319 



VICTORIA. 



VICTORIA. 



sious in North America, with extraordinary powers, in order to effect 

 the adjustment of the disputes there. April 23, the Sirius (which 

 left April 4) and Great Western (April 8) steam-ships arrived at New 

 York from England, being the first vessels which crossed the Atlantic 

 by steam power alone. May 31, a lunatic named Thorn, who assumed 

 the name of Sir William Courtenay, and proclaimed himself king 

 of Jerusalem, having excited a number of deluded followers against 

 tho Poor-Law Act, a contest ensued with the military, and Thorn 

 haviug shot two men was himself shot by one of the soldiers. 

 Juno 28, the coronation of Queen Victoria took place, which was 

 attended by Marshal Soult, the old opponent of the Duke of Welling- 

 ton, as ambassador from the King of the French. July 31, the new 

 Irish Poor Law and the International Copyright Acts were passed. 

 Ou August 10 and 15, the Hackney and Stage Coaches and the Irish 

 Tithe Compositions Acts were passed. August 16, the Queen pro- 

 rogued parliament. On September 17, the London and Birmingham 

 Railway was opened throughout its entire length. October 9, the 

 Eurl of Durham declared his intention of resigning the governorship 

 of Canada, in consequence of some of his proceedings being disap- 

 proved. November 1, the rebels were defeated at Napierville. On 

 November 4, there were riots at Montreal. In November intelligence 

 was received that Dost Mohammed Khan, the chief of Cabul, had 

 joined Persia with an intention of attacking the British possessions in 

 India, whereupon the governor-general had adopted the cause of Shah 

 Soojah in his claims on the throne of Afghanistan. November 17, 

 the rebels in Canada were again defeated near Prcseott in Upper 

 Canada, and the insurrection wholly suppressed. December 12, a pro- 

 clamation was issued against illegal Chartist assemblies, several of 

 which had been held at night in various parts of the country, those 

 attending them being armed with guns, pikes, &c. 



1839. January 7, tho Acade"mie des Sciences at Paris made a report 

 on the invention of M. Daguerre, the originator of the daguerreo- 

 type process, which has been followed by the photographic process. 

 January 20, the troops of the East India Company occupy Aden. 

 February 5, parliament opened by the Queen. April 7, the Chinese 

 government arrested Captain Elliot, the superintendent of the British 

 trade in China and compelled him to deliver up opium to the value of 

 3,000,000?. May 6, the government having been defeated in the 

 House of Commons on a bill for suspending the constitution of 

 Jamaica, where the House of Assembly had refused to pass the 

 prisons' bill, Lord Melbourne announced to the House of Lords, on 

 the 7th, that the ministry had resigned. On the 8th, Sir Robert Peel 

 received her majesty's command to form an administration; but owing 

 to the refusal of the Queen to dismiss the ladies of her household, he 

 declined the commission, and on the 10th Lord Melbourne was 

 reinstated. June 8, ratification of the treaty for the separation of 

 Holland from Belgium. June 14, the Designs Copyright Act passed. 

 July 15, Chartist riot at Birmingham suppressed by the military, but 

 not till a large amount of damage had been done. July 20, the British 

 army in India attacked and captured Ghiznee ; Dost Mohammed 

 fled, and Shah Soojah was proclaimed sovereign of Cabul. August 17, 

 the Postage Act passed, enacting a uniform rate throughout the king- 

 dom for all letters not exceeding half an ounce in weight, and it gave 

 the Treasury the power of fixing the rate at first, though it was to 

 be ultimately one penny. This was done by reducing all rates above 

 Ad. to that sum, leaving all below 4d. unaltered. It came into opera- 

 tion on December 5 ; and on January 10, 1840 the uniform half-ounce 

 rato was reduced to ono penny. The Act was for one year only, but 

 it was confirmed in 1840. October 10, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg 

 arrived in London. November 4, Newport in Monmouthshire was 

 attacked by a party of Chartists, estimated to number about 10,000 

 men, under the command of John Frost, an ex-magistrate. They 

 were opposed by the mayor, Mr. Phillips, and a party of special con- 

 stables, assisted by about thirty soldiers. The rioters broke the win- 

 dows of houses, fired on the inmates, and the mayor was woimded ; 

 upon which the soldiers fired, made a sortie, and dispersed tho mob, 

 of whom about twenty were left dead on the spot. The next day 

 Frost and some others of tho leaders were apprehended ; on December 

 31, they were tried, found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to 

 death, but the punishment was commuted to transportation for life. 

 November 23, the Queen announced to the Privy Council her intended 

 marriage with Prince Albert. November 24, the trade between England 

 and China was stopped by order of Liu, the Chinese Imperial com- 

 missioner. 



1840. January 11, a Chartist outbreak contemplated at Sheffield 

 was discovered and prevented, some of the leaders being apprehended. 

 Slight disturbances took place about this time also, in a few other 

 towns of the North. January 16, parliament opened by the Queen, and 

 Lord John Russell brought before the House of Commons the case of 

 Stockdale, who had brought an action against Hansard, the printer to 

 the House, for a libel contained in some of the papers printed by 

 order. He had obtained a verdict, issued execution, and the sheriffs 

 of Middlesex had seized and sold some of Hansard's property. The 

 House declared all these proceedings breaches of privilege. At different 

 times, and after considerable discussion, Stockdale, his attorney, the 

 two sheriffs, and some subordinate agents, were committed to the 

 custody of tho sergeant-at-arms. A bill was subsequently brought in 

 by Lord John Russell, for exempting from such actions all papers 



ordered by the House to be printed, which was passed on April 14. 

 February 10, the marriage of the Queen took place, attended with 

 festivities throughout the country. March 15, the English ambassador 

 at Naples presented a note, complaining of the establishment of a 

 monopoly of the trade in sulphur granted to a French company in 

 contravention of tho treaties with England. As the Neapolitan 

 government refused satisfaction, an English fleet was ordered to Naples 

 to adopt coercive means ; but by the mediation of France hostilities 

 were prevented, and the sulphur trade restored to its former course. 

 May 6, the new stamps and envelopes for pre-paid letters came into use. 

 June 4, the Act for the better effecting Tithe Composition in England 

 and Wales received the royal assent. June 10, a pot-boy, named 

 Oxford, fired two pistols at the Queen while riding up Constitution 

 Hill in an open carriage ; he was seized, tried, and sent to Bethlehem 

 Hospital as a lunatic. July 3, the fort of Amoy, in China, was de- 

 stroyed by the English fleet, and on the 10th, the island of Chusan 

 was taken. July 23, the Act for uniting the provinces of Upper and 

 Lower Canada received the royal assent. August 7, the Act against 

 employing children to sweep chimneys, and on August 10, that for 

 regulating Irish Municipal Corporations, received the royal assent. 

 August 11, the parliament was prorogued. August 25, the Carlist 

 insurrection in Spain having been suppressed, the English auxiliaries 

 evacuate San Sebastian and Passages. October 18, Dost Mohammed 

 Khan was defeated and wounded, and again defeated on November 2, 

 whereupon he surrenders himself to Sir William M'Naghten, the 

 British agent at the court of Shah Soojah. December 2, Mehemet 

 Ali, of Egypt, who had been for some time resisting the claims of the 

 Sultan of Turkey to the sovereignty over Egypt, who had invaded and 

 taken possession of Syria, at length, subdued by Turkey assisted by 

 England and Franco, accepted on this day the terms proposed. Com- 

 modore Napier with an English fleet had greatly distinguished himself 

 by his successful attacks on Beyrout and Acre. December 15, the 

 remains of Napoleon Bonaparte, which England had allowed to be 

 removed from St. Helena, were this day deposited with great ceremony 

 in the Hotel des Invalides, having been brought to France by a 

 French squadron under Prince de Joinville. 



1841. January 9, a meeting of the Repeal Association was held in 

 Dublin, to receive the accounts of the preceding year ; and during the 

 spring several monster Repeal meetings were held to hear the ad- 

 dresses of Daniel O'Connell, some of which were attended by as many 

 as 150,000 persons. January 9, the Bogue forts at Canton were 

 attacked and taken by the British forces. January 20, after some 

 further hostilities, the Chinese government proposed terms, by which 

 Hong- Kong was ceded to Great Britain, direct official communication 

 between the two powers granted, some additional ports opened to 

 trade, and an indemnity of six million of dollars paid. January 26, 

 parliament commenced its sittings. Feb. 10, the union of the Canadas 

 proclaimed at Montreal, and Lord Sydenham took the oaths of office. 

 Feb. 13, a dinner given to Lord John Russell in London, to cele- 

 brate the foundation of the most recent colony of Great Britain 

 New Zealand. On March 15, at a meeting of the Vice-Chancellor, 

 heads of houses, and proctors of the University of Oxford, a resolution 

 was passed condemning the Puseyite Tracts, which had lately excited 

 much attention. March 23, Father Mathew continues his efforts in 

 Ireland in favour of temperance. On this and two succeeding dayp, 

 he was said to have administered the pledge to 120,000 persons. 

 March 31, the annual meeting of the Metropolitan Anti-Corn-Law 

 Association was held, numerous meetings with a similar object having 

 been held in various parts of the country. April 28, a meeting called 

 by the Archbishop of Canter/bury, in London, to raise funds for 

 sending out bishops to the colonies, when a large subscription was 

 obtained. On the same day, the preliminary expedition of the second 

 colony to New Zealand sailed under the command of Captain Wake- 

 field ; the colony to be formed on the principle propounded by 

 E. G. Wakefield, limiting the area, and applying the land produce 

 fund to the purpose of obtaining labour. May 18, a great meeting 

 held at Manchester, to petition for a total repeal of the Corn-Laws. 

 Many other meetings for the same purpose were held throughout 

 the country, some of which were disturbed by the attempts of Chartists 

 to incorporate a petition for universal suffrage. May 28, hostilities 

 re-commenced at Canton. The British forces, under Sir Hugh Gough, 

 took two forts, and the town capitulated, having agreed to the 

 previous terms and to pay six millions of dollars within one week. 

 May 27, the case of the seven ministers of the presbytery of Strath- 

 bogie was brought before the assembly of the Scottish Church ; when 

 they were suspended for having obeyed the order of the civil courts in 

 placing the minister of Maruoch against the order of the Assembly. A 

 large minority protested, and a numerous meeting was held in Edin- 

 burgh on the following Monday (31st), to express their sympathy with 

 the deprived ministers. On the 27th Sir Robert Peel brought forward 

 a resolution in the House of Commons, declaring that the ministry 

 did not possess the confidence of the country. June 4, the debate 

 terminated, and the resolution was carried by 312 against 311. On 

 the 7th, Lord John Russell informed the House, that in consequence 

 they should appeal to the country. On the 22nd the parliament was 

 prorogued and dissolved. June 21, the Act for the Commutation ^of 

 Copyhold and Customary Tenures, and that for affording Facilities Tor 

 tho Conveyance and Endowments of Sites for Schools received the 



