Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg). Leeds Published by Edw! Baines Nor" 1. 1816. CHAPTER VIII. BRITISH HISTORY: Assembling of Parliament-Addresses carried in both Houses-Supplies THE proceedings of the British parliament in the session of 1815, so far as they regard the resolution taken once more to enter the lists against the French Emperor, have been anticipated; and as the other topics brought under discussion during this anxious session were principally of a subordinate nature, they will demand only a cursory review. But if the parliamentary transactions of the year may be compressed within a narrow compass, the retrospect of the effects of the war, and of the consequences of the return of peace, upon the trade, the agriculture, the finances, and the general condition of the inhabitants of this country, afford an ample scope for historical statement, and present indeed a much wider field of inquiry than the circumscribed limits of the remaining portion of this history will allow. The On the 8th of November, 1814, parliament assembled for the dispatch of business. topics embraced in the speech of the prince regent were, the continuance of the war with America the opening of the congress at Vienna -and the state of the public revenue and commerce of Great Britain on the return of peace with the continent. On the first of these points his royal highness affirmed, that the war with the United States had originated in the most unprovoked aggression on the part of that government, and that its tendency was to promote the designs of the common enemy of Europe. It was, however, his sincere desire to bring the contest to a conclusion upon just BOOK V. and honourable terms, and he was at the present moment engaged in negociations for that CHAP.VIII, purpose. The meeting of the congress at 1815 Vienna was next referred to; and although some delay had arisen from unavoidable causes, parliament was assured, that the endeavours of his royal highness would be used to consolidate the peace to which he had been a party, by a just equilibrium among the powers of Europe. The state of the public revenue and commerce of this country were represented in the speech as in the most flourishing condition, but the large expenditure, and the accumulated arrears, would demand in the course of the present year a considerable provision. It was in conclusion observed, that the peculiar character of the late war, as well as the extraordinary length of its duration, must have materially affected the situation of the countries engaged in it, as well as the commercial relations which formerly existed between them. Under these circumstances it became expedient to proceed with due caution in the adoption of such regulations as might be considered necessary for the purpose of extending our trade and securing our present advantages; and his royal highness expressed his determination cordially to co-operate and assist in every measure calculated to contribute to the prosperity and welfare of his majesty's dominions. Addresses formed on the speech were passed in both houses of parliament without a CHAP.VIII. 1815 BOOK V. division; and the commons voted, with as little delay as the nature of the proceedings would admit, those supplies which the exigency of the government demanded, and to afford which, the session had commenced at an earlier period than usual. In pursuance of this purpose, Sir George Warrender, one of the lords of the admiralty, moved, on the 14th of November, that seventy thousand seamen, including fifteen thousand marines, should be voted for the service of the year 1815; also, that £1,615,250 should be granted to his majesty for wages for the same: both which proposals were carried. On a subsequent day, the chancellor of the exchequer moved, that a sum not exceeding eight millions should be granted to his majesty to meet the bills drawn on the treasury for the extraordinaries of the army. This motion, which called forth some observations from Mr. Tierney, was carried, and on the 1st of December, parliament adjourned till Thursday the 9th of February, before which period it was presumed the proceedings of the congress of Vienna would terminate. The deliberations of the congress extended to a period beyond the expectations of the British government, and on the re-assembling of parliament on the 9th of February, ministers were still unprepared to offer any explanation regarding the political arrangements entered into at Vienna. During the parliamentary recess numerous meetings had been held in various parts of the country, and on the re-assembling of parliament, petitions from these meetings were presented to the house against the longer continuance of the property tax. The loudlyraised voice of the people fixed the wavering purpose of the chancellor of the exchequer; and on the 20th of February that right honourable gentleman introduced his plan of finance for the current year by announcing his deter-mination to abandon the property tax. In abandoning this great measure of finance, the house, he said, would not consider itself at all precluded from resorting to it again, whenever the necessities of the country should render it expedient. This tax, in conjunction with the other war taxes, had supported the public credit, and finally enabled us to assist materially in effecting the deliverance of Europe. They had prevented a funded debt of between two and three hundred millions, and an annual charge of fourteen millions. The property tax alone had produced one hundred and fifty mil lions, and had saved a burthen of one hundred and eighty millions, with nine millions annually of permanent taxes. In proposing the substitution of other measures, he stated, that on the 5th of January last, the public revenue amounted to £40,962,000. The principal charge upon which was the interest of the funded debt of £35,420,000. The annual expense of the peace establishment for four years he estimated at from eighteen to nineteen millions. To meet this demand there were in the first place about six millions of permanent annual taxes; he should in addition propose a continuance of the war taxes on the customs and the excise, for a limited time, which would produce a further sum of six millions, and he should lay before the house a plan for new taxes to the amount of five millions, making in the whole seventeen millions. The new taxes were multifarious, but consisted principally of taxes on the windows of green-houses, and shops, and warehouses; an augmentation of 30 per cent. on the present tax on the rents of inhabited houses; 80 per cent. additional on servants, carriages and horses used for pleasure, with a still further rate of 50 per cent. on the servants, horses, and carriages of bachelors. The aggregate produce of the several sums would amount to two millions and a half. Coming next to the customs, he proposed an additional duty on tobacco and wine, and an increase upon the licenses of dealers in excisable articles. A tax of one penny upon the postage of newspapers, and a considerable advance on the stamp duties, completed the catalogue of the proposed imposts for the year. A peace establishment cast on a scale of expenditure requiring nineteen millions a year for four years, was deemed enormous by the members on the opposition side of the house; but before this question came to its ultimate decision, events had arisen that entirely deranged the proposed system of finance, and called for the revival of the property tax, and all the other war taxes. * The question of the corn laws, which had already engaged the attention of parliament in two successive sessions, was. again brought forward in the house of commons on the 17th of February. During the last session an act was passed for permitting the exportation of all kinds of grain duty free; and the object of the friends of that measure was still further to extend relief to the agricultural interest, by prohibiting the free importation of corn, except when the average price of wheat in this country should amount to eighty shillings per quarter or upwards, and the price of other grain in the same proportion. The resolutions on which the proposed law was intended to be grounded, were introduced by the Right Hon. Frederick Robinson, vice-president of the board of trade, who, on behalf of the land owners of the country, * See Vol. II. Book IV. Page 351. disclaimed any idea of making exorbitant pro- In conformity with the recommendation During the progress of the corn bill, which BOOK V. 1815 was made, no material resistance was offered to the rioters, but on Tuesday, the 7th of March, CHAP.VIII. when a repetition of the excesses of the preceding day was attempted, several shots were fired from Mr. Robinson's parlour-window, by which two persons, a lieutenant in the navy, of the name of Edward Vize, and a female, of the name of Jane Watson, neither of them actively engaged in the outrage, were both mortally wounded, and died soon afterwards. At this period the corn bill had passed a second time in the house of commons; and on the 6th of March, at the moment when the house was engaged in an animated debate on that clause of the bill by which the maximum price for regulating the importation was to be fixed, Mr. Lambton rose, and announced that a military force surrounded the several avenues to the house, and that the members were exposed to the danger of being overawed by the presence of the soldiery. Such a proceeding he pronounced to be extremely unconstitutional, and moved an immediate adjournment. Lord Castlereagh said, the military force complained of by the honourable gentleman, had been called in to aid the civil power, to protect the members, and to prevent the house itself from being interrupted and overawed in its deliberations by a mob. On the motion of Mr. Whitbread the house was resumed, and the speaker stated from the chair, that before he came down to attend his parliamentary duty this day, having reason to apprehend the possibility of some disturbance, he had sent to the police magistrates, and to the high bailiff of Westminster, ordering them to have the several constables at their posts. Having done this, he thought he had made an adequate provision; but he was surprised to learn, that a noble lord (Castlereagh) had been attacked, and that he had escaped with some difficulty from a tumultuous mob, which obstructed the usual avenues, using insolent and threatening language. In consequence of this information, he (the speaker) sent for one of the * SUBSTANCE OF THE RESOLUTIONS REGARDING THE IMPORTATION Of corn. Resolved, That all sorts of corn, meal, and flour, not already prohibited, may be brought into the united kingdom and warehoused duty free; that such corn, &c. may be taken out of the warehouses and again exported without the payment of any duty; that whenever foreign corn is admissible into the united kingdom for home consumption, such corn, &c. may be taken out of the warehouses and entered for home consumption without the payment of any duty; that such foreign corn, &c. shall be permitted to be imported for home consumption without the payment of any duty whatever, when the average in this country is at or above the prices hereafter specified, namely, Wheat-80s.-Rye, Pease, and Beans, 53s-Barley, Beer, or Bigg, 40s.-Oats, 268. per quarter; but whenever the average prices of British corn shall respectively be below the prices above stated, no foreign corn, &c. Wheat, 678.-Rye, Pease, and Beans, 44s.- Barley, Beer, or Bigg, 33s.-Oats, 22s. per quarter; 1815 Sir BOOK V. civil magistrates, and directed him, if he found his force insufficient for the performance of his CHAP.VIII. duty, to call in further aid; enjoining him at all events to keep the avenues clear, and to provide for the protection of the members. In pursuance of this direction, for which he held himself responsible, a military force had been called in. The attorney-general, and several other members, then stated, that at their entrance into the avenues they had been stopped by the mob, and interrogated as to the vote they intended to give on the corn bill. Robert Heron complained that he had been bandied about like a shuttlecock between two battledores; and Sir Frederick Flood declared, that he had been carried above a hundred yards on the shoulders of the mob, like mackarel from Billingsgate market, and that he thought they meant to quarter him. The police magistrates in attendance, on being ordered to appear at the bar, informed the house, that having found the civil power insufficient for the protection of the members, a troop of life-guards were called in to act under the direction of the civil authorities. The presence of the guards served effectually to repress the riotous proceeding of the mob in the vicinity of Westminster-Hall, and the discussion on the corn question was again resumed, when the importation price was finally settled at eighty shillings per quarter. In the upper house of parliament, the corn bill, which was grounded upon the resolutions introduced into the house of commons on the 17th of February, and embraced all the material points in those resolutions, passed through its respective stages without being exposed to any very formidable opposition, and soon after received the royal assent, effect of the corn law upon the country neither realized the sanguine expectations of the agriculturists, nor the gloomy foreboding of the manufacturing and labouring classes. Both the friends and the adversaries of this act entertained the expectation, that its natural and almost immediate consequence would be to advance the price of wheat to four pounds per quarter; and this assuredly would have been the case, had the demand exceeded the supply of British corn; but two years of plenty had given to the consumer the controul over the market, and had, for the present at least, rendered a measure of so much imaginary importance a mere dead letter. The The return of Bonaparte from Elba served to derange all the measures of finance proposed by the chancellor of the exchequer, and called for an entire revision of the ways and means already submitted to the consideration of parliament. Only a few months had elapsed since the house of commons was engaged in discus. sing the provisions that were deemed necessary for a peace establishment; but scarcely had the ratification of the peace with America arrived, when an event that was felt as an electric shock throughout Europe, and again roused the world to arms, imposed upon parliament the necessity of providing for a war establishment upon a scale of unparalleled extent. With a large arrear of former expenditure, combined with the necessity the country was placed under of providing the means to carry on a new war, the sum which the exigencies of the state required for the present year greatly exceeded all former periods. The chancellor of the exchequer, in submitting his statements to the house, on the 14th of June, interspersed them with a number of observations on the public spirit and resources of the country; and from an enumeration of the items it appeared, that the aggregate sum of supplies required for the united kingdom amounted to £89,728,926. The deduction for the Irish proportion of the joint charge was £9,572,814; and for the civil list and consolidated fund £188,000, leaving a total for Great Britain of £70,968,112 to be obtained from the following ways and means: The chancellor of the exchequer had no hesitation in saying, that if it was at all probable that an equal expenditure would be incurred in future years, he should consider it proper to make an appeal to the public spirit and magnanimity of the people; but as the extraordinary expenses of the present year were not at all likely to continue, he had deemed it more wise to resort to a loan, as had been the case on former occasions; and he trusted, notwithstanding the largeness of the demand, that we should have no reason to regret the exertions we were making. The loan, which had been contracted for that day for the service of the present year, amounted to twenty-seven millions for England, and nine millions for Ireland, making a total of thirty-six millions, and the terms, he had no hesitation in declaring, would be found satisfactory both to the contractors and to the public. Mr. Tierney thought the present one of the most alarming budgets ever laid before parliament. The total amount of the supplies required for the year (independent of the interest on the national debt) was £82,728,000-a sum |