school that produced the most eminent statesmen of the age; and though circumstances have made him diverge from the path in which his career commenced, his early lessons have enabled him to maintain an elevated position in popular estimation, when the reputation of his colleagues has fallen to the ground." This was the language of a Conservative in 1861. It expressed the feeling of his lordship's party in 1865; and accounts, in some degree, for the feebleness of the efforts made to oppose him, and for the success of the ministerial candidates in all parts of the country. He whom they at one time had designated as the firebrand of Europe, they had now come to trust in as their old saviour from democracy and John Bright.

The election commissioners have drawn considerable attention to the expenses at elections, independently of any bribery. According to them, the official return of the total costs incurred by the three candidates collectively at Lancaster, is set down at £2,529 78. 2d., including £167 28. 10d., the charge made by the returning officer; at Reigate, with three candidates, to £2,636 188. 5d., including £143 118. 3d.; at Totnes, with four candidates, to £786 78. 11d., including £64 48. 6d.; and at Great Yarmouth, with five candidates, to £1,638 188. 7d., including £114 11s. 2d. At the general election of 1865, there were 938 candidates. The largest sum spent at any one place appears to have been in the North Riding of Yorkshire, where the total cost incurred by the three candidates amounted to no less than £27,974 28. 53d., including £680 188. 1d. Of the larger sum, £470 38. 7d. was objected to, but whether successfully is not clear. As a contrast to this enormous outlay, Down County and Downpatrick figure for the small sum of £2 108. each; the first with two candidates, and the latter with one; while the cost at Armagh (county), with two candidates, is placed at nil. The amount of costs incurred by candidates in the counties of England and Wales (excepting Berkshire, Middlesex, and Brecknock, for which there are no accounts), was £315,666 118. 83d.; in the cities and boroughs in England and Wales (excepting the Isle of Wight, Cambridge University, Dorchester, Huntingdon, Monmouth, Nottingham, Oxford University, Warwick, Wells, Worcester, Cardiff, Flint, Radnor, and Swansea), £315,994 138. Od.; in the counties of Scotland, £32,244 118. 11d.; in the cities and boroughs of Scotland (excepting Caithness and Wick), £19,431 13s. 5d.; in the counties in Ireland (excepting Leitrim, Tipperary, Tyrone, Limerick, and Waterford), £44,801 68. 73d.; and in the cities and boroughs in Ireland (excepting Cashel, Clonmel, Cork, Dublin University, Dundalk, Kilkenny, and city of Limerick), £24,610 4s. 24d.; making a total of £752,749 08. 114d. This, however, does not include all the expenses, because the charges made by the returning officers in the counties in England and Wales amount to £15,655 88. 3d.; in the cities and boroughs in England and Wales, to £26,275 118. 10d.; in the counties in Scotland, to £939 68. 1d.; in the cities and boroughs in Scotland, to £1,206 128. 4d.; in the counties in Ireland, to £2,239 58. 84d.; and in the cities and boroughs in Ireland, to £1,004 48. 74d.; making a total of returning officers' charges, of £47,320 88. 11d., and bringing all the costs up to £800,069 98. 10d. But when it is considered that no accounts at all have been furnished from thirtyone places, that unsuccessful candidates have not stated their expenses, except payment of returning officers' charges in twenty-six places, and that even the charges of those officers are not given in ten places, it is clear that the above total cannot give a correct idea of the whole costs by a very large sum. The expenses incurred by Mr. Brett, M.P., at the Helston election, were, according to a return which has just been published, £540.

Lord Palmerston often spoke with great force on the subject of cottage improvements, at the Romsey and other agricultural meetings. His own words on this subject, so much discussed by county landlords, and employers of labour, are as follow:-" It is not necessary to pull down old cottages to build new ones." He added-"The effect of improving these dwellings is almost marvellous. In the first place, the comfort of a man's home depends on the tidiness of his wife, and on

the mode in which she tries to make him comfortable. But there is a temper of the human mind which is denominated as recklessness. When a thing seems impossible, it is given up in despair. When a cottage is in such a ramshackle state that it is impossible for the wife to keep it clean, she becomes slattern; everything goes to ruin; the man is disgusted, and flies to the beer-shop." So much importance did he attach to the cottage accommodation, that he visited every cottage on his farm, and gave personal instructions for carrying out the enlargements. Bed-room accommodation, good drainage, and good ventilation, were his primary objects; but such simple things as the convenient placing of pegs for the clothes, and the shelves for the housewife, did not escape his attention. By his kindly and genial consideration of their wants and comforts, he won his way to the hearts of his peasantry, and will long live in their affections. It was in the last summer of his life that, at the annual meeting of the Romsey Labourers' Encouragement Society, he delivered a public address, admirably suited to the occasion, and full of that sound common sense in which his lordship loved to indulge. Having distributed the prizes to those labourers who had earned them, his lordship addressed the assembled townspeople on the importance of good conduct, and steady and virtuous habits, to themselves, their families, and to the country at large. He then enlarged on the value, to the rising generation, of education, not of a scientific character, but such as would come into their daily use and application; dwelling especially on reading, writing legibly, and mental arithmetic. The members of the association afterwards dined together, under the presidency of Mr. Dutton, M.P.; but the noble lord was not present. To dine with his neighbours, and friends, and tenantry, had always been his lordship's delight; and his compelled abstinence must have been painfully suggestive to himself and others. The spectacle was also always pleasing to the nation. Though Premier, his lordship did not forget the ties of citizenship or duty; or the social civilities which bridge over-what would otherwise be most mischievous in its effects-the separation of classes, which so unhappily characterises our land.

As a still further illustration of this great and fine quality in his lordship, we may mention that, on one occasion in the course of the year of which we write, he formed one of Mr. Spurgeon's congregation at the Metropolitan Tabernacle; and, after the service, had an interview with Mr. Spurgeon, to whom he presented a handsome donation on behalf of his college. In this act of liberality he was consistent to the last; as, in his earlier days, he often invited to his table the Rev. John Reynolds, the Independent minister at Romsey. As to the arrogant and absurd pretensions of the high church party, his lordship never believed in them. His sound Scotch training under Stewart preserved him from such errors.

Indeed, in the matter of religion there had been most wonderful changes in his lordship's time. The dissenters had become a power; and the fetters which had been imposed on them in ignorance, had been removed by such legislation as he had approved of. The new marriage law, which emanated from the ministry of which his lordship was one, came into operation in 1837; and the returns of marriages in England show that, in the year 1844, there were still 91 in 100 marriages solemnised in churches; in the year 1854, they had declined to 84: the returns issued for 1864, by the registrar-general, give them at 78. In this last year, nine marriages in 100 were celebrated in Nonconformist chapels, and five in 100 in Roman Catholic churches; and there stood registered for marriages, in England and Wales, 5,163 churches and chapels not belonging to the church of England. Among them were 1,102 Wesleyan chapels, 1,600 Independent or Congregationalist, 1,091 Baptist, and 602 Roman Catholic. There were, in England and Wales, in the year 1864, 8,659 marriages in Roman Catholic churches, and 19,627 in Nonconformist chapels. Along with the authorisation of marriages in registered chapels, the legislature sanctioned also marriages before the registrar without any religious rites at all. The number of these was small at first: in 1841, only 2,064-not two marriages in 100. But in 1854, the proportion approached

five in 100; and in 1864, it was more than eight in 100-one marriage in every dozen; 14,611 in all-nearly as many as in Nonconformist chapels. The returns are not made for towns, but for districts. In Cambridge, these marriages without religious rites were as many as one in seven of the whole number of marriages in 1864; in Oxford, one in six; in Bath, Bristol, Southampton, and Northampton, one in five; in Canterbury and Norwich, one in four; in Plymouth, Stoke Damerel, and Liskeard, one in three; in Exeter, 40 per cent. In Lancashire and Yorkshire these marriages are not very frequent. In Durham and Cumberland they are so numerous, that, in the entire counties, they amount to one in every four; in Auckland, they are 40 per cent. of all the marriages; in Carlisle, 60 per cent. In Cardiff, they are 40 per cent.; in Merthyr, very little less; in South Wales, as a whole, one in four of the marriages. In Carlisle, the marriages in the register-office are more than double the number of marriages at church, and more than six times as many as the marriages in Nonconformist and Roman Catholic chapels. This is owing to local custom. A class of persons, who formerly married on the Scottish side of the border, attracted by the easy fashion there, have married in Carlisle since the passing of Lord Brougham's Act of 1856, invalidating these irregular marriages in Scotland, except after three weeks' residence of one of the parties; but the custom of marrying across the border, without a religious ceremony in church or chapel, makes people prefer that mode of marriage which excites least attention. Lord Brougham's Act has extinguished the Gretna Green marriages, or rather those of Mr. Murray, who kept the turnpike-gate at the border; for he had almost superseded Gretna, by explaining to English visitors that the further journey of two miles was superfluous, as the wedding in his presence on the Scottish side of the border would be equally valid. He had performed as many as forty-two marriages in one day. In the year 1856, he celebrated 757 marriages. At the close of that year, Mr. Murray's occupation was gone. The Divorce Act had been passed in spite of the clergy. In many other ways they had also been deprived of the undue influence they possessed. It does not appear that Lord Palmerston much exercised himself with theology; but he had sense enough to see that, side by side with the church establishment, had grown up a wealthy, a cultivated, an energetic dissent, and that no man could rule in England who endeavoured to ignore that fact.

England, in 1865, had become much changed; and, let us hope, for the better. Its coal and iron had turned it from an agricultural country into a commercial one; had peopled it with intelligence and life. Its railways, and telegraphs, and canals had made every part of it as busy as any other spot under the sun. It had become a land of gigantic manufactories, where the millions toiled to supply the world with the requisites of civilised existence. Out of this industry had grown wealth, and science, and education; and almost a desire for an expensive system of government, whether as regarded the extension of cultivation, the duties of official life, or self-defence. But all the while there was a dark side, over which the patriot and the philanthropist mourned, and with which the statesman was bound to contend. There had been crime and pauperism in Lord Palmerston's youngest days; there was crime and pauperism in his old age. The judicial statistics for the last years of his lordship's life have been published. appears from them, that the total number of murders was 135, being one in excess of the previous year: seventy-six were reported from the counties, fifty-one from boroughs, and eight by the metropolitan police. In Lancashire twenty-eight cases occurred, of which thirteen came from Liverpool. In Yorkshire there were fifteen cases; in Durham, ten cases; in Somerset, seven; in Southampton, seven; in Devon, six; in Kent, six; in Gloucester, Stafford, and Worcester, five each. Some of the remaining counties had smaller numbers; while in thirteen English and Welsh counties no case of murder occurred. There were fifty-four attempts to murder, as compared with forty for the preceding year; and 279 cases of manslaughter, as compared with 214 for the previous year. The cases of stabbing, shooting at, &c., numbered 762, showing a decrease of four from

It

the previous year. There were 232 cases of concealment of birth in 1864-'65, being less by three than in the preceding year. Of these, 119 were in the counties, twenty-five in boroughs, eighty-eight in the metropolitan police district, and none in the city of London. The burglaries reported were 2,615, being an increase of twenty-four on the previous return; highway robberies, &c., 716; arson, 470; and attempted suicide, 787. The number of proved offences against the person was 2,586; offences against property, with violence, 5,160; malicious offences against property, 669; other offences, 43,298. The total number of persons convicted in the year was 312,822; of whom 262,214 were males, and 50,668 females. The cases of stealing, and attempting to steal, numbered 44,908; the assault cases, 98,776. There were 10,392 offences against the game-laws. The total number of persons proceeded against, exceeded, by 12,000, the numbers of the previous year. The total number of appeals to quarter sessions from the decisions of justices acting out of sessions, in 1865, was ninety-one; of which fifty-seven were affirmed, and thirtyfour quashed. The coroners' inquests for the same time amounted to 25,011, showing an increase of 224 over the previous year; 17,566 were males, and 7,445 females. The total cost of the inquests was £74,915 48. 3d.; giving an average, for each inquest, of £2 198. 10d. The number of commitments in criminal proceedings for the year was 19,614, being very slightly in excess of the previous year. The capital convictions for five years were as follows:-1861, twenty-six; 1862, twenty-eight; 1863, twenty-nine; 1864, thirty-two; 1865, twenty. Of the twenty persons sentenced to death in 1865, eight were left for execution; one committed suicide in prison; in eight the sentences were commuted to penal servitude for life; in one commuted to a year's imprisonment; in one the convict was sent to Broadmoor, as insane; in one (an Italian), a pardon was granted, on the condition of his leaving the country; and in one a free pardon was granted, the verdict not being considered satisfactory. The number of executions in 1865 was seven, compared with nineteen in 1864, and twenty-two in 1863. The number sentenced to death in 1865, is the lowest on record; and contrasts strongly with the number forty years before the numbers in 1825 being 1,036. The cost of proceedings on indictment, paid by the Treasury last year, was £134,901 17s. 10d.; or an average of £7 188. 10d. for each case proceeded against. The total cost of the prisons was £558,757 148. 3d., compared with £433,045 for the previous year. The total amount paid for reformatories was £48,505 15s. 1d.; and for industrial schools, £15,493 158. 4d. The total charge of the lunatic asylum was £49,311 11s. 10d.

Another dark epoch in the horizon resulted from the state of the elective franchise. There was wide and deep-seated discontent among the working-men of Great Britain. They felt that, so long as they were excluded from the possession of political power, they were treated as serfs, and were in danger of having their interests overlooked. In France, in Prussia, in the colonies, in America, their brethren had votes; and the denial to them, in this country, of the rights of citizenship was a grievance to be got rid of-an injustice to be no longer borne with patience an insult to be resisted. It is true, Chartism, and all ideas of gaining their rights by brute force, had long been abandoned; but, as much as ever, they were determined to win them in a constitutional way. In 1865, they had their clubs and newspapers, and teachers and orators. They had also become united, and had learnt that union is strength. Firm in their purpose, rich in the possession of accumulated funds-with intelligence certainly equal to the generality of the ten-pound householders, or tenant farmers-they had become a formidable body, feared by the two great parties in the state alike. In 1832, the middle. classes had petted them; reform ministers had viewed their activity with glee; but now they were left to fight the battle of their rights alone. In politics, especially, delays are dangerous. One Reform Bill after another was introduced into the House of Commons; and then, on some frivolous pretext or other, withdrawn. Moderate measures would have been of avail: the time at length has come when it is clear they will be useless, and in vain.

CHAPTER XXXII.

INDIA UNDER SIR CHARLES WOOD.

IN the course of publication, fresh light is continually poured in upon historical questions. Since much of this work has been printed, many important volumes have appeared, of which we proceed to avail ourselves. We add a few particulars here.

"One statesman to whom we have not done justice is the late Mr. James Wilson, in whom a large and comprehensive knowledge of finance and taxation"writes Mr. Algernon West, author of a seasonable volume, entitled Sir Charles Wood's Administration of Indian Affairs, from 1859 to 1866-"was combined with habits of laborious and untiring application."

Mr. Wilson's career was successful, and creditable alike to himself and to the institutions of his country. "A poor apprentice to a poor shopkeeper, in a small Scotch town, he had, by the force of his unaided intellect, and by the strength of his unwearied exertions, raised himself, step by step, on the ladder of fame. In a life comparatively short, he rose from an apprentice to a merchant; in which capacity, a temporary failure, in the panic of 1837, only showed to more advantage the unselfish probity of his conduct. From a counting-house he passed into parliament; and, after holding office in the Board of Control, the Treasury, and the Board of Trade, and being created a privy councillor, he finally took his seat at the council table of the Governor-general of India. The leading questions of the day -the repeal of the corn laws, and the repeal of the navigation laws-had given him ample opportunity of employing himself, with his whole heart, on these subjects; and he had advocated those great reforms, not only by his speeches in the House of Commons, and out of doors, but in the columns of the Economist, which he edited for many years, and in which he demonstrated, in trenchant and convincing articles, the fallacies of his opponents." In the financial crisis which occurred in India after the mutiny had been suppressed, and the old reign of the company superseded, Mr. Wilson was the most fitting man to send out. Accordingly, he was despatched by Sir Charles Wood.

"On the 18th of February, 1860, Mr. Wilson made his first financial statement in the council-room at Calcutta. Referring to the speech of the Secretary of State in the House of Commons, in the preceding autumn, Mr. Wilson estimated the deficit for 1859-'60, at £9,290,129, which was nearly a million less than the estimate of Sir Charles Wood-a favourable anticipation, which, however, was not destined to be realised, as the accounts at the close of the year showed an actual deficit of £10,769,861. Mr. Wilson frankly admitted that, though by the power of our arms, and the courage of our civil administration, a feeling of security pervaded the country, it was, unfortunately, no state secret that an evil of the greatest magnitude was corroding the very heart of our political system, and that it would be in vain we should boast of the restoration of order and tranquillity, if we could see no end to the financial disorder that notoriously prevailed. Looking forward to the prospect of the year 1860-'61, with which he had principally to deal, he showed that, after taking credit for the reduction of a million and threequarters in the military charges; a reduction of one million on account of compensation for losses in the mutiny, which had been included in the estimate for 1859 -'60; and an increase of income, from the salt duty, of £410,000-the expenditure of 1860-61 would still exceed the income by six and a-half millions. To meet this, every attempt would be made by the reduction of expenditure; but it was apparent that, in addition, it would be necessary to have recourse to