The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-10 00:00:00

AQUATICS.

- - -
GRAND ROWING MATCH AT PUTNlZY.—Yesterday's match
has seldom, if ever, been equalled in the annals of rowing, and
drew a large attendance, comprising many Noblemen and Gentle-
men, officers of the Guards, and Members e f the Universities.
The show of gallies and cutters of the crack clubs was most extra-
ordinary. The affair had been got up as a chef d'ouvre, and great
as the anticipations of a treat had been, the reality far exceeded
the expectation. The contest was for a purse of sovereigns, given
by the Leander and other great clubs, and much pains -had been
taken to select the twelve very best men on the River. Charles
Campbell, the champion, was on this occasion brought from almost
absolute retirement as a wagerman. Harris, of Bankside, who has
long led the van as an oarsman, was next on the list. Ceombes, the
whiner of the Duke of Buccleuch's sovereigns—the " Nonpareil,"
who has defeated all save the champion. Phelps, the hero of Ful-
ham. John _Williams, of Waterloo-Lrideee, who rowed the extraor-
dinary match from Gravesend to Richmond and back, and who at-
terwards exhibited his powers with Mr. Lander, in • the arduous
match from Oxford to Loudon. Dade, of Ifungerfoed, and others
of equal repute, completed the list. The most intense interest pre-
vailed, and thousands depended on the result, which had been
looked forward to by the whole of the sporting world for many
days. Betting was in favour of Campbell and Harris, anti sonic
had the hardihood to lays to 4on them against the field. Phelps
and Ids partner ‘Vatts were the next favourites, and Coombes and
Maynard wire third in repute, but the men throughout were se,
evenly matched as to induce a strong diversity of opinion. Tiao
leading gentlemen had all lent. their beautiful wager wherries to
their respective favourites, and snore splendid samples of build-
leg could not be imagined. The whole of the wagermen
had been rowed to Putney at an early hour in . the morn-
ing ; and between eleven and twelve o'clock, the " note of
preparation" sounded on all sides. It was an oars wager,
three pair its each heat, the two first boats in the first and second
hea's to contend in the •third or grand heat. At half-past four
Campbell and Harris, red ; Phelps and Watts, purple ; and 'ie.,'
and lid!, yellow, started for the first. There was some !idle dif-
ficulty in going off, and the men were compelled once co resume
their stations to consequence of a cutter fouling Plich;:i's boat. On
the signal being again given red slightly took the leeed, closely fol-
lowed by the other two. 'this, however, did not, last long, Harris,
who nee eel the labour aft being unable to conf.nue, and they were
compelled to change oars. '1 his gates the eetleers an opportunity to
pass the champion and leis patteer, an ae.vae.tage which they took,
coming in thus--dark blue first, yeler a second, and red third.
Dodd, who was to have rowed in Rea eeeond heat., was compelled to
resign his chance in consequence •ef a matrimonial squabble, in
which he managed to put his hand. through a paue of glass, which
severely damaged it, and his ple.ce teas supplied by young Royal, of
the Horseferry. The distrarß to be rowed this heat was the same
as the preced:ng, via., free; Putney Bridge to a boat mooreid
,offbtolalet.
wateraorks thew, Hamenersmith bridge, and back p
moored off the Belle. At twenty minutes past,, five err round
hes and
Mavnerd, white Williams;end ilyford, light,,L;,eiuteeijaru'l Freeman
Only leadine-
aneS Royal, et. cen, started for the second heat,
It was throughout well contested, white winning,tii,r light blue second,
are!
td,, beena thrown
arel green third. The champion and Ids
out of the graild heat it was considered t4e y
es' Phelps and his partner,ougls
'!'he low offered the oil or 5.t0
Th, conduct of Campbell towards the umpire,c.ri,l than whom no •
t his 'u'ae,-ent •"er-s
son more qualefied to judge or more'l her
exist, deserves eevere animedvers?. :ha. ving flatdlyjntorld. "ill
he did not intend that they (allintii,nrogi,te7tynni.ziskevilt,
tasakrrbtsy)ssehvoeurladi
lle was severely and very ter
segos dark blue, white, yellow,
gentlemen present. At hair':
mat light blue, the boats cetet.ed to cootest fur the grated heat,
took up their stations at buoys opposite the Vice Chancellor's, end
shortly afterwards they were put in motion. Dark blue had the
' best :Wien, and took the lead, the other three
leer stern. On rounding the boat oirm-is's, eomparaterveeV'sipegackloistrego,ll.
„.„ed sited umbrella would have covered all the heats. White was
second, her nest occasionally being on a line with Peelps's thwart,
end, although they exerted themselves to the utmost, were tensible
to overtake the Fulham het o and his partner, who won amidst the
cheering of the assembled thowands and the scaring of the batteries
belonging to the respective taveres. White came in sefeawl, yellow
third, and light blue fourth.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We have inserted elsewhere a copy of the Canada Govern-
ment Act Declaratory Bill introduced by Lord Brougham, of
which he moved the second reading last night. That Lord
Durham has no power of deporting to the Bermudas, and that
the ordinances could not operate beyond the limits of the pro-
•inces over which his authority extends, was admitted last
night by the highest legal authority (the Lord Chancellor), and
is, indeed, sufficiently obvious. But on the supposition that we
are living under a Monarchy—that her Majesty's Ministers are
alone responsible for the acts of the Government, throughout
the wide extent of this empire—it is no doubt something new
that Peers of Parliament, having no responsibility, should so far
interfere with the Government as to give a second reading to
Bills limiting the powers of Governors of Provinces. We can
understand why Peers dissatisfied with Ministers should ap-
proach the throne, and tell her Majesty that they have no con-
fidence in her present advisers, and should refuse their as-
sent to measures of which they disapprove ; but we
cannot understand on what principle reconcilable with
monarchy a majority of Peers should say to Ministers, " We
allow you to remain the confidential advisers of Majesty—we
allow you to incur the responsibility of conducting the admi-
nistration—and yet we will force upon you laws to compel
you to govern, under circumstances of the greatest difficulty.
extensive and valuable provinces agreeably to our notions."
That Lord Durham is responsible to Parliament for the exer-
cise of the powers confided to him is a proposition which no
one would think of combating; but the Lords do not call on

him for his defence, but interfere with his government, while
he is all the time responsible for it. The second reading was
carried by a large majority. But the principle of such an
interference with the Executive is open to grave objec-
tion ; for alowirg that Lord Durham has not been suffi-
ciently guarded in these ordinances, it was for Ministers,
end not for Opposition, to propose the remedy. If
his Lor.h,hip and al those oho may be conceinedlin re-
n:ovhor the persons named in the ordinances to the
Pcrinud.ss, and detaining them there or elsewhere out
of C.,nada, lay themselves open to suits, both civil and
Parliament will not be slow on the application of Minis-
ters ta protect the public servants in the conscientious dis-
charge at their duty, by such indemnity as has usualiy been
accorded in similar cases. :Ministers are the judges of the ne-
c,ssity for tt.is indemnity, and not Lords Brougham and
L'inlhurst. Much of Lord Brougham's diffuse and declama-
tory speech was irrelevant, much assumptions of fact, on no
othrr o id, nce than private information. On the faith of such
intormation he contradicted the averments in the ordinances.
in the onlim.nces it is stated that Wolfred Nelson and his
associates had confessed their guilt. " Not so." says
Lend Brougham ; " thair fl lends peremptorily denied their
phnline guilty or conressieg—they confesed to their having.
leaca gull:), of resistance to Government, but they positively de-
nhol that they had traitorously, or even seditiously or rebelliously
resis.ed the -Go,ernment." If they confessed to their resist-
:ince to Government, is not that treason ? And if they ac-
quiesce in their deportation, what is the use of disputing about
their understanding of what amounts to treason, the treason
itself Leing unquestionable? Then the Noble and Learned
Lord had been supplied with a list of correctives of the names
of parties, of which, had they been tried at the Old Bailey,
good use might have been made by their counsel; and Lord
Durham and his Council had not, previous to passing
the ordinances, followed the precedents set by the British Le-
gislature in cases of attainder ; end he onetad the proviso in-
troduced into the Canada Bill by Sir William Follett, ex-
pressly declaring that no law or ordinance should be
passed by the Governor in Council which should re•
peal, cusp nd, or alter any Act of the British Patha-
n-lent. It was jastiv observed by Lord Gleneiga that.
whatever might he Lord Broueiam'a persuasion whir re-
spect to the circum,tenees stated by him, they had his word
a o e fur them ; but it was proclaimed in the
ratoacs tl.at the perti, s kid nation it abed red pr,,xhiirne:l
themseiv, a guilty ; lie for the Covarement of
(;,:na.lit not t) be condemned on an autLerity knoisn to the
liable and Learned Lord alone, and in complete contrz..l;c-
-tion to t' e wet.]: of the ordinances. He pointed cut at the
v.me time the inconsistency of the Noble and Learned Lord,
&rho, while his speech was one centineed denuncietion of
the Government of Canada for measures disgrneeful it, them-
seiver. end at variarct csith jtwtice, British honour,
and British law, declared in the see)nd chtiFe of hi;
‘‘ whieh ordinances eantot be justified by lay, but are so
pmch.for the service of the public that they ought to he justi-
tiad by en Act of Parliament." W,tit respect to the proviso
introduct d by Sir Wili;ant Follett, he observed that—
" Duriuz the discussion of this question in the other llous 0 vern-
nent was asked by some Nicelbers or. the opposite benches, weethet they
)neon t taat tee net should authmise the Governor in Council to alt.;
the Act of 1791, or any Act relating to tenures ; to this question Govern-
ment repl.ed, that they had no suet) intention, but they tttmi ht that the
period w.:::11.1 be so short that the Governor and Council wculd not
interfere with the subject at ail ; upon witch it was ohserved that, as
there was no such intention, the clearest and best way weld,' be to in.
sett a proviso un the subject in the 1011, so as to remove aft possible
doubts. It was clear, from the terms of the Frot-i.o, that it was in.
tended to have a limited operation. Tl,e Act of 1791 gave the local
Legislature the power of varying or repealing the law respecting Clergy
r,serves There was an Act of the Imperial Parliament, of 1524 or
Ji3IN, which gave the nest Legislature power to alter the Tenures Art,
and there was an Act of Ste local Legislature which did alter the Tv.
mires Act; and it appeared to him (Lord Glenelg) very apparent, from
the Semis of the proviso itself, that it was simply intended that these
Acts should not come within the power of the Governor in Council.
He (Lord (Venelg) cculd see no grounds for doubting the legality of
these 07dInances With. rk,Rrenee to %Wm ...wwl4ba.2?
Ilia Lordship observed also, that it certainly did appe.ar to
him very extraordinary, that after diving Lord Durham the
large powers rendered necessary by the peculiar and perilous
circumstances under which he went to preside over the pro-
%ince, any attempt should be made to narrow his powers, or
abridge his capabilities for usefulness ; and he concluded with
an impressive exhortation to their Lordships to beware how
then lent encouragement by their measures to the many per-
son's in Canada who were ready to seize the first favourable
moment to poison the minds of the Canadian peaple, and to
delude them once more into acts of rebellion. The Lord
Chancellor observed that there could be no doubt as to the
legality of the ordinances within the limits of the province,
while Lord Brougham's Bill prceeeded on tine supposition of
A doubt as to whether the Act as it stood did or did not
authorise the proceedings which had taken place in the pro-
vince and the acts of attainder which had been made. The
question as to whether the nature of each case was such as to
justify the Governor-General was quite different, and on that
question neither their Lordships nor Government pos-
sessed any information. The Noble and Learned Lord
quoted the Canada Act, which in so many words r, cited,
" That it shall be !owlet], after proclamation made, for the Governor
of the Lower Province of Canada in Council to make such laws or ordi-
nances for the peace, welfare, and good government of the said pro.

vince as the Legislature of Lower Canada, as now constituted, is em_
powered to make; and that all laws or ordinances so made, subject to
the provisions liereinacter contained for disallowance thereof by her Ma.
jesty, and for receiving certain laws or ordinances for the signification of
her Majesty's pleasure therein, shall have the like force and effect as
laws passed Lefore the passing of this Act by the Legislative Council and
Assembly of the said province of Lower Canada, and assented to by
her Majesty."

There could be no doubt, he said, that this clause gave to the
new Governor in Council the same powers which the Legisla-
ture of the province formerly exercised. With respect to
the proviso prohibiting the impus!ng► any new tax, or to change
the Constitution of the Legislature, and declaring "nor shall
it be lawful by any such law to repeal, suspend, or alter
any provision of any Act of the Imperial Parliament of

Great Britain, or of any act of the Legislature of Lower
Canada, as now constituted, repealing or altering any such
Act of the Imperial Parliament," the object for which these
words were introduced was so obvious that he could not have
believed that they could be misconceived. The words re-
ferred to in this proviso had no restraining power, and were
there difficulties in the case the Declaratory Bill of Lord
Brougham would leave them untouched, " for he had pro.
posed to enact that they should not make any laws or ordi-
nances respecting individuals, but at the same time proposed
that the power should be continued as regarded the multi-
tude." The Noble and Learned Lord showed that in other
respects the Bill of Lord Brougham was a tissue of incon-
sistencies :

" The second clause of the Bill of his Noble and Learned Friend
was cf the most extraordinary nature ; and after declaring that cer.
fain acts of the Governor of Canada were illegal, it went on to make them
legal, and to allow such proceedings to take place for the future. It
would be most extraordinary for Parliament to declare that these acts
were illegal, and then to say that the Governor of Canada or any
person under him might continue to act upon them. The proposed
indemnity, therefore, was for what was clearly considered an excess of
power, and it.was proposed at the same time to continue this excess of
power. lie would then ask, did Noble Lords really feel that there
were serious doubts as to the construction of these Acts, and as to the
power in the hands of the Governor of Canada to pass Acts of at-
tainder? If this power was to be taken from that Noble Earl, they
would leave his Government less than was possessed by the Government
of the Upper Province, from which it was not thought necessary to
take away the Legislative Assembly."
_ .

.. .
But really, in a case of this kind, it is a waste of time to
pursue further these legal objections. There can be no doubt,
as was forcibly observed by Lord Melbourne, " that the
course pursued by their Lordships upon that occasion, that
the encouragement afforded by them to the motion before the
f
fouse,was is the
speech
highest degree perilous." The whole of
his Lordship's admirable, and we are sure that it
will teo far more on fire
country than the legal trifling of Lords
Lyndhurst. Brougham and There was much reason for his
warning their Lordships that •
part of Lord Durham impossible the course of
pr.-eke..ding on the rham and his Council could
have been adopted front ienornce . and, therefore, that it
would be wise in them, before they condemned the conduct
of the Council, to ascertain what the
Melbourne,
for it were :
" Their Lordships," added Lord
,o::iwere to consider that
iliary state, but for a
Le 3iato. this t'oe? wet c not legislating for a country in an
corner,' in a very different state, bath with respect
(Lord
so peculiarly
is country and
to other countries which bordered upon it.
loeul b 4 obi teri
on
ree)
ill such peecliar circumstances as regarded it,elt and
for a country
sittr,ted As regarded other countries he
must say that it required that their Lordships should bekeracuotl‘ni
they came to a decision which might involve much beav
than they were aware of —(Hear, hear.) He had a Very ,reasetCue""
respect
for the profession of the bw—(tlear)—tlicug‘i Noble Lords always said
he was very ign,ot of it. —(flear, bear, and a taugh.) But this 11
must say, that let men Ire what they would, let them have by nature the
greatest possi' le powers and the most enlarged understanding, the pro_
fessif,n ofthe law did little better than fetter their understanding 111 Va •
riahly —(Hear, hear, and much Laughter.) Ile thought that the House
had suffered in 1.0 ;mar degree from that fetterine of the urnierstinditig
in the discussion upon the present qu, satin —(frear, hear —and when
they I,rat an insurrection in the colonic:, when thei t.ad encouraged
4 feeling of disapprob:rtion as to the crmrse purweil to ,uppre,s that in_
Auricetion, when they Iral done their Ltmoit (wEtho:it the intention of
co doing) to encoulage those who were the enemies of the country, it
rsvould, he thought, be hut a very poor c ois,,h ~
rtion, when the wrst
c,,,m
... e to the worst, to know that they had head the vtry best special i
i.leati;rg upon tine subjeat.--(lfear, h-0- '" I
And he couclutled wio ,b, ' * ) .1 c. nit! ting, that with respect to the
licrinud., r, 1 •t 1' I
. (.1( ;10. .
- ep,ncar to !Lila necessary at that frne to
aka a Bill of h:m
idei.
i.t.y, and that " when ire consickre:l the I

moral effect which such a law lima have in Canada—when ho
saw that it amounted, in point of fact, to nothing more nor
less than a strong and direct condemnation of the policy pur-
sued in that country, he could not, either in his conscience, or
from a regard to the interests and welfare of the empire, con-
sent to become a party to it.—( Hear.)" The Duke of Wel-
lington entered into a laboured, but by no means effective,
vindication of his own consistency, in first eagerly joining in
conferring large powers on Lord Durham to meet the difficul-
ties of his situation, and then turning round on the Govern-
ment on some captious legal objection started by factious law-
yers, to cramp and embarrass the Government, and replunge
Canada in fresh troubles. The Noble Duke, supposingtome of
Lord Melbourne's observations directed against himself, which
his Lordship afterwards declared they were not, allowed his self-
love to get the better of his judgment. We regret to think
that the Noble Duke should have been so ill-advised as to lend
his support to a Bill which tends so much to paralyse the Go-
vernrac\ot. The vote of last night was most unconstitutional,
a violation of the principles held in most regard by all friends of
the Monarchy. It tends to anarchy. Be as rigorous, we say,
as you please to all men in authority—call there to as severe an
account as you please, but do not afford them any plea which
shall enable them to shake themselves free of their responsi-
bility, by charging you with paralysing them by interfering
with them in the due exercise of their functions. The House
of Lords and the Duke of Wellington have said,..by their vote,
that they are determined not to control, but to conduct the
Government. The majority of 54 to 36 reflects anything but
honour on the House of Lords. Well might Lord Melbourne
reproach them with being lawyer-ridden.—Morning Chronicle.
Often, very often, have the Queen's Ministers made a sorry
figure during the present Session of Parliament—habitual,
and most familiar to their natures, are meannesses, and abase-
ments of the most humiliating kind—yet never, we will ven-
ture to allege, did these shuffling and despicable personages
undergo so large a measure of that castigation which they
deserve, as they did last night in the House of Lords, during
the discussion on Lori Brougham's Bill, declaratory of the
law in regard to the Government of Canada ! Lord Brougham
himself, in an opening; speech of great clearness and power,
established, beyond dispute, the arbitrary and indefensible cha-
racter of the acts of Lord Durham and his Council—whilst in
his reply, he scattered to the winds the shallow sophisms, and
impudent assumptions of Lord Cottenharn and Lord Mel-
bourne. The Whig ex-Chancellor, in short, enjoyed
last night ample compensation for the slights and contumely,
and calumny, which his old associates have, for years
past, heaped upon him. He held up to the derision of
the House, the Lord Chancellor's ignorance of constltutional
law ; and mangled Lord Melbourne in a spirit, undoubtedly,
the reverse of that approved of in the Christian code. Lo.d
Lyndhurst strengthened the reasonings of Lord Brougham,
with his customary brilliancy, power, and comprehensivencs ;
whilst the Duke of Wellington—(the protector, as he has oft:n
proved himself, of the Whigs, frog)) the consequences of their
own imbecility and di istiesty of p'irpose) .dieted upon tae
Premier, a well-merited rebuke fur the impudent rwurn which
that functionary made to the forbearance of t're Conservative
party during the whole of the present sessi,en The iilustrieus
Duke, indeed, while he condemed as illegal and "intolerable,"
the ordinances of Lord Durham, made, in some sort, the
aniende to the Conservative party for the tenderness with
which he Las during the present session, treated the Govern-
ment, by declaring that " he believed he had been wrong in
doing so." Ministers, therefore, were cut off last night, from
vmpathy and succour at the hands of the great leader
o 7 the Conservative party. They were left to bear the brunt
of battle, as be3t they might—and they bore the shock as
men unprovided with ail means of effective resistance rn
he expected to do. Feeble as they habitually are, their
ordinary measures of feebleness rises to the rank of absolute vi-
(sour, when compared with their imbecility of last night. Lord
stessd, easy min ! seemed the very genius of di
Lord Cottenhem spoke simply as a lawyer ; and he might
have, paescel muster beret-a the as.,; which he achlres.sed, if
leas '..:5E(.1:11,1y had not c7,lvained men vz.t...al-)10 of }nosing his
Lordship's ti:e vrort.s,ed to en-
! ound. But Lord !lelbournce made, unques!iona!,iy, the le:,st
enviable figuie of the tine e ! His Lordship is a persen of ser-
passieg shrewdness. He has not spent his life in Ceti, ts,
and in office, without acquiring a deep insight into the
weaknesses of human nature. He is gifted with a species
of prudence or cut:nine (as by that less Platt( ring title,
some might be dinposid to describe his Lordship's dis-
tinguished characteristic) which often enables lion to
parry with t fleet the ettacks of men possessed of a much higher
measere of pure intellect, than himself ! Yet, last night, Lord
Melbourne's prudence left him. Last night, his custor: ary
shrew disefes was forgotten. He cont,iseel, with sine.u)ar infe-
lieitv, to nctgravate traild, all the difficulties of his difficult
posltion—( for it ie a difficult thing to defend even the ordinary
actions of such a pc rsin as Lord Durham) by handling his very
bail materials, in the very worst possible fashion. So silly was
the Noble Viscount as to talk of the Conservative Peers lai in
"u trap" fur Lord Durham, by the fact cf having sanctioned
his a;.pointment 1 So forgetful was the Premier of what lie
owes to popular support, as to sneer at the Paces of Eng:and,
an the ground of their rorembling "a lour and truculent derno-

cracy S head of the " Liberil" Go-

ernMont approrts himself on the subject of the great Consti-
tutional : of BritiAi subjects, as to pret,,m.l to regard as
technical quibbles all the objecti. as taken io Lord
Dnrintrn's u,urped t ight to it,fliet the pains of high t: eson on
men who had net, cr been tried,nor oven cited to appear in a court
of law ! The Duke of Wellington's reply to the charge ofklying
a " trap" for Lord Durham—and Lord Broughatn's comn.en-
tary on the Premier's notions on the subject of " lawyer-like
clufbblee• will not 90011 be t.legotten by tbe Yacmcabars.-ol ttua
present Cabinet I The Government was beaten by a large
majoriv, on this question—a question which Lord Melbourne
described as one of the gravest importance—as cm: involving
consequences, by possibility, of the most serious kind
beaten on such a question, can Lord Melbourne and his friends'
—spiriticss as they have on all occasions, approved themselves
to be—tenacious of place as they have shown themselves, to a de-
gree absolutely incompatible with the assumption that they pos-
se 33 the faintest spark of honourable pride, or of self-respect
can these men, creeping and parasitical as they are, remain in
office, after the House of Lords has, by its public and solemn
act, censured as illegal and unconstitutional, the ordinances of
a great Whig functionary, armed by the Whig Government
with extraordinary powers—powers, the abuse of which, the
members of that Government have deliberately defended, on the
ground of expediency? But even supposing the crawling
occupants of office to be content to retain their pcsitions after
the vote of last night, can it be imagined that Lord Durham
will consent to remain Governor of Canada, after being
branded by the House of Peers, as the author of unconstitu-
tional outrages on the liberty of British subjects? Nay, had
the House of Peers abstained from passing sentence upon his
. .

misdeeds, can it be imagined that LOrd Durham would have
endured the censure implied in even that partial reversal of his
ordinances, contemplated by the Government itself ? " We
intend (observed poor Lord Glenelg with an air which the
Maw.worms of the stage might envy, " we intend to send to
Bermuda and let the Governor know that he has no right to de-
tain in custody the persons sent to his care as prisoners from Ca-
nada." Could Lord Durham, we ask, have held office after even
such a mitigated sentence of condemnation had been passed upon
his conduct by his Whig allies? Can be, with the incalcula-
bly heavier weight of censure contained in the vote of the
House of Lords last night, retain for one moment,
(after the history of last night's debate shall reach him) those
great powers, which he has so grossly abused, or that high
station, which he, perhaps, of all living public men, is least
fitted to fill with advantage to the country ?—lf Ministers shall
resign, they will confer upon the country the only benefit,
which can, by any stretch of imagination, be connected with
their ignominious career 1 If Lord Durham shall resign, the
country may rest assured, that that Noble Earl will take speedy
steps for dragging into the obscurity which becomes them,
the Members of that Cabinet, to which he owes his (a;
we trust it may prove) short-lived Dictatorship l-2lforning
Herald.

That mockery of justice—that insult to the people of Ire-
land—the Irish Corporation Bill—was last night, on the mo-
tion of Lord John Russell, postponed for three months, that
is, rejected for the present session, amidst the acclamation of
the House of Commons. Thus, even supposing the three
great measures proposed for the tranquillization of Ireland to
be as full and satisfactory as could he desired, thanks to the
Lords, there is in the delay of a just and equitable municipal
law for Ireland, preserved abundant leaven for future agitation.
In moving that the amendments of the Lords be taken into con-
sideration that day three months, Lord J. Russell stated, that as

the compromise proposed by the Government, in reference
to the franchise, had been rejected, Ministers did not feel
justified in making any further concession. The difference
between the amount of qualification proposed by the Lords
and that conceded by Ministers not being more than the rates
and taxes, which on the 101. qualification would not average
more than 103., we do not suppose that Ministers would,
after making such large concessions, have rejected the measure
on this trivial difference, if it were not from a thorough con-
viction that they had already conceded so much as to render
the measure utterly inadequate to its professed purpose—the
establishment in Ireland of Municipal Institutions on the
basis of popular election. The refusal of the Lords to allow
the amount of rates and taxes in the qualification, after Mi-
nisters had consented to raise thequalification from 5/. to 10/.,
proves what already has been but too conclusively proved—
the absurdity and futility of expecting any fair or equitable
arrangement from hereditary domination. This refusal,
however, has afforded Ministers an apportunity of escaping
from the responsibility of a most defective and unjust mea-
sure, while it must, at the same time, have convinced them of
the utter impossibility of carrying any satisfactory measure of
Re firm by yelding to Tory aggression. Had the Lords passed
the Bill as last agreed to by the Commons, the responsibility
of its operation. which would necessarily be of an exasperating
character, would have devolve i on the Government, and popu-
lar discont( at might vent itself rather against those who had
cemented to, than those who had committed the infliction ;
bot, by rejecting all compromise, the Lords have afforded
Ministers an opportunity of honourable retreat from an awk-
werd and ungracious position. Great anxiety has been pro-
fessed by ell parties to set at rest the graver questions of Irish
'Kiley. In these professions tin? Peers themselves have been
most prominent, but the progress and fate of the Irish Mun7ci-
pal Bill furnish a curious commt n'ary on the sincerity of this
desire of laying the basis of Irish tranquillity on measures of
justice and sound policy. The Commons first propose a 5/.
fe,nehise ; next the Lords preemie a 101. franchise, allewieg
repairs and insuraiice ; to this the Commons consent, but
cf tern ellowanee elso for rates and taxes, which the Lords re-
tst with reelet, but with
use, and the Bill is consigned to tie tomb of the Ce ulets
..ouame for inciderral igtennies r a
wasel
i ficltrtesatilr,rl .0 p
o'sfehcii s sbyy'sPt
em of
Lord
was calculated t.,.);:fford orpoitunit for•
Lyndhurst, and, as might be
allroomm.a.nnitesrpoarfed7c,eg;_,
tion and imposture, awl would
at bestY serve'
and conalse the operation of the qualification' clause.ito c,mi\tvl.cate
Lat-
ever the qualification, the amount, if any be
fixed, con-
siLt iu sonic single and distinct sptciii cavon, aid not in a

variety of items. The practical difference between the Lords
and Commons was about 10s., the average amount of rates and
taxes—a difference as important as that of twoedledum assd
twcedledec. With an acuteness of perception to be found only. in
the House of Peers, it was discovered that though the franchise
might be safely extended to all whose rent, repairs, and in-
surance amounted to 101., it would endanger the safety of the
kingdom to have the rates and taxes taken into this account;
and on this discovery the amendment of the Commons is
scouted—they in turn scout the re-amendment, and Ireland is
relieved from one legislative imposture for another Session:
It would have been a curious occurrence if the two Houses
had come into collision on the question whether 81. or 81. 10s.
should form the qualification for the municipal franchise of
Ireland. The Irish people would no doubt be highly amused
to see their hereditary and representative guardians at logger-
heads about a matter of this kind, while the more vital prin-
ciples of policy were left to be settled by the doctrine of
chances. One good effect, however, of rejecting the Bill
will be the opportunity which the rating under the Irish Poor-
law will afford of assimilating the Irish corporations to those
of this country, which we trust will be done in the next
Session.—Morning Advertiser.
When a few months ago, there appeared on the part of
the Ministers an indication of a desire to quiet the sore
i ques-
tion of Irish corporations by acceding to such an increase n a
qualification for burgesses as might place the municipal fran-
chise in the hands of the more respectable inhabitancy of the
towns, instead of consigning each municipality to the most
ignorant and excitable classes of the population, we were so
fully impressed with the importance of bringing the matter
to a settlement, that our belief was greatly influenced
,by our
wishes, and we felt anxious to persuade ourselves tnat the
declarations even of a Whig Government might possibly Le
sincere. We acknowledge that experience bad laid no foun-
dation for such a faith ; that their conduct in every depart-
ment of their Ministry—the principles they have abandoned,
and the alliances thcy have adopteLl—thcie cross upon the Ballot
—their tergiversation upon the Tithe Bill—their evasions upon
the Irish registration—their misrepresentations of those whom
they cannot impeach—their servility to those whom they
loathe—that all these things have made it difficult to believe
in their integrity upon any given point. But in every party
theme are men who act from better motives than the herd ; and
among those whose errors were supposed to spring from im-
pulses less ignoble than those of vulgar place-bunters, there
has bean a aseneral inclination to rank the nobleman at the
head rf the Government. He has been regarded as averse
front the baser associations and meaner compliances to which
many of his colleagues have submitted. He has been thought
to have avoided the personal contact of what was discreditable,
though be may have been somewhat too facile in profitting by
it. It was believed that a certain generous gallantry in his
mate e induced him to look upon the young and inexperienced
l..dv whom chance had thrown into his guardianship as a
sacred and personal charge, imposing duties upon him not
merely as a statesman, but as a gentleman and a man of
honour. Vie only cloud upon her prospects appeared
to he that which bung over her Irish dominions. For her
sake it might be an object of pride and good feeling with him
to disperse that danger. For himself it might he an object of
legitimate ambition to have efikeed in his time the settle-
ment of questions so important, and now so inveterate, as those
by whieh Ireland is convulsed. On some or all of these
grounds it was judged, by men of high minds and clear under-
siaedings, tot irrational to infer that on the subject of Irish
adjustment the first Minister of the Crown might probably be
zealous, and h:s follovie:s therefore possibly sincere. Against
all these coesidcrat'ons, no doubt, there are other reasons, lean
romantic, but a good deal more pungent, that have spirited up
doubts and eusp:cions, and cast a certain riiienle oil the
readiness of precipitate eaedeur. Thiough four Sessions
of Parliament the Irish questions have been the sole
stock of the. Miuistry—their only fuel and food. If they
are still to govern, it must be by continuing still to agi-
tate. To remove an Irish grievance would be to bury a
friermd. The tithe quo-tem has lost ie; ens,y 1. , u2.Ca toe she
portions of it v.eich vmere useful te gnverernetit —the ap-
propriation naciae no—can now no longer be meinteiimed even
in the House of Co,ninons : and if fie. Corporations ere also
to be settled, there remains to the Whigs no one topic on
which tLey can affect to be more liberal than the Conserva-
tives. They arc sheeted enough to see and understand all
his. Trey know that if as Administration is to be chosen fur
its enowlede, its talents, ite xperience—for its ability in de-
bate, or for the mepeeetion of its leaders—the Whig placeraeo
have riot half an hour's life. They are kept in oflice solely by
truer i, id character, by the opiehin thet they are readv to dot
the diserenitlble work of their hard masters. But when all
that sort of work shell be wound up, how are they to earn their
weges? 'lle-every dullest of their supperters, the ignorant broad-
c,ast Re:heels, denounce them as incapable arid aristocratical
tne Irish tail disdain tl.c:n for their subserviency. The moment
the Irish demands arc disposed of, so are the Willies. While
time are is k. pt running, their exist .ncc lingers on ; but close
the i,sue,and they perish. Whatever be the personal feelings
of th first Minister, there are coarser persons about him to
ieculeate these practical considerations—to represent that he
le,s a cuty to his party—that the first object of all true states-
men should be to keep the Conservatives out—that the
Weige. if de.'estesi now, arc defeated for ever. What eif.,:t
these sinister interpusitioris may have had with his better ea-
ture we Lace riot the' means cf kreetving; Lut they seem to have
sounded not altogether idly on his ear, if we may judge by the
careless tone amid temper ie which he conducted the discussion
of Tuesday night on tile amendments of the Commons, espe-
cially on the reduction of the value in the qualification. He
had too much the air of a man who meant to- show
anet miittered little what the Lords might think fit
to do, because there was a determination, doggedly
made up, that unless Ministers could have the Bill,
their own way, they would not have it at all. We will
not say that so scandalous a resolution has been actually taken,
because the charge is too heavy for us to bring upon merely
circumetantial evidence; but the appearances are, to say the
least, very ambiguous, and the motives of interest very power-
ful. They arc motives however, which, fortunately, the public
understand. The fact that the Whigs are kept in place
by the non- completion of the Irish Municipal plan, and that
the settlement of it would deprive them of their only hold
upon a large section of their scornful supporters, is quite.. no-
tot ions to the world. If, therefore, after the hopes of aajust-
mere which they have been holding out, they now balk the
matter, there is not a man beyond the circle of Brookes's who
will not denounce them as sacrificing their professions to their
places. The Tories, contending as they do that the agita-
tion in Iceland about the Corporation measure 13 a fictitious
one, may fairly decline to pass the Bill until they find it satis-
factory in all its points: to them it is perfectly open to say,
" We have offered you a compromise on the long vexed sub-
ject of the qualification, by allowing, with the insurances and
the repairs, a rating of 9/. to avail as a qualification of 10/. ; but
when you ask that we should lower that 9/. to 8/., we are bound
to tell you that we will not be beaten down from that substantial
ground on which you intimated your disposition to conclude
the bargain. Another pound deducted may appear to you a
small matter ; but in our view of the Bill it is a great one, and
we will not give way." These are the arguments which the
Tories, if you blame them for refusing any further concession,
are fully entitled to use in their vindication. But what pre-
text have the Whigs for a refusal to concede the dispute be-
t% cen the 81. and the 91. ? They have contended that Ireland's
only chance of pacification depends on the passing of this Bill ;
and yet they now withhold it for the mere difference between
9/. and 81. They have held out the strongest expectations that
the Bill should pass, and yet for the difference betvreen 9/. and
8/., they dash those expectations with defeat. For the diffe-
rence between 9/. and 8/.?—no, but for another session of
office. Now, you cannot retaliate on the Tories. They may
e
be right, or they may be wrong, in declining to concede
20s. in dispute; but you cannot allege that they hold out for
the sake of place. If place had been their object they would
have passed the Bill with the 8/. qualification. They would
have disarmed the Whig foe of his only weapon by acquiescing
in his large demand. They would have opened for themselves
the path to government by settling the only question that ex-
cludes or embarrasses them. But they have disdained to pave
their way to office by concessions which their consciences con-
demn. You may quarrel with their policy if you will, but
in point of houesty, their case defies your recrimina-
tion. One word on the "absurdity" which Lord
Mel-
bourne and others imagine themselves to perceive,
as between the Municipal Bills of England and Ireland, in the
requisition of the higher qualification for the poorer. country.
A moment's reflection will dispel this error. Why is a quali-
fication of property acquired either by the Municipal or the
Reform Bill ? Because. as the Whigs told you when they
began their Constitutional Reforms, property may be assumed
as being in the rough, a fair and convenient test of intelligence
and education. But, according to that test (and other tests
concur in the result) education and intelligence in Ireland are
not at so high a level as in England. Now, the deficiency of
the nation in general so far affects the several classes which
compose it, that among a thousand 5/. occupiers in any Irish
town you will find fewer men of competent information
than among a thousand five-pound occupiers in any Eng-
lish town of the same population. But your object in
attempting to equalize the Municipal Institutions of
England and Ireland is not, of course, to
s%lnvjui
intel-
ligence numbers
ngbbfeo:eievrr
ersae
rois.
tdof
municipalrt burgesses
eiundrg.create equal
snsna eglms
nl botheanl
Ireland
doe,w i
wu
rahalet countries,)reacemoakof
nbuconua,
wtnt t o bring
uogcuetaos tp.s'ieutonlsnrm ep.Eoi qualificationrloleofdt popularg lei avaeridthy
civili-
zationhich
are more diffused ; and in Ireland, therefore, to obtain
an equal fitness, you are driven to take a higher qualification.
This we humbly offer as a short answer to Lord Melbourne's
charee of absurdity, and a clear justification of 'the amount
at which the qualification was fixed by the Conservatives. The
rejection of the Bill last night by Lord J. Russell, tough
not unexpected by us at least, and though perfectly charac-
teristic of him and his party, will convince the country that
there is no abyss of meanness too low fur the frightened slaves
of O'Connell to descend to.—Tinmes.

The Hanoverian, American, and Austrian Ambas-
sa on tramacted business yesterday at the Foreign Department.
PROTECTION OF THE PERSON.—A Bill has re-
cently passed the House of Representatives, which imposes a tine of
6,000 dollars for every I:fe lost in steam-boat explosions. Let this
example be follow( d in Eogland, and there will be no need of inspectors.
Let it be extended to all modes of public conveyance; and we shall
speedily cease to witness such calamitous events as we have too often, of
late, had occasion to record. '1 h g ± who take upon themselves oc..;upat ions
in which the s,,fey of her 3.1. j?sty's subjects is involved, must be cet,terit
tutbear the re yonsibility befitting such a trust.—Bright Gazctle.
Though there are at present 140 barristers be:ong-
ing to the Northern Circuit, at rho Durham Assizes last week there
were but 17 civil and 11 c: intiord causes tried. •r•!1
-e disparitybetween
the number of wigs aid briefs w.:s still greater at Newcastle and C..r.
161•.—Netem.rytle Journal.
TENACITY OF LIFE.—Mr. John Hard,v, of
(;os.iirth, has, at the present time, a number of young
kittens which were covered up wit it 15 car: loads of hay fur upward:: of
ei4ht da)s, and ..fterwards gut out alive.— Whachaven Herld,