The sun., 1903-12-06

stormed the Throne of Orpheus and ejected
the musicians who occupied 1t and chased
out of the garden the whole stan OF the
establishment, together with all the con-
stables. calling out that they themselves
were the Provincials beating the Regulars;
that, for some years to come, was the only
riot in which civilians were concerned
II is further to be noted that during
the great war with France in the later years
Of the eighteenth and opening years OF the
nineteenth century, the bolder advocates
of Parliamentary, reform we're sometimes
mobbed and sometimes punished In the
law courts with severity. Twenty years
previously on the other hand, while the
British armies were fighting Washingt on
| in America, the agitation for Parliamentary
reform was carried on necessarily and
| effectively. Neither the Government at
| Whitehall nor it's adherents throughout
| the country endeavored to repress the
movement, either by penal legislation or
by lawless violence There were open
meetings Of freeholders in the shires, and
of freemen in the cities. county associations
for the redress of grievances. committees
of fcorreepondence,w which maintained uniform
and concerted action among reformers all
through the kingdom. and public dinners,
with toasts so bravely worded az TO ring
like the challenge Of trumpet and so
numerous when drunk in bumpers as effect
ually to drown every vestige Of caution and
timidity That such methods without en-
failing any disagreeable consequences on
those who employed them should have been
put in practice against a Ministry which
was engaged in the conduct Of an important
war is an indirect, but most material,
proof that the war itself was disliked by
the nation
The direct evidence is stronger yet. In
December. 1881, the I.verymen Of London,
in public assembly, voted an address to the
King. in which he was besought to remove
both his public and private counsellors.
and in which the following words were
used: Your armies are captured; the
wonted superiority of your navies is an
initiated; your dominions are lost This
address, as 1t happened was not presented,
but a week later in Westminster Hall SINH
lar petition was proposed by Charles Fox
and adopted by a vast concourse of West
minister electors. The Footguards were
held in readiness for the protection Of
Downing Street against possible incursion
OF the Opposition mob. and not at all from
an apprehension lest the war party should
invade the Hall and attempt to break the
heads OF the peace party. Experience
had often shown that there was no ground
for anticipating any such contingency.
Anti-war meetings always passed of quietly
between 1873 and 1852. although there is no
reason to SUPPOSE that our ancestors wore
more tolerant or better hammered than
their descendants" The Wilkes riots. tho
Gordon riots and the Keppc| riots showed
plainly enough what Londoners OF the
period were capable Of doing for the pro-
motion Of disorder whenever they had
a mind thereto. The author Of this history
holds that only on one theory can we ac-
count for the tranquility and security
amid which those Englishmen who opposed
the Government on the question Of coercing
the Colonies we're able to carry forward
their political operations. Tho rational
explanation s that the disfavor beneath
which, from other causes. the Ministry
had long and deservedly iabored, instead
or being diminished, was confirmed and
aggravated by the war,
We should note, further, that the Revo-
lutionary War was marked by feature
unique in English history. Not few
officers of every grade, who were, for the
most part, distinguished by valor and
ability, hatly refused to serve against the
colonsts. Some left the service outright
and reentered private life, with no diminu-
ton to such popularity or social predomi-
nance as they had hitherto enjoyed. Some
remained on half pay until Great Britain
was attacked by European enemies, when
they promptly placed their swords at the
disposal of the Government. This was the
case with Lord Chatham's eldest son. who
in February, 1778, was recalled from Canada.
where he had been serving on Cartoons
staff, but who, two years atterward, when
the war with France broke out, went back
to the service, as aide-de-camp to the Lieu
tenant Governor of Gibraltar. The sailor
and the soldier who in 1910 stood first in the
public esteem were Admiral keppel and
Lieut.. Gen Sir Jeffrey Amherst keppel
made II known that he was as ready as ever
to serve against European enemy, but that
although professional employment was the
dearest object OF his life he would not
accept it in the line of America" Not
wthstanding the expostulations and en-
treaties to which his sovereign conde-
scended in a personal interview. Amherst
absolutely declined to sail for New England
in order to lead troops in the field. Con-
wav, who was to terminate his military
career as a Field Marshal, declared in the
House of Commons that he never could
draw his sword against the Colonies. Lord
Efingham, who in the campaign against
the Turks had gained name for con-
spicuous valor, threw up his commission
when his regiment was told on for
America. and explained in the House Of
Lords that when the duties OF soldier
and citizen become inconsistent, shall
always think myself obliged to sink the
character of the soldier in that Of the citi
zen" Lord Frederick Cavendish. though
already Lieutenant General of repute
when the American disturbances broke
out, had still, at the age of five and forty"
the best Of his career before him; but he
allowed il to be known that he would not
apply for command against the colonsts
Especially remarkable is the fact that the
fidelity to principle exhibited by these
officers appeared reasonable, and even
laudable, to their countrymen of the middle
and lower classes, and, in intercourse with
their equals, brought down upon them and