The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald Volume I Part 3

His purpose from the first was, of course, virtually the impeachment of Lord Ellenborough; and that object was yet more apparent from the altered shape which the question a.s.sumed when introduced in the new session. During the recess, Lord Cochrane, with the help of advisers, some of whom were more zealous than wise, William Cobbett being the chief, had prepared an elaborate series of "charges of partiality, misrepresentation, injustice, and oppression against the Lord Chief Justice;" and these were formally introduced to the House of Commons on the 5th of March. "When I recollect," said Lord Cochrane on that occasion, "the imputations cast upon my character, and circulated industriously previous to any legal proceedings, the conduct pursued at my trial, the verdict obtained, the ineffectual endeavours; to procure a revision of my case in the Court of King's Bench, and the infamous sentence there p.r.o.nounced, together with my expulsion from this House without being suffered to expose its injustice--when I call to mind my dismissal from a service in which I have spent the fairest portion of my life, at least without reproach, and my illegal and unmerited deprivation of the order of the Bath--it is impossible to speak without emotion. I have but one course now left to pursue, namely, to show that the charge of the Lord Chief Justice, on which he directed the jury to decide, was not only unsupported by, but was in direct contradiction to, the evidence on which it professed to be founded. This is the best course to pursue both in justice to the learned judge and to myself. Either I am unfit to sit in this House, or the judge has no right to his place on the bench. I have courted investigation in every shape; and I trust that the learned lord will not shrink from it or suffer his friends on the opposite side to evade the consideration of these charges by 'the previous question.'"

Lord Cochrane thereupon tendered to the House thirteen charges against Lord Ellenborough, in which every point of importance in the Stock Exchange trial was minutely detailed and discussed; and these charges being read, therein occupying nearly three hours, were ordered to be printed. A fourteenth charge, bearing upon Lord Ellenborough's conduct subsequent to the trial, was introduced on the 29th of March; but this, as it included aspersions upon the character of another judge, Sir Simon Le Blanc, was objected to and withdrawn. There was further discussion on the subject on the 1st and the 29th of April; but not much was done until the 30th of April.

On that evening, Lord Cochrane formally moved that his charges against Lord Ellenborough should be referred to a Committee of the whole House, and that evidence in support of them should be heard at the bar. A lengthy discussion then ensued, the most notable speeches being made by the Solicitor-General, Sir Francis Burdett, and the Attorney-General.

The Solicitor-General of course opposed the motion. "As the House, on the one hand," he said, "should jealously watch over the conduct of judges, so, on the other, it should protect them when deserving of protection, not only as a debt of justice due to the judges, but as a debt due to justice herself, in order that the public confidence in the purity of the administration of our laws may not be disappointed, and that the course of that administration may continue the admiration of the world; for, unless the judges are protected in the exercise of their functions, the public opinion of the excellence of our laws will be inevitably weakened,--and to weaken public opinion is to weaken justice herself."

That sort of argument, too frivolous and faulty, it might be supposed, to influence any one, had weight with the House of Commons to which it was addressed; and the Solicitor-General adduced much more of it.

To him the spotless character of Lord Ellenborough appeared to be an ample defence against Lord Cochrane's charges. "Never," he said, with a truthfulness that posterity can appreciate, "never was there an individual at the bar or on the bench less liable to the imputation of corrupt motives; never was there one more remarkable for independence--I will say, st.u.r.dy independence--of character, than the n.o.ble and learned lord. For twelve years he has presided on the bench with unsullied honour, displaying a perfect knowledge of the law; evincing as much legal knowledge as was ever ama.s.sed by any individual; and now, in the latter part of his life, when he has arrived at the highest dignity to which a man can arrive, by a promotion well-earned at the bar, and doubly well-earned at the bench, we are told that he has sacrificed all his honours by acting from corrupt motives!"

Sir Francis Burdett replied effectively to the speeches of the Solicitor-General and others who sided with him, and n.o.bly defended his friend. He showed that the proposal to refuse investigation of this case because it might weaken the cause of justice, by making the conduct of the administrators of justice contemptible, was worse than frivolous. "Such language," he averred, "would operate against the investigation of any charges whatever against any judge; would indeed form a barrier against the exercise of the best privilege of this House--the privilege of inquiring into the conduct of courts of justice. It would serve equally well to shelter even those judges who have been dragged from the bench for their misconduct." He then reviewed the incidents of the Stock Exchange trial, and urged that Lord Cochrane had good reason for bringing forward his charges. "The question for the House to consider is, 'Do these charges, if admitted, contain criminal matter for the consideration of the House?' I conceive that they do. No doubt the judges who condemned Russell and Sidney were, at the time, spoken of as men of high character, who could not be supposed to suffer any base motives to influence their conduct. Such arguments as those ought to be banished from this House.

It is our duty to look, with const.i.tutional suspicion on jealousy, on the proceedings of the judges; and, when a grave charge is solemnly brought forward, justice to the country, as well as to the judge, demands an inquiry into it."

That, however, was refused. After a long speech from the Attorney-General, and an eloquent reply by Lord Cochrane, the House divided on the motion. Eighty-nine members voted against it. Its only supporters were Sir Francis Burdett and Lord Cochrane himself. Not only did the House refuse to listen to the allegations against Lord Ellenborough; in the excess of its devotion to such law and such order as the Government of the day appointed, it even resolved that all the entries in its record of proceedings which referred to this subject should be expunged from the journals. Lord Cochrane made no resistance to this further insult thrown upon him. "It gives me great satisfaction," he said, in the brief and dignified speech with which he closed the discussion, "to think that the vote which has been come to has been come to without any of my charges having been disproved.

Whatever may be done with them now, they will find their way to posterity, and posterity will form a different judgment concerning them than that which has been adopted by this House. So long as I have a seat in this House, however, I will continue to bring them forward, year by year and time after time, until I am allowed the opportunity of establis.h.i.+ng the truth of my allegations."

Other occupations prevented the full realization of that purpose. But to the end of his life Lord Cochrane used every occasion of a.s.serting his innocence and courting a full investigation of all the incidents on which his a.s.sertion was based. Posterity, as he truly prophesied, has learnt to endorse his judgment; and therefore, in the ensuing pages, it will not be necessary to adduce from his letters and actions more than occasional ill.u.s.trations of the temper which animated him throughout with reference to this heaviest of all his heavy troubles.

By these troubles, however, even in the time of their greatest pressure, he was not overcome; and in the midst of them he found time and heart for active labour in the good work of various sorts that was always dear to him. He used the advantages of his liberty in striving to perfect the invention of improved street lamps and lighting material that had occupied him while in prison, and to procure their general adoption. His place in Parliament, moreover, all through the session of 1816, was employed not only in seeking justice for himself, but also in furthering every project advanced for benefiting the community and checking the pernicious action of the Government. A zealous, honest Whig before, he was now as zealous and as honest as ever in all his political conduct. And his devotion to the best interests of the people was yet more apparent in his unflagging labours, out of Parliament, for the public good. His great abilities, rendered all the more prominent by the cruel persecution to which he had been and still was subjected, made him a leading champion of the people during the turmoil to which misgovernment at home, and the distracted state of foreign politics, gave a special stimulus in 1816.

A long list might be made of the great meetings which he attended, and took part in, both among his own const.i.tuents of Westminster and elsewhere, for the consideration of popular grievances and their remedies. One such meeting, attended by Henry Brougham and Sir Francis Burdett among others, was held in Palace Yard, Westminster, on the 1st of March, for the purpose of pet.i.tioning Parliament against the renewal of the property-tax and the maintenance of a standing army in time of peace. Lord Cochrane, the hero of the day, on account of "the spirit of opposition which he had shown to the infringement of the const.i.tution and the grievances of the people," won for himself new favour by the boldness with which he denounced the policy of the Government, which, boasting that it was ruining the French nation, was at the same time bringing misery also upon Englishmen by the excessive taxation and the reckless extravagance to which it resorted.

A smaller, but much more momentous meeting a.s.sembled at the City of London Tavern on the 29th of July, under the auspices of the a.s.sociation for the Relief of the Manufacturing and Labouring Poor.

Instigated in a spirit of praiseworthy charity by many of the most influential persons of the day, it was used by Lord Cochrane for the enforcement of the views as to public right and public duty, and the mutual relations of the rich and the poor, which were forced upon him by his recent troubles, and the relations in which he was at this time placed with some over-zealous champions of popular reform, and some unreasonable exponents of popular grievances. That his conduct on this occasion was extravagant and even factious, he afterwards heartily regretted. Yet as a memorable ill.u.s.tration of the power and earnestness with which he fought for what seemed to him to be right, as well with word as with sword, its details, as reported at the time, may be here set forth at length.

About half-past one o'clock the Duke of York entered and took the chair, supported on his right by the Duke of Kent, and on his left by the Duke of Cambridge. He was accompanied on his entrance by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Duke of Rutland, Lord Manvers, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Wilberforce, and other distinguished individuals.

His Royal Highness the Duke of York immediately proceeded to open the business of the day, by observing that the present meeting had been called to consider and, as far as possible, to alleviate the present distress and sufferings of the labouring cla.s.ses of the community. These distresses were, he feared, too well known to all who heard him to require any description; and all he had to add to the bare statement of them was the expression of his confidence that the liberality which had been so signally manifested in the course of foreign distress would not be found wanting when the direction of it was to be towards the comfort and relief of our own countrymen at home.

THE DUKE OF KENT, after alluding to the exertions of the Committee of 1812, observed that the immediate object was to raise a fund, in the subsequent acc.u.mulation and management of which many ulterior arrangements might be projected, and from which charity might soon emanate in a thousand directions. He doubted not that every county and every town would be quick to imitate the example of the metropolis.

The a.s.sociation of 1812 had at least the merit of producing this effect, and had spread through the whole land that spirit of active benevolence which he was feebly invoking on this occasion. He trusted that it was necessary for him to say but little more to insure the adoption of the resolution which he should have the honour to propose.

He confessed he felt gratified when he saw so great a concourse of his countrymen a.s.sembled together for such a purpose, and additional gratification at seeing by whom they were supported. He was sure, then, that he should not plead in vain to the national liberality; but that the remedy would be promptly afforded to an evil which he trusted would be found but temporary. If they should be so happy as but to succeed in discovering new sources of employment to supply the place of those channels which had been suddenly shut up, he should indeed despond if we did not soon restore the country to that same flouris.h.i.+ng condition which had long made her the envy of the world. The royal Duke then moved the first resolution, as follows:--"That the transition from a state of extensive warfare to a system of peace has occasioned a stagnation of employment and a revulsion of trade, deeply affecting the situation of many parts of the community, and producing many instances of great local distress."

The resolution was seconded by Mr. Harman.

Lord Cochrane offered himself to the attention of the meeting, but was for some time unable to proceed, his voice being lost in the huzzas and hisses which his presence called forth.

Silence being at length in some measure obtained, his lords.h.i.+p said he would not have addressed the meeting but that, having received a circular letter from the committee, and feeling the importance of the subject, he would have thought it a dereliction of his duty if he refrained from attending. He rose thus early because the observations he had to submit would not be suitable if made when the other resolutions were put. The first resolution was, in his opinion, founded on a gross fallacy; and this was his reason for saying so. The existing distresses could not be truly ascribed to any sudden transition from war to peace. Could it be pretended that it was peace which had occasioned the fall in the value of all agricultural produce? Or could any man venture to a.s.sert that the difficulties and sufferings of the manufacturing cla.s.ses had any other cause than a prodigious and enormous burthen of taxation? He was much gratified at seeing the royal Dukes so active in promoting a generous and laudable undertaking, and he hoped he should not be understood as treating them with disrespect when he repeated that the resolution was founded on an entire fallacy. But, not to content himself with a mere a.s.sertion of his own belief, he had brought official doc.u.ments to prove the correctness of his statements; and if he should be wrong, he saw the Chancellor of the Exchequer near him, who would have the opportunity of correcting his misrepresentation. This brief statement, he believed, would be quite sufficient to show that the financial situation of the country was such as to render any attempts of that meeting for the purpose of extending general relief utterly ineffectual. The whole revenue of the kingdom was 62,267,450_l._, deducting the property-tax, and the revenue was thus expended. The interest of the national debt, including the interest of unfunded exchequer bills, was upwards of 40,300,000_l._, leaving to support the expenses of Government only about 22,000,000_l._ It was this enormous sum which now hung round our necks--it was this, which unnecessary extravagance had caused to increase from year to year to its present terrible amount, which was the cause of all the evils of the country at this moment. This taxation, and extravagance, for which the country was now suffering, was supported and sanctioned by those who had derived and still derived large emoluments from them. These were truths that the people ought to know; for they were the source of their burthens, and the origin of all the mischief. It was this profuse expenditure of the public money, to say no worse of it, that occasioned the present calamities. It was the lavish expenditure to meet a compliant list of placemen that brought the country to its present state. The deficiency in the revenue occasioned by the enormous interest of the national debt, which ministers would have to supply, would, according to the present disburs.e.m.e.nts and receipts, amount to 11,578,000_l._ unless that expenditure were reduced, every such attempt as they were at present making would, he was convinced, prove abortive: it was a mere topical application while a mortal distemper was raging within. He had taken no notice in his estimate of the charges for sinecures or the bounties on exports and imports: and yet the returns upon which he went, exclusive of these charges, showed a deficit for the ensuing year of 3,500,000_l._ Were those who heard him prepared to make this good? It was, he believed, undeniable that nothing could equalize our revenue with our expenditure, but the putting down entirely the army and navy, or the extinction of one half of the national debt; but when he looked to the actual receipt of the last quarter and found a falling off of 2,400,000_l._, which, with a corresponding decrease in the three succeeding quarters, must create a new deficit of 10,000,000_l._, and, added to the 3,500,000_l._ to which he had alluded, would form a sum equal to the whole amount of the boasted sinking-fund, he felt that it was worse than trifling to suppose we could go on upon the present system. Were they prepared to make up this enormous deficiency? [A voice from the crowd cried "Yes."] He was happy to hear it: he supposed it was some fund-holder who answered, and if any cla.s.s could do so, it was the fund-holders. They alone had the ability, they alone now derived any returns from their property; but even if they should be both able and willing, still it would only remain a positive deficit made good, and no new facility would be derived for alleviating the existing burthens. The burthens and distresses must still remain what they were before. He spoke not now upon conjecture, or loose calculation, he had brought his authority with him. These were the records from which he derived his statements--the official returns of the Treasury; and if false, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was present to contradict them. He was glad, he confessed, to see him, for those who heard him were, no doubt, aware that it was not always in the House of Commons that a minister could discover the genuine sentiments of the people. If, therefore, no other person should move an amendment, he should feel it his duty to propose an omission of that part of the resolution which ascribed the distressed state of the country to the transition from a state of war to a state of peace, and to state the cause to be an enormous debt, and a lavish expenditure. He had come there with the expectation of seeing the Duke of Rutland in the chair; and with some hopes, as he took the lead upon this occasion, that it was his intention to surrender that sinecure of 9,000_l._ a-year which he was now in the habit of putting in his pocket. He still trusted that all who were present and were also holders of sinecures had it in their intention to sacrifice them to their liberality and their justice; and that they did not come there to aid the distresses of their country by paying half-a-crown per cent, out of the hundreds which they took from it. If they did not, all he could say was, that to him their pretended charity was little better than a fraud. Without, however, taking up more of their time, he should move his amendment, with this one additional observation, that it would be a disgrace to an enlightened meeting, and particularly to a meeting which might be considered as comprising an aggregate ma.s.s of the property and intellect of the country, to place a fallacy upon the record of their proceedings, and to build all their following resolutions upon an a.s.sertion which had no foundation in truth. He concluded by moving the following amendment to the first resolution:--"That the enormous load of the national debt, together with the large military establishment and the profuse expenditure of public money, was the real cause of the present public distress."

Mr. Wilberforce said he was himself too much of an Englishman, and had been too long engaged in political discussions to feel any surprise that those who felt warmly on such a subject as the present should be anxious to give expression to their sentiments: but he could not help thinking that, upon cool reflection, the n.o.ble lord would be of opinion that his own object would be better attained if he confined himself, on this occasion, to the distinct question under consideration. The n.o.ble lord said the country was in a crisis, and would they apply a mere topical remedy? but he might ask the n.o.ble lord if he would refuse to a.s.suage the pain of a temporary distemper because he had it not in his power at once to cure it radically? To him the existing distress appeared to be a distemper which rather called for immediate alleviation, than for the speculative discussion of its cause. He thought the most charitable and manly course to be pursued--and that which must be most congenial to what he knew to be the n.o.ble lord's own charitable and manly disposition--was not to call upon the meeting to give any opinion upon a political question not under consideration, so as to divert them from pursuing it with diligence and confidence, but to postpone to a better opportunity a discussion of this nature, and to unite cordially in the general cause of finding employment and encouragement for our suffering fellow-citizens. If the n.o.ble lord would reflect upon the best mode of relieving the distresses of the people, he would find his amendment not likely to have that tendency.

Let him reserve all discussion on the question it involved until he could do it without interrupting the stream of charity, and until he could enter upon it under fair and proper circ.u.mstances. He (Mr. Wilberforce), in a proper place, would not shrink from meeting the n.o.ble lord on that inquiry; he was twice as old in public life as the n.o.ble lord could pretend to be, and fully as independent; yet he would not have easily supposed any man, however young in politics, could have started such topics there. For his part, he should be sorry to take advantage of any credit which might be to supposed to belong to him upon such an occasion as this to cast reproaches upon those who were concurring with him in a benevolent design. The meeting must on the present occasion feel how much indebted it stood to the royal personages for their attendance. They had come to listen to a discussion which had for its avowed and direct object the relief of the people, and they were in the room suddenly called upon to lay aside the practical part of their inquiry and to enter upon a distinct pursuit. Was such a course fair towards those ill.u.s.trious individuals? Was it that which was likely to induce them to listen to proposals for their personal co-operation on occasions of benevolence, if they had no security against the occupation of their time for discussions of a different character? In conclusion, he entreated the n.o.ble lord, of whose real disposition to relieve the people of England he had no doubt, and whose motives he could justly appreciate, to withdraw his amendment.

Lord Cochrane thanked the honourable gentleman for his personal civilities towards him, and said that he would feel no hesitation in withdrawing his amendment if the honourable gentleman would state to the meeting, on his own personal veracity and honour, that he believed that the original resolution contained the true cause of the public distress, and the amendment the false one. If the honourable gentleman would say that--if any respectable man present would say it--he would be satisfied.

Mr. Cotes said he was entirely unconnected with the n.o.ble lord, and had never even had the honour of speaking, to him.

He agreed, however, with him in thinking that this was a moment when the eyes of the public ought to be open to their real situation. The amendment harmonized entirely with all the opinions which he had been able to form upon subject. Mr.

Wilberforce, to whose humane and benevolent Mr. character he was happy to pay his acknowledgments, had attempted to get rid of the n.o.ble lord's amendment by a sort of side-wind; but to his judgment there was no incompatibility between the object of the meeting and the amendment. There was nothing irrelevant in it; it naturally grew out of the course adopted by the chair, and in which a cause of the prevailing distress was distinctly specified. The question was, then, ought their resolutions to go forth to the public with a falsehood upon the face of them? Ought they not to state the true cause, since His Royal Highness by mistake had a.s.signed a fallacious one? Mr. Wilberforce, with his usual ability, but in a manner that still marked its duplicity--he meant the word in no offensive sense--had asked, would he enter into a political discussion when we were called upon to extend relief? He begged to state this was not the true question: it was whether they would found all the future proceedings upon error and misstatement, or upon incontrovertible facts.

Another question was, would they be satisfied to patch up the wounds of the country for a short period or seek to remedy the disease in its spring and in its sources before it became still more alarming and incurable? The Duke of Kent said he had offered the resolution as it had been put into his hand; and if he had conceived there had been any mention of a course upon which difference of opinion could exist, he hoped they knew him sufficiently to believe that he should have been incapable of requiring their a.s.sent to it. He now, therefore, proposed an omission of all that part of the resolution which had any reference whatever to the cause of the present distress. He knew the n.o.ble lord well enough--and he had known him in early life--to be a.s.sured that he would agree with him, at least in a declaration as to the fact. Their common object, he believed, was to afford relief and to admit its necessity without a.s.signing either one cause or another. For his own part, it had not been his intention to attend a political discussion. He would never enter the arena of politics with the n.o.ble lord; but he begged leave to say, he considered himself as competent to plead the cause of humanity, to advocate the interests of the weather-beaten sufferer, as the n.o.ble lord could be. There were, however, other times and other places for men to engage in discussion of party politics, and he therefore implored the n.o.ble lord not to distract the attention of the meeting by the introduction of these; and to keep solely in view that they had met as the friends of benevolence, not as the advocates of a party. His Royal Highness then proposed to alter the motion as follows:--

"Resolved that there do at this moment exist a stagnation of employment and a revulsion of trade, deeply affecting the situation of many parts of the community, and producing many instances of great local distress."

Lord Cochrane, in reply, stated that he had no wish to excite a difference of opinion on such an occasion, and that, after the alteration in the resolution, nothing gave him more pleasure than the opportunity of withdrawing his amendment; but, in justification of what he had done, it became necessary for him to say that he never would have thought of his amendment if it had not been for the a.s.sertion as to the cause of existing distress--he had no doubt in his mind as to the nature of that cause, and he held it but just and honourable that if a cause must be a.s.signed, it should be the true one.

After returning thanks to Mr. Wilberforce and the Duke of Kent for their expressions of personal civility, the n.o.ble lord consented to withdraw his motion so far as he was personally concerned in it.

Considerable opposition, however, from various parts of the hall was manifested to this mode of withdrawing the amendment, and a great deal of disturbance took place. At last the resolution, as altered by the Duke of Kent, was put and carried.

The Duke of Cambridge, in his speech, which followed, returned his warm thanks to the n.o.ble lord for the handsome manner in which he had withdrawn his amendment. He moved the following resolution, which was unanimously agreed to:--

"From the experienced generosity of the British nation it may be confidently expected that those who are able to afford the means of relief to their fellow-subjects will contribute their utmost endeavours to remedy or alleviate the sufferings of those who are particularly distressed."

The Archbishop of Canterbury moved the following resolution, which was seconded and carried unanimously: "That although it is obviously impossible for any a.s.sociation of individuals to attempt a general relief of difficulties affecting so large a proportion of the public, yet that it has been proved by the experience of this a.s.sociation that most important and extensive benefits may be derived from the co-operation and correspondence of a society in the metropolis encouraging the efforts of those benevolent individuals who may be disposed to a.s.sociate themselves in the different districts for the relief of their several neighbourhoods."

The Duke of Rutland afterwards addressed the meeting, and moved that a subscription be immediately opened, and contributions generally solicited for carrying into effect the objects of this a.s.sociation; which was seconded, and agreed to.

The Earl of Manvers, after stating that he had opposed the amendment of the n.o.ble lord (Lord Cochrane) solely from his anxiety to preserve the unanimity of the meeting, as it was only by becoming unanimous they could gain their object, moved: "That subscribers of 100_l._ and upwards be added to the committee of the a.s.sociation for the Relief of the Manufacturing and Labouring Poor; that the committee have full power to dispose of the funds to be collected, and to name sub-committees for correspondence."

The motion was seconded by Sir T. Bell, and unanimously carried.

The Bishop of London proposed a vote of thanks to the Duke of York, which Mr. C. Barclay was about to second, but--

Lord Cochrane again stepped forward and gained the attention of the meeting. He repeated the explanation of the motives for withdrawing his proposed amendment, adding, that he had no wish again to press that amendment upon the consideration of the meeting. But he could not forbear from observing what would have been the fate of such a proposition, if brought forward in another place, which he need not name. For there, instead of being requested to withdraw the proposition, it would have been met by a direct negative or by 'the previous question,' in support of which, no doubt, a majority of that a.s.sembly, miscalled the representatives of the people, would have voted. Yet the manner in which this, a meeting of the people, would have decided, was pretty obvious; and hence it might be inferred how far the people concurred in sentiment and feeling with the House of Commons. That the proposed, or any charitable subscription, must be inadequate to relieve the actual distress of the country was a proposition which could not be disputed, but yet he did not intend to oppose that subscription; on the contrary, he should give it every possible support in his power; and it was, he felt, a consolation to them that there were still some persons in this country who could afford something to relieve the poor; but he was afraid that neither the landowner nor the mercantile interest had the means of doing so; for the former could obtain no rent, and the latter no trade--the only persons, in fact, who were able to a.s.sist the poor under present circ.u.mstances were the placemen, the sinecurists, and the fund-holders, who must give up at least half of their ill-gotten gains in order to effect the object.

With this impression fixed upon his mind, he felt it his duty to propose an additional resolution, that the ministers of the crown, that the Government of the country, who wielded the power of Parliament, were alone competent to remove and to alleviate the national distress. This, indeed, was evident from the statement of our financial situation which he had already made. He had called upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was present, to contradict that statement if he could; but the right honourable gentleman had felt it expedient not to utter one word, as the meeting had witnessed.

Yet from that statement it must be obvious, as he had already observed, that the military and naval situation of the country must be abandoned, or at least half the national debt must be extinguished, for the resources of the empire could not endure such burthens. The n.o.ble lord concluded with expressing his intention when the present resolutions were got over, to move another, stating the real cause of the present distress, and that the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his majesty's ministers were alone capable of affording serious relief to the present distress.

Mr. Barclay seconded the motion of the Right Reverend the Bishop of London, to which Lord Cochrane a.s.sured the meeting he entertained no objection.

Great confusion prevailed in the meeting, some crying out for Lord Cochrane's motion, while others were equally loud in testifying their anxiety for the vote of thanks.

The Duke of Kent then put the motion.

Lord Cochrane said that his sole object was to have an opportunity of moving his resolution after the present was disposed of.

A person from a distant part of the room exclaimed: "That resolution shall not be put, for it is a libel on the Parliament." Several other remarks were made, but they were generally unintelligible from the violent uproar and confusion that prevailed. Loud cries of "Put Lord Cochrane's motion first" were mixed with the cry of "Chair, chair."

The Duke of Kent said that he had attended this meeting with a view to a.s.sist in promoting an object of charity, and he had no doubt that such was the intention of the n.o.ble lord (Cochrane). Of this he was sure from the n.o.ble lord's own declaration, as well as from his knowledge of the n.o.ble lord's feelings. The n.o.ble lord had, indeed, himself stated that he had no wish to introduce any political, or to press any, measure likely to interfere with the object of the meeting. Therefore, he called upon the n.o.ble lord, in consistency, in politeness and urbanity, not to urge any political principle; and the n.o.ble lord must be aware that his proposition had a strong political tendency. The proposition was indeed such, that the n.o.ble lord must be aware that it was calculated to injure the subscription, for those who were not of the n.o.ble lord's opinion in politics were but too likely to leave the room if that proposition were pressed to a vote, and thus a material object of charity would suffer through a desire to urge a declaration of a mere political opinion.

Lord Cochrane disclaimed any wish to provoke political discussion.

He expressed his desire merely to declare a truth which no man could venture to dispute in any popular a.s.sembly, in order that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and others present, might have an opportunity of reporting to Government the decided sentiment and real feeling of the people.

The Archbishop of Canterbury begged leave to call back the attention of the meeting to the motion before it, and which, he had no doubt, would be unanimously adopted. This motion, the most reverend prelate added, was not intended in any degree to interfere with the motion of the n.o.ble lord.

Amid loud cries of "Put Lord Cochrane's motion first, for if the motion of thanks be disposed of, the Duke of York will leave the chair, and the n.o.ble lord's motion will not be put at all," the Duke of Kent declared that there could be no intention to get rid of the n.o.ble lord's motion by any side-wind.

The motion of thanks was then pa.s.sed while Lord Cochrane was engaged in writing his motion, and the Duke of York, having bowed to the meeting, immediately withdrew, amidst loud hissings, and cries of "Shame! shame! a trick! a trick!"

The Duke of Kent, whose head was turned towards Lord Cochrane, was much surprised and disappointed at discovering the absence of the chairman.

The general cry was then raised: "The Duke of Kent to the chair."

His Royal Highness addressed the meeting. Having, he said, pledged himself on proposing the last resolution that there was no intention of getting rid of Lord Cochrane's motion by any side-wind, he felt himself in a very awkward predicament.