Punch (99.1890)

288 PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. [December 13, 1890.

they should well consider preoedenta. Must reserve deoision as to
whether the phrase was Parliamentary; would suggest, therefore,
that House should adjourn five weeks. On this point Dehate pro-
ceeded up to midnight.

Business done.—In British Parliament Tithes Bill read a Second
Time ; in Irish (which sat four hours longer), None.

Tuesday— Cork Parliament still sitting upstairs in Committee
Room No. 15, debating question of adjournment. We hear them

Caleb Balder(Glad)stone finding all that was left of the lost Leader, P-rn-11.

occasionally through open doors and down long corridor. Once a
tremendous yell shook building.

" What's that ?," I asked Dick Poweb, who happened to be taking
glass of sherry-wine at Bar in Lobby.

" That," said Richabd, " is the Irish wolves crying for the blood
of Pabnell," and Dick, tossing down his sherry-wine, as if he had
a personal quarrel with it, hurried hack to the shambles.

Quite a changed man I No longer the dehonnaire Dick, whose light
heart and high spirits made him a favourite everywhere. Politics
have suddenly become a serious thing, and Dick Powee is saddened
with them.

" I take bitters with my sherry-wine now," Dick mentioned just
now in sort of apologetic way at having been discovered, as it were,
feasting in the house of mourning. " At the present sad juncture,
to drink sherry-wine with all its untamed richness might, I feel,
smack of callousness. Therefore I teil the man to dash it with
bitters, which, whilst it has a penitential sound, adds a not untooth-
some flavour in anticipation of dinner."

Even with this small comfort ten years added to his age; grey
hairs gleam among his hyacinthine locks; his back is bent; his
shoes are clogged with lead. A sad sight; makes one wish the
pitiful business was over, and Richakd
himself again.

All the best of the Irish Members,
whether Cavaliers or Cromwellians, are
depressed in same way. Came upon
Swift MacNeiix in retired recess in
Library this afternoon; standing up with
right hand in trouser-pocket, and left
hand extended (his favourite oratorical
attitude in happier times) smiling in
really violent fashion.

"What are you playing at?" I asked
him, noticing with curiosity that whilst
his mouth was, so to1 speak, wreathed in
smiles, a tear dewed the fringe of his
closed eyelids.

"Ah, Toby, is that you?" he said,
"I didn't see you coming. The fact is
I came over here by myself to have me
last smile."

"Well, you're making the most of
it," I said, wishing to encourage him.

" I generally do, and as this is me last,
I'm not stinting measurement. They 're
sad times we've fallen on. Just when
it seemed victory was within our grasp
it is snatched away, and we are, as one

The Last Smile. may flunS on,thf dunghill amid the

wreck of our country a hopes and aspira-
tions. This is not a time to make merry. Me country's ruined,
and Swift MacNmll smiles no more."
With that he shut up his jaws with a snap, and strode off. I'm

sorry he should take the matter to heart so seriously. We shall
miss that smile.

Business done.—Irish Land Bill in British Parliament. Cork
Parliament still sitting.

Thursday.—Cork Parliament still sitting ; Paeneix predominant;
issues getting a little mixed; understood that Session summoned to
decide whether, in view of certain proceedings before Mr. Justice
Butt, Pabnell should be permitted to retain Leadership. Every-
thing been discussed but that. Things got so muddled up, that
O'Keefe, walking about, bowed with anxious thought, not quite
certain whether it is Tim Healy,
Sexton, or Justin McCaethy, who
was involved in recent Divorce
suit. Certainly, it couldn't have
been Pabnell, who to-day sug-
gests that the opportunity is fitting
for putting Mr. Gr. in a tight place.

" You go to him," says Pabnell,
"and demand certain pledges on
Home Rule scheme. If he does
not consent, he will be in a hole;
threatened with loss of Irish Vote.
You will be in a dilemma, as you
cannot then side with him against
me, the real friend of Ireland;
whilst I shall be confirmed in my
position as the only possible Leader
of the Party. If, on the contrary,
this unrivalled sophist is drawn
into anything like a declaration
that will satisfy you in the face of
the Irish People, he will be hope-
lessly embarrassed with his English
friends; I shall have paid off an
old score, and can afford to retire
from the Leadership, certain that
in a few months the Irish People
will "clamour for the return of the

man who showed that, if only he Weighed down with Thought,
could serve them, he was ready to
sacrifice his personal position and advantages. Don't, Gentlemen,
let us, at a crisis like this, descend to topics of mere personality.
In spite of what has passed at this table, I should like to shield
my honourable friends, Mr. Timothy Healy, Mr. Sexton, and that
beau ideal of an Irish Member, Mr. Justin McCabthy, from refer-
ences, of a kind peculiarly painful to them, to certain proceedings in
a court of law with respect to which I will, before I sit down, say
this, that, if all the facts were known, they would be held abso-
lutely free from imputation of irregularity."

General cheering greeted this speech. Members shook hands all
round, and nominated Committee to go off and make things hot for
Mr. Gr. Business done.—In British House Prince Aethub ex-
pounded Scheme for Relief of Irish Distress.

Friday.—A dark shadow falls on House to-day. Mrs. Peel died
this morning, and our Speakee sits by a lonely_ hearth. Old
Mobality, in his very best style, speaking with the simple language
of a kind heart, voices the prevalent feeling. Mr. Gr., always at hia
best on these occasions, adds some words, though, as he finely says,
any expression of sympathy is but inadequate medicine for so severe
a hurt. Members reverently uncover whilst these brief speeches
are made. That is a movement shown only when a Royal
Measage is read; and here is mention of a Message from the
greatest and final King. Mrs. Peel, though the wife of the First
Commoner in the land, was not une grande dame. She was a kindly,
homely lady, of unaffected manner, with keen sympathies for all
that was bright and good. Every Member feels that something is
lost to the House of Commons now that she lies still in her chamber
at Speaker's Court.

The Deama on Cbutches.—A Mr. Gbein has suggested, accord-
ing to some Friday notes in the I). 2'., a scheme for subsidising a
theatre and founding a Dramatic School. The latter, apparently, is
not to aid the healthy but the decrepit drama, as it is intended to
afford succour to old or disabled actors and actresses." Why then
call it a " Dramatio School ? " Better style it, a " Dramatic-Seoond-
Infancy-School."___

Death in the Field.—If things go on as they have been going
lately, the statisticians who compile the " Public Health " averages
will have to include, as one important item in their " Death Rates."
the ravages of that annual epidemic popularly known as—Football!

"Justice fob Ieeland ! "—The contest on the Chairmanship of
the Irish Parliamentary Party may be summed up:— Justin
M'Caethy vice Pabnell Just out.

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