NEWS OF THE WEEK.
PARLIAMENT was prorogued on Thursday without the reading of any Queen's Speech,—a most unusual if not unprecedented occurrence. The departure from etiquette was, however, justified by circumstances. Parliament only assembled to get through formal business, and though it in- cidentally sanctioned some important steps, the annexation of Chitral, the construction of the Uganda Railway, and the reduction of the Army into a Parliamentary Department, none of these occurrences required reference in a Speech from the Throne. On the whole, the little Session has been satisfactory. The Government has clearly got the reins in its hands, the Speaker keeps the House in order, the majority worship their conciliatory but decided leader, and the Irish, though determined, like some children, to be over-obvious, have not given excessive trouble. It is noted that the Opposition Front Bench was rarely filled ; and, indeed, the Radical leaders show, by their silence as well as their abstentions, that they prefer to use the five months of the Recess in thinking out a policy. No new man of importance has appeared on their side; and though Mr. Healy has been much in front, he has not made any new impression upon English Members. They are as little likely to be led by him as by Mr. Pickard.
