NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE results of all the Elections cannot be ascertained till next week ; but, as accounts have been received of the return of more than six hundred Members, there can be no longer any doubt as to which party will be able to command a majority in the New Parliament.
We have from the first prepared our readers to expect a consi- Aerable Tory accession ; and our unpleasant anticipations have been realized to a greater extent than is creditable to the honesty and activity of the Reformers of England. in Scotland and Ireland, but especially in Scotland, the exertions of the Liberals have been more strenuous and successful. Our losses are almost entirely in England.
The ascertained Tory gain is 94 ; their loss 20; the balance against the Reformers is therefore 74. The limit we assigned to our loss was 100 votes : it will not reach to that number, but it Approaches it more nearly than we had hoped would be the case.
If we had only to look to the places where Tories have super- seded Reformers, and vice versa", and then add the balance to the number of the Tory minority in the last Parliament, it would be easy to make out a majority of from 160 to 170 against the Duke. And we believe there is little doubt, that in a full House, a number corresponding to this would take their seats on the Opposition benches. But our opponents maintain that many professed Whigs a nd Reformers are Tories in heart, and will refuse to give effectual opposition to the Tory Ministers. Unquestionably there is too much truth in this. We ourselves gave a list last week of 26 Doubt- fuls, and the number has since been augmented * by a few names. It may be, too, that there are grounds of suspicion against ethers not mentioned. Some Members have been pointed out to us by correspondents as not being trustworthy, although they figure in else list of honour. We have little doubt that many reports are at present put into circulation by the enemy with the view to sow distrust and dissension in the Liberal ranks. It is safest in almost every instance to look at the public conduct and professions of men, and not to rely too much on gossiping stories, and the -assertions, generally unauthorized, of private friends. That ill many cases the Tories have been misled in this way to reckon upon the support of professed Reformers, is clear from the egre- gious blunders which their lists display. When the day of action comes, the Duke will probably find that several of those who by common consent are now enrolled in his ranks, will be reluctant to obey his word of command, and prefer absence from the field, or desertion to the side of the Reformers, who must sooner or later prevail. Both parties have cause to apprehend treachery; and the cautious calculator, who relies only on the stanch, will reduce the numbers on either side very considerably.
Men are stanch from interest as well as from principle ; and if the results of the Elections bad shown a majority for the Ministers, they would not only have found their prof'essed friends zealous in their behalf, but might reasonably have calculated on the adherence of all the Waverers. But as it has turned out, Ministers must expect no such reinforcement to any extent. They who are wise in their generation cannot deem that_Ministry stable,
• It most, however, be diminished by one. Mr. IlAtici,AY, of Sunderland. was so confidently chimed by the 'furies, that we feared the stain of Toryism attached to hint in some degree. lie has since, in a letter to the Clardnio le, distinctly repudiated the imputation. Ile says—'• 1 lace fully declared to my constituents at Sunderland that my principles will place me in appositita to his Majesty's Mini,ters ; and this I must beg you will repeat, in order that I may not be misunderstood," We apologize for Join Mr. lleact.ay the unintentional injustice he complains of. which, with all its official advantages, and " the King's name" to boot, has been unable to secure a majority in its favour. For, be it observed, the question all along is as to the amount of the majority against Ministers, not of a majority in their favour. No previous instance can be pointed out in modern history where a Ministry has been left in a minority at a General Election. Notwithstanding that the Reformers were taken by surprise—that great numbers had neglected to register their votes--that multi- tudes were indisposed to exertion on behalf of the Whigs, on ac- count of their truckling to the Tories— that bribery and intimida- tion have been employed without scruple, and the whole weight of Government influence has been exerted to the utmost,—in spite of all these most serious drawbacks, the Liberals have elected a large majority against the Ministers. Now this must convince the timeservers of the essential inferiority of the Tories in the country; and that conviction must prove fatal to a Government which relies for support on the desertion of unprincipled worshipers of power and seekers after place.
It was observed by Mr. WARD at the St. Alban's dinner last week, that if Ministers succeeded on some questions, they would inevitably be beaten on others- " They would be tried, for instance, upon the Irish Church question ; and he pledged himself so to try them within ten days after the meeting of Parliament, unless the question fell into abler and fitter hands. They would be tried upon the question for admittio; Dissenters to the Universities; they would be tried upon the question of Municipal Reform ; and if, upon all these, they failed is giving satisfaction, he could conceive no constitutional measures of hostility to- which the Representatives of the People would not be justified in resorting, is order to drive from the helm men who, without popessing their confidence, in- sulted theta by clinging to power."
It must not be forgotten, that a defeat in the House of Com- mons, especially so soon after a General Election, is a much greater disaster to an unpopular Administration, than to one which is sup- ported by the masses out of doors. Lord MELBOURNE'S Ministry was not endangered by being beaten on the Irish Tithe Bill: the Tories were damaged by their victory on that occasion. But the case will be far different with the present occupants of plate. They have no majority in the Country to bear them up against a majority in Parliament. This is a serious consideration for the Duke and his subalterns. They will soon feel the disadvantage of their Anti-National position and policy. Let the Reformers be encouraged by the knowledge that every blow they strike will tell, to hit hard and often, and give neither respite nor quarter to the Enemies of the People.
