The Sun. — London, England, 1828-06-03 00:00:00

g r* 1 anquium ese:ollle. k that g P quite He Cod' he Secr e ' differ(S a from r ° pretao, Louse Nviv i regret cplanatiO I was s' aine, union a period' can osu re II with sb e .1 that I should be enabled to state the course which the 6 , nterlament intended to adopt, and that I should be autho ‘.2l"4lto state-in-the . , the:sentitnente oftthe Govern-' meat, lWita'verY vertrare,liewever, that as there were some judicial considetutions-vonnretekwith the question, it was itnpossible to.pledge the individual Members of the Go rrninentes to the.course it might be proper ultimately to pursue; 'but.:aseurning that Ices& grounds might ap- P" r for the disfranchisement of both or either of the ac clu'ed boroughs, I was anxious to accommodate the impres nils °I - tuy, mind. to the general opinion of the Govern le lit, ankto state this opinion to the House. I did , there titree' . 41 compliance with this view of the subject, bring ntatte r under .the attention of my colleagues in the tele Go e „, -notent. , I stated to them that I had po st p oned - e n i any step upon the subject, until both franchises t - b lni 2,•te, he dealt with. I presented it, . therefore, before at a double question of disfranchisement. I ob ,-I▪ ' v ed, that-with respect to Penryn , we might consider ' 4° - opinions of the Committee . as being decidedly e l / Preased, front the eery large majority which had ; 4 e - .Bession voted for the - disfranchisement, but. -4 the evidence,respecting East Retford. was not yet br ought to a termination, so us to be submittetl to the.con 4"tettition of the Government. •• I stated my opinion, at th e tame time,.that it was not very likely the House would e 2neerst adopt the same course with Penryn as it had "t• en . vvitl a• Grampound, and that it was probable it could • ▪ nsitiew ,to) y. open. the tight of voting to any of' the ;flodreds. of Cornwall. I thought, however ; at the and I expressed ,it as my opinion, that East Retford was placed in a very different situation from Pen r)n.i. and I , proposed, therefore, that the Government i _ ,o.uld give ite . asseut.to the proposition of the Noble Lord. Russell.),.'for conveying the franchise of Penryn to ' K 4 anehester, ; and that ,the franchise of East . Retford should open to the adjoining Hnndre 1. I cannot say that soya lirOposel met with a. very ready acquiescence from my 71 .. !!PagueSe. but I did, .after that time, consider myself at 1 -tY) as -,the organ.. of the Goveratnent, to give my ' ts4 lrt to Stich an arrangement, while I reseiv, , ed to my self the Jight, as an individual, to pronounce` my judg reent upon the evidence which might be brought for e me to substantiate the charge ofeorruption against ast Retford. • Reserving to myself this • right of judging 11 [4 1 1 the eiidene e , .according to my conscientious con .: Ntion of its value, I did,_therefore,, feel it incumbent upon ' 41 e0,a1 the organ of the. Government, to take the precau dascerteiniug that course which I might be authorised . 4 ° , 601 upon its members to ,support, because I did not Pick it consistent with good faith to lend the support of the. Government to any_ measure in this House, unless I Nuld he satisfied that.it wauld lie advocated with equal : 4 in the other.—(Hear, hear.)—This is what I stated 3 the Members _of the Government, and this was the Il i ;ound asp ou , 3040, I proceeded ; but I do declare °At. solemnly, that I. never submitted to them any N. cal As to what was to be done in case of there t in; only one Borough to di s pos e of. With respect the Boecregh of,Penryn, I considered that there had 1. 1 411 Ou-ee- several. acts of interference upon 'the part of the , e. _ ° foie; and I thought At likely that the. House of Cona na, as a branch of .the Legislature, would be disposed, .'"'t merely as in a Court of Law, to consider the simple ' 4 4 of bribery proved last Session, but that haying before det ermined to make a forfeit of the Franchise of Penryn, it ,e " 0 41 d, have a right, in coming to a determination upon the : t thieet, to refer to its own previous acts. In submitting the choice made e by tfreeNoble Lord for the Franchise bl ,Penry n — A choice confirmed by a majority of four t 4 otle--I certainly considered Penryn as at the mercy (1 the House, and I never contemplated the possibility _ 4l' the Bill being lost from defective evidence, as I under-- TM now that it is likely to be. In this state of things the Gentleman (Mr. Tennyson) brought under the con ;:geratien of. the House the case of East Retford. I did •.on that occasion, . act hastily. The question of the 4 'cond borough ; was coming on before the other had been d is ,l3'eel of; and .I felt that nothing could be more repugnant my .feelings,, upon the grounds of policy and pro -I`'etY, while there was a chance of the other Bill being -f leeted not to he able to state the determined intentions ° e t the Government. On the very day, therefore, before that fixed, for the debate upon the East Retford Bill, I took ; n easuresfoc.the assembling of my colleagues, in order to 4 Y the question before . them. That meeting took plice °4 a Senday, but no final determination was come to on 'Rat day. I repeated my unwillingness to be present in t he House at the discussion, unless I possessed some autho nty to declare the intentions of the Governmene ; ( in Monday, the very morning of the day ox which the division tonk place, .4 second meeting of my Colleagues was held, to reconsider the question. Most certainly, I was not etuthorised,- as a Member of the Government, 4 t that meeting, to, give, as their organ in this House, ln i•oonsent to the transfer of the franchise.to Birmingham, ; 14 ,_ if I had been so. disposed myself. My Right Hon. di nd observed, that in the previous .discussion I took a ot line of argument upon the question from that ' mi di I adopted then Mr, HUSKISSON here observed, that he did this .in 14efitently. - Alr. PEEL continued-e-My.Right Hon. Friend says he ', l , l atle thi s o b servat i on i na dv e rt e ntly, and I thought at the i Inle he had spoken of this matter inadvertently, and in th e heat o f argument.. My Right Hon. Friend said, that ;,, be hail only one Borough to deal with, he would con -`l,,nt to give it to a great manufacturing. or commercial I. rin, and he says that an inference was to be drawn 4) to what ',said,. which .warranted him in thinking my °Pitiions to coincide with his.. This is most certainly tit very first•time I ever heard that any such inference ;aa to be, drawn from what I said upon this subject ; and k really mus t say , t h a t i n a ll, th e di scuss i ons w hi c h h ave t i kelt place upon the nuestion, I never heard that any uelt infet en ce could, be drawn front any thing I said, I , front any arglinient I had ndvanced. Sure I am, pot Ul events, that no authority was given to me by 'the le ambers of the Government to make a ny a dmi ss io n u pon 1 e subject of the single Borough. The Right Hon. 4 eutletnan will recollect, that on the Sunday when the tu etting took place, I told him he was in a different situa -4o from the other Members of the Government. I said • : 4 ? nay Right' Hon. Friend, " You have made a declare %on upon the subject of the single Borough, which may :!nharTass you—you have already declared, that if there t 'vat only one Borough to dispose of, you were prepared ' giv e the franchise to a commercial and manufacturing ‘'wo." My Right Hon. Friend may not recollect this Very probably- he does not. " Bat this' I 'certainly did h l lderstand from the Right Hon. ntleman, and I think Will bear -me out in what sap, that he entered into ,: e views: of. the Governments until the question came 7 he further considered, and that nn the night when th e voteddifferent sides, he had. agreed to support . 40 views of. .the••Governmenta Reserving the right of 144 graent vested in each individual Member of' the' LOU,s e .and-ethe. Governmeat, I think the Right Hon. ` i entleman will raeollect e that until the House of Lords ` e rne to a d ec ision up o n P eur y n , lie agreed on that night adhere to the Resolution moved by the Hon.' Member Hertfordshire. The Right Hon. Gentleman will core fr et use if I ant mistaken ; I thi n k, h o wever, the Right Ilan, Gentleman will admit he declared, that 'when the ' t fury n Bill came to be disposed of, th e time would come the redemption of his pledge, but at present he thought i ge bett er . c ourse would be to adhere t o t h e course a d o pt e d 7t the. Government. I certainly under s t oo d th e Right Q ns Gentleman to acquiesce in this proposition. I am ti lt ind ee d qu it e.cer tain that he did not pr o p ose i t. U pon tLat night the Right Hon. Gentleman proposed t o re d ee m e Pledge he had given "did not know; but knowing that had given his assurance .of voting with me on that night, I F u tbenid e m y fit. lion. Friend throughout the evening with the t . p 'eat impressioa that lie would vote with mei and I did so ; e n efter I bad heard the speech of my Right. Hon. F r i en d , e,:!der the couvietion thet the further consideration - of th e 111 Would be postponed.—(Hear, hear. )--In the course of e delib erat i ons w i t h my co ll eagues u pon this subject, tf 4 tved that this was the first time the disfranchteement 4! a Borough had been made a Cabinet q uestion. It was observed,.that upon questions of this kind various opi t;°lls ii!iot,be formed, according to the different consti elei?o of the eaels individ ua l w h en a pplied to a p "Pet involving matter of judici a l di scuss i on . If the It i ttl rYa Bill was thrown out, it was therefore understood he (tech individual was to be allowed to vote according to 4Puliar impression of the merits of the ca se . I d o not ici ng ' WhetherWe did not come to a Resol u ti on o f t h a t ' 1 ; but this I am sure of, that iiOelt was the understand tit it tuong us. I deny, however, most positively and most I, l p e quivocally, that I. ever gave utterance to any opinion ti e !!,1 the course I meant to pursue upon the subject of the h e : t, Borough.. In the haste and anxiety of debate, I may I} A :i'xpressed myself, perhaps, itnperfectly ; but I deny vs eti s j, gave any authority to form such a conclusion. , te 41 ask, indeed, after' what I have stated, whether it f !ett at all.likely that I. should do so I approached • eteq 4 eitiota Perfectly. ee ;aild . unfettered, but I felt that t o P.the.oireumstatealhave stated, •I was not at liberty tov a : t iare my opinions. In the course of the debate, bow ed ° ,l that evenin(, my Right Hon. Friend was remind gell(.a Noble Lord (Lord Satulon), who spoke front the t ta ,,,7, of the promise he had made upon the subject of the I er of the franchise of this single Borough. 'And Kerr , lit t l e m observe, that my Right Hon. Friend has not a co nee :!tPtised me to-night, by declaring that he could not l e e ‘" to accept as an apology for not redeemine Lis itt ' the paltr subterfuge of their having no precise now 'edge is that y House of - What had taken place in the other. Now, unless I am very much miaiaken, the Right Hon. Gentleman argued upon that very occasion, that the House,of Commons had no such knowledge of the proceed ings of the ,House of Lmala as would warrant them in con cluding that the tranehise of Penryn was not to be disposed of In the way they had determined.. The Right Ho- Trainable Gentleman contended, at least, that they had no official or formal knowledge Of the fact which would antliorise them in forming a conclusion. I Possess, however, a Report of the debate, and I shall take the liberty of reading the passage to which I entitle : " It ought nut to be forgotten, in considering the pre sent question, that there was a Bill which had been ant from that House to the other House of Parliament, and which they could not knave might not pass into a law ; and leaving the arguments upon the transfer of the fran chise to Birmingham totally out of the question, I think it would be highly inexpedient, without any knowledge, at least without any regular . knowledge, of the fate o f th a t Bill, to.send up.a.second. Bill to the House of Lords with a similarprovision:".--After such a declaration as this, confess I was surprised to hear the argument of my Right Hon. Friend.--[Alr. Huskisson here said, we believe, that he meant they had no conclusive proof.]-!-My Right Hon. Friend says he had no conclusive proof of the loss of the Bill. If it passed, then he obtained the objects he desired. But I agree with him that there was no formal information upon. which they could proceed, or upon which they could con sent to rescind the Resolution. I do, however, assure my Right Hon. Friend, that if he had said he must redeeth the pledge he gave on that night—if he had told me be thought it wculd be more consistent to redeem the pledge at once-,--he never would 'Ave heard one single syllable from me upon the subject. Ire had come down to the House with a different understanding ; but if he had said to me , that the time was come when he ought to redeem the pledge he had given them, then the matter might have ended without any difficulty. My Right Hon. Friend, however, did vote against - the Government, anti that gave rise to the transactions 'of Which I am about to speak.---I - have now stated all I know upon this subject, and the . course I pursued through the deliberations. My Right Hon. Friend says that he-saw looks he did not like since he gave the vote, from some persons, and heard of 'obser. vations being made by others, which had given him great dissatisfaction. I- do not know whether mine are the looks which el* Right Hon. Friend did not like, but I must say that my Right Hon. • Friend is very much 'deceived if he supposes .that I looked -wits any displeasure upon the occasion~- or that I attached more than a very slight importance to -the difference of opinion which had been expressed. Knowing the u nderstanding• which pre vailed between us upon the course which was ultimately to be adopted, I was prepared to meet my Right Hon. Friend with feelings very little altered. I should have thought, and I say it with perfect fairness, that it would have been better if my Right Hon. Friend had stated to me the grounds of the vote be intended to give, before. he did give if. The Right Hon. - Gentleman, however, proposed that the decision upon the question should be post poned ; but, after what bad , passed,: I had no alternative but to press the question to a division. I assure the House and the Right Hon. Gent. that I never preferred any corn plaint upon the subject of the Right Hon. Gentleman's vote to any Member of the Ministry ;• and nothing ever gave me more surprise thadto find that the consequences of that vote were a tender of the resignation of the Right Lien. Gentle man's office. I hadnever conveyed to any one the slight est expression of dissatisfaction; anil nothing, I repeat, surprised me more than that tender of resignation. I have now done with the first of those periods contained in the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech, and that part which re fers more particularly to myself. I now approach the second and subsequent part of these transactions, and I confess I do so with feelings of the Most painful interest— the more painful, because the Right *Hon. Gentleman has made several observations upon the conduct of - the Noble Dube at the head of the Government, necessarily and un avoidably in his absence; but some of them in a spirit which I deeply regret. Regret them, I say I must, be cause I know - "the intentions of that Noble 'Duke ; and if I did nett' know them, I can assure the House most solemnly, -I would not he-here''to address them from this place, - and upon this occasion. I repeat, there fore, that I do think some of these observations were made in a spirit not calculated to do justice to that Noble Person, or to give a perfectly fair representation of those circumstances which led to the present occurrence. In order to understand this part of the,question, I must take leave to refresh the memory of the House, by reading that letter upon which the whole question mainly depends. As that question merely turns upon the fact of—whether the first letter to the Noble Duke did, or did not, contain a fonnarresignation of his office, 1 - have no better method of enabling the - House to' arrive at a decisive judgment; than by referring to its terMs; and submitting them fairly to .a - candid' consideration-. My Right Hon. Friend having void. -agairiatiiae on-the night of the day when he had separated from pia colleagues, with ad avowal of an intention to vote with me, addressed a letter, at two o'clock in the morning, to the Head of the GovernMent.—(The Right Hon. Gen tleinfin here read the latter of the 20th of May.)—Now, he -would' ask any Member of that House, whether the expres.. sionrof that letter did not amount fairly to a tender of re signation.—(Hear, hear.)—The words certainly did not convey a` tender of - a nature formal and unqualified ; but when a Member' of a GOvernnient addressei the Head of that Government, and loses no time in affording him an opportunity of phcing his office in other hands--(Hear, hear, hear)—and when he concludes by regretting the ne cessity of troubling him with such a communication-- (Hear)—would any public man, or any man acquainted with the langnage or- habits of public men, - pot any other construction upon such- a letter than that, it conveyed a plain tender of resignation.—(Hear, hear.)—The Right Hon. Gentleman has dealt most ingeniously in some parts of his argirMents, and gathered together a number of minute circumstances' Which he alleges to - have contributed to his dissatisfaction: but let it be remembered that I had never uttered a single expression which the Right. Hon. Gentleman could be offended with ; that he had never heard a single observation upon the subject from me; nor had .I the slightest cause to understand that lie intended to separate himself from the Government, although I undoubtedly did hear that the fact of one voting against each other had given rise to various rumours, in and out of the House, of ' disunion among the Members of the Government ; the conclusion of this affair at East Retford hieing considered the test of that disunion. My Noble Friend at the head of the Government received this letter , of resignation, it was said, in a box in the usual way, and yet this was -called the seine as a verbal communication. But could it be really said that , it was so here ? If men wish to avoid ~the appearance of giving sanction to rumours of dissension and disunion, is it not the most natural course for the -one to wait upon the other, and state at once the reasons which influenced any particular course of conduct?—(Hear.)-- But was it to be said that a communication of that kind was to be considered the same as a letter, couched in such terms as those I have read, and sent too at a time when the -Right Hen. Gentleman and my Noble Friend were actually living in the same street; and transacting public business Duke? He was either bound to have regarded the letter as it was—a tender of resignation—and have acted as be had done; or lie must have said to his .Right Hon. Friend . (Mr. HusVisson), " I will not; receive it as a tender of re signation. So greatly. - do- I feel 'the importance of your - services--so essential are they to the . existence and maintenance of Government, that I solicit you to remain." --(Hear.) What construction would the world put upon such an address as this from the Minister at the • head of the Government ? What would be the general impres sion respecting it, if it were made when no dissatisfaction had been expressed by the Noble Duke of the conduct of his Right Hon. Friend, and no offence whatever was corn municited to him to have been taken by the part he had acted. (Hear, hear !) My Right Hon. Friend 'complains much of the letter addressed,to the Noble Duke being con: ' verted to public use, as it was marked "private and con fidential." Such. marks in communications on important matters between Ministers of the Crown were customary ;•' but the character of the communication, and not, the terms in which it is conveyed, should 'determine the propriety of makingn.publie use of it; 'and I contend that no in scription, that no indorsement ..whatever, could alter the character and nature of the communication ; and one has no right, by the terms "'private and confidential" to Ira pose secresy, unless the character of the communication justifies it. And I contend, that there was no substantial ground for restricting the liberty. of the Noble Duke to act upon it as he did, if he had addressed a letter of resigns ' tion to hini more formally. What was the nature of the letter, and to what did it relate ? . It referred to a vote of the House of Commons—to an appearance of disunion among Ministers, the colleagues of both the Noble Duke , and my Right Hon. Friend. Was this a letter on such subjects of a nature to he 'Concealed from the Crown and from the other Ministers ?. I submit that it was not, and that my Noble Friend would not be authorised in such a concealment. Again, I say, that the propriety of with holding the letter or' not depended' upon its nature and not the terms of it.; and that the nature of this letter was not such as could impose the obligation en my. Noble Friend of not communicasing it to the King and his colleagues.— (Hear.)--L=The Right Honourable Gentleman then read the' letter of the Duke of Wellington' •in reply to the letter of Mr. Muskisson on the 20th of May. In reading that pas sage of the letter in which the Duke of Wellington states, that "hid I any alternative but either to solicit you to re main in office contrary to your sense of duty— Mu was understood' to express dissent from the latter part of , the 'sentence, as his letter did not contain such a declaration. Mr. Secretary PEEL continued.—lf such a meaning were not conveyed in express terms, it was the obvious inference from the declaration ' , that it was ".the only means in my power of preventing injury to the King's service." It may be, that 'my Noble Friend might not have-conveyed his sentiments in the course' of these com munications with the nicely-balanced precision of expres sion .of those more accustomed to civil life.—Bat the main object of consideration was, whether or not there •was any intention of giving offence; and it is my convic tion that there was no such intention. Periphrastic phrases might have been resorted to,. and various modes of explanation might be suggested ; but what ought to be re garded was the character of the communications.—(Hear, hear!)—Throughout them the Noble Duke reminded my Right Hon. Friend to. bear in mind, that the desire to' re tire from the King's service originated with himself, and not with the Noble Duke. His language was, to remern btr "it is your own act, and not mine."--(Hear, hear.) My Right Honourable Friend states likewise as a ground' for not withdrawing the letter which he addressed to my Noble Friend, the apprehension he entertained of being lowered by such a course of conduct. But if my Right Honourable Friend would have any allowance made for his feelings—if he would think' that his services would be paralysed, and that his influence would also he low ered, was not something to be allowed for the feel ings of others ?—( Hear. )—Should it not also be considered in what situation the Noble Duke at the head of the Government would he placed,. had he pursued a different course from that which he had done? Now his authority would have been lowered if he had been obliged to solicit the services of my Right Hon. Friend in the way 'ad verted to in his letter.—(Hear, hear.)—And' as an addi tional embarrassment to my Noble. Friend, it should be considered that the situation was one in which he was paced without any fault of his ; and how could he be supposed to continue to act with a Colleague who had tendered his resignation, and. yet be bound to conceal that he had received such a- tender? My Right Hon. Friend next adverted to the message communicated to him through a Noble Friend (Lord D. ), and respecting this mes sage'be complained of a want of courtesy. It was com plained of that my Noble Friend (the Duke of Wellington) 'remarked that" HuSkisson was a man of sense." A great deal depended in the manner of stating and of communicating an observation of 'this kind.—(llear. )—The mere state ment that "Huskisson was a man of sense and knew how to act," could suggest nothing else than that Mr. Huskis son was a person of that political knowledge and experi ence, that he would pursue a proper and befitting course. But was the Noble Duke bound to•point out any course to my Right Hon. Friend? On the other hand, consider the difficulty that presented itself to my Noble Friend in doing' sa. Whatever course he might point out would carry with it the appearance of dictation, arid on this account it was natural, in the position in which. he was placed, that he• should abstain from proposing any alternative of conduct to my Right Hon. Friend. But with respect to the mes sage thus complained of; I have an impression on my mind. that, in the conversation which I had with• Lord Dudley on the subject, he added to. the remark—" Huskisson is a man of sense, and he knows that I will not require any re paration inconsistent with' his personal honour." Either that expression or one similar to it was used by the Noble Duke; the effect of which, as I collected from my Noble Friend (Lord Dudley) was, that the Noble Duke would not require any thing which " would, in the slightest degree, tend to lower him."—(Hear.)- . --And again, with respect to the letter which my Right Hon.. Friend complains of having been returned to him unopened, the circumstances under which it was so returned are these:—The Noble Duke had mentioned half-past two' on Monday as the last hour for receiving the answer of my Right Hon. Friend.— No answer bad arrived up to that hour ; in an interview whiCh the Noble Duke had with the King, the successor of my Right Hon. Friend was proposed. Under these circumstances, my Noble Friend said; " that he returned the letter, as he did nit think it fair in him to open the letter of Mr. Huskisson, as he did not know that an inter view had taken place, and that his successor had been named at that interview." With this ignorance on the part of my Right lion. 'Friend, the Noble Duke did not deem , it just in him to make himself acquainted with the contents of the letter addressed to him.—(Hear, hear, hear.') This is the explanation of the letter being returned unopened to my Right Honourable Friend, and I am sure the House will appreciate the. motives which prompted my Noble Friend tinder the circumstances under which he re turned it. 'I own I cannot but regret that my Right Hon. ' Friend did not, upon mature and subsequent deliberation, consider it a befitting course for him to 'pursue, to with drew his original letter.• I cannot but consider that a let ter written under such circumstances might with propriety be recalled; and I regret that out of such a transaction should arise so 'serious a misequence as the withdrawal of my Right Hon. Friend's participation in the King's Coun cils. Allusions have been made to some want of confidence, to a casual e:ror having been taken advantage of, as a pre 'text far depriving my Right Hon. Friend-of the place that lie held in the King's service.' Whatever may . he the im pressions entertaind in any quarter upon this subject by others, I can only declare for myself, that if I had not a strong conviction that uo such want of confidence did pre-' vail, and had I not further the conviction that injustice was not done to my, Right Hon. Friend, .I would not have remained a Minister of the Crown.--(Hear, hear.)—l am aware, Sir, that amidst the many charges and insinuations which have been made against public men and public mea sures on both sides of the House, it has been stated, that unless such a course of policy was adopted, certain Aristo cratic influences threatened to make the adoption of a certain course of policy and the exclusion of certain persons the condition of their support of Government.—(Hear, bear.) In answer to such an insinuation, I say, that I know not of any such exclusion being proposed as the means of purchas ing such support ; and sure I am that if such a proposal did come, it would be repelled with the scorn that it 'deserved. (Hear, heat.) —I do not believe that this Government can be carried on by a support dependant on the exclusion of any set of men from places of power:---(Hear.)—'-That prin ciple I have pursued hitherto, and will continue to pursue in Inr political course. I stated at an early period of this Session that, in. my opinion, extreme principles of Govern ment would not answer for the regulation and direction of the complicated interests of this country. Whether you call it . a compromising course or a conciliatory one—whe • ther a wise or an impolitic mule of policy, sure I am you cannot reconcile and promote the various interests of this Empire by doing injustice to others—by excluding any class of men from the fair opportunities of giving their service and support to the Government of the country.— (Hear, hear.)—l adopt and acknowledge no invariable standard of principles and opiniotri.' I profess• attachment and adherence to no political nick names of any kind. I I will not be bound by,preconceived notions or rules of coo -1 duct—he they called what they may. I neither profess ri gidly to adhere to Mr. Canning's principles nor to Lord Li verpool'i'principles-s-indeed I do not precisely understand within three or four doors of each other inbort/sing-street, before they were called upon to attend their duties in this House ? Was it not even possible for my Right lion. Friend to have written a note to the Noble' Duke, requesting him to name a time when he might have an opportunity of call ing and conversing -upon-the -subject which seemed to re quire explanation.—(Hear, hear.)—Every one who -knew any think nf public life or of public men, met be satisfied that if' the object of the parties be relief from any personal embarrassment, that object is ahtays beet effected by per sonal communication's. • With respect to tenders of resig nation from those who form the Government of -the country, I cannot but think that they. ought to be very sparingly dealt with.—(Hear.)--I think that, as mankind are con stituted, it is impassible to find any body eieLtwelve or thirteen men, among whom free discusaion*iermitted, who may not have many differences of opinion. It is Ob vious that these differences of opinion may be either alteied and modified by concession, or by a gradual approxima tion of the one party and the other to a common point. I consider also, that provided there be not a-great question of principle involved, it is perfectly fair and honourable in the 'Members td a Government to act in conjunction , with, and to support the views of the majority of that Government, although these may not be perfectly accordant with their plans at the moment, and retaining their offices While they support the measure which they do not exactly.oP prove.—(He.ar, hear, bear.)—lf principles Were dis.. hie poli c y i n an y ma terial an unfortunate crisis approved of was count of hyo co A u l n inis r te ac r t — ed_if i_f had arisen which called on him to dissent from his col leagues—then, indeed, I admit that he is at liberty to re tire—but this liberty, I do think, is one that ought to be sparingly exercised ; and for this reason, that- it is calm. UM t o lead to great embarrassment, and to relieve the re tiring Minister from a responsibility that properly belongs to him—and that is not very fairly often imposed upon another.—(Hear, hear.) When the intelligence' of the tender of the resignation of my Right lion. Friend was made known to me, I own I received it with surprise, espe cially when I considered it in relation to the occasion in which it originated. The first letter was one, according to the admission of my Right Hon. Friend himself, hatily , —inconsiderately— an d I must say, --in my opinion, un wisely written and addressed to the Noble Duke. It was calculated, though I most sincerely .believe it was not in tended by my Right Hon. Friend, to create great mbar iasameut ; but what course was left open to the Noble the meaning of the terms—but I shall reserve to myself the privilege and the right of examining and deciding each rase that comes befoie me on its own merits—(bear) — without tying myself down to any set of peculiar prin ciples. The present change of Members of the Govern ment was not occasioned by any differences of opirkion on important points of policy, or measures as to the conduct of Government. It was most improbable to suppose that any disposition could exist in the Head of the Administra- tion that his Government should be broken up at this period of the Sessiov, before the supplies of the year were voted. What view—what object could there be for such a disarrangement and embarrassment, at such a moment? —The Right Hon. Gentleman proceeded to eulogize the spirit of moderation and firmness which characterized the NobleDuke' at the head of the Government, and his desire . 'to establish a stable Government; and proceeded :—I know the difficulties of our present situation; I will not disguise from myself and from the House that I am aware of it ; but I approach it with a feeling, though free from pre sumptuous confidence, yet not partaking of the timidity of despair.—(Cheers.)—Placed in that situation, I can only say that my Sovereign shall have my best s e;vicea so long as his Majesty is pleased. to command them. Regard less of the calumnies to which public men on all aids* of the House are subjected, I will give, to the last hour, every energy I possess to persevere in that course which I have hitherto pursued, so. long as my Sovereign shall consider my maintenance of it worthy of, his coafidence.—(Loud cheers.) Lord PALMERSTON—Sir, I feel that I owe it as a duty to myself and to the House to explain such parts of the transactions adverted to in the speeches of my Right Hon. Friends (Mr. reel and Mr. Huskissen), as far.as was con nected with them, and as far as they have relation to the grouuds that led to my retirement from office. With re spect to the Borough of East Retford—a subject into which my Right lion. Friend (Mr. Peel) has gone - a considera ble 'length, my Right Hon. 'Friend will confirm me in the statement that I very early acquainted him of the prefo , thee 44at I entertained for transferring forfeited franchisee. to large manufacturing towns rather than to the Hundred. However; I considered that as in the case recently brought before Parliament, there were the franchises of two °, Boroughs ) Penryn and East Retford, to be, disposed of, considered it a reasonable proposal, that one of them, Pen ryn, should be transferred fo a•largemanufacturing town, Birmingham, for instance, and that the 'other Might be thrown' into the Hundred. This was in the case of two Boroughs being to be disfranchised ;- but I never concealed from my Right Hon. Friend, that in the event of. there being only one Borough, I should prefer the transfer of that on4' to a manufacturing toWn ; otherviise the Mouse of Commons would be acting on a rule . Which my Right Honourable Friend (Mr. Peel) himself deprecated; namely,' that there should be a settled precedent for transferring a forfeited franchise 'either to a menu ' facturing or agricultural district. This rule, it appeared to me, would be acted upOn; if after having extended the forfeited franchise to the adjacent hundred in the recent cases of Shoreham, Cricklade, and Ailesbury, an, addi tional instance should be afforded of disposing of a new disfranchised borough in a similar way.—(Hear, heat )--- It certainly was the impression on the minds of these pre. : ,, sent in the Cabinet on the pr e vious morning that there , was an understanding that it was a n op en q ues tion, on which eventually every man was at liberty to vote accord ing to his opinion. , It is true that that implied liberty was perhaps more especially applicable to some subsequent stage of the 'Bill. But after what passed on the night of the debate, my Right Hon. Friend had no alternative but to vote as he did. • He' had no option ; he told me at the time that he had none ; and I entirely agreed with him in the view which he took of the subject. Sir, I have stated this in order to relieve my Right Hon. Friend from the imputation which'may be thrown upon him', that the course which he took on the qtiestion was adopted by him in order to embarrass his Majesty's Government ; or that it was an unfair abandonment of my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Nome Department. Should such an imputation he cast upon my Right Hon. Friend, come from what quarter it may, it is wholly unfounded. For myself, I'was prepared ,fo vote as my Bt. Hen. Friend voted. Even if circumstances had permitted the delay of that vote until a - subseqent stage of the measure, the same conse quences would have taken place, only that in that case there would have been an opportunity for intermediate explana., tion. But, Sir, the great objection urged to my Right Hon. Friend's conduct has been placed, not on the vote which he gave on the East Retford Bill, but on the letter which he wrote to the . NOble Duke:at the head of his Ma jesty's Government, which letter, it is'alleged, contained a formal resignation of his office ; and it has been contended that having once written such a letter to the Noble Duke, his Grace had ,no option but to submit the letter to his Ma. jesty: Sir, in the first place, my Right Hon. Friend has stated that the letter in question was'Written at a veil , late hour, when he was labouring under great physical ex haustion, as well as strong mental 'excitement. My' Right Hon. Friend has stated, that if he had postponed - writing the letter until the next morning, he should probably have been able to express himself with more coolness and dis tinctness.' My Right Hon. Friend has also said, that he does not co mplain hf the sense in which the Noble DOke at the head- of his Majesty's Government ilnderitood his letter when his Grace first received it. Rut this, Sir, I mnat declare, that let that letter hire been stiSceptible of what meaning it might, I think tbat;taking into'donsielera tion all the circumstances finder kvhich that letter was sent pared with his colleagues; because it must generally be supposed that he would not withdraw such a tender unless a concession had been mei,: But that general principle is nor al - 21,...,4 to this particu lar case. My Right Hon. Friend did not say to the Noble Duke, " unless you do .so and so, I .will nerVcontinue a Member of your Government." What my . Right Hon. Friend said, was, " I have been compelled, whether rightly or not, to vote in such a manner. I had no -choice. It is for you,, as the Head of the Government, to say whether by so doing I have disqualified myself for continuing a Member of your Government. If you think that I have, and if. you advise the King, to dispense with my services, I shall not complain that you have treated me harshly."--.. So far, therefore, was my Right Hon. Friend from calling .on, his Majesty's Government for any concession, that the fair construction on his letter is that it was a concession on his part to the Noble Duke at the head of his Majesty's Government. Sir, I know not what may be the-opinion s and- feelings of others.; but with respect to myielf, the whole. course of these transactions,, according to' the hest judgment that I was able to form of them, proved . to me . that from the beginning to the end there was noalesire to 1 retain my Right Hon. Friend in the Cabinet, but that there was a very great desire to get him out .of it.— (Hear, hear, bear.)—That being the impression made upon my mind, it came to be a question with me what course I should myself take on the occasion.— I confors, Sir, my principal reason for joining my late col leagues was the confidence which I reposed- in my ?tight Hen. Friend. There are certain general principles re specting which J entertain a strong and decided opinion. The great part of those principles are the principles steadily maintained by my Right Hon. Friend. I felt, therefore, that as long as my Right Hon, Friend remained a Member of his Majesty's Government,. I should have a s.curity against being placed in the,ernbarrassing situation of having singly to withdraw from his Majesty's Councils, in consequence of not being able to give any assent to mea sures of which I could not approve. I -.Pad not the pre sumption to suppose , that-1 could Myself giie effect to any particular system ; but while my Right Hon. Friend was in the Cabinet I knew I was safe. Such being the ground on which I joined bia-INlajesty's GM/eminent, the retire ment of my Right Hon. Friend, proceed from what cause it might, naturally forced upon me the consideration whe ther, with the views which 1 have described, I could con tinue to belong to that Government.- The circumstances attending the removal of my Right Hon. Friend afforded such strong and unequivocal indication of feelings and im • premions in the Cabinet, different horn those which I bad believt;sl 'to exist, that I could not have reconciled it to my mind, even if I bad had no share in the vote in question, to continue in the Cabinet after my Right Hon. Friend had quitted it.—(Hear, hear.)—Sir, I must say, that there is a striking contrast between the mariner in which my Right Hon. Friend has been recently treated, and the man ner in. which he was treated in January.—(Hear, hear. ) In January, no indisposition whatever was shown towards him. In January his motives suffered no .misunderstand ing. On this recent occasion his explanations were un noticed ; hie own declaratioo of the sense in which he in tended his expressions to be understood was unavailing. It was impossible to observe this marked slight without feel ing that so great a shange must proceed from some cause or other. It was impossible for me not to feel that that cause was a diminished confidence in my Right Hon. Friend. Nor was that impression mine alone. I appeal to those who have opportunities of knowing what is pas sing in this great town. It was the subject of conversa tion in every street. A certain description of persons were running about in extacies at what had taken place. The language of the friends and supporters of the remaining Members of his Majesty's Government was unequivocal' and exulting. In mentioning the retirement of my Right Hon Friend, they talked with delight of " the cleansing of the Augean Stable ;" of "turning out of his Majesty's Go vernment one who had been unfortunately admitted its a moment of liberality, and who might have remained in it if he had manifested any docility."—(Hear.) From all these things, Sir, it is clear that the impression upon my mind of the altered disposition of his Majesty's Government was not confined to' myself, but that it extended to those who by no means thought the alteration discredita ble. Rut, Sir, we are told that the principles of his Ma jesty's Government are to undergo no change. I am ex tremely glad to hear it. Should the promise be fulfilled the result will be most beneficial ; for the principles of the measures of Government for some years past have mainly conduced to advance the most important interests of the country, considered with reference to her internal welfare, and to raise her in the estimation of all Europe.—(Hear, hear, hear.) This country; under the Administration of which -my Right Hon. Friend formed a part, 'has been raised to a proud pre-eminence which she never.before attained. She' has not attained it by any invasion of the rights of other countries. She bas attained it by the con fidence inspired by the just moderation of her Councils, and by that liberality of principle which has secured her the respect of all eivilise.l nations; and has placed her in a situation of greater dignity even than that to which the Conqueror at the head of the Government of France ever arrived. It is said the course which we have thus so happily pursued is to remain unchanged. I trust it will. I confess, however, that there are prognostics, that there are symp toms, which inspire me with apprehension on the subject. There are omens abroad of evil import- There are signs of malignant influence. There are voices of inauspicious tone and character. I trust that all these indications may be falsified by the event. I trust that all these omens, these signs, these voices may pass away harmlessly. I trust that his Majesty's Government will not repose their claims to the confidence of the people on giving " one cheer more" —(loud cries of hear, hear, hear)—to the ascendancy of this or that faction in the State. I trust that his Maje...y's and received, there was an extraordinary degree of precipi tation on the part of his Grace in acting upon that letter, and determining to submit it to his Majesty, without hav ing taken a single step, directly or indirectly, to ascertain the spirit in which the letter was conceivetl.-a-(Hear, hear, hear.)—lt may be said that when the Head of a Govern ment receives from a Member of that Government a letter which he understands as containing ' a resignation of his official station,• it is his duty to communicate such letter without delay to his Royal Master. But, Sir, I deny that this letter was of that character. I maintain that it was a letter perfectly capableof a satisfactory explanation. In fact my Right Hon. Friend did on'Tuesday twice offer an ex planation to the Noble Duke—ence by my Noble Friend, at that time Secretary of State for Forelgn'Affairs, and again by myself. I did naknoir what bad occurred until four o'clock- on Ttiesday; when- my Right Him. F r i e nd sent for me, and communicated it to me. I immediately went in search of the Noble Duke, in order to describe the transaction, and to state the circumstances which had led to the course pursued by myself as Well as by my Right Non. Friend ; and also to explain the sense in which I understood my Right Hon. Friend to have Written his letter. After a conversation with his Grace of consi derabl length, ! returned to may Right Hon. Friend, and told him that his letter had been understood by the Noble Duke in a sense very different from that which he intend ed ; and I suggested to him the expediency of giving an explanation in writing. That explanation my Right Hon. Friend accordingly gave. On the following day my Right Hon: Friend repeated lie explanation, detailing minutely the sense in which he wished his original letter to be un derstood. What was the consequence? On Thursday my Right Hon. Friend received from the Noble Duke the letter just read to the Hottie=a letter passing wholly by all the explanations which my Right Hon. Friend had offered, both verbally and in writing, and fixing my Right Hon. Friend's first letter with a meaning be had repeatedly declared was not that which be intended to convey. Sir, when I saw the Noble Duke's letter, I felt that his having left all my Right Hon. Friend's explanations es tirely unnoticed—having, instead of stating to my Eight Hon, Friend, " Your explanation is not sufficient here, there is a deficiency there ;" - --when I found that instead of giving my Right Hon. Ft lend an'Opportunity of filling up any gap that might be supposed toexist in my Right Hon. Friend's statements, the Noble Duke passed by all these matters, and reverted to the original letter alone, I became completely convinced that no further communication •on the subject could be of the slightest service. That con viction I communicated to my Right Hon. Friend; and the impression upon my mind being, that the removal of m y Right Hou. Friend from his Majesty's Government, under all the circumstances by which it had been attended, would render it advisable for me to withdraw also, I re quested an Hon. Friend of mine to postpone for ins, until after the holidays, a notice of motion which I had given in this House. Sir, I have stated these things to show that there existed on the one hand the greatest possible avidity to take advantage of my Right !Jon. Friend's first letter, pin n an ci d po to sit pn iv i e him down resignation to fsf i t i ht is a offi le c t e te: a u n e d co ti o i t a aining a t there e xisted on the other hand no disposition whatever to re ceive any of the explanations which my Right Hon. his Sovereign, e them, reign, but from acce s s t o that Sovereign he was debarred. Ido be Friend was ready and desirous to make. When my Right Hon. Friend found that his explanations were net received ornotimd expressed in a th w e i ya t r o te e r xp to la w in h h ic is hhe conduct ba to daddressed not mean to say that the head of a Government has not a right to say to the Sovereign, when any difference arises among the Members of a Cabinet, that difference is best con sidered in the Cabinet itself; but I maintain that it was due to my Right Hon. Friend to give him some clue by which he might have been enabled to discover what it was that was required of him. Sir, I perfectly agree with my Right Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, that if in the event of any difference in the Cabinet, one of the Members of that Cabinet tenders his resignation, which tender he is afterwards allowed tofith draw, he is placed in a situation of great advantage as som- Government will not league themselves with• the as;erters lingtnn beyond the circle of three persons, of whom his Majesty was one, unless. the Duke himself had cominve nicated it. Mr. BROUGHAM was not disposed to take a part in the very extraordinary occasion which had given rise to the Hon. Gentleman, opposite. tlema That n,and to' the speech h t explanations the Right of Hoen Secretary which was of the most importance to the House and to the country was, the character and intentions of the Govern ment formed after the resignations. '1 hat this Government was in many essential particulars, both with respect to the individuals composing it, aid, if'he might so speak, with respect to its constructing materials, different from that which had preceded it; no man could poesibly'entertain a doubt. On this subject, however, he abstained from making any observations. He was willing to wait and watch the proceedings of the Government; but finding that vigilance was necessary at the beginning of the - See. siert, he could not say that it-was less necessary now. What the measures of the new Administration might be, it became not him, nor any body preitent to say; but he cer tainly derived great comfort from two pledges,'one of which had been given that night, and the other existed' in the character of the Noble Duke at the head of the Govern ment. Considering the kind of . Government foimed, and the difficulties in which they were placed, he did think that there was something like a pledge, that the Dake, as a man of sense and prudence, would bring forward those tneasures'of retrenchment which would satisfy England, and that system of conciliation which would pacify IrelAnd. He could conceive no other possible ground on which the Duke of Wellington could claim the support of Parliament. For this the character of the Noble Duke was a security ; and another pledge, to the same effect, was the continuance of the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Peel) as a Member of the Administration. He took the meaning of the last fact to be, that no change of measures whatever- would, be effected and none attempted, however it might be desi iterated by one, or suggested by another, in Parliament or out of doors, either in the domestic or foreign policy of the country. He trusted that no deviation whatever would he thought of from those sound, enlightened and liberal prin ciples which had recently. obtained from all men of sense and discernment, who had the interest of their country at heart, not only their support, but almost their admiration. Mir. PEEL said that the separation from his Right Hen. Friend had not arisn kohl any difference of "Opinionns to . the general course which GovernMent ought to pursue. He bad always acted upon a liberal conviction, and not front any comprising desire to conciliate the support of others. Nothing, in his estimation, could be so low as to bind yourself to future proCeedings; but he could say that the Administration did not contemplate any change, in either the foreign or domestic, policy of the country.—(Hear.) Mr. CALVERT spoke a few sentences; inaudible in the Gallery. We understood the Hon. Member to move the Order of the Day for the House resolving itself into a Com mittee of the whole House upon the Easniftetford Dis franchisement Bill. The House resolved itself into the CoMmittee, Mr. Gordon in the Chair. The adjourned question was, "And whereas such bribery and corruption is likely to continue to be practised in the said borough in future, unless some. means are taken to prevent the same ; in order, therefore, to prevent such unlawful practices for theTuture, and that such borough may be duly represented in Parliament, &c." The amendment of Mr. Huskisson was—thit all the words after the word " future" he left out.' Mr. 'I ENNYSON asked the Hon. Member for Liver pool to which of the words " future," his Amendment applied? Mr. HUSKISSON said that, it was not consistent with the practice of Parliament, nor with the principles of jus tice, that the borough should be entirely disfranchised.— The circumstance that Penryn was in Cornwall was not sufficient to justify the House in pursuing such a course, nor in visiting the Borough with such a sentence, in prefe rence to passing it upon East Retford, which had beers proved much more corrupt. No difficulty of principle ex isted in the taseof East Retford. In this latter borough not only a great loOdy of voters had been proved corrupt, hut the returning officers, the town•clerk and all, had been guilty of taking bribes. It had keen argued that Cornwall was already full of voters ; and if the right of Penryn were extended to the Hundred, that Hundred was full of . persons& previously possessed of the franchise for voting for Mem- hers!of Parliament. But this did not apply so strongly to East Retford; for there it was proposed to give the Hun dred a double vote. The House had often extended the right of voting to a hundred which had previously posses sed a franchise. It was argued that the Hundred to which he.proposed to extend the frar.c'tise of Penryn contained the borough towns of Helstone and Falmouth; but hart not the House extended the franchise of Shoreham to the Hundred, which contained two or three close boroughs?— The franchise of Cricklade bad been thrown into a hun dred containing Wooton-Basset and Malmesbury. In these precedents there were more boroughs than in the hundred to which he would extend the franchise Of Penryn. In Wiltshire were 34, and in Cornwall 42 ; and if they threw the franchiie of Penryn into the Hundred, the count..- see the i sv io b n y d , re l d iy of th ß r as ow ,e i t o ia g w t , he th f e r y an a r h b o i would still re t a i n th e same num b er o f vo t ers . H e did not o se ld o ni f E ak a. e st a ß n e ew tfo c r o d m i i n ty n: and ifthey did extend the franchise, the voters should vote for the Hundred, and not for the county of Nottingham.— He would prefer the transferring of the franchise of Fitt Retford to tine of the Ridings of Yorkshire. Mr. C. WOOD maintained, that the Right Lion. the Secretary of State had refused to legislate upon principle, but had preferred, as a compromise, to give the franchise of East Retford to the Hundred of Bassetlaw, that of Penryn being transferred to some commercial town. But subsequent proceedings had shewn that the franchise of Penryn was not to be transferred as the House originally intended, to Manchester, and the ra.estood us if the fran. _ . . of arbitrary principles. I trust that his Majesty's Govern- chise of . Penryo was to go to the adjoining Hundred. It meat will found their claim to the approbation of the people would therefore be Only consistent in the Right Hon. Gen by maintaining, not in this country alone, but wherever denten to vote for the franchise:of East Retford being trans. their measures may extend, the ascendancy of liberal, wise, ferred to some manufacturing or commercial town. Of just, and enlightened principles.—(Hear, hear, hear.) precedents of disfranchising boroughs, in six cases the ad- Mr. HIJSKISSON wished to explain one or two points vantage had been given to the agricultural interests. The on which he was apprehensive that a misunderstanding Right Hon. Secretary of State had appeared as if he was might go forth. His Right Hors. Friend, the Secretary of not disposed to play a fair game ; for he had sent the State for the Home Department, had been quite correct in weaker case to the commercial town—that which wtss saying, that when he (Mr. Huskisson) came down to the stronger to the hundred. He denied that any argument. House on the occasion in question, it. was his intention to could be founded upon an average of Members to different vote with his Right Hon. Friend. But bad nothing oc- counties; and if there could, Nottingham sent a greats r curred in the course of the p r o c eedings to change that de- number of Representatives to Parliament than the county termination? Had he (Mr. Huskisson) not in his speech of Warwick. He was not for giving any further adVar,- on that question, attempted to shew that the House was tage to the agricultural interests; for in this disfranchise.. called upon to determine on an entirely new proposition ? went of boroughs, they had already had More than their It was on that ground that he had• proposed an adjourn- share. The agricultural interest was already amply re went. He had a right to assume on that occasion that presented in that House. Extending the franchises of bo they had no right to assume what bad been done in the roughs to the adjoining Hundreds was contrary to the old House of Lords, until they had official and formal know- and best practice of the Constitution ; for the voters of ledge _ , of it. The pledge which he had given, o n the these Hundreds were not co ns tit uen t s o f e ith er K n i g h ts . '2lst March lie had given inadvertently; but, road- Citizens, or Burgesses, but were a mere mongrel breed. vertently or. not, having given it, he was bound to re- He should object to the extension of the franchise of East . deem it. He begged not to be understood as having thrown Retford to the Hundred. the slightest imputation on his Right Hon. Friend's con- Mr. STANLEY wished to impress upon the House, duct towards him. H e h a d never ex p e rienced any thing that whatever explanations had taken place that night, from his Right Hon. Friend but the greatest candour ; and they'had no reference to the Question of East Retard ; ho was the last person in the world who would wish to do but they referred to the Speaker's leaving the Chair, and any thing that might embarrass his Right Hon. Friend, or had left the Question upon which the Committee were place him in a painful predicament. The expression that about to decide free from all political dissensions and party he was " a man of sense and of the world," had been feelings. Many might have thought it a point of political misunderstood. It was compr e h en d e d in a mess age com- duty to have given a vote contrary to that which they municatedao 'him by his Noble Friend, then Secretary of might give, now that the Question was left free and . inde- State for Foreign Affairs, front the Noble Duke at the pendent of all political considerations. The Question of head of his Majesty's Government. That Noble Duke transferring the forfeited franchise of Eas t Retfo rd , might had also said that he did not wish him to do any thing in- now be decided without any reference t o the political ques. i consistent with his personal honour. Ile (Mr. Husks - tions which had preceded it, or w soa) was the last person in the world to suppole that his to b e ' consequent.—He spoke from the evidence before thin Grace could have any such wish ; for no man Gould afford House, from which it appearedthat to be so liberal in matters of personal honour as he who voters in East Retford guiltless of brib ery . W ere they had acquired so much. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. then, to continue to that g reat b ody of delinquent voters Huskisson) here made some statements with respect to the the same right which the y p oss essed at present? O w' of dates of some of the recent transactions, which we were the witnesses had , to his sham e , owned at their hat that he hich there tb e only eleven mig werell unable to collect. He received on Monday morning no himself had received a bribe at an election.— (Hear. )-..... such'communieition as had been stated. He did not sup- 'The Hon. Gentleman, after some further observations, eon pose that the Duke of Wellington hail returned hie letter eluded by stating, that he should vote for the motion of the unopened in any . uncourteous manner, but because he had Right Hon. Gentleman, which went to omit the transfer received it after a period in which he (the Duke) ' under- I to the Hundred, leavin g it open to the future decision of stood that he (Mr. Huakisson) was upraised that it was i t h e sHouse whether it should be given to some large menu ueneces.cutry for the Duke to make any such communica- facturing town, or tusome agricultural district. tion. But as he had not known that fact, and had found 1 Mr. GEORGE BANKES supported the amendment of the letter returned (on the supposition that he did know it), ; the Hon. Member for Hertfordshire, as the more mild and he naturally wished to ascertain the course he ought to i lenient cottrse. pursue. It was returned before the Duke bad taken his i Mr. Alderman WAITHMAN supported the origi r 1 Majesty's commands with respect to a successor. His Right motion. Hon. Friend had argued all along upon a different basis; ; Mr. F. LEWIS supported the Amendment. 'and . he had to complain that his Right Hon. Friend had Mr. N. CALVERT said a few words, across the tabls, assumed that he had promulgated the contents of a letter, which wererendered inaudible from thecries of " Question," marked " private and confidential," to the newspapers, and The House then divided, when there appeared— to the other channels of publicity, so well known in the For the original Resolution 249 metropolis. He would ask his Right Hon. Friend if this For Mr. Huskiss9n's Amendment 152 Were consistent with his c haracter? He would ask him if Majority —B7 there had nut been other transactions, in former cases, con- On our return to the Gallery, we found nected with his re signation of office, and of which he had Mr. Secretary PEEL stating, that he had thought one made no improper publication ; or if he had ever divulged of the proposals of the Honourable Member opposite wr s those matters connected with Government which i n th e i r to agree i n e ff ec ting a compromise, by ad m i t ti ng one o f t h e nature ought to be kept secret ? He could only say, Abet Boroughs to retain its franchise, white the other was given the particular transaction he alluded to was so little known, to a large town. By that plan his course would be go was so little the subject of the impression to which his yenned. If the House of Lords should throw the franchi,e Right Hon. Friend referred, that it was not until two days of Penryn into the neighbouring Hundreds, lie, as an irdi after its occurrence that any inkling or intimation of it ap- vidual, should consider himself hound by his pledge, , isi peared in the newspapers,' or was known in the town, would certainly redeetn it, by throwing the team:hew s , ;i s where gossip was so common. No man bai previously II .rough of East Retford into the hands of the haliabitahti heard of the communication made to the Duke of Wet- of a large town. He had no insuperable objection to : h ~ .. N