Page:The Annals of Our Time - Volume 1.djvu/1004

FEBRUARY the English Church, in its being unfenced about by declarations required in some sects, thanking God from the bottom of his heart that the English Church was thus free, that he had had the opportunity of showing this before the face of the world, and that he was able thus to follow Bishop Wilson's well-known acts.

17.—M. Thiers appointed Head of the Executive Power, and M. Grévy President of the Bordeaux National Assembly. A declaration laid on the table from the Deputies of the Lower and Upper Rhine, Meurthe, and Moselle affirmed that "Peace in consideration of a cession of territory will never be a durable peace, but merely a momentary truce, which would soon be followed by another war. As to ourselves, inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine, we are ready to resume fighting, and therefore we shall beforehand hold as null and void any offers, treaty, votes, or plébiscite which would have for effect to sever Alsace and Lorraine from France. We proclaim our right to remain united to French soil, and we formally engage to defend our honour." The discussion on the declaration was voted urgent, and the Committee to whom it was committed promised that it would be passed to the Deputies entrusted to negotiate with Prussia.

— Mr. Cardwell introduces the army estimates, the amount proposed to be voted being 15,851,700l. or 2,886,700l. in excess of the preceding year. He took occasion to describe in detail the various features of army reform which the Government had resolved on introducing. "We propose (he said) to increase the Militia, to organize the Volunteers, to provide for compulsory service in cases of emergency, to abolish purchase, to withdraw from lord-lieutenants the power they have now in regard to the auxiliary forces (retaining their recommendation for first commissions), to combine the whole under general officers, to appoint colonels on the staff in sufficient numbers to this army, to combine recruiting for the Line with that of the command of Reserves, to fuse together as we can the Regular and Reserve forces by appointing officers of the Regular army to positions in the Reserve, and by giving subalterns of Militia commissions in the Line. We propose to brigade them together, to find field artillery for all armies, to enable counties to get rid of the inconvenience of billets, to gain command of the railway communication of the country in case of emergency—in short, we propose to unite all the voluntary forces of the country into one defensive army, with power to supplement by compulsion in cases of emergency—all to be under the command of the general officers commanding in districts, subordinate to one Commander-in-Chief, who will act with the approval of the Secretary of State; and, therefore, the whole will be under the direction and supreme control of her Majesty's responsible Ministers."

18.—Rowell, the railway stoker concerned in the fatal collision at Citadel Station, Carlisle, in July last, tried at the Cumberland Assizes, and acquitted, on the charge of manslaughter. (See July 11.)

18.—Close of the Bavarian Diet, Prince Adalbert in the name of the King expressing a determination to remain loyally attached to the whole Fatherland.

— The Danube, owing to an accumulation of ice, overflows its banks at Vienna and causes about 3,000 people to quit their dwellings.

19.—In the National Assembly to-day M. Thiers read a speech, in which he stated that, though appalled at the painful task imposed upon him by the country, he accepted it with obedience, devotion, and love—sentiments of which France stood all the more in need, inasmuch as she was unfortunate—more unfortunate than at any former period of her history. But, he added, she is still great, young, rich, and full of resources, and will always remain a lasting monument of human energy. M. Thiers then announced that in selecting the following members of the Ministry he had been guided surely by the public esteem they enjoyed and their public character and capacities:—M. Dufaure—Minister of Justice; M. Jules Favre—Minister of Foreign Affairs; M. Picard—Minister of the Interior; M. Jules Simon—Minister of Public Instruction; M. Lambrecht—Minister of Commerce; General Le Flô— Minister of War; Admiral Pothuan—Minister of Marine. M. Jules Favre said the Government has deemed it necessary to unite Parliamentary powers with those of the Executive, and proposes in consequence that, in order to facilitate the negotiations, the Assembly should appoint a committee of fifteen deputies to proceed at once to Paris, who will be in constant communication with the negotiators; the latter empowered to negotiate in the name of the country, and the commission to report to the Assembly. A deputation proceeded to Versailles to-night to ascertain the German terms of peace.

— Attempt to assassinate Señor Riaz Zorrilla, ex-President of the Cortes, while walking near Calle San Roque, Madrid.

20.—In committee to-night on the University Tests Bill, Mr. Fawcett's motion to abolish the restrictions in favour of clerical headships and fellowships was rejected by 182 to 160 votes. The majority included several members of the Opposition, while the minority were mostly pledged supporters of Government. In the course of a debate on Mr. Stephenson's amendment to remove from Clause 3 the exception in favour of Divinity Degrees, Mr. Gladstone explained that he was under promise to send up to the House of Lords a bill similar to last year's; so far as Mr. Fawcett's wish that the Government would ponder was concerned, all he could say was that Government had seriously pondered the matter, and their decision was irrevocable; but it was open for Mr. Fawcett to take any course he liked. If the House disapproved of the measure, some private member must take it up. (984)