House of Commons.
Several members of the House who were known to be in favor of the
Ministerial scheme complained that they had been menaced, insulted, and
even assaulted; and the House had for the security of its own debates,
and the personal safety of its own members, to pass resolutions
declaring that this riotous behavior was destructive of the freedom and
constitution of Parliament, and a high crime and misdemeanor. In the
House itself certain tactics, with which Parliament has been very
familiar at a later period, were tried with some effect. Various
motions for adjournment and other such delay to the progress of the
Bill were made and pressed to a division. It was becoming evident to
every one that the measure was doomed, and the hearts of the leaders of
Opposition rose with each hour that passed, while the spirits of the
Ministerialists fell.

Walpole never lost his head, although he well knew that a certain and a
damaging failure was now awaiting him. He still proclaimed that his
measure could be hurtful to none but smugglers and unfair traders, that
it would be of great benefit to the revenue and the nation, that it
would tend "to make London a free port, and by consequence the market
of the world." He spoke with scorn of the riotous crowds whom some had
declared to be merely respectful petitioners. "Gentlemen may give them
what name they think fit; it may be said that they came hither as
humble suppliants, but I know whom the law calls sturdy beggars." The
Common Council of London, spirited on by a Jacobite Lord Mayor,
petitioned against the excise scheme, and its example was followed by
various municipalities in the kingdom. Walpole acted at last according
to the principle which always governed him at such a crisis. He had
the courage to abandon the ground which he had taken up, and which he
would have been well entitled to maintain if argument could prevail
over misrepresentation and passion. With that {320} cool contempt for
the extravagance and the ignorance of the sentiment which thwarted him,
he abandoned his scheme and let the mob have its way. On Wednesday,
April 11, 1733, it was made known that the Government did not intend to
go any farther with the Bill. Exultation all over the island was
unbounded. Church bells rang, windows were illumined, bonfires blazed,
multitudes shouted everywhere. If England had gained some splendid
victory over a combination of foreign enemies, there could no