NEWS OF THE WEEK.

MINISTERS continue to be the sport of circumstances, the said "circumstances" being very substantial in the flesh and digni- fied, by honourable, right honourable, and noble titles. If they have succeeded this week in forwarding their two bills to carry out the Budget—the Exchequer Bonds (2,000,0001.) Bill, and the Cheque-Stamp Bill,—they have done so by permission of the gentlemen opposite who seem to take a sort of pleasure in looking on while Ministers financially cut their own throat by get- ting deeper into liabilities. It is the same with the Indian Re- solutions, the Opposition saying to Mr. Disraeli, So far shalt thou go' and no further,—with no small caprice in the "drawing of the line." On the Principalities question, Ministers are shielded against the smaller section of the Liberal party by the Palmers- ton section. And they have avoided pressure on the Cagliari qUestion by anticipating it. :With respect to India they seem equally incapable of making head against any objections and suggestions. Our own conviction is, that the confusion into which the whole subject has-been brought forbids any profitable legislation this year ; we doubt- whether a compromise is not as much too late as legislation is too early ; and the position of Mr. Ayrton in the House is not such as to Bemire influential support, even if his proposal had been mere' attractive on its own account. His amendment on the ser- cond resolution amounted to a suggestion that the new Council

should be composed of twelve members of the present Court of - , Directors, one to retire annually ; so that the transfer from the

Court, of Directors to the new Board would be very gradual ; but he:could only find two more than. 100 Members out of 455 pre- sent to support him.

Brief as the proceedings of the Lords on a collateral Indian question were, they were not unimportant. Lord Shaftesbury presented a petition from various denominations, professedly asking for a clear stage and nc4 favour in promoting Christianity amongst the Natives of India. The important fact was, the de- claration of Lord Ellenborough, that so long as he has anything to "do with the government of India, he shall "maintain the tra- ditional policy of absolute neutral* in matters of religion." In truth, however, most .persons who talk on this subject use ex- pressions that indicate One thing and mean another. Under the form of "neutrality," the Government has, up to a certain period at least, virtually discountenanced all attempts to propagate Christianity amongst that alien people ; while there is reason to apprehend that missionaries generally desire positive aid, in an indirect if not in a direct form. Certainly there appears at first sight no reason why such moral support should not be extended to -missionary enterprise, as a certain' degree of favour in dis- tributing employments to Natives who are converted in preference to those who are unconverted, provided great caution is exer- cised that the employment is in no way made a premium for conversion.

The' debate on the subject of the Principalities is interesting ; although it had no immediate effect. Next Week the Conference of 'Plenipotentiaries is to reassemble in Paris, and before that Conference the final adjustment of organization for the Danubian Principalities will be a prominent question. At its former sit- tings, the Conference referred the question of internal organiza- tion to the Principalities themselves ; our readers know the man- ner.in which intrigue and intimidation endeavoured to suppress the genuine feeling of the Moldo-Wallachians ; but ultimately,

they declared for representative institutions, union of the two provinces, and sovereignty of a foreign Prince. Meanwhile, England, guided by Austria and eagerly confirmed by 'Turkey, had come round to the opinion against the union. .0n Tuesday • Mr. Gladstone moved an address to the Crown, urging a fulfil- ment of the original intent, and. he was supported by ',Ord John Russell. Officially, he was answered by Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, but more effectively by Lord Palmerston. The main positions taken by the late Premier were these : the union of the Princi- palities is confessedly impossible, save under a semi-independent foreign Prince ; to establish a state thus constituted would be to begin that dismemberment of the Turkish empire which it was the very object of the Russian war to prevent ; and it has been officially stated that to this view the Emperor Napoleon has been brought rolind. Notwithstanding the strong feeling in the House favourable to the establishment of an independent nationality and " a barrier of freemens' breasts" in that quarter against Russian. encroachment, . Mr. Gladstone only found 114 to support him, while 292 were united against him. It is still, however, only as the continuators and agents of Lord Palmerston that the Govern- ment were able to beat the "rhetorician of the hour,"—as he called himself, appropriating Mr. Disraeli's random expression.

On the subject of the Cagliari, Mr. Kinglake's motion is still deferred ; but, in the meanwhile Ministers make an announce- ment implying, in some sort, that they have settled it. Count Cavour, they report, is quite satisfied with the last answer to his letter ; and in official language he may have said so. The com- pleteness of the satisfaction, however, we doubt : we have yet to see how the Western Powers will act ; and it is by acts not words , that they will be judged in Turin, and, we may add, in Eng- land.

Three minor measures (which ought by this time to have formed clauses in a comprehensive Reform Bill) were brought before the House of Commons all in one evening,—a Bill by Mr. Caird, assimilating the county franchise of Scotland with that in Eng- land, by introducing a forty-shilling freehold franchise ; a motion

for- papers by Mr. Pease, drawing attention to the case of "Cooper versus Slade," under which payment of electors' travelling ex- penses at elections is pronounced to be illegal ; and Mr. Locke King's Bill tO abolish property qualification for Members of Par- - liament. Although the Scotch Bill is supported, by cOmmon- sense and growing opinion, it is not yet matured for adoption in.

Parliament. Mr. Pease's motion drew forth a declaiation from Mr. Walpole, that the Corrupt Practices Act shall be revised— bona fide payment of expenses being legalized. The HOme Se- cretary heartily concurred in the second reading of Mr. Locke King's Bill, as it abolishes "a sham,"—the newly reforming Home Secretary, it appears, having graduated in Carlyle.

The immortal bill, authorizing marriage with a deceased wife's sister, has passed its second reading in the House of Commons by a net majority of 40. A few months back Lord Derby would , have threatened it with his most determined opposition ; but having undertaken the responsibilities of office, he cannot do any- - thing so illiberal. Before the debate he obligingly told a depu- tation on the subject, that he should make it an "open question" in the Cabinet, and leave it to be settled by public opinion. We should have thought a majority of forty in the House of Com- mons would be considered a fair index of public opinion ; but Lord Derby thinks otherwise. Overwhelmed by his politeness, the Deputation went away without putting to him the most im- portant question which his promise suggested : they should have asked the accomplished man of the world, who seems to have some acquaintance with Public Opinion, where it "resides."

A very excellent measure must be set down to the credit of Mr. Whiteside the present Attorney-General for Ireland and his Government. He takes it up in a thoroughly characteristic man- ner; for he has, we believe, opposed the measure as heartily as Mr. Disraeli resisted all measures for India—Lord Derby Reform, Lord Ellenborough democratic constituencies, &c. In brief, it is a Bill for perpetuating the present Encumbered Estates Court, but at the same time placing under its permanent jurisdiction the transfer of estates which are not encumbered, and so extending '- to all the real property of Ireland the advantages of a juticial

title. It is another of those improvements which are so curi- ously reserved for Ireland and denied to England..

In the matter of the Eeelesistatical Commission, Bill, Lord Derby is acting distinctly as,the mere substitute for the late Go- vernment—as the mere organ for the permanentlk constituted authorities. The Bill was introduced by the late Administra- tion last session. It extends the powers of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners over Bishops and capitular estates, rendering the working of the Commission, in those parts where it has been most successful, more effectual and complete. The Duke of Marlborough has for some time had on the stocks a bill to im- prove the treatment of capitular estates, and Lord Derby himself suggested—such is his desire to keep well with all sides !—that both bills should be referred to a Select Committee of their Lordships. Like the fair one of the poet, he vanquishes by yielding.

Lord Ebury moved the Peers to ask for a revision of the Li- turgy by a Royal Commission, and he brought forward a host of eVidence—opinions expressed by Bishops, dead and living, in books and Convocation, confirming both the want and the advantage of a revision. He would remove the qnaintnesses obsolete expres- sions, repetitions, monotony, and tedious length. The Bishops in the House concurred in the want of a revision ; but substan- tially they objected ; speaking as if they dared not begin amend- ment, lest it should end in total confusion ! The admigsion that improvement is needed but that it is impossible, is indeed a pain- ful one for the Prelates to proclaim. It is evident that the friends of the Church have one or two previous questions to ex- plore and settle, with fidelity, courage, and. diligence.

This week the most important news of India does not come from the East, but is sent thither from the West. As Ministers have announced in Parliament, Lord F,llenborough has sent out a despatch expressing entire disapproval of Lord Canning's pro- clamation, confiscating the land of all chiefs in the rebel districts of Oude who do not promptly come in and prove their loyalty. Regarded with the context of its antecedents, Lord Canning's step is indeed very questionable. The Zemindars and Talook- dars of Oude have been subjected to a course of treatment cal- culated to teach disloyalty, and to mark allegiance as dangerous and unprofitable. The Governor-General has, within two years, censured the order of the Acting-Governor requiring the chiefs to dismantle their mud forts ; has withdrawn the censure and backed the order; and withdrawn the Acting-Governor, and left the mud forts to obstruct the march of Havelock. A conciliatory proclamation was issued after Havelock's retreat ; and now a confiscating proclamation accompanies Campbell's victory. What effect could such a course have except to teach the chiefs of Oude, in language stronger than words, that the English are treacherous when conciliatory, predacious in victory, but conscious of weak- ness though they conceal it by bluster, or escape it by impulse ? With regard to the proclamation itself;however, we must remem- ber that we have not Lord Canning's explanation. Nor can we accept as critic of the proclamation of Lucknow the proclama- tionist of Somnauth.

Another announcement to India is, that, for his services thus far in breaking up the Oude rebels and their centralized force, Sir Colin Campbell is to be promoted to the Peerage. He has not been so long in India he has not suffered half so much, not achieved services so peculiar, as some of the officers who have been around him ; and at the first blush, invidious objections may arise to this high distinction. It is, however, in accordance with the usage of our Government, and it is not quite so incon- sistent with the treatment of other officers as it looks. Have- lock's achievements partook of a more chivalrous character, and the value to the country can scarcely be over-estimated; since they prove what Englishmen can do when reduced to the lowest fortune. Campbell's services more resemble the statesmanship of the field, and they are repaid in accordance with the practice that distributes right honourable titles amongst men who have ad- vanced to a certain position in the public service. Nor is the elevation of Havelock, from a mere Coloneley to a Generalship with a Baronetcy, less in degree than the promotion of a Com- mander-in-chief, already a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, to be a Peer. Besides, it is almost a principle in the distribution of these public honours to rate them by the scale of the successes realized for the public rather than by the exertions or specialty of the man. It is an anxious question to know whether Campbell will survive to enjoy his Peerage. Havelock did not even know that he was made a Baronet ; and Campbell has still to choose his title—a process which will require some months even if he do it by return of post.

Morally, the punishment of the Directors of the Royal British Bank has been redoubled by the refusal to grant a new trial. In repeating the castigation from the Bench, Lord Chief Justice

Campbell lamented "the rather lax standard of commercial mo- rality now prevailing," and expressed "a hope that this prose- cution, although perhaps it bears hard on some objects of it, may have a salutary tendency to deter men engaged in commercial pursuits from yielding to the temptation to violate the truth." 'Lord Campbell's " hope " is wider than the grounds of it. While he is pressing upon the doomed Directors of the Royal British Bank, the Lord-Advocate of Scotland is telling us that there are to be no proceedings in the ease of another Bank ; and we hear of no steps taken for bringing to account the Directors of fraudulent institutions in Liverpool and elsewhere ; so that the example is weakened, if not neutralized, by the appearance of haphazard under which some men are visited with retribution while others escape.

It is not that a purely sound state of commerce is restored, for we have too many evidences to the contrary before our eyes this very week. The gigantic Joint-Stock Corporation, the So- ciete de Credit liobilier, has been obliged to declare, at its re- cent meeting, that for the coming half-year there is no dividend. It has a good balance in hand, but it is obliged to reserve that ba- lance; and we can well understand that it is necessary to be prepared for coming liabilities. The declaration is a confession of more than the unpleasant state of the accounts. Not long since the Emperor was closeted with the great financiers —Emile Pereire among them,—engaged in devising, it was understood, some scheme to revive commercial prosperity in France, and enable shares to float. The Credit Mobilier deals largely in share property. The meeting, therefore, has been resultless.

-Not that we reproach our neighbours exclusively with this stagnation, for we have stagnation and doubts enough amongst ourselves. This week the balance-sheet has been published of Messrs. Calvert and Co.—an exposure of the affairs of honest gentlemen whose position illustrates the present state of com- merce. The estate shows a handsome surplus ; but much of the assets consists of publichouse property—nearly half a million of it ; a central establishment thus distributed, as it were, into in- numerable outposts, its means sunk in all directions. The joint estate, and the private estate of the two partners, display exten- sive inroads of " mortgage " ; that bane of English property, personal or real, among tradesmen, merchants, country-gentle- men or noblemen. All our wealth seems to be infected by two grand diseases ; floating property flies off in a fever of " fast- ness," while realized property dies a slow death under the cancer of mortgage.