brandy from 15s. to 8s. 2d.; on wine from 55. 10d. to 35.; with power reserved to increase the duty on wine, if we raised our duty on spirits. England engaged to charge upon French articles subject to Excise the same duties which the manufacturer would be put to in consequence of the changes. The treaty was to be in force for ten years." Speaking of Mr. Cobden, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said he could not help expressing his obligation to him for the labour he had, at no small personal sacrifice, bestowed upon a measure which Mr. Cobden, not the least among the apostles of free trade, believed to be one of the greatest triumphs of free trade ever accomplished. "It is a great privilege for any man who, having fifteen years ago rendered to his country one important and signal service, now enjoys the singular good fortune of having it in his power-undecorated, bearing no mark of rank or of title from his Sovereign, or from the people-to perform another signal service in the same for the benefit of, I hope, a not ungrateful country."

cause

11.-Treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation, between Great Britain and the Republic of Nicaragua.

12.-Died at Scinde House, Clapham Park, aged 74, General Sir William Napier, K. C. B., historian of the Peninsular War.

13.-Apologizing for his inability to attend a meeting called at Birmingham to express sympathy with the Pope, Dr. Newman, of the Oratory, writes: 'If ever there was a Pontiff who had a claim on our veneration by his virtues, and our affection by his personal bearing-whose nature it is to show kindness, and whose portion it has been to reap disappointment--it is his present Holiness. From the hour that he ascended the throne he has aimed at the welfare of his States, temporal as well as spiritual, and up to this day he has gained in return little else than calumny and ingratitude."

14.-Lord Normanby brings the affairs of Italy under the notice of the House of Lords, by a motion directly for papers, but indirectly to convey a strong censure upon the newly-constituted authorities in Tuscany, and upon the acts of the Sardinian Government.

16.-On the proposal that the House go into Committee, Mr. Disraeli submitted an amendment: "That this House does not think fit to go into Committee on the Customs Act, with a view to the reduction or repeal of the duties referred to in the treaty of commerce between her Majesty and the Emperor of the French, until it shall have considered and assented to the engagement in the treaty." The amendment was defeated on a division by a majority of 293 to 230.

17. The American emigrant barque Lima, which left Havre on the 15th, with 75 passengers and a crew of 26, wrecked on the

Rocher de Quillebœuf. The occurrence was seen by thousands, but the vessel was so quickly broken up that of all on board only three were rescued, and of these one died afterwards from injuries and exposure.

18. Close of the most prolonged and (writes the Guardian) perhaps the most important session of Convocation which has been seen since its revival. Among the subjects which engaged the attention of both Houses were, the addition of services for particular occasions to the Book of Common Prayer; the sending of missionary bishops to the heathen not within the bounds of her Majesty's dominions; the repeal of the 29th Canon, which forbids parents to stand as sponsors for their own children; the law of simony; the question of pew-rents; and the means to be adopted for lessening the scandals which have lately been so prevalent among the clergy.

19.- Collision off Beachy Head between the steamer Undine, from Dublin, and the schooner Heroine, of Bideford. The steamer went down with about 40 of the 70 on board, those saved getting off in a jolly-boat to Dover. Two or three were afterwards picked up by the Thetis floating near the wreck.

The British North American steamship Hungarian wrecked off Cape Ledge, Nova Scotia, and all on board, about 200 in number, drowned. So total was the destruction that the very corpses were carried away by the ocean current, only three bodies being found near the scene of the wreck. Sixteen mailbags were recovered, but the contents were beaten to pulp. The Hungarian left Liverpool on the 5th for Portland, U.S., with a crew of 74 persons, 45 cabin and about 80 steerage

passengers.

20.-At Tottenham station on the Eastern Counties line, a train runs off the rails, causing the death of the engine-man, stoker, and two passengers on the spot, and injuries to about a score others, three of whom afterwards died. The coroner's jury found "that the deceased met with their deaths from the breaking of the tire of one of the leading wheels of the engine, in consequence of the defective weld; and we are of opinion, that had proper caution and vigilance been used, the same might have been detected."

21.-Debate on the Budget, raised by Mr. Ducane's motion, "That this House, recog nising the necessity of providing for the increased expenditure of the coming financial year, is of opinion that it is not expedient to add to the existing deficiency by diminishing the ordinary revenue, and is not prepared to disappoint the just expectations of the country by re-imposing the Income-tax at an unneces sarily high rate." The discussion extended over two nights, and resulted in a majority for Government of 116, in a House of 562.

23. Speaking to-night in the adjourned

Budget debate concerning the French Commercial Treaty, Mr. Bright happily illustrated his opinion by a reference to the writings of Mr. Disraeli. "In one of those very admirable books which the right hon. gentleman wrote, partly for the instruction, and perhaps rather more for the amusement of his countrymen, he described the mode of living of an English nobleman of great wealth in Paris. He says: 'Lord Monmouth's dinners at Paris were celebrated. It was generally agreed that they had no rival. Yet there were others who had as skilful cooks-others who for equal purposes were as profuse in their expenditure. What was the secret of his success? His lordship's plates were always hot; whereas in Paris, in the best-appointed houses, and at dinners which for costly materials and admirable art in preparation cannot be surpassed, the effect is considerably lessened by the fact that every person at dinner is served with a cold plate. The reason of a custom, or rather a necessity, which one would think a nation so celebrated for their gastronomic tastes would better regulate, is, that the French porcelain is so inferior that it cannot endure the ordinary heat for dinner.' Now the right hon. gentleman, with an instinct that we cannot too much admire, breaks out into something like an exclamation. He says: 'Now, if we had only had that commercial treaty with France which has been so often on the point of completion, and the fabrics of our unrivalled potteries were given in exchange for their capital wines, the dinners of both nations would be improved; England would gain a delightful beverage, and the French (for the first time in their lives) would dine off hot plates.' And he concludes with an expression which I recommend to his devoted followers: answerable instance of the advantages of commercial reciprocity!'" (Great laughter.)

'An un

25.-The French Government recommends the complete annexation of Parma and Modena to Sardinia, the establishment of a protectorate in the Romagna, and the incorporation of Savoy and Nice with the French Empire.

27.-The Chancellor of the Exchequer explains the Government scheme for remitting a portion of the wine-duties. The lighter

wines of France and the Rhine he proposed to admit at a duty of Is. to Is. 6d. per gallon. "A portion of the lighter wines of Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean, will also be admitted at a duty of Is. 6d. per gallon; while the greater portion of the Spanish as well as the greater bulk of the Portuguese, and a considerable amount of the Sicilian, together with the wines of the South of France, will have to pay a duty of 25. Next of the scale of duties. A uniform duty cannot be adopted, because wines vary in quality more than any other product. Anything more than a mere nominal duty would be unequal in its operations. But we cannot impose a nominal duty only, since the principle on which wine-duties are levied lies at the root of half our indirect taxation

the imposition of duties on strong liquors. The lowest duty is a high rate on the lowest kind of wine. Therefore, in order to give fair play to the scheme, that duty must not exceed is." Entering minutely into various objections, Mr. Gladstone showed that the alcohol in beer is more equally taxed than the alcohol in spirits properly so called; and that the competition between beer and spirits and beer and wine is only indirect. The Government could not reduce the duty below 2s., when the spirit approaches forty degrees of proof, without imperilling the 12,000,000l. of revenue raised on British and foreign spirits. Therefore, 25. was as low as they could go. He had care. fully considered ingenious proposals for an ad valorem duty, but he did not think that any head of a revenue department would undertake to administer the law on such a principle.

28.-The steamer Nimrod, from Liverpool to Cork, wrecked in a severe storm off St. David's Head, and all on board-about 40 in number-perished. The winter storms this season were of unusual severity. In January, 206 wrecks were reported, and a loss of 53 lives; this month they amounted to 137, involving a loss of 90 lives.

29. Sardinia accedes to the French proposals of the 25th, except in the case of Tuscany, Savoy, and Nice, which were to be referred to the votes of the people.

March 1.-Fall of Ramsay-terrace, overlooking Princes-street-gardens, Edinburgh. The terrace, erected by the late Lord Murray to commemorate the author of "The Gentle Shepherd," had been thrown up on an imperfect foundation, and recent heavy rains completed the work of destruction.

In his speech at the opening of the legislative session, the Emperor of the French thus referred to the annexation of Savoy, which had for so many months been involved in secrecy to the disquiet of European Courts: Looking to the transformation of Northern Italy, which has put all the passes of the Alps in the hands of a powerful State, it was my duty, for the security of our frontier, to claim the French slopes of the mountains. This reassertion of a claim to a territory of small extent has nothing in it of a nature to alarm Europe and give a denial to the policy of disinterestedness which I have proclaimed more than once; for France does not wish to proceed to this ag grandizement, however small it may be, either by military occupation, or by provoked insur rection, or by underhand manoeuvres, but by frankly explaining the question to the Great Powers. They will, doubtless, understand in their equity, as France would understand it for each of them under similar circumstances, that the important territorial re-arrangement which is about to take place gives us a right to a guarantee indicated by Nature herself. For the last eleven years I have sustained alone at Rome the power of the Holy Father, without having ceased a single day to revere

in him the sacred character of the chief of our religion. On another side the population of the Romagna, abandoned all at once to themselves, have experienced a natural excitement, and sought during the war to make common cause with us. Ought I to forget them in making peace, and to hand them over anew for an indefinite time to the chances of a foreign occupation? My first efforts have been to reconcile them to their sovereign, and, not having succeeded, I have tried at least to uphold in the revolted provinces the principle of the temporal power of the Pope."

1.-Lord John Russell introduces the Cabinet scheme of Parliamentary Reform. He proposed to reduce the borough franchise to 6.-a step which would have the effect of increasing the number of voters from 440,000 to 634,000. Twenty-five seats were to be taken from small places returning two members, and divided among new constituencies. The measure was received with great indifference, and, after a succession of languid debates, withdrawn on the 11th of June.

2.-Explosion at the Burradon Colliery, near Killingworth, Newcastle, causing the death of seventy-six men and boys employed in the workings. The pit, being on the low main, had a bad reputation, yet only those working on the "broken" section used Davy lamps; those engaged in the "whole" used candles. The bodies were found in groups in various parts of the workings as they had fallen and died in their flight. Some were scorched and killed by the explosion; but by far the greatest number appeared to have died from the effects of choke-damp.

In laying on the table of the House the correspondence relating to the annexation of Savoy, Lord John Russell said he had no knowledge of any treaty between France and Sardinia on the subject, but the Emperor had pledged himself to take no steps in the matter without consulting the other Powers. Later in the evening, in the course of a discussion raised by Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Bright said: "I don't want the Government to give the slightest countenance to this transfer, nor do I want them, on the other hand, to give the slightest opposition to it. The opposition, if you give it, must be futile; you cannot prevent the transference of Savoy, but you may, if you like, embroil Europe and bring England into collision with France. I say, 'Perish Savoy' (cries of 'Oh, oh !')-though Savoy, I believe, will not perish, or even sufferrather than we, the representatives of the people of England, should involve the Government of this country with the people and the Government of France in a matter in which we have really no interest whatever. . . . If those two kingdoms have agreed on the transfer, and the people of Savoy themselves are favourable to it, I say it is contrary to the interests of England, and to the honour of the English Government, to pretend to interpose against a transaction which, though I

would never have recommended or promoted it, is yet, I am sure, not worth the imposition of a single tax on Englishmen, or the expenditure of a single drop of blood for one moment to prevent it."-Lord John Manners repudiated these sentiments, and expressed his confidence that the hon. member for Birmingham stood alone in the expression of such opinions.

-On the 5th, Mr. Roebuck said the House of Commons had, by a declaration of its opinions on a former occasion, stopped the Emperor in his career, and they might do so again when, under a pretence of entering into closer commercial relations with us, he was casting dishonour upon England, and breaking up all the treaties to which this country was a party.

2.-Count Cavour to M. de Thouvenel :The Sardinian Government "would never consent, with even the greatest prospective advantages, to cede or exchange any one of the parts of the territory which has formed for so many ages the glorious inheritance of the House of Savoy. But the King's Government cannot refuse to take into consideration the changes which passing events in Italy may have introduced into the situation of the inhabitants of Savoy and Nice. At the moment when we are loudly demanding for the inhabitants of Central Italy the right of disposing of their destiny, we cannot, without incurring the charge of inconsistency and injustice, refuse to the King's subjects dwelling on the other side of the Alps the right of freely manifesting their will. However poignant the regret we should feel if the provinces, once the glorious cradle of the monarchy, should decide on demanding their separation from the rest of the King's dominions in order to join other destinies, we should not refuse to acknowledge the validity of this manifestation declared legally and conformably with the prescriptions of Parliament."

5.-The Austrian Reichsrath reformed by Imperial patent, and commanded to meet annually for the discussion of public business.

The American House of Representatives adopt a resolution for appointing a committee to inquire into the charges made against President Buchanan of giving bribes to ensure the success of a bill legalizing slavery in Kansas.

7.-Her Majesty holds a levee in St. James's, for the purpose of receiving the officers of the newly-formed Volunteer Rifle Corps. About 2,500 attended, representing an effective force of 70,000 men. Earl Grey, the Under Secretary at War, in addressing the officers, said it would depend upon themselves whether the movement was to be worthy of England, or whether it was to become a mere laughingstock. Before the end of the summer he thought the number of Volunteers would reach 100,000 men. The proposal was received with such universal favour, that by the date spoken of the number of Volunteers enrolled numbered 180,000, of whom 40,000 had been formed into battalions, so admirably trained and

armed, that the official inspection pronounced them fit to take their place in line of battle.

8. From Shanghai Mr. Bruce addresses an ultimatum to the Chinese Government, demanding an ample apology for firing on our ships from the Taku forts, the ratification of the Treaty of Tien-tsin, an indemnity of 4,000,000 taels, and the reception of a resident ambassador at Pekin. The terms were rejected, the despatch being described as written in language insubordinate and extravagant. "For the future he (the English Minister) must not be so wanting in decorum."

Mr. Byng's motion for an address to her Majesty expressing the satisfaction of the House with the Commercial Treaty with France, carried by 282 to 56. Apart from its connexion in point of time with the annexation question-which the opponents of the treaty made the most of the principal discussion took place on the 11th article, relating to the exportation of coal from this country. A considerable number of Conservatives left the House before the division.

11. Commencement of the voting in Tuscany and the Emilia (comprising the Duchies of Parma and Modena and the Legations) on the question of annexation to Sardinia or a separate kingdom. The people appeared to decide by an immense majority in favour of annexation. On receiving the homage of Æmilia, the King said: "In uniting to my ancient provinces, not only the States of Modena and Parma, but also the Romagna, which has separated itself from the Papal Government, I do not intend to fail in my deep devotion to the Chief of the Church. I am ready to defend the independence necessary to the supreme minister of religion, the Pope, to contribute to the splendour of his Court, and to pay homage to his sovereignty."

12.-The second reading of the Government bill abolishing the paper-duty carried by 245

to 192.

Lord John Russell makes a formal explanation of the position of the Government with reference to the negotiations going on for the annexation of Savoy and Nice by France. He denied that the Government had encouraged either Sardinia or France in their designs upon other countries. It was for European objects that they had employed the influence of Great Britain, and employed it peacefully to reconcile differences, prevent war, and lay the foundations of peace between the Great Powers of Europe. If in doing so they could enable Italy to regain her independence, and raise a country which for three centuries had been sunk and degraded, into one of the leading Powers of Europe, so far from being ashamed and shrinking from any responsibility, he should always take a pride in having been allowed to participate in such an object. In the debate which ensued the conduct of the Government in not making the annexation a pretext for war was generally approved of.

13.-M. Thouvenel writes to Count Persigny, justifying on the ground of treaties the cession to France of the Savoy slope of the Alps. "In accordance with our requirements (convenances) and with the will of the King of Sardinia, and without contravention of the general interests of Europe, the cession of Savoy and the country of Nice to France raises no questions incompatible with the best-established and most rigorous rules of public law. If the character, the language, and the customs of the populations destined to be united to France assure us that the cession is not contrary to their feelings; if we reflect that the configuration of the locality has intermixed their commercial and their political interests with our own; if we say, lastly, that the Alps constitute the barrier which must eternally separate Italy from France, we may confine ourselves to conclude from this that the new frontier to be established between Piedmont and ourselves finds its sanction in the force of circumstances. It is not in the name of the idea of nationality, it is not as a natural frontier, that we prosecute the adjunction of Savoy and of Nice to our territory; it is solely as a guarantee, and under circumstances such as the mind cannot conceive, that they should reproduce themselves anywhere else."

. . In the same Moniteur was published the reply made, four days earlier, to the protest of Dr. Kern on be half of the Swiss Government. "The Emperor is greatly surprised at such a step, thinking after the friendship he had shown to the Federal Council, confidence might have been placed in the justice of France." The Moniteur also published an account of the reception by the Emperor of the councillors of the principal towns of Savoy, with their addresses, and the Imperial reply. The councillors concluded their address: "From the shores of Lake Leman to the valleys of Mount Cenis those who have been honoured with the votes of their fellow-citizens have hastened to your Majesty to express the joy that Savoy will feel when she will be fully reunited to France, and when she may always have with that great and noble nation but one cry-that of Vive l'Empereur!' 'Vive la France!"" The Emperor, in his reply, having epitomised the arguments contained in the above despatches, added: "My friendship for Switzerland made me look upon it as possible to detach in favour of the Confederation some por tions of the territory of Savoy; but in face of the repulsion shown among you at the idea c. seeing a country dismembered which has known how to create for itself through centuries a glorious individuality, and thus give itself a national history, it is natural to declare that I will not constrain the wishes of the popula tions to the profit of others. As regards the political and commercial interests which unite certain portions of Savoy to Switzerland, it will be easy, I think, to satisfy them by special arrangeinents."

15.-The Great Tasmania, which had left

Calcutta on the 9th of November with above 1,000 of the disbanded troops, arrives in the Mersey, a floating plague-ship, with above 400 of her miserable passengers in the last stage of fever, cholera, or dysentery. The vessel was greatly overcrowded at starting, the men were in the worst possible condition from weeks of unrestrained indulgence; to crown all, it was discovered on mid-ocean that most of the food on board was unfit for human use, and that the water with even short rations would hardly carry them to St. Helena. There was only one medical officer on board, aided by a dispenser, and the medicine-chest was found to be as badly furnished as other departments of the ship. About 80 died on the passage; those now suffering were removed as quickly as possible to the infirmaries, and the survivors of a branch of that once formidable force which had broken the strength of the great Mutiny by exertions unsurpassed in history, now crept out like skeletons stealing from a plague-stricken city.

15. The College of Bishops deliver judgment in the case of Dr. Forbes, of Brechin, a Bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church, charged with holding heretical opinions on the subject of the Eucharist. The presentment accused the Bishop of maintaining and teaching, in a charge delivered to his clergy on the 5th of August, 1857, and since published and republished by him, doctrines contrary and repugnant to, unsanctioned by, and subversive of, certain of the Articles of Religion, and certain parts of the formularies for public worship used in the Scottish Episcopal Church, in so far as he taught: (1) That "the Eucharistic sacrifice is the same substantially with that of the cross;" (2) that "supreme adoration is due to the body and blood of Christ mysteriously present in the gifts," and that "the worship is due not to the gifts, but to Christ in the gifts;" (3) "that in some sense the wicked do receive Christ indeed, to their condemnation and loss,"-whereby the doctrines (1) of the oneness of the oblation of Christ finished on the cross, of the perfect propitiation which He there once made, and of the Holy Eucharist being a memorial or commemoration of His death and sacrifice on the cross; (2) of the non-adoration of the sacramental bread and wine and non-corporeal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood therein; and (3) that the wicked are in no sense partakers of Christ-were contradicted and depraved. Several other passages in the presentment were also cited as tending generally to deprave the doctrines of the Articles and Formularies, by drawing aside the plain and full meaning thereof. The Synod, having taken time for deliberation, this day delivered their judgment, which was in substance as follows: "That the College of Bishops, having considered the presentment, &c., and having heard parties fully thereon, find that the said presentment is relevant and proven to the extent and effect after-mentioned; more particularly find, with reference to the

charge contained under the first and second heads of the presentment, that the teaching of the respondent there complained of is unsanctioned by the Articles and Formularies of the Church, and is to a certain extent inconsistent therewith; find that the third charge of the presentment is not proven. But, in consideration of the explanations and modifications offered by the respondent in his answers in reference to the first charge; and in consideration, also, that the respondent now only asks toleration for his opinions, and does not claim for them the authority of the Church, or any right to enforce them on those subject to his jurisdiction, we, the College of Bishops, feel that we shall best discharge our duty in this painful case by limiting our sentence to a declaration of censure and admonition: and we do now solemnly admonish, and in all brotherly love entreat, the Bishop of Brechin to be more careful for the future, so that no fresh occasion may be given for trouble or offence, such as has arisen from the delivery and publication of the primary charge to his clergy complained of in the presentment."

17. Died at Ealing, aged 64, Mrs. Anna Jameson, authoress of "The Characteristics of Women," and a cultivated worker in the departments of Literature, Art, and the social advancement of her sex.

19. In the course of the debate on the proposal for reading Lord John Russell's Reform Bill a second time, Mr. Disraeli, while he would offer no opposition to the measure at this stage, said if anything could be devised calculated to introduce into Parliament a temporising spirit, it was the machinery by which the representation of the minority in "The the constituent body was to be secured. destruction of spirit and energy in our public life would, I cannot help thinking, be the consequence, and therefore it is that I, for one, am entirely opposed to the second object which the noble lord seeks to obtain by his scheme of dealing with the redistribution of

20.-Correspondence between the King of Sardinia and the Pope, relating to the events in Italy. The King writes: "If your

Holiness should receive with beneficence the present overture for a negotiation, my Government, ready to offer homage to the high Sovereignty of the Apostolic See, would be also disposed to bear in a just proportion the diminution of the revenues, and to concur in providing for the security and independence of the Apostolic See. Such are my sincere intentions, and such are, I believe, the wishes of Europe. And now that I have, with words of sincerity, declared my feelings to your Holi. ness, I will await your determination, in the hope that, through the goodwill of the two Governments, an agreement may be realized which, founded on the feelings of the princes and the content of the people, may settle the relations of the two States on a stable