3 JUNE 1837, Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

WHAT are they doing in the House of Commons ? What are Mi- nisters about? These are questions which have been asked during the week by many who have a languid curiosity as to the proceed- ings at St. Stephen's, but who cannot endure the bore of reading the Parliamentary debates in detail. For the benefit of all such— with whose indifference or disgust we nevertheless sympathize- we.shall endeavour to state concisely the result of another week's session of the second "Reformed Parliament."

Monday. "No House." Ministers and Members were loyally emplosed in drinking his Majesty's health, or criticizing those fine works of art over which were displayed the letters "W. R." in all the brilliancy of variegated gas. It was the celebration-night of the poor old King's birthday. Tuesday. 'For three mortal heurs the Representatives of the People were employed in examining witnesses to prove facts which every erne of them might have sworn to before be entered

the I-Ciuse. The result of tbeir scrutiny was this—the writ for Glasgow, not having been duly sealed by the Chancellor till after the mail had left town, was forwarded by "express," according to Mr. EDWARD JOHN STANLEY'S direction. The express, it is true, did not reach Glasgow till between. three and four hours after the

mail; the Sheriff was in Lanark, twenty or thirty miles off; and so, as far as the election was concerned, it might as well have been kept in London till tile next day's mail. But it was said that

the law had been violated, as the writ should have been sent by

"mail," or "post," not by " express ;" though this is by no means clear. Is it conceivable that for hours together an assembly of sane persons could have been occupied with such a trifling matter

as this? Yet so it was. The fuss ended in nothing ; it could have but one result; and the only consolation is, that it offered Mr. E. J. STANLEY an opportunity, of which he availed himself with spirit and success, of lashing that compound of silliness, pomposity, and spleen, Sir JAMES GRAHAM, till the blunderer winced under the infliction.

A dry debate followed, on the right of the House to publish libels, if it should so please, with impunity to all but the libelled. The House declared this right to be one of its dearest privileges. Fresh actions have been brought against the printers of the House for the publication of alleged libels; and it remains to be seen

whether a decree of the Court of King's Bench, Lord DENMAN presiding, or a vote of the House, which is not law, bath most virtue in it.

Wednesday. Twenty-four "orders of the day ". and ten "notices of motion" were on the paper : but "forty Members not being present at four o'clock, Mr. Speaker adjourned the House" till Thursday.

Thursday, Mr. THOMAS DUNCOMHE again asked the House to listen to the complaint of Colonel BRADLEY and others against Colonel ARTHUR. Colonel BRADLEY demands inquiry ; Colonel Amount petitions for it ; but Lord HowicK says no—" I can Prove the charges to be false : besides, if true, the offences were

committed too long ago for the House now to take cognizance of them; and we cannot bring witnesses from Honduras against

the Colonel." The reply is, that a merchant of the city of London is ready to swear to the truth of some of the charges against ARTHUR. But Lord Howica is inexorable. Colonel ARTHUR cannot prevail upon the people at the Rinse Guards and the Colonial Office to allow him tin opportunity of clearing his character. Lord Rieorsr and Lord GLENELG pronounce him to be the model of a liberal, humane, and enlightened governor of a Colony; but they insist upon his suffering under an imputation of cruelty, which if proved would make him out to be something like a.fiend. Verily, Colonel ARTHUR has occasion to curse his friends : bOter is the injustice under which he labours. A Colonel in the Army and a London merchant bring foul charges against him; anti his friends refuse the inquiry called for by himself as well as his accusers. Ile is a hardly-used man—if really innocent. Mr. DutscomBE's motion was rejected, by 81 to 34. A futile, attempt of PETER BORTHWICK to introduce a bill on education, occupied the House till nine o'clock: when, by way of getting rid of the subject and of business altogether for the night, a motion for adjournment was carried, by 36 to 34.

Behold the Parliamentary performances down to Thursday night! Let it not be forgotten, that Ministers can always bring "a House" together, when it suits their purposes; and that they and their organs are constantly moaning over the difficulty of proceeding with the public business. Now, nothing that deserves notice has been dune this week. The Imprisonment for Debt Bill, the Registration of Voters Bill, the Irish Tithes Bill, the Church- rate Bill, the Post-office Bills, the Wills Bill, and many other Government measures, are in abeyance ; the Budget seems to be indefinitely postponed, though four months of the session have passed ; and yet on two days there is no House, on another an adjournment takes place at nine o'clock, and on another there is nothing done which ought to have been accomplished.

Can we wonder that the country is sick of this ill-played farce ? Talk indeed of the Lords! what do the Commons! Their motto, and that of Ministers, is "duke far 'dente." From the conviction that the prevailing sentiment in the public mind is dissatisfaction with the conduct of that body which Lord JOHN RUSAELL "leads," and that the Peers are therefore in a better position than they ought to have been allowed to occupy, Sir WILLIAM Motes- WORTH has dropped his motion for Peerage Reform, until he shall have the aid of some pressure from without. Lord JOHN RUSSELL has, not unwillingly, intimated that his motion for a Committee on Church-lands will not be pressed on Thursday next, the day for which it stands on the notice-Look. When tic does venture to make it, Mr. Roltauck moves for "a Committee of the whole House on the state of the nation." Mr. ROEBUCK'S notice of his intention has fluttered certain Ministerial journalists ; who profess to be at a loss to understand how be will deal with such a subject, seeing that "the state of the nation" embraces the condition of an immense number of distinct interests, each of which might require separate consideration. No doubt; but we appreliend that the Illember • for Bath has merely laid hold of an old House of-Commons phrase, not much in use since the days of CHARLES JAMES Fox and SAMUEL WHIT- BREAD, to indicate the relation which the Government bears to the existing state of public affairs—to their means and their method of carrying on the national business. The conduct and policy of the MELBOURNE Ministers, in relation to the leading questions of the day, will doubtless be the chief topic of Mr. ROEBUCK'S speech : and we shall not be surprised if lie say something on this subject, of more comprehensive and stirring truth, and better worth atten- tion, than has yet fallen from either side of the House.