The Peers have taken an early opportunity of reminding Ministers
that they are the masters. Last night, the LORD CHANCELLOR introduced the hill to abol; it prisonmerit for Debt ; and Lord A BINGER significantly told the Peers that the real object of the measure was to alter the whole law of debtor and creditor; and intimated that without extensive alteration it ought not to pass. Some conversation arose respecting the lazy manner in which the bill had "languished" in the bands of the Lord Chancellor last ses- sion. Lord COTTENHAM acknowledged himself to be in fault, but en- deavoured to frame an apology, by assuring, the House that he was wait- ing all the while for Lord BrotOnon, who was sick in the e.:01:try.
This barefaced assertion called up Lord 13 nor o is ; who changed Lord cottenham with the "grosses: mistake of facts, the most entire scant of' recollection of dates, the most crassid and thole ignorance of every one particular which occurred during the first four months of the last year." It scents that Ministers well knew that Lord Brougham would not be in the House " before Easter or after Easter." therefore it was a mere fabrication of the Lord Chancellor that he postponed the Imprisonment for Debt Bill in the expectation of seeing Lord Brougham in his place. The Bill was read a first time, and or• dered to a seeond reading on the 5th of December.
The Cot,:naons were chiefly occupied with a desultory conversation on the " Business of the House." It was arranged, after a good dal of grumbling from some Radical Members, that Orders of the Day shall take precedence of Motions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Frilly's, and that no amendment shall he moved on the Order of the Day, except to substitute ono& r order for it—maess in eases of Committees of Supply and Ways and Means. By this arrangement, Members are precluded, except on the occasions specified, flow bringing forts aid mo. Cons on various interesting subjects as amendments to the Ord isof the Day. Lord JOAN RUSSELL refused to make it a rule that the Orders of the Day shall be taken us they are put down on the Notice- paper; so, as Mr. SMITII O'BRIEN remarked, Members will go to the House as heretofore, ignorant whether the first or the thi 'icth Order will he the subject of discussion. The practice of counting out the House on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when 'Members had mosions to come on, was complained of; but Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that the motion must be of Eumll impoitatice which did not attract a /louse. Will Lord JOHN promise that Treasury gentlemen shall riot be em- ployed in preventing Members from entering the House on nights when disagreeable subjects are on the paper for discussion ?
It was agreed that notices should not extend beyond fifteen days front the day on which they are given, so that the paper will not be filled to the very end of the session before the Parliament is a week old.
A long discussion followed respecting the time- when the Election Petitions 40111,1 be taken into consideration. It was impossible to get
any thing like distinct information as to the Ministerial intentions from Lord John Russell. At first it appeared us if he had resolved to let the petitions be disposed of in the ordinaly way; but in Elm mid he declared that lie would wait till the 7th of December, when all the
petitions would have been presented, before he decided what to do. Sir ROBERT PEEL said, that it' Lord John were not prepared with a motion on the 7th of December, he should be ready with one, distinctly specifying the day in February when the petitions should be taken into
consideration. The House is to adjourn at Christmas, till the tat of February.
Among the petitions, the most remarkable is that against the return of all the four Members for the City of London. Four worthy citizens modestly pray the House to substitute Horsley Palmer for Wood, Grote, Pattison, and Crawford! The fact seems to be, that the Tories, whose object is simply to turn out Mr. Grote, are rather puzzled bow to set about it ; for the election of all four Members was managed by the Same Committee, and some of the votes they mean to question were probably given for all four. At the same time, the petition which may be tenable against Grote or Pattison, may be frivolous and vexatious as regards Wood and Crawford. The Reformers of London, however, now are warned that they have a battle to fight. Let them provide the sinews of war, and there will be no difficulty in establishing so tnany cases of bribery against the assailants, as will fairly drive them out of the Committee, and at the same time demonstrate how much our representative system still needs improvement even in the best constituencies.
The only other business of the House that requires notice, was the reappointment of the Transportation Committee, on the motion of Sir
WILLIAM MOLFSWORTII.
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