When these
princes quarreled they helped them, and so obtained a larger footing.
But in this reign the English power was nearly ended in a very sad
way. An Indian army came suddenly down on Calcutta. Many English
got on board the ships, but those who could not--146 in number--were
shut up all night in a small room, in the hottest time of the year,
and they were so crushed together and suffocated by the heat that,
when the morning came, there were only twenty-three of them alive.
This dreadful place was known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. The
next year Calcutta was won back again; and the English, under Colonel
Clive, gained so much ground that the French had no power left in
India, and the English could go on obtaining more and more land,
riches and power.
George II. had lost his eldest son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, and
his lively and clever wife, Queen Caroline, many years before his
death. His chief ministers were, first, Sir Robert Walpole, and
afterwards the Earl of Chatham--able men, who knew how to manage the
country through all these wars. The king died at last, quite suddenly
when sixty-eight years old, in the year 1760.
CHAPTER XLIII.
GEORGE III. A.D. 1760--1785.
After George II. reigned his grandson, George III., the son of
Frederick, Prince of Wales, who had died before his father. The
Princess of Wales was a good woman, who tried to bring up her
children well; and George III. was a dutiful son to her, and a good,
faithful man--always caring more to do right than for anything else.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173