The Press.
London, England, 1857-06-27 00:00:00

THE WEEK.

Tuts week has seen the commencement of the labours of the Election
Petition Committees, and they do not promise to be light. It would
be premature to speak at this moment :upon the evidence already
adduced, either in the Mayo or Rochdale cases, but it is instructive to
observe how in the Mayo case, in the midst of the most terrible
picture of solemn curses and terrible intimidation, a plain question
by Sir Jous HANMER calms this tropical hurricane of, brickbats, and
elicits the fact that to the best of one witness's belief no voter was
intimidated from voting by any of these violent measures. In the
Rochdale, Pontefract, Cambridge, and Marlborough cases, the proceed-
ings have been of more or less interest, and to which we may refer at
some future period.
In Parliament the leading events have been the first instalment of
the Consolidation of the Statute Law, the passing of the Oaths and
Divorce Bills in the Commons and Lords respectively, and the
defeat of the Government, in the face of their most strenuous efforts,
upon the question of voting 50,000/. towards the formation of a park at
Finsbury.
One principal objection to such portions of the Divorce Bill as
have this week been discussed in the House of Lords is the compul-
sion exercised on the clergy. It is very bard that they should be com-
pelled to marry those whom the Church expressly forbids them to
marry, and such enactments smack rather of petty party spite than broad
statesmanlike wisdom. To " snub " the clergy has always been a
favourite system with a certain school of politicians, and gave rise to
that Erastianism and servility on the part of the Church which was all
but universal some forty or fifty years ago. But the pith of the
grievance is that the Church is now shorn at both ends. Our
forefathers, if they compelled submission to the State, at
least took care to protect the Church in the possession
of her property and privileges. But in the present day
we narrow her freedom of action still further, and enforce the obser-
vation of obnoxious statutes, while at the same time we deprive her of
the poor compensation for such treatment which existed in the
security of her pecuniary dues.
The Oaths Bill having at length passed through the Commons, we
are inclined to believe that it will meet with resistance in the Lords, and
that even the members of the Cabinet in the Upper House are not
quite agreed upon the benefit of the measure. The question of India is
slowly but surely attracting the attention of reflective men. Lord
STANLEY, in his admirable speech in the debate on Tuesday, with in-
tuitive sagacity seized upon the position the East India Company
bears in relation to the land, and declared that as landlords of the
soil they were bound to take upon themselves the responsibilities of
the individual landlord in other countries. This is the whole of the
case against the Company ; and until they do accept those responsibili-
ties and perform the duties attached to their position, European
capital will be hazarded in India. The debate was so damaging to the
Government that it was adjourned, and has since been postponed till
late in the session.

The third reading of the Ministers' Money Bill was carried last
night in the Lords.

The speech of his Royal Highness the Duke of CAMBRIDGE on
Monday last, on the subject of Military Education, is a fitting prelimi-
nary to the motion of Sir DE LACY EVANS on Tuesday next. We
have never swerved from the ground originally taken up by us upon
this question, and have always endeavoured to keep the minds of our
readers in a straight course, and fixed directly upon the true object
to be attained. That object we consider to be the infusion of as much
scientific knowledge into the officers of the British army as the mate-
rial of which the best officers are composed is capable of receiving.
The observations of his Royal Highness, and the comments of the
leading journal upon them, are, in a general sense, admirable. There
is in the English character excellent raw material for the production of
military men. Let this raw material receive the benefits of better cul-
tivation, and a proportionably superior result will be obtained.
Now, this general statement is extremely plausible and fascina-
ting from its very simplicity. Yet it is, after all, impossible
to doubt that the very general impression against a pedantic school of
officers must contain its element of truth. Men are puzzled by the
argument we have quoted, but not convinced. Nor is it right that
they should be. The fallacy of it lies in treating the English
character as one indivisible whole, instead of a genus containing many
species. Probably every Englishman would make a reasonably good
soldier ; but some varieties of the race are better adapted than others
for this particular service. Now, it is this division of Englishmen
alone to whom all theories on military education ought to he con-
fined. And if it be found that the capacity of imbibing " book
learning," and the qualities of hardihood, chivalry, and élan do not
exist in equa►l degrees in the same individuals, then our position is
that the latter qualities must be allowed to take precedence. Let
these he the staple of the soldiers' character, and add as much science
as they will carry ; but do not let science be the foundation and moral
qualities the superstructure. That would be to invert the pyramid.

Without discussing the propriety of the decision arrived at by the
House of Commons on Tuesday last upon the subject of Metropolitan
Parks, the importance of providing such places of recreation for our
imen and artisans is generally recognised. The subject

toil-worn trades: