NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Conservative Peers assembled in great force on Monday, in order to throw out Lord BROUGHAM'S bill for establishing Local Courts in different parts of the country. In the course of the day, the whippers-in, both male and female, had been unusually alert, and a regular field-night was expected. Lord LYNDHURST, by far the most ingenious and clearheaded tactician of the party, strained his powers to. the utmost, to prove that cheap justice was bad for the nation, and ruinous to the most disinterested and estimable portion of it the members of the legal profession. Lord 'BROUGHAM was upon strong ground ; and completely de- Inolished, inhis reply, the flimsy and not even plausible argu- ments of his opponent. The Opposition, we suppose, felt that their case was " too bad "—at all events, they must have been aware that no political party was likely to gain popularity in the country by taking side with the lawyers against the people. Not- withstanding, therefore, all their mighty preparations, it was evi- -dent that their forces would be so diminished by desertion, that they fairly gave up the contest, and backed out. At the conclusion ,of Lord BROUGHAM'S reply, a number of them left the House; when the question was put, Lord WHARNCLIFFE at the head of another division moved off; and although some Peer—probably a greenhorn in Parliamentary tactics—called out that " the Non- contents had it," no division took place; the Minister retained possession of the field, and the bill was committed. It is very evident, notwithstanding their undeniable majority in the Lords, and the admitted repugnance, if not absolute re- fusal of the King to diminish or swamp that majority by fresh creations, the Conservatives are most wofully perplexed as to the best mode of proceeding. Should they, by a barefaced dereliction of their principles, attempt to carry some mea- sure of greater liberality than Earl GREY'S Cabinet will sanc- tion, and thus gain a temporary support out of doors, they would certainly he deprived of the votes of the honest bigots of their party, the NEWCASTLES and KENYONS; and thus all their efforts would be paralyzed, and their power effectually to delude the nation would vanish. What are the three questions on which they did or do rely to baffle the Government? In the first place, they patronized the Monster of Portugal, and would fain have turned out the Ministry for not patronizing him also. Well, their victory on that occasion was a godsend to their opponents, and enveloped the conquerors in a still thicker cloud of popular odium. They then took up the advocacy of dear against cheap Justice,— a likely method, truly, to conciliate the good wishes and confidence of a people who suffer more from the exactions and fees in courts of law than any other nation on earth; and who, moreover, are perfectly aware of the way in which they are plundered, and ex- claim bitterly against it. Then the iniquities of the Irish Church are to be bolstered up; and this is their third project for regaining the good-will of the country ! It is likely to prove as efficacious as the two others, and not more so. The Conservatives, therefore, an the supposition that the concurrence of the nation is necessary to give power and stability to an Administration, are going the worst possible way to work. We regard their present struggles as death-throbs; their party can never he revivified; its prospects are all but hopeless ; and before long,• we doubt not it will dwindle
out of existence. '
This we fully believe to be the actual condition of the old Tory party in England : what then can we think of a Ministry which _succumbs to such impotence, which mutilates meastires to whose integrity it is pledged, and abandons essential principles in poli- tica in order to conciliate such broken-down opponents? Yet we grieve to say that such is the case; and last night witnessed a .tognal triumph of the Conservative Peers overt Ministry and ELATEW *MON.] the House of Commons. For some time past the Ministerial papers have been foretelling a collision between the two Houses of Parliament, to be brought about by a resolute vote of the Peers on the Irish Reform Bill. Within the last day or two, however, it was said that the courage of the Conservatives had failed them, and that they had agreed to withdraw their opposition. Never was there a greater delusion—it is the Ministry who have yielded, and who have avoided the collision by running away from it. In the House of Commons last night, Mr. STANLEY moved to expunge the 147th clause of the Irish Church Reform Bill, which placed at the disposal of Parliament the funds expected to arise from the conversion of Bishops leases into perpetuities—a sum of money calculated by Lord AL- THORP at about three millions. The reason assigned for this abandonment of a great principle of the bill, was the fear of a collision with the Lords! The motion was carried, after an animated debate, by a majority of 132, the numbers being 280 to 148.
The Slavery resolutions, having been sanctioned by the Com- mons, are to be discussed in the Lords on Tuesday next. We ob- serve that the Earl of RIPON is to take the management of the business. This is curious ; for it is understood that his Lord- ship, after some months of deliberation, had concocted a plan of his own for the emancipation of the Negroes, and that it was in consequence of the opposition made to it by the Planters, and the refusal of his colleagues to back him, that he retired from the Colonial Office. Now, however, he comes forward as the offi- cial foster-father of Mr. STANLEY'S production, although so diffe- rent a creature from the one which owned himself for its parent. This Minister is without exception the most accommodating mor- tal that ever took up his residence in Downing Street. Provided that he has only an office, he cares little what that office is. Within four or five years, he has been at the Board of Trade, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Colonial Secretary, Prime Minister, at the Colonial Office again, and now he is Privy Seal,—with the understanding, we suppose, that he is to eat his own words, argue against his own opinions and plans, and act the part of Mr. STAN- LEY'S lieutenant in the House of Lords.
The General Registry Bill, notwithstanding it was strenuously supported by Sir JOHN CAMPBELL, was thrown out, on Wednes- day, by a majority of 82 to 69. The Country Gentlemen, having the fear of their attornies before their eyes, were determined to crush it. 'We suspect that it has but little chance of ever being carried, until the Landed interest shall have paid off their mort- gages, and once more regained possession of their title-deeds.
