Sir John Coleridge concludes his speech for the defence in the Tichborne case, having spoken for twenty-six days.

22.-The Army Estimates moved by Mr. Cardwell-total amount, 14,824,500l.; net decrease as compared with 1871, 1,027,000l.; number of men 133,460, against 135,047 in 1871. One object specially kept in view under the Reconstruction Act of last year, was the localization of forces-identification with a locality for the purposes of recruiting, of training, of connecting regulars with auxiliaries, and of connecting the reserves with those who are actually under the standards. He believed that the principles of localization, wisely carried into effect, "will attract to the standards classes which do not now join them, will spread abroad a knowledge of the advantages which are offered by service in the army, and will associate the army with ties of family and kindred. It will induce men from the militia to join the army, and it will destroy competition in recruiting between the army and the militia." It was proposed to divide the country into territorial districts, in each of which there would be a battalion of the line and two militia regiments, and with them would be brigaded the volunteers of the district under the command of a lieutenant-colonel of the regulars, acting as brigadier. Each district would have a local central depôt, at which the recruiting and training would be carried on not only of the militia, but of the reserves and of the recruits for the line battalions.

23.-Demonstration at Antwerp in favour

of the Count de Chambord.

Total sum

24.-Navy Estimates issued. required for the year, 9,508,1497., being a decrease of 281,807/. as compared with last year.

27.-The Queen, with the Prince and Princess of Wales, and other members of the Royal Family, accompanied by all the high officers of the Crown, proceed in state to St. Paul's Cathedral, to join in a Thanksgiving Service for the recovery of the Prince of Wales. The feeling of loyalty excited by the long and severe illness, joined to the elaborate preparations known to have been made for this ceremonial, combined to make it one of the most enthusiastic displays seen in her Majesty's reign. If the crowds were not at all points equally large, or single decorations quite so gorgeous as on the occasion of the Princess Alexandra's arrival, there was on the other hand an equality of richness, a continued and unvarying appearance of wealth, magnificence, and taste, from Pall Mall to Fleet Street, from St. Paul's to Holborn, from Oxford Street back again to Buckingham Palace, such as had never been seen before. This was in great part owing to the provident arrangements of the citizens, by which, instead of decorations made according to the taste of each separate individual, a complete design was in most places followed out in every particular by a careful combination of means and minds beforehand, while the emulation in rich hangings, banners, lamps, and devices, which on former occasions caused a certain prodigality and waste of resource, was this year shared between whole parishes or streets, so that the loss of picturesqueness on one side was more than compensated by a sustained and long drawn out uniformity of magnificence, such as had been hitherto unknown in London. The weather had been for some days raw and gusty, and as it was known that this was the only circumstance likely to interfere with the Prince's attendance, the opening of the morning was looked forward to with some concern. The day turned out to be exceptionally dry and mild for the season, and by ten o'clock myriads had taken up their station within the barricades in the streets, at the windows overlooking the route of the procession, or on the endless platforms with which it was lined. A few minutes past twelve o'clock the procession set out from Buckingham Palace, and proceeded slowly to St. Paul's by way of the Green Park, Pall Mall, the Strand, Fleet Street, and Ludgate Hill. First came the carriages of the Speaker, the Lord Chancellor, and the Commander-in-Chief, followed by nine Royal carriages, six of them filled with ladies and gentlemen of the Court, the seventh with the younger brothers of the Prince, another by the Master of the Horse, and the last by the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince Albert Victor, and the Princess Beatrice. In the Park the Royal party were first saluted by a band of 30,000

children, who sung the National Anthem as the procession passed. At Temble Bar they were received by the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen, and the Queen presented with the City sword, graciously returning it to its hearer. While the Court party were passing along the decorated streets, amid deafening welcomes, a vast company of 13,000 had assembled in St. Paul's, composed largely of members of both Houses of Parliament, representatives of the army and navy, the heads of the great City Companies, and civic dignitaries from all parts of the kingdom. Within the Cathedral nothing could be more complete than the arrangements, and nothing more perfect than their execution. The doors having been opened early in the morning, everybody got in without delay, and found places without confusion. At one o'clock the procession arrived at the great western entrance to the Cathedral, and streamed in through a vestibule erected on the steps, bearing the inscription, "I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the House of the Lord." The Queen was received by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, and conducted with stately reverence to the Royal pew set apart for her household. She was dressed, it was noticed, in black velvet, broadly trimmed with white ermine, and the Princess in blue covered with a black lace mantle. The Prince of Wales wore the uniform of a general officer with the collars of the Orders of the Garter and Bath. Her Majesty, leaning on the Prince, led one of her grandchildren by the hand, the Princess of Wales another. The service began with the "Te Deum," followed by a few responses from the Liturgy and Lord's Prayer; then the ordinary prayers for the Queen and Royal Family, with a special form of thanksgiving. The Archbishop of Canterbury pronounced the benediction, and afterwards preached a short sermon from the text, Rom. xii. 5, "Members one of another." This was succeeded by a Thanksgiving Hymn specially prepared for the occasion, which brought the service to a close a few minutes before two o'clock.

The pro

cession then re-formed at the Cathedral door, and set out on the return journey by way of Ludgate Hill, Old Bailey, Holborn Viaduct, Oxford Street, to the Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner, and Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace, all converging thoroughfares on the way being decorated as profusely and crowded with people cheering as lustily as the route traversed before.

In the evening the illuminations were on a scale commensurate with the splendour of the reception accorded to her Majesty and family during the day.

27.-Although careful inspection was made of most of the platforms lining the route of the Royal procession to-day, a general regret was felt towards evening that several spectators had been hurt at different parts of the city by the falling of scaffolding and the excited crush in the streets.

27.-Collision in the Mersey between the Cunard steamer Parthia, bound for Boston, and the screw steamer Emiliano, inward bound from Singapore and Manilla. The latter had to be beached near Tranmere, and her cargo, consisting of tobacco and sugar, was almost destroyed. The Parthia afterwards ran into the Nina, from Vigo, and did her considerable damage.

Died, Rev. John McLeod Campbell, D.D., author of various religious treatises and sermons, some of which led to his being suspended from a charge in the Scotch Church at Row for heresy in 1831.

29.-The Queen writes from Buckingham Palace to Mr. Gladstone that she was anxious as on a previous occasion "to express publicly her own personal very deep sense of the reception she and her dear children met with on Tuesday, the 27th of February, from millions of her subjects on her way to and from St. Paul's. Words are too weak for the Queen to say how very deeply touched and gratified she has been by the immense enthusiasm and affection exhibited towards her dear son and herself, from the highest down to the lowest, in the long progress through the capital, and she would earnestly wish to convey her warmest and most heartfelt thanks to the whole nation for this great demonstration of loyalty. The Queen, as well as her son and dear daughterin-law, felt that the whole nation joined with them in thanking God for sparing the beloved Prince of Wales's life. The remembrance of this day, and of the remarkable order maintained throughout, will for ever be affectionately cherished by the Queen and her family.'

The The

Assault on the Queen. About halfpast five o'clock, as her Majesty was entering Buckingham Palace after a drive, a lad suddenly presented himself at the side of the carriage, holding a paper in one hand and a pistol in the other. He tried at first, it was said, to attract the attention of Lady Churchill, mistaking her probably for the Queen, by whose side she sat, and then appeared to be about to address himself to her Majesty, going round the back of the carriage, when the equerries and the Queen's personal attendant, John Brown, followed him and gave him into the custody of the police sergeant on duty at the time. Queen showed no sign whatever of fear. lad was immediately disarmed of the pistol, which proved to be unloaded. It was an oldfashioned weapon, with a flint and steel lock, which was broken, and in the barrel a piece of greasy red rag was found. He had also a knife in his possession, and the paper to which reference has been made was found on examination to be a petition, written on parchment, for the release of the Fenian prisoners. He was taken forthwith to the King Street police-station, Westminster, where he gave the name Arthur O'Connor, and stated his age to be seventeen. Her Majesty at once caused a message to be

sent to both Houses of Parliament informing members of the circumstance with a view to prevent unnecessary alarm.

29.-Intimation made to the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of London that it was the intention of her Majesty to confer a baronetcy upon the former and knighthood upon the latter in connection with the recent Thanksgiving Service, "than which," wrote Mr. Gladstone, "the City of London has perhaps never witnessed a celebration more solemn or more satisfactory." The Deputy-Recorder, Mr. Chambers, also at this time received the honour of knighthood.

Commenced to be heard at the Southwark Police Court the charge of libel with intent to extort money, preferred against Alexander Chaffers, solicitor, Lambeth, by Sir Travers Twiss, her Majesty's Advocate-General, and Lady Twiss. It appeared that soon after their marriage at Dresden in 1862, the defendant, who had acted for Lady Twiss in business transactions, made a demand upon her for 150l. Sir Travers's solicitor paid him 50%., and Chaffers gave a receipt in full of all demands. He sent other letters, and brought sham actions against Lady Twiss for alleged slanders. In

1868 Lady Twiss was presented at St. James's by Lady Rutherford Alcock, and in 1869 was again at her Majesty's Drawing Room. On the 29th of April of that year the defendant wrote to the Lord Chamberlain complaining of Lady Twiss, stating that she had misconducted herself in London previous to her marriage with Sir Travers Twiss. The Lord Chamberlain made inquiries, as he was bound to do under the circumstances, the result of which was satisfactory to himself and Sir Travers and Lady Twiss. On the 4th of April, last year, the defendant, determined to carry on his malicious persecutions, made a statutory declaration at Bow Street Police Court, in which he accused Lady Twiss of the grossest immoralities; declared that her name before marriage was Marie Gelas; that she lived in London for several years at various addresses named, and was a person of notoriously immoral character; that the defendant met her in Regent Street in 1859, and accompanied her to her lodgings in Upper Berkeley Street, where he stayed some time, and eventually gave her a sovereign; that he subsequently passed whole nights in her company many times; that her conduct was notoriously bad even for the class to which she belonged, and that she was in consequence called to order at the Holborn Casino; finally, that Sir Travers Twiss had immoral relations with her before her marriage. The case was continued from time to time till the 13th March, the defendant subjecting Lady Twiss to a severe and insulting examination for several days. On that date Mr. Poland, the prosecuting counsel, announced, to the surprise of the Court, that Lady Twiss was determined not to appear again, and had left London. Mr. Benson, the presiding magistrate, thereupon dismissed Chaffers on his own recognizances to appear

to answer a second charge, with the remark, "With regard to what you have alleged touching the conduct of this unfortunate woman, who, after braving the Court for a few days, has shrunk from meeting the frightful charges you have brought against her, I assure you that your conduct in this case, which rendered it necessary for her to take steps against you, will cling to you as a reproach to the end of your days, and you will live an object of contempt to all honest men." (Loud applause.)

March 1.-Sir Roundell Palmer's resolution for the establishment of a School of Law negatived in the Commons by 116 to 103 votes.

Fifteen persons accidentally poisoned by arsenic after attending a funeral at Saxby, Lincolnshire.

2.-Died, in his 81st year, Admiral Sir James Scott, K. C. B., an officer who had served with distinction in French, American, and Chinese wars.

3.-Sunday "demonstration" in Hyde Park against the Parks Regulation Bill.

Died, Mr. Angus M'Pherson, Secretary to the Highland Society, and translator of the Queen's Diary in the Highlands into Gaelic.

4.-Sudden termination of the huge Tichborne case, the jury to-day submitting to the Lord Chief Justice the following brief statement :-"We have now heard the evidence regarding the tattoo marks, and, subject to your lordship's directions, and to the hearing of any further evidence that the learned counsel may desire to place before us, I am authorized to state that the jury do not require further evidence." An adjournment was therefore made to the 6th, the 103rd day of trial, when Mr. Serjeant Ballantine sought to gain further time by alleging that the plaintiff had been taken by surprise so far as the tattoo marks were concerned. Finding, however, that the decision of the jury was based upon the entire evidence as well as the tattoo marks, he ultimately advised his client to submit to a nonsuit. After some discussion a nonsuit was entered, and his lordship ordered the plaintiff to be committed to the next session at the Central Criminal Court, upon a charge of wilful and corrupt perjury, and ordered him to remain in custody until then, unless he should find bail himself in 5,000l. and two sureties in 2,500l. or four in 1,250%. each. He also expressed his opinion that the Government should undertake the prosecution, and he bound over Mr. Inspector Dunning as prosecutor. The Attorney-General said that the Government would undertake the prosecution, and on his application a Bench warrant was issued for the apprehension of the plaintiff, who was soon after conveyed to Newgate. His lordship thanked the jury for the unwearied attention they had bestowed on the case, and expressed a hope that in the new Jury Act a clause would

he introduced exempting them from further service so long as they wished to be exempted. The Claimant's case had been supported by the oaths of eighty-five witnesses, comprising the baronet's mother, the family solicitor, one baronet, six magistrates, one general, three colonels, one major, two captains, thirty-two non-commissioned officers and privates, four clergymen, seven tenants of the estate, sixteen servants of the family, and twelve general witnesses, who all swore to his identity. His claim was denied by the oaths of seventeen witnesses.

4. Died at his residence, Carlton House Terrace, William Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale, aged 85 years.

5.-An imperial Order in Council issued at Berlin, decreeing the foundation of a Naval Academy at Kiel.

6.-The Queen, who had contemplated instituting a medal as a reward for long or faithful service among her domestic servants, inaugurates the institution by conferring on Mr. John Brown, her Majesty's personal attendant, a medal in gold, with an annuity of 257. attached to it, as a mark of her appreciation of his presence of mind and of his devotion on the occasion of the attack made upon her in Buckingham Palace Gardens on the 29th of February.

Died at his residence, St. George's Square, Primrose Hill, Dr. Goldstücker, Professor of Sanskrit in University College, London.

Sir

7.-Report of the Megara Commission laid on the table of the House of Commons. Spencer Robinson was held to be "mainly responsible for the misfortune which befell the vessel," on the ground that he was answerable for the defective organisation of his department, for the imperfect scrutiny of dockyard reports, for the perfunctory inspection exercised by the dockyard officials, and specially for neglecting to have the Megara examined during the five months when she lay idle at Sheerness before being re-commissioned for Australia. This conclusion the Commissioners stated they had come to with regret ; for there can be no question of the zeal and ability of Sir Spencer Robinson, and it is difficult, they think, to have taken part in this inquiry without forming a high appreciation of his merits as a devoted public servant." Mr. Reed and Mr. Barnaby were blamed for the incomplete inspection made at Woolwich in 1866.

The Scotch Education Bill read a second time, Mr. Auberon Herbert's amendment against applying rates to religious teaching being negatived by 238 to 6 votes.

8. Mr. Mowbray raises the question of the Ewelme Rectory appointment, Mr. Gladstone defending the proceeding on the ground that it was not a colourable qualification which the incumbent had acquired, but one solid, substantial, and perfect. Nevertheless, he admitted that prima facie the natural course would havc

been to look for an Oxford man in the absence of reasons to the contrary, and these reasons Mr. Gladstone explained were the recommendations he had received as to the incumbent's eminence as a divine, and his ill-health, which made his immediate removal to a more salubrious neighbourhood desirable.

8. Died at St. Petersburg, Prince Paul Gagarine, President of the Council of Ministers.

Prince Bismarck carries the School Inspection Bill in the Prussian Upper House by 125 votes against 76. He cautioned the Conservatives against the machinations of the Ultramontanes, who were endeavouring to get upa popular agitation against the Government by accusing it of attempting to make Prussia "a godless state." Such manoeuvres were totally at variance with the character of a Conservative opposition, and the Government could not believe that the Conservatives would give any countenance to them. The Prince then pointed out that since the defeat of Catholic Austria and France by Protestant Prussia, the German Ultramontanes had entered upon the field of foreign political intrigue, and he quoted on this subject a despatch which he had just received from " one of the most prominent German ambassadors at one of the most important posts in Europe." This despatch says that "the revenge which France desires is connected with the arousing of religious dissensions in Germany. The power and unity of Germany are to be paralysed by such dissensions, and the clergy of both countries, acting under direc tions from Rome, are to assist by their means in restoring the temporal power of the Pope.'

9.-Meeting in the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, presided over by Bishop Mackarness, to direct increased attention to the claim of the Melanesian Mission as the most fitting manner of honouring the martyred Bishop Patteson. A former labourer in that field, the Bishop of Lichfield, addressed the meeting at some length, explaining the nature of mission work in that part of the world, and the self-denying labours of the late prelate. A resolution was also proposed declaring that the new slave trade in the Pacific calls for the prompt and effective interference of the Government.

The Ewelme Rectory appointment being discussed in a manner tending to bring discredit on the Prime Minister's character for fairness, the Dean of Canterbury (Payne-Smith), who held the living before it was separated from the Divinity chair by the appointment of Dr. Mozley to the latter, writes: "Long after the arrangements between myself and Dr. Mozley were made, Mr. Gladstone offered the rectory to a distinguished member of the Convocation of Oxford; and it was only on his declining it that Mr. Harvey was appointed. Personally, I should have liked an Oxford man for my successor. The associations connected with the place would have made it doubly

valuable to an Oxford man. The memories of Van Mildert and Howley, of Lloyd and Burton and Hampden, must be dearer to us than they can be to a member of the sister University. But if a Cambridge man was to be appointed, Mr. Harvey is a ripe scholar and a good parish priest, and I rejoice that a place very dear to me should have fallen into such good hands."

9.-Banquet given by the Mayor of Winchester to Lord Northbrook, as a public expression of the respect and admiration which Hampshire men entertain for his lordship's character as a countryman, and of congratulation on his appointment as Viceroy of India. Sir John Kaye and Mr. Grant Duff attended from the India Office.

The Prince and Princess of Wales leave London for Paris, on their way to Geneva, thence to the Mediterranean and south of France.

10. Died at Pisa, aged about 70, Joseph Mazzini, an Italian patriot fertile in desperate stratagems, and possessed of high political and literary qualities. His funeral took place at Genoa on the 19th, when the remains were followed to the grave by a body of about 80,000 admirers.

Died, Rev. James Wells, 40 years Baptist pastor of the Surrey Tabernacle.

11. Mr. Holms's proposal to reduce the land forces by 20,000, negatived by 234 to 63; and Mr. Muntz's proposal to reduce them by 30,000, rejected by 216 to 67.

Reported breaking up of the Erie Ring, General Dix being elected chairman, and General M'Clellan superintendent.

Shere Ali, the assassin of Lord Mayo, executed. He stated before being led out that he had resolved to murder both the Viceroy and General Stewart, and when he heard the guns announcing the Viceroy's arrival he sharpened his knife in the jungle. It was now surmised that he was not hiding at the pier, but quietly joined the party, and in the dark crept close to Lord Mayo. No clue to anything like a conspiracy was discovered. Shere Ali made no other confession than that he could not resist the impulse to kill the Viceroy.

12.-Lord Romilly gives judgment in the case raised by Lord Ferrers against the receiver of the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway. His lordship sold fifty acres of land to the company for 8,887., the price being settled by arbitration, and the company were ordered to pay 400/., the taxed costs incident to the taking of the land by them. The railway is in the hands of a receiver, and no arrangement had been effected with the creditors. Earl Ferrers asked that he might be entitled to the lien and rights of an unpaid vendor; but Lord Romilly, characterising this as a new experiment on the part of a creditor of a railway company to get priority over all the other creditors declined to make

13. Mr. Salt's Public Worship Facilities Bill read a second time by 122 votes to 93, the object as explained by the proposer being to give greater elasticity and freedom to the parochial system by allowing the bishop of the diocese in certain cases to license clergymen to perform divine service in places of worship, including chapels in private houses, other than the parish church.

14. A proposal, made in connection with the progress of the Ballot Bill through the Commons, to throw the election expenses upon the Consolidated Fund, rejected by 206 to 144

votes.

15. Mr. Dodson submits to the House his scheme for the amendment of the system of private business and legislation, the main proposal being to transfer the preliminary investigations from Select Committees to a permanent tribunal of a judicial character, before which promoters and opponents could be heard in open court.

Lord Northbrook gazetted GovernorGeneral of India.

16.-Stranding of H.M.S. Lord Clyde on the isle of Pantelleria.

17. Announcement made that the Secretary of State for India had resolved, "That having regard to the eminent services rendered by the late Earl of Mayo as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, to the munificence with which he maintained in that office the dignity of the Crown, and to his death by a deed of violence to which he was exposed in the discharge of his public duty, a life annuity of 1,000l. be conferred on the Countess of Mayo, to be paid out of the revenues of India; and, further, that there be paid out of the same revenues the sum of 20,000l. for the benefit of the younger children of her ladyship and of the late Earl of Mayo."

18.--Vice-Chancellor Wickens gives judg ment in the case of the Attorney-General v. Batley Corporation-a suit brought to restrain the Town Council from providing out of the local rates a gold chain for the mayor, at a cost of 2007. His Honour held that the proposed expenditure was not within the scope of the Municipal Corporations' Reform Act, and that a chain was not a necessary adjunct of the magisterial position, and granted the injunction asked for.

19. The first "free election" of a bishop for the disestablished Church of Ireland takes place at Clonmel, when the Dean of Limerick was elected to the vacant see.