264 



FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1887. 



14. Prince Ferdinand, of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, in- 

 stailed ruler of Bulgaria ; the ministry resigned at 

 once, and the Sobranje was dissolved. 



15. Contracts for new United States cruisers and 

 gun-beats awarded by the Secretary of the Navy. 



19. Proclamation of the Irish National League an- 

 nounced in the British House of Lords. 



25. Mr. Gladstone, in the British House of Com- 

 mons, moved an address to the Queen, asking the 

 withdrawal of the proclamation ; motion lost by 272 

 to 194. 



September 1. Annual meeting of the American Li- 

 brary Association at Round Island, N. Y. 



2. New Bulgarian Ca_binet announced, with M. 

 Starnbuloff as Prime Minister. 



2-5. Annual encampment of the Grand Army of the 

 Eepublic at St. Louis, Mo. 



4. Meeting of the Irish National League at Ennis, 

 Ireland, in defiance of the Queen's proclamation. 



5. Labor Day, a holiday legalized by the State of 

 New York, and now observed for the first time. 

 The 9tli International Medical Congress met in Wash- 

 ington ; more than 4,000 physicians in attendance. 



15-17. Celebration in Philadelphia of the framing 

 of the United States Constitution. 



16. British Parliament prorogued. Mexican Con- 

 gress opened by President Diaz. 



19. Parliament of Holland opened by King William. 

 21. Launch of the Trafalgar at Portsmouth, England. 

 She is the largest iron-clad ever constructed. 



24. William O'Brien, the Irish agitator, found 

 guilty of seditious language and sentenced to three 

 months' imprisonment. A 'party of French sportsmen 

 fired upon by German guards near the frontier at Raon- 

 sur-Plaine,'l killed, 1 wounded; much international 

 excitement followed but an amicable arrangement was 

 finally reached. 



25. Encounter between the police and the people at 

 Mitchelstown, Ireland. 



27-30. International yacht-race between British 

 cutter Thistle and American sloop Volunteer ; won 

 by Volunteer. 



28. The Jubilee receptions of the Pope began at 

 Rome, Italy. 



29. The "Hungarian Parliament opened. Election 

 in Tennessee ; constitutional amendment in favor of 

 prohibition defeated by 27,693 majority. 



October 1. Official scandal in trench army circles 

 concerning the alleged sale of decorations Generals 

 Boulanger and Caffarel involved and placed under ar- 

 rest. 



8. General convention of Knights of Labor at Min- 

 neapolis. 



9. Elections in Bulgaria ; 258 supporters of the Gov- 

 ernment were elected against 27 Oppositionists. 



14-17. Riotous demonstrations in London on the 

 part of the homeless poor. 

 18. Bronze statue of Gen. George Gordon Meade un- 



veiled in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Shake- 

 speare Memorial, presented by George W. Childs of 

 Philadelphia, dedicated at Stratford-upon-Avon, Eng- 

 land. 



27. Corner-stone of the monument to Gen. R. E. 

 Lee laid at Richmond, Va. 



29. Statue of Lief Erikson, the Norse explorer, un- 

 veiled at Boston. Mass. 



November 8. Elections were held in eleven of the 

 United States (details will be found in the special 

 articles on those States). 



12. Four convicted anarchists and rioters hanged in 

 Chicago (the sentences of two others were commuted 

 to imprisonment and another committed suicide in his 

 cell). 



16. Bronze statue unveiled at Lexington, Ky., in 

 memory of John C. Breckenridge 



17. John Most, anarchist, arrested for uttering in- 

 cendiary language. 



18. Centennial Anniversary of the Methodist Epis- 

 copal Church, held in Brooklyn, N. T. The Czar and 

 Czarina of Russia made a state visit to Berlin. 



24. Yale won the college championship at football, 

 defeating Harvard by a score of 17 to 8. 



27. Kiotous demonstrations at Limerick, Ireland, on 

 the occasion of a mass meeting to honor the memory 

 of Irish patriots. 



29. The Court of Appeals of the State of New York 

 reversed judgment of the lower court in the conviction 

 of Jacob Sharp for bribing the Board of Aldermen of 

 New York city. 



December 1. Jacob Sharp released on bail to the 

 amount of $40,000. 



2. President Grdvy, of France, resigned his office 

 amid great excitement. 



3. Marie Francois Sadi-Carnot chosen President of 

 the French Republic. 



5. The Fiftieth Congress of the United States met 

 and organized. 



6. The President's message was read to Congress. 

 7-10. General Conferences of Evangelical Christians 



in Washington. 



8. John Most, the anarchist, sentenced to one year's 

 confinement at hard labor in the penitentiary. 



11. Attempted assassination of Jules Ferry in the 

 hall of the Chamber of Deputies by a lunatic. 



12. E. L. Harper, lately President of the Fidelity 

 Bank of Cincinnati, sentenced to ten years in the peni- 

 tentiary for misappropriation of bank funds. 



15. National convention of Republican clubs in 

 New York city. 



20. Large lumber-raft abandoned at sea while tow- 

 ing from Nova Scotia to New York ; raft subsequently 

 broken up by the sea. 



21. Steamship Great Eastern sold, to be broken up. 

 Independence of Corea recognized by China. 



31. The Pope celebrated the 50th anniversary of his 

 ordination into the priesthood. 



FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 188T. This year was 

 one of peace and prosperity. Although at inter- 

 vals political affairs in Europe were in a state 

 of extreme tension, no serious results followed, 

 and the preparations which some of the Con- 

 tinental nations made during the year for of- 

 fensive or defensive operations may, unless 

 some accident should occur, prevent the collis- 

 ion which has so long been expected. In 

 France the change in the Presidency from M. 

 Grevy to M. Sadi-Carnot was attended with 

 even less friction than sometimes results from 

 a municipal election or a senatorial contest in 

 this country. In Germany the efforts of the 



nonagenarian Emperor and of his Prime Minis- 

 ter were devoted to the maintenance of peace- 

 ful relations with neighboring nations, while at 

 the same time the military and financial 

 strength of the Empire was materially aug- 

 mented. Russia was restless and apparently 

 continually on the alert for a pretext for war, 

 but at the same time she carefully avoided en- 

 tanglements with any of the great powers. 

 England enjoyed a season of political repose, 

 broken only by occasional disturbances among 

 some of her Irish subjects. 



The trade of European nations appears to 

 have been prosperous, and the financial con- 



