NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ANOTHER week of the Parliamentary session gone already : what have our Representatives done ? So various and important were
the matters claiming grave attention, that, no doubt, the worthy
men were puzzled which to grapple first. In courtesy, they must have "considered" the Queen's demand fbr Prince ALBERT ; but that disposed of, what followed ? Corn-laws, commercial distress, the tottering Poor-law, Chartism repressed or bursting forth in outrage, deficient revenue and increasing expenditure, discontent. universal in the Colonies, war with China,—plenty of work here- for Herculean statesmen I what portion of' it have our Parliament- ary pigmies meddled with ? that disposed of, what followed ? Corn-laws, commercial distress, the tottering Poor-law, Chartism repressed or bursting forth in outrage, deficient revenue and increasing expenditure, discontent. universal in the Colonies, war with China,—plenty of work here- for Herculean statesmen I what portion of' it have our Parliament- ary pigmies meddled with ? Not an hour's notice has the House of Commons condescended to bestow upon one of these subjects. They were all set aside to permit six days' debate upon a question of law : not, gentle reader, the improvement of the law of the land, or the administra- tion of justice—so dear and defective—but the law of Parliament, the privilege question! The Commons have been combating the Judges. Privilege and Law have had a set-to ; and though the strife has not resulted in decisive victory to either, Privilege has suffered most.
STOCKDAIE was imprisoned last week. The Sheriff's of London have since been transferred to Sir Wir,meow GossEres custody, in default of compliance with an ostler of the House to refund to IlsNsmoas the money levied to pay Srocanane's damages. After their commitment by the Commons, the Sheriff's, in submission to an order of the Court of Queen's Bench, paid the money to STOCK- DALE. The Judges disregarded the proceedings in Parliament, and gave judgment according to the established practice of the Court. They have taken another step, and issued a writ of Habeas Corpus, commanding the Sergeant-at-Arms to produce the Sheriff's, that the Court may determine whether he retains them in lawful custody. Should the House of Commons' officer refuse obedience, there is little doubt that an attachment will issue against his person. What next ? That is a question not easily answered ; and as it is our present purpose to record events, not to speculate on the future, we forbear to suggest contingencies. It ought, however, to be noted, that the House has already betrayed a symptom of hesi- tation, in declining to proceed against the Under-Sheriffs, (not even summoning Mr. BIRCHELL; who acts as a judge,) the Bailiff; and STOCKDALE'S attorney. They imprison STOCKDALE; who glories and rejoices in his lot ; and the Sheriffs, who are universally acknow- ledged to have acted with scrupulous propriety—who only did that which had they not done the Court of Queen's Bench would have sent them to Newgate. The House dares not touch the Judges, who if there be guilt anywhere, are most guilty—if there be "con- tempt," are most " contemptuous ;" and lays hands upon men in- nocent of misdeed, and in all respects praiseworthy. The dread of direct collision with the Judges was even ludi- crously apparent in the scrupulous avoidance of all specification of the matter of offence in the warrant of commitment, Lord JOHN Rrssomr, admitted that his first intention was to insert a description of the offence, but the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General warned him that by so doing he might furnish a weapon to be used against them in the' Court of Queen's Bench ; and rather than run that risk, the particulars of the offence should be ex- cluded from the warrant: Lord JOHN even objected to produce copies of the warrant, 'which Mr. THOMAS DUNCOMBE with cha- racteristic resolution, insisted upon obtaining; and only yielded to a suggestion from the Speaker, who had the documents at hand, that they might be produced without inconvenience. Again, even the strongest assertors of privilege are not confident ''.11 their means of maintaining it. Sir Ronmer PEEL acknow- ledged that the power of the House might be inadequate to a con- flict with the Courts of Law, and that it might be necessary after all to recur to legislation ; hut, said he, let that be the last re- source—let us rest on privilege as long as passible. Throughout the proceedings, Lord Jam RUSSELL was com- forted, aided, and abetted, by Sir ROBERT PEEL. The Conservative leader irritated many of his own followers, who did not conceal their anger and mortification ; but flattery and gratitude in profu- sion were showered upon him from the Ministerial benches, while the Downing Street Journalists swelled the chorus of praise. Majorities of t.,)vo to one sustained the temporary Coalition. Sir ROBERT S motives are not so obvious as usual. He has chosen a part agreeable to the House of Commons, where he is particularly desirous (to use his own expression) of " standing well ;" hut, on the other hand, besides offending many Tory Mem- bers, and, if we may judge from the tone of their newspapers, the hulk of the Conservatives out of doors, Sir ROBERT can scarcely have gained popularity in the country by straining privilege and setting it over the ordinary law. We anticipate no permanent di- vision in the Opposition ranks as the result of the temporary split ; though it is probable that the hope of creating coolness be- tween the '1 ory chief and his followers may have prompted some of the applause from and behind the Treasury bench. The majorities were composed of rather heterogeneous materials. Some voted, we may-believe, in subserviency to the Minister, and would have been on the other side of the question if Lord Jonas RUSSELL had taken an opposite course. The club-spirit, and a vulgar desire of domineering over the Courts, may have influenced others. A few had committed themselves by previous votes, and felt bound to prove their consistency. Sir ROBERT PEEL brought over between 20 and 30 Tories; though probably many absented ;themselves rather than vote against their leader. Few Liberals sided with the Opposition. The part taken by Mr. DUNCOMBE has been noticed; and Mr. Sergeant. TAISOURD delivered a spirited and eloquent protest against the attempt to undermine the authority of the Courts of Law.
The House was never full, and on several of the most important divisions not half the Members attended. The Sheriffs were com- mitted by a vote of 195 to 94—little more than a moiety even of the Liberals being present. Did it ever occur to the honest and headlong supporters of pri- vilege, that while in imagination they were maintaining a popular right against an attempted encroachment of the lawyers, they might really be lending themselves to one set of lawyers against another set, and helping the Attorney-General and Solicitor-Gene- ral to a professional victory ? It was noticed last week thatu 11!::u!1:01,ol ait,ne showed the
will and the capacity to bring the-st;ate ,.,e instion before Par- liament ; and we have again to record, that while the Representa- tives of the People, the guardians of the public purse, wasted night after night on the privilege brawl, Lord RIPON was busy with' the finances and the substantial interests of the country. He drew an alarming picture of the present condition and future pros- pects of the expenditure as compared with the revenue ; and Lord MEnnorasie was obliged to confess that something must be done to stop the accumulation of debt, while he held out no hope of reduced expenditure.
