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Leader (1850-1860), 18th September 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 889

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      wards published the retractation demanded of him by his Grace- - On the 20 fch of January , 1829 , his Grace was appointed Governor of Dover Castle , and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and he soon afterwards added the whole of the Silchester property to his estate in Hampshire , so that hi « domains acquired a circuit of thirty miles , and his mansion could be approached by . a direct avenue , eight miles long , across his own land .

      In 1830 the Duke's government fell . The ranks of his supporters had been thinned by the malcontent tories , who kept aloof in high dudgeon at his Relief Bill ; nor did he receive any permanent support from the whig s and Roman Catholics ; and now a cry had been raised for reform . This the Duke refused , and the result was considerable popular excitement . His Grace h imself did not escape personal insult ; and considerable damage was done to his property . The new King , William IV ., had intended to have been present at the City feast at Guildhall , but the ministers had received such information as not only induced them to advise his Majesty not to attend it , but caused the Duke of Wellington to have the Tower moat filled , and to put

      that ancient fortress in a state of defence . For this , the Cabinet were subjected to severe animadversions by the Opposition , but the Duke's account of the matter at on ce affords a complete answer to their objections , and p uts his Grace ' s character in a most amiable light . " I would have gone , " said he , to Sir Wm . Knighton , " if the law had been equal to protect me , but that was not the case . Fifty dragoons on horseback would have done it ; but that was a military force . If firing had begun , who could tell when it was to end ; 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 be alarmed for a day or two ? It is all over now , and in another week or two will be forgotten . "

      On the 15 th of November in this year ( 1830 ) Ministers were defeated on Sir Henry ParnelFs amendment , appointing a select committee to inquire into the civil list , by a majority of 27 ; and on the following evening his Grace and Sir Robert Peel announced the resignation of the Cabinet . Lord Grey was named as his successor , Lord Hill , however , continuing at the Horse Guards . On the 24 th of June Lord John Russell recommenced the reform discussion , and the bill was carried on the 19 th of July , bjt a large majority . On the following day it was taken up to the Lords by upwards of a hundred members , headed by Lords Althorpe and Russell , iirul was delivered to the Lord Chancellor . It was read

      for the first time pro forma , and the 3 rd of October was fixed for the second reading . The popular excitement was intense . The Corporation of London presented an address to the King , praying for reform ; and the mob which accompanied them to the palace , proceeded to St . James ' s-square , and broke the windows of Lord Bristol ' s mansion , and then passed on to Apsley House , where they were guilty of a similar act of violence . His Grace has never had his windows repaired . Lord Grey reintroduced the bill in the following March , when the Opposition being weakened by the desertion of the Bishop of London and other lords , the bill was read a second time by a majority of nine , —upon which , tlio Duke and seventy-four other peers entered their

      protest on the journals . When their lordships re-assembled , it was proposed to take the question of en-Inuichiseinent first ; . and Lord Grey , being defeated , waited on the King and gave him the alternative of either creating a sufficient number of new peers or of iK'eeptinjr ] , ; resignation . His Majesty accordingly N'nt for Lord Lyndlnust , and desired him to c . ominui > i « ile with the ' Duke and Sir Robert I ' eel , but both lining intractable on the reform question the King refilled Lord Grey . So popular was this step that the Opposition gswoup the contest , and tin ; bill received this ' ¦<» yid assent by commission on the 7 th of June , 1832 . Kiirl ( Jrey was soon afterwards succeeded by Lord Melbourne , bin , the reform Ministry did not last long , being '" olcen up by the resignation of Lord Althorpe .

      () the 15 th of November his Grace was directed by ne Kin ^ to f , nu lt , , administration , and he at once ' ¦ womnumded the appointment of Sir Robert Peel to the !> ' « 'ii ) ierslnp . As Sir Robert was then in Italy , hi * " •»< : e was at first entrusted with the whole ! charge of governmen t , and the seals of tfie three secretaries of ¦ st'ife ; but , when the Cabinet was filled up , lie took the < ln * H-. tion of the foreign affairs . The lower house , how-< V ( 'i \ commenced hostilities , and having cariied the < 'lcd , io U of the Speaker , they defeated the Ministers by 1 'iiHsiiig a ( . 11 U 1 S () f () l . Hpj ) n ) j ) riH j , i | , g . part of the Irish ' 'iirch property to purposes of education . In conse-M'lenee of U , jh | , he Ministers resigned in the April of i-H ' M ,. ' 'ho contest on the Reform Act reconciled the Duke Ulul tluj t ( >» T party , who were highly delighted by bin

      firm stand against the bill . On the 29 th of January , 1834 , his Grace was unanimously elected Chancellor of Oxford , in the room of Lord Grenville , deceased . The passing of the Reform Bill may be said to have formed the termination of his Grace ' s political life , for though he continued to be a warm and consistent supporter of the conservative party , he never again aspired to the premiership . .. After this his old popularity returned , and at the coronation of the Queen in 1837 , his reception by the

      crowd was most enthusiastic . Marshal Soult , who was present as Ambassador Extraordinary from France , was also received with loud applause . On the 13 th of July the Corporation of London gave a grand dinner to the foreign princes and ambassadors , at the Guildhall . The healths of the two heroes were drank together , with tremendous cheering ; and , in returning thanks , they complimented each other in the warmest manner . The marshal's speech afforded a curious contrast to his general orders .

      At the resignation of Lord Melbourne , in 1839 , the Queen sent for the Duke , and at his suggestion commissioned Sir R . Peel to form a ministry ; but the whigs returned to office , her Majesty refusing to dismiss the ladies of her household . In 1841 Sir R . Peel succeeded in actually constituting a Cabinet , which remained in power until the repeal of the corn laws , in 1846 . On the 15 th of August Lord Hill resigned the command of the army , in consequence of the state of his health , and the Duke , who once more succeeded to that important office , has held it ever

      . , For the last few years of his life the Duke still continued to be consulted by Ministers , and indeed by her Majesty herself , who is understood to have liked to take his opinion on all matters of importance . He had always very regularly conformed to social observances , and mingled largely with the society to which he belonged . His last appearance in state was on the

      occasion of the dissolution of parliament , when it became his duty to be bearer of the Sword of State . The venerable Duke , feeble with age , was accordingly seen in his due place carrying the heavy and venerable weapon ; nay , even playfully pointing it at Lord Derby , who was jesting with him about his difficulty in carrying it . His latest remarkable speech was in the House of Lords , when he emphatically came forward to signify his approbation of the Militia Bill , and to praise militia

      corps . He had gone to Walmer Castle—and that his general health was still good we may learn from the fact that on last Saturday afternoon he rode over on horseback to Dover , and , in his capacity of Lord Warden , inspected the works in progress in the Harbour of Refuge , and other departments . He then seemed in excellent health and spirits . His death may be said to have been sudden . He died after a " succession of fits . " It is known that for

      some years he had been subject to brain attack ? , and had undergone the inconvenience of using " counter irritants" to repel them . The cause of his death was natural decay , but the immediate agency described in the word " fits" was doubtless an effusion of water upon his brain . Gradual stupefaction would be the result , and also convulsions , but it is said that bis death was without pain . He expired at half-past three in the afternoon .

      The Duke is succeeded by his son Arthur , Marquis of Douro , who was born in 1807 . He is a colonel in the army , and married in lH ' , i [) a daughter of the Marquis of Tweeddale .

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      LETTERS FROM PARIS . [ FUOM OUR OWN CoiUtKHI'ONDENT . ] Lkttkr XXXVIII . 1 ' nriH , . September 14 , 18 M . Honai'AUTK is off for his grand four of a month in the Soufh . lie started this day , at one o'clock p . m ., accompanied by fifteen persons only . Up to the lust moment the Ministers set their faces against this expedition ; they manifested the most sombre uneasiness , ( be most , sinister apprehensions , the most , gloomy presentiments . " We are ready to create the Empire , " said they all , " and we would rather proclaim it now

      than see you start for the South . " Louis Itonaparfc replied , " I am not ; at , this moment , so anxious for the Empire as to asccHain with my own eyes and ears the actual disposition of the population in the South . " Then came the refusals to accompany him ; each held back , and if , required nothing less than a command to reduce these gentlemen to compliance . The original arrangement , however , which I mentioned last , week , had to be modified . It , was a < Tccd thai / l ' ersigny , the great , si age-manager of the Napoleonic dramc , and perhaps about the sole unadulterated ltonaparlisl , extanl ,, should remain at Paris to moot , events . PoHBOHHing , hh bo does , the Hecretw of General Magimn

      and of the other Generals of the coup-d ' etat , who dread him , and walk before him like school-boys before an usher , it was thought that his presence would be sufficient to keep the army of Paris to duty and discipline in case of events . And then it is he who disposes of the telegraph . No journalist has been allowed to accompany or follow the President ' s journey , so that durin g this month Persigny remains the sole journalist , absolutely without competition ; he alone receives the news , he alone publishes them , and cooks them for the Moniteur . Paris will know nothin g hut what M . Le Comte de Persigny may be gracious enough to communicate .

      In case of mishap , Paris will remain at least a week in complete ignorance of what has ha ppened , and during that week , St . Arnaud , Minister of War , and who is , by the latest arrangement , ordered to attend the President throughout his journey , will have time enough ¦—1 . To rally the troops in the province where the mishap may have happened ; 2 . to despatch orders for the concentration of the rest of the forces ; 3 . to return to Paris , to keep the great city down . Such are the dispositions which these Bonapartist gentlemen think requisite to make against a population which has given them 7 , 500 , 000 votes !—against a population which , if we believe them , is mad with enthusiasm for them and their Bonaparte !

      Besides , all sorts of arrangements , even to a ridiculous minuteness , have been carried out to make this progress of Bonaparte an unexampled ovation . Enthusiasm has been transmitted from Paris at so much a ton . All the apparatus employed by the Administration in public rejoicings—coloured lamps , Chinese lanterns , illumination scaffoldings , down to the classic lampions , firework devices , flags , streamers , and all the thousand properties and appointments of the fetes at

      Paris have been despatched beforehand by the Lyons and Central Railways to the Eastern and Southern provinces . But this is not all : the most precise instructions have been given to the Prefects . The inhabitants of every commune in every department have received an imperative summons to present themselves , with banners flying , on the line of the Presidential progress . Why not ? they voted , like soldiers , by word of command ; why not take rank on the passage of the President , in full dress , salute him with joy , and display their enthusiasm with shouts and cries ?

      To convince you that everything , even to the cheers and vivats , has been laid down by order , I send you the following decree of the Prefect of the Cher to his subordinates : " Considering the memorable votes of the tenth and twentieth of December , which conferred on Louis Napoleon Bonaparte the supreme power : seeing that His Highness Louis Napoleon Bonaparte deigns to honour our department with his presence , the inhabitants of all the communes of the department of Cher are ordered and enjoined to betake themselves to Bourgcs on the 14 th inst ., at five o'clock in the ( . 'veiling punctually , with their respective authorities at

      their head . All the communes- will assemble together on the Place de Scrancourt , to receive the banners and the handerolles which will be distributed to them by the authorities . Each commune will assemble round the post which will bear its name . Given at Bourses , this seventh of September , 1852 . " This Prefect of ( -her is not joking . " It is appointed and enjoined . " " Hr . ivo peasantry , you will march to Bourges or to prison—whichever you please——you vaw free to choose . " Such is the language of their Prefect . This evidence is undeniable , it is published in the two official journals of the department of the Cher . It is thesiinie in all the

      other departments . In that of I sere , the communes have orders to li ^ ht , bonfires on every peuk in their Alpine range on the night of the President's arrival at , Grenoble . In other departments the Prefects have given strict orders to illuminate . To such as are too poor to afford this expense , lampswill be ; supplied , gratis , from Paris . This is not all . The Monileur had ostensibly dissuaded the principal towns from preparing an expensive reception for the President , ; these ; very fowns have received secret instructions from Paris lo voteconsiderable sums for the occasion . Lyons received orders to vote , and has voted , ( JO . 000 francs ( 2100 / . ) Marseilles has done more ; , not , wit hsfandin < r its financial

      difficulties , voting a credit of l ()() , ()()() francs ( -1 OOO / . ) Avignon , which had left , its Hotel do Villo unfinished for want of funds , was obliged f . o vote 25 , 000 francs ( 1000 / . ) . Grenoble the . same amount .. Toulouse lias voted a credit , of ( JO . 000 francs ( 2100 / . ) . ( Vrlain other towns have done ; hel ter . Finding it , impossible ( o fix a , price upon ( heir enthusiasm , 'hey have voted unliiniled credits . All sorts of official precautions bavo been taken to ensure a magnificent , reception . On thej other baud , Persigny , who looks a Her everything , from whom proceed all directions , all combinations , desired that , then ; should be a local / i '/ r in every town . J told you in my last letter that the Buttle of Toulouse wan

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      September 18 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 889

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1852, page 889, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1952/page/5/