358 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



produced twelve operas of which only one was 

 an unequivocal success either with critics or peo- 

 ple was not a strong dramatic writer. 



As in religion Gounod was a mystic, so his re- 

 ligious music is characterized by gentle aspira- 

 tions rather than profundity and strength of 

 proclamation. The spirit of his religious songs 

 some of which, like "There is a green hill far 

 away," have enjoyed extraordinary vogue, espe- 

 cially in England and the United States is in- 

 distinguishable from the sentimentality of his 

 amorous lyrics. While listening to such music, 

 and even much in his masses and oratories, it is 

 easy to understand the feelings of the man who 

 wished to compose his mass to the memory of 

 Joan of Arc in the Cathedral at Rheims where 

 the maid had knelt at the feet of him whom she 

 had caused to be crowned king. When, after a 

 long series of operatic failures, he resolved to de- 

 vote the concluding years of his life to the compo- 

 sition of religious music, it seems likely that his 

 mind revelled to some of the lessons learned 

 from Mendelssohn in Leipsic forty years before. 

 It is obvious at a glance that Gounod rests the 

 structure of his " sacred trilogy, The Redemp- 

 tion," upon the passion music of Bach. All 

 the formal factors of the sturdy old German 

 Protestant's creation, except the recitativo secco, 

 are found again in the work of the modern 

 French Catholic, though modified in manner. 

 Despite the advantage given to Gounod by the 

 increased power of expression acquired by his 

 instrumental medium, the modern orchestra, 

 however, it is marvelous to note how vastly he 

 falls short of his model in dramatic power and 

 eloquence. But who shall stand when Bach ap- 

 peareth? Gounod inscribed the score of "The 

 Redemption " with the words Opus ritce mece 

 another evidence of his sentimental nature and 

 want of the faculty of self-criticism. His " Mors 

 et Vita " was written to order for the Birmingham 

 festival of 1885, its norm being a requiem 

 that he had composed before he wrote " The 

 Redemption." Its success was short-lived. 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, a 

 monarchy in western Europe. The reigning 

 sovereign is Queen Victoria, born May 24, 1819, 

 who ascended the throne, June 20, 1837, and who 

 was proclaimed also Empress of India, Jan. 1, 

 1877. The heir apparent to the crown is Albert 

 Edward, Prince of Wales, born Nov. 9, 1841. 

 His eldest son and presumptive successor is 

 George, Duke of York, born June 3, 1865, who 

 married on July 6, 1893, the Princess May of 

 Teck, his second cousin, born in 1868. The legis- 

 lative power of the British Empire is vested in a 

 Parliament consisting of the House of Lords and 

 the House of Commons. The upper house con- 

 sists of hereditary peers, peers created by the 

 sovereign, English bishops, who are peers by 

 virtue of their office, Irish peers elected for life, 

 and Scotch peers elected for the duration of 

 Parliament. The roll bore the names of 562 

 members in 1892. There are 20 Scotch and 64 

 Irish peers who are not peers of Parliament. 

 The House of Commons has 670 members elected 

 for the duration of each Parliament, of whom 

 253 represent English county constituencies, 237 

 represent English boroughs, and 5 represent 

 English universities; Scotland has 39 county, 31 

 borough, and 2 university representatives, while 



Ireland has 85 county, 16 borough, and 2 uni- 

 versity representatives. In 1892 the total num- 

 ber of registered electors in the United King- 

 dom was 6,161.456, of whom 4,810,237 were in 

 England and Wales, 606,403 in Scotland, and 

 744,816 in Ireland. The reform bill of 1884 

 added nearly 3,000,000 electors to the roll of the 

 United Kingdom, and now about one sixth of 

 the population are electors. 



The executive Government, nominally vested 

 in the Crown, is practically administered by a 

 Cabinet, which remains in office only so long as 

 its policy is sustained by a majority in the 

 House of Commons. The Prime Minister usually 

 is the leader of the lower house and holds the 

 office of First Lord of the Treasury. In the 

 event of an adverse vote upon a Government 

 measure the Cabinet either resigns or Parlia- 

 ment is dissolved and an appeal to the electors 

 is had. The Prime Minister has the dispensa- 

 tion of most of the Crown patronage. The 

 present Cabinet, which came into office Aug. 18, 

 1892, is constituted as follows: Prime Minister, 

 First Lord of the Treasury, and Lord Privy 

 Seal, William Ewart Gladstone, born in 1809; 

 Lord High Chancellor, Lord Herschell, formerly 

 Sir Farrar Herschell ; Lord President of the 

 Council and Secretary of State for India, the 

 Earl of Kimberley ; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 

 Sir W. V. Harcourt; Secretary of State for 

 Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Rosebery ; Secre- 

 tary of State for the Home Department, Herbert 

 H. Asquith ; Secretary of State for the Colonies, 

 the Marquis of Ripon : Secretary of State for 

 War, H. Campbell-Bannerman ; First Lord of 

 the Admiralty, Earl Spencer; Chief Secretary 

 to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Morley; 

 President of the Board of Trade, A. J. Mundel- 

 la ; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, James 

 Bryce; President of the Local Government 

 Board. Harry H. Fowler ; Secretary for Scot- 

 land, Sir G. O. Trevelyan ; Postmaster-General, 

 Arnold Morley; First Commissioner of Works, 

 G. J. Shaw-Lefevre ; Vice-President of the Coun- 

 cil of Education, A. H. Dyke Acland. 



Emigration. The number of emigrants from 

 the United Kingdom in 1892 was 321,397, 

 against 334,543 in 1891 and 315,980 in 1890. 

 Of the native emigrants in 1892, who numbered 

 210,042, against 218,507 in 1891 and 218.116 in 

 1890, there were 133,815 of English, 23,325 of 

 Scotch, and 52,902 of Irish origin. Of the native 

 emigrants in 1892, 150,039 went to the United 

 States, 23,254 to British North America, and 

 15,950 to Australasia. The emigration to Aus- 

 tralasia was the lightest in any year since 1872. 

 The number of alien emigrants in 1892 was 93,- 

 801. The total number of immigrants was 143,- 

 747, against 151,396 in 1891 and 115,910 in 1890. 

 The net emigration was 177,650. compared with 

 183.174 in 1891 and 160,070 in 1890. 



The Army. The strength of the regular 

 army, exclusive of the forces in India, as pro- 

 vided for by the estimates for the year ending 

 March 31, 1893, was 7,498 commissioned officers, 

 1,004 warrant officers, 15,971 sergeants. 3,684 

 musicians, and 125,916 rank and file, making a 

 total of 154,073 of all ranks, an increase of 377 

 over the previous year. The total number of 

 horses was 14.568. The effective force, exclusive 

 of staff and auxiliary forces, maintained in the 



