COLONIAL. (a) Sir R. Peel's Ministry reconstituted.-In Jan. and Feb. 1846 Gladstone became Colonial and War Secretary; Lord Haddington, Privy Seal; Lord Ellenborough, Admiralty; Earl of Lincoln, Secretary for Ireland; Lord Canning, Woods and Forests; Earl St. Germans, Postmaster-General. In Feb. 1845 Dalhousie had become President of Board of Trade, and Sidney Herbert Secretary at War. (b) Leading Protectionists.-Lord Stanley (afterwards Derby), Lord G. Bentinck, Disraeli, Buckingham, Richmond, Stanhope, Malmesbury, Newcastle, Rutland, Granby, Sibthorp, Christopher, Henley, Miles, Newdegate, Spooner, Sir R. Inglis, Sir J. Buller, George F. Young, Bankes, Lord J. Manners. (c) "He passed this last measure of his political life amid the reproaches and execrations of his party. He had assigned the credit of the Catholic Relief Act to Mr. Canning, whom he had constantly opposed, and he acknowledged that the credit of this measure was due to the unadorned eloquence of Richard Cobden,' the apostle of free-trade, whom he had hitherto resisted" (May, ii. 213). (d) Lord John Russell's Ministry.-Lord John Russell, First Lord of Treasury; Lord Cottenham, Lord Chancellor; Sir C. Wood, Chancellor of Exchequer; Sir George Grey, Home Secretary; Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary; Lord Lansdowne, President of the Council; Earl of Minto, Lord Privy Seal; Earl Grey, Colonial and War Secretary; Fox Maule, Secretary at War; Sir J. Hobhouse, Board of Control; Lord Auckland, Admiralty; Earl of Clarendon, President of Board of Trade; Milner Gibson, VicePresident; Morpeth (afterwards Carlisle), Woods and Forests; Macaulay, Paymaster. (e) Population of Ireland.-1841 8,175,124 1851 6,552,385 (f) Sir R. Peel said, "The best reparation that can be made to the last Government will be to assist the present Government in passing this law." (g) Cobden says during the debate on this matter, "While the House frets over its sevenpence in the pound, the poor are paying twice that number of shillings in the pound in the great staples of their consumption. For every 20s. the working classes expend on tea they pay 10s. of duty, for every 20s. they expend on sugar they pay 6s. of duty, on coffee 8s., on soap 5s., on beer 4s., on tobacco 16s., on spirits 14s.... Both for the sake of trade and for the sake of the people you must diminish your expenditure or increase the amount of your direct taxation." h) Treason Felony Act.-By this, writing or speaking with a view to excite sedition was constituted a new crime called treason felony, which could be punished by penal servitude. (i) Mitchel, Smith O'Brien, Meagher, and Gavan Duffy belonged to the Young Ireland party, usually associated with the Nation newspaper, founded in 1842; but Mitchel had this year set on foot the United Irishman which openly advocated bellion. re in Spain, Poland, Hungary, and Dec. Louis Napoleon is declared Presidentelect of the French Republic. Lord Dalhousie Governor-General of India (to 1856). The Boers of the Orange Republic (or Free State) are forced to acknowledge the sovereignty of England. [The Orange Republic is separated from England again in 1853.] An attempt this year, by Order in Council, to transport convicts to the Cape of Good Hope is foiled by the colonists. PRIME MINISTERS. SIR R. PEEL. 1845. 1846. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 1847. 1848. Lord J. Russell fails to form a cabinet, as Lords Great meeting of Anti-Corn Law League at Manchester, SIR R. PEEL PROPOSES THE GRADUAL He is opposed both by protectionists (b) and by some free- June. Sir R. Peel resigns. Lord John Russell becomes Prime Minister (d). Potato famine in Ireland, followed by wholesale emigration (e). The Government grant £10,000,000 for the relief of Ireland. Fielden's Factory Bill, limiting the work of those under eighteen to ten hours a day and eight hours on Saturday, is passed. Parliament is dissolved. [Esti Nov. The new Parliament meets. Rothschild Government has to ask for a Coercion Bill for Ireland [The Poor Law Board is constituted this year.] April. The Chartist meeting in London for the pre- Treason Felony Act passed (h). Mitchel convicted of treason felony, Smith O'Brien and Meagher discharged without a verdict (i). 193 COLONIAL. (a) The Queen's memorandum to Lord Palmerston :"The Queen requires, first, that Lord Palmerston will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that the Queen may know as distinctly to what she is giving her royal sanction. Secondly, having once given her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the minister. Such an act she must consider as failing in sincerity towards the Crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that minister. She expects to be kept informed of what passes between him and the foreign ministers, before important decisions are taken, based upon that intercourse; to receive the foreign despatches in good time; and to have the drafts for her approval sent to her in sufficient time to make herself acquainted with their contents before they must be sent off." (b) Under the influence of the League in 1852, fifty tenantright advocates were elected, and Crawford's TenantRight Bill of 1852 was introduced; but when Sadleir and Keogh joined the Aberdeen ministry the old sectarian rivalry broke out, and the League fell to the ground. 1849. Capture of Mool tan. Battle of Chillianwallah. Battle of Goojerat. Annexation of the Punjab. End of second Sikh war. Rebellion in Hungary under Kossuth crushed by the aid of Russia. French troops occupy Rome. 1850. Sir C. Napier resigns command of Indian forces owing to the action of Lord Dalhousie. Victoria is made a sepa rate colony, with Melbourne as capital. The Australian Colonies Bill is passed. [In the course of the next few years representative governments are formed for New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Van Diemen's Land.] Great gold discoveries in Australia and California. PRIME MINISTERS. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 1848. 1849, 1850. 1851. May. Jewish Disabilities Bill passed by Commons, thrown out by Lords by 163 to 128. July. The Habeas Corpus Act is suspended in Ireland. The Irish Encumbered Estates Court is established, in Rothschild is re-elected, but not allowed to sit. Navigation laws repealed by 275 to 214 in the Commons, and 173 to 163 in the Lords. [See note 1823.] Piræus blockaded by the Mediterranean fleet in support of Finlay and Don Pacifico. Disraeli, ascribing the agricultural distress to the establishment of free-trade, asks for a committee of inquiry. He is supported by Gladstone and opposed by Peel. His motion is lost by only 21 (273 to 252). A motion to repeal the window-tax wholly is lost by 3 Roebuck's motion of confidence in the policy of the July 2. Death of Sir R. Peel. Irish Tenant League, including men of all parties, is formed (b). Sept. 30. A Papal Bull creating Roman Catholic bishops in England is issued. It causes much excitement. Convocation meets for business (for the first time since 1717) this year. Disraeli's motion that Government ought to introduce Feb. 17. The Budget causes much dissatisfaction. Feb. Lord J. Russell resigns. Feb. Lord Stanley (became Lord Stanley by courtesy March. Lord J. Russell returns to office. May. Opening of the Great Exhibition. July. The Ecclesiastical Titles Act (Great Britain and COLONIAL. (a) "It was a protest against an Act of the Pope which had outraged the feelings of the people of England, but as a legislative measure it was a dead letter" (May, iii. 235). It is repealed in 1871. 1851. Dec. 2. The coup d'état in Paris. (b) Lord Derby's Ministry.-Lord Derby, First Lord of the Treasury; Lord St. Leonards (formerly Sir E. Sugden), Chancellor; Disraeli, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Walpole, Home Secretary; Lord Malmesbury, Foreign Secretary; Earl of Lonsdale, President of Council; Lord Salisbury, Privy Seal; Sir J. Pakington, Colonial and War Secretary; Herries, Board of Control; William Beresford, Secretary at War; Henley, Board of Trade; Earl of Hardwicke, Postmaster-General; Duke of Northumberland, Admiralty; Lord Naas, Secretary for Ireland; Lord Stanley, Under Foreign Secretary; Lord J. Manners, Chief Commissioner of Works. 1852. Jan. Louis Napoleon installed as Prince-President of the French Republic. Second war in Burmah. Annexation of Pegu. Dec. The President of the French is declared Emperor as Napoleon III. A constitution is given to each of six different colonies in New Zealand. (c) Lord Aberdeen's Ministry.-Lord Aberdeen, First Lord of the Treasury; Lord Cranworth, Lord Chancellor ; Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord Palmerston, Home Secretary; Lord John Russell, Foreign Secretary till Feb. 1853 (succeeded by Clarendon), then in Cabinet without office till June 1854; Duke of Newcastle, Colonial Secretary; Sidney Herbert, Secretary at War; Sir C. Wood, Board of Control; Cardwell, Board of Trade; Lord Canning, Postmaster-General; Sir J. Graham, Admiralty; Sir A. Cockburn, Attorney-General; Sir R. Bethell, Solicitor-General; Lord St. Germans, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Lord Granville, President of Council (succeeded by Lord J. Russell, June 1854, on becoming Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster); Duke of Argyll, Privy Seal; Robert Lowe, Secretary to the Board of Control. |