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 710 GEORGE IV. band. It was not until he became regent in 1811 that the prince of Wales assumed political importance, and he then gave himself up to the tories. The years 1810 and 1811 were the period of Napoleon's greatest power. By con- quest or by alliance continental Europe was under his control, although Sicily and Portugal were under the protection of England. In 1811 coolness arose between Napoleon and the czar Alexander. Early hi 1812 Sweden be- came allied with Kussia in resistance. The memorable Russian campaign followed. "Wel- lington had taken Badajoz and Ciudad Ro- drigo, and won the battle of Salamanca, and England rejected Napoleon's overtures for peace. War broke out this year with the Uni- ted States, and success at first attended the English arms on the borders of Canada, while the frigate Constitution captured the British frigate Guerriere. In 1813 the war con- tinued with varying fortune in America, and Wellington entered France in October. Na- poleon was driven by the discontent at home to the campaign of 1814, beginning in January ; but while by a bold movement he placed him- self in the rear of his allied enemies, the lat- ter marched upon Paris, which they entered March 31, and Napoleon abdicated and was taken to Elba. In America the city of Wash- ington was taken, Aug. 24, but peace was signed with the United States at Ghent, Dec. 24. On March 1, 1815, Napoleon landed at Cannes, and an army was at once formed to oppose him in the Netherlands, of which Wel- lington took command on April 5. The vic- tory of Waterloo, June 18, made England the most important power of Europe. The only wars of England now were in India, while the attention of the country was mainly given to the development of home industry and the agitation for parliamentary reform. An at- tempt was made in 1817 to assassinate the prince, and there was much discontent at his extravagance and vice. His daughter, the princess Charlotte, died in 1817. He became king, Jan. 29/1820. The Cato street con- spiracy for the assassination of the ministry absorbed attention at the beginning of his reign. The king soon commenced an open persecution of his wife which agitated the whole country. A bill of pains and penalties was introduced into the house of lords, charg- ing the queen with adultery. The trial lasted for many weeks, and the bill passed to a third reading Nov. 10; but the majority for it was so small and public opinion so decidedly pro- nounced against the prosecution, that the gov- ernment withdrew it. Nominally victorious, the queen was really beaten, and died of cha- grin in less than a year. The king visited Ireland, Scotland, and Hanover, and apparently was popular. He was, however, greatly per- plexed by politics. The progress of liberal opinions was making itself felt in England, and the ministry had to go with the world. Castle- reagh's suicide and Canning's promotion were sources of much trouble to him. The foreign policy of Canning, decidedly opposed to the policy of the holy alliance, was eminently dis- tasteful to him. When a French army, at the bidding of the holy alliance, entered Spain to restore absolutism (1823), England was great- ly moved, and probably nothing but financial considerations prevented war with France. When Portugal appealed for English aid against Spain, that aid was promptly given. The in- dependence of the Spanish American countries was effectually promoted. The Greek revolu- tion added to the interest which the English felt in foreign affairs, from classical associa- tions. Internal policy .was liberalized. Peel led the way, through a tory minister, in meli- orating the criminal law; Huskisson's com- mercial ideas began to make head ; Brougham labored in the cause of education ; and the work of Catholic emancipation went vigorously forward. The year 1824 was a period of great material prosperity, and was followed by a crash in 1825. The Burmese war, begun in 1824, ended in 1826 with a considerable acces- sion to the British territory on the eastern coast of the bay of Bengal. Early in 1827 the duke of York, heir presumptive to the crown, died, and the title was transferred to the duke of Clarence, while his office of com- mander-in-chief was given to the duke of Wel- lington. Lord Liverpool, who had been prime minister since 1812, was incapacitated from further attention to business by illness. The contest that followed for the premiership ended in the triumph of Canniog, whereupon seven of his associates resigned, and he was com- pelled to reconstruct the cabinet, which he did on a liberal basis. He died, however, before he could accomplish anything. His successor was Lord Goderich, whose ministry lasted but a few months, during which the Turkish fleet at Navarino was destroyed by the combined squadrons of England, France, and Russia ; an event which the king called " untoward " in his speech at the opening of parliament. The ministry of Goderich was followed by that of Wellington, January, 1828, with the duke as first lord of the treasury and Peel as home secretary. The return of the tories to power was the signal for the revival of the emanci- pation agitation, and the Catholics proved suc- cessful in 1829. The ministry had to choose between civil war and giving up their princi- ples, and they made the sacrifice required of them. The king, whose bigotry and dread of popular ideas increased with his years, stood out to the last against the current of opinion, but was forced to give way. The dissenters had previously been freed from disabilities. These acts, noble though they were, proved the ruin of the tory party, and so demoralized it that it could not stand before the feeling that was soon after roused over Europe by the French revolution of 1830. The king was taken seriously ill early in that year, and died in midsummer. The duke of Wellington, who