The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-03-16 00:00:00

DISESTABLISHMENT IN THE HOUSE
OF COMMONS.
The following are the terms of the motion of which
Ir. Mali has given notice
Thai' in in humble escheat.° presented to her leifeety,
praying ire Mafeeiy that briaeans of a Royal Commission,
hill and accurate particulars may be procured of the origin,
nature, amount, and application of any property and re-
senora appropriated to the use of the Church of England,
with a view to furnish requisite information bearing on the
question of disestablishment amd disendownient."
Mr. T. Hughes gave notice that he should move as
an amendment to the motion—
That an humble address be presented to her Majesty,
praying her to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into
the amount and present distribution of the revenues of the
parochial benefices of the Established Church, with a view
to the more advantageous adjustment of parishes and In-
comes; and also to consider what amendments may he
made in the laws relating to the patronage of such bene-
fices.*
It will be seen that the avowed object of the first
proposition is disestablishment and disendowment, and
that it covers the whole subject of Church property ;
while the second is limited to the parochial endow-
ments, and aims only at their re-adjustment, together
with an alteration of the law of patronage.

THE ATTACK ON THE QUEEN.
(From The Lanett.)
As the plea of insanity will probably be raised in
explanation of the outrage on her Majesty committed
by O'Connor, the following facts, which have been fur-
nished to us by Dr. Bond, who examined the boy
when taken into custody, will not be without
interest for our readers.
The boy is a slight, delicate lad, 18 years of age, pale, and
strumous-looking ; his general expression being calm,
thoughtful, and intelligent, the eyes particularly expres
sive of determination, fearlessness, and enthusiasm. The
mental capacity is good. He answered all questions respect-
fully and to the point, and was quite consistent in all his
statements, and particularly as regards his motives for
committing the offense. He stated that he had had a
good deal of sickness, and was a long time • patient is
King's College Hospital, where his foot was operated upon
by Mr. Bartridge. lie stated that his life was not a happy
one, and that he would gladly sacrifice it for the good of
Ireland; that he was a gentleman by birth, and would feel
insulted if any one spoke disrespectfully of his great uncle,
Feargns O'Connor ; that there was no insanity in his family,
though Feargus O'Connor was thought to have died mad ;
that he had read a great deal, but not sensation novels, as
they were not to his taste. He further declared himself a
Republican, sympathising strongly with the Irish people.
He thinks it an honour to be a Fenian, the murder of the
Manchester policeman justifiable, and, being grieved that
the Fenian prisoners are still unreleased, feels that, since
peaceful measures have failed, any violence is justitiable in
order to efl ect their release. He said he was a freethinker
in religion, and believed in God, but not in denominational
religion or clergymen. He declared that he was not unhappy
at the thought of being punished, but that his efforts to re-
lease the leniana have failed."
Dr. Bond, as the result of his examination, certified
that he was perfectly sane, and this opinion has been I
confirmed, after a lengthy interview, by Dr. Suther-
land. The lad at first contemplated the use of loaded
fire-arms against her Majesty, but considered that, SS
the Prince of Wales would come to the Throne, and
the monarchy still remain as an institution of the
country, it would be better to attempt, by intimida-
thin, to gain the immediate object he had in view.
The boy has been in ill-health, and we know that
Feargus O'Connor died of general paralysis of the
brain in an asylum. But for all this, as far as the facts
are on record as regards the boy himself, there is no
evidence of insanity in the case.

During the last two or three days Arthur O'Connor
has been visited by his father and mother, but he does
not appear as yet to have obtained any profeirional
assistance (says the Observer). lie does not seem to
exhibit the least regret for his mischievous act, but
seems evidently to think that he was quite justified in
what he did, with a view to procure the release of the
Fenian prisoners. A sort of impression appears to
prevail among the officials of the gaol that the prisoner
is "not quite right," but it is not likely that the
defence of insanity will be set up for him at his alai,
as if he should be acquitted. on that ground he would
be liable to be confined in a criminal lunatic asylum
for the rest of his life, and as he appears to be afflicted
with the mischievous propensity of alarming the Queen,
this result, as in the case of Edward Oxford, who some
thirty years ago discharged a pistol at her Majesty,
and who is still the wretched inmate of a lunatic
asylum, would be carried out, whereas, in the event
merely of a conviction for the offence of attempting to
alarm her Majesty, he is only liable to be sentenced
to penal servitude for a certain term, but the punish-
ment of Hogging may be added, and the prisoner
appears to have a great dread of this addition to his
punishment. The proceediugsat the Central Criminal
Court will be of the nature of a State trial, and the
--ition will be conducted by the Attorney-

"A FREE BREAKFAST TABLE."
Sir Tollemache Sinclair has given notice of his in-
tention to move in the liouse of Commons on an early
day the following revolution :
"That. in the opinion of this House, the taxes on tea,
sugar, and coffee, which are supplied as necessaries of life
even to paupers in workinmses, which bring £OOOOOO to the
revenue. but cost about £8,000,000 to the consumer, which are a
greater burden on the lower middle class than the iIICOMd
tax, and which press with undue and special severity on the
women and children of the manual labour I.lasi, who, ac-
cording to NI. Thiera are taxed higher than in France, on
about a million of out-door paupers, a million of domestic
servants, a million of widows, and several millions of orphan
children, who are not now and are never likely to be re pre-
sentLd in Parliament, shoutd he immediately repealed, and that
the deficiency in the revenue thereby caused, after allowing for
the Increased produce of the taxes on tobacco, spirits, and .
malt from the removal of the taxes on the breakfast-table,
and the surplus of income over expenditure of this year,
should be made up by raising the duty on wine, the beverage
of the rich, as soon as the Frenco treaty is at an end, to tile
saute rate as on spirits, the beverage of the poor and lower
middle class, in proportion to alcoholic strength, the duty
on cigars and tobacco to the same rate as in some of the
British colonies, the licence duty on vendors of spirits, beer,
and wine to a uniform graduated scale based on the unit of
the present highest rate, and by readjusting the house tax, so
as to include all houses which, If in tile metropolis, would be
worth the present limit of £20."