CHAPTER XLIII.

ENGLAND FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF FREE TRADE AND FALL OF SIR R. PEEL IN

JUNE 1846, TO THE SUPPRESSION OF THE CHARTIST INSURRECTION IN APRIL 1848.

§

Page

1. Vast effects of the introduction of Free Trade,

2. Both the Whigs and the Tories were destroyed by their own leaders,

3. Causes which led to these changes,

4. Formation of the new Cabinet,

5-8. Government plan for the sugar-duties,

9-15. Argument of the Protectionists on the other side,

16. Sir R. Peel's singular conduct, and passing of the bill,

17. Result of this measure to the West Indies,

18. Effect on the slave trade,

19. Explanation of this given by foreign writers,

20. Real explanation of it,

21. Proof of the colonies having been disfranchised by the Reform Bill,

22. Discussion on flogging in the army,

23. Motion on the subject, and Wellington's order,

247

24. Reflections on this subject,

249

25. Difference in the composition of the British and foreign armies,

250

26. Necessity of corporal punishment in the field,

251

27. Lord Palmerston's Cabinet minute on the defences of the country,

252

28. Wellington's measure for enrolling the pensioners,

255

29. Arms bill for Ireland,

256

30. Sir R. Peel's measures for the relief of the Irish suffering, and those of Lord

32. Deplorable and alarming state of the country,

258

259

261

40. Amended Poor and Temporary Relief Act, 10 and 11 Victoria, c. 7,

49. Voluntary relief in Ireland, and causes of its small amount,

282

75-78. Lord G. Bentinck's and Mr Baring's argument on the subject of the

89-90. Answer of Sir R. Peel, Sir James Graham, and Mr Cobden,

318-319

91. The bill passes both Houses,

320

92. Reflections on this measure,

ib.

93. Vast difference in the mortality of manufacturing towns and the country, 322

94. Introduction of a system of limited service,

324

109-111. Answer of Lord G. Bentinck and Mr Thomas Baring,

112. Result of the debate,

113. Reflections on this debate,

114. Great distress in the country from the monetary crisis,

115. Details of the railway and mercantile losses,

343-344

345

346

348

349

116. Rise in cotton, from the crash of 1839 in America,

117. Vast variations in the price of provisions,

350

351

118. Pernicious effect of the French Revolution of 1848,

119. Immense influx of destitute Irish into Western Britain,

120. Extreme severity of the pressure on the middle classes,

121. Immediate benefits of the railway expenditure,

Page

357

122. Magnitude and perfection of the railway system in Britain,

123. Fall in the exports and revenue,

358

124. Great increase of paupers and criminals,

359

125. Increase of crime, emigration, and decline of population,

360

126. Extreme suffering in Glasgow and the manufacturing districts,

137. Renewed agitation by the Chartists, and its suppression, and their trials, 375

138. Preparations for a rebellion in Ireland,

376

139. Total defeat of the rebellion,

378

140. Trial of O'Brien, and revealing of the designs of the conspirators,

141. Immense effects of the monetary crisis of 1847,

379

382

143. The monetary crisis was owing to Free Trade and a Fettered Currency,
144. Dangers of Free Trade and a Fettered Currency,

ib.

384

145. Which keeps the nation constantly on the verge of a monetary crisis,

146. A great increase in the supply of gold postpones, but does not avert this

148. Danger of gold passing merely through the richer States,

149. Erroneous argument of the bullionists on this subject,

390

391

150. The monetary crisis of 1847 was owing to Free Trade and the monetary

153. Way in which the monetary laws inflamed speculation,

395

154. Ultimate effects of Free Trade, irrespective of the Currency,

158. Manner in which these circumstances arrest population,

159. Effect of these laws combined,

400

401

160. Free Trade induces at first cheap prices of food, and then often famine

402

prices,

161. Free Trade was forced upon Sir R. Peel,

405

162. Effects of this system on national progress and independence,

163. Protection must continue to be the policy of young and growing states,

164. Which is the result, on their part, of necessity,

407

408

165. The effects of Free Trade must be judged of before 1852,

409

166. Necessity of maritime superiority to the present existence of Britain,

411

CHAPTER XLIV.

FRANCE FROM THE TREATY OF FEBRUARY 13, 1841, TO THE DEATH OF THE
DUKE OF ORLEANS IN JULY 1843.

1. Prosperous condition of France in 1841,

3. Universal thirst for gain,

Page

413

414

416

4. Accumulating feelings of discontent in the working classes,

417

5. Great magnitude of the deficits in the revenue,

418

6. Increasing discontent of the working classes,

419

7. Trifling subjects in debate in the Chamber, and serious objects of Thiers,

420

8. Objects of general thought and interest at the same time,

421

9. Cause to which this divergence was owing,

ib.

10. The Chamber of Peers afforded no remedy for these evils,

14. Blindness of the Government and the higher classes to the Socialist

dangers,

426

15. Corruption and influence became the great engine of Government,

16. The Liberals exert all their efforts to discredit the Government,

19. Which was aided by the want of an adequate currency,

431

20. Which led to a general demand for Parliamentary Reform,

ib.

22. Different object on which the attention of Government was set,

21. Strong feeling excited in regard to the subservience of France to England,

38. Vigorous measures of Government to suppress the insurgents,

39. Causes which produced this outbreak among the working classes,

40. Temporary causes which also concurred,

42. Total failure of the attempt to make private railway lines in France,

43. The Government undertake the lines,

46. Untoward commencement of the Ministry of M. Guizot,

452

47. Efforts of England for suppression of the slave trade, .

453

48. Treaties of 1831 and 1833 with France regarding the slave trade,

49. Treaty of December 20, 1841, between France and the Allied Powers,

454

455

53. Publication of letters ascribed to Louis Philippe,

55. Ambiguity in regard to the authorship of the letters,

56. Debate on Reform, and its refusal,

57. Law on literary property defeated,

51. Indignation which the treaty excited in France and America,

52. Interdiction of the Polish Banquet,

54. Prosecutions against the editors who published the papers,

Page

456

ib.

458

459

461

462

463

465

58. First step in France in the cause of Free Trade,

59. M. Humann's picture of the disastrous state of the finances,

60. Expedient of a new valuation,

61. Extreme discontent produced by the new

62. Serious troubles at Toulouse,

63. Suppression of the disturbances,

64. Death of M. Garnier Pagès, and election of M. Ledru-Rollin,

65. Prosecution and acquittal of Ledru-Rollin,

67. Moral complicity: its dangerous tendency,

68. Debate on Electoral Reform in the Council of State,

69. Movement in favour of reform in the Chamber,

472

473

ib.

66. Attempted assassination of the Dukes of Orléans and Nemours,

474

475

476

477

88-90. Argument of M. Lamartine for the regency of the Duchess of Orléans, 492-493

104. Corruption of the Ministerial majority in the Chamber,