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commonly discussed , and are generally understood . The ^ great capitalists of the city , and those who like little satellites swim in their orbits and shine with their lustre , affected to smile at the idea ; but the smile was only affected . There were those whom the symptoms filled with dismay . The collection of taxes was suspended to a considerable extent , more in many
large towns in the country than in London : in two days the incipient demand for gold at the Bank withdrew from one to two millions of sovereigns ; but this was nothing to what the next few days would have done , when applications must have come pouring in from the country , with a rapidity and ro an extent heretofore unparalleled . The short-sighted long-headedness of
George Rose ,, who thought to bind the lower classes to the existing order of things , by providing for the investment of the Savings Banks deposits in public securities , ( and those deposits now amount to sixteen millions , ) gave those classes a direct power in this novel species of conflict , of which they were about generally to avail themselves . In short , we were on the brink of a
revolution ; of revolution not accomplished by physical force , but by public opinion , acting on the facilities afforded for its efficient , its irresistible expression , in a great commercial country . The demonstration of this power was checked at the very outset by the revival of the nation ' s hopes . They will never forget that it exists and that , when they are generally agreed , it is in their
possession . The House of Commons , in this emergency , did all that could be required of it , or effected by it . The majority were faithful to the pledges under which they were chosen . Their prompt address to the king , no doubt , presented a formidable obstacle to the projected administration . But the great battle could not have been fought by them . Had the ministerial arrangements proceeded , they would have been either corrupted , intimidated , or dissolved . A dissolution was indeed the universal expectation . In that case
the people would have been left for months without representatives . Their petitions for the stoppage of supplies , or the appointment of parliamentary commissioners , would have been scattered to the winds . There would have been no interposing body between them and absolute rule . They depended , therefore , not on their representatives , however firm , but on themselves . Another effect of that eventful fortnight is to raise our admiration of the national character . The people felt that they could afford to be calm , in the consciousness of their strength . The old , brutal Church and King populace seems to be extinct In all our large towns there are doubtless thieves and wretches in abundance , ever ready for plunder and mischief . But generally , and especially in the metropolis , during the period on which we are commenting , they found no opportunity for transgressing beyond iheir usual bounds . Everything seemed quiet and peace *
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Tfie Recent Political Crisis . 395
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1832, page 395, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1814/page/35/
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