WELLINGTON, DUKE OF. 



WELLINGTON, DUKE OF. 



630 



When Mr. Canning, on the death of Lord Londonderry in August 1822, 

 succeeded to the office of Foreign Minister, he selected the Duke of 

 Wellington to proceed to the Congress at Verona as the representative 

 of Great Britain. On tho 10th of March 1826, the Duke was appointed 

 High Constable of the Tower of London, and in the same year was 

 sent on a special mission to St. Petersburg, the object of which \vasto 

 induce the Emperor Nicolas to join Great Britain and the other 

 European Powers as mediators in the quarrel between Turkey and 

 Greece. The mission was successful. On the death of the Duke of 

 York, January 22, 1827, the Duke of Wellington succeeded to the 

 office of Coinmauder-in-Cnief of the Forces. On the 17th of February 

 following a stroke of apoplexy terminated the political life of the Earl 

 of Liverpool, and early in April Mr. Canning succeeded him as First 

 Lord of the Treasury. The Earl of Liverpool died on the 4th of 

 December 1828. 



On the accession of Mr. Canning to office as premier, April 10, 1827, 

 the Duke of Wellington, who had no friendly feeling to him as a man, 

 nor any liking for the popular principles of policy which he professed, 

 sent in his resignation not only of his seat in the Cabinet, which was 

 attached to his office of Master-General of the Ordnance, but also of his 

 office of Commander- in-Chief of the Forces. The majority of the other 

 members of the cabinet likewise resigned their offices. Mr. Canning 

 died August 8, 1827, and was succeeded by Lord Godot ich as premier. 

 The Duke of Wellington then resumed his office of Coinmander-in- 

 Chief of the Forces, but did not join the new ministry, which was of 

 very short duration. Lord Goderich resigned, after holding the 

 premiership till the end of the year. 



On the 8th of January 1828, the king sent for the Duke of Wel- 

 lington and offered him the premiership, which he accepted, though, 

 only eight months previously, he had said in the House of Lords that 

 he was " sensible of being unqualified for such a situation," and that 

 he " should have been mad to think of it," words of which he was 

 reminded at the time, as well as occasionally afterwards. He recalled 

 Mr. Peel and Mr. Goulburn to the Cabinet, and retained five of those 

 who had been favourable to the policy of Mr. Canning, namely Mr. 

 Huskisson, Lord Dudley, Mr. Grant, Mr. Lamb, and Lord Palmerston. 

 The Duke of Wellington now resigned the office of Commander-in- 

 Chi'ef of the Forces, and appointed Lord Hill as Lis successor. Tbe 

 parliamentary session of 1828 commenced January 29. On the 26th 

 of February Lord John Russell brought forward in the Commons a 

 motion for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. The govern- 

 ment opposed the measure, but the motion was carried in a full House 

 of Commons by a majority of 44. Though the duke did not approve 

 of the policy of this measure, some of his colleagues did ; and there- 

 fore, to avoid a division in the cabinet and opposition to a declared 

 resolution of the Commons, he yielded, took up the bill, and passed 

 it through the House of Lords, in spite of the desperate resistance of 

 Lord Eldon and the other Tories of his school. The Duka also gave 

 his sanction to a corn-bill introduced by Mr. Huskisson. Later in the 

 session however, when a motion was made to disfranchise the corrupt 

 borough of East Eetford, and invest Birmingham with the electoral 

 rights which might thus be vacated, the government opposed the 

 motion, but Mr. Huskisson voted for it. Mr. Huskisson was then 

 Colonial Secretary, and feeling that he had placed himself in an 

 awkward position, he wrote to the Duke to explain, and made some 

 allusion as to his willingness to resign. The Duke, who had no liking 

 for Mr. Huskisson's free-trade principles, immediately wrote to say 

 that he had considered it his duty to lay the letter before the 

 king, that is, to advise the king to accept the resignation. Mr. 

 Huskisson, who had not intended to resign, wrote in explanation, 

 but after several letters had passed between them the Duke con- 

 tinued inflexible. It was related at the time, that when Lord 

 Palmerston and Lord Dudley, as friends of Mr. Huskisson, waited on 

 the Duke, and one of them observed that it was quite a mistake, the 

 Duke replied emphatically, " It was no mistake, could be no mistake, 

 and shall be no mistake." Mr. Huskisson therefore retired, and at 

 the same time Lord Dudley, Lord Palmerston, and Mr. Grant, sent in 

 their resignations, which were accepted. The Duke then called into 

 office the Earl of Aberdeen, Sir Henry Hardinge, Sir George Murray, 

 and Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald. Within a fortnight after the reconstruction 

 of the cabinet, the question of Koman Catholic Emancipation was 

 brought before both Houses. The motion for a committee to inquire 

 into the claims of the Roman Catholics, which had been carried in the 

 Commons, was lost in the Lords, but the Duke's speech on the 

 question was decidedly conciliatory, though he opposed the motion. 

 On the 20th of January 1829, the king conferred on the Duke of Wel- 

 lington the offices of Governor of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of 

 the Cinque Ports, after which the Duke occasionally resided at Walmer 

 Castle, the official residence of the Lord Warden, which is situated on 

 the coast of Kent, near Dover. 



Mr. O'Connell aided by the Catholic Association had produced, by 

 the process of agitation, a degree of discontent in Ireland which 

 threatened an insurrection of the most dangerous character. Under 

 these circumstances, though the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel 

 were both opposed to the granting of the claims of the Roman 

 Catholics, they decided at once that it was better to renounce the 

 principle of political and civil disabilities founded on differences of 

 religious belief than to expose the country to tho risk of a civil war 



iu Ireland. There was a difficulty however with George IV. After 

 repeated interviews and arguments he refused his sanction to the 

 proposed measure, till the Duke and Mr. Peel tendered their resigna- 

 tions. He then yielded ; and on the 5th of February 1829, when 

 parliament assembled, tho king's speech contained a recommendation 

 to review the laws which impose civil disabilities on Roman Catholics, 

 and to consider whether their removal could be effected without 

 danger to the establishment in church and state. In the debates on 

 the speech the Duke in the House of Lords and Mr. Peel in the 

 House of Commons announced the forthcoming measure. On the 

 10th of March the Roman Catholic Relief Bill was read a first time 

 in the House of Commons, and the division on the third reading, 

 March 30, was, 320 for it, and 142 against it ; in the House of Lords, 

 the division on the third reading, April 10, was, 213 for it, and 104 

 against it. The Bill was then passed, and soon afterwards received 

 the royal assent. The opposition of Lord Eldon, Lord Winchelsea, 

 and other Tories, was violent; but the Duke had brought the whole 

 power of government into action, and triumphantly carried the mea- 

 sure. Lord Winchelsea, writing to a gentleman connected with the 

 new institution of King's College, among other observations on the 

 Duke's motives, imputed to him an intention "to introduce Popery into 

 every department of the state." The Duke demanded an apology for 

 the expressions used, which not being given, a duel ensued between 

 them on the 21st of March. Lord Winchelsea, after the Duke had 

 fired and misped, discharged his pistol into the air, and then tendered 

 the required apology, which settled the dispute. 



The parliamentary session of 1830 commenced on the 4th of 

 February. On the 23rd of February Lord John Russell moved for 

 leave to bring in a bill to enable Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham, 

 to return members to parliament, which was negatived by Ifc8 to 140. 

 On the 28th of May a motion made by Mr. O'Connell for leave to 

 bring in a bill for the radical reform of abuses in the state of the 

 representation of the people in the House of Commons was negatived by 

 319 to 13; and a motion by Lord John Russell, "that it is expedient 

 to extend the basis of the representation of the people," was also 

 negatived by 213 to 117. There was much distress throughout the 

 country among the agricultural and manufacturing classes, and there- 

 fore much discontent ; but the great body of the people, at that time, 

 appeared to care little about the question of a reform of the House of 

 Commons. A change, however, and that sudden and violent, was 

 about to take place. 



George IV. died on the 26th of June 1830, and was succeeded by 

 William IV., whose political opinions were believed to be more liberal 

 than those of the deceased king, and whose disposition was known to 

 be more affable and conciliatory. The British parliament was dissolved 

 by proclamation, July 24, and a new one summoned. Almost imme- 

 diately afterwards a French revolution took place at Paris. Charles X. 

 was driven from his throne, and abdicated it. Louis-Philippe was 

 chosen as his successor, with the title of King of the French. The 

 excitement of that revolution extended over the British islands as 

 well as over the continent of Europe. In Great Britain and Ireland 

 the people, preparing for the election of new members of parliament, 

 were everywhere seized with an ardent desire for more liberal institu- 

 tions, and, as a preliminary step, for changes and reforms of the 

 constituencies which elected the members of the House of Commons. 



The new parliament assembled on the 26th of October 1830, and the 

 king's speech was deli vered by William IV. on the 2nd of November. 

 During the debate which followed, Earl Grey, in the House of Lords, 

 urged the necessity of an immediate reform of the House of Commons ; 

 and the Duke of Wellington, in reply, affirmed that " the country 

 already possessed a legislature which answered all the good purposes 

 of legislation, and that the system of representation possessed the full 

 and entire confidence of the country," and declared that he was " not 

 only not prepared to bring forward any measure of reform," but 

 would " resist any such measure as long as he held any station in the 

 government of the country." Public meetings were immediately 

 called throughout the country, which were attended by vast numbers. 

 The Duke had already given offence by his measures against the press, 

 and his declaration against reform now roused the people to a state of 

 excitement little short of fury. On the 15th of November the 

 government were in a minority in the House of Commons, and on the 

 16th the Wellington ministry ceased to exist, and was succeeded by 

 that of Earl Grey. On the 22nd of April 1831 the king dissolved the 

 parliament, in order to ascertain the sense of the people respecting 

 the proposed alteration in the representation of the House of Com- 

 mons. The new parliament met on the 14th of June, and the Reform 

 Acts for England, Scotland, and Ireland were passed June 7, July 17, 

 and August 7, 1832. The Duke of Wellington opposed the Reform 

 Bills steadily, and spoke frequently in opposition. Hence he became 

 excessively unpopular, and the bitterness of the feeling at least of 

 the lower orders may be inferred from the fact, that when he 

 returned from a visit to the Tower, June 18, 1832, he was hooted and 

 roughly treated by the mob, and would scarcely have reached his 

 residence (Apsley House) in safety, if some gentlemen and soldiers 

 had not placed themselves around his horse, and escorted him. The 

 windows of Apsley House were also broken, and he afterwards pro- 

 tected them by iron casings. 



The office of Chancellor of the University of Oxford b ca-re vacant 



