the Great Green Room, for ever.' The anniversary was duly honoured this year, when Mr. Chatterton supplemented an additional cake and other good cheer. Mr. W. Bennet, the trustee of the fund, no longer gave 'The memory of David Garrick,' but the proper and original toast, 'The memory of Robert Baddeley.' This actor was the last who used to go down to the theatre in his uniform of scarlet and gold, worn by the patented players as 'Gentlemen of their Majesties' Household.""

The great The arrival in Melbourne of "the magnificent Melbourne telescope. reflector which is henceforth to be known as the Great Melbourne Telescope" is announced on the 27th of March. "Mr. Ellery, the Government Astronomer in Victoria, reports that a rectangular building, eighty feet by forty, with travelling roof, was in course of erection to lodge the instrument; and as it was to be finished in two months, we may believe that the telescope has been tried, and that the Colonial Legislature have not repented of their vote of 5,000l. to pay for it. That their liberality has not abated is manifest by their granting a further sum of 1,700l. to pay for the building." Mr. Le Sueur, the astronomer selected to work the telescope, was on the spot to receive it.

Sir C. Wentworth Dilke.

Sir Wentworth Dilke left London for St. Petersburg in the middle of April, where he had

been invited as the representative of England at the exhibition of the Russian Horticultural Societies. His health had been failing for some time, and it was hoped that the change of scene might prove beneficial. The day before leaving he called on Mr. Francis to say farewell, and left with him a plan of his arrangements extending to the 11th of June. On Sunday, the 10th of May, intelligence was brought of his alarming illness, and a telegram received on the Monday stated that he had died that day.at St. Petersburg. The following notice of him appeared in the Times on the 12th :—

"Much regret has been caused among a large circle of friends by the news, which reached London yesterday by telegraph from Russia, that Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke had died at St. Petersburg, after a short illness which unexpectedly proved fatal, at the age of fifty-eight. The late baronet, who was born in London in 1810, was the only son of the late Mr. Charles Wentworth Dilke, chief proprietor and at one time editor of the Athenæum newspaper, and subsequently the manager of the Daily News, and who died about eight years ago. His mother was Maria, daughter of Mr. E. Walker. He was educated at Westminster School, and subsequently at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he took his degrees in Law instead of Arts. In early life he was associated with the literary labours of his father, whom he largely aided by his cultivated tastes, his wide range of information, sound judgment, and habits of business. He was one of the earliest promoters of the first Great Exhibition, and, indeed, acted as

Obituary notice in the

Times.

His marriage.

Ashton W.
Dilke.

the leading member of the Executive Committee. The fact of his occupying such a position naturally brought Mr. Dilke into close and frequent contact with the late Prince Consort, who was much struck with the ability he displayed, and at whose suggestion the honour of knighthood was offered to him in recognition of his services. That honour, however, he declined; and with it refused all pecuniary remuneration, wishing his services to be purely honorary. Her Majesty, however, resolved that he should not be wholly unrewarded, sent to Mrs. Dilke a handsome diamond bracelet, which, no doubt, will become an heirloom in the Dilke family. Mr. Dilke was also associated with the second Great Exhibition as one of the five Royal Commissioners appointed by Her Majesty. It has always been understood also that the resuscitation of the Royal Horticultural Society of London has been in a very great measure due to his exertions as one of the most active of its vice-presidents. It will be remembered that almost immediately after the death of the Prince Consort Her Majesty was pleased to confer a baronetcy on Mr. Dilke in recognition of the Prince's friendship and personal regard for him. Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke sat in the last Parliament in the Liberal interest for Wallingford."

He married Mary, daughter of Capt. Chatfield, of the Madras Cavalry, who died in 1853, and by whom he left two sons, Charles Wentworth and Ashton Wentworth.* He was buried in the

* Mr. Ashton W. Dilke died at Algiers on Monday, the 12th of March, 1883. The notice which appears in the Athenæum on the following Saturday states that he was born in 1850. On leaving Cambridge he visited many parts of Russia and Central Asia. "On his return

family vault at Kensal Green on the 31st of May.

character.

Sir Wentworth Dilke was a man of goodly presence, with a frank and kindly face. He was His personal most warm-hearted, with a smile and kind word for all, while in his home life he was well described as "the best of sons, the best of husbands, and the best of fathers."

The first and second volumes of the Ballad Society's publications are noticed on the 22nd

to England in 1874 he wrote a large part of a work on 'The Russian Power,' which was intended to fill two stout volumes, but which he abandoned in consequence of the appearance, while he was still arranging his notes, of Mr. Mackenzie Wallace's book. The only portions of these notes which have been published are interesting accounts of his visit to the Caucasus in the summer of 1872, and of his experiences in Siberia during the early months of 1873, which were printed in the Fortnightly Review." He became proprietor of the Weekly Dispatch, which he also edited. In 1876 his health began to fail, and he had to spend two winters in Algiers, one of his pastimes during the second enforced holiday being the translation of Tourguénief's novel 'Virgin Soil.' Mr. Dilke was member for Newcastle-on-Tyne from 1880 until within a few weeks of his death. Mr. Dilke's personal qualities endeared him to all who knew him. "A sentence in one letter, which has been printed in the Daily News, however, reveals something of his character: 'Life must not be measured by years, and I have lived a great deal and very happily, and I have many good friends who will keep a nook in their memories for me.'"

The Ballad
Society.

The Chaucer of May, as well as the first issue of the Chaucer Society. Society. The review states: "The Chaucer Society have turned out work as good of its kind as the Ballad Society. The kind, however, is different. The work of the Ballad Society will be mainly historical; that of the Chaucer Society literary. The best of our old ballads, considered as songs and works of art, are in type; and what remain in manuscript are chiefly valuable as illustrating manners and modes of thought. The best of our Chaucer versions are not yet all in type; and the main purpose of the new Society is to collect from these unprinted sources the means of deciding on a more perfect text. What is now done is earnest of the work which remains behind."

Diary of Henry Crabb Robinson.

The 'Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson, Barrister-atLaw,' selected and edited by Thomas Sadler, is reviewed on the 26th of June: "The volumes which treat of him are, like himself when he was among us,-irresistible, to be attended to whether you will or no; and worth the attention, because brimful of anecdote, incident, learning, quaint talk, profound thought, sublime philosophy, childlike fun, bold speculation, and religious feeling, lovely in its conception and practice."

On the 17th of July it is stated that the