Chapter 52

THE VICTORIA EMBANKMENT, LONDON, WITH THE THAMES IN THE FOREGROUND

LONDON, the capital of the British Empire and the second largest city in the world, is situated in the southeast of England on both sides of the River Thames, which winds through it from west to east. The river is crossed by numerous bridges and is deep enough to allow large vessels to come up to London Bridge, the lowest of these (except the movable Tower Bridge), where it is two hundred and sixty-six yards wide. London may be said to stretch from east to west about fourteen miles, from north to south about ten.

The area embraced by the Metropolitan and City police districts, including all parishes within fifteen miles of Charing Cross, is spoken of as Greater London. The population of London roughly equals that of Scotland, Holland, Portugal or Sweden. Under the Act of 1899 London includes the municipal boroughs of Battersea, Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Camberwell, Chelsea, Deptford, Finsbury, Fulham, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Holborn, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Paddington, Poplar, St. Marylebone, St. Pancras, Shoreditch, Stoke Newington, Wandsworth, Westminster and Woolwich.

General Features.—The greater portion of London lies on the north side of the Thames, in the counties of Middlesex and Essex, mainly the former, on a site gradually rising from the river, and marked by several inequalities of no great height, except in the northern suburbs, where the elevation of four hundred and thirty feet is reached; on the opposite bank, in the county of Surrey and partly in Kent, the more densely built parts cover an extensive and nearly uniform flat, in some places below the level of the highest tides, while the outskirts are mostly elevated.

The nucleus of London was formed by what is still distinctively the City of London, situated in the heart of the metropolis on the north bank of the Thames. The City is a separate municipality, having a civic corporation of its own, at its head being the Lord-mayor of London. The City occupies only six hundred and seventy-one acres, and has a resident population of only twenty-seven thousand.

Westminster, another portion of old London, associated with the sovereigns, the parliaments, and the supreme courts of justice of England for over eight hundred years, borders with the City on the west; while across the river from the city lies the ancient quarter of Southwark, or “The Borough.” Besides these, London consists of a great number of well-defined quarters or districts, as well as many minor districts, the names of which are familiar to the outside world, such as Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Pimlico, Bloomsbury, Bermondsey, Belgravia, etc. Another loose division of London is into the West End or fashionable quarter, the residence of the wealthy, and the East End, the great seat of trade and manufactures.

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, LONDON

The financial and business houses of the city are principally located to the east of St. Paul’s; the galleries, theaters, and places of amusement between St. Paul’s and St. James’s Park; the parks and residences of the nobility upon the western margin of the city. The railway stations are, with few exceptions, in the suburbs.

London, on the whole, may be called a well-built city, brick being the material generally employed, though many public and other edifices are built of stone. In some streets the brick fronts are made to imitate stone by being coated with cement. The streets are generally well kept and well paved and lighted, but, except in some of the more recent quarters, the general appearance of London is not attractive, much of the effect of the fine buildings being lost by overcrowding and the want of fitting sites.

What generally most strikes a stranger in London is its immense size, which can only be grasped by actually traveling about, or by obtaining a view from some elevation, as Primrose Hill in the northwest, or the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral near the center, the most conspicuous building in the metropolis. Other striking and also attractive features of London are the parks, especially Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, so valuable as breathing spaces; and the handsome and massive stone embankments along the Thames, forming wide roadways and promenades bordered by trees for long distances.

As the capital of the British Empire, London is from time to time the residence of the sovereign and court. It contains the buildings for the accommodation of parliament and all the great government departments. It is the chief intellectual center of Britain, and is equally great as a center of commerce, banking and finance generally.

Main Streets.—Although in the different districts of London, with the exception of the parts most recently built, there are numerous narrow and crooked streets, yet the whole extent of the metropolis is well united by trunk lines of streets in the principal directions, which render it comparatively easy for a stranger to find his way from one district to another. Picadilly and Pall Mall; the Strand and its continuation Fleet Street, Oxford Street and its continuations, Holborn, Holborn Viaduct, and Cheapside eastward, and Bayswater Road, Notting Hill High Street, and Holland Park Avenue westward, are among noteworthy streets running east and west; while of those running north and south, Regent Street, perhaps the handsomest street in London, and the location of fashionable shops, is the chief. Edgware Road, with its continuations, is an important thoroughfare running northwest. Kings-way and Aldwych, connecting Holborn with the Strand, were opened in 1905.

Many of the streets are closely associated with special trades, industries, pursuits, etc. Thus Bond Street is associated with jewelers, Oxford Street and Regent Street with milliners, the Burlington Arcade with fashionable haberdashers, Fleet Street with newspapers, Northumberland Avenue and the Strand with hotels, Long Acre with carriage builders, Shaftesbury Avenue with theaters, while Pall Mall is the especial center of clubland. Booksellers’ Row and the Lowther Arcade in the Strand, famous respectively for second-hand book shops and for toy shops, have both disappeared quite recently. The Thames Embankment on the north or Middlesex side, known as the Victoria Embankment, also forms a magnificent thoroughfare, adorned by important buildings, and at different points with ornamental grounds and statues.

Bridges.—A number of magnificent bridges cross the Thames. The lowest is the Tower Bridge, a “bascule” bridge opening by machinery so as to let ships pass through. The others most remarkable in upward order (exclusive of railway bridges) are London Bridge, nine hundred feet long, and built of Aberdeen granite; Southwark Bridge, and Blackfriars’ Bridge, all connecting the city with Southwark; Waterloo Bridge, one thousand three hundred and eighty feet long, consisting of nine elliptical arches of Aberdeen granite; Westminster Bridge, an elegant structure of iron, one thousand two hundred feet long, crossing the river from Westminster to Lambeth; Vauxhall Bridge (rebuilding completed in 1906), carrying an electric railway; Putney Bridge, and Hammersmith Bridge. A great traffic passes under the river in tunnels, some for[460]electric railways. The old Thames Tunnel, two miles below London Bridge, now contains a railway. The great Blackwall Tunnel, farther down, is for general traffic.

Parks and Squares.—The chief parks are in the western portion of the metropolis, the largest being Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, which, together with St. James’s Park and the Green Parks, are royal parks. The most fashionable is Hyde Park, containing about four hundred acres. It is surrounded by a carriage-drive two and one-half miles long, has some fine old trees, large stretches of grass, and contains a handsome sheet of water sadly misnamed the Serpentine River. Kensington Gardens (three hundred and sixty acres), with which Hyde Park communicates at several points, are well wooded and finely laid out. St. James’s Park, eighty-three acres, and the Green Park, seventy-one acres in extent, adjoin Hyde Park on the southeast. Regent’s Park, in the northwest of London, north of Hyde Park, containing the gardens of the Zoological Society and those of the Royal Botanic Society, covers an area of four hundred and seventy acres. The Zoological Gardens contain the largest collection of living animals of all kinds in the world. Adjoining Regent’s Park to the north is Primrose Hill. There are, besides, Victoria Park in the northeast of London, Hampstead Heath in the northwest, the happy hunting-ground of the toilers of the city on “bank holidays.” Battersea Park in the southwest, West Ham Park in the extreme east, Greenwich Park at Greenwich, etc.

Of the squares the most central and noteworthy is Trafalgar Square, with Charing Cross adjoining. Most of the squares possess gardens, some public, such as Leicester Square, others private, as Grosvenor Square, Russell Square, Bedford Square, Tavistock Square, etc.

CLEOPATRA’S NEEDLE, LONDON

Monuments.—Among the public monuments are “The Monument” on Fish Street Hill, London Bridge, a fluted Doric column two hundred and two feet high, erected in 1677 in commemoration of the great fire of London; the York Column, in Waterloo Place, one hundred and twenty-four feet high; the Guards’ Memorial (those who fell in Crimea), same place; the Nelson Column, in Trafalgar Square, one hundred and seventy-six and one-half feet high, with four colossal lions by Landseer at its base; the national memorial to Prince Albert in Hyde Park, probably one of the finest monuments in Europe, being a Gothic structure one hundred and seventy-six feet high, with a colossal statue of the prince seated under a lofty canopy; Cleopatra’s Needle on the Thames Embankment; a handsome modern “cross” at Charing Cross; and numerous statues of public men. The Queen Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace, on a grand scale, was designed by Sir Aston Webb, R.A.

Public Buildings.—Among the royal palaces are St. James’s, a brick building erected by Henry VIII.; Buckingham Palace, the King’s London residence, built by George IV.; Marlborough House, the residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales; Kensington Palace, a plain brick building, the birthplace of Queen Victoria. These are all in the west of London.

Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is situated on the Surrey side of the river, while Fulham Palace, the residence of the Bishop of London, is in Fulham, near Putney Bridge.

On the north bank of the Thames stand the Houses of Parliament, a magnificent structure in the Tudor Gothic style, with two lofty towers. The buildings cover about eight acres, and cost fifteen million dollars. Westminster Hall, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, a noble old pile built by William Rufus, was formerly the place in which the Supreme Courts of Justice sat, but is now merely a promenade for members of parliament.

In and near Whitehall in the same quarter are the government offices, comprising the Foreign, Home, Colonial, and India Offices, the new War Office, Horse Guards and Admiralty.

Somerset House, which contains some of the public offices, is in the Strand. The Postoffice in the city occupies spacious and handsome buildings. New Postoffice buildings are on the former site of Christ’s Hospital, the king having laid the foundation stone in 1905.

Adjoining the city on the east is the Tower, the ancient citadel of London, which occupies an area of twelve acres on the banks of the Thames. The most ancient part is the White Tower, erected about 1078 for William the Conqueror.

Other noteworthy buildings are the new Law Courts, a Gothic building at the junction of the Strand and Fleet Street; the Bank of England; the Royal Exchange; the Mansion House, the official residence of the lord-mayor; the Guildhall, the seat of the municipal government of the city; and the four Inns of Court; and Inner and Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn; and Gray’s Inn.

Churches.—Among the churches the chief is St. Paul’s Cathedral, completed in 1710 by Sir Christopher Wren. It is situated in the City, occupies the summit of Ludgate Hill, and is a classic building, five hundred and ten feet in length, with a dome four hundred feet in height.

Westminster Abbey, one of the finest specimens of the pointed style in Great Britain, dates from the reign of Henry III. and Edward I. It adjoins the Houses of Parliament, is five hundred and thirty-one feet long, including Henry VII.’s chapel, and two hundred and three feet wide at the transepts. Here the kings and queens of England have been crowned, from Edward the Confessor to George V. In the south transept are the tombs and monuments of great poets from Chaucer downward, whence it is called “Poets’ Corner”; and in other parts are numerous sculptured monuments to sovereigns, statesmen, warriors, philosophers, divines, patriots, and others, many of whom are interred within its walls. Among many old churches are St. Bartholomew’s in West Smithfield; the Chapel Royal, Savoy; St. Andrew’s, Undershaft; St.[461]Giles, Cripplegate; St. Margaret’s, Westminster; St. Stephen’s, Walbrook; the Temple Church, Bow Church, St. Bride’s in Fleet Street. The Roman Catholic Cathedrals at Westminster and in Southwark should also be mentioned.

ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, LONDON

Places of Amusement.—These are naturally exceedingly numerous. Among the theaters may be mentioned: Covent Garden, the home of opera; Drury Lane, identified with melodrama and pantomime; His Majesty’s, famous for its efforts in the cause of the higher drama; the Haymarket, St. James’s, Criterion, Wyndham’s New, Duke of York’s, Garrick, Court, and others, for comedy; the Gaiety, Daly’s, Lyric, Prince of Wales’s, Savoy, and Vaudeville for musical comedy and comic opera. The “music-hall” is equally conspicuous among London’s places of amusement, variety entertainments being given at the Alhambra, Empire, Palace, Coliseum, Hippodrome, Lyceum, and a host of others. Among the more dignified concert halls may be mentioned the Royal Albert Hall (capable of holding an audience of eight thousand persons), Queen’s Hall, and Crystal Palace.

Museums.—The British Museum, the great national collection, in a very central position, is the principal one. It contains an immense collection of books, manuscripts, engravings, drawings, sculptures, coins, etc.

The South Kensington Museum is a capacious series of buildings containing valuable collections in science and the fine and decorative arts, and there is a branch museum from it in Bethnal Green, in the East End. The very extensive natural history department of the British Museum occupies a fine Romanesque building at South Kensington. The India and the Patent Museums are also at South Kensington, and here was built the Imperial Institute, partly intended as a museum of home and colonial products, but now also accommodating the University of London.

The Soane Museum contains many valuable objects of art. The chief picture-galleries are the National Gallery, in Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery of British Art (known as the Tate Gallery), the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery. Mention must also be made of the Wallace Collection, at Hertford House, Manchester Square, a magnificent collection of pictures, sculpture and objects of art, bequeathed to the nation by the widow of Sir Richard Wallace in 1897.

The chief libraries are the British Museum, Lambeth Palace library, the Guildhall library, Sion College library, the London library, London Institution library. Many free libraries have recently been established.

Shipping.—The port of London has been for many years the greatest in the world. The control and management of the business of the port was transferred in March, 1909, from the Thames Conservancy to the Port of London Authority. This new body controls the river from Teddington to Warden Point, fifty-one miles east of London Bridge. It also took over the India, Millwall, and Surrey Commercial docks. The total cost of the transfer was one hundred and twelve million dollars.

Its Cosmopolitan Population.—There are in London nearly 60,000 persons of Scottish birth and over 60,000 of Irish birth. Of 150,000 foreigners, 40,000 are Russians (including Jews), with 16,000 Russian Poles, 30,000 Germans, 12,000 French, 11,000 Italians, 6,000 Austrians, 6,000 Americans (U. S.), 4,500 Dutch, 45,000 Swiss, 2,500 Belgians, 1,800 Swedes, 1,000 Norwegians, and 1,000 Danes.

In England and Wales.—Hull, theTyne Ports(Newcastle, Gateshead, and Shields), andSunderland, with London, form the great outlets of the east of England.Liverpool(with Birkenhead), ranking with London in maritime importance, andBristol, are the great outlets and seats of commerce in the west of England, asSouthhamptonandPlymouthon the Channel are in the south.

The most important of all the textile industries of England is that of cotton, which has centered itself inManchesterand in its satellite cities on the coalfield of Lancashire and Cheshire (Preston, Blackburn, Oldham, Wigan, Bury, Rochdale, Bolton, Stockport, Macclesfield), drawing a dense population round these centers, with their thousands of factories, fed with raw material from abroad, and relieved of their manufactured products by Liverpool and the port of Manchester.

The woolen manufactories, next in importance, are on the opposite side of the Pennine chain, in the great towns ofLeedsandBradford, as well as in Halifax, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Dewsbury, clustering round these. Linen manufactures center atBarnsley, farther south, also on this Yorkshire coalfield. Three outlying woolen manufacturing centers may be noted; these areLeicester, in a famous sheep-raising district, andKidderminster, noted for its carpets,Stroud,Bradford, and other towns in the west of England, noted for the quality of their cloth. Newtown, in Montgomeryshire, is the center of the Welsh flannel trade.

Hardwares have two great points of production—the one roundSheffield, on the Yorkshire coal and iron field, the other roundBirminghamand the towns on the South Stafford coal and iron field (Wolverhampton, Wednesbury, Bilston, Dudley, Walsall), called the “Black Country” because large parts of it are so completely cut up with collieries and ironworks that no cultivation exists.

In North Staffordshire, between the iron and the cotton manufacturing regions, lies the “Potteries,” a district which by supplying coal is able to maintain its staple industry.Stoke-upon-Trentis the center of the cluster of Pottery towns (Burslem, Longton, Hanley, Tunstall), all connected by lines of busy hamlets. Worcester, on the Severn, is also celebrated for its pottery.

English silk manufacturers give importance to three separate districts, those roundCongletonandMacclesfield, in Cheshire; Derby; andCoventry, in Warwickshire.Nottinghamtown combines silk and cotton manufactures in hosiery and lace work.Staffordtown supplies boots and shoes to all the manufacturing towns which lie round it.

The coal trade of North England centers in theTyne Portsand Sunderland, which are also famous for their iron, ships and engines, and their chemical works. The South Wales iron and coal field has its heart inMerthyr Tydfil, one of the largest towns of Wales;Cardiff, with fine docks and iron shipbuilding yards, besides its large coal export trade;Swanseais the headquarters of copper and tin smelting, from ores brought thither from the most distant parts of the world;Milford Havenaspires to becoming the rival of Liverpool in the trade with America.

Among the few large towns besides London which lie outside the manufacturing and mining region of England, may be notedNorwich, in agricultural Norfolk, a seat of manufactures of the most various kind, introduced by about four thousand Flemings who fled thither in Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

In Scotland.—On the Scottish coal and iron field,Glasgow, favored by its position on the estuary of the Clyde, has risen to be at once the great commercial and manufacturing center of the country, carrying on a large trade with all parts of the world, in manufacturing cottons and machinery, and in building ships. A number of manufacturing towns (Paisley, noted for its shawls; Greenock, for its sugar-refining; Dumbarton, for its iron ships; Airdrie, in the midst of the collieries and iron works) have risen round Glasgow over the Scottish coalfield.Leith, the port of Edinburgh, is mainly engaged in the Baltic grain trade;Dundee, on the estuary of the Tay, owes much of its prosperity to its jute and hemp factories, and to its Greenland whaling and sealing trade.

In Ireland.—Owing to its poverty in coal and iron, the manufactures of Ireland have not attained an extent at all comparable with those of Britain. Its only extensive manufacturing district is that which lies roundBelfast, in the northeast, where the flax, grown largely in the north of the country, is made into linen. The linen district extends toArmagh, on the west, andColeraine, in the north.

Dublin, the capital, is noted for its poplins, stout, and whiskey; its quays afford excellent accommodation for shipping, and it takes the lead in the foreign trade of Ireland.

Cork, with its fine harbor the “Cove of Cork,” or Queenstown, in the south;Limerick, on the Shannon;Galway, the port of the west;Londonderry, in the north, are the other important centers of population in Ireland.

Edinburgh(ed-in-bo-ro;Edwin’s burgh), the metropolis of Scotland, grew up originally beneath the protecting walls of its castle, and is not a manufacturing town, but derives its importance mainly from the law courts, its university and schools, and its printing and publishing trade. It is situated upon two ridges of ground, divided by a deep, narrow valley, formerly a morass, now made into a public park, through which the railways pass. To the north of this park is the New Town, composed of modern and elegant buildings—the principal street, Princes Street, bordering upon and overlooking the park. The principal hotels are on the opposite of Princes Street. The railway stations are in the valley. To the south lies the ridge of the Old Town, terminating, to the west in a rocky bluff, upon which stands the Castle in the heart of the city. The Old Town is the historic part of the city, the New being quite modern. The first Scottish Parliament was convened here by Alex. II., 1215.

The principal places of interest are Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Abbey and Calton Hill. Among the objects of less interest are the house of John Knox, High Street; St. Giles Church; Allan Ramsay’s Theater, the favorite resort of Burns; the Black Turnpike, the prison of Queen Mary, near the Iron Church; and the Heart of Midlothian, the site of an old prison. Annie Laurie was married in Iron Church two hundred and fifty years ago. John Knox is buried in the paved court between the Parliament House and St. Giles; marked by the letters J. K. in the pavement.

The Castle, stands on a precipitous rock about three hundred feet above the valley, accessible only from the east side. It is an extensive mass, of which the oldest portion—and the oldest building in the city—is St. Margaret’s Chapel, the private oratory of the Saxon Princess Margaret, queen of Malcolm Canmore. Another portion is a lofty range of old buildings, in a small apartment of which Queen Mary gave birth to James VI. in 1566; while in an adjoining apartment are kept the ancient regalia of Scotland. Here, also, is the old Parliament Hall, restored in 1888-1889. The castle as a fortress contains accommodation for two thousand soldiers, and the armory space for thirty thousand stand of arms. An old piece of ordnance built of staves of malleable iron, cask fashion, and known asMons Meg, stands conspicuous in an open area.

Holyrood Palace and Abbeywas founded by King David I., who is said to have been saved from the horns of a stag, driven to bay near this spot, by a luminous cross in the sky. In the northwest angle of the building are the apartments which were occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots, nearly in the same state in which they were left by that unfortunate princess.

Calton Hill(call-ton) is at the eastern end of Princes Street and has an altitude of about three hundred and fifty feet. Upon the hill, adjacent to the stairs, is Dugald Stewart’s monument at the left; to the north is the Old Observatory, and the New Observatory with a small dome. To the south is Nelson’s monument, one[463]hundred and two feet high, surmounted by a time-ball. The unfinished colonnade is a part of a structure in honor of Waterloo, intended to be a copy of the Parthenon at Athens. The foundation was laid 1822, but, proving too costly, the project was abandoned.

The view from the summit of this hill is scarcely to be surpassed. To the north is what may be called New Edinburgh, extending toward Granton and the port of Leith. Across the Forth, is Fifeshire. Following down the Forth, is first, the islands of Inch Keith, Portobello, Bass Rock, and the Isle of May, farther at sea. Toward the south and west the Burns monument; Holyrood immediately below; Salisbury Craig and south, Arthur’s Seat, eight hundred and twenty feet high; thence to the north the Old Town, commanded by the frowning Castle.

VIEW OF EDINBURGH FROM THE CASTLE

Oxford, capital of Oxford county, and seat of one of the most celebrated universities in the world, is situated about fifty miles northwest of London, on a gentle acclivity between the Cherwell and the Thames, here called the Isis. Oxford, as a city of towers and spires, of fine collegiate buildings, old and new, of gardens, groves, and avenues of trees, is unique in England.

Of the university buildings the most remarkable are Christ’s Church, the largest and grandest of all the colleges, with a fine quadrangle and other buildings, and a noble avenue of trees. It was founded by Wolsey in 1525, and its magnificent chapel is the cathedral church of the see of Oxford. Thehallis a noble room.

Merton College, founded about 1264, has a very beautiful chapel of the fifteenth century, and the library is the oldest in the kingdom.

New College, founded by William of Wykeham, in 1386, is one of the wealthiest of the colleges, and the chapel is very handsome.

Thegardens of St. John’s Collegeare much admired and the grounds of Magdalen College (perhaps the most beautiful college in Oxford) are no less attractive. The latter include “Addison’s Walk,” a shaded avenue that was his favorite resort when a student here. TheBodleian LibraryandPicture Gallery, theTheatre(built by Wren), theAshmolean Museum(also by Wren), theRadcliffe LibraryandObservatory, theDivinity School(in the hall of which Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley were tried in 1555),St. Mary’s Church, theTaylor Institute, theUniversity GalleriesandMuseum, theBotanical Gardens, and theMartyr’s Memorialare also among the noteworthy things in Oxford. TheHigh Streetis the subject of one of Wordsworth’s sonnets; and Hawthorne calls it “the noblest old street in England.” Oxford depends mostly on the university, and on its attractions as a place of residence.

Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace, is a pleasant town of Warwickshire, eight miles southwest of Warwick, twenty-two miles southeast of Birmingham, and one hundred and ten miles northeast of London. It stands on the right bank of the quiet Avon, which here is spanned by the “great and sumptuous bridge” of fourteen pointed arches, three hundred and seventy-six yards long, that was built by the Lord Mayor of London.

It is a quiet, old-fashioned place, with wide and well-kept streets, and many handsome mansions. TheTown Hallwas dedicated to the memory of the poet. Here is a statue of Shakespeare, presented by Garrick, on the pedestal of which are the lines fromHamlet; “Take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.” Very interesting is theShakespeare Memorial Building and Theater, in a charming situation by the Avon, the outgrowth of the feeling that the poet should have a suitable monument in his native town.

Shakespeare’s House, in Henley Street, became national property in 1847, and has been carefully restored. The room in which the poet is said to have been born seems to have undergone but little change since that day. In another room there is a small museum of Shakespearian curiosities.

Stratford Church, in which Shakespeare is buried, is on the bank of the Avon. It is a large and elegant structure, with a graceful stone spire[464]one hundred and sixty-three feet high, erected in 1764 to replace a wooden one that had been taken down. The building has been judiciously restored in recent years. There is an elegant window illustrating Shakespeare’s “Seven Ages,” the contribution of Americans.

The grave of Shakespeare is in the chancel, covered by a plain flagstone, while above, on the wall to the left, is the monumental bust which is the most trustworthy representation of the poet. His wife lies near him, with his favorite daughter, “good Mistris Hall,” and Dr. John Hall, her husband. In the chancel there is also an elegant marble monument to John Combe, the poet’s friend.

Shottery, where Anne Hathaway lived before she became the wife of Shakespeare, is about a mile from Stratford, and may be reached by a footpath through the fields. The cottage that was Anne’s home has a timber and plaster front, and a thatched roof. The interior contains the oaken seat on which Shakespeare and Anne were wont to sit; many bits of venerable furniture; and, upstairs, a vast bed, on which many a Hathaway has drawn the last breath of life.

Stratford also possesses a memorial fountain, presented by George W. Childs of Philadelphia, and Harvard House, the birthplace of the mother of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University. It is still an important agricultural center; but its chief prosperity depends on the thirty thousand or so pilgrims who visit it yearly.

Ayr, forty miles from Glasgow, Scotland, by railway, is noted especially as the birthplace of Burns, the poet; as also the place where Wm. Wallace was imprisoned. The town is divided by the river Ayr, over which are the “twa brigs” of Burns. The Burns Cottage, or birthplace, the scene of his “Cotter’s Saturday Night,” is two miles south of the town, and is now used as a public memorial. It contains few articles associated with Burns.

Alloway Kirk, mentioned in “Tam O’Shanter,” or what remains of it, is one-half mile south of the Cottage. Near the church are the Burns monument, a circular shaft sixty feet in height, erected 1820, and the Doon, immortalized in the “Banks and Braes of Bonny Doon.”

Burns died at Dumfries, where he had lived three years, and was buried in the churchyard there. Nineteen years later, upon the completion of the monument to his memory, his body was exhumed and placed within the Mausoleum at Dumfries.

Melrose, in the county of Roxburgh, thirty-one miles southeast of Edinburgh, is celebrated for the abbey founded by King David in 1136; destroyed by Edward II. in 1322; rebuilt by Bruce in 1326, and partly demolished by the English in 1545. Sir Walter Scott has given it an enduring description in his Lay of the Last Minstrel.

The material of which it is built is a very hard stone, and much of the carving is as perfect as when fresh from the sculptor’s hand. Within its walls are the graves of kings, and nobles and priests of the olden time; among them Alexander II. of Scotland, and more than one of the renowned Earls of Douglas. Before the high altar the heart of King Robert Bruce is said to have been deposited. Sir David Brewster’s grave is in the churchyard.

Dryburgh Abbey, four miles from Melrose, was founded about the same time as Melrose, and, like that, was destroyed in 1322 by Edward II. Robert I. restored it, at least in part; but it was again destroyed in 1544. St. Mary’s aisle, the most beautiful part of the ruins, contains the tomb of Scott, buried here September 26, 1832; also the graves of his wife and his eldest son, and of his son-in-law Lockhart.

ABBOTSFORD, HOME OF SIR WALTER SCOTT

Abbotsford, two miles from Melrose, was long the home of the “Great Enchanter of the North.” The author’s study is the most interesting room. There the old writing-table, the plain leathern armchair, the reference books, seem to indicate that Sir Walter has but just left them. TheLibrary(twenty thousand volumes) contains a bust of Scott, by Chantrey, and many miniatures. The roof is of carved oak, designed from models taken from Roslin Chapel. TheDrawing-room, where Sir Walter died, and the little octagonal dressing-room contain many precious relics. TheArmoryhas a fine collection of Scotch weapons.

Windsor, is in Berkshire, England, on the Thames, twenty-one and one-quarter miles from London. It contains a town hall, built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1686, the church of St. John the Baptist, with fine examples of Grinling Gibbon’s wood-carving, and a fine Jubilee statue of Queen Victoria.

Windsor owes its chief importance to its castle, which stands east of the town on a height overlooking the River Thames, and is the principal royal residence in the kingdom. It was begun, or at least enlarged, by Henry I., and has been altered and added to by almost every sovereign since. The castle stands in the Home Park or “Little Park,” which is four miles in circumference, and this again is connected with the Great Park, which is eighteen miles in circuit, and contains an avenue of trees three miles in length.

STRATFORD-ON-AVON, IMMORTALIZED BY ITS ASSOCIATIONS WITH SHAKESPEARE

The chief features of interest in the castle are the old state apartments; St. George’s Chapel, where the Knights of the Garter are installed, and the vaults of which contain the remains of Henry VI., Edward IV., Henry VIII., Charles I., George III., George IV., and William IV.; the Round Tower or ancient keep; and the present state apartments.

Eton Collegeis one-half mile from Windsor across the river. The stone chapel, one hundred and seventy-five feet long, is very handsome. There is also a bronze statue of Henry VI. The college was founded in 1440.

Stoke Pogis, the scene of Gray’sElegy, and the burial-place of the poet, is near Windsor.

There is a fine monument to Gray inStoke Park.

Cambridge, fifty-six miles from London, and on the Cam, a narrow stream that rambles all over the town. Tradition gives 630 as the date of the foundation of the University; but the oldest college,PeterhouseorSt. Peter’s, can only be referred to 1257. The public buildings are the Shire Hall, Town Hall, University halls and library, and Fitzwilliam Museum.

There are seventeen colleges, inferior in architectural beauty to those of Oxford, though their associations are quite as interesting.

Trinity, was founded by Henry VIII. in 1546, and has three fine quadrangles; a splendid hall in the Tudor style; gardens; and an important library, with busts of Newton and Bacon, Thorwaldsen’s statue of Byron, Newton’s telescope and some of John Milton’s manuscripts.

Christ’s College, founded in 1442, was Milton’s college. In the gardens isMilton’s Mulberry-Tree. The quadrangle was rebuilt by Inigo Jones.

Jesus College(1496) andChapelare very fine buildings, on the site of a Benedictine nunnery.

Caius(pronouncedKees) was founded in 1384, and enlarged in 1557 by Dr. Caius, physician to Queen Mary. Rebuilt lately, it is now one of the best.

Corpus Christi(1351) contains curious portraits, especially those of Sir Thomas More, Wolsey, Erasmus, and Foxe, the author of theBook of Martyrs.

Kings College(1441), founded by Henry VI., is the finest building in the University. The chapel is the finest specimen of perpendicular Gothic existing. The roof, unsupported by pillars, contains twelve divisions of exquisite lace-work tracery in stone. The twenty-four stained-glass windows, each fifty feet high, are beautiful.

TheFitzwilliam Museum, and some of the churches, especially the round chapel ofSt. Sepulchre, are of considerable interest.All Saintscontains a monument, by Chantrey, to Henry Kirke White.Girton College, for women, founded in 1869, is about two miles northwest of the town. The walk along the Cam behind the colleges, with the view of the “Backs” and bridges, is the pride of Cambridge.

The island of Great Britain in the remotest times bore the name ofAlbion. From a very early period it was visited by Phœnicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks, for the purpose of obtaining tin.

Roman Period.—Cæsar’s two expeditions, 55 and 54 B. C., made it known to the Romans, by whom it was generally calledBritannia; but it was not till the time of Claudius, nearly a hundred years after, that the Romans made a serious attempt to convert Britain into a Roman province. Some forty years later, under Agricola, the ablest of the Roman generals in Britain, they had extended the limits of the Provincia Romana as far as the line of the Forth and the Clyde.

Here the Roman armies came into contact with the Caledonians of the interior, described by Tacitus as large-limbed, red-haired men. After defeating the Caledonians, Agricola marched victoriously northward as far as the Moray Firth, establishing stations and camps, remains of which are still to be seen. But the Romans were unable to retain their conquests in the northern part of the island, and were finally forced to abandon their northern wall and forts between the Clyde and the Forth and retire behind their second wall, built in 120 A. D. by Hadrian, between the Solway and the Tyne. Thus the southern part of the island alone remained Roman, and became specially known as Britannia, while the northern portion was distinctly called Caledonia.

The capital of Roman Britain was York (Eboracum). Under the rule of the Romans many flourishing towns arose. Great roads were made, traversing the whole country and helping very much to develop its industries. Christianity was also introduced, and took the place of the Druidism of the native British. Under the tuition of the Romans the useful arts and even many of the refinements of life found their way into the southern part of the island.

Creation of England and Scotland.—From the time of the Roman conquest, and still more decidedly after the Saxon invasions in the fifth century, the history of Britain branches off into a history of the southern part of the island, afterwards known as England, and a history of the northern part of the island, afterwards named Scotland. It was not till the union of the crowns in 1603 that the destinies of England and Scotland began again to unite; and it was not till the final union of the parliaments in 1707 that the histories of the two countries may be said to merge into one.

The Anglo-Saxon Period.—In 411 Honorius abandoned Britain, whose inhabitants, finding it impossible to defend themselves against the Picts, called to their aid the Saxons, who, in 449, assisted them so effectually that they took possession of the country and founded the four kingdoms of Essex, Wessex, Sussex, and Kent. The Angles, who followed them, established three other kingdoms,viz., East Anglia, Deira, and Mercia, 540-584. All these kingdoms ended by being reduced to one, under Egbert, the Saxon king of Wessex, in 827.

After 835 the Danes ravaged England from time to time, but in 871 Alfred the Great forced them to desist, and from thence till near the end of his reign in 900, the Danes left the island in peace. Returning in 981, the Danes succeeded, in 1013, in putting their king, Sweyn, on the throne, which was not recovered by the Saxon dynasty till 1041.

Norman Conquest.—When William of Normandy landed in England to claim the crown which Edward the Confessor had bequeathed[467]to him, he found that the people had raised to the throne Harold, the son of a popular nobleman. The resources of the Saxons, however, had been wasted in domestic conflicts before the attack of William; and the battle of Hastings, in 1066 A. D., gave England with comparative ease to the Normans. The next twenty years saw the conquest completed, and nearly all the large landed estates of the Saxons pass, on every pretext except the true one, into the hands of the Normans. In the course of time the Normans were absorbed among the Saxons, their very language disappearing, though leaving many traces. From this union arose the English people and the English language as they now exist. The union of the Normans with the Saxons was not fully effected so long as the Normans retained their foreign possessions. In King John’s reign the whole of these were lost excepting Guienne and Poitou.

In the reign of Stephen occurred the civil war between the Empress Maud, daughter of Henry I., and Stephen; she finally retired to France, and concluded a peace with her adversary. The great struggles of the successors of William were with the ecclesiastics and with the barons. Sometimes in these the popular sympathies were with, and sometimes against, the crown. The Conqueror himself and his immediate successors had no difficulty in maintaining the superiority of the courts of justice over the ecclesiastics; but even a sovereign so bold and skillful as Henry II. was forced, after the outcry occasioned by the murder of Thomas à Becket (1170 A. D.) to yield the point. The right to nominate the higher ecclesiastics was also secured by the popes.

The Plantagenets.—Under the Plantagenets an era of progress, generally, opened for England. The reign of Henry II. gave to the country the constitution of Clarendon; Ireland was conquered, 1172; England was divided into six circuits for the better administration of justice, and a digest of the laws was made by Glanville about 1181. Richard I. did little for the internal good of the land, his chief exploits occurring on the field of battle in foreign lands.

Magna Charta.—Under John two important events occurred: Magna Charta was obtained, and the French possessions were nearly all lost—both unmitigated blessings; but otherwise John’s influence was cast against progress and reform. The degradation of the English monarchy was at its lowest when he consented (1213 A. D.) to hold the crown as a gift from Rome. From Henry II. something similar to the Great Charter had already been gained; but it was the Magna Charta of John which firmly established two great English principles—that no man should suffer arbitrary imprisonment, and that no tax should be imposed without the consent of the council of the nation.

During the reign of Henry III., England obtained her first regular parliament, and gold money was first coined in 1257. Edward I. was crowned 1272, and almost the first event of his reign was the conquest of Wales; Scotland also was subdued, but revolted again in 1297.

The reign of Edward II. was disastrous to himself and to England. The barons rose against his favorites, and Edward was murdered by the connivance of his wife. A new and vigorous era began with the reign of Edward III. The Scots were defeated at Halidon Hill; important victories were gained in France; the Order of the Garter was instituted, and, most important of all, law pleadings were ordered to be in English, instead of in the Norman-French tongue which had hitherto prevailed. Richard II. was crowned in 1377, and with his death in 1385, ended the line of the Plantagenets.

House of Lancaster.—Henry IV. was the first sovereign under this ill-fated house. His reign was disturbed by an insurrection of the Welsh under the Percies, but was otherwise peaceful. Henry V. invaded France and won the famous battle of Agincourt, and gained the French crown, 1420; but during the reign of his successor, Henry VI., all the French possessions were lost save Calais. He was deposed by Warwick the kingmaker, and the first representative of the House of York, Edward IV., was placed on the throne. The Wars of the Roses ensued, which continued through the two succeeding reigns of Edward V. and Richard III, ending with the death of Richard on Bosworth field, the coronation of Henry VII., 1485, and his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV.

The Tudors.—The union of the houses of York and Lancaster under Henry VII. begins a new period in English history. Under him England entered on her career of maritime discovery. He died, 1599, and was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII. Henry VIII. succeeded under the most favorable auspices. He found the alliance of his now important country courted by both of his contemporaries, Francis I., of France, and Charles V., of Germany. But the interest of the foreign complications of the reign merges in the courts of England and of Rome. Henry was frequently engaged in hostilities with foreign countries, and the great victory of Flodden was won by one of his generals over James IV. of Scotland, husband of his sister Margaret. He threw off his allegiance to the pope, and became head of the church in England. He was six times married, and two of his wives were beheaded and two were repudiated. In his reign the scaffold was occupied by victims from every class of society. He died January 28, 1547, and was succeeded by his only son, Edward VI., whose mother was Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife.

Edward was in his tenth year, and the government was vested in a regency. In this reign the church of England was established, and the nation placed on the Protestant side in the struggle then going on in Europe. When Edward VI. died, July 6, 1553, Lady Jane Grey, to whom Edward had bequeathed the crown, was queen for ten days, when her party was dispersed, and Mary, eldest daughter of Henry VIII., ascended the throne.

The marriage of Mary with Philip II. of Spain led to war between England and France,[468]and an English army joined the Spanish force that invaded France. Mary was a devout Catholic, and caused Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, and about three hundred other Protestants to be burned. Her death, November 17, 1558, left the throne to Elizabeth, who sided with the Protestants.

Elizabethan Period.—The reign of Elizabeth, which lasted nearly forty-five years, is one of the most brilliant in English history. She triumphed over her enemies, and raised her kingdom to the first place in Europe. She ruled over Scotland in fact, and put the queen of that country, the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, to death, after having held her in captivity nearly nineteen years. The Huguenots of France and Henry IV. received aid from her, and but for the assistance which she gave the Dutch they would have sunk under the power of Spain. She invited the Turks to join her in attacking the pope and Phillip II.; and over both those potentates she achieved a great triumph in 1588, when the Spanish armada was destroyed. The enterprise of Englishmen led them to circumnavigate the globe, to attempt colonization, to extend commerce, and to inaugurate trade relations with India. Elizabeth died March 24, 1603, and with her terminated the Tudor dynasty, after an existence of nearly one hundred and eighteen years.

House of Stuart.—Elizabeth was succeeded by James VI. of Scotland, the son of her victim, Mary Stuart, and first king of England of the Stuart line, who inherited the English crown in virtue of his descent from Margaret Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry VII., who had married his great-grandfather, James IV. The new king, under the title James I., was hailed with much satisfaction by the English; but he was a pedant and a tyrant, and soon lost his popularity. His first parliament, 1604, in reply to his assertion that all their privileges were derived from him, asserted all those principles for which the English constitutionalists contended as facts not to be questioned.

Then began that civil contest which lasted down to 1689 in full force, and which was not utterly at an end till 1746. The foreign policy of James was as vicious as his home policy, and England sank in the estimation of Europe. He died in 1625, and was succeeded by his son Charles I.

For eleven years (1629-1640) this ruler called no parliament, and England was ruled as despotically as France. His chief instruments were Wentworth, afterward earl of Strafford, and Laud, archbishop of Canterbury. Laud sought to fasten the English church policy on Scotland. War between the Scotch people and the English government followed, and Charles was compelled to call a parliament April, 1640, which was dissolved in a few days, and became known as the “short parliament.” Six months later assembled the famous “long parliament,” which proceeded to divest the king of much of his power.

Period of the Commonwealth.—The contest between the king and parliament under the lead of Vane, Cromwell and others, led to the great English Civil war, which began in the latter part of 1642. Cromwell was everywhere victorious in the field. The army became the source of all power. The king was tried, condemned and executed. Ireland was conquered by Cromwell, who was almost equally successful in Scotland. The battle of Worcester, September 3, 1651, crushed the royalists for nearly nine years. In 1653 Cromwell dissolved the parliament by force, and was master of England for five years, as Lord Protector. After his death, in 1658, the military and civil republicans quarreled.

Restoration of the House of Stuart.—Richard, the son and successor of the great Protector, resigned, and the restoration of the Stuarts was effected in the person of Charles II., 1660, whose reign in law dates from the time of his father’s execution, January 30, 1649. The king’s popularity soon declined, mainly on account of his foreign policy. An unnecessary war with the Dutch produced much disgrace. The triple alliance with Sweden and Holland for a brief interval stayed the course of Louis XIV., but the king’s forces assisted in the war on Holland made by Louis, and afterward assistance was sent to the Dutch.

The peace of 1678 was followed by the excitement caused by the alleged popish plot. Parliament after parliament was elected, met, set itself in decided opposition to the government, and was dissolved. The leading object of the opposition was the exclusion of the duke of York, Charles’ brother, from the line of succession. Charles II. died in February, 1685, and his brother James II., an avowed Roman Catholic, came to the throne.

James II. was bent on the establishment of a despotism, by the destruction of the constitution in church and state. He punished Monmouth’s rebellion with excessive vindictiveness. The king prorogued parliament in November, 1685, and that body never met again. For three years he governed despotically, and a perpetual contest was waged between him and his people.

In June, 1688, it was announced that the king’s second wife had given birth to a prince, who was afterwards known as the pretender. It was generally believed that a supposititious child had been placed in the position of heir apparent.

In November, William, prince of Orange, who was the king’s nephew and had married his eldest daughter Mary, heir apparent to the British crown, landed in England at the head of an army. James fled, and William and Mary were proclaimed sovereigns.

War was declared against France in 1689, and was ended in 1697. Ireland was subdued. Mary died in 1694, and left William III. sole monarch till his death in March, 1702, when the succession passed to Anne, second daughter of James II.

In May war was declared against France, and after splendid victories achieved by Marlborough, it was ended by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The union of England and Scotland was effected in 1707. Anne died August 1, 1714, and the crown passed to the house of Hanover in the person of George I.

House of Hanover under the Four Georges.—The rebellion of 1715 in behalf of the Stuarts proved a failure. The bursting of the “South sea bubble” in 1720 placed Robert Walpole in control of the government, which he retained under George II. (who ascended the throne in 1727) till 1742. His fall was occasioned by a war with Spain, to which one with France was soon added, growing out of the question of the Austrian succession. In 1746 the contest between the reigning dynasty and the remains of the Stuart party was brought to an end at Culloden where the duke of Cumberland defeated Charles Edward. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 restored peace to Europe for a few years.

The Whigs continued to rule, headed by Henry Pelham, and after his death in 1754 by his brother, the duke of Newcastle. The renewal of the war with France in 1755 was followed by the formation in 1757 of the celebrated Pitt-Newcastle ministry, which carried on the contest with great vigor; so that when George II. died, October 25, 1760, his fleets and armies were everywhere triumphant. The foundation of the East Indian empire of England was laid at Plassey June 23, 1757. French America was conquered at Quebec, September 13, 1759.

The new king, George III. (the first English-born king of his house), grandson of George II., was by nature and education as despotic as the worst of the Stuarts. The attempt to tax the American colonies led to the American revolution. The English in the last years of the war had to fight the Americans, the French, the Spaniards, and the Dutch. The peace of 1783 left England in a low condition.

When France became convulsed by the revolution, England engaged in the war against her that soon followed, which lasted, with two brief intervals, till 1815, ending in the complete triumph of England and her allies. The legislative union between Ireland and Great Britain went into effect January 1, 1801. The exertions made by England, beginning with the administration of Pitt, were vast. Her fleets, chiefly under Nelson, achieved splendid victories over the French and Spaniards, and in the last years of the war her armies were greatly distinguished under the lead of Wellington, who, at Waterloo, inflicted the final defeat on Napoleon in 1815.

In 1810 George III. lost his reason finally, and his eldest son was prince regent till 1820 when he became king as George IV.

In 1812 England became involved in a war with the United States, growing out of the impressment and right of search questions. The contest was virtually terminated by the treaty of Ghent, December 24, 1814. In 1829 the Catholic emancipation act was passed, under a ministry headed by Wellington and Peel. George IV. died in 1830, and was succeeded by his brother, the duke of Clarence, as William IV.

In March, 1831, a bill for parliamentary reform was introduced into the house of commons by Lord John Russell, and after long debates in parliament and intense excitement in the country, caused by the opposition of the house of lords, a bill making extensive changes in the constitution of the house of commons finally passed in June, 1832, under the ministry of Earl Grey.

The first reformed parliament, which met January 29, 1833, contained an overwhelming majority of reformers. Lord Grey retired from office in 1834, and was succeeded by Lord Melbourne. Toward the close of the same year the government was committed to Sir Robert Peel, who formed a conservative ministry. Peel continued in office until April 8, 1835, when he retired, having been repeatedly beaten on Irish church questions. Lord Melbourne returned to office, with many of his old colleagues. The king died on June 20, 1837, and was succeeded by his niece Victoria, the only child of Edward, duke of Kent, fourth son of George III.

The Victorian Period.—The accession of Victoria led to the separation of the crowns of England and Hanover, which had been worn by the same persons since 1714. In 1841 Melbourne resigned, and the conservatives under Peel came into power. In 1846 the Peel ministry brought forward an act to protect life in Ireland, but it was defeated in the commons on the same day that the Corn Laws were repealed, and the ministry came to an end, being succeeded by one at the head of which was Lord John Russell. The Russell ministry went out of office in 1852, and for several months the tories, led by Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli, were at the head of affairs. This ministry was followed by one composed of the coalesced Whigs and Peelites, headed by Lord Aberdeen.

Crimean War.—In 1853 the troubles on the Turkish question began, and war was declared against Russia by France and England in March, 1854. Large fleets and armies were sent to the East, and fleets to the Baltic. The Crimea was invaded, the victory of the Alma won by the allies, and Sebastopol partially invested. On September 8 Sebastopol was reduced, the French storming the Malakhoff, and peace was restored by a congress of the powers at Paris in March, 1856.

Indian Mutiny and Final Absorption of the Indian Empire.—Early in 1857 a formidable revolt broke out in England’s great Bengal army of sepoys. Delhi fell into the hands of the rebels, and the nominal Mogul emperor found himself once more a sovereign in reality. The mutiny spread rapidly, and in a short time the whole Bengal army had become hostile to the English. The military reputation of England was greatly raised by the successes of her armies in India, achieved under the lead of Sir Henry Havelock, Sir Colin Campbell, and others. In eight months after the breaking out of the mutiny there were nearly seventy thousand effective English troops there, and new native corps had replaced the sepoys. By the end of 1858 the revolt was totally suppressed. The rebellion resulted in the transfer of the immediate government of India from the East India company to the crown, the old directory sitting for the last time September 1, 1858.

In February, 1858, the Palmerston ministry was driven from office, and a new conservative ministry was formed, with the earl of Derby as premier, and Mr. Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer. This ministry soon resigned and Lord Palmerston resumed office in June, 1859. On May 13, 1861, Great Britain recognized the belligerency of the Confederacy during the American Civil war and the blockade of their ports, and proclaimed neutrality.

In 1868 Disraeli became Prime Minister in succession to Lord Derby, but was defeated in the general election of that year and resigned before the end of the year.

Disraeli was succeeded by Gladstone, who, during the five years of his ministry passed more measures than almost any previous one. Education became compulsory. Trade unions were legalized, the Ballot Act was passed. The Irish Church Act and a Land Act for Ireland were passed, and the state of Ireland at the time also necessitated Coercion Acts.

In 1874 Gladstone resigned, and the Conservatives were returned to power, having for the first time since 1841 a real majority in the House of Commons. The ministry formed by Disraeli was a brilliant one, and the Opposition was for a time weakened by the withdrawal into private life of Gladstone. The great question of Home Rule was gradually forcing itself to the front, and the Irish tactics in the House became obstructive. It was at this time that Disraeli put forward his imperial policy, and the ministry is chiefly noticeable for its attitude on foreign and imperial affairs.

From 1879 to the present time Irish agitation has been for Great Britain a source of serious disquiet. In 1882 Mr. Gladstone adopted a policy of conciliation, but the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and of Mr. Burke caused its abandonment and the immediate passing of a coercion law which virtually placed Ireland under martial law. In 1882 the Egyptian army, under the leadership of Arabi Bey, having revolted from the khedive’s authority, Great Britain sent a large naval expedition to Egypt, bombarded Alexandria, and defeated the rebellious forces. Since that date the Egyptian government has been under British suzerainty, and in 1896, a British expedition was sent up the Nile with the purpose of regaining the provinces of Egypt held by the mahdist forces.

Within the past quarter of a century Great Britain has largely extended its territory in Africa, bringing great areas in the south and east of the continent under its protection. During the same interval several subjects of dispute have arisen with the United States, which have all been peacefully settled. An imposing festival took place in London in June, 1897, on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession, in which all sections of the empire took part.

Boer War.—October 11, 1899, war was declared by the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State, the aim being the destruction of the British paramountcy in South Africa. This led to the annexation of those states by the British, after a fierce contest, in 1900. In 1900, a new parliament was elected, which again supported the Conservative ministry, with a slightly increased majority.

House of Saxe-Coburg.—Victoria died January 22, 1901, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII., who proved himself to be an active promoter of peaceful relations with other countries.

The Boer war was concluded in the middle of 1902 by the treaty of Vereeniging, and almost immediately afterward Lord Salisbury retired from office, being succeeded in the premiership by his nephew, Mr. A. J. Balfour. The education act of 1902 did away with school boards where they existed, bringing the voluntary and former board schools alike under education committees in England and Wales, and the same change was made in London in 1903. The Irish land act of 1903 was a measure of the first importance, its object, being to transfer practically all the agricultural land of Ireland to farmers or peasant proprietors. In the autumn of 1903 Mr. Chamberlain resigned office in order to be free to advocate a change in the country’s fiscal policy, intended to unite the colonies more closely with the mother country—a change which many have regarded as meaning a return to protection.

In 1905 the Liberal party returned to power under the leadership of Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, who was succeeded after his death in 1908 by H. H. Asquith.

On May 5, 1910, the illness of King Edward was announced, followed by that of his death the next day. His son, George V., succeeded to the throne May 6, 1910.

A lengthy battle had begun to be waged against the hereditary prerogatives of the House of Lords, to which the death of the king caused a temporary cessation, but, in August, 1911, the Upper House was finally shorn of its permanent veto. In September, 1910, the fisheries dispute with the United States, which had remained unsettled for more than a hundred years, was decided at the Hague.

Early in 1913 the Irish home rule question became the dominant issue and a bill favoring it was passed by the House of Commons by a large majority, only to be overwhelmingly rejected in the House of Lords. In February, 1914, King George urged mutual concessions in the controversy, and in the same year the Home Rule bill became a law without the approval of the Lords, but practically non-operative. Today (1917) home rule for Ireland is still the great unsolved problem of British domestic policy.

The year 1914 also marked the entrance of Great Britain into the great European war that has since engulfed practically the whole of Europe and one-third of the civilized world. England’s history since has been almost wholly bound up with the diplomatic, economic, and military aspects of that titanic struggle, the real facts of which it will require more than a generation of dispassionate minds to verify, sift and assess at their true values. An attempt is made to give the leading features of this war, and the parts played in it by the various nations involved, under aseparate heading.

This title is usually given to the total territory governed or administered in the name of the British government centralized in London. It includes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the self-governing Dominions, Dependencies, Crown colonies and Protectorates whose inhabitants look to the king as their ultimate head. Of the whole area of the lands of the globe, the British Empire occupies nearly one-quarter, extending to every continent.

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