NEWS OF THE WEEK.
POLITICS have grown so flat in this Moorland season, with the Pre- mier paying his filial devoirs in the Highlands, that even such in- cidents as the Poole election or the London registration assume a degree of interest. For want of a greater windfall, active po- liticians congratulate themselves that the gentlemanly. Protec-- tionist Mr. Robinson is succeeded by the very' liberal landowner Mr. Seymour, whose shipping-protection is but a alight flaw in the brilliant water. of his Peel free-trade, rather than by the red-hot proteetionist Mr. Savage : and so far, no doubt, it is a gain. London registration attracts notice expressly by its perfeet quietude—" a dieadful silence first invades the ear "—afterthe hubbub of previous registrations. This result is ascribed to the castigating process which All the efforts to get up a genuine competition of good candi- dates for Cambridge University have come to nothing, and the re- turn promises to be unopposed. The two candidates actually in the field, Mr. Cowling and Mr. Loftus Wigram, were both lawyers in geed practice, both Tories, and little different in claims. That which distinguished Mr. Cowling was his being the nominee of th'bactive electioneering College of St. John's ; ' Mr. Wigram was distinguished from his rival by being not among the worsts peak- eis at the bar. The support which furnished Mr. Cowling's strength provoked so much pique in other Colleges at "'the dicta- tion of John's," that the nominee flinched from acing the conse- quences • and he retires, avowedly in deference to public opinion. Mr. Loftus Wigram therefore finds the course open for transferring his eloquence from the Court of Chancery to the untried field of Parliament.
Even .f4 the Eisteddvod " at Rhuddlan attracts a special reporter for the Times ; who has sent up, daily, long reports of unintelligible proceedings, though they excite the Salon surprise at the homely air of that which has adianced into so great prominence, at the Ossianic character of the names, and at the confused spirit of na- tionality. which survives. The reporter must have been chosen for his ignorance of Welsh, for he is only able to report the speeches conjecturally, --- a somewhat hazardous mode of trans- mitting a man's meaning. ..n attempt was made at this illus- trious Eisteddvod to introduce English music as part of the festi-; Val, Welsh music having been perfectly stationary. Since, heir-, ever,- the interest of Welsh music, which is of so stationary and unimproving a character, is principally antiquarian, the innovation seems likely, not to foster the music of that uneducated and retrospective people, but simply to destroy the melody as well as the language of the ancient Britons. The Welsh bards, who "frown o'er Conway's foaming flood," show no disposition to improve : they adhere to the ancient spirit as obstinately as to their short stature, or the Imperial family of Russia to the barbarous manners of its court ; an additional reason why resthe- tical improvement seems to be denied to the Principality. 1)e- fiend upon it, ignorance of English, Rebecca spirit,, and the peculiar light melody which goes well with a small harp and ill with a regular bass, all belong to a state of things that cannot be developed into modernism, though it may be usefully replaced by Anglicizing the
3.1‘ Christie set at work, in disallowing costs for frivolous ob- jections. The objections are fewer, and a far larger proportion is sustained. The election of Mr. Wortley as Recorder possenses &- still more piquant interest, for personality is mixed up with the matter : Mr. Russell Gurney was an older man, more 'experienced, and more connected with the City; but Mr. Stuart Wortley has i i
the judicial mind, high connexons, experience and standing in Parliament, and moderate views. On the whole, it is calculated, while the citizens are deprived of one Member on &Axiom of the oath, and another by disqualification on personal and Treasury grounds—for the Premier proves a poor representative of the City
is something to gain a Member cut and dried, of so respectable a quality. Principality. Talhaiarn is inconvertible into an English com- modity, but you might put a Belle in its place. . The most substantial movement of this off-season has been that of the Irish Amelioration Society—still dabbling with the Celtic races. This, society is established with the object of improving- neglected resources in the country, and employing its industry by turning the peat to use for combustible purposes. It appears to have been very sucoessful, especially in calling out an industrious spirit,. The people are found yery ready to work. One man is said to have burst into tears at being offered so great a blessing ; a ceremony which may have proved his capacity less for the spade than for the sock and buskin. Still there is no reason to doubt that the society is doing great good, both to its shareholders and to the country ; and in promoting it, Irish landlords would far more help: to procure safety for themselves against aggressive movements lik.e, the Tenant-right L.--ague, thanin carrying on squabbles with their tenantry about that disputed right, disputable as it may be; still more than in• on those evictions of which instances are recorded' this Wee . Irish landlords must lesin froM the faiits.
When they:see English farmers " in " about land under the' Encumbered Estates Act,. they may be sure that their lands are slipping from them; unless they can follow the example of Lord Lucan, who of all Irish landowners, perhaps, has shown the justest appreciation 'of his place out of a large fortune he limits his personal expenditure to a few hundreds a year, devoting the rest to the improvement of his land.
