8 



BOYHOOD. 



[Chap. I. 



The chief influences in the formation of his character were, 

 of course, in his home. Of his father, Dr. Martineau wrote : 

 " I have never seen in any human being the idea of duty, the 

 feeling of right, held in such visible reverence. . . . There was 

 no such thing as a dead particle in his faith ; it was instinct 

 with life in every fibre. ... Of the discipline enjoined upon 

 his house — its early rising, its neatness, its courtesy, its golden 

 estimate of moments — he was himself the model." The mother 

 and sisters were moved by the same spirit : none of them lived 

 to themselves. Some boys might have been discouraged by so 

 high a standard ; but Philip was dutiful and eager to do well 

 from a child. 



His father was eminently a public-spirited man, and entered 

 with great fervour into those movements which made the period 

 from 1828 to 1833 the five most fruitful years in the history of 

 British freedom. The repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, 

 followed by Catholic Emancipation, were the first instalments of 

 religious equality ; then came the Reform Act and.West Indian 

 Emancipation. The enthusiasm of the country has never again 

 mounted so high as at the Reform era. At Bristol, the Tory 

 member who had been long accustomed to head the poll did 

 not even stand as a candidate. All reforms seemed possible 

 and hopeful, if this was carried. Philip lived to see that 

 moral reforms were of more importance than political ones ; 

 and the scenes he witnessed at the Bristol riots, October 29 to 

 31, 1 83 1, were never effaced from his memory. In his study 

 there was a picture of Bristol by night, when lighted up with 

 the flames of the gaols, the Custom-house, the Mansion-house, 

 the Bishop's Palace, and nearly fifty dwelling-houses in Queen's 

 Square and the neighbourhood. These riots commenced in 

 indignation with the Recorder, Sir C. Wetherell, for his 

 vehement opposition to Reform; but when it proved that the 

 magistrates could not maintain order, the way was open for a 

 reckless mob. Dr. Carpenter, who had friends in the Square, 

 more than once exposed his life there. His family remained 

 in their home ; most of them had gone to rest, and had little 

 idea of the conflagration on that terrible Sunday night, which 



