Saxe-Coburg-Gotha;2 and their family consisted of four sons, Albert-Edward (Prince of Wales), Alfred, Arthur, and Leopold; and five daughters, Victoria, Alice, Helena, Louise, and Beatrice. At the Queen's accession Hanover became a separate kingdom, as there is a law in that country against any woman wearing the crown; and Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, fifth son of George the Third, became its King. 3. Early in the reign a dispute arose with China about the trade in opium, a drug which the Chinese love to smoke and chew. The Emperor, wishing to put an end to these bad habits, ordered that no opium should be allowed to enter China, and destroyed many cargoes which British merchants had tried to 'smuggle into Chinese ports from India, where it is grown. He also threw several British subjects into prison. 1840 A. D. 1842 A. D. 4. War was declared. British troops captured several large towns, and forced the Chinese to open five ports to British trade, to pay a large sum of money, and to give up the island of Hong-Kong, which has ever since belonged to England. 5. One of the most important events of the reign was the Repeal of the Corn Laws. High duties had been charged on all corn brought into the country from abroad. This made bread dear; and Richard Cobden proposed that the duties A.D. 1846 should be taken off. The farmers went against this with all their might, as they wished to get a high price for their corn. They called loudly for "Protection;" but by the 'eloquent speeches of Mr. Cobden and Sir Robert Peel, the cause of “Free Trade" triumphed, and the duty on wheat was very soon done away with. 1848 A. D. 4 6. The year 1848 was a very 'stormy one throughout Europe. A new Revolution took place in France. King Louis Philippe escaped to England, and France was once more a Republic. Louis Napoleon was chosen President, and afterwards Emperor--a title which he kept till 1870. 7. The peaceful progress of England was shown by the Great Exhibition which was held in a Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. The grand A.D. 'idea of exhibitions of the works of different nations was first started by Albert, the Prince Consort. 1851 car-goes, ship-loads. drug, article used as medicine. 1 Kensington Palace. In Kensington Park, in the west of London. 2 Saxe-Coburg-Go'tha. - One of the Saxon States of Germany. 3 Hong-Kong'.-An island east of the entrance to the Canton river. It is now a British colony. It is 8 miles long, and from 2 to 6 broad. pro-tec-tion, the taxing of imported smug-gle, carry secretly. 4 Louis Napoleon.-A nephew of the great Napoleon. He was defeated and taken prisoner by the Prussians in 1870. The French Empire was then abolished, and a Republic was set up. Napoleon was soon released by the Prussians, and went to England, where he died in 1873. 59.-SIR ROBERT PEEL. 1. When Sir Robert Peel was born, his father vowed that he would devote him to the service of his country. The vow was faithfully kept. The whole education and home-training of the boy were 'designed with a view to his one day entering the House of Commons. 2. From a very early age he was required by his father to recite the speeches of great orators. He was required also to make speeches at table, on the spur of the moment; and he was made to repeat every Sunday as much of the sermon as his memory could retain. 3. From home, young Peel was sent to Harrow School, where he excelled both as a reciter and as an actor. There he had, as his "form-fellow," Lord Byron, who admits that as a scholar Peel was greatly his superior. 4. Young Peel next went to Oxford, where he greatly distinguished himself by his talents, his studious habits, and his gentlemanly conduct. He was no mere book-worm, however. He was a keen cricketer, and he was very fond of boating. At the close of his college career, he took, for the first time under the new system of examination, a "double first class degree;" that is to say, he was first in classics and first also in mathematics. 5. Peel came of age in February 1809, and almost immediately thereafter he entered the House of Commons as member for Cashel.1 The plans which old Sir Robert Peel had laid down for his son's preparation for life had thus been completely carried out. If, instead of being a human creature, the son had been a machine, the father's design could not have been more exactly fulfilled. 6. Young Peel's 'reputation had preceded him when he entered public life, and every opportunity was given him to show his powers. the Address to the Throne in 1810. He seconded private secretary to Lord Liverpool; and when that nobleman became Premier in 1812, Peel, then only twenty-four years of age, was made Chief Secretary for Ireland. 7. Peel 'devoted himself to his parliamentary and his official duties with the same zeal and industry which he had shown during his training at home, at school, and at college. With him, sitting in the House of Commons was not a fashionable dignity; it was an arduous apprenticeship to the profession of politics. 8. His rise, however, was steady and rapid. In 1818 he was selected to represent the University of Oxford in Parliament. In 1822 he became Home Secretary in the Liverpool Administration. He applied himself with his usual method and earnestness to improving and simplifying the Criminal Law; and his famous "Five Acts are a monument at once of his industry and of his 'humanity. "2 9. Peel's father, who was also in Parliament, was a stanch Tory. The son began life in the same political faith, and adhered to it as long as he could. But with experience and independent study, his opinions underwent great changes. 10. When Peel was convinced that he had been wrong, he did not hesitate to admit his error. There were three great occasions on which Peel not only proclaimed his 'conversion, but also became the active promoter of measures which he had formerly opposed. 11. In 1811, he had voted, with his father, against adopting the recommendation of a committee of the House of Commons, that the Bank of England should resume the making of payments in cash-that is, in coin-instead of continuing to pay in paper money only. In 1819, Peel was himself chairman of a committee that advised resumption, and he carried through Parliament a Bill for that purpose. This 'defection gave great pain to his father, who referred to it feelingly in the House of Commons. 6 12. From the very commencement of his public life, Peel had opposed Catholic emancipation. It was chiefly because of this that he had been 'selected to represent Oxford in 1818. In 1829 he carried through Parliament the Catholic Emancipation Act, which is now 'generally approved. 13. The third question on which Peel changed sides was that of Free Trade. At first he opposed all change in the Corn Laws; then he proposed a sliding-scale; and lastly, in 1846, he carried the Bill for the total repeal of the Corn Laws. His change on this question broke up the Tory party, and led to a re-arrangement of the political forces under the flags of Liberalism and Conservatism. 14. Sir Robert Peel was twice Prime Ministerfirst in 1834-35, and afterwards from 1841 till 1846. The Protectionists, as the opponents of Free Trade were called, avenged themselves on Peel for deserting them, by joining with the Liberals to oppose his Irish Coercion Bill in 1846. He was defeated, and resigned office. During the next four |