NEWS OF THE WEEK.

BOTH Houses of Parliament reassembled on Monday. In the House of Commons subjects of the highest importance have been discussed.

On Tuesday, Lord ALTHORP explained, or rather endeavoured to explain, the Ministerial plan for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales. His Lordship seemed to have a very imper- fect knowledge of his own project : he appeared to be thinking of his flocks and his herds—his wits were out woolgathering. He was indebted to Mr. STANLEY for setting him right on a point of form; he forgot that before he could move resolutions in a Com- mittee of the whole House, the Speaker should leave the Chair. He then blundered through his task, in a manner which lie himself felt to be so slovenly, that he again and again apologized for it. Of course nobody could be angry with Lord ALTHORP; but it was evident that his brother Members would have liked very much to get an intelligible explanation of a sufficiently complex mea- sure. This was furnished on Thursday morning, semi-officially, from Downing Street, by the Times ; and, though complicated in its details, the plan as there given is not difficult of corn prehension.

All the land in the country subject to tithes is to be valued, by

separate valuators for each county. Arable is to be distinguished from pasture land. The rent is to be taken as the criterion of the value, wherever peculiar circumstances do not render it evidently an unfair one. The tithe actually paid, whether by arable or by non-arable land, is also to be valued, on an average of the last five years. The sums thus ascertained are to be laid before the Magis- trates at Quarter-sessions; who are to determine the proportion which the tithe bears to the rent; and this proportion is to be made fixed and invariable. The operation of valuing the land is to be repeated every seven years; but whatever rent it may pay, the proportion of the tithe to the rent is not to vary, though the amount of the tithe will depend upon the amount of the rent. The tithe is to be paid by the owner, not the occupier of the land; and the former is to have the liberty of redeeming the tithe by a payment equal to twenty-five years' purchase on the annual value : he may also make it a permanent rent-charge or mortgage, bear- ing interest at four per cent., redeemable at his option, but not liable to be foreclosed. When the money so paid belongs to the clergy, not to laymen, it is to be invested, by a Commission which is to sit in each county—and to consist of the Bishop of the diocese, with such assistants as he may select—in land or other securities, for the benefit of the incumbent to whom the tithes were paid before. When the money is invested in land, the in- cumbent is to have the power of granting a lease of it for twenty- one years, but not to be allowed to receive fines on renewal. In the case of hop-land, an additional sum per acre will be charged over that which other amble land is liable to. Moduses are to be, set apart, and not included in the general valuation. Where there, is any doubt as to the ownership of the tithe, the sums paid in lieu of it are to go into the Exchequer, to be-drawn thence by the party who shall be adjudged the legal 'oWner.. It would be impossible to form a plan for_the commutation of tithes; which would not be liable to many serious objections.: This is the case with the one proposed, by Lord ALmotie. It may be as well to mention some of these, for which perhapS 'reniedies' may be found. But this is not done in a' captious -oetirtfriendly spirit; for we agree with Mr. BARING in thinking, theta:Measure which proposes to effect so great and necessary a change,'aridTha principle of which is so undoubtedly good, should not be vievied with too nice or critical an eye. ' By the mode of valuation proposed, some parties will gain and [LATEST EDITION.] -

others lose : the rentals of few tithe-owners will remain as they arc. Special bargains will in most cases be set aside by this overriding measure. In some cases, where tithes have been mortgaged or made the subject of settlement, it may happen that the mortgagee may find his security worth considerably less than he imagined. Tho lenient tithe-owner will gain—his tenants will suffer. In other words, the Clergy will generally gain, and their tenants will be the losers: for, taking the country through from Berwick to the Land's-End, it will be found that the lay =proprietors exact the highest rate of tithe. In this way, it will happen that the striking of the average will tend to raise clerical and lower lay incomes ; and as the lay tithes are those which are generally mortgaged, there will be an outcry, probably, from a rather numerous class of persons.

The tendency of the plan is to mix up the Clergy a great deal too much with secular affairs. Money paid in redemption of tithes is to be invested in land for their benefit. They will thus become landed proprietors, and in many instances farmers. They are to bare the power of leasing for twenty-one years, but not of taking fines for renewals. Clergymen are but men ; and it is to be hoped that some regulation will be adopted to prevent their breach of the law in this respect, for the temptation to break it in the case of an old or needy parson will be very strong. But the main objection to this mode of converting clergymen, whether they like it or not, into landowners and cultivators, is its inevit- able tendency to draw off their attention from sacred things—to mix them up in the petty squabbles of their neighbourhood—to give them a direct personal interest in opposition to that of some members at least of their congregations. Lord ALTHORP does not seem to have made up his mind as to whether the land purchased for the endowment of livings shall be liable or not to the Poor- rates. But as Sir ROBERT PEEL remarked, if it is not to be liable, the land now subject to the heaviest rates will be bought, and thus an increased burden be thrown upon the other owners of land. What is to become of the tithes on poultry, egres, and pigs? How can they be commuted ? We hope that there is some provision in the bill for doing away with these most vexa- tious payments altogether; but Lord ALTHORP gave no explana- tion on this point, neither does his semi-official interpreter in the Times.

Perhaps one of the weightiest objections to the project is, that it does not close the door to future litigation, but opens it wide every seven years. Moreover, the tithe-owner will step in peri- odically and reap the benefit of the landlord's improvements, just as he did before of the tenant's. To be sure, the tithe-payer may protect himself against this, by redeeming his tithes ; but so he may now, to a great extent, by taking a lease of them. And we suspect that, in consequence of the great uncertainty as to the keeping up of rents to their .present rate, few landowners will be willing to saddle their estates with a permanent money payment to be fixed by the first valuation under the new bill. Suppose the Corn-laws are repealed and rents fall, his redemption mOrtgdge will operate like a family settlement made in the days of Ii de- preciated currency. In a variety of ways, we fear, this part of the measure will work badly. On the other hand, the landowners will receive a periodical in- timation of the cost of the Establishment, conveyed in so simple and direct a manner, that it can hardly fail to set them thinking on the real amount of the benefit yielded in return. It may be, that the paymasters of the Clergy will then imagine, that if spi- ritual assistance can be had on cheaper terms, there is no great wisdom in providing men of God with purple and fine linen. Rich livings and cathedral sinecures will then be cut down. That will be the first step only. But what will be the next? A disinte- rested adoption of the voluntary principle?

When the interest of a mortgage falls into arrear, the effectual remedy of the man who holds it is a foreclosure. The tithe-owners are not to have the right of foreclosing. In What other way are they to be made sure of their interest? Is their existing lien on the land, their power to take tithes in kind, to be converted into a mere personal security?

• Much more might be said on this fruitful topic. It appears to be the wish of Ministers that as little should be said as possible. The- Globe dismisies the subject in an obscure paragraph of two liries and a half; the Courier mutters disapprobation ; and the TiMes says nothing more than is absolutely necessary, and gives the subject the go-by. But this is not the way to treat a measure Of such importance. As we have already remarked, we are aware of the vast difficulties attending an improvenient of the Tithe system, and think that the efforts of Ministers should be treated with candour; but the full and fair discussion of all subjects is the true mode, of arriving at the best way of_dealing with thew:-7-144.- nisters should invite discussion on their project, not st‘rive` to- pre- Vent it,

The introduction of a bill to amend the Poor-laws, gave occasion for another long speech from Lord ALTHORP. We are happy to say that his Lordship acquitted himself much better on this occa- sion than on the Tithe question. His speech appears to have been an exceedingly good one, full of sound sense and knowledge of his subject. The plan is almost strictly in accordance with the suggestions of' the Poor-law Commissioners. A Central Board, with large discretionary powers, will be appointed to carry the re- commendations of the Legislature into practice ; the allowance system is to be abolished, and relief only to be given in work- houses ; settlements are only to be gained by birth or marriage ; the bastardy laws are to be repealed ; and owners as well as occu- piers of land are to have votes in Vestry meetings. It is not ne- cessary for us to repeat the approbation of which, upon the whole, we have thought the measure deserving. Doubtless, some objec- tions worth notice may be urged against it; but still we adhere to our first favourable opinion. In the House, it was received with almost universal approval ; in which some Members particularly well acquainted with the subject, such as Mr. SLANEY and Mr. Poirsarr SCROPE, heartily concurred. The bill will be read a second time next Monday three weeks.

Mr. ROEBUCK made a formal attack, on Tuesday, on the con- duct of Mr. STANLEY in his government of the Canadas. He quoted the despatches of that irritable statesman to Lord AYLMER, and the angry resolutions which they elicited from the House of Assembly. The state of affairs in Lower Canada is beyond ques- tion alarming. The mass of the population is at enmity with the Government, and Mr. STANLEY is not the man to conciliate the disaffected. The conduct of the British authorities, and of the Legislative Council, the members of which are nominated by the Crown, was shown by Mr. ROEBUCK to be arbitrary and unjustifi- able in many instances. Mr. STANLEY evinced soreness, but made a rather feeble defence. To Mr. ROEBUCK'S representations of the disaffection of the people of the Lower, he opposed the loyalty of the inhabitants of the Upper Province. He attempted to justify the harsh tone he had used in his despatches, and his menaces of coercion, by representing the French inhabitants of Canada as hostile to British interests, as factious, and faithless. If this be true, things are indeed in a bad way. We see no prospect of their mending under the administration of the present Colonial Secretary, whose tone forcibly reminds us of the language held by British Ministers previously to the breaking out of the American Revolu- tion. A Committee was appointed, however, to inquire into the causes of complaint, and the alleged wrongs of the colonists.

The Liberal party gained a signal triumph in the House of Commons on Thursday. Mr. Woon's motion for leave to bring in a bill to secure the admission of Dissenters to University honours,

degrees in Divinity alone excepted, was carried by a majority of no fewer than 185 tO 44. Sir ROBERT INGLIS and Messrs. Esecourer and GOULBURN performed their task of defending the exclusive

principles of their respective constituencies, in a stupidly orthodox style. Indeed the whole debate was dull ; but the result amply made up for its want of spirit and novelty. Will the Peers put their veto on a measure which the Representatives of the People have sanctioned by a majority of four to one? Lord JOHN RUSSELL distinctly stated in the House on Wednes- day, that Ministers had determined to carry both the Local Courts Bill and the Bill to abolish Imprisonment for Debt, this session. Can this be true? Are Ministers prepared to make the Local Courts Bill a Cabinet measure ? They may then succeed, after a struggle, in carrying it through the Lords; but not if they again declare their willingness to move "iech by inch" in the path of Reform with Lords LYNDHURST and WYNFORD.

In moving for some returns relative to the income of Charitable Institutions, on Wednesday, Lord BROUGHAM took occasion to de- liver his sentiments on the subject of National Education. From his speech it would seem, that he has abandoned all idea of intro- ducing a similar measure to his famous Education Bill, which so much offended the Dissenters. His Lordship is very much pleased

with the great increase of schools supported by voluntary contri- butions; which have multiplied, since 1818, in the proportion of

16 to 7. The compulsory plan adopted in Prussia he considers the very worst that could possibly be adopted in this country. And we are inclined to think with Lord BROUGHAM, that it would clash violently with our notions and habits. The institution of Normal Schools, however, might be beneficial.

Lord BROUGHAM threw, out some ominous threats of legal visitation in certain quarters, where Rinds intended for the instruc- tion of the multitude are perversely expended in teaching the sons of gentlemen the dead languages. There is no lack of precedents to justify the conversion of public funds from idle to useful pur- poses, according to the intent of the original donor, though not according to the letter of his bequest. An absurd remark of that somewhat ignorant person Lord WYNFORD, to the effect that the Clergy had been the great authors of the difFusion of knowledge in the land, called forth a series of sarcastic sentences from the Chancellor, which we suspect the Dissenters will relish more than the upholders of the Hierarchy. There was as much truth as bitterness in Lord BROUGHAM'S observations.