On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
on the question of true or false in theory ^ —and with the feeling of the great mass of the community strongly against them , on the question of good or bad , beneficial or intolerable , in practice , —the aristocracy had a very plain path to pursue , that of securing to themselves gratitude , and honourable influence by a graceful and timely concession to the public wish . They have unhappily taken
a different course : many of them have assumed a tone of defiance and scorn which could not but provoke retort , others have irritated by an obstinate , quibbling , inconsistent , and vexatious opposition to what might be delayed but could not be defeated ; all the mean arts of intrigue and treachery have been unblushingly practised by members of that class which arrogates the preeminent possession of personal honour and dignity . The
aristocracy will never again occupy an influential place in the estimation of the country . It had its three warnings , they were disregarded , and nothing remains but paralysis and death . The immediate fall of the Duke of Wellington on his declaration of hostility to reform , in November 1830 ^ was the first warning . The victory of popular enthusiasm over every kind of corruption , influence and intimidation , in the elections last summer , was
the second : and the third followed in the ignominy into which the Bishops plunged themselves , their order , and their church , by their votes in that memorable division in which they turned the majority against the bill . There was enough to make the Peerage pause , and not madly cast itself and drag the very throne along with it , into the abyss of popular odium , and execration . It seems most probable that the refusal of the King to create peers was
only weakness ^ acted upon by hostile influences ; but , for the time , tlie people believed it to have been treachery , and his unprecedented popularity was in an instant annihilated . The impression can never be obliterated . The tremendous perils to which the country was exposed , and the actual evils which were produced , by the defeat of ministers in the Lords , and their virtual dismissal by the King , can never be forgotten . Who
could avoid asking whether there ought anywhere to exist such a ppwer for mischief ? Hereditary legislation and hereditary sovereignty became exposed to ' obstinate questionings , ' which are still working , and long will work , in men ' s minds . The people doubt , and they will be resolved . Excitement will cool , and
irritation pass away , and insults be forgotten , but inquiries have been started which will only conclude in full investigation , and decision . " A headstrong faction has provoked the analysis of prescription , and the bringing of monarchy , aristocracy , democracy , and republicanism , to the only test which a people accustomed to thought and discussion can permanently acknowledge , the Test
of Utility . During these eventful days , the Political Unions , both in London and the country , were joined by vaat numbers of person * , of
Untitled Article
B 98 The Recent Political Crist * .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1832, page 398, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1814/page/38/
-