1870, and the duke of Argyll volunteered to resign his patronage in May. Of 1109 livings 319 belong to the crown, and about 600 to private persons. PAUL'S, ST. (p. 553). A great meeting was held at the Mansion-house to complete the interior of the cathedral according to Wren's design, 13 July, 1870. About 32,000l. had been collected 27 Aug.; and 33,6491. 28 Sept.; 34,7081. 4 Nov. following. Bermondsey; they have been found to be self supporting. PEABODY FUND. Mr. George Peabody, an American merchant (born 18 Feb. 1795, died 4 Nov. 1869), who had made his fortune in London, gave on 12 March, 1862, 150,000l., on 21 Jan. 1866, 100,000l., on 5 Dec. 1868, 100,000l., and by his will directed his trustees to pay 150,000l.—in all 500,000l.—to ameliorate the condition of the London poor. An autograph letter, promising her portrait in miniature, was sent him by the queen, 28 March, 1866 [Inscription on the miniature sent :-"V.R. Presented by the Queen to G. Peabody, Esq., the benefactor of the poor of London."] The first block of buildings for working classes, termed "Peabody dwellings," in Commercialstreet, Spitalfields, was opened 29 Feb. 1864; and others since, in Islington, Shadwell, Chelsea, and PEACE PRESERVATION ACT (Ireland), passed 4 April, 1870. Mr. Peabody's statue, at the east end of the PENSIONS (p. 558). Political Offices Pensions Act, passed 9 Aug. 1869. PERU (p. 561). President Prado resigned in consequence of an insurrection 7 Jan., and was succeeded by general La Puerta, who confirmed Pezet's treaty, 13 Jan. 1868. Colonel J. Balta became president 1 Aug. 1868. Peru suffered much by the earthquakes 13-15 Aug. 1868. PETERBOROUGH. Bishop Francis Jeune died 20 Aug. 1868, and was succeeded by Dr. William Connor Magee, elected 31 Oct. PHALSBOURG (Pfalzburg, Palatine city), a strong town of Alsace, department of La Meurthe, N. E. France, was founded in 1570, by the elector palatine George John. It was ceded to France in 1661, and its fortress erected by Vauban, 1679. It checked the progress of the victorious armies of the allies both in 1814 and 1815, and withstood the Germans from 16 Aug. to 12 Dec. 1870, when it capitulated unconditionally. PHARMACY ACT OF 1868 (amended in 1869) required all sellers of poisons to be registered after 31 Dec. 1868. PHENOPHTHALMOSCOPE, an apparatus for investigating the movements of the eyeball, invented by Donders, of Utrecht, and announced in 1870. PLANETS. Nos. 98 to 111 of the small planets discovered between 18 April, 1868 and 15 Aug. 1870. PLEADINGS were ordered to be in English by 36 Edward III. 1362, and Cromwell extended the rule to all legal proceedings 1650. PLEBISCITES: see France, 8 May and 3 Nov. 1870; Rome, 2 Oct. 1870. POLICE, METROPOLITAN (p. 578). Colonel Henderson appointed commissioner in room of Sir R. Mayne, Feb. 1869. The first annual report of the commissioner issued, | The detective police, only 15 men in June, 1869, has 1870: been since raised to 266 men and a superintendent, with good effect, Oct. 1870. State: Dec. 1869, 8883 police constables for a radius of 15 miles from Charing Cross (exclusive of the city of London), including 3,563,410 inhabitants. PONT À NOYELLES. At this place, near Amiens, took place a fierce indecisive conflict lasting from II A.M. to 6 P.M. between the Germans under Manteuffel and the French army of the north under Faidherbe, 23 Dec. 1870. Both sides claimed a victory; the French general asserted that he remained master of the field. POOR, continued. POO 892,712l.; in Ireland, 927,046l.: total, 13,595,9111. 1,281,681. Paupers in the metropolis receiving relief :- Estimated number of paupers in relief, 1 Jan., 1870: England and Wales, 1,079,391; ScotPOPLIN (or Tabinet), an elegant rich fabric composed of silk and worsted, introduced by the Huguenot refugees from France about 1693; first manufactured in Dublin. poplins are still deservedly esteemed. Irish POPULATION (p. 585). Estimated population of the world in 1869, 1,238,000,000; of England and Wales, June, 1865, 20,990,946; June, 1869, 21,869,607; June, 1870, 22,090,163;—of Scotland, 1866, 3,153,413; June, 1869, 3,205,481; June, 1870, 3,222,837 ;-of Ireland, 1866, 5,582,625; in 1869, 5,546,343; June, 1870, 5,525,210; of Great Britain, June, 1870, 30,838,210. The next census to be taken on 3 April, 1871. PORTE, OR SUBLIME PORTE, official name of the court of the sultan of Turkey. Mostasem, the last of the Abbasside caliphs (1243-58) fixed in the threshold of the principal entrance to his palace at Bagdad a piece of the black stone adored at Mecca, and thus this entrance became the "porte" by eminence, and the title of his court. The sultans, successors of the caliphs, assumed the title. Bouillet. PRAIRIAL INSURRECTION at Paris. On 1, 2, 3 Prairial, year 3 (20, 21, 22 April, 1795) the Faubourgs rose against the directory, and were quelled by the military. PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY. An international congress for treating prehistorical subjects met at Neuchâtel in 1866, and at Paris in 1867. At the third meeting at Norwich, Aug. 1868, it assumed the name of "International Congress for Prehistoric Archæology," and published its transactions in 1869. See Barrows. consents to become candidate for the throne The emperor of the French declares for war, PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACT, 1868, amended by an act passed 9 Aug. 1870. Q. 21 Dec. QUADRUPLE TREATY, concluded in London 22 April, 1834, by the representatives of Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal, guaranteed the possession of her throne to Isabella II., the young queen of Spain. R. RACES (p. 612). The Jockey club, which now chiefly regulates races and the betting connected with them, was founded in 1750. Its gradually accumulating rules were modified in 1828 and revised in 1857. Alterations recommended by a committee appointed in April 1870, were adopted by the club 16 July following. RAILWAYS (p. 615). Southern Railways Amalgamation bill; opposed in the lords; withdrawn June, 1868 Mont Cenis railway opened for traffic 15 June,,, New act to amend the laws relating to railways, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 119; (it orders smoking compartments, and communication between passengers and railway servants in certain trains; and prohibits trains for prize-fights, &c.) passed. 31 July, Midland railway station, St. Pancras, opened, I Oct. New route to Liverpool (by a viaduct over the Mersey at Runcorn), opened 1 April, 1869 Pacific railway: from the Atlantic to the Pacific; opened "Abandonment of Railways act" passed, 12 May,, II Aug.,, Railway Companies' Powers act (1864) and Construction Facilities act (1864) amended by act passed 20 June, 1870 "Railway Association" established: (it consists of directors and representatives of shareholders, to watch legislation, &c.,) inaugural dinner 21 July, RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. Abergele, N. Wales, (London and North-western,) collision between Irish mail train and luggage train; barrels of petroleum ignited; 33 persons burnt to death 20 Aug. 1868 Near Birlingbury station (Rugby and Leamington): carriages went over Draycot embankment; 2 persons killed I Oct. Near Bull's Pill, S. Wales (Great Western): mail train ran into a cattle train; 1 person and much cattle killed 6 Nov. Near Copenhagen tunnel, Holloway (Great Northern): coal train ran off the line; 2 18 Jan. 1869 Near Khandalla, Bombay (Great Indian Peninsula): train ran off the line; about 18 killed, killed. 26 Jan. Arch fell in at Bethnal Green (Great Eastern): coal train passing; 5 killed 25 Feb. 1869 Eureka, St. Louis, Missouri, U. S. collision; 19 killed 12 May, 1870 Near Newark (Great Northern): collision; a waggon of a goods train, through the breaking of an old axle, went off the rails and met an excursion train; 19 deaths; 1'30 A.M., 21 June, Newcross (London and Brighton): collision; 2 killed, many injured; great loss to the company by compensation 23 June,,, Near Carlisle (North Eastern): collision with goods train; through reckless driving and bad signalling; 5 deaths, about 20 injured; about 1 A.M. 10 July,,, Near Barnet (Great Northern): collision; 1 man burnt to death 16 Aug. Tamworth (London and North Western): Irish mail (late), sent into a siding; broke down a buttress and ran into the river Anker (error of a pointsman); 3 deaths 4'7 A.M. 14 Sept.,, Plessis near Tours: collision; between two trains several killed ; 4 A.M. 20 Sept. Whitmore, near Crewe (London and NorthWestern), collision; many injured, 4 Oct. Long Eaton Junction (Midland): collision; 7 killed • 9 Oct. Near Welwyn (Great Northern): collision; 3 killed. 21 Oct. Harrow (London and North-Western): collision with coal waggons, 7 killed 26 Nov. "" Brockley Whins (North-Eastern), collision through mistake of Hedley, a pointsman; 5 killed; many injured 6 Dec. Cradley (Great Western): collision; 1 killed, 8 Dec. Barnsley (Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire railway): collision; goods trucks broke loose; 14 killed; many injured 12 Dec. Bell-bar, near Hatfield (Great Northern), tire of wheel broke; break and carriages overturned; 8 killed 26 Dec. RECIPROCITY ASSOCIATION, founded at Manchester Sept. 1869, in consequence of the restrictions on the importation of British manufactures into their territories imposed by foreign governments. RECREATIVE RELIGIONISTS, a name given to an association of gentlemen_for diffusing a knowledge of natural religion by the aid of science, formed in Dec. 1866. In Jan. 1867 lectures were given on Sunday evenings at St. Martin's Hall, London, by professor Huxley, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, and others, sacred music being performed at intervals during the evening. This was decided not to be an infraction of the Sunday act, 21 Geo. III. c. 49, in the trial, Baxter v. Baxter Langley, 19 Nov. 1868. See Sunday Lecture Society. REFORM IN PARLIAMENT (p. 620). The Scotch and Irish Reform acts were passed 13 July, 1868. The Reform League was dissolved 13 March, 1869. REFUGEES BENEVOLENT FUND instituted in consequence of the war, at a great meeting held at the Mansion-house, London, 21 Oct. 1870. REGIUM DONUM (p. 622). By the Irish Church act, passed 26 July, 1869, the payment of the Regium Donum was ordered to cease, and compensation to be made. REPORTING. By the verdict for the defendant in the case of Wason v. The Times (for libel) reports of parliamentary debates were decided to be privileged, Nov. 1868. REVENUE. The weekly instead of the quarterly publication of the public revenue and expenditure was begun by Mr. Robert Lowe, the chancellor of the exchequer, 16 Feb. 1870. By an act passed 31 July, 1868, revenue officers are permitted to vote for the election of members of parliament. Above 100 statutes relating to inland revenue fall into disuse I Jan. 1871. REZONVILLE, battle of, 18 Aug. 1870, see Metz. RHINE (Latin, Rhenus; German, Rhein; French, Rhin), a river, about 760 miles long, rising in Switzerland, receiving the Moselle, Marne, Necker, and other rivers, terminating in many arms in Holland, and falling into the German ocean. On its banks are Constance, Basel, Strasburg, Spires, Mannheim, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Utrecht, and Leyden. The possession of the banks of the Rhine has been the cause of many wars, and it has been crossed by the French above twenty times in a century. In the beginning of the revolutionary war, Custine invaded Germany by crossing it in 1792, and at the close of the war in 1815, France retained the left bank, which she will probably lose in consequence of the war declared 15 July, 1870. A navigation treaty with other powers was signed by France, 17 Oct. 1868. RICHMOND, Virginia, U.S. (p. 626). By the fall of the flooring in the state capital building, about 60 persons were killed, 27 April, 1870. RITUALISTS (p. 628). At a general convocation of the American episcopal church at Philadelphia, 27, 28 Oct. 1868, after a warm discussion on ritualism, the discussion was adjourned to 1871. ROAD STEAMERS. Mr. R. W. Thomson, of Edinburgh, in 1868, by adding indiarubber to the tires of the wheels of locomotives is considered to have solved the question of steam traction on common roads. Road-steamers have been successfully employed in Edinburgh and Leith for drawing heavy waggons up inclined planes, and are adaptable to any draught work. They were tried at Woolwich, 1 Oct. 1870, and reported successful by eminent authorities. ROMAN CATHOLICS. A proposal of the Derby government to endow a catholic university for Ireland, Oct. 1867, failed through the Catholic bishops claiming the entire practical control, 31 March, 1868. Mr. Justice Thomas (now lord) O'Hagan, appointed lord chancellor of Ireland Dec. 1868, is the first Roman Catholic who has held that office since the revolution of 1688-9. The pope, in his allocution, censures the The pope celebrates a jubilee Encyclical letter of the pope, summoning an 21 Aug.,, Conciliatory letter from Victor Emmanuel to the pope 8 Sept. Agitation in the papal provinces; the Italian troops invited to enter about 10 Sept.,, The pope refuses terms offered him by the king of Italy (sovereignty of the Leonine city and retention of his income), about 12 Sept. Gen. Cadorna crosses the Tiber at Casale; sends flags of truce to gen. Kanzler, commander of the Zouaves, who refuses to surrender; baron Arnim in vain negotiates between them 17 Sept. Skirmish with papal Zouaves; several killed, 14 Sept. The Italians occupy Civita Vecchia without resistance about 15 Sept.,, Letter from the pope to gen. Kanzler, directing that a merely formal defence be made at Rome, and that bloodshed be avoided, 19 Sept.,, The papal troops surrender arms; about 8500 Circular letter from the pope to the cardinals 31 Dec. ROUEN (p. 637), after slight conflicts, 4, 5 Dec. 1870, surrendered to General Von Gröben, 6 Dec. It was ordered to pay a contribution of 17,000,000 francs. ROYAL ACADEMY (p. 637) held its first exhibition in the new building 3 May, 1869. An exhibition of pictures by the old masters, with some British, was opened 3 Jan. 1870, and 2 Jan. 1871. RUPERT'S LAND, see Hudson's Bay, and Canada. |