kingdoms have been overthrown. Their intentions to see the State preserved are not brought into question, but their ability. They may be deluded-deceived— and hereafter, if they be allowed a respite for thought by their new and cruel Sovereigns, lift up their heads in surprise, and bitterly regret that they had put so much to the hazard of a New Hope; the fallacious character of which is only to be discovered in the irremediable and tragic consequences of its failure. We know from experience that there are passions in men, that party inflames till they become dominant over judgment. It is not necessary that men should be scoundrels, villains, and traitors, to do as much harm as the worst villains and traitors can do. Self-deception leads often to greater ruin than evil intention. A long habit engenders a prejudice, and perverts reason. Or how shall we account for the contradictions in the same characters ? If Earl Grey's speech to-morrow shall contradict Earl Grey's speech of to-day;-if the Ministry have written most ably, and spoken in cooler days in direct contradiction to, nay in abhorrence of the very measures they are now adopting, to which period of their judgment are the public to look? Can the manifest open change afford any reasonable confidence for the future. If their judgment be now good, it was then bad; yet it is from that which, approving the present, we must pronounce bad, that we give them any credit for judgment at all. The public must not be deceived by high names, characters, or even the high stake the Ministers may have; for exactly such persons have destroyed empires, and have fallen with them. The same contradiction of opinions runs through the party.

They "followed the leader;" they called themselves Whigs, though not a rag of Whiggism remained about them; they herewith bowed down to the despotism of Earl Grey, and did not see that he was at the feet of the despotism of the mob.

This honesty they all durst swear for,

Though not a man of whom knew wherefore.

So it was at Bristol ;-when the Ministry of Earl Grey sought a coalition with the Radicals, the Whigs in Bristol did the same-they joined forces with the extremes, and their humbled commanders were hurried by a new military rabble into the Prætorium of Political Union, to be superseded, and receive anew, with a show of thankfulness, their commissions of inferior rank.

The general distress that affected the kingdom and threw numbers out of employ, or afforded but slender means of subsistence to the working classes, the causes of which it would be foreign to this narrative to enquire into, was perhaps as lightly felt at Bristol as at most places. The Colonial Policy, and the agitation of new and wild theories about Slave Emancipation, had indeed been injurious to the interests of the great West India merchants, the consequences of which have been since fully known; but it does not appear that the poorer and labouring class were sufferers to any extent. The extensive coasting trade and encreased communication and trade with Ireland remained a beneficial source of employment; and it may be safely asserted, that until the effects of the Reform Bill produced stagnation in all trades, and consequent distress, Bristol was more fortunately situated, with regard to provision for its poor and labouring classes, than perhaps any other city in the kingdom.

PART II.

Previously to entering more at large into the effects of the Reform agitation, it will be necessary to state the excitement produced by the French Revolution. It has been shewn that the public feeling at Bristol, up to that period, was tranquil-was one of remarkable confidence in the Tory Member. It may be as well to pass over the general feverish condition which that event produced in the Radicals throughout the kingdom, and how readily it gave them the command of the desperate rabble. The course of this Narrative will be best pursued by confining the inquiry to the particulars of the reception of that event in Bristol.

A meeting was held at the Guildhall, on the 9th of September, 1830, to congratulate the French on their Revolution; when the following resolutions were passed:

"That the French People, by their forbearance in confining their efforts within the limits of constitutional resistance to the machinations of their late Government, so long as that Government adhered to the letter of the Charter, and by the caution, the moderation, the respect for civil order, and the sagacity with which they avail themselves of existing institutions, on the late resumption of their natural rights, have exhibited a signal and invaluable example of national wisdom and virtue, which it may be expected, under the Divine Blessing, will be crowned with an abundant harvest of prosperity to that kingdom.

"That when the late infatuated French Government, by its infraction of the social compact, proclaimed itself the enemy of the rights of the nation,-the Inhabitants of Paris, by the promptitude, the energy, and the heroic self-devotion with which they defeated its treasonable attacks, entitled themselves to the approbation and gratitude of the world at large.

"That the scrupulous respect for the security of persons and of property, during the Civil War which raged for three days in the streets of a populous city, and especially the humane forbearance from vindictive or needless effusion of blood, and the generous care for the security and support of the vanquished, which so honourably distinguished that memorable conflict, are unparalleled in the annals of the world, and give the fairest ground of hope that the progress of modern civilization, and the influence of popular forms of government, have already opened a new era in the History of Man.

"That this Meeting is of opinion, that the grand exhibition of patriotic resistance to French Despotism, which has enobled that Nation, first manifested itself in the Province of Brittany, to the brave Inhabitants of which enlightened district the best thanks of every free man, and every friend of constitutional liberty is especially due.

"That this Meeting cannot omit the opportunity of recording their profound admiration of the magnanimous patriotism which has recently crowned the eventful and virtuous life of the venerable General DE LA FAYETTE; and that the Chairman be requested to forward a Copy of these Resolutions to that distinguished ornament