tions in that part of the City through which the Queen passed were profuse, and frequent were the various expressions of welcome on the flags and triumphal arches.

At the Hospital, Her Majesty was received by the Duke of Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Home Secretary, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, and the vicepresidents, the treasurer, and the other governors of the institution. A procession was then formed, and the Queen was conducted through two of the wards of the new "Grocers' Company's Wing" to the pavilion, in which a chair of state had been placed on the centre of the platform. Immediately on the entry of the Royal party the National Anthem was sung by the choir, under the direction of Mr. Lawler, accompanied on a harmonium by Mr. C. S. Jekyll. The address of the governors was then presented to Her Majesty by the Duke of Cambridge, as president, and in this document special stress was laid upon the almost unparalleled response which had been made to the appeal for funds for the enlargement of the building, resulting in a subscription of 90,000l., of which 20,000l. had been presented by the Grocers' Company, in acknowledgment of whose gift the wing had been named after the company. Her Majesty then made a gracious reply, in which she said: "Situated as the London Hospital is, in the midst of the poorest classes of the metropolis, the addition of a wing was an event of very great importance to the sick and suffering of its neighbourhood; and when I remember that instead of the 800 beds which this hospital will now contain adequate provision did not exist for 400 patients previous to the opening of the Alexandra Wing by the Prince and Princess of Wales less than twelve years since, I sincerely congratulate His Royal Highness the President, the governors, and the staff of so eminently successful an institution on the completion of this further proof of their zeal and efficiency. It has given me great pleasure to visit the East End of London, and I shall always remember with much satisfaction that I was enabled to open the Grocers' Company's Wing of the London Hospital."

The Bishop of London having offered prayer, a hymn, written by Mr. Barrett to a chorale composed by the late Prince Consort, was next sung; and then Mr. Cross, stepping forward, said, very loudly and distinctly," By command of Her Most Gracious Majesty, I have now to declare the Grocers' Company's Wing to be open." The Archbishop of Canterbury solemnly pronounced the Benediction, and after a short pause the Queen withdrew. Her Majesty afterwards visited some of the hospital wards, and spoke a few kindly words to the inmates, especially in the children's ward.

9. THE STATUE OF THE PRINCE CONSORT in the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park was unveiled this day, without any public formality. Sir Thomas Biddulph, however, was present on behalf of the Queen. The statue, which was the work of the late lamented sculptor Foley, is of colossal size; the Prince is repre

sented seated, dressed in the robes of the Order of the Garter, and bareheaded. The figure, as well as the chair and plinth on which it is placed, is gilded, and rests on a stone sarcophagus.

FUNERAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.-The funeral of Lady Augusta Stanley, the lamented wife of the Dean of Westminster, took place at noon the same day, in Westminster Abbey, in the presence of a large and distinguished concourse of mourning friends and sympathisers. The remains were interred in the chapel of Henry VII., beside the monument to the Duke of Montpensier. Among those present were Her Majesty, who had been on terms of close friendship with the deceased lady, Princess Beatrice, Princess Christian, and Princess Louise.

PRESENTATION TO LORD COCKBURN.-The freedom of the City of London was presented on March 9 to the Lord Chief Justice of England, Sir Alexander Cockburn, before a numerous company of the Common Council and their friends in the Guildhall. The Lord Mayor presided, and the City Chamberlain made the presentation in an appropriate speech. The freeman's ticket was contained in a gold casket ornamented in enamel with the arms of the City and of the distinguished recipient, and engraved with an inscription setting forth the resolution of the Council. The Lord Chief Justice said he accepted the gift as a testimony to the impartiality of the Judges. He spoke of the great and salutary improvement effected by the Judicature Acts, and dwelt at some length on the codification of our laws, which is the next great work of law reform before the country. In conclusion, he expressed his satisfaction that in the "Alabama" arbitration he had succeeded, at any rate, in vindicating the honour of this country.

DUTCH OYSTERS AND "NATIVES.”—Some revelations respecting the naturalisation of aliens, which are calculated to surprise the oyster-eating community, were made in a case which came before Mr. Recorder West, at the Manchester Quarter Sessions, involving a charge of theft against one Charles Smith. The prisoner was employed as oysterman at "The Manchester (Limited)," a restaurant below the Royal Exchange. On January 18 he got 4. from the cashier to buy oysters, but absconded with the money. On his apprehension, a month later, at Harrogate, he denied the theft, and said he had left the place because he was disgusted at having to supply Dutch oysters as natives. The cashier and the manager of the restaurant admitted, under crossexamination, that it was the practice to put Dutch oysters into native shells and sell them under the pretence that they were native oysters. The profit on Dutch oysters was large, while that on natives was small, and oysters of the former class placed on native shells in the lower part of the premises made the customers think they were getting large natives. This trick, the manager stated, was not known to the directors. He was the responsible person, and "kept it quiet." It was done at the suggestion of the risoner. The prisoner was found guilty, and was sent to gaol for

six months. In passing sentence the Recorder expressed a hope that such tricks as the one which had been revealed were not universal.

13. FANCY DRESS BALL AT DUBLIN.--The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Duke of Abercorn, and his daughter, Lady Georgiana Hamilton (the Duchess being unfortunately absent from ill-health), gave a grand fancy dress ball this evening at Dublin Castle. Never has the Viceregal Court beheld a more splendid entertainment. The scene in St. Patrick's Hall was beautiful, as well as curious and suggestive of many interesting historical or romantic incidents. The Duke of Abercorn appeared as King Charles I., in a black velvet suit, slouched Flemish hat with red plume, short Cavalier cloak thrown over the left shoulder, baldric or sword-belt, high-heeled shoes with rosettes, and collar of Vandyke lace, with the blue ribbon and badge of the Garter, the star of St. George in diamonds, and a dazzling show of the same precious stones upon different parts of his dress. Lady Georgiana Hamilton, in the character of Elizabeth of Austria, Queen of Charles IX. of France, wore a white satin dress embroidered with gold, and a ruby velvet corsage trimmed with bands of gold, and ornamented with emeralds, pearls, and sapphires, set in large gold links, with a golden veil pendent from the head-dress. Following the Duke of Abercorn and his daughter were two pages of honour, Lord Athlumney and Master Peter Burke, in a blue Cavalier dress; next came the members of his Grace's family and guests; Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, arrayed in the splendid tabard or state robe of his office, and, after him, the officers and ladies of the household.

The ball was opened with a Shakspearian, Waverley, and Venetian quadrille, danced simultaneously by representatives of well-known characters from the works of the two authors, and a party of ladies and gentlemen in the costly costume of Venice. What had been expected to be the novelty of the evening then came on-Lady Michell's quadrille called the "Eastern Question." There has been a great deal of talk lately about the East, and public attention has been much turned that way; but it has apparently not struck anyone before to convert the matter into a quadrille, to introduce the Suez Canal as a young lady, and to point out the advantages of the purchase of the Key to India by a dance. The dress intended to represent "the Suez Canal," worn by Mrs. Adair, is described as follows:--A head-dress of Egyptian fashion, formed of pearl and turquoise beads, with a tiara of diamonds; a long flowing robe of rich cloth of gold, to represent the Desert, traversed by wavy bends of azure satin, embroidered with pearls, to typify the blue waves of the Mediterranean passing through the sands of the Desert and bearing the wealth of the Indies; a red satin under-skirt embroidered with Egyptian designs, to represent the Red Sea; the corsage of blue satin, to represent the Mediterranean Sea, girdled with roses and lilies, for

England and France; the neck and arms covered with Egyptian jewels; and a long flowing veil, enveloping the whole figure, of tissue of gold, like a cloud of gold-dust. At her girdle was a

golden key, with a label attached, "Suez Canal, four millions; " in her hand was a long wand fan, composed of ostrich feathers. A second lady appeared as "the Neva," another as "the Mediterranean," and a fourth as "Constantinople." The ball was in

every respect a brilliant success.

THE PRINCE OF WALES'S VISIT TO INDIA came to a conclusion on March 13, having been throughout signally successful. We will briefly mention the principal points of interest since his Royal Highness left Calcutta at the beginning of the year. The ceremonial part of the journey was pretty well completed in that city, which the Prince quitted on January 3, reaching Benares the following day. Here a state visit was paid to the Rajah, at his splendid castle two miles up the Ganges. On the 6th the Prince proceeded to Lucknow, where he laid the foundation-stone of a memorial of the native defence of the Residency during the Mutiny of 1857. The survivors of the gallant band were passed in review before the Prince. At a pig-sticking expedition which took place a few days later, one of the royal party, Lord Carington, met with a serious accident, a boar running right under his horse, which fell heavily. Lord Carington's collar-bone was broken, but as Dr. Fayrer was happily close at hand, it was promptly set, and did not leave any disastrous results. Delhi was next visited, where the Prince held a grand review on the 12th. The following week found him at Lahore, from whence his Royal Highness paid a visit of four days to the Maharajah of Cashmere, at Jummoo. At Wuzeerabad, on his way to Agra, the Prince performed the ceremony of completing and opening the "Alexandra" bridge of the Punjaub Northern State Railway.

At Agra, where he was received by Sir John Strachey, Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces, the Prince stayed during several days, and was enabled to visit Gwalior, the capital of that great Mahratta Prince the Maharajah Scindia, whom he had met both at Bombay and at Calcutta. The Maharajah met his Royal Highness several miles from the city, the route to which was lined by Scindia's picked troops. The Prince also visited the Maharajah of Jeypore, who entertained him with a tiger hunt, at which his Royal Highness shot his first tiger. The Prince's principal tiger hunting took place in the Terai, a forest country of Nepaul, where, from February 20 to March 5, he was the guest of Sir Salar Jung Bahadoor, the actual ruler of the country, and prime minister to the youthful Maharajah of Nepaul. The fortnight was filled up with exciting and successful sport.

On March 5 the Prince returned to British territory, and was received at Allahabad by the retiring Viceroy and Sir John Strachey. A visit was paid to Holkar, the Rajah of Indore; and on the 11th the Prince reached Bombay, from which he had

started four months previously on his most successful journey round India. The final leave-taking was deferred to the 13th, when the farewell address from Bombay was presented to the Prince of Wales on board the "Serapis." At 1 o'clock Governor Wodehouse and his staff, Admiral Macdonald, and General Staveley came on board and lunched with the Prince. The "Serapis," amid a general salute from thirteen ships-of-war, sailed at four o'clock. She was followed by the "Raleigh," the "Osborne," and the "Rifleman" for shore despatches.

THE SUGDEN WILL CASE.-This curious case, a report of which was given in our "Remarkable Trials" for 1875, has been again brought forward before the Court of Appeal. The facts of the case were these:-On January 13, 1870, the late Lord St. Leonards executed a will, in addition to a previous will made by him in 1867, and between January 1870 and August 1873 he also executed at various periods eight codicils. These instruments, which were all holograph, were deposited in a despatch-box, the key of which was in his possession, and which was ordinarily kept in a sitting-room on the ground-floor, except for a period of time when he was confined to his room from illness, when it remained in the keeping of his daughter, the Hon. Charlotte Sugden, who lived with him at Boyle Farm, Surrey. At the death of Lord St. Leonards, in January 1875, the will of January 1870 was not to be found, although the eight codicils were still in the box. At the suggestion of the family solicitor, the Hon. Charlotte Sugden, who had often read over the will and was perfectly acquainted with her father's testamentary intentions, sat down and at once wrote out from memory, without referring to the codicils, the contents of the missing will. The statement was in all material particulars confirmed by the codicils and by declarations of the testator and certain testamentary memoranda in his own handwriting. Judgment was given by Sir James Hannen, in the Probate Court, in favour of Miss Charlotte Sugden, and this judgment has now been confirmed by the Lord Chief Justice and other judges in the Court of Appeal.

CHARITABLE DONATION.-An important addition to the charities of Birmingham is announced by the publication of a trust created by the late William Dudley, jewellers' factor and merchant, of Birmingham, residence Birch Hall, Hall Green. By a deed executed in May of last year, but only now made public, Mr. Dudley vested in certain trustees a sum of 100,000l., to be raised exclusively out of his personal estate, and to be applied in the manner directed to the following charitable purposes:-First, the assistance of young tradesmen of Birmingham of good character but narrow means, by lending them out of the capital and income moderate sums of money at low interest on approved security; secondly, the relief of aged and necessitous tradesmen of the town who should never have received parochial aid, by annual or other grants out of income only; and, thirdly, the distribution of any surplus