The Press.
London, England, 1857-04-04 00:00:00

THE WEEK.

Great progress has been made with the elections since our last.
The returns present some curious results. According to present ap-
pearances the new House will be divided into two great parties, with
a considerable majority pledged to favour some measure of Parlia-
liamentary Reform, but disposed to give an " independent support " to
Lord PALMERSTON'S Government.
The total number of members of the old Parliament actually
returned is 37F ; of new members the number is 152—together, 530.

Of the old members, 178 may be classed as belonging to the Con-
Pervative party and 200 to the Liberal. Of the new members it
appears that about forty-five may be reckoned as attached to the Con-
servative connection and 107 to the Liberal party. The latter will
therefore receive the largest infusion of new blood. It is of course
impossible to precisely define the political sentiment of all new mem-
bers. Many who come in under cover of the Palmerston cry have yet
to disclose their real opinions.
As the borough elections in England aro at an end we can esti-
mate our gains and losses with precision. The following list has been
scrupulously revised by the best authorities :

CONSERVATIVE GAIN.
Leominster
Blackburn

CONSERVATIVE LOSS.
Bedford
East Retford
Grimsby
Ripon ..
Warwick ..
Weymouth
Andover
Wareham
Mahlon
Shrewsbury .. 1
Buckingham
Fahnouth ..
Grantham
Sandwich..
Reigate 1
Cardigan
Bridgewater 1
Rochester
Norwich
Yarmouth
Bothnia
Dover
Bury St. Edmunds 1
Truro
lielston
Devonport
Dartmouth
Falkirk

Hertford
Carlisle

Windsor .
Tewkesbury..
Portsmouth . .
Canterbury
Gloucester

Maidstone ..

Aylesbury
St. Ives
Let ds
Guildford

Cirencester
Bolton .

1

Stoke upon• Trent
Stafford

West bury 1
Taunton

Rnaresborough
Cambridge
Rochdale

lioniton

Total Gains ...... .... 26

Total loss to the
This calculation is made with every wish to arrive at a fair esti-
mate. The retirement of Mr. MANNERS SUTTON from Newark, of Mr.
R. PALMER from Plymouth, of Mr. MASTERMAN from London, and the
defeat of Lord A. HERVEY at Brighton, are not reckoned as losses to
the Conservative party, as those gentlemen had never acted with the
Opposition. In Ireland the gain and loss upon the boroughs is at
present even :

the Borough Elections 4

Gains.
Waterford
Lisburn

Loss.
Athlone
Sligo
There is every reason to believe that both these losses will be
rectified on petition, for it is well known that in both cases the most
illegal means were used to procure the return.
In the counties the loss to the Conservative party is undoubtedly
more serious. The losses already announced, are :

West Norfolk
North Nottinghamshire.... 1 Herefordshire
North Lincolnshire
Hertfordshire
South Derbyshire

And this list is unfortunately still to be augmented to some extent ;
but if, as is always represented by the Liberal party, the towns are the
sure index of the real feeling of the country, what is to be said of the
fact, that, with Government influence and the Palmerston cry, the
Government has only been able to wrest four seats from the Conser-
vative party, which can be accounted for by the loss of the two
Government boroughs, Sandwich and Falmouth, alone? The seats
gained are, on the whole, for much more important constituencies than
those lost

The mail from Hong Kong brings us no corroboration of that
remarkable report of the submissive disposition of the Emperor of
CHINA. The Morning Post this week twice published that mysterious
telegraphic despatch in prominent print, and has descanted upon it
freely as authentic intelligence. The Morning Post possesses pecu-
liar sources from whence it derives " authentic intelligence " from
China. Ten days ago it published a piece of " authentic intelligence "
to the effect that ALUM, the baker of Hong Kong, and a baker's
dozen of his boys, more or less, had been captured, tried, and