two field batteries of artillery from Bombay, two companies of Sappers and Miners from Bombay, and two from Madras.

17.-Strike in the Lancashire cotton trade. Nearly 15,000 operatives ceased work, in resistance to a proposed reduction of 10 per cent.

19.-Serious riot in the Slamannan coal mining district, a short distance from Glasgow, among the miners on strike. They attacked and drove away the police who arrived to preserve order, after which they demolished the offices of the colliery and wrecked the manager's house.

20.-Double return for South Northumberland, Mr. Grey, Liberal, and Mr. Ridley, Conservative, having polled 2,912 votes each.

21.-The German Government is announced to have made a proposal to England and Russia that, in order that the Governments of both countries should give some proof of their desire to arrive at an amicable solution, they should withdraw their forces to a certain distance. The Russian army, it was suggested, might retire to Adrianople, and the British fleet to Besika Bay. The principle, it is said, was accepted in London and St. Petersburg, but as soon as its application came to be discussed, serious difficulties arose, each party being afraid of losing by the transaction.

Election at Tamworth results in the return of Mr. Hamer Bass, the Liberal candidate, by a majority of 579 over the Hon. Col. Bridgman, who had polled 607 votes in the Conservative interest.

25.-New hall and library of Keble College opened. At the luncheon which followed it first became known, during a reply to the toast of "The anonymous donors of the Hall and Library," that the buildings had been presented to the College by Mr. Anthony Gibbs, and Mr. Henry Martin Gibbs, sons of Mr. William Gibbs, the donor of the chapel. Lord Selborne, Lord Salisbury, Lord Beauchamp, the Bishop of Oxford, Mr. Gathorne Hardy, and Mr. Gladstone, addressed a large assembly of those interested in the prosperity of the College.

that the starboard bilge had sunk nine feet into the clay, and that large quantities of sand had passed into the wreck.

27.-Sixteen persons killed by the explosion of a boiler at Messrs. Strong's ironworks, Dublin.

29.-The Prince of Wales at present in Paris inspecting the Exhibition, gives a grand déjeuner at the Café de la Paix to the members of the British Commission.

In the Court of Appeal at Lincoln's-Inn, an appeal was made by Mr. Scully, editor of the Anglo-Brazilian Times, against a decision of Vice-Chancellor Malins refusing a motion to enforce payment by Lord Dundonald of 2,500/. due to the plaintiff for services rendered to the late Lord Dundonald. It appeared that Lord Dundonald had engaged Mr. Scully, who lived in Rio Janeiro, to endeavour to effect an arrangement with the Brazilian Government with respect to the late Lord Dundonald's naval services. Mr. Scully succeeded in obtaining 40,000l. from the Government and claimed 5,000l. as his commission. This sum was, on a compromise, reduced to 2,500l. and their lordships now reversed the decision of the Vice-Chancellor, and ordered payment of that sum.

Conference, attended by 1,50c delegates, assembled in the Free Trade Hall at Manchester to protest against the country going into war. In the evening there was an immense public meeting, at which Mr. John Bright presided, and delivered an address reviewing the policy of the Administration on the Eastern Question, and earnestly denouncing the warlike tendency of the course which they had pursued. Referring to the despatch of native troops from India, he said, "When Parliament separated, on the 16ththat is, a fortnight ago. I was in the House that day, and heard the leader of the House say, again in the same tone, 'There was not

the least danger of anything; did not apprehend anything; things did not really look a bit worse than they had been some time ago;' and there was a general feeling of some sort of comfort in that sometimes disturbed, but always in matters of this kind credulous, assembly. But what happened the very next day, the moment the door of the House was shut and the key turned in the lock? On the very next day, I believe it was, you had that amazing and alarming telegram from Calcutta or Bombay that I know not how manynow a few thousands, but we are promised it may be scores of thousands-Mahommedan soldiers from Calcutta are to be brought to Europe for the purpose, I presume, of fighting, it may be, against the Christian nation of Russia."

May 1.-Opening of the Paris International Exhibition. At two o'clock, Marshal MacMahon accompanied by the Presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, the Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince of Denmark, Prince Amadeus of Italy, Prince Henry of Holland, the Prince of Orange, and Don Francis of Assisi, together with the Ministers, the Senators, the Deputies, and the Diplomatic Body, assembled in the Trocadéro Hall, A salute of one hundred guns was fired on their arrival, and, the Minister of Commerce having made a speech, Marshal MacMahon formally declared the Exhibition open. Guns were then fired, the waters of the great cascade began to play, and a procession was formed, headed by the Marshal, which made a tour of the entire building. The day was observed throughout Paris as a holiday, and at night the illuminations were general.

Died at Chatham, Francis Henry Moran, one of the Light Brigade in the Crimea, and trumpeter who sounded the memorable "Charge" at Balaclava, when the order was received.

Departure of Count Schouvaloff from London for St. Petersburg, for the purpose of personally explaining to the Czar his views upon the present position of affairs.

2.-A conference opened at Birmingham, to protest against any policy or measure by the Government that would involve England in war with Russia, and to promote public opinion in favour of recommending States, when disputes arose, to have recourse the good offices of friendly Powers.

to

Mahommedan insurrection in Roumelia. News from Adrianople and Philippopolis, report continued fighting about Haskoi, in which district twenty-one Mahommedan villages were destroyed, the Russians laying blame on the Bulgarians, the Bulgarians on the Russians.

2.-Died from injuries sustained by falling between a train and the platform of the Waterloo station, Sir Francis Goldsmid, M. P. for Reading.

3.-Lord Granville presides at a banquet given to the Prince of Wales by the British exhibitors in the Paris Exhibition. Among those present were Senator Krantz, Lord Northbrook, M. Teisserenc de Bort, the Duke of Manchester, the Duke of Sutherland, and Mr. Lyon Playfair. The first toast proposed was "The Queen," which was received with great enthusiasm, and "The this was followed by the toast of President of the French Republic," which was proposed by the Prince of Wales. The Prince afterwards proposed, speaking in French, Prosperity to France, and success to the Exhibition.'

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Mr. Gathorne Hardy gazetted Viscount Cranbrook of Hemsted in the county of Kent. Sir Charles Adderley was also raised to the Peerage as Lord Norton.

5.-The Dutch North Pole Expedition, the Willem Barents, leaves Amsterdam. The 80-ton brig was manned by three officers, one medical man, one naturalist, one photographer, and eight sailors.

6.-On resuming business in the Commons after the Easter recess, considerable dissatisfaction was expressed by several Opposition members, with the action of the Government in summoning Indian soldiers to Europe without communicating the fact to Parliament.

9.-Commencement of serious disturbances in Lancashire in connection with the cotton strike. At Darwen on this day, Friday, a collision occurred between the police and the mob in which several persons were hurt and much damage done to property. Delegates representing the operatives on strike waited on the committee of the Masters' Association in Manchester, and proposed either to refer the dispute to arbitration or to accept 5 per cent. reduction, or 10 per cent. reduction with short time. The masters' committee refused to entertain any of the propositions. This decision created great irritation amongst the operatives, and disturbances occurred in several of the Lancashire towns. At Blackburn a mill belonging to a town councillor was partially pulled down; and the house of Mr. Hornby wrecked. The mob then went to the house of Colonel Raynsford Jackson, chairman of the Masters' Association, and set fire to it. Colonel Jackson heard the mob coming, and escaped by a back door. The family were away from home. At half-past eleven the mayor went with the town clerk and magistrates to King-street to read the Riot Act. He had previously

sent for the soldiers. Detachments of infantry, cavalry, and police patrolled the streets

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at intervals. The excitement at Burnley was not less alarming than at Blackburn, The operatives, numbering many thousands, attended a mass meeting, and afterwards went in a body to Mr. Alderman Kay's mills, the windows of which they smashed. In the evening the Mayor read the Riot Act and telegraphed for the services of the military.

9. Mr. Grey and Mr. Ridley, under the double return for South Northumberland, were introduced to the Speaker in the House, took the oath and subscribed the Parliamentary rolls.

The Duke of Connaught betrothed to the Prince s Louise, third daughter of Prince Frederick Charles at Darmstadt.

10.-Eugene Chantrelle, a teacher of French, found guilty in the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, after a trial occupying four days, of poisoning his wife, and endeavouring to conceal the crime by breaking the gas-pipe in her room, so as to lead to the belief that she had died from gas-poisoning. They appeared to have lived an unhappy life; Chantrelle behaved badly, and was said to have frequently threatened to murder her. It was also stated that he had insured his own life, that of his wife, and that of a servant girl for 1,000l. each with an Accident Insurance Company; and one of the agents stated that Chantrelle had questioned him closely as to what would constitute an accident, and had put supposititious cases, such as poisoning and shooting. The medical evidence was to the effect that no poison was discovered in the body of the deceased except a dubious trace of chloral in the tissues of the stomach.

The eight prisoners charged with conspiracy in connection with the Albion Life Assurance Company, committed for trial after an examination which had extended over six weeks.

13.-Her Majesty, accompanied by the Crown Princess of Germany, and the Princess Beatrice, reviews the troops at Aldershot. The Royal party left the Pavilion at twenty minutes to four p.m., attended by the Duke of Cambridge and the Head-quarters Staff, and proceeded to the parade-ground, where the division-numbering about 13,200, of whom 2,541 belonged to the first-class army reserve, and 1,842 to the militia reserve-was drawn up under the general commanding. Her Majesty was received by a Royal salute, and drove down the lines; after which the troops marched past. troops re-formed line and advanced for the salute, which terminated the review.

The

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, defending the action of the Government in regard to the Indian troops, assured the House that it was not in his power to have mentioned the subject in his Budget speech, for it was only four days before that it was decided on by the Cabinet, and not until a week after that the first order was sent to India sanctioning expen diture. Moreover, the Government, holding that they were under no obligation to communicate the measure to Parliament, were strongly of opinion that secrecy was expedient and necessary for the success of the expedi tion. The constitutional control of Parliament would be untouched, because if this should unhappily prove to be a war measure, the Government would have to come forward with further financial proposals.

20. The debate on the employment of Indian troops in Europe attracted a large number of visitors, among whom were the Princess of Wales and the Crown Prince and Princess of Germany. The Prince of Wales was also present on the cross benches. The discussion was commenced by Lord Selborne, who pointed out that the despatch of troops from India to Malta was not a step taken in time of war, or when Parliament was not sitting, but that immediately after it had adjourned for the Easter holidays the order had been sent. He held that the consent of Parliament was necessary to sanction any movement of Indian troops in Europe, and that it was illegal to apply the revenues of India to the cost of their transport and maintenance.-The Lord Chancellor, in reply, defended the policy of the Government as not only justified by the circumstances of the case, but also as strictly within the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the law. He presumed that their lordships were all agreed to maintain the Constitution of the country, and he submitted that if there had been any excess of power on the part of the Government it was limited to the circumstance that they had incurred some expense for which they would have to apply to the other House of Parliament. --Earl Granville invited the Government to explain why they had kept the matter secret from Parliament. He agreed with the argument that the Government in times of emergency might act upon its own responsibility and rely upon the support of Parliament when the time came. But he urged that it had been abundantly shown that the recent action of the Government was apart from war and emergency, and might and ought to have been brought before Parliament, as it was sitting. The Earl of Beaconsfield did not consider it necessary to add anything to the defence of the Government already undertaken by the Lord Chancellor, but observed that, if the Opposition really believed that the Government had exceeded their powers it was clearly their duty to challenge the procedure by proposing a resolution. At the present moment the lips of the Government were sealed, and they were unable to vindicate their policy. They were endeavouring to secure peace, the freedom of Europe, and the just position of this country, and while negotiations to accomplish these objects were going on nothing would induce them to peril their success by premature utterances. When the proper moment came for breaking silence they would be prepared to justify their conduct and to prove that they had been animated throughout by a sincere desire to promote the honour and independence of the Empire.

Discussion on the same subject also took place in the Commons. Lord Hartington in moving a resolution said, Parliament was sitting at the time that the order was given for moving the troops, and he could not understand why Government had not communicated the steps

they had taken and demanded a vote of credit. The country was not at war at the time, and he could not regard the action of the Government in any other light than as one of a series of military demonstrations in time of peace.Sir Michael Hicks-Beach in speaking to an amendment to Lord Hartington's motion, congratulated the Opposition leader on the high constitutional ground he had taken up, remarking that he had scarcely expected it (though the fact was of hopeful augury) from the leader of a party which had been the authors of the Royal Warrant for the abolition of purchase. He maintained that the Government had acted for the best interest of the Empire, and that they had not in any one tittle violated the Constitution or the laws of the realm. The debate was continued by Mr. Dillwyn, Mr. Osborne Morgan, Mr. Chaplin, and Sir William Harcourt, when it was adjourned.

20.-Count Schouvaloff returns to London from St. Petersburg.

Concluded after a trial of twenty-two days before the Dublin Court of Probate the Bagot will case. The plaintiff was Mrs. Neville Bagot, formerly Alice Emily Verner, sister of Sir William Verner, and the respondents brothers of her deceased husband, Mr. Christopher Neville Bagot, who had accumulated great wealth in Australia, and returned to this country. He was married to the plaintiff in 1875, he being at that time fifty years of age, and the plaintiff twenty-two. Ten weeks after the marriage Mrs. Bagot gave birth to a boy, which she alleges to have been born in wedlock, she, according to her statement, having been married privately in a London Registry to the deceased a year previously. He left 10,000l. to Mrs. Bagot's son, on his attaining his thirtieth year, with a liberal provision up to that time; 5,000l. to each of his brothers, and to his widow an annuity of 1,000l., besides which she had her dower of 10,000l. which he did not touch. The plaintiff alleges fraud and undue influence on the part of the relatives; and the allegation on the other side is that Mr. Bagot was cajoled into the marriage by the plaintiff, who was anxious to have her child made legitimate. The evidence on both sides was finished on the 16th inst., when counsel for Mrs. Bagot summed up, contending that the latest will of the testator was unjust and unnatural, besides destroying the good name of Mrs. Bagot and throwing a slur on her son. On Friday, the 17th, Mr. Porter, Q. C., addressed the jury in support of the will. He contended that the private marriage spoken off by Mrs. Bagot was a mere fiction, that Mrs. Bagot's son was not that of the testator, and that it was his wife's general neglect of him that influenced the testator in framing his last will. On the 18th, the Judge, Mr. Justice Warren, said in conclud. ing his charge to the jury, that without express. ing any opinion of his own one way or the other, he felt at liberty to tell them, without

being bound by his opinion, that he thought a clear case was made out in favour of the plaintiff on the issue of unsoundness of mind on

was

the part of the testator. The jury were at first unable to agree, but the judge refused to discharge them, and they once more retired, and agreed to a verdict that the testator not of sound mind, memory, understanding, as regarded the paternity of the child." A verdict was then entered for the plaintiff, Mrs. Bagot. The defendants intimated their intention to appeal.

21.-Question asked by Mr. Gourlay as to the alleged purchase and equipment by the Russian Government and Russian subjects of American steamships for the purpose of being employed and commissioned as privateers. The Attorney-General, in reply, said that three ships had been purchased by persons said to be acting on behalf of Russia, but the Government had no information to lead them to the conclusion that they were to be employed in the event of war as privateers against England, as England and Russia were both parties to the Declaration of Paris that privateering should be and remain abolished. The debate on the constitutional point raised by Lord Hartington was then resumed by Mr, Gladstone, who defended the Government of which he was the head for recommending the exercise of the Royal prerogative for the abolition of purchase in the army, on the ground that it was to stop the flagrant and systematic violation of the law by some of the highest authorities in the land. Passing then to the motion before the House, he proceeded to reply to the Attorney-General, charging the Government with having acted both unconstitutionally and illegally. In the first place they had acted unconstitutionally, inasmuch as, though knowing of this charge, they had framed and carried through the Budget without making any provision for it; and in the next place, they had placed Parliament under a virtual compulsion to vote money for purposes on which they had never been consulted. After speeches from several members a re-adjournment until the 23rd was agreed to on the motion of Mr. Cross.

22. Great fire at Constantinople, the buildings destroyed including the Ministry of Justice and the Council of State. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Grand Vizierate, and the archives were saved.

23. Conclusion of the debate on Lord Hartington's motion. Mr. Cross justified the Government for not having proclaimed to the world before the Easter recess that they contemplated moving troops from India, for at that time there was an absolute necessity for secrecy. Negotiations were going on of the ut most importance, while information had been received-upon high authority, though it happily turned out to be untrue-which would have made it rash and foolish on their part to

have then entered into exciting debates on the subject. Mr. Roebuck also supported the Government. After some remarks from Major Nolan and Mr. Bromley-Davenport, the Marquis of Hartington replied, and the House divided at twenty-five minutes to three o'clock, with the following result -For the motion, 226; against, 347; majority for Government, 121.

23.-The ballot in the cotton manufacturing districts resulted in an almost unanimous vote against accepting Mr. Alderman Pickop's proposal to return to work at the 10 per cent. reduction for three months. Over 14,000 operatives voted, of whom only 828 were in favour of the proposal, and 12,072 against.

24-The first Indian troops arrived at Malta, and were cheered by the garrison which lined the bastions.

Grand banquet given at the Imperial palace, Berlin, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday.

The United States Senate agrees to report a bill, authorizing payment of the Fishery award, if, after further correspondence with England, President Hayes deems that the honour and good faith of the country demand it.

25.-Died, aged 55, the Duchess of Argyll. The Duke and Duchess and the Ladies Campbell, with the Duke of Devonshire, had on the day before gone to dine with Lord and Lady Frederick Cavendish at Carlton House-terrace. Soon after dinner commenced her Grace was seized with a fit of apoplexy, and she died at half-past two o'clock next morning, The late Duchess was the eldest daughter of the second Duke of Sutherland, and sister of the present Duke of Sutherland and the Duchess of Leinster.

26. In reply to Lord Cardwell, Lord Salisbury stated that he was not yet able to enter into details or to make any definite statement as to the negotiations with Russia; but he was able to say that within the last few days the prospect of a Congress being held had materially improved. Lord Redesdale began to complain of the attitude of Russia in regard to Bessarabia, but was called to order by the Duke of Somerset, who pointed out that no notice had been given on the subject.

Ministerial changes at Constantinople, Mahmoud Damad appointed Minister of War, and on the 28th, while the Council of Ministers was sitting at the Porte under the presidency of Sadyk Pasha, an aide-de-camp of the Sultan arrived and invited the Chief Minister to deliver up his seals of office. He has been replaced by Ruchdi Pasha, who has been appointed Grand Vizier.

Died, aged 79, Dr. Robert Carruthers, for fifty years editor of the Inverness Courier,