PARLIAMENT was prorogued by commission before the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo: the king, in his speech, repeat ed the assurance of his "firm and unaltered conviction, that June 21. not only the honour of his

throne, but the best in terests of his dominions, required his most strenuous and persevering assistance to the glorious efforts of the Spaniards and Portugueze." He congratulated the country upon the conquest of Guadaloupe, which, with the capture of the only colonies in the West Indies that had remained in the possession of the Dutch, had deprived the enemy of every port in those seas, from whence our islands or our commerce could be molested. He expressed also his satisfaction, that the resources of the country, "manifesting themselves by every mark of prosperity, by a revenue in creasing in almost all its branches, and by a commerce extending itself in new channels, and with an increased vigour, in proportion as the enemy had in vain attempted to destroy it, had enabled parliament to provide for the expences of the year, without imposing the burden of any new taxa

tion in Great Britain; and that, while the taxes which had been necessarily resorted to for Ireland, had been imposed upon articles which would not interfere with the growing prosperity of that country, they had found it consistent, with a due regard to its finances, to diminish some of those burdens, and relax some of those regulations of revenue, which had been found most inconvenient in that part of the united kingdom." The speech concluded with a reference to that spirit of insubordination which Sir Francis Burdett's conduct had called into action. "His majesty," it said, " has commanded us to recommend to you, upon your return to your respective counties, to use your best exertions to promote that spirit of order and obedience to the laws, and that general concord amongst all classes of his majesty's subjects, which can alone give full effect to his majesty's paternal care for the welfare and happiness of his people. His majesty has the fullest reliance upon the affections of his subjects, whose loyalty and attachment have hitherto supported him through that long and eventful period, during which it has

is! They had met with no refusal here! At the Tower they were wel

come !"

Mr Sheriff Wood told Sir Francis, hat his release could not be a triimph for the people of England, unless it were obtained by the vindication and legal establishment of those grand principles of the contitution, which had been so grossly violated in his person.-A triumph, nevertheless, the agitators were resolved to have, and preparations were made for it with as much form and publicity, as for a coronation or the funeral of Nelson! The order of the intended procession was published, stating where the gentlemen who intended to walk were to assemble, and where those who intended to ride, and where the carriages. Gentlemen on horseback, with white wands, were to attend, to marshal each division; the members of the common council and livery were 'to join the ceremony; bands of music, and banners, and trumpeters, were prepared; and, that no one might be in want of Sir Francis's dark blue favours, a person drove about the streets in an open carriage to sell them, till he had collected such a mob in St Giles's, that he was committed to the watch-house.

The sheriffs thought it necessary to warn all persons against committing any breach of the peace, on an occasion which was so likely to produce disturbances, in the then inflamed state of popular feeling. The lord mayor received an intimation from the home secretary, to take proper measures for preserving the peace of the city; and for the purpose of assisting the civil power, in case it should be found necessary, the volunteers were called out, and troops stationed in proper places. When the day of the prorogation arrived, the shops were shut, the

church bells of many parishes rung, the streets through which the procession was to pass were soon filled with people, wearing medals and blue favours; the windows were crowded with women, displaying thecolours of the herooftheday; bands of music, with banners flying, proceeded from various parts of the town toward Tower-hill, and marrow-bones and cleavers were heard in every direction. The various divisions assembled at their stations, and being marshalled by the gentlemen on horseback with white wands, the whole procession met on Towerhill, expecting momently that the prorogation would be announced, and Sir Francis come forth, when to their utter astonishment they were informed that Sir Francis was gone: he had crossed the river incognito, where his own carriage was waiting to convey him to Wimbledon. Grievous as this disappointment was, they resolved, nevertheless, that the ceremony should take place; and accordingly the people had their procession, the mob huzzaed, and the ladies flourished their handkerchiefs, ignorant, till the empty phaeton appeared, that the real presence was wanting. Amid all these preparations, Gale Jones, in whose case the question had originated, and who had a much better claim to popular sympathy than Sir Francis, was totally overlooked. Neither the gentlemen on foot, nor those on horseback, nor those in carriages, had made any arrangement for honouring his release, or conveying him in triumph; some humbler friends, indeed, had a hackney coach ready for him, and wrote his name upon the back and sides in chalk. In this vehicle he took his seat, and a party of the mob soon relieved the horses from the trouble of drawing him.

The procession did not reach Sir

Francis's house in Piccadilly, its appointed goal, till about eight in the evening; there it broke up: but an hour afterwards, the thousands who had dispersed were scarcely missed from the throng. The more riotous remained as night closed they insisted upon an illumination; and their orders were obeyed from Piccadilly to the Mansion House, those persons who refused obedience having their windows broken. This, however, was the only mischief which took place. Two members of the committee who arranged the procession, waited that night upon Sir Francis, to obtain an explanation of his conduct in thus disappointing his friends. Sir Francis said, "It had been the result of the deepest reflection, and had occupied his mind more than half the time he had been in the Tower; and notwithstanding the public might feel disappointed, and would, no doubt, express their disappointment strong ly, yet he was convinced that in less than six weeks there would not be a reflecting mind in the kingdom that would not approve of what he had done. His enemies," he said, " had been base enough to charge him with the blood that had been shed; and had he, by gratifying his personal vanity, been the cause of a single accident, or the death of any person, he should have reflected upon it with pain for the remainder of his life." His friends of the committee said, there was little probability of mischief; and indeed such precautions had been taken, that it was scarcely possible. He replied, "there was no answering for public feeling." They then observed, that his determination ought to have been made known: he made answer, "It was absolutely necessary there should be an expression of public sentiment; that was now com

plete, and his being in the procession could not have added to it." This conversation was published with Sir Francis's consent, that it might satisfy the disappointed people. One of the journals of the faction threw out a mysterious hint to strengthen this explanation, if such it may be called. "A motive," it said, "did probably exist for the conduct of Sir Francis, which, if it were what they conjectu. red, would be deemed more honour. able to him than any act of his life: but the moment was not yet arrived when that motive could be disclosed without defeating its object." "He had done every thing," it was said, "which was essential; he had suffered the people to assemble; he had forced go. vernment to pay to his influence the compliment of marching an army to the metropolis; and he had drawn forth and mustered the population of all London on the question." The people, however, were not satisfied; many had come from the country to join in the procession; one party was said to have travelled post from Yorkshire, and just arrived in time to be disappointed; they thought themselves deceived by Sir Francis, or at least treated with disrespect; and his conduct was variously accounted for, but generally disapproved. Some attributed it to an apprehension that Gale Jones would be seated beside him in the triumphal car, and to his jealousy of a rival and colleague in popularity; but there seems to have been no intention of this kind, and the party were quite as willing as Sir Francis himself that Gale Jones should be kept out of sight. The alleged reason that his presence might have rendered mischief more likely, bore with it little appearance of vali. dity; ill-humour and disappointment were not the most probable means of

making the mob peaceable, especially when it was so certainly to be expected that his absence would be attributed, not to his own choice, but to the interference of government. The general opinion ascribed his conduct to the most natural cause, a compliance with the solicitations of his family that he should not expose himself to that personal danger, which, in case of tumult, might so easily occur. But whatever was the cause, the popularity of Sir Francis from that day was on the wane; the progress of his proceedings at law upon the question were regarded by the public without interest; and when it was finally decided by the courts of law to which he had appealed, that the measures of the House of Commons towards him had been as constitutional and legal as they were necessary, the event passed with as little notice as a common suit at law.

Magna Charta and the constitution had no sooner ceased to be the subject of alarm among popular politicians, than new matter was found for fear and prophecy in the state of the finances. The loan for the year had been taken by the two houses of Sir Francis Baring and Abraham Goldsmidt: a pressure of commercial difficulties was felt, occasioned partly by that species of hostility which America, at the instigation of France, was carrying on against us, partly by the increasing rigour with which Buonaparte's decrees against English commerce were enforced in the north of Europe, still more so by the folly with which adventurers of little or no capital had engaged in the wildest speculations, and glutted the markets of South America with British goods. Omnium, instead of bearing a premium, as in ordinary times, was at a discount, when Sir Francis

VOL. III. PART I.

Baring died, and that circumstance depressed it farther, though there was not a doubt of the responsibility of his house. At the end of September it fell to 5 and 6 per cent. discount. Heavy as the loss would have been, the other house could well have borne its part, and would have received that prompt and liberal assistance which its own liberality so well deserved; but Abraham Goldsmidt had been accustomed to uninterrupted prosperity, and could not bear even a momentary reverse; and rather than intimate to his friends that he needed their support, he shot himself. There was the more reason for imputing this rash act to insanity, because one of his brothers, without any apparent motive, had committed suicide before him. No single event ever produced so great a shock in the city. Omnium fell in the course of that day to 10% discount. The discount, however, was finally reduced to about 4 per cent., and public credit speedily recovered. But the effect of the rash speculations to South America continued to show itself in numerous bankruptcies, and an alarm had been raised by a Report of a Committee of the House of Commons, which had been appointed to inquire into the state of bullion,-a prolific source of controversy and confusion, the history of which belongs to the annals of the ensuing year.

While this happy topic for the disputatious was afloat, the hopes and fears of a far more numerous part of the community were excited by a negociation for an exchange of prisoners. A proposal, on the part of France, for the exchange of an individual, led to this negociation; the British government, in refusing its assent to this proposal, professed its readi+

2 K

Oct. 12.

1809.