into custody. They had exchanged shots about twelve yards from each other.

18.-Brigadier Dennie achieves a decisive victory near Bameean over the united forces of Dost Mahomed and the Walee of Khooloom. The retreating forces were followed for some distance along the valley, and many slain. Ten days afterwards Dr. Lord succeeded in completing a treaty in terms of which the Walee detached himself from Dost Mahomed, and bound himself to afford neither harbour Bor assistance to the Ameer or his family. The country south of Syghan was formally added to Shah Soojah's dominions.

19. The Globe and other newspapers publish the details of a mess squabble between Lord Cardigan and Capt. J. W. Reynolds. Capt. Jones delivered the following message to Capt. Reynolds, after a mess dinner, at which the latter had called for a bottle of Moselle, placed, as usual, on the table in a black bottle. "The Colonel has desired me, as president of the mess committee, to tell you that you were wrong in having a black bottle placed on the table at a great dinner like last night, as the mess should be conducted like a gentleman's table, and not like a tavern or pot-house."

20.-Died, aged 83, Dr. Francia, Dictator of Paraguay, the "El Supremo" of his slavish people.

22.-Died at Ham House, Surrey, in her 06th year, Louisa Talmash, sixth Countess of Dysart.

Died, at Clarence House, St. James's, the Princess Augusta, sixth child and second daughter of George III. and Queen Charlotte, Jorn in 1768.

25.-Died, at Courcelles, near Orleans, ged 75, Marshal Macdonald, Duke of Ta

- Sidon taken by the allied forces under Commodore Napier.

28. Commenced before the Court of Peers of France, the trial of Prince Louis Napoleon, d other persons concerned in the landing at Bologne. They were defended by M. Ber, but the address of this eloquent advo e did not avail much, as the Peers found he Prince guilty, and sentenced him to perperual imprisonment in the frontier fortress of Hara. The others were sentenced to imprisonLent for various terms of years.

30.-Foundation-stone laid of the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar-square; the block with which the ceremony was performed being a piece of Dartmoor granite, weighing four

teen tons. The proceedings were conducted in a private manner, owing to the absence from town of most of the gentlemen com. posing the committee.

30.-Addressing the newly-elected members of the Dublin Corporation, the Lord Lieutenant (Ebrington) took occasion to declare, on behalf of himself and her Majesty's Government, that they considered the maintenance of the Union between the two countries to be essential to the permanent security of the empire. "Entertaining these opinions, I feel it my duty to discountenance and discourage, by all legal and constitutional means, the agi tation of this question. I shall withhold all the Government favour and patronage which Administrations are considered entitled to confer on their supporters, from those who take part in this agitation, who will thereby lose the goodwill of the Government."

October 2.-Attempt of an incendiary to fire the dockyard at Sheerness. Smoke having been observed issuing from the Camperdown, 120 guns, search was made, when part of the vessel was discovered to be on fire, but as it had just commenced it was got under before much damage was done. On further inspection, trains of oakum, pounded resin, and other inflammable materials were found laid throughout the ship in various directions.

The arrival of the news concerning Beyrout this afternoon, taken in connexion with the fires in the royal dockyards, caused a panic in the Exchange, during which Consols fell from 87% to 86: 100,000l. were offered at the latter price. An uneasy feeling regarding the relation in which France stood to the Four Contracting Powers also helped to keep the market in a fluctuating state at this time.

5. Concluded at Brighton the court-martial on Captain J. W. Reynolds, arising out of charges preferred against him by his commanding officer, the Earl of Cardigan, for writing an improper and intemperate letter. "I beg to tell your lordship," he wrote, "that you are in no wise justified in speaking of me at all at a public party, given by your lordship, and more particularly in such a manner as to make it appear that my conduct has been such as to exclude me from your lordship's house." Capt. Reynolds, to the astonishment of many, was dismissed the service, and the evidence of some of his witnesses severely censured.

Conclusion of the poll, rendered necessary by a combination to exclude Alderman Harmer, of the Dispatch, from the office of Mayor, to which he succeeded by rotation. Pirie, 2,741; Johnson, 2,713; Harmer, 2,294.

7. The King of Holland abdicates in favour of his son (the Prince of Orange), William II.

8.-Replying to one of Lord Paimerston's notes on the Eastern question, M. Thiers urges that the "Prince Vassal" having succeeded in establishing a firm rule in two provinces, ought

now to be considered an essential and necessary part of the Ottoman Empire. "In this conviction, France, equally disinterested in the Oriental question with the Four Powers who have signed the protocol of September 17th, believes herself to be under the necessity of declaring that the deposition of the Viceroy, if put in force, will be, in her estimation, a blow given to the general equilibrium. The question with respect to the limits which ought to be established in Syria in order to divide the possessions of the Sultan from those of the Viceroy of Egypt, might with safety be left to the chances of the war now actually in progress, but France cannot prevail upon herself to abandon to such a chance the existence of Mehemet Ali as Prince Vassal of the empire. Whatever territorial limits may ultimately separate the two Powers by the fortune of war, their continued double existence is necessary to Europe, and France cannot consent to admit the suppression either of the one or of the other. Disposed as she is to enter upon and take part in every acceptable arrangement which shall have for its basis the double guarantee of the existence of the Sultan and that of the Viceroy of Egypt, she confines herself at present to the declaration on her part that she cannot consent to the carrying into execution the act of deposition pronounced at Constantinople."

9.-The Rev. Philip Wynter, D.D., President of St. John's College, Oxford, created ViceChancellor of the University.

10.-Engagement near Beyrout, between the allied troops and Ibrahim Pasha, in which the latter is completely defeated, and forced to retreat to the mountains. Beyrout is evacuated the same night, and made the headquarters of General Smith.

12.-The Queen Mother resigns the Spanish Regency, and retires to France.

14.-Proceedings in the Wandsworth Police Court concerning the duel fought by the Earl of Cardigan and Lieut. Tuckett on Sept. 12. Both were committed for trial on the charge of felony.

15.-A musket-shot fired at the King of the French this evening, when his Majesty was passing along the Quay of the Tuileries, on his return to St. Cloud, but no one hurt. Darmes, who fired the shot, was instantly arrested, and avowed the crime.

20.-Lord Palmerston writes to Earl Granville at Paris: "Say to M. Thiers, that nothing can be more unjust than to assert that England has wished not to allow France any share in the settlement of the Turkish question. But as long as France insists that the question shall be settled only in her own way, against the opinion of all the other Powers, and in opposition to the engagements which the Four Powers have contracted with the Sultan, it is surely France that excludes herself from the settlement, and not the other Powers that exclude her."

20. The Thiers' Ministry announce their resignation in consequence of objections entertained by the King to certain passages of a warlike nature which had been inserted in the Royal Speech prepared for delivery to the Chambers. M. Guizot and Marshal Soult thereupon undertook the formation of a ministry.

22.-Died at Holland House, aged 67, the Right Hon. Henry Richard Vassall, Lord Holland, celebrated in the political and social life of the past half-century.

24. Sir John Macdonald, Adjutant-General, reads, by order of the Commander-in-chief, a memorandum to the officers the 11th Hussars at Brighton barracks. Speaking of the commanding officer, Lord Cardigan, he says: "He must recollect that it is expected from him not only to exercise the military command over the regiment, but to give an example of moderation, temper, and discretion. Such a course of conduct would lead to far less frequent reference to his lordship from the IIth Hussars than had been the case in the last few months."

25.-John Henty, carpenter, tried by courtmartial at Sheerness, for (among other counts) making a false report to his superior officer, on the extent and circumstances of the fire in the Camperdown. The Court found the charge established, but, in consideration of the prisoner's previous good character, sentenced him to be only severely reprimanded.

November 2.-The Native army of Dost Mahomed defeat a mixed British and Native force in the valley of Purwandurrah, Nijrau. "The Affghans," writes Kay, "were on the hills skirting one side of the pass; the British troops were on the opposite declivity. Dost Mahomed saw our cavalry advancing, and from that moment cast behind him all thought of retreat. At the head of a small band of horsemen, strong sturdy Afghans, but badly mounted, he prepared to meet his assailants. Beside him rode the bearer of the blue standard which marked his place in the battle. pointed to it; reined in his horse; then snatch

He

ing the white lunghi from his head, stood up in his stirrups, uncovered before his followers, and called upon them in the name of God and the Prophet to drive the cursed Kaffirs from the country of the faithful. 'Follow me,' he cried aloud, For I am a lost man.' Slowly, but steadily, the Affghan horsemen advanced. The English officers who led our cavalry to the attack covered themselves with glory. The Native troopers fled like sheep. Emboldened by the craven conduct of the cavalry, the Afghan horsemen rode forward driving their enemy before them, and charging right up to the position of the British until almost within reach of our guns. The Affghan sabres told with cruel effect upon our mounted men. Lieutenants Broadfoot and Crispin were cut to pieces. A treacherous shot from a neighbouring bastion brought Dr. Lord to the ground, and the dagger of the assassin completed the work of death." The victory was of little use to the Ameer, who left the field direct for Cabul to surrender himself.

2.-In the Arches Court, the Rev. Mr. Escott, Vicar of Gedney, put in a responsive allegation to a suit instituted against him for having refused to bury the corpse of a child baptized by a Wesleyan Methodist lay preacher. The allegation stated, that as the child had not been baptized by an ordained preacher, the baptism was null and void; that baptisms by laymen had been repudiated by the Church from the time of the conferences at Hampton Court, in 1600, to the present time; and in the eleventh article it was pleaded, that even according to the doctrines of the sect as laid down by John Wesley, their founder, preachers or teachers were not authorized to administer the Holy Sacraments. Sir Herbert Jenner Fust admitted the allegation, with the exception of the eleventh article, in which the principles of Methodism were laid down, and which would necessarily introduce into the cause matter entirely extraneous.

3.-Bombardment and capture of St. Jean d'Acre by the allied fleet, under the command of Admiral Stopford. The attack commenced about two o'clock, and became general at three. At twenty minutes past four a large magazine blew up, by which one entire regiment, on the ramparts, was sacrificed. During the night the place was evacuated. British loss, 22 killed and 42 wounded; Egyptians killed, about 2,000.

Sir

Surrender of Dost Mahomed Khan. William Macnaghten writes to the Secretary of the Indian Government: "I was returning from my evening ride, and within a few yards of my own residence, when a single horseman galloped up to me, and having satisfied him that I was the envoy and minister, told me that Dost Mahomed Khan was arrived, and sought my protection. Dost Mahomed rode up to me, and alighted from his horse. After the usual salutation, I begged him to mount again, and we proceeded together to my residence, in the

compound of which I have pitched a tent for the ex-chief, and provided him with everything necessary for his comfort. He put his sword into my hand as a token of submission, but I at once returned it to him, and he seemed grateful for this mark of confidence."

3.-Lyons inundated by the sudden and unlooked-for rising of the Saone. Many large bridges were carried away, and the torrent rushed with resistless force through some of the busiest and most populous streets of the city.

4.-Collision in the British Channel between the brigs Hopewell, of Cork, and the Yauden, of Gloucester. Five people on board the former drowned.

5. Kurrach Singh dies at Lahore. His favourite wife and three female attendants sacrificed themselves on the funeral pile. On the return of the procession to the palace, a beam from a gateway fell on the new sovereign, Nebal Singh. He died in a few hours.

6.-Accidental bursting of another magazine in Acre, attended with the loss of nearly 300 lives.

I have

In opening the French Chambers, the King said: "The measure which the Emperor of Austria, the Queen of Great Britain, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia have taken in concert to regulate the relations between the Sultan and the Pasha of Egypt, has imposed serious duties upon me. the dignity of our country at heart, as well as its safety and its repose. In persevering in the moderate and conciliatory policy of which for ten years we have reaped the fruits, I have put France into a condition of facing any chances which the course of events in the East might bring about. The extraordinary credits which have been opened for this purpose will be immediately submitted to you: you will appreciate the motives of them. I continue to hope that the peace of Europe will not be troubled: it is necessary to the common interest of Europe, to the happiness of all nations, and to the progress of civilization. I count upon you to aid me in maintaining it, as I would count upon you if the honour of France and the rank which she occupies among the nations should command us to make new efforts." As the King's Speech was the subject of considerable interest in Britain, great efforts were made by the newspapers to obtain an early report, and the Morning Post expressed the pleasure it felt in being able to publish it first, within twenty-two hours and a half of the express leaving Paris.

10.-Exciting municipal contest in Edinburgh, caused by the state of Church parties. The non-intrusion party in the council, with some aid from the Tories, carry Sir James Forrest as Lord Provost, against Mr. Adam Black, by 17 to 14.

12.--John Thorogood relieved from Chelmsford jail, after an imprisonment of twenty-two

months for refusing to pay a church rate of 5s. 6d. An unknown individual paid the rate and costs.

13. Severe storm on the north-east coast. The Syria was broken to pieces near Sunderland pier, and four of her crew drowned. In the Irish Sea the fury of the gale was also severely felt. The City of Bristol steamship, trading between Waterford and Bristol, foundered off Warnes Head, with twenty-nine persons on board. Only two were saved.

Contest for the High Stewardship of Cambridge University. On this, the third and last day of polling, the numbers stood, Lord Lyndhurst, 973; Lord Lyttelton, 488.

Great Britain recognises the independence of Texas by entering into a treaty with that State.

19.-Burnes writes from Cabul to a friend at Bombay: "What a year has been the past! -not to me, I mean, but to our affairs in the East. Further submission to what was going on, and our days of supremacy in the East were numbered." As it is we have brought upon ourselves some additional half-million of annual expenditure, and ere 1840 ends I predict that our frontiers and those of Russia will touch -that is, the states depending upon either of us will-and that is the same thing.' A month later: "Everything past and present has been cast into the shade by the expedition which the Russians have now pushed into Central Asia. I have known it for eight weeks past, and had numerous and authentic reports concerning their waggons, matériel, &c., all of which are on a grand scale, giving rise to serious apprehensions that their plans are not confined to the chastisement of the petty Khan of Khiva; indeed our policy at Herat is already out of joint, and we have reason to know that Russia looks from Khiva to that city. Her attack on Khiva is justified by all the laws of nations, and in a country like England, where slave-dealing is so odiously detested, ought to find favour in men's eyes rather than blame. Yet the time chosen wears a bad appearance, if it at once does not lead to the inference that Russia has put forth her forces merely to counteract our policy. The latter is my opinion; and by our advance on Cabul we have thus hastened the great crisis. England and Russia will divide Asia between them, and the two empires will enlarge like circles in the water till they are lost in nothing; and future generations will search for both of us in these regions as we now seek for the remains of Alexander and his Greeks."

21. This afternoon, at ten minutes before 2 o'clock, the Queen was safely delivered of a daughter-the Princess Royal.

27. The anxiety which had been for some time felt as to the safety of the President steamship, was allayed this morning by her safe arrival at Liverpool. She had left New York on the 2d, but was compelled by a severe head

wind to put back again, and started a second time on the 9th.

27.-In one of the adjourned debates which took place in the French Chamber on the Address, M. Thiers thus sought to justify his warlike policy:-"I wished to arm in order to obtain a modification of the treaty. I resolved on obtaining it, and I should have obtained it; and if I had not, I declare now, that I would have gone to war, for the honour and interest of my country demanded it. When I saw that the treaty was being hastily executed, I wrote as follows to M. Guizot: We are arming, constantly arming; and when France shall be ready, if an arrangement does not take place, we shall have war. (Great sensation.) I do not hesitate in adopting an extreme course when I see that the honour of my country is about to be compromised.' (Approbation.) Yes, gentlemen, I would have demanded the modification of the treaty. I would have demanded it when France was ready for action; and if it had been then refused, although, as a statesman, I know perfectly well how terrible the word war is for a country, I would have cried War, war!' and I should have found an echo in France. ('Bravo! bravo!' from the Left, and great agitation in the Chamber.) Let me be kept from power; let me be banished for ever; but let it not be said that, as a French Minister, I would have ever permitted language insulting to the honour of France. Yes, gentlemen, whenever Europe, the whole of Europe, should say to us, 'If you do not choose such or such a thing, we will do it without you, and in spite of you,' I would cry 'War.' Let us be what our fathers were; and let us never descend from the rank to which they raised us."-General Bugeaud said: "An Austrian general, M. de Lassy, had published a book in favour of a war of detail, of cordons, and of petty manoeuvres. This was

the kind of war that Europe waged against the French Revolution, which gave it breathingtime, and at last success. In the first campaign, the French were in general beaten. (Loud interruption.) It was useful to state these things; for crowds believed that it was merely necessary to sing the Marseillaise' in order to rout all the armies of Europe. It was necessary to dissipate such illusions, and to show that the French Revolutionary armies were always beaten till they learned discipline."-M. Odilon Barrot here exclaimed, "that enthusiasm and exaltation were a force."-General Bugeaud replied, that he had infinite respect for the "Marseillaise," but he thought it unable to secure victory. In action it was better not to sing, and the most formidable troops were silent ones. If the enemy had concentrated 100,000 troops in the first campaign of the Revolution, they would have marched to Paris. (Murmurs.) He knew the strength of France, which lay in the arms of its twenty-four millions of peasants and eight millions of artisans-men, fortunately, who never spilled any ink. "Europe knew this, and Europe will not

treat us with disdain."-M. Berryer spoke for war in support of M. Thiers, and M. Lamartine for peace in support of M. Guizot. After one of the most stormy discussions which had taken place during the King's reign, the Address, with some modifications, was carried by 247 to 161 votes.

27.-Commodore Napier enters into a Conrention, in terms of which Mehemet Ali consents to evacuate Syria, restore the Turkish feet, and receive Egypt as an hereditary fief of the Porte.

30.-The Belle Poule frigate, commanded by the Prince de Joinville, arrives off Cherbourg, with the remains of the Emperor Napoleon.

December 2.-A youth, named William Jones ("the boy Jones"), gains access to Buckingham Palace, and continues secreted there several days. His presence was first detected by Mrs. Lilley, the nurse of the Princess Royal, who summoned some attendants, and had the intruder drawn from his hiding-place under the sofa. He gave various accounts of the manner in which he obtained admission, as well as his object, but the Privy Council did not think there was much cause for alarm. He was therefore sentenced to three months' imprisonment as a rogue and vagabond.

-

Admiral Stopford disallows the Convention concluded between Mehemet Ali and Commodore Napier: "I am very sorry," he writes, "to find that Commodore Napier should have entered into a Convention with your Highness for the evacuation of Syria by the Egyptian troops, which he had no authority to do, and which I cannot approve or ratify.

I hope this hasty and unauthorized convention will not occasion any embarrassment to your Highness. It was no doubt done from an amicable motive, though under a limited view of the state of affairs in Syria." In another letter dated at sea, off Cyprus, on the 6th, Admiral Stopford transmitted to the Pasha the oficial authority from the British Government ca which he had acted.

5.-M. Guizot declares his policy to be the maintenance of peace with the present force of 500,000 men, as opposed to the warlike demands of M. Thiers for 900,000,

6.-Prosecution of Hetherington in the Court of Queen's Bench for issuing a blasphecus publication, entitled "Haslam's Letters the Clergy of all Denominations." Verdict, guity. Sentence deferred.

13. The Portuguese Council of State determine to resist the demands made by Spain regarding the navigation of the Douro.

15. Remains of the Emperor Napoleon kid with great pomp in the tomb at the Inva

des, Paris. In the present state of parties in France some disturbance was feared, but all passed off in comparative quiet.

16. The Court of Session give judgment in the Strathbogie case. Two sets of defences were lodged, the one for the majority of the clerical members, the seven ministers whose suspension had been declared illegal; the other for the minority of four clergymen who, according to the decisions of the Church Court, formed the legal Presbytery. The judgment of the Court was, that the Presbytery proceed forthwith to admit and receive Mr. Edwards as presented to Marnock. Lord Fullerton was in favour of delay, but was overruled by the Lord President, and Lords Gillies and Mackenzie.

17.-John Green, a "ganger," or superintendent of labourers, on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, murdered by two Irishmen at Crosshill. One of them struck Green on the head with a long iron poker, while the other repeatedly jumped upon the body. The outrage had its origin in jealousy between the English and Irish workmen on the line.

25.-Loss of life in Francis-street Roman Catholic Chapel, Dublin, during a panic caused by the spread of a false report that the building was falling.

29.-Admiral Elliot resigns command of the fleet in Chinese waters.

A majority of the Strathbogie Presbytery resolve to induct Mr. Edwards to the parish in conformity with the peremptory orders of the Court of Session.

31.-The Court of Directors of the East India Company counsel the Supreme Government on the British position in Affghanistan :— "We pronounce our decided opinion that for many years to come the restored monarchy will have need of a British force in order to maintain peace in its own territory, and prevent aggression from without. We must add, that to attempt to accomplish this by a small force, or by the mere influence of British Residents, will, in our opinion, be most unwise and frivolous, and that we should prefer the entire abandonment of the country, and a frank confession of complete failure, to any such policy... To whatever quarter we direct our attention, we behold the restored monarchy menaced by dangers which cannot possibly be encountered by the military means at the disposal of the minister of the Court of Shah Soojah; and we again desire you seriously to consider which of the two alternatives (a speedy retreat from Affghanistan, or a considerable increase in the military force of that country), you may find it your duty to adopt. We are convinced that you have no middle course to pursue with safety or with honour."

1841.

January 3.-Thunderstorm in the Metropolis and neighbourhood. Spitalfields Church and Streatham Church were seriously damaged.