Now that the long conflict between France and Europe was over, the thoughts of the people were again turned to the question of political reform. Four years of extra ordinary mercantile depression, which followed the victory at Waterloo, partly result ing from bad harvests, and partly from Great Britain's having ceased to enjoy that monopoly of commerce which she did during the war, had made the people discontented, and the shameful massacre of the Manchester operatives in St. Peter's fields by the yeomanry in 1819—commonly known as the Pcterloo massacre—excited strong indigna tion; but a horror of anything revolutionary still possessed the upper and a large section of the middle classes, and severe measures were passed with a view to the suppression of discontent among the working-classes. In 1820 George III. died, and was suc ceeded by his eldest son, George 1V. The trial of his consort, queen Caroline, which occurred in the same year, shattered his popularity, which was never very great. The commercial reforms of Ihiskisson, supported by Canning, which marked the next two years, added immensely to the prosperity of Great Britain, and capital grew so abund ant, that a vast number of joint-stock companies were formed, as a means of giving it a wider range. Many of their projects for traffic in remote countries were quite visionary, and ended disastrously, involving in ruin (between Oct., 1825 and Feb., 1826) fifty-nine English provincial hanks, and inflicting the greatest misery upon the working-classes. About the same time, the Irish Catholics began to clamor for emancipation from their civil disabilities. The older and more inflexible tories, who were still dominant in parliament, opposed it; but the intense determination of the Irish people, ancl the powerful eloquence of their champion, Daniel O'Connell, at last prevailed, and in 1829 the ministry of Wellington, yielding to the storm, itself proposed and carried the Pleasure. In 1830 George IV. died, and was succeeded by his brother, William IV. The outburst of the July revolution in France quickened the paces of British reformers; the demand of the nation for an improvement in the parliamentary representation became very strong; and in Nov., after an exclusion from office of nearly half a century, the whigs once more ascended into power " on the breath of popular applause," and the ministry of earl Grey immortalized itself by passing the " reform bill " Another of its claims to the respect and gratitude of posterity was the abolition of slavery in the British colonies (1834). The reform of the English poor-law, and in the mode of electing municipal authorities in Scotland, also deserves mention; but in 1884 the whig ministry was dismissed by the sovereign. Sir Robert Peel now became premier, but the whigs were still in a majority in the house, and Peel was compelled to resign. The Melbourne administration which followed carried several small though beneficial measures of reform, but it failed to secure the attachment of the people. The lower classes were becoming radical and chartist, while the middle classes, contented with the political power which the reform bill had secured to them, were growing apathetic, and in many cases, from dread of the masses, were leaning towards toryism. In the midst of these perplexities, William 1V. died in 1837, and was succeeded by his
niece, the princess Victoria, the present ruler of the united empire. In 1841 the whig ministry succumbed to a vote of "no confidence," and sir Robert Peel once morn assumed the helm of state. The principles of free trade now began to be actively advocated; public opinion was leavened by the platform addresses of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, until the prime minister himself was finally converted, and in 1846 carried, 'what he had long opposed, a measure for the abolition of the corn•laws. Three years before the abolition of the corn-laws, a great religious schism took place in the estab lished church of Scotland, and led to the formation of a body calling itself the "Free church of Scotland " (q.v.). Other important incidents of this period were the Chinese and afghan wars; the chartist agitation, which reached its climax in the monster petition of 1848, got up by Feargus O'Connor and his friends; the series of failures in the potato crop of Ireland, involving that country in terrible misery, and inundating Great Britain with paupers. Sir Robert Peel was succeeded in the government of the country by lord John Russell, who did not prove as popular a minister as was anticipated, and in 1859 the• old tory party returned to power, headed by the earl of Derby and Mr. Disraeli, It was, however, beaten on its budget, and forced to resign in less than a year, when its place was taken by the coalition cabinet of lord Aberdeen. During the ministry of this nobleman, the Crimean sear began (1854); but as lord Aberdeen was considered to be somewhat pro-Russian in his likings. he was obliged to make way for lord Palmerston in 1855. Two years later (May, 1857), the Indian mutiny broke out, and the energies of the government were taxed to the utmost to suppress it, but were eventually crowned with complete success. Never did British soldiers exhibit equal heroism, both physical and moral. From 1855 to 1863 (excepting for a brief interval, when lord Derby returned to office), the government was in the hands of lord Palmerston. During this period England carried on a successful war against China, and the volunteer movement was begun. The American war caused great distress among our operatives. In 1861 prince Albert died. in 1866 earl Derby was at the head of affairs: Britain was united to America in that year by the submarine telegraph, and the Fenian insurrection occurred. The year 1867 was marked by the passing of a conservative reform bill, which added more than half a million electors to the constituency of Britain; and by the expedition against Abyssinia, under sir Robert Napier, which, in 1S68, resulted in the destruction of Magdala, and death of king Theodore. During the government of Mr. Disraeli, who succeeded lord Derby, Scotch and Irish reform bil were passed, and an act discontinuing public executions. lu 1869 Mr. Disraeli having resigned, an act was passed by the liberal government under Mr. Gladstone. for disestablishing the Irish church, The years 1870 and 1872 produced the education acts for England and Scotland. In 1873-18;4 the Ashantee (q.v.) war was carried on to a successful termination; and the latter year Witnessed the establishment of a conservative govern ment under Mr. Disraeli.