was

estimated at £658,000. The bank established in 1771 with a fixed note issue of about £50,000.

Sir Bartle Frere issues a notification that the enforcement of British demands against Cetewayo, the Zulu king, had been placed in the hands of General Lord Chelmsford.

Moncasi executed at Madrid for attempting to assassinate King Alfonso. 80,000 people were said to have witnessed his garotting in the Campo de Guardias.

5. The French senatorial elections result in a Republican victory.

Shern Hall, Walthamstow, for many years the residence of the late Cardinal Wiseman, almost totally destroyed by fire.

Died at Turin, Sig. Bartolomeo Gastoldi, Professor of Geology.

7.-Retirement of Sir Anthony Cleasby, a Judge in the High Court of Justice, elevated to the Bench in 1875.

The King of Holland married to Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont.

Died suddenly at Oxford, aged 72, Charles Neate, Senior Fellow of Oriel, and for several years an esteemed Professor of Political Economy.

Died at Aran, aged 80, Dr. Rauchenstein, Swiss philologist.

8.-Issue of Letters Patent confirming a previous Royal Proclamation for taking possession of the Port or Settlement known as Walfisch Bay, and annexing the same to the Cape Colony.

Died John King, formerly of Exeter College, Oxford, an ecclesiastical historian, author of various "Handbooks" to cathedrals, and English Counties.

Died, aged, 87, Marshal Espartero, a Spanish 'soldier of fortune," who had in his day served many masters, and occupied occasionally a high position in Peninsular politics.

9.-General Stewart makes a triumphal entry into Candahar, the Affghan troop presenting little more than a show of resistance. Gholam Husen, formerly native agent at Cabul, was appointed Civil Governor for administering the affairs of this important commercial centre, according to Affghan law and custom.

Instructions issued by Prussian Minister of Commerce for the extension of Trade Guilds.

10. A miscellaneous collection of private property belonging to Pius IX. sold in the Vatican, for the most part to foreign ladies

Duncombe Park, near Helmsley, Yorkshire, the historic mansion of the Favershams, designed by Vanbrugh, and more than once referred to by Macaulay, destroyed by fire, and its precious gathering of paintings by the great masters, single specimens being valued as high as £5,000, either burnt wholly or hopelessly injured. The famous "Dog of Alcibiades reported to be from the chisel of Myron (442 B.C.) was among the few sculptured gems saved in the great entrance hall, built of late years from designs by Sir C. Barry.

12.-Death announced of M. Auguste Préault, a French sculptor, pupil of David of Angers.

13. Still another disastrous colliery explosion in Rhonda Valley, Glamorganshire, sixty lives being lost to-day in Dinas Pit, about fifteen miles from Abercarne.

Morton House, Durham, an old mansion of the Lambton family, destroyed by fire.

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18.-Sustained largely by port-wine, porkpies, and lobster, Mrs Anderson, an Englishwoman, successfully completes the task, undertaken for a wager, of walking 2,700 quarter miles in as many quarter hours.

19. The young Jew Mortara reported to be preaching in Vienna. (See 28th April, 1859.)

21. Sir James Stephen gazetted a Judge.

22.-Disaster to the British troops at Isandlana, recalling memories of the Sikh repulse at Ramnuggar, the infuriated Zulus all but annihilating a British force left to guard the camp, while Lord Chelmsford was fighting at Dartnell to clear the way for further advance, or, for there was no certainty about native tactics, it might be submission of Sirayo, and other chiefs, possibly of the formidable Cetewayo himself. The disaster led to severe reflections at home on Lord Chelmsford, but inquiry made on the spot and at the moment showed the surprise to be of the nature of a military accident, which ordinary prudence could not have foreseen, but might have been provided against by the presence of cavalry, pressingly sought for from the home authorities by the commander, and also by Sir Bartle Frere. The Ist battalion of the 24th Foot was almost destroyed. Five hundred men of the regiment were killed and thirty officers, amongst whom were Colonel Pulleine, Major White, and Colonel Durnford, R.E. A convoy of supplies-102 waggons, 1,000 oxen, two guns, 400 shot and shell, 1,000 rifles, 250,000 rounds of ammunition, and 60,000lbs of stores-fell into the hands of the Zulus.

into Natal, they prepared, if possible, to hold the Drift till help should come. Defences had to be improvised. They had barely finished a hasty barricade of bags and biscuit tins, when the Zulus, gathering round, began to pour in their fire. They numbered in all about 4,000. The attack lasted the greater part of the night. Six times the enemy got within the barricade, but were driven out at the point of the bayonet. Creeping to the rear they set fire to the hospital. At dawn the assailants withdrew. But the anxieties of the little garrison were not at an end. Looking towards Isandlana they descried a fresh host advancing. Soon they saw it was Lord Chelmsford's jaded men, and those too found to their relief that Englishmen still held the Drift. Around the entrenchment 351 Zulus lay dead.

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The conclusions arrived at in connection with the disaster at Isandlana and the defence at Rorke's Drift were thus summarised :-This (Wednesday) morning the main Zulu army, 25,000 strong, was about five miles from the camp. It did not intend to fight that day, for moon was dead," but it crouched in a huge semicircle, retaining its battle array. Col. Durnford, having reached the camp, sent out some men to observe. One party seemed to have come unexpectedly in contact with the Zulus and fired on them. The two horns composed of unmarried regiments rushed away to the attack in disorder, but the centre, composed of the married men, moved steadily on till they outflanked the British position. "Then again," it was written, "we hear of an indiscriminate flight through the tents, and of the slaughter of our soldiers by assegais as they fled. We hear, too, of our men forming themselves into squares and little groups and resisting desperately till their ammunition failed or they were overwhelmed by repeated charges and showers of assegais. We hear of one wounded officer who from a waggon kept crowds of Zulus at bay. And we hear of others who threw down their arms and begged for mercy. It is certain that one square of sixty fighting men defied the repeated attacks of one horn of the enemy. It is certain, too, that a few mounted officers and others galloped through a part where the ring was as yet not quite formed round them. Many of these were killed by the pursuing Zulus. A few crossed the Buffalo at a spot which will always be known as Fugitives' Drift, and got safe to Natal. Lieutenants Melville and Coghill escaped to the river with the colours of the regiment, but perished there.

The burglar Peace makes a daring attempt to escape from custody by leaping through the window of a train while being conveyed to Sheffield where inquiries were now going on concerning his complicity in the murder of Mr. Dyson. The convict was seriously injured but towards evening had so far recovered as to permit of his removal to Sheffield gaol, his

rash dash for liberty being made between Shireoaks and Kiveton Park, a few miles' distant.

26-The Grand Prize of 125,000 francs in the Paris Exhibition Lottery won by a poor currier named Aubriot, a native of Toul.

28. Died at Bournemouth, aged 84, the very Rev. Hugh McNeile, D.D., Dean of Ripon, an "Evangelical" leader and populai preacher, especially in Liverpool, where he laboured for over thirty years.

30.-Marshall MacMahon resigns the French Presidency after refusing to sign orders for the removal of certain officers commanding military districts. M. Gambetta was elected next day as President of the Chamber of Deputies.

Mr. Gladstone, in a letter to Mr. Cowan, Beeslack, intimates his willingness to contest Mid-Lothian.

31.-The Marquis of Hartington installed as Lord Rector of Edinburgh University, his lordship's address on the occasion having reference for the most part to the advantages of a superior education for all classes.

February 1.-The jury having returned a verdict of guilty against the City Bank Directors on the charge of uttering false balancesheets, Lord Justice-Clerk Moncrieff sentences Potter and Stronach to eighteen months, and the other five to eight months imprisonment. The trial, before the High Court of Justiciary, had been protracted day by day from the 20th of last month.

2.-Theatre Royal, Glasgow, destroyed by fire, the Christmas pantomime of "Puss in Boots" having occupied the stage for the last time during the season.

3.- The Union Bank of Helstone, another Cornwall financial undertaking nearly a century old, suspends payment with declared liabilities of £135,000.

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Exhibition of Wedgwood-ware opened in Liverpool Fine Art Club.

4-Publication of a Treaty between Prussia and Austria by which Austria assents to the abrogation of Article 5 of the Treaty of Prague giving the inhabitants of North Schleswig a right whenever consulted of voting for annexation to Denmark, the concession, it was understood, being a return for services rendered to Austria by Germany at the Berlin Congress when Bosnian affairs were under discussion.

Charles Peace, the convicted burglar found guilty at Leeds Assizes of having murdered Mr. Dyson, at Banner Cross, Nov. 29, 1876, and sentenced to be executed within Armley Gaol, on the morning of the 25th.

5. Dr. Cornthwaite, Roman Catholic Bishop of Beverly, becomes Bishop of Leeds,

Lord Penzance gives judgment in the Court of Arches against Rev. T. P. Dale of St. Vedast's, City of London, charged with Ritualistic practices.

Death announced at Munich of Michael Echter, an historical painter and pupil of Kaulbach in fresco work. Echter was born in 1812, and blind for some years before his death.

9.-Died, aged 69, the French caricaturist Daumier, widely known for his "Robert Macaire" and other sketches of Parisian society in the "Charivari."

11.-News of the Isandlana disaster received in London are followed by prompt orders for the dispatch of 8,000 men to the scene of hostilities in Natal, Troops left on the 19th.

12-Opening of the German Reichstag, the Emperor William giving strong indications of a return to Protection in trade.

13.-Parliament reassembles after the adjournment of December 17th, Ministers in both Houses making a statement regarding measures about to be introduced.

constructing a central Asiatic railway between the Ural and Sir Daria.

14. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, in a pastoral issued from Lambeth, invite the earnest attention of Churchmen to the. proposed creation of four additional bishoprics for supplying episcopal ministrations within the bounds of certain populous and extensive dioceses.

The "Marseillaise" officially recognised as the French National Anthem in conformity with the decree of 1795, by which the hymn of Rouget de Lisle, composed in a single night at Strasburg, and known up to that time as 66 Chant de Guerre de l'Armée du Rhin was sounded over the Republic to rouse Volunteers.

The centenary of Captain Cook's death on the shores of Hawaii celebrated in Paris by the French Geographical Society.

First cotton-mill established under an Imperial Charter commences work at Shanghai.

16.-Died, aged 69, the Rev. John Sherren Brewer, Rector of Toppesfield, Essex, formerly preacher at the Rolls Chapel, and a scholarly editor of State Papers relating to the reign of Henry VIII.

18.-Died, at Montaigne (Dordogne), aged 73, M. Magne, in early life a humble messenger at the Prefecture, but, qualifying himself for the bar, became Minister of Public Works, and next Minister of Finance to the Emperor Napoleon.

The German Reichsrath refuse permission to imprison or even suspend two Socialist Deputies who had returned to Berlin after being expelled.

20.-Yakoob Khan makes peace overtures to the British Government; Shere Ali was reported as having died next day at Mazari-Sherif near Balkh, whither he had withdrawn when the last members of the Russian Embassy left Cabul.

The Lake of Geneva and Neuchâtel visited by the most severe hurricane known since 1844, vessels at anchor being wrecked, and trees along the shore torn up in thousands. Generally winter weather was thought to have returned over the greater part of Western Europe.

Died, aged 45, Henry Pelham, sixth Duke of Newcastle, much marvelled at in his day for losses on the turf.

23.-Died, aged 62, M. St. Reen Tailland. ier, Academician and Professor at the Sorbonne, known also as a Liberal Catholic contributor to the "Revue des Deux Mondes."

- Dicd, aged 76, the German Field Marshal Count Von Roon, a leading counsellor in the late wars against Denmark, Austria, and France.

24.-The Queen, through the Secretary of State for War, telegraphs to Lord Chelmsford her sympathy with him "in the dreadful loss which has deprived her of so many gallant

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officers and men," and that her Majesty 'places entire confidence in him and in her troops to maintain our honour and our good name."

The 17th Lancers embarked at the Victoria Docks, one detachment on board the France and the other on the England, for South Africa. Mrs. Butler, better known as Miss Thompson, the painter of "The Roll Call," &c., was present at the embarkation.

25.-Marshal Campos, who had restored the Bourbon dynasty in Spain and pacified Cuba, receives an enthusiastic welcome on landing at Cadiz.

26. The Earl of Glasgow appointed Lord Clerk Register, of Scotland, without salary.

27.-Col. Stanley, Secretary of State for War, brings in the new Army Discipline and Regulation Bill, intended to supersede the cumbersome annual Mutiny Act; read a first time.

The youthful Prince Louis Napoleon leaves by the Union Steamship Danube for the Cape of Good Hope, to enter service as a Volunteer with the British army in Natal from which he never returned.

The Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Mackarness) appeared personally in the Court of Queen's Bench to resist a rule for a mandamus calling upon him to institute legal proceedings against the Rev. T. T. Carter of Clewer, for unlawful ceremonial.

28. A tablet to the memory of the poet Keats unveiled at Rome, in presence of the English Ambassador (Sir A. Paget), and a large number of spectators. The tablet is placed beside the window of the room in which Keats died, in a house at the foot of the Trinità de' Monti,

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March 1-Weston's attempt to 2,000 miles in 1,000 hours, taking the weather and roads as happened, fails by only 221⁄2 miles, an over-enthusiastic reception at Windsor slightly unnerving the highly-strung temperament of this incomparable pedestrian from achieving one of the greatest triumphs of the kind on record at a moment when the prize appeared within his grasp.

3.-Colonel Stanley introduces the Army Estimates-£15,645,700, being a decrease of £2,145,600 from last year.

The Royal Chateau of Tervueren, near Brussels, occupied by the afflicted Empress Charlotte, widow of the unfortunate Maximilian of Mexico, destroyed by fire; no lives were lost, and the Empress was conveyed in safety to Lacken.

In the official list of new Cardinals issued to-day there appears the name of "Dr Newman, of England.

Mutilated remains of a woman found in the Thames at Barnes, afterwards identified as those of Mrs. Thomas, a lady of means residing at Richmond, murdered by Kate Webster three days since.

Died at his residence in Suffolk, the Rev. Sir John Molyneux, of Castle Dillon, Armagh, an honorary canon of Ely, prominent in his early days as a supporter of Dr. Pusey.

8.-Mandamus granted in the Queen's Bench ordering the Bishop of Oxford to institute proceedings against Canon Carter, of Clewer, for illegal Ritualistic practices.

An attempt made in the French Chamber of Deputies to impeach the De Broglie Cabinet of 1877. A vote of censure was ultimately carried.

Died near his birthplace, in Connecticut, aged 69, Elihu Burritt, "the learned blacksmith," and widely celebrated also for his efforts in the cause of peace among nations.

9. Fire in Lord Granville's residence, Carlton House Terrace, but subdued after destruction of the upper story, where it originated.

Died at Newcastle-on-Tyne, aged 64, David Page, L. L.D., Professor of Geology in the College of Physical Science there, and author of various text-books on his favourite study.

10.-Mr. W. H. Smith introduces the Navy Estimates 10,586,894, a reduction of £457,000.