From the frozen steppes it comes To the roll of Russian drums Smites the sentry tall and ho By the Brandenburger Thor: Chills the little Dutchman stiff it leaps on Albion's cliff Raging o'er sand, sea, and rocks, Comes the Vernal Equinox Freezing hands and ears and feet, Drives the wind and snow and sleet Polk in "buses fingers blowing, Toms and Teddies, Loos and Lizzies, People cen in Havsome gong Blue as to their proboscises With o thousand shivering shocks Comes the Vernal Equinox Dinner dear—and feed the fire Wine and warmth—what more desire For our cosy evening revel, Spite the blast and—What? The da—Coals are running short, you say Lhiity-eight i Famine ay our portals kneel With the Vernal Equinox In the present condition of public opinion at home, it would not be surprising to see a movement made to prevent colliery own ers having the' power by combination to tu duly raise the price of such an article of prime necessity as fuel.
Pho Times lins been badly honxed again, Tu an ill-advised moment it published furiously anti-English letter which it had received from the United States, signed "Captain Frank Scott, Thirty-eighth Pennsylvanian Rifles." the publication of the letter had caused a good deal of astonishment in the States, where the writer of the letter was: discovered, A telegram from Dunkirk, New York, say He is Walter Scott, 15 years old, a grandson of J.T. Williams of this city. "The letter threatened the British empire, and was so filled with menaces that, being cabled to this country, it was generally republished, -with varying comments, Ly American newspapers Te seems that the boy, indignant at the attitude of the Vimes on international questions, particularly with reference to the Chilean' trouble, "resolved to send: to that paper an expression of his ire, and, realising that little attention would be given' to a boy' letter on such a subject, he signed a fictiti name, and without saying anything about itat home wrote to the imesas any solid English. man might do. He was surprised that the Times printed his letter and that prominence was given it in American newspapers, which have ridiculed the Times for ascribing so much consequence to such a letter from an unknown correspondent.
Young Scott's relatives and acquaintances in Dunkirk were much surprised to learn that he had been browbeating the London "Thun-
paragraphs in the lad's letter was this: derer" in this ively manner. One of the "Canada would be captured before you had time to act. Our navy would "compare very favourably with yours, and there would-be a heavy blockading fleet of steel craiscrs on your coast within five days. Liverpool would Toon -be captured or destroyed, and as we could raise an army of nearly 2,060,000 m two months your little island would soon on the County Council elections in the be overran. regular Conservative vein; but.a far more The sentence on Mrs. Osborne, the valuable one is the article by Mr. Acworth, culprit in the great pearl robbery, was a Conservative who has not been re-elected, another prominent topic of the week, who pints out that he wrote six months The general opinion seems to have been ago that, of all the electioneering cards that Mr. Justice Smith had given it is possible to play, it will not be easy to the right sentence. Before ie de find a worse one among moderate-minded judgment, the following unusual incident men in the poorer districts of the metropolis occurred.' We quote from the report in than promiscuous abuse," such as the Con-the Times: servative papers indulged in before the Mrs. Hargreave, rising from her seat at the election. He mentions that the Conserva-solicitors' table in the well of the Court tive vote this year in Dulwich was "50 My Lord, as I and my husband have-been per cent. heavier than it was three years the chief' sufferers in this case, I desire to back. But then my friend and Jate col-say Justice A. L. Smith.—I ought not to league Mr. Powell absolutely refused to join in the custoniaty Conservative abuse hear you, Mrs. Hargreave, unless you are the Council, and'told his supporters dis-here to plead for mercy. tinctly that the Council's work had been Mrs. Hargreave.—I am here to plead for merey, my Lord. I have known and loved well done, and that the gratitude of London was due to the men, whether Moderates or her alf my life, and Iam perfectly convinced that she could not have been in her right Progressives, who had done it." "There is mind when she was doing what she did. an amusing forecast of what will happen at beg your Lordship to deal os leniently with match at Lord's in 1902, when the new her as possible. railway is running. Lyons has just gone The remarks of the Times on the sentence in first for Australia and hits the ball are somewhat commonplace, while it adds through the window of the guard's brake that she is singularly fortunate in that in the Sheffield express. Lyons and Giffen her punishment has become the source of make 1,849 runs while England is waiting consolation that no external circumstances for the ball to be sent back: from Sheflield can mar, Nothing less than the total rain by parcels' post, and the innings is de-of her married life at one time seemed to clared closed, Loiimann's bowling analysis lie before her; but she has gained from reading Overs. Maidens. Runs. Wickets. her husband's unhesitating devotion proof of an affection for which some women 0 1,849 0 would almost take her sentence." The "The Englishmen naturally failed to Daily News is loss sentimental, and more equal this gigantic total; but it was felt reasonable that the luck had been to some extent The case has been disposed of not one against them.
'The Economist has an article which should moment too soon. Mrs. Osborne, as the Phase goes, lis been put out of hor misery be read on Bimetallists and the Proposed learning' the worst, and the public has International Monetary Conference." Its ceived a like service by being relieved of t) conclusion is that it is absurd to suppose importunity of the sentimentalists who seem-that Franco will re-open her mint to th ed disposed to take up her case. These people free coinage of silver while Germany would have liked to turn everything that tend. adheres to her gold standard, ed toaggravate her guilt into mawkish appeal for absolute impunity. Ivis needless to say that her education and her social position were but Germany Will deliberately reverse er mone: And equally absurd is it to suppose that tary policy. The going back to the position 80 many additional reasons why she should before 18:3, which the bimetallists declare not first have stolen Mrs. Hargreave's jewels, to be so simple, is to Germany a thing not to and then have tried to rob the owner of her be thought of, and it was the new monetary good name. Her youth and her good looks policy of Germany, it is to be remembered, that hardly affected the issue in any way, except caused the States of the Latin Union to close in so far as the importance attached to them their mints against silver. Why, then, should in some quarters m we make ourselves the catepaw of the United who are without those advantages against the States' politicians, and undertake to offer luxury of crime. There are some circums-"inducements" to these States to engage in tances in which the escape of the guilty would fruitless negotiations? We have not the inbe almost as demoralising as the conviction of ducements to offer, and if we had, why the innocent, and this was one of them. If 'Mrs. Osborne had come off scot free, no Judge should we act the' part of the briber! Mr. Gibbs spoke of the dislocation of our trade hereafter could have ventured to look any with the East consequent upon the fluctuations woman under sentence in the face, when she in exchange, and of how these might be happened to be plain and poor. averted by legislation in favour of silver.
The subject of Tenniel's cartoon in Punch But was it not he who, as President of the is the combination of the coal producers against the coal consumers; but Linley States upon having taken a step in this Bimetallie League, congratulated the United Saumbourne's cartoon "Of his Feed is a direction, when they passed the Bill increas. ing the amount of the Treasury purchases of more amusing one, The scene is The St. silver, and is it not the fact that since that Stephen's stables. Stall of the Favourite, legislation the fluctuations in silver and Majority, who is being inspected by the exchange have been more frequent and. dis-great Vet." (Lord Salisbury), in presence turbing than ever? And if he was so mi Of the groom (Mr. Balfour), and the atablehelp (Mr. The groom has a taken as to, the effect of that form of legis: lation, may he not be as far mistaken in. his sieve of oats in his hand, labelled "Local estimate of the results of the further legis-Government for Ireland," and the stable-lation he advocates help a bundle of fudder under his arm, The Pall Mall's is a very good number, Inbelled ""Sovsll Agricultural Holdings, with many attractive pictures and carica-and the legend is:—Salisbury the Vet. tures. The Saturday's article on the Lon-"Ham! Seems to have wasted a bit! don County Council, written before the Wants a tonic." Barry Furniss' page of election, is somewhat unfortunate in the Grand Old Energy is capital, and so is light of the result. The Spectator thinks that Reginald Cleaver's sketch.
'M. Carnot and his advisers have made a hardly credible, but itis true, that mistake in throwing over M. Constans j, and Mr. Henry Tate has withdrawn his offer to it strongly urges the. absorption of the the nation of a collection of the best modern Corporation of London in the County Enzlish pictures and £80,000 to build ai Council. As we quoted from Andrew gallery with, because the government could Long's Logroltiad last week, it is fair to not find him a site. Such mistakes as this give to-day the followitig amassing poem on on the part of a government are worse, him, by L.F. Austin, fom The Bookman:—and doit more harm with the electors, Thold quite a classical court, than ecimes. Mr, Guschen's action, in the T'm great on the study of Greek, mutter is only equalled by Mr. Stanhope's And yet on a fashion or sport ridiculously optimistic agcoyut of our, ariay.
Ti gaily descant for a week...
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.