by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Several well-known valuable paintings by Turner and other masters were among those destroyed. People flocked from all parts of London to the scene of the fire, and at one time it was thought as many as 100,000 were present in the surrounding streets. Touching the origin of the fire, nothing was ever exactly ascertained. All that the proprietors knew was that there was a strong smell of burning in the afternoon, traced to a warehouse on the second floor in the northern extremity of the building, where some goods were found to be on fire close to the wall. The foreman and the workpeople, twenty or thirty in number, at once got out their manual engine and tried to extinguish the flames; but they had difficulty in getting water, and were unable to make any visible effect. With the exception of the offices at the main entrance (uninjured), there was not a gaslight on the premises. The building was, as a rule, closed at dusk, and the only lights allowed afterwards were safetylamps carried by the men, and lighted in a room set apart for that purpose alone.

There

was a water tank of great size on the roof, while there were smaller tanks on the various floors, and hose ready for use, and a manual fire-engine all kept on the premises.

14. Mr. Bouverie writes to his old constituents that he had valued their confidence greatly, "and should have been proud to retain it, but I should never have been willing to purchase it, at the cost of my self-respect, by silence at priestly oppression, by subservience to an unscrupulous local faction, or by stimulated approbation in Parliament of acts and methods of administration which, in spite of the prevalence of Liberal opinions, have alienated the country, have disorganized the Liberal party, and have at last destroyed a once powerful Government."

15. The Dutch troops make another successful attack on the Atchinese, and secure, it was thought, the submission of the district west of the Atchin river.

In the course of a discussion in the German Parliament on the new Military Bill, Field-Marshal von Moltke pointed out how necessary it was for every great State, and especially for Germany, to have a numerous and powerful army. "What we acquired in the space of six months we shall have to protect by force of arms for half a century. France is imitating all the German army arrangements. How, then, can we give up what our opponents are adopting? Germany is opposed to any kind of offensive action; it is her duty to act on the defensive.' Count von Moltke proceeded to enumerate the measures taken by France for increasing her armament, notwithstanding the fact that the majority of the French people were convinced of the necessity of peace. He concluded by saying :- "We have become

a powerful nation, but we remain a peaceable people. We require an army, but not for pur

poses of conquest." The bill was referred to a committee of twenty-eight members.

16. The result of the elections placing the Government in a hopeless minority, a Cabinet Council was called to-day, and a resolution concurred in to resign at once without waiting for the meeting of Parliament.

Sir Garnet Wolseley writes that King Koffee had sent a thousand ounces of gold to his camp as a first instalment of indemnity with a request for peace.

Dr. Beke reports from the Gulf of Akaba that he has found the true Mount Sinai one day's journey north-east of Akaba. On the summit the traveller found the remains of sacrificed animals, and lower down some Sinaitic inscriptions, which he copied.

17. Mr.Gladstone waits upon her Majesty at Windsor Castle, and tenders the resignation of himself and colleagues, which her Majesty was graciously pleased to accept. Mr. Disraeli left town soon after eleven o'clock this morning for Windsor Castle, in obedience to the Queen's commands received last evening. The right hon. gentleman arrived at Windsor at noon, and at once proceeded to the Castle. He was much cheered both on his arrival and departure.

The London "Mission" closed by a thanksgiving service in St. Paul's.

More favourable news received of a rainfall over various parts of the starving districts in Bengal.

Advices from Havannah announce that a battle lasting seven hours had been fought at Narango, in the central department, between General Bascones, at the head of 3,000 Spanish troops, and 5,000 insurgents under the command of the Marquis Santalucia. The Cuban insurgents were defeated. The Spaniards lost 50 killed and 180 wounded.

Information received by way of Calcutta that the Yarkund mission had been favourably received at Kashgar.

18. The elections being over, parties were found to be divided thus:-England and Wales, 296 Conservatives, 193 Liberals; Scotland, 19 Conservatives, 41 Liberals; Ireland, 36 Conservatives, 68 Liberals (including a double return from Athlone, and counting all Home Rulers as Liberals). Total Conservative majo rity, 51. In the general contest they had won 98 seats against 38 by the Liberals. Election petitions were lodged in the case of 21 returns. Of the old members 215 failed to secure reelection. Among the Ministerial candidates recently rejected were Mr. Chichester Fortescue at Louth, and Lord Advocate Young at Wigtown, the latter by a mistake in reckoning up the votes. It was noticed that for the first time since 1829 no Roman Catholic was returned by any English or Scotch constituency. Assuming Louth and Galway as vacant, 49 of the 10:

Irish seats were filled by Catholics, and 20 of these entered the House for the first time.

18. The Emperor of Germany writes to Earl Russell :-"It is incumbent on me to be the leader of my people in a struggle maintained through centuries past by German emperors of earlier days, against a power the domination of which has in no country of the world been found compatible with the freedom and welfare of nations--a power which, if victorious in our days, would imperil, not in Germany alone, the blessings of the Reformation, liberty of conscience, and the authority of the law. I accept the battle thus imposed upon me in fulfilment of my kingly duties and in firm reliance on God, to whose help we look for victory, but also in the spirit of regard for the creed of others and of evangelical forbearance which has been stamped by my forefathers on the laws and administration of my States.

I was

sure, and I rejoice at the proof afforded me by your letter, that the sympathies of the people of England would not fail me in this strugglethe people of England, to whom my people and my Royal House are bound by the remembrance of many a past and honourable struggle maintained in common since the days of William of Orange."

The Deputies from Alsace-Lorraine protest before the German Parliament against the annexation of that territory to Germany without consulting the inhabitants.

19.-At a Home Rule meeting in Dublin, Mr. Butt announces that 59 members pledged to that principle had been returned for Ireland, and 24 by England.

Mr. Young, late Lord Advocate, an nounced to have accepted a Scotch judgeship in succession to Lord Cowan, retired.

20. Mr. Disraeli submits his Cabinet to her Majesty, showing himself as First Lord of the Treasury, his colleagues (confined to twelve high officials) being-Lord Chancellor, Lord Cairns; Lord President of the Council, Duke of Richmond; Lord Privy Seal, Lord Malmesbury; Foreign Affairs, Lord Derby; India, Lord Salisbury; the Colonies, Lord Carnarvon; War, Mr. Gathorne Hardy; Home, Mr. R. A. Cross; Admiralty, Mr. Ward Hunt; Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir S. Northcote; PostmasterGeneral, Lord John Manners. The following appointments afterwards received the royal sanction:-Attorney-General, Sir John Karslake; Solicitor-General, Sir Richard Baggallay; Vice-President of the Council, Lord Sandon; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Duke of Abercorn; Chief Secretary for Ireland, Sir Michael H. Beach; Lord Advocate, Mr. E. S. Gordon; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Colonel Taylor; First Commissioner of Works, Lord Henry Lennox; President of Board of Trade, Sir Charles Adderley; President of Local Government Board, Mr. Sclater-Booth; Secretary of Local Government Board, Mr. Clare S. Read; Judge-Advocate and Paymaster-General,

Mr. Cave; Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Robert Bourke; Under Home Secretary, Sir H. Selwin-Ibbetson; Under-Secretary, India Office, Lord George Hamilton; UnderSecretary, Colonial Office, Mr. James Lowther; Secretary of Admiralty, Ion. Algernon Egerton; Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Massey Lopes; Secretaries to the Treasury, Mr. W. H. Smith and Mr. Hart Dyke. The Royal Household :-Mistress of the Robes, Duches of Wellington; Lord Chamberlain, Marquis o Bath; Master of the Horse, Earl of Bradford,

The French Minister of the Interior issues a circular designed to counteract the proceedings of Imperial partizans engaged in inviting friends to proceed to England to render homage to the Prince Imperial on coming of age. "Henceforth you will not permit any canvassing in public places to obtain adhesions to the proposed journey to England, or any passionate discussions which might result therefrom, and, perhaps, cause regrettable disorder. Our duty is to avert anything that might disturb the tranquillity so necessary to all interests, and, above all, those of the working classes in the present commercial and industrial crisis prevailing in the country."

20. The Prussian House of Lords pass the Civil Marriage Bill by a majority of 89 to 51. Blockade on the northern coast of Spain suspended till 5th March.

Died, aged 82, Sir Sydney Cotton, G.C.B., Governor of Chelsea Hospital, a survivor of the Mahratta war of 1817.

Collision early this morning near Wigan between the Scotch limited mail and a brokendown coal train, causing the death of the engine-driver and fireman, and a severe shaking to many passengers.

21. Legal proceedings instituted by the Prussian Government against the Moravian Bishop of Olmütz for transgressing the new ecclesiastical laws in the Silesian parishes belonging to his diocese.

At a meeting of the London and NorthWestern Railway Company, the Chairman states that the directors had adopted the block system up to June 1872, on 266 miles of their main line, and up to December 1873, they had extended the block system to 732 miles of their main line, to 78 miles of junction lines, and 135 miles of branch lines; and they could now boast of having altogether 1,200 miles of their railways worked on the block system. The company ran last year 600,000 passenger trains, and there were thirtyfive accidents. This year they were running 700,000 passenger trains. Out of the thirtyfive accidents, twenty-eight had been attributed to the negligence or mistakes of servants. Chairman contended that on the whole people were safer travelling on the London and NorthWestern Railway system than they were travel. ling in their own carriages through the streets, walking through the streets, or staying in their

The

own houses. At the Great Northern meeting the same day, intimation was made that the claims for personal injury, damages, and loss of goods during the year amounted to 24,9051.

Severe fighting between the Carlists and Republicans on the heights of Sommorostro.

22. Intelligence received of Sir Garnet Wolseley's entry into Coomassie, and the signing of a treaty of peace with the Ashantees. The European prisoners, it was also said, had been released and sent off to Cape Coast.

23. Intimation given by circular that Parliament will meet for the election of Speaker and the swearing in of members on the 5th March.

Died, aged 60, Shirley Brooks, editor of Punch since 1870, a popular novelist, and writer of many pleasing verses.

24. The new Ministers officially gazetted. It was also announced that the Marquis of Westminster had been created Duke of Westminster. Other elevations at this time were Mr. Chichester Fortescue to be Lord Carlingford, Mr. Cardwell to be Lord Cardwell of Ellerbeck, and Sir John Pakington to be Lord Hampton.

By a majority of 9 to 4 the First Division of the Court of Session affirm Lord Gifford's judgment in the Murthly succession case, finding that a marriage had been contracted between the prisoner, Miss Robertson, and the late Major Stewart.

Died, aged 76, Rev. Thomas Binney, a popular Nonconformist divine, called to the congregation meeting in the King's Weighhouse, near the Monument, in 1829.

25. The Mansion House Indian Famine Relief Fund stated to have reached 25,000l. Most of the other large towns in the kingdom also commence to forward money for the relief of the starving natives.

Died, Major Charles Adams, Professor of Military History at the Staff College, Sandhurst.

Decided in the Sheriff Court of Lanarkshire the case of Hopps v. Long, involving the question as to the relations now existing between alleged blasphemy and statute law. The defender, a Unitarian clergyman, had put forth a "Life of Jesus for Young Disciples,' which he republished in its entirety with notes and comments at half the cost of the original. The defender alleged that the pursuer could not claim the protection of the law for the book, as it was blasphemous and heretical, denying, tacitly or expressly, the divinity of Christ. To this the pursuer replied that, apart from the fact that it was written by a Unitarian, and set forth the Unitarian view of the Saviour's life, a more unobjectionable book did not exist. Mr. Sheriff Buntine declared the interim interdict, which Hopps had obtained, perpetual, and ordered Long to pay

the costs. He held that the doctrine of Jesus Christ being the second person of the Trinity was statute law, yet the public were entitled to criticise and controvert any part of the statute law, provided they did it in such a way as not to endanger the public peace, safety, or morality.

26.-Dr. Beke writes to the Times that the mountain which he identified with the Sinai of the Pentateuch was Mount Bárghir, one of the principal masses of the chain of mountains bounding the valley of the Arabah on the East, which are marked on our maps as the Mountains of Shera, but of which the correct designation is the Mountains of Shafeh; those of Shera being a chain extending from that of Shafeh in a direction from north-west to southeast. "My astonishment and gratification may be better imagined than described when I learnt that this Mount Bárghir is the same as a mysterious Jebel-e'-Nur, or 'Mountain of Light,' of which I had heard vaguely in Egypt as being that whereon the Almighty spoke with Moses, and which, from its position and other circumstances, is without doubt the Sinai of Scripture; although, from its manifest physical character, it appears that my favourite hypothesis of Mount Sinai being a volcano must be abandoned as untenable.'

27.-Lord Cairns sworn in as the new Lord Chancellor.

Professor Huxley delivers his address as Lord Rector of Aberdeen University, selecting for his subject "University Education," and earnestly advocating the introduction of physical science in the University curriculum.

The Court of Appeal at Paris give judg ment in the case of Naundorff against the Comte de Chambord, the claimant in this case seeking to have it declared that her son was entitled to all the position and rights which belonged to his father and her husband the Dauphin, son of Louis XVI., generally believed to have died in the Temple, June 8th 1795, but now alleged to have escaped by a twofold substitution. Satisfied with the proof of death produced, the Court confirmed the judgment appealed against, and fined the Naundorff heir accordingly.

28.-End of the Tichborne trial, the Lord Chief Justice concluding his charge to the jury on this the 188th day of investigation. The law, said his lordship, required the unanimous verdict of twelve men before a verdict of guilty or not guilty is pronounced, and if a single juryman is satisfied, after having given every attention to the case that he cannot find the verdict of the rest, he does right to stand by his conviction. "Then we must recollect that it is his duty to give the case every possible consideration, and he may start with a fair presumption that one individual is more likely to be wrong than the eleven from whom he differs, and think of his own judgment with humility and diffidence." The jury retired at twelve o'clock, and after less than half an

66

nour's absence, returned with a verdict of guilty. The main allegations against the defendant were-1. That he did falsely swear that he was Roger Charles Tichborne ; 2. That he did falsely swear that he had in July or August 1851, seduced Catherine Mary Elizabeth Doughty, only daughter of Sir Edward Doughty, deceased; 3. That he did falsely swear that he was not Arthur Orton, the son of George Orton, of Wapping, deceased. The jury found him guilty on all these three allegations. As a special finding, the jury further desired to express their opinion that the charges of bribery, conspiracy, and undue influence brought against the prosecution in this case are entirely devoid of foundation, and they regret exceedingly the violent language and demeanour of the leading counsel for the defendant in his attacks upon the conduct of the prosecution and upon several of the witnesses produced in the case. The Lord Chief Justice thereupon sentenced the Claimant to fourteen years' penal servitude, and pending the charge of perjury against the witness Luie, authorised his removal in the meantime to Newgate.

Died, aged 86, Dr. Neil Arnott, F.R.S., Physician Extraordinary to the Queen, and inventor of the useful stove and ventilator bearing his name.

Died, aged 86, Rev. J. W. Bellamy, B.D., Vicar of Sellinge, Hythe, formerly Head Master of Merchant Taylors' School.

3.-A proposal being made in the German Parliament to repeal the clause of the AlsaceLorraine Administrative Law, giving the Governor power to institute a state of siege, Prince Bismarck said :-"We never expected that the Alsatians would greet our institutions with applause. People have to accustom themselves to foreign institutions, and when you have been with Germany for 200 years, the results of your comparisons will be in Germany's favour. From the acquaintance I have made of the gentlemen here, I believe I should seriously endanger my responsibility if I were to diminish the power of the Governor of the Imperial Province. In France there are twenty-eight Departments in a state of siege. Remember how we came to annex AlsaceLorraine. What we required was a bulwark to defend our rights. The Alsatians are certainly not free from blame for what has occurred. They participated in the restlessness which led to the war that broke out against us."

3.-The Duke of Abercorn sworn in as Lord. Lieutenant of Ireland at Dublin Castle.

Ex-Lord Advocate Young takes his seat in the Scotch Outer House, and formally hears two cases as Lord Probationer.

Official announcement of the new peerages, Mr. Cardwell as Viscount Cardwell of Ellerbeck; Mr. Chichester Fortescue as Baron Carlingford of Carlingford; Sir T. Freemantle as Baron Cottesloe of Swanbourn; and Mr. E. Hammond as Baron Hammond of Kirkella. Viscount Sydney was also advanced to the dignity of an Earl in recognition of his services as Lord Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household.

Died at Brighton, aged 64, Dr. Forbes Winslow, among the first authorities on brain disease, and for many years editor of the “Quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine and Mental Pathology."

The Dutch troops reported to have been so successful at Atchin as to lead most of the Sultan's allies to withdraw their aid.

4.-The "reception" of M. Ollivier sid to be indefinitely postponed by the French Academy on the ground of the eulogistic tribute he intended offering to the memory of the late Emperor. "Had Lamartine," he wrote, "known him better, had he had experience of his great heart, of the charm and justness of his mind, of the gentleness of his character; if he had become the confidant of his thoughts solely directed to the public good and to the relief of those who suffer; if he had been witness to the loyalty with which he put in practice the freest institutions our country had yet known; if he had beheld him modest in prosperity and august after misfortune, he would have done more than render him justice, he would have loved him."

The steamer Bothnia, 4,500 tons burthen, the largest of the Cunard fleet, launched from the yard of Messrs. Thomson, at Dalmuir, on the Clyde.

Under the signature "E. P.B.," the late member for the Kilmarnock burghs contribute to the Times a "Chapter of Contemporary History," in which a parallel or contrast was drawn between the recent Liberal defeat and the result of several former general elections. The writer thought there had been "no Liberal defeat like this since 1710, when Dr. Sacheverell was rashly impeached, at the instance of some angry Whig Ministers, and in spite of the prudent counsels of Lord Somers, and when the Tory Ministry, who then replaced them, unexpectedly dissolved the Parliament, in order to catch the ball of popularity at its bound. That election resulted in a decisive Tory victory." Having referred to the elections of 1784, 1841, and 1865, he proceeded to accuse Mr. Gladstone of having "at one blow (the dissolution) destroyed both his Administration and his party, and they are both wiped out of

existence." He next endeavoured to account for the failure of the Government: "I say nothing of its minor delinquencies, of its failures in administration-these, though remarkable in men of conspicuous talent, do not tell very widely or deeply on general national opinion; but I set down the failure to the wounds which it has inflicted on the great characteristic attributes of the English people -their pride, their jealous reverence for established institutions, their singular love of moderation." On this last head "E. P. B." wrote, "If in the daily conduct of ordinary public business a Prime Minister should fail to create confidence in his steady good sense and moderation by a constant exhibition of those gifts, the occasion will surely be seized by them, as it has been just now, to show that they no longer trust him, but that they wish for some other Minister, who can better appreciate their peculiar national instincts and represent their national character."

4.-Canon Gregory's motion to prohibit the London School Board from erecting new schools near denominational ones presently in existence rejected by 24 votes to 21.

5.-The new Parliament opened by Commission, and Mr. Brand unanimously elected Speaker on the motion of Mr. Chaplin, seconded by Lord George Cavendish. Mr. Gladstone was also present, and spoke strongly in favour of the nomination. Next day Mr. Brand presented himself in the House of Lords for formal acceptance by her Majesty, and in name of the Commons laid claim to the exercise of their undoubted rights and privileges. "I humbly, he said, "petition her Majesty that she will be graciously pleased to allow us freedom of speech in debate, freedom from arrest for our persons and servants, and, above all, freedom of access to her Majesty's royal person whenever occasion may require; and that the best construction may be put upon all our proceedings. For myself, my lords, I desire that the most favourable construction may be put upon my acts, and that whatever I may do in error may be attributed to myself alone, and not to her Majesty's faithful Commons." The Lord Chancellor rejoined: "Mr. Speaker, we have it further in command to inform you that her Majesty doth most readily confirm all the rights and privileges which have ever been granted to her Majesty's Commons by any of her Royal predecessors. With respect to yourself, sir, though her Majesty is sensible that you stand in no need of such assurance, her Majesty will ever put the most favourable construction on your words and actions. The Speaker retired, and the Lord Chancellor then took his seat on the woolsack. New members were thereafter sworn in, and writs authorized to be issued for vacancies occasioned by acceptance of office.

The Claimant's witness Luie or Lundgren again examined at Bow Street, and com

mitted on a charge of perjury extending over his entire evidence in the Tichborne case.

6. The two Houses of Convocation of Can. terbury attend Divine service in St. Paul's, and afterwards hold a brief sederunt for the transaction of business. In the Lower House, Archdeacon Bickersteth, re-elected Prolocutor for the fourth time, reviewed the work of Convocation during the last five years, and expressed satisfaction that the English Church condemned both the way in which the so-called Ecumenical Council was called together and the conclusions at which it arrived. The Athanasian Creed, by means of the Synodical Declaration, he regarded as set at rest for at least a generation, and he then passed on to speak of the great work set on foot at the last Convocation-the revision of the English version of the Holy Scriptures-and said that labour of deep anxiety and responsibility, unless the existence of this Convocation were cut prematurely short by some convulsion, would by it be presented to the critical judgment of Biblical students.

Stewart's cotton mill, Musselburgh, destroyed by fire, with much valuable machinery. 7.-News received of the burning of Coomassie, and flight of King Koffee.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh arrive at Gravesend from Antwerp, and proceed to Windsor amid great manifestations of public enthusiasm.

In a letter to the Emperor Francis Joseph, the Pope protests against the Church in Austria being handed over to dishonourable servitude, and his Catholic subjects visited with deep affliction His Holiness in another letter condemned the new ecclesiastical laws as designed to bring the Church into most ruinous subjection to the arbitrary power of the State. He admitted that the Austrian laws appeared moderate as compared with those enacted by Prussia, but they were of the same spirit and character, and paved the way for the destruction of the Church in Austria as well as in Prussia. The Pope renewed his protest against the rupture of the Concordat, and described the assertion that a change was brought about in the Church by the promulgation of the dogina of Infallibility as a pernicious pretext.

9.-The French National Assembly, by a majority of 41 votes, agree to impose a tax of five per cent. on all goods conveyed by luggage trains.-M. Ledru-Rollin took his seat in the Assembly to-day.