tion. Of the four, England and Prussia were first ready. An English army under Wellington, and a Prussian army under Blucher, appeared in the Netherlands. Napoleon dashed across the French frontier to attack them whilst they were still separated. He beat the Prussians and drove them back, fancying that they would retreat towards their own home, and that the English, who were not nearly as many as his own troops, would be left alone to resist him. He attacked Wellington at Waterloo. For some hours the English army had to resist the charges of the French. They held out bravely, though most of them had never been in battle before. Yet unless they were succoured they would hardly hold out to the end. In the afternoon help came. The Prussians were seen marching to their aid. Napoleon found that he had two armies to meet instead of one. The whole French army fled in utter rout. Napoleon was once more deposed, and gave himself up to the captain of an English ship. He was carried to St. Helena, and there he was kept in safety till he died, that he might no more trouble the nations which he had afflicted so long. Lewis XVIII. was again set upon the throne of France.

3. General Distress.-England was now at peace. She had done her duty to Europe. Those who do their duty must not expect that it will bring no hardships with it. For a man to do his duty means that he is ready to give up many things that are pleasant, and to suffer much which is unpleasant. It is so with nations as well as men. There was

terrible suffering after the war. Millions of pounds had been spent and lost to the country in supporting the war. This and other causes brought about the ruin of manufacturers and farmers. The ruin of manufacturers and farmers brought sharp distress to the labourers and the artisans. Poor men were more jignorant then than they are now, and they broke cut into riots, as if rioting would give them work, or earn them money.

4. Romilly as a Criminal-Law Reformer.-The Government was frightened. Mr. Perceval, the Prime Minister, had been murdered some years before, and had been succeeded by Lord Liverpool. Lord Liverpool was a man of kind disposition, who left the business of governing very much to the other ministers, and the other ministers were still frightened lest what had happened in France at the Revolution should happen in England. They did not like changes to be made, and thought it best to keep everything as it was. One man in the House of Commons, Sir Samuel Romilly, thought that the cruel laws which had come down from the old England of the Plantagenets and Tudors ought to be altered. It was law that any one who picked a pocket of more than five shillings, or carried off goods to the same amount from a shop, should be hanged. Some years before Romilly had induced Parliament to agree to abolish the hanging of pickpockets, but the House of Lords refused to abolish hanging for those who robbed a shop. Romilly again tried to persuade the House of Lords to be merciful, but they were stubborn, and the hangings still went on.

5. Agitation in the Country.-Amongst the artisans of the north of England a demand arose for Parliamentary Reform. They saw how much was amiss, and they thought that if every man had a vote, and there was a fresh Parliament every year, things would mend. They forgot that the greater number of men in England could neither read nor write, and that it might be dangerous to subject the Government to the control of those who were so very ignorant. In London a crowd marched into the City, but it was easily driven back and its leaders secured by the Lord Mayor and a few citizens. All this frightened the Government. They obtained from Parliament new laws to enable them to put down rebellion. There was no rebellion to be feared, though the working-men knew that they were miserable, and wanted to be better off. A large number of men collected at Manchester, and set off towards London to ask for relief. Some of them had blankets rolled up on their backs, perhaps to keep them warm by night, so that their procession is known as the March of the Blanketeers. They never got further than Macclesfield. Some were driven home again, some grew tired, and went home of their own accord. In Derbyshire a man named Brandreth, who was half mad, headed about twenty men with pikes and guns, broke into several houses to search for arms, and shot one unfortunate man. His numbers increased to a hundred. They were met by a party of soldiers. Most of them ran away, but some were taken. Three of these were hanged, and others sentenced to various punishments. The Government

ing the miserable inhabitants, plundering and destroying whatever came into their hands.

11. The Battle of Salamanca.- Happily British soldiers would not now behave like wild beasts. Wellington had none others to lead. Before long he came up with a French army at Salamanca. The French general moved his troops in an awkward way across the field of battle. At last,' said Wellington, 'I have him.' He ordered his men to advance, and gained a complete victory. He had gained no such victory before. He went to Madrid, where the Spaniards received him with the greatest honours. King Joseph fled before him. Wellington, however, did not quite conquer Spain in this year. He carried his army to Burgos, and laid siege to it. But the French armies gathered round him, and he had to go back to Portugal. Yet even this failure, as it seemed, was the beginning of success. The French armies had to leave the south of Spain, in order to meet Wellington in the north, and the south of Spain was thus set free from their presence.

12. Napoleon's Russian Campaign.-Whilst Wellington was fighting at Salamanca and Burgos, Napoleon was marching through Russia. The Russians retreated before him. There was one tremendous battle, after which he reached Moscow. He expected that the Russians would make peace when he had taken Moscow, but instead of making peace they set fire to Moscow. Napoleon and his army had nowhere to shelter themselves against the bitter cold of the Russian winter which was coming on. Even if they had been able to keep themselves

warm at Moscow, they had not provisions enough to feed on till summer came, as they had been so sure that the Russians would submit that they had not brought large stores with them. There was no help. hundreds of miles.

for it. They had to go back for Soon the snow began to fall, and the bitter frosty wind swept over the level plains. For a time they struggled on. Then they began to give way. The hard frost was bad enough to bear when they were on the march, but it was terrible at night, when they had to lie down on the snow round large fires of wood which, large as they were, were not enough to warm them. Every morning when they started some of their comrades were left behind frozen to death. Others lagged behind, worn out with cold and fatigue, and dropped dead upon the snow. Fewer and fewer they grew as they struggled on, with pale and hunger-stricken faces. Of 400,000 men who had entered Russia, only 20,000 came out. Napoleon's grand army was destroyed.

13. The Uprising of Prussia and the Battle of Vittoria. The pursuing Russian army advanced into Prussia. Prussia and its king resolved to rise against Napoleon. From one end of the land to the other the cry arose for deliverance. From field and city, the volunteers poured forth, to be drilled and disciplined, that they might fight worthily for their Fatherland. Napoleon came amongst them with a new army, for the most part composed of young lads. His extraordinary military skill enabled him to beat the Russians and Prussians in two great battles. Then the Austrians joined his enemies.