Page:The Annals of Our Time - Volume 1.djvu/24

JULY Chapel of St. George, Windsor, Chief mourner, the Duke of Sussex. The Dowager-Queen Adelaide was present in the royal closet.

13.—Her Majesty and the Duchess of Kent leave Kensington, and take up their residence in Buckingham Palace.

14.—The Peers refuse permission to the Duke of Sussex to present a Quaker petition against capital punishment, on the plea that their lordships were described as "Peers of the United Kingdom," instead of "Lords Spiritual and Temporal."

— The fourth centenary of the invention of printing celebrated by a festival at Mayence, extending over three days. Thorwaldsen's statue of Guttenberg was unveiled with great ceremony on the occasion. A banquet at Edinburgh, in honour of the event, was presided over by the poet Camphell,

15.—The forces of the Queen of Spain encounter the Carlists near Valencia, and gain an important victory. Don Carlos, who had ventured incautiously near the city walls, retired to the village of Brunol, and latterly to the mouitains.

14.—Parliament prorogued by the Queen in person. The Royal Speech for the occasion was prepared with unusual care, and delivered in a style which disarmed criticism. "It will be my care," her Majesty said, "to strengthen our institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement wherever improvement is required, and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and discord." The Queen read the Speech deliberately, with a small but sweet voice heard over all the House. Her demeanour was described at the time as being characterised by a natural grace and modest self-possession. This being the first visit of the Queen to Parliament, an unusual amount of enthusiasm was shown. Every spot from which a view of the pageant could be obtained was densely crowded, and deafening cheers greeted the youthful sovereign at every step. Her Majesty was dressed in a white satin robe, decorated with jewels and gold, the Garter on her arm, and a mantle of crimson velvet over her shoulders. In the Gazette of the same evening appeared a proclamation dissolving this Parliament (the third of William IV.). Writs for the election of members to serve in the new House were despatched the same evening. They were made returnable on the 11th September.

18.—A letter designed, it was said, to influence the Irish elections, sent by Lord John Russell to the Earl of Mulgrave, expressing "her Majesty's entire approbation of your past conduct, and her desire that you should continue to be guided by the same principles on which you have hitherto acted. The Queen willingly recognises in her Irish subjects a spirit of loyalty and devotion towards her person and government. Her Majesty is desirous to see them in the full enjoyment of that civil and political equality to which, by recent statute, they are fully entitled; and her Majesty is persuaded that when invidious distinctions are altogether obliterated, her throne will be still more secure and her people more truly united."

18.—The Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry urge their Durham tenantry to vote for the Conservative candidate (H. T. Liddell) at the ensuing election. "We assure all those who answer to the solemn appeal that we make to them—who step forward with heart and soul in the Conservative cause to rescue the country from Radical domination—that the sense of the obligation to us personally will be for ever registered in our memories; and that the gratitude of ourselves and our family, to those who live around us and upon our property, will be in proportion to this important demand we make upon them to prove their fidelity and their attachment to our sentiments and confidence in our opinions. We send these our recommendations to our esteemed friend, the 11onourable Henry Liddell, to make every use of he shall think fit; and we have begged him especially to report to us those who answer zealously our call, and those who are unmindful and indifferent to our earnest wishes. (Signed) {{sc|Vane Londonderry; Frances Ann Vane Londoderry."

{{Anchor|1837-07-24}}24.—An extraordinary and fatal parachute descent was made by Robert Cocking, painter, from Mr. Green's balloon, which rose in Vauxhall Gardens about 8 o'clock. Over Kennington Common Mr. Green said the balloon was stationary for a time, and Cocking, then swinging in his basket below, wished to know their altitude. "About 1,000 feet," Mr. Green replied. "Very well; let me know when we arrive at about 1,500 feet, and at every additional 500 feet, until we arrive at 5,000 feet, for that is the altitude at which I wish to descend." This was done, and the parachute scvered, when the balloon shot up with the velocity of a rocket. The parachute, unable to resist the pressure of the atmosphere, collapsed round the poor inventor, and came thundering to the earth. The fall was seen by several people in the neighbourhood of Norwood. The unfortunate man died almost instantly from the injuries he received on reaching the ground. Mr. Green and a companion made a descent at Maidstone about 9 o'clock.

{{Anchor|1837-07-25}}25.—First experiment with the electric telegraph between Euston Square and Camden Town stations, the North-Western Company having sanctioned the laying down of wires between those places immediately upon the taking out of the patent by Messrs. Wheatstone and Cook. Besides these two operators, Mr. Fox and Mr. R. Stephenson were present to witness the infant triumphs of this wonderful invention.

{{Anchor|1837-07-27}}27.—At an election dinner at Stroud, Lord John Russell thus referred to the term "Conservative," which the Tories were now using in {{rh|(4)||}}