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as advantageously situated and as convenient as the other moiety, has been made free and open to all alike. Thus the labours of Mr. Herford have produced a great effect, and caused a largely increased attendance of the working class, not only in churches but also in many nonconformist chapels, in which Mr. Herford's views have been adopted.

In no period in the history of this or any other country has the progress of the nation been so great or so manifest as in that whose history we have attempted to narrate. By the census of 1831 the population of England and Wales was 13,897,187. The enumeration of 1871 showed a population of 22,704,108. Consequently, during the interval there had been an increase of 8,806,921. This increase had been tolerably steady and uniform. In the first decade it was 2,016,961; in the second, 2,013,461; in the third, 2,138,615; and in the fourth, 2,637,884. Thus, although there can be no doubt that a time must come when the population of this country will cease to increase, there is no indication at present that we are approaching it. But the population has not only much augmented, it is maintained with greater ease, is far better fed, housed, clad, and educated, at the close of the period than it was at its commencement. We may farther remark, that the increase we have noted has taken place principally in the metropolis, in the great manufacturing towns of the north, in the mining districts, in the chief commercial ports, and lastly, in the places mostly resorted to for sea-bathing, recreation, and health. At the commencement of the period embraced by this History about one person in ten received elementary education, and that in very many instances of a most imperfect character; before its close, provision had been made for the inauguration of a national system intended and calculated to secure at least a sound elementary education for almost every child in the kingdom. At the commencement of this period the population was decimated by zymotic and other diseases arising from unwholesome food and the neglect of sanitary precautions; at the close of it these diseases had to a great extent disappeared, because the causes that produced and propagated them had been partially removed, and in the cases which still remain they have lost much of their virulence, and are less fatal in their consequences. At the commence

1874.]

NATIONAL PROSPERITY.

441

ment of the period the paupers constituted a very large part of the population of the kingdom; at its close, the proportion, though still far too large, had greatly diminished.

If it should be asked, how it has come to pass that the same country which at the end of the year 1830 was with great difficulty supporting a population of thirteen millions, should now be maintaining in comparative plenty a population of more than twenty-two millions? the answer is, that this great result has been produced by freer trade, wiser legislation, improved institutions, a better education of the people, a wider diffusion of information through the press and by means of public meetings, the post office, and the electric telegraph, by the better and swifter conveyance of goods and persons, by the extraordinary extension and perfection of our mechanical processes; by the improvements that have been introduced into our agricultural operations, through which the produce of the land has been enormously increased; by the facilities that have been afforded for the profitable employment both of large and small capitals. And if it should farther be asked, what is the great secret of this marvellous progress, and what the best guarantee for its continuance? the answer is: It is to be found in the liberty that is enjoyed by every man of bringing before his fellowcitizens whatever he may deem to be for the public advantage, with a prospect of obtaining a fair consideration of the merits of his proposals, and with a security that no important improvement will be rejected for want of due consideration. A still stronger guarantee of the continued development of national prosperity is to be found in the more moral and religious character of our legislation, as it has become the more distinct utterance of public opinion and national will. At the commencement of the period we have been treating, Ireland's cry for justice was treated with insolent derision; at the close of it the maxim, 'Be just, and fear not,' has become the cardinal principle of our legislation; and its unflinching application, as exemplified in the Irish land bill, the trades-union bill, and many other recent measures of legislation, is the recognised panacea of our social evils, the mainspring of our wondrous progress.

That progress is well calculated to inspire us with feelings of hope and confidence. Much of it has been effected amidst circumstances of passion, prejudice, and party spirit, that seemed ill calculated to produce any beneficial result; and yet our course has been one of steady, rapid, and almost unvarying improvement; con firming and illustrating the saying of the greatest of England's poets:

There's a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.'

INDEX.

ABDOOLAH KHAN, ii. 90.
Abercorn, Marquis of, Lord-lieu-

tenant of Ireland, iii. 287.
Abercromby, Mr., Speaker, i. 334.
Aberdeen, Earl of, Foreign Secre
tary, ii. 60; Prime Minister, 382;
resigns, iii. 35.

Abergele, Railway accident at, iii.
353.

Abolition of Capital Punishment
Bill, ii. 38, 45, iii. 76, 237.
Abyssinia, Our captives in, iii. 275,
325; relief of, 343.
Acre, Capture of, ii. 41.
Adams, Mr. Charles Francis, iii.
415.

Affghanistan, War in, ii. 88.
Agricultural distress, i. 380, 396,
ii. 326.

Akbar Khan, ii. 91.
Alabama, The, iii. 205, 270; claims

settled, 416 (and see 424).
Albert, Prince, of Saxe-Gotha, ii.
34, 39; originates International
Exhibition, 352, 364; and pub-
lic affairs, iii. 16, 48; at Man-
chester Art Exhibition, 94;
speech on education, 95; death,
187.

Alexandra, Princess (see Wales,
Princess of).

Aliens' Registration Bill, ii. 303.
Alma, Battle of the, iii. 8.
Althorp, Lord, i. 33, 43, 57, 113,
202, 216; and the Birmingham
political union, 183; Chancellor
of the Exchequer, 60; resigns,
but afterwards retains office, 299,
302; Earl Spencer, 326.
America, Civil War in, iii. 183;
effects of in England, 190, 195.

Anæsthetics, Discovery of, ii. 234.
Annuities, Government, iii. 236.
Anti-corn-law Association, the, ii.
180.

Anti-corn-law League, ii. 178; dis-
solved, 250.

Antigua, Abolition of slavery in, i.
259.

Apostolical succession, i. 279.
Appeal, New Court of, iii. 409.
Apprenticeship of negroes, i. 256.
Arbitration of international dis-

putes, ii. 322, 361, iii. 416.
Argyll, Duke of, Privy Seal, ii. 382,
iii. 38, 142; Indian Secretary,
357.

Armstrong, Sir W., speech of, at

Newcastle, iii. 417.

Army, Length of service in, bill
for limiting the, ii. 246; organi-
zation, 377; promotion in, iii.
43; administration, Mr. Roe-
buck's inquiry into, 35, 44; abo-
lition of purchase in the, 75,
400, 402.

Arnold, Dr., i. 273, ii. 112.
Arthur, Colonel, ii. 6.
Ashley, Lord (see Shaftesbury, Earl
of).
Atlantic Telegraph, The, iii. 118,
131, 298.
Attwood,
280.
Auckland, Lord, i. 290, 359;
Governor-general of India, ii.
92; First Lord of the Admiralty,
231.
Austria, Treaty of commerce with,
iii. 274; war with France and
Italy, 139, 144; war with Italy
and Prussia, 287.

Thomas, i. 183, ii.

Azoff, Sea of, British operations in,
iii. 60, 61.

BAINES, Mr., iii. 257.

Balaclava, iii. 11; railway at, 54.
Ballot, The, i. 262, 380, ii. 361,
iii. 410; carried, 411.
Baltic, British fleet in the, iii. 25;
operations of, 32, 53.
Bank Charter, The, i. 251, 416, ii.
123, iii. 116.
Bankes, Mr., ii. 154.

Banks, Extension of, i. 416.
Baring, Mr. F. T., elected, i. 232;
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
i. 359, ii. 45, 116, 156.
Barrackpore, Mutiny at, iii. 101.
Barry, Mr., i. 395.

Bashaws,' The, i. 318.
Bath, Riots at, i. 197.
Bean assaults the Queen, ii. 88.
Beckwith, Major, i. 197.
Bedford, Incendiarism at, i. 205.
Belgian independence, i. 37.
Belvoir Castle, Attack on by mob,
i. 180.

Bentinck, Lord George, ii. 226, 237;
death of, 309.

Berkeley, Mr. H., ii. 361; and the
Ballot, iii. 419.

'Birkenhead,' The, foundering of,
ii. 384.

Birmingham, Chartist riots at, ii.
280; reform meetings at, i. 13,
182, 216.

Birney, Dr., ii. 182.

Bishops, mode of electing, ii. 257;
unpopularity of the, i. 172, 197.
Black Sea, neutralization of, abro-
gated, iii. 398.
Blackstone, Mr., ii. 12.
Blandford's, Marquis of, Reform
Bill, i. 33.

'Blanketeers,' The, i. 11.
Bomarsund, Capture of, iii. 27.
Bosanquet, Justice, i. 361.
Bosquet, General, iii. 57.
Bousfield, Execution of, iii. 76.
Bowring, Dr., ii. 182.

Braintree and the church-rates, ii.
106, 392.

Brereton, Colonel, i. 193, 196, 205.
Brett, Judge, iii. 417.

Brewster, Sir D., i. 269.

Bribery and Corruption, i. 261, 322,
ii. 86.

Briggs, Mr., murdered, iii. 251.
Bright, Mr., ii. 186; on Crimean
war, iii. 23; defeat at Man-
chester, and address, 89; on re-
form, 132; on taxation, 146;
on Liquor Bill, 247; speech at
Birmingham, 316; on Irish Land
Bill, 379; at Board of Trade,
357; advocates vote by ballot,
410; Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster, 424; returned for
Birmingham without opposition,
426.

Bristol, Riots at, i. 188, 205.
British Association established, i
268.

Brotherton, Mr., ii. 242.
Brougham, Mr., Election of, i. 38;
introduces Reform Bill, 42; Lord
Chancellor, 48; Lord, recom-
mends a dissolution, 123; speech
in favour of Reform Bill, 166,
181; and the Times, 317; and
Lord Durham, ii. 8; denounces
slavery, 14; speech on the Bed-
chamber question, 24; supports
Slave Bills, 31; opposes Factory
Bill, 243; death of, iii. 352.
Bruce, Mr., Home Secretary, iii.
356.

Brunow, Baron, iii. 6.

Buckingham, Duke of, Lord Privy
Seal, ii. 60; resigns, 63; First
Lord of the Admiralty, 379;
Lord President of the Council,
iii. 287.

Buckingham, Mr. Silk, i. 253.
Budget, The, i. 247, 320, 382;
ii. 31, 45, 75, 116, 147, 218,
238, 260, 320, 329, 354, 357,
381, 387; iii. 20, 46, 83, 144,

153, 177, 225, 236, 256, 292,
367, 403.

Buller, Sir J. Y., ii. 37.

Burdett, Sir F., i. 126, 405; sup-
ports reform, 11, 187.

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