NEWS OF THE WEEK.

THE Irish Tithe Bill was filially rejected on Tuesday. This was the end to which it was doomed from the first hour of its existence. The House of Commons refused to take the Lords' amendments into consideration, by a vote of 260 to 231. These numbers afford a triumph to neither party. Notwithstanding all their boasts, the Tories could not have expected to break down the Liberal majority in a fair contest. They anticipated the de- feat they have experienced. On the other hand, the Ministers have not retrieved the position they held on the 4th of June, when the bill was read a second time by a majority of 39. They have recovered only three of the thirteen votes they lost on the 4th of July, on the motion to strike out the 50th clause, when their ma- jority was reduced to 26 : it now stands at 29. One vote was lost to the Liberals by the desertion of Mr. PUSEY, whose name appears in the list of the minority. Great exertions were made on both sides to bring up their forces. Lord DOUGLAS GORDON HALLv- BURTON, who had paired off in an earlier part of the session, under- took a journey of five hundred miles to give his vote for the Ap- propriation principle ; and Mr. DENNISTOUN, though very unwell, made a similar exertion. Mr. DUNBAR left Belfast the day after his father's funeral to vote against Ministers. Mr. KAVANAGH was brought from Ireland, (in a litter, it is sai(l,) and Sir WATRIN WYNN hobbled into the House with great pain and difficulty to swell the Tory muster. Both parties complain of the absence of their friends without pairing off, and assert that the result would have been different had the House been full. Names of absentees are given in confirmation of their assertions; but, until thirty-four Members who staid away without pairing are accounted for, it is impossible to say with confidence which side would have gained by a complete attendance. The Courier gives a list of 12 Minis- terial supporters who were absent; this would leave the Tories 22; and, according to this calculation, in a full House of 658 Members, the numbers would have stood as follows-

For the Ministerial Bill

272 Pairs

64 Tellers

2

338 For the Lyndhurst Bill 253

Pairs 64

Tellers

319

Ministerial Majority

19 When we last compared the numbers of the opposing parties, we estimated the Minister's majority at 20; and the result of this division shows that we did not underrate the Liberal strength. With regard to the rejected measure, the best that can be said, kteking at its practical effects, is that it has served for a time to quiet the Catholic millions. But, like every thing unsubstan- tial, the Appropriation principle, barren of results, is rapidly losing

influence. Standing alone, and generating no conclusion, it is a worthless abstraction. But even supposing that the Ministerial Bill had been carried, and that 50,0001. a year bad been granted for the education of the people out of the revenues of the Church, how little would it have done towards reforming the monster abuse of Ireland Lord JOHN RUSSELL was taunted by Sir ROBERT PEEL with having declared the Established Church to be the grievance of Ireland : more reesonably it might be urged against him, that he proposes, as the redress of this master grievance, a 'measure which would go so little way in remedying the iniquity imposed on the Catholics by the British Government.

At last, however, we have taken leave of this way of dealing with the question. The next time it is grappled with, there must be a determination to pluck up the mischief by its roots. There are symptoms in Ireland which Mr. O'Cosuser.r. cannot suppress and in England the same feeling is daily becoming more strong

ELATEST EDITION,

and general, that tithes must be extinguished in Ireland,. and the Establishment be suffered to find its euthanasia. There are two modes of effecting the desired change,-one by violence, and a disregard of vested rights ; the other peaceably, and with a ten- der care of existing interests. To prevent the former, we are con- vinced that the latter must be speedily resorted to.

Another session has been allowed to pass without one step being taken by Parliament towards making a provision for the Irish Poor ; but if the Tithe question were settled on some such scheme as the following, a partial movement would be made in the right direction.

Let the tithes be utterly abolished ; and in lieu of them, a Poor.. rate be laid upon the land ; the interest of the lay tithe-owners to be purchased, and the incomes of the clerical tithe-owners to be paid for their lives, out of the Consolidated Fund. The sale of Bishops' lands and glebes would go far to indemnify the Con- solidated Fund for these payments to the tithe-owners; and the landowners would be indemnified for the Poor-rate, pound for pound, by the extinction of tithes,-to say nothing of the collateral benefit which all would derive from even a partial provision for the poor. " But what is to become of the Protestant Church ?"-Let it rely, for fitting and seemly support, on the pious zeal of the wealthy Protestants of Ireland ; who will surely not suffer themselves and their creed to be put to shame by the superior zeal and piety of the poor and contemned Catholics. Regarding " the Church" not as a temporal domination, or as a profession which men enter for the clutching of worldly advantages, but as an assembly of Christians for the purposes of spiritual com- munion according to a prescribed rule, we have no fears for the existence and prospects of the Episcopal form of Christianity in Ireland, when allowed to contend on fair terms with the Catholic and Presbyterian sects. At present it is the connexion with the State-the vain struggle for "ascendancy "-which weighs it down and makes it odious.

Now this is a large view of the subject ; and if the Legislature, or a considerable portion of our Representatives, should adopt it, (or something similar and equal in extent,) we are persuaded that the people of England and Scotland would soon give them the aid necessary to overcome the powerful resistance of the political Churchmen. It would then be seen that the struggle was for a - substance, and that victory would be followed by an immense -s practical reformation. For such a purpose, the masses might. -.- once more be raised, and the Tories safely defied. Indeed, we- doubt whether the men of extensive property in Ireland, of alP. politics, will not soon become converts to the belief that some such measure is necessary : however disagreeable to their prejudices, they will soon perceive its advantage to their pockets. According to present appearances, they will be forced to pay the parsons, and be unable to collect their tithe from the occupying tenant, without endangering their rent. The Irish landholders have no interest to kindle a servile war.

The debate in the Commons was very creditable to the Mi- nisters and their supporters. Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S speech was full of matter; and its tone, though composed, was dignified and unyielding. Mr. O'Loost LEN put some puzzling questions to Sir ROBERT PEEL, whom he convicted of blunders and inconsistency; and having got at Bishop Partaeorrs, after a piece of circumlo. cution which savoured of the bar quite as much as the senate, " punished" the Doctor very severely for his scurrile defamation of the Irish Catholic Members. Mr. HOME spoke some unpalatable truths with his usual blunt honesty. Mr. SHEIL surpassed all his former efforts : with less antithesis and flash, and mere rhetoric, his speech was more impressive, and more substantial than any which we have heard him deliver. His comparison of the relativei,, strength of the two parties, and their chances of success in the. struggle for vietory, was admirably worked up. Mr. HARVEY took the hard, common-sense view of the subject : having refused to vote for the bill with the barren Appropriation-clause, he con- sistently enough voted against it when stripped of even the pro-. mise of good by the Peers. Mr. HARVEY ridiculed the idea that Ireland could be tranquil as long as the Church Establishment was maintained ; and he could not conceive (any more than our- selves) how an Irish Catholic should cease to wish and labour for the subversion of an institution which is a standing insult to his country and his creed. The Tory orators did not shine on Tuesday. Sir ROBERT PEEL failed entirely in his pompous display on the question of " privi- lege.' In order to introduce his prepared quotations and la- boured but commonplace arguments, he was forced to pretend that Lord JOHN RUSSELL had insisted that the Peers, by altering the bill, had interfered with a money-bill,-a point of privilege which Lord JOHN had waived, as of secondary consequence, though he ceuld net avoid noticing it, lying right in his palls, Mr. Speaker ABERCROMBY (who, by the way,seems to have taken a lesson from his predecessor in the art of uttering voces ambi- tua') decided the point, as far as he decided it at all, in favour both of Lord JOHN and Sir ROBERT: in a certain view, the privi- leges of the Commons might be involved—in another view, not— it was for the House to decide, and so forth. Thus the crafty Sir PLAUSIBLE was foiled at his own weapons. Sir JAMES GRAHAM was heavily personal, and overlaid his ha- rangue with extracts from letters and speeches, in his usual wearisome style. Mr. SHAW indulged the House with calculations and figure statements ; and Lord STANLEY was vehemently dull,- * fault which can seldom be laid to his charge. And this, with the hustings explanations from the Newcastle successor of Sir ifarrnew WHITE RIDLEY, and a few mumbling sentences from Lord SANDON, sums up the reckoning of the Tory eloquence. With the exception of the debates and the divisions on the Irish Tithe Bill, the proceedings in the House of Commons require little =lice this week. The Jewish Disabilities Bill was read a second time on Wednesday, by a vote of 39 to 22, after an exhibition of decency by two or three of the inferior Tory hangers-on, who • struggled hard hour after hour, but all in vain, to "count out the Rouse." The Registration of Voters and the Bribery at Elections Bills have made some progress, but have not yet reached the Ilouse of Peers : when there, judging from the Tory opposition to them in the Commons, they also will be strangled. But we need not anticipate the deeds of the triumphant Tory Lords. Their actual performances this week completely justify the character ascribed to them of being inveterate foes to im- provement in Chiirch and State.

The little good that the Established Church Bill contained, the Lords have made less. On Thursday, the provision, introduced by Mr. JERVIS, with a view to secure to the Principality, Bishops who understand the Welsh language, Was struck out, on the motion of the Archbishop of CANTERBURY; who informed the Lords, that Bishops have only to deal with clergymen, not with the people,— forgetting that the rite of confirmation, which ought to be solemn and impressive, brings the Bishop into close contact with the flock. Besides, how can a Bishop judge of the professional fitness of a clergyman, and the probable effect of ministrations, if ignorant of the language in which he converses with and preaches to his congregation ? Were the religious improvement of the people the object of the State Church, such a speech as that we have alluded to would never have escaped the lips of an Archbishop. Dr. Itowesar talked, too, of the limitation which the clause would place on the exercise of the Royal prerogative: but the subject for Parliament to consider was, the spiritual benefit of the members of the Establishment in Wales. However, the Dissenters are obliged to Dr. Iloweev ; they will gain by the decision of the Peers.

On Thursday also, the Roman Catholic Marriage Bill was thrown out, on the motion of the Archbishop of ARMAGH, by 39 to 19. The object of this measure was to prevent the wretched- ness and depravity arising out of the present law, which annuls Marriages between Protestants and Catholics celebrated by Catholic priests, and bastardizes -the offspring. This law gives an advantage in seduction to profligate Protestants, of which many do not scruple to avail themselves. But if the proposed altera- tion were made, what would become of the fees pocketed by Pro- testant parsons on the marriages which the bill was to legalize? And what are the morals of millions of Papists, compared with the receipt of a few thousands per annum by the Established clergy? The Duke of WELLINGTON urged as an objection to the bill, that it was a partial measure, and that the whole marriage law of Ireland demanded revision. That is quite true, but no argument against a bill which, a ithout interfering with more ex- tensive legislation, would put an end to gross immorality and fraud.

The bill for appointing Trustees to Corporate Charities was rejected on the same day, by a vote of 39 to 29; on the ground that it would give the control of charitable. funds to the majo- rity of the burgesses, and admit Dissenters to a share in their management. This was deemed a sufficient reason by Lord LYND- HURST for refusing to consider the bill in Committee.

The Poole Corporation Bill, the intent of which was to set aside the election of certain Councillors in Poole, who had obtained their seats by fraud and collusion, and which was therefore abso- lutely required as an act of justice to the misrepresented consti- tuency, was ordered, on Tuesday, to be read a second time that day three months. Lord REDESDALE said, the bill was so" mon- strous" that be could not "entertain the idea •' even of bearing counsel against it. It was a bill to prevent fraud and punish the fraudulent; but then, the delinquents were Tories, and hence its monstrosity.

The Stafford Burgesses Disfranchisement Bill met with the fate we anticipated for it last week. The bill would have disfran- chised 850 electors, of whom 700 were proved to have taken bribes : but the Peers were shocked at the idea of punishing the 150, against whom no corruption had been established at their bar ; so Lord CLANRICARDE offered to except the 150. This, however, did not satisfy their Lordships ; whose determination to do equal justice was so strong, that they threw out the bill be- cause it did not touch sixteen ten-pound householders who had sold their votes. Because they could not punish 716, they were resolved to let 700 escape, of whose guilt they had no doubt. The majority in this case was 3$ to 22.

The Lords Committee on the Brighton Railway Bills having

voted, on Tuesday, to postpone the consideration of Stephenson's Line till next session—in other words, to throw out the bill—made a report to that effect on Thursday. A spirited debate ensued, on a motion of the Chairman of the Committee, the Duke of Rica- MOND, to recommit the bill. In the course of the discussion it transpired, that the Committee had come to their decision against the bill without giving any reason for rejecting it. When called upon by their Chairman to state their opinion as to the merits of the diffe- rent lines, they refused to give any ; although, that some of them at least had solid ones, is matter of general belief. Indeed, we know the names of individual Peers, to whom arguments of the strongest personal cogency were addressed, in private, on the morning before the division. The Duke of RICHMOND inti- mated, that the course taken by the Committee would be un- popular: but the Duke of CUMBERLAND declared that he would not walk to the window to gain popularity. His Hanoverian Highness shrewdly suspects that the grapes are sour : he some- times walks -a goodly distance to gain unpopularity. He de- nied that he had communicated to any one his intention to move the postponement of the Committee's decision : yet it did happen, as the Duke of RICHMOND stated, that circulars were distributed on Tuesday morning, stating that a division would take place on a motion similar to that of the Duke : of course the Duke told nobody of his intention ! The Duke of BUCCLEUCH protested against the inexpediency of calling noble lords to ac- count for their votes in Committee. No doubt, his Grace has found the practice disagreeable : nobody has greater cause to dis- like it. The motion for the recommitment was rejected by 44 to 42.

Last night, the Scottish Small Debts Bill was rejected. In Scotland, the Sheriff—generally a respectable lawyer of some standing—has the power to hold courts in different parts of his county, and to give decisions in civil cases where the sum in dispute does not exceed 8/. 10s. ; but the law, which empowers him to take these circuits, does not provide for the payment of his ex- penses; and the object of the new bill was to increase the sum over which he should have jurisdiction, from 8/. 10s. to 10/., and to allow him travelling expenses. Now this plan of bringing justice to every man's door did not please the Tory aristocracy. The Justices of the Peace—not lawyers, but judges by intuition, because that they are squires—can only adjudicate on sums not exceeding ;V.; and the bill would send the Sheriff with superior power into every district of the county. This was not to be borne : so the Peers, at the instance of Lord BUTE and Lord HapoiNG- roar, refused to read the bill a second time.

The Scotch Universities Bill was withdrawn on Tuesday, with Lord MEI.130URNE'S consent.

The objectionable declaration introduced last week by the Bishop of EXETER into the Marriage Bill, was struck out on Mon- day ; and this bill passed on Thursday. We are glad to have one item to enter on the credit side of their Lordships' long account.