GEEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



367 



consistent with British interests as to disturb 

 the friendly relations of Great Britain with 

 Russia. On the llth, Mr. Fawcett asked a 

 pledge from the Government, that, if during 

 the ensuing recess they felt it necessary to 

 depart from their attitude of neutrality, they 

 would call Parliament together before taking 

 any decisive step. The Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer replied that the Government were 

 fully aware of their constitutional obligations, 

 and determined to act up to them. On August 

 14th, Parliament was prorogued till Tuesday, 

 October 30th. On that day it was still further 

 prorogued till December 19th, and on the lat- 

 ter day again till January 17, 1878. Numerous 

 speeches were made by the members of the 

 cabinet and the Liberal leaders during the re- 

 cess. At the Lord Mayor's banquet, on No- 

 vember 9th, Lord Beaconsfield, in referring to 

 the Eastern war, eulogized the bravery of the 

 Turks, and, without expressing a hope of an 

 early peace, said he did not despair of it. "With 

 the pledge of the Czar, that he did not aim at 

 aggrandizement, and the promise of the Sultan, 

 that reforms should be carried out in his terri- 

 tories, there ought, the Premier thought, to be 

 grounds for a settlement. 



The Turkish reverses in the latter part of 

 the year created great excitement in England. 

 After the fall of Kara, the Conservative jour- 

 nals declared that the time had come when the 

 Government must change its policy of a condi- 

 tional neutrality into one of armed neutrality. 

 On November 28th a deputation from three 

 Turkophile societies called upon Earl Derby 

 and presented a memorial to him, urging the 

 Government to depart, if they could, from 

 their policy of inaction, and by some means 

 or other bring about a desirable peace. Earl 

 Derby, in reply, took exception to some of the 

 views expressed, but said that England could 

 not see with indifference the transfer of Con- 

 stantinople to a foreign Power, and the Gov- 

 ernment would certainly avail itself of any 

 opportunity of promoting peace. 



On February 9th, Mr. Cross introduced the 

 so-called Prisons bill, similar to that of last 

 year. The Government in this bill proposed, 

 instead of continuing its practice of con- 

 tributing to the local rates, to take into its 

 hands the whole cost, control, and management 

 of prisoners from the date of their commit- 

 ment. By this means, Mr. Cross believed it 

 would be possible to redistribute the prisons 

 in accordance with the wants of the popula- 

 tion, to equalize the discipline, and to establish 

 a uniform system of management. On June 

 14th, three new clauses, moved by Mr. Parnell, 

 were agreed to : providing that the test of 

 malingering should only be applied with the 

 authority of the Visiting Committee ; that no 

 prisoner should be confined by a jailer for 

 more than 24 hours ; and that no person en- 

 gaged in any trade with the prison should act 

 as juror on an inquest held on the body of a 

 prisoner. The bill was finally passed, on its 



third reading, on June 19th in the Commons, 

 and on July 10th in the Lords. 



On July 16th, the Government suffered a 

 defeat, in the rejection, by the House of Com- 

 mons, of Mr. Piggott, who had been appointed 

 Controller of the Stationary Office by Earl 

 Beaconsfield. It was claimed that, although 

 he was an able man, still he did not possess 

 those abilities needed for the office ; Mr. 

 Holmes consequently moved a resolution cen- 

 suring the appointment, which, he contended, 

 was an injustice to the other officers of the 

 department, and an affront to the Parliamen- 

 tary Committee, whose recommendations had 

 been ignored. The motion was seconded by 

 Mr. Mellor, a Conservative member ; and, after 

 a debate, the motion was carried by a majority 

 of four. This resolution was, however, re- 

 scinded shortly after by a unanimous vote, 

 upon an explanation made by Earl Beacons- 

 field. 



ALBERT MEMORIAL MONUMENT, LONDON 



Among other bills of the session which were 

 passed were the University act, enabling the 

 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge to ex- 

 tend more generally the benefit of the higher 

 education ; for reorganizing the Superior 

 Courts of Justice in Ireland ; and for reform- 

 ing and conferring an extensive equitable juris- 

 diction on the county courts. The number 

 of private bills introduced into the House of 

 Commons during the session of 1877 was 272, 

 including 108 railway bills, 19 water bills, 32 

 gas bills, 16 dock, navigation, pier, and harbor 



