NEWS OF THE WEEK.

Or the many subjects which have come before Parliament this week, most have been despatched with little discussion, and chal- lenge no other notice than what will be found in our epitomized record of the proceedings in the two Houses.

A formal debate and a party division were expected on the Go- vernment resolutions respecting Canada; for Lord STANLEY, who, g it was announced, had been atimmoned from the country for this

,■; particular service, gave notice on Monday that he should take

1`1 the sense of the House of Commons on the expediency of pledging the House, by resolution, to effect the legislative union of Upper and Lower Canada. When asked by Lord Jona RUSSELL whether he objected to the principle of the proposed union, or only to the form of proceeding, Lord TANLEY would only repeat the substance of his notice. This tieemed to denote an inclination to tel Sir ROBERT PEEL .intimated, that. if the resolution were withdrawn and a bill intro- duced, which would yiledge the House to nothing, probably there would be no opposition to such a course. And, accordingly, on .airsInirsday, Lord JOHN RUSSF,LL was permitted very quietly to with- draw his resolutions, and introduce two bills in the place thereof. By one of these bills, it is proposed to constitute Montreal and a cer- tain extent of territory, a separate district, where the Legislature is to meet and the Governor to reside : the two provinces (less by the territory added to Montreal) are then to be divided each into two districts : again, each of the five districts is to be par- Celled out into nine divisions, and each division is to elect two members to the House of Assembly ; the four largest towns will have, in addition, two members a piece; and thus a representative body consisting of ninety-eight persons will be formed. This is the outline of the representative system drawn by Lord Jona flusszra. • who did not attempt to fill it up. The electoral quali- fication, the duration of the Assembly, the plan on which territory and population are to be combined, the reasons for preferring the number of districts and members named, the effect of the scheme on the state of political parties, and especially in outnumbering the French,—these, and other points of importance, remain for future examination and explanation. And there will be abundant time add opportunity for scrutinizing the bill ; as Lord Jona cannot venture to name the period when Parliament will be called upon to pass it. He proposes to collect information in the Colonies to enable him to frame a boundary bill ; and until that be accom- plished, it is deemed impossible for the union to take effect. Yet we see no sound reason why the inquiries respecting boundaries should not be immediately commenced, and in the meanwhile the other and larger portions of the plan might be discussed and de- termined. Parliament might be called together earlier than usual to enact the supplemental measure for fixing the limits of the various districts, and then the constitution would be ready for work in the spring. But such decisiveness of movement would ill suit the habits and objects of these Ministers ; whose most earnest desire is ever to stave off the settlement of a difficult luestion. And in this design, it would seem, they will not be thwarted by the Tories. No opposition was hinted at by Sir ROBERT PEEL or Lord STAN- LEY ; who, on the contrary, by their conciliator; demeanour, rather encouraged the Minister to proceed with the other bill, which prolongs the power of the Governor and Special Council from November 1840 to March 1842, and confers mon them authority to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, and impose taxes for local purposes. No doubt, next to a Parliamentary settlement of the question, the course taken by the Whig Government best suits the Tories, It fastens upon the Whigs the responsibility and unpo- pularity of the proposal to continue arbitrary government in Lower Canada. There, too, is the Whig plan of legislative union—pro- bably full of blunders and the seeds of fiture mischief—on the table of the House, in the substantial and tangible shape of a bill, instead of a shadowy, abstract resolution The reply to future

objections is ready—" The bill is your own, not ours ; it is an act of liberty-loving Whigs." Thus they escape the odium of com- pletely disregarding and setting aside Lord DURHAM'S recommen- dations, which falls almost entirely on the Whigs. And in the meanwhile, the main profit of the affair rests with the Tory party ; one of whom, Sir JOHN Cor.BORNE, is placed at the head of the ar- bitrary government of Lower Canada, with power to provide for many friends.

Sir EDWARD SUGDEN was permitted to lead the Opposition to the second Jamaica Bill. He took a narrow and lawyer-like view of the subject, in the long, dull speech, full of old matter, with which he prefaced a motion to strike out the first clause, autho- rizing the Governor in Council, under certain circumstances, to make ordinances without the concurrence of the House of Assembly. It is said that the Tories were not prepared for the division on this motion ; which took place at a different hour from what was expected. They mustered, however, 194 to 228 ; leaving Ministers little to boast of, though their partisans in the House cheered lustily at the declaration of so splendid a majority as 34.

No further opposition was made in the Committee ; but Sir ROBERT PEEL has given notice that he will again divide the House on the

same clause, after the third reading. Should he persevere, the Government majority will be very slender. Lord Jona RUSSELL, when explaining the reasons for his late resignation, said that he

required more than the ordinary support to justify perseverance in the Jamaica Bill : will he obtain more on Monday night, when the trial of strength will be made ? and if not, will he allege the milder character of the second bill as an apology for carrying it by a less than the ordinary majority ?

The Ministerial leader has announced that nothing with respect to Church-leases or Church-rates is to be done during the present session. On this, as on so many other subjects, he speaks in the future. tense. Next session he will introduce a measure, which he

trusf.''a satisfactory to Parliament and the country. " To- morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow !"

These are the only subjects needina' especial mention in this place' but an idea may be formed of the medley of legislation

which the Vote-paper exhibits, from the following list of matters, which are noticed at more or less length in our own summary of Parliamentary debates and proceedings, where only the more inte- resting and important points are picked out from the mass.

Church in Canada, The Poor-law,

Slavery in the Mauritius, Custody of Infants,

Haytian Coffee, Electors' Removal of Residence, The Bible in Scotland, Petitions of Catholic Prelates, Metropolitan Police, Registry Appeal Court, Sugar-Duties, Canadian Prisoners, Rating of Tenements, Mr. Henry Grattan's abuse of the Printing Petitions, Tories. Armed Associations,