2.-Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Chief Secretary for Ireland, appointed to succeed Lord Carnarvon as Chief Secretary for the Colonies. Sir Michael was succeeded by Mr. Lowther, one of the members for York City, who was re-elected without opposition.

In the case of "The Queen v. Truelove," where the defendant was charged with publishing a book of an improper character, the Jury express themselves as unable to agree upon a verdict and are thereupon discharged by Lord Chief-Justice Cockburn.

Cleopatra's Needle brought up the river from the East India Docks and moored opposite the Houses of Parliament near the Lambeth shore. Crowds assembled on the banks of the river and the bridges, and cheered the vessel as it passed, while salutes were fired from Nelson Dock and the Continental Wharf.

4.- Adjourned debate on the Vote of Credit resumed by Mr. Gladstone, who contended that the circumstances had undergone a complete change since the opening of Parliament, because hostilities between Russia and Turkey were no longer "protracted," and the advance of the Russian armies had been stopped by the armistice. He also objected to raising the money by Exchequer Bonds instead of by an increase of taxation, and he insisted that there was no precedent for demanding such a sum without showing how it was to be expended. Passing next from the financial to the political question, he urged that it would be in the last degree impolitic to associate arms with negotiations, and that "strengthening our hands would be defeating the prospects of peace and exhibiting a divided nation. Mr. Gathorne Hardy said in reply :- "Confusion violence are all around us; a spark may set on fire magazines of mischief and ruin which are not seen or understood. You do not know, you cannot know, what elements of deadly peril to your dearest interests are in the air. If you were aware, as it is impossible you should be, of the secret difficulties and dangers which encompass the situation, it would be realized that that which is to-day a question of six millions to place England in a state of preparation may be hereafter a question of six hundred millions to defend her very existence as an empire."

and

Injurious influence of war rumours on trade. A parliamentary petition of Bolckow, Vaughan, and Company (Limited), of Middlesborough, in the county of York, "iron and steel manufacturers and colliery and mine owners, humbly showeth,-That your petitioners are among the largest trading companies of Great Britain, having a subscribed capital of 3,650,000l. employing 12,000 operatives, and paying upwards of 1,000,000l. a year in wages. That your petitioners have now for two years maintained a heavy struggle against the depressed state of trade. That they were hoping for and believed they saw indications of an early improvement. That war at such a moment as this will be a dreadful calamity to the leading interests of this country. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray your honour. able House to urge upon the Government that a strict neutrality may be maintained towards the war now being prosecuted by Russia and Turkey."

5.-Mr. Trevelyan complains in the Commons that an unfair imputation had been thrown upon him by Mr. Hardy, who challenged him to repeat in that House his accusation against the Prime Minister of desiring to plunge this country into war, or to remain in a category which it was not parlia mentary to name. He (Mr. Trevelyan) had only said to his constituents what was borne out by the speeches of the Prime Minister. Mr. Hardy said if the hon. member did not repeat here the words he used at Selkirk he had nothing to withdraw.

6.-In opening the German Parliament his Majesty the Emperor, stated in the Speech read from the throne, that the policy pursued by the Government had been so far successful, as to facilitate the preservation of peace among the European Powers, and of good and friendly relations between them and Germany, with every prospect of their continuing.

The Russian Government reported to have rejected the proposal to hold the Confer

ence in Vienna, or in any other great capital. It considered the tranquillity of a small town in one of the minor States, and also the authority that would be given to the deliberations by the presence of the Foreign Ministers of the Powers, as necessary for ensuring a good and practical result.

That the

7.-Russian advance on Constantinople. In answer to the Marquis of Hartington the Chancellor of the Exchequer states in the Commons that a telegram dated the 5th had been received from Mr. Layard, mentioning that, notwithstanding the armistice, the Russians are pushing on towards Constantinople; and the Turkish troops have been compelled to evacuate a port on the Sea of Marmora, notwithstanding the protest of the Turkish commander, which the Russian general refused to receive. The Russian general declared that, according to his orders, it was necessary that he should that day occupy Tchataldjaa point on the lines of Bourgas. Porte is in great alarm and cannot understand the Russian proceedings. Representations have been again made to the Grand Duke Nicholas. It is also stated that the Servians have destroyed a place called Vranja, and are advancing on the railway towards Salonica. Five days have elapsed since the signature of the armistice and the preliminaries of peace, and the protocol has not yet reached the Porte, which is in ignorance of some of the terms. Mr. Forster said this statement indicated such a change in the state of affairs that he hoped he might be allowed to withdraw his amendment (hear, hear, and "No," 'negative"). He should reserve to himself the right of the fullest action in Committee; but he should no longer interpose any further difficulty to the Speaker leaving the chair. The remainder of the discussion was continued under great excitement. Subsequently the Chancellor of the Exchequer said: I have just had handed to me a telegram from St. Petersburg, dated to-day, from Lord Augustus Loftus, in which he says Prince Gortschakoff has authorized him to say, "The order was given to our military commanders to stop hostilities on all the lines in Europe and Asia, and there is not a word of truth in the rumours which have reached you."

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Collapse of the debate on the credit vote. After an excited discussion on the rumoured advance of Russian troops on Constantinople the motion for the adjournment and also Mr. Forster's amendment were withdrawn, and the debate on the main question, that the Speaker leave the chair, continued. Towards its close Lord Hartington said he thought it not unreasonable that the Government should ask now for a decision on the main question, but it should be on the understanding that an opportunity for further discussion should be given in Committee before the vote was taken. The House eventually divided on the main

question that the Speaker do leave the chair, when there appeared a majority of 199 for the Government-295 for the motion, and 96 against it.

7.-Died within the Vatican this afternoon, in the eighty-sixth year of his age and thirtysecond year of his Papacy, his Holiness Pope Pius IX. He was taken ill at six o'clock on the evening of Wednesday the 6th, and passed an agitated night till daybreak, when his state was so alarming that Doctor Ceccarelli went for the other three physicians of his Holiness. At ten yesterday morning the last sacraments were administered. The cardinals assembled in council in the next room, but they were all present at the bedside, together with the dignitaries of the Pontifical Court, at the moment of the Pope's death-5.47 p.m. The last act of his Holiness was to make provision for the continuance after his death of his servants' salaries and pensions to their widows. The Pope left two wills. In the first, which was drawn up in his quality of Pontiff, he gifted an annual sum of 3,500,000fr. to his successor for the expenses of the Holy See, and an annual allowance for the employés of the former Pontifical Administration. In the second document the testator, speaking as a private person, made his nephews his heirs, and left 300,000fr. to be distributed among the poor of Rome.

British Fleet ordered to Constantinople, intimation being made of the fact next day in both Houses of Parliament, when a summary of the articles of armistice was also read.

Raising of the blockade in the Black Sea ports.

8.-Information received at the Foreign Office that the armistice signed by Russia, Servia, Roumania, and Turkey, consists of the ten following articles :-I. A notice of three days must be given before a resumption of hostilities takes place. The armistice is to be communicated to Montenegro by Russia. 2. Restoration of the guns and territory taken after the signature. 3. Gives the details of the line of demarcation and neutral zone for Turkey, Russia, and Servia, placing in Russian hands almost all Bulgaria, Roumelia, and Thrace up to the lines of Constantinople and Gallipoli. Fortifications are not to be retained on the neutral territory, and no new ones are to be raised there. A joint commission will determine the line of demarcation for Servia and Montenegro. The Russians to occupy Bourgas and Midia, on the Black Sea, in order to obtain supplies, but no war material. 4. Armies beyond the line of demarcation to be withdrawn within three days of signature of armistice. 5. The Turks may remove

arms, &c., to places and by routes defined, on evacuating the fortifications mentioned in Article 3. If they cannot be removed, an inventory of them is to be taken. The evacuation is to be complete within seven days after the receipt of orders by the commanders. 6. Sulina is to be evacuated within three days by the Turkish troops and ships of war, unless prevented by ice. The Russians will remove the obstacles in the Danube, and will superintend the navigation of the river. 7. The railways to continue to work under certain conditions. 8. Turkish authorities to remain in certain places. 9. Black Sea blockade to be raised. 10. Wounded Turkish soldiers to remain under the care of Russia. The armistice commenced at 7 p.m. on the 31st of January.

8. Credit vote carried in the Commons after debate by 328 votes to 124-majority 204. The Marquis of Hartington, Mr. Forster, and other leading members of the opposition walked out of the House before the division.

Came on in the Probate and Divorce Division of the High Court of Justice, the suit of Tempest v. Tempest and Hungerford, a petition presented by Sir Charles Tempest Bart., for dissolution of his marriage on the ground of his wife's misconduct with the co-respondent. On the 4th of July, Sir Charles left town for his seat, Ashby Lodge, Northamptonshire, it being arranged that her ladyship should follow the next day. On the 5th of July, however, her ladyship's maid arrived at Ashby Lodge bringing the news that her ladyship had eloped with Mr. Hungerford. Sir Charles

immediately returned to town, and having set on foot inquiries, learned that her ladyship was living at Paris with Mr. Hungerford as his wife. They afterwards went to America, and after a short time Lady Tempest returned to England to her friends, with whom she had since been living. Witnesses having been called who proved the above facts, his lordship made a decree nisi for the dissolution of the marriage, with costs.

9.-The remains of Pope Pius IX. laid in state in St. Peter's. To-day the crowd assembled at the doors of the Basilica was so great that the military and police force on duty had to be increased. Many women fainted, and cries were heard from women and children, unable to extricate themselves from the throng. At length a company of troops was sent into the Basilica in order to regulate the of passage the crowd.

A meeting at Cremorne Gardens in support of the Government, attended by about 5,000 persons. A good deal of interruption was caused by a number of persons in the centre of the meeting, but all the resolutions were carried by a very large majority.

11. Rumoured refusal of the Porte to grant a firman for the entry of the British Fleet into the Sea of Marmora. Prince Gortschakoff now telegraphs to the Russian Ambassadors at the European Courts, that in consequence of the British Government having determined to send a portion of its fleet to Constantinople, and other Powers having also resolved to adopt a similar course for the protection of their subjects, Russia is obliged to consider "the proper means of protecting those Christians whose life and property might be threatened," and had directed the entry of a portion of the Russian troops into Constantinople.

The

Came on in the Court of Appeal, an appeal against a decision of the Master of the Rolls respecting the distribution of the fund known as "Smith's (Poer Kin) Charity," left under a will made by Henry Smith, a citizen and alderman of London, in 1627, for the administration of which a fresh scheme was at present being settled. The property left had risen in value from 130l. to 11,000l. a year, with a further prospect of increase. Master of the Rolls in the decision appealed against treated the bequest as a perpetual charge of 60l. a year only to the poor kindred, and decided that the surplus was applicable to general charitable purposes. Lords Justices James, Baggallay, and Thesiger, before whom the case now came, decided that on the question of construction the poor kindred were entitled to the whole income of the moiety of the property, and not merely the 60l. a year ordered to be distributed among them by the Master of the Rolls.

Died, aged 86, Henry T. Prinsep, formerly member of the Indian Council, and M.P. for Harwich a few years.

12.-Convocation assembles at Westminster for the despatch of business. The Committee appointed last July to consider the burials question, submitted a report, stating, that after mature consideration of the aspect of affairs, the Committee adhere to the previous decision of the Lower House adverse to any such measure as that of Mr. Osborne Morgan. "Your Committee would gladly concede whatever can be conceded without sacrifice of principle, but they cannot recommend the House to attempt to purchase peace by a surrender of those rights which it is their duty to maintain. If the Church cannot maintain her possessions and defend her rights, your Committee feel that it would be better to allow them to be wrung from her by force which she cannot resist, than attempt by compromise to save some small shreds of what she would otherwise be despoiled, by consenting to that of which in her conscience she disapproves."

and Cotton, deliver a unanimous judgment to-day in the case of Mr. Charles Bradlaugh and Mrs. Annie Besant, who appealed from a judgment of the Lord Chief-Justice and Mr. Justice Mellor, affirming their conviction for the publication of an improper work called the "Fruits of Philosophy," and for which they were sentenced after a trial before the Lord Chief Justice and a special Middlesex jury to six months' imprisonment each in Holloway Gaol, to pay a fine of 2007., and further, to find securities for their good behaviour for two years after the expiration of their sentence. Lord Justice Bramwell first delivered judgment, and having cited a number of decisions bearing on the law of the case, and which he said the court had alone to determine, and not the merits, said he was of opinion that it was necessary to have set out in the indictment the words relied upon as "indecent, lewd, filthy, obscene," and that the omission to do so was fatal, and was not cured as contended for, by the verdict. The judgment of the court below must therefore be set aside, and be given for the defendants. Lord Justice Brett took a similar view, and added that if the defendants again committed the offence of publishing such a work, no doubt another prosecution would be instituted, and, if the indictment were not again defective, they would receive even a severer punishment. Lord Justice Cotton concurred.

13. The British fleet passed through the Dardanelles at three o'clock this afternoon. The Turkish Government concluded that a mere protest would meet the necessities of the situation. The Russians still declared that they would enter Constantinople, and fears of considerable disturbance - should they do sowere now entertained.

Died, aged 76, Thomas Chitty, of the Inner Temple, a well-known special pleader. Among those who read with him were Lord Chancellor Cairns, Lord O'Hagan, Chief Justice Whiteside, Mr. Justice Willes, Mr. Justice Quain, and Sir James Hannen. He was the editor of " Chitty's Practice," which pa-sed through many editions, and was long the handbook of practitioners of the old school. Mr. Chitty was also editor of Burns's "Justice of the Peace."

-

Funeral obsequies of his late Holiness, Pope Pius IX., commenced in the Basilica of St. Peter's. As many as 4,000 people were thought to have been present during the solemn services engaged in between 6.30 and 8.45 P. M. When the bier had reached the gates of the chapel of the choir, while the singers chanted the funeral mass, Monsignor Folicaldi, Chief Canon, in pontifical robes, blessed the coffin of cypress wood with holy water and incense. All who could approach the bier now came forward and kissed the foot, and looked their last on the well-known features. Then

Monsignor Ricci, the Major Domo of his late Holiness, covered the face with a white handkerchief, and the chaplains and chief officers of the Noble Guard lifted the corpse in its shroud from the bier and placed it in the open coffin of cypress wood already inserted in another coffin of lead. Monsignor Ricci then deposited three velvet purses, containing medals of gold, of silver, and of bronze, within the coffin, which was then closed, and a purple ribbon in the form of the cross placed upon it. The Major Domo affixed two wax seals, the Camerlengo a third, the VicarGeneral a fourth, and the Chapter a fifth. The panegyric in Latin, inscribed on parchment and inclosed in a metal case, was deposited at the Pope's feet. During these transactions the papal choir chanted the Benedictus and the Psalms of Bordone. The coffin having been placed in the sarcophagus, the workmen immediately walled it up, and the following simple inscription was placed upon it :- PIOUS IX. P. O. M." The diplomatic corps, gathered at first round the high altar, were present throughout the

ceremony.

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14.-Earl Derby states in the House of Lords, that the British fleet was now in the sea of Marmora, anchored off Prince's Island, about fourteen miles from Constantinople, and twelve from Scutari. As to the Russian entry into Constantinople, Prince Gortschakoff had sent a despatch stating that if the fleet was sent into the Dardanelles Russia would occupy Constantinople temporarily for the same reason, -namely, the protection of all the Christians, but this act, said the Prince, was to be considered as pacific in its nature, and not be construed as hostile. Her Majesty's Government did not look upon a military occupation of Constantinople as identical with the position of the fleet, and he had sent a reply to Prince Gortschakoff to that effect.

Statue of Sir John Cordy Burrows unveiled at Brighton.

15.-Mr. Osborne Morgan's Burial Bill rejected in the Commons by 242 to 227 votes. The motion was to the effect, "That in the opinion of this House the time has arrived when the long-pending controversy as to interments in parish churchyards ought to be closed, by permitting such interments either without any burial service or with the services preferred by the relatives or friends of the deceased, and conducted by persons chosen by them.

17.-Lord Derby read a despatch in the Lords from Mr. Layard regarding the alleged complicity of Server Pasha in circulating rumours injurious to the credit of the British Minister at Constantinople. "The Sultan and the Prime Minister (it was said) have expressed to me their great regret at so flagrant a breach of duty on the part of a high functionary and have promised that justice

himself denies absolutely that he made the statement, and says that the observations attributed to other members of the Turkish mission are mere gossip. I deny that I ever encouraged the Turks to go to war or to continue the war, or ever promised or encouraged them to expect material aid from England. On the contrary, I have always striven for peace. If sympathy for human suffering, a desire to uphold the interests and dignity of my country, and efforts to promote the cause of religious and civil liberty are considered offences, I confess to having been guilty of them."

17.-Collision off Harwich between the C. M. Palmer steamer, bound from Newcastle to London, and the steamer Ludworth, bound from London for Hartlepool. Nine lives lost.

18.-Papal Conclave assemble in Rome to carry out the election of a new Pope.-The Conclave was formally shut in at half-past six o'clock p.m., the Cardinal Chiefs of the Order and the Governor of the Conclave having previously ascertained that all communication with the outer world was closed. The total number of Cardinals present was sixty-one. They met every morning at ten o'clock in the Sistine Chapel to give their votes, and a second ballot was held at four o'clock in the afternoon.

The British ships retire from Mudania to Touzla, about seven miles beyond Prince's Islands, and thirty-five miles south of Constantinople.

19.-Questioned in the Reichstag concerning the Eastern policy of the German government, Prince Bismarck commented at length upon the Russian terms of peace, which he said had been officially communicated to him only yesterday, and which, he finds, do not affect German interests. It had been agreed that, so far as the terms affect existing treaties, they are to be submitted to the signatory Powers for approval, inasmuch as they require the sanction of these powers. The freedom of commerce on the Danube and in the Black Sea will remain unimpaired. Turkey will also retain the key to the Straits of the Dardanelles, which might in the event of war be closed at any time.

had been burned, Cardinal Franchi and those holding the same views advanced and knelt before Cardinal Pecci, and this example being followed by others, the Cardinal became elected Pope by "obedience." In the afternoon the fact was publicly announced by Cardinal Caterini, and the new Pope afterwards gave his benediction to the crowds who assembled in St. Peter's-square and in the Basilica. Cardinal Pecci is an Ultramontane, and was born at Carpinetto in 1810. He was created Cardinal in 1853. He held the bishopric of Perugia, and was Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Čhurch.

20.-Mr. G. Paul Chalmers, R.S.A., who was found robbed, insensible, and severely wounded in the head in Edinburgh, Saturday night (16th), died this morning in the Edinburgh Infirmary from the result of his injuries. Mr. Chalmers was an artist of rising fame, and had contributed several pictures to the present Scottish Academy Exhibition. Mr. Chalmers was buried with public honours in the Dean Cemetery on the 24th.

- Professor Bonamy Price re-elected without opposition to the chair of Political Economy, in the University of Oxford, on the nomination of the Provost of Worcester and Master of University Colleges. Professor Price has held the office since 1868, when he displaced Professor Thorold Rogers.

In the Antonelli will case the court give judgment that the plaintiff should be permitted to give evidence in support of her plea, and condemned the defendants, Counts Antonelli, to pay the costs on this first incident of the cause. The judgment filled forty sheets of stamped paper.

Died, aged 86, Isaac Cooper, the last survivor, it was said, of the crew of the Shannon, the British frigate which in the American war of 1813 captured the Chesapeake, after a short but desperate engagement in Boston harbour.

Died, aged 61, Charles Dauvigny, French landscape painter.

Rustchuk surrenders to General Todleben, who is enthusiastically received by the Bulgarians.

21.-Intimation made by Lord Derby in the House of Lords, that despatches had been received stating that the Imperial Cabinet would maintain its promise of not occupying Gallipoli or entering the lines of Bulair. The Russian Government expected in return that there should be no disembarkation of English troops on the Asiatic and European shores of the Dardanelles. Her Majesty's Government answered on the 19th to the effect that they had received with satisfaction the assurance given, and were ready to meet it with a corresponding engagement. The Government to-day had received a further communication from the