The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-05-07 00:00:00

ADRIENNE;

OR,
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST.

[ALL BIGHTS RESERVIIIq

CHIPTER XXIII.

MIEN Adrienne entered the upper room, to her intense
surprise, she saw M. Lecour seated beside her writing.
table, looking over her portfolio. He seemed quite
calm now, and in a tone of mock courtesy he looked
up, and said—

_
"I sin only seeking for a specimen of your writing,
mademoiselle. I have a particular use for it; and
the letter you did me the honour to address to me
from your convent has been mislaid ; but I have found
here what will answer my purpose quite as well."
'And what use do you propose to make of it ?" she
iuquired, with frightened eagerness, for the events of
the evening had completely unnerved her. "Of what
do you suspect me, monsieur, that you should treat
my private papers in this unceremonious manner ? '
He deliberately folded down a strip of crumpled
paper he had held concealed in his hand, and placed
it beside a few lines he had taken from the portfolio.
In atone of ironical courtesy, he said—
" Come nearer, mademoiselle; do not fear me; I
shall not lift my finger against you again ; your pro-
tectors seem too powerful to permit me to do that.
Look at these two pieces of penmanship, and tell me
if they might not both have been written by the same
hand
Adrienne compelled herself to approach him. She
glanced upon the two, and said—
"They arc alike; but the crushed lines are not my
Writing. I never saw those words before."
M. Lecour raised his eyebrows incredulously. Ms
Voice was deep and threatening, as he repeated—
" You never saw them before? Think again,
mademoiselle. Look at the paper on which it is
written. It has the same water-mark—nay, here is
the very sheet from which the strip was taken !" and
he held up a quire of paper, from the outer leaf
of wh-ch a piece appeared to have been carelessly
tern. Carefully smoothing out the fragment, M.
Lecour turned the blank side up and fitted it to the
jagged edges.
"I do not know who has used my paper and
imitated my writing, but I again declare most
solemnly that I am utterly ignorant of the import of
what is written on that fragment of paper, although it
has evidently been abstracted from my portfolio. Such
marvellous things happen in this house that it is useless
to attempt to account for them."
M. Lecour again turned the paper, folded it down,
and held before her the last two lines, as he hissed,
through his set teeth—
" Read I read! and then deny your complicity, if
you dare utter FO barefaced a falsehood r

_
Adrienne read, mechanically—
"Be careful how you act towards Adrienne Durand,
for the White Terror will fearfully avenge any wrong
done to her." _ _ . . _

Ho -ilz-tied on her with vengeful eyes, as he said—
"-Now I see through you. You did not see the
Phantom, but you saw the real form of your aceom-
Pliel in crime! You have come into my house to play
the spy upon me, wirle you are in league with some
one without to rob, perhaps murder me! To you I
owe the disappointment of this night, which wrecks
all the hopes of my life! To that accursed Mendon
Sou have betrayed my plans !—through you the
residence of Louis has become known!"
"Monsieur, I can only repeat, that I am innocent.
With M. Mendon I have held no communication since
I came hither, and the White Terror is as fearful a
Visitation to me as it is to you."
"And you swear that you are not in collusion
With those people who have done me this deadly
Wrong?"
"Am I not your child?" she pathetically asked.
" Could I then betray your grey hairs to dis-
honour?"

_ .
" I do not believe you to be my child," he said, in
an excited manner. "Every glance of your eye, every
tone of your ::.!ee, contradicts the thought. I see now
the abhorred resemblance to the curse of my life, yet
I must bear with your presence!"
"No, no; you need not do so any longer, Let me
go—let me have you for ever! I can no longer bear
the life I have lived here. Let me go free, and I will
trouble you no more. I can win my own bread."
"No ; that is now impossible. You came to me of
your own will, and now you shall remain until I
am ready to get rid of you myself. flow or in what
way I shall do that remains to be developed by future
events."

At th's threat the heart of the poor girl grew cold
Within her. She looked upon his lowering brows— lt's
Cold, steel gray eyes, in which no relentirg horn a
purpoge once formed was ever found—and despairingly
Supplicated—
" Let me go hence, I pray you. I shall go mad if
I am c impelled to stay in this house! The phantom
bride is fearful enough to contend with, if she were
friendly to me; but she seems to have taken the
surest means to destroy me while pretending to be my
friend. Where did you find that paper? Who can
have entered my room, and imitated my writing so
accurately? Oh! this is a fearful mystery! Ent I
am Powerless to fathom it. Only let me go away, and
I will hide myself from you for ever !"
M. Lecour listened unmoved to her passionate en-
treaties. Ile coldly said—
" You mistake, mademoiselle. The White Terror
sets herself up as your guardian angel. She even
threatens me if any evil befalls you. Now, a threat
is a very tangible and mundane thing, and I begin to
feel that I have made a fool of myself in believing
that an impalpable being can make her presence
manifest to mortal vision. I smoke an East Indian
drug, known among scientific men as an extract from
he np. In the trance it produces I often see extra-
ordinary things. This phantom shape is evoked like
the rest, by my own disordered imagination, mingled
With the memory of scenes in which I have acted a
part. My servants have never been able to see this
creature, even when she was clearly visible to me,
Which conclusively prDves that it is no reality. You
' .yourself denied seeing her when you stood in my door-
way on the night after your arrival here. You follow
me, I hope, mademoiselle ?"
She bowed her head in token of assent, and M.
Lecour went on—
" You force yourself upon my protection—you pry
into the secrets of my household, and then profess to
have seen the White Terror that you may use her to
further your own designs upon my wealth. In the
character of a somnambulist you even penetrate into

purpose of exasperating M. Lecour aga"nst her? In
a mist of doubt and bewilderment she examined her
portfolio, to discover some other traces of her visitor.
Leaf after leaf was turned over without result, then
the pockets were carefully looked into, and in the last
one she found a fold of paper, on which was written,
in the same hand :

"You have taken almost a fatal step in coming hither,
but be careful to do nothing precipitately. When AL Lecour
learns your real parentage, and sees the true position you hold
with reference to his wealth, he will be unscrupulous in the
means lie will take to remove you from his path. In the
meantime, one who is compelled to work in the dark lives only
in the hope of saving you from the consequences of your own
rashness, and restoring to you your inheritance. I warn you
that there is 110 crime of which this old recluse is not capable ;
therefore be on your guard every moment that you pass
beneath his roof."

There was no stgnature, but none was needed, for
the writing was identical with that shown her by M.
Lecour.

As M. Lecour passed out of Adrienne's room, he de-
tected Eady lingering on the gallery, and he sternly
ordered her to bring up his late supper without further
delay.
In obedience to this command, it was soon placed
before him; but when he attempted to drink the strong
coffee the trembling negro prepared for him, he ex-
perienced a strange repulsion towards it, and his
throat seemed to close against the admittance of the
liquid. _

-The sensation of sinking which had been so dreadful
in his dream that night, came back to him even as he
sat there in his heavy chair ; it seemed to him as if
the earth was Blipping away from beneath his feet—
as if chaos was gathering around him, and from its
dreary depths came a small still voice which said—
" The hour has come; you belong to this world no
longer."
Co'd shivers ran through his blood, accompanied at
intervals by agonised pains which seemed to start crom
the cauterised wound upon his hand, and rapidly per-
m, ate every nerve in his system, inflicting a subtle
torture which almost forced him to cry out.

"My drug will alleviate this for a season," he
thought, and he took from his pocket a box filled with
a resinous substance of a pale green colour. He took
a large dose, and in a few moments fancied that he
was decidedly better. He suddenly remembered his
letters. The Writing of both was entirely new to him,
and he wondered who could have written them, yet
he felt no interest in ascertaining their contents.
For the last hour he had felt within himself the
consciousness that death was in his veins—death in
its most terrible form. What did it matter now to
him whether Louis was removed from his care, or
what became of him ? His honours, his lately won
nobility, all his wealth a hundred times told, could
not rescue him from one pang—could not save him
from that awful reckoning which was foreshadowed in
the ensanguined record of the past.
He writhed in his seat, as face after face, conjured
up by his excited imagination, arose before him, ap-
proached close to his own, and jeered at him with ex-
ulting laughter, now his own hour had come. With
cruel hands he had helped to thrust them out of life,
and now they avenged themselves in their turn.
Among his tormentors he recognised him who had
once been his king, reproaching him with the sacrilege
of which he had been guilty, of laying violent hands
on God's anointed. A pale shadow flitted by his side,
who looked sternly and reproachfully upon him, as
she muttered— _

"False to your promise; where is my son? Why
is he not restored to his birthright ?"
Half an hour of such torture passed, and then his
iron system reacted. He regained his usual callous
calmness, and remembered that he must look out for
the return of his emissaries. He arose, and went
steadily towards the door at which he had received
them. He unclosed it cautiously, and eagerly listened
for indications of their return.

Everything around was breathlessly still, and little
did he dream that those he was looking for were
securely tied within two hundred yards of the spot on
which he stood; that hostile eyes watchedhis motions
from a neighbouring thicket, as he thrust forth his
head and peered around.
A sudden whirring noise in his ears, and a sensation
of faintness warned M. Lecour that he had better re-
turn to his own apartment. He slowly and heavily
mounted to it, and as he entered, the letters still un-
opened, met his sight.
For a season he had quite forgotten them, but now
he sat down, broke the seal of one, and commenced its
perusal. Instantly his whole being changed—his form
became erect, his eyes flashed, and blood flowed back
to his cadaverous face.
It was the one written by Pauline Crozat, and he
read it to the end without pausing. His hand
dropped beside him still grasping the paper, and he
muttered—

I might have known as much before this revela •
tion came, if I had not been blindly besotted. Ab,
well !,it is not yet too late. She is in my power, and
I can thrust her down—thrust her down in spite of
the threats of the priest. What do they signify to
me, when I know that I am a doomed man? Let this
dainty creature share my doom—it is good enough for
her.

"Yet the girl came to me with good intentions, and
why should I reward her thus? Why not perform
one good deed to balance the many evil ones I have
committed?
Yet she may give her hand to Adolphe Mendon.
I hate him—hate him, and he shall never claim a
penny of this fortune which he has so eagerly
coveted. Ah-a! there is that deadly—deadly pang
again !"
"lie bent his head down, clenched his hands, and
firmly closed his lips while the spasm lasted. Again
Ws thoughts wandered vaguely to the past, and once
he spoke to his former friend Danton.
"Why falter in your policy now? Let them go—
Vergniaud, Brissot, Roland, all—all, so we are saved.
Robespi?rre is the man; he will prove the national
saviour. Empty the prisons! The cursed aristocrats
cumber them too much. Get rid of them !—make
room for others' Hurrah? Ah, here they come!—
here they come, my phantom troop! Merrily will we
take our last dance to-night."
With great effort he started up, but sunk down
almost immediately, panting and breathless.
After another interval of quiet, M. Lecour again re-
gained perfect consciousness, and the second letter
was at last taken up, and the seal broken. It was
written in a firm, manly hand, and contained these
words—

"H. LECOUR.—I write this to announce to you that I shall
call on you the day after this reaches your hand, to tramaCt
some very delicate business with reference to the succession of
M. Montreal', the father of your late wife.
" By a deed now in my possession, the estates of that gentle-
man were settled irrevocably on the descendants of hie daughter,
if she left any, and in default of such heirs, the property reverts
to his family in France.
"Louise Montreuil because the mother of a child who yet
lives ; this daughter was the offspeng of her first marriage with
Henri Durand. The proofs of the authenticity of that mar-
riage are also in my possession ; and they establish beyond
doubt the right of this young lady to succeed to her grand-
father's estate.
"if you are disposed to act justly in this matter, you will
be lib,rally dealt with, and I trust that rival claims can be
settled without recourse to the courts. I considered it best to
forewarn you of my intended visit, and its object, that you
may be prepared to meet my demands in a proper spirit.
Respectfull) "VICTOR DU VERNAY."
-- - -

toY private sanctum. You see the spot. from which
the door opens which conceals the closet in which are
kept the money and jewels I have boarded. Four
days afterward I visit this place and find it has been
entered. I find there a picture of the goblin damned'
that -haunts me for ever, and close beside it the
Valuable ring which had so mysteriously disappeared
at the time of your first visit. To this ring is attached
a strip of paper, wlaich, on examination, proves to
have beau taken from your portfolio, and inscribed
'With threatening words to me, apparently written by
Your hand. Is not this a strong case of circum-
stantial evidence to be made out against you made-
Meiselle
"It seems so ; but if I were the guilty party, I
Should scarcely have committ_ d the oversight of using
my own paper, and I should certainly have carefully
disguised the writing. Since you suspect me of so
base a thing as the design to appropriate your money
t° my own use, I cannot remain beneath
your roof. It is my will to go, and I shall certainly
do so."
He laughed sardonically.
"You will not find that so easy to accomplish as
YOU may think. Once mine, for ever mine. Do you
hear the baying of that sleuthhound below? There
is a trained pack of them kept at the quarters, and
once loosened on your track, how could you hope to
escape? If you should make so mad an attempt, and
are brought back torn and mangled by their fangs, it
will not be my will, but your own perversity that de-
stroys you."
Adrienne shuddered at this terrible picture, and she
faintly asked—
"Is there no law here for the protection of the help-
less, that you can thus coolly speak of my destruction
in so awful a manner?" '
"This is a wild country, mademoiselle. The govern-
ment over distant colonies is often merely nominal,
and we have been in the habit of doing pretty much
as we please. I am rich, I am feared, and there is no
one hardy enough to interfere with me, even if an in-
significant girl should come to a miserable end through
the carelessness of my dog-keepers."
"Let me return to my convent," pleaded the help-
less girl. I will go anywhere to escape from this
dreadful house, and the baleful power which threatens
to destro7 me."
" No ; you remain here until you become burden
-
Some to me. Then I will find means to dispose of you
as I have done with every other dog upuit my path.
! ou alreaay remil from the sentimental task you
had imposed on yourself. thought yDU were to im-
prove lee, to soften my nature, to make me human.
Ha! tiar
He rubbed his hands together with ferocious glee,
and Adrienne said in faltering tones—
"1 see, monsieur, that I have fallen into the power
of a monomaniac. You are better than you wish to
seem, but why you should wish to terrify one So de-
Pet.dent upon you as I am, I cannot imagine. If your
grounds are so well protected as to forbid all egress on
my part, how can you suspect me of holding clandes-
tine interc3urEe with outside foes who wish to do you
harm ?"
" I did not say they are yet so, but I shall issue the
Orders to have them thus guarded. I will withhold
11,5' judgm.ent a few days; in the meantime, I shall
take
goon care to convince myself that you are either
Innocent or guilty."
" And-if you should be led to fancy that I am the
lattf.r, What then?"
His heavy brows met over his flashing eyes, and he
blowly o,o—
Doom ! I acknowledge no law. I redress my own
grievancesi without resort to any such tedious process.
SA, in judgment without the aid of a pack of stupid
i_nmen, *hose only business it is to embarrass the
'lief. In our revolution we dispensed with such
assi,tance, and so do I."
Ile strode from tbs. room, leaving the poor girl in a
State of agitation and excitement she vainly en-
deavoured to conquer.
Who could have entered her room, used her paper,
and imitated her writing, it almost seemed for the

With a hard feeling of triumph, he crossed the yard,
took up his candles, and retraced his steps. When
he reached the picture room, he cautiously unlocked
the door and looked in ; the fierce dog,
aroused by the sudden flash of light, started for-
ward, growling and showing his teeth. His master
uttered a few soothing words, and the hound crept
back to his lair.

Leaving the door slightly ajar, the wretched old man
crept up stairs, placed the key in the lock of Adrienne's
door, and softly turned it.
He hauled eagerly, but no sound came from
within, and he ventured to open a small crevice that
ha might reconnoitre. The candle was still burning
on her table, and Adrienne, dressed as she had been
during the day, sat in a large chair in front of the
dying fire, wrapped in sleep. She held an open
letter grasped in her hand, and seemed at last to
have succumbed to wea-iness, in spite of her dread of
him. He saw that her eyelids were swollen with weep-
ing, and her lips had a tremulous expression of suffer-
ing upon them, that would have moved a softer
nature; but he who looked on her with vengeful eyes,
and hatred in his evil heart, had no such relenting.
M. Lecour placed himself on the watch; he was afraid
of the cold night air, so he retreated into his own
room, opened the door half way, and placed his chair
in such a position that he could see her if she came
out.

Ten, twenty, thirty minutes; an hour passed away
with no result; and in his heart he began to curse her
because she did not come forth to her own destruc-
tion, Must he stab her as she slept, and bear the con-
sequences due to the crime?
He arose, with his evil heart steeled to te ff.Al pur-
pose that animated it, but paused an instant as he saw
tbe door of Adrienne's room beginning to open. Slowly
and timidly it unclosed, and with cautious steps she
came forth, holding her hands stretched out in front
of her, as if feeling her way.
For an instant, she turned towards his room, and
he saw that her face was pale and fixed, her eyes
open and looking steadily in front of her, though
apparently seeing nothing. After hesitating a few
seconds, she slowly turned to the head of the stair-
case, and commenced descending it; she reached its
foot, and with lingering steps approached the picture-
room.

M. Lecour rapidly gained the head of the stairs;
he might yet stop her, and there was a momentary
relenting in his heart, as he saw her thus walking to
what he believed must be certain destruction. The
feeling was stifled as Adrienne turned her head and
looked back upon him. The light he held in his hand
fell upon her face, and its strong resemblance to one
that had haunted and made him miserable, again
steeled his heart, and he stood in breathless excite-
ment awaiting the dire catastrophe that he was certain
must follow her entrance into the den of the ferocious
bloodhound.

Adrienne laid her hand on the lock; the door yielded
to her touch, it opened, she glided in, audit was blown
to behind her by a sudden puff of wind. There was
a savage howl, a cry as of one in mortal agony, and
M. Lee our rushed back to his own room with his
fingers thrust in his ears.
He gained it, and stood for one instant with starting
eyes, foaming lips, and writhing body, then he fell
helplessly forward in a violent spasm.
His own fate was upon laim, and the tortures of the
Inferno could scarcely rival those he was doomed to
bear in the flesh, before soul and body was finally dis-
united. But what mattered that? Had he not acted
out his malignant nature to the last, and dis-
concerted the hopes of those who had evidently
built plans of future happiness on the possession of his
wealth?

When he recovered consciousness all was still below,
but he did not have many moments allowed him to
exult in his base stratagem. Again those awful con-
vulsions a tacked him, and racked his frame with such
anguish as would have made Lim glad to be released,
even by violence,
Once he made an effort to grasp his dagger, that he
might plunge it into his heart, and end his misery;
but his hand had lost his cunning, and the weapon
fell from his nerveless grasp.
Hours, that seemed an eternity, passed before day
dawned, and he lay grovelling through their wearisome
length unable to help himself or summon assistance.
Whin the first blessed gleam of the morning light
struggled into his chamber, he thought with despair of
the thno that must yet elapse before Eady would
come up to attend to her morning duties; for he was
never an e irly riser, and in the present crisis of affairs
he knew the poor negro would not venture to disturb
him at an unusual hour.

How could he endure this agony till help came!
He would cry out and alarm the house; he made the
attempt, but his hoarse and feeMe voice refused to
obey his will, und the harsh sounds he uttered sent a
thri l of horror to his soul, as the Strange idea
came to him that they sounded like the barking of a
dog.
(To be corginued.)

All the evil passions in the bad nature of M. Lecour
were aroused by the perusal of this letter. What!
had the lover of Adrienne actually arrived in
Louisiana, and possessed himself of the power to
thrust him aside, and take possession of the very roof
lhat sheltered him? Should he submit to be thus dA.
spoiled ? Nev r ! never!
1-lush ! What was that which clutched at his he„f
and seemed crushing the lifeout of it? Was he not
fast hastening to that last narrow houFe, in which the
loftiest asp.rations, the most grasping desires, must
finally be laid at rest? Why, teen, should he
refuse to surrender this earthly home to its lawful
clamant?
At momehts, Adrienne had touched a tender mot u
in h` nature. Why not suffer it to vibrate once
more, aad give her lite, fortune, and freedom to enjoy
them?
Then the memory of her parents came back to him,
and he clenched his hands, and hardened his heart
anew. No—the child of Henri Durand, and of her who
even persecuted him beyond the grave, should never
go forth scatheless from his power. Through him the
plretits had perished—through him should the
daughter share the same fate.
Yet how should he deal with her? How evade the
punishment Father Eustace had denounced against
him if any evil befell Adrienne? and he knew the man
he had to deal with too well to doubt that he would
redeem h;s pledge.
What if he could make her walk into danger her-
self? She had already ventured almost in the jaws of
his bloodhound, why should she not be left to do so
again?
The diabolical thought made him shuddar, but it
came back again and again.
It would be easy to get rid of her thus, and no one
could bring home to him the charge of murder.
The firmly-set lips, cold, gleaming eyes, and cruel
express,on, revealed that his mind was made up. The
question now was, how should he give her freedom to
come forth? for, at his own command, the door had
been locked every night since her visit to the picture
room, and the key left in Eady's care.
He must get it without delay. He looked at his
watch; it was now one o'clock, and before the dawn
of another day, this last act of his fiend-like career
must be consummated.
n lelnec fhe lht
aanl
dm, oasnt
dwwel
el
natg
belo, awn.d hge
ea rgoisaen,
nteodo k
fan
acrafnudl
llye
around, lest the White Terror should meet him on Lis
way, like an avenging Nemesis, and give him over at
once to the companionship of the evil spirits he
believed at her command.
Nothing arrested his dreadful purpose, and when he
gained the entrance next to Eady's cabin, he placed
the light on a table, noiselessly unclosed the door, and
stepped out.
The moon had risen above the tree tops, and poured
down a steady flood of light upon the open space. M.
Lecnur lightly crossed the garden, tried the latch of
the cabin door, and found, as he expected, that it was
not secured from within.
The door was cautiously opened, and he paused
on the threshold to listen to the regetar breathing
of those who slept within. He knew how difficult
it was to awake either of them, and he fearlessly
Itepped into the moth, and- peered LarOutid.—'Ati his
eyes gradually became accustomed to the dim light,
he could see objects distinctly enough for his purpose.
He began to fear he should at last be baffled, when
he discovered the object of his search lying on a
shelf near tke door. Grasping it with feverish eager-
ness, M, Lecour retreated as silently as he hacl come.
•

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER ,
leminras
IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
PRIVATE BILLS.
In the Mom OF LORDS, on May 2nd, on the motion
of the Duke of Buckingham, Potter's Patent Rill,
Skrivanow's Patent Bill, and Gilbert and Sinclair's
Patent Bill were referred to a Select Committee of five
noble lcrds.
THE NEW HEBRIDES.
Lord Harrowby called attention to the condition of
affairs in the New Hebrides, and asked what course
was proposed to be taken by her Majesty's Govern-
ment on this subject. —Lord Salisbury, in reply, stated
that the French Government had given assurances,
which there was no reason to doubt, that they had no
intention of permanently occupying those islands,
and that they would withdraw their troops from
them an soon as they saw that there was no pro-
bability of the renewal of the outrages of wnich
France had reason to complain. Their lordships
might rest assured that her Majesty's Govern-
ment would not depart from that international agree-
ment by which both France and England were bound
not to occupy those islands.—Lord Rosebery asked
whether there was a force in the neighbourhood suffi-
cient to protect our interests in those islands.—Lord
Salisbury would take note of the question, of which no
notice had been given him. Ships of the Royal Navy
called at the islands from time to time, but he did not
know whether there were any there at present. —Lord
Carnarvon, without throwing any blame on her
Majesty's Government, commented on the fact that
the negotiations had been going on for five years re.
spect:ng this subject, which involved vital considera-
tious to the Australian colonies.—Lord Granville
observed that the late Government had kept a naval
force in the neighbourhood, and he thought the with-
drawal of that force was calculated to create a bad
impression on the colonial mind.
RETIREMENT IN THE NAVY.
Lord Sudeley called attention to the present
system of retirement in the navy and to the
block which exists in the lieutenants' lists,
and he asked whether the Admiralty pro-
posed to take any steps to improve the position of
officers of that rank.— Lord Elphinstone, having ex-
plained the system of retirement established by Mr.
Childers in 1870, which, he said, still existed in a modi-
fled form, pointed out that the problem of providing a
satisfactory plan of retirement for the large number of
officers of all ranks in excess of those who could bo
promoted in times of peace was a very difficult one.
The admiralty admitted that the system now in opera-
tion was not entirely satisfactory, and they were giving
the subject their best consideration. In the meantime
they proposed to increase the number of commanders.
—Lord Sidmouth asked whether the Admiralty would
give further encouragement to the junior classes of
naval officers to qualify themselves to act as interpre.
ters.—Lord Elphinstone stated that the Admiralty were
desircus of giving those officers facilities for acquiring
foreign language', but they could hold out no pecuniary
inducement.

THE CRIMES BILL.
The House then went into committee on the
Criminal Law Amendment (Ireland) Bill, resuming the
consideration of Clause 1, to which Mr. Chance moved
an amendment requiring that the preliminary inquiry
into offences committed in a proclaimed district should
be conducted by the Crown Solicitor or Crown Prose-.
cuter before the county-court judge instead of by a
resident magistrate. The amendment, after prolonged
discussion, was negatived by 258 to 176.
The House adjourned at 10 minutes past two.