446 



GREAT BRITAIN" AND IRELAND. 



the north of China on May llth. There were 

 receptions and entertainments by European and 

 Chinese parties, and a public garden gathering. 

 The ex-President and his party reached Yoko- 

 hama, Japan, about the 1st of July, and on the 

 4th the distinguished tourist, accompanied by 

 Mrs. Grant, was admitted to an audience with 

 the Emperor and Empress. The Mikado wel- 

 comad his guest in a cordial speech, highly eu- 

 logistic of the ex-President and of the country 

 which he represented. It gave him, he said, 

 especial pleasure to greet the ex-President on 

 the anniversary ef the independence of the 

 United States. On the 7th there was a bril- 

 liant review in honor of the General, and on 

 the 8th a gorgeous festival was arranged for 

 him in the great hall of the Kobu Dai Gaku. 

 No eft'ort was spared by the Japanese authori- 

 ties to make his stay in that country agreeable 

 and varied in all its phases. A special and 

 highly complimentary feature of his visit to 

 China was his conversation with Li-Hung- 

 Chang, Viceroy of the Province of Tien- 

 tsin, in which the General was invited to be- 

 come the mediator between that Government 

 and Japan concerning the Loo-choo difficulty, 

 the Viceroy's proposition being authorized by 

 Prince Kung. The party left Yokohama on 

 the 25th of August, and had a pleasant passage 

 to San Francisco, where they arrived on Sep- 

 tember 20th. During this tour he was received 

 with distinguished honors by the following 

 persons, besides many others : Queen Victoria 

 of England; King Leopold of Belgium; the 

 Khedive of Egypt; the Sultan of Turkey; 

 King Humbert of Italy ; Pope Leo XIII. ; 

 President MacM"ahon of France; the King 

 of Holland ; Emperor William of Germany ; 

 Prince Bismarck; King Oscar of Sweden; the 

 Emperor Alexander of Russia ; the Emperor 

 Francis Joseph of Austria; King Alfonso of 

 Spain ; President Grevy of France ; M. Gam- 

 betta ; Viceroy Lytton of India ; King Thebaw 

 of Burmah; Prince Kung of China; the Em- 

 peror of Siam ; the Mikado of Japan. His re- 

 ception in San Francisco was very flattering. 

 He visited several towns in this State, also 

 Oregon and the adjoining States, and returned 

 slowly to his home in Illinois, and thence to 

 Philadelphia. At the close of the year he left 

 for a tour in the West India Islands and Mexi- 

 co. (See preceding volumes of " Annual Cy- 

 clopaedia.") 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, a king- 

 dom of western Europe. The Queen, Victoria, 

 was born May 24, 1819. She is a daughter of 

 Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son 

 of George III. ; succeeded her uncle, William 

 IV., in 1837 ; and married in 1840 Prince Al- 

 bert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 



Children of the Queen. 1. Princess Victo- 

 ria, born November 21, 1840; married in 1858 

 to the present Crown Prince of Germany. 2. 

 Prince Albert Edward, heir apparent, born 

 November 9, 1841 ; married in 1863 to Prin- 

 cess Alexandra, daughter of King Christian IX. 



of Denmark. Issue, two sons and three daugh- 

 ters ; eldest son, Albert Victor, born January 

 8, 1864. 3. Princess Alice, born April 25, 

 1843; married in 1862 to Louis IV., Grand 

 Duke of Hesse ; died December 14, 1878. 4. 

 Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, born Au- 

 gust 6, 1844; married in 1874 to the Grand 

 Duchess Maria of Russia. He is heir apparent 

 to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He has 

 issue one son and three daughters. 5. Princess 

 Helena, born May 25, 1846; married in 1866 

 to Prince Christian of Schlesvvig-Holstein-Son- 

 derburg-Augustenburg. 6. Princess Louise, 

 born March 18, 1848 ; married in 1871 to the 

 Marquis of Lome. 7. Prince Arthur, Duke of 

 Connaught and Strathearne, born May 1, 1850; 

 married March 13, 1879, to Princess Louise 

 Margarethe, daughter of Prince Frederick 

 Charles of Prussia. 8. Prince Leopold, born 

 April 7, 1853. 9. Princess Beatrice, born 

 April 14, 1857. 



The Cabinet was composed as follows at the 

 close of 1879: First Lord of the Treasury, 

 Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beacons- 

 field; Lord High Chancellor, Lord Cairns; 

 Lord President of the Council, Duke of Rich- 

 mond and Gordon ; Lord Privy Seal, Duke of 

 Northumberland ; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 

 Sir S. H. Northcote, Bart., M. P. ; Secretaries 

 of State: 1. Home Department, Right Hon. R. 

 A. Cross ; 2. Foreign Affairs, Marquis of Salis. 

 bury ; 3. Colonies, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach ; 

 4. War, Colonel Frederick Stanley, M. P. ; 5. 

 India, Viscount Cranbrook ; First Lord of the 

 Admiralty, Right Hon. W. H. Smith, M. P. ; 

 Postmaster-General, Right Hon. Lord John J. 

 R. Manners, M. P. ; President of the Ministry 

 of Commerce, Lord Sandon. 



Parliament is composed of two Houses, the 

 House of Lords and the House of Commons. 

 The number of peers in 1879 was 494. Of 

 these, 5 were peers of the royal blood, 2 arch- 

 bishops, 21 dukes, 19 marquises, 115 earls, 24 

 bishops, 25 viscounts, and 247 barons. In ad- 

 dition to these there are 16 Scotch and 28 Irish 

 representative peers, making in all 502 mem- 

 bers. The Speaker of the House of Lords was 

 Lord Cairns, the Lord High Chancellor, and 

 the Chairman of Committees Lord Redesdale. 

 The Speaker of the House of Commons was 

 Henry Bouverie William Brand, and the Chair- 

 man of Committees Henry Cecil Raikes. The 

 members of the House of Commons are elected 

 by the counties, boroughs, and universities. 



The area and population of the British Em- 

 pire in 1879 were as follows : 





