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town_talk.. j

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town_talk.. j Ov.T feeders 1mU imde--stand tho, 1ce do not hold, 01,!ysel1!es responsible f«r owr able Correspondents opinions. PJ^LIAMSNTARY proceedings have been re- j markable this week. by the first defeat of the Government by a maj ority of twenty-two. It wa.s on a Scotch game law bill, and if the Premier floes not take care he will suffer a like defeat on an English bill. At the word rabbits the English farmers become rabid. They have the ballot, altiiougb. they have scarcely used it yet. as a ciass they are more than CORsarvative- they are reac but on the question of hares and rabbits they are prepared, like their leader, Mr. Sewell Bead, to be revolutionary. The best friend of the English game laws at present is Mr. Peter Taylor, who would, if he could, exterminate nob only all game, but all squices. O-sr the .question of the site of Koightsbridge Barracks the Government had an easy victory, liie' real motive of the Kensington opposition was practical, but not patriotic. There is no doubt, that the presence of 500 fine lello vs in uniform, many of them good-looking, does often u Rl 11 disturb the domestic economy of neighbourisg mansions; and in spite of declarations to the contrary, I am convinced, knowing the spot w oil,, that if the barracks were removed, the cluster of publis houses oppo- site would lose more than half their value. But the barracks have to be somewhere; the road is to be widened. The new building is not to be as hideous as the old one, and the talk about living rooms built over the stables being unwholesome is all sanitary cant. Of course they would ba unwholesome if the heat of the stables rose through the floors; but if the archi- tect does cover the stables with brick arches he will know how to seal the floors so as to keep out air from below and water from above Tht3 question of the Queen's title as Sovereign of India is now settled to be Empress—much to the dissatisfaction of many—I may say most of the Premier's followers. But Mr. Disraeli, who would "aka no title for himself, will not deny himself the pleasure of creating an Empress. Msny of his friends thought that he ought to have been content with making a Duke. Tsfsag is terrible news for the old-fashioned families who have prided themselves on their stock of plate. Silver, in consequence of the im- mense discoveries of silver mines in California and elsewhere, has declined, is declining, and is likely to fait further in value. The Empire of Ger- many having decided to substitute a gold for a silver currency makes the matter more serious. This depreciation has long been foretold by men of science. ij he Government is so far impressed with its importance, especially as affecting India, that Lord George Hamilton has moved for, and Dotairieda committee, including all the most eminent and banker s from both sides of the House. Only imagine silver spoons be- coming a5 cheap as elestro, and silver soup tureens an ordinary part of a middle-class dinner service. Iff England men of direct German descent have taken high positions in Parliament, and even in the Cabinet; for instance, Mr. Bolckow, who is a Mecklenburgher, naturalised by A.ct of Parliament; Mr. Samuelson, who was born in Hambargh of German parents; and M>. Goschen, laid First Lord of the Adairalty, whose father and mother were both Germans, but he was educated at Barrow and Oxford. The pre- sent French Cabinet contains in the Minister of Education a gentleman, Mr. Waddington, born of English, parents in France, naturalised a Frenchman, educated at Rugby, where he dis- tinguished himself for scholarship and at foot- ball, and at Cambridge where he not only came out in honours, but rowed No. 6 in the winning Cambridge boa.t of the Inter-Universty match. LOAD OHrEF JUSTICE COCKBUKN has been to the Guildhall to receive the Freedom of the City, and made a remarkable speech—not less re- markable because some forty years ago he was, by IJS-OB of Cambridge reputation and aristo- ciatie connections, appointed one of the commis- sioners for inquiring into the management of the corporations in the principal towns and cities of England. Although Sir Alexander Cockburn has-holt the Reform Ciab, he proclaims himself stult. reformer, and a root-and-branch reformer of English law in a speech occupying several columns, from which I h1vD extracted the follow- ing weighty statement: I have received a com- munication which suggested to me that I should take this opportunity of expressing my senti- ments upon corporation reform— (laughter)— but I assure you I know a great deal better. If I have your permission I will say a word or two on the subject of the law. I have bean from a very early period a law reformer; yet it is but natural that I should entertain strorg feelings of reverence and attachment for the law, which it has been my province for so many years to deal with and to administer. Coming to the Judicature Acts which. wera passed in L873 and in 1874, I am happy to have this opportunity of saying it thus publicly, as the resale of my own experience during the pa.st few months, that this legislation has effected very great and salutary improvements in the ce-ndition of English law. The tendency of man and of all institutions ought ever to be, not to rest and bo thankful, but to progress and to improve. However, though I cast back, t confess, a lingering look to the names of the pa t, yet in substance the thing remains very msch tho same, and we must accept that through which I readily admit that very considerable good has teen achieved. But don't tctus persuade our- selves, and don't let our rulers persuade them- selves,' that all is done that has to be done. Your law Is scattered over an area. which makes it difficult to find what you want at the moment you want, it. A Roman legislator complained that the works on Roman law had become the lü2.c1 or many camels. How truly may that be aaid of the law of this laml-with this exception, that for camels I would, if you will allow me, substitute cartloads. It has become a labyTinth in which no man can find his way unless he has got a lawyer to go along with him and support him. It is time that all that was removed it is time that your law should be reduced into intel- ligible phraseology; it is time that your law should be digested. They are good, sound, whole- some laws; but the difficulty is where to find them. This is not a state of things, creditable to this country, and as a great politician once said, f Register, register, register,' my advice—and I am glad to have the opportunity of expressing it publicly here-to the legislator, lawyer, and the layman is, Digest, digest, digest —codify, codify, codify. I won't listen to the man who tells me that "the thing is not capable OF being done." 6 In These words are the more remarkable because they come from a man whose life has been the life of a lawyer, and who has lived from the times when to utter such sentiments was to be in opposi- tion to the Bar, the Bench, aacl the whole army of solicitors was to be considered a madman, an incendiary, a revolutionist, an atheist, and every- thing that was horrible in the eyes of the Earl of Eldon and his friends at Merchant Taylors. THE new patent process for making artificial ice at a comparatively small expense is likely to have very important results as a means of pre- serving meat on loag voyages. The process that is to supply ice floors for skating all the 0 el year will be applied to a larder in every Oriental steamer and vessel built expressly to carry cargoes of meat from the most distant regions. It is, they say, a long lane that has no turning; and Mr. Gamgee, the inventor, has found his turning toward fortune, after more than twenty years of failures, professional and literary. He commenced life as a veterinary surgeon, educated and accomplished in science and modern languag es far beyond average. He established a Veterinary College in which he did not succeed. Ha then moved to Lon- don and established another at Bay3water; that was stillles3 successful. Then he founded several sanitary journals and took out several meat-pre- serving patents, none of which lived or succeeded. And now he seems to have perfected something as good as the Plympton skate and worth as much. n NEWS comes from Copenhagen of a locomotive that draws tram cars without noise or smoke-a real blessing to London, where the sufferings of tram horses are dreadful. P. P.

SERIOUS OHARGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT.

LINKS WITH THE PAST.I

A KENTUCKY GAVE STORY.

THE SNOW STORM AND GALE.

IMPEACHMENT OF A MINISTER…