NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE devastation committed last week on the Municipal Bill did not prevent some of its not very judicious friends from encouraging the idea, in newspaper articles and in conversation, that the mea- sure might still be made worth acceptance, if the Commons would show a disposition to sacrifice some portion of it for the sake of the remainder: in other words, a compromise was recom- mended, and " conciliation " was again to be the order of the day. This was currently reported; but we do not find, nor is there any reason to suppose, that Lord MELBOURNE sanctioned or approved of the impolitic tone adopted by some of the subaltern officials of Government. And it was soon found that all notion of compromise must be abandoned; for on Tuesday afternoon, nearly a hundred Tory Peers assembled—not, as heretofore, at Apsley House, but at the residence of their new leader, Lord LYNDHURST; and there adopted the mad resolution of plunging onwards; under the con- viction that, like the murderer Macbeth, they had gone too far to recede. This was the result of fear grown desperate, not of true courage. Some of them would have gladly retraced their steps, at least part of the way ; but they all feared to give outward sign of inward trepidation. It was therefore resolved to assume a bold front, and leave no essential feature of the bill uninutilatecl.
Accordingly, when the House again went into Committee, on
Tuesaay tug th, u na tO tne 59th clause, by which the present Town-Clerks would be secured in the possession of their offices for life,—for that, as the mover admitted, is the practical meaning of the legal phrase " good behaviour." The motion was carried against Ministers by the usual majority-104 to 36.
Perhaps this is the very worst alteration the Peers have made. Every one knows that the Town-Clerks are the life and soul of the corrupt Corporations, and their power to thwart and render nu- gatory the measures of the new Councils must be formidable. In Scotland, where the old Town-Clerks retain their offices under the Reformed system, instances have already occurred in which they have proved hostile spies instead of faithful servants—doing all they can to embarrass the working of the municipal machinery, whose motions they are bound in duty to assist. There cannot be the least doubt that it is for this purpose the English Town- Clerks have been as it were riveted to their posts for life.
The Dissenters will not have forgotten that, last week, a provi- sion was introduced into the bill for the purpose of making all teachers in religious societies ineligible to the Council,—a pal- pable blow at the Methodists. On Monday, Lord LYNDHURST struck again at the Nonconformists, and procured the insertion of a clause which deprives Dissenting members of' the Councils from all share in the distribution of the ecclesiastical patronage. This is an attempt to reenact in part the old Test and Corporation Acts, which the Tories most unwillingly were forced to repeal. At present, Dissenters may be members of Corporations, entitled lo all the rights and privileges appertaining to such membership; but Lord LYNDHURST'S clause curtails them in the exercise of 'those rights in the new Councils, thereby stigmatizing them as naworthy of trust. The aburdity, the insolence of this, is appa- rent from tl:e fact that individual Dissenters may and do present to livings in the Church : that power, arising from the possession of certain property, they, may still hCld : it is only when they exer- cise it in common with Churchmen—it is only when they become amalgamated, as it were, with the members of the Esta- blishment—that a Dissenting patron is to be guarded against. A whole Dissenter is a person safe to be trusted—the twentieth or sixtieth part of one is formidable : how is this? is it the admixture of orthodoxy that deteriorates the pure Dissenting element ? The Dissenters will see in this alteration, the spirit of hostility to their body, and the readiness to cast insult upon them, which has always been characteristic of the High Tory party, although when a temporary purpose could be served, the Tories have never scrupled to use the meanest arts and the coarsest flattery to coax and win them over.
The qualification-clause has been altered, in compliance with a suggestion of the Earl of DEVON. The division of the electors into the six classes still remains, and from the sixth alone are Coun- cillors eligible; but this provision is modified so as to admit-per- sons possessed or pretending to be owners of property worth 1000/. in towns divided into more than four wards, and of 5001. in towns divided into fewer wards, to the favoured—the "quali- fied" section. It is plain that this provision sins as much against the principle of the bill as the other : it is intended to deprive the great body of the English electors of a privilege which their fel- low citizens in Scotland enjoy, and which, as Lord HOLLAND told Lord LYNDHURST, Ott the authority of THURLOW and CHARLES Fox, is the constitutional, as at present it is the actual right, of every Englishman—the right, namely, of being eligible himself to any office to which he may elect another. It is true that Lord DEVON'S WISC provision will in practice be as inefficient for his purpose, as the Parliamentary qualification is to keep men of no property out of the House of Commons. Looking at it in this view, it is simply superfluous—not like Lord LYNDHURST'S clause, which was artfully framed to secure a monopoly of' seats in the Council to the rich. But it shows the spirit with which the Lords legislate; and is, moreover, objectionable, as adding another enactment to the mass already in the Statute-books, which seem • as if they had been framed, partly at least, with the view to encourage the commission of perjury, and justify an evasion of the law.
The Duke of RICHMOND carried what may really be called an amendment, on the clause which authorized the County Magis- trates to divide the boroughs into wards : the Revising Barristers are to perform that duty. In the original bill, Commissioners appointed by the Crown were to be employed to make the divisions.
These are all the material alterations effected in the measure this week. On Thursday, Lord MELBOURNE, in a very manly speech, moved—under protest, as we said he would—that the report be received. The Premier declared, in distinct terms, his un- changed disapproval of every important alteration in the bill ; and though he considered it rig lit to send it back to the Commons, he ga% tiv A Cuts LU USIUCI 5tatiu, _ ' . _ would it receive Ministerial support in that House. On the bring- ing up of the report, he moved to strike out the provision foisted into the 6th clause, by which a third of the Council was to be composed of the Aldermen, in the capacity of members for life; and being beaten on that motion by a majority of 103 to 89, he refrained from any further opposition. Last night, the bill was read a third time, by a vote of 69 to 5, —the minority being composed of Lords WINCHILSEA, BOSTON, KENYON, RODEN, and FALMOUTH, led by the gallant HATTON. Lord MELBOURNE and his friends declined voting on the ques- tion, and thus acted consistently to the last. The reception of the bill in the House of Commons, to which it was immediately sent on being passed by the Lords, was such as it deserved. Mr. SPRING RICE having uttered a few commonplaces about the propriety of discussing the amendments in a calm but resolute tone, Mr. Hums and Mr. Otos:NELL at once denounced them, as utterly subversive of the principle of the bill. The magnificent but unintelligible SIIITHORPE eulogized the conduct of the Peers : their Lordships are fortunate in possessing such an advocate. The "amendments" will be taken into consideration by the Commons on Monday ; and the question arises, what course should the National Representatives adopt ? We have no hesitation in replying, that every change which in any respect deteriorates the measure, or essentially affects its principle, should be rejected at once. We observe that there is sonic talk about a "free confers ence." Now a conference-chamber may be a very fine placeS-'''' an orator to show off in ; but when two bodies are legislating diametrically opposite principles, we cannot see any use t our meeting to confer. Nothing can be said at the confeffnedieph cannot be said in the respective chambers of the Lord ans,kka- mons. Let the Representatives of the People tell the Loril at
their insidious, abuse-preserving bill, shall not pass; ant ea
their duty— in that act of the political drama — will hay a performed. The Peers may stick to their "amendments" • el choose; but, if they do, let them also prepare for more dem tie measures next year, which they must gulp down. Let th re- member 1832 and the Reform Bill.
It is to be hoped that on this occasion Lord JOHN RUSSELL, Mr. SPRING RICE, and the rest of the Ministers in the House of Coin- mons, will emulate the manly bearing of Lord MELBOURNE in " the other place ;" that they will adopt the manner apd ie matter of his speech on Thursday—they will not be a to iittr prove upon either, of that they may rest assured. (Italy-Fa-
tively inform them, that the spirit of the masses is so thoroughly ronsed—though the depth of the fleeting has given it the form ef cool determination, rather than of noisy ebullition—that the slightest system of truckling or giving way to the Peers will do their Administration irreparable damage.
The Tories have not confined their exploits to the mangling of the Municipal Bill. On Monday, they struck out of the Irish Church Bill all the clauses which provided for the suspension of sinecure benefices, and the application of the surplus revenne to the purposes of education. This they did by a majority of 138 to 40; although Lord MELBOURNE gave them fair warning, that he would not insult the House of Commons by continuing the management of the bill, if the clauses in question were taken from it.
There the matter rests. No provision is made for securing the tithes; for enabling the clergy to support themselves or their families for the next twelvemonth; or for the repayment of the motley advanced out of the million. This is, we suspect, the finishing-blow to the Irish Church Establishment. The Liberal Ministry would have saved it if they could; but the "friends of the Church" madly interfered for its destruction.
Another measure connected with Ireland shared the same fate on Wednesday. The bill for remodelling the Police, called the Irish Constabulary Bill, was thrown out on the second reading, by a majority of 51 Peers to 39. One reason assigned for its rejection was, that the appointment of Inspectors was taken from the Magistrates and given to the Lords-Lieutenant ; another, by Lord WINCHILSEA, that Mr. O'CONNELL had favoured the bill I. But the real and cogent, though not avowed cause of the Tory opposition was, that a clause in the bill provided against the admission into the Police of members of secret societies—of Orangemen to wit—of the Duke of CumeeetaNn's armed and confederated 220,000. The Orange faction have seduced the Army, and will not give up the Police. Every succeeding day casts a darker hue on the deep Orange plot. One concluding remark we may be allowed to make on the recent proceedings of the Tory Peers, and their consequences to the Tory party. The People of England are perhaps too prone to credit the professions of false friends : it is probable that many very honest, and by no means foolish persons, believed, last January, that the Tories had seen the folly of their obstinate re- sistance to measures of Reform, and were sincerely intent on the removal of abuses in Church and State. They can never fall into catch an egregious mistake again. The delusion is over. The Tories must return to power, it at all, as Tories. All Sir ROBERT PEEL'S plausibility has gone for nothing. During his Premiership, a little interlude of deception was played off; but the actors have resumed their proper garb, and are known for what they really are as they walk abroad. So much the better—the contest will hence- forth, be carried on upon fairer terms.
The House of Commons has been employed in despatching sun-
„aar ir,u,tab,—wnence many us despatching are des- tined never to return,—and in forwarding others through their several stages. There has been little of interesting discussion. The bill relating to marriages within the prohibited degrees has .passed, with one improvement on LYNDHURST'S workmanship,— all past marriages within the prohibited degrees of affinity, are protected from challenge in the Ecclesiastical Courts, unless the suits for annulling them had been pending on the lstofJune : but all future marriages within the forbidden degrees both of affinity and consanguinity are to be ” absolutely null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever." It was found necessary to agree to the last clause in order to secure the first. Hopes were held out that the last may be amended, and the law placed on a rational footing, in the next session. The bill to compensate Mr. BUCKINGHAM for his Indian losses, was withdrawn last night : it appears that from the first it should have been treated as a private bill.
