DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

ale produced, yet tame when contrasted with those which occurred on the Continent. Render thanks to your forefathers, that they have not blotted the pages of your history with crimes such as those which—committed in the name of liberty—soiled the fair escutcheon of France. The French Revolution of 1789 can only be compared to the bursting of a shell, which shattered the whole fabric of French society into fragments. On its smouldering ruins was raised the most absolute des- potism that has ever been known—the Empire of Napoleon I. Soon to break down, it was followed by a varied succession of governments, which have vainly struggled, and are struggling still, to con- solidate the liberties of France on a secure foundation. Simultaneously almost with the French Revolu- tion of 1789, preceding it only by twenty years, a crisis occurred in the political history of England, the relative mildness of which is a matter of surprise and interest, considering the importance of its conse- quences, and the peculiar individuality of its chief actor. In 1760, at the age of twenty-two, George III. succeeded to the throne of Great Britain. The first English-born King after a period of nearly half-a- century, his accession was hailed with a genuine burst of enthusiasm and loyalty. He found the country in a hitherto unknown state of prosperity at home and