MELBOURNE was Home Secretary from November 1830 to July 1834. For
most of that period, he employed his brother George as Under-Secretary.
Few holders of this office can have faced more turbulent situations. In addi-
tion to the grave disturbances that punctuated the years in which the first
Reform Bill was debated and passed, protest was taking institutional form.
Political Unions and Trade Unions presented the Home Office with new
challenges, which could not be ignored. Inevitably too, the Irish, like the poor
or bad weather, still demanded attention. Emancipation in 1829 had not
drawn the sting of Catholic protest. It had merely diverted it into other chan-
nels. For all these reasons, Melbourne was suddenly in the full glare of pub-
lic scrutiny. As the minister responsible for law and order, he had much to
do. His reputation as a political flaneur would either be confirmed, or aban-
doned in favour of something a little more complimentary.

He brought to the office certain guiding principles that had served him well
in Ireland. First, when in doubt, it was essential to cling to legality. Govern-
ment must always do so, and what was not illegal had to be tolerated.
Secondly, government could only make a limited response in the face of riot
and disturbance, both because its resources were finite, and because heavy-
handed tactics only made the trouble worse. For this reason, he always
showed an absolute preference for action by local agents rather than by cen-
tral government. The Justice of the Peace and the Lord Lieutenant knew their
localities, and could gauge the mood of the people who lived in them. Their
standing in their own neighbourhoods should guarantee them all the defer-
ence and respect that was needed to deal with trouble. This Whiggish dis-
taste for any enhancement of central government is the basis for Melbourne's
reputation for inactivity. This was not indolence. He simply believed that gov-
ernment should not act. As he ironically observed to his brother, government
measures usually ended in 'a killing of the People, which is always awkward
in this country where there is so much law'. ¹ It was better to put up with
a little rick-burning than to overreact. Justices should do their best, by

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