The British nation a history / by George MWrong . am, London, and otherpopulous centres. Formerly there had been but one poll-ing-booth for each constituency; elections lasted fortydays, and often were accompanied by riot and now the election was to be completed within twodays, and voting places were to be more numerous. Aboveall, though the rural qualification was still high, the fran-chise was extended so that those in towns who paid a rentalof £10 might vote. The bill gave political power not tothe working man, but to the small farmer in the coun-try and the small shopkeeper in
The British nation a history / by George MWrong . am, London, and otherpopulous centres. Formerly there had been but one poll-ing-booth for each constituency; elections lasted fortydays, and often were accompanied by riot and now the election was to be completed within twodays, and voting places were to be more numerous. Aboveall, though the rural qualification was still high, the fran-chise was extended so that those in towns who paid a rentalof £10 might vote. The bill gave political power not tothe working man, but to the small farmer in the coun-try and the small shopkeeper in the towns. This reformof 1832 sufficed for a time, but it was inevitable that thestill unenfranchised multitude should demand the rightto vote, and before the century closed two further reformbills were passed, giving in the end political power to thelabouring classes. But these later changes were still remote when thefirst reformed Parliament met in January, 1833. ThePrime Minister, Earl Grey, was a type of the old Whig 520 THE BRITISH NATION. , EaIII. GkEY (17G4-1845). nobleman, honest and high-minded, but coldly critical ofdemocracy, and Mith an approach to scorn for popularebullitions; even Whig politi-cal leadership still inhered inthe titled classes. But thenew basis of political life wasjustified by the great meas-ures which soon became law. mu , ,• . r Slfivery was al- The abolition of , , slavery, 1833. most the first of tlie evils shive trade, with its horri-ble seizure of negroes in Afri-ca, had been abolished in 1807;shivery itself had long disap-peared from the British Isles,but it still flourished in the British colonies. The mantleof Wilberforce, the friend of the slave, fell, on his retire-ment in 1835, to Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, and the Par-liament of 1833 ended a longstruggle by abolishing slaveryin all British dominions. Thenation granted £20,000,000 incompensation to slave - still existed a real, thoughnot a nominal,
Size: 1456px × 1716px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidbritishnatio, bookyear1910
