Star. — London, England, 1829-03-18 00:00:00

lh every other feeling, and under this impression I rise tg. address the House. I am aware that it is most dillicok that it is, indeed, almost impossible. to effer my obser vati .ns that are new, upon a question so often an so ably discussed t but as there is one featute of the case , that A ppeam. to me - to.. hese. somewhat of' noweitTrlo onefeature I will now apply myself. I allude to the mbituation in which a large number of the Members of-this HOlllepare now placed. For myself .1 will.btate, and I hesitate not to avow ikthereisnoindividual who has attended to his duties as a Mernber of Parliament with a more firm determination to de that which ap pears right,, to act op more, strictly to the principles he has professed, than the humble individual who now adalre , ,ses you; and.. under this feeling, I, say I have found it utterly impossible, merely because some of the Ministers of the Crown have thought proper y, change their opinions. tojuitify any change in mine. D I.4ad been able to find any reasons to induce.such a change, the situation in which I now find myself placed with respect to the opposition to Government in which I now stand, would have led me to.yield to them. But with me such a change has been found. to .he . impos sible. and I will state to the House the reasons why I have come to such a conclusion—(llear, hear). — I regret most deeply that I have witnessed a very dif ferent, course of ,conduct on. the part of many Hon. Members with whom I have been accustomed to think and act. I make this observation not with a view to iefl:ct uon them for the coarse they have thought proper to adopt. Now, Sr, Lean, only come to a de termination with regard to the vote I shall be called non to give from the evidence adduced in support of the measure by the Right Hon. Gintlemaq, under whose sanction it is brought forward, and by. whom it is supported. There. may be some secret reasons that have infiuenceJ his conduct which he does not think fit to make public; or which, fr m the peculiar situation of Government, it may not be wise to declare; but, if there be such reasons, they cannot induce me to change my opinions, inasmuch as I am ignorant of their na ture. „I must, therefore, he allowed to Investigate the req-ons which the : Right Hon. Gentleman. has brought toward in justification of the cqurse he has pursued, and as having led to an alteration in his seniments with regard to the question of concessians to the Ca thqlo. Sir s those reasons are three:. first, with refe rence to .the state of Ireland; second, with regard: to the situation of the House of Commons; and third, as respects a divided GovernMent upon this question. — Such are the reasons, according to his statement. w.lllch have led the Right Hon. Gentleman, not to abandon his principles, for those he declares to remain as. they : Lave ever been, but to mark out for himself a new and' a different course from:that which the whole o f his po litical life he has ,conceived. it hi s -duty to p ur s ue.. will nn a. advert to the first reason adduced by the Right Hein. Secretary, and which I confess is to me must in. consists., t and most uniatir•factory-4 allitda . to_ • *sent skate.of Ireland as rendering the sittileineni of Ora rwstion, in. his. judgment, expedient, if not twee:- Earl. N0w,.1 have paid the most scrupulous attention' t' all the Right Hon. Gentleman has aster ed, and to all. the Pf99 l . he has advanced, and I put it to his. caii- dour, I put it to the candour of any Hon. Member, .whej , cr any one single reason has.been brought forward' upon this OCCAsjoii, that has not been from tone to time, over and over again, stated to Paiiianient and the coup. .t r y'? Froma his fact, then, what inference am IA draw . . . Whit ' ut this? If the measure be now necessary, that neces icy h,s long rAisted. Nay, I will go further. and sair it is not sirffsio.t ts r th.• Right lionocuable Gen ; tlensan to contend that such necessity existed heretufuse t . he is bound to prove that the necessity is now greater • than it ever has been since he had a seat in this HoUse. or he cannot ju.tify the change that, hAs taken place in his principle-. If it be now nece-sary to point to the . • :mote of Ireland as calling for the granting of this mea sure, I ask. i, there a period' wit'!in the last ten years at • which the argument was not equally strong ? I . will contend tha3 th ere h.ve been times during that pet i s so . when the danger of rrfusi-g the clams • of, the Catholics. was much greater tnan. it can now be. I certainly cermr•t hare such accurait means of judging of the state of :nicety in that country as his firjesty s .6overnment base, buil pannt.t. admit the argument that it is worse - now than it was formerly. In support of this pot‘ition 134411 read to the House a short extract from A , work which I now hold in my hand. It will be in the recol lection of the House thet in the year 1822 a prosecu tion ea, conducted by his Majesty's Attorney General lot Ireland against certain. parties for seditious prac. tires, in the cour-e of which the Attorney General drew st.pictuit ip ol Ireland fat worse than that so recently . drawn by the Right Hon.,Secretary, similar worse than, • that Right Honourable Gent!etuan cs old believe now . to exist. The npinjon expres,ed by the Attorney Ge neral was of such a nature, as to show that the settle ment of that countri was then Imre loudly called for, than it could now be. Mr. PlUnkett's addre,s to the Jury on this prosecuti on was as strong ps language could make any appeal. (Fbe Hon. Member, read A short extract from this address.) . The addreat . of thw - Attorney Gene ral proves that the s t stenflreland'in 142 was worse than it now is, and that therefore-the question of Catholic concession was, then rum,g, necessary than now. I Will also m i . peal to several. memlwes,of hie Maks , ty l .s Government whs cher, when the jt ill for suppi,sing the Ca•holic Association was broug, into Parliament, the aisle of 'lnland was not described as quite as dig. tot bed and.dangercus as it has been declared to he by the„ltight Hon. lent:. who intro duced the present Bill ? .1 say s therefore , that all we have been recently told re• lative to the state of Leland we knew perfectly well be fore—arid the; nothing new has been commitnicated.to u}—(hear, hear)—nothing of which we have not beets fully aware for many years back. The lesson of , the Right lion. Gentlemen), then, for chitngthii his sea i lows upon this ground, appears to be nothinsufBcieut and unsatisfactory . ; for, it A ntcs•ssitY . no N. exists fOr conceding to the Catholics certain claims, that necessity has lung existed. The nest reason urged by ; the Right. Mr. Gentleman is, the present divided optcrion.pf tie House of Comm , lis with r' lefties to . OsiSquestinis ; but that divided opinion has al;I:i been known_ to ex . shlor mart. ,but it this opinion was; iii,t.tertalt having Men, nearly baleced. this fact is net ending . to Oki . k the course pqcsned ,by . the R ight goo.. Genhierpin, ti e - cause a tirnslat .. argutne,ot might loitg . Atoce,64lve beeu 14014 tg. the 54.41• many.Thg pl puss nf Corniußns has,,nui ',testily tWen tootc,,ilivi3ec . than it.has i s 3 many int an Pun; and it Bl i g ht be 07..i.0iia ok_ih, ~.,.r. 7 atting on the defensive I {d , .0 9; ,,glitte awed, gt,20,,.n, Certain : it was that the last , 91411E7 ~* OPP% 9 (:,t'iiemouus .that. 0044 in taloa; of,m .... cssin, was aOlOO large ate KfW had Prriciash htan•.. HIM rit i 6 then, the argument, of oc, Not ynn t tieritl . g9Att must fall to tlie ground, )9r he cati„. ems! np : aupport: fur-that argunicnthsial tbe state 4, kho H . i oss e a (g ,l • evenings ago,when tte Hpuie cante,to itcliistopoti itif _ pluton. Sir, it is my belieftho icti?e„ent finntlie4 and sixti Members,whu then. Toted a gainst. the ,A ;t o t t . Zion. Gentlentanhad - been supported it 11 him as ey , had been formerly, erirksillaistiefUnit isinaself iit a majority rester than had ever given him their support. Lint the ight Omi t Gentleman stater that he *Of riot, eilfic4 k dlppoesabp t hosi viiiiiiioied with him upon Otis qu tiotin t s House. sir, T confers I did not eapeet,tis bent sue . a cliarge atieenegt When he 4 . - 1 perwaced such i •ant of so rt ' I ani at a loss ts guess. • t he has nosinitticularizel any stccresizis; and l'. most say I think he would find - it most diffienlt so to cla. Was it at the time when Mr. Caning commenced as Leader of the Administration that he complains ? I - Sir, I remember that ociasionwell s . an I believe that no:Minister of the Crown ever 'quitted Offiee "supported by:so large or se respectable a body as that 'which then supported the Right Hon. Gentleman. I confess, then, that to be now • rept-hided with haviig 'been found wanting in that support which' was, I contend, so honestly and so zealously given, excites my surpri.le. - - I say, then, in reference to that period, that if the po licy of conceding the Claimi •of the Catholics wiz so strong as the Right' Honourable Gentlemin desciibes it to be, in common justice to the country--iu cum ' mon justice to himself—that was the moment when he should have conceded thern—(Hear, hear, hear). — When Mr. Canuing, who was the adeocite l . the able•and ' consistent advocate of the Catholic Claims, first intern duced into Parliament a measure for conceding those Claims, I did not consider such concession either nisei diem or necessary. Such was also my impression when they. were again brought toward in 1827, If such had not been the case I should have been bound to give Mr. Canning my support, and it was on this ground only that the Right Hon. Secretary received it. Sir, I think concessions would, if necessary, have had at that time a much better effect, inasmuch as, if we are to look for security to the gratitude of the Roman Catholics,-that gratitude would have been greater than it can now be fir they would have received as a boon at the hands of Mr. Canuing that which they will not hesitate now to declare can be no longer withheld. Sir, it is a very on usual thing for any Member of this House to apologise ' tor.oot addressing you; but, as the Right Honourable Gentleman has moldered this apology somewhat neces sail, I beg to state that, if I have hitherto been silent upon this topic, it was because I conceived my inter ference by no means necessary —(Hear, hear). Sir, it. reference to the county which I have the honour to re. present, I will say that, when we assembled to declare our sentiments upon this question, we thought we a ere giviog . the Right Honourable Gentleman our utmost support—(Hear)—for we at that time little suspected that the first day of the present Session of Parliament' would have presented him to this House, after having undergone a total change in the sentiments he had pro fessed and advoca:ed for so-many years. Sir, as a re presentative of the county of Bent, I will say of that countyand I will say it with all respect to the con. stituted Authorities of the land:-.whenever we think it right.to - assemble, we will take leave so to do, and to pursue the course that we shall consider best. The nest point to which I shall itllude, al being the third reastle adduced by the Right . Hon. Gentleiranin hit . defenee, is as to the divided ;tate ache - Cabinet. Nois, oil Man' can doubt this fist. No man can have • forgotten that it bas • heeti a subject of complaint for many yeah ball ; but the information is surely nothing'new—sutely it does not OW Frees upon. our . Consideration more thin it, has done for ycars.Nay,it does not now press so much,lor the' circumstance is not now so strong as it used to be; and I will here remind the n House that a few evenings ago a gallant peneraf i • now in office, declared that he had' formed an opinion with reference to this subject, upon which His opinion bad not previously bten formed.— Now, I give tills Gallant General credit for having' acted fairly, and. as 'he possessed no opinion before, I am at liberty to presume that, if the Noble Duke at the head* of his Majesty's Government had held a different opi nion, there is much probability that the Gallant Gene ral would have thought with him; I contend, there fore, chat the present Cabinet would not have been as much divided as those which have previously existed. When the Honourable Member for Liverpool was in the Cabinet—when the Honourable Member for Cam bridge was in the Cabinet—when the Honourable Mem ber for Inverness was in the Cabinet—then, indeed, the Cabinet might be properly called divided ; but, when those Honourable Members quitted. their offices, I believe, it the division in the-Cabinet was not altogether se' aside, it had, at least, become so trifling as to leave it in the power of the head of that Cabinet totally to prevent the Cabinet from being longer divided upon: this subject. These, then, Sir, are the grounds on which the Right Honourable Gentleman has justified the . change that has recently taken place in his opinions, v ith regard to the question of concessions to the Roman Catholics. Sir, I will not allude to the change of opi nions which some other Honourable Gentlemen have undergone. Those changes do not, I conceive; at all bear upon the point ; but I contend that no circum stances now exist to warrant this change on the part of the Right Honourable Gentlemen that hive not vatted for a very long period—that there is now nothing to induCe the Government to act that has not been of long duration. In the course of the di,cit skins that have occurred since the opening of the present Session of Parliament,l have heard some obsertrati.ms which I con fess have given me considerable surprise. It has been asserted by one Honourable lientleman, the Member* for Winchelsea, whom I do not see in his place, that this question is a political, aid not a teligious quetioi: I certainly am not astonished that this Honourabld' Member should have made such a declaration, beemisi it is consistent with the course he has invariably pur sued, and the principles upon which he has invariably acted; but I confess I have been greatly astonished id' hear similar sentiments from other persons—personi • who I should have imagined would have been the *et y last to have uttered them. What! not a re; ligiods question? Surely the whole question turns u p o n sensiont—(Heari hear). There is nothing,•ii tar as lean conceive, in the nature of the Roman Cabo lies. that can prevent them from being got d and use ful_ subjects; but it is because there is in the :elision 'they jrofe,,, in the doCtrinei and oplttioiii they bold, • siiiiell titit we.bdie.e boo, inj i tSfiatisofed opposed to Ilioldijbh t;OnstitOtiOlt i that we stet to iiitlihOld lrom them certain privileges. This, I an. juitified in saying, is.thepris.ciple tilitin which the Right Hon. Gentleman liisi f ern hithertOgiii.lid in hit disootitiod 0 theit chains this. is Ate cause of the course he iiitl beretiffisie egO• .I.lesed iglu) duty to pursue. In support of this opi. won I will read s , pessaAe from a speech de'ivered by the. nht PotierUrahle GeOdetigin, in this House, so .• . . I4iiig,4 Is *. s.tltej ea; no linger ago thin the Lett last Session of Patlianieut. The words of the Right Honourable Gentleman ate as follow-:- , 4 Can I leave gut et. iiinliget,llll Kollar iuiluehee .. f the teneti of .4ii. iti040... LAl)Pc..oi4roo on 00'44 s ociety, apposed as 004 tenets are to those principles and tb those institutions [ , whii i th we consider s wed ?" Tfiii, then, was die slii.i,it.rie ivhich, the Astit tietteerie fieAtjpnalLsod4re.aiotoil,:aaipiateo pith the raft I months. Sir, there is in ibis country a 'very large God of people who believe this gaistlotl to k almost, or snit, erlirsi s. sil t altogether and eieliiii,ely, a reli. gums ejUKtiob i and; tlttliSulth I tau libt iiiiireii tb rat. low in • lie, or to argue that the rife of Rome ..,, 1 will contend thal'tholt:estreines WM Olfeeist to a Vast meet thiofighoutthotoon. ilipid I will maintatt nth this (*tam lea e Weed . le'ices—is a religiouslis well ail political quektielf. been. Baronet hersrfeatfin ezivacf• frogs ter yci .. evidence, in which the'DoCtor spoliiifflhe rte. cessitf Chatalw - iis eiiited - tor - iniaing the ireopri by* authority). Sir, it is tecaute I fear this position of Dr. Doyle's being brought iisto practical opetation in this . country—because I am'afraid of - this potici bemg in troduced into the civil 'polite °ilk' State--:thdt -I am adierse to the idmissitin'of ROmiliftithaliii . rirpolitr.- cal power. ThiS is a doctriae. - thepriedeef opts'atioa of which. ti its full eztent, would be cubes' sise'of all our libeitids. Give 'me security against the possibili • y of, thi s lutfindtt tity, 'sn'iliceli in the opldithrof• a Ca. tholic Tr lei, bent' int roJiicid ' into 'this . country, and then 1 will tell you that I know of nothing personal to the character of his Majestrii Itornin . Catholic subjeA... that shinildesclude them from a %hate in the-legisla tion of the country—(Hear). It is not against than at men that I war, but as the professors of tl.e principles they hold - as the professors tif 'a religion which is a reli• gion of arfibitleitt—(Chters): I say that it is 'a religion of ariiiiiiiin,secaise, I most firmly belietethat it wits not be content with any burthe first place. I agreed. therefore, entirely with the'Right Honourable Gentle man' oppbsite when he acid of he Rowels Catholic and Pretest : ant 'faiths, tt.at one or the other 'of them must have the ascendancy—(Cheers). I bilieve I quote cot reedy the ward, used by the Right Honoorabte Gentle manHeisr). There is one topic whikh has been urged against us, and 'I think unfairly urged, byhis ItlaAtty's Mitfsters, in the course of the discussions ;hit have taken place on this subject s.nce they declaieJ 'them selves to have changed 'their opini'ons: " We have taken the best course we cast,"says the GiOrei want; “ .1 'ye u are not satisfied with what we ptopose, tell us what we ought to do—let us see if you Cali 'propose any thing better"—(Hear). nondurable • Membets may cry— " Hear, Warr' but they need not tear'tbit I shall hot meet the question on all the poibts I think noOstin'ate rial, and it I am wrong 1 shall be very happy 1 , . be cor .rected:-.(Cheers). Well, then, !quitters ask us what we would advise? bbw; is this quite a fait question? —(Loud cheess) ls it a question that might to bi put to us?—(Hear, heat.) It is quite a new state hi things, indeed, when the &scathe 'Government vine down and' itsk ibt Noose 'of COMMons' wh it' cool se theyire to puesse ?:—(lleir, tulle. heir.) This 'is' quite ' a trews .course of proceedings and lam not aware that it is in cumbent upon us' either to answer tire question r.s. to put them right if they havegeine wrring--(Cheers).-. Lei' me ieosiodihe Right Honourable Cielitlenti:in op posite, when he puts this question to us, of the situation in which Le fras'placesl us. I put it to the' 1100 t to examine the fats. fortheedepose of se loft:bated:et the Right' Honourable Gen ileitian 'is not - piifitily: a ea e that he has pit tit in a situation which has made it neat to imptisslblt now to - Answer hint? The Right 'Hon. Gitteloati conses down to this 'Hattie 'with'the smarm* of,CatholicroncesOodalready prepared(ilea);heari We are told that we are a deliberative assembly.; but Ministers come down to this Hon ei and tell us, . 4 Here is the p.eaiate we' propose; aecei t it, or plunge the countey'inte all the hotrors of a rebellion add civil roar."—(Hear.) Now, if the situation of the country was proved to be such as the Right Hon. ( millennia slides, to be such as to render probable thettrent the Right Hon. Gentleman threatens' us with it we refuse our assent to this measure, then I say our :spasm could be only one—(Heat)—and that one the one he desire . 'But let us first, 1 say, have'a little more IT: not that the state of the country is such as he resin airs it to be— (Cheers). Let it be proved to us that dime is some, danger of rebellion in Ireland . more than their has been fur yeats past—(Heat). If the question hatti eon put to us by MAjesty's GOverdment six months back we should.have been in a far different situation ; we should then have been able to have answered the question. Had nut Government taken the Howe and the country bf stlipiiii, every Hon'. Member would have been ready with an answer to the question the Ministers now put: Had the Right H n.. Gentleman then condescended to have asked us what he should do if we were dissatisfied with his'preposat ? lean tell him'seh it' Would have . heel the course I should have recommended. It would not, Sir, have been one of opposition to the Roman Catho. lies; tot I should probably have been disposed to have gone much further than Malty of my Honottial& Friends who conicientiotisly*opposd the present rhea sure with ma. I would have Withheld nothing froth the Roman Catholics but a seat in Parliantent—(Hear, hear, hear, and laughter.) I mitt perfectly well alare that this would not hide latin satisfsetOly either to the advocates of unlimited c , .ncesdon in this H use ue to the Roman Catholics in licks d but IT- ; it would Dave been as mach es ought to havetsfen granted them, and as much as the Protestant pottier of the crithnsu nity, who possessed Protestant feeling, would have been inclined to grant. But we ate t 01.., Sir, by the Right Hon. Secretary that if no mole bad been done than I propose, that we sleould still have had . * Cath itic ques tion tilt behind. But, Sir, will the Right Hon. Gen tleman tell us—will he venture to make the asset tion— .that we shalt now have no Catholic quesiorrleft behind? if, Sir, it hiok to the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech, and give belief to what he there utters, we shall find that he himself thinks there will still be a Catholic ques tion left behind—(Hear, hear). 'That is my opinion as dell as his; and 1 trust that there will yet be a great reunion of Protestant mind, for the purpose of redid% any attempted aggression upon our libettiet by the Ca.' tholics. Sir, whatever coarse the Right lion. Gentle► man shoilld or Might Wee penned, he should not have come down and taken the House and country by Elf prise -1 say by surprise, for such. is the fact as se gos& boils parties in this Ilouse. Sure I am that to the HoUburibfe Gentlemen on this side of the HOuse .sirhO hiiecoaitiatly adiocated the Catholic claims, the measure must appear much better than they could have caleulated upon, whilst to the Gentlemen who eitibill:e the Protestant hiterest.it appears a great deal porse than they could have expected—(Hear, heat). Sir, there is another point on which I wish ti Make a 'few observations. I allude to the measure in solar as it liffetts the highest Perionage in the State. Much has keen said on, the subject bt the Coronation Oath; but I will not attempt, indeed it would not beicurie me to do so, to pronounce an opinion upon the subject. All I 6111 tai is, that a strong Opinion prevails out of, if not In, this Waist, that the Cororratioh Oitb is directly op.' posed to the passing of this Bill. Out of doors, must certainly, this opinion prevails, and it hal/Peen strength. 'ened iti the minds of the people by the terms in which his lath jeiefrd 14+40 ilwijs tole of It as Mewling apoo him hot to agree tO no c w irta s i i n ve .m per ia raps feh unnecessall t say :lathing that may I will n*' lineasineas and disquiet in any mind, and, least of all, it: that . to vild et l hay e ventated to allude ; bat this 1' Will oy, dui the,. time once Was Ain this question would have weighed most strongly, would have been ecinsidered Illict initttrely, before it bad been decided as ft applatiditti'd Id hPits . teat done. There Isere ) toot v ore One Members in this House, wlSo would h ave considered the fatal situation in which the Protestant M starch of this country would be placed when diod e .. t,ructionof all the bare len to admi stn ► f Roman Ca. 'thhtics to 1 ower should he accomplished. 'this coo s wp detation h.s impressed itself most t'eeply on my mind, and has w.eigliti so stiongly with me in the decision WOuldrotioo, Sit, it had•beest-ew,rai deeply impressed on the minds tit his Majesty's bl us i, lets than it appears to have brew! 1 find, by reference to the iteirsiti , s of the Right Hon; Gentleman, that ww 'are to be all ,wed to have a Wats:smut Xlmierch—(hes er and laughter)—and GOD 101bisi th ,t we should ewer shave any other;' but-theti-he miklittbe surrounded by CathiAlc Millittirc--(Hian hear). It 'is tree that the •Lorif Chancellor is to be ii Protestant ; ar.d no &lot as lung as my L .id Lyndhurst, the present Chancellor, frotelt'etii pa/bridle' interests i f the Protestant Church will 'be 'duly Ishii 'tare o'=-ILtughter): there he too, some grand contrivance in the 8.11, tiy• whieflTa Commis-ion is to he estahished in order -vi takeouts that the Pierre Minister of it.eCi.-ivn; b.isits Catholic, does fit timptisperly Cisprisn'or . his patOonige.' There Are some other parts of the Bill swhiClil aus'equallr at a loss to underst end how they can vote of any, teal service to Protestant security; out ne doubt we shall have some erplanetion of iii m, and I ,::all not, viers. , forei•d4:4l updn'thetriftr Vier. I should.not have de' •tainid the Hour 'so long.:-(heir)—had I not, in tot mon with a large poition of his Majesty's sulietts, en tertained a d.e..d of the consequences of Vie impoititit a enure now ' s ubmit t ed tto conrideration o f the House. • If it is to pass, I trust that it w ill have All the ben ficial consequences the Cieveinateirt seem to anti. ciliate from it. No min can mive sincerely. wish to see . all the desires of his Majesty's Miaistervaccont, plashed than I do upon this suilect ; but it is, Sir, be. cause I die not, b. L tube I cannot, believe that the mead sure WM be produvove of the atnici,ated gond, that I sic sit give it my most decided opposition. Much has byes, saidin this floshe•and elsewhere of the par omi t s' have belei formed to cons , quente of the course that hay been taken by his Nlajesty's Minot:is, and of the pros pects and view s f these patties. For 'instill haveno hesitation in saying that, if the measures of Ministers on othei questions ate such as I can conscientiously ap. pore of, these measures Oral have my support. 'filet I say.' however mock I may d.ffer with his Majesty's Ministers on this a:A.O6e, gie.it• Constitutional quew dints. I stair still; huA ever, feel myself in that situa. lion a hich I ti list I have always (wasp ed in rhos House s that of being• at liberty fearlessly to oppose theitoon 9nestiohs on which we differ. At the same time; how. wits., that I shall take upon individual measures the course I think beat to pursue for the good of the coon. t2y, and may thus suprost-a nieasuse.plopoted by I:is Majesty's Ministers—at the same time . ' sat that I shall do this, Ish 81.1 ci-ase to feel great disttusteteaiteclty recent events, in all public Men. If stir 'explanation can hen after be given of the conduct adopted of hiteby his Majesty's Ministers,l shall be teady roleceive it with what-set degree'•ol'credit . I may think it entitled•to. toot at the same time 1 feel that th'e confidence which I le posed in public men has received% blow Irons which it can never recovir. m ole= internam hats. is a fear that will be always on my mind. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCH EQUER—I stand nearly in the same titillation with my Honourable Friend who has just sat down, inasmuch as I have heti no op - - pottunity before the present of addressing.the Mute upon this subject. I shell not trespass long upon the attention ct the House, nor 'do I rise to complain of the conduct of my Hon. Friend who last addreiseit . the House, fot I believe him to be actuated by the .move conscienti..us conviction of the propriety and justice of the course lam pursuing. I only ask from hint lore turn that he will permit me to have the same 'latency of opinion in the adoption of the course I am now pur suing as he claims, and as he is in justice • entitled to claim, for himself in that which he has adopted. 'I re vret that my Honourable Friend should, for their con duct on the present occasion, withdraw his confidence from those with whom he has been lot merly connected, and particularly:do I regret that what his passed should have given rise to a feeling of dietrutt in the conduct of all public men. But I console myself by reaming -that, if the mftstne ititroduced be f. ended on justice and pro priety, the time is not far distant when its benefits wdl be so apparent that my . Honourable Fliend hierstelf, possessed air he it with true English feelings, will re joice tO see the rapid 'pietist of peace and happiness in lieland; hr will rejoice to see that the interests of his country are advanced, although contr y to his ex pectation. That will be my consolation for having taken the course re commanded from the Throne...- My Honourable Friend has to-night 1.1 - en into t. e very same error which all who have yet touched on that pan of the subject have fallen into. My lionositable Friend has not denied, any more than those Honour able. Members who ertertain the same opinions with himself. that the peace of the country is in peculiar and imminent dense, ; and he; like all others, has most care lull) G ' , borne to point out the course which he would recommend in the place of that which foe in the ground fso much complaint. He has attempted to defend himself, and to state reasons for forbearing to answer the call made by his Majesty's Government fot any Honourab e Member to point out a better measure than we have proposed. But all who have heard my Hon. Friend's argument must coucede that nothing awe inconclusive had been urged even by those that pre. ceded him. My Honourable Friend seems to complain of Government having been prepated with a remedy ; hot would it have been right for his Majesty's Ministers to have come down to this House, and to have stated that the countey, was in great danger, and then to try the opinion of the House as to what course they should pursue? Would it have been right for the Executive, who, it must be remembered, is responsible for the measures it advises, to hate appeared so utterly help less, so utterly . insensible of what the proper remedy for the evil was, as not to be able even to make a sugges tion upon it ? Government appears to me to have taken the proper course when, seeing the danger which did exist, it provided the remedy for it, and came to the de. termination of which my Hon. Friend complains, a de. termination which will ensure the safety of the empire. 'e opinion that bad been declared by his Majesty i Ministers to Parliament is now more entitled to credit, from having on former occasions always strenuously supported- a course opposite to that we have now taken. I say again that, seeing the exigency in which the country is placed, we are entitled to call on my Hon. Friend ' , who admits that exigency, and who, by his speech this night, has shown that be sees the danger to the fullest extent, to say what other measure ought to be adopted. But my Hon. Friend, I must repeat, lite all those who have addressed themselves to this question, has forborne, or been unable to answer to that call.. This, I think, is the strongest argument that I can urge to prove this the ftseatu(e befbie us; if trot the wisest that might be proposed, is at least such a one as no Hon..Alember.uppOsed so it hid been able to find i aulP I