NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE Kensington job was burked on Thursday amidst a 1 most unusual scene. There was barely a chance for Messrs. Kelk and Lucas when the Chancellor of the Exchequer rose, but either from secret dislike to his task, or some other reason, he for once mismanaged his case. Instead of defending the buildin., as passable,. he argued on the possibility of stuccoing it a into decency, and that not succeeding' warned his audience that Messrs. Kelk and Lucas were not bound to remove the building and it might cost a law-suit to compel them to do it. (Mind, these people have always represented their demand of 80,000/. as a patriotic self-sacrifice.) The House instantly conceived that they had been tricked into baying the land with this obligation unmentioned, and thenceforward discussion was useless. Lord Elcho was heard as he quoted statement after statement condemning the build- ing; but Mr. Disraeli, who wanted to propose a compromise, was groaned down, and only obtained a hearing through the intervention of Lord R. Cecil. Sir S. Northcote's amendment for granting 80,000/. instead of 105,000/. was tremulously withdrawn, and the vote was finally rejected by 287 to 121— the most creditable division in Parliament this session. Government will scarcely move again in the face of such a majority, and there is at last a probability that the nation will get the seventeen acres clear of all the ugly lumber now standing upon it.
