THURSDAY. 13th JANUARY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VIII, Issue 415, 25 March 1881, Page 17

THURSDAY. 13th JANUARY.

The following is an abridgment of the Fall mall Gazette summary :—: — In the House of Commons the period of questions grows daily more interesting, and supplies nightly incidents of humour, passion, hot retort, and sharp personal encounter. Irish subjects, of coarse, form the burden of the discourse ; and every movement in the land war in Ireland is dogged by the Irish members with- relentless vigilance, and dragged before the House with untiring persistence. Mr, Healy has not forgotten that he was a short time ago on his trial under a WhiUboj Act; sad be demanded with acruaoaj if the

penalty of flogging, which can be inflicted under these Acts, -would be abolished. Mr. Forster satisfied his interrogator, after some exchange of fire, by a virtual promise not to allow flogging as part of the sentence for Whiteboy offences. Released from one Irish member, the Chief Secretary soon fell into the hands of others : Mr. John Barry bad an attack on the magistracy of Cork, and Mr. Parnell was anxious about the comfort of the gentlemen who are confined in Tralee jail ; and, in order that the whole Irish administration might be made comfortable, another batcli of questions was addressed to the Solicitor-General as to proceedings taken against the Land League in various parts of Ireland. The most exciting incident of the evening- took place immediately after the close of the questions on the paper. Lord Randolph Churchill asked a question, tbe suggestion of which was that Mr. Michael Davitt, the chief pillar of the Land League, who is out of prison on a ticket-of-leave, should be again imprisoned. There was an outburst of fury from the Irish members, and the noble lord was interrupted by loud cries of " shame, 1 ' " shabby," and other uncomplimentary epithets. Before Mr. Forster could reply, Mr. Parnell aimed a cioss-blow by asking if Mr. Da-vitt had not been released by the father of Lord Raudolph ChurcMH; if he bad not already suffered eleven years' penal servitude ; and if Mr. Davitt had not distinguished himself by outspoken denunciations of outrages and violence. Mr. Forster's reply was cautious. He would not say that Mr. Dsvitt's language was yet of a seditious character ; but there was a significant addendum that a person in Mr. Davitt's position must expect to hear that his actions would be narrowly watched by the authorities. To Dr. Commins was reserved the duty ol continuing the debate ; and he distinguished himself by an oration which extended over two hours and a quartet, was delivered to almost empty benches, and went over much of the ground already traversed. Notwithstanding the length of this speech, the floodgates of eloquence were still open. Sir Patrick O'Brien made one of his incoherent and unintelligible harangues, and for some twenty minutes engaged the attention ef the House, which had not the least idea of what he meant but all the same listened with the delicious languor and the entrancing want of thought which are produced by the perusal of the absurdities of '' Alice in Wonderland." Then the debate was again adjourned.