duke of Orleans, son of Philippe-Egalité, was made "king of the French" by the title of LOUIS-PHILIPPE I. An equally sudden revolution separated Belgium from the kingdom of Holland, to which it had been united by the congress of Vienna. Ultimately prince

Leopold became king of the Belgians.

These events had a marked effect on the English elections, which were unfavourable to ministers. The tone of the king's speech, and the declaration of the duke of Wellington against any change in the representation, produced the greatest ferment. There were rumours of vast bodies of reformers marching up to London from the north, and the king's visit to the city on Nov. 9 was put off. At last, on Nov. 15, the government were defeated on the motion of sir H. Parnell for an inquiry into the civil list; they resigned next day, and were succeeded by the ministry of EARL GREY, in which BROUGHAM (b. Sep. 9, 1779) was lord chancellor with a peerage, lord Althorp chancellor of the exchequer and leader of the House of Commons, and the other leading members were lords Lansdowne, Palmerston, Melbourne, Goderich, and Durham, and sir James Graham. Their bill for parliamentary reform was brought in by lord John Russell, who was not in the cabinet, on March 1, 1831. The modest claim of seats for a few great towns was found to be replaced by changes so vast, that the announcement was received at first with silent wonder, and then with derisive shouts; and the first reading was only carried by a majority of 1. A dissolution produced a parliament pledged to the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill." It was carried by large majorities in the commons, after tremendous struggles, but rejected in the lords by a majority of 41 (Oct. 3). Formidable riots ensued. Nottingham Castle, the residence of the duke of Newcastle, was burnt; and Bristol was in the hands of the mob for several days, and a large part of the city was burnt down. Amidst these commotions, England was visited in the autumn by that new plague, the CHOLERA, which had gradually advanced from India across Asia and Europe. A second great outbreak of it occurred in 1849.

The Reform Bill was brought in again on the meeting of parliament in December, and passed the commons in March, 1832. The opposition of the lords was only overcome by the resolution of the ministry to create a body of new peers, a measure forced upon the king by a temporary resignation, which proved the inability of the Tories to form a government. The execution of the threat was avoided by the wisdom of the duke of Wellington, who advised the king to desire the absence of the great body of opposition peers, and so the bill was carried. It received the royal assent on June 7, 1832, 50 years and a month after Pitt's first motion (p. 296). Its principle was the proportioning of the representation to the

importance of the constituency. All boroughs with less than 2000 inhabitants ceased to return members. In the list of them (Schedule A) were places, such as Gatton and Old Sarum, which had ceased to exist at all, but still returned members on the nomination of the owner of the soil; and, absurd as this arrangement seemed, it was strongly defended as a means of introducing into parliament young and unknown men of great ability, of whom several had in fact sat for nomination boroughs. Places whose population was between 2000 and 4000 were restricted to one member. The 143 seats thus gained were given partly to great towns of modern growth, including the suburbs of London, which were divided into four boroughs; and partly to the counties, several of which were divided into districts, and altogether they returned 159 members, instead of 94. The franchise was greatly extended, on the basis of property (as before) and of income, as tested by the occupation of property. The constituency in boroughs was composed of occupiers of houses to the value of 107.; but in the city of London the livery retained their votes. In the counties the voters were freeholders to the value of 40s., copyholders of 10l. per annum, leaseholders of 107. for 60 years or 501. for 20 years, and, lastly, tenants paying a rent of 50l. The last (called the "Chandos clause," from its mover) was carried against ministers, who opposed it as likely to create a constituency subservient to the great landlords. There were also important provisions for regulating and shortening elections, and for the registration of voters. Similar bills were passed for Scotland and Ireland, but with some difference in their details, especially as to the amount of the Irish franchise. The parliamentary constitution thus created has remained substantially the same for 30 years; the chief alterations being the extension of the Irish franchise, and the abolition of the "property qualification" for members. The two boroughs of Sudbury and St. Albans have been disfranchised for corruption; and their four seats have been lately (1861) given, one to Birkenhead, one to South Lancashire, and two to the West Riding of Yorkshire,* making the composition of parliament as follows

Grand Total of Members for the United Kingdom, 658.

The first reformed parliament met on Feb. 5, 1833. The Tory party seemed almost destroyed, but the tactics of sir Robert Peel

These two members are not to be elected till after the present parliament (1862).

organized a steady though small opposition, who assumed the name of Conservatives. The overwhelming majority for ministers enabled them to carry some great measures, especially the abolition of negro slavery in the West Indies and Mauritius, which was effected at a cost of 20,000,000l. for compensation to the slaveholders. The motions of the radical party for vote by ballot, triennial parliaments, and a further extension of the suffrage, were unsuccessful. Ireland was a constant source of trouble. Neither Catholic emancipation, nor reform, nor the reduction of the Protestant Church establishment, which was carried by the Irish secretary Mr. STANLEY (now the earl of Derby), could satisfy the priests and demagogues. O'Connell headed a new agitation for the Repeal of the Union, and collected a larger "rent" than ever, while payment of tithe was generally refused. The disorders which thus arose were met by a Coercion Act, which produced a schism between the Whigs and Irish Catholics. The proposal to apply Irish Church property to purposes of education led to the secession of sir James Graham, lord Stanley, lord Ripon, and the duke of Richmond from the ministry (May 1834); and earl Grey soon resigned (July). Lord Melbourne, formerly Mr. Lamb, now became premier, and carried an important bill for the amendment of the poor-law. But the ministry were much weakened; and on the removal of lord Althorp from the House of Commons by the death of his father, earl Spencer, the king suddenly dismissed them (Nov. 1834), and sent for sir ROBERT PEEL from Rome, the duke of Wellington meanwhile holding the seals of several departments.

Sir Robert Peel undertook the government on "liberal conservative" principles, and appealed to the country. But his intentions, since known to be sincere, were distrusted at the time, and, though he gained greatly by the new elections, he was still in a minority, and after several defeats he resigned (April 1835). Lord Melbourne returned to office, but without lord Brougham, who, however, helped the government to carry their measure for municipal reform (1836). They also passed an act authorizing marriages by dissenting clergymen and by a purely civil form, coupled with a general system for registering births, marriages, and deaths. The support of O'Connell, however, made the Conservatives the more hostile to the ministry, and they were violently attacked by the Radicals. At this juncture the king died, June 20, 1837, in the seventy-second year of his age, and within a week of completing the seventh year of his reign. He was succeeded by his niece the princess Victoria of Kent, and in Hanover by his brother Ernest, duke of Cumberland. The joy of the nation at the accession of a young and hopeful princess was not diminished by the loss of a troublesome burthen and an unpopular prince.

VICTORIA I., our present most gracious and beloved queen, was proclaimed on June 21, 1837, by her two names of Alexandrina Victoria, but she immediately dropped the former. She was born, May 24, 1819. The death of her father (Jan. 23, 1820) left her to the sole care of her mother, Victoria, duchess of Kent and princess of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, the sister of prince Leopold; and the charge was fulfilled with a care and wisdom, of which the fruit has been shown in every step of her Majesty's life.

She soon displayed a character totally opposite to the selfish indolence of George IV., and the weak good nature of William IV. She devoted herself to public and private duty with diligence, activity, punctuality, and economy. Having given up the domains of the crown for a very moderate civil list, she speedily paid her father's debts and those contracted by her mother for her education. Her accession was hailed with cheerful hope, based on the knowledge of the training she had received, and with chivalrous devotion to a second virgin queen, who had the advantage over Elizabeth in youth and gentleness. She was wisely guided into the strict path

of the constitution by lord Melbourne, and after him by succeeding ministers, by her lamented consort, and by the duke of Wellington, whose advice was always sought in great emergencies.

The queen was welcomed with enthusiasm on her first public appearance in the city, Nov. 9, 1837. Lord Melbourne's tottering ministry revived in the sunshine of her favour and in the strength of her liberal principles; but there were clouds around and breakers ahead. They were suspected by the Radicals of receding from liberal principles under shelter of court favour, especially when lord John Russell announced the "finality" of the Reform Act (Nov. 1837). Offence was given by their resistance to the shortening of the term of "apprenticeship" which preceded the final emancipation of the negroes. Their Irish policy offended the Tories without satisfying the Repealers; and in CANADA they had to meet a formidable rebellion with measures of coercion. This rebellion led to the settlement of the affairs of Canada by lord Durham in the following year, and the union of the two provinces under a new and popular constitution. There was a marked coolness in the queen's reception on her way to open parliament at the beginning of 1838. The Conservatives under sir Robert Peel gained strength in the commons, and the government were in a minority in the lords, where they were assailed by the tactics of Lyndhurst and the invectives of Brougham. The Radicals raised a cry for " Peerage Reform," which ministers lost popularity by opposing. The bad harvests of 1837 and 1838 inflamed popular discontent, and a formidable agitation was raised by the Chartists, who propounded a new "People's Charter" of five points, namely, universal suffrage, vote by ballot, triennial parliaments, equal electoral districts, and salaries for members of parliament. Lastly, the repeal of the corn-laws was demanded by the Anti-Corn-Law League, which was formed at Manchester by Mr. RICHARD COBDEN, in September, 1838. At the same time the finances of the country were falling into confusion. In 1839 the ministry were defeated, and resigned; but, sir Robert Peel having been prevented from forming a government by a matter relating to the court, they returned to office. In the autumn there were serious Chartist disturbances in Wales, and blood was shed in an attack on Newport.

On February 10, 1840, her Majesty was married to her cousin, Francis ALBERT Augustus Charles Emanuel, second son of the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was born Aug. 19, 1819. Parliament voted him an annuity of 30,000l., and the queen afterwards conferred on him the dignity of PRINCE CONSORT. In this year was formed the Quadruple Treaty between England, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, for the protection of the sultan of Turkey against his rebellious ENG.

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