1. George the Fourth, who had been regent ten years, reigned as a king from 1820, to 1830. During that time, every improvement that had been begun was carried to a greater extent. The education of all classes of people was conducted on a better system, and greater numbers of cheap books were published for the instruction of the working classes.
2. London was greatly improved by the building, in some parts, of wide handsome streets, in the place of narrow, dirty, crowded ones, and the manners of the English were improved also, by their intercourse with foreign nations; for after the peace, people began to visit France, Italy, and other parts of Europe, while a great number of foreigners came here, and we adopted such of their customs as were superior to our own; for people may always improve from each other.
3. The French, German, and Italian languages began to be more generally studied in England: and the arts and sciences, especially painting and music, were more highly cultivated.
4. But I am sorry to say that, amid all these benefits, there was a great deal of distress among the laboring people, for the expenses of the war had been so heavy that it was some years before the blessings of peace could be felt; and thus all the necessaries of life continued to be very dear, and wages, in proportion, very low, which occasioned riots in many parts of the kingdom; for the poor people had expected that, as soon as there was peace, most of the taxes pressing on them would be taken off.
5. But the government thought it right first to take off the property tax, and then found they could not do without the money the other taxes produced. Then the people, not getting relief from the taxation, thought some alterations in the laws might remedy their distress, and sent petitions to parliament praying that these alterations might be made. The principal thing they wanted was, what you have perhaps heard called the Reform Bill.
6. This was a law to give the right of voting for members of parliament to a greater number of people, and also to make alterations with regard to the places that were allowed to send members to parliament; for there were many old boroughs that were formerly important places, but now had scarcely a house left standing, yet still were represented by two members in parliament; which was ridiculous, because the object of sending a member to parliament is, that he may do all the good he can for the people of the place he represents, as well as for the nation; then there were many large towns, such as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, &c., that had grown into importance since the time when it was settled what places should have representatives, and these had none at all.
7. Another thing desired by the people, was an alteration in the Corn Laws, so that bread might be cheaper; and this alteration was to be made by letting corn be brought from abroad without paying duty. Neither of these points were gained while George the Fourth was king; but the Reform Bill was passed during the reign of his successor, William the Fourth; and, in the year 1846, some important alterations were made in the corn and provision laws.
8. William the Fourth was the brother of George the Fourth, and on the death of that monarch, in 1830, succeeded to the throne.
9. That same year is memorable for the opening of the first Railway for travelling, which was that between Manchester and Liverpool; a circumstance that may be mentioned as the commencement of one of the greatest changes of modern times, and when we consider the number and extent of the railways now in use, we cannot but admire the immense works of the kind that have been performed in so short a space of time.
10. The speed with which we can now travel, both by sea and land, would astonish our good old ancestors, who used to think it a great and dangerous undertaking to set out on a journey of twenty or thirty miles.
11. In the time of Charles the Second, the poet Cowley, who had a country house at Chertsey, which is only twenty-two miles from London, invited a friend in town to pay him a visit, saying in his letter, that as he could not perform the whole journey in one day, he might sleep at Hampton.
12. I think he would have been glad of a railway, which would have taken him all the way before breakfast. In 1706, the stage coach from York was four days coming to London; and so late as 1763, there was only a coach once a month from Edinburgh to London; and it was a whole fortnight on the road; so I think you will see the advantages of our present mode of travelling.
13. The custom of buying and selling negroes had been abolished by parliament during the reign of George the Third, but there were many thousands of slaves in the West India islands, belonging to the British planters there.
14. During the reign of William the Fourth, the British government gave twenty millions of money to buy all the slaves of their masters and then set them free. The day when the negroes became free people was the first of August, 1838.
15. I told you that the Reform Bill was passed in this reign. One consequence of this measure was, the lessening of the duties, or taxes, on many articles of necessity, thereby reducing their prices, so that the poor people could live much better than they had formerly.
16. The harvests were also plentiful for several years, so that bread was very cheap, and the prices of all kinds of clothing were less than in previous years.
17. Upon the whole, there had never been a better time in England than the seven years that William the Fourth occupied the throne. He died in 1837, and was succeeded by her present Majesty, queen Victoria, who was the daughter of his deceased brother, the Duke of Kent.
18. In 1840, she married her cousin, Prince Albert, of Saxe Coburg and Gotha. Their family now consists of eight children, four princes, and four princesses.
19. The most remarkable events that have yet happened in the reign of queen Victoria, are the wars in China and India: but I ought to have mentioned an alteration made in the last reign, with regard to the East India trade, which you, perhaps, remember was carried on solely by the East India Company, according to a charter granted by queen Elizabeth, and renewed, from time to time, by other sovereigns.
20. In 1813, however, it was made lawful for private merchants to trade to India; but this right was not extended to the trade with China, which was still confined to the Company till 1833, when a new law was made with regard to that also, and any person then was at liberty to go to China for tea, silk, and other commodities, which have since been much cheaper in consequence. Tea is little more than half the price it used to be, which is a great benefit and comfort to the poor.
21. But this had nothing to do with the war in China, which arose from a dispute about the British merchants selling opium to the Chinese, who were forbidden by their emperor to buy it, because it injures the health of those who take it, like drinking spirits.
22. Still the merchants continued to carry opium to China, and the people to buy it; so the governor at Canton, the only Chinese town in which foreigners were allowed to trade, seized and burnt some ship-loads of opium, for which he would not pay the owners; and this was the cause of the war.
23. There were several battles fought, in which the Chinese were always defeated, for they were not much acquainted with the present art of war; but, at last, after three years of warfare, peace was made with the British; and the Chinese emperor agreed to pay a sum of money, and to cede, or give up, to the British government, the Island of Hong Kong; besides agreeing that English ships might land goods for sale, at five ports, instead of one only, and that British merchants might have warehouses, and reside at those places. A treaty to this effect was signed in August, 1842.
24. The war in India, was much more serious, and lasted a great deal longer. It was begun for the purpose of restoring to his throne an Indian prince, the king of Caboul, who had been deprived of his kingdom by another prince.
25. The wars occasioned by this usurpation being likely to endanger the safety of the British possessions, the Governor General thought it necessary to interfere; and from the year 1839 to that of 1846, the British armies in India were engaged in terrible and destructive wars with the Affghans, and other nations in the north and west of India.
26. These calamitous strifes were happily ended by two great victories gained on the banks of the Sutlej, at the beginning of 1846, the one by General Sir Harry Smith, the other, by General Sir Hugh Gough. By the conquests made during these wars, the British empire is extended over the greater part of India.
27. Among the important inventions of this reign, may be mentioned that of the Electric Telegraph, by means of which communications can be made between places a hundred miles apart in one moment, or indeed to any imaginable distances.
28. I have already mentioned the distressed condition of great numbers of the Irish people; and am sorry to have now to say that their misery has been greatly increased in the last three years, by the failure of the potato crops, on which the lower orders in Ireland depend for their subsistence.
29. This food they can, with two or three months labor in the year, grow for themselves; and as they are, unfortunately, contented with such poor living, it is a very sad thing for them when a bad season occurs, and the potatoes are spoiled; which happens generally once in six or seven years.
30. But there have now been three bad seasons following each other; and this calamity has caused so much distress, that thousands have died of fevers and other diseases, occasioned by want of wholesome and sufficient food.
31. The Parliament expended several millions of money in relieving their distresses, and providing them employment. Large sums of money were also subscribed by individuals in England, Scotland, and America, for the relief of the people in Ireland; and charitable committees were formed in many parts of that country to receive the money, and distribute the food and clothing purchased with it.
32. New poor laws have also been made by the government, to afford greater relief to the destitute; and every thing has been done, that humanity could suggest, to better their condition and relieve their wants.
33. The year 1848 will ever be memorable for the revolutions that have taken place in France and other parts of the continent. Louis Philippe, the French king, was dethroned on the 24th of February, 1848, and fled with his family, to England.
34. At Berlin, the capital of Prussia, there was also an insurrection in March, 1848, when a frightful battle was fought in the streets, between the soldiers and the people.
35. Great numbers of persons were killed on both sides, and many houses were destroyed; and although peace was restored by the king granting the demands of his subjects, yet that could not bring back happiness to those who had lost their fathers, husbands, or brothers, in the fatal conflict.
36. Besides those already named, revolutions, attended with great loss of life and destruction of property, have taken place at Vienna, the capital of Austria, and other parts of Germany. Italy, too, has shared in the spread of revolution; Naples, Milan, and Venice, having been scenes of fearful tumult and destruction of life.
37. In most of the places I have mentioned, the people having been fighting for a constitutional form of government, similar to that of our own happy united kingdom; conveying the strongest proof that we ought not to wish for a change. Yet there have been some attempts made to disturb the peace of this country, by ill-informed or worthless persons.
38. Perhaps the desire for some increase in the number of the electors, and in the places represented in parliament, by uniting the adjacent towns to the small boroughs, is not unreasonable.
39. But when we think of the dreadful state of things in France, Italy and Germany, where so many thousands of people have lost their lives, where trade is ruined, where the middle classes are reduced to poverty, and the working people, in consequence, starving, for want of employment, we cannot be too thankful for the peace, the liberty, and prosperity, we enjoy in this more favored and happier country.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who succeeded George the Third?
6. What was the Reform Bill?
8. Who succeeded George the Fourth, and in what year?
9. When was the first Railway opened?
13. When was slavery abolished in the West Indies?
17. When did William the Fourth die?
17. When did Victoria ascend the throne?
18. Who did Victoria marry?
19. Name the principal events of her reign.
22. What gave rise to the war in China?
23. How did it end?
24. Why was the war in India commenced?
26. What has been the result?
28. What has caused great misery in Ireland?
31. What has been done for the relief of the Irish people?
33. What has taken place in France?
36. Where have other Revolutions taken place?
THE END.