NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The motion of Colonel TORRENS to postpone the consideration of the Bank question till next session, was rejected last night, by a -majority of 233; the numbers being 316 to 83. The danger of .delay appeared to be the principal inducement for the House to come to this decision. Ministers have brought the question into such a state, that although to proceed is acknowledged to be peril- ous, yet it is felt that to stay where we are wculd be an alternative more hazardous still. Colonel TORRENS quoted the opinion of Lord ALTHORP'S own Committee of last session in favour of post- ponement. That Committee ended their report with the confes- sion, that they had only partially investigated the subject, and were consequently incompetent to recommend any particular course of proceeding; and no additional information has since been communi- cated to the House. Sir HENRY PARNELL also reminded Lord ALTHORP of his promise that the Committee should be reappointed in the next session, in order that both sides of the question might be seen : that promise, however, as is well known, has not been kept. Lord ALTHORP did not make the slightest attempt to jus- tify the inconsistency of his practice and professions on this point. The decision of the Committee last night only goes to declare the .expediency of renewing the Charter : the terms of that renewal must be the subject of future discussion.

In the House of Lords, the Slavery resolutions were agreed to, on Tuesday, without amendment, but after a long and sharp debate.

The Duke of WELLINGTON exerted, with tolerable success, his very

bumble abilities as a speaker and legislator, to pick holes in the Government plan : his Grace's time would have been better em- ployed in suggesting some useful and feasible amendments in it.

In a subject overwhelmed with difficulties, and in which we have only the choice of evils, it requires no great acumen to select vul- nerable points, and to pierce them deeply; and the Duke made

that a party question which ought to have been discussed with an

absence of all party feeling. Certainly the tame and broken-down harangue with which poor Lord RIPON introduced the subject, af-

forded no pretence for such a display of Anti-Ministerial carping. Lord ELLENBOROUGH distinguished himself by a speech full of smart inconsistencies, and a defence of slavery in the abstract. He

'was handled rather roughly by Lord BROUGHAM; and although

the Baron is thick-skinned, we suspect that he smarted under the operation. The Bishops, who were so eager to testify their appro-

bation of Don MIGUEL and despotism, shrunk from any display of

Christian sympathy with the sufferings of their oppressed fellow- 'men in the Colonies : only two of them took a sufficient interest

an the subject to enable them to sit through the debate. It is now our almost weekly duty to record some instance of the means

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which our Church dignitaries employ with so much success to alienate from their body the respect and attachment of the laity.

The Jewish Relief Bill went through the Committee of the House of Commons on Wednesday. About twenty obstinate ad-

herents to antiquated bigotry, fitly headed by Sir ROBERT INGLIS

and Mr. A. JOHNSTONE, fought their battle to the last, and divi- ded the Committee no fewer than five times, on motions for ad- journment, and amendments to the various clauses. Their at- tempts were defeated by majorities of about five to one. Mr. PLUMPTRE, the brig-lit member for East Kent, hit upon an inge-

nious mode of nullif■ ing the measure: he proposed that the Jewish member of Parliament should be compelled to swear upon the true f'aith of a Christian.

We are not sure that our Reforming brethren North of the Tweed will be gratified over much by the result of the several at- tempts made on Wednesday night to amend the Ministerial bill for the new regulation of the Royal Burghs. Mr. JEFFREY per- tinaciously resisted every proposition to lower the qualification of voters for municipal officers. He was very nearly defeated, how- ever, on a motion of Sir JOHN HAY for that purpose,—the num- bers being 54 to 53, leaving him a majority of one only. We ob- serve, that in the course of these divisions, the number of Scotch members who voted was about thirty; where were the other twenty- three? To a subject so interesting and important to their consti- tuents, their attention might surely have been vouchsafed.

Mr. FINCH, the independent representative of the Marquis of EXETER for Stamford, moved a resolution on Thursday. condem- natory of Political Unions ; which he described as being produc- tive of unmixed mischief in the land. So, no doubt, thinks his lordly patron, and the whole race of (we grieve to say) only half- demolished Boroughmongers. Mr. FINCH proved himself the faithful organ of Lord EXETER; but what must the spirited and insulted Reformers of Stamford think of the mass of Conserva- tive absurdity which their self-styled representative delivered on the occasion? On the whole, however, we ought not to be un- thankful to Mr. FINCH; for, in the first place, he called forth the only lively debate which has occurred in the House of Commons during the week ; secondly, he elicited, in the declaration of Lord ALTHORP that Political Unions were not in themselves illegal or injurious, a set-off against the truly aristocratical denunciation of them by Lords GREY and MELBOURNE in the Lords ; and finally, he showed up his own party to the country in the miserable mi- nority of ten. It is to Mr. CHARLES BULLER, however, that we owe the record of the names of the ten wise individuals who com- posed Mr. FINCH'S minority, for the latter was forced to divide, sorely against his inclination. Mr. BULLER, as a reward for his waggery in calling out "(lie Noes have it," was named by the Speaker to net as teller on the division ; so that, for once, his own name figures in an anti-popular minority. Mr. ELLICE, we are gratified to state, has virtually adopted Mr. HumE's proposition to restrict the punishment of military flogging, within the United Kingdom, to the offences of mutiny and drunk- enness on duty. The order to this effect is already prepared, and will speedily be promulgated.