they could provide properly for the public safety.

31. Close of the last Parliament elected under the Reform Bill of 1832. The Royal Commissioners took their seats at two o'clock, shortly after which the Royal Assent was given to a large number of bills, the Electric Telegraph Bill among the rest. The Lord Chancellor read the Queen's Speech, congratulating Parliament on the friendly relations of this country with foreign Powers, the success of the Abyssinian expedition, and the restoration of comparative quiet in Ireland. "It is my intention," the Speech concluded, "to dissolve the present Parliament at the earliest day that will enable my people to reap the benefit of the extended system of representation which the wisdom of Parliament has provided for them. I look with entire confidence to their proving themselves worthy of the high privilege with which they have thus been invested, and trust that, under the blessings of Divine Providence, the expression of their opinion on the great questions of public policy which have occupied the attention of Parliament and remain undecided may tend to maintain unimpaired that civil and religious freedom which has been secured to all my subjects by the institutions and settlements of my realm.'

August 1.-A duel arising out of an article entitled "The Epilogue," which appeared in La Liberté, takes place this evening between MM. Jecker and Odysse Barrot. They met on the skirts of the forest of Soignées, near the avenue which leads to Waterloo. Barrot was hit in the region of the abdomen, but the ball appeared to have been turned aside by a button, and was afterwards found in his waistcoat pocket. Mutual explanations then took place, and the principals left the ground with their friends.

3.

Rumoured failure of one of the Atlantic telegraph cables.

Insurrectionary movements reported from Spain, bands of armed citizens suddenly appearing over the province of Arragon. Ministerial organs pronounced them to be smugglers, but admitted that they were acting under the direction of a Brigadier-General.

4.-Jefferson Davis, late President of the Confederate States, arrives at Liverpool.

5.-Unveiling of Foley's statue of Lord Clyde erected in Glasgow.

M. Rochefort fined 50 f. for refusing to insert a Government communiqué in the Lanterne. On the 14th he was fined (in absence) 10,000f. for another offence against the Government, and sentenced also to one year's imprisonment. The publication was afterwards suppressed with great assiduity.

Mr. Gladstone commences his electoral campaign in South-west Lancashire, by addressing the constituency at St. Helen's. His (692)

views on the Irish Church question were, if possible, more pronounced than he had ex"There pressed in the House of Commons. are a great number of things," he said, "that are absolutely impossible. You can't amend this Church in one respect or direction, without offending in some other respect or direction, and making the case worse than be fore. The reason of it is that there is no basis. It is wholly disabled and disqualified for performing the purposes for which it exists; and consequently I spoke in literal truth, and not in mere sarcasm, when I said, 'You must not take away its abuses, because if you take them away there will be nothing left.' Speaking of the effect of the proposed disestablishment on the Church here, he said nothing appeared to him more idle than to attempt to draw a parallel between the case of the Church of Ireland and the case of the Church of England. "The duty of a religious establishment is a duty to the nation at large. The idea of a religious establishment ministering only to a handful of the people is an unnatural and monstrous idea; and when you have arrived at such a state of things, it is time that Establishment should cease to exist. (Cheers.) In many parts of the country the Church of England is the sole, and in many other parts the principal, if not the sole, religious agency; and only in the most populous parts is she confronted by the friendly competition of the other religious bodies. Still I think the Church of England enters into the natural life and purpose of the country, and is associated in a great degree with the feelings, the traditions, as well as the history of England; and there are, in my opinion, very many who do not formally belong to her communion, who would with deep regret witness her downfall. (Cheers.) The great difference between the two Churches is summed up in the fact that the Church of Ireland is a Church established by law, which neither does nor can do the work of an Establishment; but the Church of England, established by law also, in most parts of the country does the sole, and in many others the chief, part of the work of an Establishment." Mr. Gladstone was accompanied by his colleague, Mr. H. R. Grenfell. Other addresses were delivered in rapid succession at Warrington, Liverpool, Newton-Bridge, Wigan, and Ormskirk.

5. The Lower House of the Hungarian Diet adopt the principle of the Organization Bill, by a majority of 235 against 33 votes.

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Excessive heat in London; the thermometer ranging 123° in the sun, and barometer 2981. Swarms of mosquitoes were reported to be infesting the neighbourhood of the docks.

6.-Fire at the Brighton Railway Terminus, London Bridge, confined mainly to the vaults under the platform, in which it originated.

Her Majesty, whose health had recently caused much anxiety in the Royal household,

She

sets out on a journey to Switzerland. passed from Cherbourg to Paris on the 7th, and arrived at Lucerne on the 8th.

6.-Died, in his 94th year, the Right Hon. Stephen Lushington.

Forty-seven miners killed by an explosion of fire-damp in the Ste. Henriette pit, Jenappes, Belgium.

8.-The Dublin Gazette announces the elevation of the Marquis of Abercorn to a dukedom.

Lord Napier of Magdala entertained at Welshpool. He made a speech on the occasion in defence of the policy he had pursued from the day he landed in Abyssinia, and emphatically asserted that Theodore had not been deceived, as was alleged, into freeing the captives, on condition that his fortress should not be attacked.

9. The morning journals criticise, generally unfavourably, the rumoured appointment of the Earl of Mayo as Governor-General of India. Other governors appointed at this time by Mr. Disraeli were, Sir James Fergusson to South Australia, and Mr. Ducane to Tasmania.

In answer to an address presented by the Mayor of Troyes, the Emperor Napoleon urged the citizens to continued industry, "for nothing to-day threatens the peace of Europe.'

10. Fire in King-street, Southwark, destroying several cottages and four large hop warehouses.

11.-Died, in Paris, Ada Menken, actress and equestrian performer.

The

Earthquake in Central America, destroying within a few days the cities of Arica, Arequipa, Iquique, and Ecuador, with fleets of merchant vessels along the entire coast. loss of life was beyond all precedent — as many it was thought as 40,000 having perished in the ruins of falling cities, or been engulfed in the yawning earth. In many places the sea first retired a space, and then rushed over the towns on the shore with great violence. At Arequipa an eye-witness writes :-" We are now living in a tent on the river bank. one dares go to town, as the shocks still continue to bring down what little is left standing. They occur at intervals of half an hour each. This evening some of the shocks have been very violent. So far there have been about 70 shocks up to 8 P.M. The river Paucarpata has changed to three colours, which makes us

No

believe the volcanoes are at work. Everything is confusion, and the cries and lamentations that we hear are heartrending. Thus the work of the Arequipinos for 300 years has been destroyed in a few minutes; it will take 500 years to do the same work again. The debris of the Jesuits' Church was hurled to a distance of 100 yards. The picture presented by our desolate city is sad indeed. God grant that our fears be not realized, for Mount Misti is vomiting lava, clouds of smoke, and quantities of mud, and darkness hides its belching from our view. We hear the constant noise of falling rocks and earth, and the river is impassable, owing to its black colour and sulphurous odour." "In the city of Quito," another wrote, "all the churches, convents, and a large number of houses are in a state of complete ruin. The undulation was from north to south. On the 16th, nine severe shocks were felt, every one of which added to the destruction and the general panic that prevailed. The people of the capital have all deserted their homes, and fled to the open country for safety. The sufferings of these poor people, who are wandering over the country without money, without food and clothing, cannot be described. Business of all kinds is totally suspended." The intelligence from Arica was:-"The hour was that when by custom most of the inhabitants had just closed their daily labours and were at their homes. The instant the startling indications of an earthquake were felt there was a general rush for uncovered spaces, which were reached by many uninjured, but not by all. The streets became a scene of terror. All the houses in the city trembled like a person affected with the ague. Then they surged, and some of them fell to pieces with crash after crash. At this juncture, when the undulations were active, the earth opened in several places in long and almost regular lines. The fissures were from one to three inches in width. The sensation was distinct, as though something was rolling underneath. From every fissure there belched forth dry earth like dust, which was followed by a stifling gas. Owing to the demolition of buildings and the general destruction of all kinds of property, and the dust belched forth as well as that set in motion by the general tumult, a dense cloud was formed over the city and obscured the light. Beneath the cloud was the gas, which severely oppressed every living creature, and would have suffocated all these if it had lingered longer stationary than it did, which The undulations was only about 90 seconds.

were three in number, each succeeding one being of greater magnitude than the former." The intelligence produced a fall in this country of 1 per cent. in Peruvian, and 1 in Ecuador bonds.

14. Collision off the Eddystone Lighthouse between H.M.S. Warrior and Royal Oak, two of the Channel squadron then proceeding to Ireland. The gale in which the squadron was caught increasing in severity, a signal was made from the admiral's ship to

blame was at first thought to attach to Captain Boys of the Warrior, but a court-martial afterwards summoned at Devonport entirely acquitted him.

14. Dr. Pusey addresses a letter to the President of the Wesleyan Conference, pleading that the Methodists should co-operate with the Oxford Tories in resisting Mr. Coleridge's scheme for throwing open the honours and emoluments of the Universities to men of all creeds and denominations. 66 Supposing the present state of things to be changed," Dr. Pusey suggested "two alternative expedients." The first was that subscription to the Nicene Creed should be substituted for subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles; the other, that new colleges should be founded out of the revenues of the old ones for "the different bodies who hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." He observed that "either of these ways would be a religious way," and would be "far preferable" to Mr. Coleridge's plan, "which would entrust, the education of our youth to (as it may be) deist or atheist." Conference decided to abstain from dealing with the subject "for the present." It was of this letter the Rev. J. W. Burgon, of Oriel, declared, "That of all the wild expedients I have ever seen committed to paper by a good man, I have never in my life met with anything more wild, more impracticable, than this to which you have subscribed your honoured name. He said it must not be thought for an instant that Dr. Pusey has expressed the sentiment of the University, for he believes that not five Churchmen in the University would endorse it. He held that Mr. Coleridge's bill, irreligious as it was, would have been far less mischievous in its operation than the proposal of which Dr. Pusey is the advocate.

Died Matthew James Higgins, well known in the public controversies of the day as "Jacob Omnium."

Mr. W. Scully's bailiff and a policeman murdered at Ballycohey, Tipperary, while serving notices of eviction.

15. His Excellency Mr. Reverdy Johnson, the new United States Minister, lands at Southampton.

Certain questions having been proposed by General Rosencranz regarding the wishes and intentions of the inhabitants of the Southern States, General Lee answers to-day :-"The people earnestly desire tranquillity and the restoration of the Union; they deprecate disorder and excitement as the most serious obstacle to their prosperity. They ask a restoration of their rights under the Constitution; they desire relief from oppressive misrule. Above all, they

would appeal to their countrymen for the reestablishment in the Southern States of that which has justly been regarded as the birthright of every American, the right of self-government. Establish these on a firm basis, and we can safely promise on behalf of the Southern people that they will faithfully obey the Constitution and laws of the United States, treat the negro with kindness and humanity, and fulfil every duty incumbent on peaceful citizens, loyal to the Constitution of their country."

16.-Telegrams from Madrid of this evening's date announce that the Spanish Government is in a disorganized state.

17.-Demonstration at the Crystal Palace in professed defence of the Throne, the Church, and the Constitution, but more particularly of the Irish Church. The gathering, which was thinly attended and passed off peaceably, was presided over by Lord Fitzwalter. The only Bishop present was the Australian Bishop of Perth, and the only M.P. Mr. Newdegate. It was intimated in the course of the proceedings that the Duke of Portland had subscribed 2,000l. to aid the cause of the association.

19. Great eclipse. To-day a shadow, such as never before fell on the earth within historic times, swept at the rate of 200 miles per hour from the Straits of Bab-el-Mandel across the two Indian peninsulas, over Borneo and Celebes, and, touching the northern extremity of Australia, passed out many hundreds of miles (before leaving the earth) upon the Pacific Ocean.

Sir W. Brett, solicitor-general, Serjeant Hayes, and Mr. Cleasby, Q.C., mentioned as the judges to be appointed under the Bribery Act of last session for trying election petitions. Fire at Northumberland House, destroying portions of the picture-gallery, ballroom, and stables.

Appalling accident to the Irish limited mail train at Abergele, North Wales. After leaving Chester the train proceeded at its usual high speed, till nearing Abergele it came into violent collision with certain trucks which had broken off at the station and run down the incline. The effects were most disastrous. The engine was completely smashed, several of the foremost carriages were thrown across the line, and a number of the passengers killed or injured. But the loss of life in this way must have been trifling compared with what followed. A few of the passengers had liberated themselves from their carriages, and were doing what they could to assist each other, when the horrible discovery was made that the front carriages were enveloped in flames. petroleum with which the trucks had been loaded swept along with a swiftness and intensity which made escape or even aid impossible. Death was so sudden that at the inquiry which subsequently took place few could say they either saw the sufferings of their fellow-pas

The

sengers or heard their cry for help. Twentyeight parcels of charred human remains were laid in Abergele Church, to await the Coroner's inquest. They were in such a condition as made it difficult to distinguish sex, or even to be sure of the number of persons represented. Other five were less mutilated, and gave encouragement to the belief that all had died instantaneously either from the collision itself or the sudden ignition of the petroleum by which it was followed. Of the thirty-three killed, ten were thought to be males, thirteen females, and of ten the sex could not be distinguished. The remains were buried in one grave in Abergele Churchyard. Lord and Lady Farnham with a companion and three attendants, were among those who perished in the disaster. The Duchess of Abercorn and family were in the train, but, occupying an end carriage, escaped with others unhurt. The manner in which the Coroner at first conducted the inquiry gave rise to some dissatisfaction among relatives, but they latterly concurred in his proceedings, and lent what help they could to carry them out. After a lengthened examination of witnesses, the jury found a verdict of manslaughter against the two breaksmen of the goods train. They also censured the Llandulas station-master for neglect of duty; recommended that longer time should be allowed for shunting before passenger trains are due; and that during the shunting process the points should be kept open into the siding, to prevent runaway trucks escaping to the main line. They were satisfied that the doors of the carriages were not locked on the platform side, and expressed the deepest sympathy with the relatives. breaksmen surrendered and were admitted to bail.

The

20. Mr. Gladstone replies to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's defence of the finance schemes of the Government. "We left the income-tax (he said) at 4d. in the pound. The expenditure of 1859-60 was arranged by the Tory Government. It was early in July that, on coming into office, I had to meet a deficit of, I think, four and a half millions, in a year of which all the arrangements had been made, and of which between three and four months had actually gone." A detailed statement dealt with the expenditure for the army, navy, and Civil Service-the extent to which these had fallen short of or exceeded the estimates proposed by different Governments. The Liberal party, he calculated, saved about 1,800,000l. between 1862 and 1865, while the Tory Government exceeded in two years 1,145,000l., besides the cost of the Abyssinian war. The financial schemes carried through between 1862 and 1865 gave the country reduction of taxation to the extent of 2,276,000l. annually. thence it follows that the policy of the Liberal party has been to reduce the public charges, and to keep the expenditure within the estimates, and, as a result, to diminish the taxation of the country and the national debt;

"From

that the policy of the Tory Government, since they took office in 1866, has been to increase the public charges, and to allow the departments to spend more than their estimates, and, as a result, to create deficits, and to render the reduction of taxation impossible. Which policy will the country prefer?" The Chancellor of the Exchequer afterwards wrote to Mr. Cross, the Conservative candidate for Southwest Lancashire :-" Speaking in round numbers that is sufficiently accurate--the difference between the estimates presented to Parliament by the late Government for 1866-7 and by the present Government for 1868-9, after making all necessary corrections for alterations in account and transfer of charges from the Consolidated and other funds, amounts, I believe, to 2,815,654/. First, the excess of the army estimates of 1868-9 over the original estimates of 1866-7 amounts to 1,360,000/. The excess of the navy estimates of 1868-9 over the original estimates of 1866-7, added to the supplemental estimate of March 1866, after making the necessary adjustment for alterations in the account, amounts to 584,9147. The excess of the Civil Service and revenue estimates, as finally voted for 1868-9, over the original estimates of 1866-7, after making the necessary adjustment for alterations in the account, amounts to 870, 740%. From this should be deducted, say, 300,000l., being that portion of the supplemental estimates for 1866-7 excluding extraordinary services which ought to have been provided for in original estimates." This extra expenditure Mr. Hunt accounted for by the increase of pay to the army, the arming of fortifications, and the furnishing of breech-loaders.

20.-Replying to claims for compensation made by the owners of the captured Tornado, Lord Stanley writes that, after having consulted the proper law advisers of the Crown, he considers that the final issue of the proceedings in the Tornado case must be awaited before any decision is arrived at as to the course to be adopted with reference to the claim of members of the crew for compensation.

26.-A letter appearing in the Times purporting to be from the Hon. Stuart Wortley, and offering to restore 18,000l. which he had received through his connexion with the Credit Foncier, Mr. Wortley now writes that the epistle was a hoax, and that he had never received 18,000l., or any sum in any degree approaching to that amount."

66

29.-General Garibaldi resigns his seat as Deputy in the Italian Parliament.

30.-Duel at Vesinet, near St. Germains, between M. Paul Cassagnac, of the Pays, and M. Lissagary, editor of the Avenir, published in the Gris, and which had laid itself out to oppose the re-election of M. Garnier de Cassagnac for that department. M. Lissagary was dangerously wounded.

September 1.-The Earl of Mayo an

nounces to the electors of Cockermouth that he did not intend to ask their suffrages on the occasion of the present election, as he had accepted the office of Governor-General of India.

3.-The Archbishop of Dublin in his Visitation Charge tells his clergy that the Irish Church was assailed by Englishmen because Irish outrages have overflowed into England. He asserted that the Roman Catholic priesthood will never allow the Roman Catholic population under their influence to be thoroughly reconciled to Imperial rule. The proposal to disestablish the Irish Church was made, the Archbishop thought, with levity and precipitation. "The Roman Catholics will be but feebly and languidly pleased, whilst the Protestants will entertain the liveliest and most enduring resentment for the wrong inflicted upon them.'

Died at Baden, aged 69, Professor Schönbein, famous as the discoverer of ozone and the inventor of gun-cotton.

Mr. Reverdy Johnson entertained at a banquet in Sheffield. He spoke in a hopeful way of our relations with the United States, and trusted that both countries would always be found standing side by side. Later in the evening, Mr. Roebuck created some surprise by speaking of the admixture of races in America as something different from what is found here, and as a difference for the worse. He asked his hearers to picture to themselves the wild Irishman, the fiery Frenchman, the assassinating Italian, and the dumbfounded Spaniard all going out in one mass to be worked up in America.

4.-Fire in Southampton Docks, destroying the greater portion of the West India Company's factory.

5.-This day (Saturday) the great cab strike which had been threatened through the week in the metropolis reached its culminating point. With the exception of what were termed privileged cabs, there were few or none plying for hire, any that attempted being generally surrounded by a mob of cabmen and hustled back to the yard. At a meeting convened on Primrose-hill, a resolution was agreed to"That we, the cab-drivers of London, on account of the unfair treatment and refusal of the various railway companies to throw open their stations to us, are reluctantly but fully determined not to take out any proprietor's cabs until such time as those railways are open to each and all of us; and that this resolution is to take effect from this day." The strike failed in its purpose of opening up the railway stations to all cabs.

6. An informal announcement made that Government, as a response to the recent Russian successes in Central Asia, have resolved to occupy a portion of Southern Affghanistan; to fortify Quetta, near the Bolan Pass, in Beloochistan; to form several strategical lines of railway across the Punjaub, and otherwise set

the Indian frontier in order either for offence or defence.

7.-Several officers stationed in the garrisons of Tarragona and Badajoz dismissed on suspicion of being concerned in insurrectionary

movements.

9.-The Queen leaves Lucerne for Paris on her homeward journey.

The Brussels International Congress of Workmen adopt resolutions, declaring that their claims cannot be completely settled by means of strikes. They recommended the establishment of councils of arbitration.

13. A harvest festival celebrated with great ritualistic pomp in the church of St. James the Great, Haydock, Lancashire.

14. Mr. Reverdy Johnson presents his credentials to the Queen at Windsor.

15. In a speech at Kiel the King of Prussia said: "I do not see throughout Europe any cause for the disturbance of peace. What will still more reassure you, I perceive in the representatives of the army and navy assembled here the vigour of the fatherland, who have proved that they do not shun the combat if compelled to fight it out."

Wheelan tried at Ottawa for the murder of Mr. Darcy M'Ghee, and sentenced to be executed on the 10th December. He denied being a Fenian, or entertaining any feeling of hostility whatever against M'Ghee.

16.-Fire in the premises of William Stoker Washington, Newcastle, caused by the accidental upsetting of a jar of diamond oil. Two of the family were burnt to death in the room, two died afterwards, another was injured severely, and four less so.

18.-Announcement made to-day that Sir John Young (formerly Governor of the Ionian Islands) had been selected to succeed Lord Monck as Governor-General of the Canadian Confederation.

Interview at San Sebastian between the Queen of Spain and the Emperor Napoleon III. It was immediately rumoured that the aid solicited by the Queen had been refused.

Explosion in the cartridge manufactory of Metz, causing the death of thirty men and six women. As many as 110 were said to have been injured.

The King of Prussia, in replying to an address presented by the Burgomaster of Kiel, said: I thank you for this festive reception. I remember my former presence among you in 1864. Then the future of the Elbe Duchies was still uncertain; now their destiny is decided. This reception is a moral guarantee that public opinion is no longer antagonistic to the established Parliaments, and is now be coming reconciled to the changes which have taken place." His Majesty also assured the clergy of Schleswig-Holstein that by the annexation to Prussia complete freedom of wor ship has been guaranteed to all creeds.