PUBLIC GENERAL ACTS.

1. An Act to make temporary provision for the conduct of the business of the Office of Land Registry.

2. To declare the meaning of Section Eleven of the Freshwater Fisheries Act, 1878, so far as regards Eels.

3. To remove doubts as to the Validity of certain Marriages.

4. To apply certain sums out of the Consolidated Fund to the service of the years ending 31st March, 1885 and 1886.

5. For extending, with amendments, to grounds for drill and other military purposes, the enactments relating to the Acquisition and Regulation of Rifle Ranges.

6. To continue the Glebe Loans (Ireland) Acts. 7. To apply the sum of £12,713,318 out of the Consolidated Fund to the service of the year ending 31st March, 1887.

8. To provide, during twelve months, for the Discipline and Regulation of the Army.

9. To amend the Prisons Act of 1877, so far as regards the Superannuation of Prison Officers. 10. To repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1866 to 1869.

11. To provide for the Payment of Compensation for Damage done during a certain Riot in the Metropolitan District.

12. To amend the Bankruptcy (Office Accommodation) Act, 1885.

13. To provide for the transfer to the Dominion of Canada of the Lighthouse at Cape Race, Newfoundland, and its appurtenances, and for other purposes connected therewith. 14. For extending the hours within which Mar. riages may be lawfully solemnized.

15. To amend the Law as to the Rating of Lands occupied for Sporting purposes in Scotland.

16. To amend the Law in regard to the Vacating of Seats in the House of Commons. 17. To make temporary provision for the better Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland. 13. To grant certain Duties of Customs and Inland Revenue, and to amend the laws relating to Inland Revenue.

19. To suspend for a period certain payments under the National Debt Act, 1881; and to

reduce for a like period the Permanent Annual Charge of the National Debt.

20. To amend the Law in respect to the Discovery and Interment of Persons drowned.

21. To amend the Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act, 1855.

22. To amend the Enactments relating to Offices, Stations, and Buildings for the Metropolitan Police Force.

23. To amend the Companies Acts of 1862, 1867, 1870, 1877, 1879, 1880, and 1883.

1881.

31. To remove doubts respecting the sitting and acting of the Chancellor and other officers of the University of Oxford as Justices of the Peace.

32. To amend the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878.

33. To amend the Law respecting International and Colonial Copyright.

34. To extend the time for the Repayment of Loans granted by the Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the Poor Clergy to Incumbents of Benefices.

35. For the Representation in the Parliament of Canada of Territories which for the time being form part of the Dominion, but are not included in any Province.

36. To provide for the determination of the Acts respecting the Sale and Transfer of incumbered Estates in the West Indies.

37. To remove certain doubts respecting the construction of the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act, 1883, so far as respects the drawings by which specifications are required to be accompanied, and as respects exhibitions. 38. To provide Compensation for Losses by Riots. 39. To amend the Law relating to Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries.

40. To amend the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1872.

41. To alter certain duties of Customs and to amend the laws relating to the Customs, and for other purposes.

42. For amending the Law as to the appointment of Revising Barristers in England.

43. To amend the Law relating to the appointment of Revising Barristers and the attendance of County Officers at Revision Courts in Ireland.

44. Further to amend the Acts relating to the raising of Money by the Metropolitan Board of Works; and for other purposes.

DECEMBER, 1885.

2. Fight between Boers and Massouw's Natives. Boers are said to have shot all who attempted to escape, without regard to age or sex. 3. Violent earthquake shocks in Algeria. In the village of Msila 32 killed and 14 wounded. The residence of the French Administrator fell in, burying several Europeans in the ruins.

7. Opening of the 88th annual show of the Smithfield Cattle Club at the Agricultural Hall. --. The new Turkish minister, Rustem Pasha, introduced to the Queen at Windsor.

8. Treasure sunk in the Spanish mail steamer Alphonso XII., off Grand Canary, and amounting to £100,000, nearly all recovered.

--. The session of the United States Congress opened.

9. A new water reservoir, said to contain 45,000,000 gallons, for the supply of Tunbridge Wells, formally opened at Pembury.

10. Mr. Charles Pulman, Clerk of the Works at British Museum, fined for feeding the pigeons with seeds steeped in spirits of wine. No legal offence having been committed, fine was made nominal.

11. Funeral of Wm. Henry Vanderbilt at New York.

12. Grand funeral service at Madrid for late King Alfonso; thirty-four Bishops were present at the altar.

James Lambourne, formerly a private in the 14th Regiment of Foot, and one of the few survivors of the Battle of Waterloo, was buried at Nunhead.

13. Twelve persons burnt to death in Looe Street, Plymouth.

14. In consequence of the new regulations respecting care of dogs, 7,000 dogs had been taken into custody up to this date.

Gold in considerable quantities has been found in Saramaca.

Requiem mass for the soul of the late King of Spain celebrated before the Pope in the Sistine Chapel.

- King Theebaw arrived in Madras. 15. The Crown recovered in the Court of Queen's Bench £1,986 penalties for smuggling against a Leeds tobacconist. The tobacco was brought to Hull in coffins and hollow balks of timber.

17. One of the piers of the Pont Neuf, over the Seine at Paris, sunk as if into mud, and the other piers fell out of plumb, breaking the gas mains, &c. The foundation was laid by Henri III. in 1578.

-. Bank rate raised from 3 to 4 per cent.

18. Last day of polling in the General Election. 19. Annual football match played at Bradford between North and South, when the latter won by two goals and three tries to one try.

21. The goth birthday of the historian, Leopold von Ranke, celebrated in Berlin.

An armistice till March 1st, 1886, signed between Servia and Bulgaria.

- Funeral of King Ferdinand of Portugal at Lisbon.

22. Suicide from Clifton Suspension Bridge, making the 19th since the opening of the bridge.

A treaty of peace between the Hova representatives and the French agents announced in the French Chambers.

-. Annual dinner at Freemasons' Tavern of subscribers to Commercial Travellers' Schools

Sub

for Orphan and Necessitous Children. scriptions of over £4,000 were announced. basin at Kirkwall Harbour. 24. A shark, over 6 feet long, caught in the

Highbury Fields, 27 acres in extent, thrown open as a public recreation ground. The land was purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works and Islington Vestry for £60,000.

25. A decree promulgated in St. Petersburg establishing a political agency in Bokhara.

28. M. Grévy re-elected President of the French Republic for seven years by 457 votes out of 589. 30. Queen Christina of Spain took the oath before Congress to be faithful to the heir to the crown during "his or her" minority.

General Stephenson inflicted a severe defeat on the Soudan Arabs encamped at Giniss, near Kosheh.

31. Rupture of diplomatic relations between Italy and the United States of Columbia. Consols, highest price, 100%; lowest, 99.

JANUARY, 1886.

1. The annexation of Upper Burmah to the British Empire formally proclaimed.

Reported capture and murder of Bishop Hannington in Central Africa, on October 31, 1885.

4. A company formed at Amsterdam for draining the Zuyder Zee.

5. Severe shock of earthquake in the valley of the Dart, in Devonshire.

7. Mr. J. C. Humphreys was fined £150 for non-compliance with the Board of Trade regulations at the Japanese Village, Knightsbridge. 9. First mineral train passed through the Severn Tunnel.

10. Col. Gordon carried a Dacoit entrenched position near Sagaing, at point of bayonet. 11. Suspension of the Jersey Banking Com

14. At a meeting of the Submarine Continental Railway Co. it was resolved to proceed with a bill for maintenance and continuance of the tunnel under the Straits of Dover.

17. The Emperor of Russia performed the ceremony of blessing the waters of the Neva. 18. Burmese defeated with heavy loss: six guns taken.

20. The tunnel under the Mersey, from Liverpool to Birkenhead, opened by the Prince of Wales.

- Lock-out of cigar manufacturers in New York: 9,000 men thrown out of employ. -The Queen opened Parliament in person. 21. Bank rate lowered from 4 to 3 per cent. 25. Mr. R. 8. Ball, Astronomer Royal for Ireland, knighted by Lord Carnarvon at Dublin Castle.

26. Duke of Seville sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment and forfeiture of rank as Colonel for disrespectful language to the Queen Regent of Spain.

27. Messrs. Richard and Walter Belt were committed for trial on a charge of defrauding Sir W. Abdy of £4,500.

30. Five persons killed by the fall of some houses at Holloway.

A young man killed at Keighley while playing in a football match.

- Bank of Ireland Stock fell £7.

31. Sixteen men drowned by the foundering of the steamer Fulmer off Kilkee Bay.

- Ironclads Téméraire, Superb, Neptune, and despatch vessel Iris left Malta for Suda Bay, Crete.

Consols, highest price, 100%; lowest, 99%.

FEBRUARY.

1. Mutiny in the Mersey on board the Roman Catholic reformatory ship Clarence.

2. Kennel Club exhibition of dogs opened at Crystal Palace: 1,700 dogs exhibited.

Miss Mary Gladstone, daughter of the Premier, married to Rev. H. Drew, curate of Hawarden.

- In St. Paul's Cathedral the Rev. Lord Alywne Compton consecrated Bishop of Ely, and the Rev. B. Bickersteth, Bishop of Japan.

3. Lord Dufferin left Calcutta for Burmah. 4. New Mission Hall opened at Mile End, arranged to contain 4,300 persons.

- The French Chamber resolve to comply with a petition to sell the Crown jewels to provide a superannuation fund for aged workmen.

5. While excavating at the Acropolis, 3 colossal statues of women, completely coloured, belong. ing to the period before Phidias, were discovered.

6. 18th annual dinner of the French Hospital and Dispensary; M. Waddington presided: collection amounted to £2,400.

8. Danish Parliament closed by the King owing to conflict between the Folkething and Government.

--. Serious rioting in London; the mob doing much damage to houses and property on their way from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park, and

afterwards to Oxford Street.

- News received in Lerwick that the Columbize smack, which, with a sick woman on board, had been missing for eight days, had been picked up all safe off Norway.

10. Serious accident on Great Northern Railway at Finsbury Park Station, injuring 30 people.

11. Rioting in Leicester; the mob attacking the hosiery factories.

12. A decree nisi granted in the Crawford divorce case.

13. Russians made formal entry into Penjdeh. 15. Four men sentenced at Middlesex Sessions to various terms of imprisonment for rioting in London on the 8th inst.

16. Prize fight in the Forest of St. Germain between two English pugilists.

- The Archbishop of Canterbury formally opened the new House of Laymen.

17. The members of Mr. Gladstone's third administration kissed hands on their appoint

ment.

18. Bank rate reduced from 3 to 2 per cent. - A fund raised at the Mansion House for the relief of the unemployed reached £48,000.

331

20. The Duke of Edinburgh left for Portsmouth to take command-in-chief of the Mediterranean Squadron.

The new Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Aberdeen, and his Countess, make their state entry into Dublin.

22. An attachment applied for against "Punch," for contempt in publishing cartoon 'Sneaking Sedition," refused on the ground of no jurisdiction.

Sir E. Henderson tendered his resignation as Chief Commissioner of Police.

23. The Queen decorated officers and men of the Soudan campaign.

24. The Commercial Bank of South Australia suspended payment.

25. A great snowstorm in the north of Scotland caused a serious interruption to road and railway traffic.

Two men drowned when attempting to cross the ice on the Serpentine in Hyde Park.

Equestrian entertainment by Hengler, attended by the Queen; first time since the death of the Prince Consort.

27. The Malagasy-French Treaty ratified in the French Chamber by a large majority.

First stone of a chapel at Caunes, in memory of the Duke of Albany laid by Prince of Wales.

Consols, highest price, 1012; lowest, 100s.

MARCH.

1. Heavy snowstorm with high wind throughout the kingdom.

2. The Lord Chancellor unveiled a statue of the late Mr. G. E. Street in the Central Hall of the Royal Courts of Justice.

3. Treaty of peace between Servia and Bulgaria signed at Bucharest.

Capt. Childe's Standard won the United Kingdom Steeplechase.

5. Some men connected with the riots in the West End on Feb. 8th sentenced to terms of imprisonment, varying from five years' penal servitude to three months' hard labour.

5-6. Heavy falls of snow in the northern counties and Wales.

7. Marriage of the Infanta Eulalie of Spain, with Prince Antonio of Orleans.

Three men drowned by the foundering of a fishing-boat near Flamborough Head. 8. Seven persons killed by the bursting of a boiler in Cardiff Docks.

10. The fort of Gwalior restored to the Maharaja Scindia.

Preliminary meeting of foreign ambassadors at Constantinople on the Bulgarian question.

- Terrible railway collision at Monte Carlo and Mentone Railway: several carriages fell into the sea; many persons killed and wounded.

11. Great fire at the Custom House, Buenos Ayres; loss of merchandize estimated at from £600,000 to £1,000,000.

13. From this day soldiers of all arms and all regiments allowed to wear their beards.

14. The Cunard steamer Oregon lost by collision with a schooner; crew and passengers saved by the German steamer Fulda,

15. Scotland and the northern portions of England and Wales again visited by heavy snowstorms.

Richard Belt, sculptor, sentenced to 12 months' hard labour for obtaining money under false pretences from Sir W. N. Abdy.