21 August - 26 August in the London Times

21 August - 26 August 1865

This week in the London Times

Monday 21 August

Brasilian forces make a stand at the little village of San Borja on the 10th of June. They were overwhelmed by the superior forces from Paraguay. A force of 8,000 men descended upon the tiny 130 Brasilian resistance. The small force suffered severe losses and the rich countryside was burned. On the 26th of June, Colonel Fernandez skirmished with the Paraguayan vanguard. He was reinforced by Colonel Mesquita's brigade, resulting in a total victory.

It has been reported that the Confederate ship Shenandoah has stopped seizing American ships in the Pacific.

DISASTER

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FAILURE OF THE TRANSATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE

The third attempt to lay a telegraph cable across the Atlantic has resulted in failure. Engineers believe, however, that the failure can be accounted for this time, though the Great Cable experiment may still still require some time to fix. Much of the experiment relies upon humanity's knowledge of the ocean itself, "...the Atlantic Ocean itself has been despoiled of all its mysteries. Hitherto the Ocean had been among the infinities; now we seem to know all about it. We can sound its depth; we can dredge its oozy bed; we can recover the wreck heretofore supposed to be engulfed there forever... Nay, it has now been demonstrated that our electricians can indicate almost to the mile the very point where an inch of wire perforates a cable lying under the mid-Atlantic." This immense project - one that secures English genius - continues!

A number of disease cattle was transported upon a South-Western railway train last Friday. Many fear that this spread of disease demonstrates a failure in the preventative measures taken against such an occurrence. Foreign cattle remain a danger to English herds. Contagion is expected.

The cholera epidemic in Spain has subsided.

The Suez Canal has been opened. Emperor Napoleon has sent a letter of congratulations regarding this great event.

Despite the great prevalence of diseased cattle in English ports, Liverpool seems to have escaped contagion so far. This success in protocol has been attributed to excellent adherence to policies by both officials and private individuals.

The United States of America has begun the next stage of post-war reorganization. The Southern States must elect convention members to revisit their state constitutions. While many Southern leaders encourage the citizens to follow the laws which they must obey, pride seems to keep many Southerners from being able to move forward. As an act of humility and unity, General Lee has petitioned the United States Government for a pardon since many of the soldiers under him would never do so unless he had done so first.

While little is known of cholera, treatment can be effective if taken in time. Diarrhoea is the most common first symptom, but is so slight as to rarely warrant a trip to the chymist's shop or the hospital. If treatment was made readily available for all people, cholera outbreak might be very preventable.

Tuesday 22 August

Fenians, members of the Irish independence movement, have been accused of overusing intimidation tactics. One woman in Dangan was modded and ill-treated by a group last week. She has finally recovered enough to report the incident to the police last Friday.

The French War-Office has shown great interest in the improvement of firearms. It requests and rewards the private invention for the advancement of military science.

A story of the dignity and carriage of the English abroad follows. The English are not required to show passports while in France. This is easy to do because the English - even those foreign born, but fully naturalised - can be easily picked out of a crowd or line-up.

THE VISIT OF THE FRENCH FLEET TO PORTSMOUTH

The two great maritime powers, the French and the English, are visiting different ports in a demonstration of civility and good-feeling.

Many worry about the current cotton supply from America. One correspondent writes:

The question of the supply of cotton in the South still agitates American circles, and there is a general belief expressed that the free receipts of cotton as witnessed for a few weeks past at New York and New Orleans will soon fall off.

The price of cotton has not yet dropped, despite the influx of supply. It is felt that much of the commodity is being held back by want to good transportation into markets.

Cholera has hit Smyrna and Constantinople. The local bank is soliciting subscriptions for relief for the outbreak.

LEAD POISONING

Metal contamination has been discovered in drinking water. Wells have been relatively unaffected. However, water drawn by lead pipes and pumps is suspected. A recent outbreak in a rural area has traced the poisoning to "tinned kettles" when they are used to boil water for tea. A test for lead in water is readily available for those with any chemical background.

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY

The several boards of the companies interested in the Atlantic Telegraph Cable held meetings yesterday to consider their position under the temporary disappointment which has occurred. Of course, at so short a notice no specific course has been definitely settled, but we are at liberty to state that a spirit of the utmost confidence in the realization of a great success during the spring of next year prevailed in every quarter.

The West London Industrial Exhibition closed its proceeding with a song yesterday evening.

Wednesday 23 August

The British Archaeological Association has begun its 22nd meeting in Durham yesterday afternoon.

The cholera epidemic shows few resemblances to ancient plagues which have spread from India into Europe. It appears to be mainly a Mediterranean disease, mostly, and there is some hope for immunity in England.

A story of the lawlessness of the Irish follows. It compares the recent Irish/Fenian conflicts with having that reckless relative that one simply cannot stand to be around.

There is a deepening sense that Americans harbor resentment towards the English for their treatment during the recent war. Thoughts of conflict are simmering, especially in relation to the aristocratic classes of the British Isles.

The Government of India has sent a dispatch to the Rajah of Bootan. However, it is feared that the ultimatum was written too civilly for the "savages of the hills," and therefore did not convey the threat appropriately.

Suggestions for laying the next telegraph cable follow.

Thursday 24 August

It appears that the canal opened, reported earlier by the Times, was not the Suez Canal.

Current Southern opinions, thoughts, and conditions of living are of great concern to the American people right now. North and South are beginning to intermingle again. However, some believe that the North is acting too harshly upon the Southerners in their victory.

A discourse on the technical aspects of slack in the Atlantic telegraph cable follows.

Yesterday, while gathering gravel, a number of men discovered an entire human skeleton. It was buried face down only two feet underground. The man seems to have been of middle age and set there a number of years ago. It is assumed that the man was related to the Shoort's-Hill tragedy.

MURDER OF THREE CHILDREN

A woman killed her three children yesterday morning. The act occurred at Skin-market-place alley, Bankside, Southwark. The husband came back home after work in the early morning to find his wife and three children in bed. After leaving and returning, he heard his wife call out "I have killed them at last!" All three children were found with their throats cut. The woman has confessed to the crime.

Friday 25 August

More discussion of the methods for recovering the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable follows.

One person connects the recent activity in Ireland to the introduction of diseased cattle, " the alarm raised here is enough to justify an absolute panic there."

The complaint of animosity towards England from the Americans is further examined. It seems as though many different classes of Americans do hold ill-feelings towards the English, even those of high rank and of moderate leanings. This is a serious situation. However, there seem to be no solid grounds for the grievances and, when pressed, they can give no adequate justification for retribution or war. What could be the cause of this sentiment, then?

The Americans, we are told, are keenly and almost morbidly sensitive to the opinions of foreigners, and especially of Englishmen. They wince under criticism, and pine for sympathy and encouragement. They have had neither, but have, on the contrary, been incessantly subjected to ridicule and sarcasm. Tourists have crossed the Atlantic only to laugh at them, and have actually impeded by their scoffing the work of a rising nation. We Englishmen have been the greatest sinners.

THE MURDER OF MAJOR F H DE VERE, ROYAL ENGINEERS

 Major De Vere was mortally wounded while on duty by one of his own officers.

The cholera epidemic in Constantinople has been slowly decreasing.

ACCIDENTS IN COAL MINES - Reports indicate that 864 lives were lost last year from coal mining accidents. That means one out of every 354 men working in the industry have died from labor tragedy. Tunnel collapse is the major source of death.

Saturday 26 August

Three more letters as to the technical recovery and repair of the telegraph cable follow.

The English Government has yielded to public opinion in Ireland and forbidden any import of English cattle into any Irish port. While very few numbers of cattle are imported into Ireland from England, the measure is seen as doing little harm overall, while possibly averting a large - though unlikely - disaster.

News from China seems inconsistent. One source reports that the rebellion has been ended while another reports that the rebels have taken Pekin. This is natural as China seems to be in constant rebellion nowadays. All of the sources could, in fact, be true as once one rebellion ends, another begins.

The political relationship between England and Canada seem to be on the path to slow avoidance. As described in the article, "...there are several untrodden regions of astronomical science that an Englishman is more likely to enter upon than an inquiry of the connexion between England and Canada."

Ships coming from Constantinople are now subject to three days quarantine by the Moldo-Wallachian Government due to cholera.

A report follows regarding the relationship between atmospheric ozone and cholera. It might have been confirmed that ozone reacts with a proto-chemical that carries the agent that causes cholera. Recent levels of ozone have been very low. While ozone may be produced chemically, it is capable of killing animals, so careful administration is required.

Details of the Bankside murders follow. 

22 April - 29 April 1865 in the London Times

22 April - 29 April 1865

This week in the London Times

Saturday 22 April

Thought has turned to elections and politics.

Nearly 1,000 gentlemen from across the UK gathered in Manchester's Free-trade Hall to dine as a form of opposition to liquor traffic (the sale of intoxicating liquids). The banquet was a "demonstration to the country, in view of the coming election, that the supporters of Mr. Lawson's Bill, outside the House of Commons, are united and enthusiastic, and that those members who voted with him are not discouraged."

Some disagree with the anti-liquor bill saying that lower classes must depend upon the public houses to drink because not every man can keep his own cellar or brew his own beer.

A letter proposes a fund for the creation of a Society for Exploring the Holy Land for Biblical Illustration.

Monday 24 April

LATEST INTELLIGENCE

AMERICA

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SURRENDER OF LEE

General Lee has surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. The following is correspondence between the two Generals, settling the terms.Secretary Stanton has ordered a salute of 200 guns to be fired from every arsenal, fort, and military head-quarters in the United States in celebration of the event.
OFFICIAL DISPATCHES
"General Grant to General Lee, April 7"General, - The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistence on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States' army known as the Army of Northern Virginia."Very respectfully, your obedient servant,"U.S. Grant, Lieutenant-General Commanding the Armies of the United States..."
"GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT"April 7
"General, - I have received your note of this date. Though not entirely of the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender."R.E. LEE, General.

FEVER IN LONDON

One correspondent writes to defend the rates of typhus in St. Giles Hospital in London.Sir, - Your report of the inquiry before Mr. Farnall into the treatment of pauper patients in the St. Giles's Workhouse is exciting so much attention that even remarks of "a Guardian" in the agonies of exculpating himself from his share of the impending blame will meet with numerous readers... My object, in requesting publicity for the following figures and facts is to show that the results of treatment at this hospital bear a favourable comparison with those of any of the general hospitals of London which admit Typhus cases.

Tuesday 25 April

Regarding the war in the United States. Richmond has been evacuated. "Richmond has fallen." The correspondent provides an analysis:

It is far too early in these passionate times to enter into a disquisition accounting for the events of the 2d and 3d of April. It is obvious that the causes which led to them must have been manifold and diversified, and in some cases so subtle and mysterious as to defy human analysis. But, speaking broadly and briefly, I believe that the failure thus far of the insurrection may be attributed to three principle causes: first, and most materially, to the failure of Johnston and the Western army to keep Sherman out of Atlanta in the same manner as Lee and the Eastern army kept Grant out of Petersburg and Richmond; secondly, to the imbecility of the Confederate Houses of Congress; thirdly, and finally, to the inherent weakness of President Davis's Government, and to the inability or indisposition evinced by him or General Lee to assume, at any risk, the dictatorial powers which a jealous and short-sighed Congress denied to either, but which are alone adapted to the successful management of revolutions.

The correspondent concludes that General Lee's defeat was due less to military ineffectiveness as to the inability of his weak government to support its own claims to freedom.

The Report of the Council of Military Education has released its preliminary results. About 108,000 men in the army can both read and write, while 30,000 can read only, and 23,000 can neither read nor write. Approximately 9,000 men have a superior education. These results have improved from last year, but much need for improvement remains. Educational opportunity offered to the troops is now free.

 President Lincoln delivered a speech in Washington upon the occasion of the conclusion of the war. The speech is printed in the paper.

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE

A steamship is being loaded with cable to attempt another laying of the telegraph cable.More than 1,000 miles of cable have already been loaded onto the ship.

The Czarewitch has died in Nice, April 24, from illness.

Wednesday 26 April

Intelligence from the House of Commons continues. Both petitions and bills are weighed and debated.

SALMON FISHERY (1861) ACT AMENDMENT BILL

Mr. T. Baring, in moving for leave to introduce this Bill, said it would be in the recollection of the House that the Act of 1861 was founded on the report of a Royal Commission... It had been suggested year after year that some amendments should be introduced into the Act, in order to give power for the formation of bodies for the protection of the rivers, and the placing of a licence upon those who capture fish, whether by nets or rods, and to provide means for the protection of fish during spawning season.

Miss Constance Kent, the 21-year old killer known in the "Road Murder," has confessed and surrendered. She was responsible for killing a child five years ago. The young child had been taken from its cot during the night, had its throat cut, and thrown in the privy. The mystery of who killed the infant Francis has been solved. Constance, the child's half sister, confessed. Miss Kent has been sent to a convent in France, but is now in custody. 

ASSASSINATION OF THE SECRETARY OF THE RUSSIAN LEGATION

Yesterday, at 3 p.m., a stranger presented himself at the Russian Embassy, demanding to speak with the Secretary of Legation. Almost immediately after his entrance a noise was heard, and the Secretary was found covered with blood, having received five stabs from a dagger. The murderer fled, but was stopped, when he wounded two other persons before he was arrested.The Secretary is reported to be dead.

Two proposed plans for polar expeditions are listed along with a summary of other attempts to reach the poles.

Thursday 27 April

A narrative of the American oil wells follows. Many of the established wells turn individuals from a life of poverty to riches by small shares in a productive well. The Pennsylvania oil wells are mentioned in detail.

TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION AT SEA

Accounts are published of the destruction of the General Lyon, United States' transport steamer, by fire, with great loss of life: -

LATEST INTELLIGENCE

AMERICA

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ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN

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OFFICIAL REPORT

"Sir,- It has become my distressing duty to announce to you that last night his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was assassinated, about the hour of half-past 10 o'clock, in his private box at Ford's Theatre, in the city. The President about 8 o'clock accompanied Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre. Another lady and gentleman were with them in the box. About half-past 10, during a pause in the performance, the assassin entered the box, the door of which was unguarded, hastily approached the President from behind, and discharged a pistol at his head. The bullet entered the back of his head and penetrated nearly through. The assassin then leaped from the box upon the stage, brandishing a large knife or dagger, and exclaiming 'Sic semper tyrannis!' and escaped in the rear of the theatre.

The Americans in London will hold a meeting to express their sentiments regarding the assassination at the Grosvenor Hotel at 12 o'clock tomorrow.

Vice-President Johnson has taken the oath of office as the next President of the United States of America.

Members of Parliament from all parties have assembled to express their sympathy to the American Minister.

A short biography of President Andrew Johnson follows.

A report from the Cotton Supply Association reports a dismal crop and a bad year for cotton to follow. The article assesses the various other states of cotton production from around the world. While cotton prices have dropped recently, the planting of cotton in new areas may not be enough to offset the bad season. 

Constance Kent has achieved a celebrity which eclipses the participation of half the world, and will certainly last as long as the English language is spoken.

The assassinations of President Lincoln and the Secretary of State Seward will lessen the admiration of Lee's valiant fight and Richmond's gallant defense. The "'Sic semper tyrannis,' pronounced be the assassin, indicate the vanity of men willing to immortalize themselves, like Eratostratus, though the world should perish. Unjust as we believe it to be, the Confederate cause will not escape the dishonour cast upon it by the wanton murders of Mr. Lincoln and the Secretary."

Mr. Gladstone reports a strong economy, with a surplus of over 3,500,000l.

A detailed analysis of the births and deaths in the metropolis are included.

Friday 28 April

The Chancellor of the Exchequer rose to give a financial statement. Despite a number of difficult situations, including expensive war in China and political instabilities, the "conditions of the country [are] generally prosperous and satisfactory... It has raised a larger revenue than I believe ever at any period of peace or of war was raised by taxation..."

 The meeting of Americans in London was held, but closed at the suggestion of Mr. Black, a gentleman from Kentucky, so that all Americans could gather to "testify their sorrow at their loss in a becoming manner." The meeting will be held on Monday at St. James's hall where the American representative in London Mr. Adams will preside.

A discussion of tenant right in Ireland follows.

Her Majesty's Theatre will open for the season tomorrow night. The opera is La Sonnambula.

American intelligence reports that Mr. Seward is not murdered, but his face was gashed. The assassins have not been apprehended.

In China, Prince Kung was dismissed from his function in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Details of President Lincoln's assassination follows.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts held its annual meeting in St. James's Hall, Piccadilly, yesterday. 

15 April - 21 April 1865 in the London Times

15 April - 21 April 1865

This week in the London Times

Saturday 15 April

"Recollections of General Sherman," 15 April 1865

from the American New Harper's Monthly Magazine

To the British reader, the United States Civil War was still concluding.

Of the few prominent men developed by this war who will leave a lasting impression on the mind of the nation W. T. Sherman may be ranked as among the first and most original. The recollection which are here given are those of one who, at a respectful distance, has watched his career almost from the beginning.

What follows is a general character biography of General Sherman.

An article on "The American War" follows, giving an account of the war to date. Both articles take up a large portion of the page.

The paper also begins its reading with reflections on the French Empire, with a focus on Alphonse Thiers, the voice of the French Chamber anti-imperialists, 

Those who have faith in liberty have need of patience when they contemplate the state of parties in France. The may look without being daunted at the shortcoming of the Imperial regime, for those shortcomings must by and by be made good. The Empire will, doubtless, continue to exist, but its present form can only be regarded as provisional. A Government by a single person, responsible in name only to the people he governs, is a system which may be upheld by the exceptional genius of one man, but it wants all the elements of permanence, and some modification must be introduced into it that it may not drop as suddenly as it arose.

Typhus is on the increase in the metropolis. While unpleasant, the Times feels it is a duty to report on "one of the most dangerous and intractable of maladies..." The number of people admitted into the London Fever Hospital rose from c. 2,500 in 1863 to 3,600 in 1864. The number in 1865 is even higher still, by more than 200 patients by the same time in 1864.

There is an ongoing epidemic in Russia.So far, it seems to be a form of relapsing fever or typhus.

The yearly report on British fisheries came out again on Lent. While fish may have - in the past - had religious associations, it it no longer something that can be enjoyed by the poor. Fish has now become a luxury since increased demand has increased its price: 

Now, the increasing demand and the enhanced price have long placed the better varieties of fish beyond the reach of the poor, and even of those of limited means. To compel these classes to eat fish at special seasons or on certain days, instead of butcher's meat, would be like enjoining them to wear silk instead of their ordinary fustian, and drink wine instead of beer... So completely have ideas and language changed that the term a 'fish dinner,' so far from distinguishing a day of fasting, rather implies a kind of banquet with which no sense of mortification is connected.

Environmental degradation has removed much of the fish from British waters, necessitating the Fisheries Act of 1861. The Act, luckily, seems to be working and salmon production is increasing.

"Election Intelligence" for various regions remains a topic of conversation. Some regions seems to be hotly contested.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

AMERICA.

DEFEAT OF LEE

EVACUATION OF RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG.

New York, April 4

Rejoicing commences as Richmond falls to President Lincoln's Northern troops.

Public Schools Bill is up for debate right now. This bill would allow schools to temporarily increase the number of "persons distinguished for literary or scientific attainments" on their board. One reformer questions this vision. Certainly the previous people are no less distinguished. The reformer had hoped, instead, to accomplish three goals: "a reform of the governing bodies; secondly, a curtailment of their patronages; thirdly, a careful definition of the functions."

A thorough discussion of the British Americas and their relationship to the United States follows, with attention to defense. A later article mentions the many discussions of commerce and reorganization of Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

News from the Crystal Palace, the grand, plate-glass building erected in London to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. Good Friday at the Crystal Palace is the most popular festival to attend, surpassing even Boxing Day!

Monday 17 April

A reflection is offered between the relationship between "masters and men," or what we would think about as labor practices. There seems to be unrest in the workhouses. The strikes in Carlisle seems to be coming to a close in some trades. The painters went on strike and gained a reduction in working hours for the same pay. 

The Royal Dublin Society's Easter cattle show is next Tuesday. The event is the largest agricultural event of the year in Dublin - and possibly the entire United Kingdom.

Tuesday 18 April

All reports indicate that the United States Civil War is finally over. General Lee is defeated and only one remaining Southern army remains.

The Reformatory Movement in Essex seems to be going well, with the reform school having no serious illnesses and productive conversion of detained boys into productive people.

His Excellency Sir John Young, the Viceregal chair of New South Wales, opened the new parliament with a speech. Of the two main topics, bushrangers leads as a major threat to social order.

The Southern collapse is attributed to the Confederates' inability to recruit to their army.

It is a kind of struggle the Old World knows full well. Over and over again it has seen a pure and noble race, perhaps too proud, too jealous, and too exclusive to add to its strength numbers, and wealth in proportion to the freer and more open communities around, becoming more sensitive, more incompatible, and more intractable than its resources would justify, and allowing itself to be provoked into a contest with all the surrounding world. But many the nations and many the men that have found it impossible to fight the world singlehanded.

News from Prussia is that the St. Petersburg plague is getting worse. The illness had gone from being mostly from the lower classes to widespread.

The plague, which at the time of my writing last had given way to fever, is getting the upper hand again. In the majority of the fresh cases death ensues within a few hours only. If private estimates may be credited, the number of coffins daily, or rather nightly, carried away, already exceeds 150.

The Cambridge and Oxford boat races are topics of conversation. It is quite probable that the rivers upon which each rowing team practices affects the outcomes of the races.

The Zoological Gardens at Regents Park reached an astounding high yesterday. Gates opened at 9:00a and by 3:00p an estimated 18,000 visitors were on site.

Wednesday 19 April

The labor contest in Staffordshire continues. While the iron trade workers of the southern district accepted a pay cut, their northern counterparts refused to accept this situation. The maters then effected a complete lockout of both northern and southern factories. The southern factories were unlocked later, but the workers were so upset at the tyrannical move that they refused to go to work. An agreement about future lockouts was agreed to, but the northern workers still refuse to work until wages are restored.

News from the United States is that the Americans are now celebrating the end of the Civil War.

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN RUSSIA

St. Petersburg, April 11

The new Press Law has been adopted by the Council of the Empire, and will be shortly sanctioned by the Emporer prior to promulgation. The chief clauses are as follows:- The censorship is abolished upon all books containing more than ten sheets of printed mater; also upon all newspapers, magazines, and periodical publications the editors of which are willing to submit to the systems of warnings. A journal is to be suppressed after three warnings. The first two will be given by the Administration, but the third must be sanctioned by the Senate. The Government reserves to itself in addition the right of presecuting the delinquents before the ordinary tribunals, and they will in that case have to submit to the verdict of the jury.

A controversy has erupted over the Ganges Canals in India. It seems as though one canal had been improperly constructed while another is operating adequately. The author compares "the financial failure of the Ganges Canal" to "the great works of Madras."

An article regarding the sewage of towns follows. The third report of the Sewage Commission has just come out. This commission has been assigned to see if sewage could be usefully applied to the land for agricultural purposes. The commission seems to have been successful and offers a number of conclusions.

Thursday 20 April

A series on customs and manners, including a thorough study of languages and races, is included.

The study of mankind is making rapid progress in our days. The early history of the human race, which in former centuries was written chiefly by poets or philosophers, has now been taken up in good earnest by men who care for facts, and for facts only, and who, if they cannot reveal to us the very beginnings of human life and human thought, have succeeded, at least, in opening board views into a distant past, hitherto impenetrable, and have brought together fragments of language, religion, mythology, legends, laws, and customs which give us a real and living idea of the early ancestors of our race.

There is an update on a fatal explosion in a coal mine in the Dill-hall Coillery, Chruch, near Blackburn.

The Annual Report upon Public Health has been published. It covers England and Wales' vaccination laws. It also includes an account of parasitic diseases which should only be read by the hearty non-bacon-eaters of the world. A large portion is also given to the overcrowding of urban areas and its effect on the poor.

On April 7th, American Southern General Lee makes another stand against the North. President Lincoln arrives in Richmond on the 4th. A recount of President Davis' flight from Richmond follows.

Spring weather is opening in a grand manner.

THE ST. GILES'S UNION AND THE POOR LAW BOARD

Mr. Farnall, the Poor Law Board Commissioner, yesterday resumed the inquiry into the circumstances and death of Richard Gibson, a pauper inmate of the Bloomsbury and St. Giles's Workhouse.

Oxford opens the Easter Term with a Latin sermon at St. Mary's.

Discussion continues in the Ecclesiastical Commission over the endowment of churches.

Friday 21 April

It is possible that American Southern General Lee's army suffered fewer losses than suspected.

An important discussion on a bill for "the better distribution of Poor Law Relief took place at Exeter last week."

Official reports on the Russian epidemic have reached the UK. Initial fears seems to have be slightly over-excited. The disease is, indeed, the old typhus common to overcrowded cities. It may have started in Asia.

MR. JOHN STUART MILL FOR WESTMINSTER

A letter from the philosopher and statesman, Mill, with regards to his views on reform bills and policy.

A pledge is being collected for the benefit of the blind. A generous donor has already given 10,000l. They hope to collect 50,000l total under the administration of the Committee of Almoners of Christ's Hospital.

FORGERIES AND EMBEZZLEMENT AT BLACKBURN

At the Blackburn Twon-hall, on Wednesday, Thomas Lund, late secretary to the Blackwell Cooperative Cotton Spinning and Weaving Company, was charged on remand with forging the names of several tradesmen to vouchers, to defraud the comapny of several sums of money.

The St. Giles's Union and the Poor Law Board case comes to find that the union "greatly accelerated" the death of Richard Gibson through neglect connected with the workhouse.