OCCURRENCES DURING PRINTING.

Commons, House of.-Holland, Rt. Hon. Sir H. T., Bart., Colonial Secretary, appointed an Ecclesiastical Commissioner of England, February 1887.

Commons, Officers of House of.-Sir J. T. Buller Duckworth, Bart., one of the Referees of Private Bills resigned, February 1887.

Bye-Elections.-Longford (North Div.). On Mr. J. McCarthy (Par.), who had been returned for this division, being declared to be also the sitting member for Londonderry, and electing to sit for the latter, Mr. T. M. Healy (Par.), was returned unopposed (February 5th, 1887).

The death of Mr. Adolphus W. Moore, C.B. (February 2nd, 1887), leaves the office of Secretary to the Political and Secret Department of the India Office vacant.

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SOIMUL OROTATS GADU

Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.

EDITOR'S PREFACE

IN N submitting to the public this, the 1887 edition of HAZELL'S ANNUAL CYCLOPÆDIA, the Editor takes the opportunity to thank the Press, and the public generally, for the encouraging reception accorded to the work on its first appearance.

A casual glance will show this edition is not a simple reprint of last year's; but that besides nearly 100 extra pages of matter, the greater part of the remainder is entirely new, or has been re-written as the course of events demanded. In brief, no effort or expense has been spared to render it as complete as possible. Care has been taken to supply omissions and to correct errors, which in a first edition are almost inevitable; and it will be found that a considerable advance has been made to the aim kept steadily in view-that it shall be both up to date and absolutely reliable.

The majority of the articles have either been supplied or subjected to the supervision of the highest authorities on the questions with which they deal, and in most cases the information has been promptly and courteously supplied. The particulars relating to the Peers and Commons have been in the great majority of instances personally supervised and corrected.

The Parliamentary and biographical lists and notices, including the Peerage and the Privy Council, have been arranged on a new system, giving the essential information at a glance. All subjects have been brought up to date, as nearly as possible to February ist; and especial prominence has been given to such subjects as the Queen's Jubilee, the Colonies, Tithes, Ireland, Irish Evictions, the Imperial Institute, the proposed Church House, Parliamentary Procedure, with the proposed New Rules, Diplomatic information, etc. There will also be found a variety of new subjects of social and parliamentary interest, containing much information that is novel, and in some instances not usually accessible. In fact, the original idea of providing a Companion to the Newspaper and Cyclopædia of Current Topics has been steadily kept in view.

The desirability of confining the book to a convenient, handy size, has led to the omission of some matters of minor moment, but it is hoped that no subject of vital importance has escaped notice, while the utmost

compression wherever possible has enabled subjects of more than usual interest to be treated at adequate length. In cases where the subject would exceed the available space, or has sunk into comparative unimportance during the year, reference is made to its position in the edition of 1886.

A word of explanation as to the scope of the book may be of service, to remove ambiguity. The purpose of the work is to supply information on topics of current public interest, these being each year brought up to date, or excised if they have become obsolete during that period. The Cyclopædia does not profess to be a princely classical dictionary, a compendium of antiquities, or a précis of geography: such topics being only treated if they are to the front at the present moment. All subjets which would naturally suggest themselves as belonging to the hour will be found dealt with, especial prominence being given to those which bear upon the political, social, and educational welfare of the state.

The Editor takes this opportunity of expressing his sincere thanks to those gentlemen whose kind co-operation has so greatly assisted his labours. Especially is this recognition due to Mr. Gilbert Venables, Mr. A. E. Fletcher, Mr. S. J. Fisher, and Mr. W. De Lisle Hay, for their valuable aid in the necessary revision and recasting of much of the book.

The public are invited to point out any error that may have escaped notice, or any omission that it may seem desirable to supply, and to communicate the same to the Editor.

February 5th, 1887.

E. D. PRICE.

Resignation of the Italian Ministry.

Death of Mr. Peter Rylands, M.P.

Publication of important Parliamentary Papers on Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia.
Socialist Riot at Clerkenwell, and Mining Riots in Scotland. February 8th, 1887.

taken out of the possession and against the will of her father and mother or any other person having the lawful charge of her, with intent that she should be unlawfully and carnally known by any man, any girl under the age of eighteen, and so to take or cause to be taken, no matter with what intent, any unmarried girl under the age of sixteen years, are crimes each rendering the offender liable to two years' imprisonment with hard labour. This offence in Scotch criminal law is termed Plagium. The abduction of a man is called Kidnapping. (See Sir James Stephen's "Digest of the Criminal Law," Articles 261 and 262, and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, § 7.).

reside. The evil of absentee landlords has been especially felt in Ireland, and absentees have been denounced in the literature of the Irish Land Question for successive generations, and proposals made to abate the evil. They are mentioned with great severity by Swift in his seventh "Drapier's Letter," and in his "Short View of the State of Ireland"; and in the latter it is stated that one-third of the rents of Ireland were spent in England. Bishop Berkeley also denounces them in his "Querist." In 1730 a list of absentees was published in Dublin and London, and the money annually spent abroad was estimated at £621,499 38. Id. In 1769 a list published in Abd-ul-Hamid II., Sultan of Turkey. Is the Dublin fixes this sum at 1,208,982 14s. 6d. fourth son of Abd-ul-Medjid; b. August 6th, 1842. The author of "Commercial Restraints" says He was proclaimed Sultan in succession to his that between 1768 and 1773 the sum transmitted brother Murad V., who was deposed in conse-in rents from Ireland to England was £1,100,000 quence of his mental incapacity (August 31st, 1876). Under the rule of Abd-ul-Hamid the Ottoman Empire has experienced reverses through her last war with Russia. The results of that conflict, which led to the Treaty of

yearly. In 1773 the Viceroy, Lord Harcourt,
had a bill introduced in the Irish parliament
fixing a tax of 2s. in the £ on absentees; and it
was only rejected by 122 votes to 102.
Mr. Molyneux proposed an absentee tax,

In 1

He imprisoned Englishmen, and a force under Lord Napier was sent to chastise him. It reached the fortress of Magdala, where a decisive battle was fought (1868), resulting in Theodore's defeat and suicide. Prince Kasa, of Tigre, then obtained British assistance, and now, Johannes II., rules over Tigré and Amhara. Shoa is virtually independent, under King Menelek, who has entered into some relations with European governments. A French embassy and Italian explorers have been warmly received by him. During the Soudan campaign Admiral Hewitt and others visited King Johannes, and an understanding between him and the British Government was arrived at. 601,072 1,048,347 He sent an army under General Ras Aloula to the relief of Kassala. A battle was fought at Kufeit, Sept. 23rd, 1885, when Osman Digma's army was broken up by the Abyssinian forces. It was reported, Jan. 25th, 1887, that the Abyssinians had attacked Massowah, but had been defeated. The event may possibly lead to complications between Italy and Abyssinia. (Consult De Cosson's "Abyssinia.") Acadia. The name of Nova Scotia while it remained a French colony.