Parliament of its own. The measure was defeated in the House of Commons, however, and for a time Gladstone ceased to be Prime Minister. When his party was again victorious at the elections, and he became Prime Minister for the fourth time, in 1892, he made a second attempt to pass a Home Rule bill. This time he was successful in the House of Commons, but the bill was defeated in the House of Lords.

Mr. Parnell, meanwhile, had become a party to a divorce scandal, and this divided and greatly weakened the Irish party. His death shortly afterward did not have the effect of healing these divisions. Mr. Gladstone retired from political life in 1894, after sixty-two years of service in Parliament; and in 1898 he died, at the age of eighty-nine: This also weakened the cause of Ireland.

But the demand for Home Rule still continues. The Irish party, which is now once more reunited, declares that no government for Ireland will be satisfactory to them which does not include a Parliament able to make laws for Ireland, and also ministers for Ireland who shall be

Present

state

of the question.

responsible to their own Parliament. The English Liberals now favor a policy of "Home Rule by instalments," or giving to Ireland, little by little, the right to manage its own affairs. Time alone can tell whether the movement will continue until Ireland, like Canada, has a Parliament of its own; or whether, when the land question is fully settled, and further improvements have been made in local government, Ireland, like Scotland, will be proud to send her representatives to the central Parliament for the whole British Empire, and leave to it that right of making laws for Ireland which it now possesses.

TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND SEARCH

1. Read an account of the geography and people of Ireland. 2. Make a list of the injuries which Ireland received from England.

3. Write a brief sketch of Charles Stewart Parnell.

4. Make a list of the things which Gladstone did or tried to do for Ireland.

5. Let two pupils debate the question of Home Rule for Ireland, one speaking for it, the other against it.

XL

THE BRITISH EMPIRE OF TODAY

POINTS TO BE NOTICED

Death of Queen Victoria; importance of her reign; the Boer War; how it increased the Empire; accession of Edward VII. Extent of the British Empire; Canada; Australia and New Zealand; British South Africa; British occupation of Egypt; India.

The bonds which hold the Empire together; what Great Britain has done for the world.

Death of
Queen
Victoria
(1901).

ON January 22, 1901, the news was flashed all over the world that the long reign of Queen Victoria had come to an end. She had reigned for nearly sixty-four years, and died at the age of eightyone. She had been a loving wife and mother, and a good Queen. Her reign was glorious, not because of wars and conquests, but because of the progress of good which it brought, and the uplifting of the people.

In her last years a cruel war was fought between the British and the "Boers," or inhabitants of the Dutch republics in South Africa. Great Britain was successful in the end, and the Boer republics were annexed to the British Empire; but the British suffered many defeats before this was accomplished, and the gallant fight which the Boers made aroused great sympathy. The Queen was much distressed by this war, and her last words were:

"Oh, that peace may come!"

Queen Victoria was succeeded to the throne by her eldest son, Edward VII., who had long been known as the Prince of Wales. He was sixty years

King

VII.

old at that time, and ruled for nine years. Edward He continued the wise rule of his mother, and did much to smooth over difficulties with Russia and France, and to strengthen the peace of the world. When he died, in May, 1910, his oldest surviving son became King as George V. The British Empire, as George V.

received it from

The

his father, is British

one of the Empire greatest that the world has ever seen. It includes lands all over the globe, and if it is wisely ruled― as it seems likely that it will be it will continue to be held together, and prove a great source of good to the world.

But the problem is how to unite the widely scattered lands, by giving

Canada.

them a voice in the central government of the Empire. The greatest of the possessions of Great Britain, and the most important, perhaps, after the mother country itself, is Canada. This was taken from the French in 1763, and settlement in it has since spread to the Pacific Ocean. It is a rich and fertile land, in spite of its cold climate; and its people are mainly of British blood and speech. Its different provinces have their own legislatures; and since 1867 Canada as a whole has had a federal government somewhat like that

of the United States.

In nearly everything the Canadians govern themselves, though the Governor-General is sent out to them from Great Britain by the home government. In the Boer war the Canadians proved their loyalty by sending soldiers to aid the mother country.

Australia is the second in importance of the British colonies. The coasts of this island-continent were explored by Captain Cook, an officer in the British navy, in 1770; and the first settlement was made there by the British in 1788. Gold

Australia and New Zealand.

was discovered in

Australia in 1851, and great fortunes were made by lucky miners; but a more important source of wealth was found in the raising of sheep. Five colonies were established on the mainland, and

another in the

near-by island of Tasmania, each with its own legislature and governor; and in

EDWARD VII.

1901 all five were united together into a federal government, under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. This, too, is a self-governing colony, made up of men mainly of British blood and speech; and it, also, proved its