Before William had been on the throne a year there was trouble in Ireland, and in some counties it became necessary for the military force to put down the outrages committed by mobs. The Irish people believed that their rights had been assailed by the government, and Daniel O'Connell made speeches to the ignorant portion of the inhabitants, which served, as he intended they should, to {290}increase their discontent. Then there was an outbreak among the English peasantry against the use of agricultural machinery. They met in crowds and went about destroying all the barns, corn, and hay-ricks, and setting fire right and left to the threshing-machines, like a set of maniacs. Of course such lawless behavior filled the country with consternation, because it was impossible to tell where it would end. When parliament met, the king made a speech which proved to be one of the most offensive that ever proceeded from an English sovereign. It was known to be the work of his ministry, but did not increase his popularity on that account. The Duke of Wellington followed it up by a declaration against reform in parliament, which certainly sealed his fate, for it was condemned by friend and foe. It proved that, though a great general, the duke was by no means capable of filling the position of prime minister. Excitement ran so high in London that the Lord Mayor's dinner, which had been fixed for the ninth of November, had to be postponed, for there was great fear of a repetition of Guy Fawkes's day. Troops paraded the streets, prudent citizens renewed their bolts and bars, lined their shutters with iron plates, and laid in a supply of arms, while little knots of people gathered at the street-corners, waiting for something, though they did not know exactly what. Before the end of the week everybody was laughing at the panic they had experienced; but the effect of it was seriously felt, for certain disorderly citizens organized meaningless riots, merely because they could think of no other way of amusing themselves just then. Besides, the impression got abroad that the King of England dared not pass through the streets of his own capital to dine with the Lord Mayor, and that the banquet had, therefore, to be postponed. {291}The reform bill was a most important matter; and, when we consider the nature of it, we shall see why it created so much excitement among the common people of Great Britain. This measure was introduced into parliament with the intention of regulating the number of representatives from the various counties, according to their size and standing. It had another aim. Hitherto the affairs of government had been exclusively in the hands of the aristocracy; but the reform bill was introduced for the purpose of admitting the middle classes to a voice in public concerns. It is easy to see, therefore, why the workingmen were aroused; but those who witnessed the tame, wordy meetings of the workingmen not long since