ENGLISH NEWS

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 174, 21 June 1859, Page 3

ENGLISH NEWS

(From the Melbourne Herald Correspondent.) London, 18th April. We have lived an exciting life since the last mail, for to the anxieties consequent on the disturbed condition of Europe—and the probabilities of war have varied frora day to day, and are now as unsettled as ever—has been* added; the agitation always attending a dissolution of- parliament. The debate on the second reading of the Government Reform Bill,' or rather1 on Lord John Russell's ■amendment, commenced ontho 21st ult.,'and after occupying the house for eight nights, resulted in ministers being beaten by a : majority of 39. The numbers were 330 against 291, so that, including Itlie four tellers and the Speaker, there were 626 members present out of the .654, iwith one exception, it is said, the largest number on record—a tolerable proof, of the estimated importance of the -occasion, 'and of the efforts both parties must have .made to unuster their forces, The division took jplace on-Thursday; 30th March, and the House of Commons adjourned till the following Monday, *wlieri ministers announced that they had decided upon dissolving rather than resigning, upon the. .grounds—l, of the critical condition of foreign afifairs, which made a change of ministry highly uncSfeirablo; .and 2 f of the, want of cohesion in the'

opposition, and the improbability that they could form a government. It is not of mnch use; to quarrel with the reasons for a decision when the decision is come to, else it would not be difficult to shew that these are riot worth much either separately or in combination. It may be admitted that it is undesirable to have a change of ministry in the present critical state of Europe; but it is still more undesirable that England should, in such a crisis, be represented by ni<-n known to be lyin;j under a vote of want of conlidence passed by an absolute majority of the whole House of Commons, and whose official life may be reasonably expected to terminate very speedily after the meeting of the new house. Surely an immediate change would be less injurious than that it should take place after ministers have been dragging on for a month or two with influenced weakened, if not destroyed, by the belief that their power was but temporary. And as to the improbability of the majority being able to form a government, the objection comes with singular infelicity from the present ministry. As respects our foreign policy, we should have gained little by a change of ministry. No one has yet said out loud in^ the House of Commons that the retention of Lombardy and Venice by the Austrians is incompatible with the peace of Europe. Both Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell have pledged themselves to the maintenance of the treaty of Vienna; and the latter, only a day or two since, in a speech to his constituents at the London Tavern, expressed his general approval of the foreign policy of the government. As to our domestic policy, the question whose importance overshadows all others, is that of reform ; and here we may rejoice that the government chose dissolution rather than resignation. There can'be' no doubt ,that the interest exhibited out of doors has been very much less than it ought to have been, or than might have been reasonably expected, and the present house would have been glad enough to get rid of1 the matter by passing a a measure of some sort. Had there been no question of place or power in the minds of the opposition leaders, 1 imagine the government bill, with such modifications as ministers would have readily conceded in committee, would have been carried by a large majority. Now for popular inertness a general election is the appropriate remedy, and we may fairly hope that it will stimulate the people to a more wholesome state of political activity. The " want of cohesion " among the liberals is an undoubted and melancholy fact, which results from the popular inertness. We have outgrown the leadership of such men as Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston; they differ so little from i the Conservatives that people cannot be expected to take much trouble to choose between them ; it is only a dissolution, or repeated dissolutions that can ai'ouse public spirit sufficient to elect a house that shall supersede these inefficient leaders; or by driving them to join the Conservatives, divide Parliament once more between the friends of the people and the adherents of the aristocracy. Apart from the question of reform, there are other matters of domestic importance, upon which the great majority out of doors are agreed, but the realisation of which is prevented by" the "want of cohesion," to say nothing of our relations with foreign countries, which now present the strange anomaly of Englishmen sympathising with the people struggling for freedom, while England sides with the oppressors. Of the debate it is of couvse impossible for metogive you any account: it is generally agreed to have been able and interesting. Sir James Graham perhaps made the most notable speech of the prominent men, for the vigour with which he urged the necessity of extending the suffrage to the working classes, and for his acknowledgment of the great progress in the demand of the ballot. There were some capital personal hits, which I would like to narrate if I had time and room; but I must leave them for you to pick out for tho amusement of your readers. The best thing, perhaps, in this way, was Lord Derby's sketch of the political life of Lord John Russell, in the speech of which he communicated to the House of Lords the course ministers intended to pursue, proving that ho has lost .nothing of the characteristic cleverness and uuseriipiilousness. which years ago .coined him the title: of the Rupert of Debate. ' After the resolution to dissolve was^announced, Loi d John Russell took the opportunity, which he had sedulouslyavoided' before, of stating to the House what his notions of a reform bill should be : a £10 franchise for counties,-a yearly value of £6 for boroughs ; about. 26 seats to be taken from the smaller boroughs returning twomemhersoaeh, which with four seats present vacant, would nive 30 seats to distribute among towns now unrepresented and some of the latest agricultural counties. And subsequently Mr. Bright, without giving up his own pian, bun spoken, kindly of Lord John Russell's proposal, suggesting that he will bring in a better hill than he at present contemplates, if the constituents only do their duty at the coming election. I should not omit to mention that Mr. Berkeley's annual motion for the ballot came on last week ; not of course with any idea of success, but for the sake, of influencing the elections. The motion was opposed almost contemptuously by the Government, mildly by Lord John Russell, who seems to be preparing to consider it an open question ; and in h(3 most jaunty manner by Lord Palmerston : it was lost by 102 to 99. The House, it is expected will adjourn to-morrow, and be dissolved on Thursday—-the new House assembling at the end of May.

We (Morning Chronicle) regret to announce the sudden death of the Marquis of Waterford, who was killed while hunting on the 81st of March last. It will be remembered that the deceased marrjuis obtained great notoriety in London circles by the extravagance and eccentricity of some of his youthful freaks ; but on his retirement to Ireland, Jo fulfil the duties of landlord, he so acquitted himself as fo gain the respect and goodwill of his neighbours and tenantry. His lordship retained to the last his ardent passion for the sports of the field, more especially hunting and steeplechasing, and his loss will be greatly felt by Irish sportsmen. The Admiralty received tenders on the 22nd of March for the conveyance of 4 officers and 100 soldiers from the Thames and Cork to Melbourne; also 2 officers and 60 men from Cork to Auckland, New Zealand.