upon a house where the chimney is on fire. The balloon caught fire and exploded; the unfortunate voyager narrowly escaping by dropping down the side of the house.

16. Payment of the 60,000l. assigned by Parliament as prize-money to be distributed among the officers and crews of her Majesty's ships of war engaged in the bombardment of St. Jean d'Acre and the various assaults made along the Syrian coast.

17. At the Derbyshire sessions William Henry Rose, a clergyman of the Church of England, was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment for assaulting, with intent, a girl eleven years of age, when returning from duty in the church at Glossop.

21. In the course of her voyage from Cowes to Portsmouth the Queen goes on board the Victory, then decked out with wreaths and laurels in honour of the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar.

Attempt to take possession of Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire, by a party of thirty men and two women, under the direction of Job Leigh, who assumed to be the rightful owner of the estate. Preparations having been made for the attack, the assailants were driven back, and most of them carried prisoners to Leamington, where they were committed for trial at the sessions on the charge of riot and assault.

23. The foundation-stone of the new docks at Birkenhead laid with great ceremony and rejoicing. All ordinary business was suspended on that side of the river, and even in Liverpool numerous shops were closed, that the inmates might attend the festivities across the Mersey. The Birkenhead Commissioners gave the whole of their people a holiday, full wages being paid, and bread and meat distributed in plenty to every family. An immense procession perambulated the boundary lines of the new town, and congregated about two o'clock at the Woodside slip, when the ceremony of laying the stone was performed by Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, M.P. for South Cheshire.

24.- Extraordinary double suicide near Kilmarnock. This morning, about seven o'clock, the bodies of a man and woman were found lying in shallow water below an arch of the bridge. They were fastened arm to arm by two pocket-handkerchiefs, a white cambric and a red silk, the man's right arm to the woman's left. The bodies were identified as those of two strangers who had arrived a few weeks before at the Commercial Inn, and left the preceding night, with the design, as they said, of seeing the scenery in the neighbourhood. On reaching the bridge they appeared to have made the most deliberate preparation for committing suicide. They bound themselves together in the manner described above, and wading into the shallow water laid themselves down side by side, where they

remained, apparently without a struggle, till the sought-for death came. A watch, jewellery, and a little money were found on the bodies. A ticket inside the hat, which with the woman's bonnet and veil were left at the water's edge, contained a card bearing the name of Atkinson, London. From subsequent inquiries the parties turned out to be a Birmingham manufacturer, named Barker, and his wife-a cousin-who had taken refuge in Scotland, after some commercial disaster.

The

28.-The New Royal Exchange opened by the Queen in state. The procession left Buckingham Palace at eleven o'clock, and traversing Pall Mall, the Strand, Fleet-street, and Cheapside, all gaily decorated, reached the Exchange a few minutes past twelve. state carriages were seven in number, six of them being drawn by six horses, and the Queen's by eight of the well-known creamcoloured stud. Her Majesty wore on the occasion a tiara of diamonds on her head and a white ermine mantle on her shoulders. The City authorities joined the procession at Temple Bar, where the usual ceremony was gone through of presenting the keys. On alighting at the Exchange, the Queen and Prince Albert, preceded by the Lord Mayor with his sword of state, walked round the quadrangle, across the ambulatory, then up to Lloyd's Merchants Room, and lastly through the Underwriters' Room to the Reading-room, where, seated on a throne, and surrounded by her ministers, courtiers, and City dignitaries, she received the address prepared for the occasion. "The privilege," read the Recorder,

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we this day enjoy of approaching your royal person revives the memory of the older time when your Majesty's illustrious predecessor, Queen Elizabeth, vouchsafed to adorn by her presence the simpler edifice, raised by a citizen and dedicated to the commerce of the world... Yielding to that eminent citizen and benefactor of his kind, Sir Thomas Gresham, the signal merit to plan and execute at his own charge this glorious work, we still rejoice to trace the assisting hand of the City and the ancient Company of Mercers from the earliest prosecution of the designs; and our gratitude is kindled on reflecting that each memorable epoch of the Royal Exchange is marked by the solicitude of the reigning monarch to raise and rebuild the structure from the ashes to which it has been twice reduced by the calamitous effects of fire.

....

Deign, therefore, most gracious Lady, to regard with your royal approbation this work of our hands, the noble and well-constructed pile again raised by the citizens of London, and erected on a site rendered worthy of the object of so vast an undertaking, to endure, we fervently pray, for ages a memorial and imperishable monument of the commercial grandeur and prosperity, and of the peaceful triumphs of your Majesty's happy reign." Her Majesty read a reply expressive of the delight it gave her to behold the restoration of this noble

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edifice, which my royal ancestors regarded with favour, and which I esteem worthy of my care. The relief of the indigent, the advancement of science, the extension of commerce, were the objects contemplated by the founder of the Exchange. These objects are near to my heart, and their attainment will, I trust, be recorded amongst the peaceful triumphs of my reign.' Addressing the Lord Mayor, the Queen said, "It is my intention, Mr. Magnay, to confer the dignity of a baronet upon you to commemorate the event." Turning to the Home Secretary, she continued, "Sir James Graham, see that the patent is prepared." This part of the ceremony over, a return was made to the Underwriters' Room, where a sumptuous déjeuner was provided for over 1,300 guests. The healths of her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Royal Family, the Lord Mayor, and the City of London, were here duly honoured-the Queen joining in the last toast with a vivacity which showed the interest she felt in the prosperity of the City. At twenty minutes past two her Majesty proceeded down stairs to the Quadrangle. Here her ministers, members of the corporation, and all the illustrious visitors ranged themselves in a circle round her. The heralds having made proclamation, and silence been obtained, a slip of parchment was passed from Sir James Graham to the Queen, who said in an audible voice, "It is my royal will and pleasure that this building be hereafter called The Royal Exchange. This concluded the ceremonies of the day; and after a few complimentary words to the Mayor and the architect, her Majesty, still leaning on Prince Albert's arm, proceeded to the royal carriage, and was driven back to Buckingham Palace by the same route as she passed over in the forenoon. The cost of rebuilding the Royal Exchange was stated to be upwards of 400,000/.

30. Sir Robert and Lady Sale visit the Queen at Windsor, and her Majesty hears from the lips of the heroic lady a narrative of the privations to which she with other captives had been exposed in Affghanistan.

31.-Fall of Radcliffe's Mill, Oldham. The arch on the topmost or sixth floor first gave way, the other arches followed, and then the whole building came down with a crash, burying in the ruins the whole of the workpeople who were then employed in it, thirtyfour in number. Eight men, eight women, and four boys were killed, and seven more or less hurt. The remainder were dug out without serious injury.

November 1.-Fire in Strathavan, Lanarkshire, by which forty houses, a brewery, and tan-work were destroyed, and nearly one hundred families rendered destitute.

4. The magistrates of Castlebrack hold a court in the churchyard, for the purpose of hearing evidence touching a tombstone there,

by the aid of which James Tracy sought to establish his claim to the Tracy peerage.

5.-The new arch bridging over the Glitting Mill brook, Derby, gives way on removing the scaffolding, and six of the workmen are buried in the ruins.

9.-The new Lord Mayor (Gibbs) received with great disfavour at various parts on the In route of the procession to Westminster. Walbrook Ward, which he represented in the Court of Aldermen, the feeling was particularly strong.

12.-The Queen and Prince Albert leave Buckingham Palace on a visit to the Marquis of Exeter at Burleigh.

Explosion on board the Gipsy Queen at Blackwall, and loss of ten lives. The boilers were constructed to bear a pressure of 40 lbs. to the square inch; on the trial trip that day they had been subjected to a pressure of 10 lbs. and it seemed doubtful if it could be got any higher. After the vessel was moored, Mr. Samuda, engineer, the builder of the boat, and well known in connexion with the Atmospheric Railway, set the safety-valve to 26 lbs. and directed that pressure to be tried. A few of those below went on deck to see whether any steam was blowing off, and had hardly cleared the engine-room when the explosion occurred. All on board were involved in the calamity; three on deck were killed, and the six left in the engine-room were found, as soon as an entrance could be made, lying scalded to death. The engines were of a new construction, known as the bell-crank" pattern, and were only patented by Mr. Samuda in the beginning of the year.

under a deed of gift, executed in April 1838. Lord Denman left it to the jury to decide whether Mr. Henry Philip Hope, at the time of executing the deed, intended completely to divest himself of all legal rights to the diamonds, or merely to provide that such right should only vest in his nephew on his own death. Verdict for plaintiff.

3. The Rev. W. G. Ward writes to the ViceChancellor of Oxford: "Whenever I am authoritatively informed of the whole method of proceeding which it is intended to pursue against me, there shall be no want of perfect openness on my side also; but nothing surely could be more unreasonable than to expect that, so long as strict secrecy is preserved on that head, I should volunteer any statement, however unimportant, or make any admission, however apparently insignificant."

- Johannes Ronge excommunicated by the chapter of Breslau for publishing a letter directed against the reverence paid to the relic known as the Holy Coat of Treves.

4.-The Grand Stand and adjoining apartments on Newcastle race-course destroyed by fire.

11.-Sir Henry Pottinger entertained at Merchant Tailors Hall by the merchants of London trading with China and the East Indies.

14. At Drury Lane Theatre, during the performance of "The Revolt of the Harem," the dress of one of the dancers (Miss Webster) came in contact with the gas, and she was almost instantly enveloped in a body of flame. Amid the frantic cries of the audience and performers, one of the stage-carpenters made an attempt to smother the flames by throwing the poor woman down on the stage and rolling her over and over. In this way, in time, they were put out, but the injuries sustained by Miss Webster were so severe that she died three days afterwards.

17.-Collision between the river steamers Sylph and Orwell off Greenwich. The former sunk in a few minutes, but with the exception of two, who were drowned, the whole of the passengers got on board the Orwell.

21. Dr. Pusey writes to several of the morning papers, announcing that he cannot and will not subscribe the Articles of the Church in the sense in which they were propounded by those who framed them. "I sign the Articles as I ever have since I have known what Catholic antiquity is to which our Church guides us, in their literal, grammatical sense,' determined, where it is ambiguous, by the faith of the whole Church, before East and West were divided."

23. As six boys and two men were descending the shaft of the coal-pit at Carlyn's Hall, near Dudley, the chain to which the skip was attached broke, and the whole were

January 1.-Murder at Salt Hill, near Slough. This evening Sarah Hart was found lying on the floor of her house almost insensible, by one of her neighbours who had been attracted to the spot by a noise resembling stifled screams. On approaching the house she heard the door shut, and saw a man dressed like a Quaker go along the path leading to the highway. He appeared to be greatly confused, and trembled very much. While he was opening the gate leading into the high road she asked him what was the matter with her neighbour, but he made no reply, and hurried onwards in the direction of Slough. This was John Tawell, at one time a member of the Society of Friends, but more recently engaged in business in Sydney, to the neighbourhood of which he had been transported for forgery on the Uxbridge Bank. His good conduct while in the colony obtained for him a ticket of leave after serving seven years—the third part of his time and he set up business as a chemist and druggist, by which he amassed considerable wealth. He now resided at Berkhampstead, where he was held in fair respect, and generally reputed to be a man of property. From the suspicious circumstances attending the death of his reputed wife, Sarah Hart, a description of his person was at once telegraphed from Slough to London. He was watched on his arrival, and apprehended next day by a policeman, who closely followed him to every place he went. Tawell then denied having been to Slough, or knowing anybody there. On being handed over to the custody of the Berkshire police he admitted that the murdered woman had been in his service at one time, and that he had lately received letters pressing for money to support her children. At the adjourned inquest on the 4th, the surgeon who made the post-mortem examination reported that death had been caused by prussic acid, or some poisonous acid akin thereto.

and submitted to quietly he would have them continued. Where they have been violently opposed he advises the clergyman not to insist upon their observance. He thinks uniformity in the mode of conducting public worship extremely desirable; but as the rubric is not very consistent with itself, he admits that the planners and advisers may be held to have contemplated the existence of some diversity when sanctioned by convenience.

15. Her Majesty and Prince Albert leave Windsor for the purpose of visiting Stowe, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Buckingham. On one of the days the royal party repaired to a battue, which took place in preserves rigidly kept for the purpose. Beaters to the number of about fifty were made to enter at the extreme end of a thick cover, while the shooting party were stationed in positions from which the game might be most conveniently destroyed as they were driven forth into the open space of the park. Of 200 hares shot 144 were counted to Prince Albert. This feature in the festivities was much commented on at the time.

19. A fire broke out in the old Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh, the result of which was the entire destruction of that ancient edifice, and the partial destruction of the church adjoining, known as the New Greyfriars. The flames were first observed about half-past 9 A. M. and within an hour after the whole eastern division of the edifice presented one huge whirling mass of fire, the great abundance and dry condition of the wood affording fit material for speedy combustion. Through the large window facing the gateway, the framework of which was now entirely gone, the interior was seen blazing like a vast furnace. The fire was believed to have originated from one of two stoves, which it had been the custom to light in order to heat the church before the hour of divine service on Sunday morning. Disturbance in St. Sidwell's Church, Exeter, arising out of the Puseyite practices observed by the Rev. Francis Courtenay. a representation being made to the Bishop of Exeter by the Mayor, the former wrote to Mr. Courtenay: "If you receive this letter you will understand from it that I advise you to give way at the request of the civil authorities of Exeter, and not to persist in wearing the surplice in the pulpit, unless, conscientiously and on full inquiry, you have satisfied yourself that your engagements to the Church require you to wear the surplice when you preach. I do not myself think that the matter is so free from doubt that you may not act on your bishop's advice as now given to you. Still, I do not pretend to any right to order you to wear the gown-I only advise it, and advise it with this limitation, that you can, without wounding your own conscience, comply."

On

21.-National testimonial presented to Rowland Hill. Mr. Larpent, the chairman of the City of London Mercantile Committee on

Postage, forwarded a cheque for 10,000l. to the author of the penny postage scheme.

23. A desperate conflict, attended with the loss of four or five lives, takes place at Clanfadda, near Killaloe, between a party of soldiers and two policemen, who interfered to recover two geese stolen from Farmer Gleeson in the afternoon. Several shots were fired between the parties, and one of the soldiers stabbed constable Callogan repeatedly with a bayonet. The other constable, Ellis, had a ramrod thrust into his mouth and through his neck.

24.-The Great Britain steamship starts on her trial voyage from Bristol to the Thames. She encountered a severe gale, and sustained some damage, but continued her course, and anchored in the Downs, a few minutes within twenty-nine hours from the time of departure. The distance run was 320 nautical miles. Her length of keel was 289 feet, main breadth 50 feet 6 inches, and depth of hold 32 feet 6 inches. Tonnage, 3,444 tons.

28.--James Tapping, twenty years of age, murdered Emma Wheter, in Manchester-street, Bethnal Green, by shooting her in the neck with a pistol. She was found soon after midnight lying in the street, almost dead from loss of blood. Tapping was found guilty of the crime, and executed 24th March.

February 3.-A fire consumes one of the houses in the village of Donnybrook, and on clearing away the ruins the police discover the bodies of the whole of the inmates, Captain Orsin, his wife, and two children. He had been resisting the landlord for some time, and it was supposed had committed the offences of murder, arson, and suicide.

4. Parliament opened by the Queen in person. The Royal Speech referred to the abatement of political agitation in Ireland, "and as a natural result private capital has been more freely applied to useful public enterprises undertaken through the friendly co-operation of individuals interested in the welfare of Ireland. The health of the inhabitants of large towns and populous districts in this part of the United Kingdom has been the subject of recent inquiry before a commission, the report of which shall be immediately laid before you."

7. As the British Museum was about closing this afternoon, a malicious person, who described himself as William Lloyd, a scenepainter from Dublin, seized a piece of granite from one of the shelves and dashed it against the case containing the Barberini Vase, better known as the Portland, from its having been purchased by the Duke of Portland for 2,000 guineas. It was deposited by his Grace in the Museum for security, as well as to gratify the public with a splendid example of ancient art. The vase was dashed into a thousand atoms, almost defying the possibility of that afterrestoration which was so ingeniously effected.

On being examined at Bow-street Police Office, Lloyd said he had committed the act under nervous excitement, produced by previous intemperance. The law as it then stood did not provide for the punishment of such an outrage, and the magistrate was therefore driven to the evasion of inflicting a fine of 3. the value of the glass case, or in default of payment three months' imprisonment. The fine was paid after a brief delay by an anonymous friend. An Act of Parliament was afterwards framed to protect works of art from similar disasters.

10. - The barque Henry takes fire off Black wall. An attempt to scuttle and sink her in deep water having failed, she was towed aground on the North Flats, near Greenwich, and there permitted to burn down to her keel. A heavy snow-storm was falling at the time, and through it the flaming vessel loomed like a wintry sunset.

13. Convocation at Oxford to condemn Mr. Ward's book, and deprive him of his degrees. Vice-Chancellor Wynter submitted the first proposition :- That the passages now read from the book, entitled The Ideal of a Christian Church considered in comparison with existing practice,' are utterly inconsistent with the Articles of Religion of the Church of England, and with the declaration in respect of these Articles made and subscribed by Mr. George Ward previously and in order to his being admitted to the degrees of B. A. and M.A. respectively, and with the good faith of him the said Mr. George Ward, in respect of such declaration and subscription." Mr. Ward defended himself in a speech arguing strongly in favour of subscription in a non-natural sense. Dr. Grant, of New College, proposed, as an amendment :-"That the passages now read from the book, entitled "The Ideal of the Christian Church considered,' are worthy of grave censure, but that the Convocation declines to express any opinion upon the good faith of the author, or to exercise the function of an ecclesiastical tribunal, by pronouncing judgment on the nature or degree of his offence." Mr. Denison entered his protest against the whole proceedings. On a division, the Vice-Chancellor's proposition was affirmed by 777 votes against 386, giving a majority of 391 against Mr. Ward. The proctors then took the votes on the second proposition for depriving Mr. Ward of his degrees, when the numbers were, for the degradation 569, against 511; majority, 58. Mr. Ward handed in a Latin protest, and left the Theatre cheered by

the undergraduates. Among the non-placets were Mr. Gladstone, Dr. Hook, and Dr. Pusey.

14. Sir Robert Peel makes his annual financial statement. He calculated the revenue for the ensuing year at 53,100,000l. and the expenditure at 49,000,000/. He thought ministers were justified in demanding an increased expenditure on account of the public service. No saving, he said, could be effected by the abolition of offices, and the reduction of salaries. A sufficient force of revenue-officers must be kept up to insure the collection of the revenue, and to give facilities to the transactions of commerce. He proposed to the Com

mittee to continue the income-tax for a further limited period of three years, because he was convinced that the reduction in the price of articles of great importance which would follow would be, if not a complete, yet a great compensation for such a burden. The surplus of 3,409,000l. he devoted to the reduction of the sugar duty, the abolition of the duty on glass, cotton, wool, and on the importation of Baltic staves. It was also proposed to abolish the duty on all those articles which merely yielded numerical amounts, a step which of itself would sweep away 430 articles from the tariff. did not deny that the financial scheme which he had explained was a bold experiment; but responsible as he was to Parliament for its success, he was not afraid to run the risk of making Sir Robert spoke for three hours and a

it.

half.

He

15.-The Statesman, a Dublin High Church and Orange parer, writes :-"The policy of our rulers is to declare decided war against our Lord Jesus Christ. We have long looked for nothing else at the hands of Sir Robert Peel, into whose policy the devil has entered, as manifestly as if an inspired historian had recorded the fact in terms similar to those which described the madness of the predestinated prototype of all such traitors."

21.-Jane Crosby, the keeper of a small public-house at Lamonby, near Penrith, takes the life of her child, aged seven years and a half, by roasting it on a large fire prepared for the purpose. After scorching it in the most shocking manner, the inhuman monster lifted the child off the fire, and held it on her knee till life was extinct, the little innocent faintly asking her elder sister for a drink of water. On trial the wretch was acquitted, the tender age of the elder child not being deemed safe for a capital conviction.

In the course of a debate on Mr. Duncombe's motion for a new Post-Office Committee, Mr. Disraeli taunted Sir Robert Peel with simulating a passion he did not feel. "The right honourable baronet had too great a mind and filled too eminent a position ever to lose his temper; but in a popular assembly it was sometimes expedient to enact the part of the His case was not always cholerie gentleman.

G