Colonel Egerton Leigh is evidently a true, though possibly an
unconscious humourist ; and, alas I there is not much humour, -conscious or unconscious, in the present House of Commons. He made a motion on Tuesday in favour of increasing the punishment for aggravated assaults on women, which was not less ludicrous than pathetic,—for is one to laugh or to cry when, as an illustration of the unwillingness of women to give -evidence against the men who maltreat them, the case is men- tioned of a woman "whose nose was much injured," but who promptly declared that "she had bit it herself "? After describ- ing a number of particularly brutal assaults, the Colonel observed, with touching simplicity, "Occasionally death ensued from these attacks, and then a man got hanged. Rut it required a good deal of interest to get hanged nowadays." Colonel Egerton Leigh is in favour of employing the "Cat" as a corrective, and we have no doubt he is right. What deters women from giving evidence in many cases is, no doubt, the fear of a long sentence of imprisonment, which may possibly mean starvation to them- selves and the children, but in many other cases it is absurd
affection for their brutal husbands or other relatives. Mr. Disraeli promised that Mr. Cross would attend to the matter, and the Colonel concludes that there is some hope of "fair-play for the fair sex."
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