Lord John Russell made another effort to obtain the admission of Jews, but failed. The exasperation felt by the Jewish community now reached a degree of great intensity, and the public sympathized with what was considered their wrongs. Much indignation was felt against certain Irish Roman Catholic members of parliament, who, in the supposed interests of their own church, opposed the emancipation of their Jewish brethren.

The remainder of the session was chiefly occupied by party squabbles, to the exclusion of useful and practical business. The opposition raised numerous debates on the Persian war, and the Indian mutiny, which were defeated. Mr. Disraeli signalized himself by much bitterness of invective, and the avowal of principles which when in office, previously and subsequently, he neither advocated nor acted upon. Some useful discussions upon military and legal questions took place, and a bill for facilitating divorce, in cases where that would be just and moral, was carried. On the 28th of August parliament was prorogued.



SUDDEN CONVENTION OF PARLIAMENT IN DECEMBER.

The assembling of parliament in December was rendered necessary by the terrible monetary panic which, originating in New York, extended to the continent of Europe, and the British Isles. The rate of discount was raised by the Bank of England to 10 per cent. That corporation applied to the government to relax the restrictions of the Bank Act of 1844. This was adopted by the government, and the convention of parliament on the 3rd of December was mainly to pass an act of indemnity.

Commercial law reform, Jewish disabilities, church questions, and the Indian mutiny, occupied the attention of the house until the close of 1857.



THE COURT.

On the 14th of April her majesty was safely delivered of a princess, her fifth daughter, and ninth child. The infant was baptized on the 16th of June. She was called Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore. The sponsors were the Princess Royal, the Duchess of Kent, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia.

On the 5th of May, his Royal Highness Prince Albert opened the great exhibition of Art Treasures in Manchester.

On the 26th of June Prince Albert received the title of Prince Consort.

The 6th of August was signalized by a visit to the queen on the part of the Emperor and Empress of the French. The visit was paid at Osborne, and was generally believed to have been a political one, having for its object some agreement between the governments of England and France in reference to their general policy, which had for some time been so divergent.

Two ambassadors from Siam arrived in November, and attracted great notice.

The great event of the years 1857-8 to her majesty and the court was the marriage of the Princess Royal of England with the heir-presumptive to the Prussian throne. "A treaty" for this purpose was concluded between her majesty and the King of Prussia, which was signed at London on the 18th of January, 1857. The ratifications were exchanged in London on 18th of January, 1858. The solemnization of the marriage subsequently took place in the chapel of St. James' Palace, exciting deep and universal interest among the people.



ART EXHIBITION IN MANCHESTER.

The exhibition in the Hyde Park Crystal Palace in 1851 suggested various other enterprises of a similar kind. Those of Paris and Dublin were especially brilliant. In Manchester, however, a plan was devised by which the glories of all those exhibitions were surpassed. The scheme was to gather the art treasures of the United Kingdom, and present them together before the public. A building suitable to the purpose was erected. It was not only not beautiful itself, but was exceedingly unsightly. It was, however, spacious, convenient, and so lighted as conduced to effect in an artistic display. The collection of productions was estimated, in money value, at six millions sterling. Amidst this glorious arrangement of works of genius, none probably attracted so much attention as those of MacDowell, the Irish sculptor. His chef-d'ouvre, the "Death of Virginia," occupied the centre of the exhibition, and in this advantageous position commanded extraordinary admiration. On the day of opening the Prince Consort inaugurated the auspicious occasion. Her majesty and many foreign princes afterwards visited it. All these rich trophies of genius were restored without injury to their owners, except a very valuable China vase, which was knocked down and broken.



CHAPTER LXX.

{VICTORIA. 1858-1859}

Foreign Affairs..... Various important transactions in Asia..... Breaking out of a new War with China..... Violation of treaty by Japan..... Russian designs upon that Empire..... Russian encroachments upon China..... French attempts at conquests in Cochin China..... France: Rivalry with England; irritating language of the French Press; ostensible alliance and co-opera-tion with England; real jealousy and contravention of British interests and policy; dispute about a Ship Canal across the Isthmus of Suez; also concerning electric communication between England and France..... Commercial intercourse..... Supposed designs of France in Northern Africa..... Attempt to Assassinate the Emperor of the French, and effect upon the alli-ance with England..... War between France and Austria, and its influence upon English public opinion and policy..... Naples..... Prussia: closer alli-ance with England..... Spain: war with Morocco; English protests..... Hanover: the Stade dues..... United States of America..... Relations with the South American States..... Colonies: India, Borneo, Australia, New Zealand, African Settlements, British Colombia, Jamaica..... Ireland..... Home: the Court, National Finance, Commerce..... General Home Polities and Prospects..... Parliamentary Affairs..... Conclusion of this History.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.—CHINA AND JAPAN.

{A.D. 1858-1859}

The foreign transactions of 1858 have been partly related in the last chapter; the conclusion of a peace with China, which was hailed with great satisfaction in Europe, was among those transactions. After the peace a work was published by Mr. Laurence Oliphant, who held a position on the civil staff of Lord Elgin, relating the events of the war. Mr. Oliphant had been distinguished as a traveller and writer, and his work upon the mission of Lord Elgin to the Eastern seas naturally excited very great attention. In that work it transpired that Sir Michael Seymour, the admiral commanding the British fleet in the Chinese waters, did not heartily co-operate with Lord Elgin. The admiral disapproved, or affected to disapprove, of the actively hostile proceedings of Lord Elgin. He was for carrying on the war by blockades and compromises, after the fashion desired by certain merchants in China and in England connected with the Chinese trade, who did not wish China thoroughly opened to all nations, or to all English merchants, and who desired to go on much in the old way—dealing and quarrelling with the Chinese alternately, enduring all insults except personal oppressions, the plunder of property, and the stoppage of trade; so that a restricted intercourse with the Chinese might continue available to these merchants, already in the trade and experienced in Chinese intrigue, but calculated to deter others from entering a field of commerce so hazardous and uncertain. With this British merchant-clique the Manchester party in England sympathized. This at first seemed inconsistent with the principles of that party, which involved free trade with all nations. The system adopted in China, however, was believed by many of the party to work well enough for the trade of Manchester. Many of that school, who did not think so, believed that a Chinese war would prove so expensive, and inflame the minds of the Chinese so much, that on the whole it was better to patch up a peace any how, or endure a troublesome peace, rather than have open hostilities. The general conviction in Lancashire that a war anywhere, great or small, was injurious to the trade of the district, had much to do with the inveterate objection of the northern politicians to a Chinese war. A considerable number of influential persons, in the middle and northern counties of England especially, adopted the peace principles as a religious dogma. They held that war, under any circumstance, for whatever purpose, offensive or defensive, was a sin, and they deemed it their duty to oppose whatever government went to war. On a vote connected with the Chinese war the government of Lord Palmerston was defeated, by a combination of the tory and the Manchester parties: the latter, acting conscientiously as opposed to war; the former, taking a party advantage of the situation, and voting against the government for doing what, in office, they would do themselves. These two parties were strengthened by Lord John Russell, then in opposition, and a small section of Whigs led by him, who, in a spirit as factious and still less honourable, joined the great conservative party to throw out the Palmerston ministry. Sir J. Pakington, a determined Tory, became first lord of the admiralty, and the other lords were of course of the same party, they had come into office by a vote adverse to the Chinese war and to the Palmerston government for lending any sanction to it.

When Admiral Sir Michael Seymour learned these facts, he thwarted Lord Elgin as much as he could in the naval operations, especially in the Peiho. This Lord Elgin and Mr. Oliphant declared; and the admiral admitted that his slowness to cany out the plenipotentiary's requisitions arose partly from disapproval of the policy that functionary was sent out to enforce. In fact, Sir Michael knew that he would be backed by a tory admiralty, at the head of which was such a thorough-going party man as Sir J. Pakington, in adopting their policy, and thwarting a whig plenipotentiary. Sir Michael judged correctly; his very bad conduct was pronounced exemplary by the admiralty, and the queen's plenipotentiary was hindered and affronted with impunity. That was not the first time a British admiral acted similarly, very much to the injury and peril of his country. In the history of the British empire in the East there are various exemplifications of admirals setting at defiance or impeding the authorities which they were bound in duty to obey.

The work of Lord Elgin was not destined to prove stable in China. The treaty was broken when the English minister, the Honourable Mr. Bruce—sent to Pekin for its ratification—appeared in the Peiho. Fortifications had been thrown up; the approach of the English and French envoys refused; their escorts were attacked; and after a desperate effort on the part of the small allied squadron to force its way up the Peiho, it was beaten back with terrible slaughter, by a large Tartar army defending the fortified obstructions raised against its progress. The British admiral, Hope, after displaying extraordinary gallantry, was terribly wounded. The allied French and English withdrew, and awaited reinforcements and the further orders of their governments. Those governments resolved to enforce the treaty, and conquer a passage to Pekin. Large forces, comparatively with those of former expeditions against the Chinese, were sent forth, and such was the attitude of affairs when the period to which this History is conducted closed.

The treaty of Lord Elgin with the Emperor of Japan did not work so smoothly as was expected, any more than that with China. The ratification of the treaty, was effected on the 11th of July, 1858; soon after, the Japanese government attempted to evade it by seeking to confine foreigners to a small island about ten miles from Yeddo, and to establish the same sort of surveillance over them as they formerly exercised at the Dutch settlement of Decima. They further sought to establish a new coin as the only one to be used in commercial dealings with foreigners, but at the same time forbidding its currency among the natives, so that all payments in the new coin would have to be exchanged at the government treasury for the old itzabon; and the relative values fixed by the government produced a depreciation of 66 per cent, on foreign coins, which, according to treaty, were to be received at their intrinsic value as metal. Mr. Alcock, the British consul-general, issued a protest, and stopped the trade. The calm and firm attitude he assumed had the desired effect. Soon after, a variety of dishonest and extraordinarily scandalous practices on the part of the British traders exasperated the Japanese people and government. The interference of the English consul to restrain the nefarious practices of his countrymen, and maintain the character of his country, restored matters to a peaceful aspect.

It is remarkable, that during the state of things recorded in the foregoing chapters, of British relations with China and Japan, that a large trade took place. The following is taken from an issue of the Chinese Telegraph at the close of 1859:—

"The aggregate amount of our trade with China, imports and exports, including those of India, in 1857, reached L22,122,469, although there was a cessation of the tea trade with Canton. Last year, even with the effects of the commercial panic of the previous year, and the stoppage of Canton trade, the aggregate commerce with China, British and Indian, was over L20,000,000, exclusive of any colonial trade, Australian, or with the Archipelago. In 1833, the declared value of the British manufactures exported to China was only L630,578; in 1840 it was as low as L524,198; and at the close of the war of 1842 it stood at L969,381. In a few years after the opening of the five new ports to foreign commerce, the value of British goods shipped had increased fully 50 per cent., while it has now nearly tripled in value.

"The import and consumption of tea in this country has more than doubled since the consular ports were thrown open. So also with silk. As we have formerly shown, the demand has been extensive, and China can supply enormous quantities. From a trivial export, silk has become the second great staple of shipment. Although our imports from China have hitherto consisted chiefly of three or four principal staples, there is no reason, looking at the extensive resources of that vast empire, why they should continue so restricted. Something has even been done of late years in this respect. Chinese wool has come in to some extent, having risen in some years to half a million of pounds; although, from its harsh quality, and mixed and dirty character, it is only fitted for coarse woollens, yet it is saleable at low prices. There are other drugs, besides camphor, rhubarb, and essential oils to be obtained thence. A demand has sprung up for sugar, and we can draw supplies from China as well as from Manilla. There are other spices too, besides cassia lignea, to be procured from China.

"In addition to the exports to Great Britain, China exports tea, silk, drugs, and sundries to the continent of Europe, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, India, and the various settlements of the Eastern Archipelago. The Indian trade has now reached about L10,000,000 in value, one article, opium, constituting the chief export; and this, since the recent treaty, had increased in value by upwards of L1,500,000. The shipments of cotton from India to China would seem to be declining. Whether this arises from a greater demand from England, an increased home production in China, or the internal rebellion, we are not prepared to state. The American imports from China, since the opening of the five ports, have more than doubled in value.

"The British interest in the indirect trade is also worthy of notice. In addition to the large balance against us on the direct trade, we have to provide for that created by the excess of value in exports to Australia, America, &c, all of which are paid for by bills drawn on London. We may except a small portion remitted direct by Australia in gold. India forms the only exception. Her exports amount to over nine millions, while the imports are under one million. In this way we settle, indirectly, the balance of trade."

The commerce with Japan was too imperfectly organized at the period when this History closes to afford reliable statistics. It was, however, considerable, especially in mineral productions. Gold, silver, copper, and iron abounded; and as the Portuguese and Dutch in former days enriched themselves by importing the precious metals from Japan, so it promised, in 1859, to be the Ophir of the Eastern seas, if not of the world. The war with China, and the opening of commercial relations with Japan, were not the only matters of interest in the relations of England to these countries. Russia opened a negotiation with the Japanese emperor, for the cession of a position upon a small island, which there was no doubt in England was intended as a point d'appui for Russian aggression. In China the same power made prodigious inroads, and it was believed in Great Britain and in India, that Russian agents and Russian material of war contributed to the defeat of Admiral Hope and his French allies in the Peiho.

The following communication from St. Petersburg contains interesting details relative to the extension of the Russian dominions in Asia:—"I have received an interesting letter from the harbour of Weg-Chaz-Weg, in the Yellow Sea, dated the 13th of July, 1858. It announces that Count Mouravieff Amoorski arrived there that day on board the steamer America, coming from Japan and Corea, to visit the coast of China. The port is in the neighbourhood of the Gulf of Pechelee. Colonel Boudgoski, chief of the commission for fixing the boundaries between the Russian possessions in Mantchouria and the celestial empire, is going to Pekin to obtain the approbation and definitive confirmation of the new limits of Russia in Asia. According to the new line, the entire coast of Mantchouria, on the Yellow Sea, and all that part of the country not hitherto claimed by any power, becomes a Russian possession. The territory acquired by the last treaty with China is thus considerably increased. All the southern part of the coast near Corea—that is to say, all under the same latitude as the Caucasian provinces, is supplied with a considerable number of excellent harbours. In fact, in no other country in the world is there to be found so many good harbours so near to each other; in fine, it is difficult to decide which is the best. The famous port of Sebastopol, and the Golden Horn in the Bosphorus, are inferior as compared with these bays and ports. The land on the borders of the coast is covered with virgin forests, in which are to be found oaktrees of nine feet in diameter. The writer of the letter adds that the sight of this gigantic vegetation filled him with amazement. It is expected that this newly-acquired territory will become of immense importance, the forests being situate so near such magnificent harbours. The labyrinth of bays, harbours, and islands is called the Gulf of Peter the Great, and the best port is named Vladiwosjok (Dominator of the East), because it is the cradle of the Russian fleet in the Pacific Ocean, and the commencement of Russian domination in the East. This letter was received at St. Petersburg through Pekin, and thence by a Chinese courier through Mongolia and Kiachta. This gives an idea of the celerity with which communications are transmitted between St. Petersburg, Pekin, and the Gulf of Pechelee."

France had also designs of Oriental empire, which, however awkwardly prosecuted, had never been abandoned. Her efforts during 1857-8-9, in Cochin China, to establish a position there and make acquisitions of territory, were expensive and persevering, although not attended with the success which English and Russian enterprise has so generally secured.



FRANCE.

England and France were ostensible allies during the period of which we now write; but there existed a mutual jealousy, certainly provoked by France, which seemed to regard rivalry with England as the grand object of her political mission. The emperor made great efforts to bring up the revenues of France to a standard that would enable him to undertake all the schemes of his ambition. The actual results in that part of his labours were as follows, taking the statement of the government official organ, the Moniteur:—"The general revenue for the year 1858-9 amounted to 1,094,614,000 fr., being an increase of 2,916,000 fr. on 1857-8. The items which show an improvement are: import duty on foreign sugar, 12,020,000 fr.; duty on potable liquors, 8,439,000 fr.; postage, 3,462,000 fr.; sundry duties and receipts, 2,864,000 fr.; import duty on sundry merchandize, 2,697,000 fr.; salt duties, 1,496,000 fr.; sale of tobacco, 1,471,000 fr.; import duty on corn, 577,000 fr.; navigation dues, 557,000 fr.; stamp duties, 521,000 fr.; customs' export duties, 425,000 fr.; money orders, 185,000 fr.; transit charge on foreign letters, 26,000 fr. Those which have fallen off are registration duties, 15,036,000 fr.; duty on beetroot sugar, 6,286,000 fr.; sundry customs' receipts, 1,489,000 fr.; sale of gunpowder, 597,000 fr. The increase of revenue in 1859, as compared with 1857, was 41,931,000 fr."

These returns were no doubt coloured, as French official reports generally are; but, if correct, showed that the financial resources of France were far inferior to those of England.

A variety of irritating topics were got up in France, and continued to be so discussed in the press, with the connivance of the French government, that the minds of the people of both countries became inflamed with anger, and a disposition to adjust differences of opinion and policy by the sword, eagerly advocated by the French, was reluctantly adopted by the English. The French emperor, finding that the English alliance had again become indispensable to him, silenced the aspersers of his ally, or directed the same journals to uphold the alliance they had so bitterly and pertinaciously decried. The creation of a ship-canal across the isthmus of Suez was one of the most popular themes of French vituperation. A French company desired to carry out this object, or at all events to gain grants of territory in Egypt for that ostensible purpose. The demands made for territorial concession upon the pasha would have given the French government in Egypt a hold upon that country subversive of its independence, and of the rights of the Porte, most menacing to British rule in India, and dangerous to Europe. Even if the scheme for the ship-canal were never executed, no one doubted that France would make use of the territory granted for that purpose to consolidate power in Egypt, England successfully opposed the concession to a French company of any portion of the Egyptian territory. Russia, Austria, and Prussia, from jealousy of England, and especially of her Eastern dominions and marvellous commercial prosperity, aided France in her efforts to induce the sultan to comply with her requests. The policy of England on this subject was still in the ascendant at Constantinople when the session of the British parliament rose in 1859.

Electric communication between England and France formed another subject of difference. The French government was anxious, for its own political purposes, to give exclusive advantages to a particular company; the English government communicated its wish to throw open to competition such undertakings. France pretended acquiescence at one time and indifference at another, but at length, in harmony with the emperor's usual mode of acting, he suddenly granted a thirty years' monopoly to the company which, for the reasons referred to, he all along secretly or openly favoured. During the latter part of 1859, the British government made efforts to induce that of France to slacken the restrictive commercial system which it had favoured. At a later period, a treaty was made with such object, through the intervention of Lord Cowley and Mr. Cobden on the part of England.

A war broke out between Morocco and Spain, which England used great exertions to prevent, but which France not only encouraged but instigated. The British government protested against Spain conquering territory, and occupying strongholds on the African coasts opposite to Gibraltar. So far as France was concerned in this war she betrayed a desire that Spain should do what England was interested in preventing; the French knowing that they could, from their own conquests in Africa, drive out the Spaniards when they pleased, while the two nations united in holding positions of strength in Africa, might countervail the power in the Mediterranean which England derived from Gibraltar.

On the 12th of January an attempt was made to assassinate the Emperor of the French, while in his carriage proceeding to the opera. The plot was concocted by an Italian refugee, named Orsini, who was aided by others, especially three Italians, named Rudio, Pierri, and Gomez. The instruments of murder were shells, so made as to be thrown by the hand, and detonate when coming in contact with any hard substance. These shells had been manufactured in Birmingham, where Orsini, and some of his companions, had temporarily resided. This circumstance inflamed the mind of the French emperor and the French army against England. The latter presented addresses to his majesty, from various corps, denouncing England as the asylum of conspirators, and a den of assassins; and denominating the English people as the confederates and encouragers of conspirators and assassins. Offers were made by some of the corps of the French army to invade England, and drag from "the assassins' den" the conspirators. These inflammatory addresses were well received at the Tuileries, and answers given which were not respectful to England. These proceedings in France were followed up by addresses from the senate, in which foreign governments were called upon, in a dictatorial and insolent tone, to make their laws against refugees more stringent. These addresses, and the way in which the French emperor received them, produced a great ferment in all the free countries of the world, and the people of England were stung to the quick. The English government, however, bore tamely these insults. An affrontful despatch, through the French ambassador, made a climax to the haughty proceedings of France, and the mode in which the government received it was so timeserving and timid in the eyes of the English people, that the popularity of the Palmerston administration was destroyed. That administration had been restored to power with increased popularity, as well as a large majority, upon the dissolution caused by the defeat of the previous year on the Chinese question, but the timidity shown in dealing with the insolence of the French ambassador, army, emperor, press, and people, deprived it of all weight in the country. The defeat and resignation of the English ministry resulted from this feeling. The general tone of the French government, however, became modified by the strength of will shown on the part of the English people, united with their unmistakable abhorrence of the crime which led to the bad feeling—at all events the immediate bad feeling—between the two countries. The emperor made such acknowledgments to the British government as amounted to an apology, and the mind of the people became quieted on the subject, especially as the ministry was, for its pusillanimity, hurled from power. Still, during the whole of 1858, although the ostensible alliance was never broken, there existed no good will towards England on the part of France, and no confidence in the peaceful disposition of France and its emperor either to England or any other power pervaded the public opinion of Britain. The suspicions of the English people were verified in 1859. On the first day of that year, at a reception in Paris, the emperor lectured the Austrian ambassador in a manner insulting to the sovereign he represented, and which portended war. The Austrian dominion in Italy was harsh, bigoted, and unjust. The Germans, always so invidious in pride of race, were so in Italy to a degree which goaded the Italians to desperation. The Austrians at last violated the Sardinian territory, and France declared war. The French and Italians, allies in a short campaign, drove the Austrians, with terrible slaughter out of Lombardy, and all their Italian provinces except Venice. The French emperor made peace as suddenly as he had made war. A convention at Villafranca, followed by a conference and treaty at Zurich, settled the affairs of Italy, as far as the two emperors were concerned. The Italian people were not, however, parties to the treaty, and would not be bound by it. They determined upon annexation to Piedmont, whereas the emperor resolved to restore the Italian duchies to the sovereigns. Events may here be anticipated, so far as to say that the diplomatic interposition of England was used in favour of the Italian people, and influenced France in favour of a policy less concessive to Austria. Throughout the period 1858-9, the firmness and good sense of the people of England, acting decisively upon their government, ensured peace with France, which the intemperance, intrigue, and arrogance of our ally made it difficult to preserve.



NAPLES.

For many years the intercourse between the governments of her majesty and the King of Naples were unsatisfactory, for the reasons assigned in previous chapters. During the period included in this chapter, Naples was in a very disturbed state, and the people of Italy were desirous to aid their brethren of that kingdom in bringing about a revolution. A ship, called Cagliari, the property of Sardinian subjects, was engaged, ostensibly for other purposes but really to land a small force in Naples, with supplies of arms and munitions of war, and precipitate a revolution. The captain of the ship was a Sardinian, and ignorant of the plot. The engineers were Englishmen, and also ignorant of the plot. The conspirators seized the ship, and compelled the captain and engineers to direct the vessel to Naples. The government of that country had information of the design, and sent a war vessel to intercept that on board of which the conspirators were. The capture was effected. The Sardinian captain and British engineers, although obviously innocent, were subjected to cruel injuries and indignities. The Sardinian government interposed, but was not in a condition to enforce its rights. Lord Palmerston's cabinet neglected the claims of the British subjects so injured, except by empty and futile remonstrances. When that cabinet was thrown out for its timid policy towards France, on the refugee question, the government of Lord Derby took the matter up with energy, and Lord Malmesbury, then foreign secretary, adopted a tone as bold and as English, as his conduct in the case of Mr. Mather, in Tuscany, some years before, was incompetent and cowardly. The threat of force by the English government secured the restoration of the unjustly imprisoned English, and some measure of compensation. This circumstance gave weight to the government of Lord Derby, both at home and abroad.



PRUSSIA.

On the 20th of January the Princess Royal of England was married to the eldest son of the Crown Prince of Prussia. For a time this increased the influence abroad both of England and Prussia, and the two nations seemed to be very firmly allied. After a short time, Prussia relapsed into her old pro-Russian sympathies, and lost all popularity in England. The marriage of the heir-presumptive of the Prussian throne and the Princess Royal of England caused great festivities, both in London and Berlin, in January, and gave satisfaction to the freer nations of the Continent.



SPAIN.

During the years 1858-9 a feeling sprang up in Spain hostile to England. This was partly attributable to France, which, in every direction, professing alliance with England, endeavoured to foster jealousies and enmities against her. Partly the feeling arose from the demands of the English government for the payment of a debt due by that of Spain ever since war between Don Carlos and Christina. Nearly half a million sterling was then advanced by England to aid the cause of the Spanish queen. The queen and her government, while indulging in the most reckless extravagance, were unwilling to pay.

In 1859 Spain went to war with Morocco, on grounds which England did not deem sufficient, and projects of territorial aggrandizement were suspected as actuating the Spanish administration. England could not allow Spain to erect a fortress opposite to Gibraltar, on the Straits, and such was believed throughout Europe to be the real object of the Spanish minister. France was solicitous to weaken the power of the Moorish empire, and so promote her own designs of encroachment. A Spanish war was favourable to such an object. It would also be practicable for the French, at any time, to expel the Spaniards, and seize upon their positions, and hold a point as powerful for the command of the Straits of Gibraltar as the rock itself. The policy of France was anti-English and anti-Spanish throughout, although O'Donnel, the Spanish minister, regarded it as advantageous to Spain. The demand by England for repayment to her of the loan so long due by Spain, at such juncture, was interpreted by the Spanish government and people as an act of hostility; and the press of Paris, with the connivance of the imperial government, kept up, and, to a great extent, created the opinion. The modus operandi of the English government was, however, so conciliatory, yet firm, as to force respect from the cabinet of Madrid, and evoke assurances which were satisfactory, although few in England believed them sincere.



HANOVER.

The Hanoverian government had levied for a long time, at the mouth of the Elbe, certain monies, called "Stade dues." This excited much complaint amongst English merchants, and led to an investigation in the English house of commons, in 1858, of the claims put forward by Hanover to such exactions. The committee of the commons reported that the imposts were injurious to British trade, and that Hanover rendered no return. This led to negotiations which, after much tedious diplomacy, ended in the extinction of the rates thus levied upon British ships.



THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The opening paragraphs of the message of the President of the United States contained the following statements, which were as just and true as they were remarkable, coming from that source:—

"It has been the misfortune of both countries, ever since the period of the revolution, to have been annoyed by a series of irritating and dangerous questions threatening their friendly relations. This has partly prevented the full development of those feelings of mutual friendship between the peoples of the two countries, so natural in themselves, and so conducive to their common interest. Any serious interruption to the commerce between the United States and Great Britain would be equally injurious to both. In fact no two nations ever existed on the face of the earth which could do one another so much good and so much harm."

The year 1858 terminated one of the questions thus referred to by the president—"the right of search." It was settled, as all questions between England and the United States have been, by concession on the part of the former. English ships of war were, on no pretence, in time of peace, to board, or detain, the American commercial marine on any pretence whatever.



SOUTH AMERICAN STATES.

COLONIES.—INDIA.

The colonies of Great Britain, stretching over so large a portion of the globe, could not fail to attract the attention of the people and government of the British empire. The most important of all these territorial acquisitions was India. The extinction of the mutiny and revolt in the Bengal provinces of that country was related in a previous chapter. It is here necessary to point out the issue of that mighty struggle. The political power of the East India Company was abolished by an act of the imperial parliament, and the government of India vested solely in the crown. Her majesty was proclaimed Empress of India, throughout all its provinces, to the amazement of princes and peoples, with the mute submission of many, and the joyful acclamations of more.

A letter from Calcutta, in the August of 1859, thus reported:—

"Our trade returns, up to the 1st May, 1859, have just been published. They show an increase of about a million:

Year. Imports. Exports. Total.

1858-9 15,46,49,766 15,25,67,555 30,72,17,321

This total includes treasure, but the chief increase is in merchandize, especially the following articles:—

Increase.

Cotton.............................. 10,37,928 Rs.

Haberdashery........................ 8,18,318

Hardware............................ 5,99,185

Copper.............................. 6,51,599

White and grey cottons.............. 1,7228,679

Ale................................. 15,00,821

Twist............................... 31,20,698

The commerce of England and her friendly relations with several of the South American States were much developed during the period to which this chapter refers, although with other portions of that vast region it was impossible to hold any intercourse, so riven were they by faction, oppression, and civil war. With Brazil the commercial connections of England were important, and the amity of the two states assured. Chili, Peru, and Panama dealt largely with the European western nations, and should the liberal party in those countries succeed in checking the encroachments of the priests, it is obvious that a much further development of commercial intercourse would take place.

Showing a new trade of L2,000,000 sterling with Manchester alone.

"In exports, the great fluctuations have been in—

Increase.

Silks.................................... 10,26,928 Rs.

Opium.................................... 42,85,474

Sugar .................................. 38,63,928

Jute..................................... 21.49,089

Linseed ............................... 20,81,914

Mustard seed............................. 14,84,683

"The exportation of rice has decreased by half a million sterling. The increase in the import of Manchester goods will not be so rapid this year, the market showing some signs of a glut. The import of silver has been twenty-six millions in five years!"

Such a condition of commercial development and prosperity, during a period of terrible contest, is one of the most marvellous of modern historical facts. The progress of railways was, if possible, more surprising as to the development of the material resources and aptitudes of India at such a period. The condition of material prosperity shown by India, in spite of the sanguinary sepoy revolt, was scarcely more encouraging than the reports of the way in which the finance of India passed through the terrible convulsion.



THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

South Australia.—The extraordinarily rapid progress to wealth, power, and importance of the Australian colonies was one of the great wonders of the age. The following account of the condition of South Australia, in 1859, is full of interest to every patriot and every friend of human progress:—"The population was estimated at upwards of 120,000, and the total immigration, from the 1st of January to the 8th of October, had been 3,881. There had been an emigration, however, to the extent of 2,139 persons, leaving a balance in favour of immigration of 1,742, comprising 917 male adults, 579 female adults, 101 male children, and 145 female children. The average number of destitute persons relieved at the public expense in the three months ending the 27th of September was 756. The extent of crown lands sold, from the 1st of January to the 13th of October was 113,731 acres, which realized L150,616—an amount and acreage below the average of former years. The earnings of the government railways—from Adelaide to Port Adelaide, and from Adelaide to Gawler Town—amounted to L37,205 in the first 41 weeks of the present year, being an increase of L1,340 as compared with the corresponding period of 1858. There are 254 permanent ecclesiastical buildings in the colony, besides 104 dwelling-houses and places temporarily used for religious worship; sittings are thus provided for 51,831 persons, and the average congregations are estimated at 41,000. The Wesleyan Methodists provided 16,261 sittings; the Church of England, 6,335 sittings; the Roman Catholics, 4,790 sittings; and the Congregationalists, 6,051 sittings. The remainder were supplied by other denominations too numerous to particularize; but it may be added that the German Lutherans figure in the return to the extent of 5,164 sittings. The total number of children in the various schools in the colony maintained at the public expense was in 1858, 8,237: viz. 4,395 boys, and 3,842 girls. The total number of schools was 182, and the amount of government aid given was L11,329. These figures exhibit an astonishing advance as compared with 1849, when there were only 27 schools, with 848 scholars, and government aid to the extent of L707. There were besides 11,982 scholars in Sunday schools in 1858, and 210 of those institutions were in existence, as compared with 45 schools and 2,563 scholars in 1848."

Victoria.—The progress of this colony was more rapid and extensive than that of any other in the Australian group. The balance-sheet of the colony for 1858 revealed the following startling facts. The receipts for that year amount in round numbers to L3,000,000, the import duties alone amounting to L1,318,000, the export duty on gold to L316,000, the sales of public lands to L628,000, the rent of public lands and licences of different trades to L331,000, and the postage to L89,000. The surplus revenue was expended by the assembly of representatives in the following manner:—L114,000 for education, L24,000 for scientific purposes, L25,000 for sanitary improvements, L769,000 for useful public works, L25,000 towards the relief of sufferers by the sepoy mutiny, L7,000 for a public library, L8,000 for an university purely secular. After these and similar votes, a cash balance of nearly half a million sterling remained in hand.



BRITISH AMERICA

Nothing peculiarly calling for statement or remark was presented in the aspect of the British American colonies in 1858-9, except Jamaica and British Columbia.

Jamaica.—This island has been well styled the Queen of the Western Indies. Slavery, bad government, the ignorance and bigotry of the colonists, had all militated against its improvement—1858-9 was no exception to these remarks. According to De Cordova's Mercantile Intelligencer, the Commercial annals of the year "were peculiarly unhealthy." This was the only British American colony to which such a remark would apply.

British Columbia and Vancouver's Island.—This new settlement made great progress from the very dawn of its recognition as a colony. The capital, called Victoria, sprang up as if by magic, and became a centre of business activity and colonial enterprise. Situated on the Pacific, the climate is favourable, and the position, politically and commercially, most important. The citizens of the United States laid claim to an island near Vancouver's Island, which was a source of alarm lest war between the two states should arise from the dispute. This question was not adjusted when this History was brought to a termination.

In 1859, the Canadian News contained the following statements illustrating the value of this colony:—"Her majesty's ship Plumper arrived at Esquimault on the 1st of November from Nanaimo, having concluded her surveying operations on the northern part of the Strait of Georgia for the present season. During this cruise, several new anchorages have been discovered and surveyed between Nanaimo and Cape Laso (or Point Holmes, as it is sometimes called), a distance of about fifty miles. But, perhaps, the most important discovery is the existence of a considerable river in Vancouver's Island, navigable for boats or small stern-wheel steamers, on the banks of which are extensive tracts of excellent land, varying from 20 to 100 feet in elevation, and clothed with a rich luxuriant grass. This land is ready for the plough, is entirely clear of the pine-tree, and studded here and there with a better kind of oak than is usually found on the cleared lands of Vancouver's Island. This river, which has received the name of Courtenay, in honour of Admiral Courtenay, who formerly commanded her majesty's ship Constance in these waters, empties itself into a good and spacious harbour, Port Augusta, which lies in about 49 deg. 36' north latitude, and is scarcely 50 miles from Nanaimo. Major Downie was on his way down from the Upper Fraser River region by the Lillooet trail and Port Douglas. There were reports of his having made some valuable geographical discoveries on his journey from the coast to Port Alexander, among which were a chain of lakes extending along the route 150 miles, so that steamers drawing 12 inches of water can navigate a distance of 100 miles further than steamers drawing 4 feet, which latter run on Senas River, and a practicable portage of 40 miles will then reach Fort Alexander. These reports are looked upon at Victoria as important, as, if true, the upper mining districts will be much more accessible than heretofore, being brought almost within water communication with Victoria."



IRELAND.

Of this country, at the close of our History as well as so frequently during its progress, it is a painful duty to relate that its moral and material progress was retarded by barbarous and cruel assassinations perpetrated by member's of a secret conclave, called the Ribbon Society. This society was exclusively composed of Roman Catholics, and fanatics of that creed. Their brutal murders were partly agrarian, and partly of a bigoted character; but the effect upon the social condition and prosperity of the country was disastrous. Still progress was made, and agricultural and commercial enterprise increased. A government report, on the agricultural statistics of Ireland for 1858, just published, gives the following particulars:—"The land under crops was 5,882,052 acres; under grass, 9,354,117 acres; fallow. 42,551; woods, &c, 313,271; and bog or waste, 4,667,331 acres. In some counties the area under tillage continues to increase; in 13 of them it has diminished. The total increase last year, on 1857, was 22,935 acres. The principal crops grown in Ireland, are oats, potatoes, and hay, which in 1858 occupied 78 acres in every 100 of the entire extent under cultivation. In that year, the proportionate area under oats was 34, potatoes 24, and hay 24 acres in every 100. Wheat covered only nine, turnips six, and flax not quite two acres per cent, of the whole area under crops. The area under crops in 1858 is thus divided:—Wheat, 546,964 acres; oats, 1,981,241; barley, 190,768; rye, 11,470; and beans, 11,038; potatoes, 1,159,707; turnips, 338,202; mangold-wurtzel, 29,547; flax, 91,646; rape, 14,067; and meadow and clover, 1,424,495 acres. The grass lands of Ireland cover nearly one-half of the entire surface of the island. These tracts do not include the land under meadow and clover (or the hay-producing lands), but merely those returned to the enumerators as used for pasture at the time of the collection of the statistics. The turf-bog is a very valuable portion of the land, the turf being used for fuel, and till coal becomes cheap enough to supersede it, the reclamation of bog will be but slow in many parts of the island. There were 599,178 holdings in Ireland in 1858: viz. 38,198 of 1 acre (not exceeding); 83,219 of 1 to 5 acres; 181,267 of 5 to 15 acres; 139,618 of 15 to 30 acres; 71,791 of 30 to 50 acres; 53,544 of 50 to 100 acres; 21,566 of 100 to 200 acres; 8,383 of 200 to 500 acres; and 1,592 of above 500 acres. The holdings have increased by 4,786. Of the entire 20,259,322 acres forming the area of Ireland, nearly one-half is in the possession of farmers holding from 15 to 100 acres, of which 1,475,433 acres, or 14#9 in every 100 is waste or unproductive; about one-third is under farms of 100 to 500 acres, of which 1,741,956 acres, or 28'5 per cent., is bog or waste, and one-tenth of which, more than 1,260,535 acres, or nearly one-half, are unprofitable for tillage, is occupied by farms of above 500 acres; the remainder, which includes only 189,407 acres of the waste lands, is in the hands of farmers holding under 15 acres. The following is the return of live stock for 1858: viz. 630,611 horses and mules, 163,323 asses, 3,667,304 cattle, 3,494,993 sheep, 1,409,883 pigs, 228,351 goats, and 9,563,185 poultry. The value is computed at L34,977,244. The weed nuisance is still bitterly complained of by the Irish registrar-general, who urges the passing of a bill to compel the destruction of weeds with winged seeds before they are allowed to ripen. Besides the Blue-book from which the above figures are copied, two small papers have been printed, giving briefly the statistics for 1859. Last year, then, it appears that 465,497 acres were under wheat, 1,981,197 under oats, 1,200,144 under potatoes, 322,266 under turnips, 136,329 under flax, and 1,436,680 under meadow and clover. The gross total area under crops was 5,861,666 acres, against 5,882,052 in 1858. There was a decrease in cereal and an increase in green crops. The net total decrease was 20,386 acres. Weeds are again complained of. The live stock in 1859 included 628,916 horses, 3,810,136 horned cattle, 3,588,356 sheep, and 1,262,873 pigs."



HOME.—THE COURT.

The marriage of the Princess Royal took place January the 25th, under the circumstances referred to in a previous chapter.

One of the earliest incidents connected with the court, of any general interest, was the investiture of the King of Portugal with the order of the garter. This event took place in Lisbon, where the Marquis of Bath and Sir George Young officiated, as her majesty's plenipotentiaries, in conferring the honour. The ceremony took place on the 27th of May, 1858.

On the 15th of June her majesty, accompanied by Prince Albert, visited Birmingham, on occasion of a "People's Park" being set apart. Her majesty was the guest of Lord Leigh, of Stoneleigh Abbey.

A distribution of the Victoria Cross took place on Southsea Common, by her majesty in person, on the 2nd of August.

Soon after, her majesty, attended by a brilliant court, proceeded to the inauguration of Cherbourg as a great port and arsenal, and the opening of the Napoleon Dock at that place. The attendance of the Queen of England upon an occasion intended to celebrate a work accomplished for the menace of her dominions, and more especially of her naval power in the Channel, was generally regarded abroad as a sign of timidity on the part of the English government, and of a willingness to conciliate the French emperor at all costs, even of national respect.

On the 10th of August her majesty sailed from Gravesend for Germany, to pay a visit to her daughter, the Princess Frederick William of Prussia.

The year 1858 was remarkable for the number of visits paid by the court. On the 6th of September her majesty visited Leeds. Avast concourse of people, from every part of the great West Riding of York, thronged the town, and the demonstrations of loyal attachment made by the people were most gratifying to their sovereign. The object of the visit was the opening of the Town Hall. A great musical festival followed, one of the most successful ever held in England.

The court, during that portion of 1859 which falls within the limits of this History, was not in any especial way connected with great public events.



COMMERCE AND FINANCE.

One of the most remarkable features of the commerce of the period was the importation of corn:—In 1858, wheat, 4,275,435 qrs.; barley, 1,673,477 qrs.; total of all grain, 11,572,702 qrs.: 1859, wheat, 4,023,578 qrs.; barley, 1,742,217 qrs.; total of all grain, 10,516,193 qrs.

In 1858 there was a reduction of taxation to the amount of L2,100,000; new taxes were imposed to the extent of L456,780.

The rental value of land in England in 1859 was estimated at L41,000,000.

The following statement of railway property at the close of 1858, is from a return ordered in consequence of a parliamentary motion, made by Mr. Henley, in the session of 1859:—"The grand total amount of railway capital authorized by act of parliament previous to the 31st of December, 1857, was L287,908,636 by shares, and L98,273,070 by loans. In 1858, L5,253,792 was authorized by shares, and L2,199,409 by loans. The total capital and loans authorized previous to the 31st of December, 1858, was L392,682,755; L181,837,781 of the capital was not receiving, nor entitled to receive, any preferential dividend or interest. The total dividends on the share capital amounted to L6,161,099; L61,854,547 was the stock receiving, or entitled to receive, preferential dividend or interest, to the amount of L829,331. The total debts of companies at the end of 1858, amounted to L81,683,179; and the interest thereon payable to L3,591,148. L325,375,507 was the total sum which at the end of 1858 the railway companies had raised by shares or loans, and L67,307,248 the total amount which at the same period they retained power to raise, either by existing or by new shares, or by loans. The total amount expended on railroad works and rolling stock was L287.800,208. The total length of line and capital appropriated by parliament for the construction of lines, for which the powers for the compulsory purchase of land have been allowed to expire previous to the 31st of December, 1858, without the exercise of such powers, were respectively 2,534 miles, and L41,082,954."

The value of imports and exports to the United Kingdom for 1858 and 1859 was enormous. The following comparative view, based on the returns of the board of trade, is therefore of much interest. The general increase of exports in 1859 over 1858 was L13,831,671, while to the colonies and the United States it was L14,022,424. The balance of our business carried on with all other parts of the world resulted, therefore, in a falling off.

The total income of the national exchequer, when the accounts were made out in 1858, was a little more than sixty-eight millions. The expenditure amounted to nearly two and a half millions more.



PARLIAMENTARY AND POLITICAL.

On the 4th of February, 1858, the business of parliament began. The life of the French emperor having been attempted by an assassin, who had resided as a refugee in England (as recorded under the head of our relations with France), the government brought in a bill to bring refugees more stringently under the cognizance of the executive. The spirit of the measure was to conciliate France, and gratify the French emperor. This was distasteful to the nation; for the French press, and the French army, with the connivance, and even at the instigation of the French government, abused and menaced England, in a manner such as no great nation before had endured from another in time of peace. The bill of Lord Palmerston was supported by the whole strength of the tory opposition. The independent Liberals, however, made so determined an opposition to the measure, and to the whole policy of the government in truckling to France, that the tory party resolved to make that hostility available to overthrow the government. It appeared that an insulting despatch had been sent by Count Walewski, the French minister, to the English minister for foreign affairs. To this despatch no reply was returned, whereas the house of commons and the country considered that a reply, prompt and indignant, should have been given. Mr. Milner Gibson, then especially hostile to the Palmerston government, moved what was tantamount to a vote of censure, on the ground of the silence of the cabinet under the singularly offensive despatch of the French minister. The combination of independent Liberals and Tories, upon this motion, threw out the government.

Lord Derby was sent for by her majesty, and empowered to form a ministry. The new cabinet was thus composed:—

First Lord of the Treasury....... Earl of Derby.

Lord-Chancellor.................. Lord Chelmsford.

President of the Council......... Marquis of Salisbury.

Lord Privy Seal.................. Earl of Hardwicke.

Home Secretary................... Mr. Spencer Walpole.

Foreign Secretary................ Earl of Malmesbury.

Colonial Secretary............... Lord Stanley.

Secretary at War................. General Peel.

Chancellor of the Exchequer...... Mr. Disraeli.

First Lord of the Admiralty...... Sir J. S. Pakington.

President of the Board of Control Earl of Ellenborough.

President of the Board of Trade Mr. Henley.

First Commissioner of Works.......Lord J. Manners

The members not in the cabinet were selected from the other leading members of the late tory opposition in both houses.

So unpopular had the ministry of Lord Palmerston become, by its subserviency to the French emperor, and its neglect of the honour of England, in the instance of the two English engineers, captured on board the Sardinian ship, Oagliari, by a Neapolitan frigate, that there was a very general disposition, among all parties, to give Lord Derby's government "a fair trial."

The course of this ministry did not, however, run smooth, and they, soon lost popularity and power, by their prejudices, incapacity for the crisis, and a disposition to increase their power by petty trick and indirect artifice. This last feature of their ministerial character was most especially exemplified in the commons by Mr. Disraeli.

The Earl of Derby abandoned the foreign refugee bill, which he and his followers had, when out of office, supported.

During the discussion which arose concerning India, and the transaction of business with that empire resulting from the mutiny, the Earl of Ellenborough acted with a partizanship so flagrant and unjust, that in order to save the cabinet it was necessary that he should retire from it, go strong was the indignation against him both in the commons and the country. Lord Stanley, who had filled the office of colonial secretary with great ability, assumed the office vacated by Lord Ellenborough, and was afterwards made "secretary of state for India," an office created by "the government of India act." Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton became secretary for the colonies in the room of Lord Stanley. The chief work of the new tory ministry was to carry a bill for the government of India. Almost every other measure introduced by them was unpopular, yet the feeling against the late Palmerston ministry was so strong, that there was no desire to expel the cabinet.

Lord Lucan, in spite of the public opposition, and still more intense private opposition of Lord Derby, carried a measure for the parliamentary emancipation of the Jews, which was admirably devised, and ably brought forward and supported by the noble earl.

The grand failure of the Derby ministry was a reform bill, which was an indirect and sly scheme to increase the power of the landed interest. The bill was ignominiously spurned by the people and the popular branch of the legislature. From that hour the Derby ministry was doomed, although another question was that upon which its defeat was destined to take place. A very important measure was carried by Mr. Locke King,—the abolition of the property qualification for members of parliament. The same honourable member carried a bill for enfranchising ten pound householders in counties, over a second reading in the commons, signally defeating the government. The lateness of the session at the time when this was achieved prevented the further progress of the bill.

On the 3rd of August the session of 1858 terminated.

The session of 1859 opened at the usual period. Rumours of war between France and Austria gave an extraordinary interest to the occasion. That war broke out, after strenuous efforts by Lord Derby's government to prevent it. The animus of Lord Malmesbury's diplomacy was evidently in favour of Austria, and without any sympathy for Italy, while it was decidedly hostile to France. By this policy the cabinet was overthrown, and Lord Palmerston formed a ministry. Public opinion in England was hostile to the Emperor of the French, but still more so to the kasir, while an intense desire for Italian freedom existed in the United Kingdom. The general sentiment of the nation was therefore adverse to the foreign policy of the Derby government, and, before a motion in the commons condemnatory of that policy, the cabinet fell. Lord Derby was not disposed to yield to an adverse vote without taking "the sense of the country;" but the country showed him no favour, and he resigned. Lord Palmerston had the honour of forming the new cabinet. He became first lord of the treasury; Lord John Russell, minister for foreign affairs; Sir G. Grey, home secretary; Mr. Gladstone, chancellor of the exchequer; Sir Charles Wood, secretary for India; the Duke of Newcastle, for the colonies; Lord Granville, president of the council, and Mr. Sidney Herbert, minister of war. This was a strong government. The elections were decisively in their favour. The party conflicts of the year impeded legislation. Mr. Gladstone startled the house by a bold and comprehensive system of finance, and when in August the session terminated, Lord Palmerston held the reins of power with a firm hand, and the country felt that after all his faults, and the vicissitudes of his career, he was the great statesman of the age, to whom the government of England could be most safely entrusted, whenever a great emergency demanded that a great man should hold the helm of affairs.

THE END.