protect them from, even by Want and Hunger, starving husbands and families were hunted from their "estates
for ever." At this time twenty thousand subscribers to the scheme had paid their shares in full, and were
entitled to stand the ballot for allotments; yet it was proved before the House of Commons, that,
supposing the claims to have been allowed, such had been the measures taken to secure the subscribers'
titles and realise the promised advantages that the whole number could not have been located in a less
period than about two hundred years! For asserting upon this condition of facts that the wretched victims
of the bubble had been swindled out of their money, the member for Nottingham prosecuted the editor
of the Nottingham Journal; and a sapient jury decided that the editor was justitied in his assertion, but that
nevertheless the member's character stood unimpeached as regarded personal honesty!

Perhaps the saving clause was thrown in as a sop to the house which the worthy member adorns: but
if so, it was quite uncalled for. A debate was going on there, almost concurrently with the trial, of which
the object was to disqualify members bankrupt and insolvent, in worldly goods, from continuing to retain
their seats; but not a word was whispered in the debate of the necessity or expediency of disqualifying
members who were simply bankrupt in reputation and character. Silently it was confessed that against
these there was no remedy; and in our judgment it was therefore the most manly course to let the
other also sit unquestioned. In truth the remedy lies not with the house against either. All that with
propriety it can do in the matter would be to waive its privileges against the just claims of a creditor. The
retention of any right barring the free operation and enforcement of the laws, is a scandal to a house of
law-makers. But everything else is the affair of the constituencies. If it is the pleasure of any electoral
body to prefer a man of broken fortunes but honourable life to a man in the possession of enormous
wealth obtained by questionable means, it is quite right that it should be at liberty to do so. The
opposite course is of the more frequent occurrence, but neither against that should any legislative bar be
placed. They are questions affecting solely the electoral functions, and to them they should be referred.

The dispute of Mr. Horsman with the premier, which so agitated the nerves of the house during these
discussions, is now hardly worth allusion. In the heat of supporting a cause which has been far from
successful to the extent of its deservings, and with which bishops and all kinds of quarrelsome and explosive
matter have been inextricably mixed up, Mr. Horsman may be excused for a hard word now and then;
but the charge of meanness and duplicity applied to such a man as the premier, refutes itself. His very
faults disprove it more emphatically than his virtues. The question in dispute is not whether certain
amendments which Lord John Russell promised to make in the Ecclesiastical Commission Bill, so as to
adapt it to the recommendations of the house of commons committee, were not so made by him as directly
to evade or contradict those recommendations; but whether the promise was general or specific— whether
it was for alterations in consequence of the committee, or for alterations to meet the views of the committee
—and whether there was any intention deliberately to mislead before those amendments were printed, by
inducing Mr. Horsman to suppose that they were what he expected them to be. It is certain that Mr. Horsman
ought to have possessed himself of what the amendments really were before he consented to the printing;
and, that not having done so, he leaves the entire question as a misunderstanding. Such it clearly would
appear to have been. It is quite possible that more than was meant might have been said on one side, and
more than was meant understood or inferred on the other.

NARRATIVE OF PARLIAMENT AND
POLITICS.

PARLIAMENT was opened by Commission on the 31st
of January. The Commissioners were the Lord
Chancellor, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Marquis of
Breadalbane, the Earl of Minto, and the Bishop of
London. The Royal Speech was as follows:—

"My Lords and Gentlemen—We are commanded by
her Majesty to assure you that her Majesty has great
satisfaction in again having recourse to the advice and
assistance of her Parliament.

"The decease of her Majesty Queen Adelaide has
caused her Majesty deep affliction. The extensive
charity and exemplary virtues of her late Majesty will
always render her memory dear to the nation.

"Her Majesty happily continues in peace and amity
with Foreign Powers.

"In the course of the autumn, differences of a serious
character arose between the governments of Austria
and Russia on the one hand, and the Sublime Porte on
the other, in regard to the treatment of a considerable
number of persons who, after the termination of the
civil war in Hungary, had taken refuge in the Turkish
territory. ExpIanations which took place between the
Turkish and Imperial governments have fortunately
removed any danger to the peace of Europe which might
have arisen out of these differences. Her Majesty,
having been appealed to on this occasion by the Sultan,
united her efforts with those of the government of
France, to which a similar appeal had been made, in
order to assist, by the employment of her good offices,
in effecting an amicable settlement of those differences
in a manner consistent with the dignity and
independence of the Porte.

"Her Majesty has been engaged in communications
with Foreign States upon the measures which might be
rendered necessary by the relaxation of the restrictions
formerly imposed by the Navigation-laws of this country.
The Governments of the United States of America and
of Sweden have promptly taken steps to secure to British
ships in the ports of their respective countries advantages
similar to those which their own ships now enjoy in
British ports. With regard to those Foreign States
whose navigation-laws have hitherto been of a restrictive
character, her Majesty has received from nearly all of
them assurances which induce her to hope that our
example will speedily lead to a great and general diminution
of those obstacles which previously existed to a free
intercourse by sea between the nations of the world.

"In the summer and autumn of the past year, the
United Kingdom was again visited by the ravages of the
cholera; but Almighty God, in His mercy, was pleased
to arrest the progress of mortality, and to stay this
fearful pestilence. Her Majesty is persuaded that we
shall best evince our gratitude by vigilant precautions
against the more obvious causes of sickness, and an
enlightened consideration for those who are most exposed
to its attacks.

"Her Majesty, in her late visit to Ireland, derived the
highest gratification from the loyalty and attachment
manifested by all classes of her subjects. Although the
effects of former years of scarcity are painfully felt in
that part of the United Kingdom, they are mitigated by
the present abundance of food and the tranquillity which
prevails.

"Her Majesty has great satisfaction in congratulating
you on the improved condition of commerce and
manufactures. It is with regret that her Majesty has observed
the complaints which in many parts of the kingdom
have proceeded from the owners and occupiers of land.
Her Majesty greatly laments that any portion of her
subjects should be suffering distress; but it is a source
of sincere gratification to her Majesty to witness the