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the fallacious test of averages, the duties, and virulence was not directed against the actually received in these eighteen weeks are Government-its neglect of, and even its nearly a fourth part of the duties received contempt for, the comforts and happiness in the whole of the last fourteen years. So of the people? In the recent disturbthat we are, for the present at least, enjoy- ances we have hardly traced a word or a ing the three greatest advantages that any thought of this tendency. In vain did the state of the corn-market can produce, real instigators of the mischief endeavour advantages hitherto supposed to be incom-to give it a political and seditious characpatible, namely,

1. A great supply of food for the people, without

2 any serious injury to the farmer; and 3-with a vast addition to the revenue. These results are for so short a period and so unexpectedly favourable to our view, that we do not venture to rely upon their continuance in the same satisfactory degree, but they are very encouraging, and they at least negative some of the sinister anticipations which the enemies of the new

corn-law foreboded.

We do not pretend to say that times and circumstances may not hereafter affect it, as they have done its predecessors; but we do say that it seems to offer the best combination and adjustment of all interests that our position admits, and the fairest promise of permanent protection to the farmer, and permanent plenty to the people :-we insist on the expression permanent in both cases-for we are convinced that exorbitant protection would soon be swept away, leaving the farmer to hopeless ruin, while the abolition of all protection would give the people a temporary glut, to be grievously expiated by early and frequent vicissitudes of scarcity and starvation.

Concurring, as we did, from their first announcement, in the general and, we might say, abstract policy of Sir Robert Peel's measures, we confess that recent events have stamped them with a character of more immediate and practical utility than we had anticipated. The-extensive insurrections which have recently taken place in the manufacturing districts, so alarming in their aspect, but hitherto so easily repressed—can any one venture to say to what more lamentable extent and excesses they might have suddenly proceeded if the sympathising and paternal feelings of the Government towards the manufacturing classes had not been expressed so early in the session in those powerful addresses of Sir Robert Peel not more powerful-not perhaps so powerful-in influencing the legislature, as in conciliating the feelings, encouraging the hopes, and fortifying the patience of a deeply distressed working population? Was there ever before a popular commotion in England, of which the chief violence

ter-in vain did the Chartists brawl for the rights of man, and the Anti-Corn-Law League preach a cheap-bread crusade against property: the masses, retaining, even in their excitement, a degree of sagacity and good sense that is really very surprising, rejected all such provocations, and confined their irregularities to the single point on which they had originally turned out-the amount of wages. We deeply regret that these poor people should have been driven or deluded into those violent and criminal excesses, of which the most serious portion of the injury must fall upon themselves; but we must repeat our satisfaction at such unexampled forbearance from political offences, which we can attribute to nothing but the force of public opinion created by the previously announced measures of the Government-measures that, by a combination of foresight and good fortune, were--may we venture to say?-providentially calculated to meet the emergency. Sir Robert Peel had stated in a few plain but potent words the principle of his policy I will tax the rich, and spare the poor-I will en deavour to cheapen the price of food to the whole population, and to assist especially the working classes by placing more plentifully within their reach the materials of industry, and, of course, the sources of comfort and content.' We are as thoroughly convinced as we can be of any moral problem that these disturbances were created by those on whose own heads the explosion will ultimately recoil-the anti-corn-law leaguers; and that the deep-laid schemes of these greedy incendiaries have been hitherto defeated solely by the common sense of the people themselves, awakened by their knowledge of and their confidence in the wise and benevolent policy of their Government.

We know not how long these salutary impressions may last. We are well aware that such scenes as have afflicted the North must entail on the working classes additional misery and consequent liability to further disturbance. The sacrifices that these misguided people have been compelled to make, the dissipation of their little funds from the Savings Banks, and the permanent ill feeling and struggle now

established between them and their em- | Court of Chancery. These bills were all ployers, will all tend to keep alive social discontent and to create political disaffection; and we confess we look forward with no inconsiderable alarm to the further consequences of these anti-corn intrigues. We have, we fear, only scotched the snake, not killed it: we expect that great uneasiness will survive, and cannot but fear the possibility of a long and gloomy crisis of distress and disquiet; but, for the present, we have only to repeat our belief that the measures of the Government have mainly conduced to diminish, though they could not wholly avert, a serious and imminent danger.

We cannot doubt that the great Conservative party will see in this remarkable circumstance additional grounds of confidence in their leaders, and of self-gratulation on the prudence and the patriotism with which they resisted every effort, insidious or avowed, to disunite them. There were many matters on which an honest difference of opinion must have existed, and may even still survive; but we think we may assert that experience, short as it has been, has gone far towards removing the most serious doubts that were originally entertained of the policy of the ministerial measures, and that some gentlemen, who may have given a hesitating assent to this or that individual detail, are now satisfied that their confidence was not misplaced, and that the well-regulated vigour and conciliatory energy of the Goverument have probably saved us from an awful convulsion. It cannot, at least, be doubted that they have already alleviated the pressure of distress, and have opened a prospect of peace abroad and prosperity at home, in which at the beginning of the late session the most sanguine amongst us hardly ventured to indulge.

passed, not without some, though noiseless, difficulty from individual interests; and we believe they will be found The County Courts Bill was reluctantly very valuable. postponed to another session. We do not greatly regret it. The bill is certainly of great importance, and something of the kind is much needed; but much difference as to its details existed even amongst the friends of the measure, and we believe that the delay may be turned to good account. But the most important legal measure of the session was undoubtedly the Cessio Bonorum bill introduced by Lord Brougham, and passed, with the assistance of the Chancellor and the Duke of Wellington in the Lords, and the support of the SolicitorGeneral and the Ministry in the House of Commons. This bill abolishes virtually the practice of imprisonment for debt,—a serious experiment, we admit, but one which in the present state both of the law and of public opinion we think it is both safe and expedient to try.

We should also have wished to have noticed Lord Palmerston's clever-but rather unlucky-speech at the close of the session, and Sir Robert Peel's still more clever and overwhelming reply; and we should have been particularly glad to have made some observations on the improved aspect of our foreigu relations. But this is beyond our present scope. whether we look abroad or at home-to Upon the wholediplomatic or financial affairs--to public credit or public opinion—to social ameliorations or legal reforms-it cannot be denied that the present Cabinet has, under all its disadvantages, done more of real and useful business in one session than its bewildered predecessors had even attempted in the six or seven years of their paralysed existence which they drawled and dragged out

'Letting I dare not wait upon I would— Like the poor cat in the adage!

We had intended to have added to this review of Sir Robert Peel's financial and economical policy an exposition of various administrative and legal improvements introduced by the members or friends of his administration, and which, though some The country was wearied and ashamed of have been postponed, and some rendered snch a contemptible phantom of a ministry less perfect, have exhibited a striking con--and, whatever question there may be as trast to the poco curante and far niente to this or that measure of the present Cabiapathy of his predecessors. We should have particularly wished to notice some measures of legal reform-the best and most necessary of all reform-introduced by Lord Lyndhurst, for expediting and cheapening proceedings in Lunacy, in Bankruptcy, and in the general practice of the

net, there is a universal satisfaction throughout the country-and we believe throughout the friendly nations of Europe-that England, after a long and disgraceful interregnum, has at last an administration that can do its business, and a Government that ventures to govern.

INDEX TO VOL. LXX.

A.

ESCHYLUS, 173. See Orestea.
Agricultural Association, the, 288.
Alison, Mr., rashness of his opinions upon military
matters, 256; character of his account of the
Belgian campaign of 1815, ib. ; inaccuracies,
257-259; his charge against the Duke of Welling-
ton of having been surprised, 259; reasons for
the allies not taking the initiative, 261, 262;
Mr. Alison's theory of a surprise, founded on
Fouché's testimony, 262, 263.

Animal Chemistry, 54. See Liebig.
Arch, the, in the ancient Grecian buildings, 77.
Ashley, Lord, speech in the House of Commons on
moving for leave to bring in a Bill for the regu-
lation of young persons in Mines and Collieries,
87; character of the speech, 107; extract, ib.
Athens, effect of the introduction of modern build-
ings among the ancient structures, 79.

B.

Bateman, James, the orchidaceae of Mexico and
Guatemala, 108.

Bauer, F., illustrations of the genera and species of
orchidaceous plants, 108.

Berberries, the best underwood covert for game,
127.

Bile, the, 62. See Liebig.

Blood, the, action and functions of, 57, 58. See
Liebig.

Blücher, Marshall, 244. See Raushnick.

Bowes, Major General, his monument described,
242.

Bread, relative prices of, in London and Paris, 287.
Breton Students, the, 40. See Rio.

Buccleugh, Duke of, reformations in his collieries,
98.

Buonaparte, Napoleon, cause of his name being
handed down to posterity, 245; at Waterloo, 254,
255; refutation of the assertion that he had out-
manoeuvred the Duke of Wellington, 259, 260;
his position and strength at the opening of the
campaign of 1815, 260.

Burney, Miss, 134. See D'Arblay.
Byron's Don Juan,' 215.

C.

Calderwood, Mrs., of the Coltness family-journal
of her tour in England and Flanders in 1756,
205; progress from Edinburgh to London, 205-
208; George III. when Prince of Wales, 208;
her descriptions of places of public resort in Lon-
don, 208, 209; opinions on English cuisine, 209;
Rotterdam, ib.

Cessio Bonorum Act, 291.

Charlotte, Queen, 154. See D' Arblay.
Chouan war, the, 43. See Rio.

Clausewitz, General, review of the Belgian cam-
paign of 1815, 264.

Clock, electro-magnetic, of Professor Wheatstone,

31.

Coffee, its active principle the same as that of tea,
67.

Colliers and Collieries, 87; general ignorance as
to their state, ib.; measures to be adopted for
their amelioration, 87, 88; appearance of the
country when a new colliery is established, 88;
entrance to mines, 88, 89; temperature and ac-
commodations, 89; coal-viewers, under-viewers,
over-men, 90; trappers, ib.; drivers, putters, 91;
hewers, ib.; earnings of miners, 92; collier
villages, ib.; general characteristics of colliers,
92, 93; amusements, 93; food, 93, 94; clothing
and external appearance, 94; mental acquire-
ments, 94, 95; physical effects of the employ-
ment, 96; apprentices, 96, 97; employment of
women, 97-99; women or children not employed
in Irish mines, 99; reasons advanced for letting
young children descend into the mines, ib.; con-
stant dangers to which colliers are exposed, 100;
explosions, 100, 101; recklessness of persons
employed in mining operations, 101; irruption of
a river into a mine, 101, 102; danger of accidents
in descending and ascending, 102; evils (in re-
ference to fatal accidents in mines) of the want
of coroners in Scotland to investigate the causes
of sudden deaths, 103; general effect of mining
labour on the human frame, 104; good that may
be done by proprietors who seriously turn their
thoughts to the condition of their miners, 105;
colliers and miners that have subsequently risen
to fame in other spheres of life, 106.

Coltness Collections, the, 195; progress of clubs in
England and Scotland for printing historical and
other records, 195, 196; contents of the Coltness
collections, 196; genealogy of the Coltness fami-
ly, 196, 197; history of the founder of the house,
197; of his eldest son, 201; sketches of two of
the younger branches of that generation, 203; of
the political economist, and of the late General
Sir James Stuart, 204; journal of a tour in Eng-
land and Flanders, by a female member of the
family, 205; extracts, 205-210.
Combinations of workmen, causes of their rare oc-
currence in France, 19.

Commissioners for inquiring into the condition of
children employed in mines &c., Report of, 87.
See Colliers.

Copper-ore, effects of the high protective duties
upon it, 282, 283.

Coroners, effects of the want of them in Scotland,
103.

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D'Arblay, Madame (formerly Miss Burney), Diary
and Letters of, 134; nature of the book, and real
-object in introducing the names which appear in
it, 134, 135; extravagant egotism in all its pages,
135; character of the elaborate dialogues intro-
duced, 135, 136; specimens, 136-138; Miss Bur-
ney's assumed modesty and humility, 138; decep-
tions as to her age and the circumstances under
which she wrote Evelina,' 139, 140; consequenc-
es of these deceptions, 140; pomp and prolixity
with which the most trifling circumstances are
narrated, 141; appointed second keeper of the
robes to Queen Charlotte, 143; amount of her
literary knowledge, 144; début as a reader to
the Queen, 144, 145; consequences of her strug-
gles between her place and her pride, 145; nature
of her duties, 145, 146; her grand grievance, the
dinner and tea-table, 146, 147; impropriety of con-
duct to the equerries, 147, 148; the adventure of the
coach-glass, 148; the adventure with the French
reader to the Queen, 149-151; pleasing portions
of the work, 152; instances of the Queen's kind-
ness, ib.; her Majesty's good sense and judgment,
153; private conduct of the Royal Family, 153,
154; her Majesty's understanding, 154; her do-
mestic character, ib.; character of George III.,
154, 155; his Majesty's good nature, 155; de-
meanour when Margaret Nicholson attempted to
assassinate him, 155, 156; the King at Oxford
shortly after this event, 156, 157; making an of-
fering as Sovereign of the Garter, 157.

E.

Elections, general, in England, described, 212.
Electricity, voltaic, its recent contributions to the
fine and useful arts, 30, 31.

Encyclopædia Britannica,' seventh edition, 25;
history of encyclopædias, ib.; the two methods
of constructing them, 25, 26; first and second
editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica,' 26;
the third, ib.; fourth, fifth, and sixth, 27; objects
proposed in issuing the seventh, ib.; preliminary
dissertations by Dugald Stewart, Playfair, Mack-
intosh, and Leslie, ib.; causes of the prominence
of mathematical and physical articles in all ency-
clopædias, 29; names of contributors in these
branches, 30; value of an encyclopædia in re-

cording the progress of arts, ib.; terrestrial phy-
sics, 32; names of contributors in natural his-
tory and its connecting branches, 32, 33; in bo-
tany, geology, mineralogy, agriculture, horti-
culture, physical geography, and meteorology, 33;
on the philosophy of the mind, 33, 34; on chi-
valry, drama, romance, beauty, music, painting,
poetry, rhetoric, hieroglyphics, 34; history and
biography, ib.; on political economy, 36; ana-
tomy, physiology, and medicine, ib.; theology,
37; difficulties in the editing and production of
the work, 38, 39; its maps, engravings, and
woodcuts, 39.

Evergreens, exportation of, from England to foreign
countries, 130.

F.

Flower-garden, the, 108; royal personages, philoso-
phers, poets, and men of taste, who have made
gardening a favourite pursuit-the love of flow-
ers traceable from remote antiquity, 108, 109;
the Italian style of garden, 110; the French,
110, 111; gardens of Versailles, 111; the Eng-
lish, or natural style, 111, 112; Dutch, 112;
English gardeners of the eighteenth century,
112, 113, Price's threefold division of the do-
-main,.114; progress of horticulture in the pres-
ent century, 114, 115; division of labour in the
horticultural and floricultural worlds, 115; no-
menclature, 115, 116; orchidaceæ, 117; ferns,
118; plants in closely-glazed cases brought from
the East Indies to England, and vice versa, ib.;
curiosities of gardening, 119, 120; of garden or-
naments, 120; gardening taste at the present
day, 123; leading features in a perfect garden,
126; peonies, hollyhocks, ib.; berberries, 127;
the herb-garden, 128; mazes, ib.; bowling-
greens-iron-tracery work, ib.; Evelyn's hedge
at Deptford, 129; associations connected with
gardening, 129, 130; no country so suited for the
pleasures of the garden as England, 130; export-
ation of evergreens to foreign markets, ib.;
characteristics of native British plants, 131; of
English cottages, ib.; consolations of gardening,

132.

6

Fossil Fuel, History of, 87; extract from, 106, 107.
Fregier, H. A., Des Classes dangereuses de la
Population dans les Grandes Villes, et des Moy-
ens de les rendre meilleures,' 1; character of
the work, ib.; its great principle, 2; number of
operatives in Paris, according to M. Fregier's
calculation, ib.; proportions of all classes ad-
dicted to idleness and intemperance, 3; divisions
of the dangerous classes, 3, 4; characters of the
Parisian operatives, 4; importance of the influ-
ence of masters and parents upon the female op-
eratives, 5; divisions of the latter class, 6; the
chiffonniers, 6, 7; copying-clerks, 7, 8; conse-
quences to the students of the facilities to vice,
8,9; the shopmen, 9; quarter of the city,' 9,
10; gamblers, 10; divisions of prostitution, ib. ;
inscription, 11; clandestine prostitution, 12, 13;
means adopted by the 'femmes de maison' to ob-
tain recruits, 13; questionable benefit resulting
from legalization, 14; vagabonds, 15; smugglers,
15, 16; le vol à l'Américaine,' 15, 16; shop-
lifters, 16; bonjouriers, 16, 17; voleurs au bon-
jour-chevaliers grimpans, 17; warfare between
the police and pickpockets, ib.; exploiter les
positions sociales,' 17, 18; the London and Paris
scoundrel compared, 18; preservatives from vice,
18, 19; influence of the press, 19; state of reli-
gion in France, 20; education, ib.; residences of
the poor-illicit cohabitation in Paris, 21: evils
of the present state of the French drama, 22;

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