CHAPTER XLII. GEORGE IV. Born at St. James's 10 years. Palace. Buried at Windsor. Reigned WILLIAM IV. Born at Buckingham House. Buried at Windsor. Reigned 7 years. From A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1837. VICTORIA. Born at Kensington Palace, May 24, 1819. Became Queen A.D. 1837, whom God preserve! Archbishops of Canterbury. Charles Manners Sutton, A.D. 1805 -1828. William Howley,A.D. 1828-1848. THE prince who became George IV. had for some years exercised the functions of royalty; the change, therefore, occasioned by his father's death was merely nominal. He had long been separated from his wife, who died in 1821. The lamented Princess Charlotte was his only child. Having survived his second brother, Frederic, Duke of York, he was succeeded by William, Duke of Clarence, who became William IV. in 1830. William IV. died after a short reign, in 1837, and was survived by Queen Adelaide', his consort, a princess of Saxe Meiningen. He was succeeded in his English dominions by Victoria, the only daughter of his deceased brother the Duke of Kent. As no female can inherit the crown of Hanover, it devolved on the Duke of Cumberland, the fifth son of George III. On the 10th of February, 1840, her Majesty espoused her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe Gotha. An heir-apparent was born Nov. 9, 1841, and shortly afterwards received the name of Albert. Born Duke of Cornwall, he was within a few months created Prince of Wales. Her Majesty has also at this time (July, 1853) four infant daughters, and three other sons. We abstain from entering into the details of the thirty 1 This amiable queen died in the autumn of 1849, to the great grief f the whole nation. three years which have elapsed since the death of George III. The time has scarcely arrived for judging calmly either of the measures which have been effected during that interval, or of the characters of the men who have been mainly instrumental in effecting them. In several respects we have reason to be eminently thankful to Almighty God. Great revolutions have taken place in part of the Turkish empire in Europe, in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and France. The year 1848 saw almost every throne of the continent shaken. In France the kingship of the younger branch of the Bourbons gave way to a republic. This republic has since given way to an empire. Italy was in commotion from the Alps to its southern extremity. The pope became an exile, dependent on the hospitality of a neighbouring prince, who was himself in fear of being deprived of half his territory. Austria was in danger of losing her Italian dominions and the kingdom. of Hungary; Prussia, troubled by a population newly admitted to political privileges, and ignorant how to use them. But all this while England has not been engaged in any great European struggle, such as that which happily came to an end in 1815. It has indeed been necessary for her, from time to time, to send forth armaments from her shores; as, for instance, in 1827, when an English fleet co-operated with those of France and Russia in the battle of Navarino. In the East, also, partial wars have several times occurred, attended with some loss, though crowned with eventual success to the British arms. This, however, is a very different thing from being entangled in a war with near neighbours, and nations more or less .connected with her in blood and in religion. Again, various disturbances have at times occurred in England. The manufacturing districts, especially Manchester, were disaffected soon after the accession of George IV. Tumults took place in several parts of the country in the years 1831-2. Ireland has been for some years in an unsettled state; distress, local and general, agricultural and commercial, has more than once afflicted the empire. A new and terrible disease has invaded our shores; and the patience of the population has thus been sorely tried in many ways. But their general loyalty has not failed them. The Church has taught them to be faithful subjects and good citizens. The whirlwind which has uprooted other governments has passed harmless over these islands. This was especially evident during the course of the year 1848, when, with the news of the recent French revolution ringing in their ears, the whole nation rose, as one man, against those who would sow sedition, to defend the cause of order and religion. The world, so to speak, was assembled in London in the summer of 1851, on the occasion of the "Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations." Not only was there no disturbance, but the year itself was singularly marked by the absence of ordinary crimes and offences. Among the important measures which have received the royal assent, may be mentioned, the bill to restore to the members of the Romish Church the political privileges which had been withheld from them since the reign of Charles II. This act was passed under the ministry of the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel in the year 1829. A bill of great importance was passed in 1832, under the government of Earl Grey, to reform the constitution of the House of Commons, by giving a more equal representation to the various boroughs and counties in the United Kingdom. In this brief review it would be wrong to omit a bill for the abolition of slavery in the British Possessions; a bill for the more effectual administration of the poor law; and a bill for regulating the government of corporations. These measures, and others also of great importance occasioned much difference of opinion at the period when they were adopted; and their wisdom can only be tested by time. It is important to observe, that during these reigns the empire of England in the East has been greatly increased, and the vast islands of New Holland, New Zealand, and Van Diemen's Land, have to a far greater extent than before been colonized by English subjects. Early in the reign of George III., expeditions of science and discovery were sent forth under the command of Captain Cook, the celebrated navigator; and the success of his efforts has led to many similar measures on the part of the British government. Expeditions to the interior of Africa, and also to the Arctic regions, have been rewarded by many important discoveries. Such efforts lead not only to national greatness and the advancement of science, but are likely to confer still more important blessings on mankind at large. The English language is now spoken, and the English laws are established, over a great portion of the globe; and we cannot but believe that the design of Divine Providence in giving to England its vast colonial empire, has been to afford this country the opportunity of extending the religion of our Lord and Saviour all over the world. In some degree this paramount duty has been acknowledged, as we have already seen, by the establishment of colonial bishoprics, and the sending forth of colonial clergy. The last ten years have witnessed mighty and self-denying efforts on the part of the Church in the work of evangelizing the heathen. And the Church has not been inactive at home. A new English bishopric, the first since the reign of Henry VIII., has been founded; measures have been taken to make the pastoral influence of the clergy felt in men's hearts and homes by reducing the size of dioceses and parishes; a vast number of new churches have been built; schools have been multiplied; and endeavours made to educate persons of every class in His statutes and His judgments, which, if a man do, he shall even live in them." It cannot be concealed that there have been objectionable circumstances in the manner in which even the best things have been brought about; that distrust has prevailed sometimes even among brethren labouring for the same good end; and that sound principles appear occasionally to have been in peril,—and this remark is applicable to ecclesiastical as well as to civil affairs,-but, on the whole, the events of our history, and the conflicting passions and interests of men, have been so overruled hitherto as to issue in the establishment of the happiest government, which the world has ever seen. No country possesses in an equal degree the blessing of a rational and manly freedom; nor has any been more favoured with an intelligent and industrious population, and a succession of distinguished men in every branch of mental and practical excellence. Above all, God has wonderfully preserved, through all these generations, 2 See pp. 165, 166. and all the trials to which it has been exposed, that branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, which we believe to be the purest that can be found in Christendom. May we show our thankfulness for these blessings by using them rightly! May we value them duly in our own generation, and earnestly endeavour to hand them down unimpaired to those that shall come after us; and ever preserve a lively recollection of the duty incumbent on us, to labour diligently in the great work of making known God's way to all the earth, His saving health unto all nations. THE END OF THE HISTORY. |
