Little Arthur's history of England

by Lady Maria Callcott

FOOTNOTES:

[4] This is the end of little Arthur’s History, as first written by Lady Callcott; but for the benefit of the children of the present day who read this little History, a few more chapters are added.

CHAPTER LIX.
WILLIAM IV.—1830 to 1837.
How the Reform Bill was passed; how Slavery in our colonies was abolished; how there were Revolutions in France and Belgium; how the cholera broke out; how railways were established; and how the Houses of Parliament were burned down.

As King George the Fourth left no child to succeed him, his brothers were the next heirs to the throne. The Duke of York, the second son of George the Third, died three years before George the Fourth, and left no child; so William Henry, Duke of Clarence, the third son of George the Third, now mounted the throne. William the Fourth, who had been brought up as a sailor, was at this time sixty-four years old; he was married to an excellent German Princess, named Adelaide of Saxe Meiningen, and he had had two daughters, but they both died in early infancy.

This reign was a short one, but several important changes took place in it, one of which was the passing of the Bill for a reform in the House of Commons. You know how it was settled by King Edward the First that all the large towns, which in his reign were called burghs, should choose one or two persons to go to Parliament and help to make the law. This was nearly six hundred years ago; and since that time a great many little hamlets and villages had grown into large towns, and a great many of the old burghs had dwindled away until only a few houses were left in them, or even none. The people, who were now living in the towns that had grown so large, thought it very hard not to be able to send members to Parliament to tell what was wanted in their towns; and they also thought it was useless for the little burghs, where only a few people lived, to continue sending members. So it was proposed that the large towns or boroughs should be allowed to send members to the House of Commons, according to the number of people in each town, and that the little decayed towns should leave off sending members. This new plan was called the “Reform Bill.” It was talked over a long time in Parliament before it was agreed to; for, although there were a great many people who wished for the change, there were many others who thought it would be dangerous to the welfare of Old England, and both sides had to tell all their reasons for what they thought. At last it was put to the vote whether the Bill should pass or not; and as the greatest number were for making the change, the Bill became law. But I shall have to tell you of another Reform of Parliament under Queen Victoria.

Nearly the next thing that was done was to put an end to slavery in all the colonies belonging to England. A good man, named William Wilberforce, had tried to do this many years ago, in George the Third’s reign; but it was not an easy thing to do, because all those persons who had large estates in the colonies, and who had bought slaves to cultivate the land, had paid a great deal of money for their slaves; and the masters were afraid they should be ruined if the slaves were set free, as there would be no one to sow and dig their fields.

There is no doubt the Parliament and people of England acted wisely in wiping away so great a disgrace as slavery is; and in order to do this with justice they paid a very large sum of money—twenty millions of pounds. When this was at last done, the slaves were made free.

There was a very sudden revolution in France at the beginning of this reign. It only lasted three days, and was called the “Three Days’ Revolution.” Charles the Tenth, the King of France, was expelled, and came over to this country; his cousin Louis Philippe was then chosen by the French people to be their king, and was called the King of the French.

The example of France was followed in Belgium, a country which had been joined to Holland, so as to make but one kingdom, over which the Dutch king reigned. The Belgians fought hard, and succeeded in completely driving away the Dutch; after which they invited Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg to be their king. Although Prince Leopold would not be King of Greece, he accepted the kingdom of Belgium; and he afterwards married the Princess Louise, daughter of Louis Philippe, the new King of the French. He reigned a long time and wisely, and was succeeded by his son, Leopold the Second.