We have spoken of the plague of Questions elsewhere, but•
must add here that Thursday nighb illustrated the very grave disposition of Members of the House of Commons to counten- ance the disgraceful waste of time which these idle interroga- tories cause. The Earl of Aberdeen, who has, it seems, been appointed her Majesty's Lord High Commissioner of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, has circulated a letter, signed by himself and five others, deploring the decision of the House of Commons upon the Affirmation Bill, and recommending a perusal of Mr. Gladstone's speech on the subject. air H. Maxwell accordingly asked on Thursday whether the Earl of Aberdeen had acted in this way, and whether in doing so, if he had done so, he was acting under the advice or with the approval of her Majesty's Government. Mr. Gladstone replied that he had no official knowledge of the circumstances, and did not deem it within his duty to make any official inquiry. As a matter of fact, he believed that Lord Aberdeen had issued the circular two days before he was appointed Lord High Commissioner, but that in any case the Government had nothing to do with the matter ; a Peer was not deprived of his ordinary political rights by being appointed Lord High Commissioner of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland,
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