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to know that many of those who, a few short years ago, would have treated the question of reform as an idle threat, or a thing calculated only to amuse the minds of the multitude, or frighten the imaginations of children, have already changed their estimate of its merits, and set about the consideration of this important question, seriously and heartily. In God's name, we say, let them proceed with their work; let them not pause among the fastnesses of the confusion which they themselves may have created or supported; but let them honestly and fearlessly lanch into the fair and open field of examination, where they may meet their fellowmen of all ranks and degrees, who are anxious to know upon what foundations the evils (for evils there certainly are, and great ones,) of the country have accumulated.

But whilst we advocate the cause of a wholesome political reform, both in its purest principle and its strictest practice, let us not be misunderstood. Although we assert, and are prepared to prove, that the system upon which the government of the country has been carried on for the last century, however good in its origin, has frequently been perverted in its application, we are not to be confounded with the demagogue and the leveller, who would throw down all distinctions among mankind, and destroy our best and noblest institutions. Far be this heinous sin from us; and, in the sincerity of our hearts, we would say, cursed be the man who would for any, no matter how great, advantage to himself or his party, compromise the wellbeing and happiness of that which we hold to be far dearer than our lives, "the land we live in." If we should be ever doomed to see destruction and misery stalking abroad in those places where we had fondly looked for protection, peace, and happiness, we would, after exhausting all our efforts to oppose their devastating progress, exclaim with the illustrious Byron,

"Oh! land of my fathers and mine,

The noblest, the best, and the bravest,
Heart-broken and lorn I resign

The joys and the hopes which thou gavest."

To many well-intentioned people, our language, as applied to a party comparatively insignificant, and whose importance is chiefly remarkable on account of its baseness, may appear needlessly severe; but we beg to remind them, in the words of an ancient act of parliament, that the evil of their pernicious doctrine "hath increased, is increasing, and ought to be abated." Such is not only the case in England, but the march of their opinions is spread over a large district of the Principality, where the retired habits of the inhabitants have not been enough to protect them from the infection of those whose business would appear to be that of going about doing evil; whilst, in the metropolis, we have had the political schools, if they can be so called, of Carlile, of Hunt, and of Wakley, we have witnessed in Wales the irruption of a horde of

little better than barbarians, who, having doubtless created a sufficiency of distraction in their own counties, have crossed the border of the Principality to sow dissatisfaction and dissention there. Unhappily, they have not been disappointed; for they have, as is well known, succeeded in metamorphosing, for a time, in more instances than we care to mention, the working classes among the Welsh, from industrious and good subjects, into idle, dissolute, and dangerous portions of the people. From Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Warwickshire, have these emissaries against social order been sent, by the different committees and clubs, whose directors seemed to fancy they had not experienced faction and disturbance enough at home, and, therefore, empowered a body of weavers, colliers, and ironmen, to make excursions of experiment, as it were, into our mountains, to try, by the ordeal of their own treason, the hitherto respectable and loyal conduct of the Cambrians. How they, for a time, succeeded, and how, subsequently, their baseness was frustrated, is well known; although not, we regret to add, without, in one melancholy instance, the necessary interference of the Yeomanry, that patriotic and truly loyal force, whose aid in Wales, we believe, no one has dared to assert has ever been unconstitutionally used, whatever arguments to the contrary have been urged in allusion to Manchester or Newtownbarry.

But we do not class ourselves amongst the phlegmatic and foreboding; and we will not, therefore, dwell upon a melancholy picture of the past, neither will we believe in the production of future political misfortune. We need not point out the absolute necessity of a reform, not only parliamentary but national, for it has been insisted on loud and often, though to know that we had assisted in effecting a purely constitutional object of such unspeakable magnitude, would be the proudest reflection we could experience; yet, whilst we would use our strenuous endeavours to this end, we would not the less exert ourselves against those hateful and senseless doctrines of equalization of station, and division of property, which are incompatible alike with the history of nations, the maxims of sound philosophy, and the wisdom of ages; and which are propagated only by the worst of mankind for the worst of purposes. Let us ask the country gentleman, if he would choose to be attacked in the home of his fathers, and driven out, as by barbarians of old, to seek his fortune as best he could? Let us ask the clergyman, the respectable and respected father of his flock, if he is prepared to acknowledge the right of any faction to deprive him of the fruits of his spiritual labour, under the pretended injustice of his demand for his own in the shape of tithes, and thus leave him a pensioner, or rather a beggar, in the hands of a desperate and sacrilegious

• Respecting the disarming of a troop of Yeomanry, near Swansea, last spring, by a mob, we have always held the opinion that an inquiry should have been instituted.

mob? Let us ask the manufacturer if he will consent to see his property destroyed, the fruits of his industry wasted, by the very persons who, with their families, would have starved but for the judicious employment of his capital? If the squire, (of course the farmer must rise or fall with him,) the clergyman, and the manufacturer are not prepared to go these lengths, let them rest assured they will never please the mobocracy, who, in the instance of Bristol for example, instigated, no doubt, not only by the desire of plunder, but encouraged, if not paid, by men, more intellectual, perhaps, though not less ferocious than themselves,-achieved a work of indiscriminate, senseless, and brutal destruction, which has never been surpassed in the history of these kingdoms, in its most madly distracted times.

We could illustrate far more fully and strongly the principle of wholesome reform we would advocate, as distinguished from that purblind and mad misrule, which, under the name of reform, would trample upon all law, all authority, all justice; which would make our wives widows, and our sons and daughters fatherless; which would pull down the widow's house, and render the orphan an outcast, houseless and friendless: and which, once allowed to get the ascendancy, would not be arrested in its progress until the country became one scene of diabolical anarchy, when, to procure a loaf of bread for his family, each individual's "hand must be against every man, and every man's hand against his." In the name of all we hold sacred, then, we call upon the higher and middle orders of the people to oppose themselves fearlessly to this hydra of abomination; to use every effort to crush the hideous production, while yet only nursed in the lair of its detested procreators, as the only means of saving themselves from ruin, and the country from worse evils than we dare to contemplate.

*

We have been led away by the overwhelming importance of our subject; and although, on sitting down to our task, we laid before us a speech delivered in the House of Commons, during the last session, by a gentleman of high rank in the Principality, and possessing that union of talent and principle which is so requisite for the successful advocation of any noble cause, we have proceeded thus far without doing the honourable member that justice which he deserves: if an argument were wanting, to prove the folly of violent party-feeling, we would adduce the excellent speech of Mr. Kenyon, in support of such our opinion. This gentleman is the scion of a noble house, from the head of which we have occasionally felt it our duty respectfully to differ upon public questions, and we had entertained the impression that the school in which the Honorable Lloyd Kenyon has been nurtured,

* The Honourable Lloyd Kenyon's speech in the House of Commons, August 18, 1831, in proposing that more representatives should be given to Wales.

was such as not to render it extremely probable that we should find occasion to extol his political opinions: it is, however, with great pleasure we acknowledge our mistake; and here again, as we have remarked in a preceding article, it shews more clearly, then, the folly so deeply rooted in the minds of some people, of expecting all good or all evil from any given political party. Mr. Kenyon is arguing for the extension of members to be returned for Wales; and let us observe that, although this is a maiden speech, its language is open, clear, and eloquent, evincing strong proof that its deliverer possesses the head of a statesman, and the heart of an honest and upright representative of the people. But we must let the honorable member speak for himself, while we assure him that the modesty with which he puts forward his claim, in behalf of his country, cannot but merit the approbation of all, while the force with which he supports his arguments is worthy the attention of the most experienced senators.

"I feel that some apology is due from me to those members for the Principality of Wales, who, from their weight and standing in this House, from their established character and superior talents, have a prior right to stand forward in behalf of their country, and by their greater abilities to ensure success. But I trust, that whether in a reformed or unreformed House of Commons, a too eager desire to evince attachment to our native land, a too ardent zeal to promote the wishes of our fellow-countrymen, will always carry with it its own vindication. Linked to my country not more by an enthusiastic admiration of her loveliness, than by a warm attachment to the generous feelings of her sons, bound to her by every tie of private affection, by every fond remembrance of past hours of happiness, it must always be to me a source of proud gratification, that the first time I have ventured to obtrude myself on the attention of this House, I appealed to them in the name of my country.

"I rise, sir, in the name of an ancient nation; I rise, in the name of a loyal people, to express their perfect confidence, that in a measure which extends to every class of his Majesty's subjects, and to every part of the British Isles, a larger share of direct representation, they alone shall not be passed over with the slur of neglect, they alone shall not be treated with unmerited indignity. I ask, sir, nothing which militates against the principles of this Bill; I ask nothing adverse to any expression of popular opinion; I ask for no violation of popular privilege, for no confiscation of ancient rights; I ask for the Principality of Wales (should the House ultimately sanction this, which I must still consider as a wanton act of spoliation,) that additional member, which is enjoyed even by the meanest county in England.

"It is somewhat difficult to define the precise ratio which would seem to entitle the counties of England to any given quantity of members; but arguing from analogy, and adducing as instances those counties which have their representation altered or amended by this Bill, and which, therefore, may be presumed to have a fair and not an undue proportion, I think I can convince the House of the justice of my claim.

"The county of Westmoreland, having had its ancient borough of Appleby disfranchised, but being considered by its population to be entitled to return two members for the shire, and one for a borough, had a member allotted to Kendal; the population of Westmoreland was, in 1821, 51,359; and this,

therefore, is declared by this very Bill to be a sufficient population to possess the right of returning three members. Now the county of

Carmarthen has, by the same census, 90,239

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"And yet these counties have only one member each for the borough, and one knight for the shire. And when the House looks at the population of Monmouth and Huntingdon, and at the Isle of Wight, with 35,000 inhabitants, enjoying three members by this Bill, I am sure they will recognise the justice of this claim, even for the smaller counties."

No one will deny that there is, to say the least of it, great justice in this claim, whether we regard the proportion of members exhibited by Mr. Kenyon, or the great and increasing interests of the Principality, which are alluded to as follows:

"Let me remind the House that while, by acts of federal union, the representations of Scotland and of Ireland were arranged, the one at the commencement of the last, the other of the present century; while the representatives for England have been increased almost to double their amount; the representation of Wales remains in precisely the same state as it was three centuries ago, at a time when she was considered as a conquered province, and was very thinly inhabited. But, sir, look at her state now, look at her rapidly increasing population, look at her progressive advance in wealth, at the great improvement in her means of communication, at her agriculture (not fearing competition, even with her more favored neighbours); look at the incalculable extent of her infinite variety of mines; at the richness of her lead and her iron mines; at that vast bed of coal, both in the north and the south; and then, sir, I will ask the House if we are not entitled to this petty addition that we crave? I would entreat the House to grant this favor, then, to a people rapidly advancing in opulence and intelligence, to a people jealous of their rights, and proud of their antiquity; and let no man undervalue that feeling; it is the surest foundation on which a nation's power and a kingdom's independence can be based; it is that spirit, which, amid the gloom of depression and the whirlwind of convulsion, still bids the soul cling fondly to its country, and paralyses the activity of evil.

"Dear is that shed to which his hopes conform,
And dear that hill which lifts him to the storm,
While the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar
But bind him to his native mountains more.'

"Sir, in the name of my country, I demand this as a right; I shall be grateful to accept it as a boon.

"I move that it be an instruction to this committee to make provision for the further increase of knights to serve in Parliament for the different shires in the Principality of Wales."

We here take our leave, for the present, of this momentous—this solemn question, for more than usually so does it seem to us,

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