CHRONICLE

OF THE

STATESMAN'S YEAR-BOOK

FOR THE YEAR

1874

January.

1. Arrival of a British expeditionary force, under Sir Garnet Wolseley, at Cape Coast Castle, West Coast of Africa, to march upon the Ashantees.

2. Opening of the Cortes Constituyentes of Spain.

2. Opening of the Cortes of Portugal by King Luis I.

3. Resignation of Don Emilio Castelar, head of the Spanish Government, after a declaration of want of confidence by the Cortes, expressed by 120 against 100 votes, followed by a dissolution of the Cortes by armed force.

4. Installation of a new Government in Spain under the presidency of Marshal Serrano.

5. Letter of King Christian IX. to the Folkething of Denmark declining a proposed change of Ministry.

6. Proclamation of Marshal Serrano, head of the executive of Spain, dissolving the Cortes Constituyentes, with promise that new elections shall take place on the restoration of public order.'

8. Proposal to adjourn the discussion of the Municipal Law presented by the Government adopted by the French National Assembly, by 268 against 226 votes.

9. Resignation of the French Ministry.

11. Entry into Cartagena, held by the

Intransigentes,' of the troops of

the Spanish Government, after a siege of six months.

12. Withdrawal of the resignation of the French Government, the National Assembly having expressed its confidence in the conduct of public affairs by 379 against 321 votes.

12. Repeal of the law for increasing the salaries of Members of Congress by a vote of the Senate of the United States.

January.

13. General election for the Reichstag of Germany throughout the Empire, resulting in the return of 225 Liberals,' adherents of the Government, and 172 members of the opposition.

14. Arrival of the Spanish ironclad Numancia,' at Oran, Algeria, with the leaders of the Intransigentes' from Cartagena.

16. Protest of the Papal Nuncio against the decree of the Swiss Government expelling him from the Confederation.

17. Despatch of the Government of British India on the famine in Bengal : Fifteen districts, containing 25,000,000 people, are distressed, and eleven more districts, containing 14,000,000, are partially affected.' 19. Bill for the nomination of Mayors by the Government adopted by the French National Assembly, by 362 against 324 votes.

19. Opening of the Diet of Sweden by King Oscar II.

20. Manifesto of Alexander II., Emperor of Russia, explaining to his subjects the import of the new law of general liability to military service: We do not intend to deviate from the path of peace which has been pursued during the whole period of our government. We do not aim at military renown, but consider that the best lot that God could ordain for us is to lead Russia to glory in the paths of peace.'

21. Bill for the abolition of the Concordate with the Pontiff laid before the Reichstag of Austria by the Government.

22. Capture of Portugalete, Spain, by the Carlist insurgents.

23. Marriage of Prince Alfred of Great Britain, Duke of Edinburgh, to Grand Duchess Marie, only daughter of Emperor Alexander II. of Russia, at St. Petersburg.

23. Bill for the establishment of civil marriage adopted by the Chamber of Deputies of Prussia, by 284 against 95 votes.

24. Dissolution of the 20th Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

24. Reply of the Federal Council of Switzerland to the Protest of the Papal Nuncio (January 16), informing him that the law must be respected, and that he must at once quit the territory of the Confederation.

25. Capture of the Kraton, Acheen, Sumatra, by the troops of the Government of the Netherlands.

26. Changes in the Government of Turkey.

27. Arrival of the news of the death of Dr. Livingstone in England:

The great traveller and missionary died May 4, 1873, at Ilala, on the road to Unyanyembe. He added over a million square miles to our geographical knowledge, and opened the dark centre of Africa to the light of knowledge and civilisation.'

28. Declaration of the Folkething of Denmark, passed by 57 against 31 votes, condemning the publication of the letter of King Christian IX. (January 5) as unconstitutional.

29. Defeat of a force of Carlist insurgents, before Bilbao, by the troops of

the Spanish Government.

January.

30. Bill for a revisal of the Constitution, to be laid before the people for ratification, passed by the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, by 103 against 20 votes.

31. Commencement of elections for the British House of Commons, resulting in the return of 350 Conservatives, 242 Liberals, and 60' Homerulers.'

31. Battle of Amoaful, Western Africa, ending in a victory of the British forces over the Ashantees.

February.

1. Destruction of Becqua, near Amoaful, by the British forces.

2. Signature of a treaty between the Ameer of Kashgar and the Indian Government providing for unrestricted trade, the transit of goods at a moderate tariff, and the appointment of representatives, at Yarkund.

3. Arrest of Archbishop Ledochowski of Posen, for infringement of the ecclesiastical laws of Prussia.

3. Death of Lunalilo, hereditary chieftain of the Sandwich Islands, at Hawaii.

4. Bill providing for a system of elementary and compulsory education in the Kingdom of Italy, presented by the Government, rejected by the Chamber of Deputies, by 107 against 104 votes.

5. Opening of the Reichstag of Germany by the Chancellor of the Empire. The concluding words of the speech from the throne are: The foreign relations of the Empire strengthen our conviction that all foreign Governments, like our own, are resolved to use their endeavours to preserve the benefits of peace, and will not be diverted from this object or allow their mutual confidence to be affected by any party efforts to disturb peace. The repeated interviews of powerful, peaceloving, and personally intimate monarchs, and the cordial relations of Germany with peoples whose friendship with her is based upon historical traditions, render the Emperor firmly confident of the continuance of peace being assured.'

5. Resignation of the Minister of Public Instruction of the Kingdom of Italy. 5. Occupation of Coomassie, capital of the Ashantees, by the British expeditionary forces under Sir Garnet Wolseley.

6. Bill for the creation of new Treasury bonds rejected by the French National Assembly, by 434 against 249 votes.

6. Burning of Coomassie, capital of the Ashantees, and return of the British expeditionary force to the coast.

7. Supplementary election to the National Assembly in two departments of France, resulting in the return of one Imperialist and one Republican.

8. Defeat of Carlist forces at La Guardia by troops of the Spanish government under General Primo di Rivera.

10. Opening of the Storthing of Norway by King Oscar II.

11. Bombardment of Berga, Spain, by the Carlist insurgents.

12. Election of Prince Kalakua as chieftain of the Sandwich Islands.

February.

13. Arrival of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria at St. Petersburgh on a visit to Emperor Alexander II.

13. Treaty of peace between Sir Garnet Wolseley and Koffee Kalcali, chieftain of the Ashantees, signed at Fommanah.

14. Bombardment of Bilbao, Spain, by the Carlist insurgents.

15. Appointment of a new Grand Vizier and other changes in the government of Turkey.

16. Discussion of a bill for increasing the armed forces of Germany in the Reichstag, and speech of Field Marshal Von Moltke, who says: 'What we have acquired in the space of six months, we shall have to protect by force of arms for half a century. France is imitating all the German army arrangements. How, then, can we give up what our opponents are adopting? Germany is opposed to any kind of offensive action; but it is her duty to act on the defensive.'

17. Resignation of the ministry of Mr. Gladstone, accepted by Queen Victoria.

18. Letter of Emperor Wilhelm I. of Germany to Earl Russell, expressing gratitude to the Protestants of England for religious sympathy. The Emperor writes: It is incumbent on me to be the leader of my people in a struggle maintained through centuries past by German Emperors of earlier days, against a power the domination of which has in no country of the world been found compatible with the freedom and welfare of nations-a power which, if victorious in our days, would imperil, but not in Germany alone, the blessings of the Reformation, liberty of conscience, and the authority of the law?' 19. Resignation of the ministry of Greece.

19. Return of the British expeditionary force under Sir Garnet Wolseley to Cape Coast Castle.

20. Surrender of the town of Vimaroz, Valencia, Spain, to the Carlist insurgents.

20. Bill increasing the National Bank circulation to 400 millions of dollars passed by the Senate of the United States, by 28 against 25 votes. 21. Bill for the establishment of civil marriage adopted by the House of Lords of Prussia, by 199 against 63 votes.

21. Formal retirement of the ministry of Mr. Gladstone and installation of the ministry of Mr. Disraeli as the government of Great Britain and Ireland.

22.

Arrest of the Bishop of Pernambuco, Brazil, condemned to four years imprisonment for infringement of the ecclesiastical laws.

23. Formation of a new ministry in Greece.

24. Resumption of the bombardment of Bilbao, Spain, by the Carlist insurgents.

26. Outbreak of an insurrection at Nagasaki, Japan.

27. Resignation of the ministry of Hungary.

28. Appointment of a new Spanish ministry, Marshal Serrano taking the title of President of the Executive Power of the Republic.