Tus Primrose League, with its Knights, Dames, Assooiates and Habitations, its badges and political merrymakings, is new organisation which its friends tell us is to make a great change in English political life. It unites nobles and dames and people of all degrees in the promotion of Tory Principles, especially the later form of them which was carried into the practice of politics by the Earl of Bea-bousfield, In this the League has een very successful; and, as it has been exceedingly active all this Spring, we are quite prepared to learn that it played a conspicuous part during the elections, In November and December last the League actively engaged in most contests in England and Scotlandesthereby provoking the scorn of oppouente—and its influence was for the first time recognised by the po tical world. Like all euch asso tious, if it does good by stealth it does' not blash to find it known; on the "contrary, its members proclaim ite successes aloud, and are very careful to let the world know how it habitations grow in numbers. Radical editors may sneer at it, but uevertheless the League continues to increas: and without assigning too much importance to its value as an adjunct to the more commonplace, old-fashioned political assoviatiov, where only men met togater, or into which only very fow strong-minded women eutered—there la no reason to doubt that the League is a new force in Huglish political life. Whew political ladies have in former instances bauded themselves together to claim the rights of their sex, or to support particular measures, the innate feeling of ordinary men disapproved of such departeres from decorous domesticity, and applied to them such opprobrious epithets as the Shrieking Sisterhood. Bat a League in which duchesses, countesses and the cream of Tory society play conspicuous parts cannot be dealt with in that fashion; and so far as we know the proprieties have not been shocked in any such way. Besides, we are somewhat accustomed iv England to ladies of quality philandering in party demonstrations. The jacent bribery of a duchess giving a a butcher, the pranks at election times of- the last Duchess of Gordon, and other instances familiar to readers gf history and memoirs, prevent the doings of the Dames of the Primrose League coming with too great shock on the most rigid believer in the theory that elections are things that should be left to men alone, Anyway, whether the success of the League is to be attri-bated to genuine Tory enthusiasm or to less worthy motives, the facts and figures shown in the last Report prove that it is sufficiently strong to play a oon-siderable part in elections. On the 20th May last, the Grand Habitation met in Londov, when the Marquis of Salisbury presided over several ladies of high degree, noble Lords and Members of Parliament, and the Sultan of Johore, besides commoner folk, who crowded the place from floor to ceiling.
a Primrose Day, 1885, the League The annual Report stated that
consisted of 8,071 knights, 1,381 dames, and associ tions. There are 8653 members in Scotland, with 70 habitations, and the League has also a footing in Ireland and the Colonies." And from the pre= daricness of the Malay peninsula, from whence it may be extended to Hongkong, and oven compete with electricity in Shanghai.
The Marquis of Salisbury and other gentlemen took part in the proceedings, in the course of which a lady complained of the want of literature for distribution experienced by the Habitations; a defect which a Dachess, i short speech, unhappily not reported, and the Consort should be rectified. complaint; the Conservative newspapers and other publications devoted solely to the support of the party do not flourish; but it ocoure oddly at a meeting where it had just been stated that five millions of lets had boon gratuitously distributed daring the year, The proceedings were euthusiastio, especially when Lady Randolph Churobill rose to second the vote of thanks to Lord Salisbury. It was here, says a report of the meeting, that after the lady bad bowed several times to the audience it lost control of itself. "The vast assembly rose up, en masse, hurrahed, waved hate and handkerchiefs, and stood upon the seats jive better effect to the demonstra.
No doubt Lady Randolph will Lave imitators, and we may see the appearance on political platforms of pretty and sprightly matrons of both parties 8 recognized means of enlightening the British democracy. The ago of toasting is past, or Lady Randolph and other Tory beauties would be celebrated in the convivial manner of our forefathers, as when the Prince of Wales about a hundred years ago called for bumpers for " Buff and Blue, and Mre.
The dames of the Primrose League doubtless had their electiouering successes celebrated in many a village alehouse and over brimming cups of tea; when their principles and dresses, their support of the British Constitution and of French fashious, kindled the enthusiasm of the Hubitations, THE ENGLISH-MAIL PAPERS, Tae first article the St. James's Budyet this week is on the Arms Act, on the pas of which, when it was announced by wire, there were people who thought was " defeat of the Government, The necessity for it this your came from the threatening aspect of the Orangemen, who were, tiiest, James's asserts, entirely forgotten when Me, Gladstone and Mr, Morley drew up the Government of {roland Bill, the St. James's up Lord Randolph Churchill in ly preaching the right of the Ulster-to rebel if the Icish par! granted that, though the Q possibly have @ right to outlaw from the body else to say that they live under another Government—Freuch, Irish, American, or what not, And we have no doubt whatever that the outlawed com: munity would have every right to remit force of arms the new ge authori over them. da thi opisiog every of freedom must concur, in a case where it is and angeriog and thirsting to dominate that bitterly hostile. creed, humble and oppress, And surely to the purpose: rightly or wrongly, resistance there would be, rebellion there olios agai Trish and foreiga fil loyal men of our own blood, The St. James's forgetting that in Ulater itself nearly halt the population is Nations ist, and that if the Protestant minority in Ireland has the right to rebel against the Catholic majority, the Catholic ininority in Ulster must have the same rebel against the Protestant majority. However we gather from the Reuter's telegram which we publish to-day that the Gladstone Parliament for Ireland isdvomed, wwe are glad to leave for the present a ject which is now debated with too much acrimony. The Canadian trouble is made another stick to beat the Liberal dog, the truth are not wanting signs that de has been got up with a ttling the Fisheries que between Canada and tho- United States.
certain that it hae not caused the feeling between Kngland and the States; and the probable result will be that the Washington Treaty of 1871, which the Americans terminated in 1885, will be tablished with modifications. At pro-the Cana with it techni-right in out the treaty of 18185 but that treaty has always been regarded 1 Goverment as "an extreme measure, inconsistent with the general poof the Empire," and we shall no doubt soon hear that the difficulty has been satisly arranged by mutual concessions.
The miscellaneous articles in the St. James's are, as ever, very well written and generally amusing. " The superstitious will with interest the article headed XU, I goes to prove that the young King of Spain, though he is known as Alfonso XII, is not necessary doomed to a dissatrouy
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.