A deputation of agriculturists wait upon the Premier, to urge upon him the substitution of the present district poor-rate by a national rate, combined with local administration.

13.-Wreck of the American mail steamer Hermann on the coast of Japan, and loss of 200 lives.

Died at Nice, Fuad Pasha, Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Grand Vizier of the Sultan.

Died at Madrid, G. A. Bergenroth, a persevering and accomplished labourer among the ancient Spanish State papers preserved at Simancas.

14.-Eight persons killed by the falling of the chimney of a paper-mill at South Woodside, Glasgow.

15. The remains of Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, given up to his relatives, and removed to Baltimore for interment.

16.-Parliament opened by Royal Commission. The Royal Speech, read by the Lord Chancellor, made reference to the Convention for settling the differences between Turkey and Greece, to the diplomatic negotiations with the United States, and to the disturbances in New Zealand. Inquiry was promised into the present mode of conducting Parliamentary and municipal elections; and bills relating to education in Scotland, and for securing the principle of representation in the control of county rates, promised to be introduced. "The ecclesiastical arrangements of Ireland," it was stated, "will be brought under your consideration at a very early date, and the legislation which will be necessary in order to their final adjustment will make the largest demands upon the wisdom of Parliament. I am persuaded that, in the prosecution of the work, you will bear a careful regard to every legitimate interest which it may involve, and that you will be governed by the constant aim to promote the welfare of religion through the principles of equal justice, to secure the action of the undivided feeling and opinion of Ireland on the side of loyalty and law, to efface the memory of former contentions, and to cherish the sympathies of an affectionate people." The address was agreed to in each House without a division, the debate exciting less interest than Mr. Gladstone's announcement that he would introduce the Government measure relating to the Irish Church on the 1st of March. To compensate to some extent for the absence of her Majesty at the opening of the new Parliament, it was

arranged that the House should present the Address in person, but owing to the illness of Prince Leopold this also had to be departed from.

17.-Vice-Chancellor Malins gives judgment in the case of Gray v. Lewis, a suit in which Mr. George Gray, of Rathmines, had filed a bill against Mr. Harvey Lewis, M. P., Sir J. Gray, M. P., and others, to recover 230,000). alleged to have been misappropriated by the defendants as directors of Lafitte and Co., Limited, and the National Bank. In order to get the shares of the Lafitte Company taken up the promoters obtained, through the Ottoman Financial, the aid of the National Bank Directors, who supplied them with the amount required from the funds of the Lafitte Com pany-a proceeding which the Vice-Chancellor now characterised as "false, fraudulent, and fictitious." He decided that the amount claimed must be restored with interest.

Collision, off Toulon, between the Turkish war steamer Latouche Treville, and the pas senger steamer Prince Pierre. The latter sank with fifteen of the company on board.

18.-Died, aged 94, Charles Baldwin, a political writer of the old Tory school, and founder of the Standard newspaper.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the American Senate recommend the rejection the Alabama Claims Treaty negotiated betwee Mr. Reverdy Johnson and the Earl of Claren don. President Grant was said to have ex pressed an opinion that the claim ought to based, not on the number or character of the vessels destroyed by privateers, but on the fa that the entire trade of the States was drive from the seas, and the war itself protracted by the countenance given to the South by Great Britain.

19.-After four preliminary examinations the Lord Mayor commits R. S. Lane and J. Chi for trial, on the charge of issuing a circular to the shareholders of the Merchan Company containing statements which they knew to be false.

23.-Convocation opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who received the congratulations of both Houses on his elevation to the Primacy. In the northern Province, the Archbishop of York stated that he had been compelled with great reluctance to set the law in motion against the Rev. Mr. Voysey, for heresies published in his periodical called "The Sling and the Stone." A motion in favour of admitting laity to Convocation was lost by 27 votes to 8. On the 24th, the proposal to disestablish the Irish Church gave rise to an animated debate. Archdeacon Denison deplored the great national sin" into which the country seemed to be plunging. Dr. Jebb called upon the assembly to express its utter detestation of a most ungodly, wicked, and abominable measure. Archdeacon Moore insisted that at all hazards the Queen must interfere to prevent "this dreadful thing ""better jeopardize her crown than destroy the Church. Dr. Kaye complained of the persecution of the Irish Church for the last 300 years. The Deans of Westminster and Ely and the more moderate men tried to calm their excited brethren, but to no purpose. To the mild address to the Queen. sent down from the Upper House an inflammatory paragraph was added, declaring that the Irish Church could not be touched without repudiating the Reformation. The Upper House refused to receive the amendment introduced into the address. On the 25th a petition presented by Archdeacon Denison from ninety-nine "priests of the Church of England," praying that in teaching the doctrine of the Real Presence they might be protected from the imputation of unfaithfulness to the Church of England, was referred to the Committee of Privileges.

25. The Duke of Argyll introduces a bill for the improvement of education in Scotland. The measure, founded on the report of a select committee, proposed to establish a central board, consisting of representatives elected by the counties, boroughs, and universities, with power to the Crown also to appoint its representatives. The entire control and management of all schools in Scotland was to be entrusted to its care, while the funds to be placed at its disposal were to be entirely free from Privy Council regulations.

Gold discovered in Sutherlandshire.

Five men killed at Bethnal Green, by the fall of a coal depôt, on the Great Eastern Railway.

March 1.-Mr. Gladstone in a crowded House obtains leave to introduce a bill "to put an end to the Established Church in Ireland, to make provision in respect of the temporalities thereof, Referand of the Royal College of Maynooth. ring to the determination of the country to have the Irish Church question dealt with promptly, he then described the perplexing details by which it was beset, and the determination of the Cabinet to put an end to the entire system of public endowments in Ireland. The great object, he said, was final legislation, so that all controversy between rival religionists should be at once put aside. To allow of the necessary arrangements being made to meet the new condition of things, it was not intended that the Act should take effect before the 1st of January, 1871. Immediately upon its forming, however, he proposed the appointment of a commission to endure for ten years, in which the entire property of the Church of Ireland would be vested, subject to life interests. Appointments might be made to spiritual offices without investing the person presented with a freehold, and he might receive during the interval the full income as nearly as could be calculated; but his title was to terminate when the provisional period was at an end, and when the disestablishment of the Irish Church was com pleted. The vested interests of the clergy presented many difficulties, but as a rule he intended to follow the pattern set by the Canadian measure. With respect to bishops, all peerages were to lapse immediately; and so far as the College of Maynooth was concerned, he proposed to place it on precisely an analogous footing to the Established Church, viz. a valuation of the annual grants at fourteen years' purchase. The gross value of the Irish Church property Mr. Gladstone estimated at 16,000,000l. this fell to be deducted the life interests of incumbents of all kinds, which would amount to 4,900,000l.; compensation to curates, 800,000l.; by compensations, 900,000l.; and Maynooth engagements, 1,100,000/. With the large surplus Mr. Gladstone proposed to make provision for the blind, deaf, and dumb, and other charities and lunatic asylums, for the relief (as expressed in the bill) of unavoidable calamity or suffering, but not so as to cancel the obligation of property for the relief of the "This measure," poor. Mr. Gladstone said, "is in every sense greatgreat in its principle, great in the multitude not merely of its dry and technical but in its important though intricate details. It is not only a great measure; it is a lasting measure, It is a measure which will show to one and all of us what mettle we are made of. (Cheers. Upon all of us it brings great responsibility

From

First and foremost upon those who occupy this bench. We are deeply chargeable, and guilty, if we have either dishonestly or prematurely and unwisely challenged so gigantic an issue. I know well the punishment which is due to rash politicians, and which ought to follow men who, with hands unequal to the task, attempt to guide the chariot of the sun. But the responsibility, though heavy, does not exclusively press upon us; it presses upon every man who takes a part in the discussion and the decision of this question. Every man who approaches this discussion is under the most solemn obligation to raise the level of his vision, and to expand his soul to the greatness of this principle. The working of our constitution is now on its trial. I do not believe there ever was a time when the wheels of the legislative machinery were set in motion under conditions of peace and constitutional order more fitted to deal with the question so proposed, and more especially when the credit and fame of this Assembly are involved. This House is now called upon to address itself to a task which would have demanded the best energies of the best of our fathers and ancestors. I believe it will prove itself worthy of the task. Should it fail, the fame of this Assembly will suffer disparagement. Should it succeed, its fame will receive no small or insensible addition. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I must not ask hon. gentlemen opposite to concur in these sentiments. Grateful as I feel to them for the patience and courtesy with which they have heard statements in which they do not concur, I must not ask them to agree with me, but I do ask them to credit_me and the colleagues who are with me when I say that we are sanguine of the issue. We know the controversy is near its end, and for my part I may say I am deeply convinced that when the day of final consummation shall send forth the words that give the force of law to this work of peace and justice, those words will be echoed from every shore where the names of Ireland and Great Britain are known, and the answer will come back in the approving verdict of civilized mankind. (Loud cheers.)"-On the part of the Opposition, Mr. Disraeli intimated that while still of opinion that the proposed alienation of the Irish Church property to secular uses was confiscation, the Ministry had yet a right to place their policy before the country, and it was not therefore intended to place any obstacle in the way of this being done at the present stage of the measure. The bill was thereafter read a first time.

1.-Great meeting in Edinburgh, on the subject of Christian missions in India, presided over by the Lord Justice-General.

Edmund Lockyer, one of the candidates at the recent election for the Wick burghs, sentenced by the High Court of Justiciary to twelve months' imprisonment, for intercepting and opening letters addressed to Miss Sinclair, Edinburgh.

2.--Died at Crosthwaite, aged 101, Sally

Amid loud cheers from the Opposition, Mr. Gathorne Hardy gives notice that, when the Irish Church Bill next comes up for co sideration, Mr. Disraeli would move that it be read a second time that day six months.

A conference at the rooms of the Society of Arts unanimously resolve that there was occasion for calling into existence, at present any new society having for its object the in provement of the condition of the agricultu Ïabourer.

Elopement of the wife of Captain Vivia (M.P. for Truro and a Lord of the Treasu with the Marquis of Waterford. They w traced to Paris; but Mrs. Vivian refused return to her husband. (See Aug. 4)

The North German Parliament opene by the King of Prussia.

or not.

General Grant takes the oath of offic as a President of the United States, and issue a proclamation in which he states: "I interpose my veto to defeat measures to whic I am opposed; but all laws will be faithf executed, whether they meet with my appro I shall have a policy to recommen but none to enforce against the will of the people. The laws are to govern all the approving, as well as those opposing the I know no method to secure the repeal obnoxious laws so effectual as their stringe execution." Every dollar, he presumed, of th National debt must be paid in gold unless other wise stipulated at the time of being contracted

5.—Benjamin Higgs, in the employ of the Great Central Gas Company, absconds aft appropriating to his own use sums of money belonging to the company stated to amount 71,214/. From his position as bookkeeper, be contrived to secure entire control over the money paid in by the sub-collectors, and for years be appeared to have systematically appropriated

large sums to his own use. His salary was under 145. per annum; but he lived in the most magnificent style at Tide End House, Teddington, in which neighbourhood a new mansion was presently being built for him at an estimated cost of 50,000l.

6.-Died suddenly, aged 65, Sir J. Emerson Tennent, formerly Permanent Secretary to the Board of Trade, and Governor of Ceylon.

8.-The steamer Cambria, trading between Trieste and London, wrecked on the coast of Brolo, Sicily, and eighteen of her crew drowned. The Legislature of Newfoundland pass a resolution in favour of a union with Canada.

- Died, aged 77, Sir William Clay, formerly M.P. for the Tower Hamlets.

16. The Lord Mayor of Dublin appears at the bar of the House of Commons, and presents a petition praying for perfect religious equality in Ireland, an amnesty to political prisoners, consolidation of Irish railways, and a reduction of the tariff for goods and passengers.

17.-Bursting of a dam in Brierley Hill pit, leading to the flooding of the workings. With one exception, all the miners contrived to maintain existence by breathing close to the water, and, to the intense joy of their relatives around the pit-head, were rescued after an imprisonment varying from five to six days.

St. Patrick's Day. Soirée at Cork in honour of the liberated Fenians. O'Mahoney said he regretted nothing in the past, and was hopeful for the future. "Colonel" Warren declared himself in favour of the sabre as a means of uplifting a down-trodden nation.

18.-Madame Rachel recommitted to Newgate, one of her bail having asked to be relieved from his surety on the plea of her intended flight from the country.

Partial opening of the Suez Canal, the waters of the Mediterranean being admitted

into the Bitter Lakes in presence of the Viceroy.

Let

18.-On the order of the day for the second reading of the Irish Church Bill, Mr. Disraeli opposes the measure in a speech dealing chiefly with those features of the measure which appeared to him as justifying acts of spoliation and confiscation against private as well as public property. "There were," he said, "many private properties in Ireland-some of them large and some of them rich—and they belong to Irish gentlemen, most of them living in Ireland; but there are Irish gentlemen in Ireland, accomplished men, the most witty, eloquent, and entertaining in the world-(laughter)—but they are gentlemen who have not estates that are either large or rich. (Laughter.) Now, after the announcement of this principle of sheer forfeiture, without the application of that forfeiture to any body which could carry out the original intention of the founders-after the public proclamation by the right hon. gentleman of those astounding principleswhat would be the natural course which Irish gentlemen, having no estates, would take? This is a serious matter, and it is only by trying it in this way you can discover the validity of the arguments in its favour. me suppose there is a deputation to the right hon. gentleman of Irish gentlemen in this unfortunate position-(laughter)—their argument would be this: We find ourselves in an anomalous position-(loud laughter)—our breeding is not inferior to that of our habitual companions; our education is the same; our pursuits are similar; we meet in the same hunting-field; we drink the same claret-(laughter)-we stand opposite to one another in the same dance; and our feelings are hurt because some of our companions have estates of 6,000l., 8,000l., or 10,000l. a year-broad acres and extensive woods. (Laughter.) We know the spirit of the age in which we live. (Roars of laughter and loud cheers.) We know that selfishness is not for a moment to be tolerated. We therefore don't ask for the estates of our more fortunate companions, but we only ask you to take them away from them; establish, as one of your great measures of Irish regeneration, social equality, and let all Irish gentlemen, like the Irish Roman Catholic Church, live upon voluntary contributions." Applying the principles of the measure to corporate property Mr. Disraeli continued: "I speak in the capital of an ancient nation, remarkable above all the nations of the world for its old and rich endowments. Charity-in its most gracious, in its most learned, and in its most humane form, has established institutions in this country to soften the asperities of human existence. (Cheers.) Now, Sir, there are three great hospitals in this very city endowed with estates which might entitle them to rank with the wealthiest of our Peers. Their united rentals alone considerably exceed 100,000l. a year. The House knows well the great establishments to which I refer-St. Bartholomew's, St.

Thomas's, and Guy's Hospitals. (Hear, hear.) But there are other hospitals in this city where the physicians are not less skilful, where the surgeons are not less celebrated, where the staff is not less devoted, and who give all their energies and learning, and even their lives, to mitigate the sufferings of humanity. (Cheers.)

Must it not be a most painful anomaly-must it not be, according to the new principles, most painful to their feelings, as the existence of the Irish Protestant Church is to the Roman Catholic hierarchy of Ireland-must it not be most painful to those eminent physicians and surgeons and their devoted staffs, to feel that, if the great end is accomplished, they must be supported by voluntary contributions, which sometimes entail humiliations? Why should not a Minister come forward, and, in the enlightened spirit which seems to inspire all the right hon. gentleman's policy, concede to these gentlemen that this painful anomaly should be done away with, and that St. George's Hospital, and perhaps Westminster Hospital, all now depending upon voluntary contributions, should be placed on an equality, by depriving them of those great endowments which gave a factitious importance to their profession? (Hear, hear.) There is a great deal to be said for this. The Minister would have 120,000l. a year, and could in the most handsome manner give it to the farmers of England to reduce the county rates. (Laughter, and cheers.) I ask seriously, Is it possible, if you are to adopt these new principles for Ireland, that you should not apply them also to England? What does the right hon. gentleman ask, and what are the terms he offers the Irish Protestant Church? Well, he makes four propositions. The first is, that the vested interests of every individual should be respected: that, I say, goes for nothing. There is no combination of circumstances by which any human being who is Prime Minister of this country could propose any confiscation of property without securing the vested interests. You would outrage the feelings of Parliament and the conscience of the country by adopting any other course. (Cheers.)"

19. Continuation of debate on the Irish Church Bill, Dr. Ball, the Irish AttorneyGeneral of the last Administration, making to-night a closely reasoned speech against the measure. He was followed by Mr. Bright, who declared that the policy pursued in Ireland up to this time had made Catholicism not only a faith to which the people clung with desperate tenacity, but a patriotism for which numbers of her children were willing to suffer and die if necessary. He taunted the Opposition with being perfectly alive to the evils of Ireland, but afraid or incompetent to deal with them. By way of encouragement to the disestablished Irish Church, Mr. Bright referred to what had been accomplished since 1843 by the Free Church of Scotland, which had gone out of the Establishment absolutely naked-"not a church left them, nor a glebe-house, nor a curtilage, nor a commutation, nor, I will be bound to say,

with a single good wish or 'God bless you!' on that side of the House. They had built 900 churches, 650 manses, 500 schools, three theological colleges, and two training institutions, "And yet the learned member for Dublin University has the courage to say, in the presence of many members of the Nonconformist body, that the ministers of the voluntary churches are rather of a low class (Hear, and laughter) -that they are not high born. As to being high born, I think the prophets of old were many of them graziers. The apostles were fishermen and handicraftsmen. (Hear, hear. It was a religion, as we are told, to which 'not many noble and not many mighty were called.' (Cheers.) It may be that in this age and in this country the light of the Reformation and of Christianity may be carried through the land by men of humble birth with just as much success as may attend a man who is born in a great mansion or palace.' As to the uses to which it was proposed to apply the endos ments, "If I were particular on the po about the sacred nature of these endowments, I should even then be satisfied with the pra visions of this bill, for after all I hope it is n far from Christianity to charity. We know the Divine Founder of our faith has left mad more of the doings of a compassionate an loving heart than He has of dogma. (Hea hear.) I am not able to give the verses the chapters, but what always strikes one m in reading the narratives of the Gospels is ho much of compassion there was, how much dealing kindly with all that were sick and a that were suffering. Do you think that it w be a misappropriation of the surplus funds a this great transaction to apply them to st objects such as those described in the b Don't you think that such charitable dea will be better than continuing to maintai these vast funds three times the number clergymen that can be the slightest use to Church with which they are connected? (Heat hear.) We can do little, it is true. We car re-illume the extinguished lamp of reason: cannot make the deaf to hear; we cannot the dumb to speak; it is not given to us

'From the thick film to purge the visual ray And on the sightless eyeballs pour the day. But at least we can lessen the load of afflicte and we can make life more tolerable to numbers who suffer." (Loud cheers.) Bright concluded: "Sir, when I look at great measure-and I can assure the Ho have looked at it much more than the ma of members, because I have seen grow line to line, and from clause to clause, have watched its growth and its comp with a great and increasing interest-I when I look at this measure, I look st as tending to a more true and solid union tween Ireland and Great Britain. I s giving tranquillity to our people. (A_ from the Opposition, followed by Minister cheers.) When you have a better remedy least will fairly consider it. (Cheers I say 1st

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