AFFAIR OF THE "VIRGINIUS" 1873 ruary. At Madrid, on February 16, the Republic was officially proclaimed. The Carlists, meanwhile, had profited by the chaotic state of politics in Spain. Don Carlos reentered Spain by the village of Zumarragardi, which was the stronghold of the Carlist forces of Navarre and Guypuzzoa. He advanced with Lizzaraza and his troops upon Estrella, which he captured. On September 7 Señor Emilio Castelar became President of the Republic. A fortnight later the Cortes conferred dictatorial power on Castelar. Anarchy reigned at Cartagena. Admiral Lobo failed to defeat a Cartagenian squadron and was dismissed. General Campos was superseded. Admiral Chiccarro and General Caballos then conducted the operations of the Government by sea and land against the Cartagenians. But Caballos was himself superseded by General Voninquez. On November 26 the admiral bombarded the place in vain. Meanwhile General Moriones fought a doubtful battle at Maneru on the 6th of October. On November 7 he was defeated at Monte Jurra. Neither side at the close of the year had obtained decisive results. General Moriones was in a difficult position at Castro-Urdiales, and Bilbao was threatened by the Carlist troops. In Cuba, after a lull in hostilities, owing to the proclamation of the Republic of Spain, the merciless guerrilla war was resumed. On the last day of October the American schooner "Virginius," while conveying men and arms from New York to the insurgents in Cuba, was captured by the Spanish gunboat "Tornado." The filibusters, many of whom were British and Americans, were tried in Santiago de Cuba, found guilty, and shot. After much correspondence, the "Virginius" was surrendered to the American Government, but on her way home she foundered. Effectual protest against the Spanish Government's proceedings on the part of the United States was made all but impossible by the for 1873 DEATHS OF LANDSEER, AGASSIZ, MILL bidding attitude of the European Powers, who were jealous of republican encroachments. Sir Edwin Landseer died during this year. Born in 1802, the son of John Landseer, the celebrated engraver, he began an artistic career at a very early age. In 1826 he was elected associate of the Academy and became a full-fledged Academician in 1831. His famous portrait of “Sir Walter Scott and His Dogs" was painted about this time. Soon he was recognized as the foremost artist of England. Fourteen of his pictures are in the National Gallery in London, among them the famous "Dialogue at Waterloo," while sixteen are in the South Kensington Museum. On December 14 Louis Jean Rodolphe Agassiz died at New York. Born in Switzerland, he studied medicine and the experimental sciences at Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich. He afterward published several works on natural history, and a work entitled "Studies of Glaciers," which gave him a European reputation. Agassiz left Europe for America in 1846, and was appointed Professor of Zoology and Geology at Harvard, which post he retained till his death. He explored every portion of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the Valley of the Mississippi, and the great plains at the base of the Rocky Mountains. He also accompanied an exploring expedition to Brazil and superintended an investigation of the deep-sea bottom of the Gulf Stream. John Stuart Mill, the great English exponent of modern utilitarianism and inductive logic, also died in this year. He was an advocate of the theory of the "happiness of the majority," or the "greatest good of the greatest number," as a general test of morality. Mill's "Political Economy” achieved great success. He took a decided stand for the emancipation of woman. EVENTS OF 1874 Castelar Resigns-Serrano Takes the Helm-Dominguez Takes_Cartagena-Don Carlos Repulses Moriones at Bilbao-Moriones Resigns -Carlists Defeat Republicans at Peña Mura, Killing General Concha -They March on Madrid-They Meet with Alternate Victories and Defeats about Pampeluna and Trun-Alfonso XII is Proclaimed King-Deaths of Ex-President Fillmore and Charles Sumner-New York Elects Tilden Governor-Mitre Raises Rebellion in Argentina -He is Defeated-Japan Sends Punitive Expedition against Formosan Savages and Extorts Indemnity from China-Great Britain Annexes Fiji Islands-Deaths of Guizot, Ledru-Rollin, and Michelet in France. N Spain, when the year opened, the dictator, Castelar, was preparing to meet the factious Cortes which had I been adjourned since September. On the 2d of January he surrendered the dictatorship. Marshal Serrano became the chief executive of the Republic. By a decree the Cortes was dissolved. Madrid remained tranquil, but at Saragossa, Barcelona, and Valencia barricades were raised. The struggle, however, was of short duration. Within ten days a striking military success gave the new Government credit. Cartagena surrendered to General Lopez Dominguez. Contreas and Galvay, with the members of the Junta and 2,000 convicts, managed to escape on board the "Muncia," and were landed in Mess-el-Kebir in Algeria, where they became prisoners of the French authorities. The Carlist war blazed on and became more formidable. Early in January the headquarters of General Moriones were at Laredo and those of Don Carlos at Somorrostro. In the middle of February General Moriones advanced to Somorrostro, but stormy weather helped to prevent the squadron at the mouth of the river from cooperation. On the 21st Don Carlos, leaving Durango, began to shell Bilbao. Moriones pushed forward against the enemy, but the Carlists were intrenched upon an elevated plateau, bristling with batteries, and twice 1874 licans was 1,800. CARLIST SUCCESSES Moriones resigned. repulsed their assailants. The loss sustained by the RepubMarshal Serrano left Madrid and raised the Republican force in the north to 30,000. Admiral Topete was despatched to Santander to direct the operations of the navy. Bilbao still held out. On March 25--27 another attempt was made to break the enemy's ranks, but the Carlists remained in line. Two Republican generals, Rivera and Loma, were wounded. Later Concha opened fire along his entire front. General Echaque advanced. The Carlists reserved their fire until the column was within 200 yards. The foremost platoons were literally mowed down. When Marshal Concha about 7 P. M. rushed forward to rally his men he was shot dead. General Echaque, on whom the command devolved, evacuated all the positions and set fire to the villages. The Republicans lost some 5,000 at this battle, fought at Peña Mura. Then came the recognition of the de facto government at Madrid by the German Emperor. The example was promptly imitated at Paris and London and subsequently at Vienna. Russia held back. The Czar even wrote a friendly letter to Don Carlos. The Carlists now overran the northeastern provinces, only the fortresses holding out against them. They threatened Bilbao and Pastu Galete, and cannonaded Puycerda, from which, however, they were repulsed. Soon that portion of their forces occupying Aragon and Valencia under Don Alfonso, brother of the Pretender, boldly advanced toward Madrid, making straight for Cuenca in Castile. Cuenca resisted spiritedly. After a terrible bombardment the city capitulated. It proved of no practical importance. The Republicans advanced in force, and the victors had speedily to abandon their prize. Not only that, but Brigadier Lopez Pintu overtook them at Salvacannete on the 20th, and rescued the whole Republican division, which had been taken prisoners at Cuenca, besides capturing ALFONSO XII PROCLAIMED KING 1874 a considerable number of Carlists. In Navarre the capture of Laguardia by the Carlists under Dorregaray was more than avenged by the defeat which was inflicted upon them at Oteiza on August 11. Still the balance of success inclined to the Pretender's cause. Ultimately the tide of success again turned against the Carlists. Puycerda, threatened by their forces, was relieved by Dominguez and his troops after five encounters. The insurgents received a yet more signal defeat near Pampeluna on September 25, when they attacked Moriones. In November the contest had shifted to the banks of the Bidassoa. Trun was invested by the Carlists and was bombarded. Six days later General Lama advanced from San Sebastian, and, after some resistance, occupied the land from Oyarzum to San Marcial to the south of Trun, and opened fire on the Carlist positions. General Lareras gave effectual assistance. The Carlists retired to Vera. But soon. they reinvested Trun, and the victorious army of Lama and Lareras was blockaded at San Sebastian. Pampeluna, too, which the march of Moriones in October had relieved, was again surrounded by the rebel forces. On receipt of this news at Madrid, the President of the Republic, Marshal Serrano, assumed the command of the "Army of the North." Serrano's efforts to stem the tide proved vain. On the last day of the year it was announced that Campos had entered Valencia with two brigades, and proclaimed Alfonso King. Soon the news reached the Hotel Basilevsky at Paris, where Queen Isabella and her son were residing, that the Armies of the North and Centre had made common cause with Campos's battalions, that the Madrid garrison had proclaimed the Prince King of Spain, as Alfonso XII, and that a Regency Ministry had been constituted. In America ex-President Millard Fillmore died in his seventy-fourth year at Buffalo. Three days later occurred the death of Charles Sumner, the well-known American |