week by week, with exhibiting the personal infirmities and peculiarities of the Whig ministers, the baldness, the lameness, the nervous twitchings, the shortsightedness, and so on. Lord Kenyon seems to have considered these things as belonging to private character, "not to be considered sacred against all attack." But the subject of the moralities of the Orange leaders is too large a one to be entered upon here. The gleanings which might be made from the evidence of the report would afford material for a curious inquiry into the theory of Christianity held by men whose boast by the mouth of Lord Kenyon 91 and "Ours is the cause of all friends of Christianity; whose most Christian hope was of "the arrival of a day of reckoning," when certain "hell-hounds" would "be called on to pay the full penalty of their cold-blooded tergiversations." So late

was,

as July 27, 1834, we find the Duke of Gordon confiding to Colonel Fairman his gladness "that the unprincipled ministers remain to do more mischief; as yet we are not ready for a change." It is clear that there could be no attempt on the part of the Orange leaders to repudiate Colonel Fairman as their confidential agent; and when all this correspondence, and much more, was laid before the parliamentary committee, it became a matter of serious consideration how to proceed.

There was much more behind. It was important to know what was "the prominent shape" that the agent gave to the name of the Duke of Cumberland, in his assemblages of Orangemen, throughout his tour. It was charged upon Fairman, by an Orangeman of the name of Haywood, that he had sounded his hearers at Sheffield and elsewhere on their willingness to support the Duke of Cumberland as their Sovereign, if, as was Plot. probable, William IV. should be deposed for his assent to the Reform Bill. Colonel Fairman denied this; but his word did not go for much with those who had read his correspondence, nor with any who knew that it had been proved in a court of justice that he had given a false address to get rid of a troublesome creditor.5

Lodges.

Again, it was discovered, that, of the 381 lodges existing in Great Britain, 30 were in the army; and that lodges existed among the troops at Bermuda, Gibraltar, Malta, Corfu, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and our North-American colonies. The Duke of Cumberland and Lord Kenyon positively asserted that they were ignorant of the fact of the existence of an Orange organization at all in the army. But in the correspondence we find Lord Kenyon writing to the colonel: "His Royal Highness promises

The army.

1 p. 211: Letter 17. 2 207: Letter 7. p. 3 p. 221: Letter 50. • London Review, iv. p. 482 (note). 5 London Review, v. p. 187 (note).

To

being in England a fortnight before Parliament assembles. him, privately, you had better address yourself about your military proposition, which to me appears very judicious." Again, "The statement you made to me before, and respecting which I have now before me particulars from Portsmouth, should be referred to His Royal Highness, as military matters of great delicacy.2 At the same time, private intimation, I submit, should be made to the military correspondents, letting them know how highly we esteem them as brethren." Again, "If you hear any thing further from the military districts, let His Royal Highness know all particulars fit to be communicated."3 So much for Lord Kenyon's ignorance of Orangeism in the army! But there was, as regarded the Duke, more direct evidence in the records of the lodge-meetings at which he presided; and himself granted new warrants to soldiers present, some of which are actually entitled "military warrants.” The military lodges were entered in the books, noticed by the circular-reports of the meetings where the Duke of Cumberland presided; and the laws and ordinances, containing provisions for attracting soldiers and sailors by a remission of the fees, are declared to have been inspected and approved by the Duke, and handed over to Lord Kenyon for final supervision. Thus it is not wonderful that the committee reported, "That they find it most difficult to reconcile statements in evidence before them, with ignorance of these proceedings on the part of Lord Kenyon, and by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland."

The Church.

Such was the dealing of these loyal leaders with the army. As for the Church, they had the Bishop of Salisbury for Lord Prelate and Grand Chaplain of the order; and there were twelve or thirteen Deputy-grand-chaplains, and clergymen as masters of lodges and managers of their affairs. Not a single minister of religion out of the Establishment belonged to the order in England. The religious observances, conducted by the clergymen, bare but too close a resemblance to the mummeries of the poor Dorsetshire laborers; as did the proceedings altogether, in their illegality. In one of the circulars, the clergy are invited to come in, and take appointments, with the notification that no salary was attached to office, but that it might lead to patronage.5 In one of these cir- Actions of culars, the position of the Church, in the eyes of Orangemen. Orangemen of the period, is described in language too indecent for quotation. As for the rest, the grand lodge declared itself possessed of "the facility of knowing the principles of every man in the country." The institution excluded Roman Catholics and

2

Dissenters, and included the most violent and unscrupulous of the Peers; it numbered 140,000 actual members in Great Britain, and 175,000 in Ireland; it expelled members who voted for liberal candidates; it proposed the employment of physical force, within a proximate time, to overthrow the liberal institutions which had just been gained; it was beginning to interfere with the common duties and rights of men, as when a lodge of pitmen in Scotland expelled a body of Catholics "who had before lived and worked with them in peace and harmony; "1 and, at the latest date, it was found holding out threats to the half-pay of the army and navy, to draw them to itself in preference to other political unions. "It is the bounden duty of such [pensioners and disbanded soldiers], in a crisis of danger like the present [February, 1835], to enlist under the banners of a loyal association, instead of repairing to factious unions, no less hostile to sound policy than to true religion, at the imminent risk of incurring a just forfeiture of their hard-earned remunerations, of which a scrupulous government would not hesitate to deprive them. Of this intelligible hint the half-pay of the army and navy might do well to profit, in a prospective sense." Such was the institution, the great conspiracy against the national will and national interests, the conspiracy against the rights of all, from the King on the throne to the humblest voter, or soldier, or sailor, or Dissenter, or Catholic, - which was discovered by the energy and diligence of Mr. Hume in 1835. Such, as has been related, was the information of which minds were full, on the opposition side of the House, when that scene of pertinacity was transacted which perplexed all who did not yet understand the case. The simpleminded King had been receiving, with studied graciousness, addresses from these illegal societies, in which the question of his deposition had certainly been agitated. The question was now, What should be done?

Detection.

The seriousness of the question, and of the whole case, was relieved by the certainty, speedily obtained, that the institution, with its political objects, its signs and pass-words, and its oaths, was illegal. There was some reluctance, here and there, to admit the illegality; but the opinion of the most eminent lawyers soon settled the matter. It might be fortunate, too, that the seriousness of the case was relieved by the touches of the comic which we have encountered, -the Duke of Wellington, of all people, crowning himself with the diadem; and the Doncaster loyalists, the "blue belles of Yorkshire" smiling, and their fathers and brothers weeping, over that hero of romance, the Duke of Cumberland; and the style, both of letters and circulars, which must

come in among the comic incidents of the case. The extreme silliness of the conspirators -a fair set-off, as it appears to us, against the ignorance of the Dorsetshire laborers was another fortunate alleviation of the seriousness of the case; though it is no light matter to see so great a number of men some powerful through rank and wealth-playing the fool, and compelled virtually to petition to be thought fools, as the only alternative from the reputation of traitors. With all its nonsense, and looked at from any pinnacle of superiority, this was a very serious matter. How was it to be dealt with?

The first thing done was obtaining a committee of inquiry in the Commons, within three weeks after the scene of Committee of pertinacious questioning with which the revelations inquiry. began.1 Before the committee had reported, portions of the evidence were published in the newspapers; and several people, besides Mr. Hume, thought that no time was to be lost in exposing and annihilating the illegal practice of maintaining political societies in the army. Amidst many complaints of his proceeding, before the committee had reported, Mr. Hume moved eleven resolutions, on the 4th of August, declaratory of the Mr. Hume's facts of Orangeism, of its illegality in the army, accord- resolutions ing to the general orders issued by the Commander-in-chief, in 1822 and 1829; and ending with a proposal of an address to the King, calling his attention to the whole subject, and especially to the Duke of Cumberland's share in the illegal transactions complained of. Mr. Hume's opponents alleged that the military warrants must have been misapplied without the knowledge of the chief officers of the association, whose signatures were given to blank warrants, in order to their being sent out in parcels of a hundred or two, in the confidence that they would be properly employed; and, also, they declared that Orangeism in the army was a purely defensive measure, against Ribbon societies, and other secret associations, whose suppression they required, if Orange lodges were put down. To this there could be no objection in any quarter. The last of Mr. Hume's resolutions was objected to as conveying, inevitably, more or less censure on the Duke of Cumberland, a proceeding which could not be justified before the delivery of the committee's report and evidence. Lord John Russell, who had to act and speak for the government in the Lower House, went through this affair with eminent prudence, courage, and moderation. The Whig Administrations had been blamed by some parties in the House for supineness in permitting the pranks of the Orangemen for so long; and it was alleged that they had thought the organization too formidable to be meddled with, during a season of political transition. It might 1 Hansard, xxvii. p. 135. 2 Hansard, xxx. p. 58-79.

be so. Certainly, the prudence, quietness, and guarded moderation of Lord John Russell throughout the whole transaction conveyed an impression, that the affair was, in his view, one of extreme gravity, though he did not say so, but rather made as light of it as circumstances would permit.1 He now moved that the debate should be adjourned to the 11th of August, that is, for a week; giving a broad hint to the Duke of Cumberland to use the time in withdrawing himself from all connection with the Orange Association.

3

The Duke did not take the hint. He merely wrote and pubThe Duke of lished a letter to the chairman of the committee, in Cumberland. which he denied having ever issued warrants to soldiers, or known of such being issued, – declared that he had declined sending out military warrants, on the ground of their violation of the general orders of 1822 and 1829, and intimated that all warrants inconsistent with those orders should be annulled.2 How the Duke's denial was regarded by the committee, we have already seen, in a sentence of their report. Lord J. Russell had shown his prudence in the debate of the 4th; now, on the 11th, he showed his courage. He declared his impression that the Duke had not done what the House had a right to expect from him. If the Duke had merely signed blank warrants, and his Orange brethren had betrayed his confidence in filling them up in a manner which he was known to disapprove, the least he could have done would be to withdraw himself at once, and in a conspicuous manner, from persons who had so deceived him; but the Duke appeared to have no intention of so withAddress to drawing. Mr. Hume's last resolution was therefore the King. agreed to, with the omission of the assertion at the end that the warrants were designed for the establishment of Orange lodges in the army. On the 15th, the King's reply was read to the House. It promised the utmost vigilance and vigor in suppressing political societies in the army. On the 19th, the House was informed that Colonel Fairman had refused to produce to the committee a letter-book which he acknowledged to be in his possession, and which was essential to the purposes of the committee. He was called before the House, where he repeated his refusal; was advised by some of the Orange members to yield up the book; persisted in his refusal; and was admonished by the Speaker that he must obey the orders of the House. On the 20th, as it appeared that he was still contumacious, it was ordered that he should be committed to Newgate, for a breach of privilege; but

Reply.

Colonel Fairman's contumacy.

5

2 Annual Register, 1835, p. 332.

4 Hansard, xxx. p. 559.

4