But the King was not then popular, and as to the Queen, she was very much disliked. It was currently said that she exercised too much influence over the weak monarch, and that her influence was not for people's good. Very many skits are in existence on the subject, as well as satirical prints representing her wearing the regal breeches, etc. The following extract from the Times of June 27th, relative to a review held in Hyde Park on the previous day, will show the popular feeling at the time:—

"When the King and Queen entered the Park, the people, who had lined both sides of the road, received them in profound silence. As they proceeded on their route, a few bystanders, here and there, took off their hats and cheered, but they never amounted to more than a dozen at any one time. The applause of these persons was sometimes opposed by a hiss from others, but the great mass of the people remained entirely passive.... Shortly before two o'clock, their Majesties quitted the ground. The people had, by this time, assembled in great numbers along the road. His Majesty was received with mingled applause and disapprobation; but the Queen, who was exposed to the public gaze, her carriage having been thrown open since her arrival, was assailed with loud yells. In this way, the Royal party proceeded through Hyde Park, and down Constitution Hill, where the disapprobation of the mob was more unequivocally expressed, and continued, without a single attempt, as far as we could perceive, to turn the current of feeling, until their Majesties entered the gardens of St. James's Palace, amidst a shout of the most discordant sounds."

Rien n'est sacré pour un sapeur. Not even the Archbishop of Canterbury in his own cathedral town! On August 7th, his Grace drove into Canterbury to hold a primary visitation of the diocese, and, as usual, the Corporation received him at the Guildhall; but, no sooner had his carriage appeared in sight, than the most deafening noises rent the air; and, when he arrived at the Guildhall, the groans and hisses were tremendous. After dessert, his carriage was ready and his Grace stepped in, evidently much alarmed. The hisses and groans were now renewed, and missiles of every description hurled at the carriage—hats, caps, pieces of brickbat, cabbage-stalks, indeed, everything the ruffians could collect. To make matters worse, the postillion missed his way, and had to return, thus running the gauntlet a second time. When his Grace entered the precincts of the cathedral, the large gates were instantly closed; but several hundred persons had previously gained admission, and ranged themselves within the walls of the deanery, where hisses and groans prevailed. His Grace received no injury, although one of the carriage windows was broken.

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.

On August 16th the King in person prorogued Parliament, and on December 3rd it was dissolved, by proclamation, and the country was plunged into all the turmoil of a General Election. This was to be the first reformed Parliament, and all sorts of evils arising from its democratic tendencies were prophesied. But it turned out better than was expected. It was reserved to our later days for the title of Member of Parliament to be turned almost into a byword and reproach; and some of the persons who sat in the parliament of 1892-5 would not have been tolerated, nor could their speeches and remarks have been delivered. True, there was not a prize-fighter in that parliament, as there was in the first reformed one, but John Gully, the member for Pontefract, was respectable after his kind. From a butcher boy he became a pugilist, and William IV., as Duke of Clarence, witnessed his first fight, in 1805, with the "Game Chicken." Then he turned a publican, and retired from the ring in 1808. He then became a betting man and owner of racehorses, was a temporary royal page at the coronation of George IV., made a lot of money in his profession, bought Ackworth Park, near Pontefract, which little pocket borough he sat for from December 10, 1832 to July 17, 1837.

Worthy of note is it that an iron steam vessel, built for the East India Company, and intended to be employed as a towing vessel on the Ganges, was taken on a trial trip, on October 13th, down the Thames, having the chairman and several members of the court of directors of the Hon. East India Company on board. This, certainly, was in advance of the times, and one can scarcely believe that the same body of men could sanction the following letter, within a month afterwards:—

"East India House, November 8th.

Sir,

I have laid before the Court of Directors of the East India Company your letter of the 25th October, on the subject of communication by means of steam vessels between England and India, by the Mediterranean and the Red Sea; and, in reply, I am commanded to inform you that the Court, after a long and careful consideration of the subject, have been convinced that no advantage commensurate with the expense, as far as past experiments have shown, can arise from the establishment of steam packets on that line."