Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/219

* GREAT BRITAIN. 193 GREAT BRITAIN. economic and political reforms which the times demanded. During the years that followed Waterloo new eorn laws were enacted, and the sternest mea>ures were taken to suppress the rising democracy. In 1817 the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, in 1810 occurred the Jlan- chester JIassacre, and the notorious Six Acts, by which radical meetings were suppressed, were enacted. In 1820 George IV., who had been ap- jiointed Rej;ent for his insane father in 1811, as- cended the throne. DEMOcK.vtv A.Nii Reform, 1S20 till the Pkes- E.xT Time. With the accession of Canning to the P"oreign Office in 1822, England again enteied up- on a more liberal policy by opposing the Holy Al- liance between Kussia, Austria, and Prussia for the suppression of democracy. In 1824 she ac- knowledged the independence of the Spanish col- onies. Assistance was atl'orded to the Greek patriots in their uprising against Turke}' in 1827. In 1823, under Sir Robert Peel, an enliglitened Tory, the criminal law was radically reformed by the abolition of the death penalty for sonic two hundred crimes, most of which were trivial of- fenses. The combination laws, which prohibited any workingmen"s associations, were repealed in 1825, thus paving the way for the trades unions that followed. In 1823 and again in 1825 the import duties were materially reduced. Both of the.se measures were brought about through the in- strumentality of John Huskisson, President of the Board of Trade. During its long exclusion from office the Whig Party luid changed from the close oligarchy of the eighteenth centurj', and had become the advocate of democratic reforms. Lord John Russell, its most energetic leader, waged a long struggle in Parliament for liberal measures, and it was largely owing to his efl'orts that the Corporation Act and the Test Act were rejiealed in 1828 by a Tory Ministry, headed by the Duke of Welling- ton. In 1829, in consequence of the O'Connell agitation for the separation of Ireland from Great Britain, Catholic emancipation was granted. At length, in 1830, a few months after the accession of William IV., the Whigs, by a fusion with the more advanced Conservatives (Canningites), re- turned to power with Earl Grey as Premier. His Ministry was celebrated for the number of re- forms it introduced. In 1831 Lord .Tohn Russell introduced the first Reform Bill in the House of Commons, which, after an appeal to the country, was indorsed by an overwhelming majority, and, notwithstanding the opposition of the Lords, be- came a law in 1832. In its final form this law took away the franchises of forty-one boroughs and deprived thirty others of one member each, distributing this representation among the larger towns and more populous counties. By these measures it transferred the balance of political power to the middle classes of the towns. In the next election the Ministerialists received an overwhelming majority. This majority was composed of two groups, the Radicals and the Whigs, who assumed the common name of Lib- erals. A number of important reforms were in- troduced. The number of bisliops of the Estab- lished Church of Ireland was reduced from twenty-two to twelve, and certain ecclesiastical taxation was levied on the clergy, instead of being levied on the population at large. In 1833 slavery was abolished in the colonies, and a com- pensation of £20,000,000 was given to slave- owners. In the same year the first Factory Act, limiting the labor of children to eight hours a day, was passed through the ell'orts of Lord .sh. ley, and in 1834 the new Poor Law, abolishing out- door relief and charity to the able-bodied, was enacted. The Liberal Ministry of Lord Mel- bourne, which came to power in 1835, also enacted a Municipal Corporations Act providing for the election of corporations by the ratepayers, in place of the old method of self-election. In 1837 a rebellion in Canada gave occasion for uniting the provinces of Upj)er and Lower Canada into one Doiiiiiiion. In 1838 a new Poor Law was en- acted for Ireland, and a Tithe Act was passed, levying the tithes on the landlord instead of on the tenants. During this reform period the for- eign policy, which was directed by the brilliant Lord Palmerston, was an alliance with constitu- tional France against the absolute governments of Prussia, .ustria, and Russia. His support of the Sultan of Turkey against Egv'pt, however, brought about an estrangement with France. Since the regency of peorge IV. the monarchs of England have exerted little influence on the government of the couutrv. Neither George IV. (1820-30) nor William' IV. (1830-37) was a man of ability, and Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was wise enough never to interfere in political afiairs. Her husband. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg (mar- ried in 1840), gained great popularity, not only because of his chivalry to his wife, but because of the tactful manner in which he understood big constitutional position. He did much to further culture and art in Great Britain, and his death in 1861 was much regretted. With the accession of Queen Victoria the crown of Hanover became detached from that of England. In 1841 the new Conservative Party came to power under Sir Robert Peel. It was composed of the Tories and of the more conservative Whigs under the leadership of Lord Stanley, afterwards the Earl of Derby, who had left the Liberal Party. By anticipating the plans of the Liberals the Conservatives sought to make reforms, but in accordance with their own principles. In 1842 and 1845 Peel further reduced the protective tariffs, providing an income ta.x to meet the ensuing deficiency in the revenue. The conditions of women and children employed in the mines were improved by the efforts of Lord .Ashley in Parliament. In consequence of the agitation against the corn laws, headed by Richard Cobden and .lohn Bright, and under the stress of the Irish famine. Peel went so far as entirely to repeal the import duties on corn in 1846. In this measure he was supported by the Liberals, but opposed by the majority of his own party, which represented the land interests. He was consequently overthrown: but the Liberal Min- i.stry of Lord John Russell., which followed, intro- duced no measures of importance, either to re- lieve the tenant farmers in Ireland or to enlarge the suffrage in accordance with the demands of the Chartists in England. The foreign policy of all reform Ministries had lieen one of hostility to Russia. The invasion of .Afghanistan in 1830, in- tended as a measure against Russian aggression, resulted in the disastrous retreat from Kabul and the annihilation of a British army in 1842 — a humiliation in a measure retrieved by the sub- sequent successes of the British. England's alH-