Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/617

Rh ENGLAND.] WILLIAM IV 581 to the king. He threw himself into the dissipations of society, and his hearty geniality and bluff, sailor-like man ners gained him popularity, though they did not secure him respect. He took his seat in the House of Lords, where he defended the extravagancies of the prince of Wales, spoke on the Divorce Bill, vehemently opposed the emanci pation of slaves, and defended slavery on the ground of his experience in the West Indies. Meanwhile he formed a connexion with Mrs Jordan, the actress, with whom he lived on terms of mutual affection and fidelity for nearly twenty years, and the union was only broken off eventually for political reasons. During all this period the prince had lived in comparative obscurity. The death of Princess Charlotte in 1817 brought him forward as in the line of succession to the crown. In 1818 he married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, a lady half his age, without special attrac tions, but of a strong, self-willed nature, which enabled her subsequently to obtain great influence over her husband. On the death of the duke of York in 1827 the duke of Clarence became heir to the throne, and in the same year he was appointed lord high admiral. In discharging the functions of that office he endeavoured to assume indepen dent control of naval affairs, although his patent precluded him from acting without the advice of two members of his council. This involved him in a quarrel with Sir George Cockburn, in which he had to give way. As he still continued to act in defiance of rules, the king was at length obliged to call upon him to resign. On 28th June 1830 the death of George IV. placed him on the throne. During the first two years of his reign England underwent an agitation more violent than any from which it had suffered since 1688. William IV. was well-meaning and conscientious ; but his timidity and irre solution drove ministers to despair, while his anxiety to avoid extremes and his want of insight into affairs pro longed a dangerous crisis and brought the country to the verge of revolution. Immediately after his accession the revolution of July broke out in France and gave a great impulse to the reform movement in England. The king, though he called himself an &quot; old Whig,&quot; did not dismiss the Tory ministry which had governed the country during the last two years of his brother s reign ; but the elections for the new parliament placed them in a minority. Within a fortnight of the opening of parliament they were beaten on a motion for the reform of the civil list, and resigned. Lord Grey undertook to form a ministry, with the avowed intention of bringing in a large measure of reform. This was not in itself displeasing to the king, who had liberal tendencies, and a few years before had supported Catholic emancipation. But, when the struggle in parliament began, his disinclination to take up a decided attitude soon exposed the Government to difficulties. The first Reform Bill was introduced on 1st March 1831 ; the second read ing was carried on 21st March by a majority of one. Shortly afterwards the Government were beaten in commit tee, and offered to resign. The king declined to accept their resignation, but at the same time was unwilling to dissolve, although it was obvious that in the existing parliament a ministry pledged to reform could not retain office. From this dilemma William was rescued by the conduct of the opposition, which, anxious to bring on a change of ministry, moved an address against dissolution. Regarding this as an attack on his prerogative, William at once dissolved parliament (April 1831). The elections gave the ministry an overwhelming majority. The second Reform Bill was brought in in June, and passed its third reading (21st September) by a majority of 109. A fort night later (8th October) the Lords threw out the Bill by a majority of 41. For an account of the subsequent stages of the struggle, see GREY, vol. xi. pp. 191-192. During the rest of his reign William IV. had not much opportunity of active political interference, but on one other occasion he made an unjustifiable use of his pre rogative. Two years after the passing of the Reform Bill the ministry of Lord Grey had become unpopular. In July 1834 Lord Grey himself retired and Lord Melbourne took the lead. There were divergences of opinion in the cabinet, and the king strongly objected to the ministerial policy respecting the Irish Church. On the shallow pre text that Lord Althorp s removal to the Upper House would weaken the ministry in the House of Commons, where, however, they still had a majority, he suddenly dismissed them and summoned Sir Robert Peel (14th November). Peel s ministry, containing many members who had been in the government on the king s accession, was called from its short duration &quot;the ministry of the hundred days.&quot; Its formation clearly indicated that the Whig proclivities of the king, which had never been more than partial or lukewarm, had wholly disappeared. The step was regarded with general disapprobation. It was immediately followed by a dissolution, and the ministry soon found themselves in a minority. Beaten on Lord John Russell s motion re specting the Irish Church (3d April 1835), Peel resigned and Melbourne again came into power. Under him the Whigs retained the lead during the remainder of the reign. This coup d etat of November 1834 was the last occasion on which the English sovereign has attempted to impose an unpopular ministry on the majority in parliament. In May 1837 the king began to show signs of debility, and died from an affection of the heart on the 20th of June, leaving behind him the memory of a genial, frank, warm hearted man, but a blundering, though well-intentioned prince. He was succeeded by his niece Victoria. Authorities. Correspondence of Earl Grey with William IV. and Sir Herbert Taylor, London, 1867 ; Fitzgerald s Life and Times of William IV. ; Greville s Memoirs, Memoirs of Sir Robert Peel; Civil Correspondence of tJie Duke of Wellington ; Walpole s History of England ; Martiueau s History of the Peace ; Molesworth s History ofEncjland. (G. W. P.) WILLIAM, surnamed the LION, king of Scotland from 1165 to 1214. See SCOTLAND, vol. xxi. p. 484. WILLIAM I. (1797-1888), king of Prussia and German emperor, was the second son of Frederick William III. of Prussia and Louisa, a princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was born at Berlin on 22d March 1797, and received the names of Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig. He was a delicate child and had to be carefully nurtured. His con stitution, however, was sound, and he became one of the most vigorous men in Germany. After the battle of Jena he spent three years at Konigsberg and Memel. Mean while he had given evidence of sterling honesty, a strict love of order, and an almost passionate interest in every thing relating to war. On 1st January 1807 he received an officer s patent, and on 30th October 1813 was ap pointed a captain. William accompanied his father in the campaign of 1814, and early in the following year received the iron cross for personal bravery shown at Bar- sur-Aube. He took part in the entry into Paris on 31st March 1814, and afterwards visited London. He joined the Prussian army in the final campaign of the Napoleonic wars, and again entered Paris. The prince was made a colonel and a member of the permanent military commis sion immediately after his twentieth birthday, and at the age of twenty -one became a major-general. In 1820 he received the command of a division ; and during the fol lowing nine years he not only made himself master of the military system of his own country but studied closely those of the other European states. In 1825 he was pro moted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and obtained the command of the corps of guards. On llth June 1829 he married Augusta of Saxe- Weimar.