and misgovernment, and a widespread conviction on the part of the people of their right and their power to redress the evil. Nor was this feeling confined to the continent. An impulse was given to the public sentiment of England, and the demand for reform both in the constitution and in the administration of the government, became too powerful to be longer disregarded. depots, and naval stations in other parts of the world. Ireland was held as a dependent and tributary kingdom. Gibraltar secured the entrance of the Mediterranean and protected the trade to the Levant: while her political connexions with Portugal, Holland, and Hanover, enabled her to extend her commercial relations with the European continent. Thus favorably situated, For more than half a century, she was rapidly monopolizing the this kingdom had been driven by trade of the world, and developthe force of circumstances, into ing those vast schemes of comthe unnatural position of chief mercial ambition, which have antagonist to the revolutionary since brought under her sway, spirit of Christendom. In mod- Australia, the Cape of Good ern Europe, the desire of colo- Hope, Malta, and St. Helena, nies had been substituted for the (forming a chain of naval stations spirit of conquest, and England in the most important quarters of had proved remarkably successful the globe;) when this plan of in this struggle for commercial commercial and political aggranpower. Favored with institutions which secured to her subjects domestic freedom, she had rapidly advanced in wealth and power, until she was enabled to furnish, from her own resources, the materials of an extensive foreign trade, and by means of the exclusive policy of her navigation acts, to monopolize a large share of the commerce of the globe. Acting upon the illiberal maxim of stimulating to the utmost extent the commerce and productions of her own subjects, and of repressing those of other nations where they came into competition with her own, she had within a century after the date of those celebrated acts, appropriated to herself the greater part of the East and West Indies, the most valuable portion of North America, and numerous impregnable dizement received a check by the revolt of her North American colonies, and by their separation from the mother country, the world was preserved from a maritime preponderancy which would have proved fatal to the naval independence of all other powers. Fortunately for mankind, those settlements were founded by men whose principles, religious, political, and commercial, went beyond the narrow maxims of the British government. They were not contented with toleration under an established hierarchy; nor satisfied with that share in the government, which was enjoyed by the commons of England through representations in a Parliament filled with the nominees of borough owners, and the pensioners of the treasury. Their ideas of free trade aimed at the abolition of monopolies and the to reform the representation in the House of Commons. admission of all nations into their ports upon terms of reciprocity. This discordance of principles soon alienated the provinces from the mother country, and an attempt to enforce her system resulted in the establishment of their independence. The contest which then commenced, has since that eventful moment involved Europe in a general and sanguinary war, and after many vicissitudes it reached a state of temporary repose in the general pacification at the restoration of the Bourbons. During that long and bloody contest, the English nation enlisted itself in defence of the antiquated establishments of feudal Europe. Embarrassed by the false position in which the country was placed by the principles of her commercial system, and shocked by the excesses of the French revolution, the English nation did not sufficiently discriminate between a blind rage for innovation, and the cautious spirit of reform, but exerted itself with equal zeal in repressing the revolutionary feeling then pervading the lower classes at home, and in putting down the same spirit on the continent. The tory party, which then administered the government, was not slow to avail itself of the favorable situation in which it was placed, and by alternately appealing to their fears and national pride, it induced the people of England to acquiesce in an extraordinary augmentation of the powers of government, and succeeded in defeating all attempts After unparalleled exertions and the most extravagant expenditure of blood and treasure, they also succeeded in overthrowing the revolutionary party on the continent. The entire change in the character and objects of that party which had been effected by the ambition of Napoleon, had bitterly disappointed the sanguine expectations of the friends of freedom, and enabled them to contemplate the triumph of the allied sovereigns with indifference. This feeling, however, was not of long continuance. The infatuated desire of the Bourbons to restore the ancient order of things in France, and the arbitrary maxims promulgated by the Holy Alliance, caused a reaction in public opinion, and it was soon discovered that the demon of military ambition had been exorcised, only to make room for those worse fiends, which had by injustice and oppression driven Europe to the delirium from which she was just recovering. A similar reaction took place in England. After twenty-five years of war, she at length ascertained that the objects of her allies were not identical with her own, and was compelled to withdraw from the alliance, with the grateful reflection, that, by her subsidies and arms, the government of France was rescued from the hands of Napoleon to be again entrusted to the Bourbons, and that the repose of Europe was secured by the ascendancy of legitimacy. This grateful reflection was somewhat embittered by the consciousness that, in effecting this object, the national debt was aug-. mented beyond the ability of the country to extinguish it, or even long to sustain the burden of paying the annual interest; that the poor rates were quadrupled, and one-sixth of the population were paupers; that taxation (which, since the accession of George III. had been more than quadrupled) now bore hard upon the produetive industry of the country and threatened to place it in disadvantageous competition with that of other nations; that the agricultural classes were so burthened with tithes and poor rates as to alienate them from the established church, and to prevent them from sustaining themselves even in the absence of all competition from abroad, while all other classes were complaining of the corn laws, to which they attributed the high price of grain. of some reform, that should materially diminish the burdens of the nation. The kingdom indeed was wealthy and prosperous. The face of the country was covered with roads, canals, bridges, and public and private buildings of unsurpassed magnificence. The soil attested the power of the most skilful and laborious cultivation. Its manufactures enjoyed a deserved supremacy over those of other nations, and they in their turn contributed to augment a trade, which placed England at the head of maritime powers. Her colonies alone afforded a secure and constantly increasing market for her manufactures, and furnished the materials for a lucrative commerce. The exports from these colonial possessions amounted annually to £31,500,000, or $151,000,000, and the imports to £28,300,000, or $135,200,000; and two-thirds of this trade was carried on directly with Great Britain and Ireland, giving employment to 1,325,000 tons of British shipping. The revenue of these possessions also contributes to swell the power and patronage of the government, and it amounted, including that of the East Indies, to the enormous sum of £24,852,000, or $120,000,000, annually.* Contemplated as a whole, and The people of England began to realize the evils resulting from the false policy of their government. Recovered from the feverish excitement, which had sustained them in their unparalleled efforts against the military supremacy of France, they felt their strength to have been overtasked. The reaction consequent upon over-exertion now commenced, and a general conviction it may be safely asserted, that the began to prevail of the necessity world never before saw so vast are placed in immediate juxtaposition to the luxurious rich, whose inexhaustible wealth seems to have been provided to gratify the wants of all, and they are kept in subjection only by laws of inexorable severity, or by an overpowering military force. tors' wealth descends,) it is necessary that the provision thus made for them at the public expense should be large; and hence arises extravagance in official salaries, and a profuse expenditure of public money in jobs, contracts, pensions and sinecures, both in the government and churchwhich present a more open mode of effecting the same object. In this unequal distribution of riches is to be found the great secret of discontent in England; and this discontent is directed The history of the peerage is against the government, because one of the chief causes of this inequality is fairly to be attributed to the constitution and administration of the government. Though nominally monarchical, it is essentially aristocratic in its character; and for many years past its policy both foreign and domestic has chiefly aimed to maintain the ascendancy of the Tory party. By the law of promogeniture, aided by the practice of entails, large fortunes are accumulated in the hands of the representatives of noble families, and the family itself is enabled for many generations to preserve its consideration and power. Through their influence in the government, (of one co-ordinate branch of which they have exclusive possession, and almost the entire control of the other, hy virtue of the borough system,) they find the means of providing for the younger members of their families in the army, navy, church, or in the home diplomatic or colonial departments. As these persons have been accustomed, from childhood, to an expensive style of living (being brought up with their more fortunate elder brothers, upon whom their ances but little else than a series of jobs and contrivances to enrich the few at the expense of the many. That body has been maintained in its splendor by places, pensions, civil employments, government contracts and taxation. How successfully it has used its advantages in appropriating the honors and emoluments of the government, may be gathered from the fact, that the sinecure employments and a great majority of those not requiring much personal attention, were held at the close of the Wellington administration, by the relatives and connexions of noble families, almost to the exclusion of the rest of the community. In the church this rule prevailed most extensively-the 3 archbishopricks, 10 bishopricks and 269 clerical appointments, being held by this class. In the army, 44 general officers, 85 colonels, 45 lieut. colonels, 29 majors, 51 captains, and only 39 subalterns belong to the same order. To the navy, they furnished 32 admirals, 111 captains, 15 commandants, and 16 lieutenants. Whenever labor or exertion was required, unless most amply compensated, the nobility were not to be found. Notwith |