4 MARCH 1882, Page 2

A lover of Shakespeare, on hearing Mr. Gladstone's remarks on

the right of the Irish Judges to refuse to answer the ques- tions of the Lords Committee, quoted Glendower's remark in Henry IV.,—" I can call spirits o'er the vasty deep ;" and Hot- spur's rejoinder, " Why, so can I, or so can any man ; but will they come when you do call for them ?" Glendower's spirits, however, came to make music; while Lord Cairns's spirits, if they do come, will certainly not be harmonious, and may, per- haps, be mute. We suspect, however, that the House of Lords, as a Court of Appeal, has a constitutional right to summon Judges, though the Judges may have quite as good a right to decline answering the questions put to them.