"
Meanwhile, great events were transacting themselves in the political world,
and they had an important bearing on the tranquil life of Combe Florey. On
the 4th of May 1830, Sydney Smith wrote from London to his wife in the
country:--
"The King is going downhill as before, but seems to be a long time in
the descent. All kinds of intrigues are going on about change of
Ministry, and all kinds of hopes and fears afloat. Nothing is more
improbable than that I should be made a Bishop, and, if I ever had the
opportunity, I am now, when far removed from it, decidedly of opinion
that it would be the greatest act of folly and absurdity to accept
it--to live with foolish people, to do foolish and formal things all
day, to hold my tongue, or to twist it into conversation unnatural
to me."
King George IV. died on the 26th of June. The accession of William IV., who
was supposed to have some tendencies towards Whiggism, greatly stimulated
the demand for Parliamentary Reform; and the revolution in France, which
dethroned Charles X., gave a strong impetus to the democratic forces in
England. Parliament was dissolved on the 24th of July. On the 14th of
August Charles Greville wrote, "The elections are still going against the
Government, and the signs of the times are all for reform and retrenchment,
and against slavery.
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