The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-07-03 00:00:00

BY THE AUTHOR OF

"Allan Thornton," "Effie Baird, "Almost a
Criminal," " Leonora's Legacy," 4-c.

CHAPTER XVII.
OUT OF STOUT OF LAND.
I'm on the sea, I'm on the sea,
I am where I would ever be;
With the blue above, and the blue below,
b And silence wheresoe'er I go.—BRTAN W. PROCTOR.
',Ran's slight pique turned to sympathy on the in-
Itant.
" Why did you not tell me before, dear ?" she asked
'Can we not. get something to relieve it at once ?"
" I have something in my bag. But it's nervousness
`▪
nd excitement more than anything else; I shall be
all right when we have started. If you don't mind,
"go and lie down. You have the two gentlemen to
"ige care of you."
'Do, dear. I will come with you and see where
Your cabin is. It is sure to be a comfortable one."
a,That it was. The very best the ship afforded,
i;,.'ted with cTery convenience, and stocked with many
„41e comforts the girls would never have thought of
Vtoviding for themselves.
Eery' made Ur. ula lie down, and spoke to the
ew
°tthardess, who stopped respectfully to listen to all
Young heiress had to say. She regarded her
Ihvith much curiosity, for her story was known: but
l'eryl's thick crape veil prevented her face being
seen.

, "I'll see to the young lady, miss," she said. "She
anatet, be disturbed. You shall have every attention
!hen we are once off. You must excuse me if things
lo'fz, a little rough at first. Everyone wants attending
at once just now."
It seemed so, indeed, and Beryl sat for a few
krainutes in the saloon, interested and amused at the
'llatle around her.
Reantime the two young men stood together on the
„e•elt, watching what was going on there, and the dis-
i342abarkation of passengers and goods from the Venus,
el 'lister ship of the Psyche, which had that morning
INl,thved.- There was a good two hours yet boftwo thoy
°lllcl tart, and the passengers and their belongings
Were rapidly coming aboard.
,Presently a ragged little imp of a boy appeared upon
1." Beene' with a letter in his hand, staring about
turQ.
What do you want ?" asked one of the ship's
cers.
"I want the Psyche. Is this her?"
Ah, I wasn't sure which it was,"replied the youth,
`4editatively.
'What do you want now you are here ?"
15," I want the gent whose name is written on this.
'es to come back with me, right slap. He's
wallted."
"Graham Carcon, Esq.," read the officer, and the
iolll2lg lawyer turned round.
"That's me," he said. "Who wants me ?"
Ole boy put the letter in his hand, and the young
'44,11'11 face turned white to the very lips.
Good Heavens !" he exclaimed. "It is my father's
ricivcriting. What can it mean?"
Jue tore it open and read what astonished him not a
ttie. _ _ _

dear boy,—l have this moment landed from
° Venus, and find you have gone on board the
hsaYclae, with Miss Atherstone. Strange things have
to PPened since you left, which have made it necessary
yntfle to come out also. Don't say anything to the
Sting lady, but come with bearer at once. I will not
tTin you more than half an hour, and you will be in
etlty of time then to perform your duty of escort.
"Yours, in haste,
"R. CARSON.

G. Carson, Esq., ss. Psyche."
Anything the matter ?" asked Allan Temple, seeing
Perturbed face.
Yes. The strangest thing. My father has come
'LL in the Venus."
14 What for ?"
's I can't tell. Read the note. I must go. will
Loll stay with Miss Atherstone till I return? I won't
lone,
Till the last minute, be sure of that," said Allan.
you come back in time to start, it will be all
i'What's the meaning of that, now ?" thought the
tITIng man to himselt, as his friend disappeared on
tbusy quay, in the wake of the stupid-looking boy.
,:.,11ave they found a will, I wonder, and shall I keep
Beryl after all ?"
ah` I wish they had," said Beryl, emphatically, when
hi,came on deck, and her lover had told her of what
happened. "I'm sure I don't want this money.
,s a very dismal thing to be going half over the
world like this, without a creature one k2ows."
",,Fy darling, you have Ursula Rhodes."
ohe isn't much company at present,' Beryl
k;l4Bwered. "She seems so strange and dull, I don't
What to make of her."
ta1i:15,7 sat together, indulging in a last quiet
her h"l4'rYl's tears flowing silently under her veil, for
~..-eart was very sad.
raham Carson followed the boy who brought the
ute in much perturbation of spirit.
`ls it far ?" he asked, wondering where his father
ha N e bestowed himself.
No, it's just here," was the reply; and, to his sur-
vriße, the lad stopped at Mrs. Dalton's house.
“Ilere !" he exclaimed.
“Why did you not tell me?"
'Cog' you didn't ask," retorted the boy, and
l'ahana lifted his hand to the knocker.
}lefOre he could touch it, the door opened, and mfg.
iten appeared on the threshold.
I kid. have been looking out for you, Mr. Carson," she

6;
I do not understand you," he replied. "My
ather
4:ls here. Step this way, if you please. He is most
eieusly waiting for you."
b he opened the door of a room he had not seen
4,e,tOre, and motioned him to enter, and then flung
4:!Ile money to the boy, who was loitering about,
• Sharply bade him begone. He was a nameless
• of the streets, who picked up a living as he could;
blld being sharp, and, after a fashion, honest, Mrs.
Iteh had often employed him to run messages for
He had something on his mind evidently now,
11/i'q eat down on a step opposite, and regarded the
°llse with much attention.
b "It's a rum start," he soliloquised ; "and there'll
a' rlimmer things come of it yet, or my name's not
eI Blogg. I'd like to see the end of it. Shall I
4.4 Y here, and reckon it up, or shall I go aboard ship,
see what happ ns there? I think I'll go. I should
to try the sea, and I want to see foreign countries.
(I go."
back,
M Jack Blogg, whose whole wardrobe was on
11'sr.
and who was not troubled with housekeeping
es, spent the money Mrs. Dalton had given him in
(ll' incongruous mass of edibles, which he carefully
ttllsPosed about his person, and then, mingling with
the crowd on the wharf, he managed to get aboard of
4 e Psyche, and stowed himself away in a dark place,
t the imminent risk of being suffocated or crushed
t° death.
tballan Temple and Beryl sat talking till the
"ere bell rang loudly, and he started up.
" I must go, darling," he said.
Oh, Allan!"
I must. See, everyone is moving," he said.
But where is Mr. Carson ?"
," I'll go and find him, dear. I shall have time
"?ugh far that."
,lut he did not succeed, and after a hurried search,
ge returned to her side.
eo‘` He is on board, darling. The steward saw him
I)ae back; spoke to him, he says, as he came
Re°We. He did not hear the bell, doubtless. There
Ces the second one. You will have to say good-bye
Im for me."
He clasped her in his arms, and strained her to his
iltaeast, regardless of the bystanders. But the minute
h Come for many partings beside theirs, and no one
eeded them.
b Beryl had a strange undefinable feeling of dread at
I,PlIg thus left alone; but it was quite possible
r• Carson had not heard the bells in the
,sclifusion, and she should soon find him
hue flat where Allan had placed her, straining
tet eyes to catch the last glimpse of him, as the ship
41eEded from the land. Then a corner was turned,
fae Wide sea was before her, and she could see his
i,-eeee to more. Her fortitude gave way, and she burst
bitter weeping, which did not cease till a hand
as laid on her shoulder, and someone spoke to her.
Had you not better have a glees of wine.
thlB3 ? You will make yourself ill, if you go on like
Bolt Was the stewardess, and Beryl looked up at the
0411114 of her kindly voice. The sea was beautifully
and the ship going along so smoothly that there
as hardly any motion.
I could not take anything, thank you," she
I think,you should try, miss. The other young
)sly
,`,l has been asking for you. She seems very
tali' MY poor Ursula. I will come to her directly. I
vrld like to see Mr. Carson before I go down, if you
I'l find him, please."
Yee; miss. Mr,—who did you say ?"
late Carson the gentleman wild' is with us. I
-40se he will be in the gentlemen's cabin."
lai` Very goad, miss. I'll fetch him."
I,aalit Mr. Carson was not to be found. The steward
11;41 evidently made a mistake in stating he had seen
The ship was searched from end to end, but he
tholtlet there, and Beryl found, with unutterable dismay
co, fdle was travelling to Europe alone, save for the
dtCe Pazionship of Ursula Rhodes, with no one to intro-
kali° her to her waknown relations, or protect her in
sta N/ray. The shock was too much for her, and the
iito-rwardcas was fain to go to the captain with her
and ask him what she should do with the young
kJ, who had fainted away at the intelligence, and
plied almost out of her senses with fright.
faalajoencaPtain went to see her, in a kind, fatherly
title& ; He had daughters of his own, and felt
serib:e,'Y for the forlorn girl. The ship's doctor pre-
a draught for her, which sent her to sleep, and
thet"°lie less agitated, but beginning to suffer from
'errible ?nal de veer which takes away all tower

of thought and capacity for every suffering save its
own.
Ursula Rhodes was very ill, not sick, but prostrate
to a degree with neuralgia, which nothinc, seemed to
alleviate. She scarcely took any notice when told of
Graham Carson's unacnountable absence, only remark-
ing that she supposed someone would meet them
when they landed, if ever they did land. For her part,
she didn't believe she ever should, she was so very ill.
Everyone was very kind and sympathising with these
young girls, so friendless and alone, and the captain
took pains to assure them that it would be all right,
that Mr. Carson would follow them home in the Venus,
and that he would take care of them himself till he
saw them safe with their friends.
But nothing could comfort Beryl. She was very
sad, and became so extremely prostrateAhat she kept
her berth entirely, and thus it happened that neither
of the girls were seen by anyone except the stewardess.
It was weary work for poor Beryl, lying prostrate in
this tossing ship, with an untried future before her,
in a strange land, and all the friends she had in the
world left behind her, never to be seen again, maybe.
Ursula Rhodes, on whom she had depended as a
companion, was too ill for the most part to talk to
her; and, if she did rouse up sufficiently to speak,
was so querulous and unlike herself, that Beryl gave
up the attempt in despair.
The voyage of the Psyche was not to be by any,
means an uneventful one. Two days out from Mil-
haven, the captain and the doctor were walking up
and down the deck chattering. Their talk was of the
heiress and her companion. Miss Atherstone's
story was pretty well known on board.
"I've never seen her properly yet," the captain ,
said. "She has always had her veil down, or been
hidden behind the curtains. Poor thing! it's lonely
work for her."
"Hang me, if I know which is which !" the doctor
said. " I've seen them both, of course, but they seem
to me curiously a:ike. and they are dressed as nearly
the same as possible."
"I took them for sisters," the captain replied.
"What can have become of that young fellow, I
wonder? He didn't look like a man to go on the
spree. He told me all about them. The heiress has
been an actress, and the other girl is a friend, who is
going with her for company. I shall be glad when
they get up. I feel responsible for them."
" Ah, this calm weather will bring them up. No
one can be sick long in a smooth sea like this. What's
the mattor forward, captain 9 There 00011213 to boa,
row afoot."
Hardly that, for it takes at least two people
quarrelling to bring about that unpleasant climax,
and there did not appear to be any quarrelling in the
hubbub that had suddenly arisen in the forepart of
the ship. Sounds of weeping and wailing, mixed
with some swearing, and a good deal of rough ridicule,
arose from the motley crowd, which approached the
captain with a struggling, shrinking object in their
midst.
"Now, then," he asked, shortly. "What is it ?"
The boatswain touched his cap, and replied,
rather breathlessly:
"Stowaway, sir."
Captain Bolton was not astonished. A stowaway
was no uncommon apparition on board such ships as
his.
" Ah," he said. "Where ?"
"In the forehold, sir."
"Bring him along. Let me see him."
They brought him along—right under the deck
where the captain and the doctor were walking—and
the two gentlemen looked down with something of
pity on the hapless creature thus disinterred
from the very bowels of his ship. Jack Blogg had
seen the dark side of the world hitherto, and his ex-
perience of it hadbeen the very roughest; but he had
never known anything like what he had endured in
the two days of darkness and terror on board the
Psyche. Sea-sick and famished, and in hourly dread
of being devoured by the rats, whose scamperings
and shriekings made his flesh creep on his bones, and
his hair stand on end, his fortitude had at length for-
saken him utterly, and his moans and howls had at-
tracted the attention of the sailors and impressed them
with the belief that the forehold of the Psyche was
haunted by evil spirits. Some of the more daring
spirits among them ventured down on becoming con-
vinced that the sounds were human, and brought up a
ragged, helpless urchin, who, on breathing the air, and
seeing the daylight once more, recovered, and became
again an impudent street arab, past master in the art
of reviling.
" Ah, Captain Bolton, dear, don't let them beat me !"
he exclaimed, as they deposited him on the deck just
under where the captain stood. "I'm Jack Blogg,
that's run many an errand for you in Milhaven, and
run 'em faithful and honest. Let me go with you and
I'll work, as well as any man among 'em."
'And what, in the devil's name, made you come
aboard the Psyche, Jack Blogg ?" demanded the
captain. "Suppose I tell them to heave you over-
board, what then? We don't want a pack of idle
, fellows here."

"I won't be idle, only let me go !" pleaded the boy.
"I had reason, Captain Bolton. I must go to Europe.
Don't drown me, I'll-"
And the miserable creature in the tattered clothes
swayed to and fro for a moment, clutching wildly at
nothing with his hands, and then fell down with a
bang on the boards of the deck.
"Poor little devil !" said the captain. g; He's
starved. Take him away, boatswain, and feed him.
See that he has something in the shape of clothes to
put on, and make use of him. He's a sharp lad, and,
as far as I know, honest. We can't put him back
now, and I can't have him abused. You'll find him
useful. Doctor, you might just make sure that he
isn't dead."
"He had only fainted," the doctor reported. "A
night's rest, and a little food would put him to rights."
And indeed, on the next morning Master Blogg was
able to begin to make himself useful, and to show the
crew that they had better not attempt to take any
liberties with him, for that he had a tongue as sharp
as a razor, and could take particularly good care of
himself. Dr. Twist wondered not a little what could
have induced this restless urchin to stow himself away
on board ship, but Master Blogg, if cheeky, was un-
communicative to a degree.
"He wanted to see some places besides Milhaven,"
he said. "He knew a cove as went to sea, and made
his fortune, and he thought he'd try it."
And with this answer the doctor was obliged to ca-
content.

THE POLITICAL CRISIS.

ELECTIONEERING- NEWS.
Mr. Chamberlain has written the following letter
or publication:

"Birmingham, June 26.
"Sir,-1 have earnestly desired to avoid anything
in the nature of a personal controversy with the
Prime Minister, but there is one statement in his
speech yesterday at Manchester which calls for imme-
diate notice. I refer to his allusion to a plan of
Irish land purchase, which he says that I requested
him to cause to be printed for the consideration of
the Government. Mr. Herbert Gladstone, who on
more than one occasion appears to have been charged
with the duty of revealing confidential matters, has
given an incomplete and misleading description of the
plan in a public speech delivered at Barnstaple,
with regard to which I may point out that
any knowledge he may possess of a document sub-
mitted to the Cabinet can only have been acquired by
the betrayal of confidence on the part of one of
its members. The facts are as follows :—Shortly after
I joined the Government Mr. Gladstone asked me if I
had any ideas on the subject of land pur-
chase, and requested mei to submit them to
him in writing. I told him that I had only
general notions, and that without access to official in-
formation I could not test their value, but that I
would readily place them before him for his own in-
formation. I did so, and beard no more of the
matter until the second week in March, when Mr.
Gladstone, by a letter which I have preserved, asked
my permission to circulate my suggestions to the
members of the Cabinet. I replied that if it was his
wish I had no objection, and the paper was accordingly
circulated—not at my request, but at Mr. Gladstone's
special desire. Mr. Gladstone did not adopt my
suggestions. I didn't think it worth while to
press them, and they were never discussed by the
Cabinet. The Prime Minister now invites me to make
them public. I hope at some future time, and when lam
in a position to develop them in the light of official
information, that I may be able to submit them for
general criticism. In the meanwhile, however, I am
not disposed to divert attention from the issues raised
by the Government bill to alternative proposals which
were only formulated in the first instance al sug-
gestions for Mr. Gladstone's private consideration.
All I will permit myself to say is that they differ in
every essential particular from the Government plan,
and, above all, in this—that they do not contemplate
the establishment of a separate and practically inde-
pendent legislative body in Dublin, but, on the con-
trary, preserve the maintenance of the unquestioned
authority of the Imperial Parliament. —I am, sir,
your obedient servant, "J. CHAMBERLAIN."
Mr. Chamberlain, writing to a Walsall Congrege-
tional minister, says: "It is a great pleasure to ma
to have the support of Nonconformists at a time like
the present when the hasty and ill-considered pro-
posals of the Government have endangered the
supremacy of Parliament, which in this country is a
guarantee of our civil and religious liberties. I trust
that the electors will give a decisive vote at the polls
in favour of the maintenance of the Union. In this
case we shall afterwards be free to enter upon the

consideration of some large measure of self:govern-
ment applicable to Ireland as well as to other parts
of the United Kingdom."
The Marquis of Hartington, speaking on Saturday
night at a Liberal Unionist demonstration in the Town
Hall, Paisley, addressed his remarks to the considera-
tion of the case of Ulster. Mr. Gladstone had pre-
viously admitted that the case of Ulster was one that
ought to be seriously considered, and that he was pre-
pared to entertain suggestions which had been made
for meeting the difficulty when put in practical shape.
His reasons now, however, for not meeting the
demand of the Ulster Protestants was that he (the
Marquis of Hartington) had given him no assistance,
that Major Saunderson had declared in the name of
the Orangemen that nothing would induce them to
consent to the separation of Ireland from England,
and that he had been convinced by the powerful argu-
ments of Mr. Parnell that the whole experiment in-
dicated by the Irish policy of the Government was
one fraught with danger, and possibly disaster. Mr.
Morley had admitted it would not be safe in some
districts in Ireland to give local authorities control
over the police, and yet by this measure similar
power would be given to an executive exercising
control over the whole country. The Government
policy was one of despair, and should it fail, then, on
their own confession, the only alternative would be
separation.
On Saturday night Lord Randolph Churchill,
speaking at a meeting of his constituents, expressed
regret at being so soon called on to solicit re-election,
and said the fact was attributable to the policy of
Mr. Gladstone, who desired to destroy the union that
had so long existed between England and Ireland.
He admitted that the Irish question was asdifficulty,
but he said England had faced difficulties before, and
he argued that since the legislative union Ireland, as
the facts if properly examined would show had ad-
vanced in national prosperity to a greater extent than
England and Scotland. Mr. Gladstone's policy on
the Irish question was really that which he had
adopted in regard to Afghanistan, South Africa, and
the Soudan—namely, the policy of scuttle. The Con-
servatives, however, mull not accept that policy, and
would not agree to hand over the government of Ire-
land to the National League. The reason why Mr.
Gladstone had brought forward his present remedy
for Ireland's ills was that he needed the support of
the eighty-five Irish members in order that his Govern-
ment might be retained in Downing-street.
Mr. Goschen, in pursuance of his candidature for
the Western Division of Edinburgh, addressed a
meeting, mostly of working men, on Saturday, and
met with a very cordial reception. He proceeded to
answer two suggestions which were frequently made
—first, that those who were opposed to the Govern-
ment bills must be reactionary or Tory in their ten-
dencies; and, secondly, that this was a matter of
class. In disproof of the first he quoted the names of
Bright and Chamberlain, Trevelyan and Hartington ;
and, in respect to the second suggestion, he quoted
opinions of working men in Ulster, the gist of which
was that they feared the consequences to trade aid
personal liberty if power were handed over in any
way contemplated to the Nationalists. One of two
or three individuals who were in the meeting who were
hostile to Mr. Goschen asked him to give the names
of the writers. Upon that Mr. Goschen replied that
in Donegal it was not safe to name the authors. One
man rejoined that they were in Edinburgh, and not in
Donegal; and Mr. Goschen made answer that while
it was perfectly sale for him it would not be safe for
the writers in Donegal. In dealing further with the
same subject, Mr. Goschen was again interrupted by
his Irish friend, who said that the minority were pro-
tected in the bill. Mr. Gladstone, he remarked, said
so. To this Mr. Goschen replied that until he saw
how they were to be protected, he should continue
his opposition to the bill. Mr. Parnell, he contended,
had never repudiated or regretted the enunciations of
and the approval he gave to boycotting in his Ennis
speech, while United Ireland—which was edited by
Irish M.P.'s—writing last April, said that "an Irish
Parliament in College-green would be no revolution-
ary novelty," as it would be only regularising the
system of government—that of the National League
-which was already obeyed from Donegal to Cork.
With Mr. Bright, he hesitated in handing over to
such men the industry, the property, and the rights
of 5,000,000 of the Queen's subjects in Ireland.
Cheers were given to Mr. Goschen as he drove away.
Sir Michael flicks Beach at Bristol on Saturday
night said, with reference to the importance of main-
taining and strengthening the connection between
England and her colonies, that in all their great self-
governing colonies they could not find any person
of English or Scotch descent in favour of Mr. Glad-
stone's Irish policy. On the other hand, they would
find many persons of Irish descent who were opposed
to it. Moreover, no statesman's name was received
with greater dislike—he might also say execration—
in those colonies than that of Mr. Gladstone, whose
policy they knew tended to the disintegration of the
empire. If the scheme before the country were passed
it would be the first step in that direction, and
therefore the electors of Great Britain, as valuing
their Constitution and the Crown, as wishing to
maintain the safety of the country and equal laws and
justice to England and Ireland, should resist the
policy of Mr. Gladstone -a.nd show the disapproval of
the rapid changes of opinion made by Mr. Gladstone
and his satellites since last November. The electors
should give their Totes according to their reason and
consciences, and not be led blindly by any feeling for
the great abilities of Mr. Gladstone, who, to his (the
speaker's) mind, was the most dangerous statesman
, that ever was Prime Minister.
The Duke of Norfolk on Saturday night addressed
an enthusiastic meeting at Salisbury in support of the
candidature of Mr. Heise. He said that the measures
which Mr. Gladstone proposed, instead of bringing
peace and happiness into Ireland, would hand over
that country to Mr. Parnell and his followers, a party
whom Mr. Gladstone had condemned, and whose
leader he had thrust into prison. Mr. Parnell said
he would accept the bill as a final settlement of Ire-
land's grievances; but would the Irish people accept
them as such? Would they heal the wound from
which Ireland suffered? Would they make the people
of that country love England? They would not, but
they would place in the hands of those who were fight-
ing with this one object of separating Ireland from Great
Britain such a weapon best suited to their ends. The
real danger lay in the apathy of Englishmen, from
which they must be aroused. What they wanted was
a policy which would secure capital and remove the
state of dread under which Ireland was labouring. He
admitted freely that Ireland had been treated badly
in the past, and the treatment which must be awarded
her in the future must be just, without any senti-
mental fear. In order to carry this out they must all
act as Englishmen, without respect to creed or party.
All differences of opinion must be sunk; all must
fight to preserve the Empire in its entirety—a course
which he believed would be adopted throughout the
country, and one which would be a complete answer
to Mr. Gladstone and Sir William Harcourt.
A. demonstration in favour of Mr. Gladstone's Home
Rule project, organised by Mr. Joseph Arch, M.P.,
and Mr. Leicester, M.P., was announced for Saturday
afternoon in Hyde-park, but at the eleventh hour the
idea was abandoned. However, while it was still sup-
posed that the two authors of the recent "Labour
manifesto" held the courage of their opinions, steps
had been taken to call a counter eathering of citizens
opposed to Home Rule, and, notwithstanding the
collapse of the Leicester-Arch meeting, the Unioeist
demonstration was proceeded with, and attracted an

ti 19 codi kLe.Stt_l-4.1,) -41 "

audience of several thousand persons. A procession,
headed by a brass band, playing patriotic tunes entered
the park, by way of the Marble-arch, shortly before four
o'clock, and marched to a platform which had been
erected on the grass in the central space. Many of
the processionists carried Union Jacks, and the
hoisting of the red-white-and-blue on a temporary
flagstaff near the platform was a signal for
the proceedings to begin. Captain R. H. Armit, hon.
secretary of the National and Patriotic League, was
called upon to preside. The chairman said the work-
ing men of London had been accustomed from their
childhood to march under the banner inscribed
"Unity is strength," but they were now asked to
reverse their opinions, and to march under the bannre
of disunion. (Cheers.) Were they, he askei, going
to allow their flag—the Union Jack—to be torn dove n?
(LOud cries of "Never.") Amid loud groans mingled
with some cheering, two Socialists, Messrs. Burns and
Champion, mounted the Platform, and announced
their intention of proposing an amendment. Mr.
Lemon moved the first resolution: "That this meet-
ing emphatically condemns the Irish policy of Mr.
Gladstone." Mr. Leader, of the Royal Irish Patriotic
Union, seconded the motion. Mr. Burns, on
attempting to move his amendment, was greeted with
a storm of hisses and groans. The chairman, with
difficulty, secured a semblance of order, and Mr. Burns
commenced his speech by expressing regret that Mr.
Arch and Mr. Lecicester, "those Liberal Party hacks,"
had not sufficient courage to defend their principles in
the park. The disorder was now renewed with in-
creased vehemence; voices shouted "Socialist," and
"We do not want you," and some of the crowd near
the platform waved their flagstaffs in a threatening
manner. At length, after several minutes' confusion,
Mr. Burns moved the following amendment in dumb
show :—" That this meeting declares that the manage-
ment of purely Irish affairs should be in the hands of
Irishmen." Finding, however, that he was unable to
obtain a hearing, he announced his intention of hold-
ing a meeting of Socialists and Home Rulers in
another part of the park, and jumped from the plat-
form followed by his companion, Mr. Champion. The
resolution was then put and carried amidst much
enthusiam, as were others declaring that the Union
between Great Britain and Ireland must at all costs
be maintained, and also condemning the injustice
of unfair foreign competition. At the close of the
meeting the National Anthem was sung, and the con-
course dispersed.
Mr. Parnell, addressing 'a meeting at Plymouth on
Saturday night; said: Your chairman has truly re-
minded you that this is a struggle of the democracies
of the two countries of England and Ireland, and it
is the first time that the two democracies have ever

come together—(cheers)—and from the very nature
of the case it is the very first time that it was possible
for them to come together. (Applause.) They have
lost no time about it, and it is to the credit of the
people of England and Ireland that within a few
months after they were enfranchised they have taken
and shaken each other by the hand. (Loud and pro-
longed cheering.) I ask you what in the name of
common sense prevents the English people from doing
this small justice to Ireland? (Loud chee:s.) You, a
great and rich people, over 30,000,000 strong, with
your colonies attached to you and ready to help
you at the signal, cannot surely be afraid of little
Miserable Ireland, with her 5,000,000 of people.
(Loud cheers.) You cannot really fear that such a
concession to Ireland can possibly endanger your
Empire. (No, no.) This battle is being waged
against Ireland by a class of landlords whose loyalty
that they boast of is loyalty to their own pockets.
(Loud cheers.) Have they not repeatedly threatened
that if the Queen, Lords, and Commons of England
pass a certain act they will rebel against the Imperial
authority? Is that loyalty? (No, no.) Much fight
there is in them. (Laughter and cheers.) I know
these gentry well. (Laughter.) They talk about the
Protestants of Ireland—of whom I am proud to be
one. (Cheers.) The Protestants of Ireland despise
this miserable gang who trade upon the name of
religion; they despise them, and appraise them at
their full worth. They threatened to rebel when the
Irish Church was disestablished. They threatened
to rebel when the first Land Act of 1870 was
passed, and now they threaten to rebel again.
(Laughter.) All that I can say is that a thou-
sand men of the Royal Irish Constabulary will be
amply sufficient to cope with all the rebels that the
Orangemen of the North of Ireland can produce
(hisses)—they would be just taken like corner boys
and street rowdies, and they would be locked up in
the police barracks. This is another of the alarms
that are raised, that the Protestant minority of Ire-
land will be injured. Well, now, I wish to point out
to you that this cry is not really raised by the Protes-
tants of Ireland at all. It is raised by the few fana-
tical Orangemen in the North of Ireland. The Pro-
testants of Ireland are not a bit afraid of either the
Pope or the Papists. The great majority of them, and
I know them well, are pretty much indifferent upon
this question. Of the two things, they would probably
rather have matters left as they are, but they have not
any very strong feeling one way or the other. Re-
ferring to what is now known as the Carnarvon inci-
dent, Mr. Parnell said it is a very favourable device
with politicians, when they are accused of one thing,
to say, not that they did not do the thing, but that they
did not do something else—(hear, hear)—and when I
stated that I had reason to believe that the Tories, if
they had a majority at the polls, would have given us
a statutory Legislature, with a power of protecting
Irish industries against the products- of British
factories, Sir Michael Hicks Beach contradicted me
by saying that the Cabinet had not agreed to do that.
(Laughter.) Well, I never said that the Cabinet had
agreed to it. From the very nature of the case the
Cabinet could not have agreed to it, because the matter
was not ripe for final judgment, and could not have
become ripe until the result of the general election
was known. But what I say is this, that the leading
man who was responsible in the Cabinet for the
government of Ireland, a man in the high position of
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland—(hear, hear)—asked me
to meet him in London for the purpose of consulting
with me and learning my views, and giving me his
own with regard to a Constitution for Irelancl.
(Cheers.) Now, a Constitution for Ireland can
only have meant a Parliamentary Constitution,
and it has not been denied, and cannot be
denied. Secondly, I say that during that inter-
view I found that Lord Carnarvon—(groans)—don't
hiss or hcot him, he was the only gentleman in the
late Cabinet—agrees with me in the main lines on
which a constitution for Ireland will be granted by
the giving of a statutory Legislature. (Hear, hear.)
Well, now, Lord Carnarvon does not deny that, but
what he denies is this. He says—" I don't agree
with Mr. Gladstone's bill." Well, I never said that
Lord Carnarvon agreed with Mr. Gladstone's bill; but
I said that he agreed with me at the beginning of last
August regarding the lines upon which the Irish
National Question should be settled. (Applause.)
Lord Carnarvon has not denied my assertion that he
urged these views on the Cabinet for six months, and
that although the time for the Cabinet to take final
decision did not become ripe until after the result of
the general election was known, yet notwithstand-
ing during the whole of those six months Lord Car-
narvon was not opposed in the Cabinet to any
extent. And I make another assertion now, which
Lord Carnarvon will not deny either. If his views
had been opposed in the Cabinet during these six
months so as to make him believe that he could not
have carried them, he would have resigned his office
—(loud cheers).—and he never did resign his office
until the result of the general election, and our failure
to give the Tories a majority swung the Cabinet,
roused into opposition, into those views. (Cheers.)
With respect to Lord Randolph Churchill—(groan-
ing)—he is a bird of another feather. Lord Carnar-
von is a sensible man, and resigned his position when
he found he could not carry out the expectations
which he had held out to us. But Lord Randolph
Churchill, although he was up to the hilt in that
thing too, did not resign his office, he only turned
right about face—(laughter)—and he became a de-
nouncer of the very policy for the relief of Ireland
that he had a month before determined to carry out.
Writing to a correspondent at Bristol, Mr. Samuel
Morley expressed approval of Mr. Gladstone's Irish
policy.
Mr. C. R. M. Talbot, the " father" of the House of
Commons, and M.P. for Mid-Glamorgan, has an-
nounced to his constituents that, although he voted
against the Home Rule Bill, he now believes that Mr.
Gladstone has shadowed forth in his Scotch speeches
such a policy of Irish legislation in the next Parlia-
ment as will enable him this time to support him.
The Earl of Northbrook spoke at Portsmouth on
Saturday night in favour of the candidature of Sir
Samuel Wilson, Conservative, and Sir William
Crossman, Liberal Unionist. He said that since the
Union Ireland had gained Catholic Emancipation, the
removal of the grievance of tithes, the disestablish-
ment of the Irish Church, and lastly laws which, if
the peeple had been left alone by agitators, would
have settled the question between the landlords and
the tenants. In Ireland there were conflicts or
interests, and it required a firm hand of Government
to keep them from collision, and if that were withdrawn,
there would be no peace, 0: der, or tranquillity for
her Majesty's subjects. With regard to coercion,
nothing could be more unfair than the statement that
Lord Salisbury had recommended 20 years' coercion.
What he said was that they wanted 20 years of reso-
lute government. Did they want 20 years of irreso-
lute government? There was no doubt what the in-
tention of the Conservative Government was with
regard to Ireland, for that was plainly indicated in
the Speech from the Throne when Lord Salisbury was
in office, while the maintenance of the Union was
necessary to England, to Irish Protestants, and to
Irish Catholics.
An address has been prepared by the Ulster Liberal
Unionist Committee to the people of the United King-
dom. It says the maintenance of the Union with Great
Britain means the assurance of our future. Under
the Union Ulster, once the bleakest and most sterile,
has become the most cultivated, prosperous, law-
abiding, and contented province of Ireland, and in
loyalty to the Queen and Constitution is second to
no portion of her Majesty's dominions. They proL,
against Mr. Gladstone's policy as ruinous to the
best interests of their country. They protest against
a measure the mere proposal of which is already
breaking up mercantile confidence, depreciating Irish
securities to a degree unprecedented even in times of
commercial panic, and driving capital wholesale out
of the country. The Ulster Liberals believe that there
is an alternative policy. At its root lies such a
thorough comprehensive settlement of the land ques-
tion as will lead naturally and gradually to a wide-

test

spread system of occupying ownersnip m the country.
With such a settlement agrarian outrage will dis-
appear. The land difficulty settled, the way will be
open for the development of local government.

Mr. Gladstone, addr-essing a great meeting in
Hengler's Circus, at Liverpool, on Monday afternoon,
repudiated the statement that the Government
wished to deny to Ulster the privilege they desired to
give to other parts of Ireland. He also denied that
the Land Purchase Scheme involved the expenditure
of millions of the money of the British taxpayers,
because investing in Consols was not expenditure.
The whole of that question, he said, must necessarily
be considered afresh by the Liberal Government if
returned to power. He enumerated 'ten subjects
which had constituted the political life of the last
sixty years, and on every one of them be submitted
that the masses had been right and the classes wrong.
He appealed to the prudence, courage, and sense of
honour of Englishmen, with a view to the solution of
the Irish problem as provided in scheme. Tbe
Act of Union be characterised as an artful combine.-

tion of fraud and force, applied in the basest manner
to attain an end which all Ireland detested. He
entreated the people of England to displace discord
by the ushering in of the reign of peace in Ireland.
Lord Hartington, addressing a great meeting at
Sheffield on Monday night, regretted his inability to I
continue to act in harmony with some Liberals with
whom he bad formerly co-operated, but urged that
the Irish question was one of hard and practical
reality. It was requisite to consider not only what
the majority of the Irish people might happen to
want, but what in our hearts and consciences we be-
lieved would be for their interest, and he maintained
that the policy of Mr. Gladstone would not tend in
that direction.
'l4,llThe Duke of Norfolk speaking on Monday night at
Preston in support of the candidature of -Viscount
Cranborne, severely condemned Mr. Gladstone's Irish
policy, maintaining that it would be injurious to Great
Britain and to Ireland herself.:
Lord G. Hamilton at Spalding on Monday night
gave an emphatic denial to Mr. Parnell's statement
as to the late Cabinet and his interview with Lord
Carnarvon, and asserted that Lord Carnarvon had no
authority whatever from the Government to enter
into any negotiations with Mr. Parnell.
In prosecution of his candidature for the Border
BErghs, Sir George Trevelyan on Monday night ad-
dressed a meeting of his constituents at Galas'niels.
He said he should tell them a plain story without any
varnishing, without any invective against other poli-
ticians. In the course he had adopted over this great
Irish question, he bad done nothing in contradiction
to the pledges he had given to Liberal principles or
to the interests of the country. Had the same system
been pursued in regard to Ireland as when he was in
office that country would have been as quiet as Scot-
land now was. It was the only policy that had ever
succeeded or that would succeed. This was not the
first time he had differed from Mr. Gladstone; but he
desired to remind the audience that the Prime Minister
had spoken and voted against his proposal of the
equalisation of theborough and county franchise. What
he desired was to be sent to Parliament b prevent the
Liberal party from doing what Mr. Gladstone had
done. Mr. Gladstone had said at the station at Nor-
manton, "The question before us is whether you will
let the Irish manage their own affairs. You have done
it in Canada, in Australia, in the Cape of Good Hope,
and in your colonies generally, and it has been at-
tended with enormous advantages." (Cheers.) Were
the cases parallel? They were independent; they
owed nothing to Great Britain but loyalty. Would
that be the case with Ireland? (Cries of "Yes "and
"No, no.") The Irish revenue would be £8,350,000 a
year, and the cos'c, of collection would reduce it to
£7,400,000; but, on the other hand, Ireland would
have to pay over to the British treasury £4,000,000
year. Sir Joseph MiKenna said, "from an unfortu-
nate country like Ireland, which was consuming less
and less every year, £2,300,000 a year was taken
away and brought into the bottomless pit of the
English exchequer—(laughter)—but now, instead of
the .C 2,500,000 £4,500,000 were to be brought into
the bottomless pit, into an exchequer which would be
more entirely British than evar. They were told to
look back on Grattan's Parliament, but when it was
proposed in that Parliament that Ireland should
pay £3130,000 for the British navy, Grattan
and his followers repudiated that. No Government
that would be able to hold its own in the Irish Par-
liament unless it protested against the English
tribute. Mr. Trevelyan proceeded to criticise the
Land Bill and the estimates on which it was based.
He was desirous to give Ireland very large local
liberties. Before he had been a year in office he came
to the conclusion that they ought to abolish the grand
jury system and substitute for it bodies absolutely
elected by the ratepayers, and to such bodies he
would have ent 'listed everything relating to local ad-
ministration. He would have given to elective Irish
boards the entire charge of poor relief, and every-
thing relating to the raising and dispensing of the
local rates. Again, he would have entrusted to them
the matter of education, lower and intermediate,
and, as an elementary condition, he would have
given the power of developing the resources of
Ireland out of the revenue of the country.
He would, too, have given them full powers over
the laying down and construction of their own rail-
ways, tramways, and canals; everything, in short, ex-
cept the control of law and order—(cheers and slight
hisses)—and that he would have kept in the hands of
a powerful Home Secretary, responsible to the Par-
liament at Westminster. A vote of confidence was
afterwards proposed in Sir Geo. Trevelyan, but an
amendment was at once moved to the effect that he
was not a fit and proper person to represent the
Border Burghs. On the amendment being put it was
undoubtedly supported by the greater proportion of
those in the body of the ball, but the chairman, look-
ing round to those on the platform, who were unani-
mously holding up their hands in favour of Sir
George, declared the amendment to have been lost and
the original motion carried. He, however, admitted
that the show of hands in the hall, leaving out of
consideration the platform, had apparently been
against Sir George. The meeting then broke up,
amidst mingled cheers and hissing.
Mr. Henry Broadhurst (L), has issued his address
to the electors of the Western Division of Nottingham.
In it be says they have now placed before them a plain
and straightforward question as to whether Ireland
should be ruled by despotism involving the constant
suspension of the personal liberty of her people or
whether a great measure of self-government, subject
to the supremacy of the British Parliament, should
be granted to her. Such a measure, subject to certain
' essential conditions, Mr. Gladstone now asked them to
enable him to propose. These essential conditions
were as follows: 1. That it must be consistent with
Imperial unity. 2. That it must be founded upon the
political equality of the three nations. 3. That there
must be an equitable distribution of Imperial burdens.
4. That there should be safeguards for the minority.
5. That it should be in the nature of a settlement
and not of a mere provocation for the revival of fresh
demands. Opposed to this policy, Lord Salisbury,
aided by some Whigs and seceding Radicals, was
appealing to the nation to permit him to govern Ire-
land on the principle of coercion and repression which
had so lamentably failed in the past. Mr. Broadhurst
therefore asks the constituency to decide between
freedom and force, between peace and continued
national agitation, and to vote for one who would sup-
; port Mr. Gladstone in his great contest on behalf of
justice, freedom, and peace.

The Marquis of Salisbury, speaking on Tuesday
evening in St. James's Hall, London, at the meeting
of the Constitutional Union, referred at length to the
statements of Mr. Parnell, for which he clearly denied
that any foundation existed. Lord Carnarvon had
communicated to him (Lord Salisbury) what had
passed between him and Mr. Parnell two or three
days after the interview had taken place, and the
account he had afterwards given in the House of
Lords agreed with the account given to his leader,
who had previously clearly assured Lord Carnarvon
that he would never agree to such demands as those
made by Mr. Parnell. As to Mr. Gladstone, it was
evident from the way in which he brought in his
scheme that he had been considering it for 15 years.
He told his hearers not to be led away by historical
allusions from the main points of the issue before the
country, which were those of the separation of Ireland
from England, and the investment of £150,000,000
of the money of the British taxpayers to buy out the
Irish landlords.
Lord Randolph Churchill, speaking in support of
Mr. Lionel Cohen on Tuesday night, alluded to Mr.
Gladstone's remarks that the Home Rule movement
was opposed by classes, and to his quotation from his
(Lord Randolph's) speech, to the effect that the
people could not go wrong, and said he had meant the
whole people, including all classes. Mr. Gladstone
went about pleading in forind pauperis, but his sup-
porters were sustained by American contributions,
and he had, moreover, the Secret Service money,
which he was employing to procure the return of
Home Rule candidates.
Mr. Parnell, addressing a meeting at Cheshire in
support of the Gladstonian candidate, instanced the
existence in the United States of America of 39 inde-
pendent legislators under the supreme congress as a
strong, practical argument in favour of the estab-
lishment of a Parliament in Ireland to deal with Irish
affairs.
Lord Derby, speaking at a meeting in Liverpool on
Tuesday evening, said it was preposterous to suppose
that Mr. Gladstone s scheme would stop agitation in
Ireland. The scheme went too far for one party in
Ireland and not far enough for another.
Mr. A. J. Balfour, replying to a correspondent,
states that in December last he received a letter from
Mr. Gladstone expressing a desire that the then Con-
servative Government should deal with the Irish ques-
tion, but giving no indication of the kind of scheme
he was prepared to support. In conclusion, Mr. Bal-
four asks why, if Mr. Gladstone had made up his
mind for Home Rule, he did not boldly raise that
issue on the Queen's Speech, instead of snatching a
division on a subordinate question.

THE PEOPLE'S PALACE FOR THE EAST
OF LONDON.
Within the memory of man no Roe al visit to the
East-end of London ever attracted crowds so large
and enthusiastic as those which turned out on Monday
to welcome the Prince and Princess of Wales as they
drove along Whitechapel and Mile-end-road to the
site of the People's Palace. The glorious weather,
the profuse decorations along the route, and the
passing presence of the most popular members of
the Royal Family taken together composed an
irresistible temptation to make holiday. There
were probably at the windows, on the roads
and pavements, and in the rows and masses of
waggons and carts drawn up on the I mg, broad
causeway, not fewer than a hundred thousand
people waiting for hours in the blazing sunshine
to celebrate the occasion. Venetian neiers, banners,
bannerets, streamers, flags of all nations, mottoes,
and three substantial triumphal arches converted the,
great thoroughfare that stretches from Aldgate east-
ward into a scene of the liveliest gaiety. " Welcome "
was written in every shape and form, and many of
the mottoes were amusing and original, such as
"Very Glad to See You," and "Come Often and
over the Queen's Arms public-house appeared the
singular legend, "Welcome to Mile-end and to the
Queen's Arms, where you had your first drink." Out-
side the almshouses connected with the Trinity
House the Fairlop boat, which does duty every year
at the quaint July festival in Epping Forest, stood
filled with lads in sailor costume. The passage along
the road of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, and after-
wards of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who
were accompanied by their eldest and youngest
daughters, was the signal for uproarious outbursts
of cheering, and the Royal carriages were greeted
with the wildest demonstrations of enthusiasm.
Not less striking than the crowded streets was the
site of the People's Palace. In the centre a raised
platform had been erected, and here, under a charm-
ing roof of striped canvas, was suspended, ready for
lowering, the stone which will hereafter mark the
entrance to a saloon which, by her Majesty's per-
mission, will be called "Queen's Hall." Facing this,
at the southern boundary of the site, were lofty gal-
leries occupied by 2500 Board school children. Trus-
trees, subscribers, and representatives of various
classes were allocated in hundreds to special blocks
around the enclosure, and the barrier which was sup-
posed to defend the platform from invasion was lined
by about one thousand men belonging to trade and
friendly societies. Altogether in this huge square of
space there were 9000 people assembled, listening
to the band of the Scots Guards, and conversing
merrily under the shade of umbrella and parasol.
The children in the galleries were furnished each with
a small Union Jack, and when the arrival of some dis-
tinguished person attracted their attention two
thousand-and-a-half flaglets waved in concert a
big parterre of variegated blossoms shaken by a strong
wind. The Archbishop of Canterbury's robes, the
soberer gowns of the Master and Wardens of the
Worshipful Company of Drapers, and the procession
of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs in succession set the
little folks shrilly hurrahing and vigorously fluttering
their flags. The Prince and Princess of Wales,
arriving shortly before five o'clock, were met at the
entrance by Sir Edmund Hay Currie (chairman), the
Beaumont trustees, the Master and Wardens of
the Drapers' Company, and the delegates from
the East London committee. The Royal salute
was given by the guards of honour of the East
London Engineer Volunteers and the Post Office
Company of the 24th Middlesex, the children at the
signal singing "God Bless the Prince of Wales." A.
prayer was read by the Archbishop, and the Old Hun-
dreth was sung by the young choristers. Sir Edmund
Hay Currie, read and presented an address on behalf
of the Beaumont trustees, thanking their Royal High-
nesses not only for this particular visit, but for the
personal sympathy and kindly consideration they have
always evinced in all matters having for their object
the amelioration and improvement of the condition of
the poor. The following statement was incorporated
with reference to the People's Palace scheme:
The funds which the trustees are endeavouring to
raise, in order to give full and complete effect to the
scheme, are intended to supplement a sum of .£12,150
left by Mr. Barber Beaumont more than 40 years ago,
to provide "intellectual improvement and rational
recreation and amusement" for this district of the
metropolis. Although the scheme recently promoted
by the Charity Commissioners—who originally had
charge of the fund—permitted the income derived
from the investment of this sum of £12,150 being
expended for the purpose contemplated, the annual
interest derived therefrom was found to be wholly
inadequate to meet the requirements of the vast popu-
lation whom it was intended to benefit. The trustees
accordingly resolved to increase the fund to at
least £lOO,OOO, and they are most thankful in
being able to record that of the amount required,
they have already secured £75,000. The muni-
ficent donation of £20,000 by the Drapers' Com-
pany towards the provision of technical schools, cn
the condition of a similar amount being raised to erect
a library and reading rooms, is of the first im-
portance to East London, and the condition attached
to the gift obliges the Beaumont Trustees to place on
this site a library, with reading rooms of a character
to meet the requirements of this densely populated
district. The gifts of the Duke of Westminster, of
the Earl of Rosebery for a swimming bath, of Mr.
Dyer Edwardes, towards the library, and of Mr.
'Wilberforce Bryant, will, we trust, be followed by
benefactions towards the second swimming bath and
the two gymnasia still required. The People's Palace
will comprise winter and summer gardens, a concert
hall, swimming baths, and gymnasia for both sexes, a
library, reading rooms, technical and trade schools,
which, combined, are calculated to improve, physic-
ally and mentally, and to render happier thousands
of toilers in East London.
To this address, which concluded by an expression
of belief that the People's Palace would not only
become a centre for amusement and continuous educa-
tion, but would also serve as a lasting memorial, if
such were needed, of the interest at all times taken
by the Queen and their Royal Highnesses in the
welfare of the people, the Prince of Wales made the
following reply: I thank you on behalf of the Princess
of Wales and myself for your address, nod I can assure
you that we heartily rejoice that an opportunity has
been afforded us of again visiting this important dis-
trict of the metropolis. We thoroughly appreciate
the endeavours of the Trustees to promote a scheme
•which, from the comprehensiveness and liberality
of its scope should not fail to prove advantageous
to the population of the near neighbourhood
in which the Palace is to be erected, and to the in-
habitants of the metropolis at large. We do not
doubt that the opportunities for healthy recreation
so essential in a population that is. comprised mainly
of artisans and mechanics and their families will be
promptly and properly appreciated by those for whom
the People's Palace has been provided. The facilities
which will be afforded for continuous education of all
kinds will, we are convinced, materially tend to still
further develop and perfect the various handicrafts
of this neighbourhood, and should therefore prove of
the greatest importance not only to the inhabitants of
East London, but to the nation at large, and should
enable Englishmen to continue to maintain in the
future, as they have in the past, that supremacy in
the arts of peace at home which among civilised
nations must be the invariable and necessary
accompaniment of power and prosperity abroad.
We congratulate the Trustees upon the success
which has already attended their efforts in
having secured £75,000 of the £lOO,OOO required,
and we sincerely trust that the munificent donations
of the Drapers' Company, Mr. Dyer Edwardes, Lord
Rosebery, and the Duke of Westminster will influence
others to follow so excellent an example. The
"Queen's Hall," of which I am about to lay the first
stone, will, I understand from the architect, Mr.
Robscn, be capable of accommodating more tan three
thousand persons, and will be so constructed as to
serve the purpose of a winter garden, affording a re-
sort for social intercourse and entertainment, at a
period of the year when the summer garden will not
be available. We humbly join in the prayer of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, that God's blessing may
rest upon tide great work, and that in the years to
come benefits both material and moral will result
to the thousands who, we trust, will not fail to
avail themselves of the facilities which the scheme
will afford.
The stone was well and truly laid in the customary
manner by the Prince of Wales the Princess and her
daughters, with the Duke and Duchess of West-
minster standing, with other ladies and gentlemen,
around the group. -Unfortunately this portion of the
proceedings was marred by shouting and crowding, con-
sequent upon the defiance of authority and rush for a
good place by a number of ladies and gentlemen who
ought to have set the working people a better example.
While the Prince was handling the mallet and trowel
and the archbishop pronouncing the Benediction,
gallant Foresters in their extraordinary costume, mem-
bers of the friendly societies, and old and young ladies,
and old and young gentlemen, were clambering in a
confused mass up to the platform and crowding it.
This was a pity, as the arrangements made by the
committee and the courteous gentlemen acting as
stewards were of the most comprehensive description.
No great harm was however done, and when at the
conclusion of the ceremony the Royal party made a
tour of the outer edge of the platform, so that they
might be seen of all present, the outburst of enthu-
siasm was one they are not likely to forget. That
the day will be long memorable in the East-end gene-
rally, no one who saw the remarkable crowds in the
streets can for a moment doubt.

A gentleman was surprised while out for a drive on
the Pequot road recently by the conduct of a boy
whom ht asked to ride. The boy refused obstinately,
and when prevailed upon for a reason said he expected
a whipping when he got home and was in no hurry.
"Dear Will," said the brido of three months, " I am
really afraid that you have deceived me. Your breath
has several times smelled of liquor. Now, don't you
drink ?" "Why, pet, how can you suspect me ?
Drink! To be sure not. The doctor tells me that I
have weak gums, and I occasionally rub them with
alcohol to harden them." "But, Will, dear, beer
doesn't smell like alcohol, does it ?" "Of course pet.
Don't you know that it is alcohol in beer that makes
it intoxicating? By the way, pet, there is a volume
of chemistry in my library. You had better look
over that, and you will understand these matters more
fully."