those immediately affected by them, as well as injurious to every class of society. In 1832, a commission was appointed to investigate the condition of the parishes throughout England and Wales. It was shown by their report, that, although millions of pounds were yearly collected for poor-rates, yet the operation of the poor-laws was such as rather to increase than to relieve poverty, -to check honest industry and to encourage vice and crime. In 1834, a bill for the amendment of the poor-laws, founded on the report of this commission, was passed in parliament. It provided for a system of well-arranged efficient workhouses, into which the destitute might be admitted, those who were able-bodied obtaining employment therein, whilst the sick and aged received the requisite support and care. So effectual was the operation of this law, that in five years after its enactment the poor-rates had decreased from seven to four millions sterling;-honest industry was protected and encouraged, and the pauperism which had hitherto supported itself by crime and beggary was greatly reduced. 1834. Sir Thomas More, the upright chancellor of Henry VIII.'s time, says, in his Utopia, written in the year 1516: "Nor so stoical ordinances are to be borne withal, as to count all offences of such equality, that the killing of a man, or the taking of his money from him, were both one matter." And yet the criminal laws of England, in each succeeding century, had grown more and more severe, until they had indeed become such "stoical ordinances" as were not "to be borne." The penalty of death was inflicted almost without distinction of crime. Such offences as stealing to the amount of forty shillings from a dwelling-house, or picking a pocket of five shillings, or robbing a bleaching-ground or a coal-vessel, was each subjected to capital punishment. The consequence was that the laws were but partially executed, and crime increased at a fearful rate. Thieves were encouraged in their wickedness, because few were willing to bring a fellow-being to trial for stealing a small amount of property, when they knew the penalty to be death. Sir Samuel Romilly, a statesman ever wise and active for good, labored during the entire course of his long and valuable life to procure an amelioration of these cruel laws. He succeeded in getting the penalty of death remitted 1808. for stealing from the person to the amount of five shillings, and subsequently for stealing from bleaching-grounds. After the death of Romilly, Sir James McIntosh, Sir Robert Peel, and others labored in this good cause. An amelioration of the criminal code was obtained by the latter statesman in 1827. Ten years later, a bill passed the houses of parliament, abolishing the death penalty in twenty-one out of thirty-one cases in which it had hitherto existed. On the 20th of June, 1837, William IV. died. Alexandrina Victoria, the daughter of his brother, the Duke of Kent, succeeded to the throne. QUESTIONS.-How was the question of political reform treated in the first parliament of William IV. ?-Give the history of Lord John Russell's bill of March, 1831.-What was the effect of the resignation of the ministry?-When and under what circumstances did the reform bill pass?-Describe the provisions of this bill.-Describe the condition of municipal corporations prior to 1835.-What reform was effected in that year.-Who were the earliest advocates of the abolition of the African slave-trade?-Relate the history of Pitt's motion on this question in 1788.-Describe Wilberforce's advocacy of this cause in 1791.-What occasioned the defeat of this bill? With what object was a colony founded at Sierra Leone?-When did the bill for the abolition of the slave-trade pass?-When was slavery in the West Indies abolished?-What number was emancipated? How were the planters remunerated?-Give the report of the committee appointed for the inspection of parishes in the year 1832.-State the provisions of the poor-law of 1834.-Describe the criminal law of England prior to 1837.-What was the result of its` severity? When did William IV. die ?-Who succeeded to the throne? THE CHAPTER LXIV. QUEEN VICTORIA. AGITATION-FATHER QUEEN CHARTISTS CORN-LAW REPEAL 1837. A YOUNG queen of eighteen years, reared in healthful, simple habits, truthful, conscientious, and with a heart full of devotion to her subjects, ascended the throne. No wonder that the hearts and hopes of the nation clustered around her. From childhood she had been noted for punctuality and strict adherence to principle. A simple anecdote of these early years well illustrates her habits in these respects. One summer, when at Tunbridge Wells, her childish fancy was attracted by some little article which she greatly desired as a present for one of her cousins. Finding, however, that she had not sufficient ready money to buy it, this young princess, too conscientious to incur even a trifling debt, cheerfully gave up the purchase until the reception of her quarter's allowance should enable her to pay for it. The shopkeeper kept the article for her, and at seven o'clock on the morning of quarter-day, with all the eagerness of childhood, Victoria was seen riding down on her little donkey to secure the desired purchase. The guarantee which this little incident in the child gave against royal extravagance when she should become a queen, has been amply fulfilled. Three years after her accession, Victoria, to the general satisfaction of her people, married Albert, Prince of SaxeCoburg and Gotha. For several years bad seasons, and consequently bad harvests, had produced great distress throughout England. The condition of agricultural laborers and manufacturing operatives was dreadful in the extreme. The price of food was exorbitant, whilst wages were low, and employment scarce. Many of the operatives united in Trade Associations, demanding work and higher wages. Soon they held torchlight processions, burned factories, assaulted their employers, and showed a determination to obtain redress by physical force. One of the most formidable of these insurrections, was the strike of the Cotton-Spinners' Association in Glasgow. This took place in the spring of 1837, upon which, all the works of that description throughout Scotland were stopped, and more than fifty thousand persons deprived of the means of subsistence. New hands employed by the manufacturers, were so much intimidated by the conspirators, that they dared not enter the works. At length, information having been obtained of the number and place of meeting of the ringleaders, the sheriff of Lanarkshire, with twenty policemen, succeeded in arresting the whole committee, numbering sixteen. No sooner were these men arrested than the intimidation ceased, and all the cottonmills went again into operation. The evidence elicited on the trial of some of the conspirators, proved the existence of "secret select committees," ready to perpetrate the most fearful crimes to attain the objects of the strike. These disclosures roused public opinion; and since then, insurrections of this nature, however violent and formidable, have never been attended by secret organizations for purposes of crime. In the year 1838, the general discontent manifested itself in the serious political combination known as Chartism. A convention of Chartist deputies met in London, and presented to parliament a petition, called a charter, signed by over a million of men. This petition was drawn up on a cylinder of parchment, and literally rolled like a wheel into the house. It demanded the consideration of the six following points:Universal Suffrage;, Vote by Ballot; Paid Representatives in Parliament; Equal Electoral Districts: The Abolition of a Property Qualification; and Annual Parliaments. This charter was presented in June, 1839. Meanwhile the violence of the ignorant operatives and deluded Chartists increased. Strange crimes began to abound -crimes perpetrated by miserable operatives in manufacturing towns, or in the collieries, or by farm servants in the rural districts, who were maddened by hunger, and whose worst passions were acted upon by factious Chartists. Murders were committed for purposes of theft. Holes were bored in ships, that they might be cast away, and the wretched perpetrators share in the insurance money. Many of the unemployed resorted to the practice of opium-eating, to ward off the pangs of hunger. In fact, the condition of the working-classes in England from the year 1839 to 1843 was truly frightful. The price of food, which was ascribed to the oppressive operation of the corn-laws, was so high, that in some districts the population was in a state bordering hard upon starvation. As early as the year 1815, parliament had passed a cornlaw, by which no foreign grain was allowed to be imported, until the price of corn should have risen to 80s. per qr. This law was passed in reply to the clamors of the agriculturists for protection. It was sorely oppressive to the manufacturer, the merchant, and all other industrial classes of the country. It met with general approbation in parliament, where the landed interest was strong, but even there, it was said: "We cannot persuade ourselves that this law will ever contribute to produce plenty, cheapness, or steadiness of price, .... and to confine the consumer of corn to the produce of his own country, is to refuse to ourselves the benefit of that provision which Providence itself has made for equalizing to man the variations of season and of climate." Of course, these laws, affecting injuriously the mercantile and manufacturing classes, met with earnest and powerful opposition. To their operation was mainly ascribed the distress prevailing throughout the country. In 1838, an AntiCorn-Law-League was formed at Manchester, "for establishing the principles of free trade, especially in grain." It soon gained members all over the country, and among them were many able writers and speakers. They investigated the |