On Wednesday the House of Commons once more passed the Second Reading of the Deceased Wife's Sister Bill, the jority in its favour being almost exactly two io one. But th again very little hope of the Bill passing into Jaw, for the aninority managed to achieve by a trick a success Which was denied to them in the Division, The principal speaker against the Bill was Lord Hugh Cecil, the" Promuler's son, who impressed the House by the spirituality and earnestness of Mis speeeh=—carnestness with more than a touch of fanaticism in it—hut spoilt the effect by the feebleness of his argument And then the trick by which he aid others won the success I have referred to seemed hardly consistent with the high and noble monts of his spe ix of course a private member's hill. and hers' hills have very little chance of pa:
unless rushed on with all possible di teh. 'The idea of the promoters was to pass the Second Reading and then refer the Bill to the Grand Committee, But as opposed business cannot be taken after half-past five on Wednesd the re ference to Committee was' stre to be oppowd. wary to finish the Si cond Reading division before that hour. The closure was moved just in time: but the opponents by passing through the no" slowly as they possibly could, to prevent the tellers from ennomicing the result. before the fates hour. The counting of the 121 took several minutes longer than that of the 249 "ayes," When Lord Hugh reen-sored the House—almost the last and slowest Lo record his voto—he was greeted with Toud cries of shame," and with pale he appealed to the Speaker for protection and el. The er has since expresse demnation of this new form of obstruction: but it has probably achieved its object of preventing, the Bill from passing this Session, Land Purchase and the Union.
Mr. T. W. Russell has carried his Compulsory Land Purchase for only byt ty of 17. East Down is of cour testant stronghold of Ulster. Int Joss nearly a third of the electorate is composed of Nationalists, eof their ow they all voted for Mr. Russell's Compulsor} Land Pureh: candidate, who, a Unionist, opponent of the ment. Hence M Ir. Wood's victory, Mr, Russell expresses him lant oF: his snecoss was that Mr. Wood's much larger. He seems dozer only about a thouse jority Would be carried out of some five thousand Unionists: and alt hong! a similar proportion might ata General Election enable him to win four or five other seats in Protestant Ulster, that is not enough io alarm the Government or materially assist' his Land) Purchase Obituary.
The hope that ney Cooper would live to paint a cattle pi hundredth birthday has been disappointed.
He has Just died in his Sth yes ever, established a record of any oth: ittist by exhibit pictures painted atu and he has died full of honour. stidden death of Sir John M had been for nearly Yom Clerk of London, ha deep regret' in City circles as well as among Freemasons, whom he was over seventy years old, he bore his age splendidly, and seemed to be in the very prime of life. It is said that until a day or two before he died he had never missed a meeting of the Corporation since he was appointed. And now we are hourly expecting news of the death of a greater than cither of these—the Marquis of Dufferin,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.