same arguments against universal suffrage that the enemies of Republicanism have always donethe incapacity of man for self-government, the danger of committing power to the people, and the ruin that would desolate the land if they ever gained possession of these rights declared by the founders of the American Republic to be inalienable.

And further, to show that the great Reformer, in his opposition to liberty, was governed by the same spirit that has always obstructed its advancement, he boldly told the petitioners to give up all hope that the day would ever come when their prayer would be granted. "I will not," he said,

66

go into the minor points contained in the petition, because there is one point so important-a point which in my judgement forms the very essence of the charter-which if withheld, will have the effect of creating agitation, and which, if granted, it matters not one straw whether the others are granted or not, and that point is UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. Having a decided opinion that such a change would be utterly fatal to the best interests of the country at large, I feel it my duty manfully to declare that I cannot consent to hold out the least hope, that I can EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, support such a change." He said he was "in favor of the admixture of the aristocratic element in the constitution of the country." It was quite unnecessary to say this after so fully committing himself to the aristocracy. He thought "universal suffrage would be fatal to all the objects for which a monarchy existed, an aristocracy existed, or even a well-ordered Republic existed, and that it was incapable of co-existing with the extension of civilization."

This ground was certainly bold enough to satisfy the most ultra conservatives, and it did satisfy them. Their leaders were in ecstasy, and rose in quick succession to eulogize the man they had pronounced a Jacobin in the Reform days of 1832, for thus "manfully" defending the time-honored principles of the aristocracy of the realm. Although Macauley had in this speech virtually surrendered the ground on which he fought and conquered in the troublous times of the Reform agitation, yet the great majority of his party went with him, uniting with the Tories in an attempt to crush the hopes and the determinations of more than two millions of wronged, suffering, but goaded and resolute men. The future will show what success will crown an effort so hostile to the spirit of the age.

An impression has gone abroad over America, that the Reform Bill effected the political emancipation of England. The British people themselves were, for a time, deluded into this belief. But they have since discovered their mistake, and gone about rectifying it, with an earnestness and determination which leave no room for doubt, that the heavy burdens which have been accumulating upon them for ages, are soon to be thrown off for It will be necessary here to glance at some of the circumstances attending the Reform Bill. It is well known that the corruption of the government, in all its branches, had become too intolerable to be borne any longer. George the IV., one of the most dissolute and tyrannical monarchs who had filled the throne since Charles the II., had incensed the people by a life of crime and profligacy, and they felt more joy than sorrow when death put an end to his debauchery.

It was a gala day in London, and throughout all England business was suspended, when George the IV. was buried. The Thames was covered with pleasure boats and steamers, carrying dense gay crowds into the country. Parties were fitted out to every resort of pleasure, and the nation gave vent to its unfeigned joy, that a heartless tyrant, who had persecuted the beloved Queen Caroline to the grave, and outraged the liberties of his subjects, had at last been called to give up his account at the bar of the King of Kings. "There was reason for hope," says an English writer, "but no cause for sorrow. A vain, self-engrossed old man had at last found his true level, in 'dust to dust, and ashes to ashes! One more obstacle to the changes essential to progress was removed, and a better future appeared in prospect."

A crisis had now been reached by some of the principal nations of the continent, and their affairs were afterwards to flow in a different direction. "The bell on St. Paul's, when it tolled to announce that George the IV. was gathered to his fathers, startled Europe from its repose. Almost before its tones had ceased to vibrate on the ear, a shock came as of an earthquake, and the dynasty of the elder branch of the Bourbons was seen to pass away like a dream. Ten days after the remains of the English monarch had been interred at Windsor, the celebrated ordinances of the Polignac ministry appeared in the 'Moniteur.' The Revolution of July followed, and Charles the X. was an exile in England. By the people everywhere the events of the Three Days were hailed with an enthusiasm that knew no bounds. An impulse had been given to the progress of great public or national questions, which it was seen nothing could then resist. Its results were immediately manifested in the separation of Holland and Belgium, the revolutions of Poland, Spain, and Switzerland; and in the modifications introduced into the constitutions of various German States. In England its fruit was the Reform Bill."

When the Whigs came into power, soon after the accession of William the IV., an expectation became general that a great reform was about to be achieved. The largest portion of the people had always been disfranchised, and even the few who were not could not vote with freedom. The House of Lords and the landed aristocracy had complete control over the elections. Earl Grey declared, in 1793, when he brought his motion for reform into the House of Commons, that “307 members of Parliament were returned, not by the collected voice of those whom they appeared to represent, but by the recommendation of 154 powerful individuals, who returned a decided majority of the House of Commons; and that more than 150 members owed their elections entirely to the interference of the Peers." Thus the people remained disfranchised and unrepresented.

Dissatisfaction with this state of things became more and more manifest as discussion increased, until at last the people awoke in their might, and shook the whole fabric of society. Interpreting, with no uncertain forecast, the signs of the times, the leaders of the liberal party did not hesitate to declare that the time had at last come, when nothing could save the throne and the constitution from overthrow, and the whole empire from revolution, but a radical reform in Parliament. Committees were appointed to inquire into abuses, and well did they perform their work. Meetings for agitation and discussion were everywhere held, and crowded with excited men. The Press brought its engines of power into the field, and scattered light over the ranks of the people. Truth was dragged forth from its hiding-places -corruption was stripped of its covering-aristocracy was laid bare, and a mass of rottenness and tyranny exposed to the gaze of the nation, which roused its deepest indignation. It became evident to all, that "something must be done, or