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Roman Catholics of Ireland would quickly develope a new spirit of contentment and loyalty. The authors and leading supporters of the Disestablishment Bill had indeed often avowed their belief that the reconciliation of the disaffected classes in Ireland to British rule could only be a work of time, and that it was in order to make atonement for past wrongs, and to satisfy the conscience of England by an act of justice, that the great concession of the Protestant Church had been made, rather than from any hope that the surrender would purchase submission or produce an immediate return in tranquillity and content. Still it can hardly be doubted that many who cordially wished well to Ireland, and had made sacrifices of their own prepossessions in order to propitiate her good-will, must have felt provoked and disheartened when they observed that the aversion and bitterness of the Irish mind towards England seemed to be rather aggravated than softened by the attempts to conciliate and appease it. In the early part of the year the Government, besides allowing the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act to expire, had authorized the release of several of the Fenian convicts then under sentence for political crimes-an act which did not escape at the time the imputation of misplaced lenity and weakness. The first use which the liberated prisoners made of their freedom was to proclaim in the most insulting language their unabated hostility to the English Government; and so far as in them lay, before taking their departure for the United States, to stimulate the minds of their countrymen whom they left behind with incentives to rebellion. After their departure a formal agitation was set on foot for procuring the release of the remaining convicts, the agitators who conducted it not appearing to consider to what extent they might defeat their professed object by avowing the warmest sympathy with the crimes of which the prisoners had been convicted. Mr. Gladstone was now compelled to declare in distinct terms that the amnesty which was sought by this agitation could not be conceded; and from thenceforth uncompromising hostility to England, and the duty of resistance to her authority by physical force, were advocated in language of which those who used it took no pains to disguise the meaning. The course adopted by these preachers of rebellion, coupled with the fermentation which had been created in the minds of some of the tenants of land, whose hopes were raised to an extravagant pitch by the prospect of seeing their demand for "tenant right" conceded, obliged the Government to adopt extraordinary precautions for the maintenance of the peace and order of society. Additional regiments were despatched to Ireland, and means taken to repress any outbreak by the strong arm.

The commercial features of the year we are now reviewing cannot be regarded with much satisfaction. Although more than three years had elapsed since the great shock of 1866, there was as yet no healthy revival of trade. The cotton manufacture was cramped by an insufficient and dear supply of the raw material, and the high price of the fabric checked the demand of consumers. In such a

condition of trade controversies between employer and workman as to the rate of wages are naturally engendered. Trades' Unions employ the agencies at their command to sustain or increase the price of labour, and masters complain loudly of the impediments offered to production by the vexatious proceedings of these societies. General complaints of the stagnation of trade were heard with increased frequency as the winter approached; the labouring classes suffered from a scarcity of employment, and the increase of pauperism which manifested itself, especially in the metropolis and its eastern suburbs, occasioned serious anxiety.

These untoward circumstances led to a partial revival, in some of the northern and midland towns, of the old cry for Protection— disguised, however, under the specious aspect of a demand for Reciprocity. The approach of the period at which either of the parties to the French Commercial Treaty was entitled to give notice for its termination afforded some fresh pretext for this agitation, and the opponents of free trade on both sides of the Channel exerted themselves to arouse the public feeling in favour of an economic reaction in each country; indeed, the complainants in each country endeavoured alike to make out that their own producers had got the worst of the bargain and were suffering for the benefit of their rivals. In England the agitation in favour of a return to restrictive tariffs was chiefly confined to local politicians of small note, the wiser heads of the Conservative party giving no countenance to the movement; nor does it seem that the maintenance of the Treaty in France is likely to be endangered, except by the political opposition lately excited in that country against all measures which have been carried by the exercise of the Imperial prerogative. One cause of the continued commercial depression which prevailed on this side of the water is undoubtedly to be found in the discredit attached, since the ruinous frauds and failures of 1866, to joint-stock enterprise, and the remembrance of the terrible losses sustained from that cause. The time which has since elapsed has by no means sufficed to cure that distrust, the suspicion attaching to Boards of Directors and the incredulity excited by prospectuses still continuing in full force. Nevertheless, at the termination of the year a more hopeful feeling as to the future began to be entertained. The overflowing state of the bullion in the money markets, both of France and England, the absence of disturbing political causes, the impulse given to international commerce by the working of the Pacific Railway and by the opening of the Suez Canal, the rapid extension of Submarine Telegraphy, and the improvement of railway property by the closing of capital accounts and the increase of traffic receipts, contributed, with other causes, to impart a more confident tone to the commercial community and to enlarge the field of profitable investment. The direction which surplus capital seemed most inclined to take was that of foreign loans, several of which had been recently brought forward in the money market under favourable auspices. The shares of companies formed for the prosecution of

telegraphic enterprise were also embarked in to a considerable extent. The new Bankruptcy Law afforded further ground for confidence, from the promise which it held out of purging the atmosphere of commerce from some of its baser elements. Other favourable circumstances were the unusually large supplies of foreign grain, all of which had been paid for, and the indications of a buoyant condition of the public revenue, which, taken together with the retrenchment of expenditure in the public departments, seemed to point hopefully to a further diminution of public burdens.

In the face of the general complaints of the dulness of trade and commercial enterprise the official statistics show, so far as they can be relied upon, that our exports in the first eleven months of the past year exceeded those of the corresponding periods of the two previous years, the totals being as follows:

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As regards imports, the totals for the first ten months of each year were returned as follows:

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It is true that considerable imputations had lately been cast, and but faintly repelled, on the accuracy of the official statements; nevertheless, the revenue returns appeared to indicate that there was an approximation at least to the correct figures. Mercantile failures of course occurred throughout the year, but generally they were of limited amount and confined to the country. Just before the end of December there was a great rush of traders into the Gazette, anxious to get a discharge from their liabilities before the new law should come into operation on the 1st January, 1870.

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The extreme range of consols during the twelvemonths was only about 2 per cent., while that of the preceding twelvemonths had been 3 per cent., and the difference between the opening and closing quotations of the year showed a decline of . In the foreign stock-market a good deal of animation prevailed, and in many instances there was a considerable rise of prices. English railway stocks, which had experienced an aggregate reduction of about 17 per cent. in 1866 and 1867, and a recovery of about 5 per cent. in 1868, there were wide fluctuations, some descriptions showing an improvement of 10 or 20 per cent., and others a fall of like magnitude. The Bank of England bullion at the end of 1868 stood at 18,445,8587. It reached its highest point, 21,032,6777., on the 25th of August, and on December 31st, 1869, was 19,196,6227. At the Bank of France the total at the

commencement was 44,310,0007., and after advancing to 50,673,000Z. it fell again to 49,488,000. On the Paris Bourse the range of fluctuation in Rentes was 3 per cent., and the result of the movements of the year was to establish an advance of 2 per cent. The changes in the Bank rate of discount, which were only two in number in 1868, were seven in 1869. On the 1st of January the rate was 3 per cent., by the 6th of May it had risen to 4 per cent., in August it fell to 2 per cent., and for the last two months of the year stood at 3 per cent. In the cotton market the price of middling upland, which was about 103d. per lb. on the 1st of January, on December 31st was about 11d. In the wheat market there was a decline of 9s. in addition to that of 188. sustained in 1868, the average price, which in January was 528. 8d., having fallen in December to 43s. 8d.-the lowest price of the

year.

The country sustained heavy losses, though not, perhaps, in greater proportion than in the average of years, from the decease of persons eminent for their services in the various departments of the Church and State, or distinguished in the spheres of art, literature, and science. One individual, indeed, deserves especial mention among the famous men who passed away from the scene, as he was not only the bearer of an illustrious historic name, but had been for a long period a conspicuous figure and a name of power in the political world. Edward Geoffrey, the fourteenth Earl of Derby, whose constitution had for some time shown signs of failure, and who had of late been gradually withdrawn, by successive attacks of illness, from the forefront of political life, closed in the autumn of this year his active and splendid career, having just completed the allotted term of seventy years. Concerning his wisdom as a statesman and his capacity as a political leader much difference of opinion will prevail, but there will be none as to his brilliant gifts, his powerful eloquence, his intrepid spirit; nor as to those qualities of character which made him in many respects a typical representative of the English nobleman, an honour to his order, and, though in his latter years he adhered to the unpopular side in politics, a favourite of the English people. In great emergencies, as in the Lancashire cotton famine, Lord Derby's generous public spirit and munificence were fully displayed. He filled most of the leading offices of the State with honour, he took a conspicuous part in all the great political controversies which occurred during his half-century of public life, and he was three times called upon to assume the highest elevation which a citizen of this country can aspire to-that of Prime Minister of the Crown.

FOREIGN HISTORY.

CHAPTER I.

FRANCE.

Political situation-Speeches of the Emperor on New Year's Day-The MoniteurResignation of the Procureur-Impérial of Toulouse-Conference on the GræcoTurk Question-Report of the Minister of Finance-Opening of the French Chambers and Speech of the Emperor-Discussion on the Law relative to Public Meetings-The Army Contingent-Amalgamation of French and Belgian Railways -Speech of the Emperor at Council of State-Interference of Government at Elections-Debate on Foreign Policy of France-Letter of the Emperor on the centenary date of the Birth of Napoleon I.-Dissolution of the Chambers-Election Addresses-Disturbances-The Pamphlet L'Empereur-Result of the ElectionsLetter of the Emperor to M. de Machau-His Address to the Soldiers at the Camp of Chalons-Meeting of the Chambers to verify Elections-Speech of M. Rouher, Minister of State.

THE attitude of France this year, as regards her external policy, was that of profound tranquillity. She was at peace with all her neighbours, and no question arose to disturb the world. A great and important measure of Constitutional reform was granted by the Emperor in surrendering a large share of the power he possessed by exercising what was known and called by the name of "personal government." He voluntarily abandoned this, and made his Ministers directly responsible to the Chambers, by avowing the principle that henceforth he would choose them from that party which could command a majority, and by the vote of the Chamber they must stand or fall. This, of course, did not satisfy the Republican party, or even those members of the extreme Opposition who are not Republicans, but who justify the name by which they are designated-the Irreconcilables. But their efforts have been entirely impotent, and the good sense of the nation is strongly opposed to their wild and impracticable theories. Perhaps the least satisfactory part of the policy of the French Government is the unscrupulous interference of the Executive with the elections. Corruption in France does not, as in England, assume the coarse feature of money bribes ; but the Prefects and Sub-prefects every where attempt to influence the elections by bribes of another kind. They promise new roads, new bridges, and new railways, and hint to electors who are willing to vote

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