740 



VICTORIA. 



went out of office in 1852, but resumed it as Earl 

 Kusscll in 1865, to remain only about eight months, 

 but in the time intervening between his two pre- 

 mierships he was in every Whig Cabinet. The Earl 

 of Derbv. wlin became 'Prime Minister as a Con- 

 servative iii 1S52, in 1858, and in 18GG, remained 

 in office each term but a short time. The Earl of 

 Aberdeen was the head of a coalition ministry 

 from IS.">ii 1< ls.").">. Lord Palmerston's two Whig 

 administrations \\ere from IS,").") to 1S.">S and from 

 1 s.v.i to IMi.~>. Mr. Disraeli, who was Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer under Lord Derby, succeeded 

 him in February. 186S, but near the elose of the 

 year gave place to Mr. (Jlndstone, who had been 

 a Conservative in his earlier parliamentary career. 

 Mr. Disraeli was Premier again in 1S74, but in 

 isso the Government had become unpopular for 

 many reasons; the wars in Afghanistan and in 

 Zulwand and the general state of financial de- 



Eii-Mini. together with the Irish agitation, com- 

 ined to turn the feeling against the party in 

 power: the Conservatives were defeated and the 

 Liberals had a large majority. The Queen sent for 

 Lord Ilartington. and then for Lord Granville; but 

 Mr. Gladstone was the only possibility. The rival- 

 ry of the two great party leaders, Mr. Disraeli 

 and Mr. Gladstone, ended with the death of Mr. 

 Disraeli, then Lord Beaconsh'eld, the following 

 year. Mr. Gladstone was succeeded by the Mar- 

 quis of Salisbury in 1885, but began his third 

 administration in February. 1886. In August of 

 the same \car Salisbury became Premier for the 

 second time: his party was defeated in 1892 and 

 Mr. Gladstone again became Prime Minister. He 

 resigned in 1894, and Lord Rosebery, the Foreign 

 Secretary in his Cabinet, took his place. In 1895 

 the Government, having been beaten in Parlia- 

 ment, resigned, Parliament was dissolved, and the 

 election resulted in favor of the Conservatives and 

 Liberal Unionists against the home rulers; Lord 

 Salisbury formed a Unionist Cabinet, and was still 

 Prime Minister at the close of the reign. 



The Canadian Rebellions. One of the earli- 

 est events of the reign was the rebellion in Can- 

 ada in 1837. It began with discontent in Lower 

 ( ;uiada, where grievances against the Government 

 had been strongly felt for years. The Representa- 

 tive Assembly protested against the arbitrary con- 

 duct of the governors, illegal appropriation of pub- 

 lic money, and the composition of the Legislative 

 Council, which they desired to have made elective. 

 The Governor issued warrants for the arrest of 

 the leaders of the agitation, and resistance to the 

 arrests led to the breaking out of the rebellion. 

 There was some fighting and bloodshed, but the 

 insurrection was speedily suppressed, though the 

 di-contciit continued; and Upper Canada also had 

 its grievances. The home Government felt the 

 justice of the complaints, and Lord Durham was 

 -cut over to investigate and report on the best 

 measures of reform, with the understanding that 

 he was to have dictatorial powers. The bill which 

 passed Parliament after his departure gave him 

 much less jmver: he, however, continued to act 

 u it endowed with full authority for reconstruc- 

 tion, in consequence of which he was recalled. But 

 the wisdom of his report was acknowledged and 

 its recommendation- adopted. It laid down the 

 lines for government of colonies, which were fol- 

 lowed not only for Canada, hut for other British 

 colonies, and have proved <o eminently successful, 

 giving n large measure of home rule and placing 

 the internal affairs of the colony in the hands of 

 the colonists themselves. His recommendation that 



the two provinces should he -united was carried 

 out in IS-IO. nnd the other reforms were gradually 

 introduced. Lord Durham also recommended that 



provision be made for the admission of the remain- 

 ing colonies of North America into federal union 

 with the Canadas whenever their Legislatures 

 should agree upon such union. In 1867 the plan 

 was carried out by the formation of the federation 

 as the Dominion of Canada, in which the \orth 

 American province- are united. In KSG!) the char- 

 ter of the Hudson Bay Company expired, and most 

 of its territory was transferred to the Dominion 

 for 300,1)00. Upon this a rebellion arose in the 

 Red river country, led by Louis Riel, and troops 

 were sent over under command of C'ol. Wolsclcy : 

 but before his expedition could reach the Red 

 river country (the Canadian Pacific Railroad did 

 not then exist) the trouble was practically over, 

 owing to a promise of amnesty through Archbishop 

 Tache. 



The Rebecca Riots. These are chiefly memo- 

 rable for their odd name and the quaint reason 

 for it. They were outbreaks during one of the 

 early years against the toll charges on the roads 

 in Wales, and took their name from a verse in 

 Genesis, where it was said to Rebecca, " Let thy 

 seed possess the gate of those which hate them." 

 The gate, according to the interpretation, was of 

 course the toll gate, and mobs of men dressed a- 

 women gathered at night and destroyed the bars 

 and tore up the roads. There was some bloodshed 

 before the rioters were subdued. An inquiry 

 showed that there was reason in the complaints; 

 the large toll charges pressed heavily on the poor 

 people in the country districts; and measures were 

 taken by which the wrongs were redressed. 



The Repeal of the Corn Laws. The grain- 

 protection law, which was the cause of the anti- 

 corn-law agitation that raged for several years, 

 had been passed in 1815. It was a measure in 

 favor of English agriculturists; it practically for- 

 bade the importation of foreign wheat till the price 

 of the home-grown had risen to a certain high 

 figure. Subsequently acts were passed establishing 

 sliding scales by which the duty on imported grain 

 was lowered in proportion as the price of the home- 

 grown advanced. Naturally the commercial and 

 manufacturing classes were opposed to this policy, 

 while it was upheld by the landowners and 

 farmers whose products were protected. An Anti- 

 Corn-Law Association formed in London came to 

 nothing, but free-trade principles began to gain 

 adherents, and in 1838 the Manchester Chamber of 

 Commerce sent to Parliament a petition for the 

 repeal of the corn laws. Manchester now became 

 the headquarters of a movement that spread rap- 

 idly in the manufacturing and commercial cen- 

 ters, where associations were formed. Charles 

 Villiers was the nominal leader of the free-trade 

 party in Parliament, but Richard Cobden and 

 John Bright are the names most prominently as- 

 sociated with the movement for repeal and the 

 principle of free trade. While the doctrine was 

 making gradual progress the potato famine in Ire- 

 land, in 1845. brought matters to a sudden crisis. 

 A demand arose throughout Ireland for the open- 

 ing of the ports, and the ministry was denounced 

 for not calling Parliament together to pas- a mea 

 ure of relief. Lord John Russell, leader of the 

 Whig party, wrote a letter to his constituents 

 about tins time announcing his adhesion to the 

 principles of free trade. Sir Robert Peel, Prime 

 Minister and leader of the Conservative party, was 

 likewise converted to the views of the Anti-Corn- 

 Law League. But his Cabinet was divided on 

 the (|uestion. and he offered his resignation to the 

 Queen, who sent for Lord John Russell; but the 

 Whig leader found it impossible to form a min- 

 i-try, and upon the Queen's request Sir Kobcrt 

 Peel withdrew his resignation ; Lord Stanley, who 



