We regret to notice that Sir Stafford Northcote, though not
seriously ill, is sufficiently out of health to have justified Sir W. Jenner in orlering him to the Mediterranean, We fear the Autumn Session has not increased his strength. What with the Closure Debates, Lord Randolph Churchill, and the nearly incessant rain, London must have been, for any one with the seeds of illness in him, nearly intolerable,
The last night of the great Closure Debate was marked by three speeches of especial interest, two hostile and one favour- able to the resolution of the Government. Mr. Cowen delivered a remarkable oration against the resolution, which was followed by so many hand-shakings and obeisances from the Tory side of the House, that Sir Stafford Northcote must have trembled for his throne. Nor was the speech wanting in distinctively Conservative sentiment, for Mr. Cowen, whether contemplating conversion or not, declared his belief that the craving for more legislation was morbid, that we are being legislated out of our liberties, and that the interests of the State and the cause of freedom would be as effectually served by the wise and liberal administration of existing laws, as by the making of fresh ones. "The Government," he said, amidst great cheering, "came before them with a batch of Bills in one hand and a bundle of fetters in the other, and said, 'Give us those fetters, and we will give you these Bills.' He would rather not purchase the Bills, at the price." "All that enabled the House for centuries to triumph over autocracy, they were asked to destroy, and they were asked to reduce that assembly to a registry office for the decrees of caucuses, and the judgments of the party Press." "Change there must be, but the change asked for was of an excessive, bewildering, and. momentous character, revolution- ary, and inimical to their best interests, and, contrary to the highest traditions of the British Parliament."
