NEWS OF THE WEEK.
rpHE Reform Bill became law on the 15th inst. Lord Derby on
Mondaya.dvised the Peers to accept the Commons' amendments 'without further discussion, as being of no great moment either way, and after a few words from Lord Salisbury and Lord Stan- hope, the House acceded, and passed the Bill, which on Thursday received the Royal assent in the usual form. From this week, therefore, the Householders become the ultimate power within the Empire. They cannot exercise their new authority till after 1st January, 1869, but any member who between now and then fails to conciliate the new constitnency will in the spring of that year find himself driven from his seat. Next session, therefore, is pretty certain to be marked by bids for popularity, which will make it at least as dangerous as any session of the Reformed Parliament could be, and far more useless. Parliament, it seems, will sit for a few days longer, to finish some necessary business, but Peers and Members alike are flying from London, where the heat has become tropical, to the moors, the Continent, and the sea.
