NOTES FROM HOME.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1908, 17 September 1874, Page 3

NOTES FROM HOME.

PABLIAMENTARY. JTOTES. The doings of Parliament during the past month have, with one or two excepttions, been unmarked by anything of peculiar interest or importance. Among the exceptions is the rejection of the second reading of Mr Plimsolls Merchant Shipping Survey Bill by the narrow majority of three votes — 173 against 170, these figures making it appear that only half the House were present at the division on this important question. The Press generally seems to think that the majority took the proper view of the course to be adopted, and that Mr Plimboll's cause has not in any way suffered by the defeat of his Bill. The Royal Commission on Unseaworthy Ships, ap r pointed through the exertions of Mr Plimsoll, have just issued their final report. It is anything but a satisfactory or conclusive document. It expresses the opinion that an Act of Parliament enforcing the adoption of any scale of freeboard would be mischeivous, but recomends that every merchant vessel should have marked upon both her sides a vertical scale of feet, from her main deck downwards. The Commissioners regret they cannot prescribe any universal rule for the safe loading of merchant ships. They also think it unwise to entirely prohibit the carrying of deck cargoes, but recommend that whenever a deck cargo is carried its quantity and character should be stated in the log. The Commissioners also deem it inexpedient to alter the existing state of matters respecting the survey of ships, but they advocate the abolition of present system of compulsory pilotage. They think there is no deficiency in the manning of vessels, but they state that the evidence taken discloses the facts that the masters of ships have not now, as they formerly had, sufficient control over their men, and they require greater punitive powers. The : Commissioners likewise advocate the! revision of the insurance laws. The general tenor of the report is that it is inadvisable to transfer responsibility from the shipowner to the Government ; and thatj the Board of Trade should confine its interference to ascertaining that shipowners keep their vessels in seaworthy condition. The principle debate of the month however, was that on the Home Rule question. It lasted over two nights, und if it was not particularly instructive, it was by by no means devoid of amusement, owing to the eagerness of the Irish members to enact the roles of the JKil-

kenny cats. The O'Donogue, in particular, was made to feel how good an opportunity he" had given his enemies to triumph through having written a book, or rather pamphlet, some years ago, and some quotations from which caused him no little chagrin. Two or three of the Irish members, moreover, to the no small i diversion of the House, told tales out of school regarding the authorship of certain articles, &c, in the Irish " national " newspapers. Sir Patrick O'Brien was j the victim of a malicious reporter or compositor. He declared. Avith pride that he ! belonged to "the Latin race," and next morning one of the papers made him say that he belonged to "a ratting race." Amid the roars of the House, also, Sir Patrick retorted to a member who was beseeching him in a friendly way to stop his extraordinary oration, in the words " You're a fool." At length two of Sir Patrick's friends boldly seized him by the coat-tails and literally pulled him back to his seat, while the House rang again with the laughter of honourable members. As a contrast to this lively speech was that of the. Marquis of Harington, who speedily sent the House to sleep. On all sides members were to be seen wrapped in happy slumber, and Mr Disraeli was the only Minister who managed to resist the soporific influence ; but the Marquis went on all the same. He heard himself talking, and was happy. The debate concluded in the defeat of the motion by 459 votes to 61. On another night a lively debate took place on the affairs of the Gold Coast. Its principal feature was a witty speech by Sir Wilfrid Lawson, of Permissive Bill fame, who expressed the contradictory hopes— amid the laughter of the House — that the new Governor of the Gold Coast would be a teetotaller, and that the Government, if they wished to civilise the natives, would introduce champagne among them. The debate waa consideiably shortened by the proceedings of Alderman M 'Arthur, who got up to make a speech after having duly provided himself with a sheaf of extracts and a succession of glasses of water. He was literally howled down, the House being alarmed by the magnitude of his preparation, and the speeches after his were both few and short. THE CARLIST WAR. Owing to the scarcity of exciting news, the contest now going on in Spain between the Carlists and Republicans has been creating considerable interest in this country. The operations culminated in a grand battle on the 27th and ,28th of June. The Republican commander, Marshal Concha, had, by a series of skillful movements, hemmed in the Carlists near Estella, in Biscay, until they were fairly at bay, and obliged to make a desperate effort to burst the daily harrowing cordon that enclosed them. Accordingly, on the days named, the fighting, which had been more or less sustained for two days previous, became very warm. On the 28th the crisis of the battle occurred, and Marshal Concha, seeing his men begining to give away, placed himself at their head with all the fire and impetuosity of youth, although in his 80th year, and led them on in person, encouraging them both by word and gesture. While thus engaged the gallant old man was shot in the breast, and died almost immediately, his last words being — " I die in the van of the army." In consequence of his fall the Republican troops fell back, leaving the Carlists victors in the four days' conflict. The losses on both sides were very considerable, that of the Republicans alone being estimated at between 3000 and 4000. Their most severe loss, however, was the death of iheir leader, who was by far the most capable general the war has yet produced, and whose operations had gained the approbation of skilled judges in other countries. The Marshal's body was embalmed and sent to Madrid, where he received a public funeral. His death has caused widespread regret in Republican Spain. A bad feature of this seemingly interminable war is the savage way in which the prisoners are treated. It appears to be now beyond denial that after the battle of Estella the Carlists treated the wounded men who fell into their hands in the most barbarous and inhuman .manner, cutting off their noses and ears, and sticking their heads on poles. This is no new feature, unfortunately, for in the Carlist war of 1835 atrocities of a similar character were perpetrated by the Carlists upon their prisoners, especially when these belonged to foreign nations. NEW EXPEDITION OF MR H. M. STANLEY, j Mr Stanley, who first achieved distinction by the discovery of Dr Livingstone, is about to undertake another, and, in some respects even more difficult, expedition. His old journal, the ".New York Herald," and its London exemplar, the "Daily Telegraph," have joined their forces, and have resolved to send Mr Stanley out to Zanzibar, to prosecute enquiries into the manner in which the now notorious East African slave trade is carried on. He is also to be despatched, in the modest words of the Telegraph, with the object " of pursuing to fulfilment the magnificent discoveries of the great explorer, Dr Livingstone, and of completing, if posssible, the remaining problems of Central African geography." To en- | able him. to carry oat this ambitious programme, the expedition under Mr Stan--1 )ey'a commanA is to be fitted out in the moat thorugh. manner, "without regard to expense, while no limit is given to the length of time during which it will prosecute its researches. There is thus every prospect of Dr Livingstone's work being taken in hand by .an experienced and energetic successor, under: whose direction some important and interesting results are likely to be arrived at. It is well known that the slave trade is conducted on this coast in a particularly brutal manner, and also that the treaty for its suppression negotiated with the Sultan of Zanzibar by Sir Bartle Frere has not effected the results expected from it. It is more than suspected, moreover, that both the Sultan and the other leading inhabitants of Zanzibar, Europeans as well as Arabs, are directly concerned in the maintenance of the traffic. Mr Stanley has therefore a dangerous as well as difficult task before him. The fitting out of an expedition like this, for so great a purpose and at so large an outlay, is a striking evidence of the increasing influence of journalism. Should the expedition be in any degree a success, it is probable that it will prove but the precursor of others by which humanity and science cannot fail to be largely benefited. THE MORDAUNT DIVORCE CASE. This case, which caused so much sensation a few years ago through the Prince

of Wales being summoned as one of the co-respondents, is about to he again brought before the Divorce Court It may be remembered that when the citations were served on Lady Mordnunt, a year previous, she wa-;, nnd still continued, in a state of mental incapacity which rendered her unfit to give proper instructions for her defence. In June, 1870, the case was heard by the full Court, which held— the Lord Chief Baron dissenting — that Lady Mordaunt's insanity was a bar to further proceedings. Sir Charles Mordaunt then appealed to the House of Lords, which was assisted by several of the Common Law Judges. The judgment of this tribunal has at length been delivered by Lord Chelmsford and Hatherly, and it reverses the decision of the Court below. Sir Charles will therefore be able to have the divorce case tried. During the time the case has been pending Lady Mordaunt has been in confinement in an asylum for the insane. Public curiosity is already again on the gui vive regarding this remarkable case. COMICAL BREACH OK PROMISE CASE. An action for breach of promise of mar riage heard a few days ago before the Court of Common Pleas, was very fully reported in the London papers, and appears to have given rise to considerable merriment among the spectators. Its pecularity consisted in the usual position of affairs being reversed, the gentleman being the plaintiff, and the lady the defendant. The plaintiff was a commercial traveller named Priest, residing at Birmingham, and the defendant was a Miss Godden, who resided in Devonshire. From the letters read in Court it appeared that the lady was at first warm in her attachment, even going so far as to sign herself " Your darling wife ;" but after her father came into considerable property her affection cooled, though she refused to accede to a proposal made to her by the plaintiff that the match should be broken off, in consequence of the disparity of their circumstances. Her subsequent refusal, however, to fulfil her engagement, was declared by the plaintiff to have seriously affected his health, and his crossexamination on this point was very amusing. The most amusing remark of all was made by the lady's father, who convulsed the Court by saying that his daughter was not strong enough to be married, and that •" she was only half a child ; she was a twin." The laughter of the spectators was renewed when the Judge (Lord Coleridge) said that "he could hardly agree that a twin was ' half a child."' In summing up the Judge somewhat pointedly said that "there were many things that a man had a legal right to do that it woxild be by no means right he should do," and this remark probably greatly influenced the jury in their decision, which was that the plaintiff was entitled to receive one farthing as damages.