same latitude to literary criticism. It was urged by the plaintiff's counsel, truly enough, that in criticising a man's work it is not proper to allude to his private circumstances. But in this instance the object was to explain how the defendants came to consent to waive a verdict, and to show that they had substantially attained the same result; because, if they had got a verdict, in all probability they would not have obtained their costs." The jury, after a few minutes' consultation, found a verdict for the defendants. 7.-Died, William Dargan, contractor, eminent for his connection with the Dublin Exhibition of 1853. 8.-The Home Secretary obtains leave to bring in a bill to enable Commissioners to take evidence upon oath respecting trades union outrages at Sheffield. One deputation of employers had placed in his hand a list of 200 alleged outrages, and another, composed of working unionists, expressed a strong desire to have them investigated. The bill afterwards passed through both Houses, and received the Royal assent. Treaty between the States of the new North German Confederation signed at Berlin. The troops of the Confederation were to be under the supreme command of Prussia, and it was mutually agreed to maintain the independence and integrity of the contracting States. The first Parliament met on the 24th. 9. In the Vice-Chancellor's Court, Sir R. Malins decides that the shareholders in Overend, Gurney, and Co. could not escape liability on the plea that the directors had made false statements in the prospectus of the company. 11.-Alarm at Chester, caused by a body of Fenians entering the town with the supposed design of taking possession of the Castle. The attack had been planned in Liverpool some days previously, but the police and military authorities were duly prepared, and no outbreak occurred. The Chancellor of the Exchequer introduces the Government scheme of Reform by announcing, in a speech of considerable length, that it was his intention to proceed by means of resolutions. The two principles which had been observed in framing them was that no borough was to be wholly disfranchised except for bribery, and that in re-arranging the districts representatives would be given to all places reasonably entitled to the privilege. Mr. Disraeli spoke for fully two hours, detailing the various schemes of Reform which had been submitted to the House of Commons in recent years, and the causes of their failure. He defended the House of Commons from the charges brought against it out of doors, maintaining that England, in the vicissitudes of her heroic history, had chiefly by her House of Commons maintained and cherished that public spirit which was the soul of commonwealths, and without which empire had no glory, and the wealth of nations was but the means of corrup. tion and decay. He concluded by moving that on the 25th the House resolve itself into a committee to take into consideration the second and third of William IV. chapter 45. 11. Reform demonstration in the Agri, cultural Hall, Islington. In the course of the evening some members who had driven rapidly from the House announced to the meeting the intentions of the Government as to Reform. The resolutions were received with marked disfavour. 12.-Earl Russell presents, but afterwards withdrew, a petition from Mr. Rigby Wason, charging Lord Chief Baron Kelly with having, on the 11th April, 1835, while pleading as Queen's Counsel before an Election Committee, pledged his honour as a gentleman to the truth of a statement which he knew to be false. Lord Chancellor and Lord St. Leonards made severe strictures on the falsehood and malignity of the statements in the petition. The Fenian rising in the neighbourhood of Killarney. The police and military were speedily concentrated in that quarter, and the leadersmany of whom had arms and treasonable documents in their possession-taken into custody. Captain Moriarty was captured next day near Cahirciveen. 13.-Imperial Rescript read in the Hungarian Diet, announcing that the Emperor assented to the demands embodied in the Diet's address of 17th January last, relative to the reorganization of the army, and adjourned it for Parliamentary treatment. 14.-Intimation made that it was intended to raise Sir H. Cairns to the peerage, and also Lord Justice-General M 'Neill of the Scotch bar. 15. Discussion in the House of Lords on the anomalous position of the Church in the colonies as regulated by recent Privy Council judgments. The Earl of Carnarvon assented to the production of the papers asked for by the Bishop of London. In answer to various members who were placing notices on the paper regarding the Reform Resolutions, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that on the evening of the 25th he would give such explanation regarding these resolutions as was due to the House. In the course of a discussion on the affairs of Crete and Servia, Lord Stanley said that England had endeavoured to offer advice in such a manner as to leave with the Porte itself, to whom it more properly belonged, the initiative in making such concessions as were considered necessary, and our representations on the subject had been met in a spirit of moderation and good sense. 17.-Lieut. Brand, having been dismissed her Majesty's service, now writes to Mr. Buxton :- "I have learned enough to convince me that you could not have been actuated by any other than an honest conviction that you were fulfilling a public duty, and stating what you believed to be true. I therefore regret " 1867. 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. (766) FEBRUARY 22.-Riotous proceedings at Wolverhampton, caused by attacks made on Roman Catholics by Murphy, an itinerant Protestant lecturer. The military and special constables were called out. 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 67. 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 schoolmaster 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 Hartle pool, Darlington, Burnley, Staleybridge, St. Helens, Dewsbury, Barnsley, Middlesborough, Croydon, Gravesend, and Torquay. cond division of the Tower Hamlets to return The se two members. New county divisions to have two additional members each-North Lanca shire, 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 ball which would bring the matter fairly to 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 26. The North American Confederation Bill read a third time in the House of Lords A meeting of 289 members of the Op 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. Maxwell and Westcar, the jury returned a verdict for 10,000l. damages against the co-respondent, who l'ad 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. President Johnson vetoes the Military Government Bill, and the Tenure of Office Bill, by which the Executive was prohibited for the future from removing any public officers without the consent of the Senate. 5.-Renewed Fenian disturbances throughout Leinster and Munster. At the police bar 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, because 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. 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 He to their original site. The proposed removal 1867. 7.-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. make speakers at public meetings liable for He proposed to what they said, and to relieve from responsi bility 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. 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 (768) MARCH 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 education, 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 London on a visit to the Princess of Wales, still lying ia 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 Ge graphical Society reports were read from Dr. Seward and Dr. Kirk concerning the reported death of Dr. Livingstone. Sir R. Murchison, still clung to the hope that The President, 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 country. men 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 England 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, 2,1757. 105. 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 Count to France by the King of Holland. Bismarck said the Prussian Government does not adopt the opinion that an arrangement has been entered into between Holland and France, |