The Sun. — London, England, 1852-02-04 00:00:00

prd 11 IS pi- Di in Ird ot ben much-injured man, who had exerted himself in oppo • sition to a bad Government; and, having done so, had been interfered with by another Government. He had never heard Kossuth ask for the intervention of England in the affairs of Hungary. He only asked for non-intervention, sad he was right, because if Russia, or any third party, were permitted to interfere in the affairs of another Govern ment in a very short space of time the absolute Governments Might unite to make Europe despotic. Mr. H J. BAILLIE could not understand on the what grounds the e x pl ana ti ons by the Noble Lord (Lord John Russell) r e l a ti ve t o th e s t a t emea t o f the late Foreign Secre taryJn had b een g i ven — w h e th er t o sa tisfy the curiosityn:i of the Honourable M e mb er f o r M ar yl e bone. or an appeal judgment o f th e H ouse . H e had a l w ays had the misfortune to differ from Lord Palmerston upon matters rforeign policy, and he might, therefore, possibly be re garded as no t a lt oge th er unprejudiced. But,a having atte. listened to the explanations given, and silents made on both sides, he could, not arrive ( at any other conclusion than that theic :Ne o f b o l r e the Lords i p ns of t al li; snerston) Lad been offered up as a sacra whole Administration.— (Cheers and laughter) They were told by th ose p ower f u l organs of the press which defende the Gove r n men t that our foreign relations were not in that satisfactory state in which they once were, and that the Govern ment of this coun try was very much hated abhorred by all foreign Governments, that we were without a friend or ally in Europe, except Sardinia, and that all this was to b e attributed to the Foreign-office. Now, if it were true that in 184 g our Government outraged Austria, Naples, Sicily, and Spain—if, in 1850, the Government wantoniy persecuted the unhappy Greeks, the Noble Lord at the head of the Go vernment was responsible.—( Hear, hear.) He supported that policy in the House of Commons, and promoted to high office those who were most clamorous in approving it._( Hear.) Until thisday he thought the Government entirely approved the policy of the Noble Lord lately a t th e head of the Fo reign-office. To-day the Noble Lord, it appeared, was dis missed, because he, a most able, experienced, and successful Minister, as he was described, had had the " presumption" to take upon himself the management of his own department. That was the " head and front of his offending," and was it really upon such grounds that a most able and successful Minister was to be so lightly shaken off? Was there a man in that House who believed that these were the real grounds, or who had any doubt that the recent changes in Europe and France had at last brought conviction to the Noble Lord at the head of the Government that his foreign policy had been a failure, and that under existing circumstances it would be dangerous to persevere iu it? But, if it were ne cessary to offer up his Foreign Secretary to the evil genius of continental despotism, would it not have been the most just, the most generous, and the most chivalrous course if the First Minister of the Crown and his colleagues had also thought proper to accompany the Foreign Minister in his resignation? But the Noble Lord had not hesitated to get rid of one of his colleagues when he and the rest of the Cabinet were equally responsible.—(Hear, hear. ) Mr. GEACH had never heard Kossuth, in his many sPeeches, ask for the intervention of this country in the affairs of Hungary. All that he complained of was inter vention by other countries, since, if Hungary had been al. lowed to settle its dispute with Austria the result would have been very different. He (Mr. Gesell) had been in France since the 2d of December, and had gathered the opinions of all classes. Ho believed that the people of France were almost universally satisfied at the solution of the difficulty la which they had become involved, not as being the best for France, but as being the best solution possible under the ci rcumstances. He regretted, considering the feeling that seXisted in France with regard to the expression of opinion ets the part of e press e thia coutry, that agentleman se lected for the th important f position of moving the Address should have been so indiscreet as to express the opinions to Which he had given utterance. es Mr. MILNES th oug ht th e N o bl e Lord at the head of th e eeovernment would find that the speech of the Hon. Member for Inverness-shire in a great measure represented the ;Vizi ms of Europe on the subject of the dismissal of the late zoreign Secretary. He believed when the reports of this s d ebate went forth to the public it would scarcely be credited 41 Europe that upon the mere ground of Ministerial disci- Wine a great change had taken place in the Government of this country, and that an important Minister had been sum , e l ltarily dismissed from office. H e did no t p resume t o d ou bt re Perfect veracity of all that had been stated by the Noble Lord (Lord John Russell), but he believed that public °Pinion, both in this country and elsewhere, would see be- Yond the statement he had made motives and intentions Which he had not' expressed, and of which he was, perhaps, hardly conscious himself. It might be said that the charac ter and reputation of a Minister were hardly understood Until he had lost power, and it was perhaps only when tha news of the fall of Lord Pal mers t on sprea d t h roughout old that the estimation in which th a t N o bl e L ord was hd was really ascertained. What was the meaning of the u niversal jubilee of the absolutist Powers of Europe —of the rejoicings of the oppressors and the lamentations of the op pressed? What was the reason that Lord Palmerston's fall had been regarded as showing the accession of the English Government to the new order of things to be in augurated in Europe? He (Mr. Milnes) had always be lieved that the Administration of the Noble Lord had been entirely misunderstood and misrepresented throughout Eu rope, He had found that wherever upon the continent men Were aspiring after liberty, or were i n any way oppressed, there the name of Lord Palmerston was mentioned with re spect and regard by the oppressed and the suffering. In the remote districts of Germany, in the cities of Spain, in all countries and p or ti ons of the world where princ i p l es o f lib er ty were struggling into birth, the Noble Lord's name was re eaosnirled with respect—he might almost say with reverential lean ; an d i t was natural that those Powers which repre opinions totally alien from the wishes and desires of f ie People of England should regard the Noble Lord with eery - e Lord to feel bl e°lltra of vague t their i nga- They consequently represented the all kinds of err r or and P e e v o i p l le as as sort of hobgoblin—an object wholly alien, repute, connecting his name with eavnoduttlon and confusion, to which his spirit was just influence. }liens endeavouring to diminish his real and the Noble Lord tto O t t i r l; Milnes) thought, therefore, that done great the bead of the Government had injury a taken. He believed in the affairs s country by the course he had they were approaching a period office of this of Europe when the Foreign country would require to be guided by a prac intiseradthand, and the authority of the Noble Lord (Lord Pal ,abilm') might prevent a great many evils which all the itY, and just and good intentions, of any successor might zi ss ., o enable him to avoid. The fall of the Noble Lord had ses u L been accompanied by any peculiar demonstration of the reuSProvement of our relations with foreign Powers, but was incident with a large demand for the increase of our na (fuel defences. He (Mr. Milnes), as a supporter of the a v ertsment, felt very great regret at the dismissal of the late Foreign Secretary, which he believed had materially We akened the efficiency of the Government, and had dimi- Vbed its influence in the country • for the department over t i the jetslthe Noble Lord had presided had certainly been one ie Most popular and the least obnoxious to general ob °lL The Noble Lord at the head of the Government eighteen ha ve seen in the demonstration which took place some ea!tetteen months ago what was the feeling of sympathy en sue ajned f or the Nble Lord (Lord Palmerston) on th a t (th e Minist erial) side of the Hou s e —(Hear, hear)— an d which Would follow him into the position of independence he had assumed. He would only express his hope that the other of the Noble Lord might not be the precursor of of 4 1 8 3 1 elptoms of weakness and dissolution on the part ear e Ministry, which he would profoundly and sin eely regret neet or d D. STUART observed that the Hon. Baronet who "'Jed the address had referred to what he had called an country• Now he (Lord D. Stuart) considered tbat the ;184intner whieh Kossuth hed been received rendered his raiddlan event of some importance. The feeling of the e classes in favour of the great patriot had been uni -0:84 and if the same feeling did not pervade the higher w e res---if few of the nobility or gentry came forward to l ea „ e c( nue the distinguished exile—he must say their back eirt"stless did them very little credit. He could add his tea t%" to that of the Hon. Members for Birmingham and p es ° , ea trY, and could declare that Kossuth was not sup ji-e'sed in this country on account of his advocacy of repub at art doctrines, and that Kossuth had not called upon this re s , urit rY to interfere by arms in behalf of Hungary. H e slar, 'd not congratulate the' Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Bulkeley) t‘', ll , ll is success in conciliating the different parties in eeseoute, and he did not think the Government would feel h e a d obliged to the Hon. Baronet for the mode in which he lam"' advocated their cause. The Honourable Gentleman e told them that he abhorred the ballot—a noble ee tit hent to be cheered by hearty Reformers, many the Whom thought as he (Lord D. Stuart) did, that there ballot was a sine qua non, without which Cation would be no true, free, and complete represen (lire of the ple. The Hon. Baronet also talked of the of thetaded interest of the country generally to the L°Me-tax. He (Lord D. Stuart) did not know how the ieu,veeruneent would like that statement, or whether it was e 'e_° taken as an indication that the Chancellor of the Ex eleeotter intended to relieve the country from the impost.— Ltdy. laugh.) With regard to Ireland, also, the Hon. Baronet them that it had always been a principle of this country' si maintain the Protestant ascendancy. He (Lord D. Stuart)a had hoped, however, the case in times past, that the principles might have been those of which were now to flourish in this country were inplete religious equality. He felt great regret at the ") late lamentable to be de- Change in the Ministry, for he thought it ed with plored that a great Minister who had he nl e cli ch arg one of the principal departments of the years, during which he bad conducted Statepublicafkairnrsdiawaintyh credit to himself, andwith honour to the country, had, in most difficult times preserved uninterrupted pewalcio should have been removed from office upon what he could not , t _ but call the mos t p a l try pre t ences Th e speech they uasl heard to-night from the Noble Lord at the head o f the Government would go forth to the world, and would be m anned with a careful eve both in this and in foreign coun t". What might be thouffeit of it abroad he did not Il ow, but he believed the peo ple of England would see it w as pretty clear that the Noble L ird (Lord J. Russell) was , I t Th b desirous, for some reason or othe r , of finding an excuse for ;L'ettine rid of his Noble Colleag u e. Whether the Noble Lord ord Palmerston) was too liberal in his principles, or whe `t" a his advocacy of those pri nc ipl es occa sioned remon 4ances of a disagree a bl e na t ure f rom f ore i gn C o urts, or mat N ether there was some truth in the existence of the foreign which was alluded to in the debate on the affairs of 4eee in 1850, he could not say, but it was clear, from R es Stever reason, there was a foregone conclusion and aertnination on the part of the Noble Lord (Lord John 11 ( 7 3 ° 11 ) to get rid of the Foreign Secret ar y as soon as h ai e uld, and he took the pretext of the Noble Lord's a ti ,,ng offered an opinion upon a certain question. Could eafbra6ats_, believe that if the Noble Lord (Lord John Elm er h is east been anxious to secure to the country the services as th s . Noble Colleague he would have allowed such a reason eta , la to operate? The Noble Lord (Lord Palmerston) had e si Od that he gave an extra-official opinion upon a certain Iqet That opinion, it seemed, was disapproved by the p or 2e Lord at the head of the Governmeut, lat!t . the late Iseatteign Secretary had told them that similar opinions had belie ex p r essed by the Noble Lord himself (Lord J. Rus the'' e ,°3 7 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the President of th e te , ',"ncil the Secretar for the Colonies, and th e "'le Lord' who had succeeded to the Foreign-office. lf, , ver rl e , this statement were correct—and the Ministers present l'ses e P erf ectlY aware whether it was inaccurate or no—it eto 4 T.Ty clear that the reason assigned for Lord Palmer the_smissal could not be the real reason. The speech Palmer i " a ! ob 1 e Lord at the head of the Government certainly Tire4C,ltapression that the late Foreign Secretary had ex 13rea,i'!Il strong terms his approval of the conduct of the alt er hint of France. If that wore so, it would very much sse stie n (Lord D. Stuart's) opinion of this case, because, Qailaey deagt vrviseee r 3 as he was that a god understanding should pre leihis country and France, he could not look with ttir sea etrhcOmplacency upon the conduct which had been ..o re eeto n i _Y se e president It was true that if the people of "re " to be governed by a military despot, who had Ile epe igard for the oaths . he had taken, and who trampled all light,. and justice under his feet, it was their own them'-hut ;- t u ° this country had no business to interfere with 4,41 4- Britishat he thought the proper course to be pursued by 4_n Minister was to abstain from giving an opinion seise rof such conduct as he had described, and he eibirrielLtleat in this case greater caution had been used by *At tmoera of the Government. generally with respect to t ambers of such nefarto PW% URI oth us proceedings as had 1 / 1 " th, - 0 C 4141,1101. OW' I SUN, dered that no reason had been given of a nature to justify the dismissal of the late Foreign Secretary, but, after the explanations which had been offered, he (Lard D. Stuart) entertained the conviction that there had been a forgone conclusion—a determination to get rid of the Noble Lard, and he feared the step had been taken in consequence of re presentations cominz from abroad. Of this be was satisfied— that the proceeding would not be found conducive to British interests. c t o h n i s . o i u d g e r h e o d u t that E u r o t p h e e w c a a e u s in e o o s f t libert y f H Pro V te E s ß ta N nt E isni and of indebted to the Noble Lord (Lord Palmerston), who had been the friend of liberty and Constitutional government wherever they had existed. What was the first thing that had taken place Fence the Noble Viscount left office ? The efforts of the Bible Society had been condemned to be stopped where Austria hard authority, and the Scottish missionaries were required to leave Hungary, though they had done nothing contrary to the laws of that coun try. But if the Noble Viscount did on the 16th of De cember write a dispatch contrary to the opinion of the British Cabinet, and embodying sentiments which it would have been a very different thing to utter on the first blush or the events in France—(Hear, hear) —if he did this without consulting the Members of the Cabinet, and without receiving the accustomed sanction, the opinion of the House and of the country in general would surely be, that under these circumstances, the Prime Minister was justified in declaring that he would no longer act with the Noble Viscount as the responsible Minister of the Crown fur conducting our foreign affairs.—(fear, hear.) Mr. OSIJORNE observed, that his Noble Friend (Lord D. Stuart) began by criticising certain observations of the mover of the Address; but whatever c tvil might be taken on the ground of particular expressions used by a gentleman not accustomed to speaking in the House, the House gene rally wou d probably be more struck with the readiness of the Hon. Baronet's address, aed feel regret that he did not oftener mingle iu the debates,—(Hear, hear.) The present discussion had been so wrapped up in one absorbing subject that it would be almost looked upon as an impertinence to allude to any other; but there were other matters interest ing to the country. The speech mentioned three counties, of Ireland, but no member from Ireland had risen to express an opinion upon this remarkable passage. It was a grave question for the House, whether in the state of those three counties the ordinary trial by jury was perfectly success ful.—(hear, hear.) Without calling for excessive powers, he (Mr. Osborne) was not the man to do so—he would throw out to the Government whether, it being impossible to procure a verdict under the peril of being shot for giving it, there might not be imported into Ireland the Scotch principle of allowing a majority of the jury to convict ex cept in cases of treason.—(Hear, hear.) Life and property could not be secure under the present system.—(Hear, hear.) The system of offering money rewards in Ireland was mischievous and unproductive; would it not be better. to offer a grant of land in a colony to au approver.—(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen here had no conception of the horrible state of districts that were under the Riband system.— (Hear, hear.) With regard to the subject on which an ex planation had been offered to the House, he must say he felt more than common pain at what had occurred. He looked upon the loss of the Noble Lord who had retired from the Government, not only as a great loss to the Government, but a great national loss. But he wished to state that he could not entirely approve of the way in which that Noble Lord had spoken of the recent transactions in France. As a Member of that House, representing the great county of Middlesex, he (Mr. Osborne) felt that he could not go before his constituents and say that he sat silent while he heard any Minister, or ci.devant Minister, give even his qualified cpprobation to the coup d'état.—( Hear, hear.) He did not wish to add fuel to flame, but he would adopt the words of Lord Chatham, and say, that "power without right is one of the most pernicious and detestable things which the human imagination can conceive—perni cious to the math who holds it, and destructive to the people over whom he wields it."—(Hear.) He hoped there was no Member of that House who could, even by implication, give any approval to the proceedings.—(Hear, hear.) He would say no more of the unfortunate rupture which had taken piece, but he hoped matters had not proceeded to such an extremity but that, in process of time, the differences might be:healed, and the Noble Lord might join that body of which he was so leading an ornament.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. ROEBUCK would be sorry that the debate should pass away with simply a personal explanation. The Speech from the Throne travelled over a vast variety of interests.— (Hear.) He wished, in the first place, to bring from the discussion some sort of moral with respect to the pecu liar position of the Government. It was admitted by the Noble Lord himself (Lord J. Russell) that the position of affairs at home, in our colonies, and abroad, was in the highest degree difficult. We were on the eve of great administrative changes. In our colonies we had discontent bordering upon rebellion, and in some actual war; on the continent we saw a person in power, with nothing on earth able to control his will; and we ourselves were trembling, not with fear, but with anxiety lest the peace of this great country should be invaded; and surely this was a time to scan somewhat narrowly, if not with severity, the capacity, firmness and energy of those who had in charge the destinies of this country. At this critical period the most marked person of the Administration—he around whom all the party battles of the Administration had been fought, whose political existence had been made the political existence of the Government itself, and upon whose being in office the Government had rested its exist ence as a Government—was dismissed ; the right arm of the Government was cut off when it was most needed. What was left in that Government that should conciliate our confidence?—( Hear.) We must judge of the possible future of this Government by its actual past; and, looking at those who remained in it, it was right to ask why were we to place confidence in them?—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord's Government was founded upon a most unwise policy; the system of his administration, as far as the forma tion of his Government was concerned, was that of a mere family party—(Hear, hear)—and the great interests of the country were forgotten. The Noble Lord surrounded him self with those who doubtless were very near and dear to him —(A laugh)—but who were not so importaut to the country. —(Hear.) To take the department of the management of that House; had there existed a government in the House? Had the Noble Lord the least power to carry through the House any plan he propounded, so that there should be a unity of conduct and purpose, and a firmness of policy ?-- ( Hear, hear.) In regard to the law, the business bad been thrown abroad, and the real changes were made by pri vate persons.—(Hear, hear.). In regard to the colonies, proposition after proposition was made and abandoned.— (Hear, hear.) How was...it with the Admiralty depart. went? Was not the whole machinery of its administration disgraced before the country ?—( Hear, hear.) We could not send out a ship to take men to a colony, but it had to put in at Plymouth in a few days—(Hear, hear)—so ill-found that it could not go on without.—(Hear.) Another had not provisions enough on board, because it was unable to reach the Cape in less than three months, and was obliged to stop a vessel on the way for help.— (Hear, hear.) These were mere routine matters, which a common clerk ought to be able to perform, but the Admiralty was unequal to them. --(Hear, bear.) They could not build a ship but they had to cut her in two again.—(Hear, hear.) From the begin ning to the end of that establishment it was clear that searching radical inquiry was required. - ( Hear, hear.) To return to the Kafir war. Injustice attended our entrance into that country, and what benefit had we obtained? We had there some thousands of the finest troops that England could furnish, and we should soon hear at what expense. — (Hear, hear.) We should find that what was begun in in justice proceeded in imbecility, and that the colonists, whom we had pretended we would protect, were exposed to all the outrages and spoliation that savages could perpetrate, and devastation reigned from end to end of the colony.—(Hear , hear.) Had the Government abstained from creating dis content and alienating the colonists, sent them a constitu tion, and told them to take care of themselves, there would have been no call for all this.—(Hea r , h ea r.) Why h ad New Zealand been kept in hot water so long after the con stitution was passed, though there had been nothing to change our relations with that co l ony ?—(H ea r, hear.) At home the whole administration of the law was in a state of dislocation. Nothing was so mischievous as constant change. There was no presiding mind in the matter; it was left to be dealt with by individual members at their pleasure. Was there ever such peddling?— (Hear, hear.) It was said that no one but the Noble Lord could take the Government; but let us really have a Government, and not have the House merely an arena for every gentleman to try his hand. — (Hear, hear.) Foreign policy was a delicate matter, bu though the Legi s l a t ure was no t ca ll e d upon to ex t press an opinion as to changes abroad, individual members of a great representative assembly were not tra velling beyond their duty in expressing, in grave and guarded language, their sorrow at least, if not indignation, at what had passed in a neighbouring country.—( Hear, hear.) It was id'e to say there was no danger to our relations with France, ruled by a man whom no sanction held. We must know that he would consult only his own interests, and that we should do wisely to be upon our guard, not in any the most distant way sanctioning the opinion that he had done justly by his people, though at the same time strictly ad hering to the rule of not interfering with the domestic affairs of France.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Roebuck) should be very sorry to throw this country off its guard, though as sorry to create an unwise panic, and fancy that we were about to be the victims of an invasion, when all we required at the hands of the Government was calmness, prudence, watchfulness, and caution.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. NAPIER answered the appeal made by a preceding Member to the Irish Members, and referred to the case of the three counties in the north of Ireland. The special commission which had been issued had proved an abortion. The ordinary course of the law was insufficient to procure a conviction for murder. There was no security for life or P ro perty, and yet the Government did not intend to apply to Parliament for further powers. The remedies for the evils of unf ortunate I re l an d were on ly to be found in making each individual satisfied the efficiency with of the law to protect ham, Other special commissions had proved successful. He complainedalso trials exere that the Government had not in the recent was certainredl its right of challenging the jurors. Ireland hope of retui:nstowly recovering from her visitations, but all vigorous adenininsti:rosperity would be vain unless there was a Mr. E. B. ROC an of the law. petrated in Ireland a deplored the murders recently per tleman who had just s sa nrch as the Hon. and Learned Gen coercion would aggravat down, but feared that a return to of the state of the relation e s ti evil. These murders arose out Government had shamefull between landlord and tenant, and important question. Withyrensegletcted the settlement of that that when measures of extexseiconto the franchise, he h o p e d Ireland would not be forgotten, as a w t ere in co n t emp l at i on, boroughs in Ireland with only 8,046 Irrearteserent there were 24 complain generally of the mode in eeh• a. such business But he must conducted in that House. Bills were proposed, was poned, afterwards cut in halves, and ultimatenr' then poet half given to Ireland, as had been the case with l&"st Charities Bill. He hoped that before long a wiser and t it e generous policy would be inaugurated with regard to Ireland, Mr. DLSRAELI—I am unwilling that we should assent to the Address to the Throne without making a few observa tions. I know it is inconvenient, under any circumstances, to make observations on an address to the Crown upon which no amendment has been offered. The subjects are so interesting, so various, so universally engaging, that really nobody thinks it anybody's business to att em p t them. Ev ery body is convinced that in the course of the session legitimate opportunities will be afforded of discussing in detail the programme of questions which have been placed before the House ; and it very often happens that we are told by the Minister that the House is pledged by its unanimity on the first night of the session. I am, therefore, indis posed at all times to refrain. (though the office is not a very agreeable one) frcru offering some remarks on the address, when no amendment has been brought forward which naturally arrests the attention and commands the interest of the House. There is another reason also which weighs with me—that it is scarcely respectful to the Go vernment to pass unnoticed the interesting and remarkable scene with which the opening of Parliament has been distinguished. From my experience of the House of Commons—an experience which is longer, I confess, than I care to recollect —I Should 8 a" y-sehr't w a b•t is the duty of an Hon. Member to make inquiry of a Minister he is in general not very successful in elicitin information— (A lau g h)— an d I am bo un d tog sayany t p h a a r t t particular information— not think the Ilonouroble Baronet the Member for Mary lebone has to-night proved a, remarkable ex cept i on to that which is the experience of the great body of Members. The Digcatit gflye duo notice of ALI iatwatiola to Addxofia ' LONDON, a question to the First Minister with respect to a subject of imperial importance. The First Minister responded to his inquiry, and was replied to by a statesman recently of his counc ils. The persons, therefore, were considerable, the subject important, and the audience were the assem bled Commons of England. But, so far as I can say, from listening to this performance, it appeared to me to lie a Downing-street eclogue, and that, so far as we are con cerned, no reasons have been given or information impai ted to account for circumstances so remarkable and a catas trophe so sudden.— (Hear, hear.) The First Minister, in deed, did impart one most interesting piece of intelligence. He gave us one of the great rules by which he manages his Cabinet. He tells uo that he had not consulted his Cabinet —that their expression of opinion would have made the transaction appear the affair of a cabal. We have heard comments on the conduct of the present ruler of France, but ' the Noble Lord seems t) have acted on much the same principle as Prime Minister of Eugland.—( A. laugh.) Not withstanding those remarks of the Noble Lord, I think we are bound, after the scene that has taken place, to express our opinion as far as the displacement of the Noble Lord, the late Secretary of State, is concerned. It has always been my lot and my duty to oppose the political system re presented by the Noble Lord. I never refrained under any circumstances from doing justice to the abilities of the Noble Lord. I never for a moment supposed that he was justly exposed to those absurd ur strange imputations which have been sometimes circulated. I always believed he was a faithful British Minister. I always believed the great ob ject of the policy he recommended was to maintain and to vindicate the honour and interests of the kingdom. But I thought that, unfortunately for this country, the means by which the Noble Lord sought to attain that object were often means directly adverse to the result he wished to ac complish. But I never severed the policy of the Noble Lord from the policy of the Cabinet. When that great de bate occurred which involved a direct impugnment of the department over which the Noble Lord presided, I for one repudiated the idea that you could consider the transactions of a single Minister except as associated with the proceed ings of the complete Cabinet. The First Minister came forward candidly to take his share of the responsibility on that occasion. I remember how that subject was intro duced in the other House by a Noble Friend of mine; I remember that the motion of that Noble Lord was sup ported by various suctions not acting in political commu nity ; and I remember the charges brought against the Noble Lord and those who supported him in either House. We were called conspirators. We wore held up to public reprobation as, in fact, being instruments of a foreign cabal. I know that I was tempted one afternoon to give an opinion, and a very honest one, on the subject, because the Govern ment had denounced us as a band of conspirators for . having challenged the conduct of the department over which the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton presided. I under stand, from what has passed to-night, that the present Go vernment is the representative of that policy with which she Noble Lord was identified; that in no respect is their policy varied from that which was pursued under the Noble Lord's auspices. I thought that policy would lead to incon veniences and injuries, which I understand that it has. If that policy is to be administered unchanged and un mitigated, I !mould rather have it administered by a man whom we all recognize to be able, and in whose panegyric all his recent colleagues join. If the Noble Lord at the head of the Government, indeed, had come forward to-night and said that experience satisfied him that be had been rash in prosecuting that policy ; if he would tell us, as we have seen, that our policy had left us isolated in Europe, that we found ourselves, at a most critical moment, without allies—that we found it necessary to take steps which would place England in a more secure position—we should at least receive an assurance which would be agreeable to the nation ; and how far that would be consistent with their conduct to their late colleagues would be a matter between them and their consciences. I must make one ob servation, also, on the speech of the First Minister. The Noble Lord, eminent in many respects, was eminent for his constitutional knowledge—for his acquaintance with the spirit of the constitution ; but I cannot recollect any ana logous occasion on which the name of the Sovereign had been so frequently introduced.—(Hear, hear.) Whatever was done at the command of the Sovereign was at least done on the responsibility of the Noble Lord.- (Hear, hear.) —and, though it may he explained why it is that minutes should be read to this House which we are informed have been drawn up by a personage whose name is rarelyintro duced in our debates, I must express my astonishment at the narrative of midnight dispatches, which were the . con sequence, as I understood—though I may have misappre hended the meaning of the Noble Lord—of conduct (as we understood) pursued by the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton in matters of an urgent nature. I suppose that for everything that has been done the Noble Lord the First Minister is responsible. The Noble Lord is not the man to dispute his responsibility. lam at a loss to comprehend how the Noble Lord will account for that introduction of her Majesty's name, that frequent and unnecessaryintroduc tion which has taken place. As lam one who never voted for the motion that the power of the Crown had increased, was increasing, and ought to be diminished, as I should be willing to have the converse of that proposition, as I think one of the great misfortunes of our time, one of the circum stances most injurious to public liberty is, that the power of the Crown is diminished. I am not one to look with unneces sary jealousy on the assertion of the prerogatives of the Crown. But the Noble Lord is an eminent representative of a political party which has adopted opinions of a very different character. The Noble Lord is a member of that party which introduced—to our disgrace—that resolutionon the Journal s o f thi s H ouse , an d certainly lam asto nished at the Noble Lord on an occasion l ike the present, when he seems to me—l suppose unintentionally— to have shifted from himself the responsibility which he would be the first to adopt for himself.—(Hear, hear.) With respect to the programme of the session, the sub jects are various, the localities are different, nor were they introduced in a geographical manner.—(A laugh.) We pass from the Indus to the Pole with a rapidity I have seldom seen rivalled. Of three Members of the Cabinet each appears to bare afforded his paragraph ; and the Noble Lord seemed in turning out the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to have forgotten the arrangement of the Queen's Speech. I shall only draw attention for the present to the last paragraph of this State paper:— "It appears to me that this is a fitting time for calmly considering whether it may not be advisable to make such amendments in the Act of the late reign, relating to the representation of the Commons in Parliament, as may he deemed calculated to carry into more complete effect the principles upon which that law is founded." Without expressing a n y op i n i on on t h e necess it y or non necessity of what is called Parliamentary Reform, or of any degree or kind of Parliamentary Reform, I am bound to say that I cannot agr ee i n t h e statemen t that this appears a "fitting time" for the consideration of that question.-(Hear, h ear. ) It may he a subject which a alinister may think necessary at a fitting time to bring for ward; but when he asks th e H ouse to a"rce to a statement th a t this is not only a " fitting time" ?or considering such a subject as the reconstruction of this House, but a fitting time for calmly considering th e su bj ect , it i s impossible not to stop at expressions which I think so inapposite, and not to ask the House at least to pause before they allow such expressions to pass unchallenged. From all 1 have heard to-night—when the continent is in a most disturbed state, when the Noble Lord himself told us the whole aspect of circumstances.. relating to the nature and exercise of the n di c s o a r po tr in ie t s ing had clearly changed within failed us and experiment distracteadnduse—onthflingdhinitg ft ex pectationsfranchise lastch is e f e w i o n fyfeoaarl years, men at a moment when experience had !nth; be necessary to consider the question of Parliamentary reform, I cannot admit that it is a fitting moment for the calm con sideration of the question. —(Hear, hear.) It might be so if there were an irresistible demand in the community for measures on the subj ec t, b ut no one conten d e d th a t there existed that circumstance. I will give no opinion on that subject to-night. I will listen with attention, and of course with interest, to the Noble Lord if he favours the House and the c oun t ry w i t h t h e reaso ns which have convinced him that th e i mmorta l measure he not onlyintroduced but devised in 1830 has failed of the objects he then thought it wou ld accomp li sh. I w ill listen with attention to the Noble Lord when he lays down the principles on which he thinks, after twenty years expe rience, a new Reform Bill ought to be established, and ex plains how all those anomalies of representation of which we are all sensible may be removed, many of which, it may be remarked, render our system of representation as practical as we find it to be. I believe I may say there is no Gentle man on this side of the House who is not ready to consider any change that may be proposed, to supply any well proved deficiency in our representation; and I would say even more, for my friends as well as myself—that there is no one who insists that the increase of the franchise is the same as the increase of democratic power. I will cons'der the proposition of the Minister entirely without prejudice. I will, with interest, watch the Whig critic of the Whig law. The Noble Lord could hardly expect, on the other side, any superstitious feeling in favour of the Reform Law. People said —" It is a new Magna Charts. You cannot trust the men who opposed it." My answer will be the speech of the Noble Author. While I express the most sincere desire to receive without prejudice any proposition the Noble Lord may bring forward, I must at the same time ex press those sentiments to which I gave utterance last year, that if 1 fled, under the name and guise of a Reform Bill, only a reconstruction of this House which is in favour of the predominance of some political party, which, without that change, cannot govern this country, I will oppose, and I believe the whole country will oppose, a device of that kind. If, also, I were to meet a measure the object of which was to destroy or even disturb that just and salutary balance which now subsists between the various classes of the country—if I saw a measure to destroy the legitimate anti salutary influence of landed property in this country—the surest security both of the prerogatives of the Crown and of the liberties of the people—(hear, hear)—the fear of no im putation of being an anti-Reformer would prevent me from giving such a Bill my determined opposition. I hope the subject of Parliamentary Reform will not be allowed to divert the House from subjects of as great importance. I find no less than two colonies specifically mentioned in her Majesty's Speech. Is Parliamentary Reform to prevent you from in quiring into the Kafir war?—(Hear.) Is it to be an answer to us if we humbly wish some explanation of that singular passage in the Speech respecting the constitution of New Zealand? The House has been so engaged in listening to the interesting discussion of this evening that its attention perhaps has been diverted from that remarkable passage. If there are any colonial reformers in the House I beg their attention to this extraordinary statement. We are informed in the Speech that the Act of 1848, for suspending the ope ration of a previous Act, conferring representative institu tutions on New Zealand, will expire early in the next year. Of course, we would naturally suppose that in that event New Zealand would then enjoy those institutions which they had been so long promised. The Speech proceeds to say, "I am happy to believe that there is no necessity for the renewal of the Suspension Act." This must be most sa tisfactory to, those who are supporters of representative in stitutions in New Zealand. What other inference could you draw from that parag ra ph th an th a t, th e A c t o f S us p ens i on would being about to cease , t h e i n h a bi tants o f N ew Z ea l an d enjoy those representative institutions which were suspended by that Act ? But what' is the next sentence? " The form of these institutions will, however, require your r consideration. (Hear, hear.) So So that, although you are an this pompous manner informed seine for .) med that the Act of Suspension is about t o cease, at e time it i s i n ti ma t e d th a t that the Con s tit u ti on i s - not to be enjoyed, b u t th a t you are to co ns id er w h at those inst itutions shall be. Will you allow Parliamentary reform to Preventt you from inquiring into this comparatively humble, 47 e 111 y imp ortant ques tion ? Are you p repare d to consider whole of the rela tions between the mot h er country and colonies ? (Hear, hear.) Yo u may rely upon the colonies no longer with i mpun i ty postpone that you inquiry. - can Year after year your attenti on h as b een called to it by- gen tlemen zealous and well i n f ormed on this subject, who have sca rcely been able to comm an d a H ouse on the question. 1 need not refer to the Hon. Baronet the Member for South wark (Sir W. Molesworth). I do not agree with all or with many of his views and principles with respect to colonial ad ministration; but no one can deny that he never addresses the House on that subject but in a manner which ought to command our attention and deepest consideration. Well, you have destroyed the ancient colonial empire of England. You have destroyed it in deference to the dogmas of political economy and of abstract inquiries. Ido not believe that the country itself has ever approved of that destruction. Ire zret that 4clicl apt take 411 Actiye part in Qpivgiti94 to it. The WEDNESDAY country has been perplexed and has been bewildered. I ask you to give no opinion now, and 1 am giving none, on the merits or demerits of the system you destroyed; but this, Sir, I wish to impress, that while we have destroyed the old system we have never established a new one.—(Hear, hear.) We have never distinguished between imperial duties and municipal rights—we have never settled any of the great questions on which the material prosperity of any of our colonies depends. We went on in the infancy of the change with experiments, until five or six rears ago we had an illustrious and avowed colonial reformer who took the scale of office; and what has been the consequence? A Kafir war.—(hear, hear.) 1 must say that, as the Noble Lord so easily got rid of one Secretary of State, I wish ho had tried his hand at some other Secretary of State.—( hear, hear, and laughter.) Let him take a hint to night. The Noble Lord is a bold and an adroit man. He can finish the business with a rapid dexterity which very few of us can rival. Why, half Europe was kept in alarm by the Secretary of State which he recently discharged ; and I can fell him that all our colonies are quite terrified at the other.—(Cheers and laughter.) Sir, in taking up this remarkable document; and having travelled with it from Schleswig-Holstein to Ger many and Denmark; the Cape of Good Hope, Ireland, and New Zealand, I was somewhat struck with a strange omie eon in the Speech, to whicn I beg the House's attention. I dare say, even in this age of rapid events, the House can scarcely have fargotten the circumstances under which it as sembled last year. The Noble Lord had written a letter, as he has written a letter now, and as he always writes a letter --(Laughter) - but that letter was published. It must still be fresh in the mind of the House and the country—a letter of a most passionate character. The Noble Lord appealed to the deepest sympathies of the country on a subject, not only of grave, but 1 might say, of eternal interest. The Noble Lord announced to the people of England that there had been an insolent and an insidious aggression upon the Sovereign and the realm of England. Sir, lam not one of those who criticised that letter of the Noble Lord. Ire- ' gretted that there were expressions in it which hurt the feelings of large bodies, of her Majesty's subjects, and which for aught I know might have been misapprehended by them. It is enough •that the Noble Lord explained those expres sions, and the Noble Lord is not one whose truth under any circumstances I could doubt. But remember that that letter was addressed virtually to the people of England. Remem ber the purport of that letter. Remember what it announced —to what sympathies it appealed, and what result it was pledged to. Remember the effect it prodeced on the country one not equalled by the Reform Bil l of 1830, with all its factitious excitement, and certainly not likely to be equalled by the Reform Act of 1852. There were no hired agents going about England to stir up the paesions and convictions of the people into a response to the letter of the Noble Lord. There were no messages between D owning -street and Bir mingham and Manchester. There were no organized com mittees ; but the conviction of the people the indignation of the nation, in the proudest city and the humblest hamlet, an swered that letter of the Noble Lord.—(el ear.) It was quite clear, then, that a Minister who took a step like that was not justified in taking it unless he had resolved to act upon it. Talk of the Noble Lord being a bold man because he dared to turn out one of the members of he Cabinet ! Why he was ten times a bolder man when he told the nation that the Pope of Rome had committed an insolent and insidious ag gression on their Sovereign. N't ell, it may be that the Noble Lord acted from impulse—from the impulse of a high spirited and generous gentleman as he is. He may, in a moment of indignation, have done that which was rash, but which he might fairly have believed that the feelings, of the people and of the Parliament of England would have sus tained him in doing, if it was not Mechanically wise. But it was not a rash act. The Noble Lord had three months to ponder on his course. The Noble Lord met Parliament. He came forward and addressed us and the country in an oration equal to the occasion, sustaining his great re p u t a ti on and not unworthy of his noble cause ; he gave to the nation the reasons that bad induced him to take that singular— that unexpected—that startling step, which f or t h ree months had agitated, without exaggeration i may say h a d di sturbed and agitated, every hearth in the kingdom. He ca me t o t hi s table, and told us that he had not acted in haste or in pas sion. He made what hat the time ventured to describe as the most important statement that had for years been made by a Prime Minister of England. He gave us the solemn conviction of the Cabinet—of that Cabinet of which the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton (Lord Palmerston) was a member—that there was an orga nised conspiracy against the Protestant liberties of Eng land and of Europe, and that he was determined to baffle the conspirators, and to look to the people and the Parlia: ment of England, without respect to parties, to support him in his endeavours. With this conviction, and not acting from impulse, but from the statesmanlike conclusion of a man worthy to lead this empire, the Noble Lord gave us the convictions of hi s C a bi ne t, a nd brought forward the m easure which was to meet this all-surpassing emergency. I w ill not make any observations now on the measure of the Go vernment—a measure that was heralded by the memorable letter of November—on a measure which was introduced on the deeply-considered, elaborately-matured, and most im portant declaration of the Premier of England. I voted for that measure; for there was no other means of expressing, even in the moat nugatory manner, the feelings of the House of Commons on the subject. But I ventured, then, to de nounce that measure as paltry and most inefficient, and as and the , one the least ca l cu l ate d to co p e with as one the least worthy of the cause and the man ever devised and brought forward in Parliament. I, on the part of many with whom I have the honour to act, ventured to express the principle upon which the proper measure' ought to be founded. I said the measure pro posed by the Noble. , Lord asserted and vindicated no Principle that it did not bring the hierarchies of the Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain within the grasp of the, law. ' Tne Noble Lord, however, notwith standing his portentous annoucement that there was, ac cording to the conviction of his Cabinet, a conspiracy throughout Europe against the Protestant liberties of Eng land, the Noble Lord persisted in his measure. I did not doubt the statement of the Noble Lord at the time. , I am sure that no man in the position, with the character and the abilities of the Noble Lord, could in his place in Parliament have made such' a statement to the country unless he was profoundly convinced of its truth. lam sure that on that occasion, instead of exaggerating, he placed before the House and the country, I should say, the calmest expression of what his Government felt. Well, now, I ask the Noble Lord what has been the fate of the Bill which he persisted in car rying through the Perliament ?—(Hear, hear.) has it vin dicates]. the outrage which was offered to the Sovereign and her kingdom ? has it punished the insolent aggression? Has it baffled that great European conspiracy against the realm of England and the Protestant faith ? Why, we all know that it has been treated with con tumely which cannot be expressed, and with derision which I think was nierited.—(Hear, hear.) We know that from the first in Ireland it was publicly announced that it would be treated as a dead letter. But we may be told that Protes tantism is weak in Ireland—that Ireland is always to be re garded with peculiar consideration —that it was never in tended to check in that country the indulgence in these ille• gitimate pranks—that the honour of England at least has been vindicated—that the great Cardinal has been put in the , position which he deserved. B ut the great Cardinal, ashore the Noble Lord recommended, i n a manner which I t hi n k was scarcely as dignified as his usual tone, to quit England, has not quitted England, but I find him advertised in the newspapers as the Lord Cardinal —the Lord Archbishop. of Westminster.—(Hear, hear.) And I have had other in stances brought under my notice which prove, not only that the law has been evaded, but that it has been as fl a grantly set at nought in England as it had b een in Ireland, an d that recently, just as Pailiament was going to meet,just as if they meant to show before Parliament met again how they were determined to have come synodical action, th er e had taken pl a ce an aggregate assemblage of the bishops of the Vatican, to give a kind of response to the letter of the Noble Lord. Well, but I see no mention of all this in the Queen's Speech —no notice whatever of that which farmed so prominent a part of the Royal Speech last yea r — nothing about the insolent aggression, or the insidious conspiracy it was our duty to b a ffle, and which were the great topics of interest last year. Here we find not a single syllable about all this; and surely with regard to such an omission 1 may ask the Noble Lord what the intentions of the Gov ernment are? Do they mean, as the only measure theyh ave adopted as failed in accom plishing their object—do they mean to have recourse to some other measure? Do you mean to propose some new law to Parliament in place of that which last year we were told was not only necessary but in dispenable?—(Hear, hear.) Is it found that the aggression was not insolent, and that there was no conspiracy against the Protestant faith ? ( Hear; hear.) The.ean'oble Lord his bound to give us infor mation as to w h l Yis h bobiamsdchangeg his opinion. It is a sub ject on which to s p e ak frankly to the people if hear.) langlan d.—(lle3r 't last his we anything occurred to induce him to believe tha In .i s ear we were rash and ill-advised? —(Hear, hear.) n Place at this table, in the most solemn manner, after opportunity for the deepest con sideration, the No f the Cabineted this country that it was in the knowledge o tant that there was a conspiracy against the Protea Lord fafthan d liberties of Eng land. Has the Noble ddiscovered that he was mistaken? Until the Noble Lor comes forward with that information, my opinion from those means of I, like others, must form public instruction and private information that are open to all. I don't see anything . in the o ccurrences of Europe to am bitious --Hear, bear that me that ls less that the designs of the Papalthe_ Court are more mitigated -( Hear, hear)—or that Vatican has experienced such defeats that she no longer means to claim thie realm of Eng land, which the Noble Lord last year told us she aspired to —( Hear, hear.) Every place where the influence of Rome can be traced, we find Whatot O nly Successful but para mount.—(Elear, hpr.) iswhheart conduct in Ireland— (ear hear)—or in England, or course does she adopt mother countries? In every place she exhibits the stamp the national ear how of sapremaey.—(Hear, hear. ) If the Nobl e • he does not think fit, Lord was justi fied last year in sounding the tocsin in or in the speech of the does it happp that ou this either by intimation from the Throne P— (llear hear.) Minister, to say antisahing on teestbjt 'tan, and to in- I think we have ght to p upo n er quire in a manner that . cannot h what they ace , a fi s lle p d_ res t e h n e t es mistaken of her • Majesty's Ministers, Hea r to change the murky convictions 'whi c h public mind during the last year ?—( personall Lord said he would confine himself to-Sightg himself t ° the p question ; but, instead of confinin personal question, the Noble Lord has traversed not ° I the relations with all Europe politics but America too.—(Hear, hear. ) T o la n er y t3 were not the pof a single court, nor n--that a single country, that the Noble Lord did not touch upon and enlighten the House, with one exceptio cy Court of Rome which last year he said had c ommitted i nso lent aggression on the Queen, and engaged in a cone ira a gainst our liberties:(Hear.) As to th e subject of Ireplana, I am not going to enter into any long d i scussi on upon that un h a ppy country, which lam sure, ere long, Will elicit our cons id er ation.—(Hear, hear.) It appears that so me counties are the scenes of outrages of the mos serious description.nted necessit for --(Hear, hear.) I must say lam extremely disappointed in what has occurred in Ireland, and at the Paragraph.— introducing in her Majesty's Spee ch th is Y aw and (Cries of " Hear, hear.") Considering the o irtrrt her Majesty's Government take in a considerable order"—(Laughter)—and considering that onemember alone of the Government has expended law and order" Sum out of t mortifying his own pocket to :secure must almostbe mostrelu requires —it is extremely disappointing to England, a; d( aughter) he eounding to to the House of Commons, and a Coercion should find Lord Clarendon, that after such an investment so many counties in a state that subject on wh• Act.—(Hear, hear.) That is a ten we require ilea . r•) The investment of • some information.—(llear, of the capi tal, if confined to the private revenuet Viceroy,. is one were a public that for his sake I regret, but if Q _ s __ investment the aeen' Speech seems for public objects, certainly (Hear, hear.) to prove that it was a sorry one. — that ' There is an othert notice, and is the absence of point that I cannot bu you sympathise • e of any expression to show that oil.— (Hes with the difficulties of the cultivators of the should noticer'hear, from the Protectionists.) At least you it _being b i acknowledged— last them. Two years ago these were noticed witlot nowledged-- last year they were sympathisedwith.—(Hear, hear.) I am not aware that any mitigatory circumstances can n ow b e appealed to. lam not aware of any changeof of such import anee in th e con diti on of the cultivators the soil as would authorise a Minister who had established noticing the state of their fortunes in omitting th em from the Queen' s S peec h t hi s year .—( Hear, hear.) It might b e a question, with the peculiar opinions of the Noble Lord and ' hi•O colleaggea, to wake that acknoyflocigulea And au that EVENING, sympathy which ho has done on more than one occasion; but having established that salutary precedent, I think the Noble Lord is bound to inform us what are the reasons that this omission has occurred, as well as the omission of any notice of the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill.—(Hear, hear.) Not withstanding some petty and mitigatory circumstances, I be lieve there is still the same strain upon the energies, and the same drain upon the capital of the cultivators of the soil. —(Hear, hear, from the Protectionist Members.) That h as been occasioned by our legislation, and as we have occasioned it by our legislation, we are bound to consider whether by our legislation we cannot remove it.—(Hear, hear.) I am told there is a slight rise in prices—an extreme Free-trader told me with great exultation that wheat is rising. Now, I never connected this subject with price.—(Hear.) 1 think that is a question with which we have nothing to say. You have chosen by your law to place the country and its soil in competition with the cultivator of the soil of other countries. We bow to your decision. You place the British cultivator in illimitable competition with other cultivators, but take care that you place him in com petition with them on equal terms.—(Hear, hear.) If there be an inequality, take care it is not produced by your legis lation.—(Rear, hear.) I observe to-day a new edition of a treatise upon taxation, written by one of our most eminent writers and unmitigated Free-traders. Mr. M'Culloch having examined our isolated system of free trade in grain, consummated in 1849—having done so with a ll the ability which distinguishes him, and with as much impartiality as an unqualified Free-trader can on such a subject command —expresses, in the year 1852, his opinion that the culti vator of the soil is subjected to unjust taxation, which no other class of the community shares, and to restrictions on his industry which are peculiar only to him.—(Hear, hear.) Taking into consideration our past and artificial system of finance, he says it is almost impossible to adjust the taxation with any degree of equality that will free the cultivator from those restrictions with any due consideration to our revenue. He gives it as his deliberate opinion that the proper, just, and scientific means by which a fair adjust ment can be arrived at, are countervailing duties; but at the same time he says, though those are just, still the oppor tunity- is lost, and the cultivator of the soil, in the present state of the country, must submit to the grievance under which he groans.—( Hear.) That is the political morality of a political economist. —(Hear, hear, and laughter.) If the data of Mr. M'Culloch be correct, I say the consequence that he draws from them is an immoral consequence.—(Hear, hear.) I say that the legislation that is founded upon them is an immoral legislation.—(Hear, hear.) If it be the conviction of Parliament that any class of producers s subject to unjust taxation, and that they are to con tinue subject to it that another class of the community may be benefited by that taxation, they act immorally in upholding that system. (Hear, hear.) It is confisca tion in another guise—it is robbery under the formulary of political economy.— (Hear, hear.) And who are the parties thus treated ? They are the most important and the most numerous portion of the middle classes.— (Hear.) The farmers of the United Kingdom are the greatest employers of labour that we have.—(Hear, hear.) If there be any class more than another entitled to consideration in the adjust ment of taxation, it is those very cultivators of the soil.— (Hear.) And yet those are the people whose claims you have neglected.—(Hear.) With the power and prosperity of the middle classes the greatness of England is inseparably united. Not only in this country but elsewhere, the legiti mate position of that class is one that must be looked upon with interest by all those who look forward to the progressive freedom and civilization of man.—(Hear, hear.) Let me re mind you that of that middle class the cultivators of the soil form a considerable portion.—(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen on the opposite side of the House should not arrogate to them selves all the influence and authority of the middle classes. —(Hear, hear.) There are as many gentlemen on this side of the House who owe their position to the middle classes as upon the other.—(Hear.) I owe my seat to the middle classes—the farmers of England sent me here, and therefore I protest against those sneers that have been too long directed against them.—(Hear, hear.) I ask again, are you prepared to go on with this system of injustice, to strain illegitimately the energies, and to drain unlawfully the resources of this most important producing class of the community ?—(Hear.) If it be true that you have put unjust restrictions on their industry, and inflicted upon them injustice that no other class experiences, is it not your duty to come forward and investigate the subject? And if you cannot relieve them from restrictions they find so injurious, and from taxes you acknowledge to be so unjust, you should, in the construction of your financial system, give them that countervailing pro tection that is their due, on a fair consideration of the sub ject. Last year we were told that the country generally was flourishing, that our foreign commerce was vastly improved, and that the imports and exports of the country had been in creased by our legislation; but it is a very remarkable cir cumstance that in the Queen's Speech this year we have no paragraph congratulating the House of Commons on the general prosperity of the country.—(Hear, hear.) If the present system be carried on, by failures amongst the com mercial body that have not been equalled since the year 1847, you must remember this, that you are at the same time diminishing the commercial capital of the country as well as the agricultural.—(Hear, hear.) If it be true that in Liver pool alone, the merchants have lost of their capital nearly 7,000,0001. sterling, it follows that if commercial and agricultural capital are both in this situation, the employ ment of labour must be diminished, and the loss must ultimately fall on the working classes.—(Hear, hear.) Is this a.time to encourage in the country the war — of class against class ?—(Hear, hear.) lam not going to enter into any of those high discussions of policy which the Noble Lord in his first speech this evening so lavishly indulged in. —(Hear, hear.) I am perfectly willing to believe that no possible danger can occur, and that the world is governed by the principles of peace, though we are going to increase our armament—(Hear, hear)—but no one can deny that not only in this country, but throughout Europe, there is a feeling of apprehension, which I trust may not be justi fled.—( Hear, hear.) Who are to sustain us if we are exposed to war and peril ? We are told by a national poet that so long as England is true to herself she has no need of appre hension ; but is England true to herself, when, under the plea of passing class legislation, an unjust war is waged upon one of the most important classes of her Majesty's subjects ? Is England true to herself when she reminds one body of the producers of the country that they are to look upon another body of the producers .as enemies ? I see the cultivators of the soil, year after year, after all the exertion of energy and the sacrifice of capital, growing poorer and poorer. I see the list of bankrupt merchants,and I see secret societies amalgamated with mechanics. I see every class placed against each other • and what are we to do if our condition becomes one of perilous isolation ?—(Hear, hear.) If we see arrayed against us, whether on political grounds or, as the Noble Lord told us, from religious sentiment, all the nation alities of Europe, where is there the appearance of that united England that was the boast of our forefathers and the bulwark of the country?—(Hear, hear.) No political system can be sound which has resulttid in circumstances so menac ing and ruinous.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord is about to reconstruct our Constitution. May he j.te more fortunate than in his first enterprise. Twenty years of reform hare lett this country in circumstances which no statesman can disregard, viz., an internal war of interests and a total want of sympathy between the different classes of the people. The .Noble Lord will be a greater statesma n t h an I give him cre dit for being, if on the 9th of this mo n th he shall - propose a measure which will terminate that opposition of interests which at present prevails.—(llear, hear, and cheers.) Mr. GRATTAN was sorry that he could not offer his con gratulations to the Noble Lord at the head of the Govern ment for the manner in which the government of Ireland had been carried on nnder his Administration. During the five or six years of a Whig Ministry, the middle classes of the people of Ireland had been driven from the country, and poverty had spread through all ranks. The Noble Lord, in blinding to three counties in Ireland, had stigmatised the in habitants as assassins. Now, why did he not bring some proof of that charge? He had not alleged one tittle of evi dence in support of his accusations, but he had merely suc ceeded in showing the exceedingly ill manner in which the country was governed. The Protestant Church of Ireland was a great crying injustice, and ought to be immedi ately abolished. and the case was made worse by the system of proselytism that was going on. Ireland required to be go verned by maxims of common sense, and not by setting its different classes at war with one another. Lord J. RUSSELL said that there had been three points mentioned in the course of the debate, upon which the House might allow him to afford some brief explanation. The first matter which he wished to noiice was a statement of the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton. The Noble Lord had told Lord Normanby that the conversation to which al lusion was made was not to be considered as an official con- versation ; but it would appear by the Noble Lord's state ment as if he (Lord John Russell) had also expressed a si milar opinion to his own. (He (Lord J. Russell) had asked Walewski if he could remember what had passed on the occasion referred to, and the answer he had received from that gentleman on three several times was that he could not recollect any expression that bad been used to the effect stated. So that it appeared the Noble Lord spoke only from a vague recollection of the phrase used by him (Lord J. Rus sull). An Hon. and Learned Member had asked why the Government did not proceed at once to introduce measures founded on the failure of the Special Commission in Ire land? His answer to that qtiestion was very simple— namely, that , that iCommission was not yet concluded, and when it was, they should certainly take such mea .. sures as the failure of that Commission might render necessary; but they should be wanting in their duty if they were to introduce any measure upon the subject at present, until they saw before them the result of the trials, and heard the opinions of the judges. He did not, therefore, think that, without some greater neces sity than the Government had now before them, any Bill was called for in the present state of the law. For his own part he looked with confidence to the constabulary and mili tary as an efficacious means of preventing those offences. The. Honourable Member for Buckinghamshire had spoken at some length with regard to the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill of last year. His (Lord J. Russell's) opinion was that that measure was sufficient for the occasion, that it was aimed at —......... . .... . the mischief which it sought to remedy, and that it would be unwise to extend that remedy. When the Hon. Gentleman asked what that Act had done, his (Lord:John Russell's) reply was, that it had done what it was intended to do, be cause it had prevented the offence which it sought to put down. It was to be remembered that the offence was not that some person called another the Archbishop of Dublin or of Tuam, but it consisted in certain persons taking upon themselves those titles who had not a right in law to assume them. He (Lord J. Russell) heard an instance of one of those bishops having signed simply his name and sur name to a letter addressed to a Dublin newspaper, but on the appearance of the paper containing his letter he found that the printer had appended his title to his name. He (Lord John Russell) there fore submitted that the appearances of the Act having been violated were fallacious. He thought it would not be neces sary to have recourse to any further legislation, looking ais he did to the hopeful circumstance of the greater portio n o f the most intelligent of the Roman Catholics of Ire lan d . adopting the system of mixed education, and allowing their sons to attend the Queen's Colleges in that part of the king. dom. Although it had been frequently said, and said by the Hon. Member for Bucks, that the landed portion of the community were suffering great injustice, thethiltonourable Member had never persuaded the HOLM that a was the case.' With regard to the countervailing y which Mr. M'Culloch said they ought to have, Ur. M C Hoch was no doubt perfectly right when he said thatdthite for a Axed duty on foreign corn had gone by ;au w as certainly a most remarkable thing that in 1841 Lor d Stanley treated with the greatest contempt and scornpitalicees,ptrhopeoNsiotibolne Lord f r a d duty of Bs. a quarter on corn, which he said was an insult to the agricultural interest of this country ; and yet, in 1850, at Merchant Tailors' Hall, so much co stated that the great object which the landed interest had and other at heart was a fixed duty of little more than half of what he had previously treated with With regard to V$ bat fell from the Hon. and Learned Mem'. her for Shef fi eld as to the sta.e of the Government, the state no t w ue 81 contempt. —( cheers. ) P e t .e others lu : de ha te more er sa .nyl time, if they wished, withdraw their confidence, from the pre of the Government was s e u ea c nn h ede t , h i a f t an t th h de e r H evih Government-- if n m thought ent _ t o h n e G t o h v eo ern m ment would be seennttitleAdlintisoterthoefirCroteooswonnfi; dca4ridye, that decision . They sought only to do mir t t h eoll e tdr i he r ye d ili a t oc: y ulbese w ouvil i sa t h h tedt°o r u e l s d pect to the several f . mbjects which they 1 office, brought te b r e e fara waf n othing So inAivittrngthor°-te delightful tha in Y Allhadittilt 1852. belonging to office which should render them unw illi ng t o submit to that decision. But all he asked was for a clear course on those subjects; and if the House was disposed to support the present Ministers, and would enable them to carry on the Government of the country, he trusted it would come to a decision at once. It was hardly becoming the abili ties, and the station, and the talents of the Hon, and Learned Member for Sheffield to use the jargon lie had done with respect to the capacity of some members of the Government. He (Lord J. Russell) would remind the Honourable and Learned . Gentleman th at th e N oble Lord at the head of Foreign Affairs had shown great ,talent in conducting the business entrusted to him in the other House of Parliament. Then he (Lord John Russell) was surprised to find it said that because his great grandmother was the sister of the Noble Lord's great grandfather (Laughter)-- it must have been for that reason that he (Lord John Russell) had recommended the Noble Lord to the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He (Lord John Russell) had certainly great respect for the memory of his great grandmother—(A laugh)—but it was certainly not for that reason that he had recommended the Noble Lord to her Majesty as a person qualified to discharge the duties of that office— (Hear, hear.) It did so happen that there was a near connexion of his (Lord John Russell's) own who held the office of Privy Seal. That was a Noble Lord who was placed by Lord Melbourne at the head of the Admiralty, and was at one time recommended by Lord Grey to hold the office of Foreign Secretary ; and it would be rather absurd to say to him that he was never to belong to the Cabinet because he was connect e d w ith hi m (L or d J. R usse ll) by marriage. But the real question was, whether the persons who filled offices in the Government were competent.—( Hear, hear.) If the House thought them competent, and would extend its confidence to th em , t h ey wou l d endeavour to discharge their duty in carrying on the Government of the country; if otherwise, it was desirable that the House should at once come to a decision upon the point.---(Hear, hear.) After a few words from Colonel SIBTHORP 111 r. WHITESI DE said his Honourable 'and Learned Friend (Mr. Napier) had not stated that it was necessary to have a coercion or insurrection Act for Ireland. On the con trary, he said th e l a w of the land would be sufficient, if properly administered. He (Mr. Whiteside) had been for nineteen years on the northern circuit, and at no period of his experience had the counties of Monaghan, Armagh, and Louth been in the conditi on i n which theynow were. , The arm of the assassin w as sure and strong, and the arc of justice was paralyzed. All he asked was, th at the law might be administered by earnest, sincere, competent and conscien tious men, so that honest men might live, and punishment overtake the guilty. He, therefore, cohsidered himself jus tified in asking the interposition of the House.—(Hear.) Sir GEORGE GREY said that, instead of spreading over the whole of three counties, the language of the Speech was quite accurate in stating that the outrages were confined to . certain districts in those counties, and hecould, necesrary, name the seven baronies in which the outrages existed. If the Honourable and Learned Gentleman meant to impugn the conduct of the Irish Government by saying an honest , attempt had not been made to enforce the powers vested in the Lord-Lieutenant, he (Sir G. Grey) should be ready to demonstrate on a future occasion that he was labouring under a misapprehension. He trusted that the powers of the law now in existence, and in the course of execution, would be sufficient; but no pledge had been given that, if they should prove insufficient, an application would not be made to Parliament for additional powers.—(Hear, hear.) The Address was then agreed to, and the House adjourned at a Quarter before One o'clock until a Quarter before Four this day (Wednesday). HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 3. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Woolsack shortly before Five o'clock. There was but a very thin - attendance of Peers. The Early of Derby and Lord Brougham occupied their usual seats on the Opposition benches. The Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Normanby, and Lord Lynd hurst were also in their places. Earl Grey, who was early in attendance, laid some papers on the table relative to the Cape. Lord Minto, the Earl of Carlisle, and the Marquis of Clanricarde, were the only other members of the Government we ob served on the Treasury bench. THE FEBRUARY THE ADDRESS. The LORD CHANCELLOR having read her Ma• esty's most gracious Speech from the Throne, as fol OW6 :- MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, The period has arrived when, according to usage, I can ag a i n ava il myself of your advice and assistance in the preparation and adoption of measures which the welfare of the country may require. I continue t o ma i n t a i n t h e most fr i endly relations with Foreign Powers. The complicated affairs of the Duchies of Hol stein and Sl esv i g h ave continued to engage my attention. I have every reason to expect that the treaty between Germany and Denmark, which was concluded at Berlin in the year before last, will, in a short time, be fully and completely exe cuted. I regret that the war which unfortunately broke out on the eastern frontier of the Cape of Good Hope, more than a year ago, still continues. Papers will be laid before you containing full information as to 'the progress of the war, and the measures which have been taken for bringing it to a termination. While I have observed with sincere satisfaction the tranquillity which has prevailed throughout the greater portion of Ireland, it is with much regret that I have to inform you, that certain parts of the counties of Armagh, Monaghan, and Louth, have been marked by the commission of outrages of the most serious descrip tion. The powers of the existing law have been promptly exerted for the detection of the offenders, and for the repression of a system of crime and violence fatal to the best interests of the country. My attention will continue to be directed to this important object GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE. OF COMMONS, I have ordered estimates of the expenses of the current year to be laid before you. I rely with confidence on your loyalty and zeal to make adequate provision for the public service. Where any increase has been made in the esti mates of the present over the past year, such expla nations will be given, as will, I trust, satisfy you that such increase is consistent with a steady adherence to a pacific policy, and with the dictates of a wise economy. MY Loans AND GENTLEMEN, The improvement of the Administration of Justice in its various departments, has continued to receive my anxious attention, and in furtherance of that object, I have directed Bills to be prepared, founded upon the reports made to me by the respec tive Commissioners appointed to inquire into the practice and proceedings of the superior Courts of Law and Equity. As nothing tends more to the peace, prosperity and contentment of a country than the speedy and impartial administration of justice, I earnestly re commend these measures to your deliberate attention. The Act of 1848, for suspending the operation of a previous Act conferring representative institu tions on New Zealand, will expire early in the next year. I am happy to believe that there is no neces sity fur its renewal, and that no obstacle any longer exists to the enjoyment of representative insti• tutions by New Zealand. The fore of these institutions will, however, require your con sideration, and the additional information which has been obtained since the passing of the Acts in question, will, I trust, enable you to arrive at a de cision beneficial to that important Colony. It gives me great satisfaction to be able to state to you that the large reductions of taxes which have taken place of late years, have not been attended with a proportionate diminution of the national been fully The Revenue of the past yea r has fully adequate to the demands of the public servic e , while the reduction of taxation has tended greatly to the relief and comfort of my subjects. I acknowledge with thankfulness t 0 Almighty God, that tranquillity, good order, and willing obe dience to the laws continue to prevail generally throughout the country. It appears to me that this is a fittin g time for calmly considering whether it maynot be ad v i sa b le to make such amendments in the Act of the late reign relating to the represent ation of the Commons in Parliament, as may be deemed calculate d to carry into more complete effect the principle s Upon which that law is founded. I have the ful lest confidence t to the h that in any such cons id e ration you will firml yadhere acknow ledged principles of the Constitution, by prerogatives of the Crown, the authority of both ' Houses of Parliament, and the rights and liberties of the people, are equally secured. The Earl of ALBEMARLE rose to move the adop tion of the Address in reply to the Speech. The N o bl e E a rl said it was with muc h anxiety that ho called upon their Lordships for this expressio feeling—an anxiety which notno f their Lordships' arise from his having now to address their Lordships for the first time, but an anxiety which resulted from the importance which ho had t o perform. her Majesty told a of th them th e at task she continued upon a m i ca bl e terms with every foreign p O wer, and when he looked at the events which had recently oc curred upon the continent he was convinced their Lord ships would rejoice at receiving this assurance. The revolutions which of late years had taken place in Eu rope must make them proud of the institutions which this country enjoyed, because those institutions had averted horrors which bad visited almost every nation on the other side of the Channel. Still there were some of their institutions which needed much mo dification, and ho was rejoiced to find from the Speech from the Throne that reforms—useful and wholesome reforms were anticipated by the G ovrnment. (Hear, hear.) It had been said that there were some countries on the other side of the Channel which were the natural enemies of England. He denied this, thero coild be no such thing as a natural enemy; the Almighty had intended that men, no matter what nation they belonged to, should re main at peace with each other; and if he wanted any proof that it was possible for men to do so, he would 1 point to the results of the Great Exhibition held in the metropolis last year. These results must have satisfied their Lordships that France was the brother and not the enemy of this country, and in passing this part of her M a j est y 's Speech, he would express a hope that the country would ever continua at peace with its European neighbours.—(Cries of " Hoar, hear.') He deplored the events alluded to in the Speech, and which had recently occurred in Ireland; but he approved highly of that part of her letejesty's Speech which recommended an increase of the estimates not that be anticipated that any foreign power could ever successfully invade the island, but because it was necessary for the sake of self-pre servation that there should be an increase in the internal orces of the country.—(Hear, hear.) He rejoiced to find that the subject of law reform was again referred to in the Speech from the Throne, and he hoped the pro posed reform, when it came before them, would prove of an effective character. The day had gone by when it could be tolerated that a man, while seeking justice in our legal tribunals, should be banded about from court to court. He congratulated their Lordships upon the fact that her Majesty was ready and willing to concede representative institutions to several of the colonies; while the statement that this country had flourished under a liberal policy afforded him equal sa tisfaction.—(Hear.) In 1848 the exportations of this country to the European markets fell off very consider ably, but in that year there were great social disorders upon the continent, and if he wanted any proof that the interest of this country rested upon the world being at peace, that fact alone was sufficient for him.—(hear, hear.) In 1849, when the continent had began to return to a comparative state of tran quillity, trade improved, and relief to the poor diminished, and that increase and that diminution continued throughout 1850. Now what better evidence) of the wisdom of the policy which this country had pur sued of late years could they have than that? Since the duties had been reduced the consumption of tea, sugar, and other articles of domestic use had greatly increased and he was prepared to prove this by returns which ho held in his hand, and which would show that the consump tion of sugar had increased 47 per cent. of late years, while the revenue from that and similar articles, such as tea and malt, had been augmented in a somewhat equal pro portion. It was clear, therefore, that a liberal policy trot only increased the somforts of the people, but added greatly to the means of the country, which was certainly a very gratifying circumstance to him, and must be also gratifying to their Lordships.—(Hear, hear.) Apolo gising to the House for having detained them so long, he concluded by simply moving the adoption of the Address, which he read, and which was a mere echo of the Speech. Lord LEIGH had very great pleasure in seconding the Address, and concurred in much of that which had fallen from his Noble Friend.—(Hear, hear.) Ho was satisfied that in expressing his entire concurrence in the sentiments which the Speech from the Throne con tained, he vas only expressing the feelings of the House; and as his Noble Friend had fully gone into de tail on the questions which the Speech adverted to, he did not feel it necessary to trouble their Lord ships with a lengthened speech.—(Hear, hear.) The comforts of the people were increasing, the revenue was increasing, and every class, not excepting the agri cultural class, was iu a state of comparitive prosperity. —(Hear.) How gratifying must it be to their Lordships to know that. True, one part of her Majesty's kingdom had been disturbed with outrages of a shocking charac ter, but,he. hoped, ere long, even th at part of the country would be restored to prosperity and peace.—(Hear, hear.) Having rapidly gone over the topics in the Speech, it remained for him firstly to second the Ad dress, and secondly to thank their Lordships for the at tention they had paid him.—(Hear, hear.) The motion having been put, The Earl of DERBY said he did not think it neces sary to move any amendment to the Address; but ne vertheless it must not be supposed that he con curred in the manner in which the important topics contained in the Speech were dealt with.—(Hear.) The arrangement of them was not only bad, but they were not properly dealt with. For in stance, the Speech passed from the expression of thanks that the country remained at pettee evith its allies to the affairs of the Cape, and altogether the order and arrange ment of the Speech was most unsatisfactory.—(Hear.) Last year her Majesty's Speech expressed regret at the fact that a large and important body of her subjects, namely, the agricultural class, were in a state of deep distress, but the present Speech said nothing whatever upon that point. The Noble Baron, however, who se conded the Address thought it a subject for congratulation that this previous distress had been removed, but ho for one, and many of his Noble Friends, were at a loss to perceive where the improvement referred to was to be found.—(Hear, hear.) True, the price of bar ley and oats had of late increased to some trifling extent, but the price of wheat remained the same now that it was when it was admitted that the agricul tural interest was in the deepest distress. They were told then that the reduced price was the result of tho transition state in which the law placed the farmer; but they had got far beyond that transition state, and still the price remained depressed.—(Hear, hear.) For his part, his opinion upon this subject re mained unchanged. He was still of opinion that the total and unconditional repeal of the corn-laws would have the effect of making this country dependent for its supply of wheat upon foreign nations, and be need not remind their Lordships that such a state of depen dence was highly dangerous to the peace of the land.—(Hear, hear.) He, therefore, was still of opinion that both for the purposes of revenue and for the purposes of everting the danger to which ho had just referred, it was necessary to have some duty imposed upon tho importation of foreign corn.— (Hear, hear.) Their Lordships would remember that the test session of Parliament was taken up with a discus sion upon a measure for resisting the Papal aggression, and their Lordships would i (pally remember that Par liament established a law upon the subject.—(Hear, hear.) Now, he should be glad to kn ow w h at h a d been done to enforce that law.---(Hear, hoar.) It was either totally inoperative, or it had been openly e and ostentatiously this m broken. att er. — H ol e e d a e r m . ahnedaerd, andsom e c x e P r i s . a 3 dation about He rejoiced to see theN s o h b o le uld E l a i r k l e ( t G o r k ey n ) ow ta i k f i h n e g co a u n l o d te ge o t f because that up ha qu th es a t t io ua n , eeeh , te he and on the part of himself and his cal_ leagues state that effect of that Act had been to remove p t l o oi cf p i t lf ye c t.r e hf ee t c h t e s Protestant uGovernment ;a institutions d t aie_ He should hope to hear e th f e t i h r ia ap eo p u re n h t e ry nsi i o a n a s, s a t n a . ci t e were satis fiedfl r a from w t with their legislation, estate that and proposed to take no hat they were quite satisfied with o h u e ld ic b eh e le ob E e a y t e l further step—t hat th e achievement w hi c h they had accomplish e d, or that they were prepared to take further steps to ca rry out . d of national Importance. that which they considers ... He to that part ot her Majesty s speech which would now pass on with foreign' powers referred to our relations and he should to state his • not hesitate hesitate franklyh opinion and to speak und by no t . his sentiments, being . ties of official respon sibility; he was quite aware that a frank expres sion and n and that of a of his opinio n, great body of his I not injuriously countryinee, ,cou Governnient arm affect the public peace. Her Majesty s an n o unced that her Majesty cont i nue d to main tain th e . most friendly relations with fo • powers. eps it would have been reign . f her Majesty had a more correct expression . relations said that she Continued to maintain as frien dly with foreign powers had ex i s ted when she last addressed th e i r Lordship ;,' House. as He (the Earl of Derby) was unwilling to refer mere personal natur was out the country to a question of a felt some anxiety to know, if our relations with foreig n tered, for what reason her a powers_ were quite unal jesty's Government had thought it necessary to part with members of the Cabinet.—( He hear.) one of the mos t e ffi c i en art, He had frequently had occasion to fi n d fault with the late Secret ary fort ie policy of th e Noble Lord Foreign Affairs, and had the Noble Lord been still in office had have had cause to find to some transactions which a s ha a d doccasion to do with reference re taken place last session. The re was no doubt that the Noble Vis count ac q ua inted he with the business of his o ffi ce atuw was s uite the hest character and talents, and therefore there a ti l ie e r r e so m n ust have been some very serious cause to induce her Majesty's Govern ment to disp ense w i th the services of one of its most dis tinguished members.---(Hear.) The other House of Par liament must and would be satisfied upon the subject. He would now pass on to consider the real state of our relations with foreign powers. Her Majesty stated that the treaty with reference to the Duchies of Holstein and Schleswig, which had been concluded the year before last, would, in a short time, be fully and completely executed. He re joiced at the removal of the cause of complaint, because he was aware how dangerous it was to the interest of liberal parties for any dissension to exist between any two countries, and also because such a dissension might kindle a flame of war. He was bound by no ties of office which made it necessary for him to abstain from speaking his opinion upon our foreign relations. He entirely agreed with the Noble Earl who had moved the Address, that the internal administration and government of eaeh country was a matter for the consideration of that country alone ; it was a matter:that affected that country only, and vrhst.ver foreign countries might think or feel, that particular coun try had a right to act as it thought fit. For the l a st 60 years the Government of Fran ce h ad consisted of a succes sion of usurpations, but we had, on no occasion, thoughtq r i g ht t o protest against th e system, which com'r A ce . lB with a monarchy, and went on un til t h e Repub li c o f . and we were bound to respect th a t f orm of g°v n menoa t w hi c h France was plea se d to ca l l the Repu bli c o f 18 2. that of w i l l occasions, the :form of government bad beeli the people, and we were b ound to respec t the P resi dent and to abstain. We were, h owever, boun d to cons ider w hether one form of government which a neighbouri ng country •tiuence over might adopt mi g ht exerc i se a goo d or an evil our international re l at i ons w ith that "e ntry. Beyond thatw ith any shade question we had nothing whatever to do might select or form of government which a foreign countryse rep ublic. c. It was from are absolute despotism down to in a r p France, or to not for us to criticise the steps takenaf her form of can vass the policy or morality fi ia _ It was not for us to government, say or if it was likely to be be e n g e t e ate . of government • which had anything against an state people, almost been acquiesced in b y of he Derby) Derby) would express hisunani firm mously. He (the Ea rl the 3 riuce President was disposed to belief that, personally , ent er tain friendly relation s w'tl us, and to adopt a concilia tory policy tow ard s a s.—(Hear.) The press a ff ected to in fluence the public mi nd with regard t o th e state of affairs, and it should take care that when it did so to remem b er that it was not free kern corresp o nding responsibilities.— (Cheers.) on the press to m aintain It was incumben t a tone of modera tions and reserve in expres s ing an opinion regarding our re lations w ith France. Th is was re qu i red of every man who pretended to have the welfare of hi s country at heart, and was e xpected from every man who did not seek to inflict upon his country a most serious injury. It was an act of f o lly and madness, at one and the same time, to believe in t h e hostile intentions on the part of France, and, at the same time, to par a d e the supposed inability of this country to resist aggression, and to magnify the resources of our supposed assailants, and to point out how easily this country might be subjugated, and then in the very same breath to assail with every term of attack and vituperation the public character of the man who wields the power which 'was deemed irresistible,—so as to tempt hith to wield it for the subjugation of the power which was Oiled the weakeet.—(Leud cheers.)