The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-12-30 00:00:00

RETROSPECT

OF THE

YEAR 1876.

While each pausing year is full of those chronicles
which make up the world's history, the recollections of
one day are often obliterated by the impressions pro-
duced upon the mind consequent upon the incidents of
the next. and the interest in one event naturally gives
1,7a3, before that attaching to another more momentous
In its results. Many an occurrence which in the days
When the year was young seemed to be invested with a
'Peeial importance has found its proportions con-
Ilderably lessened in the time of fading light and of
darkening days; and that which absorbed general at.
tention in the Spring may become a phantom of the
kettiory by the time the leaves of the trees have been
:tripped by the storms of Autumn. It is well, there-
to gather in a comprehensive review the records of
'oe twelve months; and in going over the path of r etro-
Peet it will be seen that although 1876 has not been
11alleht with such weighty consequences to the people
1:41 these islands as some which have gone before it, yet
Lit produced much that is worthy of notice, and that
,711 bear examination in the passing glance given to
'ae old year, before its manifold remembrances rade
aY in the presence of the events which may mark
418 birth of its successor.
When the year opened, the Prince &Wales was
ts
tinuing that splendid progress through the East
I,.'"iels was conceived and carried out with a view of
L
n-ea'ion more closely the bond of union between Great
sl'taln and her Indian possessions. Having landed at
•sorebay on the Bth November, 1875, his Royal High-
had received the native Princes there, and, after
s""s„Linn the Guicowar of Baroda, went on to Ceylon
re,sq In December. He arrived at Madras on the
is"l of that month, and at Calcutta on the 23rd. On
is'se Ist of January the Prince held a chapter of the
urder of the Star of India in that city; on the 11th he
• Bed_ on to Delhi •, on the 13th February he sailed
sa' ,isinrabay for England in the Serapis, having pre-
CONY written to Lord Northbrook, who then filled
-"a office of Governor-General, expressing his satisfac-
li°ll at the reeeption which had been accorded to him
, India. On his return journey he touched success-
at Suez, Malta, Gibraltar, Madrid, Lisbon, and
"'leo landing at Portsmouth on the 11th May, after
litt mance of exactly seven months. At Portsmouth the
se°,4•APparent was joined by the Princess, and an
Ensiaetic demonstration was made in the streets of
srmon that afternoon, when the Prince and his wife
Lrit've from Victoria Station to Marlborough House.
ihe evening their Royal Highnesses visited the
Opera; and on the Sunday following, accom-
'tried by the Dukes of Edinburo and Connaught,
4i!lf attended the afternoon service in Westminster
sarheY—there returning thanks for the Prince's safe
iCe„lttla- On the 19th of the same month the Corpora-
of London gave a magnificent entertainment
- Guildhall in celebration of the same event—
,llll.,elitertaiement upon a scale of grandeur which well
t'a; tained the reputation of the City for the splendour
'4 hospitality. Excepting the successful comple-
Oa of the Prince of Wales's tour in India, there has
Ph but little to record in the annals of the Royal
584teraill of Great Britain. Her Majesty, now in the
etlll Year of her age, and the fortieth of her reign, still
7, °Ter a loyal and united people. As at the be-
'fin of the year, so at its close, the Princess
`rlee, now win her twentieth year, is the only child
nor'hin to her Majesty for whom Parliament has
etiel;rovided a separate maintenance. At Windsor,
Ines'aolorne, or in autumnal sojourns at Balmoral. the
reMeale Is the constant companion of her Royal
st-s":er. The Duke of Connaught pursues his military
olt"es, as a preparation for the high and responsible
he ce,pf Commander-in-Chief which he may some day
ensse4,lLed upon to fill. Prince Leopold follows more
ti,;°ll,l3' the tastes and inclinations of his deceased
and his name is often associated with move-
caul having for their object the advancement of edu-
rtZtl. tbe promotion of science, and the encourage-
art. Early in the year it was officially stated
toe; the Duke of Edinburgh was about to take the
leen-t°„and of an ironclad, and to serve a sufficient
A-4-rp of time at sea with a view of his becoming an
natral in the Fleet. On the 6th March the Duke and
hitiloi,hess left Dover for Russia • and upon the return of
liortz al Highness to England he was appointed to
tns-tesQ• Su/tan, in which ship he left Portsmouth for
Ne-su-Lediterranean on the 27th May. On the 25th of
v y
at °er, during the stay of the Duchess of Edinburgh
ese4Lts, the intelligence was transmitted to the
estla of the birth of a Princess—the twenty-fifth
,rldehild of her Majesty Queen Victoria.
e,Seesion of Parliament was a long and animated
zoth House @ of the Legislature assembled at
ess.-"toinster on the Bth of February, when the busi-
e4C4°f the Great Council of the Nation was mango.
by th bY, the Queen in person, who was accompanied
104 ioefrinness of Walee, the Duchess of Edinburgh,
eesh,' cinemas Beatrice, In the House of Lords the
was eea to the Crown, in answer to the Royal Speech,
the k°7,ed by the Earl of Aberdeen, and seconded by
tion ari of Ellesmere ,• in the Commons these func-
kill Were discharged by Mr. Matthew White
Qeete7, and Mn Mulholland respectively. The
h 11 8 Speech had promised a measure for enabling
belos, '-'leatY to add to the styles and titles already
tBt
n -ging to the British Crown, it being understood
sl ae new distinction was to be drawn from India
Of essreconnition of the loyal greeting which the Prince
ptiv ales had met with in that country. On the 17th
ie.st'aarY a Bill, giving to the Sovereign this power,
introdnced into the House of Commons by the
eseigke Minister, and for nearly three months this mea-
lir gave rise to heated debates and constant divi-
tOas. On the 9th of March Mr. Disraeli, yielding to
request of the Opposition, announced that the
tren's new title was to be "Empress of India," and
rllerquis of Hartington at once gave notice of an
pohdnaent, declaring it to be inexpedient for her
ce,sai"tY to assume the proposed distinction, This
11-3-4 on for debate on the 16th, when the second read-
Tg of the Bill was carried by 305 to 200 votes.
ho ell the measure passed on to the Lords, where,
o,lreser, it was not read a second time with-
IA I' a division; but it was read a third time
rtieciths.t assembly on the 7th April, and ina-
of thi4tells received the Royal assent. In the course
bee e protracted discussions on the Bill, itpledge had.
guiren that tne new title should be confined exclu-
As" 7 to India, and should not be used in this country.
ilt)lcianctation of the Queen's adoption of the style of
acestleTla was made in London on the 28th April ; but
lioZlan to the leaders of the Liberal party in the
store, of Commons, that important document did not
Titl'4ently provide for the restriction of the Imperial
nta 0, to cm; Eastern possessions. A resolution em-
tn-e.loig this view was moved by Sir Henry James on
141 klth
„ May; but it was defeated by a large majority;
reess‘ceenceforward the controversy, so far as Perlis-
was concerned, was brought to an end,
teiZt to the Royal Titles Bill the measure which at-
tve-`l, d most attention was the measure providing the
teesisst and means for the purchase of the Khedive's in-
ti4l%, in the Suez Canal. The government had nego-
-437,11 for the transfer of the shares in the month of
re,lreber previously, and immediately upon Parka-
aasembling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
'lltlght in a Bill to ratify and confirm the agreement.
thee rine of the shares was four millions sterling ; and
tire introduced by Sir Stafford Northcote made
eiiiiteien for the payment of £98,000 to Messrs. Rothe-
aorisi,;:w_ho had advanced the money necessary for the
the 72,tlen of the shares by our Government. Both
kitr-""°Y of that acquisition, and its terms, were
claed in the House of Commons by Mr. Gladstone
4
Pl
the IC. Lowe; but no serious opposition was made to
eourse which had been pursued by the Cabinet.
ate ,tikahates did not extend beyond criticism,
batite:46 measure passed without division. Another
the smre. which had excited much interest in
ker,",revions session of Parliament—the Merchant
tren's„kilg Bill—was read a second time on the 17th
iteCts_a-r7 ,• this stage being unopposed on the under-
eseelult that the dames were to undergo a searching
tleaation in committee. This was done so
thei°ittv,th,leY that it was not until the first week in May
tet es-"e5.,15i1l emerged from committee in the Commons,
was —"Ail safely weathered that ordeal, its passage
44,4441,, tired. A measure which attracted far more
NI :ph, and was stoutly contested by the Opposition,
tlehL4e Elemnatary Education Bill, introduced and
kug-;,;ed by Lord Sandon. It was not until early in
ta and within about ten days of the proroga-
tio,, thia Was through the Commons, its progres-
resTem the Lords being of a much more pacific cha-
Nlre The Appellate Jurisdiction Bill, providing for
tretetiojk of business in the law courts, not being so
Its 441 a controversial nature, was carried through
es without much difficulty.
ten_ en the Seesion opened, the Slave Trade Cir.
We'll which had been issued by the Government in
pnipeetas comnaanded a considerable share of the
askgse, attention, and almost immediately upon the
ng of Parliament Mr. Whitbread . moved a
how,rlen condemning those documents, whicli was,
Aeco.'s'er. defeated by a majority of forty-five votes.
debsVer resolution, which gave rise to an animated
tne"7. Was that moved by Mr. ()kerne Morgan on
bareshrd March, upon the subject of burials in
to churchyards It was defeated by 279
tem The Women's Disabilities Removal Bill
Aket_eiected on the 26th April by 239 against 152.
th Vig the other annual motions which came before
litistollBe of Commons Was the resolution of Mr.
i
%Mien n favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland,
sot,e-: on the 30th June wise thrown out by 291 to 61
Vrtre The financial arrangements of the Government
lained by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on
teeks'ld The Budget provided for the in-
the income tax to threepence, the exemption
et 44aes below £l5O, and the extension of the scale
diet 4tement to £4OO. These proposals, after some
1,144 e; received the assent of the Legislature.
sant
%eh.... the chief interest of the year, and more
affiZL4ll4 its latter part, has been centred in foreign
Inar- From the conclusion of the Franco German
Pelitissearly in 1871, to the end of 1875, domestic
'eleetr Occupied the attention of the people of these
!low ,a; and up to the beginning of the year which is
leopel°abln. and indeed for some time afterwards the
btlyiett of the atruggle in the Herzegovina attracted
tirti n'tteen The insurrection had lasted for some
vkte, the Turks and the Insurgents being alternately
Io ; but the theatre of conflict ass too distant
t'11(1
co to become so absorbed in the varying fortunes of
437_ nabatants as we were when our nearest neigh-
Was fighting a life and death battle with
1144-:ttnY• The failure of the Turks to meet their
040'12,14 engagements in the autumn of 1875, and the
tiPon their resources occasioned by the con-
114ation of the combats in the Herzgovina,
%%Ivor. caused the Powers of Europe to look
OtiZ aorne anxiety upon the possible dissolution of the
n Empire, and the re-opening of that trouble-
of r,L'Eastern Question" which less than a quarter
'etta,z7turY ago cost us so much in our endeavours to
114.0.._it- In January, rumours were blown over
tee4l.'ll of the existence of a triple alliance between the
rorit of Russia, Germany, and Austria. The
as 5h,211 of the names of these Powers as being the same
ArmLl 'le Which partitioned Poland a little over a century
esetall not a pleasant one to English ears, more
bass-"wY as neither Germany nor Austria had taken
tbS Itcugglo of 1855, On the 31at January, a

diplomatic instrument known as a " Nate " was drawn
up by Count Andrassy, the Austro-Hungarian Prime
Minister, calling for reforms in the administration of
the Christian provinces ruled by the Porte. Although
submitted to the British Cabinet for its approval, it was
presented to the Ottoman Government by the
ambassadors of Austria, Russia, and Germany.
Turkish Ministers are, however, accustomed to dwell
in an atmosphere of chronic remonstrance and of
perpetual promise of future good government. The
suggestions of the Ambassadors were politely received,
and with the usual result—that nothing was done.
Meanwhile the fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina
went on, and reports reached this country of massacres
of Christians by the Turks in cold blood. The fanati-
cism of the Mussnlman population was strikingly
manifested in the massacre of the French and German
consuls at Salonica —an outrage for which the
ambaseadors of the two countries were compelled to
demand satisfaction from the Porte. The fear of a
general rising, and the fact that no attention had been
given to the Andressy Note, induced the three Northern
Powers to draw up another diplematic instrument
for presentation to the authorities at Constan-
tinople. This was known as the Berlin Memo-
randum. Like its predecessor, it was submitted
to the British Cabiect for approval; but our Ministers
declined to have anything further to do with repre-
sentatioes which they believed would be withent avail.
The Berlin Memorandum wag therefore rejected, and
it was never presented to the Porte at all, Our Govern-
ment then stood upon its own policy, and despatched
a fleet of iroeclads to Beaika Bay, so as to be ready for
any emergency which might arise.
The excitement in Constantinople had in the mean-
time increased to a height which was rapidly becoming
dangerous. The more intelligent of the Turkish
Ministers saw that the day had arrived when sub-
stantial reforms must be granted to the Christians if
the Empire was to be kept together, and pressed
this view upon the Sultan. It was all in vain. Abdul
Aziz obstinately refused to make any concessions,
and the Ministers came to the desperate resolution to
depose him. Accordingly, on the night of the 30th
May, having taken the precaution to surround the
Palace with soldiers acting under their own orders,
they made their way to the presence of the Sultan, and
informed him that his reign was at an end. The fallen
Sovereign was than ' ready to promise anything, but it
was too late. He was conveyed to one of his own
palaces on the other side of the capital, in which, a
week later, he committed suicide. His nephew, Murad
Effendi, was proclaimed in his stead, but partly from
his ignorance through the life of seclusion he had led,
and partly from mental incapacity, he utterly failed
to realise any of the expectations which had been
formed. His reign lasted only three months, and on
the 31st August he in turn was deposed, and Abdul
Hamid ruled in his stead. But in that brief quarter of
a year events of great importance had happened, as we
shall now see.
Towards the end of June rumours were transmitted
from Constantinople to this country that a rising in
Bulgaria, one of Turkey's disaffected provinces, had
been suppressed with a ferocity from which even the
Middle Ages would have recoiled with horror. Ques-
tions were asked in Parliament, and Ministers com-
municated with the British Ambassador at Constanti-
nople, who, after instituting inquiries, declared that
these reports had been monstrously exaggerated. Still
the stories were repeated, and came to us thickly over
land and sea; and as their authenticity was still denied,
the Daily News despatched a Special Commissioner to
Bulgaria, in order to ascertain upon the spot the exact
truth. Mis letters exceeded in herror anything which
had been read in this country since the days
o( the Indian mutiny. There is no necessity even to
indicate here the nature of those Turkish atrocities in
Bulgaria which formed the theme of denunciation from
hundreds of platforms, and were the text of a dis-
course from many a pulpit. Such a wave of indigna-
tion swept over the land as had never before been wit-
nessed in our time, and a general demand was made
that Turkish rule over a population which had been so
shamefully misgovened ought to cease. In the midst
of the national exeitement caused by the disclosures of
these barbarities Many of the incidents consequent
upon the other events-which happened during the brief
reign of Murad Effendi were overlooked. He had not
been a month upon the throne of the stern Mahmoud,
when Servia, one of his tributary States, declared-war
against Turkey. The Turks, apprehensive that Servia
might follow the example of Bosnia, and break out
into insurrection, had for some time surrounded the
former State with an army of 200,000 men. Prince
Milan, in his proclamation declaring war on the 30th
June, pointed to the "belt of iron" which had been
placed upon his frontiers, and called upon his people to
break through it and to win their independent*. On
the 2nd of July the Servians and the Montenegrins
crossed the frontier and attacked the Turks. It was
hoped that the occupation of the Turkish army in the
other disaffected provinces of the Empire would have
enabled the Servians to realise the expectations of
Prince Milan, and to raise the country from a tri-
butary State to an independent kingdom. In some
quarters it was hoped that Egypt would seize the occa-
sion to cast off Turkish rule and so relieve herself of
the tribute of £700,000 a year paid by the Khedive to
the Sultan. But these expectations were doomed todis-
appointment. Egypt, instead of rising against Turkey,
actually sent troops to her assistance against the
Servians. This, with the undoubted fighting capacity
of the Turkish army, and a want of earnestness on the
part of the Servians themselves, settled the fate of the
campaign from the first. Servia, indeed, never had a
chance. She won some advantages, doubtless but
these were of a minor character as compared with the
successes of the Turks. Better strategy, superior
valour, and overwhelming numbers were on the side of
the Moslem soldiery, and could not but tell their own
tale in the long run. And so, after four months of
severe fighting, the Servians were compelled to recog-
nise the fact that their cause was a hopeless one; and
at the premptory demand of Russia an armistice for
two months was concluded on the let of November.
the great Powers meanwhile combining in an effort to
settle the Eastern Question by a Conference which by
general agreement was to assemble at Constantinople.
In A review of foreign affairs, the political position
and prospects of our immediate neighbours across the
Channel naturally command our first attention. It
was on the 31st December, 1875, that the French
Assembly, elected in February, 1871, held its last
sitting. It had been chosen at a time of great national
disaster, for the German army was in possession of the
capital, and its first duty was to make terms with the
victorious foe by ceding Alsace and a portion of Lor-
raine, and by consenting to pay a war indemnity of
two hundred millions sterling. During its brief
career of less than five years the Assembly, which had
taken up its quarters at Versailles, so that it should
not be overborne by the mob of the French capital, had
displaced M. Thiers, as the Chief of the Executive
Power, and put in his stead Marshal MacMahon as
the President of a Conservative Republic. The
Assembly having been dissolved, Marshal MacMahon,
on the 13th January, published a proclamation to the
French people in reference to the general election then
approaching. On the 30th of the same month it was
ascertained that the senatorial elections gave the
Republicans a small majority. On the 20th February,
however, the contests for seats in the Chamber of
Deputies, which took place throughout France, gave
the Republicans a very considerable advantage. M.
Buffet, the Minister of the Interior, was rejected by
five constituencies, and placed his resignation in the
hands of the Marshal-President. He was succeeded
by M. Dufaure. On the Bth March the newly-elected
Chambers met for the first time at Versailles, and M.
Jules Gravy was elected President by 414 out of 433
votes. Four days afterwards the Due d' Audiffret-Pas-
quier was chosen President of the Senate by 205 out of
274. The first important duty undertaken by the
Chamber was to abolish the state of siege, or rather
the reign of martial law in Paris which had been
continued since the opening of the war with Germany.
Upon the whole, however, the politics of France
during the year have not, for manifest reasons, at-
tracted much attention in this country. We have
been engaged over the Eastern Question; and they,
having no interest in it, have attended principally to
their own affairs, without so mush interference in the
Internal concerns of other countries as was the case
under former systems of rule in France.

The foreign events of the year are, however, mostly
comprised in our review of the incidents connected with
the war between Turkey and her disaffected provinces,
and the negotiations in which the several Great
Powers have been engaged with a view of putting an
end to a state of chronic danger and 'disturbance in
Europe. Austria, Germany, and Russia have, on
the whole, moved very nearly together; and, from
the latest declarations of Prince Bismarck in the
German Parliament, it would appear that so far as
is possible amid such conflicting interests, neither
intends to act in a spirit of hostility towards the
others. One very satisfactory feature of the year was
the collapse of the Carlist war early in February, after
a struggle which had gone on since the autumn of
1872, had cost thousands of -lives, and had devastated
some of the fairest tracts of country in Spain. On the
28th February Don Carlos and his staff, having fled
from the land which they had unsuccessfully en•
deavoured to conquer, entered French territory, which
they were at once respectfully invited to leave by
Marshal blacMahon. Having no alternative but to
obey, they crossed the Channel and took refuge in
England, Don Carlos arriving in London on the sth of
March. On the 20th King Alphonso made his entry
into Madrid, to signalise the close of the Carlist war;
and since that time the affairs of Spain, like those of
Franca, have ceased to occupy that share of the
public attention which they had commanded for some
years previously. If we include the United States,in
our survey of foreign countries, it will be found that
two great events have absorbed notice in the Republic
across the Atlantic—the Centennial celebration and the
Presidential election. Intimately associated with the
former was the Exhibition at Philadelphia, opened on
the 10th May and closed on the 10th November,
having been visited by about ten millions of persons
during those six months. The contest for the office of
President was one of the most closely fought out in the
history of the Union, and it is possible, or, rather,
most probable, that the validity of the bare majority
which gives the result in favour of the Republican
candidate will be challenged in the House of Repre-
sentatives—a body containing a majority of Democrats
—when the votes are formally counted in February
next, preparatory to the inauguration of the new Pre-
sident on the 4th of March.

A glance at the chief political evente of the year at
home shows that very few changes have been wrought.
The most considerable of these was the elevation of the
Prime Minister to the peerage. On the night of the
11th of August he appeared in the House of Commons
for the last time as Mr. Disraeli, and delivered a
speech in defence of the foreign policy of the Govern-
ment in respect to its dealings with Turkey over the
atrocities in Bulgaria. On the following morning the
London newspapers contained an official announcement
that her Majesty had been pleased to summon the
Premier to the House of Lords; and on the 15th, three
days after the prorogation of Parliament, the right
hon. gentleman was formally gazetted Viscount
Hughenden and Earl of Beaconsfield, thus terminating
a political career in the People's House which had
continued nearly 40 years—for he was first returned for
Maidstone in 1837. Since 1847, however, he had sat for
the county of Bucks, and for the seat thus vocated the
fiercest contest of the twelve months ensued, pnd one
which excited great interest throughout the lcmgdom.
The Hon. T. F. Fremantle, eldest son of Lord Cottes.
Ice, fought the battle for the Conservatives, and no
ton. Rupert Carington, younger brother of Lord

Carington, came forward in the interests of the
Liberals. The result was decided on the 21st
September, when the Conservatives succeeded in re-
taining the seat by a majority of 186 votes. Simul-
taneously with the granting of an earldom to Mr.
Disraeli the Earl of Malmesbury resigned the office
of Lord Privy Seal, which was taken by the Prime
Minister, who thus combined both offi,es, just as Mr.
Gladstone, for a few months in 1873, united the
Premiership and the Chancellorship of the Exchequer.
The other ministerial changes of the year have not
been numerous. In February Earl Stanhope, on suc-
ceeding to that title, resigned the Lordship of the
Treasury which he had held as Viscount Mahon' and
It was given to Lord Crichtqn., M.P. In July Lord
Henry Lennox, M. P., resign-athe office of First Com-
missioner of Public Works, and was succeeded by the
Right Hon. Gerard Noel, M. P. In September Lord
Advocate Gordon was created one of the new 10e
peers under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, his place
was taken by Mr. Watson, the Scottish Solicitor-
General a post which has now fallen to Mr.
Mzedonald.

There have been many alterations in the pfrsonnel of
the legislature, but they have not so materially affected
the balance of political power as would have been the
case had the Government majority been a smaller or a
more compact one. Taking them in their order, there
have ban elections, during the twelve months, in
Ipswich, South Wilts, East Suffolk, Dorsetshire, North
Shropshi,e, Leominster, Huntingdon, Burnley,
Manchester, Berkshire, East Retford, Enniskillen,
Horsham, North Nerfolk, East Cumberland, West
Aberdeen, Cork city, Pembrokeshire, Birmingham,
Leitrim, East Worcestershire, Mid Cheehire, East Kent,
Shoreham, Carmarthen boroughs, Leeds, Donegal,
Bucks, Ghogow and Aberdeen Universities, South
Shropshire, Frome and Liskeard. The Liberals have won
seat in Leominster, Manchester, East Cumberland.,
Leitrim, Carmarthen boroughs, and Frome. The Con'
servatives gained a seat in the City of Cork. Of
the members of the House of Commons who had seats
in that assembly at the beginning of the year, Mr. J.
R. Ormsby•Gore and Mr. W. R. Ormsby-Gore have
respectively become Brecon Harlech, the former having
enjoyed the dignity but a few months; Mr. Gerard
Sturt was created Lord Alington ; and Mr. Disraeli,
as already noted, became Earl of Beaconsfield. The
following have withdrawn from Parliamentary life:
Mr. R. .Arkwright, Sir John Kerslake, Mr. Benyon,
Mr. M'COmbie, Mr. George Dixon, Mr. Dowdeswell,
Sir Wyndham Knatchbul Mr. C. W. Nevill, and
Mr. R. M.. alder. Mr, Gordon has become a Lord of
Appeal in Ordinary, and Mr. Lopes a Justice of the
Court of Common Pleas. Death has removed Mr. R.
Shaw, at the age of 50; Mr. W. R. Callender, 50;
Viscount Galway, 70; Mr. W. N. Hodgson, 75' the
Hon. F. Walpole, 54; Mr. Rouayne, 54; Sir J. H.
Scourfield, 68; Col. Egerton Leigh, 61; Sir Percy
Burrell, 64; Mr. Conolly, 53 ; Sir Percy Herbert. 54;
the Right Hon. E. Horsman, 69; and Sir John
Edmonde, 50.

Turning from the political to the finanoial review, it
will be seen that the year has been far from satis-
factory. Competent authorities have assured U 3 that
during the past twelve months trade has been more
depreseed than for a generation previously. Capital
and enterprise have been employed in a far more re-
stricted degree; the demand for labour has proved
less; and geductions in wages have not been tur-
common. The year opened under the influence of
considerable depreciation in the value of foreign securi-
ties, caused mainly through the default of the Turkish
Government to pay its creditors in full, and through
England having purchased the Khedive's interest
in the Suez Canal-. Egyptian stock, which ran up
at the first announcement, speedily dropped to a figure
below their original value; and while there was thus a
loss of capital in foreign bonds, there were very few
channels of productive enterprise at home. The Bank
Rate stood at 4 per cent, at the beginning of the year,
and on the 6th of January it was raised to 5, being re-
duced again to 4 on the 27th. On the 23rd March it
was placed at 3, and or the 20th April it fell 0.2.
There is, however, no necessity to follow the fluctua-
tions which, having fallen almost to the lowest -
point, have never advanced sufficiently high '
any sign of monetary pressure. Amid all the
which has fallen upon trade, it is satisfactory to note
that the Revenue Return% do tot run short of the esti-
mate of the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and that,
although our armaments are now costing us more than
they ever did before in time of peace, the Budget
balances are likely to be on the right side when Sir
Stafford Northcate makes his financial statement in
April next.
The meteorological disturbances of the year have by
.no means been so great as those which left inch a
chronicle of disader behind its predecessor: While
1875 went out amid memories of devastating floods,
1876 came in accompanied with a wintry mantle, and
on the 21st of January there' was a severe snowstorm
throughout England. This by interfering with the
efficient working of railway signals, led to a terrible
catastrophe at Abbot's Ripton, on the Great Northern
line, where a double collision took place, and 15 lives
were sacrificed. Another heavy snowstorm swept over
the land on the 12th March; the spring was late; and
even up to the end of May, although the sun
might be shining brightly, the east winds were
cold and ungenial. But no sooner had we got
into July than bursts of tropical heat were ex-
perienced, and these increased in intensity until the
13th of August, when the thermometer in London
stood at 96, or three degrees higher than at any period
during the previous 16 years. From that time the
heat gradually subsided; and, indeed, before the end
of the month of August, by way of illustrating the
capricious nature of the temperature in the British
isles, frost was registered at night. The remainder of
the autumn was characterised by none of those
disastrous floods which marked with a black stone the
annals of the fall of 1475. The month of ])...oember, as
it often does, inouglit with it gales and rain, and many
a valley in low-lying lands was inundated • but, taking
the second half of the year, there was nothing like the
excessive rainfall which formed so remarkable a feature
between July and November, 1875. -
Although the calamities of the year have not-been
numerous, some of them have attracted considerable
attention. In the cloeing days of 1875, the training-
ship Goliath, one of the institutions of this class lying
in the Thames, was destroyed by fire off Grays; and
on the 2nd January the Was-spite shared the same
late. An official report afterwards showed the last
mentioned result to have been due to incendiarism. On
the Bth January asfatal railway accident took place at
Odessa, in which 68 lives were lost. On the 17th of
February a collision took place off Dover between the
British steamer Strathclyde, bound for Bombay, and
the German steamer Franconia, in which the former
was sunk, and more than 30 lives were lost. The
captain of the Franconia was tried for manslaughter at
the Central Criminal Court, and convicted; but on an
appeal to the judges of the High Court of Justice the
conviction was quashed, on the ground that an English
tribunal had no jurisdiction to try a foreign captain of a
foreign ship for an offence committed upon the high
seas, whilst that ship was passing from one foreign
port to another. On the 11th March a landslip
took place at Caub, on the Rhine, in which 26
persons were killed. On the 17th there was an erup-
tion of Mount Vesuvius, fortunately without those
disastrously fatal results which have accompanied
previous outbreaks of that volcano. On the 21st, an
explosion of dynamite at Blaen Llanir, in South Wales,
destroyed many lives. On the sth of April, by an
accident to a ferry boat at Aberdeen, thirty-two lives
were lost. On the 14th July, while H,M.S. Thunderer
was undergoing her trials for speed in the measured
mile at Stokes Bay, an explosion rent her boilers
asunder, killing 15 men and wounding 56 others. On
the 7th August (a Bank holiday), through a oollision on
the Somerset and Dorset line, eleven lives were
sacrificed. On the 11th September, the Daneterong
steamer foundered on her way from Melbourne, near
Jervis Bay, and sixty persons were drowned. The
destruction of the Brooklyn Theatre by fire on the
night of the sth December, with a loss of 370 lives,
has cast a sad gloom over the closing days of the year
ire that fashionable suburb of New York city ; whilst a
disastrous collision which occurred on December
23, on the Great Northern Railway, at the Arlesey
siding station, near Hitchin, causing the deaths
of the driver and stoker of an express train and several
passengers, with a long list of injured, threw a dark
shade of sadness over the community at home on
Christmas Day. But the most fearful calamity cf all,
and one which has never been paralleled in history,
was the cyclone which swept over a portion of Bengal
in the middle of November, when the enormous
number of 215,000 persons are eatimated to have
perished
During the twelve months more than one incident
has shown the interest of the country in the cause of
science, and in the success of enterprising exploration.
On the 10th of January Lieutenant Cameron's report
of his journey of 3,000 miles across the African Conti-
nent—from opposite Zanzibar to St. Paul de Loamdo
—was read at the meeting of the Royal Geographical
Society. Lieutenant Cameron himself arrived in
England on the 2nd of April, and his descriptions of
the capabilities of Africa, as a producing cauntry,
have formed very suggestive matter for the considera-
tion of our people. The gallant officer has made it
clear that the popular impression of Africa, derived
from the presence in its mid_t of the great desert of
Sahara, is an erroneous one; It might be a land flow-
ing with milk and honey if it enjoyed the oppor-
tunities which have been extended to civilized nations.
Vast portions of it rejoice in the possession of a
splendid climate and a grateful soil, which would
bring forth abundantly -with the necessary care and
attention. The land of the lordly Niger and the
kingly Nile might be made as productive as the valley
of the Mississippi with the application of capital and
labour. While the country was pondering over three
things, a feeling of surprise ran through it on the
morning of the 28th of October at the intelligence that
the Arctic Expedition, which had left Portsmouth
Harbour amid such high hopes and expectations seven-
teen months before, with three years' provisions in store,
had returned without accomplishing the great obj -ct and
purpose of its mission. They had set out in the full
confidence of the nation that, replete as the expedition
was with every scientific appliance which experience
could suggest or modern discovery dictate, it would be
enabled to gain for England the credit of penetrating
to the North Pole, after generations of fruitless effort
on the part of many civilized peoples. But even
modern science and British pluck and determination
were beaten in the strife with the irresistible forces of
nature. The struggle against long months of dark-
ness, cold so piercing that it seems extraordinary how
the human frame could endure it and live, enow-stornas
terrible in their severity, and mountains of ice sta-
tioned as eternal sentinels to guard the secrets of the
Pole, was a bang and gallant one, but its success was
not commensurate with its bravery. It had to be
I given up when the intrepid explorers were within 400
miles of the Pole, and when the travellers., worn out by
fatigue, and wasted by disease, would willingly have
undergone even greater hardships than they had yet
experienced had it been possible for these harder pri-
vations to have met with the reward which man ex-
pects from energy and perseverance. But the opinion
of Captain Nene, the Commander, was that any idea
of reaching the Pole in the face of the enormous masses
of ice which the frightful climate everywhere threw
across their path was impracticable. • And so the
mysterious region surrounding the Pole must still re-
main an undiscovered land, but fortunately a land
from which we have not been compelled to write,
"no traveller returns." But although the explorers
failed to reach the Pole, their efforts have been
a thoroughly pppreoiatocl by the Dation which they