The Press.
London, England, 1858-05-08 00:00:00

THE WEEK.

The Governor-General of India has, we presume, now absolutely ter-
minated his connection with that country. Whatever his previous
views or purposes may have been—whether he contemplated a prolonged
stay, or a speedy return to England—he has taken a step so destructive of
any confidence which the British Government may have wished to
place in him, that his resignation, we apprehend, must immediately
follow the receipt of the communication from the Home Government which
has already been sent out. Considering the conquest of Oude to have
been completed, Lord CANNING has issued a proclamation, which will
be found in another column, in which he rewards six of the great
proprietors of Oude by allowing them to keep their own estates ! and
then, with respect to the rest of the kingdom, he declares the whole at
one stroke confiscated to the British Government. This summary pro -
ceeding shocks alike our feelings of justice and our ideas of policy.
There must have been hundreds of landed proprietors in Oude who
have simply been carried away by the stream, and have appeared to join
the insurgents merely to save their lives. To strip all these at once
and for ever of their possessions, seems rather more than even severe justice.
But when we remember, at the same time, that we have but a few
thousands of English troops in occupation of a kingdom abounding in
native soldiers, the adoption of a course so harsh and so revolting to the
native mind, does appear the most opposite to a sound policy that could
well be conceived. The Government announces, without hesitation or
delay, that it has signified its disapproval of the whole measure. There
'can be no doubt, we apprehend, that Lord CANNLXG'S next communica-
tion will contain a request to be informed when his is likely to
reach India. The despatch of Lord ELLENBOROUGH, in disapproval of
Lord CANNLNG.B proclamation, is a document of consummate ability. It
has just been laid on the table of the House of Commons, but its length
precludes our giving it in this publication. The general feeling in poli-
tical circles, is, that Lord CAN-NING's government in India is practically at
an end.

The consideration of the Lords' Amendments of the Oaths Bill,
which Lord JOHN Russm.r. had himself set down for last evening, was
suddenly deferred till Monday, when we shall be enlightened as to the
course which the movers of that Bill propose to take. Up to this moment
we are quite in the dark as to their plans and purposes. To reject the
Lords' Amendments, in a brief and summary manner, is, of course, to lose
the Bill. And yet the Bill is as Lord JoHN RUSSELL first proposed it,
with the exception of a single proviso. He argued at length on the absur-
dity and indefeasibility of the present Oaths. Well, by the Bill as it now
statute, those Oaths will be made what he desires to make them. All that
the Lords have done is to strike out one special exemption. But the body
of the Bill remains as Lord Joir RUSSELL first framed it. Will its pro-
moters in the Commons have the frankness to say, " Yes, but the main
body of the Bill was a mere sham ; the only important point on it was found,
as in a lady's letter, in the postscript. In striking out that one exception
the Lords have struck out all for which we felt any care. Without that,
the Bill is not worth having."
We shall see on Monday what the real intentions of the promoters of
the measure are. They can hardly expect that the Lords, after the
greatly-increased majority of the present year, will now give way, and
render nugatory all the struggles of past years. If the Bill, then, is to be
abandoned, the shortest and easiest way of doing it will be the best.
And will the matter end here ? We ask the question in no fear, but
we ask it because Sir RICHARD BETHELL'S Resolutions are vauntingly
theatened in Liberal circles. In other words, it is boasted that if Queen,
Lords, and Commons, will not agree to alter an old statute of the realm,
the Commons will do it for them ! In other words, the British Constitu-
tion is no longer to be any shelter from arbitrary power.
To seat Baron RoTriscuu.n by a Resolution means much more than
the words imply. If the House of Commons were to do no more than
this—if it were merely to place Baron ROTHSCHILD on one of the benches
of the House, and there leave him, then, truly, Baron ROTHSCHILD would
owe the House little thanks. Every vote the Baron gave in that House
would subject him to a penalty of 5001. Too expensive a game this, even
for a millionaire. But would the House of Commons desire Baron Rants-
elms) so to take his seat ?

If not,—if the House meant to go through with the affair, it would, by
another Resolution, repeal sundry statutes of the realm, and declare itself
the supreme power in England! It would threaten, and inflict pains and
penalties on all who should put the law in force, be they sheriffs, or juries,
or judges of the realm. It was a foresight of this, that made Lord
CAMPBELL exclaim, some time back, in the House of Lords, that "he
trusted the House of Commons would not send him to Newgate, but even
if they did, he was none the less prepared to do his duty."
And to this the struggle must come, if the House of Commons
chooses to embark in a struggle. Thus, the real issue will be something
far higher and more momentous, than the adoption or rejection of a proviso
in an Act of Parliament. It involves the practical despotism of a majority
in the House of Commons. Can it be true, that under the dangerous
guidance of so unsafe a leader as Sir R. BETRELL,—"a constitutional states-
man," like Lord dons RUSSELL, actually contemplates embarking the
house in so dangerous a struggle ?