18.-In answer to an inquiry in the House of Commons, as to the Government defence furnished to Colonel Nelson and Lieut. Brand, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said he had no doubt whatever that when an officer in her Majesty's service, obeying the commands of his superior officers, performs acts which are afterwards legally impugned, it was the duty of the Government to defend him.

19.-Deputation from the members of the National Club to the Archbishop of Canterbury for the purpose of presenting an address on Ritualism. The address set forth that some of the clergy had revived Romish practices in the Reformed Church, among which habitual confession to a priest, the wearing of Romish vestments, the use of incense and of candles lighted in the daytime, the mixing of water with wine, and the offering of the Holy Sacrament as a propitiatory sacrifice, were particularly specified. It appealed to his Grace to use his great influence as Primate to discourage and suppress these innovations. In his reply the Archbishop said: "Whatever changes may be fairly considered to be symbolical of erroneous doctrine, and to favour that which was deliberately rejected by the Church of England-whatever I have reason to believe is offensive to the great bulk of a congregation, and calculated to estrange them from the Church of their forefathers-all this I shall readily discountenance; but I must not be understood to promise any interference with that legitimate latitude which is permitted in the ordering of the services of the Church."

Discussion in the House of Commons on Mr. Seely's resolution condemning our dockyard and Admiralty administration.

20.-The Princess of Wales delivered of a daughter-the Princess Louisa. Bulletins for some days previously had been making reference to the sufferings of her Royal Highness from acute rheumatism.

21.-The House of Commons pass a bill further suspending the Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland.

Meeting of Ministerial supporters at Lord Derby's official residence. The details of the measures to be submitted to the House in the evening were gone over, the Premier making a declaration that this would be the last time he would attempt to deal with the question of Reform. Further, he said, nothing would induce him to accept again the onerous post he now occupied.

22.-Riotous proceedings at Wolver. hampton, caused by attacks made on Roman Catholics by Murphy, an itinerant Protestant lecturer. The military and special constables were called out.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury issues invitations to "bishops in visible communion with the United Church of England and Ireland to attend a Pan-Anglican Council, to be held at Lambeth, under his Presidency, on the 24th September and three following days. 'Such a meeting," he wrote, "would not be competent to make declarations or lay down definitions in points of doctrine. But united worship and common councils would greatly tend to maintain practically the unity of the faith, while they would bind us in straiter bonds of peace and worldly charity."

23.-Died, aged 90, Sir George T. Smart, musical conductor.

25. The Chancellor of the Exchequer details the scheme of Reform intended to be based on the resolutions submitted to the House. The occupation franchise in boroughs was to be reduced to 6. rating; in counties to 20%. the franchise was also to be extended to any person having 50/. in the Funds, 30% in savings' bank for a year, payment of 20% of direct taxes, a University degree, the profession of a clergyman, or any minister of religion, any learned profession, or a certificated schoolmaste Yarmouth, Lancaster, Reigate, and Totnes were to be disfranchised, and twenty-three boroughs with less than 7,000 inhabitants were to have one member each. Of the thirty seats thus placed at the disposal of the House he proposed to allocate fourteen to new boroughs in the northern and midland districts, fifteen to counties, and one to the London University. The new Parliamentary boroughs were Harde pool, Darlington, Burnley, Staleybridge, St. Helens, Dewsbury, Barnsley, Middlesborough, Croydon, Gravesend, and Torquay. The se cond division of the Tower Hamlets to retura two members. New county divisions to have two additional members each-North Lancashire, North Lincolnshire, West Kent, East Surrey, Middlesex, South Staffordshire, and South Devon. South Lancashire to be divided, and to have one additional member. The total expected addition to borough constituencies would be 212,000; and to county do., 206,500. Mr. Lowe opposed the method of proceeding by resolution, and called for a plain simple bill which would bring the matter fairly to an issue. Mr. Gladstone would not oppose the plan submitted by Government, provided the resolutions were made more definite. From a phrase used a few nights later by a member of the Cabinet as to the hurried manner in which this measure was prepared, it came to be spokes "The Ten Minutes' Bill."

of as

position takes place at the residence of Mr. Gladstone, to consider the position of the House with reference to Reform. It was agreed to defer any action till the resolutions were embodied in a bill.

26.-The Chancellor of the Exchequer announces the intention of the Government to abandon the method of proceeding by resolutions on the Reform question, and promises to introduce a bill on the earliest possible day, probably Thursday, 7th March.

March 1.-Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald arrives at Bombay to assume the government of the presidency in the room of Sir Bartle Frere.

2. At the close of a Cabinet Council today, when a majority present consented to introduce a "real and satisfactory" Reform Bill, three of the Ministers resigned-General Peel, War Secretary; Earl of Carnarvon, Colonial Secretary; and Lord Cranborne, Secretary for India. Explanations were made in both Houses of Parliament on the evening of the 4th, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announcing that the split in the Cabinet had been caused by the wish of the majority to return to their "original policy" on the Reform question. He proposed to introduce the new bill on the 18th. The fuller explanation given in the House of Lords by the Premier and the Earl of Carnarvon (who avowed that the new bill would make an entire transfer of political power in five-sixths of the boroughs) gave rise to some complaints in the Lower House; but Mr. Disraeli refused to make any disclosures regarding his measure.

Second meeting of the Cobden Club, presided over by Lord Houghton.

In the Divorce Court, in the case of Maxwell v. Maxwell and Westcar, the jury returned a verdict for 10,000l. damages against the co-respondent, who had attempted to prove connivance and carelessness on the part of the plaintiff.

Dr. Milman installed as Bishop of Calcutta, in Calcutta Cathedral.

4. Nine children burnt in a school-room at Accrington, Lancashire, the premises taking fire in an apartment on the ground floor, used as a heald-knitting room. Though the retreat of the children from the upper floor was cut off with alarming suddenness, about ninety were rescued by neighbours, who courageously mounted ladders placed against the burning building, and drew the scholars out by the windows. Those who perished appeared to have been suffocated by the smoke.

racks at Tallaght one of the insurgents was shot, and at Glencullen they succeeded in capturing the police force and a number of weapons. The constables were released after a short detention, and the Fenian party fled with the arms and ammunition towards Kilakee. At Drogheda and Thurles the telegraph wires were cut and the railway torn up; and at Kilmallock there was a smart encounter between the Fenians and the constabulary, three of the former being killed and fourteen taken prisoners. Dermore police barracks were burnt down, and a coastguard station near Kilrush plundered. To add to the alarm, the mail train from Cork to Dublin was sent off the rails; but no disaster ensued. The police station at Burnfoot, between Blarney and Mallow, was sacked and burnt, the constables surrendering, after narrowly escaping being burnt to death. The insurgents seemed to have had an intention of converging on the Mallow Junction, but their own timidity and the rapid movement of troops defeated the design, and they withdrew in the direction of the Toomes mountains.

Further Ministerial explanations in the House of Commons by Mr. Disraeli, Lord Cranborne, and General Peel. Lord Stanley said:"Right hon. gentlemen have spoken as if it were the intention of those who sat upon these benches to go in a more democratic direction that even gentlemen opposite would be inclined to take, and to bring in a bill which would reduce the franchise to an excessive extent. I say plainly and frankly that I

can conceive no circumstances which would render the adoption of such a course by us in our position either expedient or honourable, even were any who sit on these benches prepared to follow it. I say this distinctly, be

cause I wish to save some hon. members on that side of the House disappointment. If the member for Calne, or any of those who sit near him, believe seriously that it is the intention of the Government to bring in a bill which shall be in accordance with the view which has always been so ably and so consistently advocated by the member for Birmingham, they are greatly mistaken."

6.- Died at Southampton, aged 33, Charles Brown, "Artemus Ward," humorist.

Mr. Coleridge's Oxford Tests Abolition Bill read a second time in the House of Commons.

Panic on the French Bourse, occasioned by warlike rumours on the Luxemburg question.

7.-Lord Stanley intimates in the House of Commons that, in consequence of the interest felt in this country on the subject, the Emperor Napoleon had offered the Plantagenet tombs at Fontevrault as a gift to the Queen, and they would be removed as early as possible. He was not aware, he said, that former applications of the English Government had been refused, nor did he know that it was at the earnest entreaty of the people of Anjou that the statues had been removed from Versailles

to their original site. The proposed removal giving rise to considerable dissatisfaction in France, the tombs were permitted to remain at Fontevrault.

17.-Report received that the African traveller, Dr. Livingstone, had been murdered by the Mazitu, on the western side of Lake Nyassa. The intelligence was brought to Zanzibar by a party of Johanna men who had set out with the great explorer to accompany him on his travels, and who declared they saw him fall under the blows of his assailants. In writing to the chairman of the Geographical Society on the 11th, the President, Sir R. Murchison, indicated the points in which their narrative required confirmation, and the desirableness of at once taking steps for testing the accuracy of the report.

8.-The Lord Mayor of Dublin having been made a deputy-lieutenant for the county, Lord Cloncurry writes to the lord-lieutenant (Howth) to cause his name "to be removed from that dishonoured list. In the present unhappy and disgraced state of Ireland, entirely caused by the mendacious, mercenary, professional agitators who so abound in this unfortunate country, it is a singular time to select to honour one who for many years was only notorious as a fomenter of agrarian disturbances."

Mr. Disraeli announces to the Commons that the reconstruction of the Ministry was complete.

11. The Earl of Shaftesbury introduces a bill regulating the use of sacrificial vestments, which was read a first time.

13.-Edward Simpson, better known as "Flint Jack," and widely celebrated for his manufacture of sham antique and geological specimens, sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment at Bedford.

Sir Colman O'Loghlen's Libel Bill referred to a select committee. He proposed to make speakers at public meetings liable for what they said, and to relieve from responsibility the printer of a faithful and accurate report of a libellous speech, unless he refused to publish an explanation; also to prevent a plaintiff recovering costs unless he was awarded more than 57. damages. It also permitted a defendant to pay a sum of money as damages into court, and thereby-if the jury should think the sum sufficient-entitle him to recover costs from an unsuccessful plaintiff. When money was so lodged in court, a judge at chambers to have power to compel the plaintiff to give security for costs before proceeding further. Lastly, the bill prohibited indictments for libel being preferred without the leave of the Attorney-General.

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14. Continued illness of the Princess of Wales. The bulletin of this day announces no important change in the condition of her Royal Highness. The inflammation of the knee-joint, though still causing pain, and interrupting sleep, is slowly diminishing.'

15.-Resolution carried in the House of

Commons abolishing flogging in the army in time of peace, the numbers on the division being 108 to 107.

16. The French troops leave Mexico.

As

18. In the presence of a crowded House, and of many illustrious visitors, the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduces the new Reform Bill. The proposals, embodied in a long address, were-That in boroughs the electors should be all who paid rates, or twenty shillings in direct taxes; the franchise should also be extended to certain classes qualified by edu cation, or by the possession of a stated amount of property in the Funds, or in savings' banks; rated householders to have a second vote. in the former bill, seats were to be taken from the smaller boroughs and those recently reported against for bribery, and given to more populous places-fourteen to boroughs, fifteen to counties, and one to London University. As a security against the power of mere numbers, he described minutely a system of checks, based on residence, rating, and dual voting. Mr. Gladstone criticised the scheme with some severity, and described the securities as illusions or frauds, which would be abandoned whenever it suited the Ministry.

Exciting scene in the French Chamber, caused by M. Rouher making reference to the 2d of December as saving the nation from anarchy. M. Thiers, who had been proscribed, and M. Jules Favre excitedly declared their desire that the day might be buried in oblivion.

The Queen of Denmark arrives in Londos on a visit to the Princess of Wales, still lying in a precarious condition. The King arrived on the 20th.

19.- -Publication of secret treaties of July and August 1866 between Prussia and the Southern States of Germany, in terms of which the military contingents of Bavaria, Wurtem burg, Baden, &c., are placed at the disposal of Prussia, thus incorporating Germany into one entire empire for defensive military purposes.

20. Second reading of Mr. Hardcastle's Bill for the Abolition of Church Rates carried by a majority of 263 to 187. Mr. Newdegate's Church Rates Commutation Bill thrown out by 177 to 45.

25. At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society reports were read from Dr. Seward and Dr. Kirk concerning the reported death of Dr. Livingstone. The President, Sir R. Murchison, still clung to the hope that he was alive. There was a particular route traversed by the Portuguese in 1796, which he thought it possible Dr. Livingstone had taken. This would also account for no letters being received from him. Sir Samuel Baker said it was with great pain that he entertained a different opinion, but from his own expe rience in Africa he felt perfectly certain of what had been Dr. Livingstone's fate. Mr Crawford agreed with the last speaker that the great traveller was dead. Dr. Kirk, he said,

was a man of great discrimination, and he expressed no hope whatever as to the safety of the eminent explorer. Mr. Waller believed that Dr. Livingstone had fallen with his face to the enemy, and that enemy was the slavetrade. Captain Sherard Osborne considered it to be the duty of that Society not to wait, but to explore.

25.-The Chancellor of the Exchequer having moved the second reading of the Reform Bill, Mr. Gladstone criticised at considerable length its defects: (1), the absence of a larger franchise; (2), the absence of means to prevent the traffic in votes that would infallibly arise in a large scheme affecting the lowest class of householders; (3), the vexatious distinctions between compound householders and direct ratepayers which the bill contained and aggravated; (4), the tax-paying franchise; (5), the dual vote; (6), the inadequacy of the redistribution scheme; (7), the high figure of the county franchise; (8), the use of voting papers; (9), the fancy or special franchises. He also pleaded that Government should give the House a clear intimation of its intentions regarding the bill, that they might know whether there was any possibility of bringing it to a satisfactory condition in committee.

26.-In the House of Lords the Archbishop of Canterbury intimates that the bishops had abandoned their contemplated bill on vestments, as there was a probability of a Royal Commission being issued to inquire into the practices complained of.

In the discussion on the second reading, Mr. Bright declared that if he was driven now, or at any future stage of the Reform Bill, to oppose the Government, it was because the measure bore upon its face marks of deception and disappointment, and because "I will be no party to any measure which shall cheat the great body of my countrymen of the possession of that power in this House on which they have set their hearts, and which I believe by the constitution of this Country they may most justly claim." In closing the debate, Mr. Disraeli said: "I hear much of the struggle of parties in this House, and I hear much of combinations that may occur, and courses that may be taken, which may affect the fate of this bill. All I can say on the part of my colleagues and myself is, that we have no other wish at the present moment than, with the co-operation of this House, to bring the question of Parliamentary Reform to a settlement. (Loud cheers.) I know the parliamentary incredulity with which many will receive avowals on our part that we are only influenced in the course we are taking by a sense of duty, but I do assure the House, if they need such assurances after what we have gone through, after the sacrifices we have made, after having surrendered our political connexions with men whom we more than respected-I can assure them that we have no other principle that animates us, but a con

viction that we ought not to desert our posts until this question has been settled. Rest assured that it is not for the weal of Eng. land that this settlement should be delayed. You may think that the horizon is not disturbed at the present moment. You may think that surrounding circumstances may be favourable to dilatory action. Some of you may think, in the excitement of the moment, that ambition may be gratified, and that the country may look favourably upon those who prevent the passing of this bill. Do not believe it. There is a deep responsibility with regard to this question, which rests not upon the Government merely, but upon the whole House of Commons. We are prepared, as I think I have shown, to act in all sincerity in this matter. Act with us, cordially and candidly, and assist us to carry out as we are prepared to do as far as we can act in accordance with the principles which we have not concealed from you-this measure, which we hope will lead to a settlement of the question consistent with the maintenance of the representative character of this House. Act with us, I say, cordially and candidly: you will find on our side complete reciprocity of feeling. Pass the bill, and then change the Ministry if you like." The bill was read a second time without a division.

26.-The engineers and firemen of the Brighton Railway strike for shorter hours.

28.-In Committee, after a debate and a division of 247 to 67, a resolution is passed guaranteeing a loan of £3,000,000 to Canada for the construction of a railway between Halifax and Quebec.

29. The magistrates of Market Drayton having issued a warrant against Ex-Governor Eyre at the instance of the Jamaica Committee, now refuse to commit him on the charge of wilful murder, on the ground of no sufficient evidence of guilty malice, and no likelihood that a jury would convict.

The Esterhazy jewels sold by Christie and Manson for 37,760. A sword belt adorned with a single stone of seventeen carats realized 4,000l., and the well-known Hungarian uniform of pearls, 2,175/. 10s.

Scene in the House of Commons, occasioned by Sir H. Edwards declaring that Orangemen had as much right to be represented in that House as Fenians or Fenian sympathisers. A motion was made to have the words taken down, but after a remonstrance from the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the revival of the evil personalities of thirty years since, an explanation took place, and the offensive words were withdrawn.

30.-Discussion in the North German Parliament regarding the cession of Luxemburg to France by the King of Holland. Count Bismarck said the Prussian Government does not adopt the opinion that an arrangement has been entered into between Holland and France,

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but cannot, on the other hand, assert the contrary to be the case. He was prevented from giving any further explanation by the nature of the affair."

30. In the course of an interview with Mr. Gladstone, one of the League deputation objected to the savings'-bank franchise, on the ground that depositors were intensely selfish, and generally not interested in politics. They felt that for men who left others to struggle for their political rights, and for the maintenance or advancement of their wages, or for the maintenance of privileges with regard to their trade, that for these to be the first to receive political enfranchisement would be a Mr. Beales announced the gross injustice. intention of the League to have another demonstration in Hyde Park on a convenient day after Easter.

Lord Stanley forwards a despatch to the Spanish Government demanding compensation and apology for the outrage on the British ship Queen Victoria, seized fourteen miles from the coast, on pretence of being engaged in the Chilian service, and taken into Cadiz for condemnation before the prize court.

April 1.-The Paris International Exhibition formally opened by the Emperor.

2. In the House of Lords, the Duke of Buckingham, replying to the Earl of Clarendon, states that negotiations had certainly been entered into for the sale of Russian America to the United States, but he did not think the transaction was one calculated to create any uneasiness regarding our own North American colonies.

Lord Derby and the Chancellor of the Exchequer receive a deputation from the Reform League, who urge the abandonment of the residential qualification and the rating clause, and the adoption of a lodger franchise.

4. The Chancellor of the Exchequer introduces the annual financial statement. He estimated the income at 69,340.000/. and the expenditure at 68,134,000l., showing a surplus of 1,206,000/. Criticising in the most favourable manner Mr. Gladstone's scheme of terminable annuities, he proposed, he said, to follow the principle so far as to convert 6,000,000l., yielding an interest of 180,000!., into an annuity of 444,000/., terminating in April 1885. This would absorb 750,000!. He also proposed to equalize the marine insurance duty at its present lowest rates, so as to avoid the present unfair practice of taxing risk, or imposing a penalty upon the incurring of danger. This would dispose of 210,000/., leaving 246,000l., which he thought would be an adequate surplus to retain in hand, considering the state of the balance and the general condition of the revenue. The statement this year was of an unusually simple and brief description, and was favourably received. - Mr. Gladstone took advantage of the opportunity to

urge the importance of reducing our debt, and referred triumphantly to the example now being set by America-sufficient, he said, not only to incite us, but to shame the nations of the Continent into an abandonment of that suicidal policy by which they were wasting in warlike preparations the resources created by the thrift and industry of the people.

5. At a large meeting of Liberal members at Mr. Gladstone's house (about 240 were said to be present) it was arranged to entrust Mr. Coleridge with a resolution to propose, on the House going into committee on the Reform Bill on the 8th: "That it be an instruction to the committee that they have power to alter the law of rating, and to provide that in every parliamentary borough the occupiers of tere ments below a given rateable value be relieve from liability to personal rating, with the view to fix a line for the borough franchise, at which all occupiers should be entered on the rate book, and should have equal facilities for the enjoyment of such franchise as a residentin occupation franchise." In the course of the discussion to which the proposal gave rise Mr. Gladstone admitted that the borough franchise and lodger franchise might be dealt with in committee, but in regard to personal rating they must put a gentle pressure on the Goverment, and arm the committee with power alter the law of rating, so as to deal with the exemption from personal liability below a certain line.-Mr. Locke thought the instruc tion should be limited to that portion which gave power to alter the law of rating, as t'e last clause was objectionable to many who take a different view as to the mode in which the question should be settled.

Mr. Lowe's motion, asking the Hou to dissent from so much of the minute of the Committee of Council on Education as pre Ivided for an increase of the grant now mate to primary schools, negatived by a majority of 203 to 40.

In answer to Sir Robert Peel, Lor. Stanley said that he knew nothing about any written protest from Russia against the cessin of Luxemburg. Considering the scheme pr posed by the King of Holland was condition both upon the consent of the people ard đ Prussia, and seeing from the first that the latter was not likely to be given, he did not feel his self called upon to make any remonstrance of the part of the British Government.

7.-Died, aged 77, Abel Francis Villema French statesman and historical writer.