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16.-Lord Tavistock writes to the Chronicle, denying that Lady Tavistock took any part whatever against Lady Flora Hastings, or ever imparted any suspicion, or made any communication, direct or indirect, to her Majesty concerning that lady.

19.--The Lords' amendment to the Portuguese Slave Trade Bill agreed to by the Commons, and sent back to the Upper House to receive the Royal Assent. A protest against the measure was entered by the Duke of Wellington, on the ground that the right of search provided for in the bill was liable to be resented and retaliated by other Powers.

The

20.-Detention of the army of the Indus to maintain Shah Soojah in Cabul. "I am anxiously desirous," writes Lord Auckland, "that the forces should be once more stationed within our own provinces. political effect of their return could not but be advantageous. It would put an end to the injurious speculations which have been founded on their absence. It might check the restless and unfriendly spirit which has prevailed beyond our northern and eastern frontiers, and would give us disposable strength for the requisition which it seems probable, in the present aspect of affairs, may in more quarters than one be made for military demonstration. Yet I need scarcely add that even these objects, and the immediate reduction of expenditure, would be ill attained at the price of leaving unaccomplished the great purposes with which the expedition to Cabul was undertaken." As Shah Soojah was utterly unable of himself to support his claim to the throne of Affghanistan, a general order was issued on the 9th October, commanding the whole of the troops to be distributed between Cabul, Jellalabad, Ghuznee, and Candahar, the latter under the command of Major-General Nott.

22.-The Morning Post gives currency to the rumour that the Queen was about to ally herself in marriage with Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg.

23. In reviewing the legislative work of the session, Lord Lyndhurst taunted the Home Secretary with now being compelled to suppress by force in Birmingham opinions which some time since he had said were as "the voice of the nation" compared to "the whisper of a faction."

26.--Tried at Liverpool the case of Rutter

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26.-To-day new writs were issued for Tip perary in room of Mr. Shiel, appointed VicePresident of the Board of Trade, and for 1 Manchester in room of Mr. Poulett Thomson, appointed Governor-General of Canada.

Under severe threats from the native Government, the British residents leave Macao and seek shelter with Captain Elliot, who ordered the British vessels to the Bay of Coalloon.

27.-Parliament prorogued by the Queen in person. The Speaker presented the last Supply Bill of the session. In the Royal Speech reference was made to the treaty between Holland and Belgium, negotiated by the mediation of the Five Powers, who were alike determined to uphold the independence and integrity of the Ottoman Empire. "I regret that the differences which led to the withdrawal of my Minister from the Court of Teheran have not yet been satisfactorily adjusted by the Govern ment of Persia. In order to fulfil the engagements announced to you at the opening of the present session, the Governor-General of India has moved an army across the Indus; and I have much satisfaction in being able to inform you that the advance of that expedition has been hitherto unopposed, and there is every reason to hope that the important objects for which these military operations have been undertaken will be finally obtained. It has been with satisfaction that I have given my consent to a reduction of the postage duties. I trust that the Act which has been passed on this subject will be a relief and encouragement to trade, and that by facilitating intercourse and correspondence it will be productive of much social advantage and improvement." It was with great pain, it was mentioned, the Crown "had been compelled to enforce the law against those who no longer concealed their design of resisting by force the lawful authorities, and of subverting the institutions of the country."

28.-Tournament at Eglinton Castle. The tilt-yard was formed on a lawn a little south of the castle. A wooden paling, about five feet in height, served to keep back the crowd; while the grand stand, with seats for 800 persons, and two smaller galleries right and left, containing 700 each, formed nearly the whole southern side of the arena.

At each

end, and within the enclosure, the encampments or positions of the various knights were pitched. The rising ground on the northern side of the lists was completely covered with spectators, and in various places throughou the park, wherever a glimpse of the lists couic

be obtained, vehicles crowded with visitors were
drawn up. The weather, unfortunately, was
most unfavourable. The rain commenced to
fall heavily in the forenoon, which not only
led to a curtailment in the splendour of the
grand procession from the castle, but damped
the enthusiasm of many who had undertaken
long journeys to be present at this revival of
ancient state. After the procession had moved
round the arena, the King of the Tournament
(the Marquis of Londonderry) and the Queen
of Beauty (Lady Seymour), with their at-
tendants, took their places on the grand stand,
and the knights, with their suites, withdrew to
their respective tents. Some jousting then
took place in the tilting-ground, the most
noticeable encounters being those between the
Earl of Eglinton (Lord of the Tournament)
and the Marquis of Waterford (Knight of the
Dragon). There was also a broadsword en-
counter between Prince Louis Napoleon and
Mr. Lamb, Knight of the White Rose. On the
following day (Thursday), the weather put a
complete stop to all outdoor display; but on
Friday the sports were resumed, and carried
through with great spirit. Throughout the
kingdom the interest in the Tournament was
so great, that it was calculated no less than
100,000 visitors gathered round "the Castle
o Montgomery
on the first day of the
spectacle.

28.-Intelligence arrives from Bombay to the
4th of July, and from Calcutta to the 18th of
Jane, intimating that all was going well with
the Affghanistan army.
Sir John Keane in-
tended to march against Cabul on the 15th June,
and anticipated an easy victory over Ďost Ma-
homed, who was reported to have fled in the
direction of Bokhara. At Herat, Lieut. Pot-
tinger was said to have completely established
British supremacy.

Died at Northampton, aged 70 years, William Smith, LL.D., F.G.S., "the father of English Geology."

29.-Affray at Egham Races between a band of thimble-riggers and certain soldiers of the 45th regiment.

30.-Mr. Macnaghten, the British Envoy at Cabul, writes: "Everything is going on wel here. Two regiments of infantry, and the of cavalry, are to be left at Cabul, and another at Jellalabad, where it is thought Shah Soojah intends to winter."

- Grand entertainment at Dover to the Duke of Wellington, as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The toast of the day was spoken by Lord Brougham, who bestowed boundless praise on the noble Duke.

- The Directors of the Thames Tunnel Company give a dinner in the works, to celebrate the reaching of low-water mark. Ministerial changes. Mr. Baring became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was

(51)

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elected for Portsmouth without opposition. Mr. Spring Rice was called to the House of Lords with the title of Lord Monteagle. The Marquis of Normanby and Lord John Russell change places, the former becoming Home Secretary and the latter Colonial Secretary. Mr. Labouchere succeeded Mr. Poulett Thomson at the Board of Trade.

The Rev. Theobald Mathew organizes great temperance demonstrations at Limerick. On one of the days the crush of people was so immense, that the cavalry called out to preserve order were swept off the ground. Thousands were anxious even to touch the hem of his garment. At Nenagh 20,000 persons took the pledge in one day, and 100,000 at Galway in two days.

September 3.-A committee of Marylebone Vestry recommend the paving of the whole of Oxford Street with wood.

Miss Ellen Tree makes her first appearance in the Haymarket Theatre after her return from America, as Viola, in "Twelfth Night.'

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Captain Wade reaches Cabul with Runjeet Singh's detachment, having fought his way through the Khyber Pass, and seized the important hill fortress of Ali-Musjid. The Prince Timour, who accompanied him, was received in state.

4. In the Presbytery of Glasgow, the Rev. Mr. Fairbairn, of Bridgeton, calls attention to the extraordinary revival of religion which had manifested itself among the people of Kilsyth. The Rev. Mr. Burns afterwards addressed the Presbytery, detailing the chief characteristics by which this revival was distinguished.

Affray between Captain Elliot and Chinese, in the Bay of Coalloon, on account of the latter refusing to supply provisions to the boats till satisfaction had been made for the alleged murder of a native at Hong Kong.

7.-Fall of a house on the east side of the Edgware-road; one female killed.

M. Daguerre's new invention for taking pictures publicly exhibited in the Quai d'Orsay by order of the Minister of Interior. The Journal des Débats described the apparatus and process. The first experiment in England was made on the 13th, when M. St. Croix exhibited the instrument and process in presence of a select party of scientific men and artists. He also succeeded in producing a picture of the place of meeting, No. 7, Piccadilly.

11. At the Surrey Sessions, John Benchey and Martha Stone, indicted for stealing, with great violence, from the person of Robert Young, W.S., Edinburgh, a watch, pair of

E 2

spectacles, and wig, were sentenced to ten years' transportation.

11.-A young woman named Margaret Moyes commits suicide by throwing herself from the top of the Monument. At the inquest a witness, living in Monument-yard, said he saw the deceased in her descent. She turned round twice, and made motions with her arms. He found her on the ground, the left arm several feet from the body, and a good deal of blood flowing. A rope was found on the railings, which she had used as a stirrup to mount to the top. The jury returned a verdict of temporary insanity, with a recommendation to the Corporation to rail in the top of the Monument, to prevent the recurrence of similar acts. Common Council made some demur to this recommendation, on the ground that druggists might as well be prohibited from selling poisons, or cutlers from disposing of a razor.

The

12.-Robbery in the United Service Clubhouse, which led to an inquiry, ending in the dismissal of Mr. Fenn, the steward.

A detachment of British and native troops leave Cabul to break up the power of Dost Mahomed in the Hindoo Coosh district, where he had taken refuge. They passed the winter at Bameean.

- Daniel O'Connell issues a manifesto from Darrynane, pressing upon his countrymen the necessity of registering, to prevent a flood of evils from overwhelming the land; for "at no period of English history did there exist towards Ireland, among the English people, a stronger spirit of hate and antipathy than at present.

14. Dissolution of the Chartist National Convention.

16.-Disturbance in various towns in France, caused by the scarcity, and consequent high price, of corn.

19.-The Bombay column of the army of the Indus, under the command of General Willshire, leaves Affghanistan on its return to India by the route of the Kojuck and the Bolan. Such portions of the Bengal army as could be spared returned to India under Sir John Keane, by the Khyber route.

20.-Feargus O'Connor arrested at Manchester, on a judge's warrant, for seditious conspiracy.

Died, aged 70, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, of Copenhagen and Trafalgar, flagcaptain to Nelson on board the Victory.

21.-Lucy Brown, a young woman seduced and afterwards discarded by a wine-merchant in London, commits suicide by leaping from the bridge into the Serpentine.

23.-Colonel Pasley, R. E. succeeds in raising a portion of the wreck of the Royal George by an explosion of gunpowder. The mainmast, pieces of the hull, capstan, and tiller, and several guns were brought up by the aid of divers, who descended after the explosion. The operations were continued with interesting results for some scasons.

23.-Ebenezer Elliott addresses his "plundered fellow-townsmen" of Sheffield :-"You could not, if you were unanimous (which you are not), carry by physical or moral force, or any means whatever, any great public object, without the assistance of some of the other productive classes. The children of the Sunday Schools, who walked through our streets in procession last Whit-Monday, were then better prepared and able to contend with the military than you were. If you were this day arrayed for fight with all your present means, be they what they may, a troop of soldiers' wives from the barracks, if they made their appearance unarmed, and with or without their husbands' cloaks over their shoulders, would scare you out of the parish. And the adult daughters of the other productive classes (because they have surplus funds, which you have not, and cannot have, until you get rid of the Corn Laws) could, if need were, not by coming behind folks, as some of your leaders advise you to do, but in fair battle, and without the aid of a single policeman oi soldier, defeat and exterminate you. Potato

fed men, having no surplus, are necessarily slaves-and the Breadtaxry mean to bring you down to potato wages. You will soon, then, I venture to hope, see the folly of allowing yourselves to be led the wrong way, by paid agents of the scoundrel Breadtaxry, who, favoured by your deplorable ignorance, have contrived to place themselves at the head of the Chartists, not merely to defeat the other wise and holy movement, but, by so doing, to sustain the all-beggaring food-monopoly, and make the Liberal cause itself hateful and ridiculous."

The

27. Mr. Macaulay gazetted Secretary-atWar, and sworn of her Majesty's Privy Council. A similar honour was conferred at this time upon Mr. R. L. Shiel, who had been appointed Vice-President of the Board of Trade. excessive unfairness with which public men on all sides were treated at this time may be illustrated by a passage from the Times concerning these appointments :- "These men Privy Councillors! These men petted at Windsor Castle! Faugh! Why, they are hardly fit to fill up the vacancies that have occurred by the lamented death of her Majesty's two favourite monkeys." On the 1st October Mr. Macaulay forwarded to his Edinburgh con. stituents an address, dated "Windsor Castle," in which he said: "I have accepted office because I am of opinion that in office I can most effectually promote the success of those principles which recommended me to your favour. I shall quit office with far more pleasure than I accepted it, as soon as I am convinced that by quitting it I should serve the cause of temperate liberty and progressive reform." The Times again attacked the member for Edinburgh :"But if the ground of Mr. Shiel's appointment be still a mystery, there can no longer be any doubt of the qualification which recommended Mr. Babble-tongue Macaulay to the favour of

Ministers. No; his letter to the electors of Edinburgh has set that point at rest. His cast-iron impudence has earned his promotion. 'Set a beggar on horseback,' and our readers know how he will ride. Mr. Babble-tongue Macaulay's epistle furnishes a striking illustration of the truth of that proverbial saying. It seems that his uncouth, uncomfortable presence has been obtruded on her Majesty at Windsor, and the creature has actually had the impudence to date his letter to the canaille of the Edinburgh electors from Windsor Castle!' We would fain persuade ourselves that the Scotch papers have been hoaxing us, and that Mr. Babble-tongue Macaulay addressed his letter, not from the Castle, but from the Castle Tavern, Windsor, ay, and from the most proper part thereof for the purpose, namely, the tap. But no; he has somehow or other been pitchforked into the Palace; and though, in all probability, he has been admitted as a guest there only for the sake of being made fun of by Lord Melbourne and the ladies, still the 'distinguished honour' has given his brain another turn. This is evident from the insufferably conceited strain of his epistle to the scum of the Edinburgh electors." Time, it is pleasant to remember, lived to outgrow this bitter personal warfare, and most handsomely acknowledged Mr. Macaulay's serVices in the walks of literature as well as politics.

The

October 4.-The New Zealand exploring expedition under Col. Wakefield leave Port Nicholson for Cloudy Bay, having made an advantageous purchase of the harbour and adjoining land from the natives.

6. Capture of the fort of Kurnoul, in the Deccan, by a body of troops belonging to the Madras Presidency.

7. Bombay advices of this date make mention that the war in Affghanistan might be considered at an end. Shah Soojah was showering honours upon Sir John Keane and his officers.

- With the view of rebutting various rumours in circulation as to the case of Lady Flora Hastings, Sir James Clark forwards to the newspapers for publication a narrative of his share in the transaction. (See Feb. 1.)

-The creditors of the late Duke of Kent wait upon the Queen to present an address of thanks to her for payment of the Duke's debts. No less than 50,000l. was said to have been furnished by her Majesty's privy purse for this flial act.

9.-Robbery of a box, containing 5,000l. in gold and notes, from the boot of the coach running between Manchester and the Potteries.

- Suspension of specie payments in Philadelphia and other cities of the Union.

10.-Prince Albert and his brother, the bereditary Prince of Saxe Coburg, arrive at the Tower, and proceed first to Buckingham Palace, and then to Windsor, on a visit to the Queen.

13.-James Bryan, a native of Ayrshire, and a person of weak intellect, presents himself at Windsor as a suitor for the hand of her Majesty.

14.-Fight between English and Irish navvies employed on the Chester and Birkenhead Railway. The military were called in to disperse the combatants.

The Queen informs Lord Melbourne that she had now made up her mind to ally herself in marriage with her cousin Prince Albert, presently on a visit to Windsor with his brother Ernest. "I think," said Lord Melbourne, "it will be very well received, for I hear there is an anxiety now that it should be, and I am very glad of it;" adding in quite a paternal tone, You will be very much more comfortable; for a woman cannot stand alone for any time, in whatever position she may be."

15.-The Queen informs Prince Albert of her intentions as to her marriage. He had been out hunting early with his brother, but returned at twelve, and half an hour afterwards obeyed the Queen's summons to her room, where he found her alone. After a few minutes' conversation on other subjects, the Queen told him why she had sent for him. How the Prince received the offer appears from the few lines written to the old friend of the family, Baron Stockmar: "Victoria is so good and kind to me that I am often at a loss to believe that such affection (Herzlichkeit) should be shared by me." The Queen herself wrote that the Prince received her offer without any hesitation, and with the warmest demonstrations of kindness and affection. Writing to her uncle, the King of the Belgians, on the same day, the Queen says: "I love him more than I can say, and shall do everything in my power to render this sacrifice (for such in my opinion it is) as small as I can. He seems to have very great tact, a very necessary thing in his position. These last few days have passed like a dream to me, and I am so much bewildered by it all that I hardly know how to write; but I do feel very happy. Lord Melbourne has acted in this business as he has always done towards me, with the greatest kindness and affection. We also think it better, and Albert quite approves of it, that we should be married very soon after Parliament meets, about the beginning of February.'

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The British Queen arrives at Portsmouth with news of a financial crisis in New York, and the probable suspension of several banks.

The Queen Dowager leaves Bushey Park for a "progress" through Warwickshire and Devonshire.

17. Mr. Poulett Thomson arrives at Quebec as Governor of British North America.

18.-The Queen of the French struck on the face with a stone thrown into the royal carriage near the Tuileries, by a mad woman named Giordet.

18. Another suicide from the top of the Monument. Several spectators saw a lad deliberately climb over the iron breastwork of the gallery, stand upon the edge of the coping outside, turn round, so as to have his back to the railing over which he had clambered, and then, after a moment's pause, leap to the earth. The body was shockingly mangled, and death instantaneous. A Bible which he had carried up was found on the floor of the gallery. The lad was named Hawes, and not over fifteen years of age.

19. Sir John Colborne, who had rendered great services in the settlement of Canadian affairs, leaves Montreal for England.

The Canadian Gazette publishes Governor Thomson's first proclamation promising the earliest possible restoration of a free Assembly.

20.-Died, at the Doune of Rothiemurchie, Inverness-shire, in his seventy-fourth year, from apoplexy, John Russell, sixth Duke of Bedford.

22.-A false account published by London papers of the death of Lord Brougham, by the overturning of his carriage near Penrith, with comments on his character. The Ministerial Chronicle laid aside party politics on the occasion, and wrote :-"And now, while the extravagant and erring spirit hies to his confine'there, we devoutly hope, to repose in 'the bosom of his Father and his God'-we feel rising upon us the recollections of many an arduous and vigorous struggle for the right; for unrestricted commerce; for the spread of knowledge; for legal and representative reforms; for the suffering and enslaved African; for freedom, civil and religious; for many a political victim marked for sacrifice; for a persecuted Queen; and for the poor and ignorant, the injured and helpless in our own land, and all the world over. Such recollections, in spite of all deductions and exceptions, which sink into disregard now that the great account is closed, will endear and enshrine his memory. The Legislature-the country at large-all parties, sects, classes-must feel that a great public loss has been sustained. And on the future annais of our eventful times, conspicuous and Illustrious will stand the name of Henry Lord Brougham.' The Morning Post was even more eulogistic:-"He is gone-torn away by a horrid and violent death, while his mind was yet in its full vigour, and his spirits as elastic and buoyant as ever! We have no feeling now with respect to him but that of grief. The most wonderful genius that belonged to public life is no more, and we, as belonging to the public, are grief-stricken mourners over his untimely grave.' The Times cast doubts on the rumoured accident, and did not comment on Lord Brougham's career till its falsity was established. The report originated in a letter received by Alfred Montgomery, Kingston House, Knightsbridge, and said to have been written by a Mr. Shafto from Brougham Hall, who stated

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that he saw his Lordship killed by the horses in the carriage after it was upset.

23. Died, at Inverary Castle, from apoplexy, George William Campbell, Duke of Argyll.

24.-Banquet at Edinburgh to Sir John Campbell, one of the city members, and Attorney-General. In reply to the toast of the evening, the learned gentleman passed in review the work of the session, and the measures He taken to obstruct it by the Opposition. spoke of Chartism as passed away.

28.-Died at Teheran, Charles, second son of Sir Walter Scott.

30.-The Gazette publishes despatches from Sir John Keane, announcing the fall of Ghuznee and the entry of Shah Soojah into Cabul. The latest dates from the army were to the 9th of August, from Simla, where the GovernorGeneral had taken up his residence.

The violent harangues of the most violent Chartist equalled by Mr. Bradshaw, M.P. for Canterbury, at a Tory gathering in that city. "The Prime Minister," he said, "tells us, with rare effrontery, that it is his duty to get support wherever he can. Nothing is too low or too foul for his purpose. The stews of the Tower Hamlets and the bogs of Ireland are ransacked for recruits; and thus he crawls on, having cast behind him every feeling of honour and high principle. But his Ministry, his sheet-anchor, is the body of Irish Papists and Rapparees whom the priests return to the House of Commons. These are the men who represent the bigoted savages, hardly more civilized than the natives of New Zealand, but animated with a fierce, undying hatred of England. I repeat then deliberately, that the Papists of Ireland, priest and layman, peer and peasant, are alike our enemies-aliens are they in blood, language, and religion. Their hatred of this country is as undisguised as it is inextinguishable, and they have become only more rampant and hostile by the concessions so unadvisedly made to them. Yet on these men are bestowed the countenance and support of the Queen of Protestant England. But, alas! her Majesty is queen only of a faction, and is as much of a partisan as the Lord Chancellor himself." (See Jan. 15, 1840.)

At a Conservative dinner at Ashton-underLyne, a Mr. Roby uses expressions regarding the Queen and the Ministry which compels the Commander-in-chief to bring it under the notice of certain officers who were present; reminding them that, as military servants, they are bound to confine themselves to their military duties; and that when they thus venture to connect themselves with any party association, under any circumstances, or upon any pretence whatsoever, they incur a heavy responsibility, and expose themselves to the heaviest blame.

November 3.-H. M. frigates Volage and Hyacinth attacked by a squadron of 28 Chinese

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