326 



GRAYSON, WILLIAM. 



courteous and affable, of a genial, hearty, and 

 affectionate disposition, and was a man whose 

 friendship was to be prized. 



GRAYSON, WILLIAM, for many years a po- 

 litical leader of the Democratic party in Mary- 

 land, and Governor of the State for three 

 years, born in Maryland, in 1786 ; died at his 

 residence in Queen Anne County, Maryland, 

 July 9, 1868. An intelligent and honorable 

 member of the planter class in his native State, 

 Mr. Grayson at an early period identified him- 

 self with the Democratic, or, as it was then 

 called, the Republican party, and became one 

 of its leading men. He served with distinction 

 for several years in both Houses of the General 

 Assembly, and took a prominent part in that 

 exciting struggle to obtain a new and more 

 liberal constitution for the State, which com- 

 menced in 1836, and terminated in 1838 in fa- 

 vor of the Republicans. Gratitude to Mr. Gray- 

 son, who had led in this protracted contest, in- 

 duced them to nominate and elect him Gov- 

 ernor. He served from 1838 to 1841 with 

 great credit, and on the expiration of his term 

 retired to private life. 



GREAT BRITAIN, or the UNITED KINGDOM 

 OF GEEAT BEITAIX AND IEELAND. Area by the 

 latest surveys, 120,879 English square miles. 

 Population, according to the census of 1861, 

 29,321,288. Government. Constitutional mon- 

 archy. Queen, Victoria L, born May 24, 1819 ; 

 crowned, June 28, 1838. Heir-apparent, Prince 

 Albert Edward, born November 9, 1841 ; mar- 

 ried March 10, 1863, to Princess Alexandra, 

 eldest daughter of the present King of Den- 

 mark, Christian IX. The power of the sov- 

 ereign in the actual administration of the affairs 

 of the nation, except in some particulars of 

 minor importance, is but little more than, nom- 

 inal, the real administrators being the Cabinet, 

 who remain in power so long as they have the 

 confidence of a majority of the House of Com- 

 mons. At the commencement of the year 1868, 

 the administration was in the hands of a Con- 

 servative ministry, Earl Derby being the Pre- 

 mier, and First Lord of the Treasury. (See 

 ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for the year 1867.) On 

 the 25th of February, 1868, Earl Derby, whose 

 health had for some time been infirm, resigned 

 the premiership, and the Right Hon. Benjamin 

 Disraeli, who had been, during Earl Derby's ad- 

 ministration in this and former Cabinets, Chan- 

 cellor of the Exchequer, was called to the pre- 

 miership. Two other changes were made in the 

 Cabinet, which, however, still retained its con- 

 servative character ; these were, Lord Cairns, 

 Lord High Chancellor, in place of Lord 

 Chelmsford, and George Ward Hunt, Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer, in place of Mr. Disraeli. 



The Reform Bill, which had been the great 

 measure of Earl Derby's administration, was 

 not yet completed in all its details, and the bills 

 regulating the suffrage in Scotland and Ireland 

 were brought forward and passed after Mr. 

 Disraeli became premier. The measure, in the 

 form in which it finally passed, notwithstand- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



ing some amendments offered by the Liberals, 

 and engrafted upon it, was essentially Mr. Dis- 

 raeli's plan, and, as it was carried through Parlia- 

 ment mainly by his adroit management, and 

 under a considerable show of opposition from 

 many members of the party which supported 

 him, he should have the honor of it. 



Since the Reform Bills of 1832, which had 

 bestowed the right of suffrage upon many thou- 

 sands who had not previously been allowed its 

 exercise, and had abolished the greater part of 

 the rotten boroughs, there had been several 

 attempts made to adopt farther reforms and 

 extend the suffrage to the working-classes. 

 Reform bills were introduced in 1854, in 1859, 

 and in 1860, but so little interest in the subject 

 was manifested by those who would prima- 

 rily be benefited by the measures, that they were 

 withdrawn without being brought to the test 

 of a vote. In 1864, Mr. Gladstone, in a public 

 speech, gave the first impulse to a new agitation 

 of the subject. The election of 1865 gave oc- 

 casion for a somewhat general discussion of 

 the principles on which such a measure should 

 be based. When Lord Palmerston died, and 

 Earl Russell became the Government leader in 

 the House of Lords, and Mr. Gladstone, as 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, the representa- 

 tive of the Government in the Commons, they 

 at once opened the way for a very fall discus- 

 sion of reform measures. Before the close of 

 the session of Parliament in 1866, the Govern- 

 ment introduced a very moderate Reform Bill, 

 the leading provisions of which were the be- 

 stowal of the franchise upon occupiers of prem- 

 ises of the value of 7 in boroughs and of 

 14 in counties. With this was subsequently 

 combined a bill for the redistribution of seats 

 in Parliament (i. e. for taking one member from 

 the small boroughs which had two, and giving 

 to the cities and populous boroughs or the 

 great counties an additional member). When 

 this bill was introduced, it did not give satis- 

 faction ; most of the Conservatives and a con- 

 siderable number of the Liberals were not in 

 favor of any change in the franchise ; another 

 party desired a more radical measure, and Earl 

 Russell and Mr. Gladstone found themselves 

 deserted at a critical time by a portion of their 

 followers, and on an important clause of the bill 

 they were left in a minority of seven. Accepting 

 this as tantamount.to a declaration of want of 

 confidence, the Russell-Gladstone ministry re- 

 signed, and a Conservative Cabinet was formed, 

 of which Earl Derby and Mr. Disraeli were 

 the leaders in the two Houses of Parliament. 

 Though Conservative in its professions, this 

 new ministry came into power pledged to bring 

 forward a reform bill. The maturing of this 

 was left to Mr. Disraeli, for Earl Derby was 

 too strongly bound to the old Conservative 

 party to be inclined to take any very active 

 part in it. Mr. Disraeli moved boldly. A skil- 

 ful strategist, he saw clearly that the only 

 chance of his continuance in power, and the 

 predominance of the Conservative party, lay 



