The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-04-29 00:00:00

FRIDAY 1110IIN1NG, APRIL 29, 1836.

On Tuesday evening the Irish municipal reform bill
was voted to be a nuisance, and of courst, a job, by a
majority of 203 to 119, in the House of Lords. The
ministers were consequently defeated by a majority
of 84.

In other and better times a ministry would have re-
tired, after such an adverse reception. The present,.
however, love place and pelf too well to sacrifice either
the one or the other to a sense of duty or honour.
The result of this division will be, we suppose, that
the government will abandon the bill, and leave the
Irish corporations instate quo. Lord LYNDHURST will,
perhaps, persevere with the remains of the scheme, but
th 4 are sure to be conveyed to whence they came, and
find their grave in tife House of Commons.

There was n time when the Commons of Great Bri-
tain, in parliament assembled, were held in deservedly
high estimation, their opinions being respected whi.e
their debates were read with deep interest by all classes
_of the people. We regret to say that this does not ap-
pear to be considered the character •of the p►esent House
or Commons. Its debates are now more frequently the
snbject of jest than of serious remark, and a considera-
ble number of its members, who, although unfailing in
talk, which is still called oratory, possess but a misera-
ble share of public esteem.

We admit that there, are many wen of rare talents, of
sorpassing i ntell igence, and commanding eloquence in the
House of Commons, but from some cause or other they
seem to be lost amid,the din, the altercation, and the
commotion of the immense majority of rabble. A well-
dressed gentleman has no chance in a pot-house of coal
porters. Contamination is resistless iu such a place,
and the good are swept away with the bad, it being dif-
ficult, if not impossible, in such a concourse to distin-
gnich the one from the other.
The reader will be pleased to remember that we are
writing of a reformed House of Commons, of a House
such as our fathers never witnessed, never dreamt of,
never could have imagined. There are in this House
men who have not been sufficiently educated to be waiters
in any respectable tavern—men who are not admitted
into good society—who would not b' admitted behind
the counter of a bank—men, in short, who have been
propelled to the surface in a political crisis like unsa-
voury lumbar and dead vermin in an inundated tan-yard.
These meo are what D'iSRAELI world call the " Curiosi-
ties or Patriotism," but they are curiosities of so singu-
lai- a kind that. We do not think they are calculated to
adorn any legislative assembly.
When a person is travelling and anxious to reach
home he is not particular as to the colour, or form, or
worth of the cattle which draw the carriage, provided
they go along steadily, speedily, and safely. If, how-
ever, the work he beyond their power or their inclina-
tion other cattle should be selected. For instance, if the
jades go too slow on level ground and too fast down hill,
depend upon it_they are destructives, that cannot too
soon he got rid of.
Nov, this is exactly the case with our reformed House
of Commons. The hacks go like furies down hilt ; on
even ground they will hardly move, but they bolt off.
the road if not carefully held in check, thereby endanger-
ing life and injuring private property.
To speak more plainly, the policy of the whirs, ever
since they carne into office, has been a systematic attack
upon private property. We defy any man to point out
a single measure which they have introduced or carried,
und,ir the guise of reform, which has nut had for its main
Oject the aggrandisement of their party, the extension
of their influence, and the pampering of their adherents
and menials. Lord GREY began it, and he provided for
his :wilily and relations in a way that, was equally liberal
and monstrous; and the example he set has been followed
with augmented voraciousness, by his whig successors.
They have had the odious felicity of making whiggery
and quackery synonymous terms, and of melting down
the tri syllable "improvement" into " job." They pro-
mised us peace—we are at war; they promised us re-
trenchment—the national expenditure is increased ; they
promised
us reform—we have plunder and jobbing, job-
bing and plunder, from one end of the empire to the
other—from the Orkney Islands to the Land's End—
from the banks of the St. Lawrence to the banks of the
Ganges.

We owe all this mischief and misfortune to what is
called a popular House of Commons—to folly in the
people, and ignorance and dishonesty on the part of their
representatives. Not many months ago it was a com-
mon piece of impertinence with certain wiseacres of the
lower house, who found their Way there GOD knows
how, to ask, " What is the use of the Lords Y" A much
more rational question is now becoming popular, name-
ly, "What is the use of the Common, Y" We answer
by saying that they are merely exhibitors, like artists
at Somerset House, the lords being the juhes. They
send up their pictures, their canvas, their bills, each in-
genious author deeming his performance to be of trans-
cendent merit, but all willing to abide the decision of the
peers. The result is that their works are generally re-
jected either as being imperfect r absurd, or hating a
tendency to bring art, science, and taste into contempt.
The lords administer strict justice—the disappointed com-
moners rave and foam—the people only laugh.

That they pay dearly for their mirth we are quite ready
to admit, anO•they have paid for five years for this sort
of folly without b Bing aware that it was a lively joke
wrapped up in a covering of official gravity. The Irish
tithe bill, and the newspaper stamp tax, on Monday
evening last, formed the subject of discussion in parlia-