Morning journal and courier., 1886-01-23
MAX O'RELL'S LETTER.

The Crisis In France And In England-
 The Erish 6kuestion = Russia's Ag-
 gressiveness-Lueky General Wo1se-
 ley-Nrs. Weldon After M. Gounod-
 The Progress League Unclaimed
 Fortunes About Some Great Musi-
 clans.
 Special Correspondence Of the JOURNAL AND CoUR-
 HER. All Rights ReserTedt
 LONDON, Jan. 5. To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 The ministerial crisis is going on in France and on the 18th of this month, when the newly elected British Parliament meet, a ministerial crisis will begin in England. By a curious coincidence the two greatest democ- racies of old Europe have been changing their representative machinery at the same time, but in opposite directions. France tried the ''serutin de 1iste'' in the hope of getting Q compact majority by electing metn- bers in the lump. England, on the contrary went for single -membered districts, and 8 good many people were very much afraid that a sad change would take place in the representation of the country. France hoped to decrease parochialism in Parliament England feared to have increased it. By the strange irony of fate neither the hopes in the one case nor the fears in the other have been realized. Every prominent politician in Paris is securing the French Chamber at NJ. Grevy's bidding to see if working ma jority cannot be scraped together, but mo- where can the thing be found, At the West minister palace, though many old familiar faces will be missed when Parliament reas- sembles, and a few forms strange we'll as new will appear, yet on the whole it will be hard to distinguish the new house from any previous one. ''Find majority will, how ever, be new cry, the last puzzle out," as the New Years toy vendors shout in the streets.
 Of course the Irish question is uppermost in the mind of every Englishman. Advice pours in, Nothing but unpalatable pills to swallow. The English Radicals, who advo- cate the formation of an Irish Parliament at Dublin, say, .Iet us grant the Irish legis- lative independence and it will save us ex- pense and trouble. If they dc not behave themselves properly we will conquer them all over again." A strange argument. As if to keep army guarantee would not be as expensiFs and troublesome as to keep an army as police force: However burning this Irish question may be, the English have in store another unpleasant time in India. The Russians are pushing on the Transcas- plan railway, which will reach Merv by the end of this year. They have established n
  consent to construct teiegrsphs and railways through his dominions. They are eonten- plating a line to Meshed to complete the strategic system of railways. All points to business. The two champion land -grabbers of the world will soon meet in the field. l do not believe that there is any Englishman who could compete for luck with General Viscount Wo1seley of Cairo. Decorations, titles of nobility and guineas are constantly showered upon him. The Queen sent him to Berlin to present her congratulations to the venerable Emperor of Germany on the occa- sion of his eighty ninth birthday, and for this exploit Emperor William has conferred npon Lord Wolseley the Grand Cross of the Red Eagle. I never saw such rapid pror1o- tion since the day when King John ". of Portugal was compelled by his superstitious subjects to declare St. Anthony generalissi mo of his army. In less than an hour St. Anthony was made Corporal St. Anthony, Sergeant St. Anthony, Captain St. Anthony, Colonel St. Anthony and then Generalissimo St. Anthony. In the space of very few years have heard of General Sir Garnet Wolseley, Baron Wolseley, Viscount Woise- ley, the same lucky general being promoted in the different most noble orders of the Bath, St. Patrick, etc. Add to this the two national grants of twenty-five thousand and twenty eight thousand pounds, besides one of those lovely salaries such as John Bull
 
 and you will be convinced that Lord Wolse- ley is 8 happy mortal.
 First appearance of Mrs. Georgina Weldon in Paris in well known character. A thun- derbolt has fallen upon Parisians in general and the great maestro NJ. Gounod in particu- lar. Mrs. Weldon, the spectre of the courts of-law of England, the terror of Her Maies- tvs judges, is in Paris. And for whata You may remember that in the month of May last the Court of Queens Bench condemned Nj. Gounod by default to pay Mrs. Weldon ten thousand pounds for defamation of char acter. The sum seemed heavy one, but the maestro, having no intention of paying it, took the condemnation lightly. He would be debarred from setting foot in England again; that was all. Not a great privation, some people thought and I venture to say that neither he nor his friends ever dreamed that there was any danger of his sleep being disturbed by the thought of Mrs. Weldon and the ten thousand pounds damages. But now the valiant and indefatigable lady, who, it appears, is almost well up in French law as in English, has gone over to beard the lion in his den; or, ill other words, has put the matter into the hands of French counsel, and M. Gounod is summoned to pay the amount at once. If he fail to do this the president of the Civil court will be requested to take measures to compel him. A Pari siar journalist, who met Mrs Weldon at the opera, seized the opportunity to interview her, and from the few words they had to- gether it appears that the lady was willing to be appeased by public acknowledgment on the part of NJ. Gouncd that he had ca- lumniated her. If NJ. Gounod would apolo- gize she would withdraw her claim to dama- ges and stop law proceedings. The great musician not being willing to do this, mat ters are taking their course and Parisians, I fancy, look forward to a little entertainment next week when the ease comes off in court. Mrs. Weldon's willingness to withdraw her claim to the money makes it look as if her cause was righteous one, and if it be true, as she stated at the Queens Bench trial, that the Gounod affair was the first cause of her husbands arrangement from her, she is cer- tainly entitled to sympathy, not to say to ad- miration for her indomitable energy. AL though it was taken for granted at the Queens Bench that the defamatory articles published in Paris which so incensed Mrs Weldon were inspired by M Gounod, yet he may be able to show that he had no hand in them. At all events we are shortly to see further into the matter and Paris will have meanwhile one scandal more to talk about.
 have to announce the formation in Lon don of new "Hen club" The Conse1va- tive Ladies' association, so we'll known now by it's name of Primrose League" and it's success during the recent electoral period, is to have rival in the shape of Progress League" The Liberal ladies of England promise to be as energetic their Conserva- tive sisters. Mrs. Herman Merivale (the arl- thor's wife), Miss Golden, Mrs. Ashton Dilke (sister-in-law of Sir Charles Dilke), are among the committee of organization. Some people may think that there are several oc- and pastimes more suited to ladies than ''leaguing," among which the care of husbands, the nursing of the sick, the making of clothing for the poor, etc., etc. Personally I believe that Mrs. John Bull is striving hard to take more important place in society than she has hith erto occupied.
 For many weeks I have see1 the following advertisement in the daily papers: ''Next of Kin-e1Oo, 900, 900 unclaimed-a register 1986 edition, 2S4 pages, cloth gilD contain ing the names of seventy thousand persons, or their heirs, who have been advertised for to claim property and money since 1700; price s. Cd. post free. (Fifty thousand names 1s.; by post Is. 3d.) Every man and woman in the world should buy this book, as instructions are given how to recover from Chancery free of all charges pr fees. Dougal & Co.,, 67 Strand, London. A fortune may await you" l never paid