Launched from the Pembroke dockyard, amid great rejoicing, her Majesty's steamyacht, Victoria and Albert.

26. The South Sea whaler Diana blown up at St. Helena. At the time of the explosion, which was known to have been the work of an incendiary, an investigation was going on before the Island authorities regarding the murder of the captain by the second mate.

May 1.-An anonymous person writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, stating that while he had made a true income-tax return on his legitimate trade, he had been for some time engaged in smuggling, and begged to hand him 14,000/., the profits of three years' transactions in that way, as conscience money.

2. The number of petitions presented up to this date against the New Factory Bill amounted to 1,611, bearing 1,757,297 signatures. The petitioners were mainly Dissenters, who objected to the educational clauses of the bill.

5.-Sir Robert Peel introduces his scheme for relieving the spiritual wants of the kingdom, by the endowment of additional ministers and the augmentation of small livings. He proposed to authorize the advance of 600,000l. by the Bounty Board to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, on the security of certain revenues of the Ecclesiastical Fund; this advance, to the extent of 30,000l. a year, to be used, not in the erection of churches, for which private liberality would be sufficient, but solely for the endowment of ministers.

8. An association of noblemen and officers in both branches of the service formed to suppress duelling as sinful and irrational.

9.

Mr. Villiers introduces his annual motion on the subject of the Corn-law, which after five nights' debate is negatived by a majority of 381 to 125. On the last night of the discussion Mr. Cobden, departing from his usual style of showing the evil effects of the system on manufacturing interests, carried the war into the enemy's country by showing that the laws injured the farmer. "The farmers," he said,

66

are now disposed utterly to distrust everybody who promises them anything; and the very reason they are ready to look on us with friendly eyes is that we never promised them anything. We tell them distinctly that legislation can do nothing for them. It is a fraud. They must never allow bargaining for loaves and rent to be mixed up with politics. They must deal with their landlords as with their wheelwrights and saddlers, with a view to business, and business alone."

11. At a meeting of the Repeal Association in Dublin, O'Connell denounces the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Brougham, and others, for their vindictive hatred of Ireland, and promises that when her Majesty visits her Irish subjects she will hear of nothing but

Repeal from one end of the country to the other.

13. Singular accident to Mr. Brunel, engineer. While amusing the children of a friend by seeming to pass a half-sovereign piece into his mouth and out at his ear, it suddenly slipped and became lodged in the trachea. Various efforts were made to extract it, but they proved unavailing, and surgical aid was called in. Various consultations took place among the most eminent professional men, and an apparatus was constructed for inverting the body of the patient in order that the weight of the coin might assist the natural effort to expel it by coughing. The first attempt in this way failed, but to-day, on being again inverted, Mr. Brunel felt the coin quit its place on the right side of the chest, and in a few seconds it dropped from his mouth, without causing distress or inconvenience.

15.-Given at the Court of St. James's, her Majesty's Letter to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. "The faith of our Crown," it went on, "is pledged to uphold you in the full enjoyment of every privilege which you can justly claim; but you will bear in mind that the rights and property of an Established Church are conferred by law; it is by law that the Church of Scotland is united with the State, and that her endowments are secured; and the ministers of religion claiming the sanction of law in defence of their privileges, are specially bound by their sacred calling to be examples of obedience. The act ratifying the Confession of Faith, and settling Presbyterian Church Government in Scotland, was adopted at the Union, and is now the Act of the British Parliament. The settlement thus fixed cannot be annulled by the will or declaration of any number of individuals. Those who are dissatisfied with the terms of this settlement may renounce it for themselves, but the union of the Church of Scotland with the State is indissoluble, while statutes remain unaffected which recognise the Presbyterian Church as the Church established by law within the kingdom of Scotland." The document was signed by Sir James Graham.

18.-Disruption in the Church of Scotland. To-day the anxiously anticipated Assembly commenced its sittings in Edinburgh. Shortly before I o'clock Divine service was commenced in the High Church, and a sermon preached by Dr. Welsh, the retiring Moderator, taking for his text the words, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." On the conclusion of the services the Assembly adjourned to St. Andrew's Church, which was fitted up as a temporary Hall of Assembly. The Royal Commissioner, Lord Belhaven, and Dr. Welsh, entered the crowded assembly about the same time, half-past 3 o'clock. After prayer Dr. Welsh rose and said, "According to the usual form of procedure, this is the time for making up the roll; but in respect of certain proceedings affecting our rights and privileges which have been sanctioned by her Majesty's

Government, and by the Legislature of the country, and more especially in respect that there has been an infringement on the charter of our constitution, so that we could not now constitute this court without a violation of the terms of the union between Church and State in this land, as now authoritatively declared, I must protest against our proceeding further. The reasons that have led me to come to this conclusion are fully set forth in the document which I hold in my hand, and which, with the permission of the House, I shall now proceed to read." Immediately after the reading of the Protest, which was successively signed by ministers and elders, the retiring Moderator handed the memorable document to the clerk, and left the chair. He proceeded towards the door of the Assembly, followed by Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Gordon, Dr. Macfarlane, of Greenock, Dr. Brown of Glasgow, R. S. Candlish, of Edinburgh, and the whole body of adhering ministers and elders. A loud cheer burst from the gallery, which, however, was suddenly hushed, and the whole audience stood gazing intently on the scene below, while the members of Assembly who remained also looked on in silence, as seat after seat became vacant. Whenever the leaders of the movement made their appearance outside they were received with bursts of applause from the masses assembled in George-street, and which was continued and reiterated with enthusiasm as they marched through the streets leading to Tanfield Hall, Canon-mills. The procession consisted of about 1,000 persons, walking four abreast. At Tanfield the new Free Assembly was formally constituted, and Dr. Chalmers elected Moderator amid the most enthusiastic displays of feeling. In the old Assembly Principal Macfarlane of Glasgow was elected Moderator. The ten years' conflict thus ended in the separation of the contending parties. On the 22d the sentence of deposition formerly pronounced against the Strathbogie ministers was declared by the old Assembly to be of no effect, by a majority of 148 to 33. The minority in this case urged that though the original sentence was harsh and possibly unnecessary, yet having been pronounced by a competent court it ought to have been more observed than it was. The Free Assembly sat till 30th May, the time being mostly occupied with discussions relating to the fabric of their constitution. Up to that date the total number of ministers who signed the Protest was 444; of these 139 filled quoad sacra charges.

20.-Lady Jane Colville burnt to death in her own drawing-room, Rosslyn House, Hampstead, by her dress coming in contact with a taper placed on the floor for convenience.

21. Dr. Pusey, in the course of a sermon in Christ Church, Oxford, avows a belief in transubstantiation and the mass. The ViceChancellor demanded a copy of the sermon for examination by a Board of Heresy.

24. The will of Richard Arkwright, son of the inventor of the spinning-jenny, proved in the Prerogative Court. His heir came into the possession of about 8,000,000!.

25.-Daniel O'Connell removed from the commission of the peace for the county of Kerry.

29. In the Established Assembly Dr. Simpson reads the answer to the Protest which had been drawn up by a committee appointed for the purpose. The answer generally denied the allegations in the Protest, holding that the Church Courts and not the Civil Courts had gone beyond their jurisdiction; and that on the whole there was no valid or sufficient ground in the Protest for the secession from the Establishment, in which when they get their licence they were solemnly sworn not to follow devisive courses.

30.-Orange riots at Carlow, Tyrone. Thirty houses gutted in the presence of the police.

June 2.-Dr. Pusey writes to the ViceChancellor, protesting against his suspension of two years as an act unstatutable as well as unjust. "I have ground to think, he says, "that as no propositions out of my sermon have been exhibited to me as at variance with the doctrines of the Church, so neither can they, but that I have been condemned either on a mistaken construction of my words, founded on the doctrinal opinion of my judges, or on grounds distinct from the formularies of the Church."

Lord Dudley Stuart assaulted by a Polish refugee of bad character, when entering the rooms of the Polish Literary Institution.

3.-B. T. Nyman, from America, delivers a lecture on mesmerism at the London Mechanics' Institution, and produces numerous practical illustrations.

6.-The Duke of Sutherland writes to the Rt. Hon. Fox Maule:-" I dislike religious persecution, and I trust that I shall always be an opposer of measures tending to it or intolerance. I cannot but think, however, that such are at present directed against the Establishment, and that if, as a proprietor, I were to grant sites for building for the purpose of opposing the ministration, to do which a desperate spirit has been evinced, I should not only acquiesce in, but even sanction and encourage it, and this I should consider very

wrong.

8.-Monster Repeal Meeting at Kilkenny. Almost the entire male population of that county, with considerable portions of Tipperary, Carlow, Wexford, Waterford, and Queen's County, are said to have been present: 300,000 was the estimated number, 12,000 of whom were horsemen. The Agitator made a long address. "The Irish Parliament," he concluded, "is not dead, it is only sleeping,

and here am I sounding the trumpet of her resurrection."

9.-Samuel Moyer examined at the Home Office for the offence of sending a letter to Sir James Graham, volunteering "to risk his life against Mr. O'Connell's, as he might be ordered." He now disavowed all evil intention towards the Agitator, and stated that the letter was the result of a drunken freak. He was bound over to appear at the Central Criminal Court when called upon.

10.-Disturbance at Carmarthen by "Rebecca and her Daughters." They marched through the town about 1,000 strong, took possession of the workhouse, and remained till the afternoon, when they were broken up by a troop of dragoons sent from Cardiff, and eighty of them taken prisoners. Their list of grievances embraced the removal of all the turnpike-gates in the county, the abolition of tithes, and rent-charge in lieu of tithe, the total abolition of the present Poor-law and of church-rates. The following evening another mob assembled at Mydrim, Rebecca being on horseback in full attire. They called at the public-houses of the place, cleared the cellars of all the ale, and about 10 o'clock set out for St. Clears'; there they demolished the turnpike-gate, and obtained through intimidation sums of money at different houses. This destruction of turnpike-gates by bands of disguised Rebeccaites continued for months to be an almost nightly occurrence in different parts of South Wales. At the time of the outbreak there were between 100 and 150 gates, including side-bars and chains, in the county of Carmarthen; nearly the half of these were destroyed, and in places where they were renewed the toll-house was generally destroyed along with the gate. Two or three sharp encounters took place with the authorities, but their familiarity with the district generally enabled the rioters to elude their pursuers. Their name was presumed to be derived from a preposterous application of a passage in the Book of Genesis, "And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate

them.

15. Sir James Graham announces that it is not the intention of Government to proceed with the educational clauses of the Factory Bill. The success of the measure, he said, depended upon its being received as a measure of concord and conciliation, and it had been framed with that view; but soon after its introduction he found that the great body of Dissenters had insuperable objections to it. Extensive modifications had been made to meet these objections, but in that he had been wholly disappointed. The petitions against the clauses in their original form were 13,369, bearing 2,068,059 signatures; and in their amended form, 11,228, with 1,745,686 signatures.

17. The Free Church of Scotland issues a Pastoral Address, explanatory of their position, appealing to the people as the true Church of their fathers, -the Church which holds the principles that they held, which bears the testimony that they bore, and which is now suffering in the cause of that great truth for which they suffered.

19.-Inauguration of the Memorial erected "in reverence of the memory" of John Hampden, on Chalgrove Field.

- Testimonial of silver plate subscribed for by lovers of the national drama, presented to Mr. Macready by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge.

-The Judges assemble in the House of Lords to deliver their opinions on the questions submitted to them with reference to criminals insane or reputed insane. On the fourth question, If a person under an insane delusion as to existing facts commits an offence in consequence thereof, is he thereby excused? the Judges were unanimously of opinion that the party accused was equally liable with a person of sane mind. If the accused killed another in self-defence, he would be entitled to an acquittal; but if committed for any supposed injury, he would then be liable to the punishment awarded by the law to his crime.

20.-Audabon, writing from "110 miles above Fort Union," informs Dr. Bachman of his discovery there of a new quadruped of the kangaroo species.

25.-Died at his residence in Albemarlestreet, aged 65 years, John Murray, publisher.

26.-The Governor-General of India writes to the Secret Committee from Allahabad :--"The battle of Meeanee entirely changed the position in which the British Government stood with respect to the Ameers of Scinde. To have placed confidence in them thereafter would have been impossible. To have only exacted from them large cessions of territory would have been to give them what remained as the means of levying war for the purpose of regaining what was ceded. Foreigners in Scinde, they had only held their power by the sword, and by the sword they have lost it.... Their removal from the country with which they were no longer to be connected as sovereigns was a measure of obvious expediency, and has apparently had the beneficial effect I intended from it.

28.-Riotous scene at the Oxford Commemoration, on occasion of conferring the degree of D.C.L. on Mr. Everett, the American Ambassador, and formerly, it was alleged, a Unitarian preacher. The effect of the uproar was entirely to put a stop to the usual proceedings of the day; and the Vice-Chancellor was obliged to dissolve the Convocation without either of the prize essays being recited.

July 1.-Lieut.-Col. Fawcett, of the 55th, shot in a duel near Camden Town by his

:-

brother-in-law, Lieut. Munro, of the Royal Horse Guards. The latter made his escape from the ground with a friend. The quarrel related to family affairs. At the inquest the jury returned a verdict of Wilful Murder. The Newcastle Journal writes: "It is stated that Bright, the Anti-Corn-Law agitator, is expected to visit the wool fair, which will be held at Alnwick shortly, in order to scatter the seeds of disaffection in that quarter. Should he make his appearance, which is not improbable, it is to be hoped there may be found some stalwart yeoman ready to treat the disaffected vagabond as he deserves."

3.-Opened in Westminster Abbey the Exhibition of Cartoons, the result of the prizes offered by the Royal Commission for the encouragement of the Fine Arts, with a view to the decoration of the interior of the new Houses of Parliament. There were 140 subjects, varying in size from ten to fifteen feet. Three prizes of 300/. each, three of 200/. and three of 100%. were awarded to the most successful competitors.

7. Came on for hearing in the Court of Exchequer, the case of Westmacot v. Clark, being an action to recover from the defendant, Mary Ann Clark, one of the sisters and next of kin of the late Baroness de Feucheres, a sum of money for the services of the plaintiff in recovering for her, as one of the next of kin, her share of the property left by the late baroness. Mr. Thesiger having explained the extraordinary difficulties surmounted by the plaintiff in securing for the next of kin against many other claimants the very large properties left to the baroness by the Duc de Bourbon, under whose protection she lived, it was arranged, on the suggestion of the Court, to settle the matter by arbitration. The sum ultimately awarded was 15,548., of which 5,453. was for actual disbursements; 6,344/. for personal services, and 3,7517. for the plaintiff's costs of the reference.

11.-Celebration in Edinburgh of the Bicentenary of the Westminster Assembly.

At the weekly meeting of the National Repeal Association in Dublin, the rent collected for the week was announced as amounting to 1,690. Intimation was also given that several magistrates had been dismissed for joining the Repeal Association.

12. Concluded the debate on Mr. Smith O'Brien's motion for a Committee of inquiry into the condition of Ireland, when Ministers found themselves having a majority of only 79 in a House of 407.

18. A small steamboat scuttled and sunk in her berth at the east end of Loch Katrine, presumed to have been the work of some of the boatmen who formerly carried on the trade of the lake.

19.-Wreck of the Pegasus, Hull and Leith steamer, and loss of upwards of forty lives.

She left Leith harbour this afternoon at halfpast 5 o'clock, and about midnight struck, in calm weather, upon a reef off the inner Fern, known as the Goldstone Island. The captain attempted to run the vessel ashore, but the damage received was so serious that she foundered within 300 yards of the spot where she struck. An attempt was made to launch the boats, but the delay in getting them into the water was considerable, and the rush of passengers and crew to take possession caused them to be swamped with the sinking ship. About 5 A. M. the steamer Martello came upon the wreck, and picked up six of the survivors, four of whom had contrived to float about with hatches and benches, and two who had clung to the topmast, still a few feet above water. One of them, named Bailie, a servant in attendance on Mr. Torry, had carefully stripped himself to swim during the few minutes allowed for preparation. When the ship was fast settling by the head, he saw the Rev. Mr. Mackenzie praying on the quarter-deck, surrounded by most of the male and female passengers with their children.

24. Mr. Cobden insulted and hustled in

the Corn Exchange, Mark-lane. Mr. Ruding, one of the proprietors, writes :-" Sir, I beg to express my deep regret, as one of the proprietors of the Corn Exchange, at the scandalous treatment which you experienced this morning during your visit here, in which regret I believe every respectable party connected with the Corn Exchange sincerely joins, whatever political opinions they may entertain."

27. Mr. Bright returned as Member of Parliament for Durham City, by a majority of 78 over his Tory opponent, Mr. Purvis.

29.-The Queen and Prince Albert proceed down the Thames in the royal barge to inspect the Tunnel.

31.-Commission of Lunacy opened regarding Mr. Dyce Sombre, the son of Gen. Sombre and the Begum or Princess of Schind. The most prominent evidence of insanity was jealousy of his wife. He had addressed a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, calling upon him to produce another lady of rank, and let her have a duel with Mrs. Dyce Sombre of three fires. It also desired Lord St. Vincent, her father, to bring a roan horse, well broken, adding, that when the ground had been consecrated by a duel, he would reconsecrate it by bringing her home on the horse. The jury found that he had been of unsound mind from October 1842.

August 1.-In most of the metropolitan theatres the performances were for the benefit of the family of Mr. Elton, who had perished in the wreck of the Pegasus.

2.-Collision between the peasantry and the police at Turloughman fair, near Galway. The police discharge their muskets to protect themselves. Two men (one a magistrate) killed, and eight or ten wounded.

3. Mr. Ancona, brother of the well-known architect, commits suicide by throwing himself off Waterloo-bridge.

Lord Panmure writes to the seceding elders of Edyell parish :"You foolish men, return to your good old kirk, where there is plenty of room, and when more is necessary you will be provided with it. . . . Let peace, and comfort, and harmony surround your firesides, and you will always find in me, as principal heritor, a friend ready to promote your welfare and happiness."

4.-Joseph Atkinson, "the priest of Lamberton toll-bar," tried at Newcastle assizes, before Mr. Justice Cresswell, and sentenced to seven years' transportation, for celebrating an irregular marriage at Berwick.

Correspondence between the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford (P. Wynter) and Mr. Badeley, regarding the acceptance of a memorial deprecating the sentence passed on Dr. Pusey. Vice-Chancellor thinks the memorial deserving of the strongest censure, and refuses to receive it.

The

11.-Tried at Appleby assizes the case of Robinson v. Bird and others, involving the possession of the Brougham Hall estates. Bird, in support of his claim, had trespassed upon the estate, and taken from the stable a horse belonging to the plaintiff. It appeared that in 1726 James Bird, an attorney, was the owner of Brougham Hall. He left two granddaughters, and they sold the interest of the Birds to Lord Brougham's ancestor-his greatgreat-uncle-for 5,000l., and by this transaction the estate was brought back to the family to whom it had for generations belonged. The attempt of the defendant to make Lord Brougham now prove his title failed on the ground that he had no standing whatever to interfere with the property. Verdict for the plaintiff, damages 40s.

12. Lieut. Mackay, Adjutant of the 5th Fusileers, shot on parade at Parsonstown Barracks by one of the soldiers he was drilling.

15.-Great Repeal demonstration on Tara

hill. "At 2 o'clock," writes One who has whistled at the Plough,' who was present, "when, as I may say, the tide was at its height, when thousands yet arriving were about to be driven back by tens of thousands leaving, at that hour on and around Tara there were above one million of people, probably 1, 200,000. Taking into account the throngs that filled the roads, and never got within miles of Tara, there were certainly one million and a half drawn from their homes by the business of the day." O'Connell addressed the multitude: -"When you get your Parliament," he said, "all your grievances will be put an end to. Your trade will be restored, the landlord will be placed on a fair footing, and the tenants who are now so sadly oppressed will be placed in their proper position. I believe I am now in a position to announce that in twelve months'

Old

more you won't be without hearing an hurrah for the Parliament on College Green. Ireland is a lovely land, blessed with the bounteous gifts of nature, and where was the coward who would not die for her? (Cheers.) These cheers will penetrate to the extremity of civilization, for your movement is the admiration of the world."

19. Calamitous series of fires in the Metropolis. The most destructive broke out in an oil and colour warehouse in Tooley-street, and extended to the church of St. Olave, which fell a prey to the flames during the performance of the marriage service, the hands of two couple being united by the vicar under the cupola of the chancel while streams of water and burning timber were falling about them. The building known as the Shot Tower, but more recently used as a telegraph for the communication of messages from the Downs and other parts of the coast, also caught fire, and almost instantly the flames burst forth at every window from the basement to the summit. The tower itself fell in a shower of fire shortly before 4 o'clock. At Topping's Wharf, adjoining the seat of the fire, the vessels moored alongside sustained considerable damage. While the fire was raging here in most alarming strength, an explosion took place in the fireworks manufactory of Mr. Newberry, in Fetterlane, which scattered the shop front and all its contents into the street, and set the adjoining properties on fire on every side. While the engines were being brought up a large quantity of gunpowder exploded, and blew the back part of the premises on to the houses in Bartlett's-passage, occasioning great destruction of property in that quarter, and throwing the occupants into a state of the wildest confusion. When the excitement was at its height, Mr. Newberry threw himself from the second-floor window of his premises, and sustained such severe injuries that he died in a few minutes. Four other occupants of the upper storey, after making the most frantic appeals for help, were surrounded by the flames, and perished almost within sight of the horrified spectators. Minor explosions of powder and bursting of pyrotechnic displays were taking place so frequent as to render any attempts at aid out of the power of firemen or constables. Besides these, other five fires were raging at nearly the same time one at Stratford; one at Houndsditch; one at High-street, Borough; one at Snowsfields; and one at Pudding-lane.

20. The divers engaged at the wreck of the Pegasus recover large quantities of luggage from the hold, including most of the theatrical wardrobe of Mr. Elton. Many of the bodies were also recovered floating in the neighbourhood of the wreck.

22.-Father Mathew administers the pledge at various meetings in London. On the 23d he visited Greenwich, and was received by about 20,000 people on Blackheath. The publicans attempted an opposition display.