Two convictions, both by juries, have this week attracted some
attention. On Friday, July 7th, Mr. Tims, a London County Councillor, was found guilty at the County of London Sessions for having attempted to obtain 14s. 41d. from the London and North-Western Railway by false pretences, and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment as a second-class misdemeanant; and thus, for the second time within six months, Sir Peter Edlin has sentenced members of the County Council for more or less disgraceful conduct. On Tuesday, an Irish Member of Parliament, Mr. Deasy, one of the Anti-Parnellite Whips, was found guilty, also at the London Sessions, for having assaulted a servant-girl in the lodging in which he resided. There was also a charge of indecent assault; but on this the jury, rightly as we think, refused to convict. Sir Peter Edlin sentenced Mr. Deasy to a fine of £25,—not an extravagant punishment. Mr. Deasy's defence that he meant no harm was probably true; but a married man, and a Member of Parliament, who tries to kiss a lodging- house servant in his bedroom, whether with or without her consent, cannot expect the sort of allowance to be made for him which is made for a lad of eighteen. In, any case, the story is a squalid and unpleasant one.
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