In England, great popular rejoicings had been occasioned by the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. A bill was passed appointing the Prince Consort regent of England in case of the Queen's death. The royal couple were well matched. The credit of having brought about this marriage was chiefly due to Lord Melbourne. The tactful conduct of Prince Albert after the marriage fully justified his choice. Yet Prince Albert was never popular in England. Parliament cut down his proposed income from the Crown by nearly one half. The lower classes were prejudiced against him as a foreigner, while the nobility and army turned against him when they found that he preferred the society of men eminent for their intellectual attainments to that of dukes and marquises. On June 10, an insane pot-boy named Oxford attempted to assassinate the Queen and the Prince Consort with a pistol. The would-be assassin was confined in an asylum. On November 21, Queen Victoria gave birth to her eldest child, Augusta, who subsequently became Empress of Germany. [Sidenote: First Charter petition] [Sidenote: Jack Frost's revolt] Other English events of domestic importance were the passage of the vaccination act, the introduction of screw propellers in the British navy, and the State trial of the three leaders of the Chartist movement of the previous year. A monster petition subscribed by 1,280,000 signatures on a great cylinder was rolled into Parliament. In it were embodied new demands for a bill of rights, or the "People's Charter," comprising universal suffrage, including that of woman, secret ballots, payment of Parliamentary representatives, and the like. The denial of this petition provoked a popular uprising under the leadership of Jack Frost at Newport, which had to be suppressed by the military. After a sensational trial, the leaders were condemned to deportation. [Sidenote: Death of Beau Brummel]