involved and incidentally of the taste of the British Army.

[Illustration: "_L'ETAT C'EST MOI._"

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL.]

Lawyers and laymen vied with one another in condemning the Bill. Mr.
RAE, as one who had suffered much from requisitioners, complained that
their motto appeared to be _L'etat c'est moi_. Sir GORDON HEWART, in
mitigation of the charge that there never had been such an Indemnity
Bill, pointed out that there never had been such a War. The Second
Reading was ultimately carried upon the Government's undertaking
to refer the Bill to a Select Committee, from which, if faithfully
reflecting the opinion of the House, it is conjectured that the
measure will return in such a shape that its own draftsman won't know
it.

_Tuesday, May 4th._--The Matrimonial Causes Bill continues to drag its
slow length along in the House of Lords. Its ecclesiastical opponents
are gradually being driven from trench to trench, but are still full
of fight. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY very nearly carried a new
clause providing that it should not be lawful to celebrate in any
church or chapel of the Church of England the marriage of a person,
whether innocent or guilty, whose previous union had been dissolved
under the provisions of the Bill. His most reverend brother of York
spoke darkly of Disestablishment if the clause were lost, and eleven
Bishops voted in its favour, but the Non-Contents defeated it by 51 to
50.

Captain WEDGWOOD BENN wanted to know whether swords still formed
part of the uniform of Royal Air Force officers, and, if so, why. He
himself, I gather, never found any use for one in the "Side Shows"
which he has described so picturesquely. Mr. CHURCHILL'S defence of
its retention was more ingenious than convincing. Swords, he said, had
always been regarded as the insignia of rank, and even Ministers wore
them on occasions. But the fact that elderly statesmen occasionally
add to the gaiety of the populace at public celebrations by tripping
over their "toasting-forks" hardly seems a sufficient reason for
burdening young officers with a totally needless expense.

The POSTMASTER-GENERAL is all for a quiet life. When the Dublin postal
workers announced their intention of stopping work for two days in
sympathy with a Sinn Fein strike, did he dismiss them? Not he. You
can't, as he said, dismiss a whole service. No, he simply gave them
two days' leave on full pay, a much simpler plan.

Thanks to the Irish Nationa