The Express.
London, England, 1858-03-16 00:00:00

(Stamped Id. Additional.) [TWOPENCE.
- -

it consistent with their principles car position to assist him
in forming a government, the white earl turned to his more
immediate supporters, sad he cananneted en administration
which, as far u the personal character and ability of the
members composing it were concerned, wee equal to any ag-
minietration that he had ever seen. (Ministerial cheers.) But
this was not a question of ability or respectability of the go-
vernment ; it was a question of what their principle. had
been and what their policy was to be. (Loud cheers.) The
noble lord spoke at great length, but he thought, and the
country thought, that the noble lord said very little.
(Laughter.) His speech dwelt more on the exigency of his
position than on the interests of the country. The noble
lord said it was idle for him to enter into a general descrip-
tion of the opinions or views which be held on public
affairs—that abstract declarations of policy were in
point of fact of little or no use, and that the
policy of the government would be such as might naturally
be expected from the comtion of the administration.
(Ministerial cheers.) The 'composition of the administra-
den 1" (Hest, hear.) Before coming to the composition of
the administration, let him see what their position, views, and
antseedents were. The government came into office in an
selssowledged miaority. It was not pretended that they
were them possible government. (Laughter.) There
were savereti* parsons on both sides of the house who could
home ends &government (Derisive cheers from the minis-
terial bolt tee,) It was a saint mischievous thing to sup-
e that the government of this country depended on one,
two, or those particular men. The present government were
in a considerable minority, but they looked to the house for
three things—time, forbearance, and money. (Laughter.) Be-
fore grandee any one of these three demands, they were
bound to ask what claim the government had to make them,
and to inquire what their conduct had been. The present
was a new era in parliamentary history. Formerly there
were contests, not for places, but for rival principles. Now
they had a party in the government who, whilst in opposi-
tion, systematically thwarted all the measures of the late
government—("No, no"—" Wrong")—but who, on coming
into office, ransacked the pigeon-holes of their predecessors.
(" Oh, oh," and " Hear, Usu..") He should prove what he
had said. The hon. gentleman then enlarged on the con-
flicting opinions held by the members of the present sdmi-
nixtration upon all the great questions of the day—the East
India question, the Bank Act, Church-rates, the Jew Bill,
and reform of parliament—insisting that, looking at the
antecedents of its members, the house was entitled to ask what
were the principles and the policy of the present government.
He wished to know what was the principle on which the new
reform bill was to be founded—whether it was to be the
of "rational toryism " as advocated by the noble
Iced (Lord J. Manners), or the principle of extreme charnel'
as expressed by the Attorney-General. (Hear, hear.) They
had a speech at King's Lynn from one member of the cabinet
who, he believed,wu a rational reformer—(cheers)—but who
occupied a very peculiar position in the cabinet—a position
which they should all honour—(hear, hear)—but he doubted
whether the reforming &nom would be able to carry the con-
servative Anchises on his back. (Loud laughter and cheers.)
He very much feared the noble lord would End some Dido
of Conservatism in the way of carrying out his intentions.
(Laughter.) He thought be was fully justified in asking
what were the principles, and what was the policy of her
Majesty's government? In 1848 they had a great etatteman
at the heed of a parliamentary party, who in his wisdorn,with
all sincerity, adopted certain measures which had been brought
forward by his opponent.. What was the treatment which
that great man received? He was denounced by the conser-
vatives of the day as the head of en organised hypocrisy ; he
was told he had caught the whips bathing, and stolen their
clothes; be was hurled from power much to the regret of all
tight-minded men. What were the expressions then used in
reference to the adoption of measures taken by en opponent ?
It was said " The noble lord, the representative of Mr.
Fox, will not gainsay the motto of that great leader, ' Men,
not measures.' I would ask gentlemen opposed to him how
heaths opposite system answered for them? You have per-
mitted men to gain power and enter place and then carry
measures exactly the reverse to those which they professed
in opposition. You ere reconciled to this procedure by being
persuaded that by carrying measures you disapprove of and
they pretend to disrelish they are making what they call the
best bargain' for gain. I say that the parliamentary course
is for this house to have the advantage of a government
formed on distinct principles. Here is a minister who now
brings forward as his own measures the very schemes and
which, when in opposition, he always avowed
Met to
bitter and determined opponent. Let me ask the
admirers of the beet bargain' system how they think the
right hon. gentleman would have acted had they been in-
troduced by the noble lord opposite lf you are to
have a parliamentary government, the conditions are, you
should have a ministry which declares the principles upon
which its policy is founded. What have we got
instead? We have a great parliamentary middle
man—he is a man who bonboodes one party and plun-
ders the other—(cheers, and laughter)—till, having ob-
tained a position to which he is not entitled, he cries out,
' Let us have no party questions, but fixity of tenure.' "
That was the language used towards Sir R. Peel in 1845.
What did the conservative party intend to do now? Were
they to have no party questions but laity of tenure? He was
indifferent to mere party cries. (" Oh," and cheers.)
He only asked that men who had honestly advocated mea-
sures in opposition should be honestly called on to carry them
out when in office. Men who were platted in possession of
power by a discreditable manceuvre—(" Oh, oh")—oould not
carry out their own course nor promote the interest of the
country. The right hon. gentleman opposite had as yet
given them no statement of his policy, and if he (Mr. B.
Osborne) succeeded in drawing from him an explanation of
that policy he would be perfectly well satisfied. (Hear.)

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Sir, one
advantage of the recent change of government is, that ft has
caused some voices to sound within these walls which have
for a long time been silent (Cheers.) I waren that when
on Friday last I listened to the wild shriek of liberty of the
hon. gentleman, it was with no feeling of alarm or of appre-
hension, for if he will permit me to say so, his weapon his
become a little rusty. (Cheers.) No doubt with sufficient
practice it will resume the brightness which so dazzled us of
yore, but it is only in opposition the hon. gentleman will And
that practice—(cheers)—or regain that cunning of fence for
which he was once so celebrated. (Hear, beer.) The hon.
gentlemen has to-night repeated the charge he made on
Friday, that I have been guilty of a great act of presumption,
or inadvertence, in taking my place on these benches without
offering to the house a fennel programme of the measures
which we intend to bring forward, and of the policy which
we propose to adopt. I am sure, sir, the hones will acquit
me of any intention of acting with disrespect towards then,.
If I had thought the house expected any such explanation, I
would have been prompt in endeavouring to afford it ; but,
sir, as far as my parliamentary experience row, and it is
somewhat longer than that of the hon. gentleman, such a
course is not habitual. That which I have followed has been
shrug usual and accustomed. (Hear, hear.) I do not re-
collect that in 1885, when the noble lord opposite came into
office, although be held a more eminent position than I do
as he was chief of the cabinet, he afforded the house any formal
statement of his policy; as the contrary, the noble lord was
brought into office es most ministers are. forums particular pur-
pose, to which he directed all his energies with great success.
The right hon. gentleman then retorted the charge founded
upon the fact that all the members of the present administra-
tion were not upon all questions exactly of the seine opinion,
upon the bite government, the members of which differed, he
said, regarding church rates, the Jew Bill, and the ballot.
It was much better, when the general principles of a poli-
tical connexion were known, that every znrunre should be
brought separately before parliament than a long catalogue of
measures which were never passed. The policy of the pre-
sent administration was conservative; they wished to
preserve and to improve the institution' of the
country. As to the East India Bill, he denied that there
had been the slightest inconsistency on t
eesheir part,
end the course they proposed to take in pect to
that question would be consistent, and be believed
eminently satisfactory to the country. Before EssterTrl,
Mount and the country would be able to judge.
Irish policy would be the same as had been heretofore
adopted by Lord Eglintoun. The engem of national educa-
tion in that country would be held inviolate ; but if that
system could be combined with a just relief of church schools,
which now received no assistance from the state, it was •
question which well deserved the consideration of parlia-
ment. With respect to parliamentary reform, at the acces.
Kinn of Sir R. Peel to power after the passing of the Reform
Bill he had accepted that measure heartily and 'sincerely as
a settled question, and in that compact the conservative
y honestly concurred. When, however, they were told
cartthe leader of the whig party that there must be another
dorm Bill, from that moment the conservative party held
themselves free to consider that measure, which was not to
be taken up and laid down for party purposes, upon
its merits. The honourable member for Dover
asks me (said the Chancellor of the Exchequer),
what are the principle upon which our reform bill is to be
founded. I do not think I am bound to tell the hon. gen-
tleman what are the principle of a bill which we do not
propose to Introduce during the present session. (Hear,
hear.) He eke, "What is your reform bill r I will tell
the hon. gentleman what our reform bill is not. It will not
be a bill devised to prop up • political party, or to promote
the interests of a particular clam. (Minhterial cheers.) It
will be founded on principles of general justice, and I begs it
will give universal aatiefection. (Loud and general laughter.)
" But," says the hon. gentleman, " what Weiner have you
in that piece? Yon and your colleague ere is a de-
clared minority." Are we? That's the question. (Cheers
and laughter.) I do not at all agree that we are not
supported by the majority of this house ; I entirely repudiate
the statement of the bon. member. (Cheer" awl laughter )
Where is the majority in this house? Hu the noble lord the
member for Tterton the majority In this house ? If so.
why is he sitting on that (the front opposition) bowl,
(" Haar brae," and cheers from the mbilstertalista.) Has
the noble lord the member for London the majority in this
house? Why, it is only a fortnight ago sines the noble lord
the member for Tiverton beat him by a majority of 200.
(Hear, hear.) Well, then, where is the majority In thbi
haus ? Is it represented by the hon. member for Dover, by
the lion, member for Cashel, or by the boa. member for
Keigieboreugh Y They an the gentlemen who went to bear

1 our policy P What is their policy It—what is their pro-
gramme P If they fofol a government, will they have a
majority P If they have not a majority and if neither
of the noble lords has a mojorit, why am I
to suppose that we are in a minority P (Hear, hear.) On
the contrary, we shall carry on the affairs of this country
with the utmost energy, end I hops with the utmost pru-
dence ; we shall endeavour to do our duty to our sovereign,
to parliament, and to the country j and so long SS we are
animated by that endeavour, until the fatal truth is proved
by facts which I do not anticipate, I shall believe we possess
the constitutional confidence of the House of Commons.
(Loud and prolonged ministerial cheers.)
Mr. HORMIAN said he had the misfortune to &sant
Bth
efl 1 0 11: "csi
his gentleman Principles laughterm th
.hadrfromifwhil ldconfined the
hffromiministerialr.mt t h
himself e
t7m .
preparedbe nz
member
to e m
thech e ebe rconstitutional )—fl.Do ifvvelth
question of the position of the government and
be should have left that =eaten where it stood:
the late government,
(" No, no," from the opposition side of the house, followed
by another burst of ironical laughter been the ministerial
side)—and questioning the present one' had given to the
question somewhat of the character of striangular duel, by
accusing a large section of his own party of having contri-
buted to the formation of the present goverament. Now he
begged to say that he differed from his hon. Mend, mot only
as to the eirciametences under which the present government
was formed, but also as to their present position and charac-
ter, and as to the course which it was Incumbent upon the
opposition to pursue. They (the opposition) bad before
themin relation to her Majesty's government, the old and
familiar option of three courses. They might at oboe* a
hostile vote place them in a minority, with the
view of expelling them from office; or, ending that
direst course, they might, by means of a eristrof eloquent
attacks like those of his hon. friend (Mr. B. Osboine), go on
day after day obstructing to a certain extent public Moines*
without raising any decided Issue ; or they might pursue • third
course—they might extend to the government that
which was usually extended to the servants of the crows,Ll
postpone till the occasion most convenient to themselves that
decidedly hostile movement which they hoped would or day
displace them from their seats. (Leaghter.) Now it ap-
peared to him that the first and last el these course* were
perfectly legitimate, and that no one could make any pania•
mentary objection to either of them ; but the mane
which he did dissent from, and which he thought
the house would not approve, was that of width his
hon. friend had set an example that night. If they (the
opposition) could justly charge the present government with
having stolen office by intrigue or stormed it by faction—fl
they could bring home to them the charge that while in oppo-
*id= their opposition was systematieully conducted in a
manner that wee unfair and unbecoming, then he thought
they would be perfectly justified in showing them no quarter;
but be must say that from the day wt en the late government
I was formed the opposition to it was, in his judgment, con-
ducted with a moderation and a forbearance to which he could
remember no parallel in his experience in parliament.
Then the question here arose, by whom was the late goveam
meat displaced ? Its displacement was not, as the hon.
gentleman (Mr. B. Osborne) supposed, the result of a di-
creditable manceuvre. (Cheers.) He ac opted all the con-
sequences of the late vote; and he maintained that there was
no inconsistency with the feelings which he had jut ex-
pressed in his repeating out of office what he respectfully but
pertinaciously urged in office, that the defeat of the govern-
ment and the subsequent embarrassment and disorganisation
of the party were the inevitable result of the noble lord's
(Lord Palmeniton's) fatal and inveterate habit of always
looking to the opposition benches for eympathy and support
—(opposition o .-.)—turning a cold shoulder to his
friends, always being more intent apparently on conciliating
end neutraliemg foes than on confirming friends, relying too
much on adroitness and dexterity for the firmness and
strength which were to be acquired only by constant fidelity
to political opinions, and, above ell, committing the great
mistake of imagining that that powerful, that sunset, that
high mettled majonty which was so triumphantly given in
answer to en appeal to the country bad no other mission
than that of supporting the personal position of a minister,
regardless of the principles of a party. It was this careless-
ness, this faith security, this miscalculation both of the noble
lord's own position and of the position of his party, which
had led to the fall of the most powerful minister that this
country had had since the passing of the Reform Bill,
and which had made the liberal party a disunited and disor-
ganised body, under a ministry which they knew could not
be permaneat He thought the right hon. gentleman (Mr.
Disraeli) was perfectly justified in retorting upon the hon.
member (Mr. Osborne), when he asked, " What are your
principles?' by asking what were the principles of the bite
government three weeks ago. Why that was a question
which some of them had been in the habit of asking them-
Pelves. Was parliamentary reform one of their principles?
That question was indefinitely postponed. Was reli-
gious freedom one of their principles ? On that point he
must say the answer of the right hon. gentleman (Mr.
Disraeli) seemed to him most complete. The conduct of
three members of the government on that question, when in
opposition, did them great honour. The right hon.
gentleman's own conduct in reference to it was,
he must say, such as would prevent him from ever =making
of him otherwise than with reepeM.But what was the position
of the liberal party P For the first time in the history of that
party—to their shame and dishonour be it mid—the question
of religious freedom had so retrograded, that that which was
inscribed on the liberal banner, that in connection with which
they had gained their most glorious victories and conferred
their greatest benefits on mankind—for the first time,he said,
religious freedom was, in a liberal cabinet, made an open
question. That was what was done last year. This year the
question was abandoned by the cabinet,and entrusted to more
vigorous and faithful hands. Well, then, again there.as w
the question of church rates. Was that one of their pruici-
pie. ? Why they knew that during the recess a very large
and influential deputation waited on the Premier upon the
question of church-rats; they went home, stung with the
indignity of not having been received in the manner they had
a right to expect. (Hear, hear.) Then, as to the question of
administrative reform, and the pure dispensation of patronage,
need he refer to the shabby nepotism which, in the county
of Kent and in Manchester, filched from their legitimate
claimants those professional employments which, contrary
to all precedents. bad been appropriated to aristocratic con-
'melons of the Cabinet P (Hear, hear.) Lastly, was it, he
asked, on the question of national independence and the
honour of the country that they prided themselves
as a party P Why, it was on that question that the
late government had been driven out of office. Now
he thought it right to bring to the mind of the noble lord
(Lord Palmerston) all these facts, that they might be well
pondered before he returned to office. (Laughter.) The
season of adversity was a season favourable to the adruhrtion
of truth. With the sunshine of prosperity came adulation ;
and it was quite evident that the assiduity and eloquence of
his hon. friend (Mr. B. Osborne) were likely to lead to the
noble lord's return to office, and to leave the members of the
late government a very short time for penitence and further
resolves. It was and that it would be unwise to allow the
present government to remain undisturbed, because in that
owe they might settle themselves till next year, end in the
mean time might do a great deal of mischief. He did not
think that even the appalling prospect of fixity of
tenure on the part of the present government for five or six
years would, by the majority on that side of the house, who
preferred principles to place, and the character of a party to
the locating of its chiefs in °Moe, be viewed with very great
concern. (Hear, hoer.) In the first place, he doubted the
inclination of the right hon. gentleman opposite and his
friends to do iniechhf. They and their party comprised very
much of the intelligence, the wealth, and the character of the
country. The leaders of the party wee, men of high honour
and undoubted patriotism ; and, so far as questions of greet
national interest were concerned, he believed the motives of
the ministers of England were equally to be tinned to what-
ever party those ministers might baking. (Hear, beer.)
But, on the other hand, even if they had
the disposition they had not the power to do mischief.
Power was apparently deposited at present with the opposi-
tion. He believed that they could contest every move and
dictate every measure, and that their power was greeter ea
ni,t.on thatt
the
(ofet h
troth
otherr
uoe side
a ci t id o
pn sixr
.) side..gramea ofs
mighttelli. h obi!: N e see
believed
.„
it thatt l
the i t i
..i a au .
by a real liberality in opposition than Dye sham aloe
in office• and while be admitted that the most
state of ihings for them was that there should be a popular
administration in office, he was convinced that the meet
unsatisfactory state of things that could be concaved,
the most unsafe, and the most wawbolesomto was
to have neither a liberal admtniseration on one side
of the house nor a liberal :append= en the other. (Hear,
hear.)
government
r,' If e Lord
I Hones
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irithe="lvengianellim'ananwposPeechahn:cfothhaif erret°.sanfinathaheorsu:flecthtfeidoroundwi:th:PaefibjdLlDßePakathamifionatonan2whorutnoadi)dtmhkr"weaße. it
laLokh:drehrmid:
charge, he said, proved the spirit in which Mr. Disraeli would
concoct a measure upon this subject, and he should look
at such a immure with seepieion. " I own," said his lotd-
ship, " that I look with very great suspicion and doubt upon
any retina bill of which he is to be the contractor if this le
the manner in which he speaks of the last. (Hear, bear.)
I remember men in this house on a former occasion a
story of Cardinal de and the great Conde. Upon
Psue'mnthemngoevbermie,ta: dfrFottanddathatth.quantelrytyinainsolfinptoirtconedphishalmeattF.ol744l;"
reryffiryst.....ep‘iniebzicplthr
petwo;e.rtp.sloidesolhadefo taklen.
ibirda.slia.g..oo
reproach. I believe that the right haw- ba would owe.
On the subject is a proof of the spirit in w _
_..._of the
; coot a bill. (" 06, eV' from the Ifertfrww.jr"Bul bad
t house) The mss wive carried thr rrerdward '"..._______,
r no wish to ad with tunsinters eitheyoesto
ed
de0714.0,,0r 11.
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