But the act of the man had not been unobserved by the mob; and seeing now that all chance of our retreat was cut off, they resolved to make a final rush upon our citadel and tear us down from it. This was soon effected. The strongest and boldest among them drew up two deep before us, and with a wild shout, or rather scream, went at us. In a moment we were surrounded, our hats knocked off, and we ourselves hurled violently into the middle of the street. I got off with a bloody nose and the loss of one of my shoes, and my friend with a split ear; but our hats were carried off by our assailants as trophies of war, and were set on high on broomsticks, whilst the victorious "police" of the Liberator marched off shouting and hurraying with their prize. Whether they laid the hats at O'Connell's feet or not I never heard: probably not, as we never saw them after. 116. THE SECOND READING OF THE FIRST REFORM BILL (1831). Fifty years hence no parliamentary scene of the nineteenth century will appear so exciting as that which is here pictured in Macaulay's words. Lord John Russell's bill proposing a scheme of electoral reform passed its second reading in the House of Commons by a majority of one (22nd March, 1831). It was amended in committee; a general election ensued; the Liberals returned with increased forces; and the measure sent up twice by the Commons was finally accepted by the Lords (4th June, 1832) on the threat that otherwise enough new Liberal Peers to carry it would be created. Francis Ellis, to whom this letter is addressed, was Macaulay's closest friend. SOURCE.-Letter to Francis Ellis. T. B. Macaulay (1800-1859). Printed in Trevelyan's Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay. London, 1877. Library Edition, vol. i. p. 204. LONDON, March 30th, 1831. DEAR ELLIS, I have little news for you, except what you will learn from the papers as well as from me. It is clear that the Reform Bill must pass, either in this or in another Parliament. The majority of one does not appear to me, as it does to you, by any means inauspicious. We should perhaps have had a better plea for a dissolution if the majority had been the other way. But surely a dissolution under such circumstances would have been a most alarming thing. If there should be a dissolution now, there will not be that ferocity in the public mind which there would have been if the House of Commons had refused to entertain the bill at all. I confess that, till we had a majority, I was half inclined to tremble at the storm which we had raised. At present I think that we are absolutely certain of victory, and of victory without commotion. Such a scene as the division of last Tuesday I never saw, and never expect to see again. If I should live fifty years, the impression of it will be as fresh and sharp in my mind as if it had just taken place. It was like seeing Cæsar stabbed in the Senate-house, or seeing Oliver taking the mace from the table; a sight to be seen only once, and never to be forgotten. The crowd overflowed the House in every part. When the strangers were cleared out, and the doors locked, we had six hundred and eight members present-more by fifty-five than ever were in a division before. The ayes and noes were like two volleys of cannon from opposite sides of a field of battle. When the opposition went out into the lobby, an operation which took up twenty minutes or more, we spread ourselves over the benches on both sides of the House; for there were many of us who had not been able to find a seat during the evening. When the doors were shut we began to speculate on our numbers. Everybody was desponding. "We have lost it. We are only two hundred and eighty at most. I do not think we are two hundred and fifty. They are three hundred. Alderman Thompson has counted them. He says they are two hundred and ninety-nine." This was the talk on our benches. I wonder that men who have been long in Parliament do not acquire a better coup d'œil for numbers. The House, when only the ayes were in it, looked to me a very fair House-much fuller than it generally is even on debates of considerable interest. I had no hope, however, of three hundred. As the tellers passed along our lowest row on the left-hand side the interest was insupportable-two hundred and ninety-one-two hundred and ninety-two-we were all standing up and stretching forward, telling with the tellers. At three hundred there was a short cry of joy—at three hundred and two another-suppressed, however, in a moment; for we did not yet know what the hostile force might be. We knew, however, that we could not be severely beaten. The doors were thrown open and in they came. Each of them, as he entered, brought some different report of their numbers. you may conceive, in the lobby, crowded as they were, to form any exact estimate. First we heard that they were three hundred and three; then that number rose to three hundred and ten; then went down to three hundred and seven. Alexander It must have been impossible, as Barry told me that he had counted, and that they were three hundred and four. We were all breathless with anxiety, when Charles Wood, who stood near the door, jumped up on a bench and cried out, "They are only three hundred and one". We set up a shout that you might have heard to Charing Cross, waving our hats, stamping against the floor, and clapping our hands. The tellers scarcely got through the crowd; for the house was thronged up to the table, and all the floor was fluctuating with heads like the pit of a theatre. But you might have heard a pin drop as Duncannon read the numbers. Then again the shouts broke out, and many of us shed tears. I could scarcely refrain. And the jaw of Peel fell; and the face of Twiss was as the face of a damned soul; and Herries looked like Judas taking his neck-tie off for the last operation. We shook hands and clapped each other on the back, and went out laughing, crying, and huzzaing into the lobby. And no sooner were the outer doors opened than another shout answered that within the House. All the passages and the stairs into the waiting-rooms were thronged by people who had waited till four in the morning to know the issue. We passed through a narrow lane between two thick masses of them; and all the way down they were shouting and waving their hats, till we got into the open air. I called a cabriolet, and the first thing the driver asked was, "Is the bill carried?" "Yes, by one." "Thank God, for it, sir!" And away I rode to Gray's Innand so ended a scene which will probably never be equalled till the reformed Parliament wants reforming; and that I hope will not be till the days of our grandchildren—till that truly orthodox and apostolical person, Dr. Francis Ellis, is an archbishop of eighty. 117. THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. From the battle of Waterloo to his death Wellington was the most conspicuous subject in England. The bare list of his titles (4) speaks for the gratitude which prompted Napoleon's enemies to confer them, and illustrates the geographical extent of the duke's prestige. In England he was almost always beloved by the masses, but his intense conservatism in politics once or twice aroused personal animosity against him. For instance, he opposed parliamentary reform when the nation was bent on having it. His unpopularity at this time is alone proof of the enthusiasm which Lord John Russell's bill evoked. In 1832 a London mob hooted him on the anniversary of Waterloo (June 18th), although before that date the measure had received royal assent. Sugden, who describes this exciting incident (B), afterwards became Chancellor with the title Lord St. Leonard's. SOURCE. (4) List of Wellington's Titles. Annual Register, 1852. P. 495. Most High, Mighty, and Most Noble Prince, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. Prince of Waterloo, of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and Grandee of Spain of the First Class. Duke of Vittoria, Marquess of Torres Vedras, and Count of Vimiera, in Portugal. Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of the Golden Fleece, and of the Military Orders of St. Ferdinand and of St. Hermenigilde of Spain. Knight Grand Cross of the Orders of the Black Eagle and of the Red Eagle of Prussia. Knight Grand Cross of the Imperial Military Order of Maria Teresa of Austria. Knight of the Imperial Orders of St. Andrew, St. Alexander Newski, and St. George of Russia. Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Portuguese Military Order of the Tower and Sword. Knight Grand Cross of the Royal and Military Order of the Sword of Sweden. Knight of the Order of St. Esprit of France. Knight of the Order of the Elephant of Denmark. Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. Knight of the Order of St. Januarius and of the Military Order of St. Ferdinand and of Merit of the two Sicilies. Knight Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the Annunciation of Sardinia. Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Military Order of Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria. Knight of the Royal Order of the Rue Crown of Saxony. Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of Wurtemberg. Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of William of the Netherlands. Knight of the Order of the Golden Lion of Hesse Cassel, and Knight Grand Cross of the Orders of Fidelity and of the Lion of Baden. SOURCE. (B) Glegg's Life of Wellington. E. B. Sugden (1781-1875). London, 1864. P. 375. (1832). On the 18th of June our Equity Courts were not sitting. I was, therefore, in chambers; and, as I sat working near the window on the ground floor, I was startled by three horsemen passing towards Stone Buildings, with a mob at their heels, shouting, hooting, and hissing. I sent my clerk to see what was the matter, and, upon his return, finding that the Duke of Wellington was the object of displeasure, I sent the clerk, with some others, round to the men's chambers, to beg them to come at once to protect the Duke. I found the Duke, with Lord Granville Somerset, and Lord Eliot, had been to the Tower on official business, and were then at the Chambers, in Stone Buildings, of Mr. Maule, the Solicitor to the Treasury, with whom the Duke had an appointment. In making my way to Mr. Maule's I found a considerable mob in Stone Buildings and its approaches, and their conduct was most violent. When I joined the Duke, we considered what was the best mode of protecting him and his companions. He would not listen to any mode of retreat by which he might avoid the mob. I assured him that the Lincoln's Inn men would effectually prevent any violence, and he determined to get on horseback again, and to ride through the streets. I then went downstairs, and ordered the small gate leading to Portugal Street to be shut and guarded, so as to prevent the people getting round that way to interrupt us when we went through the great gates into Carey Street; and I ordered those gates to be shut as soon as the Duke had passed. I addressed a few words to the |