The Press.
London, England, 1855-04-14 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

others the Manchester and Peelite places ; Mr. Keogh undertook the
part of the Brigade, and Mr. Wilson that of an independent agri-
cultural old Whig. Lord Cranworth, as Speaker of the other House,
was placed in the chair, with strict injunctions to hold his tongue.
Four oranges, which Lord Granville, with great forethought, had
brought from the dessert, were placed in a row beside the Chancell'r
of the Exchequer amid much applause. The following scene ensued :
Lord PALMERSTON : Oranges ! Bravo! You mustn't throw the
peals away. you know.
Sir C. WOOD (smartly); No, keep the peels and throw away the
Peelites, as Palmerston has done. (Great laughtsi;)
The CHANCELLOR : Order, order. Now, Mr. Chancellor of the
Exchequer.
Sir GEORGE CORNEWALL LEWIS (rising): In addressing the
House--

Sir C. WOOD : Committee. That's Cranny's fault, not yours.
Why don't you get out of the chair?
The CHANCELLOR : Because its much more comfortable hero than
there. Let him fancy that lam at the table.
Lord PALMERSTON : No, no, do it right, or it will be confusing
when the real time comes. You get into the chair at the corner,
Cranny. Now then, Lewis, fire away.
Sir C. Woon : He hasn't fumbled over his papers half enough.
I used to make a great parade of them—so (lid Gladstone. Open slid
shut the box three or four times, my boy, and whisper to your next
neighbour. Tell him it's a warm night, or anything—it looks like
business to those who can't hear.
Sir G. C. L.: Stuff. What is the use of those antics. I have
my papers all right, and it isn't a warm night. Now then. " Sir. In
addressing the Committee upon the present occasion, I feel that I
stand in need of no ordinary indulgence. Placed, for the first time,
in a situation of grave responsibility—
Lord PALMERSTON : Cheer, boys, cheer. This is the place. (Loud
cheers.)

Sir G. C. L.: "Of grave responsibility, called upon to indicate
the sources whence a national revenue, largely exhausted, must be
replenished for the prosecution of a just and necessary war—(low l
cheers)—a Chancellor of the Exchequer, at such a moment, has no
ordinary task before him—
Sir C. WOOD: Deuced good. Just what I should have said.

Sir R. BETHEL'. : Don't be so severe on him.
Sir G. C. L. (resuming): " The war which England is now
waging—
Mr. KEOGH (as a Brigadier): I rise to order. I protest against
England usurping all the honour of the war. I will be bound that
when her Majesty's Ministers come to the taxation, Ireland will
not be forgotten, and I demand that she receive also her share of
laudation.

Sir G. C. L.: " Ireland, let me assure the Honourable Member,
can never be forgotten, unless she forgets herself. (Cheers.) The
war, sir, which this nation is waging, in alliance with France, against
the common enemy of liberty and of humanity, is a war of the most
remarkable kind, and one which justifies our resorting to remarkable
means for carrying it on— (Cheers )

,
Lord PALmEasToN (slily): I don't advise you to wait for that
cheer, my dear fellow. At all events don't be thrown out if it shouldn't
come.

Sir G. C. L.: " In reviewing the means by which it was at first
sought to provide for a struggle which was not expected to be either
long or formidable— (Sensation.)
The Duke of ARGYLL : I object to that.
Lord PALMERSTON : Who are you? I mean what party do you
speak for?
The Duke of ARGYLL : For myself. That statement is a direct
imputation upon Lord Aberdeen. Sir G. Lewis and all of you must
have read my speech the other day ; and, as I praised and applauded
Aberdeen, declared that my great grief was to part with him, and im-
plied that his views and his spirit actuated my present associates, or I
would not have joined them, I can't have such an imputation flung
at him.

Lord PALMERSTON (severely): Duke, that will do. The house
of Sutherland claims a right to be represented in every Ministry, and
I have let in you and your blessed uncle-in-law. But you will be good
enough to mind your own business. If my Cabinet is not to profess
that it holds different views from its predecessors, what the deuce is
the good of it ? Please to go on, Lewis.

Sir G. C. L.: " Which was not expected to be either long or formid-
able, I must recur to the speech of the Chancellor who preceded me,
when introducing the Budget of 1854
Sir G. GREY: Speaking as Mr. Gladstone, I think you might put
in some adjectives there. Say the " magnificent" speech, and say the
" accomplished" Chancellor.
Lord PALMERSTON : Upon my word, I don't see why. What non-
sense it is to be always buttering up your enemies ! People in Eng-
land, who take words for things, believe you, and you actually puff
into reputation a man whom you dislike. I don't want to dictate to
Lewis, of course, but if I had to allude to Gladstone I would use words
that implied that he was a pretentious wordy bungler, and no
mistake.
Sir G. GREY : I don't say he isn't, especially as Lewis's speech
must prove that he is, if he proves anything at all. I spoke in cha-
racter.
Lord PALMERSTON : I know, I know, my dear fellow—you are quite
right. I rather spoke, generally, against a very silly custom WC have
all got into.
Sir A. COCKBURN (from the Opposition bench): Is the Noble Lord
uneasy beneath the extraordinary efflux of compliment which gentle-
men on this side of the house feel it their flew to direct upon the

354

measures and capacities of her Majesty's last or present Coalition?
(Great laughter.)
Sir G. C. L.: " My predecessor, to whose talent it is quite unneces-
sary for me to offer my humble testimony of admiration—(cheers and
laughter)—said---" The Hon. Member then read some passages from
Mr. Gladstone's speech. He next proceeded to describe the disastrous
results of that Gentleman's financial arrangements, to apprise the
Committee of the unsatisfactory condition of our resources, and to
dilate upon the stagnation of trade, and the terrible drain of the war.
He went through the items of the national account, pointed out the
decrease in exports and imports, and the large deficiency in the
revenue. Having sufficiently exposed Mr. Gladstone, he opened his
own plans, into which it is not necessary that this report should go.
They were received with occasional cheering; but towards the end of
the speech, which was delivered with precision, many of the party had
gone to sleep, while the more capable or less frivolous members
listened in silence. The speech occupied about three hours, and con-
cluded with an appropriate quotation from " Cicero." (Cheers, which
woke up the slumberers.)
Mr. WiLsos (as the Agricultural Member): T have nothing to say,
sir, to the Right Hon. Gentleman's Latin, which I do not under-
stand—
Lord PALMERSTON : My dear Wilson, do you know that country
gentlemen are educated in these days ?
Mr. WILSON : But I tell you I myself don't understand it. What's
eastoribus hicis!—light beaver hats? (Great laughter.) Well, sir, I
don't understand his Latin. But I do understand Cocker, and with
the permission of the Committee I must call attention to certain
arithmetical details, in which, unless I am deceived, the Right Hon.
Gentleman has led us all wrong. He states—(reads notes)—that in
1853 the excise duty amounted to eleven millions two hundred and
ninety. seven thousand three hundred pounds ; and this he adds to the
seven millions two hundred and fifty-three thousand nine hundred and
eleven pounds of 1852—n0, I mean to the five millions four hundred

SATURDAY,

and sixty-eight thousand three hundred and eleven stop—yes.
He takes eleven millions two hundred and ninety-seven thousand three
hundred pounds, &c. &c. &c. This lasted for about an hour.
Lord PALMERSTON Not bad, but out of character. Nobody does
that sort of patter except Charles Mathews and James Wilson. So
you must take no notice, Lewis.
Sir A. Cocxnunu (for the Opposition) : The speech of the Right
Hon. Chancellor of the Exchequer is one to which we have all listened
with interest. It involves too many questions to be hastily discussed,
and therefore, Sir, I move that you do leave the chair, and that wo do
adjourn back to Lord Palmerston's claret.
Lord GRANVILLE: Let's see. I'm Bright. Yes. " Sir, the bloody
and unnecessary war into which we have been thrown shall never bo
supported by me with a single shilling. Build more mills, make your
manufactures cheaper and better, facilitate exports, and you will have
peace directly, because Russia knows her own interest, and desires to
buy in the best market. I shall not vote on the Budget, and I
solemnly declare my belief that everybody who votes for it will go to
the devil." (Laughter).
Mr. KEOGH (as a Brigadier): " Sir, the Budget is what might have
been expected from an English Minister; that is to say, a mixture of
contumely and oppression as regards my country. Reluctantly he
yielded to any extortion. (Laughter.) Ay, jeer at Irish wrongs—your
Queen owes her throne to Irish bayonets—l say he reluctantly yielded
the admission which I extorted from him, that Ireland had shared in
the glories of your war. But how eagerly he leaped upon the wretched
Erin, how savagely he sprang upon her scanty purse (emptied by
centuries of your cruelty and tyranny) when he needed her miserable
earnings to make up his sheet of figures." The Honourable Attorney-
General for Ireland, who is a good humorist, entertained the
Committee with a series of capital imitations of Hibernian orators,
and ended by seconding the motion of the Attorney-General for
England, which was carried unanmiously, and the rehearsal
terminated.