HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



signally victorious. By a treaty of peace, signed 

 February 26, 1871, France ceded to Germany the 

 province of Alsace and a part of Lorraine, besides 

 agreeing to pay a war indemnity of upwards of 

 ^200,000,000. The Bonapartist dynasty was 

 driven from the throne of France, and King 

 William of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor of 

 Germany. 



The war between Russia and Turkey in 1877-78, 

 in which at one time it seemed likely England 

 might be directly engaged, greatly weakened the 

 Ottoman Empire. At the Congress of Berlin 

 the subject principalities were recognised as 

 independent. Bulgaria was made a principality ; 

 and Batoum and parts of Bessarabia and Armenia 

 were ceded to Russia. By a separate convention, 

 England undertook to defend Asia Minor, and ob- 

 tained the right to occupy and administer Cyprus. 



POLITICAL EVENTS MINISTERIAL CHANGES. 



After the rupture between Sir Robert Peel and 

 e Conservative party, the Liberal party, as the 

 higs are now styled, for a series of years en- 

 joyed power, the chief statesmen being Viscount 

 Palmerston, Lord John (now Earl) Russell, and 

 Mr W. E. Gladstone ; while the Conservative 

 party began to recover under the Earl of Derby 

 and Mr Benjamin Disraeli. The Conservatives 

 came into power in 1859, ^> ut on ty retained it for 

 a short time, during which a resolution was carried 

 admitting the Jews into parliament ; a bill was 

 passed for the abolition of the property qualifica- 

 tion for members of parliament, and an agitation 

 was commenced for further parliamentary reform. 

 Upon this question Lord Derby's government was 

 defeated, and Lord Palmerston was again called 

 to form a ministry. Lord Palmerston continued 

 at the head of affairs till his death, October 18, 

 1865 ; one of the most important measures passed 

 during this period being that for the abolition of 

 the duty on paper, which has given a great im- 

 pulse to newspaper literature. Earl Russell then 

 became Premier, and with Mr Gladstone, who 

 was Chancellor of the Exchequer, brought for- 

 ward, after a general election, a new Reform Bill, 

 proposing to reduce the franchise in burghs to 

 $ ; but, as the bill did not, in some points, 

 meet with the entire approval of parliament, the 

 ministry resigned, in June 1866, and was suc- 

 ceeded by a Conservative administration under 

 Lord Derby and Mr Disraeli. Next year, a 

 Reform Bill for England was carried, which vastly 

 extended the franchise in burghs, by giving it to 

 householders who pay poor-rates, and to persons 

 occupying lodgings of the value of 10, and which 

 also considerably lowered the franchise in coun- 

 ties. In the beginning of 1868, Lord Derby, 

 on account of failing health, retired from the post 

 of Premier, and was succeeded by Mr Disraeli. 

 During this session were passed Reform Bills 

 for Scotland and Ireland, in essential respects 

 identical with that of England. At this time, 

 the country was greatly excited by the state of 

 Ireland. In 1866, there appeared in Ireland a 

 number of wild adventurers from America, mem- 

 bers of what is known as the Fenian Brother- 

 hood. These sought to rouse the native Irish to 

 rebellion, and succeeded to the extent of causing 

 risings in Ireland, which were, however, quickly 

 suppressed, through the suspension of the Habeas 



Corpus Act and other vigorous measures. The 

 perpetration of some dastardly outrages in various 

 parts of England, especially the blowing down 

 of part of the wall of Clerkenwell Prison, led to 

 a general feeling of insecurity throughout the 

 country. During the debate on the Irish Reform 

 Bill, Mr Gladstone moved that the Irish Church 

 should cease to exist as an establishment. Govern- 

 ment opposed the proposal repeatedly, and it was 

 ultimately agreed to take the opinion of the new 

 constituencies on it. Parliament was, therefore, 

 dissolved in November of that year; and the 

 opinion of the country being found to be in favour 

 of Mr Gladstone's policy, Mr Disraeli resigned 

 before the new parliament met, and a new govern- 

 ment was formed, with Mr Gladstone at its head. 

 This government passed the Irish Church and 

 Irish Land Acts; the former, which came into 

 effect on January i, 1871, disestablishing and 

 disendowing the Church of Ireland; and the latter 

 giving outgoing tenants in that country a title to 

 compensation in respect of improvements made 

 by them on their holdings. This government 

 passed several other measures of importance. One, 

 the Army Regulation Bill, made (1871) several 

 important military reforms, at the same time 

 that a royal mandate cancelled the regulations 

 which authorised the purchase or sale of com- 

 missions in the army ; another, supplementary 

 to the Reform Acts, substituted (1872) the ballot 

 for open voting in parliamentary and municipal 

 elections ; while by two comprehensive acts (1870 

 and 1872) primary education has been extended 

 and organised in England and Scotland, being 

 rendered, in the former almost, in the latter 

 absolutely, compulsory. 



In 1874, Mr Gladstone resigned, and a new 

 Conservative administration was formed by Mr 

 Disraeli (afterwards Earl of Beaconsfield). This 

 administration was chiefly memorable for its 

 ' imperialistic ' foreign policy, of which the pro- 

 clamation of the queen as Empress of India, in 

 1877, was a significant event. (See above for the 

 wars in Zululand and Afghanistan.) A general 

 election in 1880 returned a large Liberal majority, 

 and Mr Gladstone became the chief of a new 

 Liberal Cabinet. Its main occupation was the 

 difficult task of maintaining order in Ireland, and 

 remedying Irish grievances. (For the Transvaal 

 and Egyptian wars, see above.) The violent 

 agitation of the Land League was accompanied 

 by murders and other outrages, rents being 

 withheld over a large area; and in 1881, a 

 Peace Preservation Bill was passed, conferring 

 on the administration the power of imprisoning 

 without trial persons reasonably suspected of 

 crime. Several hundred persons, including 

 ultimately several Irish members of parlia- 

 ment, were thus imprisoned for a time. Mean- 

 while, an Irish Land Act conferring unparal- 

 leled privileges on the Irish tenantry had been 

 passed, in spite of much opposition, especially in 

 the House of Lords. This act enables tenants to 

 have judicial rents fixed by courts created for the 

 purpose, recognises the tenant's right to sell his 

 tenancy, and makes provision for advancing 

 money to tenants willing to purchase their hold- 

 ings. In 1882, the affairs of Ireland still mainly 

 occupied parliament. A modification of parlia- 

 mentary procedure was necessitated by the 

 repeated and persistent obstruction of the Irish 



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