DEATH AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM IV.

411

selves to the capture and sale of their countrymen, that legiti- Ch.30 mate trade would be more profitable to them in the end, than A. D. the continuance of so accursed a commerce in man. For this 1834 purpose, negotiations have been opened with the chiefs; and to the recent discoveries of Dr. Livingstone encourage the hope 1837. that a better day is about to dawn on the oppressed children of Ham.

But to return to our brief sketch of English affairs. In 1834 the Whig ministry was overthrown, and the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel returned to office. Their tenure of power was, however, but of short duration. In the year following the retirement of Lord Grey, the Tory adminis- Munitration came to an end, and was succeeded by the ministry of cipal CorpoLord Melbourne, under whose auspices municipal reform, as ration the complement of that which had already been effected in Bill. the representation, was carried out. By the acts now passed, the administration of local affairs in the various corporations of the empire was conformed to that of the nation, by the admission of large bodies of the rate-payers to the right of choosing their magistrates.

liam

The growing infirmities of the King, during this year, Death clearly indicated that his life would not be of long conti- of Wilnuance. On the 20th of June (1837) he sank under accu-IV. mulated disorders, and was succeeded by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. By this event the kingdom of Hanover was separated from Britain, as its constitution forbad female succession. The crown, therefore, now passed to the Duke of Cumberland, who ascended the throne under the title of King Ernest Augustus. He reigned as such until his death, which took place in 1851, when he was succeeded by his son, George V.

ter.

William IV., who was sixty-five years of age when he His ascended the throne, was a very different man from the fasci- characnating but selfish monarch whom he succeeded. He had early been placed in the navy, and he had acquired there most of the characteristics which are peculiar to that profession. He was frank, straightforward, and conscientious, but limited in

412

A. D.

ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

Ch.30 his views, and very deficient in general cultivation of mind. His weakness was that form of vanity which delights in 1838. popular approbation, and to obtain this he affected, when first called to royal power, a degree of familiarity which somewhat impaired his dignity. He enjoyed, during his seven years' reign, the companionship of an admirable wife, the Princess Adelaide of Saxe Meiningen, by whom he had two children, neither of which survived infancy, and he died in the enjoyment of universal respect and esteem.

Coronation of Queen

Vic

toria.

Marriage of the

The coronation of Queen Victoria, which took place on the 28th of June, 1838, was a magnificent spectacle, and was welcomed with unfeigned joy by all who witnessed it. The change of rulers was on the whole favourable to the Whigs, under whose auspices the Princess Royal had been carefully educated by her mother, the Duchess of Kent. Public affairs consequently suffered no interruption.

The Canadian rebellion, which broke out in the year 1837, for a little time threw a dark shadow across the path of the young Queen. Its rapid suppression, and the immediate removal of real grievances, restored tranquillity, and happily led to increased loyalty on the part of the colonists.

The marriage of the Queen to Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg, which took place on the 10th of February, 1840, gave great Queen. satisfaction to the nation, and has happily been productive of the highest domestic happiness to the parties more immediately concerned.

nistan.

The Affghan war, which opened in December, 1838, eventually brought with it an unparalleled calamity to the British War in army in India. At first, success appeared to be secure. The Affgha- capture of Ghuznee, a strongly fortified place, which fell on the 22nd of July, 1839, was one of the most gallant exploits of the English army. It led to an immediate and triumphant entrance into Cabul, and the restoration of the monarch for whose benefit the expedition had been undertaken. The counteraction of Russian influences, and certain commercial advantages, were to be the reward of the enterprise.

THE WAR IN AFFGHANISTAN.

413

All remained quiet at Cabul under the new sovereign, who Ch.30 was supported by the English army, until the winter of 1839, A. D. when discontent began to show itself, in consequence of some 1839 of the measures of the restored king, whose proceedings were to unfortunately identified with those of the British. In April, 1843. 1841, General Elphinstone, then a great invalid, assumed the command of the English forces; and in the month of November following, a new and violent insurrection suddenly and unexpectedly burst forth. Sir Alexander Burnes, and many others, were murdered, and the fort in which the provisions of the army was stored, fell into the hands of the barbarians.

trous

On the 6th of January, 1842, the retreat of the army com- Disasmenced; and without wood, money, or provisions-with ladies retreat and children among its files-the troops started on a march of the Engof ninety miles, through passes covered with snow. The cold lish. was intense. The soldiers, ill-fed and thoroughly dispirited, sank rapidly, and one by one perished. It was the retreat from Moscow repeated, with aggravated miseries. The survivors, surrounded by implacable enemies who kept up an incessant fire upon them, fought their way day by day through the terrible defiles of the Khyber Pass, until at length all fell or were captured—one man alone, Dr. Brydone, escaping to bring the sad news to General Sale at Jellalabad.

invasion

Cabul.

The sensation produced in England by the intelligence was The profound. Party warfare was hushed in an instant, all second classes agreeing in the necessity of this disaster being in-of stantly repaired. Fresh forces were immediately despatched, and in the following year the English army once more forced its way to Cabul; rescued those who had been taken prisoners, or left as hostages; destroyed the forts; and then abandoned Affghanistan to its accustomed anarchy and crime.

ation of

Scinde, which had long been tributary to Cabul, was in Annex1843 annexed to the British empire; and the war with Scinde. China, which had been commenced in 1840, in consequence of the destruction of a large quantity of opium by the Chinese Commissioner, Lin, was closed by a treaty of peace in the same

414

GREAT BATTLES WITH THE SIKHS.

Ch. 30 year, by which Hong Kong was ceded to the British crown, five ports were thrown open to trade, and a large sum paid 1844. by the Chinese towards the expenses of the war.

A. D.

Con

test

with

the

Sikbs

Three

great battles.

Incor

pora

tion of

the

But peace was not of long duration. At the end of 1843 war again broke out in India. Gwalior was invaded, and by the 13th of January, 1844, was in the occupation of the British. About this time Lord Ellenborough, who had arrived in Calcutta as Governor-General two years before, was recalled, and Sir Henry Hardinge appointed as his successor.

Within a year and a half after his landing, Sir Henry Hardinge found himself, notwithstanding every effort to avoid it, engaged in a desperate contest with the Sikhs, a brave and powerful nation inhabiting the Punjaub, or country of the five rivers, and having dominions in Mooltan, Affghanistan East, and Cashmere. The Sikh army, which had been formed and trained by French officers, was the most formidable in India, and it panted for a war with England. On the 17th of December, 1845, the battle of Moodkee was fought, Lord Gough acting as commander-in-chief, and Sir Henry Hardinge, with generous devotion, serving under him. The contest was sharp and bloody, but crowned with success. Sir Robert Sale, the hero of Jellalabad, fell on this occasion.

The battles of Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sobraon, followedthe most desperate engagements, probably, that were ever fought in India. In each of these engagements the most heroic prowess was displayed, and victory, although at a frightful cost of life, was secured. Lahore, the capital of the enemy, was immediately occupied by the English.

In 1848 the Punjaub was again the theatre of disturbances, and early in 1849 two more terrible battles, those of Chillianwallah and Goojerat, were fought. The results were Pun- decisive; and on the 29th of March, 1849, the Punjaub was jaub. incorporated with the British empire, after which India for some years enjoyed repose.

While these events were in progress, the Melbourne ministry, from a variety of causes, became too weak to carry

THE ANTI-CORN LAW LEAGUE.

415

on the government of the country, and in 1841 the Duke of Ch.30 Wellington and Sir Robert Peel again took the reins.

A. D.

Postage

Of the domestic legislation which the Melbourne ministry 1841. promoted, no measure probably was received with greater satisfaction, or has been productive of happier results, than that which reduced the postage on letters to the uniform rate of one penny. The new law came into operation on the 18th Penny of January, 1840, and has more than justified all that was Act. expected from it. Ten years afterwards the number of letters sent through the post was found to be quadrupled; and although a considerable falling off in revenue has been experienced, no one regrets the change, for, as it has been truly said, "so great an increase in internal communication cannot have taken place without a vast addition to human happiness, and no small strengthening of domestic love, the strongest safeguard of human virtue."

Corn

Law

The great act of the Wellington and Peel ministry was the repeal of the Corn Laws. For many years the modification of these laws had been an object steadily pursued by a large and increasing party in the country; attention to the subject had now become a political necessity. Agitation for the entire removal of all restrictions on the import of food was incessant. A powerful body, under the title of the Anti-Corn AntiLaw League, an association formed at Manchester in September, 1838, for the promotion of free trade, held meetings League. in every town, and, enjoying the liberal support of the manufacturing interest, spared no expense in endeavors to accomplish so important an object. The great champion of the movement, Mr. Cobden, himself a Manchester manufacturer, displayed, during this contest, an amount of energy and talent which at once marked him out as a man whose influence would not pass away with the struggle which had called it forth.

Sir Robert Peel was not unfavorable to a modification of Opinithe law, and readily consented to lower the scale by which the ons of tax on foreign corn was regulated; but he was unwilling to Peel.

Sir R.