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PARLIAMENTARY JOTTINGS. --

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PARLIAMENTARY JOTTINGS. THE House of Commons opened its doors again on Thursday after the Whitsuntide recess; very few members, however, assembled, and everything betokened the near approach of a dissolution. The votes of supply are hurried through with extraordinary rapidity, and the chairman of the committee, Mr. Dodson, rattles away at such a rate, that it is scarcely possible, except for those who have the printed estimates before them, to follow him. After reading the clause, he says, all in one sentence, Those who are in favour of this vote say Aye those who are of a contrary opinion say No the Ayes have it." Thus, on one even- ing alone, seventy votes, varying from three millions to three thousand pounds, were passed with scarcely a discussion upon any one of them. Indeed, few members, except those more imme- diately cennected with the Government, attend; the majority are away in the country trying to secure their seats at the forthcoming election, which must necessarily take place next month. One would have thought that the birth of a second prince, securing the perpetuity of the Royal line by a new link, would have warmed the most worn-out members into something like en- thusiasm; but no, there was the same coldness, even in bringing this matter forward as in other business transactions. If Lord Palmerston had been in his place, the address of congratulation would have been better received, but that noble lord is still suffering from his late attack of gout, and indeed many persons speak ominously of the general state of his health. Sir G. Grey, who always leads the House in the noble Premier's absence, rose on Thursday, shortly after four o'clock, and said:—" The House, will perhaps allow me, before the ordinary business of the evening is proceeded with, to make a motion which I am sure will meet with general concur- rence, in consequence of the happy event which has taken place since the House last met. I have to propose that an humble address be presented to her Majesty, congratulating her Majesty upon the fact that the Princess of Wal-es has given birth I to another prince; and to assure her Majesty of our devoted loyalty and attachment to her person and family." Mr. Disraeli seconded the motion as briefly as possible, merely remarking that the event was not more gratifying to her Majesty than it was upon every ground, both public and private, to her Majesty's subjects. There was a faint attempt to heer, but it soon died away; indeed, the Members of the House of Commons seldom cheer much, except when the Speaker has to convey intelligence un- known previously, and this seldom happens now, for the press get hold of information almost as early as the Ministers themselves, and the M.P.'s have discussed the topic over their breakfast tables long before they attend to their Parliamentary duties in the afternoon. Speaking about Lord Palmerston, however, the Conservative organs assert that the Premier will retire from public life as soon as the pending appeal to the country is concluded. They add that his colleagues, anxious to avail themselves of the popularity attached to the noble lord's name, are exerting themselves to bring the Session to a close as early as possible, and express their belief that, in consequence of this retirement an attempt will be made to form a Ministry with Earl Russell as Premier and Mr. Gladstone as Leader of the House of Commons. The Liberal papers assert that these statements are at least premature, and are circulated solely with the idea of weakening the Ministerial majority. Be that as it may, I !Q¡ow that Lord Palmerston's health is' causing great anxiety amongst his friends. It is sa.id that Thursday he made an effort to reach the House, but was unable from weakness to take his seat on the Treasury Bench. Great uncertainty appears to exist as to the issue of the next general election. It is said, on the one hand, that the Derby party expect a victory; whilst, on the other, it is asserted that the Liberals were never stronger than they are at present. It might be interesting to some of my readers to give the present position of parties in the House of Commons as recorded by Dod. Looking through the whole of his list, and giving the independent members on the side they generally vote, I find that for England there are 263 Liberals returned against 236 Conservatives. For Scotland there are 38 Liberals and 15 Conservatives. For Ire- land there are 49 Liberals and 55 Conservatives. Making a total of 350 Liberals against 306 Con- servatives. Consequently, for Earl Derby's party to succeed, 26 more Conservatives must be re- turned to Parliament than there were at the last general election. I believe that many seats will be stoutly contested, and that there will be great anxiety as to the result. If rumour speaks true, we are to have an infusion of new blood into the House of Commons—that is to say, that a number of young gentlemen at present little known to fame, but whose abilities are reported to be of the highest character, will offer. themselves as candidates at the general election. Amongst these are, Lord Frederick Cavendish, son of the Duke of Devonshire, and brother of the present Under-Secretary for War {the Marquis of Hartington); the Hon. Arthur Stanley, second son of the Earl of Derby; Lord Arthur Clinton, son of the late and brother of the iresent Duke of Newcastle; Lord Edward St. k,r, second son of the Duke of Somerset; Mr. W. T-t. Gladstone, son of the Chancellor of the Excheq-a.ej. Let me, wever, describe a ceremony which took place m « House of Commons last week, not of ordinary ,,„ence. jt will be remembered that the Sergeant-aU durin tlle sitti f the House occupies the e.. below the w habited in old court dress knee brgec}les silk stockings, tightiit^g^ and waistcoa £ &c., of the most sombre Hacir,iie_ however> a sword hanging by his side, .0 bes use >r gUm^ in case any me not privileged should en C the threshold 0f the House. His prmcippj appear to the spectator to be connected, with t. huo-e mace wuch he carries over his shoulder as he°conducts tla Speaker to the chair, and places on the table during the time the Speaker sits. Upon the motici being carried that the House resolve itself inticrtommittee, the Sergeant-at-Arms who rushes up to he table, and puts the aforesaid mace in a place of cneealment, to be replaced when the Speaker shall rtume his seat. But this person- age is also the exectiveas well as the ceremonial officer of the Lower and if a member should offend against the prdleg-es of the House, he is given into the custod, of the Sergeant-at-Arms, "who when Mr. Speake^rlers it, can conduct the offender to a cell provldtl. br that purpose—which, by-the-bye, is a good, comfortable room-and keep him there confined. )f late years this has been seldom practised, bu^ the time of O'Connell it was not unfrequent. -Had almost forgotten the practice until last weeyjjen I saw the tall thin form of the present eant-at-Arms, Lord Charles Russell, with his jrht-fitting habili- ments, looking more kke^ skeleton than nature ever intended him, lvanee by slow steps towards the Speakei bowjng almost to the ground at every alters Btep until he reached the table, when, in soie tone, he said "Mr. Speaker—sir, in obeaieiK0 your com- mands issued on the 2nd insg., -L_e taken into custody two men, named Powew ghall and Henry Whitehead, charged witn n conspired with one George Morrisprocuring forged signatures to petitions to this House in favour of his Highness Azeem J ah; but I am sorry to record that with all my vigilance I have been unable to apprehend George Morris Mitchell, who had been the prime mover in the matter." The Sergeant-at-Arms then retired, walking backwards, and malting obeisances to the Speaker. Thus ended fares No. 1; but now Mr. Hennessy, who is one of tie busiest men in the House upon small matters, presented petitions from the peccant individuals then in custody, ex- pressing regret and contrition, and urging poverty and ignorance as a reason whereby they may be discharged without payment of fees. The hon. gentleman having put a motion to that effect, the Speaker rose and said,The motion before the House is that the two persons, named Powell Marshall and Henry Whitehead, now in the cus- tody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, be discharged with- out payment of fees. Those who are of that opinion say Aye;' tliose who are of a contrary opinion say1 No. I did not hear an exclamation either way, but the Speaker did, I suppose, for he immediately declared that the Ayes had it," and so farce No. 2 was got over. But, perhaps, my readers would like 10 know of what offence these men had been guilty. Weil, all of a sudden the people in the metrcpolis appeared to take a great interest in a real or. assumed Indian prince, named Azeem Jah." "Who is he, or what is he," was asked on all sideB ? Oh," was the reply, he is -a prince, who has suffered much from internal warfare: he has lost his lands, his wives, and treasures through the interference of the English Government." Petitions were sent from all parts of London in favour of an inquiry into this prince's rights. Metropolitan members, in face of a general election, must please their constituents, therefore these petitions were presented and the claims of the individual advocated. At length the officials had an inkling that these petitions were not genuine documents, and upon inquiry they found that they had all been got up by one man and his agents. The petition was prepared by the afore- said George Morris Mitchell, and he paid Id. for every signature, real or assumed, that hia agents could obtain. Thus thousands of names were appended to the petitions which had no existence, and others that were forgeries, and the House had well nigh been deceived by these got up docu- ments. It appears that the offence does not some under the criminal law, thus the only thing the House could do was to order the Sergeant-at-Arms to take the delinquents into custody, but as the principal had decamped it was thought unwise to punish those employed by him.

HORRIBLE MURDER AT PORTSMOUTH.

IDREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT…

APPALLING RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

A SUPPOSED BURGLAR SHOT BY…

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