We have just heard from most respectable authority, that the
general aspect of time Election returns has already so far alarmed the Tory Ad- ministration as to have effected a change in the mind of his Majesty relative to the future Ministerial arrangements. A certain noble Loid, high in time Cabinet, is said to brave been commissioned by the King to wait upon Earl Grey. and to express the Royal wish that his Lordship should immediately resume office, and act in unison with wishes of the People. This message was delivered to Earl Grey; and we are told that the answer given was, that, though feeling highly flattered by the confidence of the King, the noble Earl would never again enter into office unless with a carte blanche as to every arrangement connected with the Cabinet. A second message to the noble Earl is, therefore, fully expected; and that, no clout?, will be in ha accordance with his Lord- ship's manly declaration.— I ark Courant. 1 The authority of our pro- vincial contemporary m iy be very respectable, but scarcely well-in- formed ; though the result of the Elections certainly is alarming to the 'Tories, and in these times of sudden changes that which he announces is not absolutely impossible.]
A close investigation is now going on, under the auspices of the
• Bishops, into the state of the glebe belonging to the pnrishes in their respective dioceses. One great object of this inquity is presumed to be, by sale or exchange, to facilitate the erection of parsonageshouses, with a view of compelling residence.—Glebe.
A measure of large, and we trust of enlightened Church Reform, is to be immediataly brought forward by Sir Robert Peel on the opening
of Parliament. We are also informed that the Reverend Dr. l'ye Smith and the Reverend John Clayton have bad an interview with the Premier, by his desire, with the view of making sonic ariing( merits as to what are called Dissenters' grievances. Both of these gentlemen have stood aloof from the mere political agitators calling themselves Dissenters.—Record.
The Courier has the following remarks on the announcement cf the Record.—" We happen to know something of this meeting which the Record .huts not chosen to publish. Its readers being chiefly persons of a religious turn of mind, might not have required to be informed that one of the gentlemen mentioned is a Trinitarian, and therefore favour- able to the Church of England, but the world at large are not so well acquainted with the peculiar doctrines of every class of Dissenters. But even the readers of the Record ought to have been informed, if it were meant that the intelligence should be strictly correct, that Dr. Smith promptly and candidly stated, in reply to the specious profes- sions of the Right Honourable Baronet, that he had confidence in the former, but not in the present Administration. The Record has not stated, either, that the three Dissenting Ministers—for there were three—were all separately invited, without either one being aware that the others were to be present till he met them ; that one of them, sup- posed to be most favourable to the Church, had an hours conference with Sir Robert Peel before the others arrived; and that the confe- rence was not required by the Right Honourable Baronet, as Premier, but merely as Sir Robert Peel. The Record does not tell its readers that two hours were occupied by the conversation of the invited but not accredited ministers, and that the only subject discussed was the question of Dissenters marriages. On this point Sir Robert Peel, as may readily be believed, saw nothingobjectionable in the Dissenters' claims ; and even went so far, we are informed, as to say that he could undertake to carry through the House of Lords an enactment making the marriage of Dissenters altogether a civil contract, leaving it to them to perform whatever religious rites they pleased. That the com- munication and the promise were confined to this and similar subjects, is plain ; for Sir Robert l'eel would never make Dissenting ministers the vehicles for conveying to the public his intention to promote a large measure of reform in the Church of England."
We dare say that Sir Robert has been trying to cajole the Dissenters, but they are not such greenhorns as to believe that he will adopt their notions of Church Reform. lie will endeavour, with the aid of the Bishops, to reform as little as possible. Ile has already been talking over the matter ,with the latter, as we find from the following paragraph in the Standard of Wednesday.—" The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and some other distinguished ecclesiastics, were engaged the entire day with Sir R. Peel, at his official residence in Downing Street. The interviews between these Prelates and the Premier have latterly been very:frequent ; and it is supposed they relate to the measure of Church Reform, which it is contemplated by Ministers to propose at the commencement of the ensuing session of Parliament."
The Government does not seem disposed to wait for Mr. Warbur- ton's scheme of reform, at least as regards the College of Physicians, but has already had communication with the magnates of Pall Mall East, in reference to some plan of their own. A committee is now sitting to consider the expediency of certain changes in the College. The first and greatest grievance is the separation of physicians into two sets or orders—viz. Fellows and Licenciates; and the first and most popular change would be its abolition. The licence ought not to be granted to any one who cannot show that he has bad the highest medical education, and attained the highest standard of professional Acquirement ; and if he does, no one has a right, as a physician, to rank above him.—Medical Gazette. [This is symptomatic of the kind of tricks that Ministers will attempt to play off. When pressed on cer- tain subjects, they will assure the House that they have already made some progress towards effecting the reforms called for; but as to the precise extent and nature of those reforms, exceedingly little will be said.]
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