Ir perchance any admirer of the British Constitution were disturbed by Renter's telegram some time since to the effect that the House of Commons had read for the second time a Bill for giving the suffrage to women, the perusal of the report of the discussion in the House will effectually allay his feelings, and maybe substitute amusement or disdain for anxiety. As the Times aptly remarks, "the discussion was left largely in the hands of the jesters of the House, the responsible advisers of the Crown and the country sitting silent while a vote was taken approving in principle the doubling' of the electorate, the hitting of the whole basis of the Constitution, and the initiation of an experiment for which there is no precedent in the history of mankind." These responsible advisers, however, may very well have thought that such a debate would do more damage to the cause of female suffrage, by its effectual if ludicrous demonstration of how far it is from the sphere of practical politics, than any direct onslaught with the heavy artillery they might have brought to bear on it, a proceeding which might rather [have given it a factitious importance. [he debate certainly demonstrates the already generally acknowledged fact, that the House on Wednesday after-joons becomes a mere exercising ground for faddists, and that it is no loss to the country when Government, towards the end of the Session, deprives private members of occasions of which they make such paltry use.
Tt may. amuse our readers to quote some of the arguments gravely advanced
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.