EVENTS OF 1887

Italian War with Abyssinians Involves Capture of Salinbein's Scientific Expedition-Italians are Defeated at Massowah-Balfour's Irish Coercion Bill is Pushed Through Parliament by "Times's" Use of Letter from Parnell Endorsing Assassination-Parnell Declares Letter a Forgery-Russian Agents Foment Risings in the Balkans -Russia Protests to Powers against Ferdinand Taking Bulgarian Crown Unsuccessful Attempt to Kill Czar It is Followed by Closure of Universities and Other Reactionary Measures-Fatal Fire Destroys Opéra Comique, Paris-President Grévy Resigns Owing to Scandal of Sale of Decorations by His Son-in-Law-Deaths of Jenny Lind, Opera Singer, and Henry Ward Beecher, American Divine-White Citizens of Hawaii Force King to Grant Constitution Depriving Him of Autocratic Powers-Anarchists Kill Police in Chicago Riot-They are Tried and Condemned, Some to Death and Some to Imprisonment-Rising of Slaves in Brazil Accelerates Emancipation.

I

N the commencement of the year the attention of the world was drawn to Abyssinia. A scientific mission commanded by Count Salinbein had proposed to penetrate into the interior of the country. General Géne, commanding the expeditionary force, had assured the mission that no military enterprise on the part of the Italians should compromise their safety. Only a few days had elapsed after this promise when the Italian troops marched out of the fortifications of Massowah to meet Ras Alula, commanding on behalf of King John of Abyssinia. Count Salinbein was at once made prisoner by the Abyssinians, and the evacuation of Massowah was demanded. On January 25 Ras Saati made an attack on the Italian lines, but after three hours' fighting was repulsed. The following day, three companies of Italian troops, despatched to revictual the garrison, were ambushed and overwhelmed. Twenty-three officers and 407 soldiers were killed, and all the guns fell into the hands of the Abyssinians. An Italian Cabinet crisis resulted.

In Great Britain the failure of Gladstone's Home Rule Bill had only brought Irish affairs into greater prominence. Charles Parnell came forward with a bill for the diminution

1887

"PARNELLISM AND CRIME"

of Irish rents. The bill was rejected by a vote of 297 to 202. Arthur Balfour, Secretary for Ireland, now introduced a new coercion bill. Its passage through Parliament was secured by extraordinary means. On the day that a vote was to be taken in the House of Commons, on the second reading of the bill, April 18, the London "Times," under startling headlines, published in facsimile a letter claimed to have been written by Parnell at the time of the Phoenix Park murders in 1882. The letter read thus:

"15 / 5 / 82.

"DEAR SIR-I am not surprised at your friend's anger, but he and you should know that to denounce the murders was the only course open to us. To do that promptly was plainly our best policy.

"But you can tell him and all others concerned that though I regret the accident of Lord F. Cavendish's death, I can not refuse to admit that Burke got no more than his deserts. CHARLES S. PARNELL."

Parnell promptly denounced this letter as a forgery. Nevertheless his supposed sympathy with the perpetrators of the Phoenix Park murder aroused all Tories against him. For several days before the publication of this letter the "Times" had published a series of articles entitled "Parnellism and Crime." The rest of the year passed before Parliament agreed to take up Parnell's case as demanded by him. One O'Donnell, feeling himself implicated, sued the "Times" for libel, but the trial, beyond revamping the charges against Parnell, proved a fiasco.

During the entire year, political interest centred in the Balkans. The throne of Bulgaria remained vacant. Nor could the Powers agree on a prince who would be likely to obtain the support of all parties. Russian agents fomented dissatisfaction. Alarming risings occurred at Silistria and

FERDINAND CHOSEN KING OF BULGARIA

1887

Rustchuk in early spring. Though they were easily put down by the Government, the Regency did not possess sufficient confidence among the masses of the population to afford guaranties for the preservation of order. Finally, on July 6, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg was unanimously elected by the Sobranje to be Prince of Bulgaria. Russia refused her sanction. Prince Ferdinand accepted the proffered

crown.

The Sobranje was thereupon dissolved and the Ministry resigned early in August. Three days later the Russian Charge d'Affaires at Constantinople submitted to the Porte a formal protest against the assumption of the Bulgarian Government by Prince Ferdinand. Russia, Germany, and France withheld their recognition of the Prince. By the end of the year the attitude of Russia had grown so menacing that war seemed almost inevitable.

In Russia, another attempt on the life of the Czar had been made on March 29. Nihilist trials followed with the usual sequel of the banishment of several suspects to Siberia. Serious disturbances involving the arrest of a few hundred students next broke out at the University of Moscow. The city was put under military rule. The Universities of Moscow and Kasan, as well as those of Odessa, Kharkov, and St. Petersburg, were closed.

In Paris a dreadful disaster occurred in May, when the Opéra Comique was totally destroyed by a fire which broke out during the first act of the performance of "Mignon." The actual number of lives lost was never satisfactorily ascertained, many bodies being reduced to ashes. Eighty burned bodies were found and forty-five persons were reported missing. M. Carvalla, director of the ill-fated Opéra Comique, was sentenced in December to three months' imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 francs. Owing to the exposure of the fact that his son-in-law, Daniel Wilson had

1887

VICTORIA'S FIRST JUBILEE

been selling honorary decorations, Grévy resigned the Presidency of the French Republic.

In England the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign was celebrated throughout the kingdom. The Queen drove in state from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Ab bey, where a Special Jubilee Service was held. It was made the occasion of an impressive display of British colonial resources and loyalty.

Jenny Lind, the famous singer, died in November at her home in the Malvern Hills, England. Her last public appearance was at Düsseldorf in 1870, when she took the soprano part in Otto Goldschmidt's oratorio "Ruth."

In America the death of Henry Ward Beecher, the eminent clergyman, revived a scandal that had clouded his last years. Beecher made his reputation at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn. From 1861 to 1863 he was editor of the "Independent," and for about ten years after 1870 of the "Christian Union." The weekly issues of his sermons commanded wide circulation.

In Hawaii, June 25, a peaceful revolution was effected. The whites, indignant at the corruption of King Kalakaua's Ministry, assembled in force and proceeded to the palace. The King consented to dismiss his Ministry and to submit to a constitution, by which his power became nominal.

On November 11, at Chicago, four of the eight anarchists engaged in a riot in the Haymarket in which several policemen lost their lives, were executed; two were sentenced to life imprisonment; one was imprisoned for fifteen years, and the other committed suicide.

In Brazil a great rising of slaves occurred near San Palo in November. Troops were called out, but the slaves took refuge in the forests. The emancipation of slaves throughout that vast empire was sensibly accelerated.

EVENTS OF 1888

Death of William I of Germany-Accession of Frederick III-He Dies of Throat Cancer-Accession of William II-Hamburg Enters Zollverein-Deaths of Maine, the Jurist, Matthew Arnold, the Poet, Oliphant, the Religious Socialist, and Corcoran, the PhilanthropistGrenfell Defeats Arabs at Suakim-British Protectorate Over Parts of the East Indies-Convention of Powers Guarantees Free Navigation of Suez Canal-Death of Bazaine-Monarchists Gain Seats in French Assembly-Election of General Boulanger-Boulangist Riots-Duel Between Boulanger and Floquet-Anarchist Demonstration at Funeral of General Emdes-Riot at Amiens among Striking Velvet Weavers-Other Strikes-Pasteur_Institute Opened in Paris to Treat Hydrophobia-Lesseps Fails to Float New Bonds for Panama Canal and Resigns Directorship-Brazil Unconditionally Abolishes Slavery-Revolution in Haiti Causes Flight of President Salomon-Insurgent Telemaque Killed in Attack on the Palais National-Haiti Detains American Filibuster "Haitian Republic"United States Exacts $2,000,000 Indemnity-March Blizzard Blocks Traffic and Transportation on Atlantic Coast-Deaths of Roscoe Conkling, Political Leader, and General Sheridan-President Cleveland Causes Recall of Sackville-West, British Minister, for Interference in American Politics - Benjamin Harrison is Elected President Dr. Fitz Advocates Removal of Vermiform Appendix in Appendicitis.

HIS year is memorable to Germany for the death of two of her heroes. On March 9 old Emperor William I died at Berlin. He was a simple-minded man of military tastes. Living in the full light of the nineteenth century, he still believed in the divine right of kings. He had the good judgment to surround himself with such excellent counselors as Bismarck and Moltke, and to trust their wisdom. Though not a great man, he thus came to be a great sovereign. His only son succeeded him on the throne as Emperor Frederick III. The policy he intended to adopt during his reign was explained in a letter dated March 12, and addressed to Prince Bismarck. The contents of this letter put Bismarck in a bad humor. By the leaders of the Liberal party it was held to foreshadow a more liberal system of administration than that which had been hitherto pursued. The Emperor however, had little opportunity to