ONE:MARSHAL SOULT. (From the Portrait by Rouillard.)
TWO:Meanwhile, the first municipal election under the Manchester Charter of Incorporation had been held, at which Mr. Cobden, and a number of other gentlemen professing Free Trade views, had been chosen aldermen, not without formidable opposition. At a meeting held at Leeds, and attended by seven or eight thousand persons, the Chartists, under Mr. Feargus O'Connor, resisted the resolutions of the Free Traders, on the ground that the movement was one only intended to give the manufacturers power to lower the wages of their workmena mistaken doctrine, but one not altogether without support in the writings of the Free Trade party, some of whom, with the common propensity of zealous advocates for adopting doubtful arguments as well as good ones in support of their objects, had put forth the statement that the British manufacturer required cheap food in order to get cheap labour, and thus to compete the better with foreign producers. The opposition of the Chartists created great confusion at almost every meeting held under the auspices of the Manchester Association. Bread, however, continued to rise, and the task of the Association in rousing the country became easier.
ONE:The Emperor of Russia was now fast advancing towards the Vistula in support of Prussia, and the contest appeared likely to take place in Poland; and Buonaparte, with his usual hollow adroitness, held out delusive hopes to the Poles of his restoring their unity and independence, in order to call them into universal action against Russia and Prussia. Amongst the most distinguished of these was the General Dombrowski. Buonaparte sent for him to headquarters, and employed him to raise regiments of his countrymen. By such lures he obtained a considerable number of such men; but his grand scheme was to obtain the presence and the sanction of the great and popular patriot, Kosciusko. If he were to appear and call to arms, all Poland would believe in its destinies, and rise. Kosciusko was living in honourable poverty near Fontainebleau, and Buonaparte had made many attempts to engage him in his service, as he had done Dombrowski; but Kosciusko saw too thoroughly the character of the man. He pleaded the state of his wounds and of his health as incapacitating him for the fatigues of war, but he privately made no secret amongst his friends that he regarded Napoleon as a mere selfish conqueror, who would only use Poland as a tool to enslave other nations, never to enfranchise herself. In vain did Buonaparte now urge him to come forward and fight for his country; he steadfastly declined; but Buonaparte resolved to have the influence of his name, by means true or false. He sent him a proclamation to the Poles, requesting[530] him to put his name to it. The patriot refused, at the risk of being driven from France; but Buonaparte, without ceremony, fixed his name to the address, and published it on the 1st of November. It declared that Kosciusko was coming himself to lead his countrymen to freedom. The effect was instantaneous; all Poland was on fire, and, before the cheat could be discovered, Dombrowski had organised four good Polish regiments.
TWO:ON THE EVENING OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
ONE:But the condition of Canada was very tempting to the cupidity of Madison and his colleagues. We had very few troops there, and the defences had been neglected in the tremendous struggle going on in Europe. At this moment it appeared especially opportune for invading the Canadas from the States, as Britain was engaged not only in the arduous struggle in Spain, but its attention was occupied in watching and promoting the measures that were being prepared in Russia, in Sweden, and throughout Germany, against the general oppressor. At such a moment the Americansprofessed zealots for liberty and independencethought it a worthy object to filch the colonies of the country which, above all others, was maintaining the contest against the universal despot. They thought the French Canadians would rise and join the allies of France against Great Britain. The American Government had accordingly, so early as in 1811, and nearly a year previous to the declaration of war, mustered ten thousand men at Boston, ready for this expedition; and long before the note of war was sounded they had called out fifty thousand volunteers. Still, up to the very moment of declaring war, Madison had continually assured our envoy that there was nothing that he so much wished as the continuance of amicable connections between the two countries.
TWO:But we have far overshot the contemporary history of Bengal. The Presidency thought it had greatly benefited by the reforms of Clive; yet it had since been called upon to furnish large supplies of men and money to support the unprincipled transactions at Madras, which we have briefly detailed, and the India House, instead of paying the usual dividends, was compelled to reduce them. Further, a terrible famine devastated Bengal, and more than half the population are said to have been swept away. This state of things compelled Parliament to turn its attention to India. General Burgoyne, now active in the Opposition, moved and carried, on the 13th of April, 1772, a resolution for the appointment of a select Committee of thirteen members to inquire into Indian affairs; and Burgoyne, who was extremely hostile to Clive, was appointed chairman. The committee went actively to work, and presented two reports during the Session. After Parliament met again in November, Lord North, who had conversed with Clive during the recess, called for and carried a resolution for another and this time a secret committee. As the Company was in still deeper difficulties, and came to Lord North to borrow a million and a half, he lent them one million four hundred thousand pounds, on condition that they should keep their dividends at six per cent. until this debt was repaid, and afterwards at eight per cent. He at the same time relieved them from the payment of the four hundred thousand pounds per annum, imposed by Lord Chatham, for the same period. This was done in February, 1773, and in April he brought in a Bill at the suggestion of Clive, who represented the Court of Proprietors at the India House as a regular bear-garden, on account of men of small capital and smaller intelligence being enabled to vote. By North's Bill it was provided that the Court of Directors should, in future, instead of being annually elected, remain in office four years; instead of five hundred pounds stock qualifying for a vote in the Court of Proprietors, one thousand pounds should alone give a vote; three thousand pounds, two votes; and six thousand pounds, three votes. The Mayor's Court in Calcutta was restricted to petty cases of trade; and a Supreme Court was established, to consist of a Chief Justice and three puisne judges, appointed by the Crown. The Governor-General of Bengal was made Governor-General of India. These nominations were to continue for five years, and then to return to the Directors, but subject to the approval of the Crown. Whilst the Bill was in progress, the members of the new Council were named. Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor-General; and in his Council were Richard Barwell, who was already out there, General Clavering, the Honourable Colonel Monson, and Philip Francis.[323] Another clause of Lord North's Bill remitted the drawback on the Company's teas for export to America, an act little thought of at the time, but pregnant with the loss of the Transatlantic colonies. By these "regulating acts," too, as they were called, the Governor-General, members of Council, and judges, were prohibited from trading, and no person in the service of the king or Company was to be allowed to receive presents from native princes, nabobs, or their ministers or agents. Violent and rude, even, was the opposition raised by the India House and all its partisans to these two Bills.
