408 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



apprehensions of war to result from it were 

 quieted by the declaration on the part of the 

 United States Government, that it was not 

 their intention to push the matter to extremi- 

 ties, inasmuch as the position of the British 

 Government (which had declined arbitration 

 or even a joint commission with fall scope) was 

 one whidh, in the event of a war with any other 

 nation, would be found entirely untenable. For 

 the principal points of this controversy ee DIP- 

 LOMATIC COBEESPONDENCE. 



In matters pertaining to the administration 

 of the Government at home there were several 

 important events. Among these were the pas- 

 sage of bills by Parliament, making Greenwich 

 Hospital, which had hitherto been an asylum 

 for such naval pensioners as had no other home, 

 a hospital for the sick and infirm seamen who 

 had served in the navy, and increasing the 

 number and amount of the outdoor pensions, 

 so as to encourage the great body of pensioners 

 to find homes elsewhere. Another important 

 bill passed by Parliament was one for conduct- 

 ing away and utilizing the sewage of London, so 

 as to remove the unpleasant and unhealthy 

 odors from the Thames, and at the same time 

 provide for the use of that vast amount of fer- 

 tilizing fluid upon the lands of the realm. The 

 censure of the Lord High Chancellor, Lord 

 Westbury, for his nepotism and laxity in re- 

 gard to the public interests in pensioning Leon- 

 ard Edmunds, a clerk of the Patents, etc., who 

 had been guilty of defalcation, and also for his 

 conduct in the Leeds Bankruptcy Case, passed 

 the House of Commons unanimously, and led 

 to the resignation of the chancellor. Lord 

 Cran worth was appointed Lord High Chan- 

 cellor in his place. On the 6th of July Parlia- 

 ment was dissolved, and writs issued for a new 

 election. 



The new Parliament elected in August com- 

 prised a much larger proportion of Liberals 

 than the previous one, and among them some 

 men of great distinction. Westminster, in 

 the metropolitan district of London, returned, 

 among its members, John Stuart Mill, a well- 

 known metaphysician and writer on' political 

 economy, although in some particulars he dif- 

 fered openly from the views of his constituents. 

 Thomas Hughes, another well-known literary 

 man, and a liberal of the most advanced class, 

 was also returned. Mr. Gladstone, Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer, was defeated in Oxford, for 

 which he had long sat, but was returned by 

 the South Riding of Lancashire. On the whole, 

 the complexion of the new House of Commons 

 was such as to indicate the necessity of inviting 

 some of the Liberals to join the Cabinet, and 

 to render probable the success of moderate 

 measures of reform in suffrage. 



la July the cattle plague was introduced 

 into the United Kingdom, and measures were 

 adopted by the Privy Council for its suppres- 

 sion. (See CATTLE PLAGUE.) The cholera 

 made its appearance in September at South- 

 ampton, and the Government immediately es- 



tablished hospitals and took measures of pre- 

 caution to check its ravages. (See CHOLERA..) 



On the 18th of October Viscount Pahnerston, 

 First Lord of the Treasury and Premier of the 

 British Government since 1855 (except a very 

 brief period), died at his residence, Brockett's 

 Hall, Herts, after a very brief illness. (Set 

 PALMEBSTON.) His death necessitated a recast- 

 ing of the Cabinet before the assembling of 

 Parliament ; and Earl Russell being sent for by 

 the Queen to reorganize the Ministry, succeeded, 

 after some delay and difficulty, in forming the 

 following Cabinet : First Lord of the Treas- 

 ury and Prime Minister, Earl Russell ; Lord 

 President of the Council, Earl Granville ; Lord 

 High Chancellor, Lord Cranworth ; Lord Privy 

 Seal, Duke of Argyle ; Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer, Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone ; Secretaries 

 of State, Home, Rt. Hon. Sir George Grey, 

 Baronet ; Foreign, the Earl of Clarendon ; Co- 

 lonial, Rt. Hon. Edward Cardwell ; War, Earl 

 De Grey and Rippn; Ifldia, Rt. Hon. Sir C. 

 Wood, Baronet ; ' First Lord of the Admiralty, 

 The Duke of Somerset; Postmaster General, 

 Lord Stanley, of Alderley ; President of Board 

 of Trade, Rt. Hon. T. Milner Gibson ; President 

 of Poor Law Board, Rt. Hon. C. P. Villiers; 

 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Mr. 

 Guschen. 



Late in the autumn intelligence reached Eng- 

 land of the alleged riot in Jamaica, and its se- 

 vere and summary suppression by the governor 

 of that colony, Gen. Edward John Eyre ; but 

 though there were strong suspicions of bad 

 management, the facts were not fully brought 

 before the people till January, 1866. A com- 

 mission was, however, sent 9ut to investigate 

 the matter in December, Governor Eyre 

 being suspended from the government of the 

 colony meanwhile, and eventually ordered 

 home for trial, and Maj.-Gen. Sir H. K. Storks 

 appointed temporary governor. There was 

 also, late in the autumn, considerable excite- 

 ment in regard to an uprising of the Fenians in 

 Ireland, and an invasion of that country by 

 members of that brotherhood from the United 

 States. Many arrests were made, and some of 

 the leaders tried, convicted, and sentenced. 

 (See FENIAN BEOTHEEHOOD.) 



We subjoin the usual statistics of the United 

 Kingdom for 1864 and for 1865 where they have 

 been received. I. FINANCE. 1. .Revenue and 

 Expenditure. The revenue for the year, end- 

 ing December 31, 1864, was 70,125,374 15. 

 ld.=about $350,500,000; of which Customs 

 yielded 22,535,000=about $112,500,000; Ex- 

 cise, !9,343,000=about $96,550,000; Stamps, 

 9,468,000=about $47,000,000; Property, or 

 Income Tax, 7,999,000=nearly $40,000,000; 

 Post Office, 4,060,000=about $20,000,000; 

 Crown Lands (net) 307,500= about $1,500,- 

 000; and the remainder was from miscella- 

 neous sources. The expenditure for the same 

 year was, 67,883,404 18s. 4<Z.=about $339,- 

 500,000; of which 23,621,612 3*. 8d. or 

 about $118,000,000, was for interest and 



