Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXII, Issue 14, 2 August 1895, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

ODDS AND ENDS.

The turn taken by the elections has given the London Times occasion to crow. It declares that a more emphatic protest than that made in 1886 has now been made against Home Bule, and advises the Liberals to abandon the struggle. It appears, nevertheless, very donbtf nl as to whether the question of Home Bole has entered very prominently into the matter. In Ireland, no doubt, it has done so, but in Ireland it has held its own or rather gained. South Meath, indaed, has been last, but North Tyrone and Derry city have been won. In England other matters besides Home Rnle have evidently influenced the voting — the liquor interests, for example, have largely aided the Tories. To them the defeat at Derby of Sir W. V. Harcourt—sinca returned for West Monmontb — has been attributed 1 A reduced majority of Sir Wilfred Lawson at Cockermouth, too, testifies strongly to the same effect. The elections of 1886, besides) when the Tory majority was a purer, more trust-worthy, and more coherent body, were followed by the elections of 1892. The Liberals, then, would act foolishly, as well as treacherously, in taking the advice given them by the Tiinet.

Although the Coalition must bave a large majority, moreover, all will not be plain sailing for them. A programme, that they will advocate with insincerity and carry out with dislike and misgiving, has been forced upon them. The lund question alone with which they must deal has points of great difficulty for them. They can settle it only at the sacrifice in Ireland and the risk in England of the interests of the classes which they themselves represent and fo r the most part belong to, The elements of dissolution again are strong among them. Mr Chamberlain, for instance, is not and never can be a Tory at heart, and among the Tories there is and can be no cordiality of feeling for him. He remains for them as a few years ago they mockingly Btigmatised him in Parliament— a man of municipal proportions. A mayor, they said, he hai proudly been, and a mayor ha was destined permanently, in qualifications, to remain. Numerically, then, the pi rty are strong. They bave, however, as we have said, a dishonest part forced upon them, and no true union exists among them.

But how entirely the force of Irish agitation has altered the aspect of English politics. First it broke up the great Liberal party. Now it has made of the Co r servatives, if so they may ba called, a mixtherum-gatheium, of which it is bard to make head or tail and out of which no one can predict what may come. The victors and thtir following are crowing, and boasting as 10 all they are going to do— what, perhaps, they can hardly tell themselves. What they are not going to do — md that anyone with a head on him can tell — isto putnown Irish agitation without conceding the demands to enforce which it was set on foot. Its <-ffect9 have been too palpable and too important to permit of its bei g easily laid aside. It must be remembered, too, that it was undertaken at first and carried on, with increasing impetus and effect, for many years uuder much more difficult circumstances than those created for it even by tfae present success of its opponents.

The defeat of Mr RocMort Maguire for West Clare — where a Nationalist, Mr Jameson, baa won the day— deserves also to be commemorated. Mr Maguire, as our readers are of course aware, is a Parnellite. Our lady readers will remember him as playing tha part of bridegroom some two or three months ago in one of the moat magnificent weddings that London had witnessed this year. Life, however, as it also appears the men of West Clare believe, cannot be all skittles and beer and honeymoons are meant for two only.

'• Snitor seeing flower on table : ' May 1 take this as a token of yonr friendship?' Fashionable Miss: 'Good gracious, no, sir I Why that's my new bonnet.' "

We had recently occasion to allude to the right of private interpretation as applied by non-Catholic controversialists to matters also without the realm of Holy Scripture. We bave just come across a very remarkable example of this. It occurs in Neander's History of the Christain Church (vol iii, p 238). The writer is dealing with too views of St Augustine as to the primacy of Pater and the authority of Tlome. He explains a passage from the Saint's writings which be would fain have to support his argument — that, of course, opposed to Catholic doctrine, and even to the doctrine of Ritualistic Anglicans. St Augustine, however, is too pronounced for him, and he cannot, on the whole, pretend to misunderstand him. He falls back on the gratuitous assumption — his private interpretation — of a failure of St Augustine's intelligence, which he does not think had clearly grasped what he expressed. Had it done so,the Saint, he say f, would have arrived at the conception of an invisible Church— by which the whole difficulty would be solved— on Protestant principles. The historian* admissions are worth quoting — as, indeed, are also his assumptions— nothing more ludicrous in the way of private interpretation being easily within reach.

" Having once been led, however, by the whole course of bia (St Augustine's) re'igious and theological training into the habit of confounding together tbe visible and the invisible Church (""ays the historian), and having allowed this error to become firmly rooted in his doctrinal system, bis views became thereby narrowed ; and, instead of holding fast by the purely spiritual conception of the Church which must have here presented itself to b im , he involuntarily substituted for it the conception of the visible Church, which had already been firmly established in hiß system ; and so it may have happened even in hid mind too, with the notion of Peter as a representative of the Church, there came to be associated the idea cf a permanent representation in the Roman Church."

A rebellion which has for some months been going on in Macedonia may possibly have the effect of making matters easier for carrying out tbe plan long attributed to Germany — that, namely, of the extension of tbe Austrian Empire to the East — in return for certain concespions of turntory to the G -rman Empire. Salonica is the extreme point named, and Austria, we are told, is now chosen to prevent the insurgents from seizin? the Salonica railway. It ma/ possibly be found that she has been chosen to save it for herself,

There is now a teßt case for the Monroe doctrine. England, it is announced, has annexed an island named Trinidad, in the South Atlantic, off the coatt of Brazil, to the great indignation of the Brazilian Government, which claims the place as its own. Lord Salisbury and hiß colleagues, it must be allowed, have not been loDg about asserting their Jingoism. Here, at any rate, is a clear infraction of the Monroe decrees. If warning is not immediately given to the intruder and submissively received by him, or enforced upon him by Uncle Sam, the doGtnne in qaestion may as well at once be declared heietical, und renounced ia theory as well as in practice.

But reliance on Tory Jingoism, we fio.d, extends even to Japan. There, it seems, they bave delayed their negotiations for a commercial treaty with the Chinese — encouraged by the Tory success in the elections to hopo for British support against Russia. Lard Salisbury, nevertbelesp, may possibly find bullying at Home an effectual obstacle to any very brilliant display of bravery abroad.

Curions signs of the times are the celebration in London of Moslem festivals. The feast of Bairam tbia year derived special ec'iV from the presence at it of the Afghan Prince, Nasrulla. His Highness on the occasion presented five hundred sovereigns towards the support of the mosque at Woking.

In the caa<s of a bailiff named Stewart who was shot at Balfoar near Gore on Saturday, July 20, the coroner's jury found a verdict that the injuries which caused the man's death were wilfully inflicted by a farmer named Keown. Stewart had gone to tbe farm in question to make a Beizure of some horses. He was met by Kaown who fint fired a shot into his face and then, when be had fallen on the ground

struck him several times with tbe butt end of his gun, What followed, in which not only Keown but all the people on the premiles, of whom there seem to have been several, took part, was possibly little less bruiai— and was certainly more cold-blooded — than the attack itself. Tht unfortunate man was left lying in an open shed. No one attended to his woends ; no one went for medical aid. On the other hand the whole company sat down comfortably in the farm house and had their tea.

In his evidence one of the doctors examined — Dr Donaldson of Gors — made what under the circumst nces was a curious statement* •'There was," he said, ll a contused wound over the lower jaw on the left ude shaped like a Latin cross." It must be aa milted that, since both Stewart and Keown were Orangemen,Hhis was a singular coincidence. The Orange element in fact, eeems to have entered somewhat markedly into the occurrence. Keown," said one of the witnesses, " was walking about the yard talking to himself, and was greatly excited, saying deceased was a rotten Orangeman, but tbty would not own him." Another witness said, " I only remember he was swearing, and said something about whiskey and being an Orangemao." On the whole the " glorious, pious, and immortal memory " appears to have been consistently invoked. Its celebration by the Bign of the cross, too, must be admitted as appropriately sinister.

Dr Tanner's qaes ion, then, is answered in tho negative. It is ■tated that the Duke of Connaught will succeed the Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-chief. The elder Duke, then, is not to make room, as Dr Tanner suggested, for a better man. Bu% in fact, had the Tories only come into office in good time he would not have made room for anyone. All they can now do is to replace his incapacity as nearly as possible.

And if the old Duke goes to Dublin to Berve as a substitute for the Lord-Lieutenant, he will but return to a former place of sojourn. Borne fifty years ago— nearly fifty now— he was there before. What he was doing there we do not clearly recollect— something in the military line, however, it must have been, for he was in evidence at reviews and on field-days and occasions of the kind. People used to go to public places to see Prince George, of Cambridge, as he was then. They commonly came back from such places, not showing themselves dazzled at the eight. His Royal Highness'a presence theie at that time did not appear to make very much difference to the city. It may be questioned whether it would do so now That of any other Royal Prince would probably be as little esteemed.

The Duke of Cambridge was more fortunate than, under somewhit similar circumstances, the late Prince Jerome NapoleoD, if the goslips spoke Ue truth, had been. The nickname of Plon-Plon, it was laid, had been bestowed on the Prince owing to certain exclamations made by him at a time when he was present in some engagement, and did not show himself aa cool or collected as he was expected to be. The saying of the Duke at one of the Crimean battles at which he was present is historic, " Steady, guards, steady." After a ■hort interval warfare was found unsuitable to His Royal Highneas's constitution, and he was recalled,

Physical courage, nevertheless has baen a characteristic of the fiojal Housa of Hanover, In fact, if it was anything more than a doll, phlegmatic condition, it was tbe sole redeeming quality that some members of tbe houße appeared to possess. Her ilajes'y the Queen, we may add, at thoße times when attempts on her life were made, gave proof that she had fully inherited the good quanty in question. The Luke of Oonnaught, t o, if we may believe Lord Wolßeley, aa no doubt we may, acted a? manly a part as it was possible for him to act during the campaign in Egypt. It, nevertheless, eeems anomalous that, subordinate as His Royal Highness then was, ho should now, without additional experience or merit, be advanced over the heads of his military superiors.

But our " Civis " has no grouods for oft\nce. Our compmeon, on tbe contrary, was not unfl ittering. The smarter note of the two Was decidedly that of " Yorick." We accounted for the difference by Mtaming that, in writing for the Australasian, our "Civis" was more on the gui vive.

"Thtre is a liver in Macedon and there ip, moreovir. also a river at Monmonth ; and tnere is salmons in both." Bur if in both rivers there was, let nssay, a daah of asa'cetiia, a-.d in both the Balmon Were somewhat sta'e, would Fluelhn have been bj much astray in confounding them together ?

As a logician, again, we, perhaps, cannot boast the acutenees of our " Civis." Bat have we not seen it somewhere Btated, in effect that for the conclusion of a syllogism to be true tbe premises — _>r, at Icavt the major premise— must be true also 7 The fact is that respectable journals nowadays quite commonly identify the writers

of articles in their contemporaries. The old-fashioned etiquette on this point has ioDg since fallen into disuse.

Finally, we are prepared to acknowledge the claim of onr " Civis" that what he thinks "a large numberjof other people think." There is nor, we acknowledge, much that is original in the eapitnee or bumour of his remarks— and, in fact, there may be cunning also in that. 'Arry's fancy, in shor, may best be caught by reflecting his thoughts.

But we quo'ed the ipsissiina verba of that " Passing Note" and made it as plain as black and white could make it that the meaning we at ributed to tbe worda was ju6t the meaning they were intended to convey. We are pteneed to find th*t our " Civis " has undergone sufficient improvement to perceive that the expression of his sly suggestions was disgusting. Thai, indeed, has been our own opinion all along.

As to the estimation placedjby our " Civis " on bis " criticism and his " homage," it may no doubt be sincere— possibly he has done his best. We can say nothing more and nothing less for him. Necessarily his interpretation of the motives and actions of the Tablet is on as low a level.

For our own part, we should never balk at a quotation of Scripture. Whatever thi words might ba, if we wanted them, out they would come. Is not the Authorised Version, par excellence, the well of English undefiled? It has faults of translation, no doubt, but, where the English language is concerned, it stands unsurpassed and unsurpassable. We cannot tell, therefore, why any one should balk at a quotation of Scripture— unless, perhaps, he is afraid of being thought to talk " shop.' 1

" ' Mamma, how much did you put in th« collection f ' • A penny, my dear,' ' Well, the preacher givts an awful lot for the

money.

Mr Davitt, guaranteed by the Hon John T. Toohey and Mr Frank B. Preehill, cabled, on July sth, in anticipation of the receipts from his lectures, £1000 to Mr Justin McCarthy. A list of subscriptions since received by him is headed by hia Eminence Cardinal Moran and the Archbishop of Melbourne who contribute respectively £26 10a and £25.

The Cardinal, in sending in his subscription through Mr Freehill, writes : " I will ask you to band it to him (Mr Davitt) and to say that I heartily wish him every sncceesMn his national enterprise,"

Tbe Archbishop of Melbourne writeß : "Dear Mr Davitt, — In reply to your pressing appeal I feel it a duty to forward the enclosed cheque for twenty-five pounds in aid of the Parliamentary Fund. Though every Irishman must regret the divisions amongst the Nationalist representatives, still the existence of the party both in its independence and in its integrity depends on the monetary assistance which will be given during the progress of the present elec. toral struggle. Wishing you every success in your self-sacrificing efforts for the Irish cause, and confidently hoping that your appeal will meet with a renly and generous response from the children of our exiled rice, 1 roroain, my dear Mr Davitt, very faithfully yours, t Thomas J. Cahr, Archbishop of Melbourne."

Mr Davitc who left Rydney for Queensland on Tuesday, July 16, on the eve of his departure forwarded to tbe secretary of his reception committee tbe fullowmg letitr :— " My health has suffered during the past week by the amount of work I have had to go through, and nnlefes I am tv break down completely, and be compelled to tibandoa my tour, 1 must have some relief from the excessive kindness of my friends. I must, therefore, insist upon the following conditions being obsftved in each place to which I may be invited while in Queensland : 1. ho procession or demonstration in the streets. 2. No reception by the Mayor or other public authority. 3. No banquet. No addresses "

It seems as if a clue had been found at last to the fate of the missing Sir Roger Tichborne It recently transpired that a man had died in 1854 at an hospital in Geelong and that the Very Bey Father Dunne of Albury, who was then in attendance there, believes him to have been tte missing baronet. Father Dunne has received from Missrs Free and Cottrell, solicitors, Reefton, a letter in which they state that the man in question refused to give his name, but gave to a woman who attended on him when he was dying two rings, by means of which, he said, he might be identified if inquiries were made. These rings are now in the possession of the solicitors at Reefton. They have writing on them, and are stamped with a coronet and numbered.

Another proof that Home Rule has not been the test in the elections is to be found in the fict that in Scotland the fear of diiestab-

lishmcnt h»s given four seati to the enemy. A wholesome sign is also that Liberals in the English counties — especially in the mining and manufacturing distric's — are being returned with increased majorities.

It is good for some men to be attacked. They are like those fragrant leaves that give out their perfume under the fingers of the bruiser. There, for example, is the AuditoT-General of whom the Minister for Lands fell foul the other day, declaring that he bad a down upon him. The future historians of New Zealand, protested Bir Robert Stout " would regard Mr Fitzgerald as, perhaps the greatest man who had ever sat in tbat Parliament, and as a man tf the highest honour in the service of the country." We have not, of course, a word of objection to enter. Those future historians, nevertbeless, if they fulfil all the tasks cut ont for them must murder grammar, at least where the degrees of comparison are concerned, all their degrees being superlative. Meantime, Sir Robert possibly was also comparative. He perhaps saw the greatness of Mr Fitzgerald in contrast with tbe meanness of the Ministry.

It seems much to be wished that they had kept the Eou Mr Ward in London. If all that roast beef and plum-pudding they gave him to eat had treated him to the fate of King Henry, indeed, we Bhonld not have much to grieve for— that is, if, for example, a sketch summarised from the Post, and telegraphed hither by the Wellingtoo correspondent of the Otago Daily Times ba a true like" neBB. — Mr Ward meat then be the hardest-hearted task-master, and the heaviest handed whipper-in who has existed sioce the days of King Pharaoh :— He is going, in a word, to put a heavy tax on everythine, and to prevent. Us being taken if£ everything else. His malignity reachcß it« culminatio:;, however, in the grin of delight with whicb tv antic- "ji*"' making bjote and shoes ro dear th .t some ninetentbb of our cLi) kju . ,\-^> r'>out bare-footed, A surfeit of fjod perhapp, would hardl> mve been the appropriate punishment for the culprit. He would have fared more justly if they had shut him up

in a tower of hunger. Mean irae the tariff cannot, at any rate, be worse than the Post expec's it to be.

The newest thing in the scien ific world is the discovery that geniuß is a disease. The learned Italian, Lombroso, and the learned Spaniard, Wir, have simultaneously come to this conclusion . Geniue. they declare, is a physical and mental degeneration, or the exaggerated development of one faculty to tne detriment of others. It may be fortunate that the disease is rare, and by no means infectious or contagious. Borne people, however, mi^ht think that au extension of the microbes would be desirable. Meantime we see, for example, how much mistaken Carlyle was in his aFSumption that the man of genius could reveal himself in various waye. One unwholestme faculty forms all his store.

The newest discovery in In l\n lis also of a scientific nature. It is that peat has several qualities hithei to latent and uu'-uspccie i. It had been ufied Lr fuel, and candles, of a fi^e sort too, were made from it. Now it is being manufactuiod in o excellent c oth a.d textures of other kinds. Ie is also found capable of being compressed icto a material that can be used as wood. That lush boga were stores of beauty any one who baß seen their wi.d-flowers, ferns, and mosses must know. But now they bid fair to become aa well minea of wealth.

It ia Dr Newman's Slander of Wonaea Bill that provides fur the amendment of tbe law of libel to which we recently alludid as most desirable. The Bill has been read a second time. Let ub hope that it may finally be passed. It is designed to chtck a vicious habit which is absolutely without excuse— which, as we have already said, is, in itself, pernicious, ani idle aod infamous only.

An amendment proposed by the Hjn VV. Re>noMstothe D'v^rce Bill is tbat three yea b confinement in a lun. ic asylum should untie the galling bond. Does the hon |gentlman, for example, desire to

distinguish himself by providing future novelis's of the Oharlai Reade type with plots for their tales ? In any case were tbe amendment adopted certain Christian communitks would do well to alter the wor is of their marriage service, by which a promise is exacted fui Bickuesa tiud foi health. But the spirit of the day towards matrimony— aa exemplified especially in these proposals for measures of release— sec:na to be akin to that expressed in the old long: '• I took her for better or worse, But, hang her, she's worse than I took her for." The personal pronoun, of coarse, can be altered to suit the particular case, anl the chances Beem to be that the alteration may take plaoe rather frequently— more so, in fact, than in the opposite quarter.

'"I should think,' remarked Mr Lushfoith, 'that a womao would be very miserable carrying round those swelled sleeves.' ' They are not half so uncomfortable as a swelled head,' said Mrs L. in bo sweet a tone that he deemed it wise to close the discussion,"

A friecd has sent us a bleak looking paper, with an infinity of talk and an infinitesimality of sense, called the Single Tax Courier. It is published at St Louis, and seems very characteristically Yankee. We learn from this paper — or ratber renew oar knowledge— for we knew it already, that a bigot ia one shape ia likely to be a bigot in others. Take, for inaance, the following specimen : " Many persons, beholding the condition of the priest-ridden people of tbe Latin countries, imagine that if those countriei could be freed from this oppression it would be all that is necessary to set them well equipped on the road of progress. . . . The Italian and Spanish priests simply divide the spoils with the landlords. . . The two together prey upon labour, and, if the Church be driven off, the landlords will absorb what before went to both." But thiß editor in his headings supplies as with apt comments on his argument. For example, " Deliberate Lying," "A Blackguardly Attack."

This pdi'or, nevertheless, has the "cheek "to read a lesson to ail Catholic papers who dissent from the Socialistic craze be

calummounly advocates, ba^edon the authentication, by one Mr Jan Stoffel, of a passage assume j by Mr Henry George to be taken from Pope St Gregory the Great, in which private ownerehip of land is condemned. It is sufficient, neyertheless, as well as obligatory for Catholic newspapers, and for Catholics generally, to know that Pope Leo XIII, in las Encyclical on Labour, pronounces the ownership in question perfectly lawful. Pope Leo certainly does not dissent from aa authoritative utterance of Popa Gregory. But as for the private interpreters they dissent from everyone and everything— however high or however holy, that is out of agreement with the nefarious or absurd arguments it is their conceit to enforce.

We have, thertfore, to tbank, for his good intention, the friend who has s. Nt us this farrago of stuff from St Louis. One good turn too, cU serves another. If this be the kind of mental pabn ' mm on wr.ich our friend essays to support his intellectual beimr" we would quote for his benefit tbe words of the Apostle " Drink n longer water but use a little wine for tbjr stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. "

Oce MrTheo Wake, of St Alban's, Coristchurch, has issued a pa-nphlet on the police dapartment of the coluny and its demoralisation, by which, as he t>irea us to unders'and ia a preface he hoD*a to bring about results like those recently obtained from an inquiry that took place in New York. The publication is highly sen ? ational-but all who desire to acquaint themselves with what our " Bobbies " are -or are alleged to be -up to, can satisfy their curiosity by forwarding the moderate sum of sixpence to the author's address.

" First Detective : ' That was a great piece of work you did In nabbing Jimmy the Duck in that bank burglary.' Second ditto • • I should say it w-s. It took me more than three months to get' hi. nerve woiked up lo that he wojld go into the job.'"

The Mass of St Mary Magdalen, composed by the Rev J E Turner, 0.8.8., may be recommended to choirs where devotional

singing is more an object than a display of florid powers. The Mass Wbich is written in tho key of 0, and specially intended for Lent and Advent, is for voices only— though an accompaniment is added for rehearsals and for the benefit of small choirs that may find it convenient to usethemusic at other ecclesiastical seasons. Tne Mass— which as a musical composition also is of excellent merit— bears all the marks of a religious origin, and will be found most conducive to the solemnity of Catholic worship, Father Turner has written as well several other compositions— notable amorjg which are five motets in honour of the Blessed Sacrament, a Festival Litany of the Blessed Virgin in five movements, and gome other litanies. All alike will be found valuable'acquisitions in Catholic choirs. The publisher is Mr AlphorseCary, Clapham Junction, London.

The Hon Reginald Baliol Brett, who was recently appointed Secretary to the Office of Works, is the eldest son of Lord Esher, Master of the Rolls. He is, somewhat distantly indeed, connected with New Zealand, owing to his having defeated Sir JuHob Vogel in an election for Falmouth in 1880. A further distinction of Mr Brett's is that he was owner of a house in London damaged last summer by a bomb— which is supposed to have beon placed there by mistake. He is a literary man of some merit.

Among the disputes of the period is one as to the pronunciation of the word " golf." Some people— principally ScDtch we understand —declare that the "1" should be no more heard in it than it is ia the word '• calf " or " half."

A famous description of Mr Balfonr was that given of him by Sir William Harcourt— to wit, "A philosopher with a Coercion Act." It remains to be seen how far the right hoa gentleman will renew his right to the name, or continue to deserve it.

Lord Salisbury too, does he come forward once more under the motto of " Manacles and Manitoba ?"

Our • ( CiTiß" says it ain't respectable to try and pry into the anonymity of the Prees. Ain'c it now 1

"A decidedly unrespectable— not to say naughty— Melbourne publication is printed by a methodist preacher, under a norn de commerce. And of such is the Kingdom of ' Kaven ' "

That's from the Bulletin (June 29). If our " Civic " stands to it that the Bulletin ain't respectable, will he write anl tell it so?

Ano her paper that is mf reapjctable— hoagh perhaps easier to talk to, ia, for example, the Dunitan Times. S^e its issue of March 2nd. Yet another- we throw it in by way of Vembirras des richetses —is the Boston Pilot of Jnne 20. "Ths business manager of the Standard, who appears to write mo=*t of thd elitor-a's alao, since the apocryphal author of 'Marching through Georgia' marched hence, 1 ' cays the Pilot,

DecLedly our " Civis" must reconsider his premises if he wants bis conclusions to be worth a brass farthing.

The one was the parish fool. The other was a landlord in a Leinster county. The landlord's father— a dignitary also of the Anglican Church— had been particularly proud of some fine trees that grew upon his property. The landlord had gone too fast and to provide for his embarrassments was felling the timber. In none too Bweet a temper he was overseeing the intulioua task, when the fool came up, "Give me a chnrity yer hon jur," said the fool. "Go to h— ," said the landlord. " Troth and if I do," baid the fool, " I'll tell the dane who's cutting down the trees. ''

Miss Rose Blaney, the Maori land songstress (says Spencer's Weekly of July 13) recently arrived in Sydney by the Mararoa. Miss Blaney is favourably known in Melbourne, whore she was one of Madame Lucy Chamber's best pupils.

The college of All Hallows, at Drumcondra, a Northern suburb of Dublin, where a lire rewotly took place, includes a house in which an ill-reputed member of the great family of Beresford ended Mb days. This wbb John Claudius, who was Lord Mayor of Dublin in the year 1798, and who had then an opportunity, of which ha took full advantage, for giving vgnt to a cruel and blood-thirsty diapoeition. He distinguished himself especially by raising a corps of volunteers who soon earned for themselves the name of " Beresford's Bloodhounds." In a riding sch 01, erected by him for the benefit of these heroes, a triangle was Bet up to test suspected rebels, who were whipped there in the savage manner characteristic of the institution, one that, in fact, like the pitch-cap, had been uaed to provoke the outbreak of the insurrection.

John Claudius Bereeford had suffered some reverse of fortune, and it is recorded that at a sale of his effects, the chimney-sweeps of the city— whose captain had b?en one of his victims, bought a carriage in which, m tbpir soot-begrimed condition, they drove trium. phant up and down the principal streets of the city,

Ber«sford, nevertheless, must have recovered, at least to a considerable extent, from his straits— for the house at Drumcondra wai a hands^nne one. It was afterwards inhabited by General Sir Guy Campbell, who married the daughter and only child of Pamela and Lord Edward Fitzgerald. The associations of the house as a portion of a Catholic ecclesi .stical college, it is needlesß to add, are very different.

" I am only Borry," says Mr Davitt, " that tha money that has been expended on the 1000 or 2000 addresses thai have been presented to me at various times, has not been devo'ed to some charitable purposes."

Very valuable institutions are the private hospitals which of recent years have sprang ap in our colonial town*. A model insritution of the kind is, we understand, that at East Melbourne known as Floraston,and conducted by the Misses Browne and Buckley, ladies qualified as nurses of first-class training and long experience for the responsibility undertaken by them. It should be reassuring for those of us wha have friends or relatives living alone in ths distant city to know that in case of illness they are within reach of careful and ekilfal attendance— at very moderate charges.

The Unionists have a majority of 152 on a teat division, their gain being 90 seats. The respective number are Unionists, 410 ; Liberals, 175 ; Nationalists, 69 ; Parnellites, 12.

Necessarily the anxiety of the Unionists is to prove that the defeat of the Liberals has taken place chiefly on the Home Rule question. Mr Chamberlain, nevertheless, who h*a written a letter in support of this view, is obliged to acknowledge that a fear of revolutionary legislation has also had a part in the matter. We shall find, no doubt, that the Socialistic programme drawn up by the late Trades Union Congress has had a good deal to do with the results. The liquor interests have also counted for no little. The motives of the electors, in a word, have been as mixed as is the party whom they have returned.

The Irish Catholic (says a cablegram) states that a highly honoured clerical dignitary writes su^es'-ing that a national convention Bhould arrange to withdraw the Irish members from the) Imperial Parliament, where their presence would be little better than a mere mjckery, owirjg to the Unionist majority.

Meantime, tha conglomeration GDvanment bid fair to have their hands fall. Rumours of approaching difficulties in Europe are rife. Russia and Prance are suspected to be desirous of creating an African difficulty for Great Britain in or Jer that they themselves may have a freer hand in the East. The'ltalian Minister for Foreign Affairs goes so far as openly to accuse the King of Abyssinia of betraying Italy for the purpose of gaming favour with Russia— and reports from 8t Petersburg state that Rußaia will support the claim put forth by France for the British evacuation of Egypt. Thsre seems, in fact, to be plenty on the horizon to give play to Jingoism— or perhaps to nuke it knuckle down. Thia, we should say, seems the more likely course.

A merciful mm they say is merciful to his beast. A merciful woman, aa we s>e from the report of last week's meeting of the Duoedin Womea's Franchise League, is not worse disposed. For example, the Executive doclare that they are not urgent as to the claims of women to seats in Parliament. They will wait yet a while to see whether hon Members, as they at present exist, are prepared to do full justice to their sex. If not, we are left to canclude that they will themselves go in for something more than justice—* good deal more, perhap3— and will obtain it too.

"' I want to get a collar fer my husband,' said tha hard-faced woman, 'and I declare I have plumb forgot the siae. I giner'ly bay all his colUrs and ties for him, too.' ' Ah,' said the astute clerk. ' Then you probably want about a thirteen and a half or fourteen.' 1 Yes, that's right ; but I don't see how you guessed it so easy.' ' Oa, I have noticed that a man who lets his wife buy all his haberdashery for him usually has a neck of about that size.' "

The Hon P. Le Poer Trench, lata British Minister to Japan and a member of a well-known Irish family is coming back to England to recruit his health. In reply to questions as to the probable result of the recent war between China and Japan Mr Trench expressed the opinion that the effect would be beneficial, but observed that a century would be required to imbue China with a Drocresßivft spirit. r 8 °