851 



VICTORIA. 



VICTORIA. 



352 



royal assent. August 19, the new parliament met. An amendment 

 to the address was moved by Sir Ji. Peel ; and after a debate, the 

 amendment was carried. On the 30th, the ministers announced their 

 resignation, and Sir R. Feel was commissioned to form a new ministry. 

 In September, accounts arrived from various parts of the country, 

 representing the extreme distress of the manufacturing districts of the 

 country. October 4, a great fire occurred in the Tower, which 

 destroyed the storehouse and the small-arms armoury. November 25, 

 Akhbar Khan, the son of Dost Mohammed, joins the insurgents of Cabul 

 in a series of attacks on the English. December 31, Lord Ashburton 

 was appointed to a special mission to the United States, in order to 

 settle the various differences between the two countries, which he con- 

 cluded in September 1842. 



1842. January 6, the British forces began to evacuate Cabul under 

 a convention concluded between Akhbar Khan and Major Pottinger, 

 but were attacked in the Cabul Pass and nearly all massacred. 

 January 17, the first stone of the new Royal Exchange was laid by 

 Prince Albert. February 8, about 600 deputies of the Anti-Corn- 

 Law Association assemble in London, to promote its objects. March 

 6, Colonel Palmer evacuates Ghiznee, after capitulating with Akhbar 

 Khan. On April 5, General Pollock joins Sir R Sale at Jellalabad, after 

 forcing the Khyber Pass. April 29, a new law for a graduated scale 

 on the importation of foreign corn received the royal assent. May 4, 

 the Boers of Port Natal having thrown off their allegiance to the 

 British government, are attacked by Captain Smith with a small force, 

 whom they defeat, but were beaten in a second action on June 26, 

 and forced to submit. May 30, John Francis fires a pistol at the 

 Queen, who escaped uninjured ; Francis was tried for the attempt at 

 the Old Bailey, found guilty, and sentenced to be hung, but the punish- 

 ment was commuted to transportation for life. June 4, there were 

 riots at Cork and Ennis, occasioned by want of food arising from the 

 potato rot in 1841 ; and great distress and discontent continued to 

 exist among the manufacturing population of England. June 16, the 

 treaty with the Chinese not having been ratified, the British forces 

 entered the river Yang-tze-Kiang, and seized several forts with numerous 

 cannon ; and on the 19th they took possession of Shanghai. June 22, 

 Sir Robert Peel's bill enforcing an Income Tax received the royal 

 assent. July 3, J. W. Bean presented a pistol at the Queen, but was 

 prevented from firing by a bystander, and was afterwards sentenced 

 to eighteen months' imprisonment ; on July 16 a law was passed inflict- 

 ing the punishment of whipping and imprisonment for such offences. 

 July 9, a deputation from the Anti-Corn-Law Association waited on Sir 

 R. Peel, to represent the extreme distress of the labouring poor. July 30, 

 a law received the royal assent, bestowing a representative government 

 on New South Wales. August 8, a serious riot took place at Manchester 

 owing to the distress, and the riots extended subsequently to other towns 

 in the North. August 12, the Bankruptcy Amendment Act received 

 the royal assent. August 29, the Queen and Prince Albert visit Scot- 

 land. September 8, Ghiznee was retaken by General Nott. On the 

 16th, General Pollock forces the passes, and occupies Cabul, after several 

 actions. October 1, Lord Ellenborough issued a proclamation, stating 

 that the disasters in Afghanistan having been avenged, the British army 

 would be withdrawn across the Sutlej, which was done on the 12th. 

 September 30, a special commission was held to try the offenders in 

 the late riots, when fifty-four were convicted, and sentenced to various 

 periods of imprisonment. 



1843. January 9, O'Connell announced at a weekly meeting of the 

 Repeal Association that " 1843 is and shall be the great Repeal Year." 

 January 20, Mr. Edward Drummond, the private secretary of Sir 

 Robert Peel, was shot at Charing-Cross by a man named M'Naghten, 

 who was acquitted on March 4, on the ground of insanity, and removed 

 to Bethlehem Hospital. On February 2, parliament assembled. Feb- 

 ruary 17, the forces of the Ameers of Scinde were defeated by Sir C. 

 Napier, who, on the 20th, took Hyderabad, and subsequently annexed 

 Scinde to the British empire. A.bout the end of this month, the 

 Rebecca Riots took place in Wales, the object of which was the 

 removal of oppressive turnpike tolls. The riots continued through 

 several months. March 25, the Thames Tunnel was opened. May 18, 

 the secession of the supporters of the non-intrusion principle took 

 place from the General Assembly of Scotland, when above four 

 hundred ministers resigned their parishes. May 30, Natal was an- 

 nexed to the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. July 3, the Cartoons 

 for the embellishment of the new Palace at Westminster were exhibited 

 to the public. August 22, a great Repeal Meeting held on the hill of 

 Tara. August 28, the Queen and Prince Albert embarked at South- 

 ampton, on a visit to Louis Philippe at the Chateau d'Eu ; on Septem- 

 ber 13, they visited the King of the Belgians at Ostend. August 17, 

 an Act for the pacification of the Scottish Church received the royal 

 assent, but had no effect in staying the disruption. August 24, par- 

 liament was prorogued. August 29, Father Mathew holds a great 

 Temperance meeting in London, and in the course of a few weeks 

 administers the pledge to 74,000 persons. On September 9, the 

 French took possession of Otaheite. September 15, Maharajah Shore 

 Singh, ruler of the Punjab, was assassinated with his family, at the 

 instigation of his minister Dhyan Singh. September 28, the Anti- 

 Corn-Law Association renewed its meetings in London. October 7, 

 the Irish government issued a proclamation forbidding the Repeal 

 meetings, and O'Connell recommends submission. On the 14th, Mr. 



O'Connell, his son, and several other Repeal leaders, are arrested and 

 held to bail on a charge of conspiracy and sedition. October 27, the 

 Welsh special commission opened at Cardiff for the trial of the 

 Rebecca rioters, the principal culprit being a young farmer, who was 

 sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years. Most of the others 

 were let off, on pleading guilty, and on condition that the riots should 

 cease. December 29, Gwalior, in the East Indies, invaded and sub- 

 jugated by the Anglo-Indian army. 



1844. January 29, the Grand Duke of Saxe-Coburg, father of Prince 

 Albert, died. February ly parliament was opened. February 12, after 

 a trial which lasted twenty-four days, O'Connell and bis companions 

 wore found guilty. A new trial being refused by the judges, on 

 May 11, O'Connell was sentenced to a year's imprisonment and a fine 

 of 20QOI. ; on September 2, the judgment was reversed, on appeal, by 

 the House of Lords, and he was restored to liberty. March 5, Mr. 

 Pritchard, the British ex-consul at Otaheite, was seized and placed in 

 confinement, by M. Bruat, the French governor, whose conduct, after 

 much contention, was subsequently disavowed by his government. 

 April 12, a treaty of annexation proposed between Texas and the 

 United States was rejected by the Senate. On May 11, a meeting was 

 held under the presidency of Lord Ashley, for improving the habita- 

 tions of the poor. June 1, the Emperor Nicolas of Russia vieited 

 England. June 6, the Factories Act, regulating the employment of 

 children and young persons, received the royal assent. June 14, a dis- 

 cussion was raised in the House of Commons on the subject of Sir 

 James Graham opening letters at the Post-office. He contended that 

 he had the right, but would give no further explanation. The letters* 

 said to be opened were addressed to Mazzini, and the information 

 thus obtained had enabled the Austrian government to seize the 

 brothers Bandiera, who had landed in Italy for the purpose of creating 

 an insurrection. A Committee of Examination was appointed by 

 Lords and Commons, but they only reported that the power had been 

 occasionally exercised. July 22, a treaty was signed between England 

 and Hanover for the settlement of the Stade duties. August 8, a 

 meeting was held in Manchester for the formation of public parks, 

 and 25,OOOZ. were subscribed by November 1. September 5, parlia- 

 ment was prorogued. October 7, the King of the French arrived 

 at Windsor on a visit to the Queen. October 28, the Queen opened 

 the new London Royal Exchange. November 19, a meeting was held 

 at Birmingham for the establishment of public parks and baths. 



1845. Jan. 11, the Archbishop of Canterbury addressed a letter to 

 the clergy of the Established Church, on the disputes raised by the 

 introduction of Puseyite practices in the ceremonies of the Church, as 

 to which he would not give an authoritative opinion, but recommended 

 moderation. Feb. 4, parliament was opened by the Queen in person. 

 On the 14th, Sir Robert Peel made his financial statement : he pro- 

 posed to continue the Income tax, to repeal all duties on export, to 

 abolish the duties on 430 articles which yielded only a trifling income, 

 also those on cotton-wool, glass, and staves, and to substitute an 

 annual licence for the auction duties : these were ultimately carried. 

 March 6, Sir Robert Peel brought in a bill to enable Jews to hold 

 municipal offices, which was passed on March 14th. May 5, a bazaar 

 in aid of the Anti-Corri-Law Association was held in Covent Garden 

 Theatre, by which 25,0001. was realised. On the 22nd a meeting was 

 held in London for the establishment of baths and washhouses, under 

 the presidency of the Duke of Cambridge. May 23, the Arctic expe- 

 dition of discovery, tinder Sir John Franklin, sailed from Greenhithe, 

 and, unfortunately, never returned. May 28, a terrible fire took place 

 at Quebec, and on the 28th of June another. In the two fires 2947 

 houses were destroyed and 20,000 persons left destitute : parliament 

 voted 20,0002. for their relief; subscriptions were raised, and collections 

 were made in all the churches, under the authority of the Queen's 

 letter. May 29, a new convention between England and France for 

 the better suppression of the slave trade was signed. June 15, a 

 French and English squadron attacked Madagascar, in consequence of 

 the Queen of Madagascar having threatened the traders of those 

 countries with expulsion : they destroyed some forts and part of a 

 town, but nothing satisfactory was accomplished. June 30, Sir R. 

 Peel's act for the endowment of Maynooth College received the royal 

 assent; and on July 21, the acts for the establishment of museums in 

 large towns, for the endowment of the new colleges in Ireland, and 

 for the amendment of the Poor-Law in Scotland. August 9, the 

 Queen prorogued the parliament, and on the same day, with Prince 

 Albert, embarked at Woolwich on a visit to Germany. On their return 

 they again visited Louis Philippe on Sept. 7 at the Chateau d'Eu. 

 Oct. 31, Mr. Waghorn arrived with the East India mail, which he had 

 brought for the first time by the Overland route. During this month 

 the railway mania reached a crisis, and a panic ensued, by which 

 many were ruined. November 19, the Irish Roman Catholic bishops 

 condemn the new Irish colleges. Nov. 22, Lord John Russell issues 

 his letter to the electors of London, declaring for a total repeal of the 

 Corn Laws. Dec. 10, it having been previously understood that there 

 had been many discussions in the cabinet on the subject of the Corn 

 Laws, it was made known that ministers had resigned, and that Lord 

 John Russell had been sent for to form a ministry. On the 20th, he 

 having failed, Sir R. Peel was again sent for, and re-accepted office. 

 Dec. 18, the Sikh army was beaten by the British at Moodkee; on the 

 21st the Sikhs were attacked at Ferozeshah and driven from their 



