Of the other proposals which Parliament has had under discussion this week, one of the most interesting has been a new Cruelty to Animals Bill, which was introduced into the House of Lords by the Bishop of Hereford. Its object was to render illegal "certain spurious kind of sport." such as the hunting of tame stags, the shooting of pheasants lot out of a bag, pigeon-shooting and rabbit-coursing. It was mainly, however, against the last of these sports that the Bill was directed. The abolition of the Royal Buckhounds has acted as a big discouragement to staghunting, the cruelty of which, moreover, is still questioned by many good sport men. Clay pigeons, too, have almost ever where taken the place of the live birds, and the shooting of bagged pheasants is not very general. Of the cruelty of rabbit-coursing, however, there cannot be any question; and it is a democratic sport, indulged in by thousands. Tt is, us the Bishop of Hereford pointed out, difficult to give any reason why rabbit-coursing should be placed in a different category from cock-fighting or bear-baiting. There was, however, some reason in the contention that as a sport of the masses it was fa subject for the House of Common: rather than the House of Lords to tak> up; and the Bishop got so little support that he wisely withdrew his Bill rather than subject it to a humiliating defeat en a division.
"Paolo and Francesco."
Last night Mr. George Alexander produced at the St. James's Theatre Mr. Stephen Phillips' "Paolo and Frances-ca," and scored a triumphant success with it. Mr. Phillips has therefore established what is in modern times a "record" in poetical plays, having achieved three big successes in little more than a year. "Paolo and Francesco" was, of course, written before either "Herod" or "Ulysses." Tt was published in book-form more than two years ago, and it has won an established place in English Literature. Tt is therefore only necessary to record its success as an acting play. At a comparatively small theatre like the St. James's Mr. Alexander not, of course, attempt the lavish mounting which' Mr. Tree has given to "Herod and "Ulysses," but the new piece is nevertheless admirably staged, Pid it was acted throughout in a way which disposes of the complaint that our actors and actresses of to-day are incapable of rising to the heights of poetical drama. Mfr. Alexander's "Giovanni" is pro-hounded to be a distinct advance on any Character ho has yet given us; Miss Evelyn Millard is " most refined and loveable Franossca; and Miss Elizabeth Robbins fills the part of Lucrezia with groat dramatic power.
The Head of the Drummonds.
The Earl of Perth and Melfort, the oldest of the peers, has just been Inid to rest in Kensal Green Cemetery, at the ego of 91. He had a romantic and pathe tie history. He was a Duke in the French nobility, and would have been twice a Duke in the Scottish peerage if the Stuart line had been restored, for the two sons of the third Earl of Perth wore both created Dukes by James LI. after his expulsion, and the late Earl was by descent the representative of both these branches of the Drummond family. But the adhesion to the cause of the Stuarts, while it gave them titular dukedoms, lost them their legal earldoms, for both earldoms were attainted. The:
Perth attainder died out with the line of the atta: nted heir to that title; and by express desire of Queen Victoria an Act of Parliament was passed restoring the Melfort titles to the Earl who has just died. Not content with the titles, however, the Earl spent what little for-tuno he had in trying unsuccessfully to recover the Drummond estates, and he died " poor man. His eldest son commit ted suicide under exceptions cumstances, and his grandson came to rad end; and the old Earl has only a daughter to succeed him. Owing to ferences in the original patents the Perth and Melfort peerages are again divided. The Perth earldom, which cannot des-cond in the female line, gone to a very distant kinsman, Lord Strathatton—now the head of the great Drammond clan—and the Melfort titles to the late Earl's daughter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.