in his hand which he had been purchasing for his dinner.

5. London.--We must not think of London under the first two Georges as at all like the vast city,—the province covered with houses, the abode of four millions, that it is at the present day. It was not as large then as Glasgow or Liverpool is now. It did not reach a million at the end of last century; it now contains four times that number of people. The wealthy travelled to it in their carriages from the country and lived there while "the season "lasted and Parliament was sitting; and it was, to those who lived in the north of England, a terribly long, difficult, and dangerous journey, from and back to their country-houses. Those who could not afford to go to London were obliged to amuse themselves as best they could in the little capitals of their own counties.

re-sort', place to which many people

go.

lounged, went slowly and leisurely. trans-formed', changed.

pat-ron-ised', taken under the care and protection of.

steps.

pas'-time, form of amusement. (From pass and time.)

du'-el, a fight with deadly weapons between two persons. (From Lat. duo, two; and bellum, war.)

min-u-et', a slow dance with short al'-ter-na-ted with, took turns with.

Bath, the largest town in Somersetshire, on the river Avon (the Avon of Bristol), about 100 miles from London. It is one of the most ancient cities in Britain; and its mineral waters were used by the Romans, who called them the Waters of the Sun.

Epsom, also a town where people met to drink mineral waters. It lies near the Epsom Downs, a range of hills in Surrey, about fifteen miles from London. Tunbridge Wells, another town frequented by fashionable persons, who drank at the mineral springs. It stands in Kent, about six miles from the town of Tunbridge.

42. GEORGE

THE FOURTH.

1820-1830.-Reigned 10 years.

1. Who George IV. was.-George the Fourth was the eldest son of George III. He was born in 1762, so that

George IV.

he was a man of nearly sixty years of age when he came to the throne of England. He had, however, during the lifetime of his father, been at various times Regent of the kingdom; and he had, in fact, been the virtual king of this country since the year 1811,

when his father became hopelessly ill. His wife was a

German Princess, Caroline of Brunswick, with whom he did not agree at all well. They had only one child, the Princess Charlotte, of whom great hopes were held by the nation, but who, to the grief of the people as well as of her parents, died in the year 1817.

2. The Cato Street Conspiracy.-Within a month of the accession of the new king, there was discovered a conspiracy in London, the object of which was to put to death the whole of his Majesty's Ministers. It was called the Cato Street Conspiracy; because the conspirators met in a house in Cato Street-a little street near the

Edgeware Road, which at that time was only a country road. Of this conspiracy a man named Thistlewood was the ringleader. The plot was found out; the conspirators were arrested; five of them were put to death, and the rest transported across the seas for life.

3. The Queen.-George the Fourth was a very selfish man; Caroline was not a very good woman; they indulged in frequent and very violent quarrels; until at length they found it best to separate. On the day of his coronation, George ordered the doors of Westminster Abbey to be shut in the face of his queen; and the poor, despised, and insulted lady died eighteen days after of a broken heart.

4. George Canning.-George Canning was one of the greatest orators and statesmen of this reign; and his success in Parliament was so remarkable that in time he rose to be Prime Minister. He was very eager to bring about two important reforms: the one in the condition of the Catholics, who were kept down by laws made specially against them; the other in the taxes upon foreign corn, which kept up the price of bread to such a height that there were thousands actually starving, and hundreds of thousands who never had quite enough to eat. But this great man died before he was able to accomplish either of these beneficent designs.

5. Sir Robert Peel. Another great statesman who made his first appearance in this reign was Sir Robert Peel. It is to him that we owe the repeal of the cornlaws; but it was not until the reign of Queen Victoria that he was able to bring about this reform. It is to him, also, that we owe many improvements, one of which is our present system of police.

6. Lord John Russell.—This rising statesman was a

younger son of the Duke of Bedford; and, looking at the whole state of the kingdom, he thought it advisable to set himself to work on the modern question of Parliamentary Reform. The large towns of England-where our great manufactures of iron, cotton, and wool were carried on—were hardly represented in Parliament at all; while there were many small towns and villages that sent two members each to the House of Commons. This question of Parliamentary Reform grew with great rapidity -took ever larger and larger dimensions, until at length something like an equality in the representation of town and country was introduced. But, with the constantly growing population of the country, this question is not fully settled even yet.

up

7. Daniel O'Connell.-This great Irishman and Parliamentary orator connected his name chiefly with the question of Catholic Emancipation. This was the question whether the unjust laws that had been made against the Roman Catholics, and under which they were kept out of every office of State, should be in whole or in part repealed. The Duke of Wellington was at this time Prime Minister; he feared the Catholics, and hated the Irish; but he saw that the only alternative to the passing of the measure was civil war; he knew what war was, and he hated war more. At length, persuaded himself, from his seat in the House of Lords he spoke his mind very plainly to his brother peers. "If I could avoid," he said, "by any sacrifice whatever, even one month of civil war in the country to which I am attached, I would sacrifice my life in order to do it." The Catholic Relief Bill, which provided for the admission of Roman Catholics into Parliament, was accordingly passed; it became law in the year 1829; and

it was carried in the House of Lords by a majority of nearly two to one.

8. The Death of George IV., 1830.-George IV. died in the year 1830, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. He was called "the first gentleman in Europe;" and a great number of people were found to admire him. He was indeed very pleasant and agreeable to speak with; but he had no real friends. A historian says: "Through life he achieved nothing. He was neither a warrior, nor a statesman, nor a student, nor a domestic man. He was nothing but the man of pleasure; and, even in an ordinary rank, no one leads such a life of pain as the man of pleasure.”

9. Social Facts.-Great strides in the modes of communication between different parts of the country were made in this reign. The Menai Suspension Bridge, which connects the island of Anglesea with the mainland, was finished in 1825.

vir'-tu-al, real,—though not in name. ar-res'-ted, seized by officers of the

law.

ben-ef-i-cent, that does good.

di-men'-sions, measurements.

e-man-cip-a'-tion, freedom from penalties.

al-ter-na-tive, choice of one other thing or course.

a-chieved', succeeded in doing.

Brunswick, a duchy in the north of Germany. It is now part of the kingdom of Prussia.

43.-WILLIAM THE FOURTH.

1830-1837.-Reigned 7 years.

1. Who William IV. was.-William the Fourth was the brother of George the Fourth, and the third son of George the Third. His name was Prince William Henry,