established governments. The government of Great Britain, alarmed respecting its own safety, embarked zealously in the European war, with a view to check the dissemination of dem ocratic principles both at home and abroad. 15. The system of operations was devised and managed un der the direction of William Pitt, the son of Lord Chatham who was now at the head of the administration. This calam itous war continued to convulse the Continent for 25 years and, during a part of the time, Great Britain alone had all Europe arrayed against her. But after various fluctuations of failure and success, she came off victorious, yet not without an immense loss of the blood of her subjects, and a vast increase of her national debt. Some of the principal victories, which the British obtained during this war, were those of the Nile and of Trafalgar, by Nelson; and those of Talavera, Salamanca, Vittoria, and Waterloo, by Wellington. 16. The reign of George III., who died in 1820, was longer than that of any other English monarch; and it forms a dis tinguished period in the history of the kingdom, on account of its military events, and the progress of the nation in commerce, wealth, and the arts. During the last ten years of his life, he was afflicted with insanity to such a degree, as entirely disquali fied him for all business, and the Prince of Wales acted as Regent. His talents were not brilliant, nor were his views, as a statesman, enlarged; but his private character was exemplary, and he was much respected by his subjects. 17. George III. was succeeded, in 1820, by his son, George IV., who was a man of talents and accomplishments, but whose life, during both his youth and his manhood, had been marked by great prodigality and dissipation; and there was little in his character or his conduct, while a sovereign, to entitle him to the affection or respect of his subjects. While a prince, and not in power, he connected himself with the opposition, or Whigs; but, both as regent and king, he adhered to the T'ories, to the neglect of his former friends. 18. Soon after the accession of George IV., a bill for divorcing and degrading the queen, Caroline, on charges of misconduct, was introduced into the House of Lords, and, after being carried by a vote of 108 to 99, it was abandoned; and the queen soon after died. 19. The Greeks having for some years maintained a sangui. nary struggle for independence against the Turks, an interposition in their favor was made by England, France, and Russia; and the united fleets of these three powers obtained in 1827, a great victory over the Turkish fleet at Navarino. 20. In 1828, the Corporation and Test Act, which had long operated to exclude Catholics and Dissenters from all corporate offices, was repealed; and it was followed, in 1829, by the stil! more important measure of Catholic Emancipation. By this act, the laws imposing civil disabilities on Roman Catholics were repealed. In addition to these great national measures, many other important alterations and improvements were made in the laws of Great Britain during the reign of George IV. The penal code was improved by rendering punishment more certain, and much less sanguinary. 21. George IV. was succeeded, in 1830, by his brother, the Duke of Clarence, with the title of William IV. In about a month after his accession, a revolution took place in France, which caused the dethronement of Charles X. A wide-spread feeling of uneasiness and disaffection was felt in England, and the country was alarmed by numerous incendiary fires. For many years the subject of a reform of the representation of the people in the House of Commons had been much agitated and it was now more loudly called for than ever before. On the meeting of the new parliament, the Duke of Wellington, the prime minister, unexpectedly expressed himself strongly against any reform; but the duke and his colleagues, not finding themselves supported by a majority of the House of Commons, resigned, and were succeeded by a Whig ministry, with Earl Grey at the head. 22. On the 1st of March, 1831, Lord John Russell, as the organ of the cabinet, brought into parliament the first Reform Bill; but this bill, and also a second one, the ministry failed to carry through both Houses; but a third bill was, after a violent struggle, carried and enacted into a law, in June, 1832. This important measure, which renders the House of Commons a body much more effectually representing the people, occupied the greater part of the first two years of the reign of William, to the exclusion of almost all other measures. 23. The first parliament, elected under the new system, assembled in January, 1833; and the reform of the representation was soon followed by the reform of the Irish church, the abolition of slavery in the British colonies, with a compensa. tion of £20,000,000 paid to the planters; the reform of the poor laws; and the renewal, with important provisions, of the East India Charter. 24. William IV. was succeeded, in 1837, by Queen Vic. toria, the daughter of the Duke of Kent, the fourth son of George III.; and she was married in 1840 to Prince Albert of Coburg. 25. The principal military operations of the British, since the commencement of the reign of Victoria, have been the war in the northwestern part of India with the Afghans, which was terminated by the annexation of the territory of Sinde to the British East India possessions; and the war with China, which was caused by the resistance of the Chinese to the trade in opium. After various successes on the part of the English, a treaty of peace was concluded, in 1842, the Chinese being compelled to pay 21 millions of dollars, to cede the island of Hong Kong, and to open five of their ports to British com merce. 26. Some of the most important recent acts of the British government are the reduction of letter postage to one penny, the repeal of the corn-laws, which restricted the free importa tion of corn, and the repeal of the navigation laws. 27. One of the greatest modern improvements in Great Britain is the construction of railroads throughout all parts of the country. The first railroad on which locomotive steam. engines were used for the conveyance of passengers, was the Manchester and Liverpool Railroad, which was opened for use in 1830. The number of miles of railroad in actual use in Great Britain and Ireland, in 1849, amounted to 5,447. 28. For some years past the public mind in England, Ire land, and Scotland has been much agitated in relation to their respective ecclesiastical establishments. In England loud complaints are made of the overgrown revenues of the Established Church, and the very unequal and unjust distribution of them; and of the oppressed condition of the numerous classes of Dis. senters. 29. "In Ireland," as is observed by Sir Henry Hardinge, "five sixths of the property are Protestant, while five sixths of the population are Catholic." Yet the established religion is that of the Church of England, with a richly endowed clergy, while the Catholic clergy derive their support from voluntary contributions and from fees from their people, who are, for the most part, extremely poor. 30. In Scotland a strenuous effort was made to establish the right of congregations to choose their ministers; but the advocates of this measure, after a long contest, failed of their object, and in 1843, about 460 out of somewhat more than 1,200 ministers of the Established Church, "seceded in order to free themselves from the interference of the civil courts in ecclesiastical matters." The seceders, consisting of the minis ters and such of the laity as followed them, a large and re spectable body, now form the "Free Church of Scotland." TABLE OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. - No. 1. The figures on the left hand of the kings, in these tables, denote the commencement o their reigns. Thus it appears that Egbert began to reign in 827, and reigned 11 years. TABLE OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. - No 2. 3 James I. 25 Charles I. 17th 53 Cromwell 60 Charles II. 85 James II. ys. House of Tudor. 24 Marries Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., uniting the Houses of York & Lancaster; commerce encouraged; the Feudal System declines. 38 A cruel tyrant; victory of Flodden by Surrey, introduces the Reformation; 2 queens divorced two beheaded; Wolsey disgraced; Bp. Fisher, Sir T. More, Cromwell, and Surrey beheaded 6 Promotes the Reformation, aided by Cranmer. 5 Restores Cath. relig.; marries Philip II. of Spain Jane Grey beheaded; many Protestants burnt 44 Has an auspicious reign, assisted by Bacon, Bur leigh, Walsingham, &c.; agriculture, commerce, and literature flourish; the Church of England established; Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded; the Spanish Armada destroyed. House of Stuart. 22 Unites the crowns of England and Scotland; the Gunpowder Plot defeated; the Bible translated; the Puritans settle at Plymouth, Mass. 24 Despotic; attempts to raise money without consent of Parliament; civil war rages; Strafford and Laud beheaded; Charles defeated and beheaded (1649); the Commonwealth begas. 5 Dissolves the Long Parliament, and becomes Protector. Navigation Act. Dutch war. 25 Profligate; his reign injurious to liberty and morality; Plague and Fire in London; Clarendon banished; Russell and Alg. Sydney executed. 4 Attempts to establish the Catholic religion, and is obliged to abdicate; hence the Revolution. 89 William III. & Mary 13 Constitution confirmed: battles of Boyne and La Hogue: Peace of Ryswick: Nat. Debt begins. 12 Marlborough & Eugene's victories of Blenheim, 10 A Bill of Pains and Penalties brought into Par- |