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Sept. 6. Riot at Oxford, in which the military, who were conducting some prisoners to the castle for rioting and trespass on Otmoor, were attacked by the populace and the prisoners rescued.
8. Insurrection at Brunswick, which continued some days, during which the palace was set on fire and destroyed. The reigning duke, who had rendered himself odious by his weakness and tyranny, fled to England; but, at length, prince William, his brother, with the assistance of a burgher guard, succeeded in restoring tranquillity.
9. Political commotion at Dresden; a few days after which, the king of Saxony, Anthony, resigned his authority to his nephew, Frederick, whom he appointed regent. There were also commotions at Berlin, Hamburgh, Hesse Darmstadt, and other places in the northern parts of Europe.
15. DEATH OF MR. HUSKISSON.—Today was fixed for the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; it had been four years in progress, and up to May 31 the expenditure on the works amounted to £7,391,656. The duke of Wellington, Mr. Huskisson, and other public characters had been invited to be present at the opening ceremony. A very handsome carriage prepared for the duke led the procession from Liverpool. At Parkfield, the engines stopped to renew the feeders and take in a supply of fuel. Here, contrary to the printed directions of the directors, several gentlemen descended from the carriages, among them, Mr. Huskisson. Mr. William Holmes, M.P., thinking the moment favourable for bringing Mr. Huskisson and the duke together, and for producing a renewed good feeling between them, led Mr. Huskisson round to that part of the car where the duke was stationed, who perceiving the advance of the hon. gentleman, immediately held out his hand to him, which was shaken in a very cordial manner.
At this moment, the Rocket was perceived to be on the advance, and there was a general cry Get in ! Get in ! Mr. Huskisson hesitating, was knocked down by the steam-carriage, which went over his thigh and lacerated him in so dreadful a manner as to occasion his death the following night. On being raised from the ground, by the Earl of Wilton and Mr. Parkes, Mr. Huskisson said, “This is my death—God, forgive me!” An occasion of very natural exultation was thus converted into one of mourning. Mr. Huskisson was in the 60th year of his age, an and, with lord Dudey, headed a small but clever political section, of which the Grants, lord Palmerston, and Mr. William Lamb, were members. He did not stand high, any more than his party, for public disintrestedness; nor was he distinguished for eloquence: he had neither the graces of diction, fluency, nor readiness of speech; but was acute, full, and correct in information, and was listened to with deference by the house of commons, especially on commercial subjects, with the principles and statistics of which he was well acquainted. His life had been mainly spent in office, to which he was passionately attached, and at the last unhappy catastrophe seems to have been engaged, in concert with Mr. Holmes, in an amicable overture to the minister by whom he had been haughtily treated.
18. Died in Frith-street, Soho, in his fifty-second year, WILLIAM HAZLITT, a gifted but eccentric writer on general literature. He was a native of Maidstone, and the son of a dissenting minister, and at an early period of his life applied himself to painting, which, as a profession, he soon relinquished for the kindred one of letters, though he always retained an intense love for the productions on the pencil, on which he could descant with great taste, fancy, and eloquence. The first acknowledged production of his pen was an “Essay on the Principles of Human Action;” a subject perhaps not the most happily chosen for a maiden attempt, nor the best suited to the intellect of Hazlitt, which, though bold and acute, hardly possessed the strength and coherence essential safely to conduct him through the recesses of metaphysical philosophy. His “Characters of Shakspeare's Plays” was a more successful work, attracted much notice, and procured great credit for the writer.
It was in criticism, poetry, and the fine arts, in sketches of life, manners, and public characters, that Mr. Hazlitt excelled and threw off impressions, not always correct in the drawing, but possessing much general beauty, force, and originality. He was, however, very unequal; much of whot he wrote might have been advantageously omitted; and in straining after vulgar effect he fell into exaggerations in style and sentiment. He was an uncompromising liberal in politics, his own notion of a true partisan in being “a good hater;” and, on the other hand, he was not deficient in the opposite extreme of being rather indiscriminative in his idolatry, of which his “Life of Napoleon” is an instance. Mr. Hazlitt delivered two or more courses of Lectures on the British poets and writers of the Elizabethan age. He was a profuse contributor of essays and criticisms to the London newspaper and periodical press; and wrote a curious publication, “The Modern Pygmalion,” giving an account of his own amours, after the manner of his favourite author Rousseau, in his “Confessions.” Hazlitt was partly a Robert Burns in prose.
21. DUTCH ASSAULT ON BRUSSELS. The populace who had driven out of the city the Dutch troops (Aug. 25), finding their authority superseded by the burgher guard, rose and overpowered them. These divisions, between the middle and working classes, seemed to present a favourable opportunity to the Dutch to recover possession of the city and crush the rebellion in its birth-place. They advanced towards Brussels, but the insurgents, aided by a determined body of 300 men from Liege, prepared to give them a warm reception. Barricades were formed at the gates; the pavement torn up, and the stones carried to the tops of the houses lining the streets through which the troops would have to advance. The assault began on the 21st. The gate was speedily cleared by the artillery, but when the troops came to advance up the streets they were overwhelmed from above with showers of stones, heavy pieces of furniture, hatchets, and every species of missile. At one point they were successful, but could not penetrate farther than the park and upper part of the town. On the two following days the conflict was kept up with unabated spirit on both sides, but the troops gained no advantage, and the insurgents kept their ground.
On the night of the 22d. a rumour was spread that the city would be delivered up to plunder for two days if mastered, which induced the richer citizens to join the populace. Hostilities did not entirely cease till the 27th, when prince Frederick, finding to carry and retain the city would he a hopeless attempt, retreated. The loss on the side of the inhabitants was 165 killed and 311 wounded. Civil war had now openly commenced, and Oct 4th., the provisional government issued a proclamation declaring the independence of Belgium. As yet, Ghent and Antwerp had taken no part in the insurrection; but three weeks after, the inhabitants of the latter rose against the Dutch garrison, and throwing open their gates to the Belgians, compelled general Chassé to take shelter in the citadel, whence he began to cannonade the town with red-hot shells and balls, doing immense damage, the city being set on fire in different parts and many lives lost.
It was, at length, agreed to suspend the firing, on condition that the Belgic auxiliaries retired, leaving Antwerp to the care of its inhabitants, and the Dutch remaining in possession of the citadel. So far, the progress of events had been uninterrupted by the interference of foreign powers. The kingdom of the Netherlands, as before stated, had been created by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and even France had been a party to it. Upon this ground, they assumed a right of mediation between the belligerents; and on the 4th November a protocol was signed at London, declaring that hostilities should cease, and that the troops of the contending parties should retire within the limits which, previous to May 30, 1814, separated Belgium from the United provinces.
30. The independence of the South American republics is acknowledged by France.
Oct. 5. Proclamation issued by the president of the United States, declaring the ports of that country open to the British trade, and the repeal of the laws restricting the intercourse with British colonial ports.
9. Intelligence of the loss of eighteen ships engaged in the northern whale fishery; the crews were saved.
11. Grand dinner at Birmingham, to celebrate recent events in France, to which 3700 persons sat down.
14. Several parishes of the metropolis passed resolutions against the New Police. They objected chiefly to the increased expense it imposed on the inhabitants.
17. Tumults at Paris, in consequence of a law having been introduced for abolishing the punishment of death for political offences, which the populace considered an indirect attempt to save the lives of the Polignac ministry. Disturbances quelled by the national guard.
26. MEETING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT.—The elections had gone strongly against ministers. The chief whig and tory borough proprietors had been opposed to them; events in France had also operated unfavourably. It had been currently represented that prince Polignac had been made minister by the influence of the duke of Wellington, and that the latter, if he had not suggested, had approved of his policy, though he might now dislike the rashness with which its execution had been attempted. There was no truth in this representation, as the prompt acknowledgment of the government of Louis Philip by the duke attested; but it had answered the temporary purpose of declamation and excitement during the elections.
So strong was the general feeling against the ministry, that not a single cabinet minister obtained a seat by any thing approaching to an open and popular election. Liverpool had again returned the late Mr. Huskisson and general Gascoyne, both of them hostile, though on different grounds, to the administration. The economical labours of Mr. Hume recommended him to the multitudinous freeholders of Middlesex; and Mr. Brougham, as before noticed, was returned for Yorkshire, though wholly unconnected with that great county. Two brothers of Mr. Secretary Peel and his brother-in-law lost their elections. Mr. Croker was ejected from Dublin university on account of his pro-catholic vote.
The general results of the elections were as follows. Of the 82 the English counties, only 28 were steady adherents of the ministry; 47 were avowed adherents of the opposition, and 7 were neutral. Of the thirteen great cities and boroughs returning 28 members, only three seats were held by decided ministerialists, 24 by decided oppositionists. Of 236 members returned by elections, more or less popular, in England, only 79 were ministerial votes; 141 were in avowed opposition, and 16 of a neutral cast. Ministers, therefore, could only look for a majority among the close boroughs and the Scotch members; and among these, the great families that commanded the largest number of members were among their opponents. The following is a classification of the new parliament, according to the interests and connexions of the members:
| Agricultural Interests | 356 |
| East India Interests | 62 |
| West India Interests | 35 |
| Bankers | 33 |
| Officers in the Army | 89 |
| Officers in the Navy | 24 |
| Lawyers | 54 |
| Placemen and Pensioners | 219 |
| Relations of Peers | 256 |
| Miscellaneous | 51 |
Many of the members belonged to several classes or interests, which being enumerated in each swells the nominal number above 658.
28. Their majesties visit Drury-lane theatre.
30. A public meeting of the magistrates and landowners of Kent, held at Canterbury, to consider the alarming state of that county, at which the necessity of taking measures to alleviate the distresses of the labourers was conceded, as well as active precautions against the destruction of their property by incendiary fires.
Nov. 2. KING'S SPEECH.—The commons having again chosen Mr. Manners Sutton for their speaker, and the members taken the oaths, the parliament was opened by a speech from the throne. His majesty informed them of the alteration that had taken place in the reigning family of France; deeply regretted the state of affairs in the Low Countries, and expressed the intention of endeavouring, in concert with his allies, to restore tranquillity; held out hopes of an amicable arrangement being made with the reigning power of Portugal; recommended a provision for a regency in case of a demise of the Crown; placed the hereditary revenues at the disposal of the commons; lamented the destruction of property by fire and the breaking of machinery; expressed satisfaction at the continuance of peace and commercial prosperity, and concluded with expressing reliance on the firmness and wisdom of parliament.
Addresses in both houses were carried without a division, but not without discussion. Earl Grey took occasion to urge the necessity of an immediate reform of Parliament, which elicited from the duke of Wellington a declaration that the legislature deserved and possessed the confidence of the country; that it could not be improved; and that he was determined to oppose any measure for that purpose, if brought forward. This uncalled for and haughty interdict, both as respected the present and future prospects of reform, excited a strong and indignant feeling among the people. In the commons, Mr. Brougham gave notice that he would that day fortnight submit to the house a proposition on parliamentary reform. Next day, on bringing up the report on the address, Mr. Tennyson and other members took occasion to comment on the declaration of the minister against reform.
3. Change in the French ministry, now composed as fo11ows:— M. Lafitte, president of the council and minister of finance; Marshal Maison, minister of foreign affairs; Count Montalivet, minister of the interior; M. Dupont de l'Eure, keeper of the seals; Marshal Soult, minister of war; M. Merithon, minister of public instruction; and general Sebastiani, minister of the marine.
7. Intended visit of the king to the city on lord-mayor's day postponed by the advice of his ministers. They had received a great many letters from individuals, apprising them of the unfavourable reception they were likely to receive; among them, one from Mr. Charles Pearson, and another from Mr. John Key, the lord-mayor elect, who suggested to the duke of Wellington that he should come “strongly and sufficiently guarded.” During the Saturday and Sunday, industrious attempts had been made by placards to inflame the public mind against the royal speech, the anti-reform declaration of the duke, and the new metropolitan police. It is likely there would have been riot and perhaps bloodshed, and it was to avoid these his grace advised that the king's visit should be postponed. “If firing had begun,” said the duke to Sir W. Knighton, “who could tell where it would end? I know what street-firing is: one guilty person would fall, and ten innocent be destroyed. Would this have been wise or humane, for a little bravado, or that the country might not have been alarmed for a day or two?”—(Sir William Knighton's Memoirs, II., 182.)
8. Upon the motion of the marquis of Lansdowne, considerable discussion arose on the abandonment of the king's visit to the city. Earl Grey, the duke of Richmond, and other peers, contended that the postponement was uncalled for; that it had excited needless alarm and produced an extraordinary depression of the funds. The subject was also agitated in the house of commons. Ministers defended themselves on the ground of the numerous communications they had received confirmatory of intended tumult and outrage.
12. The Chancellor of Exchequer having submitted his resolutions to the house for the settlement of the Civil List, Sir H. Parnell, complaining of its want of economy and the confusion its details, gave notice of a motion that it be referred to a select committee.
15. According to notice, Sir H. Parnell moved for a select committee, which, after a considerable debate, was carried against ministers by 233 against 204, leaving them in a minority of 29.
16. Ministers resign their places.
22. EARL GREY'S MINISTRY.—The withdrawal of the support of the whigs, and the composition of the new parliament, as already described, unaided by the indiscretions of its chief, are sufficient to account for the dissolution of the Wellington cabinet. On the day the new ministry kissed hands on their appointments, lords Grey and Lansdowne took occasion to declare in the Lords the principles upon which they, with other members of the administration, had accepted office. These were peace, retrenchment, and reform. Some hasty expressions of Mr. Brougham led to rumours that he would not form part of the new ministry, and that he intended to follow up the notice he had given by bringing forward the subject of parliamentary reform. These proved premature. The celebrated reform ministry consisted of the following members:—
The above formed the cabinet.
IRELAND:
SCOTLAND:
Mr Brougham's patent of peerage had not reached the clerk of parliament on the 22nd, so he could only take his place on the woolsack as speaker, in virtue of his office as lord chancellor.
29. POLISH INSURRECTION.—The flame of popular insurrection, which had visited France, Belgium, and Germany, spread eastward to Poland. Here, however, the insurrection did not appear to rise immediately from political discontents, but to have been the instantaneous result of an insulting proceeding on the part of the viceroy, the grand duke Constantine, whose savage character had excluded him from popularity wherever his power had been felt. He had taken offence at the young men attending the military school at Warsaw, because at a social banquet they had toasted memory of Kosciusko. For this he ordered some of the young men to be flogged, and others of them to be sent to prison. To resist this tyrannical proceeding, and exact vengeance for the disgrace of the punishment, their companions rose in arms on the 29th inst. The Russian guards were called out to suppress them, and immediately the Polish regiments, who formed part of the garrison, joined the students.
As the context became hotter, national antipathy roused the townspeople. Assisted by the troops, they forced their way into the arsenal and supplied themselves with arms. This great accession of strength decided the day; the Russian troops, after a bloody contest in the streets of Warsaw, were driven out of the city and compelled to retire to the other side of the Vistula. The grand duke himself narrowly escaped from his palace. The Poles being thus masters of the city, a provisional administration was formed, consisting of the most popular and influential of the nobility. Two commissioners were sent to Petersburg, in order, if possible, to effect an amicable settlement with the emperor. But Nicholas refused to listen to their epresentations, and issued a proclamation, in which he threatened to inflict on the Poles the most severe punishment for what he described as “their horrid treason.” The Poles, undismayed, prepared to meet the terrible conflict that awaited them, and, after the manner of old Rome, made choice of a “Dictator,” general Joseph Clopicki.
Dec. 17. DEATH OF SIMON BOLIVAR.—The Liberator expired at San Pedro, a voluntary exile, in the 48th year of his age. He was of noble parentage, born in the city of Caraccas, but educated in Europe. It was by his heroic exertions the republic of Columbia had been established, and he generously lent his aid to establish the independence of Peru. Bolivar was a man splendid abilities and magnanimous dispositions. Brave, eloquent, energetic, and untiring, he never ceased to struggle, often under the most disheartening reverses, against the yoke of Old Spain, till he finally achieved the deliverance of his country. He seems, however, not to have been so successful in civil government as in his military enterprises. An ardent lover of fame, the Columbians were apprehensive he might tread in the steps of Napoleon, rather than those of Washington. It was to quiet these apprehensions that Bolivar, in the preceding April, had resigned the office of president, and which, he said, he did to remove all suspicion of his ambition, and with a sincere wish to promote the welfare of the republic. The people soon became sensible that they had done their great leader injustice, and his restoration was only prevented by his premature death.
21. Trial of the French ministers, Polignac, Peyronnet, Chantelauze, and Ranville, for high treason, concluded; being found guilty, they were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. Accusations had also been carried in the chamber of deputies against the other ministers M.M. D'Hausez, Capelle, and Montbel, who, more fortunate than their colleagues, had succeeded in their flight. The trial began on the 15th, and the duration of each sitting was from ten in the morning till four in the afternoon. About 160 peers were generally present. The first three days were devoted to examining the accused and to hearing and reading the evidence; the remainder of the time was occupied by the speeches of the commissioners appointed by the deputies to conduct the prosecution, and by the defences of the counsel for the several prisoners.
26. General Lafayette resigns the command of the national guard of France.
INCENDIARY FIRES.—The distressed condition of the agricultural population led to a novel species of outrage in the autumn of this year. The rioters did not assume the character of mobs, nor did they profess to seek any political object. Their attacks were directed against private property. Night after night, fields were lighted up by bands of incendiaries; corn-stacks, barns, farm-buildings, and live-stock were indiscriminately consumed. Bolder bands attacked mills and destroyed the machinery; and all threshing machines, in particular, were condemned. Threatening letters were circulated, demanding the raising of wages or the disuse of machinery; and the nightly exploits of the writer, insured attention to their demands.
These disorders began in Kent almost before its harvest was over; and during October, November, and December extended into the counties of Hants, Wilts, Bucks, Sussex, and Surrey. Throughout the whole of this district, all protection for property seemed at an end. Bands of rioters pillaged and destroyed during the day; and so soon as night fell, simultaneous conflagrations, starting up in different quarters, spread over the country havoc and dismay. The military force in the disturbed counties was increased; a proclamation was issued offering a reward of £500 for the conviction of any person concerned in fire-raising, and special commissions were appointed to proceed into the shires where the outrages had been committed.
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