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for a time beyond the dangers and dreadful privations of the camp. "There was but faint hope," writes Lady Sale, " of our ever getting over to Jellalabad, and we followed the stream. But although there was much talk regarding our going over, all I know of the affair is that I was told we were all to go, and that our horses were ready, and we must be immediately off." On the evening of the 10th it was determined, by a forced march, to try and reach Jugdulluk, a distance of twenty-two miles, but at eight in the morning they were still ten miles from that station. Here General Elphinstone and Brigadier Shelton were given up as additional hostages, and here commenced a conflict with the treacherous Affghans, which lasted, foot by foot, and day by day, till the entire force left could not muster more than twenty muskets. Strong barriers were at some places put up across the defile, when the Affghans rushed in on the pent-up crowd and committed wholesale slaughter. Not more than forty, it was thought, managed to clear the barrier, and of these the greater part were slain at other points or taken into captivity. Dr. Brydon alone escaped, and was the only officer of the whole Cabul force who reached the garrison of Jellalabad in safety.

7.-A Chartist Convention commences its sittings in Glasgow, and is attended by sixtythree delegates, among whom was Feargus O'Connor, representing the ancient burgh of Ruthglen.

11. An Anti-Corn Law conference commences its sittings at Edinburgh.

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15. Brigadier Wild, having resolved to march forward to Jellalabad, enters the Khyber Pass, and captures the small fort of Ali Musjid, situate in a difficult part of the defile. want of support by the native army he is compelled to abandon his conquest, and fall back on Peshawur.

17.-The foundation-stone of the new Royal Exchange laid by Prince Albert. The civic authorities met the Prince at Guildhall, where his Royal Highness arrived shortly before two o'clock. After a short stay there the procession was marshalled, and moved along Cheapside to a pavilion erected over the site in Cornhill. A Latin inscription placed in the foundation-stone referred to the burning of the two former Exchanges, and set forth that the City of London and ancient Company of Mercers again undertook "to restore the building at their own cost, on an enlarged and more ornamental plan, the munificence of Parliament providing the means of extending the site and of widening the approaches and crooked streets in every direction, in order that there might at length arise, under the auspices of Queen Victoria, built a third time from the ground, an Exchange worthy of this great nation and city, and suitable to the vastness of a commerce extending over the habitable globe." The Lord Mayor (Pirie) afterwards entertained the Prince and company in the Mansion House.

20. Close of the contest for the Professorship of Poetry at Oxford, between Rev. Isaac Williams and Rev. James Garbett. After several meetings of the friends of both candidates to ascertain their relative strength, the numbers claimed were-Garbett, 921; Williams, 623. The latter thereupon retired.

22.-Visit of the King of Prussia to England. He was received on landing at Greenwich by Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, and other persons of distinction.

25.-Christening of the Prince of Wales at Windsor. The ceremony was performed, amid much splendour, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with water specially brought from the river Jordan for the purpose. The King of Prussia acted as sponsor.

28. Died in the York-road, Lambeth, A. Ducrow, equestrian, aged 48 years. He left the sum of 800l. for the erection of his tomb in Kensal Green Cemetery, and the interest of 200/. invested in the 3 per cents. to be spent annually in the purchase of flowers for its adornment.

31.-The Duke of Buckingham withdraws from the Cabinet, on the ground, as was stated, of his opposition to the Ministerial plan of dealing with the Corn Laws.

February 1.-Two people killed and several injured by the falling of an old dismantled house in Charles-street, Drury-lane.

4.-Parliament opened by the Queen in person. Addressing the House of Commons, her Majesty said, "You will have seen with regret that, for several years past, the annual income has been inadequate to bear the public charges; and I feel confident that, fully sensible of the evil which must result from a continued deficiency of this nature during a peace, you will fully consider the best means. of averting it." To "My Lords and Gentlemen" her Majesty recommended the consideration of the laws relating to the importation of corn, and other articles, the produce of foreign countries. She also observed with deep regret the continued distress in the manufacturing districts, a distress, she said, which was borne with exemplary patience and fortitude.

9. Sir Robert Peel introduces his new sliding scale of corn duties to the House of Commons. A duty of 20s. to be levied when wheat is at 51s. per quarter, descending to Is. when the price is 735., with rests or stops at 535., 545., 66s., and 68s., designed to diminish the possibility of tampering with the averages. With respect to the duty on other kinds of grain, he proposed to preserve the same proportion between them and wheat as was maintained in the existing scale: a maximum duty of 8s. on oats, and 11s. on barley, rye, &c. During the sitting great excitement was manifested both within and around the House of

Commons. A number of Anti-Corn Law delegates attempted to take possession of the lobbies, but after some resistance they were induced by the police to retire outside.

10. The largest meeting of the Anti-Corn Law delegates which has yet been held took place this day in the Crown and Anchor. Sir Robert Peel's new sliding scale was denounced as altogether unsatisfactory, and in no way calculated to relieve the distresses of the people.

14. Grand ball in the Park Theatre, New York, in honour of Charles Dickens. About 2,500 people were present.

15. Conclusion of the debate on Lord John Russell's amendment, "That this House, considering the evils which have been caused by the present Corn Laws, and especially by the fluctuation of the graduated or sliding scale, is not prepared to adopt the measure of her Majesty's Government, which is founded on the same principles and is likely to be attended by similar results. For the original motion, 349; for the amendment, 226. Majority for Ministers, 123.

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16.-Riot at Northampton on the occasion of burning Sir Robert Peel in effigy.

17.-Robbery of 1,500/. in sovereigns, and 500/. in Bank of England notes, from the boot of the Perseverance coach, running between Manchester and Blackburn. The robbery was effected at Bury, chiefly through the aid of a man who had managed to put the bank box in the inside of his carpet-bag before the coach started from Manchester.

18.-Opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. For months back this event was looked forward to with extraordinary interest, and in the two cities it connected, as well as at all the prominent parts of the line, the greatest excitement prevailed. Tickets were issued by the directors to the shareholders, city dignitaries, and others, to the number of 1,100, and the whole party were safely conA banquet in Glasgow veyed along the line. closed the day's rejoicings. The line had taken about three years to construct, and cost fully one million and a quarter.

22. A special meeting of the shareholders called to consider the question of running a morning and evening train between Edinburgh and Glasgow on Sundays. After a long and somewhat bitter discussion, in which Sir Andrew Agnew and Mr. Makgill Crichton took a prominent part, the motion for running the trains, proposed by Mr. McNeil, was carried by a majority of 3,954 shares, or 554 votes.

Came on for hearing in the Court of Exchequer the great betting case of Richard Thornton v. Portman and others. The defendants, for the purpose of protecting themselves and others, purchased the betting debts of a defaulter named Gurney, in order that by paying them in full they might secure his and

their winnings. They accordingly required Thornton to pay his loss of 1,350/.; but that gentleman, having heard that certain parties had been settled with on terms of composition at less than 20s. in the pound, refused to meet the demand, unless the defendants would give him a personal guarantee to repay the sum due from him, in the event of their not having paid all Gurney's losings in full on or before the last day of the Houghton meeting. The guarantee was given, and plaintiff gave them a cheque for 1,250/. and an order on one Atkins for fool. This latter sum, the plaintiff urged, was never received, and he now sued for the repayment of the 1,250/. on the ground that the defendants had failed to fulfil the condition under which it had been paid to them.

The jury found for the plaintiff, who handed over the amount to Christ's Hospital. 23.-Correspondence between Mr. P. Shaw, advocate, and Mr. Makgill Crichton, regarding insinuations made by the latter at the Sundaytrain meeting against Sir C. Shaw. Crichton

in his last letter writes,-"I am now satisfied that the statements referred to by you were erroneous impressions, and are calculated to convey imputations against his character which are unfounded. I therefore retract them: I regret having made them, and offer to your brother my apology."

24. Conclusion of the debate on Mr. Villiers' motion for the repeal of the Corn Laws. Mr. Cobden, taking advantage of Sir Robert Peel's admission that it was impossible to fix the price of corn by any legislative enactments, said, I would be obliged to him if he would not try to do it. It is a simple open avowal that we are met here to legislate for a class against the people. There is no use in resorting to sophistry, no good in disguising the truth in a dexterous combination and shuffling of figures." Majority for Ministers 303, in a House of 483.

March 1.-Surrender of Ghuznee by Lieut. Col. Palmer. "It is with much concern (he writes to the officer commanding at Jellalabad) I acquaint you that I have been compelled to enter into terms to evacuate the citadel and forts within ten days. . . . In capitulating I have only acted up to the orders of Major Pottinger and General Elphinstone, who directed me to evacuate the citadel and city on the arrival of Rohilla Khan. This chief arrived, and promised to escort us in safety to Cabul." The garrison were hardly out of the city when the treachery of the Affghans began. Day after day their attacks continued, and the troops were reduced to the last extremity of hunger and thirst, under a galling fire from the surrounding enemy. The Sepoys were the peculiar object of the hatred of the Ghilzies. Colonel Palmer was seized and tortured, to make him give up treasure alleged to have been buried by the British troops. None ever reached Cabul but a few prisoners, kept alive for ransom.

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Explosion of D'Ernst's firework factory, Lambeth, and destruction of the whole of the inmates--four in number.

2.-The Bishop of London addresses a pastoral to his clergy, expressive of his desire to have a collection made in their churches for the Colonial Bishopric Fund, in conformity with the resolution agreed upon at Lambeth Palace when the erection of Colonial sees was fixed.

3.-The City of Edinburgh steamer drifts from the pier at Ostend and becomes a complete wreck.

4. Mr. Cobden draws the attention of the House to personal slanderous assertions made by Mr. Ferrand, to the effect that while calling for a repeal of the Corn Laws he was working his own mill night and day, and by so doing had amassed a large fortune. Mr. Ferrand admitted that he had charged many Anti-Corn Law manufacturers with so acting, but denied saying they were all guilty. The Speaker ruled that it was irregular and contrary to the rule of the House to question the positive denial of the honourable gentleman.

9.-Robert Goldsborough tried at the York Assizes for the murder of William Huntley at Crathorne in 1830. Acquitted.

10.-General Nott repels an attack on Candahar with such effect that the enemy broke up their encampment and left him in quiet possession of the place.

- The Chinese attempt to drive the British out of Ningpo, but are defeated in the centre of the town with great slaughter.

11.-The Times publishes details from private letters of the evacuation of Cabul, and the subsequent slaughter of the British in the Khoord Pass. Dr. Brydon was stated to have arrived at Jellalabad, 18th January, wounded and confused from injuries and fatigue. The news not generally credited.

12.-Captain James Ross's explorative expedition in the South Polar Seas narrowly escapes destruction. During a heavy breeze the Erebus and Terror were driven into violent collision with an extensive chain of icebergs. The Erebus was much damaged.

13.-George Lucas murders three of his children, and then commits suicide.

18. Dr. Candlish, on behalf of the Central Church Defence Committee, submits his scheme for the support of a ministry and the maintenance of ordinances among the members of the Non-erastian Church of Scotland.

19.-Accident in Wombwell's menagerie, Stafford. A rash visitor, named Martin, reaching his arm into the tigress' den, was seized by the tigers, and mangled so severely that death ensued in a few days.

20.-The Earl of Munster commits suicide. 21.-Explosion of the Telegraph high-pres

sure steamer at Helensburgh pier, Dumbartonshire, and loss of fifteen lives.

24. Trial of the Culsalmond rioters before the High Court of Justiciary. A verdict of not proven returned against all the parties charged, except Dr. Robertson, who was said to have been a leader in the disturbance, and was found not guilty.

25. Storm in the Forth of Clyde; much destruction of property both on shore and

at sea.

27.-Brigadier-Gen. England repulsed in the Rujuk Pass, when attempting to relieve Gen. Nott in Candahar. He falls back upon Quetta.

April 1.-Inundation at Derby. The streets under water for several hours, and one young woman drowned in her bed.

3.-Arrival of the Overland Mail with news of the dreadful disasters in Affghanistan. The Duke of Wellington was reported to be deeply affected, declaring that in all his experience, or in all history, he had never heard of so lamentable a sacrifice of life in a British force. A letter from Lady Sale to her husband, the hero of Jellalabad, giving an account of the outbreak of Cabul, excited much interest and enthusiasm for her ladyship.

5.-At half-past 3 A.M. the troops under the command of General Pollock commence their march to force the Khyber Pass. From Jumrood on the east the pass extends for twenty-eight miles towards Jelallabad. As far as the fort of Ali-Musjid it is deep and uninterrupted. For seven miles beyond the ascent is somewhat uniform, till near Sundu Khana, where for two miles it runs along the face of a frightful precipice, like the galleries of the Simplon. General Pollock found the mouth strongly fortified and the enemy in force on the heights on either side, but two columns advanced and gained the crest of the hill, driving all before them. On the 9th the advance guard reached Sundu Khana, and the whole force had cleared the pass before the 14th, being the first instance of an army forcing its way through these defiles against an enemy. On the 16th the troops under General Pollock entered Jellalabad amidst enthusiastic greetings on both sides. The garrison mounted the walls of the fortress, and loud cheers, mingling with the roar of cannon, attested the joy with which the beleaguered troops welcomed the arrival of their deliverers.

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6. The police discover in the stable of Garnard Lodge, Roehampton, London, part of the body of a female. The police were drawn to the place in consequence of a pawnbroker in Wandsworth having charged the coachman Good with stealing a pair of trowsers from his shop. Good evinced great concern when the officers entered the stable in search of the missing garment, and when their attention was directed to the fourth stall he suddenly rushed out, locked the door upon them, and fled. that stall, beneath a little hay, they found an object which at first they could not well make out, but which turned out to be the trunk of a female, with the head and limbs cut off, the abdomen cut open, and the entrails extracted. The whole of the cuts through the flesh had been made with a sharp knife, but the bones were hacked with some blunt instrument. The stable-door was at once burst open and the alarm given, when on further search a quantity of burnt bones belonging to the body was discovered in the fire place of the harness-room. It was impossible to identify the remains, but from inquiries instantly set on foot there was no doubt that they were those of a woman brought by Good or his wife to the Lodge the preceding Sunday. At the inquest the jury found that the body was that of Jane Jones, or Good, and that Daniel Good had wilfully murdered her. Good eluded pursuit for nearly a fortnight, but was then discovered working as a bricklayer's labourer at Tunbridge by a man who had formerly been in the police force at Wandsworth. He was at once taken before the magistrate. While under examination he took a comb from his pocket and with it turned back the hair from his forehead, as if to hide a bald place-a circumstance which corresponded with a known peculiarity of the murderer Good. He persisted in stating that his name was O'Connor, and knew nothing about the murder. He was committed to Maidstone jail, where he was again identified by two officers, and conveyed by them back to London.

7.-At daylight this morning Sir Robert Sale attacks the besieging force of Akbar Khan outside the walls of Jellalabad.

"The

Affghans," he writes, "made repeated attempts to check our advance by throwing forward heavy bodies of horse, which twice threatened to force the detachments of foot under Captain Havelock; but in a short time they were dislodged from every point of their position, their cannon taken, and their camp involved in a general conflagration. The battle was over and the enemy in full retreat in the direction of Jughman by about 7 A.M. The defeat of Mahomed Akbar in open field by the troops whom he had boasted of blockading has been complete and signal." Colonel Dennie, of the 13th Light Infantry, was shot during the engagement.

8.-Lord John Russell introduces an amendment on the Government Income Tax scheme, on the ground that it was inquisitorial,

unequal, and had hitherto been considered in the light of a war reserve only. The debate lasted till the 13th, when, on a division, Ministers had a majority of 106, in a House of 510 members.

13. Lord Melbourne submits a resolution affirming the principle of a fixed instead of a fluctuating duty on corn, but is defeated by a large majority.

17. A religious service performed by signs to the inmates of the Deaf and Dumb Refuge, Holborn.

23. Commencement of the sale of the property of Strawberry Hill. A wooden building was erected on the lawn for the purpose of accommodating the visitors, there not being an apartment in the dwelling-house large enough. The sale opened with the library of books, to which six entire days were devoted.

Died a prisoner in the hands of Akbar Khan Major-General Elphinstone, the commander of the British forces in Affghanistan.

24. Serious fires, supposed to be the work of incendiaries, took place in Huddersfield, Kidderminster, and Bridport.

29.-Bungaree, the Australian pugilist, dies from injuries received in a fight with Broome at Newmarket.

-The new Corn Law Bill receives the royal

assent.

The

May 2.-Demonstration of Chartists in the metropolis on occasion of taking their monster national petition to the House of Commons. The procession mustered in the square of Lincoln's Inn Fields about one o'clock, and proceeded by way of Holborn, Tottenham-courtroad, the New-road, Langham-place, and Regent-street, to Westminster, which was reached between three and four o'clock. petition, described as having 3,317,702 names appended, was borne on the shoulders of sixteen men, representing different trades in the metropolis. Being too large for admission at the door of the House, it was broken up and carried in piecemeal by a long line of men. On the presentation of the petition Mr. Duncombe moved that the petitioners should be heard at the bar by counsel. Mr. T. B. Macaulay opposed the motion, drawing special attention to one passage in the petition complaining of the obligation to pay the National Debt, and to another remonstrating against the monopoly of property in land. Sir Robert Peel opposed the motion because it was an impeachment of the whole constitution and social order of the kingdom, and the business of the country could not be suspended while the House inquired whether it would be fitting to sponge out the National Debt and repeal the Union. Mr. Roebuck described the petition as drawn up by a cowardly and malignant demagogue. On a division there appeared, for the hearing, 49; against, 287.

2.-Lady Chantrey presents to the University of Oxford her husband's valuable collection of original busts, and copies from the antique, on condition that a permanent place is assigned to them in the sculpture gallery.

3. In the Consistory Court Dr. Lushington decides against the legality of the Braintree Church-rate levied by a minority of the vestry for the repair of the church.

5.-A policeman shot, and two others wounded, by an armed footpad who had been prowling for some days about the neighbourhood of Highbury-barn. On being pursued to Highbury-vale he seems to have resolved on keeping his pursuers at bay. He placed his back against a hedge, and pulled out another pistol in addition to the one he was seen to load. Police-constable Daly approached nearer than any one else to him and advised him to surrender. He said he would not, and would murder the first man who touched him. Daly, assisted by a broker named Mott, then went up to take him in custody, when he fired both pistols off at once. Both Daly and Mott fell, the former being shot dead through the heart, and the latter badly wounded. The assassin then gave himself up, and was conveyed to Islington station. He gave his name as Thomas Cooper, bricklayer, Clerkenwell, and stated that starvation had compelled him to take to the road.

A fearful conflagration burst out in Hamburgh, lasting five days, and burning the largest and wealthiest part of the city. On the evening of the 6th a witness writes: "A great part of this rich and flourishing town has fallen a prey to a fire which hourly sweeps in volumes through street upon street with merciless fury. It burst forth at twelve o'clock on Wednesday night, and has so gained up to this time, aided by high winds, in the midst of misdirected efforts to extinguish it or arrest its progress, that it rages now with increased violence over a space so wide, that I believe it will yet require the sacrifice of nearly one half the remainder of the town to place a sufficient gap to bar its continuance to the destruction of the whole of this ancient city. Three of the five principal churches were destroyed, the Borsenhalle, the Old and New Exchange, the Senate House, the Post Office, and domestic dwellings to an extent that made a third of the population houseless. From 150 to 200 lives were also sacrificed. English Insurance Offices were involved to the extent of about one million sterling.

6. Mr. Roebuck brings under the notice of the House of Commons the suspicious circumstances connected with the withdrawal of several election petitions, the result, as he alleged, of a corrupt compact between the parties interested. He put the question direct to various members whose case had been postponed by the Committee, but they generally repudiated his right to interfere with their

private arrangement. The House, however, consented to the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the compromise of election petitions.

- Explosion in Hodge's Distillery, Churchstreet, Lambeth, and great destruction of spirits and other property by fire.

7.-Earthquake at St. Domingo, demolishing the town of Cape Haytien, and destroying, it was calculated, not fewer than 10,000 lives. A fire broke out afterwards, destroying the powder magazine, and with it the remnant of the inhabitants who had escaped the earthquake.

8. Horrible occurrence on the railway between Paris and Versailles. A train of seventeen carriages, filled with from 1,500 to 1,800 passengers, who had been taking part in the king's fête, left Versailles about six o'clock, drawn by two engines. Between Meudon and Bellevue the axle of the first engine broke and the body fell to the ground. The second engine smashed it in pieces and passed over it, when the boiler burst and the unfortunate stoker was thrown into the air. The impetus which the carriages had received, aided by an engine behind, brought three of them over the wreck, when they took fire, and the doors being locked, the whole of the passengers were consumed amid excruciating agonies. The next three carriages also took fire, and though the whole of them were not entirely consumed, very few of the passengers were able to escape; only two or three, indeed, who managed to crush themselves through the window. About 150 of the passengers in the carriages behind were crushed and broken in the most dreadful manner. The list of killed was officially set down at fifty, but it was generally thought many more perished in the flames. In some of the compartments there was no possibility of separating or identifying the charred masses of humanity. Two stokers, at first stupefied by the smoke, and then calcined by the fire, remained for a considerable time after they had expired standing at their post and grasping the tools they had been using.

10.-Disturbance in Paradise-terrace, Lambeth, caused by the attempt of an officer of the Court of Session to serve an order upon the Dowager Lady Cardross to deliver up two of her children to their grandfather, the Earl of Buchan. The small house in Paradiseterrace to which she had retreated continued in a state of siege for several days.

11. A royal letter issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury for a collection in aid of the relief of the working classes in England and Scotland.

12. The Queen gives a fancy dress ball in the Throne Room, Buckingham Palace, with a success and magnificence unrivalled since the days of Charles II. Her Majesty appeared as Queen Phillipa, consort of Edward

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