NEWS OF THE WEEK.
,OUR Parliamentary chronicle this week is a brief one; for, al- though a considerable amount of business was got through, it has not, generally speaking, been of a description calculated to excite .much public interest. Indeed, it is very evident that the proceed- ings of our Representatives, even on important questions, are re- garded "out of doors" with increasing indifference. This is the lamentable but inevitable consequence of the line of conduct which they have been so ill-advised as to adopt. The. Reformed House of Commons is no longer regarded as representing the wishes of the nation, but rather in the light of a subservient in- strument in the hands of Ministers. The members are obvi- ously aware of this themselves ; and symptoms of weariness, dis- gust, and indifference to the performance of their duties, are be- ginning to be visible amongst them. They are desirous of getting through the remaining, that is to say, nearly all the important business of the session, with as little delay and annoyance as possible,—in the hope, we would fain believe, of turning over a new leaf next year They feel, and the country feels too, that for this session at least the game is up, and that to retrieve their -character is a hopeless business.
Had the case been otherwise, an opportunity was afforded them on Tuesday last to se some of their lost ground. The motion for the repeal of the House and Window tax came before them in a "simple" form,—freed from the connexion with Malt-duty, Income-tax, and resignation of Ministers, with which it suited the Government on the former cccasion to embarrass it. The result, however, was the same : the self-styled Representatives of the People refused to rescind their former decisioa,—it being the fashion to rescind those votes only which their constituents ear- nestly desi: e to see confirmed ; and Lord ALTHORP triumphed in the division by a majority of 273 to 124.
The second reading of the bill for the removal of Jewish Dis- abilities was carried on Wednesday : the numbers were 189 to 52. Sir ROBERT INGLIS, the most intrepid champion of stui id bigotry which the country possesses, endeavoured to persuade the House, not merely that the admission Of a Jew into its sacred precincts would unchristianize all its orthodox occupants, but that the Jews themselves regarded this project for putting them upon a par with other Englishmen with feelings of utter abhorrence. In order to establish this paint, he read a communication from "that great luminary Rabbi Jscoa," who denounces this "start for emancipa- tion" on the part of his brethren, as a deadly sin, and is quite horrified at the idea of coming in contact with a Christian. This is edifying ; and it might have taught the intolerant members of the House a lesson of toleration, for they may rest assured that the bigotry of Rabbi JACOB is not more absurd and disgraceful than their own. We were reminded, by the Rabbi's pious hor- ror of Christians, of the disgust with which the natives of an African province regarded fatten the traveller because he was white,—supposing that he was afflicted with leprosy. We are not aware that BRUCE despised a Negro as much as Sir ROBERT Istums contemns a Jew ; but if he did, the lesson would not be Jost upon him, when he found that the repulsive feeling was mutual.
Mr. HARVEY moved on Tuesday for certain returns to illustrate the secret history of the Pension-list. The names of the recipients of the public money are easily furnished ; but Mr. HARVEY'S motion goes deeper into the subject, and indeed requires what we are convinced in many instances cannathe furnished, namely, an account of the public services for whieh, pertain pensions were granted. Some curious disclosures, however, may be expected ; especially when it is recollected that out of 1030 pensioners on
I the Civil Lists of England, Ireland, and Scotland, no fewer than 1,022 are ladies, and of these 124 are ladies of title.
1 There is some hope, after all, that the bribery at the last Bristol election will be inquired into. On Tuesday, Mr. WARBURTON
presented a petition, signed by 2,500 electors of Bristol, praying that the evidence given before the Committee, which lately con- firmed the return of the sitting members, should be laid before the House, in order that a public exposure of Conservative corruption might be made in an authentic form. Sir Riess Ann VYVYAN and Mr:Miami vehemently asserted the purity of their friends, as a matter of course; but, as Mr. WARBURTON stated distinctly, that one thousand electors were paid three shillings each on the day of nomination, and that treating and corruption were carried on to a great extent, Lord A LTHORP said that be could not resist the mo- tion; and the Heuse, having thus obtained Ins Lordship's gracious permission, were not afraid to decide in favour of it by a vote of 42. to 8. Mr.W ARISURTON also announced his intention not to let the matter rest, but to pursue the inquiry. A Committee was appointed, on Friday, to report upon the best means of preventing bribery at future elections at Hertford. The Conservatives, beaded by Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET and Sir HENRY H.ARDINGE, made a stand in defence of this stronghold of corruption. Mr. WYNN also feebly endeavoured, by a little spe- cial-pleading, to make it appear that the law had not been violated to any great extent. But the House ruled it otherwise, by a ma- jority of' 227 to 55. Colonel EVANS wished it to be an instruction to the Committee to inquire into the expediency of establishing in this borough the Vote by Ballot as a means of preventing bribery at future elections. The Speaker endeavoured to put him off upon a point of form ; but Colonel EVANS persisted, and finally gave notice, that if the Committee recommended a bill for the purpose of purifying the borough of Hertford, he would move a clause for introducing the use of the ballot there. Mr. C. K. TYNTE, and Mr. E. J. STANLEY, the member for Cheshire, expressed their in- — tention to support the proposition. Mr. O'CONNELL also last night obtained leave to bring in a bill to disfranchise the borough of Carrickfergus. The bribery prac- tised there was so barefaced, that even Mr. SHAW and the Orange-.---- Tory party offered no objection to the measure.
The House then adjourned till Thursday next. Our Represen--,- tatives, fatigued by the business of the race-week, require repose; and the festival of Whitsuntide opportunely arrives to afford them an excuse for taking it.
