9 JUNE 1866, Page 1

The rout of M.pnday night,—well called by a contemporary "the

Battle of the Spurs,"—was one of the most curious and picturesque scenes of the Session. It was apparent from the first that there was something rotten in the state of the Hayter faction. Before they Showed their weakness, they tried to extract from Mr. Gladstone an understanding that the Bill should be withdrawn in case of victory, but Mr. Gladstone was too subtle for them. His reply just hit the line between wind and water, neither giving nor utterly destroying hope. The Government reserved its right to act in the future as it might think best; —and here the Adullamites hoped. The Govein- ment had made no change at present in its resolve ;—and here Captain Hayter looked as if his Guardsman's mind was much exercised," and even Lord Ficho's radiant self-satisfaction paled

like a window-pane in a cold mist. When Lord Grosvenor called upon the gallant Captain to withdraw his motion with the confi- dent manner of an imperial decree, Captain Hayter wavered and continued uncomfortable to the end of the debate, when he asked and was refused permission to withdraw it. Thereon the Tories and their allies, apprehending a forced division, fled bodily en masse, Mr. Lowe bolting in the van and Mr. Disraeli trotting in the rear. Then arose anarchy and dire discord. The Liberals got the Bill into committee, and would have proceeded with it, but for the precipitate return of the enemy. A division on a mere " fluke " was taken in the confusion, showing 403 to 2. Then arose a war of words. Mr. Lowe and Mr. Darby Griffith bewailed their wrongs and sufferings in the mob. Mr. Beresford Hope compared the House to a minor theatre. Mr. Gladstone was philo- sophical, the Speaker didactic, and the discussion dropped.