Corunna? What was the result of the Walcheren expedition? Describe the political excitement produced by the inquiry regarding it. Give an account of the Peninsular War.

3. What took place in regard to the king and his son in 1810? What were the circumstances of the assassination of Percival? Who succeeded him? What was the nature of the Berlin decree and of the orders in council? How were their deleterious effects on trade mainly obviated? What war did they produce?

4. What events brought about the retirement of Napoleon to Elba? What occasioned a renewal of the war? In what part of Europe was the new war carried on? Who was made commander of the allied forces? Where were the British troops when the news of the French crossing the frontier reached them? What was the result of the battle of Ligny? What was the result of the battle of Quatre Bras?

5. When was the battle of Waterloo fought? What are supposed to have been the numbers of the two armies ? What was the general system pursued on the British side as compared with that of the French? What kind of troops were the cuirassiers? How did the squares of infantry act? Give a general account of the battle.

6. What was the result of the battle of Waterloo? What nations formed, the Holy Alliance? What was the effect of the war on the resources of Great Britain? What did the cost of the last year of the war exceed? How much had the national debt increased since 1793 ?

7. What led to the bombardment of Algiers? What occasioned sufferings among the people? Describe the occurrences which were considered dangerous to the peace of the country. What course did the government pursue? When did George III. die? Mention the names of some eminent poets in his reign. Of some eminent prose writers. Of some eminent painters, sculptors, and architects. Of some other eminent men.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

GEORGE IV., A. D. 1820-1830.

The Cato Street Conspiracy-The Queen's Trial-King's Visit to Ireland, Hanover, and Scotland-Negro Insurrection in the West Indies-Tithe War in Ireland-Burmese and Ashantee Wars-Panic of 1825-Canning Ministry-Battle of Navarino-Repeal of the Test Act-Roman-catholic Relief Bill.

1. GEORGE IV., who now succeeded to his father's throne, had for the preceding ten years exercised nearly all the functions of royalty. Within a month of his accession, a most atrocious plot was discovered, by which a set of indigent men of the lowest rank had designed to assassinate the ministers at a cabinet dinner; and then, after opening the prisons and firing London in several places, so as to distract and divert public attention, they were to form themselves into a provisional government. On the very eve of their frantic under

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taking they were arrested after some resistance at their place of rendezvous in London, a stable in Cato Street, near the Edgeware Road. Thistlewood and four others suffered the penalty of their treason, and the less criminal were transported. About the same period an attempt was made in the west of Scotland to effect an alteration in the state, and two men paid the forfeit of their crimes.

When the new parliament met in April, the chancellor of the exchequer presented his budget, from which it was found that the expenses of the government amounted to fifty millions and a half; to meet which there would be required, in addition to the ordinary taxes, a loan of five millions, and an issue of exchequer bills to the amount of seven millions. Besides which it was proposed to take twelve millions from the sinking fund.

THE QUEEN'S TRIAL.-In 1795, George, prince of Wales, had married his cousin, the Princess Caroline of Brunswick, who soon after bore him an only child, the much lamented Princess Charlotte. The married pair did not live long together; and the princess eventually withdrew to the continent, where she resided many years. Her conduct abroad was not without reproach; and on her return from her voluntary exile, a "bill of pains and penalties" was brought into the House of Lords against her. It was generally felt that, even if the criminal charges alleged against her were true, the irregularities of her husband's life, and his indefensible behaviour towards her, had entirely debarred him from every right to question her conduct during her absence. The people feeling that she was "more sinned against than sinning," received the queen with the warmest expressions of sympathy; and in the Lords the majority in favour of the criminatory bill was so small, that, after a judicial investigation of forty-five days, the ministers resolved to proceed no further. In the A.D. month of August in the following year, a severe illness, 1821. exasperated if not caused by the trials she had undergone during the last twelve months, terminated her earthly career. At this time the king was in Ireland, and in the next month he went to Hanover. In the following year he visited Scotland, where he was welcomed with great enthu siasm. During his brief absence among his northern subjects, he received the melancholy news that the Marquis of Londonderry had committed suicide, in a fit of derangement caused by fatigue and excessive mental exertion. He was succeeded

in his office of foreign secretary by Mr Canning, Mr Robinson becoming chancellor of the exchequer, and Mr Huskisson president of the board of trade.

2. In 1823, the question of negro slavery was discussed in parliament, and its abolition proposed. The news of this debate produced very disastrous effects in the West Indies, where the negroes, inflamed, it was alleged, by seditious demagogues, who represented that parliament had granted them freedom which their masters unjustly withheld, rose in insurrection. In Demerara the destruction of life and property was considerable: in the other colonies, strong measures were employed to prevent a similar outbreak. The parliament had passed several enactments for the purpose of improving the condition of the slaves, and a regular church establishment, with two bishops at its head, was formed in the West Indian colonies.

For some time Ireland, especially in the southern districts, had been in a very disturbed state: murder stalked unpunished through the country, and the peaceable inhabitants were so terror-stricken that they neglected the cultivation of the soil, by which thousands of the peasantry were reduced to a state of starvation. Great Britain generously interfered, and by large subscriptions enabled the poor to purchase food. In 1823, the disturbances assumed the shape of a war upon rents and tithes; and the discontent gradually increased, so that in 1828 the country seemed on the brink of a civil war. By the exertions of the catholic association, Mr O'Connell, though unqualified, was returned for the county of Clare, and to support him the peasantry assembled in large bodies in arms and with military organization. The law was set at defiance, riots accompanied with loss of life ensued, and the existence of the protestant establishment was menaced. This state of things led to the repeal of the restrictive laws, which will be noticed further on.

BURMESE WAR.-About this time hostilities broke out in the East Indies between the English and the Burmese, a warlike people beyond the Ganges. They had made frequent encroachments on the adjoining British settlements, when war was declared against them, and their territory invaded April by a small army under General Campbell. The strug} gle was desperate and sanguinary, but it ended in the total defeat of the Burmese; and the treaty of peace, 1826."} concluded when the British were within forty-five

1824.

miles of their capital, was most advantageous to Great Britain. During the same year our settlements on the western coast of Africa were threatened by the warlike Ashantees, who, to the number of 25,000 men, took the field in July. After a brief struggle they were routed with a loss of 5000

men.

The year 1825 was a period of great commercial difficulties. The measures of Canning and Huskisson had infused new vigour into the manufacturing and monied classes, and an extraordinary spirit of speculation arose. Joint-stock companies for the most absurd projects were established; and in one (that for working the gold and silver mines of America), shares that had been bought for £70, rose to the unprecedented value of £1300. The natural result followed; long established banks stopped payment, merchants became insolvent, and a general panic spread through the country, from the effects of which no class of the community was exempt. By degrees confidence was restored, and trade again revived. In the early part of the year 1827, the Earl of Liverpool was seized with a fit of paralysis, and his place, as head of the administration, was taken by Mr Canning, who died in the following August, a victim to the cares of state and the desertion of political supporters. He was succeeded by Lord Goderich, who gave way to the Duke of Wellington in 1828.

3. During Mr Canning's brief administration, England united with France and Russia in an attempt to settle the differences between the Grand Seignior and the Greeks, whom he claimed as revolted subjects; and a combined fleet was sent into the Mediterranean to enforce compliance with the terms proposed by the three powers. The Turkish fleet which lay in the harbour of Navarino, having repeatedly inOct. 20, fringed the armistice, was attacked and destroyed, 1827. } after a desperate engagement, by the allied fleet under Codrington. Their immediate object was not gained, and some time elapsed before the Greeks became entirely independent.

EMANCIPATION BILL.-In the year 1828, a measure fraught with most important consequences was carried in parliament. By two acts passed in the reign of Charles II., known as the test and corporation acts, all dissenters from the doctrines of the establishment were required, upon their admission into any public office, to take the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England. These were now repealed; and this step

was followed in the ensuing year by the catholic emancipation act, by which individuals professing the Romish faith were admitted to the enjoyment of nearly the same political rights as protestants. After the Revolution, the catholics of Ireland were subjected to a long series of persecutions, which sometimes resembled those inflicted on the presbyterians of Scotland under the reign of Charles II. Many of the more severe enactments against them had been gradually repealed, but they were still disqualified by certain oaths, which it was necessary to take, from sitting in parliament and filling certain offices. The passing of the emancipation act was in a great measure owing to the exertions of the celebrated Daniel O'Connell. The immediate consequences of these two acts, the one being a necessary sequel to the other, did not terminate here. The great tory party, that had for so long a period administered the government, was split into fragments; confidence in political leaders was shaken, for the emancipation bill was the act of the Duke of Wellington and Mr Peel, both of whom had, on all former occasions, strenuously opposed the slightest concessions, and both together led the way to the whig government of 1830, the reform bill of 1832, and the subsequent measures of an advancing and more enlightened policy. The king did not live to see the result of these changes. He died at Windsor on the 26th of June 1830.

EXERCISES.

1. Describe the plot which was discovered soon after the accession of George IV. What were the expenses of the government found to amount to? What was the history of the king and his wife? Who succeeded the Marquis of Londonderry? What countries did the king visit?

2. What occurred as to negro slavery and the West Indies in 1823? Describe the state of Ireland. What war broke out in the East? What was its result? What took place in Western Africa? What were the effects of the great commercial speculations of 1825? What ministerial changes occurred in 1827 and 1828?

3. What was the occasion of the battle of Navarino? ing towards religious toleration was passed in 1828? was the catholic emancipation act intended to remove? effect of these acts on political parties?

What act tendWhat grievances What was the