Page images
PDF
EPUB

said the new rule would prevent the fitting out or arming in British ports of vessels intended to act against belligerent powers with which this country was at peace, but it would not interfere with the exportation of arms and munitions of war in the ordinary course of

Commerce.

13.-The House of Lords, by a majority of 129 to 89 votes, agree not to insist on the Salisbury or new Test Clause introduced into the University Bill, and which had been rejected by the Commons.

14.-The German Catholics circulate an appeal, signed by Döllinger, Huber, Reinkens and others, declaring:-" I. We persist in the rejection of the Vaticanian infallibility and dogmas, which concede to the Pope personal infallibility and absolute power in the Church notwithstanding the opposition of the bishops. 2. We persist in the firmly-grounded convictions that the Vaticanian decrees constitute a serious danger for the State and society, and are irreconcilable with the laws and institutions of existing States, and that their acceptance would involve us in an insoluble contradiction with our political duties and oaths. 3. The German bishops show by their differing and contradictory interpretations of the Vaticanian dogmas that they know full well their novelty and are ashamed of them. We deplore such

a use of the episcopal office."

Fourteen people drowned at Avoch, on the Moray Firth, by the upsetting of a fishing-boat.

15. Celebration of the Tercentenary of the foundation of Harrow School, a former master, Dr. Vaughan, proposing at luncheon the toast of "Prosperity to the institution."

Internationalists

issue

a

The Paris manifesto to working-men, declaring that their society alone could lead them to emancipation, and drag into daylight capital and priestcraft. "At the present moment the International Society is denounced as grandly criminal; all those who capitulated, all the incapable persons of the capital, lay at its door the misfortunes of France and the fires of Paris. the Jules Favres, on the Trochus, and on the rest, we hurl back the misfortunes of France. We accept the responsibility of the conflagration of Paris. The old social system must perish, and it shall perish. A gigantic effort has already shaken it to its foundations. final effort must uproot it entirely."

On

A

16.-The German troops engaged in the late war enter Berlin in triumph. All business was suspended, and as many as 200,000 strangers were reported to have arrived in the city. The body of troops which entered numbered about 42,000, consisting of the Prussian Royal Guards, and picked deputations from all the regiments of the German Federal and Allied armies, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, which took three hours and a 28

half to march past. They were led by Marshal von Wrangel, whose great age forbade him to take part in the late French war. He was accompanied by other generals of the army superannuated from active service. Then came the Staff-officers of the commanders engaged in the late war; General Blumenthal, Chief of the Staff to the Crown Prince, being the most distinguished. After these, and the general officers who had served, like Falkenstein, as civil governors in the conquered territories, rode the commanders of different army corps, and the illustrious men who commanded whole armies.-the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Crown Prince of Saxony, and Field-Marshal Steinmetz; Generals Manteuffel, Werder, Von der Tann, and Goeben, who had also commanded armies, were among the party of general officers preceding. The arrival of Bismarck, Moltke, and Roon, followed by the Emperor, was greeted with enthusiastic cheering. His Majesty appeared in his field uniform and on his war-horse, a dark bay. Behind him rode the Field Marshals of the royal house the Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia and of Germany, on a chestnut horse, and Prince Frederick Charles, on a bright bay charger. Following these, the central figures of the pageant, came a bevy of princes, guests of the Emperor, with their personal staff, glittering in varied uniforms and making a gallant show. Behind these came the under officers, of various German nationalities, bearing the spoils of war- the eagles and the colours. The unveiling of a statue of Frederick William III. formed a portion of the ceremonial.

17.-Giant and giantess (Captain Buren and Anna Swann) married at St. Martin's-inthe-Fields.

H.M.S. Megara, after being in a leaky condition for nine days, is run ashore on St. Paul's Island. She was an iron screw troopship, carrying six guns, of 1,395 tons, and 350 horse-power. When she sailed a series of questions respecting her were put in the House of Commons, and from the official answers it appeared that the Megara was employed to take out to Sydney 33 officers and 350 men. Complaint had been made that the ship was overcrowded, and that she was unseaworthy, and it was said that her crew had twice protested against going to sea in her. On behalf of the Admiralty those allegations were denied, and occasions were cited in which the Megara had taken to the Cape more than 500 souls, and to Cape Coast Castle 450, besides her crew, while she had frequently carried 400 tons of cargo. Official despatches stated that the leak was reported on the 8th ; on the 14th it became more serious, and gained on the pumps. "Steam was then used, and by the aid of the main steam pumps the water was kept in check. It was determined to steer for St. Paul's Island in order to examine the ship, where she arrived and anchored on Saturday, June 17th. A

survey was then held, and a diver sent down to examine the leak. A hole was discovered worn through the centre of a plate, about 12 ft. abaft the mainmast and about 8 ft. from the keel, port side, besides other serious injuries in the immediate vicinity of the leak." The pumps were frequently choked with loose pieces of iron scaling off the bottom of the ship. Under these circumstances the chief engineer advised that it would be most unsafe to proceed on the voyage to Australia, the nearest port of which lay 1,800 miles distant. The vessel was run ashore on the 17th, but not abandoned till the 19th. The men who first landed, with their bags and hammocks, were sheltered by tents made from the ship's sails, but some sheds or huts already existing were used for store-houses, and barracks were afterwards put up. was got on the island, and a little rain-water, but to avoid all risk of famine, the troops and crew were at once put on short allowance. They were first discovered by a vessel passing to Batavia, which took off an officer with mails and despatches. The whole were afterwards relieved by the steamship Malacca, and landed at Melbourne September 28th. Captain Thrupp returned to England, and at once reported himself at the Admiralty.

Rice

18.-Died at his residence, Savile Row, aged 77 years, George Grote, the philosophical historian of ancient Greece, Trustee of the British Museum, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of London. He was interred in Westminster Abbey on the 24th.

19. The Commons negative after a debate the clause proposed by Mr. Torrens to be introduced into the Army Regulation Bill, providing that no soldier of the line be called upon to serve out of the United Kingdom until he shall have attained the age of twenty years.

Died from small-pox, aged 21 years, Numa Edward Hartog, Senior Wrangler, Cambridge, 1870, and B.A., to which degree, being a Jew, he was admitted by a special grace, dispensing with part of the oath.

Celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Pius IX. Replying to an address presented by French Catholics, his Holiness described the Catholic Liberalism prevailing in that country as more formidable than even the Commune with its men who had fired Paris.

Commencement of the sixth triennial Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace. The attendance at each of the great musical gatherings was 1857.--Rehearsal. 5,844; first day, 8,629; second day, 9,149; third day, 14,792 -total, 38,414. 1859.-Rehearsal, 19,680 ; first day, 17, 109; second day, 17,703; third day, 26,827-total, 81,319. 1862.-Rehearsal, 19,63; first day, 15,694; second day, 14, 143; third day, 18,567-total, 67,567 1865.Rehearsal, 15,420; first day, 13,677; second day, 14,915; third day, 15,422-total, 59,434. 1868.--Rehearsal, 18, 597; first day, 19,217;

second day, 21,550; third day, 23, 101-total, 82,465. 1871.-Rehearsal, 18,676; first day, 21,946; second day, 21,330; third day, 23,016 -total, 84,968.

21. The new Hospital of St. Thomas (designed by Currey, the foundation-stone of which had been laid by the Queen in May 1868) opened by her Majesty, who arrived at Paddington from Windsor in the forenoon, and drove across the Parks to Westminster and Lambeth, accompanied by several members of the royal family. The treasurer, Mr. Hicks, received the honour of knighthood on the occasion.

23.-Garden party at Buckingham Palace, the Queen, in the language of the official accounts, giving a breakfast from half-past four to half-past seven P.M.

-Closing of the subscription lists for the French loan of 80,000,000l. The amount was subscribed for twice over.

24. The decennial representation of the Passion Play commenced at Oberammergau. Two thousand spectators were present, a large number being English and American.

Cobden Club Dinner, presided over by Earl Granville, who defined the policy of the deceased statesman as liberty in things political, in things religious, and in things material.

26. Came on before Mr. Justice Lush and a common jury, the case of Pantaleoni v. Vaughan, an action for libel brought by the head of the religious hospital S. Sperito, at Rome, against the proprietor of the Tablet. The libel complained of was published in a letter in the Tablet on the 19th of November, 1870. It stated that Dr. Pantaleoni turned out all the religious in the hospital after he became director. He was banished from Rome in 1862 for complicity in the Fauste conspiracy, which had for its object the assassination of the King and Queen of Naples, the officers of the Zouaves, and the Prince Torlonia, the destruction of the Alliberta and other Pontifical theatres. On seeing the letter the plaintiff, Dr. Pantaleoni, wrote to the defendant, with whom he was personally acquainted, explaining that he was exiled from Rome at the time referred to, and that he knew nothing of the conspiracy. The paper, in again referring to the matter, stated that the correspondent in Rome justified what he had written, and the editor in a footnote said they had the evidence of their correspondent against the plaintiff's assertion, and the public could draw their own conclusions. Mr. Day this morning said that Dr. Vaughan, as soon as he became aware of the publication, expressed his sorrow, and used every means in his power to retract the statements contained in the libel, and he then took the opportunity of doing so in the fullest manner. The defendant entertained every respect for the plaintiff, and

believed there was no ground whatever for the charge. A verdict was then taken for the plaintiff by consent-damages 250/., to cover costs.

29.-The Emperor and Empress of Brazil arrive in London, in the course of an extended tour through Europe. The Queen took an early opportunity of conferring the Order of the Garter on her illustrious visitor, who manifested unwearied activity during his sojourn in Britain. In London the royal party occupied apartments in Claridge's Hotel.

The Ballot Bill passes into Committee by 326 votes to 232 given in support of an amendment, that the order be read that day six months.

30.-Lord Salisbury moves an address to the Crown against the scheme of the Endowed School Commissioners, for the management of Emanuel Hospital. The plan, he maintained, was part of a centralizing scheme, intended to break up the local administration, and to place the power in London in a body appointed by the Government, influenced by the particular philosophic project of the day, and out of sympathy with rural populations. The difference between old-fashioned Christian enthusiasm and the philosophic enthusiasm of the present day was that the Christian was content to give of his own money for what he desired to support, while the philosopher always tried to do it by getting hold of somebody else's. Lord Halifax maintained that the Commissioners had faithfully observed the intentions of the Legislature, and Lord Lawrence, as Chairman of the London School Board, thought the scheme of the Commissioners would give a great impulse to the primary education of the country. On a division, Lord Salisbury's motion was carried by 64 to 56 votes.

[blocks in formation]

July 2.-King Victor Emmanuel enters Rome as the new capital of his dominions. A grand banquet was held in the afternoon, and in the evening, when the king passed to the Apollo Theatre, the greater part of the city was illuminated. He returned to Florence next day.

Between 80 and 90 supporters of M. Thiers returned out of the 113 supplementary elections which take place in France. Bonapartists and Legitimists were beaten in most places.

3. The Army Regulation Bill read a third time in the House of Commons, the final discussion taking place on a motion submitted by Mr. Graves:- "That the bill for the better regulation of the army having been narrowed to an object which will entail on the country an ascertained expenditure of several millions, besides a large permanent charge of which no estimate has been submitted, this House is un

willing thus to add to the pressure of existing taxation by entering on a course of unknown expenditure, and, declining to commit itself to premature action, awaits from her Majesty's Government a mature and comprehensive scheme of army reform calculated to place the military system of the country on a sound and economical basis." The motion was rejected by 239 to 231 votes, the majority being made up of 204 English, 44 Irish, and 41 Scotch members; and the minority of 199 English, 25 Irish, and seven Scotch. The number of absent English members was 89, of Irish 33, and of Scotch 12. The only Conservatives who voted with the Government on this occasion were Colonel Napier Sturt, and Colonel Vandeleur. Seven Liberals joined with the minority.

case.

3. The Emperor of Brazil attends the Common Pleas to hear the continued crossexamination of the Claimant in the Tichborne At this time questions were being asked in Parliament in reference to the adjournment of the case till November. The Judge said he had received a letter from Lady Doughty, imploring that the trial might not be postponed. The Solicitor-General and the attorney of the defendants disclaimed any previous knowledge of the letter. The Judge spoke of it as reprehensible, but excusable. Lady Doughty said "I take the liberty of imploring your lordship to take into consideration my advanced age-seventy-six next August --and my failing health, so increased from the intense suffering caused by the cruel charges brought against my now only child. I am also deputed, by the guardians of the infant, and every member of the Tichborne and Arundel families, to pray your lordship not to oppose the efforts we are making for no delay in the hearing of this cause. I trust that your lordship will not consider this communication in any other light than the outpouring of a mother's heart." During the day the Claimant was questioned respecting the titles of some of the books which Koger had left with Mr. Gosford. He knew nothing of either Gustave de Beaumont, Attila, or the Practice of Elocution: The Solicitor-General-Who was Cromwell?-He was the Commonwealth man. Who did you say?—I say he was the Commonwealth. Well, not exactly. Now, here is a Life of John Bunyan. Who was he?--John Bunyan! I've read the book, I know; but I forget now who he was. What sort of a fellow was John Bunyan ?—Quite the reverse of what you are But I don't recollect who he was: Was he a sportsman ?-You can ask me as many foolish questions as you like. I say I don't know who he was -Was he a General, Bishop, or master of foxhounds?—I tell you Í can't say. What is a misanthrope-it is a word used by you frequently in letters ?--I don't know that I made use of it. I cannot say what it is. Is it a bird, beast, or fish?— Well, I think I used it in regard to some books. Cross-examination closed to-day

with information relative to the Tichborne Bonds, on which it was alleged 35,0col. had been raised.

5. The Count de Chambord issues a proclamation, in which he promises not to attempt any disturbance of the existing order of things, but tells his countrymen that he holds himself in readiness to take the crown whenever they shall think fit to offer it to him, and to establish a régime combining monarchy with universal suffrage, and a parliament of two Chambers. "I will not," he concluded, "be silent because ignorant or credulous people have spoken of Privileges, of Absolutism, of Intolerance, and of I know not what besides-of tithes, of feudal rights, phantoms which the most audacious bad faith seeks to conjure up before your eyes.

I will not allow the standard of Henry IV., of Francis I., and Joan of Arc to be torn from my hands. It is with that flag that our national unity was made, it was with that flag that your forefathers, led by mine, conquered that Alsace and Lorraine whose fidelity will be our consolation in our misfortunes. It conquered barbarism on that African soil, which witnessed the first deeds of valour of the princes of my family; it is it which will conquer the new barbarism with which the world is now threatened. I shall confide it without fear to the valour of our army; it has never, as that army knows well, been found but in the path of honour. I received it as a sacred deposit from the aged King, my grandfather, as he was dying in exile; it has always been for me inseparable from the memory of my absent country; it floated above my cradle, I wish it to droop over my grave. In the glorious folds of that stainless banner, I shall bring you order and liberty. Frenchmen, Henry V. cannot desert the white flag of Henry IV."

6.-Double murder in France, department of Indre-et-Loire. A man named Delalande, known for his dissipated habits, killed M. de Vonne, the Mayor of Saché, and as the curate, an old man of seventy-eight years, was bringing the holy oil to anoint the body of the deceased, the assassin fired again, and the curate fell mortally wounded. The terror caused by these murders was so great among the inhabitants that the body of the curate was suffered to remain three hours in the public road.

Meeting of Liberal members at the residence of Mr. Gladstone, to devise measures for hastening the progress of the Ballot Bill through the House.

In committee on the Ballot Bill, Mr. G. Bentinck, resenting what he called the curt and not very courteous remarks of the leader of the Opposition on gentlemen below the gangway, said a long career of political tergiversation and apostasy had placed the right hon. gentleman in a position which subjected him to observations. ("Order, order!") Many years ago the right hon. gentleman spoke of the Government of the day as an organized hypocrisy,"

[ocr errors]

and that suggested that the proper description of the late Government would be that it was a disorganized hypocrisy. The chairman ruled that the hon. member was out of order in

alluding to past events. Next, turning to the Prime Minister, Mr. Bentinck said he had complained of time being wasted, but no one had for years delayed business by speeches so much as he himself had done. In a long, didactic oration the right hon. gentleman commented upon the bad habit of imputing motives; but he was guilty of that offence when he said that speeches were made solely for the purpose of creating delay. As soon as Mr. Newdegate rose a great many members on the Liberal side (in accordance with the tactics resolved upon at the meeting in the afternoon) immediately quitted the House, and the whole of the benches were soon empty. Only two or three Ministers on the Treasury bench, and three independent members behind them, were left to represent the party on the Speaker's right hand. In order to maintain the equilibrium of the assembly a number of the Conservatives, amid general laughter, crossed to the deserted seats and delivered strong denunciations of the Ballot from the places usually occupied by advanced Radicals. The speaking was carried on exclusively by Conservatives, and provoked no reply. About ten o'clock a division was taken, and Mr. Newdegate's motion for adjournment defeated by 154 to 63.

6.

[ocr errors]

Waverley costume ball at Willis's Rooms in aid of fund to complete the Scott Monument at Edinburgh.

7.-Adjournment of the Tichborne case after a trial of forty days-a course opposed by Mr. Serjeant Ballantine, and insisted on by Mr. Hawkins, who stated that the observations he had addressed to the court were made under a sense of responsibility to his clients, and he cared nothing for the observations of Mr. Serjeant Ballantine, knowing the quarter whence they came. The Lord Chief Justice -"I regret very much that such an observation should have fallen from any learned counsel. The observation of the learned counsel requires an apology upon the spot." (The learned counsel having made no response, his lordship proceeded, turning to the jury)Gentlemen, I regret that it is not made.' Before the case was suspended, however, Mr. Hawkins, at the suggestion of the Judge, withdrew the expression. (See January 15, 1872.)

66

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

9.-Died, aged 76, Dr. Alexander Keith Johnstone, F. R.S., among the most eminent of modern geographers.

10. At a meeting of Conservative Peers, it is resolved that the Duke of Richmond should give notice of an amendment expressing the unwillingness of the House to read the Army Bill a second time until a complete and comprehensive scheme of army reorganisation shall have been laid before it.

11. The Ecclesiastical Titles Repeal Bill passes through committee in the Lords, and the Burial Bill is read a third time and passed. To meet the case of children working in brickfields, in whose behalf Lord Shaftesbury moved an address to the Crown, Lord Morley promised to introduce a clause into the Factory Act Amendment Bill, presently before the House.

The Saxon troops engaged in the late war make a triumphal entry into Dresden. The Bavarian troops entered Munich on the 16th.

Collision early this morning, in the Channel, off the Eddystone lighthouse, between the ship Madagascar, 1,311 tons, Captain Brunswick, belonging to South Shields, bound from London to Quebec, and the screw-steamer Widgeon, of Cork, proceeding from Liverpool, with a general cargo and passengers for Rotterdam. The bow of the Madagascar cut into the Widgeon midway between the funnel and the wheel, crushing the sailor at the wheel so severely that he was taken to the hospital. The water rushed into the stoke-hole and extinguished the fires. The steamer sank at 2.30 A. M., and the ship at 5 A.M. All hands of both vessels, sixty-one persons, were picked up by a trawling sloop, and brought into Plymouth.

[ocr errors]

- Died at Milan, the Princess Christina Belgiojoso, an enthusiastic worker for the unity of Italy.

12. Commenced at the Central Criminal Court, before Lord Chief Justice Bovill, the trial of Edmund W. Pook, for the murder of Jane Maria Clousen, in Kidbrooke Lane, Eltham. The case was protracted to the evening of the 16th, when the jury, amid a tempest of applause, returned a verdict of Not Guilty. In his charge the Chief Justice commented in strong terms on the conduct of the police, who appeared, he said, to have from the first assumed the guilt of the prisoner, and strained every piece of evidence so as to ensure a conviction against him. The acquittal of Pook led to disorderly gatherings before his father's house at Greenwich, and to legal proceedings against parties for printing and selling accounts of his supposed connection with the murder.

Serious Orange riots in New York, the military firing upon the disturbers of the peace, killing, it was reported, over thirty and wounding 170. Lieutenant James Fisk was among the latter.

14.-William Frank Gosney, a lad of 20, sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to fifteen years' penal servitude for attempting to murder Dr. De Meschin, of the Middle Temple, whose room had been taken possession of, and books stolen by the prisoner during the Doctor's temporary absence abroad.

16. In the case of Harriet Newington or Davy, indicted for the manslaughter of Frederick Moon, the jury return a verdict of guilty, and Baron Channell, expressing his entire concurrence in its justice, sentenced her to eight years' penal servitude. The prisoner again declared her innocence. "We lived together," she said, "most happily. The whole of his consideration had been to promote my happiness, and I have studied his. I could not have done him any injury. It was in the struggle. He was going to throw a bottle, and I jumped up quickly. He tried to take the knife from me. I am not sure whether he got it or not. We struggled and fell. I thought at first I must be the one injured. I found blood on me-warm blood. I said, 'Oh, Fred! what have you done?' Then I found, of course, it was him, not myself. I tried all I could to do something to stop it. First of all I applied cold water; then I remembered that cold water produced blood instead of stopping it. Then I sent for ice and tried that. Then the doctors came. The prisoner fainted on hearing her sentence.

[ocr errors]

17.-The Army Bill thrown out in the House of Lords on the proposal for a second reading by 155 to 130 votes. Lord Salisbury interposed a pungent speech between those of the Duke of Argyll and the Foreign Secretary, declaring that though the Government talked of seniority tempered by selection, the more correct formula would be stagnation tempered by jobbery. By rejecting the bill, the Times thought, the Lords had adopted an ill-advised course, and made the abolition of purchase the question of the day.

19.-Lorraine Museum, formerly a ducal palace, destroyed by fire, the ancient tapisserie of Charles le Téméraire being the only portion saved.

Signor Mario makes his farewell appearance at Covent Garden as Fernando in Donizetti's opera, "La Favorita."

20. Marshal Serrano announces in the Cortes the resignation of the Spanish Ministry. Zorilla afterwards accepted the direction of affairs.

In a crowded and anxious House, Mr. Gladstone announces the intentions of the Government regarding the rejection of the purchase part of the Army Bill by the Lords. Replying to Sir George Grey, he said that by statute there was no purchase but what was permitted by the Queen's Regulations. The House of Commons having condemned pur chase, and a Royal Commission having declared that those regulation prices could not be put an

« PreviousContinue »