The Press.
London, England, 1858-05-29 00:00:00

THE PRESS, MAY 29,1858.

acceded to office. (Hear, hear.) You will perhaps
remember that a Government supposed to be omnipotent
suddenly fell to pieces with a collapse altogether unprece-
dented. ( A laugh.) Yon will perhaps recollect that her
Majesty, in the exercise of her constitutional prerogative,
in these circumstances applied to my noble friend the
present Prime Minister of Euglan 1, and requested him to
undertake the great responsibility of directing public
affairs. You will, perhaps, recollect that, with a frankness
which belongs to him, Lord Derby, not eagerly grasping at
office—( Hear, hear)—represented to the Queen, as it be-
came him to do, the position of himself and his friends in
the House of Commons, communicating to her Majesty
that in that powerful rissembly he could nut, from the
extraordinary circumstances in which the present Parlia-
ment was ele-ted, answer fur receiving support to his
Government from a party touch exceeding one-third of
the nurniiett that formed the house. (Hear, hear.) Then,
though he expressed his readiness under all circumstances
and at all hazards to undertake the responsibility, he re-
spectfully counselled her Majesty to pause and well con-
sider the great contingencies at issue, and not hastily call
on him to undertake the charge which she had so graciously
offered to intrust to him. ( Hear, hear.) I say, therefore,
there was no unseemly eagerness for office on our part.
( Hear, hear.) I may remind you that her Majesty availed
herself of the opportunity thus afforded her by Lord Derby.
Her Majesty graciously condescended to reconsider the
circumstances of the time and of the State, and it was only
after that second consideration that the Queen expressed
her conviction that it was the duty of Lord Derby to under-
take the trust, however difficult it might be. ( Hear, hear./
From that expression of her Majesty Lord Derby did not
shrink, and he took upon himself, with all its difficulties,
the office of Prime Minister of this country. (Cheers.) The
heritage of difficulties to which he succeeded was not a
slight one, and it would have been no easy matter to have
encountered those difficulties even if we had been sup-
ported by an overwhelming majority of the House of
Commons. ( Hear, hear.) It is well now for us to think
lightly of the perils we have passed through--even to
forget them ; but when I tell you and tell you seriously that
the question of peace or war when we acceded to effice was
not a question of weeks or days, but of hours, I am sure
you will remember that peace has been preserved, while
the honour of the country has been vindicated. (Cheers.)
Let me also remind you that at that very moment two of
your fellow-subjects were lingering, and had long lingered,
in a foreign dungeon, and that the effort"; of a Government
which boasted of being irresistible in its domestic strecgth
and iu its foreign policy had not succeeded in relieving the
misery of their position, or in vindicating the honour of
their country. ( Hear, hear.) lint in a few weeks—l
might almost say in a few days—the Government of Lord
Derby, with all these difficulties to encounter, and with its
unquestionable want of strength in the popular house of
the Constitution, di I succeed in freeing these two neglected
and suffering Englishmen—(cheers)—brought them back
in triumph to that country which had so lung felt indig-
nation inexpressible at their unmerited sufferings and
shame for the weakness of that Government whi(i ha-I
permitted them so long to endure it. (Great the-ring.)
I think, therefore, I may also refer to that circumstance as
one to which the Government of Lord Derby, so often
described as a weak Government, may look back with
pride and satisfaction. (Cheers.) Then let me remind
you that during all this neriod, while we had to maintain
and establish peace with France—while we were vindicating
the honour of England and the rights and privileges of all
that dwell on its soil—while we were freeing from a foreign
dungeon our suffering fellow-countrymen, the arts of faction
were pursuing us on every side. (Cheers.) A war
between Naples and Sardinia—which would have been
a war that would have set the whole world in flame,t
—was nearly precipitated in order to inconvenience
and, perhaps, upset a Government which was the
choice, after due reflection, of the Queen of this
country, and which was honoured by her confidence
not formally, but sincerely and cordially, because
they were the only !lefty who would come forward and incur
the responsibility of carrying on the Government. (Cheers.)
The foreign difficulties were not the only ones to which in
these difficult circumstances we succeeded. The finances
of the country were in a position of the most extreme dif-
ficulty; and—what was still worse—they were imagined by
the country generally to he in a position even more embar-
rassing than they really were. The tendency of that feeling
greatly increased the difficulty of dealing with the subject,
because it induced depression and even panic in the public
mind, and acted in a most injurious manner on the com-
mercial enterprise of the country. (Hear, hear.) These
financial difficulties were looked forward to by our oppo-
nents, equally with those we encountered in our foreign
affairs, as the means by which it was hoped our failure
might be accomplished. (Hear, hear.) It does not be-
come me to refer to the measures by which these financial
difficulties were encountered, but I may be permitted to
make this single observation, that it was my duty, as the
Minister of Finance iu the Government of Lord Derby—
in the midst of this hostile House of Commons. and facing
a band of opponents such as few have had to encounter—
to propose measures to meet the emergency which had the
singular and unprecedented fortune of being passed with
general acclamation. (Cheers.) But our difficulties were
not limited merely to the extreme danger of our foreign
affairs, when the question of peace or war was hourly be-
fore us; they were not limited to the deficit in our finances,
which can be only counted by ; we hail before us
the state of India. and had to consider and determine on
the policy on which the weal or woe of that great peninsula
depended, and with which the renown and the power of
England were so intimately connected. ( Cheers.) it is
unnecessary to refer to what has taken place within the
last twelve months in India. The great events that have
taken place there are graven on every man's heart and
convictions. They were accompanied with circumstances
of such harrowing interest that there is no man, whatever
his condition may be—whether he fill the highest place in

the peerage, or follow the plough and gain the price
our agricultural meetings—who is not cognizant of allat
and
principal details and features of those great eienta, the
who does not feel fur many of the startling incidents
that occurred in the course cl these transacti
( Hear, hear.) But we had to decide—for it
was
the turning-point of our Indian empire—the cha-
racter of the policy which ought to be pursued; whether
t should he a policy of unmitigated vengeance, or whether
i
the time had arrived when we should attempt to rebuild
our great empire in the East on principles of a very
different character, and leading, as we believed, to a very
different result. (Great cheering.) Was it to be military
traloii pit
kaei
traiygn a
00
eft.
chifilaept
ra etivioeanir
sem:
3ti
tt.
ese
fir
sedudebei tat
enormousoccupation by an army four times greeter in amount than
att‘anx,tyastaitrotmnta,y
byob a
fe
Europeans
from this
country, and by a perpetual exhaustion of our resources?
(Cheers.) Or were we to recognize that vengeance had
doneits duty? Were we to recognize that the time had
arrived, or was fast arriving, when, upon the fall of the
rebellious capital, we ought to announce to the inhabitants
of India the principle on which we propose to recon-
struct our empire,—a principle that we believed must con-
tribute to their happiness and to the welfare and power
and glory of this country? (Great cheering.) Was it
always to be massacre and confiscation? (Cheers.) Or,
on the other hand, was it to be discriminating am-
nesty ? (Cheers.) Was it to be respect for private pro-
perty, toleration for religion, and a due and decent regard
for the manners and customs of the people? (Cheers.)
Were we or were we nut to distinguish the great body of
the millions—who after all are her Majesty's subjects in
India—from those military and treacherous rebels who
have received or will receive their due weed of reward?
Renewed cheering ) 'These are the three great subjects,
gentlemen, which have occupied our counciis and which
have demanded our management since we came into
office :—Foreign affairs, that involved the question of peace
or war ; financial arrangements, that involved the question
of millions of a deficieitcy awl a reduction of taxation;
and the principles upon which a great empire should be
reconstructed in India—( cheers )—three great subjects,
gentlemen, and we have been in office three months!
( Renewed cheering.) And yet we are told that we are a weak
Government and have done nothing! (Cheers.) Why,
we have vindicated the honour of England; we have pre-
served peace ; we :lave freed from imprisonment our lie
fering countrymen ; we have met an immense deficiency,
and at the same thus reduced taxation; and we have laid
down principles for the reconstruction of our Indian em-
pire which England approve* and Europe admires, aud
which, if acted on, will maintain the greatness and glory
of our country. ( Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, we have
hail to perform this difficult task tinder unprecedented
difficulties. I am bound to declare, especially after some
observations that have been made to-day, that I for one—
and from my position I may be considered a candid and
impartial judge—have no reason to complain of the pie-
sent Howse of Commons. (Hear, hear.) Considering
that it was elected under the auspices of our rivals, con-
sidering that it was supposed to possess an overwhelming
majority against us when we a‘suitied the reins of office, 1
ant hound to say that the Government have received from
the House of Ccminons, as a body, a generous courtesy,
and that, on more than one occasion, the sense and spirit
of the House of Commons have baffled the unceasing
intrigues and the restless machinations by which, from the
first moment of our entering office, the Government of
the Queen has been assailed. (Cheers.) And, geutle-
men, this leads me to the very key of the position. There
exists at this moment in England that which has not
existed since the days of Charles 11. There is in Eng-
land at this moment a cabal—(cheers;—a cabal which has
no other object but to upset the Government of the Queen,
and to obtain their ends in a manner the most reckless
but the most determined. ( Renewed cheers.) Now, this
c 'hal consists of some scheming English politicians aud
some foreign intriguers. ( Hear.) They possess resources
of all kinds, and in considerable amount, and they
are reckless in the mode in which they dispose of
tnem. ( Hear, hear.) Their social influences are consi-
derable, and they are perverted without the slightest re-
morse to obtain their political ends. (Cheers.) They
possess great sources of political information, especially
with regard to foreign affairs, obtained iu a manner nut
very constitutional. ( Cheers.) They have succeeded in doing
that which no cabal in modern times, I son proud to say,
has yet succeeded in accomplishing; they have in a great
degree corrupted the once pure and independent press of
England. ( Loud cheers.) Innocent people in the country
—( laughter )—who look to the leading articles in the news-
papers for advice and direction—who look to what are
called leading organs t o be the guardians of their privileges
and the directors of their political consciences—(laughter)
—are not the least aware, because this sort of knowledge
travels slowly, that leadnig organs now are place-hunters
of the cabal—( cheers and laughter)—and that the once
stern guardians of popular rights simper in the enervating
armosphero of gilded mamma. (Cheers and laughter.)
Yes, gentlemen, it is too true that the shepherds who were
ooce the guardians of the flock are now in league with the
wolves—( laughter )—aul therefore it is, that though we
have been only three months in office, though during that
space we have vindicated your honour, maintained the peace
of Europe, which was in manifest peril, rescued oar
f. countrymen from a 'reign dungeon, made up a great
laid defi-
ciency in your finances, and yet reduced taxation, and a
deep foundation for your tuture empire in the hast—inoo
oent people in the country who read leading organs believe
we area Government that do nothing ; that we are a weak
Government, and not entitled to the confidence of
wbacurt
country. (Cheers and laughter) But, gentlemen, r
would happen if the calail were successful ? You know ou
policy, and you can judge of it by its fruits. Let the cabal
be successful, and in foreign affairs you would have..
truckling foreign policy, while in home affairs) otl..wi
have gradually established 14 strong and strict centre
lized
l!

--
Government, on the model of that Government which the
cabal admire ; and whenever the spirit of the country is
interested in those improvements which the spirit of the
age demands—whether they be social, or financial, or con-
stitutional—and the settlement of which is the first duty
and the most pressing task "f a real statesman, then you
will have your attention distracted from this Conservative
progress by incomprehensible wars carried on in thstoitt
pats, commenced for no earthly purpose, anti terminating
in the waste of your resources, and, perhaps, of your repu-
tation. (Loud cheers.) Well, then, you have to choose
between our policy and the policy of the csbal—( Hear,hear)
—and I sin here to-day to ask the people of the county of
Buckingham, and to ask the people of England, will you
support her Majesty's Government against the cabal?
(Loud cheers, and cries of "We will !") Well, gentle.
wen, so deluded was the cabal, so implicitly did they be.
lieve their own leading articles written by themselves—
(laughter)—so entirely did they credit the statement that
the people of Englund are against those who, in a moment
of constitutional difficulty, at her Majesty's twice.
expressed wish, came forward to assist her, that
thinking that the opportunity was ripe, having, as they
imagined, a packed House of Commons—( Hear,hear)—and
having every advantage in their favour, they brought for-
ward a vote of censure upon a Ministry which in three
months had i ffeeted those great results to which I have al.
hided. (Cries of " Shame !" and cheers.) Well, gentle
men. the moment notice was given of that motion it was
considered among shortsighted hangers-on in politics that
our doom was sealed as certainly as is that of a man who
has been committed and sentenced, and is only waiting
for the arrival of Mr. Calcraft. (Laughter.) All those
wise and experienced politicians thought that the game
was up, ( A laugh.) They knew, according to their own
fancies, that »n one would look into the merits of the
question, and nobody would then remember what we had
done or consider what we might do. It was in their
minds a mere sum in political arithmetic—( a laugh
which the merest novice in politics could reticulate and

fix in an instant. There were a greater number of
members of the House of Commons at the service of the
• cabal. The signal was given by the leader. There were
solemn and pious tools always at tile service of the cabal
—(laughter)-- and the thing was to be done off hand.
(Renewed langl ter.) Well, gentlemen, they fixed upon
an Indian subject, from which they stole their tactic-t—
-(loud laughter)—and which revealed their views. They
were, in tact, resolved to loot the Treasury. ( Roars of
laughter.) There is nothing in my recollection of politics
—which, (living to your continual confidence in me, extends
to a period of no very short duration, for I believe it was
on this very spot and in the presence of many of those now
assembled hero that I male my first speech in public life
long before I had the honour of being a member of the
House of Commons—there is nothing, I say, in my
political experience of any scheme more azientifically
managed than that one by which it was hoped to accom-
plish the fall of the Government. (Hear, hear.) A
gentleman in the House of Commons brought forward
,he motion, and he was a man of unimpeachable character.
The cabal, which had itself rather a tainted character—
(cheers)— chose its instruments with pharisaical accuracy.
(Renewed cheering and laughter.) I can assure you that
when the right hon. gentleman who brought forward the
motion in the House of Commons rose to impeach me
I was terrified at my own shortcomings, and I listened
attentively to a nisi-prius narrative, ending with a resolu-
tio.i, which I think must have been drawn up by a
sonveyancer. (Hear, hear.) In the other House
of Parliament a still greater reputation condescended
to appear upon the human stage—(loud laughter
and cheers )—Gamsliel himself, with the broad phylacteries
of faction upon his forehead—(renewed cheers and laughter)
—he called upon God to witness, in the voice and accents
of majestic adoration, that he was not as other men were—
( loud cheers and laughter)—for that he was never in-
fluenced by party motives. ( Renewed cheers and laugh-
ter.) Well, gentlemen, what happened under these
circumstances? Why something, which I am quite sure
is unprecedented in the parliamentary history of England.
When se hear of faction, when we hear of the arts and
manoeuvres of party, when we read sometimes that party
spirit will he the ruin of this country, let us tike a calm
review of the affairs of the last fortnight ; and I think we
must come to the conclusion that in a country free and en-
lightened as in England there are limits to party feeling
which the most dexterous managers of the passions of man-
kind cannot ever pass—( Hear, hear)—and that in the
great bulk of those who sit in Parliament and in the great
bulk of the people of England there is a genuine spirit of
patriotism which will always eventually triumph. (Cheers.)
That such is the case may be seen from the late debate. A
motion was brought forwawl abotit a fortnight ago by a right
hou. gentleman who sits for the city of Oxford which was to
terminate the existence of the Government, and diming the
debate which ensued, protracted as it was, you may, perhaps,
have observed that the Government very reluctantly ad.
'kneed to take part in it, although, being as we were upon
our trial, we were prepared, if necessary, to defend our con-
duct on every point, and to vindicate with a becoming spirit
uur deeds, our duty, and our position. ( Hear, hear.) But
instead of that, here was a bill of indictment preferred
against the Government, which commenced as a vote of
censure, and which upon the last night of the debate was
expanded into a general vote of want of confidence. Now,
who conducted that debate in defence of the Government
and in opposition to the motion ? Why, not members of
the Government, hut independent members of the House
of Commons—( Hear, henr)—some of them gentlemen
of great eloquence and authority not connected with
the Government in politics, but, on the contrary, not
professing those general principles which form the basis
Of Our policy. They yet saw through the flimsy web,
and despised the authors of so perfidious and pernicious
debate
movement. (Cheers.) We, gentlemen, refer to that
'euate with confidence and triumph that we can fairly
ask for a verdict at the hands of the people of this