by the marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, which occasioned unusual rejoicings throughout the whole kingdom.

Parliament, having in 1865 completed what is regarded as its full term, was dissolved; and the general election which followed was singularly free from party bitterness. The civil war, which had for four years convulsed the American States, was coming to an end. Our own North American provinces, in order not to be drawn into their neighbours' quarrels, resolved upon establishing a union of their own under the protection of the mother country. A meeting of delegates was held at Quebec, for the purpose of taking practical steps towards the desired object, which met with a cordial response from Great Britain. There was peace abroad. England had compelled Japan to atone for certain outrages upon British subjects, and by a treaty of commerce opened up that singularly interesting country to European influence. It was to a people emerging calmly from a season of distress that the summons was made to return members to the House of Commons. The general result gave to the Liberal party 367, against 290 Conservatives. The most marked feature of the contest was the rejection of Mr Gladstone by Oxford University. He was, however, invited to stand for South Lancashire, and was returned.

Lord Palmerston died a few months before the meeting of the new Parliament, and Earl Russell was appointed Prime Minister, the leadership of the House of Commons being assigned to Mr Gladstone, who still retained the Chancellorship of the Exchequer.

In an empire of the immense extent of Great Britain, there can be no immunity from trouble at some point or another. In October 1865, there broke out a violent insurrection in Jamaica, which the governor, Mr Eyre, suppressed. But in consequence of the severity used, and the alleged arbitrary measures connected with the trial and execution of a Mr Gordon, public opinion became much excited at home. A commission was appointed to proceed to Jamaica to take evidence on the spot, and, after a patient examination, they

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reported in effect:-That though the original design for the overthrow of the constituted authority was confined to a small portion of the parish of St Thomas in the East, yet that the disorder in fact spread with singular rapidity over an extensive tract of country; while such was the state of excitement prevailing in other parts of the island, that, had more than a momentary success been obtained by the insurgents, their ultitimate overthrow would have been attended with a still more fearful loss of life and property: that praise was due to Governor Eyre for the skill, promptitude, and vigour which he manifested. during the early stages of the insurrection, to the exercise of which qualities its speedy termination was in a great degree to be attributed: and that the military and naval operations appeared to the Commission to have been prompt and judicious. But the Commission blamed the continuance of martial law beyond the time necessary for its purposes, and severely condemned the executions, floggings, and house-burnings which had been inflicted. With regard to the case of Mr Gordon, the result of a very elaborate investigation amounted in general terms to this, that although the unfortunate gentleman was not implicated in the outbreak itself, yet that he had by his previous conduct fairly warranted the suspicion of being the prime mover of rebellious designs.

This report, able and impartial as it was, left public opinion in the unsettled state which it was hoped the Commission would have been able to allay; for, while confirming the truth of the accusations of cruel severities inflicted after the suppression of the insurrection, but for which subordinate officers were chiefly responsible, they did not fully acquit Governor Eyre himself of the charge of having unjustly executed Mr Gordon. They allowed him full credit for having promptly put down the insurrection, which they acknowledged to have been charged with terrible menaces of danger; but even this great public service was only held to afford an excuse, but not a complete satisfaction, for the illegality of the man's arrest, trial by eourt-martial, and execution.

The year 1866 will ever be memorable for the great German war between Austria and Prussia, each of whom claimed pre

dominance in Germany. The pretext for hostility was furnished by the condition of Schleswig and Holstein. Long-standing differences between these duchies and Denmark, which held the right of suzerainty over them, afforded Prussia an excuse for interference. The latter brought the subject before the representatives of the German states met in Diet at Frankfort, at the same time advancing claims to a certain part of the duchies on the ground of the same being German territory. Her views being accepted by the Diet, Prussia prepared to enforce submission upon Denmark. Austria on her side claimed to take part in the expedition.

The Danes boldly resolved to meet the allies. The end, however, of the war that followed was, that the duchies were wrested from Denmark, and, by a treaty called that of Gastein, Austria and Prussia arranged between them the manner of administering the two states. But the conquerors disagreed, and the Diet of Frankfort was again appealed to. Prussia, finding that she would be outvoted in the Diet, determined to break up the Germanic Confederation, and declared war, not only against Austria, but against every German State that would not become her active ally. With astonishing promptitude three Prussian armies appeared simultaneously in movement, and commenced the war by invading Hanover, HesseCassel, and other principalities. Upon the 3d July the great and decisive battle of Sadowa or Königgrätz was fought between the Prussians and Austrians, in which the latter were defeated. Austria was compelled to sue for peace, which was soon afterwards proclaimed. She ceased to have any political connexion with Germany, and Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, and the free city of Frankfort were annexed to Prussia.

The year 1866, so prosperous for North Germany, was not favourable to our own country. The failure of a great bank, that of Overend, Gurney, & Co., was followed by that of several others. At the same time, the plague amongst cattle which had broken out in the previous year increased in virulence, and swept off oxen and cows at the rate of from eight thousand to ten thousand a week, the estimated loss of the whole being about three and a half millions sterling

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before the plague was stamped out by the prompt destruction of every animal the moment it appeared to be infected. In Ireland there were disturbances, occasioned, it was believed, by an influx into the country of adventurers from America, and the Habeas Corpus Act had to be suspended. In the metropolis of England the question of parliamentary reform led to a change of ministry. Lord Russell and Mr Gladstone resigned rather than accept an amendment which was carried, affecting, as they thought, too deeply the principle of the bill which the latter had introduced into the House of Commons, and Earl Derby succeeded to office with Mr Disraeli. An attempt of the new ministry to prevent the people from assembling in Hyde Park to make a demonstration in favour of reform, led to riots, in which the Park railings were torn down, and the police set at defiance.

There prevailed, indeed, everywhere a feverish state of mind. For a time there was danger of the jealousy of France against Prussia breaking out into war upon a dispute about the possession of Luxemburg, which, through the friendly mediation of Lord Stanley, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, was happily adjusted by having this duchy declared a neutral state. While three Fenians were under sentence of death at Manchester for the murder of a policeman, shot in attempting to prevent two prisoners being rescued, a still worse Fenian outrage was committed in London. A man named Barret caused the wall of Clerkenwell Prison to be blown in, and about forty poor people living in the neighbourhood were more or less injured by the explosion. But the great events of the year, those that affected the whole civilized world, were the tragic termination of the French interference in Mexico-the expedition of Garibaldi against Rome-and the resolution of the British Parliament to undertake an expedition against the barbarian Theodore, king of Abyssinia.

Maximilian was hardly seated upon the throne, to which French bayonets had opened the way, than difficulties began. The American Civil War being brought to a close by the surrender of the Confederate General Lee's army to General Grant, Commander-in-chief of the Federal forces, the United

States Government, as it was again entitled to call itself, gave clear notice to France that it would not recognise the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico; and France, rather than go to war with the American Republic, recalled her troops. The French general tried in vain to induce Maximilian to accompany him, but the high-spirited Prince felt bound in honour not to abandon his friends. In the meantime his wife, Princess Charlotte of Belgium, returned to Europe in the hope of obtaining assistance for her husband, and, having appealed in vain to Napoleon and to other quarters, became ultimately insane. Juarez, the lately expelled President of the Republic, encouraged by the attitude of the United States, was enabled to get considerable forces together. The Emperor, leaving the capital, threw himself into Queretaro, at the head of 10,000 men, was beleaguered, made prisoner, and after a semblance of trial by court-martial, was, on the morning of the 19th June 1867, shot, along with two of his generals. This disaster proved a serious blow to the reputation of the French Emperor.

The interference of France in another direction hardly served to redeem her loss of reputation in Mexico. An attempt was made by Garibaldi and his followers, supported by the sympathy of the Roman population, to recover Rome as the capital of Italy. The French marched against Garibaldi; and for the first time the Chassepot rifle-so called after the name of its inventor-was brought into play with the most deadly effect, and the volunteers were defeated.

While Austria was engaged in repairing disasters by extending constitutional liberty at home, and the United States were once more becoming united in reality, Great Britain was, on her side, debating and carrying to a favourable conclusion a great measure of electoral reform. As regards the principle of extending the franchise to the working-classes, there was no party division in Parliament worthy of notice. The contest, in fact, turned upon the sort of test of a man's right to vote which would best stand trial; and yet it was because the Whigs maintained house-rent as the proper test, against payment of poor-rates, which the Conservatives carried, that the former felt bound in consistency to resign, and leave the bill to be dealt