NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Perplexed.—You are entirely in error in supposing that the member for Otley, Yorks, has, in accepting a baronetcy, descended from a higher estate. You have been deceived by similarity of sound. The hon. member was not of the same rank as a statesman (who we observe has just repaired to his country seat at Pinley Park, where he will entertain His Serene Highness the Duc de Seidlitz-Poudre) to whom Sir Robert Peel used to allude in the House of Commons as "the noble Baron." In becoming Sir John Barran, Bart., the member for Otley gains a distinct step in the social ladder.
Blind, Deaf, and Dumb.—We are pleased to be able to reassure you. The fact that you have not lately heard or read speeches by Sir William Harcourt is no evidence that the treble disability under which you unhappily labour is increasing. There is a well known case, cited in Littleton upon Coke, where a man was not able to see the Spanish fleet "because it is not yet in sight." For analogous reason you have not lately heard anything of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He has not been speaking. The fact is, the Squire of Malwood—to use a title by which he is locally known, and in which he most rejoices—was cut out for a rustic recluse. Circumstances have, unwillingly, dragged him into the front of politics, and he has done the duty that lies to his hand. When opportunity can be made he takes his leisure at his lodge in the New Forest, and meditates on the untimely fate of his pre-Plantagenet forbear William Rufus. Nevertheless, we are not without suspicion that Sir William Harcourt shares the peculiarity of Carlyle, of whom you will remember his wife shrewdly remarked that "his love for silence is platonic." If you keep your ears open and your mouth shut, you may probably, before long, hear the familiar voice resounding from a public platform.
A Shakspearean Student.—We had not before heard of the incident. It is, however, quite possible, as you have been informed, that when the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., heard of the defection of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, who has joined the Liberal forces, the only remark he made was "Off with his head."