equer"
found instant favor. Among the women writers were Maria Edgeworth, Jane
Austen, and Elizabeth Barrett. Great strides were also made in science.
Shortly after the appearance of Whewell's "History of Inductive Sciences,"
the Ornithological and Electrical Societies were founded at London. The
principle of working clocks by electricity was advanced by Alexander Bain.
Wheatstone and Cooke invented the magnetic needle telegraph. Ericsson's new
screw steamer "Francis Bogden" was found to develop a speed of ten miles an
hour. John Upton patented his steam plow, and the first photographic prints
on paper were made by Fox Talbot.

[Sidenote: Macaulay joins Cabinet]

[Sidenote: Famine in India]

[Sidenote: Boers defeat Zulus]

When Parliament was reconvened, Lord Macaulay was added to the Cabinet. In
the northwestern provinces of East India a widespread famine, which cost
the lives of 8,000 natives, necessitated relief measures on a large scale.
In the midst of these troubles the death of the ruling King of Delhi caused
a vacancy, which was filled by Mahmoud Bahadour Shah, the last titular
Great Mogul under the protection of the British colonial government. In
South Africa some measure of home rule was accorded to Cape Colony by the
institution of a representative legislative council under a governor
appointed by the Crown. To the north of Cape Colony the Boer emigrants
carried on their war of revenge against the Zulus. In a fierce battle on
December 16, at Blood River, the Boers under Maritz and Potgieter utterly
defeated Dingaan's warriors. Pantah, the brother of Dingaan, became King of
the Zulus. The anniversary of this battle was ever after celebrated as a
holiday by the Boers. A settlement was founded in the conquered land, and
the first church was built on the site of Pietermaritzburg, named after the
Boer leaders.

[Sidenote: Canada restive]

[Sidenote: Papineau]

[Sidenote: The "family compact"]

On December 22, the British Parliament received the news of rebellion in
Lower Canada. The distress occasioned by the financial panic of this year
in the United States had spread to Canada. It found vent in agitation
against English rule on the part of the French Canadians. On the occasion
of the announcement of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne, when Te
Deums were sung in the churches, the French Canadians signified their
disapproval by walking out of church. Louis Joseph Papineau, Speaker of the
Lower Hou