The

12. To modify various disquieting rumours regarding the leadership of the Liberal party, Mr. Gladstone writes to Earl Granville :-"For a variety of reasons personal to myself I could not contemplate any unlimited extension of active political service; and I am anxious that it should be clearly understood by those friends with whom I have acted in the direction of affairs that at my age I must reserve my entire freedom to divest myself of all the responsibilities of leadership at no distant time. need of rest will prevent me from giving moré than occasional attendance in the House of Commons during the present session. I should be desirous, shortly before the commencement of the session of 1875, to consider whether there would be advantage in my placing my services for a time at the disposal of the Liberal party, or whether I should then claim exemption from the duties I have hitherto discharged. If, however, there should be reasonable ground for believing that, instead of the course which I have sketched, it would be preferable in the view of the party generally, for me to assume at once the place of an independent member, I should willingly adopt the latter alternative." Replying to an address from the Liberals of Tunstall, Mr. Gladstone wrote: "I do not disguise from myself the importance of the verdict given at the late election, either as regards myself personally or in other and more important respects, but I neither can repent having confided in the people nor cease to confide in them similarly with reference to the contingencies of the future:"

hall, through the Horse Guards, and along the Mall. The decorations were abundant and elaborate, and the enthusiasm of the countless thousands through which the royal cortége passed apparently unchecked by the chilling frost or drifting snow showers. In the evening the City was brilliantly illuminated.

13. Came on before Vice-Chancellor Malins the case of Dr. Hayman, of Rugby, in the form of a notice of motion that the Governing Body of the school might be restrained by an order of court for removing or dismissing the plaintiff from his office, and from electing any person in his place, or from taking any proceeding at law or otherwise for ejecting the plaintiff from his office and residence. That was demurred to, and it lay with the defendants to support their demurrer. The case continued before the court till the 21st.

Soliciting the honour of re-election from his Buckinghamshire constituents, Mr. Disraeli writes from Downing Street, that in forming a new Administration he had recommended to the Queen "a body of gentlemen who will uphold the institutions of the country and defend the rights of every class of her Majesty's subjects. My acceptance of the office of First Lord of the Treasury vacates my seat; but as I cannot believe that the favour of our Sovereign can be any bar to the renewed confidence of a constituency which I have served more than a quarter of a century, I again solicit the high and honourable trust of being your member in the House of Commons."

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14 -James Brown, eating-house keeper, Shadwell, known in the Tichborne case as "Captain" Brown, examined by Sir T. Henry on the charge of perjury. He was afterwards committed for trial.

15.-Sunday demonstration in Hyde Park in favour of the release of Fenian prisoners, and resolutions passed calling upon Mr. Disraeli to use his influence with her Majesty for that purpose.

16.-Bonapartist demonstration at Chiselhurst on occasion of the Prince Imperial completing his eighteenth year, the age fixed by French law for his majority, and when he formally assumed the position of head and chief of his dynasty. The multitude which flocked out of London had its strength recruited from every department throughout France, and its members were furnished by no one special class of society, but from all ranks and orders in the social scale, from the working man in his blouse to the senator and officer of the Legion of Honour. For days past they hal been coming across the Channel, undeterred by the inconvenience of the passage, and train after train, as it arrived at Charing Cross, had been loaded far beyond its powers by crowds of French visitors. Of eighty-seven Prefects under the Empire, sixty-five were described as present at the fête. The proceedings commenced with a service in the small church of

St. Marie, followed by the presentation of an address to the Prince Imperial, who replied to the same, and a reception of deputations, who in some instances had travelled from the extreme parts of France to offer their gifts and congratulations. The Prince was interrupted by loud acclamations when he spoke of the President of the French Republic as the "former companion of the glories and misfortunes of my father." Still louder cheers interrupted him when he claimed a plébiscite in order to settle the foundations of Government in France, and spoke of the plébiscite as

at once the " 'safety" and the " right" of

France. The audience again broke out into shouts when he declared that if the name of Napoleon should issue for the eighth time from the voting urns, he was ready to accept the responsibility imposed upon him by will of the nation.

16. Several Government elections to-day, in all cases without opposition. At Oxford a Conservative candidate was carried in room of Viscount Cardwell, Mr. Hall polling 2,554 votes against 2,092 given to Mr. Lewis, Liberal.

During the seven years I shall be able to make the order of things legally established respected by all."

19. Dr. Pusey writes to the Times in depreciation of the legislative action which he supposes is intended by the bishops against Ritualists. He defined his own position as that of "no Ritualist, although bound to many Ritualists by affection and by their labour for souls," and begged the bishops to be slow in entering upon a line of action which, once entered upon, would be irrevocable. "The Judicial Committee has included in its censures too many to be trodden out. As things are, they who would extirpate us would be obliged to leave their work undone. Endurance is stronger than infliction. There are too many, even for a summary process to sever from their flocks. Yet where there is one common offence, the judge who spares any condemns himself for not having spared all."

In

Parliament opened by Commission, the Lord Chancellor reading a Royal Message having reference to the marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh, the termination of the war in Africa, and the steps taken for relieving the intensity of the famine in Bengal. Legislation was promised regarding the transfer of land, a re-arrangement of the judicature in Scotland and Ireland, improvement of the Master and Servants Act of 1871, (so far as the law of conspiracy was concerned), and the Act of last year regulating the sale of intoxicating drinks. the Lords the Address was moved by Lord Lothian and seconded by Lord Cadogan, and in the Commons by Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell and Mr. R. Callender. Replying to an observation that the recent dissolution was an elaborate surprise—“a pit dug for the Conservatives into which the Liberals had fallen"-Mr. Gladstone said the justification of the dissolution was its result, showing a larger transfer of seats from one party to the other than had ever occurred since 1831. Though he could not but think the decision of the constituencies wrong, he admitted that it was emphatic. The present Government had acceded to power by the act of the country, and it had every title, therefore, to be fairly tried, without any factious opposition, and to have the opportunity of placing its policy and its principles before the country. -Mr. Disraeli replied, that although he thought Mr. Gladstone's reasons for not having called Parliament together before commencing the Ashantee expedition fallacious, he preferred not to enter into any captious controversy on a war which must be regarded as concluded, and in which the skill and energy of our commander and the admirable qualities of our soldiers had been so signally displayed. Neither did he think it incumbent on him to enter into Mr. Gladstone's defence of the dissolution. With its results Mr. Disraeli said he was quite satisfied.

20. To mitigate the distress caused by famine in the province of Upper Bengal, the Marquis of Salisbury announces, in the Upper House, the necessity for a Bill being introduced authorising a loan of from three to ten millions sterling, part to be expended in chartering steamers to convey food to the starving districts, and in creating such new means of communication and works of irrigation as might help to prevent a recurrence of such calamities. A loan bill of the nature suggested was introduced into the Commons by Lord George Hamilton, the new Under Secretary for India. In the course of debates which took place prior to the passing of the bill, Ministers gave a hearty support to the policy pursued by the Viceroy, Lord Northbrook, especially in so far as he had refused to interfere with the ordinary trade exportations of rice from the famine-stricken districts, a determination in which he was opposed by some of his own Indian officials as well as by a portion of the native and home press.

Lord Rossmore of the 1st Life Guards thrown from his horse at the Windsor Steeplechases, receiving injuries from which he died on the 28th. The Queen, who witnessed the accident from her carriage in the King's Road, caused repeated inquiries to be made at the barracks, and on the following day at Her Majesty's special request none of the military

races were run.

A high tide in the Thames causes much damage and annoyance in the Westminster and Lambeth districts, fears being at one time felt for the safety of portions of the Houses of Parliament. At London Bridge the flood reached the almost unprecedented height of four feet three and a half inches above Trinity high water mark.

The Ashantee troops begin to arrive at Portsmouth, the first ship reaching home this morning being the Tamar, with the 23rd Fusiliers. The Manitoban followed next day with General Sir Garnet Wolseley and Staff. On the 24th the Sarmatian with the 42nd Highlanders arrived; and in the course of the week the Himalaya brought the second battalion Rifle Brigade, a detachment of the Royal Engineers and Royal Marine Light Infantry, with a few invalids. On each occasion the troops received a warm welcome, and on the 22nd (Sunday) Sir Garnet had a lengthy interview with the Queen at Windsor. King Koffee's umbrella taken at Coomassie and brought to England by Lieut. Wood, 10th Hussars, was graciously accepted by Her Majesty.

21.-Vice-Chancellor Malins gives judgment in the action raised by Dr. Hayman, late Head Master, against the governing body of Rugby School. He was extremely sorry, he said, for the grievous hardship of Dr. Hayman's case, but was satisfied that a pro

Died, aged 83, Sir W. H. Bodkin, late Assistant Judge at the Middlesex Sessions.

30.-Votes of thanks passed in both Houses of Parliament to the officers and men engaged in the Ashantee Expedition. The whole of the troops returned, numbering about 1,600, were also reviewed by the Queen to-day in Windsor Great Park. To Sir Garnet Wolseley, Her Majesty presented the insignia of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, and of a K.C.B. Lord Gifford was then called to the front, and received the Victoria Cross for personal valour, Her Majesty fastening the honourable distinction with her own hand to the breast of the young Lieutenant. similar honour was conferred on Captain Sartorius and Sergeant McGaw of the 42nd Highlanders; Captain Glover was made a Knight of St. Michael and St. George. The cost of the war to the British government was estimated at 900,000l. Το Sir Garnet Wolseley, who declined titular honours, a sum of 25,000l. was voted in recognition of his services.

A

31.-Intelligence received of the escape of Roch fort and other French prisoners from New Caledonia to Sydney.

April 3.-Mr. Rumbold, British minister in Chili, demands the release of Captain Hyde, and a indemnity of 25,000l. for wrongous imprisonment on the charge of wilfully causing the death of Chilian subjects in the wreck of the steamer Tacua off Valparaiso. Captain Hyde was afterwards permitted to leave the country and an indemnity promised.

5.-Died, aged 80, Commander R. J. Morrison, astrologer and editor of "Zadkiel's Almanac."

6.-Outbreak in Portland prison, a gang of twelve convicts falling upon two warders and severely maltreating them. The former were ultimately beaten off by officials and driven to their cells.

8.-Re-opening of Worcester Cathedral after undergoing restoration at the hands of Sir Gilbert Scott. The work, on which 100,000l. was said to have been expended, was carried on over a period of twenty years.

9.-Jean Luie, or Lundgren, pretended mate of the Osprey, and the so-called "Captain" Brown, sentenced at the Central Criminal Court, the former to seven and the latter to five years' penal servitude for perjury, in connection with the Tichborne case.

10.-Died, aged 72, Marquis of Clanricarde, K.P., Lord Lieutenant of Galway, PostmasterGeneral, 1846, and Lord Privy Seal for a short time in the first ministry of Lord Palmerston. (See p. 506.);

The

14-Explosion in the Astley Deep Colliery, Dukinfield, near Manchester, causing the death of fifty-one men and boys out of 151 employed in the pit at the time, about 7.30 P.M. part of the workings where the explosion took place was 700 yards long, and known as the engine brow. Here sixty men were imprisoned by the fallen roof, and though efforts were repeatedly made to break through and reach them, only ten were rescued alive, and of these one died afterwards. The pit was known to be one of the deepest in England, but noted for its freedom from gas.

Inquest held at Payhembury, Honiton, on the body of a young married woman named Miffin, who had drowned herself in a pond near the Vicarage while labouring under the delusion that she had been "overlooked" by a witchwoman in the neighbourhood. Verdict, temporary insanity.

carried ashore amid many mournful tokens of respect. The body was afterwards conveyed by special train to London, accompanied by relatives and friends, and placed in the rooms of the Royal Geographical Society. The identification of the remains was placed beyond doubt by Sir William Ferguson, who found the left arm still showing traces of a fracture caused by the bite of a lion over thirty years since.

16.-Riel expelled from the Canadian Parliament as a fugitive from justice.

Message from the Queen asking a grant of 25,000l. to Sir Garnet Wolseley read in both Houses. Vote agreed to on the 20th.

war.

Annual Budget introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The total expenditure for 1873-4 has reached 76,466,500l., including the American Award and Ashantee Last year's revenue was estimated at 73,762,000l. but the gross receipts had increased to 77,335,657. On the same basis the revenue for 1874-5 was calculated at 77,995,000l. and the expenditure at 72,503,000l. With the surplus of nearly 5 millions, the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed, not to abolish the Income Tax altogether as Mr. Gladstone had suggested, but to reduce it by one penny, thus preserving the system with its collecting machinery for future use. He also proposed to abolish the remaining sugar duties and the House Tax. The Budget was well received.

18.-The Duke of Abercorn, the new Lord Lieutenant, makes a formal entry into Dublin.

Reredos in Exeter Cathedral pronounced illegal by the Bishop, on the advice of Mr. Justice Keating, who acted as his assessor. The plea of the Dean and Chapter, that they were independent of the Bishop in these matters, was refuted by demonstration that the bishopric and cathedral had co-existed for two centuries before the deanery. Regarding the reredos itself, it was decided that the figures it contained were images, although only in alto-relievo, and the erection was therefore held to be illegal.

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Funeral of Dr. Livingstone in Westminster Abbey, the Queen among others sending a beautiful wreath of azaleas as a tribute of respect and admiration for the great traveller and missionary of civilization. The coffin bore the simple inscription :'David Livingstone. Born at Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland, March 19, 1813. Died at Ilala, Central Africa, May 4, 1873." The route of procession from the Royal Geographical Society's rooms was by way of Pall Mall, Charing Cross, and Parliament Street to Broad Sanctuary, the crowds on each side reverently uncovering as the remains were borne along. The following (Sunday) afternoon Dean Stanley preached a funeral sermon in the Abbey to

a large congregation, among whom were the traveller's aged father-in-law, Dr. Moffat, and Mr. H. M. Stanley. Special sermons were also preached in several other of the London churches.

18. "Mad Lucas," the Hermit of Redcoots Green, near Stevenage, and the hero of Dickens' "Tom Tiddler's Ground," found dead among the ashes of his neglected cottage.

20. The Archbishop of Canterbury calls attention to the present state of Public Worship in the Church of England. His grace entered into a lengthened description of existing evils and anomalies, and concluded by moving the first reading of a "Bill for the better administration of the law respecting Public Worship. As introduced at this time, the bill provided that the Bishop should have the sole power in directing worship, as was evidently designed in the constitution of the Church, guided, however, by a Board of Assessors, lay and clerical. In the event of the Bishop thinking that a complaint against an incumbent demanded inquiry he was to call his Assessors together, and if they condemned the acts in question an Episcopal monition was to issue forthwith. An appeal was also provided for to the Archbishop and his Assessors, their decision to be final. After detailing various Romanizing practices observed by Anglican clergymen, the Archbishop concluded:-"I call upon all those who glory in the name of members of the Church of England, who have no feelings of Puritanism in any form, but who have often fought the battles of the Church of England against the Church of Rome on the one hand and against Puritanism on the other, who style themselves Anglicans and regard the Church as one of our great institutions, I call upon them to come forward and declare themselves manfully against such a desecration of the Holy Communion as a thing which all Churchmen should unite in condemning." In the discussion which preceded the first reading of the bill, Lords Nelson, Shaftesbury, and Selborne took part. (See May 11).

The Duke of Edinburgh lays the foundation stone of new buildings for the Royal Seamen and Marines' Orphan School at Portsmouth.

In introducing the Navy Estimates, for which 10,179,4857. was asked, Mr. Ward Hunt describes the late government as having left the navy in a state far from satisfactory. Of our forty-one sea-going ironclads (of which five are building) only eighteen could be considered effective at present, and of the fourteen available for coast and harbour defence-among which he included the Devastation till further trials were made of her, only nine were good for anything at all. The naval administration of the late Government was defended by Mr. Goschen, and later in the session by Mr.

Childers, in the course of a renewed discussion regarding estimates.

21.-The Bishop of Peterborough draws attention in the House of Lords to the evils arising from the present condition of the law of Patronage in the Church of England. A Select Committee was afterwards appointed to inquire into the subject.

23.-Inspection at Gosport by her Majesty of that portion of the Naval Brigade which had taken part in the Ashantee war.

24. Died from the effects of a fall down the staircase at All Souls' College, John Phillips, F.R.S., Professor of Geology in the University of Oxford. Professor Phillips was born in 1801.

27.-Discussion raised by the Home Secretary regarding a Bill relating to the Sale and Consumption of Intoxicating Liquors. He proposed among other changes that the hours for opening and closing public-houses should be fixed by statute and not by local magistrates, and that the adulteration clauses in the Act of 1872 should be repealed.

28. The tariff adopted by the International Tonnage Commission comes into force on the Suez Canal.

29.-Ball at Mansion House in honour of the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

Entry of the relieving army under Marshal Concha into Bilboa, being the anniversary of the day when the war of Independence broke out. Four days later Marshal Serrano received an enthusiastic welcome on returning to Madrid from the city he had helped so much to prevent falling into the hands of besieging Carlists.

4.-Earl Russell's motion for papers regarding the maintenance of peace in Europe rejected after a speech by Earl Derby, in which he affirmed that while certain feelings excited at present in foreign courts gave rise to anxiety and apprehension, there was, so far as immediate results were concerned, no cause for anticipating any disturbance of the peace.

7.-Died, aged 71, Lieut. Gen. Sir Archdale Wilson, Bart, G.C.B., conqueror of Delhi. (See p. 497.)