The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-01-02 00:00:00

RETROSPECT

OP TUB

YE AR 1885.

"Welcome the coming, scved the parting guest.*
But in welcoming the advent of the new we may
pause profitably for retrospect before dismissing the
fast fleeting year of grace 1885 to the history of
bygone epochs. It is as well for the citizen to look
back at certain intervals upon events which pass so
rapidly in these fast-developing times, as it is im-
portant to the merchant to review the manifold
ramifications of a world-embracing commerce, and
there need be no excuse in covering a little space by
the enumeration, and the passing in review of the
political, commercial, agricultural, and social in-
cidents of the twelve months just drawing to an end.
Loyalty being the paramount characteristic of
Englishmen, we turn at first to the Throne, with the
proud dignity that the Monarch who has continued
her beneficent reign during 1885 is still spared to JIB
in health and strength. This year closes on the
threshold of Qloen Victoria's jubilee, and happily
the past twelve months have not been characterised
by an occurrence 30 sad as that which overshadowed
the Royal household and cast a gloom over Europe
in the spring of 1881. On the contrary, the Queen
has had the happiness of seeing her grandson,
Prince Albert Victor, attain his majority (January
Bth), in addition to the supreme felicity of
consenting to the marriage of her favourite
daughter, Princess Beatrice, to the handsome
and chivalrous Prince Henry of Battenberg.
This event took place on the 23rd of July at Whip-
ingham Church in the Isle of Wight, and was
signalised by public rejoicings throughout her
dominions The happy pair are constantly in resi-
dence with her Majesty, as it would be impossible for
the Queen to lose from her almost daily presence her
most affectionate companion, Princess Beatrice. No
other circumstance of immediate connection With her
Majesty has occurred calling for special comment, for
it would be invidious to allude to the performance of
our Sovereign's functions in State matters. The
popular Prince of Wales and his incomparable con-
sort have been more than usually assiduous in
matters of national and social welfare. The coining
of age of their eldest son was a joy to them which
they celebrated "at home," at Sandringham. Prince
Albert Victor has since been active in public life. On
the 31st of January he formally opened the Welling-
ton Club, an institute for working lads, and in a
hundred similar philanthropic causes has he emulated
his illustrious father. One particularly notable ovent
of the year was the visit of the Prince and Princess
of Wales to Ireland. They arrived in Dublin on the
Bth of April, and remained: in the Emerald Isle
until the 27th. Everywhere were they cor-
dially received. The peculiar condition of
Ireland before the visit had disquieted some minds
as to the policy of the journey; but the dauntless
Prince and Princess had more faith in the hearts of
the Irish people than to heed the grave feara
endeavoured to b 3 thrust upon them. They antici-
pated a hearty welcome, and they experienced it to
the full from those who may legitimately be called
the Irish nation. On the 29th of June Prince Albert
-Victor was presented with the freedom of the City
of London, and the ceremony was perhaps one of the
most unique even in the annals of the ancient corpora-
tion of the greatest metropolis of the world —so
unique, in fact, that it merits more than a passing
note. The stately formalities having been gone
through, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
received the congratulations of the City on his heir's
majority. Then the Chamberlain, in choice phrase-
ology, presented the freedom in a casket to one than
whom he said none could come claiming descent
from a worthier ancestor than Prince Consort.
"Passed from us, but not forgotten by us, his
character is now the property of history, and we may
freely speak as we should not have been justified in
speaking during his lifetime, or in the presence of the
living, of one gifted with every Princely grace and
accomplishment, crowned with every personal and
civic virtue:

"Who reverenced his conscience as his king;
Whose glory was redressing human wrong;
Who spoke no slander, no, nor listened to it;

Who loved one only, and who clove to her;
Wearing the white dower of a blameless life."
Prince Albert Victor replied in a speech of singular
appropriateness, and characterised by eloquent dic-
tion. He occupies iu the capacity of a freeman of
the City of London a position never occupied in his-
tory before. There is no precedent of a Prince of
Wales taking upon himself the freedom before in his
father's lifetime. Towards the close of the year, in
November, the Prince of Wales paid a visit to Bir-
mingham, and opened the Jaffray Hospital, and
although the visit was the occasion of enthusia tic
demonstration, yet the country was in the turmoil of
the general election, which distracted attention from
almost everything else.

Passing from Royalty to a political summary of
events which have made 1885 remarkable in the
annals of Parliamentary history, it is difficult not to
commence without first referring to what has come
last, viz., the general election. The returns are little
more than complete as we write, and the considera-
tion of them has not lessened the excitement with ,
which the contest was entered upon. However, they
were the legitimate outcome of what was initiated
last year, and brought to legislative fruition early in
this one. Parliament re-assembled on the 19th of
February, when it was arranged that the various
stages of the Redistribution Bill should obtain prece-
dence in order to facilitate its enactment. A
"coalition" on an arrangement had been previously
come to between the leaders of both parties, that the
passing of the measure of reform should be subject
to the coincident enactment of the Redistribution
Bill. It was on the 6th of March when the latter
reached the committee stage, and animated discus-
sions took place night after night, in which the com-
pact made between the leaders did not escape criti-
cism. Some of the proposals which excited sharp
debates were that to disfranchise the minorities, by
Mr. Bryce; that of Mr. Arnold, to include boroughs
with less than 20,000 inhabitants within the limits of 1
disfranchisement in England; that of Lord Crichton, '
to exclude from those limits boroughs in Ireland with
more than 10,000 inhabitants, and on that of the
Lord Mayor of London for the retention of four
members for the City of London. All these were
negatived, and it took more than a month to settle in
committee the schedules of the bill defining the names
and boundaries of the new constituencies; but, in the
long run, no material changes were made in the re-
commendations of the Boundary Commission. The
bill was read on the 11th of May a third time, and
the House of Lords rapidly passed it through its
stages. Several important points arose out of the
Registration Bills; but these eventually received the
Royal assent on the 21st of the same month.
Although so much interest was centred upon the
consummation of the greatest measure of Reform
ever introduced into the British House of Com-
mons, yet foreign complications distracted men's
minds early in the year. The death of General
Gordon and the fall of Khartoum on the eve of the
re-assembling of Parliament had most to do with the
disturbing elements evident among our legislators
when they met; and within a fortnight of their meet-
ing the Leader of the Opposition submitted a Vote of
Censure on the Government; which was, however,
lo.t by 362 votes against 283. On the 18th of
March Mr. Childers, the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, explained the Convention concluded with the I
great Powers, and assented to by the Porte, for the
settlement of the Egyptian finances, and the Conven-
tion was upheld on division by 294 votes against 246.
It involved the issue of a loan of £9,000,000 on an
international guarantee under certain conditions.
Russia again gave an amount of trouble and anxiety
on the Afghanistan boundary question, and matters
seemed to be assuming serious shape, when, on the
9th of April, news was received of a conflict between
Russians and Afghans, which, according to the
Premier, appeared to show that General Komaroff
had committed an "unprovoked aggression" on the
Ameer. On the 27th Mr. Gladstone asked for a Vote
of Credit of £11,000,000, to which the Opposition
offered no objection, and the stroke of diplomacy seemed
,to bring Russia to an arrangement, which, for a time at
leasr,-meade it appear that collision was improbable.
The brier adjournment for the Whitsun Holidays,
developed rvariours of Cabinet dissensions, and in fact
there rapidly ;arose a deepening impression that Mr.
Gladstone's Alilministration would soon tumble. On ,
re-assembling an uncertain and unconfident atmos-
phsre isalliffed. Mr. Childers produced his Budget
on the 30th of April. The estimated expenditure was '
£100,000,000, part of which he proposed to raise by an
Bd. Income Tax, equalising the "Death Duties,"
making certain alterations in the Spirit and Beer
duties, leaving £3,000,000 to be met out of the follow-
ing year's revenues. This Budget scheme was defeated
upon a motion by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach on the
Bth of June by 264 votes to 252. Mr. Gladstone
thereupon resigned on the following day. Her
Majesty accepted the resignation, and the announce-
ment of the fact was male in both Houses on the
12th. Lord Salisbury was summoned to Balmoral,
consented to form a Cabinet, and Parliament tem-
porarily adjourned. The new Cabinet consisted of
sixteen members. Lord Salisbury became Prime
Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs;
Sir Stafford Northeote—who took his place in the
Upper House as Earl of Iddesleigh—became First
Lord of the Treasury; Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, as
Chancellor of the Exchequer, took the Leadership
of the Lower House; and Lord Randolph
Churchill was made Secretary of State for
India. Sir Richard Cross was appointed Home Secre-
tary; Mr. W . H. Smith, Secretary for War; Lord John
Manners, Postmaster-General; Colonel Stanley,
Secretary for the Colonies; Lord George Hamilton,
First Lord of the Admiralty; and Mr. Stanhope,
Vice-President of the Council. Sir Hardinge Giffard
became Lord Chancellor, with the title of Lord Haire
bury; Lord Cranbrook, President of the Council;
Loid Harrowby, Lord Privy Seal; the Duke of Rich-
mond, President of the Board of Trade; and Lord
Carnarvon. Viceroy of Ireland. To these must be

added Mr. Gibson—now Lord Ashbourne--whose
advance to the front rank of his party was reeognised
by a peerage and a seat in the Cabinet, held in con-
junction with the Irish Chancellorship. Among the
first acts of the Conservative Administration were the
dropping of the Crimes Act, and the rearrangement
of the Budget by Sir Michael H. Beach. He adopted
the increased income tax, and left the deficit to be
covered partly by the suspension of the Sinking Fund
and partly chargeable on the ensuing year. The
removal of the disqualification as voters of persons
receiving medical relief was the object of a bill intro-
duced by Mr. Jesse Collings, and it was passed; and
before the session ended on the 14th of August Lord
Ashbourne's Irish Land Purchase Bill passed the
Upper House • the Criminal Law Amendment Bill
in the hands of Sir Richard Cross, the object of which
is to raise the "age of protection,' became law; the
Housing of the Working Classes Bill, introduced by
Lord Salisbury, was enacted, as was also the Scotch
Secretary Bill. It may be added that nearly 300
divisions had been taken during this session of un-
paralleled length. The Queen's Speech on the pro-
rogation records the negative issue of the Soudan cam-
paign, and the death of the Mandi; hopes for a satis-
factory settlement of the difficulties with Russia. It also
announces the protectorate established in Bechuana-
land, and the strengthening of the north-west frontier
of India; it alludes to the proposed Federation of
Australasia; to the Bills for Amendment of Criminal
Law, and upon the improvement of working classes'
dwellings; records the depression of trade and the
forthcoming commission of inquiry, and announces
the approaching dissolution. On Wednesday after-
noon, the 18th of November, her Majesty having
travelled from Balmoral for the purpose, held a
Council at Windsor Castle, at which the Royal sanc-
tion was given to a Proclamation dissolving Parlia-
ment, and ordering the election of a new one—the
writs to be returnable on the 12th of January, 1886.
Thus the country was launched into the heat and ex-
citement of the greatest election in history, the first
under a system of universal suffrage. Briefly, the
measures under which the election took place, "The
Representation of the People Act" gives to house-
holders and lodgers in counties the same franchise
which were conferred onAhe corresponding classes in
boroughs by the ReformiAct of 1867, and provides
for the establishment of those franchises on a uniform
footing throughout the constituencies of the United
Kingdom; it also grants a service franchise, while the
" Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885," divided afresh
the United Kingdom, and in its operation created 13
now seats, making the maximum number of members
in the British House of Commons 670, as against 652
formerly. The pollings began on Tuesday, November
24th, and the first three members returned unopposed
on that day were the venerable C. P. Villiers (Wolver-
hampton), Messrs. H. Richard and C. H. James
(Merthyr Tv dvil) . The pollings continued for several
weeks, the last contests being in the third week in
December at Orkney and Shetland, and for St.
Andrew's University. At the close of all the contests,
the state of parties were as follows : Conservatives,
251 ; Liberals, 333; and Nationalists, 86. The first
Cabinet Council after the dissolution was held on
Monday, the 14th of December, at Downing-street..
and Councils have been frequent up to the end of the
year.
In glancing at the catalogue of events, which
may by the exercise of a modicum of latitude
be classed among the social incidents of 1885,
the first idea that strikes the retrospective
mind is that the New Year was ushered in with
accompaniments more appropriate to the volcanic
regions or to those countries where physical up-
heavals are occasionally expected, even if they are not
common. We had not succeeded in extertuinating
the dynamite, fiend and he manifested his un-
mistakeable presence on the very first day of January
by an explosion on the Underground Railway. There
was, of course, much alarm at the occurrence,
but the alarm developed into something like a
panic when, on Saturday, the 24th of the same
month, simultaneous explosions took place in the
House of Commons, in We.tminster Hall, and in the
Towerof London. The first explcsion effected what was
grimly called at the time a thorough material" redis-
tribution of seats" in the legislative 3liamber, whilst
the subsequent explosions in the Great Hall of West-
minster and at the Tower were fraught with injury
to individuals. These explosions, however, emanating
from an organised source, were the first and last of
the year. On the 11th of February a seizure of dyna-
mite was made in the Harrow-road, London, and
subsequently the alertness of the police enabled them
to arrest two men named Burton and Cunningham,
around whom they drew a web of evidence con-
necting them with the London explosions that
resulted in their being sentenced at the Central
Criminal Court on the 18th of May to penal
servitude for life for treason-felony. In this
dynamite connection may be recorded the fact that
on the 2nd of February an Englishwoman, of some-
what eccentric habits, named Mrs. Dudley, attempted
to shoot O'Donovan Rossa in New York. She was
tried for the crime on the 29th of June, and acquitted
on the ground of insanity. Among other social inci-
dents of the month of January were the imprison-
ment of Mr. Edmund Yates in Holloway Prison for
libel, on the 16th; the elevation of Dr. Temple from
the See of Exeter to that of London, on the 22nd;
and the disturbances at Skye in connection with the
Crofters' agitation. The culprit in one of the most
diabolical murders of the time—John Lee—was sen-
tenced to death on the 4th of February for the brutal
murder of his mistress, Miss Keyse, at Babbacombe,
near Torquay; but the sentence was not destined to
be fully carried out. His execution was fixed for the
23rd of the month at Exeter; but there occurred some
painful " hitches "in the drop. It would not act, and
after several ineffectual attempts the sheriff deferred
carrying out the sentence, with the result that when
the matter was reported to the Home Secretary he
at once signed a respite, and commuted the sentence
to penal servitude for life. This month will long be
remembered in the military annals of the country,
for it was on the 19th, the 20th, and the 21st that
the Coldstreams, the Grenadiers, and the Scots
Guards embarked, amid much excitement in London,
for Egypt. A painful occurrence happened
at Woolwich a young soldier was killed by
a comrade who was on sentry-duty at the Gun
Cotton Magazines. The sentry was acquitted
of all blame. On the 13th the tunnel under the
Mersey, connecting the towns of Liverpool and Bir-
kenhead, was completed, and the Mayors of those
towns met midway in the tunnel, and exchanged con-
gratulations. The unemployed of London " demon-
strated " on the embankment on the 16th, to the
number of 3000 or 4000, and on the 26ch, during
some artillery experiments at Shoeburyness, a shell
suddenly exploded, killing several officers and men.
March the first was the occasion of the commemora-
tion of the 700th anniversary of the consecration of
the Temple Church by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jeru-
salem. The Prince and Princess of Wales, with
their daughters, were present, and the Archbishop of
Canterbury preached the sermon. A disastrous col-
bet y explosion marked the 2nd of the month at
Usworth colliery, near Newcastle, 40 men and boys
being killed, whilst the 3rd of March will ever be
memorable as a date upon which our colonies demon-
strated unmistakeably their loyalty to the old country
cOntingent of New South Wales Volunteers started
from Sydney to join our armies in the Soudan. The
first week of March was also notable for a somewhat
remarkable trial at Birmingham. At a political
demonstration at the Aston Lower Grounds some
time previously, a riot had occurred, which subse-
quently led to party recriminations. Mr. Chamber-
lain championed the cause of his party, whom the
Conservatives accused of inciting the disturbances,
and in support of his side he produced certain affi-
davits in the House of Commons. One of these
affidavits was made by Peter Joyce, alias Larry Mack.
The Tories repudiated the truth of it by prosecuting
Joyce, the result being that he was sentenced to six
weeks' imprisonment. Another case which excited
much interest, especially in the fashionable circles,
was the action brought by Lord Durham for the
annulment of his marriage on account of his wife's
insanity when the nuptials took place. Judgment
was delivered on the 10th, the petition being dismissed
with costs, the learned President holding that Lady
Durham was not insane at the time of the marriage,
although she had since become so. On the 14th a
movement was inaugurated at the London Mansion
House to establish a memorial to General Gordon;
on the 23rd Mr. E. R. Phelps, of Vermont, was
nominated to succeed Mr. Lowell as United States
Minister in London; on the 28th Oxford won the
Universities Boat Race by two lengths, and on the
30th Mrs. Weldon was committed to Holloway Prison
for six months for a libel on M. Reviere. At the
commencement of the month of April (the 6th) the
Earl of Shaftesbury resigned his position as head of
the Lunacy Commissioners, explaining as his reasons
to the Lord Chancellor his disapproval of some
clauses of the Lunacy Bill. On the Bth a colliery
explosion occurred at Great Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent,
causing the death of six persons; the enthronement
of the Bishop of London in St. Paul's Cathedral
taking place the same day. An explosion of gas at
Rotherhithe on the 20th caused the wreck of two
houses and serious injury to five persons, and
on the 23rd an alarming explosion took place
at the Admiralty in Whitehall, injuring Mr. Swain-
son, an -Under Secretary. The second of May was
disastrous to an exhibition which private enterprise
had established in the West-end of London, viz., the
Japanese Village. By a slight accident the village
was reduced to ashes in a very short space of time;
but the village has since risen Pheenix-like from the
ruins. It was reopened the first week in December.
On the 4th of May the Prince of Wales opened the
Inventions Exhibition at South Kensington. The
exhibition proved a great success. It remained open
until Monday, the 9th of November, and the total
number of visitors was nearly 3,800,000. On the 7th
of May a bust of the poet Coleridge was unveiled in
Westminster Abbey by Mr. Lowell, the United States
Ambassador; on the 20th a national memorial to the
late Professor Fawcett was decided upon at the
London Mansion House; on the 26th a marble bust
of the poet Gray 'was unveiled in the hall of Pens-
broke College, Cambridge. The month of June will
probably be regarded as notable at home on account
of one incident, which, although bo's'n of politics wid
be considered apart from politics. As stated else-
where, Mr. Gladstone's Government were this month
defeated, and they surrendered the seals of office.
It had long been evident that though the ex-Premier
had lost none of his political fire and enthusiasm,
nevertheless prudence dictated at least a partial
withdrawal from the active arena of the Rouse

of Commons. No doubt it was this coneldera- Ole& wha t leadrng the British Colt thin at ir erbi=
tion, besides the consuming desire of the Queen kan. He was 53 years of age. On the following day
to reward her faithful oounsellor with honours the Romish Church lost a dignitary in the death
that on the 10th of June Mr. Gladstone' of Cardinal M'Cabe, at the age of 69, land five
was offered an Earldom. The right hon. gentleman, days afterwards our army again lost one of its most
however, declined again the proffered honour. The emfnent Generals by the death of Sir Herbert Stewart,
most terrible colliery disaster of the year occurred at Gakdul, in his 44th year. In March, on the 9th,
on the 18th of June, at Clifton Hall Colliery, near the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours was
Manchester, when 160 lives were lost; oq the same deprived of its honorary President by the death of
day Yorkshire was visited with a slight shock of Mr. Louis 'Ugh°, at the ripe age of 80. The Church
earthquake. Generel Gordon's Diary was published of England lost another prelate on the 20th. The
on the 25th, and on the last day of the month a statue venerable late Bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Christopher
of the late Lord Cavendish was unveiled in the Town Wordsworth, nephew of the poet, died at Harewood,
Hall at Barrow-in-Furness. In ;fully (the 7th) the near Leeds. He had only resigned Lincoln early in
first parcels-post was despatched to India; on the Bth the year. England lost a representative abroad by
several lives were lost by fire at the Aberystwith the decease of Sir Harry Smith Parkes, at Shanghai,
University; on the 14th the Munster Bank suspended on the 22nd, aged 57. It is said of him that "no
payment, and on the 21st a terrible collision occurred name, after that of Gordon, will be more permanently
off the West Coast of Cornwall, between H.M.S. identified with the most stirring events since the
Hecla and the Cheerful, 641 tons; twelve lives were Treaty of Nankin." The 2nd of April was charac-
lost. The Cheerful sank in ten minutes. On the tensed by the death of the ex-Lord Chancellor
22nd the foundation stone of the Guildhall School of of England Earl Cairns —in his 66th year.
Music, on the Thames Embankment, was laid, and on He was twice Lord Chancelloi under Con-
the 30th the subscription-lists were opened for the servative Administrations. On the 6th the Roman
new Egyptian guaranteed loan of £9,000,000. A Catholic Church were deprived by death of another
service in memory of the late General Grant was held dignitary, Dr. Coffin, Bishop of Southwark. An
in Westminster Abbey on the 4th of August; on the event, remarkable in the rarity of its occurrence, took
6th Manchester rejoiced at the passing of the Ship place on the 11th of April, and cast a gloom over
Canal Bill; on the 10th a new roof in course of con- London. Mr. George Swan Nottage, the Lord
struction at the Huddersfield Railway Station fell in, Mayor, died after a brief illness at the age of 59. On
killing four men; on the 18th Mr. Gladstone left the same day the Earl of Selkirk died, and with him
London for a yachting trip along the coast expired the title. Sir George Rose Sartorius, G.C.8.,
of Norway, and about this time the Lord Chief Admiral of the Fleet, died on the 13th, as did also
Justice of England was married by special Sir Edward Sullivan, Ireland's Lord Chancellor. Art
license to Miss Amy Lawford, daughter lost a well-known animal painter and Academician in
of the late Mr. H. Lawford, of the Bengal Civil Ser- the death of Mr. Richard Andsell, aged 70. On the
vice. The Rev. John Wordsworth, Oriel Professor 25th the Queen Dowager of Hawaii died, and also Sir
at Oxford, accepted the Bishopric of Salisbury on the William Alexander George Young, Governor of the
17th; on which day there were serious Salvation Gold Coast. Mr. Brinley Richards, the eminent
Army riots at Derby. On the 19th a straw plaiting musician, passed away at the commencement of May,
exhibition was opened at Luton; on the 20th an on the 9th of which the "Prince in Wales," Sir
archmological congress was held at Brighton, and the Watkins Williams Wynn, died at the age of 65 years.
month closed with a sad fatality at Dawlish. A per- The "greatest literary personality sines Goethe, the
tion of a cliff suddenly fell and buried a party of greatest but one since Voltaire," Victor Hugo, died on
women and children; two women and one child were the 22nd, at the great age of 83. English musical
killed. It was at the beginning of the month of Septem- life was bereft of another prominent figure on the sth
ber that measures were authoratively taken in regard of June by the death of Sir Julius Benedict; and in
to an alleged hid eousbocial scandal which had been un- addition to the following notable personages: Pro-
compromisingly exposed by a leading London journal fessor Fleming Jenkins, on the 12th; the Rev. E.
under the title of "The Maiden Tribute of Modern Paxton Hood; Prince Frederick Charles, on the
Babylon." The articles roused a storm of indigna- 15th. The death occurred on the 21st of that figure
tion on the one hand, a sympathy on the other; but that had given England so much trouble in the
they at all events were assuredly effective in forcing Soudan. The Mandi—Mahorned Achmet—succumbed
through Parliament the Criminal Law Amendment to smallpox. A third bishop of the Church of Eng-
Bill. On the 2nd of September a woman named land—Salisbury—died on the 6th of :July. Ho was
Rebecca Jarrett was charged at Bow-street with the 82 years of age. In this month, also, on the 23rd,
abduction of a girl aged 13, named Eliza Armstrong, General Grant, the 18th President of the United
and this was the commencement of the trial (the States died, and on the 25th Pope Leo XIII. lost
details of which are sufficiently widely known), ren- another Cardinal in the death of Nina, late Secretary
dered notorious as "The Armstrong Case." Subse- of State to his Holiness. The Jewish people also lost
quentiy Jarrett was joined in the dock by William a great and venerable head of their community by the
Thomas Stead, the editor of the journal referred ; death of Sir Moses Montefiore at the venerable age
his assistant, named Jacques, Mrs. Coombe,Bramwell of more than a century. He died on the 28th at
Booth, of the Salvation Army, and Louise Mourey, all Ramsgate. On the 3rd of August the Maharajah of
of whom were indicted for having abducted the girl. Travancore died; on the 17th Mr. Horace Wigan, the
The line of defence, while admitting the taking away actor and dramatist, aged 66; on the Bth, Lord
of the child with the consent of its parents, went to Halifax, need 84 ;on the 11th Lord Houghton, aged
show that the conspiracy was entered into with a 76; Sir John Heron-Maxwell died in an omnibus in
view of demonstrating to Stead the possibility of corn- London on the 22nd, in his 77th year; and the
mitting the crimes with impunity under the existing following also swelled the death role this month:
law, before he consented to make the horrible ex- Major-General Sir Harry Ord, formerly Governor of
posure which polluted the pages of his journal. Ulti- Western Australia, aged 60, Major-General John
inately, after occupying twelve days before Mr. Tatton Brown, aged 52; Major-General Richard
Justice, Lopes at the Central Criminal Court, the Lloyd Thompson, a Lucknow hero; Lieut.-Col. John
trial concluded on Saturday, the 7th of November. Stoughton Dennis, late Deputy - Minister of the
The jury returned a verdict of guilty against Mr. Interior, Canada, aged 65; Sir James Walker, late
Stead and the woman Jarrett, acquitting the others. Governor of the Bahama Islands, aged 76; Mr.
On the Tuesday following Mr. Stead and three others Sidney Locock, H.M. Envoy Extraordinary and
were convicted on another indictment of an indecent Minister Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of Brazil;
assault on the girl Eliza Armstrong. Stead was sea- and Bernard Howitz, the famous chess player of a
tenced to three months' imprisonment; Jacques to bygone generation. On the fourth of September
one month • the woman Jarrett to six months with- Sir Charles Whethern, a past Lord Mayor of London,
out hard labour, and the woman Mourey to six died at the age of 73; and early in the month also was
months' imprisonment with hard labour. The Trades removed an important personage from amongst the
Union Congress this year was opened at Southport on frontier rulers ef India—the Maharajah of Cash-
the 7th, and the British Association for the Advance- mere. On the 10th one of the oldest beneficed
ment of Science commenced its sitting's at Aberdeen clergymen in the Church of England passed away in
on the 9th. Early in the month five hundred thou- the person of the Rev. Samuel Dewe, rector of
sand sovereigns were received in Dublin from Kingswood, near Farningham, Kent, in his 90th year.
London to meet the run upon- some branches Mr. John Muirhead, who was closely identified with
of the Bank of Ireland. On the 18th there the development of practical telegraphy, died on the
occurred another serious collision at sea, be- 24th at Oakwood, Upper Norwood, at nearly 80 years
tween the steamer Brenda of Hartlepool and General of age; whilst on the 28th the branches of science
Steam Navigation Company's steamer Dolphin. The and literature lost an indefatigable worker in the
latter sank, and 17 persons were drowned. There decease of Mr. Cornelius Walford, at his residence
was a revival towards the end of the month of" Moon- near London. The first day of the following month
light" outrages in the south and west of Ireland, and (October) was marked by the loss of a philanthropist
the system of boycotting widely extended its rand& which sent a thrill of grief throughout the civilised
cations, postal messengers refusing to deliver tele- world. The Earl of Shaftesbury died at Folkestone
grams, and tradesmen declining to supply food to full of years and full of honour. He was the most
families obnoxious to the League. On Friday, the eminent social reformer of his time, and his name is
25th, a trial of an extraordinary nature came to an inextricably interwoven with the most humane move-
abortive end at the Central Criminal Court, London. meats of two generations. He had attained the
A meat salesman named Jas. Malcolm, was indicted I advanced age of 84 years. On the 16th Lord Strath-
for bigamy. The evidence was of the most remark- nairn, who obtained a distinguished military repute-
able description, the only question at issue being that tion as Sir Hugh Rose, died in Paris, aged 82; and
of identity. The jury could not agree, and were dis- on the 22nd another prelate was lost to the Church
charged; but at the next session he was found guilty, by the painfully sudden death of Bishop Fraser, of
and was sentenced on the 24th of October to seven Manchester, who was followed on the 24th by the
years' penal servitude. The Ist of October will be a Bishop of Ely, the Rt. Rev. J. Russell Woodford, D.D.
notable date, as being that upon which the sixpenny The death subsequently neenrrnd of the I
telegrams came into use. The meeting of the Church corn. On November 10th Dr. W. B. Carpenter, one
Congress commenced at Portsmouth on the 6th ;on of the foremost of English men of science, died at his
the 21st the nave of St. Alban's Abbey, restored by residence in London, in the 73rd year of his age,
Sir E. Beckett at a cost of upwards of £50,000, was from accidental burns, occasioned by the overturning
re-opened for divine service by the Archbishop of of the lamp of a vapour bath; on the 20th Sir Wm.
York: on the 22nd a new free library, for which the Rose, clerk of Parliaments, died; and on the 25th
late Mr. Edward Pease made a bequest of £lO,OOO, great sympathy was aroused in England by the
was opened at Darlington. In the month of November death of the King of Spain. It was a singular
provincial honours were conferred upon the towns coincidence that the day following Marshal Serrona
of Leeds and Hull, by the dignity of a knighthood died, and thus Queen Isabella had lived to see the
to Mr. G. W. Morrison, and Dr. Rollit respectively, three revolutionary leaders who, in 1868, upset her
Sir G.W. Morrison, the Town Clerk of Leeds, initieted throne, descend into the grave. The Duke of
the project of celebrating the Jubilee of the Municipal Somerset died on the 28th in the 81st year of his age;
Corporation Act, in which Sir A. K, Rollit also took an Sir Ralph Gossett, lake Serjeant-at-Arms in the
active interest. On the last day of Nov. a horrible House of Commons, having died the previous day at
occurrence took place at Norwich Gaol. Robt. a ripe age. On the Bth of December the wealthiest
Goodale was execeted, but owing to the weight of his man in the world dropped down dead in an office in
body and the depth of the drop his head was corn- New York, viz., Mr. William H. Vanderbilt, whose
pletely severed from the trunk. Probably the most fortune reached the fabulous sum of forty millions
gratifying incident to record in the early part of stirling ; he was 64 years of age. Dean Howson
Dec. is the termination of the strike of the Sunderland Chester died on the 15th in his 69th year.
engineers. The strike had lasted two years and a- This record of the nation's loss brings to a close the
half. Mutual concessions effected a settlement. Retrospect of 1885.
Reports of "Moonlight" outrages continue to be re-
ceived from Ireland; and on the 13th a disastrous
fire occurred at Plymouth. by which 12 persons lost
their lives. A much snore terrible catastrophe marked
the closing days of 1885. With a fatality that seems
to surround the most joyous festival of the Christian
year it has not passed away again without an accident
which has thrown a whole county into mourning. On
Wednesday, December 23rdran explosion from some
mysterious cause occurred in the Mardy Colliery in
the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. There were
nearly 1000 toilers in the underground working at the
time, and it was not until Christmas. Eve that the
actual death roll could be counted. This showed a
total loss of 74 lives, which was subsequently increased '
to 79.
In the agricultural and commercial worlds,
although there has not been much cause for great
enthusiasm, yet there has been experienced a better
state of things than for several years preceding. This,
probably, has been more the case in agriculture.
The weather has been more favourable, the crops
have been more abundant generally, while the wheat I
harvest was the best that has been enjoyed for years.
The depression so long existent in the commerce of the
country partially " lifted " during the twelvemonth,
although, from the replies given to the questions of the '
Royal Commission, trade generally seems still in a
precarious condition. In the judgment of the
different sections the returns on capital, invested in
all departments of commerce and manufactures, were
never so low as they are at the present time, and as
they have been, in fact, for some time past. In this
opinion there is entire unanimity between the repre-
-sentatives of the textile, metal, leather, chemical,
printing, and provision trades, who are backed up by
the cotton brokers, the Wine and Spirit Association,
the soap makers, and the sugar refiners. The metal
trade section, for example, states that "prices have
been receding ever since 1880," and that the "returns
on capital are very unsatisfactory, being decidedly
below the average of any previous period." In the
opinion of the section it is added that "it is im-
possible to take a hopeful view of the immediate
future."

uently neenrrnd nf the 11111tA Of Aber
lber 10th Dr Iv

A fitting close to a retrospect of the year is a brief
but nevertheless painful record of Vie lives that have
closed during its progress. The hand of death in
1885 has • removed a multitude of potentates in
Church and in State; it has cut off lives conspicuous
for unbounded philanthropy, and has put an end to
the labours of some of the most eminent scientists,
litterateurs, and engineers that ever graced the page
of history. On the 3rd of January a link of the type
of the old railway contractors was broken by the
death of Mr. Thomas Jackson, of Eltham-park, Kent,
at the ago of 77. 'An ornament of the Church passed
away on the 6th in the Bishop of London, who died
at Fulham, aged 74. He had held the see nearly 16
years after translation from Lincoln. Lord Aylesford,
who in previous years had been a somewhat con-
spicuous figure in London, died in Texas on the 10th,
and the 12th was marked by the decease of one of
the finest of Prussian soldiers—Prince Augustus of
Wurtemburg. French literature and journalism
lost one of its finest ornaments in the death
of Edmund About on the 16th, whilst
to England the following day was full of
melancholy disaster to our own country. It was on
the 17th when the gallant Colonel Burnaby was killed
at Abu Klea ; his death was quickly followed by that
of Lord St. Vincent, who succumbed on the 25th to
wounds receired on the same occasion. The month
of January was also characterised by the saddest
disaster of the year—a disaster which made the heart
of England bleed—General Gordon was killed at
Khartoum. He was but 52 years of age, yet he had
attained to a position of influence unique in the
annals of the world. His assassination took place on
the 26th. On the Ist of February Lord O'Hagan,
ex-Lord Chancellor of Ireland, died at the age of 73;
and the legal profession lost two other eminent mem-
bers, on the 4th and 17th of the month, viz., the
Right Hon. Sir Robert J. Phillimore, aged 74, who
had been Advocate-General in the Admiralty, Judge
of the Court of Arches, and Judge of the High Court
of Admiralty; and Sir Thomas James Nelson, the
City Solicitor, who died in his 59th year. On the
10th, the British arms suffered another disaster in
the loss of one who had bravely fought at the Crimea,
and held high offices—Major-General Earle, who was