OBITUARY OF EMINENT PERSONS. Professor Aytoun-Leopold I., King of the Belgians-General Sir George Brown -Richard Cobden-Viscount Combermere-Sir Charles Lock Eastlake-Vice- Admiral Robert Fitzroy-Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell-Charles C. F. Greville -Judge Haliburton-Sir William Jackson Hooker-General Sir James Shaw Kennedy-Abraham Lincoln-Professor Lindley-Viscount Palmerston-Sir Joseph Paxton-Sir John Richardson-Isaac Taylor-Charles Waterton- ANNUAL REGISTER, FOR THE YEAR 1865. NIVERSITY ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAPTER I. Tranquil and prosperous state of the United Kingdom at the commencement of the year-State of trade and of the public revenue-Stability of the Government of Lord Palmerston-Progress of the civil war in America, and policy of England towards the belligerents-Hostilities in New Zealand-The Parliament summoned on the 7th of February for its last session-The proceedings opened by Commission -The Royal Speech-Debates in both Houses on the Address-Remarks of Lord Derby on the policy of the United States Government towards England-Explanations of Earl Russell-The Address voted nem. con.-Debate in the Commons on the condition of Ireland-Amendment moved and negatived-Further discussions upon Irish questions, the condition of the peasantry, the emigration, the tenure of land and tenant right, and the Church Establishment-Important debate on resolutions moved by Mr. Dilwyn-Speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Irish Church. THE year 1865 opened under favourable auspices for the United Kingdom. England was at peace with her neighbours, and might reasonably expect, under judicious guidance, to maintain friendly relations with foreign states. Only one remote corner of her own colonial possessions afforded employment to a military force. The desultory and inconclusive contest with the natives of New Zealand continued to smoulder on; a warfare in which a certain loss was incurred without any compensating honour or advantage. The internal condition of the country was prosperous and tranquil, and the continued increase of the national wealth was attested by palpable evidence on all sides. The benefit of an abundant harvest in the preceding year had been felt with all its customary effects. Trade was in a sound and healthy state; the revenue exhibited the same buoyancy which had been its characteristic feature of late years, and there was a total absence of B political agitation or other symptoms of popular discontent. The great calamity of the cotton famine, attended with so much suffering during the two preceding years, had now almost disappeared, and the manufacturing districts of Lancashire showed signs of revived industry and comfort. The long-protracted contest in America, which had been the source of these troubles, appeared now, after four years of its destructive continuance, to be drawing to a close. Signs of exhaustion on the part of the Southern States portended the termination of a struggle which had been maintained with extraordinary tenacity and great sacrifices on both sides. England adhered stedfastly to her avowed policy of neutrality, an attitude not maintained without considerable difficulty, nor without incurring occasional outbreaks of jealousy and displeasure from each of the contending parties. The Administration of Lord Palmerston still maintained its ground, and did not appear to have in any degree lost its hold upon the confidence of the public. The spirit of party, indeed, though dormant, was not extinct, nor is it ever likely to become so in England, but there prevailed among persons of various political persuasions a general acquiescence in the opinion that the veteran Minister, whose career could not in the course of nature be long protracted, might be safely trusted, at least during the brief term of an expiring Parliament, to maintain the honour of the country and the security of her institutions. The Legislature was summoned to meet for the despatch of business at the usual period, the 7th of February being the day appointed. To the regret of her subjects, the Queen did not appear to open Parliament in person, that duty being performed by Commission. Her Majesty's Message, delivered from the throne by the Lord Chancellor, was in the following terms: "MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, "We are commanded to assure you that Her Majesty has great satisfaction in recurring again to the advice and assistance of her Parliament. "The negotiations in which the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia were engaged with the King of Denmark were brought to a conclusion by a Treaty of Peace; and the communications which Her Majesty receives from foreign Powers lead her to entertain a well-founded hope that no renewed disturbance of the peace of Europe is to be apprehended. "The civil war in North America still unhappily continues. Her Majesty remains stedfastly neutral between the contending parties, and would rejoice at a friendly reconciliation between them. "A Japanese Daimio in rebellion against his sovereign, infringed the rights accorded by treaty to Great Britain and to certain other powers; and the Japanese Government having failed to compel him to desist from his lawless proceedings, the diplomatic |