NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE victory which the energy of his countrymen and his own good sense had gained, has been followed up by Earl GREY with equal moderation and firmness. The Bill moves swiftly to its con- summation. Many have been the trials that have attended the progress of the Great Measure towards this long-wished-for point. Scarce had the vessel "fraught with a nation's hopes" left the harbour, when it took the ground : setting forth once more with a brisk and favourable breeze, it had completed three-fourths of its long and perilous voyage, when an adverse gale compelled it to put back : fitted out once more, its crew still as hearty and more pru- dent, it doubled the Cape where it had formerly been stayed : but hardly had it struggled through this difficulty, when a sudden squall from off the land laid it on its beam-ends, and compelled its gallant navigators to take to the boats and leave it to its fate. But the good ship was not foundered, though it was distressed. The squall passed away ; the sun again shone out ; the crew leaped on board once more—fresh triinined their sails ; and now, with a smooth sea and a flowing sheet, studding-sails alow and aloft, and the haven in view, they are speeding onward to the great reward which is laid up for all those that plan wisely and /Min lionestlandperseveringly. Let us trace the events of this week of calm enjoyment in their order. The Lords went into Committee on Monday. The inverted order in which they had determined, at the suggestion'of my Lord LYNDHURST, to take the Schedules, was of course persevered in; but in how different a spirit from that in which he meant they should be !--Schedule C was voted up to the Tower Hamlets at the first sitting. The Tower Hamlets, on which the question of the Metropolitan districts depended—a question which, three little weeks- ago, was the subject of so much and well-grounded solici- tUdewas discussed on Tuesday, and divided upon : but oh what a falling off was there! Out of 155 Barons bold, who,rallied round the Chief Baron of the Exchequer on the 10th, only 36 answered to the whistle of the " Tame Elephant" on the 22d. On Wednesday, the Faction adventured on a second division ; when the 36 dropped to '15. On Thursday night, there was, as the Stock Exchange people express themselves, a slight rally; and on a third division they mustered 23 ! Seventy-one clauses of the Bill—the whole except the first and second—are already discussed. Schedules A and B must be read over—they can hardly provoke a debate. In a very few days, therefore, the Bill will have gone through that ordeal which looked so fearful at a distance, and has been found so insignificant on approaching it.
The ultimate causes of the change which has come over the dreams-of the Opposition Lords, are—first, the energy of the Peo- ple; second, the exceedingly wise and dignified conduct of Earl GREY; third, the steadiness of the House of Commons. The proxi- mate cause was doubtless the sincere attachment of the King to Reform, and the strong appeal made through his Private Secre- tary* to the Anti-Reform Peers, calling on them to forego their op- position to the Bill. It was this appeal, backed by his known con- fidence in Lord GREY, which led more than one hundred Peers to withdraw on Thursday last, with the Duke of:WELLINGTON, after his weak and blustering speech, in which he showed his equal inabi- lity to go on with boldness or to retreat with dignity. The secesgion was at the moment looked upon as a mere compliment to the Duke ; it turns out to have been a real and substantial withdrawal.
• 0 The following copy of Sir 'HERBERT TArLon'sletter appeared first in the Age. It seems to be 1eg4rdedas pretty nearly correct. "St. James's Palace, May 17,1832. "My dear Lord—I am. honoured with his Majesty's 'commands to acquaint your Lordship, that all difficulties to the arrangements in progress will be obviated by a de- claration in the House to-night, from a sufficient number of Peers, that, in consequence oP the present state of affairs, they have come to the resolution of dropping their further opposition to the Reform Bill. so that it may pass without delay, and as nearly as pos- sible in its ptosent shape., I have the honour to be yours sincerely. Although the Opposition are so sorely diminishel, that, on Thursday night, in sheer pity of their abject condition, some of the Ministerial Peers went over to the deserted benches of the_ left, asif fearing that the vessel would heel overmuch with all the passengers on one side, there-is no lack of eloquence among them. Lord EL LENBOROUGH contiaues to exercise "Iris single attribute,- as the Standard calls it, his " lowest quality of volubility," with quite as little discretion as ever he did; Lord WINCHILSEA. bawls, Lord KENYON clamours, Lord WHARNCLIFFE hesitates, and Lord WYNFORD talks of honour and independence, pretty nearly in their usual fashion. A few of the flowers of eloquence -- that have expanded during the week are Worth culling. Lords - WYNFORD and RODEN have made two discoveries in the procrress of these discussions,—the first, that the Bill will lead to endless . bribery, as is the case in America; the next, that it will infallibly-in- duce the people to call for cheap government—a frightful evil, and subversive of monarchy. For another discovery we are indebted to Lord ELLENHOROUGH: it seems that any Peer may delay the Bill (or any other bill) for an entire session—we suppose by taking advantage of the forms for expediting the public business. Lord. 1?,nne&noeouGn declared on Tuesday, that if the Ministers ut- tered another cheer, he would stop the Bill fbr six months. Next session, when the Rcfbrmed Parliament sets about the investiga- tion of sinecures and pensions, it will probably take the liberty of inquiring whether 9,0001. a year be too much or too little for the' - services that Lord ELLENBOROUGH has performed and promised in the course of this session. There is yet another discovery, for which we are really much indebted to Lord CARNARVON : he has declared that if the Commons and Lords had voted by ballot, fewer of both 'would have voted for Reform. We shall not ques- tion his Lordship's assertion, and we trust he will not question ours-4f the electors had voted by ballot, fewer would have voted against Reform. It is hardly worth while to bestow a sentence on Lord ELLEN- BOROUGH'S plans of Reform; now that they are down among the dead men, we may let them lie there. It will be seen that he meant to strike off from the enfranchising Schedules 22 places : he does not name them, but, by comparing. his ..projet Of enfran- chisement with the Ministerial Bill, we know that he -must-have meant the following—
Ashton Lambeth Brighton Marylebone
- Bury. Oldham
• Chatham (to be joined with Rochdale Rochester) Salford (to be joined with Manchester) Cheltenham South Shields
' DeVonport. Tower Hamlets
Dudley Wakefield Finsbury Walsall Gateshead Warrington. Greenwich Whitehaven Kendal
The principle on which enfranchisement is granted under the Ministerial Bill, is population and property : Lord ELLEN- BOROUGH's principle is separate interest. If atown be great-in the . article of shoes, let it cobble up a member; if in leather-breeches, cut me out a charter for it. Calves and cotton, poultry and pot- tery, must each be duly represented—they are separate interests. In this way, we would have a House of Commons representing not merely localities, but the particular trades and professions of localities. And this Lord ELLENHOROUGH is the leader of the men . who dare- to clamour against a Parliament of Delegates ! A hint was thrown out, on Thursday, by that sample of baronial dignity Lord WYNFORD, that the Lords of the Secession should • reassemble on the third reading of the Bill, and get rid by . one . vote of all its evils. It is not absolutely impossible that some of them may be insane enough to contemplate such a project. There is hardly any thing so wild or so absurd that may not be antici- pated from the utter desperation into which their blundering has plunged them. The People, therefore, must not sink into care--- less security,—and indeed they seem to have no disposition to do so; neither must Lord GREY rely too implicitly on resources of which he found so lately the worthlessness. If the Tories should rally at the eleventh hour, and if they should then find the -Minis-- try unprepared .for the fight, all that has passed would be but child's play to what might then ensue. We should have no a prehensions for Reform even in such an event, but we s have most serious fears for the country. Before the whirl, indignation which such a trick of infamy would excite, the of Lords would not stand in its-place for a month ; and w affirm that the Monardhy itself would remain? But we ho thingsnot-from the wisdom or the honesty, but from thew fears of our enemies : we trust they will leave to Lord W all the credit he deserves for imagining mischief which 14;4,1 . . , - power to perpetrate. ,r,
