WILLIAM IV. ascended the throne in 1830, in a period of great political excitement. During his short reign of seven years, there was the greatest political agitation ever known in this country about a Reform of Parliament, a measure which the people had long and earnestly desired. Many meetings were held in this city, and petitions were adopted in favour of reform, long called for and long deferred. In fact, the king, during the early part of his reign, had other and more pressing causes of anxiety. His accession to the throne brought him an inheritance of the jealousy, to which the country had been gradually roused, on the subject of the extravagance and corruption of the old systems of government. In the effort to reduce a vast expenditure, the House of Commons was in no mood to be so liberal to the new sovereign as he thought he had a right to expect. The ministry were withheld, by the very forcible opposition of one of its members, from asking the house to grant the expenses of the queen’s outfit, and the king himself had to submit to the mortification of finding the pensions charged on the public by former monarchs sharply criticised, and even his own household expenses commented on with severity. On September 8th, 1831, the grand ceremony of the coronation of the king took place in Westminster Abbey. The auspicious event was celebrated in Norwich in a most loyal and joyous manner. The festivities of the day commenced with the merry chime of St. Peter’s bells, and the waving of banners from all the public buildings. The mayor and members of the corporation went in procession from the Guildhall to the Cathedral. After their return to the hall, the regiment of the First Royals marched into the Market Place and fired three vollies. The electors who had supported Gurney and Grant received £1 each, and a dinner was given to 600 of the freemen, who voted for Wetherell and Sadler, at Laccohee’s gardens. The citizens, in fact, have never lost an opportunity of displaying their loyalty, but they always expected something in return. Several petitions were sent from Norwich in favour of the Reform Bill; and the passing of the bill was celebrated here with great rejoicings, festivities, and a public procession on July 5th, 1832. This brief reign was remarkable, moreover, for the abolition of the slave trade after a violent agitation which convulsed the whole country, and ended in the passing of an act of emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies, at a cost of twenty millions; and it is also noted for the suppression of the rebellion in Canada, and the restoration of tranquillity to that colony.