ory of the useful objects of the institution. The subscriptions
announced during the evening amounted to L2400. An important incident of
the year was the visit of the Shah of Persia to England and the splendid
entertainments given in honour of an Oriental Sovereign whose
friendliness was of serious import in the event of trouble between Great
Britain and Russia. The Prince of Wales devoted considerable time to the
task of welcoming and entertaining the Royal visitor and gave one great
banquet, in particular, at Marlborough House which was remarkable for
its effective magnificence.

A dinner was given on March 31st by the Lord Mayor of London to
Major-General Sir Garnet Wolseley--afterward Field Marshal, Viscount
Wolseley--on his return from the successful Ashantee expedition and the
Prince of Wales made a tactful speech on the occasion expressive of the
thanks of the nation for the services of officers and men in that
arduous campaign. On April 22nd the Prince presided over a dinner in aid
of the funds of the Royal Medical Benevolent Hospital. The leading men
of the profession were present and, after a speech from the Prince,
donations of L1780 were announced by the Secretary with the usual one
hundred guinea subscription from the Royal chairman. A different kind of
function was His Royal Highness' attendance at a dinner of the Benchers
of the Middle Temple on June 11th. The Master of the Temple, the Rev.
Dr. Vaughan, presided and others present were the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the Lord Chief Justice. The Prince, as a Bencher, wore
the silk gown of a Queen's Counsel as well as the riband of the Garter
and made a brief speech in which he expressed the modest opinion that it
was a good thing for the profession at large that he had never been
called to the Bar. On August 13th the new Municipal Buildings and Law
Courts at Plymouth were opened by the Prince after a formal reception at
the hands of the Mayor and a procession through the artistically
decorated and densely packed streets of the city.

FIRST STATE VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM

An interesting event of this year and one which created considerable
discussion and comment was the first state visit of the Prince and
Princess of Wales to Birmingham. For half a century that city had been a
centre of Radicalism, of extreme democratic opinion and, in earlier
days, of Chartist turbulence. The Mayor, in 1874, was Mr. Joseph
Chamberlain who was then noted for democratic view