woman to rule. The queen’s uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, now became King of Hanover, and England was no longer in danger of being drawn into European wars on account of this German kingdom.
2. Rebellion in Canada.—One of the first difficulties to be dealt
with in this reign was a rebellion in Lower Canada. Canada had been divided into two Provinces, in 1791, by a measure known as the Constitutional Act. This Act also gave each Province a Parliament, composed of a Governor, a Legislative Council, and a Legislative Assembly. As Fox foresaw and pointed out at the time, the Act was full of defects, for it did not give the elected Assembly the full control of the revenue, and it did not make the Legislative Council and the Executive responsible to the people. The Act had many other defects besides these mentioned, and resulted in so much bad government in Lower and Upper Canada that some of the more hot-headed and impulsive of the people began a rebellion. The first risings were in Lower Canada, and thence the rebellion spread into Upper Canada in 1837. Lord Durham was sent out to inquire into the cause of the trouble, and he gave a report which pointed out very clearly the evils under which Canada was suffering, and outlined the proper method of dealing with the colony. Durham’s report became, soon after, the basis of a new and better policy towards the colonies. The rebellion did not last long, but its fruits were the union of Upper and Lower Canada in one province in 1840, and the beginning of true responsible government in Canada. The two Provinces remained united till 1867, when owing to a dead-lock between the two great political parties of the colony, the British North America Act was passed, which established a Federal form of government in British North America, leaving the different Provinces the control of their own local affairs, and establishing a Federal Parliament for the management of the general business of the Dominion of Canada. Beyond appointing the Governor-General and arranging treaties of commerce England now leaves Canada to look after her own interests, and interferes as little as possible with her affairs.
3. Rise of the Chartists.—The early years of this reign are marked by the introduction of the electric telegraph, Morse in America, and Wheatstone and Cooke in England, dividing the
