COLONIAL. (a) Lord Melbourne's Ministry.-Melbourne, First Lord of the Treasury, Great Seal in Commission (till 1836, then Pepys, Lord Cottenham); Lord Duncannon, Lord Privy Seal; Spring Rice, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord J. Russell, Home Secretary; Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary; Lord Glenelg (formerly Charles Grant), War and Colonial; Lord Howick, Secretary at War; Mulgrave (afterwards Marquis of Normanby), Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; Lord Morpeth, Chief Secretary for Ireland. PRIME MINISTERS. SIR R. PEEL. 1835. LORD MELBOURNE. 1836. 1837. Sir R. Peel, assisted by Lord J. Russell, resists success- April 8. Sir R. Peel resigns. Nonconformists are allowed to celebrate their marriages June. The Irish Municipal Bill having been carried in the Commons by 61, is altered by the Lords and ultimately rejected by the Commons. The Bill for Tithe Commutation in England is passed (c). The Division Lists of the House of Commons now begin to The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are incorporated in March. Grote's motion for the ballot is thrown out by 265 to 153. April. Resolutions are passed about the disturbed state of Canada. The Government Church-Rates Abolition Bill being carried by 5 only in the Commons (287 to 282), is abandoned by the ministers. May. The Irish Tithe Bill (introduced for the fifth The Irish Municipal Bill is again defeated in the Lords. [The Duke of Cumberland becomes King of Hanover.] COLONIAL. (a) "From the Restoration to the death of George IV. no less than 187 capital offences were added to the criminal code. Year after year until his untimely death Sir Samuel Romilly struggled to overcome the obduracy of men in power. The Commons were on his side, but the Lords, under the guidance of their judicial leaders, were not to be convinced. It was computed that from 1810 to 1845 upwards of 1400 persons had suffered death for crimes which had since ceased to be capital" (May, iii.). (b) The position of ministers had really been strengthened by the results of the commission. It was shown that the State Church included little more than onetenth of the people, that in 150 parishes there was not one Protestant, and in 860 parishes less than 50. The Lords had taken their stand upon a principle, and were not to be shaken. The settlement of tithes could no longer be deferred, and any concession from the Lords was hopeless. But the retirement of the Whigs from a position which they had chosen as their own battlefield was a grievous shock to their influence and reputation. 1838. Dost Mahommed receives a Russian mission at Cabul. Declaration of war against the Afghans. PRIME MINISTERS. LORD MELBOURNE. 1837. 1838. 1839. 1840. VICTORIA, 1837 Born, 1819; Married, 1840, Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Numerous remissions of capital punishment are carried on the recommendation of the Criminal Law Commission. The use of the pillory is wholly abolished (a). July. Parliament is dissolved. [Estimated strength of parties-Conservatives, 310; Liberals, 348.] Jan. Lord Durham is appointed Governor-General of The ministers announce the placing of the Irish tithe bill passes both Houses (b). The Irish Poor Law Act is passed. The The Irish Tithes Commutation Act, commuting tithes into a permanent rent-charge, is passed. Villiers' motion to consider the Corn Laws is thrown An Act against non-residence of clergy is passed. [In this year the People's Charter is finally agreed The Irish policy of ministers condemned in the Lords is approved in Commons by 22 votes. May. The Jamaica Bill (d) is carried by 5 votes only in favour of the Government. The ministers resign. Sir Robert Peel, invited to form a ministry, declines Nov. Chartist insurrection at Newport led by Frost and Feb. The Queen marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. April. Sir J. Y. Buller's motion of want of confidence in the Government rejected by 308 to 287. (c) Sir Robert Peel's Ministry.-Sir R. Peel, First Lord of the Treasury; Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Chancellor; Goulburn, Exchequer; Sir J. Graham, Home Secretary; Lord Aberdeen, Foreign Secretary; Lord Stanley, War and Colonial; Lord Ripon, President of the Board of Trade (succeeded by Gladstone); Sir H. Hardinge, Secretary at War; Sir E. Knatchbull, Paymaster; Duke of Wellington, Leader of the Lords; Gladstone, Vice-President of Board of Trade; Lord Wharncliffe, President of Council; Duke of Buckingham, Lord Privy Seal; Earl de Grey, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; Lord Eliot (afterwards Earl of St. Germans), Chief Secretary for Ireland; Sidney Herbert, Secretary to the Admiralty. Aug. 1842. Jan. Evacuation of Cabul. Massacre of the army in the Khyber. The Treaty of Washington (better known as the Ashburton Treaty) is signed. Aug. After various defeats of the Chinese, the Treaty of Nankin, between China and England, is concluded. Sept. Cabul reoccupied. Lord Ellenborough Governor-General of India (to 1844). 1843. Annexation of Scinde. Battles of Meeanee and Hyderabad. |