Punch (70.1876)

March 18, 1876.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 97

PUNCH'S ESSENCE OF PARLIAMENT.

order; and so Sullivan and. 0'Gorman
between them kept up the game, through
seventeen divisions, till after four in the
morning! Now "division," like love,
may be

" The sowl of a nate Irishman,"

but Englishmen get tired of the sport,
when begun unreasonably and kept up
hopelessly.

Me. Sullivan" ought to know better
than discredit Ould Ireland by such
" devilry," especially when all decent folks
—even M.P.'s—want to be in bed. The
pleasantest Club in London will lose its
character if this sort of thing happens
often. To be sure, the Home-Rulers are
not particularly anxious to promote the
harmony of its evenings.

Tuesday {Lords).—Lord Granville dis-
posed of Mr. Disraeli's statement that he
had sanctioned the publication of the Lange
Despatches. Lord Derby had to admit
that no such sanction had been given. He
added a lame defence of what remains,
after all said and done, an official blunder,
if no worse.

The best summary of the pro and con.
on the subject of the Slave Circular that
Parliament has yet obliged us with. Lord
Cairns for the Government, Lord Sel-
borne against. Lord Selborne's argument
clinches the ease against Circular Number
Two. Why not have substituted for it a
declaration that we would not restore
Fugitive Slaves, and leave the aggrieved
Governments to look after their own
Niggers ? That's what it must come io,
with more or less circumlocution.

(Commons).—Three talks on WineDuties,
Tralee Savings Bank Losses, and Railway
Passengers Duty. Government won't give
Select Committees on the two first (won-
derful ! Select Committees are not granted
as asked, then) ; but to make up for the
unexpected refusal, grants one on the
third.

Wednesday {Commons).—Great rejoic-
ings of Opposition. In the fight over Mr.
M'Lagan s Scotch Game Laws Bill,
Government floored by 172 to 150. First
blood for the Opposition!

It is true it was a scramble. The
Government didn't seem quite to know
their own mind. The Bill was a decently
good Bill, on a subject fertile of bad

lank-Cartridge fire—not
exactly a feu de joie—
in the Lords ■ {Monday,
March 6) from Lord
Stratheden and Camp-
bell over the Andrassy
Note. Lord Derby said
what little there is to be
said, in a case where
there is nothing to be
done but to keep our eyes

open, mouths shut, and see what the Sultan will send us. "We couldn't keep our fingers out
of the Turkey Pie when all the Great Powers were dipping theirs in ; but it is a comfort to
know we have not plunged them deeper than was inevitable, and than will allow us to take
them out without soiling—it is to be hoped—or burning.

{Commons).—A night on the Suez Canal. The Government declines a partnership in the
Egyptian National Bank. It has not declined to appoint, with France and Italy, one of

three receivers of Egyptian revenue, with power to appropriate the needful out of Egyptian r-,. , - -, , .,
income, for payment of Egyptian debt. Unfortunately any dealing with the Khedive flings : ?°°A ^ v^f^ TwS
our Government among the bulls and the bears. It is unlucky that our road to India should , K^SlTr^Z^^J!
he, not only through the Suez Canal, but through the dirty alleys of the Stock Exchange. | Kfe^Jfc 2^™* *

Mr. Gladstone twitted the Government on the dismissal of Sir D. Lange from the
English agency of the Canal Company. M. de Lesseps wants to show he is still master of his
own house, if England flatters herself she has bought the latch-key. Mr. Gladstone thinks,
as most people are likely to think, the publication of private and confidential despatches an
inadvertence and an error, and suggested that the Government ought to intervene on behalf of
an agent whose only fault was being too English.

Mr. Disraeli retorted with some irritation. Sir D. Lange had not asked the interven-
tion of Government; When he did it would be time to consider of action on his behalf.
Two, and the most important, of bis five Dispatches published, were not marked " private
and confidential." Besides, Lord Granville had seen the Blue Book, and had not objected
to their publication.

Lord Harttngton explained that the papers were sent to Lord Granville merely as an
act of courtesy, and that he had not been consulted as to the propriety of the publication of
Sir D. Lange's Dispatches.

Altogether, Mr. Disraeli did not come brilliantly out of the night's skirmish. The Bill
to raise the Four Millions was read a Third Time.

In Committee of Supply on Army Estimates, Sir. Wilfrid poked fun at the increase of
Mr._ Hardy's little Bill; and Mr. Pease, with better taste and more sense, withdrew his
Motion to knock off 10,000 men.

Mr. Hardy defended his estimates gallantly. He hankers after Mr. Anderson's scheme
for marking recruits in vaccination. And why not? There seems more prejudice than
reason against such a plan of making a " marksman " of the British recruit. Of course, if
outsiders will call such a mark a " brand," it sounds ugly, and is likely to be pooh-poohed.
If it be adopted, officers should be marked as well as men.

An Irish row over the appointment of the Referee Committee. Mr. Sullivan wanted
more Irish Members on the Committee. Mr. Butt was not there to keep the "boys" in

they don't want to go.

It wasn't much of a victory, but the
Opposition is thankful for small mercies in
that way, and yelled vociferously at the
announcement of the division.

Thursday {Lords).—An instructive talk
on Lord Salisbury's Oxford Reform Bill.
When their Lordships do talk to the point,
their wisdom iswonderful. We seem in their
high House to breathe a serener atmosphere
than the hot, if breezy and healthy, breath
of the Commons. But who are the "Idle
Fellows" Lord Salisbury is for waging
such fierce war on ? Punch would have
said that Clerical fellows, as a rule, best
answered the description. The danger
seems to be that Lord Salisbury's Bill will
hand over the University to the tender
mercies of these very Clericals. If that is
what Lord Salisbury means by strengthen-
ing the University element, we would rather
he strengthened the Colleges, by getting rid
of the Clerical dry rot which now infests
them, and left the University to take care
of itself.

(Commons).—Oueen or Empress ? Which

VOL. LXX.