Beacon Lights of History, Volume 10 | Page 2

unpopularity. Diplomatist at the Diet of Frankfort.
Ambassador at St. Petersburg. Death of Frederick William IV.
Bismarck, Prime Minister. Increase of the army. The
Schleswig-Holstein Question. Treaty of Vienna, 1864. War between

Austria and Prussia. Count von Moltke. Battle of Sadowa. Great
increase of Prussian territory and population. New German
Constitution. War clouds--France and Luxembourg. Conference at
London. King William at Paris. Preparations and pretext for war with
France. Mobilization of German troops. King William at Mayence.
Battle of Gravelotte. Fall of Louis Napoleon at Sedan. Siege and
surrender of Paris. King William crowned Emperor of Germany.
Labors of Bismarck. His character. Quarrel with the Catholics.
Socialism in Germany. Bismarck's domestic policy. Bismarck's famous
speech, 1888. Death of Emperor William. Retirement of Bismarck.
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.
THE ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE PEOPLE.
Precocity of Gladstone. Life at Oxford. Enters Parliament. Negro
Emancipation. Under-Secretary for the Colonies. Ultra-Conservative
principles. His eloquence as member of Parliament. His marriage.
Essay on Church and State. Parliamentary leader. Represents Oxford.
Letter on the Government of Naples. Benjamin Disraeli. Gladstone
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Opposes the Crimean War. Great abilities
as finance minister. Conversion to Free Trade. "Studies on Homer". His
mistake about the American War. Defeat at Oxford. Irish Questions.
Rivalry between Gladstone and Disraeli. Gladstone, Prime Minister.
His great popularity. Disestablishment of Irish Church. Irish Land Bill.
Radical army changes. Settlement of the Alabama claims. Irish
University Bill. Fall of Gladstone's Ministry. Influence of Gladstone in
retirement. Disraeli as Prime Minister. Return of Gladstone to power.
His second administration. Parliamentary defeat of Gladstone. The Irish
Question. Death.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME X.
Bismarck at Versailles After the painting by Carl Wagner.
William IV., King of England After the painting by Sir Thomas

Lawrence.
Sir Robert Peel From the engraving by Sartain.
Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield From a photograph.
Camillo Benso di Cavour From a photograph.
Assassination of the Emperor Paul I. of Russia _After the painting by H.
Merté_.
Czar Nicholas I. After the painting by Horace Vernet.
Capture of Napoleon III. at Boulogne _After the painting by R.
Gutschmidt_.
Louis Napoleon III. From a photograph.
Bismarck After the painting by Franz von Lenbach.
Count Von Moltke From a photograph from life.
Proclamation of King William of Prussia as Emperor of Germany, at
Versailles After the painting by Anton von Werner.
William Ewart Gladstone After a photograph from life.

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.
WILLIAM IV.
1765-1837.
ENGLISH REFORMS.
On the death of George IV. in 1830, a new political era dawned on
England. His brother, William IV., who succeeded him, was not his
equal in natural ability, but was more respectable in his character and

more liberal in his views. With William IV. began the undisputed
ascendency of the House of Commons in national affairs. Before his
day, no prime minister could govern against the will of the sovereign.
After George IV., as in France under Louis Philippe, "the king reigned,
but did not govern." The chief of the ascendent political party was the
real ruler.
When William IV. ascended the throne the Tories were still in power,
and were hostile to reform. But the agitations and discontents of the
latter days of George IV. had made the ministry unpopular. Great
political reformers had arisen, like Lords Grey, Althorp, and Russell,
and great orators like Henry Brougham and Macaulay, who demanded
a change in the national policy. The social evils which stared
everybody in the face were a national disgrace; they made the boasted
liberty of the English a mockery. There was an unparalleled distress
among the laboring classes, especially in the mining and manufacturing
districts. The price of labor had diminished, while the price of bread
had increased. So wretched was the condition of the poor that there
were constant riots and insurrections, especially in large towns. In war
times unskilled laborers earned from twelve to fifteen shillings a week,
and mechanics twenty-five shillings; but in the stagnation of business
which followed peace, wages suffered a great reduction, and thousands
could find no work at all. The disbanding of the immense armies that
had been necessary to combat Napoleon threw out of employ perhaps
half a million of men, who became vagabonds, beggars, and paupers.
The agricultural classes did not suffer as much as operatives in mills,
since they got a high price for their grain; but the more remunerative
agriculture became to landlords, the more miserable were those
laborers who paid all they could earn to save themselves from absolute
starvation. No foreign grain could be imported until wheat had arisen to
eighty shillings a "quarter," [1]--which unjust law tended to the
enrichment of land-owners, and to a corresponding poverty among the
laboring classes. In addition to the high price which the people paid for
bread, they were taxed heavily upon everything imported, upon
everything