The Press.
London, England, 1857-03-07 00:00:00

approve a policy with respect to China which has begun in
outrage, and which, if pursued, will end in ruin. ( Lona
cheers.) _ _ .

But. what defence of the policy of the Government
in China had Lord Palmerston offered ?
Has he laid down a single principle on which our rela-
tions with China ought to depend? Has he enunciated a
solitary political maxim which should guide us in this
moment of peril and perplexity ? On the contrary, he has
covered a weak and shambling case by saying—what?—
that he is the victim a a conspiracy. (Cheers and
laughter.) It's the old story. How often does a prisoner
at the bar, when he is in the unfortunate position of having
no defence, declare that the whole thing is a conspiracy ?
(Cheers.) The noble lord was singularly inconsistent in
the language which he addressed to the house. He care-
fully enumerated the various influential sections which are
combined against him. He alluded to the different dis-
tinguished statesmen who, disagreeing on other subjects,
agreed in their opinion of his policy. He did not enter
into any manly or statesmanlike defence of his conduct.
He reproduced petty observations made in the course of
the debate which I thought really had become exhausted
and obsolete, and then be turned round and said that the
whole was a conspiracy ! (Cheers.)
Accustomed to majorities which have been obtained
without the assertion of a single principle, which have,
indeed, been the consequence of an occasional position,
and which have, in fact, originated in the noble lord
sitting on that bench without the necessity of expressing
an opinion upon any subject, foreign or domestic, that can
interest the heart of the country or influence the opinion
of the nation, the noble lord will at last find that the time
has come when, if he be a statesman, he must have a
policy—( cheers)—and that it will not do the instant that
the blundering of his Cabinet is detected, and every man
accustomed to influence the opinion of the house unites
in condemning it, to complain to the country that he is
the victim of a conspiracy. (Cheers.) Let the noble lord
not only complain to the country but let him appeal to the
country. (Cheers.) I hope that my constituents will
return me again ; if they do not, I shall be most happy to
meet him on the hustings at Tiverton. (Renewed cheers.)
I should like to see the programme of the proud leader of
the Liberal party—" No reform, new taxes, Canton blazing,
Persia invaded." That would be the programme of the
statesman who appeals to a great nation as the worthy
leader of the cause of progress and civilisation. (Cheers.)
I hope that the house will not for a moment be in-
fluenced by the languid menace of the noble lord. I hope
that hon. members will feel to-night that they have a duty
to perform which will be remembered long after this Par-
liament shall have ceased to exist ; and that, not frightened
by the menace of a Minister, they will dare to vindicate the
cause of justice, and to lay down a principle without the
observance of which the empire of which we are so proud
may soon be questioned. (Loud and protracted cheering.)

Mr. COBDEN replied in a few pointed words, pro-
testing against the charge of a conspiracy to over-
throw the Government, for his motion, before it
appeared on the table of the house, was unknown to
any single member except Mr. Milner Gibson ; show-
ing also that Lord Palmerston's anticipation that an
adverse vote of the house would sacrifice the British
residents in China was quite illusory, and pointing
out that, if a change of Ministry occurred, it would
materially benefit the nation by a certain reduction
of taxation ; and appealing to members to give an
honest and conscientious vote, free from party bias.
The house then divided, and the numbers were—
For the motion

Against it
Majority against the Government --16

As soon as the clerk at the table handed to Mr.
Cobden the paper containing the statement of the
numbers, and it was seen that the Government was
defeated, there was loud cheering, which was sus.
pended while the numbers were announced, but after
their announcement it was repeated and continued
for some minutes.

The house adjourned at twenty-five minutes after
two o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-WEDNESDAT.
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS BILL.

Sir STAFFORDINORTHCOTE moved and Mr. HADFIELD
seconded the second reading of this bill.
Mr. Baxter, Lord Stanley, and Mr. Gordon sup.
ported the measure, which was opposed by Mr.
Alcock and Mr. Bowyer.
Sir J. PARINGTON'S only objection to the bill was,
that it dealt on the one hand with what ought to form
a portion of our general system of national education,
and on the other it interfered with what more
properly came within the province of the poor law.
He thought his hon. friend would do well to confine
his measure solely to reformatories, and to children
who, if they had not yet come under the lash of the
law, were about to do so. He should vote with much
pleasure for the second reading, leaving the questions
to which he bad adverted to be dealt with at. a more
appropriate stage.

The bill was ultimately read a second time without
a diviNion.

Sir J. PAKINGTON postponed the second reading of
his Education (Cities and I3oroughs) Bill until
Wednesday next. _

The CoUrt of Chancery Ireland (Titles of Fur-
chaseni) Bill was real a second time, ou the motion
of Ur, Wginbzur.