o. H.

"in, if having obtained it, she should dare to mternpon a second marriage, it matters not ,hcther with a rich partner or a poor—her an. inily willinstantly cease. Why should the rule ybich is applied to the widow ofa miserable ubiltern, by Sir John Hobhouse, not be ex- tended to the lady pensioner, by Lord Al- or e.

lbwgs it not a burning shame, that when great Ind general distress prevailed in the land— when the resources of the merchant and the manufacturer, and the tradesman and the arti- an, were daily drying up—when shops were gmptying and gaols_filling, from beggary in lespair; was it not infamous that undeserved ind unrequited thousands should be squandered in the titled mothers ofmen like the Dukes of Wellington and Newcastle, already gorged vith wealth ? 1f the late Secretary of the Ad- miralty, from his poverty or from hatred of his pwn flesh, was unable or unwilling to provide for his neice does it follow, either by the law of charity or the law of honour, that the naiion iliall continue to Mrs. G. Borrow the 3001. a- year with which they were burdened for the ady-like maintenance of Miss Rosa Matilda Broker f—London Spectator.

From the London Spectator.

The last Unreformed Parliament of England at an end. On Thursday it was prorogned y the King is person, as a preliminary to dis- Nation. The session of Parliament that has thus ter- ninated will be remembered for ever; and yet ot many sessions have br0ught to completion o few legislative acts. But their greatness nay well excuse their paucity. Had no inea. ure been considered but Reform, and forthe ake of its originators, it would haVe been well liat none else had been,-—that measure alone, n vast in itself, and in its yet dimly-discovered :onsequences, would have sufficed to give to ny session eternal fame. But the late session aflother claims to respect than the Reform

8. The much-opposed and much-misrepresented ithe-bill of Ireland, though local in its pre- nt operation, has let in a principle hardly as important than that which the Reform ills established. The purification of the Representative s 's- in, and the inchoate amelioration ofthe he- lesisstical system, have been accompanied by _0 measures ofgreat improvement in the On- inal Law,—-the Cattle-stealing and the For. ery Acts; which, though maimed in their rogress by the Aristocratic branch of the Le- iilatnre, afford satisfactory evidence of that omage to the progress of humanity which the ast feeling are now content to offer. In the Attorney Bill, again the triumph of eason over long-cherished prejudices, is not ss apparent. 'lothat most important object of a states. an s study—the Education of the People—no considerabletportion of the session has been rotitably devoted. For though the Ministerial l_an ofEdncation in Ireland did not originate ith Parliament, it has been wonderfully genglhened by the discussion that it received

re.

In the management of public business, an portant step has been made towards a more triple and effective system, by the consolida- oh of the Naval Boards.

And though the abolition of the Scotch Ex- u_er be a matter considered in itself of a l importance, yet as an acknowledgement the necessity and propriety of lopping ofi' in

G

THE BRITISH AMERICAN

what is injurious, but what is inefficient, the precedent is a valuable one.

Such have been the positive good deeds of the past session. The way to others has been opened, if not finished.

The evidence taken on the Bank Charter will add greatly to our knowledge on a. subject of equal interest and perplexity.

Though the Taxes on Knowledge still re- main, their death warrant may be looked on as drawn and soon to be executed.

Two bills of great utility, the one public, the other private, have been delayed, we trust on- ly to be brought forward in such a form as will insure their success. We allude to the Gene- ral Registry Bill and the London and Birming- ham Railway Bills.

The Law improvements of the Chancellor have proceeded slowly ; but those which have been effected or not without their value; and for those which he has indicated, more especi- ally that greatone, the separation of the poli- litical andjudicial functions of the Chancellor, it is to be hoped next session will afford him ample leisure and opportunity.

Much has been effected, much remains to do. The speech of the 6th of last December, com- mended to our serious consideration the ques- tion of Reform ; it deplored the general distress —it spoke of Cholera, of opposition to Tithes, of the unsettled state of Portugal, of the dis- putes in Belgium. Reform has received its due share of our attention, but the cry of dis- tress has not ceased : the Cholera still remains, 'l‘ithes are as vehemently opposed as ever; Portugal is the theatre ofa civil war; the dis- cussions respecting Belgium are yet unfinish- ed

Of the future, we entertain, however, no fear. It may be that the registry clauses, with whioh.in case of necessity, it is in the power of Ministers to dispense, from being indiffer- ently understood and acted upon, will render the new Parliament less effective than it other- wise would be. But the machinery is now in our hands, and in order to turn out good work, we have only to use it wisely and honestly. Our endeavors after improvement will no lon- ger he neutralized by influences beyond our contronl. lfthe next House of Commons be not wholly the People’s House it must be the People’s fault; they can make it so if they please.

We turn from the contemplation of the late Parliament, to consider for a moment the po- sition of the parties that composed it. The tories are annihilated. The place that once knew them knows them no more. From a combinationof the more vivacious portion of that long dominant sect with the less energetic and honest ofthe Whig party, we may in future construct an opposition, they may still hang in that copacity as a drag-chain on the wheels of our victorious car; but the prospect of again directing it, they must resign for ever. The Whigs, as a party, cannot long survive their opponents. Henceforth the regulation of our affair. will require a larger admixture of the Democratic spirit than their Aristocratic morgue will be inclined to tolerate.

The Ministry, which already exhibits signs of decay, must be reformed or change], as the Parliament of which it has been the remodeller is about to be. The head and body, like the image of the King of Babylon, are composed of precious metal: but the inferior parts are iron and bass clay. Such heterogeneous mate- rials conld only be held together by external pressure; they had no internal bond of union.

When the many cease to rave, party, which

"Y department of the State, not merely lived on their madness, must cease to exist.

I? ‘ Tories may depart, Whigs may depart, Ca, , nets may be changed; but the cause of the... People abideth; and ifit change, it must be the People’s fault if it change not from good to better. The full cup is before them ; may-" they drain it with gratitude and discretion, and Heaven bless the draught.

AGE.—Parliament,itis said, will berprorogued in the course of the week; and Althorp has said that the condemned House will not be called together again. We may have an election in all probability about January.

In the mean time, the story of the split among the Ministers is revived. As nothing held them together but Reform, and that being passed, we do not see what they nave now to knit. them to one another. Cautious observers have noticed that the Duke of Wellington and the Chancellor are coqueting, and it is supposed there may be some reason for it. We say nothing.

However commend us to old Gaffer Grey. He is the ,boy to make hay while the sun shines. As old Sherry said in One of his songs in the Forty Thieves--

And we’ll be merry here, boys, And we‘ll be merry here,

For who does know where we may go To be merry another year.

So. in the Times ofyesterday, we find the following :

“ We are sorry to learn that Mr. Elice has resigned his situation as Secretary to the Treasury. His vigour. his straightforward conduct, his good sense, and his good hnmourl! will not easily be replaced. He knew how to spur the reluctant, and to check the petulant-— (Spring Rice is meant).—-His loss we think will be se- verely felt. Mr. Charles Wood, a son in law of Lord Grey, will succeed him, of whom we. can at least say, that he has the character ofan active and diligent man ofbusiness. Colonel Grey will succeed pro tempore Mr. Wood, as private Secretary ofthe Premier. .

Elice commonly called from the urbanin of his man- ners, Bear Elice, was brother-inalaw to old Grry : and that relation having ceased, he is turned off to be re- placed by a son-in~law. Of course Coi. Grey, who beat D'lsraeli the other day at Wycombr, succeeds as private Secretary—for son should follow son-in-law, as sou-in-law follows brother-in-law. Keep it all in the family ! It went last long.

One of the family, Howick, we perceive, is taking care of himsrlf. Hume complained, on Thursday night, in the House of Commons, that the Under Secre« tary to the Colonies was not in his place. As this complaint happened to be made on Howick‘s wedding night, about 12 o'clock, we hope Joseph was mistaken.

Popularity of the House of Austria,——The princes of the Austrian family are generally beloved at home. notwithstanding the sinister aspect of Austrian politics to foreign nations. The Emperor himself receives the petitions of his aggrieved subjects in his cabinet, with the apparent interest ofa father of a family listening to the complaints of his children; he rides out in the public pronienades among his people, without guards or state ceremony. as ifhe enjoyed their confidence ; and although reckoned atyrantin Lombardy, Venice, or even Hungary, he is esteemed a kind patriarchial ruler at Vienna. his not likely, therefore, that the arm of an assassin would have been raised against his Imperial Majesty. or any of his family, on account of their resistance to political improvement, in a country so little disposed to advance in the career of civiliza. tion, and so contented withshsir present position— T-i'mu. ‘