and went downward; he lay right on his back." The rest of the deposition did not bear directly on the death of Gray, but Earl Russell, in transmitting it to Lord Lyons, observed that Carrew's statement, "in the opinion of the law officers of the Crown, had on the face of it evident signs of truthfulness, and threw more light on this unhappy transaction than any of the statements previously in the possession of Her Majesty's Government." Lord Lyons was instructed to express to the Government of the United States the opinion of Her Majesty's Government," that, if the facts deposed to are true, the officer who killed the mate of the Saxon' has been guilty of wilful murder, and should be brought to trial without delay." Lord Lyons was further instructed to apply to the Federal Government for a pecuniary compensation to the widow of Mr. Gray, and to express the confidence of Her Majesty's Government that full compensation would also be made for the loss the owners had sustained by the seizure of the vessel.

MARCH.

1. LAUNCH OF THE "KNIGHT COMMANDER," IRON STEAMSHIP, AT DUBLIN. The launch of the first large iron vessel ever built in the port of Dublin is a noteworthy event in the progress of Irish industry and commerce. The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, with a large company of distinguished persons, visited on this occasion the building-yard of Messrs. Walpole, Webb, and Bewley, North Wall. The Marchioness of Kildare performed the office of "christening" the young ship by breaking a bottle of wine upon the bows. Next moment the "dog-shores," or props by which the vessel was upheld, were knocked away, and she gracefully descended into the river, saluted by the guns of H.M.S. Ajax" and by the cheers of 20,000 spectators. The "Knight Commander" belongs to Messrs. Carlyle and Geddes, of Liverpool, and is intended for the Calcutta trade.

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10. CHRISTENING OF THE SON OF THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.-On this day, which was the first anniversary of the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, their infant son was admitted by baptism into the Christian Church. The ceremony, at which Her Majesty was present, was performed in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace, and, except in the quality of the company, bore but little resemblance to the Royal baptisms of former days.

The King of the Belgians was the first to arrive at Buckingham Palace, but Her Majesty arrived shortly after. Lord Palmerston, the Duke of Cambridge, Sir George Grey, Earl De Grey and Ripon, and many of the chief officers of State assembled in the lower dining-room of the Palace; there were also present

nearly all the foreign ministers, and the gentlemen connected with the Court. At half-past twelve they were conducted to the seats within the chapel. At the altar were the Archbishop of Canterbury; the Bishop of London, Dean of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal; the Bishop of Oxford, Lord High Almoner; the Bishop of Chester, Clerk of the Closet; the Rev. H. Howarth, B.D., Rector of St. George's, Hanover-square; the Hon. and Very Rev. Dr. Gerard Wellesley, Dean of Windsor, and resident Chaplain to Her Majesty; and the Very Rev. Dr. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Chaplain to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The King of the Belgians and the Princess Helena (representing Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Prussia) acted as sponsors. The other sponsors were the Duchess of Cambridge, representing the Dowager Duchess of SchleswigHolstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; Prince John of SchleswigHolstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, representing the King of Denmark; the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, representing the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Prince Alfred; and the Duke of Cambridge, representing the Landgrave of Hesse.

Within the chapel two rows of chairs, one on each side of the centre, were appropriated to the use of the Queen, the sponsors, and the Royal personages invited to be present. The principal compartments, or pews, of which there are four (two on either side of the chapel), were assigned to the representatives of foreign Powers connected with the Royal family, to the Cabinet Ministers, and to the other official dignitaries who were present without taking an active part in the ceremony. The altar was lined with crimson velvet, panelled with gold lace; the church plate was displayed, and seats of crimson and gold were ranged within the rails for the officiating clergy. The font was placed in advance of the haut pas immediately at the head of the two rows of chairs above mentioned. The font itself is a tazza of silver gilt, the rim representing the leaves and flowers of the water-lily, whilst the base is grouped with cherubs playing the lyre: in front are the Royal arms. The font was placed on a fluted plinth of white and gold. Over the altar was a fine piece of tapestry, representing the baptism of our Saviour.

When the visitors were seated, the Queen (who was dressed in black silk and crape), attended by the Duchess of Wellington, the Lady Churchill, the Hon. Mrs. Robert Bruce, and by the Lord de Tabley and Lieut.-Gen. Sir Henry Bentinck, K.C.B., took her place as one of the sponsors, the King of the Belgians and the other Royal personages accompanying her. The service commenced with a chorale, which was followed by the anthem by Palestrina, "I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord."

When the music ceased, the Lord Chamberlain, accompanied by the Groom of the Stole to the Prince of Wales and the Chamberlain to the Princess of Wales, conducted the infant Prince into the chapel, His Royal Highness being carried by the head nurse

(Mrs. Clark), and attended by the Countess of Macclesfield, one of the ladies of the bed-chamber to the Princess of Wales. The Royal infant was attired in a robe of Honiton lace, the same that was worn by his Royal father at his christening, with a cap of Honiton lace, a cloak of crimson velvet lined with ermine, and a mantle of white satin edged with Honiton lace. When the Archbishop commenced the prayer, "Almighty, ever-living God," the Countess of Macclesfield gave the infant Prince to the Queen, who handed him to the Archbishop. On reaching the portion of the service for the naming of the child, the Archbishop demanded of the sponsors how it should be named. The Queen answered, "Albert Victor Christian Edward," and His Grace accordingly baptized it in those names. The ceremony concluded with the performance of Haydn's grand chorus from the "Creation," "The heavens are telling the glory of God."

After the service the visitors proceeded to the Green Drawingroom and Picture Gallery, and shortly afterwards partook of a collation with the Royal family in the supper-room, which had been beautifully prepared for the occasion. The Prince and Princess of Wales subsequently gave a banquet at Marlborough House; and after the banquet their Royal Highnesses received an evening party. Several of the Royal tradespeople illuminated their houses.

11. DISASTROUS INUNDATION AT SHEFFIELD.-A little before midnight on this day, the Bradfield reservoir of the Sheffield water-works, eight miles from Sheffield, burst, and one of the most deplorable losses of life that have ever occurred in the manufacturing district was the result. The prevalence of rainy weather for some time previous had caused a general flooding in the watercourses throughout the midland and the northern counties, and early on this night the reservoir gave indications of inability to retain the immense pressure of the water, the volume of which had been greatly increased by the late heavy rains, and the people near the village of Damflask were called up about nine o'clock by workmen from the dam, who announced its approaching break down. Before ten o'clock a number of houseless people were applying for admission to the houses at the top of the hill. But lower down the workmen unfortunately gave no warning. The area of the Bradfield reservoir was ninety-five acres, and when it burst, the previously swollen state of the waters of the Don, and its consequent inability to carry off this sudden addition to its waters, gave full scope to the rushing flood. All along the river, from Bradfield to Sheffield, the waters swept every thing before them-human beings, domestic animals, houses, furniture, trees, &c., &c. At a quarter past twelve o'clock on Saturday morning, the 12th, the inhabitants of Sheffield were aroused by the roar of the mighty flood, and on the banks of the Don evidences of a dreadful calamity were visible. Shooting along the discoloured waters were the wrecks of whole villages, whilst piled up against the piers of Lady's-bridge, as high

as the stonework of the parapet, were rafters, floorings, timber, and an immense collection of miscellaneous articles, which had come down in such quantities as to block up the archways. As the early morning approached, numbers of drenched people thronged the streets of Sheffield, or gathered round the fire in the police-stations. By this time the flood had sensibly diminished, and as yet there was no general belief in the town that life had been lost. In the neighbourhood of Blonk-street, where the water had been very high, the first evidence of loss of life was afforded. The body of a man was found clinging to a lamp-post. The water had rushed down that street like a torrent, and, to save himself, he seized the lamp-post, and he died rather from cold than from actual drowning. In the same street there were dead domestic animals, and whole beds of debris. In Bridge-street, where the waters had risen to the top of the shop-windows, dead animals were seen and a quantity of broken furniture, and a deep coating of mud. Corporation and other streets were impassable, owing to water and wreck, and other parts of the town presented similar scenes. The Iron-bridge and Hillfoot-bridge had both given way, and Lady's-bridge trembled under the assaults of timber, which rushed down with the force of battering-rams. The localities bordering on the rivers Loxley, Don, and Rivelin, and along the low ground of Langettroad, exhibited scenes of wide-spread devastation. The Nursery, Millsands, Spring-street, and several other streets, were also inundated, and all kinds of furniture were swept away from the flooded houses. During the height of the inundation numbers of persons were drowned in their beds. Three children perished in one house, and part of Norfolk-bridge, Weir Head, was carried away. Whole villages were swept down the valley of the Don. The flood levelled a path for itself from Bradfield to Sheffield, and where thriving villages had stood remained nothing but an expanse of mud, with here and there a dead horse and a few mill-wheels, the only remnants of mills; where long streets stood the previous day at Malin-bridge not a brick was left to mark the site. The great farm-house of Mr. Trickett had disappeared with its eleven occupants and all its stacks. The public-houses, the two factories, the corn-mill, the trees, walls, had vanished, and the once considerable village become a smooth expanse of mud. The track of the torrent was one of total devastation. The double village of Malin-bridge was blotted out, and the course of the river was changed. Above Malin-bridge there was less loss of life, but not a less clearance of property. As the day dawned, the Wicker, as seen from the viaduct, created astonishment. At the height of the inundations the Wicker must have been one immense river, capable of floating a ship of the "Warrior" class, the causeways and carriageway resembling the furrowed sands of the sea after a heavy storm. Gas-lamps lay on the pavement, and there were various debris, while one arch of the viaduct was nearly closed by a large ash-tree, torn up roots and all, and carried thither from

miles distant by the flood. The water also flooded the Midland Railway stations, where four female corpses had floated in. All goods stored in cellars were destroyed. A large number of dead bodies was taken out of the water at Rotherham, whilst other bodies were carried beyond Rotherham by the torrent, near where Highfoot-bridge-now swept away-had stood. There was a small garden house where lay in three beds six corpses-a father, mother, and four children-who appeared to have died without a struggle. Further on was another garden house, occupied by a man named Petty, in the employ of Messrs. Steele and Garland. The side wall was washed down, exposing to view the pallid faces of a man and woman in one bed, and in another bed the bodies of three children. All appeared to have died without a struggle. Near that was Neepsand Tan-yard. The buildings suffered severely. Nearer to the weir stood a large house, from which nine inmates were rescued not two minutes before the flood swept it away. In Pennistone-road and the gardens on the other side of the river nothing met the eye but razed buildings, furniture, and mud; and the boundary wall which ran from the bridge to the Philadelphia corn-mill was deposited in the middle of the road. In the stables of that mill were the carcasses of four cart-horses, and inside the mill an immense quantity of flour and grain was utterly destroyed. The converting furnaces of Mr. Halkin also suffered greatly. A long boiler was lifted from its bed and carried into the river, and the furnaces and premises were a heap of ruins. Next to these were the works of Mr. Butcher, whose tilt and forge shops were razed to the ground. From the works of St. Philip'sroad the open spaces on the right hand side resembled large lakes. On coming to the stone bridge the demolition at the Rutland Works was seen. The boundary walls were lying on the footpath. The land extending from the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway to the river became an immense lake, dotted here and there with islands formed by heaps of rubbish. In the Royal Oak public-house the bodies of three children were laid, having been removed from some houses a little below. The road in Harvest-lane was all torn up, and yawning cavities presented themselves; and mud, gravel, trees, and other debris were thrown up at either side to the height of several feet; and now and then the dead body of a pig, and sometimes of a donkey, might be seen floating about. Some miles above Sheffield-nearer to the origin of the accident-whole rows of cottages and whole families were swept away. Under one hedge lay the dead bodies of a man and a woman, naked, the woman grasping a plank, to which, doubtless, she had clung for life. The first intimation that hundreds had of the calamity was the sudden lifting up of their beds by the waters, which half filled their bed-rooms. The portion of Sheffield which suffered most is that called the low district. It is inhabited by respectable shopkeepers and good families. Houses that stood on little banks near the river were levelled. One house near the river