  Corporation commission — Curious advertisement — Discovery of treasure — Bribery at Liverpool — Duke of York's statue — Trades' unions — Skit thereon — Riot at Oldham — Unionist oath — Union meeting and monster petition — Its fate — Duke of Wellington made Chancellor of Oxford — The Princess Victoria's lover. The first thing of importance in this year was the resumption of the sittings of the Corporation Commission, which was an inquiry into the Corporation of London. This object of envy has been several times attacked, sometimes partially despoiled; always threatened, yet always vigorous, it is the red rag of the Radical bull. This Commission did the usual thing—took evidence, and came to nought. The year itself was very uneventful in social incidents, so that I must draw upon divers odds and ends illustrative of the times. Here is the advertisement of a particularly cool gentleman, culled from the first page of the Times, January 17th— "An Heir. "A single gentleman, member of an English university, disgusted at some family differences, is desirous of relinquishing his connections and changing his name. The advertiser, who is a gentleman of good education, affable manners, and pleasing address, submits the proposal to the consideration of the affluent, Next is a paragraph from the Cambrian, quoted in the same Times— "Remarkable Submarine Discovery. "Among the occurrences which have been transmitted by tradition to our neighbours in Gower, is the account of the wreck of a homeward-bound Spanish galleon, laden with dollars, on Rhosily Sands, near the Wormshead, shortly after the conquest of South America by the Spaniards; that the crew, without giving information of the nature of her cargo, sold the wreck for a trifle to a Mr. Thomas, of Pitton, who, not being aware of the value of his purchase, or from some other cause, took no pains for her recovery, and that she shortly became completely embedded in the sands. Nevertheless, suspicion always existed in that part of the country that she must have had on board some valuable articles; and, about twenty-six years ago, in consequence of the sand having drifted very unusually, part of the wreck, in a very decayed state, became visible, and a great quantity of dollars, with some old iron and pewter, were then dug up from some depth in the sand. The late Mr. John Beynon, of Pitton, having failed to prove by any written document the purchase of the vessel by his ancestor (the above-named Mr. Thomas), Mr. Talbot, of Penrice Castle, the lord of the manor, became entitled to the property, but he generously refused to accept it; consequently, many of the inhabitants were much enriched by this fortuitous circumstance. The spot where the vessel struck being only open at four hours ebb-tide, and the sand having returned to its old quarters, the money-hunters were obliged to desist in their attempts, and all hope was abandoned of any further booty from that source. During the late gales, however, the sand having shifted again, the spot was once more resorted to, and the recovery of a very large quantity of dollars has been the result, some bearing the date of 1631, others further back. The circumstance has created a very peculiar interest in the neighbourhood; and, as it is not likely that the present lord of the manor, C. R. Talbot, Esq., will On March 19th the House of Commons passed a bill disenfranchising the Freemen of Liverpool for bribery at the late election, but it did not pass the Lords. Liverpool had formerly an unenviable notoriety for this sort of thing, and it is said that in 1830, when Messrs. Denison and Ewart contested the borough after the death of Mr. Huskisson, it cost each of the candidates over £40,000! The Times of February 26, 1834, in a leading article on this election, says— "On this occasion, likewise, votes rose in price as the contest advanced, and towards its conclusion a single vote was sold for £80! Nearly every freeman who came to poll was bribed. The tickets given for enabling parties to claim payment from Mr. Denison's committee amounted to two thousand; and one of the witnesses having obtained these tickets, copied from them into a poll-book, against the name of each voter, the sum which had been paid him. The following is the analysis of the list of the other candidate, Mr. Ewart's voters, with their respective prices, as drawn up by his own law agent:—
"One circumstance which disgracefully distinguished the bribery practised on these two occasions, was the open, fearless, and shameless manner in which it was conducted. The respective parties "Another most striking and most melancholy characteristic of the contest was not only the universality of corruption among the poorer freemen, but the height to which the tide rose among persons in better circumstances, whom, but for the levelling nature of the system and the gradual decay of the moral sense which it produces, the infamy ought not to have reached. It was mentioned by the treasurer of Mr. Ewart's committee that several 'respectable' persons received large sums of money. A retired brewer demanded £50; a captain in the militia received £35; three brothers, 'respectable men,' were paid £30 a-piece; a druggist and his father, both 'respectable men,' each received £20; and a 'respectable man,' worth £10,000, as he came early in the contest, was satisfied to pocket the paltry sum of £12!" The statue of the Duke of York was placed upon its column in Carlton Gardens on April 11th, and the Examiner of the 12th thus speaks of it— "The announcement of the newspapers that the elevation of the Duke of York's statue was to be celebrated with military honours drew a vast number of people to Carlton Gardens and the neighbouring houses. There was, however, no military spectacle, not even a military band to while away the time during the slow process of hoisting up the statue, which did not reach the top of the column till the people had dispersed, who had spent the day in wondering what was to happen to requite them for their trouble in coming to the spot and the tedium of waiting. Nothing was to be seen but a bit of canvas fluttering in the bitter east wind, showing the place of the statue, to which it served as wrapper. The ascent was imperceptibly slow, such as "The statue of the Duke of York turns his back on the town and his face to the Park. This arrangement was contrary to the judgment of Mr. Westmacott, but insisted on by the Duke of Wellington, who held it a point of propriety that the Commander-in-Chief should face the Horse Guards. His Grace also contends that it will be seen by more people from the Park below than from Waterloo Place—another curious evidence of the correctness of his observation. But this is not the Duke's first mistake as to public views. It now seems that the Duke of York is ashamed to show his face to the town, and, what to military notions is worse, he turns his back on Waterloo Place. "On the base of the monument should be inscribed, 'He made creditors pitied!'—an effect never before produced, as the sympathies of the world generally runs with poor debtors, and creditors are only thought of and talked of as 'hard' and 'cruel.' No general in history was ever so heavily charged as the Commander-in-Chief, and yet the charges of his creditors were the only charges the general ever defeated." In May, people were much exercised about Trades' Unions, which were then being formed, and, as is their nature, leading to strikes, some of which were then becoming serious, as in the cases of the cotton spinners and the journeymen tailors. An attempt was made to turn the movement into ridicule, as shown by the following, but without effect— "Madam, "By direction of the Friendly Society of Operative Ladies' Maids, I have to inform you that, to stay the ruinous effects which a destructive fashionable competition has so long been inflicting on them, they have resolved to introduce certain new regulations into their profession, which regulations they intend should commence from Monday next; and I herewith beg to enclose a copy of them— "Regulations. "No sister shall be allowed to work, except for herself, from the first day of May to the last day of April. No sister shall plait, brush, or dress her lady's hair, or wait upon her in sickness—except for such extra remuneration as each sister shall deem it expedient to ask. No sister shall be called before ten in the morning, nor shall any sister remain in a service where she is refused a fire in her own room, an armchair, a subscription to a circulating library, the free use of her lady's clothes, and as many followers as she may like to retain. No lady shall presume to part with her maid or to hire another without the consent of all the ladies' maids within four miles of Grosvenor Square. Nor shall any lady buy any gown, bonnet, or any article of dress that may not be made serviceable or profitable to her maid, nor shall she be allowed to retain the same in wear after the Grand United Lodge of Operative Ladies' Maids shall have declared it a lawful perquisite. No sister shall be allowed to ask leave to go out, nor shall any sister be contradicted or found fault with, neither shall she be put up with a small looking-glass, nor with a room with a northern aspect. "As the demands here specified are of so reasonable a nature, and as, moreover, they are unquestionably calculated for the benefit of the employers as well as the employed, the Society confidently hopes that you will accede to them, and, henceforth, a mutual confidence may be sustained between ladies and their maids, and that they will, for the future, consent to lace each other's stays, and dress each other's hair. "I am, Madam, Your obedient, humble servant, "Sarah Brown, People hardly knew what to make of these Trades' Unions, and, at their beginning, they seemed to be somewhat antagonistic to authority, and decidedly subversive of existing institutions. And, perhaps, in the first flush of his emancipation, the working man had somewhat crude ideas of his position, and was a little too fond of processions, meetings, and showing himself in public. For instance, on April 15th, there was a riot of a serious description at Oldham. On the previous day, two members of a Trades' Union, at a meeting of their body, were arrested by some policemen, after a desperate struggle. They were on their road to Hollinwood, near Manchester, under the custody of two officers, for the purpose of being examined, when a large crowd attacked the officers, whom they beat severely, and rescued the prisoners. This occurred in front of Bankside Mill, which belonged to a Mr. Thompson, who was disliked by the Unionists on account of his employment of "Knobsticks," or men not belonging to the Union. These "Knobsticks" had This so incensed the mob, that the windows of the manufactory were immediately demolished, the dwelling house of the proprietor entered, and a total destruction of its contents effected. The liquors were drank in the cellars, the cabinets rifled and broken, the victuals eaten, and about £50 in money stolen. One of the lower rooms was filled with printing cloths, to which the mob set fire. The arrival of a party of lancers eventually caused the dispersion of the mob. The two Union men who were rescued afterwards surrendered, and were liberated on bail; meanwhile, the town was in a state of great confusion. A meeting of upwards of ten thousand operatives was held next day on Oldham Edge or Moor, at which resolutions to support their fellows were made. At a coroner's inquest subsequently held on the body of the individual who was shot, a verdict of manslaughter was returned. The Times of May 5th gives the following as— "The Oath of the Unionists. "I (each party here to repeat his name), being in the presence of Almighty God and this assembly, do voluntarily It was for taking unlawful oaths, probably of this kind, that six men had been convicted at Dorchester Assizes, a fact which so worked upon the Trades' Unions of London, that on April 21st they met in their might to the number of thirty thousand, in Copenhagen Fields, and proceeded in procession to Whitehall to present a monster petition (which it took twelve men to carry) in the convicts' favour, to the Home Secretary. Lord Melbourne refused to receive it, thus brought, but consented to see a deputation. This did not suit the agitators, On the death of Lord Grenville, the Duke of Wellington was made Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He had previously received the distinction of having been made (in absentiÂ) a D.C.L. of the University in 1814, when this honour was also bestowed on the Emperor of Russia, the King of Prussia, and Marshal BlÜcher. At his installation on June 10th he wore his Chancellor's robes of black silk and gold, and H. B. has given us a very graphic portrait of him on this occasion: and he was attended by the Marquis of Londonderry, Lord Montague, Lord Apsley, Lord Hill, Lord Mohun, Sir George Murray, Sir Henry Hardinge, Sir S. Acland, Sir Robert Inglis, and Sir Charles Wetherell. There were likewise present eleven members of the episcopal bench. Among the ladies were to be seen The Princess Victoria had not long entered into her fifteenth year when she had a lover, whose story is thus told by the Courier of July 24th:— "A Suitor to Royalty. "A good deal of talk and merriment have been created in Kensington, in consequence of the eccentricities of a gentleman, "The gatekeeper referred the gentleman to the proper authorities at the palace; after which he received three cards, containing, as the gentleman said, his titles and dignity, with a request that they should be immediately forwarded to her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria. On the cards were written "The King of Rome," "The Emperor of the Austrias," and "The Grand Lama of Thibet." Several letters were sent to the palace by this tripartite potentate, who was constantly seen promenading before the palace and in the gardens, waiting to obtain the desired interview with the Princess. One day, while the gatekeepers were at dinner, he contrived to jump over the palings into the shrubbery, and there plant a laurel, to which he affixed another letter to the Princess Victoria; which, of course, when discovered, was speedily removed. "From that time, this gentleman continued to pursue the same system of eccentricity, and yesterday morning, having made some further inquiries of the gatekeeper respecting the Princess, the gatekeeper considered it to be the most prudent course to inform Sir John Conroy of the persevering conduct of the enamoured suitor. The gatekeeper having received his instructions, proceeded to the station-house, and returned to the gardens accompanied by Inspector McManus, of the T division. The gatekeeper and the inspector then proceeded towards a bench in the garden, where the individual in question had taken a seat. The inspector told him he must take him into custody, unless he would pledge his honour to abstain, in future, from the ridiculous system of annoyance he had practised. The individual, after some demur, gave the required promises, and was allowed to | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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