industries, and also by the rapid change in the industries of the country which followed the introduction of machinery and steam.

This question of duties was the first to be dealt with. Huskisson, who became President of the Board of Trade in 1823, was an enlightened follower of the commercial policy of Pitt, and he at once set to work to help manufactures

Huskisson's

policy.

by reducing the taxes which were levied on the introduction of raw materials, such as silk and wool; at the same time he largely modified the Navigation Acts by which goods were forbidden to be brought to England in any but English ships, or, in the case of European countries, in vessels belonging to the countries from which the goods came. Now that we wanted to do a large trade with North and South America, these restrictions had become insufferable. He also repealed the Act by which the wages of the Spitalfields weavers were fixed by the magistrates, abolished the restrictions on workmen travelling from one part of the country to another in search of work, and all laws directly controlling the combinations of either masters or workmen.

Revival of

trade.

These measures gave a great impetus to trade, and unfortunately the sudden burst of prosperity led to much overtrading, and to the formation of bubble companies such as those of 1720. The natural result was a terrible panic in 1825, when many of these companies failed, and numbers of banks were ruined. A period of bad trade followed, during which riots occurred in the manufacturing districts, and much machinery, which was still thought by the workmen to be at the bottom of any misfortune, was destroyed.

question.

The question of Catholic Emancipation had long been of first-rate importance. It had overthrown Pitt's first administration and also that of Grenville, and under Lord Liverpool it had Catholic been made an open question, i.e. one on which ministers might differ in opinion. Accordingly, Canning and Castlereagh, as followers of Pitt, had always favoured the Catholics, while Liverpool, Sidmouth, and Eldon had been against them. The question had, however, assumed a more serious shape since it had been taken up by the popular Irishman, Daniel O'Connell.

O'Connell, who had in 1823 formed the Catholic

Association to advocate the Catholic claims. This association

assumed vast proportions-levied a subscription from all Catholics, which was known as the "Catholic rent," and almost superseded the government of the country.

settlement.

Accordingly, in 1825, the Association was suppressed for three years, but a relief bill was immediately introduced by Sir Francis Attempts at its Burdett, which passed the Commons by a large majority. In the Lords, however, it was met by a violent opposition, headed by the Duke of York, who spoke against it most strongly, and it was accordingly rejected-an act which was probably in accord with the wishes of the great mass of the country, who were in this respect more narrow-minded than the unreformed House of Commons. Undeterred by this failure, the Catholic Association was again started in an altered form, and the agitation was continued in Ireland as vigorously as ever.

pool.

Canning's ministry.

Death of

Meanwhile the ministry was becoming more and more disunited. Except in opposition to reform of Parliament, there was hardly any subject on which they agreed, and when Lord LiverResignation of Lord Liver- pool fell ill, and resigned in 1827, the inevitable breakup took place. Canning became Prime Minister, and was supported by some of the Whigs, especially by Brougham. On the other hand, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Eldon, and Peel resigned their posts. Huskisson continued at the Board of Trade, Lord Palmerston continued Secretary at War, and Lord Goderich became War and Colonial Secretary. This ministry promised further progress, and it was thought certain that it would in a short time be joined by the leading Whigs, Canning. for whom, in fact, places had been kept, but unhappily it was completely ruined by the death of Canning, which happened within four months of his becoming premier. Abroad, Canning's chief attention was given to Greece. With great skill he arranged Battle of joint action between England, France, and Russia for the pacification of that country. This arrangement led to an attempt to prevent the Turkish fleet from coming ont of the harbour of Navarino in order to unite with an Egyptian contingent in an attack upon the Ionian Islands. This led to a battle, in which the Turks were completely defeated; but the incompetence of the new ministers was unable to follow out Canning's other object of holding Russia in check, and in con

Navarino.

sequence the czar's troops advanced into Turkey and were very near taking Constantinople, and in 1829 only the interference of England and France succeeded in securing Turkey the humiliating treaty of Adrianople.

Duke of Wellington: Prime

Minister.

After Canning's death, Lord Goderich was for a few months prime minister; but he was quite unfitted for the post. The members of his ministry quarrelled among themselves, and in January, 1828, he resigned his post, so the plan of a progressive ToryWhig ministry failed. The king then asked the Duke of Wellington to become Prime Minister, who formed an administration of Canningites and Tories, of which Peel was Home Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, Huskisson Colonial and War Secretary, and Palmerston Secretary at War. The first event under the new administration was the passing, without much opposition, of a motion of Lord John Russell's for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, by which Nonconformists were admitted to full political rights. The same year an unsuccessful attempt was made to transfer the members for Penryn and East Retford to Manchester and Birmingham. The case of East Retford brought on a quarrel in the government; for Huskisson, who had voted in favour of the transfer, resigned, and was followed by Lords Palmerston and Dudley, Lamb (afterwards Lord Melbourne), and other Canningites, whose places were filled by Tories.

Hardly had this been done, when the Catholic question assumed a most alarming aspect. O'Connell himself was put up to contest the county of Clare against Vesey Fitzgerald, the new

Election of

Clare.

President of the Board of Trade. He was elected by O'Connell for an enormous majority, and nothing prevented him from taking his seat except his inability to take the necessary oaths, which as a Roman Catholic he could not do. The three years having now expired, the Catholic Association was revived, and the aspect of Ireland became so threatening, that Wellington was convinced that nothing but civil war could preserve the disabilities. This calamity he was not prepared to face, and accordingly he and Peel made up their mind that the disabilities must be repealed.

When Parliament met in 1829, the king's speech recommended it to consider the removal of Catholic disabilities, and, as a preli

minary measure, an act was passed suppressing the Catholic Association. The king, however, now declared that, like Repeal of the Catholic dis- his father, he had conscientious scruples to giving abilities. his consent to the bill; but, upon Wellington and Peel threatening to resign, he agreed to give way, and the bill was then passed, by which the Roman Catholics were allowed, instead of taking the customary oaths, to make a declaration that they would do nothing to injure Church or State. They were only excluded from the offices of Regent, Lord Chancellor, and Viceroy of Ireland, and from the excrcise of Church patronage. At the same time that this bill passed, the Irish franchise in counties was raised from forty shillings to ten pounds, as it was thought that, now that Roman Catholics could be elected, the lower franchise would result in a complete exclusion of Protestants.

Change

in the Irish franchise.

Unfortunately, the repeal was deprived of much of its grace by not including a special clause allowing O'Connell to take his seat without re-election. The ungraciousness of this, coupled with the raising of the franchise, robbed the act of its conciliatory character. O'Connell was, of course, re-elected, and soon began a new agitation for the repeal of the Union, which went on for many years. In June, 1830, George IV. died, and as the Duke of York had died in 1827, he was succeeded by the Duke of Clarence, with the title of William IV.

Agitation for repeal of the Union.

It has been said of George IV. that "he was a bad son, a bad husband, a bad father, a bad subject, a bad monarch, and a bad friend." With excellent abilities, he employed his talents solely for his own gratification, and when he died was the subject of almost universal contempt.

CHIEF EVENTS UNDER GEORGE IV. AND
WILLIAM IV.

CHAPTER VI.

WILLIAM IV., 1830-1837 (7 years).

Born 1765; married, 1818, Adelaide of Saxe Meiningen.

Chief Characters of the Reign.-Earl Grey; Lord Brougham; Lord Althorp; Lord John Russell; Wellington; Peel; Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby; Lord Melbourne; Lord Palmerston.

Chief Contemporary Sovereign.

France.

Louis Philippe, 1830-1848.

THE new king was much more popular than his brother; he had the manners of a sailor, cared little for state but much for popularity, and was believed to be in favour of reform. The new elections were favourable to the reformers, and at the same time a great impulse was given to popular enthusiasm by a successful revolt of the French against their despotic king, Charles X., and the establishment of a popular government under his cousin, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, who took the title of King of the French. This revolution reminded men of the English Revolution of 1688, and was thought to augur well for the triumph of the middle classes in this country.

Liverpool and
Manchester

Railway.

However, before Parliament met, the beginning of perhaps the most striking revolution of the age was made by the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. This great Opening of the step, which was due to the application of the steamengine to the dragging of heavy carriages along the tram-lines which had long been in use, was mainly due to the ingenuity and determination of George Stephenson, a north-country workman, who thereby made himself a name as one of the greatest engineers of the age. The importance of the new step was recognized by a public opening, in which the Duke of Wellington and other ministers took part, and unhappily Mr. Huskisson, who had just been reconciled to the duke, was

Death of Huskisson.

knocked down by a passing engine, and died of his injuries. The