The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-16 00:00:00

SUPPLEMENT TO

lit

No. 85.—VoL. 11.

DEBATES ON THE ADDRESS.

In the House of Lords on Tuesday the Address was
moved and seconded by the Duke of LEEDS and Lord
AsitsunTox, whose orations on the occasion contained
nothing beyond the usual allusions, couched in com-
plimentary language, to the subjects touched upon.
in the successive paragraphs of her Majesty's Speech

The Earl of DERBY said :
My lords, her Majesty has called us together at
this unusual period of the year to deliberate upon
subjects of the highest and deepest importance, not
to this country alone, but also to Europe and to the
world at large ; and if, under these circumstances,
it had been my duty to raise any objection or any
cavil to the terms of the Speech from the Throne
—if it had been my intention to propose any amend-
ment, or to enter into any controversy—l should un-
doubtedly have preferred that some of her Majesty's
Ministers should have first had the opportunity of
stating fully their views, and of explaining the con-
duct pursued by her Majesty's Government, in order
that I might have had the advantage of referring to
their statements. But, my lords, upon the present
occasion, I have no such intention ; for, under exist
ing circumstances, even were the Speech from the
Throne open to greater objections than, I am happy
to say, I consider it to be, I should think it my duty,
as far as possible, to abstain from moving any
amendment, or interrupting the general unanimity of
the house. (" Hear," and cheers.) I have thought
it more becoming and more convenient, honoured as
I am by the confidence of a large number of mem-
bers of your lordships' house—(cheers from the Op-
position)—that I should take the earliest opportunity
of declaring, on the part of the great Conservative
body of this country, the view which they take, and
the course which they are prepared to pursue at this
momentous crisis. ("Hear," and cheers.)
Both her Majesty, in her gracious speech, and my
noble friend who has seconded the Address, have, so
far as my friends are concerned, done us but scant
justice in supposing the impossibility that, upon
such an occasion as the present, there should be
anything but unanimous agreement. (Hear, hear.)
This is no time for considering whether the war
might or might not have been avoided. This is no
time for considering whether, by a different course of
proceeding, her Majesty's Ministers might have
effected the objects they had in view, without in-
volving the country in the dangers and calamities of
war. In that war we are now, as a nation, fairly
embarked ; in that war the nation, as one man, sym-
pathises with the Crown and with the Government;
in the prosecution of that war the nation, as one man,
is pressing forward with a unanimity of feeling and
an abnegation of every selfish consideration which
are almost unparalleled in the history of our coun-
try—(" Hear," and cheers)--end I may truly say,
that, in the prosecution of this contest, it is not the
Government who are appealing to the country, but it
is the country that is urging upon the Government
the prosecution of the war. (Renewed cheers.)
My lords, I rejoice at the altered tone of the
present Speech from the Throne as compared with
the Speech of the last year. I rejoice that at last,
circumstances, which have compelled the assent even
of the noble lord at the head of the Government,
have satisfied her Majesty's Ministers that there is
no course to be taken but the most direct—the safest
and the most honourable because the boldest—and

Z