In this time of feasting and jubilation there has again been a brief truce in the agitation over Mr. Chamberlain's fiscal proposals; still there is no real mitigation of the intense fe been aroused. The rank and Liberal party are dissatisfied leaders because they do not force on a fight on the subject in the House of Commons; but from a tactical point of view I inclined to think the Liberal leaders are right in biding their time. While the Government. still commit themselves to nothing more than not impossible to would detach from them their Free Trade supporters go on long without showing their Tu the autumn Mr. to institute an of his fiseal_ propos: can then bink, come of next Session latest. Indeed, there is an almost univers conviction that we shall have a General Election next year. This week Mr. Chamberlain has said nothing about his proposals besand an indirect reference made at the degree congregati.n of the University of Birmingham on Saturday. There the Colonial Secre'ary declared thst he was in favour of '+s real free trade" in education, and "not in education alone." Everyone is looking forward with the greatest interest to see what sort of a scheme of "real free trade" Mr. Chamberlain can formulate.
Cricket.
A long spell of dry, sunny weather has followed the deluges of the middle of Juoe. During that rainy time sodden wickets prevented the completion of many cricket matches, while some few had to be aban-dened without a ball being bowled. Now perfect wickets are giving such sri advantage to the batsmen that again we have 9 large proportion of unfinished matches. It the more unfortunate because the fight the county ch pionship is more interesting this year than it has been for many a season, The champion county, which lost but one match last season and one the season before, has already lost four this year. It is difficult to account for Yorkshire's falling off in form, but it has at least had the advantage of making the contest a very open one. At present Middlesex is the only county which has not lost a match. but Essex and Sussex and Notts are cluse up with one luss each, and Lancashire with two losses and five wins, stands higher than Notts. There isa strong hope, that the interest in the struggle for the championship may be sustained fo the last by uncertainty as to the issue. The most remarkable match yet played is, however, the first of the 1wo meetings of Gentlemen and Plavers. The Players went in first and made 478. Then the Gentlemen were all dismissed for 185. Of course, the critics discovered thnt it was just. what they expected. The Gentlemen never could stand up against the bowling of the Players. But. then the Gentlemen went and upset ull these theories by scoring 500 for two wickets, Fry being 232 not out and MacLaren 16S not out. Naturally there was no time to finish the match.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.