Parliament has done little during the week except talk upon
sub- jects of greater or less interest. The bill granting the seats forfeited by St. Albans to South Lancashire, Birkenhead ancl the West Riding, has passed through Committee amidst a dull assent which is neither approval nor dislike. Discussions have arisen on the mode of voting at University elections, compensation for burial fees, the Grand Jury system, and some half-dozen parish questions, chiefly connected with "justice to Ireland," and brought up by Mr. Scully, who on Thursday night asked the House to appoint official reporters, that none of his-. eloquence might be lost. The House, however, is wearied with. Ir,ish speeches already, and would rejoice exceedingly if a pleasant appointment removed Mr. Scully to some country town, where the - local paper could devote an issue or two per week to his views on Ilia, native land. Meanwhile, the Session is drawing on, and the real work of Parliament, which is not to listen to the Member for Cork,, is hardly commenced.
The bill enabling graduates of the Universities to send their votes by post will, however, effect a practical reform. Formerly, it was so impossible for the mass of voters to repair to Oxford, that the attempt was not made, and the election for the University cost leas than anyother throughout the country. Railways, however, have enabled the country clergy to attend, provided their expenses are paid, and as they like the opportunity of revisiting the scenes of their college lives, very many avail themselves of the privilege. The expense of conveying so many voters it very considerable, and tends to diminish the high value hitherto .tplaced on a University seat. The bill reforms this abuse by enabling all the voters, who coa- stitute a registered and exceptionally well-known class, to vote by letter.
For the rest, the incidents of the week have been few and unim- portant. Lord Palmerston has visited Harrow, and made, as "a Harrow boy," a speech which contains a well-judged compliment to Dr. Vaughan, the late master, and possibly more platitudes than any speech he ever delivered. The Mexican bondholders have asked, as they do periodically, for a British fleet to collect their debts ; and the National Rifle Association has opened its proceedings at Wim- bledon. The contest is not yet sufficiently advanced to afford any clue to final results, but the shooting is believed to indicate an ad- vance upon previous years, A French officer is present on the ground to report results to the Emperor. •
