NEWS OF THE WEEK.

MEETING OF PAP LTAMENT.

NOT the least agitating part of an opera is the interval that elapses between the tuning of the fiddles and that inspiriting tap-tap which gives the signal to finger and lip, and bids string twang, and trump blow, and drum roll, from one end of the orchestra to the other. The excitement is of course wonderfully enhanced where the opera is a new one. The great political drama has at length reached this point. The preliminary scraping and fingering have begun ; the leader has taken his seat ; the audience sit arrectis auribus watching for the first burst of the overture, from which they ex- pect to learn the theme of the piece ; the actors are arranged in the side-scenes, each waiting for his cue ; the scene-shifters have tightened the ropes of the curtain ; the prompter has his finger on the bell ; in a few minutes the opening movement will be over, the stage will stand displayed, the play will begin.

To drop metaphor, the Parliament has met. The House of Commons has been constituted by the election of a Speaker ; and both Houses are busy swearing in members, in order to prepare for the great work to which the Royal speech of Tuesday next is to call them.

Pursuant to the tenor of the writs, the Peers assembled on

Tuesdly last. The Lord Chancellor entered the House about two o'clock ; and in a few minutes, his Lordship, as one of the Com- missioners appointed for the purpose of opening Parliament, took his seat on the cross-bench below the Throne, accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl Grey, the Marquis Wel- lesley, and Baron Durham, the other members of the commission. About a dozen of Peers were present on the occasion. The Commons being summoned, and in attendance, the LORD CHAN- CELLOR proceeded to open Parliament in the usual form. The Commons then withdrew to elect their Speaker; and the cere- rndny of swearing in of such Lords as were present proceeded until four o'clock, when their Lordships adjourned.

The Marquis WELLESLEY, as Lord Steward, had attended in the Long Gallery at an early hour, to swear in such of the mem- bers of the House of Commons as were in attendance; - and before the House was summoned to the bar of the Lords, not fewer than one hundred members had taken the oaths.

When the Commons had returned to their own House, Mr. C. W. WYNNE addressed the House, on the choice of a Speaker.

The duty of electing a Speaker was one of the most important privi- leges that the House of Commons had to exercise; and if important at all dines, he thought it was Peculiarly important at the present moment, when they were called upon to consider changes and alterations greater than the history of Parliament afforded any example of. (Cheers front the Opposition.) He spoke not as giving any opinion on the question; for whether those changes and alterations were or were not desirable, it was equally necessary that they should be considered and debated with pa- tience, discretion, and temper. At the present moment, a degree of ex- citement and irritation prevailed almost without a parallel; and at such a time, every man must feel it to be of the first importance to select a fit :person to enforce the orders of the House, and to maintain the privileges .which members held, not for their own benefit, but for that of their con- stituents. In nothing were those constituents more interested than in the preservation of the orders of the House, which had for their' object to pre- vent measures from, being forced improperly through the House, and to insure their receiving such full consideration as was requisite: For this reason it was, beyond all things, necessary that the person selected to fill the chair should be Possessed of a high and independent character that. he should be one from whom impartiality might be expected on all occa- sions,—who should have the ability to lay down the rules of the House, and the firmness to enforce them against any individual who might at-

tempt to contravene them, and, at the same tithe, the courtesy to impart useful information to inexperienced members, and to acquaint them with the rules which they might unintentionally transgress. • Beyond these -there was another qualification which he held it to be of the greatest con-

sequence that their Speaker should possess, because without it all the others would be vain—he thought that the person to be called upon to preside over their debates should possess the confidence of the House from the knowledge of his having deserved it. (Cheers.) Mr. Wynne proceeded to remark, that for all the qualities which

were demanded by the high and honourable office of Speaker, the Right Honourable Charles Manners Sutton, who had so long and so ably, and with such universal approbation held it, was preemi- nently conspicuous : he therefore proposed that that gentleman should be twain chosen to fill that chair which he had so honour- ably and usefully filled before. In stating the singular fitness of Mr. Sutton as Speaker, Mr. Wynne particularly adverted to the large addition of duty which that gentleman had voluntarily under- taken with a view to expedite the public business.

Mr. Sutton was the first person to call upon the House to give him an opportunity of devoting more of his time to the service of the country. It was impossible to overlook the large quantity of business which re- mained undone at the end of the last session, in consequence of the time of the House being engrossed with the great and momentous question which came before it. It was necessary that this business should now be despatched ; and under these circumstances it was important that the House should have for its Speaker a person who, instead of shrinking from labour, would rather outstrip the wishes of the House in the dis- charge of business. Such a person the House would have in the right honourable gentleman whom he had the honour to propose to their notice.

The motion was seconded by Sir MATTHEW W. RIDLEY.

It was somewhat singular, he observed, that when his right honour- able friend was first called to the chair, he was one who offered opposition to him, and himself seconded the nomination of the gentleman who had now proposed his right honourable friend. He trusted that the House would see, from that circumstance, that in now supporting the nomina- tion of his right honourable friend, he was actuated only by a desire to do justice to the high character which his right honourable friend had ob- tained for himself, both with the House and the country, during the fourteen years which he had presided in that House.

Mr. MANNERS SUTTON next addressed the House— If, in expressing the deep obligation which lie felt to Mr. Wynne: whose Parliamentary knowledge so justly entitled him to form a correct judgment with respect to the qualifications of a Speaker, and whose con- stant attendance, and unwearied attention to the privileges, orders, and proceedings of the House, made him so fit a judge of the propriety of the Speaker's decisions, and the efficiency with which the duties of the Chair had been performed, and to Sir M. W. Ridley, whose high standirp- and character in the House gave weight to any thing which he addressed tt.cr them,—if, under these circumstances, and in the pursuit of a fair and honourable ambition, he should for a moment at least appear to forget how much he owed to the kindness of his friends, and how little to- his own merits, lie trusted that the House would not attribute it to arrogance, or to an unwarrantable reliance on his own abilities. He had had four-

teen years' experience in the office. He knew its difficulties, which had been well described by Mr. Wynne, and which were frequently augmented by the suddenness with which they came on. He, however, had learnt, from the same experience, that whether those difficulties arose from cir- cumstances which admitted as well as required deep consideration, or whether they were attributable to the haste with which the decision must be given,and the unforeseen emergency of the call, whoever had the honour to fill the chair might place a safe and confident reliance on the support, protection, encouragement, and assistance of the House. He knew that nothing would be required at his hands, or those of any other person who might preside in the chair, but an honest attempt, strictly, assiduously, and impartially, to perform his duty ; and if he so conducted himself, he was sure of his reward.

The motion was carried by acclamation ; and Mr. Manners Sutton was then conducted to the chair by Mr. Wynne and Sir M. W. Ridley. The Speaker having assumed the chair, and having briefly thanked the House for the honour conferred on him— Sir JAMES GRAHAM, in moving the adjournment of the House, said— He hoped he might be permitted to congratulate the right honourable gentleman on the distinguished mark of unanimous confidencc vilich he had just received. It was the highest tribute of respect which a British commoner could receive, to be called upon to preside over the debates in that House. In the case of the right honourable gentleman, Sir James had to congratulate him and the House that this mark of confidence was be- stowed on him now for the sixth time. Those who had served with the right honourable gentleman in former Parliaments, well knew how faithfully, zealously, and ably he had discharged the duties of his office; and those only who had thus served with him could be aware of the labour and ex- ertion which the discharge of those duties required. It was impos- sible to contemplate, without admiration, the indefatigable industry, patience, and assiduity of the right honourable gentleman ; sacrificing, to meet the increase of public business, every private consideration— even his health—voluntarily abridging the short period for recreation and repose which his predecessors consideredindispensable. Sir James feared he could not hold out a hope that there would be any abridgment of the labour or of the fatigue to which the right honourable gentleman had hitherto been subjected; bat the House could co-operate to make the discharge of his duty mOre tratieful and satisfactory to his feelings, by upholding the just prerrigidivendaddignity of the chair.

Sir ROBERT PsEL, in 'seconding the motion for the adjourn- ment, took Occasion also to enress his pleasure at Mr. Sutton's re-election.

He congratulated the House, not only on the re-election of their Speaker, but on the circumstances connected with it. He recollected, that when Mr. Wynne, who had that night proposed the Speaker, en- tered into honourable competition with him fourteen years ago, he de- clared that if the choice 'of the House should fall on Ins competitor, his

experience of that competitor's conduct wouldjustify that choice. He was satisfied, that from the spirit which induced his right honourable friend to make that prediction, he was amongst the foremost to rejoice in its com- plete fulfilment. The Speaker had justly said that the cordial co-opera- tion of the House facilitated the discharge of his arduous duty. And the statement of his receiving that co-operation implied, unintentionally no doubt, a compliment to himself, because that co-operation resulted from the complete conviction which the house entertained of his integrity and impartiality—from admiration of the justice and promptitude of his deci- sions, and the firmness with which he enforced them, tempered with a courtesy which disarmed that firmness of every thing which could be dis- agreeable even to those who were its objects.

This closed the first day's proceedings.

On Wednesday, the Speaker, accompanied by a number of members, and supported by Mr. Wynne and Sir M. W. Ridley, proceeded to the bar of the House of Lords, in order to receive, agreeably to the orders of the Royal commission delivered on Tuesday, the Royal approbation of his appointment. It was most graciously accorded, in the usual form. The approbation was re- ported to the Commons when the House had resumed. The two Houses were occupied on Thursday and Friday in swearing in their respective members. The Earl of Munster took the oaths on Wednesday.