more. It is worthy of notice that in these conflicts the principal nobles who had possession of the miserable little rotten boroughs" before described, and who had most of the unfair power in electing the members of parliament, were among the very first to see how unjust these privileges and powers were, and were among the greatest promoters of the rights of the people; while some of those who had begun by being poor men, but who had risen by their talents and industry to be powerful noblemen, were the most obstinate opponents of all reform.

8. After the passing of the Reform Bill the Conservatives were greatly afraid of what might be done by the new parliament, which was really elected by the people, instead of only partly by them, and partly by the nobles and the government. They thought we should have a revolution, and be as miserable perhaps as France had been. But they were mistaken; instead of becoming more rebellious when they had got justice, they became, as Englishmen naturally are, peaceable, obedient, and law-abiding.

1848. The Chartists.

9. There were some alarms once or twice. The people wanted some more privileges than they had yet got, and they banded together to demand another "charter" in which these should be granted them. Some of these were quite reasonable things, and others may be so in due course; but the Chartists, as they were called from their Charter, set about obtaining them in a wrong-headed manner. They intended to present a petition to parliament, which they had a full right to do; but instead of presenting it in the usual quiet manner, they assembled in an immense body to carry it to the House themselves. This was clearly intended to overawe and frighten the members, and prevent them from acting according to their own free judgment. Therefore they were not allowed to enter London in procession as they had intended; but every one was very anxious there should be no fighting, and no soldiers employed. Nearly all the gentlemen and tradesmen of London came forward to act as special constables, and the soldiers, who were in readiness to use force if it were necessary, were hidden out of sight so as to provoke no one. There was no fighting; hardly any disorder; no Wat Tyler nor Jack Cade was put to death this time. The crowds went quietly home again; and by being patient they have gradually obtained much of what they asked for in a peaceable and lawful manner. In 1867 the Conservatives themselves passed another Reform Bill, extending the right of voting to still more of the people.

1867.

Union with

10. The worst part of all English history has been the treatment of Ireland. From the days of Henry II. onward to the days of Elizabeth, when Spenser wrote of that "most Ireland. beautiful and sweet country as any under heaven;" from the days of Elizabeth almost to our own days, we might still say as he did, "I do much pity that sweet land, to be subject to so many evils, as every day I see more and more thrown upon her." It has almost always been, "Ireland was in disorder; Ireland was rebelling." People do not, as a rule, rebel when they are happy and well-treated; and when we read this over and over again we naturally ask, Why? Unhappily the answer is not far to seek. That the Irish were wild and turbulent, that they were often treacherous and cruel, is undeniable, but that the English were tyrannical, oppressive, and unjust is quite as undeniable. Ireland was, as it was called, united to England in 1801. 1801; it ceased to have its own parliament, and, England. instead, sent members to the English parliament. But the union was really disunion, and the Irish, if possible, hated the English still more than before. England has now for many years past striven to undo her evil work of old. She has disendowed the Protestant Church, which was not the Church of the people, but had been violently forced upon them, and she has sought in every way to do justice, and promote the peace and welfare of the country; but though England has now quite ceased to oppress, Ireland has not yet forgotten her old oppression, and the "United Kingdom" is not so thoroughly "at unity with itself" as we may hope it will be as time rolls on. 11. One of the most important changes that has been made for the good of the whole kingdom is the repeal of the Corn Laws. According to the ideas which had prevailed up till this time, Englishmen were bound to have no corn, or as little as possible, except what their own land could produce. This was considered to be good, not only for the farmers and landlords, but for the whole country; and it was said that if we had corn from foreign parts we should become poor dependents on those parts. But as England is a small country compared with the great numbers of people who live in it, it could not produce corn enough to feed them all. Bread was sometimes dreadfully dear, so that the poor were half starving; while other countries had a great deal more corn than they wanted, which they would have been glad to send to us in exchange for other things which we could give them. The Conservatives were averse to making any change, but there

1846. Repeal of the Corn Laws.

were zealous and wise men in the country who saw that it would be right, and determined that it must be done.

12. None of these changes were brought about without hard labour and toil; and when we are enjoying the fruit of that toil, we ought to have sometimes a grateful thought of those who won it for us. In the midst of the struggle a heavy sorrow came upon one of the leaders. He lost his wife, who was dearer to him, perhaps, than his own life. It seemed as if the blow must paralyze him, and leave him no heart or spirit for labour. Then one of his friends went to condole with him. He knew he could not comfort him, or bring back what he had lost; but he thought he could turn his sorrow into a noble resolve. He bade him remember in his pain how many other men, his fellow-countrymen, were suffering the like; how many were mourning for wife and child, needlessly torn from them, not by sickness or accident, but by sheer hunger; how much agony and sorrow there was all round which might have been saved by cheap bread. And then, if he was not comforted, he was roused. He "had compassion on the multitude, because they had nothing to eat," and, made stronger by sorrow, he joined the fight once more, and never rested till it was won.

13. Another change has been the invention or improving of machinery and the steam-engine. Innumerable things which used to be done by hand are now done by machines.

This seems as if it must save a great deal of human Machinery. labour, and produce a great many more useful things; and so it certainly does; but whether the change is, on the whole, for the happiness and improvement of man no one can say. Work that used to be done quietly at home, a woman spinning at her door, a man weaving at his own little loom, work too in which the workers might take an honest pride and pleasure, is now done in enormous factories, where people are gathered together for their long day's labour; men here, women there, children elsewhere. This must certainly have a great effect on their characters and thoughts; but we are too much in the midst of it as yet to judge what that effect will be.

14. A still greater change is in the spread of education. Ever since the beginning of this century the different religious bodies, the Church and the Dissenters, had founded schools Education. for the poor; and though this was thought at first,

by many people, a very wrong and dangerous thing to do, it is now felt by everybody to be a duty. The government first began by helping the schools which had been founded by voluntary efforts;

INDEX.