NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE King held a Council at Brighton on Monday, and dissolved the First Reformed Parliament. The proclamation for the disso- lution and the calling of another Parliament appeared in Tues- day's Gazette. The writs are returnable on the 19th of February.
The Reformers had just and weighty grounds of complaint against the late House of Commons. Its sins both of omission -and commission were numerous. We pointed them out as they occurred, and we are not disposed to the ungracious task of sum- ming them up at the close of its existence. It ought, however, to be remarked, that the House in almost every instance reluc- tantly swerved from the path of duty to its constituents. There was no need of Ministerial entreaty or interference to induce it to pass Reforming measures. Ministers under the old system were Wont to complain that even their paltry measures of retrench- ment and reform met with an unwilling support in the House of
„ Commons. But the Reformed Parliament was too popular for the Whig Cabinet, and was constantly restrained by it. Ministers
held the majority in a species of pupilage, disastrous to the repu- tation of both ; and which, it is to be hoped, and reasonably 0.7 pected, the House of Commons about to be elected will spurn as un- worthy of the People's Representatives, whoever the Minister
may be.
Having said that we were not slow to animadvert upon the dis-
creditable acts of the late Parliament, we should also observe, that neither did we ever let a fair opportunity escape of mentioning its good deeds with due commendation. To our former columns, -therefore, we may ,,refer for a record of those proceedings which did it honour. A candid and able writer* has referred to the "amelioration of tlis fiscal system, the reduction of large state salaries, abolition of sinecures, breaking in upon monopolies, ex- tinction of obnoxious taxes, diminution of Government expendi- ture, and inquiries into the abominations of corporations," in proof of the fact, that there has been "an onward movement ; that the Reform principle has been operating—imperfectly, and loaded with many incumbrances, it is true, but that it has nevertheless been operating, throughout the whole course of legislation, since the first moment that the Reformed Parliament was called into being." This we take to be undeniable. The Movement has gained during the last two sessions. The spirit of the House of Commons was improving. We doubt not that the next session would have been more satisfactory to the Reformers than the last. The Tories were clearly of the same opinion, and therefere they dissolved the Parliament. In this way, as many men of indifferent character have gained something like fair fame by the manner of their decease, and from the cause for which they happened to die at last, so the first Reformed Parliament having received its finish- ing-blow from the Tories, may be said to have acquired that honour in death to which its proceedings when living only con- ferred a doubtful or disputed claim. And thus, with the bygone year, we bid it farewell.
What are the Nation's prospects for 1835? Though far from
being optimists in politics, and seldom, we trust, likely to mislead our confiding readers from an over sanguine temperament, we still are disposed to answer the question satisfactorily. We feel per- suaded that the movement will be onward,— meaning thereby, that before the year 1835 shall close, the Nation will have gained more or less of practical good; that the power of corruption will be diminished; that the few will have less power to injure the many; that taxation will be lighter ; that many ecclesiastical abuses will be overturned; that some of the fetters on industry will be struck off; that the right of the People to choose their Re- presentatives in Parliament will be-more efficiently secured ; that those Representatives will act under an increasing sense of re- sponsibility to their constituents ; finally, and in one word, that the system of' government, and the condition of the governed, will in a greater or less degree„ but certainly to some extent, be im- proved.
• See Conrail's pamphlet, Cos the Trim Wow Bermes? We are encouraged to take this cheering view of our future pros- pects, by observing what is now at work throughout the country.
The Reformers have been taken at a disadvantage. They who object to Triennial Parliaments—by which we mean Parliaments to sit for three years, neither more nor less—find that the existing law offers no security against biennial, or even annual Parlia- ments. They have been aroused from their dream of enjoyment of a septennial term of power. The Reformers generally seem
to have forgotten the right lodged in the Crown of capriciously dissolving the House of Commons. They neglected to use, to the extent they should have done, the means given by the Reform Act, to prevent the election of Tories to Parliament. The enemy was on the alert, as the state of the registration too truly tells. Still, such is the essential superiority of the Reformers over their opponents, that there is no reason to fear the result of the coming struggle. We have not disguised the fact, that the Tory gain will, owing to the causes above-mentioned and the imperfections of the Reform Act, be considerable. It is wretched policy to un- derstate the resources of the enemy. Besides, be the truth dis- agreeable or the reverse, our readers are in the habit of finding it, as far as we can ourselves discover the treasure, in our columns. But though the Tories will gain many votes, no calculation that we have heard of, entitled to the least attention, makes them so much as a hundred. We do not believe that it will be near a hundred ; but supposing it reaches that number, and that the Tory party could in the last House have mustered a hundred and fifty Members, we have only two hundred and fifty against six hundred and fifty-eight after all. In other words, Sir ROBERT PEEL will find himself at the best with a majority of 158 against him—the numbers in a full House being 408 to 250.
But we do not rely for an improved state of things merely on the numerical majority of Anti-Tories. The Reformers re- turned to the next Parliament will be more earnest and determined than they who composed the last House of Commons. The weight of the Liberal party is greater than it was. The tone of feeling prevalent through the country must have convinced many alarmists, that the Revolutionary and Destructive notions, imputed to the Liberals for party purposes, are scarcely discernible. On the con- trary, it is manifest that the desire of the masses is for good govern- ment, not for the overthrow of all government. The immense ma- jority of the people are better instructed, more discreet, and more discerning, than men in high life suppose. They need not to be told, that civil war and internal confusion is destructive of their own comfort, and the forerunner and concomitant of poverty and the stagnation of trade. They know all that as well as Sergeant SPANKIE ; and therefore they are resolved to keep down the Ser- geant's Tory patrons. The Members about to be elected will be convinced of the rationality and the loyalty of the great mass of their countrymen ; and therefore will not fear to grant just and needful Reforms lest they should lead to the silly bugbear of Revolution.
That the result of the next elections will be favourable to the Reformers, we have not the slightest doubt; and it becomes a serious question for the consideration of the Tories, how they are to face their Sovereign after the deception they have practised upon
him shall have been manifested. WILLIAM the Fourth has been led to imagine that there has been a reaction. Excellent evi- dence of a reaction, truly, the Tory Ministers will have to adduce. The King will find that be has been duped and misled. He fancies, no doubt, that he has done a popular act in recalling the Tories. He will soon discover his mistake. What he will do next, we can- not foresee, though we can guess. Let the Tories look to it.
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