Punch (30.1856)

June 21, 1856.]

245

one thing which he said he received next day a smart back-bander
from a son of Sir Eowell Buxton, whose exertions to save forgers
from the gallows used to offend Mr. Drummond, who combined the
callings of Angel and Banker. There was but little more discussion ;
and Mr. Ewart's motion was rejected by 158 to 64. Mr. He^wood
moved for a Committee to inquire, whether any and what, measures
could be adopted for the Advancement of Science; and no fewer
than four attempts were made to Count the House out,, but
Members ran in, got Counted, saved the House, and ran out
again. The motion came to nothing. Sir Erskjne Perry then
moved resolutions in favour of the married woman, proposing that the
law should give her a title to her own earnings, irrespective of the
control of her husband. The Attorney-General, like a gallant man,
gave the proposition his cordial concurrence, and promised a bill on
the subject; but the Solicitor-General did not seem by any means
so much pleased with it, and several members growlfd about "two
interests iu the same house," and took other masculine objections
to a ftminine possessive case. The claim is founded in right, but—or
shall we write therefore—it will scarcely make its way. But if a
reasonable Divorce system were devised, there would be no need for
♦ bis patchwork reform. If a wife has a good husband she wants no
separate control over anything, and if she has a bad one, she ought to
be able to get rid of the Brute. A discussion about an alleged job and
injustice relative to the invention of the machine that pricks those use-
ful little hob s round postage stamps, and prevents you from sending
half a Queen to one friend and a Queen and a half to another, came next.
The inventor, Mr. Archer, unless he draws a long bow, has been ill-
for repealing "the 17th Ckuse'inlhe *reaJ^- ,Mb- ™uAH°NAe» dashed into Irish fish and the House
Statute of Frauds, which enacts that all took f he hir,t and hooked lfc> m a fifth and successful count,
contracts in respect of articles worth ' Wednesday. The House of Commons had to listen to the complaint
more than £10 shall be in writing. The ' of JV eer Jaffier Ali Khan, an unfortunate Asiatic Nobleman, whom
world has grown so excessively honest that it is thought this law, useful | the East India Company have done out of a pension of a hundred and
in the wicked times of the Merry Monarch, when it was made, can now ! fifty thousand rupees. Even Sir James Hogg, the Company's man,

PUNCH'S ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT.
nusually miscellane-
ous was the cbarac'er
of the Parliamentary
playbill for the past
week, among t he pieces
being the Jew, the
Yankee, the Gibbet of
Death, the Wife, the
School for Grown Child-
ren, Fish Out of Water,
and the Nabob for an
Hour.
In the Lords on
Monday (June9),JjORB
Pan mure stated that
our Swiss and Italian
egions would shortly be disembodied,
and that mcst of our German recruits
would, at their own request, be sent to
the Cape. Another Bishopric, that of
Gloucester and Bristol, being vacant,
Lord Ellenborough expressed his
extreme desire that the diocese should
be split. A Bill is being discussed


be dispensed wi'h. The mercantile interest, however, is opposed to the
change, but the lawyers support it, on the ground that the existing
system promotes litigation, a piece of Arcadianism quite refreshing.
I-i the Commons Government announced that next session they would
bring in a Bill for relieving Mr. Punch of some of his duties, by
appointing a Public P osecutor. The Jewish Question was then dis-
cussed once more, and Sir FrederickThesiger satisfied his conscience
bv a long speech against admitting the Jews to Parliament. Lord
John Russell replied, and then our friend Samuel Warren argued
against uuChrisfianising the House of Commons. Even the implied
compliment—the calling the present assembly one of Christians—did not
delight the House much, for there were cries for a division, and Samuel
obtained a bea ing only by pronr'sing not to speak again this Session.
Something, therefore, has been gained by the debate, besides a new
■ ecognition of the rights of the Jew*, which was voted by 159 to 110,
and the Bill passed. The Cambridge University Bill was discussed in
Committee, and Mr. Wigram tried to insert words binding the
Governors of the Colleges to have regard to "the intentions of the
founders." Among these "intentions" was the repressing the spread
of Protestant doctrines, scarcely lh? work for the seminaries of the

admitted that he had an "uphill case ;" but be vituperated with s<>me
neatness. The story is short, and may be interesting. The Company,
with the aid of a stiong British force, took away the territories of the
Nabob of Surat some years ago, but engaged to pay the above
pension, some £15,000 to him and his heirs. There is honour among
Leadenhall merchants, and they paid the annuity to the Nabob
and to his son; but, on the death of the latter, Meer Jaffier
claimed to succeed—and the Company did not seem to see it in that
light. So Jaffleb, with Sir E. Kelly for his Pierre, comes to the
House and says—
" Not hear me ? By my sufferings, but you shall."
The decision as to the Khan that has been thus kicked over, was
reserved until the next Wednesday.
Thursday. The Lords were not inclined to do much business. The
Commons, for a wonder, did good business ; for they went into Supply,
heard excellent speeches from Sir George Grey and Sir John
Pakington on the whole Education Question ; and, despite some of the
D'sseuters, who are very obstinate against teaching the poor, they voted

Clergy of the Church of England. The most loyal way of dealing with f/5Lu°?_0i'_ ™^tooa ° J6300'^0 pr*eV^^J0^:,Li„^Le^!!!
such institutions is to regard the founders as wise and benevolent men
who sought to do the very best thing they knew of, and would desire
that we should do the same. So the Committee thought.'

of schools throughout the country. A Bill for Preserving the Peace
in Ireland was very properly resisted by Irish Members, but carried by
77 to 10.
Tuesday. There was another little squabble in the Lords about the . Frj<{W- L°F? Panmure is not afraid that the Irish MiliMa, if dis-
altars in cemetery chapels, and the Bishop of Cashel, whose name is banded will join the army with which General Pierce latends to
Robert Daly, reminded one of our contemporaries of a capital joke by mvade England: and means to disband toem, even at that tughtful
the Archbishop of Dublin, who said that the Irish bishops were
aoostolically poor, for they had but one Bob daily, among them. If

invade England; and means to disband tbem,
risk. *
In both Houses it was formally announced that the American
Dr. Wuately has any more such mots, he had better send them to 85 \ government profess to be quite satisfied with our apologies m the
Fleet Street; they would do him more credit than his last book. In Enlistment matter but cannot bear poor■ Cbampton, and our three
the Commons, Lord John Russell p esented a petition from 4000 j Consuls, so this party is turned out of the States. Lord Palmerston
inhabitant householders of London, in favour of the Bill for Reforming ^ not> he sald> madf ^ hls ™n,d whe^e,r he would turn out Mr
Dallas, or not, or what be would do, and it seems pretty clear that
Mr. Pierce, in ejecting Crampton, has simply done a bit of imper

the Corporation, on which Mr. Disraeli popped up with a still
stronger argument for the measure, namely, a petition from the
Liverymen against it. Mr. Ewart brought forward a motion for an
inquiry into the operation of the law imposing the punishment of
death. He passed over the theological question, and confined himself
to contending that the punishment was inexpedient, as it does not, he
urged, repress crime, fail equally, fall certainly, nor is it revocable in
case of error. Sir George Grey, for the Government (after words
which made it evident that the doom of the poisoner, William Palmer,
who died on Saturday last, was fixed) stated, in reply, that the punish-
ment does repress crime, being regarded with the utmost terror; that

tinent clap-trap for the Elections, and ha3no really pugilistic intentions,
for Mr. Dallas has evidently (though Old Pam would hardly let the
fact be screwed out of him), the instructions of his Government to
discuss our Central American dispute, and even to refer it to arbitration.
Mr. Punch thinks that England is quite strong enough to be able to
allow Mr. Pierce to let, off his election squib, and if Mr. Dallas has
the powers in question, we had better hear what he has to say.
In Supply, the eternal Park question came up again, and it is now
settled thai a road is to be made from the iron gates, near Marlborough

second class felonies have increased since the death penalty was removed, ' House, to the Mall, and a suspension bridge thrown over the water. And
whereas murders have not (the increase of population being duly Lord Palmerston announced that, jn compliance wi'h Mr. Punch's

regarded) that he had no intention to exempt women from the
scaffold, fourteen having been hanged in ten years, and ten of these
during his own tenure of office—that there was no uncertainty, though
discrimination was used, and, finally, that death was never inflicted

suggestion, the Park is to be for the People, and not for Pickford
Co ; and the Van Demons are to be excluded, with carts, and every-
thing but passenger traffic. The Navy Estimates—56,000 men, and
£2,000,000 of money—were voted, and the Oxford University Bill was

unless guilt were certain. Mr. Drummond displayed his usual j passed. The week has be-n rather a good one, both for talk and
pleasing kvity on a subject so calculated to provoke fun, and for j work.