1868.

MR. GLADSTONE'S CABINET.

479

something like 120 in the new parliament. The only question therefore for ministers to consider was, whether they should meet parliament and undergo an inevitable defeat there, or bow to the feeling of the country and resign at once. This question was discussed at a cabinet-council held on Tuesday the 1st of December, and the conclusion to which it came was in favour of the latter alternative. It was a wise and proper decision, and saved time as well as the expenditure of much useless energy. Mr. Gladstone was sent for to form a new administration. Of course, after the result of the general election, he had little difficulty in executing the task confided to him, and it was soon announced that he had succeeded in forming a cabinet, which comprised:

The parliament elected under the new reform act was opened by royal commission on Thursday December the 10th. The first business done by the House of Commons was to reëlect the speaker. As the retirement of the late ministry had rendered a party struggle unnecessary, and as there was no business that urgently pressed for transaction, the swearing-in of members and other preliminary formalities having been gone through, and the motions rendered

necessary by the acceptance of office on the part of the new ministers having been duly made and carried, the house rose for the Christmas vacation.

A man who occupied a very prominent and important place in the history of England passed away on the 7th of May in the 90th year of his age, Henry Lord Brougham and Vaux: H. Brougham, as he continued to the last, in defiance of all etiquette, to sign himself. It is hardly possible for those who have not seen this extraordinary man in the days of his matured power to comprehend the strong energy, the indomitable perseverance, the indefatigable industry with which he laboured and fought against that tory domination which pressed so heavily on this country from the close of the war in 1815 to the end of 1830, or the audacity with which he braved the displeasure of the court of George IV. in defending his queen from the charges brought against her and the slights put upon her. These efforts won him the honour of representing the county of York, and made him one of the first men in the kingdom. When the vehement tribune of the people was suddenly transformed into lord high chancellor he discharged the duties of that high office with marvellous and unvarying diligence. But the atmosphere of the lower house was more congenial to his ardent temperament than the calm and quiet dignity of the upper chamber. And when he lost the chancellorship, he felt, and showed that he felt, his proper place was not that of a peer; displaying a restless and consuming energy that evidently felt the want of a fitting employment, and sometimes expended itself in ways that did not tend to elevate his character or raise his reputation. But the services that he had rendered during his younger days and when lord chancellor entitle him to the gratitude of his country, and have secured for him a prominent place in the history of the earlier portion of the nineteenth century.

1868.

THE ABERGELE CATASTROPHE.

481

Seldom perhaps has a more frightful accident happened in any country than that which occurred on the Chester and Holyhead railway, near Abergele, on the 19th of August in this year. The limited Irish mail, one of the swiftest trains in the kingdom, known to the people who lived near the line of railroad which it traversed by the name of the 'Wild Irishman,' was rushing up the slight incline between the Abergele and Llandulas stations at a speed of more than thirty miles an hour, when it met some wagons from a luggage-train which had been carelessly allowed to run down the incline. One of these wagons was loaded with barrels of petroleum. The violence of the collision that ensued broke the barrels, the vapour from the oil thus released reached the furnace of the locomotive, and in a moment the engine and the foremost carriages of the train were enveloped in a fierce flame which speedily reduced them and their occupants to ashes. The engine-driver, who had leaped from the train a moment before the collision, aided by the guard and some of the passengers, succeeded in uncoupling that part of the train that came from London and pushing it beyond the reach of the flames. But a composite carriage, two first-class carriages, a second-class carriage, and a luggage van were consumed, and all within them perished. Indeed, such was the intensity of the heat, and so suffocating the vapour emitted, that an hour elapsed before it was possible to approach them. No fewer than thirty-three persons perished by this terrible disaster.

After the first sensation of horror caused by this frightful intelligence had passed, men began to inquire who was to blame, and to demand a thorough and searching investigation of the causes of the accident.

It was found that a heavy luggage-train was due at the Llandulas station, and had to be shunted there only about a quarter of an hour before the Wild Irishman swept by like

VOL. III.

II

a whirlwind, and it was manifest that a little delay in labouring up the incline, a break-down of the panting and often overladen engine, or a mishap in the hasty shunting, were things which it ought to have been foreseen might at any time cause a frightful collision, which might be expected to be attended by a very serious loss of life. But at the Llandulas station the operation of shunting had to be done at the top of the incline, up which the Irish train might be rushing at the very moment the shunting was being performed, amidst the hurry and trepidation which the knowledge of the proximity of the train was calculated to produce.

When these facts became generally known, it was naturally asked: Ought not circumstances so likely to lead to fearful accidents to be avoided by allowing a longer interval between the trains? Ought there not to be the means of communicating with the preceding station by telegraph, so that in case of such a casualty as had occurred, the express-train might be stopped? Should not some special precautions be taken for the safe conveyance of a substance so inflammable as petroleum? The accident also drew attention to the practice of locking the doors of railway carriages—a practice long since denounced by Sidney Smith with his usual humour and ability, but which, in spite of all his wit and arguments, was still continued.

A few days after the accident the village of Abergele was the scene of a sad and solemn rite. The poor charred remnants of thirty-three bodies were committed to one grave in the humble churchyard. Though the persons who had so terribly perished were wholly unconnected with the village, and it was only by the accidental circumstance of the collision having occurred near the station that they were to be interred there, yet every token of sympathy and respect was displayed by the inhabitants. All the shops were closed, and a dead silence reigned throughout the neighbourhood.

1869.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE SESSION OF 1869.

483

A large number of the inhabitants followed the relatives and friends of the deceased to the grave, where the impressive service for the dead was duly performed over the ashes -literally the ashes-of those who had been plunged into eternity by this dreadful and memorable catastrophe.

A splendid harvest diffused plenty and contentment throughout the kingdom. The year was also rendered remarkable by the abolition of compulsory church-rates and of public executions.

The business of the session of 1869 commenced on Tuesday the 16th of February. The upper house, indeed, sat before that day, but only as a matter of form. The royal speech, read by the lord chancellor, contained the following reference to the proposed legislation on the subject of the Irish church: The ecclesiastical arrangements of Ireland will be brought under your consideration at a very early date; and the legislation which will be necessary in order to their final adjustment, will make the largest demands on the wisdom of parliament. I am persuaded that in the prosecution of the work you will bear a careful regard to every legitimate interest which it may involve; and that you will be governed by the constant aim to promote the welfare of religion through the principles of equal justice; to secure the action of undivided feeling and opinion in Ireland on the side of loyalty and the law; to efface the memory of former contentions, and to cherish the sympathies of an affectionate people.' Some unimportant criticisms were made on the speech; but the only remark that excited much interest or attention was the announcement made by Mr. Gladstone that he would introduce the government measure dealing with the question of the Irish church on the 1st of March.

A complaint of a somewhat unusual kind issued from the House of Lords. It was a cry for more work, raised by Lord