I know, as I did know, and as I do know, the state of the elective franchise in Ireland--when I recollected the number of men it took to watch one election which took place in Ireland in the course of last summer--when I knew the consequences which a dissolution would produce on the return to the House of Commons, to say nothing of the risks which must have been incurred at each election--of collisions that might have lead to something little short of a civil war--I say, that, knowing all these things, I should have been wanting in duty to my sovereign and to my country, if I had advised his Majesty to dissolve his Parliament." THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S SUPPOSED DESIGNS ON THE CROWN (1830). =Source.=--_The Life of the Duke of Wellington_, by J. R. Gleig. _Letter from Col. Fairman to the Editor of the "Morning Herald," April 6, 1830._ "Dear Sir, "From those who may be supposed to have opportunities of knowing 'the secrets of the castle,' the King is stated to be by no manner in so alarming a state as many folks would have it imagined. His Majesty is likewise said to dictate the bulletins of his own state of health. Some whisperings have also gone abroad, that in the event of a demise of the crown, a regency would probably be established, for reasons which occasioned the removal of the next in the succession from the office of high-admiral. That a maritime government might not prove consonant to the views of a military chieftain of the most unbounded ambition, may admit of easy belief; and as the second heir-presumptive is not alone a female, but a minor, in addition to the argument which might be applied to the present, that in the ordinary course of nature it was not to be expected that his reign could be of long duration, in these disjointed times it is by no means unlikely a vicarious form of government may be attempted. The effort would be a bold one, but after the measures we have seen, what new violations should surprise us? Besides, the popular plea of economy and expedience might be urged as the pretext, while aggrandisement and usurpation might be the latent sole motive. It would only be necessary to make out a plausible case, which, from the facts on record, there could be no difficulty in doing, to the satisfaction of a pliable and obsequious set of ministers, as also to the success of such an experiment. "Most truly yours, "W. B. F." NOTE.--_Colonel Fairman was an Orangeman. After the Emancipation Bill became law, the Orangemen gave vent to their wrath upon the Duke of Wellington._ HEAVY TAXATION OF THE WORKING CLASSES (1830). =Source.=--William Cobbett's _Rural Rides_, ed. by Mr. Pitt Cobbett, 1885. "Leicester, 26th April, 1830.