South Wales Daily News

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES. DEATHS BIRTH GREENER.—16th inst., at 1, Clare-street, Riverside, Cardiff, the wife of M. H. Greener, M.B., of a son. MARRIAGE, SULLIVAN- STA.NFIELD.-On Decemberatl3, Pro Cathe- dral, Clifton, by Revs Canon Clark and Father Russel, Dr J. D. O'Sullivan to Emily, second daugh- ter of John Stanfield, Esq., colliery proprietor, all of Aberbeeg, Mon. 85 DEATHS. DAvir-Dee. 13th, at 2, Overton-street, Dowlais, Anne, relict of the late Peter Davies and mother of Professor Davies, Pontypool. Funeral will leave house Saturday next at 3 p.m. for Pant Cemetery. Friends please accept this, the only intimation. 5 THOMAS.—On 14th Dec., at Dowlais, Emily, beloved wife of Cole J. Thomas (daughter of late Mr William Ballard, Cardiff), aged 36. Public funeral Tuesday, at 2.30, Pant Cemetery. 141 THOMAS.—On December 14th, David Thomas, New Inn, Llantrissanfc. Funeral on Saturday next, at 2 o'clock. Friends please accept this intimation PHILLIps.-Deceiuber 16th, at the Wenvoe Bazaar, Cadoxton-Barry, Mrs Mary Phillips. aged 62 years. Funeral takes place at Treorky on Tuesday next. No wreaths. Fnends please accept this as the only intimation. 5508 PRICE.On December the 15th, at Bristol, after a. brief illness, Walter Alfred, second son of the' late Alfred B. Price, Esq., of Ystradfawr, Bridgenrl, aged 21. 496

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1892. 4- "MORE LAST WORDS" WITH SIR EDWARD REED. FoR a clever man, and he is a remarkably clever man, Sir EDWARD REED is surprisingly indiscreet. He seems to be, unhappily, afflicted with incontinence of tongue and pen, which, under the influence of physical or mental excitement, he is unable to con- trol, and then—he gives himself away to the enemy. What a blessing it would be for Sir EDWARD REED if he bad the shade of Lord MELBOURNE by his side whenever lie was smitten by a flux of speech to whisper, in his ear the cautious Viscount's sagacious warning, "Cant yoii lib it alone?" or if Sir EDWARD REED would prefer the lesson in more classical form we-would counsel him to grave deeply on the tablet of his memory the favourite aphorism of old Mr CAXTON, Don't disturb CAMARINA." Sir EDWARD REED was well aware that the Executive Committee of the Cardiff Liberal Association were to meet on Thursday even- ing to deliberate upon his extraordinary letter and on the advisability of summoning a general meeting of the Association to dis- cuss the changed aspects of political things which that letter has occasioned in Cardiff. Sir EDWARD RE-ED knew the exceeding gravity of the political situation and the I immense responsibility which rested upon him not to accentuate it by any carping t words of criticism or rebuke <on his part. But instead of cultivating the silence which is golden, Sir EDWARD REED gives audience 1, in his hotel at Bath to a Tory interviewer at the moment when the Liberal Executive at Cardiff were anxiously discussing the very grave political crisis which his letter has caused and he tells the representative of the political enemy that "if my supporters complain of my present views it can only be because they have changed their views and wish to advocate a system of Home Rule to which they in common with myself have hitherto always been opposed." The tone and spirit of this sentence and of similar sentences in that interview are suspiciously akin to certain remarks in the "Authoritative Statement" published, in the Cardiff Tory organ yesterday. In that Authoritative Statement," made, as it is allowed to be inferred, upon the authority of Sir EDWARD I REED, the member for Cardiff tells his Liberal supporters that if they are in favour of separation, the violent re- storation of evicted^ tenants, right or wrong, and of dynamiters, it is not ha who has chantred. but-, thev." girftwa" REED seêmsreally unable to realise the fact that such language applied to his con- stituents—who, to say the least, are as politically honourable, as conscientious, and as loyal to their faith and to their great leader as he claims to be—is grossly offen- sive and insulting. Wo were unable to beiicve that the libels and calumnies of the Authoritative Statement were published upon Sir EDWARD REED'S authority until we read these similar expressions in his interview with the Tory reporter. Hence, in our article yesterday we abstained from comment on them, and respectfully asked Sir EDWARD REED to say whether that "statement" was published upon his authority. In reply to that inquiry we re- ceived the following telegram from Sir EDWARD REED—dated Royal Hotel, Bath— last evening :—" I cannot join in any further controversy, or write, or give inter- views until I have had pleasure of meeting Liberal Thousand next Tuesday.—REED." As we have not sought an interview, the telegram must be a reply to our inquiry yes- terday, and the Liberals of Cardiff will note with regret and pain that Sir EDWARD REED does not deny that that Authoritative Statement was published on his authority. A member of Parliament who can insult his constituents without the slightest ground for the offensive insinuation that if they patronise dynamitards and the violent restoration of evicted tenants, and the severance of Ireland from Great Britain, it is they who have changed, and not he, is evidently not endowed with very sensitive feelings, or with exalted conceptions of social respect and consideration for others. Perhaps the Cardiff Liberals will remember this as one of the items which demand explanation when they are brought face to face with their member. The South Wales Daily News certainly had not the remotest intention of tcuching this question again until after Sir EDWARD REED had addressed his constituents on next Tuesday, but his persistent repetition of stale allegations and charges, assump- tions, and postulates in his interview with the Tory reporter, and which are cither inadmissible or irrelevant, or absolutely denied, force us, however reluctantly, to drag aside the sophisms with which Sir EDWARD REED seeks to obscure the ques- tion. We desire sincerely to treat Sir EDWARD REED personally with all true respect, a$we trust we have treated him in our former articles but whilst he constantly forces his own personality into the front it is extremely difficult to avoid being personal. Sir EDWARD REED is continuously forgetting that it is not he but his letter which is the subject matter in debate. His incessant assertion that everybody has misunderstood his ill-fated letter but himself has more in common with the petulant obstinacy. of a stubborn schoolboy than with the critical judgment and discriminative outlook of a political thinker. The politician in the story who alleged that all the world was mad, whilst all the world affirmed that he was mad, per- sistently maintained that all the world was mistaken. Nevertheless, the verdict of all the world was vindicated in the end. There is a moral in the tale for Sir EDWARD REED. Let Sir EDWARD REED try to understand that the question at issue is what the letter means, and not what Sir EDWARD REED says it means. There are ten thousand persons in Great Britain and Ireland as capable as Sir EDWARD REED is of construing that letter, of logically analysing it, and of critically interrogating it so as to discover its spirit, and meaning, and intent. We surely do not need an author to be always by our side when we are reading his works to tell us what he means. Mtm" of fair intelligence, with some brains and a little of the critical faculty, can discover that meaning for them- selves. And therefore Sir EDWARD REED'S pft-repeated demand that somebody should quote some extracts from the letter which are provably untrue, or which show that he has changed his mind on the Home Rule question, is simply an ingenious, but a most, futile attempt to change both the venue and the issue. The man who seeing half-a-dozen roughs maltreating an individual and remonstrated with the exclamation, Don't duck him in the horse-pond," could triumphantly challenge any accuser to prove from his words that he counselled the duck- ing, although the ducking was the result of his most suggestive remonstrance. Sir EDWARD REED protests with too much pro- testation, like the lady in the play, that he will not vote for a Home Rule Bill which separates Ireland from Great Britain, which disintegrates'' the Empire, and which destroys the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. Now, who is going to vote for such a Bill ? Who is going to bring such a Bill into Parliament ? Not Mr GLADSTONE. We all know what the prin- ciple of his measure is, and it contemplates none of theso evil things, but practically abhors them. "Y—c—s," replies Sir EDWARD REED, hesitatingly, but the Par- nellitea are pressing him to adopt extreme measures and—I shall certainly not vote for a Home Rule Bill which makes Ireland independent and destroys the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament." Can any man of common-sense?" as DEAN SWIFT inquires in his famous epi- gram, misunderstand the meaning, the real innermost meaning, of a letter bristling with implied insinuations and oblique innuendo, that if the people of Great Britain are not very careful this is the kind of Bill that Mr GLADSTONE will bring into Parliament? Can we conceive anything more likely to asperse the reputation of Mr GLADSTONE for honour and integrity and to damage the chances of an honest Home Rule Bill, than the adroit in- sinuation that the Bill will or may be a concession to Parnellite demands ? Sir EDWARD REED asks for some "quoted passage in which he says this. We should have a very much poorer opinion of Sir EDWARD HEED'S skill as a phrase- maker of rotinded periods which suggest the meanings they do not verbally express, than we now entertain if Sir EDWARD REED had left it possible for any- one to quote a passage which says this in specific words. The skill of the writer is shown in the fact that he says it throughout the whole of his letter in spirit tnd mean- ing, but not verbally. Sir EDWARD REED is in his degree similar to the great writer whose portrait, under the thinly-veiled dis- guise of ATTICUS, POPE drew Willing to wound but yet afraid to strike. He hints a fault and hesitates dislike." It grieves us seriously to write thus of Sir EDWARD REED, but he has now, unhappily, left us no option unless, indeed, we betray Cardiff Liberalism and desert the banner of the Grand Old Man" and of Home Rule and that we certainly shall never do. We did hope that Sir EDWARD REED would have wisely and skilfully allayed the storm which his ill-omened letter has aroused in Cardiff by practically withdrawing that letter. There were ways of doing it in the early part of the week on the plea which Sir EDWARD REED himself offered, that it had been misinterpreted, misunderstood, and was doing grievous political mischief, which are not available now. Sir EDWARD REED persists in maintaining that his constituents are all wrong in their interpretation of the letter, and that he alone is right; and that his Liberal constituents, in holding that he has changed his views, have in addition become Separatists and dynamiters. The Liberals of Cardiff, therefore, owe it to their own self-respect, to their political integrity, and to their loyalty to their great kNufor to dpmand frnm Sir KnwAnn Rkrp a practical withdrawal of the universally ] understood spirit and meaning of that letter by the renewal of the pledge which ,he gave last July of loyal allegiance to Mr GLADSTONE—whom he at that time called our illustrious leader and of unabated support of the principle of Mr GLADSTONE'S Home Rule measure—a statutory Irish Parliament, subordinate to the Imperial Parliament, which should be granted absolute control ovor all the local and internal aflairs of Ireland, but which shall be strictly prohibited from all inter- ference in Imperial matters. The Cardiff Liberal Thousand should, as we are assured they will, listen to Sir EDWARD REED with true and deserved respect, and should give his words all due weight. But words cannot settle the question. The core of the matter is in the two questions we have indicated above, and the Cardiff Liberals will not, we are assured, sink their own self-respect by being satisfied with anything short of Sir EDWARD REED'S renewing his fealty to Mr GLADSTONE and to the principle of Home Rule. Sir EDWARD REED may explain his letter away if he pleases, but he would act more wisely in withdrawing it. One thing more. Sir EDWARD REED has, by his own act in sending his letter to the London Press and to the Press agencies, made the question a national one. It is not only a question between him and the Cardiff electors, but it is also a matter in which Cardiff Liberalism has a duty to perform towards all the Liberal elector- ates of the Kingdom. The eyes of all the constituencies are steadfastly directed to- wards Cardiff, and the proceedings of the Liberal Thousand will be watched with keen observance by political foes as well as by political friends all the nation over. Car- diff Liberalism cannot stultify itself, there- fore, in the eyes of the nation by anything short of a clear, complete, and unreserved renewal by Sir EDWARD REED cf his former pledge to support Mr GLADSTONE'S policy, and to vote for Irish Home Rule and Welsh Disestablishment. It can be no humiliation to Sir EDWARD REED to renew the pledge which he formerly gave, but he had better withdraw that objectionable letter. By- gones would then be bygones in every sense of the word.

COLONEL PAGE has retired from active | connection with the local Volunteer move- ment with a splendid record of service and all the honours that Government can bestow upon an officer. We use the word" active" advisedly, because the gallant Colonel may be depended upon, although his official association with it has ceased, to continue to evince the liveliest interest in the pro. gress of the corps with which he has been so conspicuously associated. In his address to the 2nd Glamorgan Artillery Volunteers on Thursday night, Colonel PAGE referred, not without a touch of pathos, to the fact that that would be the last occasion on which he would have the pleasure of addressing them. Time was inexorable, and next summer he would have attained the limit of age which required his compulsory retire- ment. This announcement, although not unexpected, was received with profound, and not unnatural regret by both officers and men. Colonel PAGE has been an officer of the Second Glamorgan for the long period of 31 years and without his genial inspirit- ing personality the old corps will not seem like itself. On the part of the colonel and of ,colleagues and subordinates the sever- Mfce of a connection which has endured for SfiMfotany years must cause a sorrowful pang. Cojortel PAGE has the satisfaction of know- Rigy 'however, that he is accompanied in his retirement by the cordial good wishes of the corps with which his name has been so long and so honourably identified.

YVE deeply regret that Lord EMLYN has seen fit to resign the position which he held as chairman of the Committee of Visitors o| the. Joint vCputiti*»< Carmarthen. His Lordship ig a man of great parts, with a talent for public administra- tion shared by only too few of our public men. This is a circumstance that makes his resignation of an important public office all the more regrettable. While we regret Lord EMLYN'S retirement, we consider as utterly inadequate, if not actually frivolous, the reasons which he assigns for his action. Bluntly put, the resignation has been caused by iTshrinking horror of publicity. The Com- ffiittee of Visitors decided to admit repre- SWit&tives of the Press to its meetings. EMLYN strenuously opposed this decision, and, in face of the persistence of the committee in its resolve, petulantly threw up the chairmanship. In future," he declares with a melodramatic expression of horror, in future we are to discuss all matters in the presence of the Press But is there anything particularly monstrous in this idea that Lord EMLYN'S heart and conscience should thus revolt against it 1 We can assure Lord EMLYN that the representatives of the Press are as honourable a body of men as a Committee of Visitors, or even as the eldest sons of Earls. No reporter worthy of the name would for a moment abuse the confidence of the Committee by transgressing the un- written laws which govern private as dis- tinguished from public affairs. We main- tain that it is to the interests of the patients and of the public that the pro- ceedings of a committee managing a great public institution of this character should be open to the Press. As Mr C. M. WILLIAMS aptly remarked, the Committee is not a secret society. All that Lord EMLYN writes about "privacy" and "confidence" and breach of trust is based on ah assump- tion which is grossly unjust to the repre- sentatives of the Press, and which is not creditable to his Lordship's sagacity or in- telligence.

CARDIFF AND DISTRICT 'BUS COMPANY. TUCKER v. CLARKE. It was arranged in the Lcndon Chancery Division yesterday that the case of Tucker v. Cla/ke, relating to the Cardiff and District 'Bas Company, should stand over until Tuesday next, as a meeting of the shareholders will be held the previous day.

THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR RECALLED. The Central News is in a position to confirm the statement of the Paris Figaro that M. Waddington, the French Ambassador in London, has been recalled by his Government. His Excellency is preparing to leave London almost immediately.

THE MINING ROYALTIES COMMISSION. The Central News says the Royal Commission on Mining Royalties, which held another sitting in London yesterday, has concluded the taking of evidence. The Commission is now engaged in preparing its report, which will bo completed before Parliament meets.

A CARDINAL'S fIAT FOR DR VAUGHAN. The Tablet yesterday makes the following an- nouncement :—" We have great pleasure in stat- ing, on authority of our Rome correspondent, that among the Prelates who will te made Cardinals at the consistory to be held towards the middle of next month is Dr Vaughan, Archbishop of West- minster." The Pall Mall Gazette has received. from an authoritative source confirmation of this state- ment, and understands that his Grace yesterday received an intimation that a Cardinal's hat will be couferred on him next month.

GUESSING COMPETITIONS. A TRADESMAN'S DIFFICULTY. A tradesman asked the advice c.f the North London police-court magistrate yesterday, regard- ing a guessing competition. He said an envelope containing a number was placed in his hands, and a customer who made the nearest guess to the number had a prize of poultry. This had been going on for some time, but in view of the missing word competition applicant wished to be on the right side.—The magistrate declined to advise the applicant, this being beyond his province.

POOR CHILDREN'S BREAKFASTS in the Ragged School.—Donations gratefully received by his Worship the Mayor, Mr Alderman Chapman, Guildhall, hon. t.rtuuiurrir • or hv Mr W, Nichols. Y.M.C.A.. hon. oee-

LONDON LETTER. [FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.] [SPECIALLY WIRED.} LONDON, Friday Night. SIR EDWARD REED'S INTENTION. Sir Edward Reed is anxious to make it known that his famous letter, generally con- strued as a note of warning to Mr Glad. stone that he must not longer count on the support of the member of Cardiff, did nst mean anything of the kind, but was indeed designed to help the Government. Whatever may have been the intention of the author, there is no question that the epistle has done Mr Gladstone and the Home Rule cause an incalculable amount of benefit. Before the incident took place there was in Conservative circles frequent assertion that the Liberal party was honeycombed with dissent on the Home Rule question, and that only the oppor- tunity was lacking for revolt to manifest itself. The Times recognised in Sir Edward Reed's letter the signal it had long been anxiously looking for, and welcomed it as the first step towards disruption. Had the letter stood alone this conjecture might have seemed plausible, and there ceitainly would have been the incentive of example to any possibly existing members of the Liberal party who, having won their seats in July definitely on the Home Rule platform, were ready to turn round in December and trip up their leader. But the letter must be taken in conjunction with the reception it met with in Liberal circles, and more especially at Cardiff. The electors of that borough, misconstruing, as Sir Edward Reed said, plainly-written words, believed they found in it.intention of weakening Mr Gladstone's position. In an instant they brought their member to book emphatically, and unmistakably reiterated their loyalty to Mr Gladstone and his Home Rule scheme, THE INTENTION OP CARDIFF. Those who know Sir Edward Reed per- sonally and are acquainted with his popu- larity in Cardiff best appreciate the signi- ficance of this movement. All private considerations are set aside, the ties of long association are broken, and the much-esteemed member is sternly given to understand that he was elected to support Home Rule and Mr Gladstone's leadership, and that the electors expect him to fulfil his pledges and perform his duty. Electors throughout the kingdom have plainly made up their minds that they have had enough of Dissentient Liberalism, and do not mean to stand any repetition of what took place in 1885. Sir Edward Reed, de- signedly or not, has certainly rendered a conspicuous service to the Ministry and the Home Rule cause. MR GLADSTONE'S TRIP ABROAD. Mr Armitstcad has undertaken, as he did early in the year, the direction of Mr Gladstone's trip to Biarritz. It is a long journey for the short period the Premier intends to remain in the town. But the benefit he derives from tho place is so quickly marked and so permanent that the trouble and fatigue of the journey are more than compensated for. The bracing climate to be found there at this time of the year suits both Mr and Mrs Gladstone, and, as he said on his return after the first visit, he is never tired of pacing up and down the sands watching the racing in of the sea fresh from the Atlantic. THE PANAMA SCANDALS. The arrest of M. Charles Lesseps in con. nection with the Panama scandal, seems to make it a difficult thing to leave his father at large. If the Lesseps have been guilty of fraudulent practices in floating the Panama scheme, it was the head of the house who was the prime mover. Charles Lesseps is well known in London, which he frequently visits on business or pleasure. He is a director of the Suez Canal, and enjoys, in a marked degree, the estetjm of his English colleagues on the Board. His arrest recalls a re- markable incident described in this column a couple of months ago. He was one of the distinguished company which, accepting the invitation of the chairman and directors, ac- ecfrilpaijied th» P. O; Steartier HiajalayS on hertrial trip. On the arrival of the steamer at Havre the chairman of the P. and Q. Company, accompanied by Mr Forwood and Mr Ashmead-Bartlett (then in office at the Admiralty), went ashore to pay their respects to the Port Admiral, On sending in their cards "tlie Admiral bluntly declined to receive M. Lesseps, applying to him the opprobrious terms of which the English language is capable of supplying only a weak translation. The situation was full of difficulty for Sir Thomas Sutherland and the other gentlemen who formed the little group of morning callers. After a painful interval, the Admiral was induced to permit M. Lesseps to enter, but whilst he shook hands with the two Ministers and others presented to him, he acknowledged M. Lesseps' advances with the stiffest bow, and being a gentleman of choleric habit, was evidently with difficulty restrained from carrying out his original intention of having The Panama Pirate bundled out of the house neck and crop. WEST DERBY. The suggestion that Lord Cranborne shall offer himself to fill the seat at West Derby, vacated by the death of Mr Cross, will not meet with warm favour on the front Opposition Bench of the House of Commons. Lord Cranborne has at least the courage of his convictions, and during the closing period of last Parliament was from time to time with difficulty restrained from publicly saying what he thought when he found Conservative Ministers passing what he regarded as Radical measures. Once or twice, notably in the debate on the Education Bill, he broke out, and in his impetuous way said things exceedingly embarrassing for his friends and leaders on the Treasury Bench. With the change that has taken place in the position of parties the situation in the coming session would not be quite so embarrassing. What lent significance to Lord Cranborne's kicking over the traces in the last Parliament was that he was the son of the Premier, and there was an uneasy suspicion on the Con- servative benches that the stripling would not have ventured to take the line he occasionally did unless he was assured of his father's approval. Still, he could never be depended upon, and in spite of the natural affection Mr Arthur Balfour holds for his cousin, he, as leader of the Opposition, would prefer "that a safe seat should be given elsewhere. A PLEASANT GATHERING. An interesting dinner was given td-ntght at the Reform Club by Mr R. C. Lehmann, a well-known authority in the boating world, who, with rare impartiality, alter- nately coaches Oxford and his own Univer- sity crew, and nearly won Cambridge for the Liberals at the general election. Mr Lehmann has long been editor of the Granta, a sprightly little journal written by Cam- bridge undergraduates, and read by a wider circle even than that composed of their mothers and sisters. He is also on the staff of Punch, and to-night's dinner was given in order that the Granta staff might meet the Punch men, and the latter have the opportunity of making the acquaintance of the brilliant coterie that once a week enlivens University circles at Cambridge. A PRECIOUS MSS. There is likely to be keen competition for the original autograph manuscript of Poems by Two Brothers," which Messrs Sotheby will offer for sale next Friday. This is the precious manuscript which more than 60 years ago Alfred Tennyson, wallang from Somersby Rectory some miles into the neighbouring town, offered for sale to the local bookseller. The work was the joint composition of himself and his brother Charles. As the handwriting shows, by far the larger part was contributed by the budding Poet Laureate. Accompanying the manuscript is a receipt for £20, being the sum paid for the copyright of the woxvk. This is signed by both the brothers. The manuscript has to this day remained 1\1 the possession of the family of the Jacksons, the publishers, who all unknowing that It would form their sole title to fame, adventured £20 for the copyright of the slim voliime. It is said Mr Maunde Thompson has his eye on the treasure, and will join in the bidding with the hope of securing it for the British Museum.

RUPTURE CURED. —.T A. Sherman, Hernia Specialist, 04, Chancery-lane. London Boole. 7 stamps* DON'T Miss THIS WEEK'S ISSUE ot the "Cardiff Times and South Wales Weekly News." It is the popular weekly journal of the Principality. Full of bright stories, special articles, and the week's news for One Penny. The foremost novelists of the day write 10" ite on!iimm

NEWS IN BRIEF. I The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are t'ufc possessors of 63 public-hciues. It is stated that some American paper has offered £1,000 reward for a copy of the Home ¡ Rule Bill. Lady Florence Dixie says women's dress is the great and most determined tar to her attainment of liberty. Mr Gladstone has certainly no lack of hosts, for four distinguished Englishmen have sought to. make him their guest on the Riviera. Turkeys ought to be very cheap. Immense consignments are being received from Canada. Yesterday no less than 60 tons of these birds was landed from one steamer. Mr Cecil Rhodes, who was to have left England on Friday fcr the Cape, has i ostponed his depar- ture until the end of next week, and in the mean- time will pay a short visit to Pans. The heaviest spring bridge in this country has just been turned into position on the Ship Canal at TrafTord-road. near Manchester. The bridge is 265 fc-et long, 33 feet deep, and 50 feet wide. Miss Honor Brooke, the eldest daughter of the Rev Stopford Brooke, is the most recent recruit to the ranks of the independent young ladies who have given up their homes for "chambers," in order to no in for literaturo. The medical ctticera of Lincoln Infirmary are very anxious respecting a strange case • just ad- mitted. An old woman named Helen Savage contrived to swallow a closed razor, an incident which is causing her much suffering. Mr M'Cullagh Torrens, so familiar a figure as member for Finsbury in the Parliament ot 1880, is engaged on a book of reminiscences, political and general, which will probably be ready for publication early in tho coming year. The Sunday School Union has suffered a loss by the death of Mr William Groser, its. senior secretary. He reached the good old age of 89 in June last, yet retained his lifelong interesll in wrk among the young until within sight of his grave. Count Hatzfeldt, the German Ambassador, will to-day present to the Queen's Westminster Rifles the portrait of the Emperor William, which his Imperial Majesty has sent as a memento of his inspection of the corps in the grounds cf Bucking- ham Palace last year. A marriage has been arranged, and will take place at Easter, between Mr Harford, of Blaist Castlj, Gloucestershire, and Falcondale, Cardi- gan, and Blanche Amabel, second daughter ot the late Right Hon. H. C. Raikes. M.P., and Mrs Raikes, of 82, Eccleston-square. The Comptroller of the Household of the Prince of Wales, in a letter tc a correspondent, says :—" There is no vice that his Royal High- ness so much deprecates as that of drunken- ness," and adds, His Royal Highness has no public-house on the Sandringham estate." A Royal edition of the Christmas number of the Strand Magazine," containing fae.simile. of her Majesty's letters in Hindustani, has been issued, bound in pale blue satin, and bas been forwarded to each member of the Royal Family, the one sent to her Majesty being enclosed in a rich silk plush casket. There is no dcubt, it appears, that Mn Harrison died of the Presidency. She was worn out with the perpetual draft upon her time and energy, and constantly compelled to be in evf. dence. There was such a complete absence and impossibility of rest that she yielded to nervous prostration, and when influenza attacked her she had not strength to rally. A white marble monument is to be erected over the tomb of the lata Mr £ A. Freeman, who, as the inscription says, enshrined in letters for all time the Early History of England, the Norman Conquest, and the destinies of Sicily. Fired with a zeal for topographical research, he was struck down in the midst of a journey in Spain, by sudden sickness, and died there March 16, 1892." Last Sunday," says a correspondent, Mr Haweis preached both morning and evening on the religious poems of Lewis Morris. The preacher believed Lewis Morris to be one of the greatest singers of any land or,age. Of all modern singors he is the most earnest and spiritual. The atmosphere that pervades bis writings is greater than anything in the writings themselves. He is full of edification—a priest of the spiritual vision." "One who lived there" writesIn the 'News in Brief' in your Friday's issue it is stated that society in Washington has been highly edi- fied by the result of a little feud between the Mayor and Chief Commissioner of Police. Well, sir, Washington has jhe city government-at least the district ot Columbia- is governed by three Commissioners, two civil and one military (an engineer of the tJriiled States army), appointed by the President of the United States. The two civil must be one Democrat and one Republican, according to Act of Congress." Lord Herschell, the Lord Chancellor, is giving to the magisterial, bench a leaven of much-needed Liberalism. To the Commission of the Peace for several boroughs and counties where the Tories have enjoyed for years a monopoly of the Magisterial Bench, tho names of prominent Liberals have just been added. Yesterday in- telligence reached Coventry that amongst the new magistrates just appointed for the borough is Mr T. H. Harris, a mechanic employed in one of the cycle factories, and who has been secretary of the Hospital Saturday Committee for many years. The rumour that Bjornson, the great Norwegian litterateur, is about to visit England for the first time, is a little premature, as in the letter announcing his intentions Bjornson merely says I feel that I should like to spend this Christ. mas out of Norway, and think I should prefer England for choice." The Scandinavian poet feels severely the absence of his daughter, who it may be remembered was married a month or so ago to the son of Ibsen, the equally celebrated playwright of Norway. It is not often that the prcgeny cf two geniuses mate, and the third generation should be an interesting, study for the theorists of heredity. Ibsen's new play, Master Builder Solness, is said to most nearly. resemble, among his existing works The Women of the Sea. Some portions of it—and this will be good news for Ibsenites—are pronounced by some critics to be incompre- hensible. Mr Edmund Gosse considers that he has discovered the symbolic sense of this extra. ordinary piece. According to him Ibsen has re- lated in his new work the history cf his own literary life. The churches which he allnrst reared are his symbolic dramas, Brand and Peer Gynt. Then he constructed houses—social dramas. Now he builds houses with towers-his last strange productions. The death is announced of Dr Hawksley, whose great benefaction of to the Chertsey Industrial Homo and Training School for Desti- tute Boys attracted a great dtal of public atten- tion. He was one of the most benevolent men of whom the medical brotherhood could boast. Dr Hawksley was himself a sufferer—he limped painfully and walked with a crutch; and his pain worn face, and thin. fragile figure,: were only too painful evidences of the disease that afflicted him. His sufferings sharpened his sympathy with the woes of others. His munificenpe was great, but it was guided by a discreet intelli- gence. His benevolence came not from an ill- regulated desire to be bounteous, but was in. spired by a noble judgment. One of Sir Richard Burton's most fervent aspirations has been realised, though he has not survived to witness the consummation. Years ago that most learned and enterprising traveller sojourned for several months at Abomey, in Dahomey. This was in the days of Kina Gelele, the fathor of the present King Behanzin. Sir R. Burton's work was the most interesting ever writ- ten on Dahomey. That kingdom was one of the most awful of the many chambers of horrors' of the African Continent. King Gelele used, if he wanted to send n message to his deceased father, to whisper it into the ear of a slave, whose head was then chopped off that his spirit might carry the news into the other world. Sir Richard Burton, in his book, expressed the ardent hope that Dahomey might be swept off from the face of the earth. The French expedi. tion has made an end of the savage kingdom, though by stern measures. It was at one time hopeful that missionaries would lie able to Christianise the darkest kingdom of Dark Africa. Phil Armour, who has just given £300,000 to endow the Armour Institute in Chicago, is one of the big men of the "Garden City"—big physically, financially, and politically. He is also (says the Daily Chronicle) one of the most hard-working men in the United States, and the traveller arriving in Chicago by one of the early morning trains, shoul j he chance to pass the Armour office between seven and half-past, will always see tho head of the firm" hard at work at his big desk by the window. Mr Armour does not require or expect his employees to keep the same early hours, and in fact rather prides him- self on being the first to arrive at the office. The record of his immense business is condensed as far as possible, and placed in an immense ledger, and the inspection of this daily record is his first work each morning. He has four managers, each receiving a salary of £4,003 per annum. While it is probable that the successful pork-packer^ like Perkyn Middlewick in Our Boys," never passes a pig- without a desire to lift his hat, yet it must not be forgotten that a portion of his enormous fortune has been made out of Iailw