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Upon which, his lordship communicated the same to the privy council; and the vaults of the parliament being searched, several barrels of gunpowder were found, also one Guido Faux, a Spaniard, with a lanthorn, was found secreted therein. Hence originated the term of "Gunpowder Plot," yearly celebrated on the Fifth of November.

MEAL-TUB PLOT.

This was also a plot of the Romanists, in the reign of Charles II., to discredit the witnesses of the Popish Plot, wherein the famous Titus Oates figured as an informer. The heads whereof being found in a paper concealed in a tub of meal, it obtained the name of the Meal-Tub Plot.

HOLY ALLIANCE.

The Holy Alliance was a league formed between certain of the principal sovereigns of Europe, after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, on the proposal it is said of the Emperor Alexander, for the purpose of checking the revolutionary mania, as it was stated, and preserving the legitimate rights of the potentates who formed it.

This alliance has ever been looked upon with a well-founded suspicion by the English nation; indeed by all who feel interested in the march of mind, and rational freedom.

THE CABAL COUNCIL.

The celebrated cabinet council of Charles II., which we read of in history, and who were supposed to be in the pay of Louis XIV., derived their appellation from the initial letters of their five names, which composed the word Cabal; viz.—

Clifford,
Arlington,
Buckingham,
Ashley,
Lauderdale.

As this has not been sufficiently explained, or rather, as the derivation has not been given in the majority of the Histories of England, it is considered that it will not be found out of place here.

WOOLSACKS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

In the reign of queen Elizabeth, an act of parliament was passed, to prevent the exportation of English wool; and the more effectually to secure this source of national wealth, the woolsacks on which our judges sit, in the House of Lords, were placed there to remind them that, in their judicial capacity, they ought to have

a constant eye to the preservation of this staple commodity of the kingdom.

SLAVE TRADE.

The first attempt, from England, to establish the odious traffic in blacks, was in the reign of queen Elizabeth, in the year 1562; when John Hawkins, an adventurer, afterwards Sir John Hawkins, fitted out three ships, and made a voyage to the Coast of Guinea for slaves. It was not until the latter end of the eighteenth century, that the atrocities of this trade began to engage the attention of parliament. In 1788, an act was passed to regulate it, and after twenty years' animated discussion, it was at last totally abolished in 1807. In 1834, an Act was passed abolishing slavery in fourteen British colonies, and twenty millions sterling voted as compensation to the owners.

EXCISE DUTY.

It was in the year 1733, that the Excise Duty was first moved in the House of Commons, by resolutions, which were powerfully resisted, but finally carried, and the Excise Bill brought in; the majority being 236, the minority 200. Prior to this period the excise was farmed.

SOUTH SEA BUBBLE.

In 1711, the ninth year of queen Anne's reign, a charter of incorporation was granted to a company trading to the South Seas ; and the South Sea Company's affairs appeared so prosperous, that in 1718, George I., being chosen governor, and a bill enabling him to accept the office having passed both the Houses on the 3rd of February, his majesty in person attended in the House of Lords, and gave the royal assent to the act. The result is but too well known; such a scene of misery appeared among traders, that it was almost unfashionable not to be a bankrupt; and the dire catastrophe was attended with such a number of self-murders, as no age can parallel. Among the various bubbles which were started about this time may be mentioned one "For making iron with pit coal," and another "For carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is." Maitland, in his History of London, informs us that one of the projects which received great encouragement, was for the establishment of a company "to make deal boards out of sawdust." For full particulars about the South Sea and other bubbles of the period, see Mackay's Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions, vol. i.

STANDING ARMY IN ENGLAND.

This unconstitutional force, as some of our would-be patriots have designated it, takes its date from 1486, when Henry VII.

established fifty yeomen of the guard, and which, in time, became a precedent for a more extensive and effective force.*

LAND TAX IN ENGLAND.

The first land tax was in the reign of Ethelred II., with whom the Danes had broken an agreement. The invaders committed horrid cruelties and devastations all over the kingdom, and the timid Ethelred paid them no less than £24,000 for peace. This was levied on land, and was called danegelt, by which ignominious name the tax called Land Tax was first known in England. The modern land tax was first established at the revolution, in 1688, from which period to the year 1800, it yielded above £227,000,000.

PROPERTY TAX.

The first tax on personal property in England was levied by Henry II. (whose reign began, 1154), which amounted to twopence in the pound on the amount of every individual's net effects, after deducting the debts owing, to be verified on oath; and one penny in the pound for the four following years. This tax was afterwards raised to one tenth part of all personal property, as, in 1188, intelligence had been received that Jerusalem had been taken by the sultan of Egypt. On this occasion, the English are said to have paid above £70,000, and the resident Jews about £60,000, together about £2,000,000 sterling of modern money.

In the reign of Henry III., the revenue of customs was £6,000 per annum.

POSTS.

The first institution of posts is generally ascribed to the Persians. The monarchs of that extensive empire, that they might have intelligence of all that passed in the provinces of their vast dominions, placed sentinels on eminences, at convenient distances, where towers were built, which sentinels gave notice of public occurrences to each other with a loud and shrill voice; by which means alone, news was transported from one end of the kingdom to the other with surprising expedition. This method, however, being found to be tedious and uncertain, Cyrus, as Xenophon informs us, provided couriers, and erected houses on all the highroads, for keeping post-horses, and delivering packets from one to another.

PRESSING FOR THE NAVY.

This mode of recruiting our navy commenced in the year 1355; prior to which seamen were enlisted in the same manner as soldiers, but which, in time of war, was found ineffectual.

*See Beef-eater.

OLD AND NEW STYLE.

Pope Gregory XIII. caused the Calendar to be reformed in the year 1582; whereby the English, and some other Protestant countries, which adhere to the Julian Calendar, lost ten days, and occasioned the distinction of Old and New Style. The difference between the Old and New Style up to the year 1699, was only ten days; after 1700, it was eleven days; and after 1800, twelve days: So that the 1st January, 1800, of the Old, corresponded with the 13th of January, 1800, of the New Style. In the year 1751, an Act was passed (24 Geo. II.) for regulating the commencement of the year, which formerly began on 25th March, and which enacted, that 1st day of January next following shall be reckoned as the first day of the year 1753, and so in all future years. The Ecclesiastical year is now considered to commence on the first Sunday in Advent.

CHILTERN HUNDREDS.

Of the hundreds into which many of the English counties were divided by king Alfred, for their better government, the jurisdiction was originally vested in particular courts, but came afterwards to be devolved to the county courts, and so remains at present, except with regard to some, as the Chiltern Hundreds, in Buckinghamshire, which have been by privilege annexed to the crown. These having still their own courts, a steward of those courts is appointed by the chancellor of the exchequer, with a salary of twenty shillings, and all fees, &c., belonging to the office. This is made a matter of convenience to members of parliament; when any of them wish to resign, he accepts the nominal office of the Chiltern Hundreds, and by this vacates his seat.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN COURTS OF LAW, AND LEGISLATIVE
PROCEEDINGS.

The French, or rather the Norman-French language, was introduced into our courts of law by the Conqueror, and was the only language used till the reign of Edward III., in the year 1362, when an act was passed, that the counsel at the bar shall plead in the English tongue, but the pleadings to be entered in Latin.

Another writer says: It is said on the lords' committee on the privileges of peers, that the prelates, dukes, earls, barons, and all the commons, having at length shown the king the mischiefs arising from the laws, customs, and statutes of the realm, not being known to them, because they were impleaded, shown, and judged in the French language, which was little known in the kingdom; and the king with their consent willed, that all proceedings henceforth should be in the English tongue. The French language, notwithstanding, was still used in the rolls of parliament.

ACTS OF PARLIAMENT.

Prior to the Long Parliament, the term Ordinance of Parliament was used; but on the 16th of January, 1649, the Commons altered their style, and called their ordinances Acts of Parliament, which term is used at the present day.

RUMP PARLIAMENT.

The parliament, which in history is styled the Rump Parliament, was thus denominated because it was a remnant, or the latter end of the Long Parliament, which had been forcibly dissolved by Oliver Cromwell. It was assembled in May, 1659, and consisted of little more than seventy members.

TRANSPORTATION.

Transportation of criminals first commenced about 1599, when it was enacted that all rogues dangerous to the inferior people should be banished. At that time, the English plantations in North America were the receptacles of transported convicts. Henry the VIII. executed 72,000 during his reign!

ALEHOUSE LICENCES.

Ale and alehouses in England, are made mention of in the laws of Ina, king of Wessex. Licences were introduced, 1551.

NAVAL SALUTE TO THE ENGLISH FLAG.

This honour to the Flag of England, first commenced in Alfred's reign, and has continued ever since.

AFFIRMATION OF THE QUAKERS

Was first accepted as an oath, in 1702; an alteration made in it, December 13, 1721.

SWEARING ON THE GOSPEL

In our courts of law, &c., was first used in 528.

"He that imposes an oath makes it,

Not he that for convenience takes it;
Then how can any man be said,

To break an oath he never made?"-Hudibras.

AUCTIONS

Were first introduced into Britain about 1700, by Elisha Yule, a governor of Fort George, in the East Indies; who disposed of a cargo of goods he had brought home with him by this means.

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