of his birth.  The Centenary of the Protestant Dissenting Charity Schools was worthily celebrated by the raising of a special sum amounting to L1,305, as an addition to the funds.  In January, 1859, Robert Burns’ anniversary was remembered by the holding a supper in Aston Hall, at which only half-a-dozen Scotchmen were present out of half-a-hundred guests.  The Dissenting Ministers of this and the neighbouring counties, who, for a hundred years, have met together once a month, celebrated the event by a quiet luncheon-dinner, December 13, 1882.  The Tercentenary of the Free Grammar School was celebrated with learned speeches April 16, 1852; that of Good Queen Bess, by a public prayer meeting, November 16, 1858; and that of Shakespeare, April 23, 1864, by the founding of a Shakespeare Memorial Library.  The thousandth anniversary of Alfred the Great, October 29, 1849, was made much of by the Political Knowledge Association, which had not been in existence it thousand days.  The fact of John Bright being M.P. for Birmingham for a quarter of a century, was celebrated in June, 1883, by the Liberal Association, who got up a “monster” procession in imitation of the celebrated Attwood procession of the old days of Reform.  The holiday was most thoroughly enjoyed by the public generally, and immense numbers of people thronged the streets to hear the bands and see what was to be seen.

Chamberlain Memorial.—­See “Statues,” &c.

Chamber of Commerce.—­In 1783 there was a “Standing General Commercial Committee,” composed of the leading merchants and Manufacturers, who undertook the duty of looking after the public interests of the town (not forgetting their own peculiarly private ditto).  That they were not so Liberal as their compeers of to-day may be gathered from the fact of their strongly opposing the exportation of brass, and on no account permitting a workman to go abroad.

Chamber of Manufacturers.—­When Pitt, in 1784, proposed to tax coal, iron, copper, and other raw materials, he encountered a strong opposition from the manufacturers, prominent among whom were Boulton (Soho), Wilkinson (Bradley), and Wedgwood (Potteries), who formed a “Chamber,” the first meeting of which was held here in February, 1785.  The Minister was induced to alter his mind.

Chandeliers.—­Many beautiful works of art have been manufactured in this town, which, though the wonder and admiration of strangers, receive but faint notice here, and find no record except in the newspaper of the day or a work like the present.  Among such may be ranked the superb brass chandelier which Mr. R.W.  Winfield sent to Osborne in 1853 for Her Majesty, the Queen.  Designed in the Italian style, this fine specimen of the brassworkers’ skill, relieved by burnishing and light matted work, ornamented with figures of Peace, Plenty, and Love in purest Parian, masks of female faces typical of night, and otherwise decorated in the richest manner,