1874. End of the first Gladstone Ministry. Disraeli became premier. Capture of COOMASSIE, and termination of the Ashantee War. ANNEXATION OF THE FIJI ISLANDS. 1875. The postal union ratified. 1876. =The Queen proclaimed "Empress of India."= Disraeli created Earl of Beaconsfield. Purchase of the Khedive's share of the Suez Canal for £4,000,000. Terrible famine in Southern India. 1877. Lord Salisbury represented England at the Conference held at Constantinople to discuss the Eastern question. War between Russia and Turkey. 1878. The Berlin Congress on the Eastern question, at which England was represented by Lords Beaconsfield and Salisbury, brought to a successful issue. ~Treaty of Berlin.~ Cyprus ceded to England by Turkey. Shere Ali, of Cabul, having refused to receive a British ambassador, the SECOND AFGHAN WAR commenced (Sep.). Death of Prince Alice (Dec. 14). 1879. =War in Zululand.= The Prince Imperial (only son of the late Emperor Napoleon III.), who had accompanied the British troops, killed by Zulus. Cetewayo, the Zulu king, captured, and the war ended. Zululand divided among a number of chiefs subject to British rule. 1880. Dissolution of parliament. Mr. Gladstone became premier. _Burial Laws Amendment Act_ passed, permitting nonconformists to be buried in Church of England burial grounds, without the service of that church. The Speaker of the House of Commons invested with the power of the Closure. Rising of the Boers in the Transvaal. Abdul Rahman (nephew of Shere Ali) proclaimed Ameer of Cabul by the British: and end of the second Afghan war. 1881. Defeat of the British by the Boers at Majuba Hill. Assassination of Alexander II., Emperor of Russia. Death of Lord Beaconsfield. Irish Land Act passed, to improve the relations between landlord and tenant. 1882. Assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin. =English occupation of Egypt.= Alexandria bombarded. BATTLES OF KASSASSIN and TEL-EL-KEBIR. Arabi Pasha taken prisoner and sent into exile. 1883. =War in the Soudan.= Destruction by the Mahdi (leader of the rebels) of the army of Hicks Pasha. 1884. Continuance of the War in the Soudan. Defeat of the Mahdi at EL TEB. _REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT passed, which extended the household and lodger franchise of the boroughs to the counties, and added about 2-1/2 million voters._ 1885. Betrayal and assassination of General Gordon at Khartoum. Mr. Gladstone resigns the premiership, and is succeeded by Lord Salisbury. _Redistribution of Seats Act_ passed, by which the parliamentary representatives were increased from 658 to 670. Revised version of the Bible, the result of fourteen years' preparation, was published.