A POLITICAL JOKE.

West Coast Times, Issue 3055, 18 January 1879, Page 3

A POLITICAL JOKE.

Our telegrams have already contained mention of an amusing parody on the Victorian embassy to England, which seems to have been carried rather far, with the result that the perpetrators of the joke were quietly sat npon Vy the Government. From the Argus we take particulars of the farce, which has been amusing the opponents of Mr Berry, and helping to cover Victorian politics with a little mor ridicule : — On December 19th a meeting was held at the Reform Club Hotel, Elizabeth street, attended by about 100 persons, by whom evidently the projected embassy to England was regarded as a huge joke. This meeting selected Mr Daniel Henderson, better known as a liberal agitator under the title of Henderson Afrioanus, as a fitting colleague of Messrs Berry and Pearson on their mission to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Resolutions were passed declaring that it was desirable that a third ( ambassador ' should be accredited, and in recognition of the zealous, able, and consistent services rendered by Mr Henderson to the liberal cause, he was requested to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy. A proposal was also made that « deputation should wait on the Chief Secretary, requesting him to appropriate a third of the £5000 vote to defray the expensed of Mr Henderson, and in the event of his non-compliance it was determined that the cost of Mr Henderson's mission should be defrayed by public subscription. Allusion was made by several of the speakers to the fear that some might be inclined to sneer at the hue of the third 'ambassador,' but tit the same time a strong conviction was expressed that aa a liberal and consistent politician, and one who had not been compensated at the expense of the country for the ' sacrifices' he had made, Mr Henderson, would compare favorably with bis coadjutors. Mr Henderson, with a portentous seriousness, indicated his gratification at the compliment conferred upon him. He stated that he would be proud to go as a delegate to England to represent the true voice ot the people, and to convince the Secretary of State of the real position of the constitutional difficulty. Mr Henderson declared also that, holding as he did that the £5000 vote for the embassy was unconstitutional, he must conscientiously decline to touch one penny of that money. While the Ministry embassy and its supporters were revelling; in the Town Hall on the evening of December 20th, a small party were entertaining Mr Daniel Henderson (Africanus), at 'a complimentary banquet,' at Hockin's Hotel. At this latter feast about 200 persons were present, A merry evening was passed, the company enjoying the joke immensely. The chairman read, and signed, a commission prepared on parchment, authorising, on behalf of the meeting, Mr Henderson 'to go to Europe with his two colleagues to give expression to their views.' The vice-chairman, in proposing the toast of the evening, namely, the ' Health of Mr Henderson and a Brilliant Success to his great Mission,' observed that Mr Henderson was rather highly coloured, but that the hue of his skin had been burnt in by solar fires, and had not been applied with a tar-brasb! The toast was enthusiastically drunk, and Mr Henderson, in replying, stated that the miserable embassy business of the Government had been concoc ed in secret conclave, with the assistance of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, who was to have been one of the ambassadors, and whose place he (Mr Henderson) was to take. He denounced the ( hief Secretary in bitter terms for having chosen as his fellow-ambassador Professor Pearson, who, he said, was a mere apprentice in politics. Some persona thought he would not be able to obtain an interview with the Secretary of State for the Colonies. They had made a great mistake. He would have more than one way of obtaining an interview. When he got to England he would have no difficulty in showing that the two other ambassadors were frauds, and that the money for their expenses has been improperly filched from the State exchequer. He would draw up a memorandum for the perusal of the Lord High Chancellor and other dignitaries that would put Messrs Berry and Pearson completely out of court. It was a great mistake to suppose his opinions were worth nothing. He hoped young men would follow his good example, resist city blandishments, and spend more time at the Public Library. They would find therein bis book upon constitutional history with his photograph upon it. That said book would do them good. He trusted this would not be a mere joke. While delivering his speech, which we have considerably curtailed, Mr Henderson seemed to have not quite made up his mind as to whether he ought to treat the matter seriously or not. Sometimes he evidently looked at it from a iocular point of view, and at others he seemed to be in earnest.

Mr Spurgeon is the next man to be testimonialised. He has nearly completed a quarter of a century of his ministry in London. A man in New York, recently tried for bigamy, pleaded that he had married the second woman because the mother of the first had offended hub. The plea was not allowed, as it was felt by the Court that to admit it would open the door at once to universal polygamy. !