor Law of Elizabeth. Founded on wise and benevolent views, it directed that the overseers of parishes should relieve the infirm and the young, who could earn little or nothing for themselves, and should set the able-bodied to work. In an evil hour, this law was perverted to far different purposes. It was meant for the pauper-it was applied to the laborer, When, during the war, food became dear, it occurred to some volunteer legislators that if, instead of raising wages, the laborers received support for their families from the poor rates, the purpose of enabling the laboring-classes to live would be attained It is obvious that such a system must produce more laborers than could find profita ble employment. This was in fact the case. Forty or fifty laborers were to be found in a parish, whom no employer wished to hire ;-who lowered the general value of labor, the only commodity the poor man has to sell, and by absorbing a large sum in poor-rates, diminished the whole fund applicable to the commodity which the employer wishes to buy. |