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denounces certain Irish members, who had calumniated their country by supporting a motion for an inquiry as to the increase of crime there.

The Marchioness of Hastings writes to the Queen, praying farther inquiry into the origin of the suspicions against her daughter, the Lady Flora. Lord Melbourne refuses to interfere; upon which the Marchioness demands the removal of Sir James Clark as her Majesty's physician; to which Lord Melbourne replies that the demand is unprecedented and objectionable.

8.-Lady Flora writes an account of the Palace conspiracy to her uncle, Hamilton Fitzgerald, at Brussels. "The Queen endeavoured to show her regret by her civility to me, and expressed it handsomely, with tears in her eyes. The Duchess of Kent had also stood by her gallantly. The affair had made her ill, but she was getting round, and hoped soon to be better.

9. Francis Hastings Medhurst stabs a fellow-pupil, named Alsop, during a quarrel, at the house of their teacher, Mr. Sturmer, of Uxbridge. The coroner's jury found a verdict of wilful murder, but by the magistrates Medhurst was committed on the charge of manslaughter only. Edward William Bunney, a pupil, heard the altercation, and saw Medhurst draw a knife, and stab Alsop in the bowels. The latter cried out, "He has stabbed me ! and fell down on both knees at the mantelpiece.

18.-The Imperial Commissioner Lin issues an edict, addressed to all foreigners, prohibiting the importation of opium into Chinese ports under severe penalties.

The army of the Indus, under Sir John Keane, enters the Pass of the Bolan in their march against Dost Mahomed. They are harassed on their journey by Mehrat Khan, chief of Khelat.

21.-Lord Roden's motion on the ministerial policy in Ireland ends in a division, showing a majority of five for Ministers.

25.-Two boxes of gold-dust, valued at 4,600/. stolen from the St. Katherine's Docks.

26. A committee of the Chartist Convention appointed to draw up a petition, praying that Mr. John Frost might be reinstated as magistrate.

Died, in Vauxhall Bridge-road, London, aged sixty-seven, Capt. Johnson, who, in 1809, was taken out of prison, where he was confined for smuggling, in order to pilot the English fleet of the Walcheren expedition into Flushing harbour. For this service he received a pension of 100l. per annum, upon condition that he should refrain from smuggling.

April 1.—Public meeting in Edinburgh to support the Ministry, but the Chartists mustered in great force, and succeeded in ejecting the Lord Provost from the chair, after which

they passed a series of resolutions completely opposed to those originally intended.

A riot at Devizes, arising out of a Chartist demonstration. Vincent and others entered! the town at the head of about 1,000 men, armed with bludgeons, and attempted to address them in the market-place. The populace rose against the agitators, and but for the interference of the civil authorities serious results were likely to happen.

6. Great dinner to Mr. Macready by the Shakspeare Club.

11.-Died John Galt, novelist, aged 60.

13.-Larner, charged with unlawfully enter ing Stanfield Hall, was convicted at the Nor folk assizes, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment.

Medhurst tried for the murder of Alsop, at Sturmer's school. Justice Coleridge, in sentencing Medhurst to three years' imprisonment, admitted the absence of malice or premeditation on the part of the prisoner, and commented severely on the master's conduct in leaving the pupils together when he knew they were quarrelling.

15. Capt. Elliot and several British merchants imprisoned at Canton by Commissioner Lin.

16.-Debate in the House of Commons concerning the Irish policy of the Government, lasting four nights, and ending in a majority for the Government of twenty-two.

20. The "London Equitable Loan Company, of Glasgow," having advertised the Duke of Wellington as one of their patrons, the Duke writes to Mr. P. Mackenzie that he thinks them a gang of swindlers, and will put himself to any reasonable trouble to expose them before a magistrate.

23. Numerous petitions presented to Parliament in favour of Mr. Rowland Hill's Penny Postage scheme.

24. The Marquis of Lansdowne entertains her Majesty at Lansdowne House.

29.-Stirling Peerage Case.-Commenced at Edinburgh, before the High Court of Justiciary, the trial of Alexander Humphry, or Alexander Stirling, styling himself Earl of Stirling, charged with forging, using, and uttering documents. The first document was an extract from a pretended charter, by Charles I. in favour of William, first Earl of Stirling, conveying to him the whole of Nova Scotia, and a large portion of Canada, with powers to create baronets. Mr. Humphry, as representing the above Earl of Stirling, raised two actions against private parties, which were dismissed. He was then served heir to the Earl of Stirling in right of his mother, and sought infeoffment of certain lands claimed. Upon this, the officers of state in Scotland took measures to reduce this service and infeoffment; and the pleas of Mr. Humphry not being considered satisfactory by the Lord Ordinary (Cockburn), he was called on to pro

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duce further proof. This he sought to supply by an old map of Canada, on the back of which was written what purported to be extracts from the charter of King Charles, these extracts having been made, it was alleged, in 1707 by a person who had seen the original in Canada. There were also various certificates attached to the map, bearing the names of Louis XV. and Fénelon, the Bishop of Nismes. This document, Humphry alleged, was given him by Madlle. Le Normand, a fortune-teller in Paris. Various other documents mentioned in the libel were found to have come from the same quarter. The trial lasted four days, during which the most eminent experts in France and Britain were examined concerning the documents. The prisoner's counsel, Mr. Patrick Robertson, made a feeling and eloquent speech on his behalf. The jury found the documents on the map forged, but that it was not proved that the prisoner forged them, or uttered them knowing them to be forged. The other documents they found were not proven to be forged, or uttered by the prisoner knowing them to be forged. On the verdict being pronounced, the prisoner fell into the arms of his friend. Lord Meadowbank pronounced judgment, and assoilzied the prisoner.

Chartist riot at Llanidloes, Wales. The Trewythen Arms Inn ransacked, and the inmates expelled. The mob were armed with guns, pistols, and pikes, and seemed to be, for a while, in entire possession of the town.

May 3.-The House of Lords dismiss the appeal in the Auchterarder case, and affirm the judgment of the court. Lord Brougham and the Lord Chancellor spoke at considerable length.

Cheltenham Theatre destroyed by fire.

Message from the Queen to Parliament, recommending a legislative union of the two Canadas.

Government issues a proclamation empowering magistrates to apprehend all persons illegally assembled for drilling, or meeting armed with bludgeons in a manner calculated to cause breaches of the peace.

4. The opium in the British factories at China having been all delivered up, Captain Elliot, with some difficulty, obtains the release of the merchants, and others, held in confinement under the orders of Commissioner Lin.

The Duke of Newcastle dismissed from the Lord Lieutenancy of Nottingham, for refusing to make additions to the commission of the peace recommended by the Lord Chancellor, because the parties were not of his opinions in politics, and did not belong to the Established Church.

Mr. Abercromby announces his intention of retiring from the Speakership of the House of Commons.

6. Concluded at 2 o'clock A. M. debate in the House of Commons on the Government proposal to suspend the constitution in Jamaica, because the Assembly there had refused to adopt the Prisons Act, passed by the Imperial Legislature. Majority of only five for Ministers in a house of 583.

7.-Lord Melbourne, in the Lords, and Lord John Russell, in the Commons, announced the resignation of Government, in consequence of the vote on the Jamaica Bill-a measure requiring more than ordinary support and confidence.

8.-Henry Vincent, delegate to the Chartist National Convention, arrested on the charge of inciting to riot at Newport.

On the recommendation of Lord Melbourne, the Queen sends for the Duke of Wellington to assist her in the formation of a government. The Duke explains that, as the principal difficulty of a new ministry would be in the House of Commons, he would recommend that Sir Robert Peel should be at once consulted. This was immediately done, and Sir Robert intimated that though he was not insensible to the difficulties that might beset a new Government, yet having been a party to the vote of the House which led to those difficulties, nothing would prevent him from giving her Majesty every assistance in his power. In the evening Sir Robert submitted to her Majesty the names of the Duke of Wellington, Earl of Aberdeen, Lords Lyndhurst, Ellenborough, Stanley, Sir James Graham, Sir Henry Hardinge, and Mr. Goulburn, as colleagues with whom he was prepared to act. To these colleagues, as Sir Robert Peel afterwards explained, he mentioned that in all the subordinate appointments in the Household, below the rank of a Lady of the Bedchamber, he would propose no change to her Majesty; and that in the superior class, he took it for granted the holders would at once resign their offices.

9. During an interview with the Queen, Sir Robert Peel states that it would be of great importance as an indication of her confidence if certain offices of the Household of the higher rank, which might not be voluntarily relinquished by the ladies holding them, were subject to some change. Her Majesty stated in reply that she must reserve the whole of these appointments for herself.

The Globe, a ministerial paper, announces, "The determination which it is well known her Majesty has taken, not to allow the change in the Government to interfere with the ladies of her Court, has given great offence to the Tories."

10. The Queen to Sir Robert Peel: "The Queen, having considered the proposal made to her yesterday by Sir Robert Peel, to remove the Ladies of her Bedchamber, cannot consent to a course which she conceives to be contrary to usage, and is repugnant to her feelings."

Sir Robert Peel to the Queen: "Having had the opportunity through your Majesty's gracious consideration of reflecting upon this point, he humbly submits to your Majesty that he is reluctantly compelled by a sense of public duty, and of the interest of your Majesty's service, to adhere to the opinion which he ventured to express to your Majesty. He trusts he may be permitted at the same time to express to your Majesty his grateful acknowledgments for the distinction which your Majesty conferred upon him by requiring his advice and assistance in the attempt to form an administration, and his earnest prayer that whatever arrangements your Majesty may be enabled to make for that purpose may be most conducive to your Majesty's personal comfort and happiness, and to the promotion of the public welfare."

At

11. The Melbourne Ministry recalled. a Cabinet meeting the following minute was adopted :-"Her Majesty's confidential servants having taken into consideration the letter addressed to her Majesty by Sir Robert Peel on the 10th of May, and the reply of Sir Robert Peel of the same day, are of opinion that, for the purpose of giving to the Administration that character of efficiency and stability, and those marks of the constitutional support of the Crown, which are required to enable it to act usefully to the public service, it is reasonable that the great officers of the Court, and situations in the Household held by Members of Parliament, should be included in the political arrangements made in a change in the Administration; but they are not of opinion that a similar principle should be applied or extended to the offices held by ladies in her Majesty's household."

Meeting of the Society for the Protection of Religious Liberty, when the Duke of Sussex congratulates the country on the return of the Liberal party to power.

13. Explanations in the House of Commons by Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel, regarding the ministerial crisis.

The small remnant of the Chartist National Convention removes its sittings from London to Birmingham. They were met at the railway by a mob of about 5,000 people, and conducted through the principal streets, to the great terror of the peaceably-inclined. At their first meeting a majority of the delegates adopt a manifesto, urging their supporters to withdraw any money they might have in banks, to deal exclusively with Chartists, to rest a "sacred month" from all labour, and to prepare themselves with the arms of freemen to defend themselves. In the Northern Star Feargus O'Connor urges that their memorial to the Queen, asking her to dismiss her present ministry, and appoint another which would make the People's Charter a Cabinet measure, "should be presented by a deputation of 500,000 men, proceeding in peaceful and or

derly procession, each with a musket over his

arm.

Cardinal Tesch died.

14. Meetings held throughout the country to express approval of the Queen's rejection of the conditions sought to be imposed on her by Sir Robert Peel.

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17.-Prince Louis Napoleon writes from "17, Carlton House Terrace," to the editor of the Times, "I see with pain in your Paris correspondence that it is wished to cast upon me the responsibility of the late insurrection. rely upon your kindness to refute in the most distinct manner this insinuation. The intelligence of the bloody scenes which took place has caused me as much surprise as grief. If I were the soul of a plot, I would also be the chief actor in it in the day of danger; nor would I shrink back after a defeat."

18.-Disturbance at Glasgow on the occasion of her Majesty's birthday. At night a mob 200 strong mustered on the Green, and, armed with stobs, marched up to the Cross with the view of creating a disturbance. were, however, overpowered by the police, and the most prominent carried off to prison.

They

Died at Florence, Caroline Murat, sister of Napoleon I. and ex-Queen of Naples.

21.-Lord Palmerston writes to Mr. M'Neill, at Shahrood, authorizing him to inform the Shah that his designs upon Affghanistan are in complete contravention of the spirit of the alliance subsisting between the two nations.

22. Three motions discussed by the General Assembly regarding the Auchterarder case. Dr. Cook proposed that the Veto Act having been found to infringe on civil and patrimonial rights, Presbyteries should be instructed to proceed with settlements in the manner practised before the Act was passed. Dr. Muir sought to make an addition, to the effect that Presbyteries, in settling presentees, ought to consider their suitableness to the mind and situation of the people of the parish. Dr. Chalmers, while admitting that the House of Lords had settled the mere "civil right" in the Auchterarder case, insisted that the principle of non-intrusion was an integral part of the Church's constitution which should not be abandoned, and that no presentee should be forced upon any parish contrary to the will of the congregation. For Dr. Chalmers's motion as against Dr. Muir's, the numbers were 197 to 161; and as against Dr. Cook's, 204 to 155. Dr. Chalmers's motion was therefore carried by a majority of 49.

24. Capt. Elliot and the British merchants leave Canton.

25.-Great Chartist demonstration on Kersal Moor, near Manchester. Feargus O'Connor said he came there because the magistrates and the Queen pronounced the meeting illegal and unconstitutional. "I have good authority for asserting (he said) that all the Hanoverian clubs in London are at work to know how

they can dispose of our young Queen, and place the bloody Cumberland on the throne in her stead." Other violent speeches were delivered by Rushton of Manchester, Fletcher of Bury, and others.

27. Mr. Charles Shaw Lefevre elected Speaker of the House of Commons.

30.—Mr. T. B. Macaulay addresses the electors of Edinburgh with the view of succeeding Mr. Abercromby (now Lord Dunfermline) in the representation of the city.

31. In the Court of Queen's Bench Lord Denman gave judgment in the case of Stockdale v. Hansard-an action for defamatory libel against the printers to the House of Commons for the publication of the Report of Commissioners of Prisons, in which certain strictures were made on some obscene books printed by the plaintiff. Lord Denman said that the supremacy of Parliament, on which the claim for exemption from responsibility was made to rest, might have been recognised as a valid authority, but the report complained of was not made by the sanction of the three co-ordinate powers acting harmoniously together; but by the House of Commons singly, a usurpation of authority abhorrent to the constitution of England. A jury summoned afterwards to assess damages awarded 100l. to Stockdale.

June 3.-The Lords of the Committee of Privy Council recommend by their report that the sum of 10,000l. granted by Parliament in 1835, towards the erection of normal or model schools, be given in equal proportion to the National Society and the British and Foreign School Society. They also recommend that no further grant be made now or hereafter for these schools unless the right of inspection be retained in order to secure a uniformity in the several schools, with such improvements as may from time to time be suggested by the Committee.

4.—Lord John Russell intimates the abandonment of the Government scheme of education in consequence of the opposition manifested by various religious bodies.

10. An attempt made by a madman to enter Buckingham Palace, with designs against the Queen. He was seized by a sentry, and afterwards sent to Bridewell.

13. Duel at Wimbledon between Lord Londonderry and Mr. H. Grattan, M.P., arising out of a statement made by the latter that the Queen would not live six months if the Tories came into power. Lord Londonderry received his opponent's fire, and fired himself in the air.

Murder of Capt. Bergholty, in cold blood, on board his vessel at Monkwearmouth, by the mate. After the murder the body was thrown over the ship's side, and then attached to a small boat and rowed by Ehlert and one Müller up towards the bridge, where it was found on a sandbank by the police.

14. The Lord President of the Court of Session pronounces censure on seven members of the Presbytery of Dunkeld, for their contempt of Court in having inducted a minister to the church and parish of Lethendy, in defiance of the interdict of the Court.

Mr. Attwood, M.P. for Birmingham, presents the Chartist petition to the House of Commons. It showed, he said, 1,280,000 signatures, and had been adopted at no fewer than 500 public meetings. It required twelve men to carry it out of the House.

15.-A woman, describing herself as Sophia Elizabeth Guelph Sims, makes application at the Mansion House for advice and assistance to prove herself the lawful child of George IV. and Mrs. Fitzherbert.

18.-Opening of railways from Newcastle to North Shields, and from Newcastle to South Shields and Sunderland.

21. The Earl of Winchelsea presents a petition to the House of Lords, demanding the repeal of the Catholic Emancipation Act, on the ground of its injury to the Established Church.

23. Died at the convent at Jûn, in the Lebanon, Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope, aged 73.

24. Tried at the Central Criminal Court, the Caspars, father and son, Emanuel Moses, and Alice Abrahams, as principals and accessories in the great gold-dust robbery-102 lbs. worth 5,000/. They were convicted principally on the evidence of an informer named Moss, who described the means taken by the younger Caspar to secure the gold he had charge of as clerk to Hartley and Co.

Revolt of Mehemet Ali, Pacha of Egypt.

27. Died at Lahore, in his sixtieth year, Maharajah Runjeet Singh, chief of Lahore. Four princesses-his wives-and seven slave girls, were permitted to burn themselves on his funeral pyre. He left the celebrated diamond "Koh-i-noor," so long coveted by the princes of India, as a legacy to be worn by the chief idol of Juggernaut.

28.-Explosion at St. Hilda's colliery, South Shields. The site of the disaster was nearly two miles from the shaft, and therefore considerable time elapsed before even the intrepid men who volunteered to search could reach the sufferers. Sixty lives were lost on this occasion.

29. The Morning Post gives currency to a story, that the Duchess of Montrose and Lady Sarah Ingestre were among those who hissed her Majesty on the Ascot racecourse. Lady Lichfield was said to be implicated in conveying this report to her Majesty, but afterwards denied in writing that she had given utterance to such a calumny.

July 1.-Died Sultan Mahmoud II. aged 54; succeeded by Abd-ul-Mejid.

Two

4. Chartist riots at Birmingham. thousand assembled in the Bull Ring about 9 o'clock at night, and, when desired to disperse, they fell upon the constables, and wounded two of them severely. The military ultimately dispersed the rioters, and enabled the police to apprehend ten of the more prominent of them. The General Convention therefore issued a proclamation, declaring "That a wanton, flagrant, and unjust outrage had been made upon the people of Birmingham by a bloodthirsty and unconstitutional force from London, acting under the authority of men who wished to keep the people in degradation."

5.-Died at Buckingham Palace, from enlargement of the liver, Lady Flora Hastings, aged 33. Shortly before her death her Majesty had an interview with Lady Flora. Her death was generally understood to have been accelerated by the painful occurrences in the Palace at the beginning of the year.

8. Tried at Edinburgh, an action raised by Sir David and Lady Milne against George Horne for slanderous allegations contained in a book written by the defender, entitled "Memoirs of an Aristocrat." Damages awarded 1,000/.

12. Mr. Goulburn's motion for the postponement of the Penny Postage Bill defeated by a majority of 213 to 113; and Sir Robert Peel's motion, resisting the promise of the Government to make up any deficiency which the Act might give rise to, was also defeated by a majority of 184 to 125.

Discussion in the House of Commons on Mr. Attwood's motion to submit the grievances described in the Chartist Petition to a Select Committee. For, 46; against, 235.

15. Another Chartist riot in Birmingham, The mob, having mustered in great force at the Bull Ring, formed themselves into order of procession, and in passing through the streets attacked the houses and shops of those known to be opposed to their views, or where they thought suitable plunder could be obtained. Encouraged in their excesses by the timidity of the magistracy, the rioters set fire to several shops, and it was at one time feared the whole city would fall a prey to their fury. As it was, the neighbourhood of the Muster-ground presented an appearance which compelled the Duke of Wellington to declare was worse than that of a city taken by storm. This furious outbreak was ultimately put down by the military without loss of life. The damage com. mitted was estimated at from 40,000l. to 50,000/.

Died Winthrop Mackworth Praed, Esq., wit and poet, aged 36.

17. The Queen annoyed, when taking an airing in Hyde Park, by a man on horseback. who persisted in crossing before her Majesty, waving his hand, and placing it on his breast.

Refusing to desist from his ridiculous conduct, he was given into custody by Capt. Cavendish. The offender described himself as a traveller for a wholesale house in the City. He was afterwards committed to prison for two months.

18. The Llanidloes rioters tried at the Montgomeryshire assizes, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

19. Feargus O'Connor tried for a libel on the Warminster guardians by inserting in his newspaper a statement to the effect that they had starved a boy to death. A verdict of guilty was returned, and the defendant entered into recognizances to appear for judgment when called on.

20.--Chartist riot at Newcastle, though the Northern Union had previously issued a placard calling upon its members to respect the liveand property of all the inhabitants, in consequence of their nightly meeting not having been interfered with.

Great dinner to Mr. Macready, Duke of Sussex in the chair.

22. In the National Convention, Delegate O'Brien moves to rescind a former resolution fixing the 12th of August as the commencement of the "sacred month," on the ground that the people were not generally prepared yet for that event.

23. The important frontier fortress of Ghuznee, Affghanistan, stormed by a British force, under the command of Lieut.-General Keane, commander of the Army of the Indus. "At daylight, on the 22d," he writes, "I reconnoitred the place, in company with the chief engineer and others, with the view of making such arrangements as were necessary for carrying the place by storm. Instead of the tedious process of breaching (for which we were all prepared), it was resolved to blow in the Cabool Gate, the weakest point, with gunpowder. A few minutes before 3 o'clock this morning, the explosion took place, and proved completely successful. With the view of paralysing the enemy, a heavy fire was then opened upon the citadel and ramparts of the fort, and about the same time the storming party, led with great gallantry by Brigadier Sale, succeeded in establishing a position within the fort. The struggle here was very sharp for a time, but the courage and fortitude of our army overcame all opposition, and by 5 o'clock the British standard was planted on the citade!, amidst the cheers of all ranks. Our casualties in killed and wounded amounted to about 200. Of the garrison 500 were killed, and a large number made prisoners."

24.- Disturbance by Jews at the Garrick Theatre, in consequence of the production of a play founded on the recent gold-dust robbery.

Fracas in the streets of Manchester between the editors of the Guardian and Courier, arising out of personalities indulged in through their newspapers.

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