cended the throne. She was young, and was popular from the first. There were difficulties enough before the Government, and the Government was not competent to meet them. Lord Melbourne was an easy-going man, who disliked the idea of taking

trouble. Often when he was asked how some difficult thing could be done, he asked lazily, 'Can't you let it alone?' There were large masses of people in England in misery. Both the agricultural and the manufacturing poor were in great distress. Wages were low and the price of food was high. Soon

after the end of the war with France, Parliament had passed a Corn Law, imposing a heavy duty on foreign corn. It was thought that if corn came in from abroad it would be sold cheaply, and then the farmers and landlords could not get enough for their corn to enable them to make a livelihood, and that the land would go out of cultivation. In this way bread was made very much dearer than it would have been if foreign corn had come in. Besides this, there was no care taken for the health of the poor. There were no inspectors to see that the factories were airy enough for the workers to breathe properly in. The hours of labour were very long, and women and children were put to work much too hard for their strength. In the collieries, especially, women and children had to drag about heavy carts. In the country the cottages of the labourers were often very unhealthy and over-crowded. Very few knew how to read and write, so that they had no chance of learning how to join together to help themselves.

2. The People's Charter.-When people are dissatisfied, the first thing they think of usually is that if they had political power they could set everything right. So it was now. Large numbers of men supported what was called 'The People's Charter,' and were therefore called Chartists. It had six points, (1) universal suffrage for all men, (2) division of the kingdom into equal electoral districts, (3) vote by ballot, (4) annual Parliaments, (5) permission for every man to be elected whether he had property in land or not, (6) payment to members of Parliament, Of these, two, the third and the fifth,

have now become law. At that time both the gentry and the shopkeepers were very much alarmed when they heard what a number of Chartists there were. Some of these Chartists talked of getting what they wanted by force, and that frightened a good many people. The Chartists were, however, certainly right in wanting to be represented in Parliament. The Reform Bill had arranged the right of voting so that the shopkeepers had votes, but very few, if any, of the working men. Still it was probably as well that the working men had to wait some years for their votes, and that many injustices were removed first, so that when they did get power they did not come to it angrily as they would have done at that time.

3. Post-Office Reform.-It was not likely that Lord Melbourne's ministry would have done much to relieve the general suffering. But one reform it effected which has given happiness to millions. One day a young man named Rowland Hill was walking in the north of England. As he passed a cottage a postman arrived with a letter. A girl came out, took the letter, and gave it back to the postman. In those days the charge for postage was very great, a shilling or two being an ordinary charge, as the payment rose higher with the distance. The receiver of the letter, not the sender, had to pay, though he need not take in the letter unless he liked. In this instance Rowland Hill felt compassionate towards the girl, paid the postage, and gave her the letter. When the postman was gone she told him that she was sorry that he had done it, as there was nothing

written in the letter. Her brother had gone to London, and they had agreed that as they were too poor to pay the postage, he should send her a plain sheet of paper folded up. She would always return it, but as long as these sheets of paper came regularly, she would know that he was in good health. This story set Rowland Hill thinking, and he considered that it would cause much happiness if postage were reduced to a penny whatever distance the letter went. The number of letters would so increase that a large number at a penny would bring in more than a small number at a shilling. It would be necessary to charge the penny to the sender, by making him buy postage stamps, as when the number of letters became very great the postman would not have time to stop at every door to collect pennies. This idea was much laughed at at first, but at last the Government took it up. First of all postage was reduced to fourpence, and after a little while to a penny. The system of low payments and of postage stamps has since been adopted by every country in the civilised world.

4. Education.-Soon after the Reform Bill a beginning was made in helping the spread of education with the money of the nation. A sum of 20,000l. was given to help two private societies which had been doing their best to educate. Two years after the Queen's accession the sum was increased to 30,000l. It was proposed that this should be employed by e direction of some members of the Government, and that a school should be set up to train the teachers. There was such a resistance to

this proposal that it had to be altered a good deal. But enough was done to make a beginning, and from that time it began to be understood that it was the duty of the Government to see that the people were taught.

5. The Queen's Marriage.--The marriage of the Queen called forth afresh expressions of loyalty

from every part of the kingdom. Her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg, who became her husband, was a man of varied learning and accomplishments. What was of greater importance, he brought with him an affectionate devotion to his young wife, which caused him through his whole life to throw away all thoughts of personal ambi