i 1819. It had an unexpected effect upon thoughtful men all over the country. Till then there had been little disposition amongst well-educated persons to favour the demands of the artisans. Nobody who knew anything about politics could think that it would be wise to give every man a vote in those days of ignorance. But no one who thought seriously could doubt that the crowd at Manchester had been grievously wronged. When they were attacked by the soldiers they had committed no offence against the law, and had simply come to listen to speeches in a peaceable and orderly way. The Government most unwisely declared the magistrates to have acted rightly, before they had had time to inquire whether they had or not. Parliament was on their side, and made new laws, known as The Six Acts, to stop seditious meetings. But many people, therefore, who had hitherto supported the Government, were so disgusted that they began to turn their minds to consider whether there might not be some way in which things might be altered for the better.

7. Death of George III.-The year after the Manchester Massacre the poor blind, mad old king died. His son, the Prince Regent, became king, under the name of George IV.

CHAPTER XLIII.

REIGN OF GEORGE IV.

(1820-1830.)

1. The Cato-Street Conspiracy. When many people are dissatisfied it often happens that there are some who think that the easiest way to have right done is to murder those whom they think to be guilty. So it had been in the time of the Gunpowder Plot, and so it was again now. A man named Thistlewood formed a plan with some others for killing all the ministers as they were at dinner together. The plot is known as the Cato-Street Conspiracy, because the conspirators met in CatoStreet, a small street near the Edgware Road. The plot was however found out, and the plotters seized, though they succeeded in killing one of the policemen sent after them, and in wounding three others.

2. George Canning; Foreign Policy. In 1822 two men entered the Government who did very much to change its character, and to lead it in a better way. They were George Canning and Robert Peel. Canning became Foreign Secretary, that is to say, the minister who has to manage all the arrangements with Foreign States. The kings and emperors of the Continent were much more frightened lest there should be rebellions in their dominions than even the English Government had been, and they agreed to send troops to put down any rebellion which might happen, even in states which were not their own. An Austrian army had

marched into Italy to put down a rebellion which had resulted in establishing a parliament in Naples, and soon after Canning came into office a French army marched into Spain to put down a rebellion which had had the same result at Madrid. The French restored the government of the cruel Ferdinand VII., and Ferdinand VII. then wanted to send Spanish soldiers to Portugal, because Portugal had established a parliament. Canning sent British soldiers to the help of the Portuguese, and the Spaniards left Portugal alone. Without going to war Canning did much to help the weak against the strong. There had been a long struggle in America, in which the Spanish colonies, Mexico, Peru, Chili, and others had been striving to free themselves from Spain. Canning came forward to treat them as independent states, as they really were. In the east of Europe, too, a bitter conflict was being waged. Greece was striving to set itself free from the brutal Turks. Most of the governments of Europe did not like this, and thought that the Greeks were setting a bad example of rebellion. Canning was unable to do anything for the Greeks, but he let them understand that he wished them well.

3. Peel; Reform of the Criminal Law.-Peel had become Home Secretary almost at the same time that Canning had become Foreign Secretary. He had to look after the affairs of the people at home. He set himself at once to do useful work. He took up the task which Romilly, who was now dead, had begun, and persuaded Parliament to do away with a great number of laws inflicting the punishment of

death for very slight offences. At the beginning of the century there were no less than two hundred crimes which were punished by hanging. Any one, for instance, who stole fish out of a pond, who hunted in the king's forests, or who injured Westminster Bridge, was liable to be hanged. The House of Commons had again and again voted that men should no longer be put to death for such things, but the House of Lords had been obstinate. Peel insisted that a less punishment than that of death should be imposed on those who had been guilty of at least a hundred of these small crimes. The House of Lords gave way, and it became known that there was at last a man in the Government who could be trusted to make wise improvements.

4. Huskisson's Commercial Reforms. Another member of the Government, Mr. Huskisson, began to diminish the payments made when foreign goods were brought into the country. It was a commencement of freedom of trade. People began to see that they would be better off by making trade with foreign nations as easy as possible, instead of making it as hard as possible. What was done was indeed only a beginning, but this, and all the other useful things that the Government was now doing, helped to put an end to all that ill-feeling which had caused such trouble a few years before. There were now no Manchester Massacres or Cato-Street Conspiracies, because Government and Parliament were doing their best to help the people, instead of merely doing their best to keep them down.

5. The Catholic Association. There had been

formed in Ireland a society known as the Catholic Association. Its object was to obtain for Catholics. the right of holding offices and sitting in Parliament. At its head was Daniel O'Connell. He was a most eloquent speaker, and he had a good cause. The Catholic Association became so powerful in Ireland that many people in England were frightened lest it should bring about a rebellion. A law was passed to put an end to it, but the law was so badly made that the Association was able to go on just as if there had been no law at all. Fortunately there were men in Parliament who could understand that what the Association asked ought to be granted. The House of Commons passed a Bill for giving to the Catholics their rights. Canning was in favour of this. Peel was against it. The House of Lords rejected the Bill, and nothing more was done for some years.

6. The Representative System.-Another matter about which there had been much discussion was

Parliamentary Reform. There were many great towns in England, such as Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, which sent no members to Parliament. There were many little villages which sent two members apiece. Of course the villagers did not really choose the members to please themselves. They had to give their votes to the man who was recommended to them by the great landowner on whose estates they lived. Sometimes even there were no villagers to vote. One borough sending members to Parliament was only a ruined wall in a gentleman's park. Another was a grassy