Politics have been avoided as much as possible; and, although the book is necessarily somewhat discursive, I would fain hope it will be found interesting; and, in the words of the writer of Maccabees (Book II. xv. 38), I say, "Which if I have done well, and as it becometh the history, it is what I desired, but, if not so perfectly, it must be pardoned me."

JOHN ASHTON.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.PAGE
1830.
Illness of George IV. — His death — Sale of his clothes, etc. — The new King — His character [1]
CHAPTER II.
1830.
Proclamation of William IV. — The Beer Act — The Queen and gas — Burial of George IV. — The King and the Duke of Cumberland — The King as a soldier — He meddles with the uniforms of the army [8]
CHAPTER III.
1830.
The King as "bon bourgeois" — Mobbed — Street song about him — A sailor in Guildhall — Behaviour of the public at Windsor — Charles X. in England — The "New Police" — A modest advertisement [17]
CHAPTER IV.
1830.
Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway — Death of Mr. Huskisson — Agricultural lawlessness — Captain Swing — Executions for riot — Riots throughout the country — Special Commissions — Prayer to be used in churches and chapels [28]
CHAPTER V.
1830.
Duke of Wellington mobbed and stoned — Owing to riots, the King postponed his visit to the city — No Lord Mayor's show, nor dinner — Riots in the city — Apsley House besieged — Ireland proclaimed — Ferment in the country — Change of Ministry — Royal succession — Scotch regalia — Curious story of a bank-note [37]
CHAPTER VI.
1831.
Incendiary fires — Captain Swing — The result of Cobbett's lectures — Special Commission — Prosecution of Carlile — Election expenses — List of Close boroughs — Collapse of Reform Bill — The King stoned — Debût of Princess Victoria — The Times and the House of Lords — Bribery at elections — Action for libel — "The King v. Cobbett" — Prince Leopold made King of the Belgians [49]
CHAPTER VII.
1831.
Opening of New London Bridge — After the luncheon — State of the waiters — Provision for the Princess Victoria — Sale of Sir Walter Scott's MSS. — The coronation — Its expenses — A "half crownation" — The Lord Mayor and his gold cup [62]
CHAPTER VIII.
1831.
Scramble for coronation medals — Bad weather — Fireworks in Hyde Park — Absence from the ceremony of the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria — The Times thereon — Story of a Great Seal — Reform Bill rejected by the Lords — Reform riots in the country and London — Windows of Apsley House broken by the mob [74]
CHAPTER IX.
1831.
Reform procession — The Corporation of London and the King — Dreadful riots at Bristol — Riots in other parts of the kingdom — Edward Irving and the "Gift of Tongues" — The cholera — Its spread — State of Ireland — Tithe agitation — Scarcity of food — Repeal of the Union — Cases of violence [85]
CHAPTER X.
1832.
Commissions at Bristol and Nottingham — Executions — Employment of children in factories — Cholera in London — Day of fast and humiliation — Riot in Finsbury — Cholera riot at Paisley — A small one in London — Decrease of cholera — Number of deaths — Cholera in Ireland — A charm against it — Its effect on rooks — The police, City and Metropolitan [101]
CHAPTER XI.
1832.
Reform Bill passes the Commons — Scotch boys and the Reform Bill — Proposed increase of the peerage — Passed in the Lords — "The Marylebone or Tory Hunt" — The Duke of Wellington mobbed — The King stoned — The Queen hissed — Archbishop of Canterbury stoned [114]
CHAPTER XII.
1832.
The first reformed Parliament — Steam communication with India — State of Ireland — Lawless behaviour — Malversation of justice — O'Connell and the Trades' Political Union — Crime in Ireland [124]
CHAPTER XIII.
1833.
Employment of children in factories — Evidence — Passing of Factory Act — Gambling — Crockford's club — Gambling "hells" — Police case [132]
CHAPTER XIV.
1833.
The overland route to India — The Government and Lieutenant Waghorn — Police magistrate and the press — Cobbett and the British Museum — Prevalence of influenza — "National Convention" riot — Policeman killed — The coroner and the jury — Adulteration of tea [143]
CHAPTER XV.
1833.
The Queen's visit to the City — Her unpopularity — King's dislike of the Duchess of Kent — Hungerford Market opened — Death and funeral of Wilberforce — Abolition of slavery — Synopsis of Act — A Women's rowing match — List of periodicals and their circulation — Return of Captain Ross — State of Ireland — Passing of "Coercion Bill," etc. [154]
CHAPTER XVI.
1834.
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 [165]
CHAPTER XVII.
1834.
Crockford's and game — The chef in trouble — Burning of the Houses of Parliament — The tapestry in the House of Lords — Story of one piece — Temporary House of Lords — Tithe riots in Ireland — Change of Ministry [178]
CHAPTER XVIII.
1835.
First cargo of ice to India — Election riots at Halifax and in Scotland — A female sailor — The new temporary Houses of Parliament — The King and others hissed — Question of admitting ladies — A political skit — Deaths of Hunt and Cobbett [189]
CHAPTER XIX.
1835.
Gambling house police case — Curious superstition — A cook's letter to her mistress — Jews and public employment — Fire at Hatfield House — Curious discovery of jewels — Scarcity in Ireland [201]
CHAPTER XX.
1836.
Curious case of a girl stolen by gipsies — Superstition re light at Christmas in the North of England — Designs for New Houses of Parliament — King William III. statue blown up — Admission of ladies to the House of Commons — Stuart impostors — An inter-university boat race — How Cambridge came to have light blue as a colour [214]
CHAPTER XXI.
1836.
Report on the British Museum — The King and the Duchess of Kent; a scene — Inauguration of George III.'s Statue at Charing Cross — Poetry at the police court — The trip of the Nassau balloon [226]
CHAPTER XXII.
1837.
Epidemic of influenza — A scene in some Metropolitan graveyards — Lord de Ros and his cheating at cards — Invention of sewing machine — Coming of age of Princess Victoria — Illuminations, etc. — The Spitalfield's silk weavers' ball — Illness of the King — His death and burial [235]
CHAPTER XXIII.
Men's dress — Education — School advertisements — The original of Squeers — Girls' schools — Tea as a meal — Food — A foreigner's sketch of an English dinner-party — A high-class dinner — An ideal dinner [248]
CHAPTER XXIV.
Clubs — Theatres — Other amusements — A foreigner's idea of London — London streets and noises — "Buy a broom?" girls [262]
CHAPTER XXV.
Holborn Viaduct — Omnibuses — Cabs — Hansom's patent — Posting — Mail coaches — Stage coaches — Hotels [277]
CHAPTER XXVI.
Steam carriages on roads — Commission thereon — Steam omnibus — Railways — A nuisance — Railways started during the reign — Opening of the Greenwich Railway [286]
CHAPTER XXVII.
Cases of wife selling — Duelling — Cases of — O'Connell and D'Israeli — Other duels [295]
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Smuggling — Its prevalence — Cases — Great smuggling of silks, etc. — More cases [311]
CHAPTER XXIX.
Legitimate trade — The "truck" system — Its downfall — State of trade — Newspaper stamps — Steel pens — Literature — List of authors — Painters — Sculptors [321]
CHAPTER XXX.
Musicians — Paganini — His avarice — Ole Bull — Curious musical instruments — Jim Crow — The opera and its singers — The ballet — Actors, etc. — Madame Vestris's leg [334]
CHAPTER XXXI.
Architects and civil engineers — Men of science — Scientific societies — Medical men — Lawyers — "Tracts for the Times" — Curates' pay — Flogging in the army and navy — Crime — Transportation versus hulks — Stories of convicts [344]

WHEN WILLIAM IV. WAS KING.

CHAPTER I.
1830.

Illness of George IV. — His death — Sale of his clothes, etc. — The new King — His character.