Chapter XXI, of Cassells Illustrated History of England, Volume 7 page 3

The second reading was moved on the 14th by lord Althorp, the chancellor of the exchequer. Lord Porchester moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months. His motion was supported by Sir Edward Sugden. Sir Robert Peel had taunted the government with inconsistency in adopting alterations, every one of which they had resisted when proposed by the opposition. Mr. Macaulay retaliated with powerful effect, with respect to the conduct of the tories on the question of catholic emancipation. The right honourable baronet, while declaring his willingness to grant a measure of well- considered and safe reform, expressed his determination to oppose this revolutionary bill to the last. But to those who intended to yield finally he gave this advice: - " If it be intended to give way, yield while you can have the credit of graceful concession, and do not let it be supposed that you have been compelled to grant whatever you ultimately give."

On a division, the numbers were, for the second reading, 324; against it, 162 - majority, 162. The house of commons having thus carried the reform measure a third time by an increased majority, which was now two to one, the house was adjourned to the 17th of January, when it resumed its sittings. On the 19th of that month, the Irish reform bill was brought in by Mr. Stanley, and the Scotch bill by the lord advocate. On the 20th the house resolved itself into a committee on the English bill, and continued to discuss it daily, clause by clause, and word by word, pertinaciously and bitterly wrangling over each, till the 10th of March, when the committee reported. The third reading was moved on the 19th, when the last, and not the least violent, of the debates took place. The bill was passed on the 23rd by a majority of 116, the numbers being 355 and 239. In winding up the debate, lord John Russell said: - With respect to the expectations of the government in proposing this measure, they had not acted lightly, but after much consideration, which had induced them to think a year ago that a measure of this kind was necessary, if they meant to stand between the abuses which they wished to correct and the convulsions which they desired to avoid. He was convinced that if parliament should refuse to entertain a measure of this nature, they would place in collision the party which on the one hand opposed all reform, and on the other desired a reform extending to universal suffrage. The consequence of this would be that much blood would be shed in the struggle between the parties; and he was perfectly persuaded that the British constitution would perish in the conflict."

The bill having passed, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the reformers, lord John Russell and lord Althorp were ordered to carry it in to the lords, and " to request the concurrence of their lordships in the same." They did so on Monday, the 26th, followed by a large number of members. It was read by the lords the first time, and the debate on the second reading commenced on the 9th of April. On that day the duke of Buckingham gave notice that - in the event of the bill being rejected, a result which he fully anticipated - he would bring in a reform bill, of which the principal provisions would be to give members to large and important towns, to unite and consolidate certain boroughs, and to extend the elective franchise. Lord Grey then rose to move the second reading of the reform bill. The principle of the bill, he remarked, was now universally conceded. It was admitted in the duke of Buckingham's motion. Even the duke of Wellington did not declare against all reform. They differed with the opposition then only as to the extent to which reform should be carried. He adverted to the modifications that had been made in the bill, and to the unmistakable determination of the people. At this moment the public mind was tranquil, clamour had ceased - all was anxious suspense and silent expectation. Lord Grey disclaimed any wish to intimidate their lordships, but he cautioned them not to misapprehend the awful silence of the people. u Though the people are silent," he said, u they are looking at our proceedings this night no less intently than they have looked ever since the question was first agitated. I know it is pretended by many that the nation has no confidence in the peers, because there is an opinion out of doors that the interests of the aristocracy are separated from those of the people. On the part of this house, however, I disclaim all such separation of interests; and therefore I am willing to believe that the silence of which I have spoken is the fruit of a latent hope still existing in their bosoms."

Lord Ellenborough attacked the measure with great violence, and moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months. The debate was opened next day by lord Shrewsbury, premier earl of England, and hereditary lord high steward of Ireland - one of the peers that catholic emancipation had introduced to the house. He startled their lordships by his denunciation of the constitution in church and state. He was at a loss to know for what reason they were so enamoured of it, or from what evils it had saved the country; not from expensive wars, or an enormous national debt, or from rebellion and revolution, or frequent commercial embarrassments. Let them see if they could make it better by reforming it, and giving it fair play. Let them right the people, or the people would right themselves. They would deliver themselves from the rule of a dominant oligarchy, against which the exasperated nation had at length risen. This oligarchy he said, had found willing coadjutors on the episcopal bench. But if the clergy know their own interest - and it is generally supposed they are not unskilled in matters of personal concern - they ought to feel the necessity of now coming forward to do their duty to the country. Hitherto they have shown themselves too often the greatest enemies of the people; willing agents of the worst system of tyranny; ready abettors of, and participators in, the vilest acts of extravagance, spoliation, and corruption. Now is the time for them to make some compensation to the people for long years of contumely and wrong. He would not mince matters. If the house of commons needed reform, so did the house of peers.

Lord Limerick, lord Mansfield, and the duke of Wellington vehemently opposed the bill. The duke was severe upon the " waverers," lords Wharncliffe and Harrowby, who defended themselves on the ground that the bill must be carried, if not by the consent of the opposition, against their will, by a creation of peers that would swamp them. The earl of Winchelsea, on the third day, expressed unbounded indignation at the proposed peer- making. If such a measure were adopted, he would no longer sit in the house thus insulted and outraged; but would bide his time till the return of those good days which would enable him to vindicate the insulted laws of his country, by bringing an unconstitutional minister before the bar of his peers. The duke of Buckingham would prefer cholera to the pestilence with which this bill would contaminate the constitution. This day the bill found two defenders on the episcopal bench, the bishops of London and Llandaff. The bishop of Exeter, in the course of the debate, made remarks which called forth a powerful and scathing oration from lord Durham. Referring to the bishop's speech, he observed: " Of that exhibition, I shall only say, that if coarse and virulent invective, malignant and false insinuations, the grossest perversion of historical facts, decked out with all the choicest flowers of pamphleteering slang ------ " Here there were loud calls to order, and lord Winchelsea moved that the words be taken down. Several noble lords having spoken, Lord Durham resumed, and said the same charges had been made against him in weekly publications notorious for scurrility and indecency; and when he found them repeated there by the right reverend prelate, he determined to take the first opportunity of stating to their lordships that the language was false and scandalous. He now repeated the declaration, and paused to let any noble lord that pleased take down his words. Resuming, he said he trusted that if he had expressed himself with too much warmth, their lordships would reflect that to all the tortures of a mind afflicted by domestic loss, had been of late superadded calumnies of the basest description, calculated to wound not only his own feelings, but those of all most dear to them. He then proceeded to discuss the question of reform, which he did in the most masterly way, reviewing its history, vindicating the principles of the measure, demonstrating its necessity, and pointing out the evils that must inevitably result from its rejection. Were two hundred peers to resist the crown, the house of commons, and the people - excommunicated by the nation, isolated, solitary in the midst of multitudes, shut up in their fortified mansions, and protected by troops from the hatred of their neighbours? " Surely," he exclaimed, " there must be something in this state of things most revolting to the habits and feelings of a British peer; yet these are the most favourable circumstances which can follow the rejection of this bill."

Lords Carnarvon, Eldon, Tenterden, Lyndhurst, the bishop of Rochester, and the bishop of Gloucester, spoke strongly against the measure. The latter, referring to lord Shrewsbury's speech, declared that he rejected his imputations upon the episcopal bench with unutterable scorn. He called upon him in the face of the house to retract or make good his charges, adding, " If he refuses to accept one of these alternatives, his long line of ancestry will not save him from disgrace." He referred to history to show that, but for the resistance of the protestant bishops to the tyranny of James II., the house of Brunswick might have moved but little beyond a German principality. The bill was defended by lord Goderich, and lord Grey rose to reply at five o'clock on Friday morning. Referring to the attack of the bishop of Exeter, he said, " The right reverend prelate threw out insinuations about my ambition: let me tell him calmly that the pulses of ambition may beat as strongly under sleeves of lawn as under an ordinary habit." He concluded by referring to the proposed creation of peers, which he contended was justified by the best constitutional writers, under extraordinary circumstances, and was in accordance with the acknowledged principles of the constitution. The house at length divided at seven o'clock on the morning of the 13th. when the second reading was carried by a majority of nine; the numbers being - contents present, 128; proxies, 56 - 184; non- contents present, 126; proxies, 49 - 175. The duke of Wellington entered an elaborate protest on the journals of the house against the bill, to which protest 73 peers attached their signatures.

The house then adjourned for the Easter holidays, till the 7th of May. The interval was one of the greatest possible public excitement. The narrowness of the majority made the reformers tremble for the fate of the bill in committee. The awful silence was now broken, and the voice of the nation was heard like peals of thunder. The political unions which had been resting on their arms, as if watching intently the movements of armies at a distance, now started to their feet, and prepared themselves for the battle. At Leeds, at Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, meetings were held, strong resolutions passed, and imperative petitions adopted. At Birmingham an aggregate meeting of the political unions of the surrounding districts was held on the 7th of May at the foot of New Hall Hill. Of this vast and formidable assembly, the northern division alone was estimated at 100,000 men, who marched with 150 banners and eleven bands of music, their processions extending over four miles. The total number of bands in attendance at the meeting was 200, and the number of banners 700. The commencement of the proceedings was announced by sound of bugle. A number of energetic and determined speeches was delivered, and a petition to the lords was adopted, imploring them not tô drive to despair a high-minded, generous, and fearless people, nor to urge them on by a rejection of their claims to demands of a much more extensive nature; but rather to pass the reform bill into law, unimpaired in any of its great parts and provisions, more especially uninjured in the clauses relating to the ten- pound franchise. The council of the Birmingham Union declared its sitting permanent, and the vast organisation throughout the United Kingdom assumed an attitude of resolution and menace truly alarming.

When the peers assembled on the 7th, it became quite evident that in allowing the bill to go into committee, they were only practising a manoeuvre. In the first place they wished to prevent the creation of peers, and in the second they were resolved to mutilate the bill in committee. They were aware that they had the sympathy of the king in this plot, and that he would have been glad of their success, irritated as he was by the coercion and pressure put upon him by his ministers. The first step was taken by lord Lyndhurst, who proposed in committee to defer the consideration of the disfranchising clauses till the enfranchising clauses had been considered. " Begin," he said, "by conferring rights and privileges, by granting boons and favours, and not by depriving a portion of the community of the privileges which they at present enjoy." This ostentatious preference of boons and favours for the people, postponing disfranchisement to enfranchisement, ringing changes on the words, was a mere artifice, but it was at once seen through by the indignant people. Lord Grey and lord Brougham promptly exposed the attempted imposition; the former hoped the noble lords would not deceive themselves. He would not say that the proposal was insidious, but its object was utterly to defeat the bill. He declared that if the motion were successful, it would be fatal to the whole measure. It would then be necessary for him to consider what course he should take. He dreaded the effect of the house of lords opposing itself, as an insurmountable barrier, to what the people think necessary for the good government of the country. The warning of the noble earl was on this occasion disregarded. The house being in committee, proxies could not be counted, and the amendment of lord Lyndhurst was carried after an angry debate. Contents, 151; non-contents, 116; majority, 35. This division put a sudden stop to the proceedings in committee. Lord Grey at once proposed that the chairman should report progress, and asked leave to sit again on the 10th. Lord Ellenborough endeavoured to dissuade him from this course, and proceeded to give a description of the measure which he was prepared to substitute for the ministerial bill, and which he presumed to hope would be satisfactory to the country. This was a critical moment in the destiny of England, and the awful nature of the crisis seemed to be felt by all present, except th( se who were blinded by faction. The house adjourned, and, says Mr. Roebuck, " Anxiety, and even alarm, were to be seen on the countenances of most of those present on that occasion, whether peers or commoners. What the morrow might bring forth, no one knew; but even the most reckless thought with something like dread of the burst of popular indignation that was sure to follow the success of this party manoeuvre." Lord Grey had now but one alternative, a large creation of peers or resignation. With a majority against him in the lords so refractory, nothing could be done. All possible means of bringing them to reason had been exhausted. Accordingly, on Wednesday, the 9th of May, the resignation of the ministers, and the king's acceptance of it, was formally announced by lord Grey in the house of lords, and by lord Althorp in the house of commons. It was evidently a relief to the king to get rid of the whigs; and he knew so little of the state of public feeling, as to suppose that a modified reform measure, a mere pretence of reform, would satisfy the country. He therefore sent for lord Lyndhurst, in order to consult him, assigning the curious reason, that being now chief baron, he was removed from the vortex of politics, although he liad led the opposition in their successful attack upon the ministerial measure. The first thing lord Lyndhurst did, was to wait upon the duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, to both of whom he stated the views of the king. His majesty insisted that some extensive measures of reform should be carried. "My advice to the king," said the duke, "was not to re-appoint his late ministry, nor was it to appoint myself. I did not look to any objects of ambition. I advised him to seek the assistance of other persons well qualified to fill the high situations of the state, expressing myself willing to give his majesty every assistance, whether in office or out, to enable him to resist the advice which had been given him." The premiership had been offered to Sir Robert Peel, but he peremptorily declined to take such a perilous position, declaring that u no authority nor example of any man, nor any number of men, could shake his determination not to accept office, under existing circumstances, upon such conditions." " From the 9th to the 17th of May," says Mr. Roebuck, " the nation was left in suspense as to the result of the ministerial negotiations, and a series of intrigues then began nearly unexampled in the annals of political profligacy. The object sought was, as usual, office; and for that end a host of politicians of all parties proved themselves ready to desert every principle by which their whole political career had been hitherto regulated." The duke of Wellington said, " I hould have been ashamed to show my face in the streets if I had refused to assist my sovereign in the distressing circumstances in which he was placed." He accordingly undertook to form an administration, taking the post of prime minister himself. Mr. Manners Sutton was to be leader of the 1 house of commons, lord Lyndhurst chancellor, and Mr. Baring chancellor of the exchequer. For five days the courageous duke was engaged in a desperate effort to form a cabinet. But no sooner was it known throughout the country, than a terrific storm of popular fury burst forth, which threatened to blow down the house of peers, and sweep away the throne. The king, from being the popular idol, became suddenly an object of popular execration. The queen, who had also been a great favourite with the people, attracted a large share of the odium excited against the court. It was understood that her influence had much to do in causing the king to desert lord Grey, and to break faith with him with regard to the creation of peers. The king and queen were groaned at and hissed, and pursued with tremendous noises by the people, while passing through the town of Brentford. Dirt was hurled at the royal carriage; and if the military escort had not kept close to the windows, it is probable their majesties would have sustained personal injury. Along the road to London, the people expressed their feeling in a similar manner; and when the carriage entered the park, the mob saluted their majesties with yells and execrations of every description.