The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-03 00:00:00

THE

LONDON,

singularly powerful, and full of political power and poetic
heap . There was, however, another object to be served In
his visit to this country, and this was evidently shown
in the splendid speeches which he has delivered since his
arrival in America.--(Hear, hear.) The visit of this
great man, therefore, was not in its consequences likely
to disturb our association with other powers.—(Hear,
hear.) He has next to aevert to the position which was
occupied by Britain with regard to the principle of that
party which was supposed to advocate protection.—
(Cheers.) On this point it must be remarked that the
Right Hon. Baronet the Chancellor of the Exchequer
had intimated indirectly the necessity for affirming the
income-tax. But if this was accomplished, it should be
recollected how great an amount of taxation had been
repealed. That great statesman, Sir Robert Peel, had
fully anticipated this result, and nothing had evinced
more the magnitude of his ability, and the
greatness of his statesmanship, than the results
at which he had arrived. The next point which he had
to take under consideration was the adjudication of
differences in civil matters. Much benefit had arisen in
the codification, so far as it had gone, of our civil and
criminal laws, and this again was largely owing to
the conduct and management also of the late Sir
Robert Peel. The ordinary statute law had been
much simplified, but it should be remembered that
great mischiefs still existed in the practice of the Court
of Chancery. The several branches of that court
were both expensive, dilatory, and. unsatisfactory.—
(Hears hear.) To this the attention of her
Majesty's Government had beendirected. The remedy
was difficult to find, but still it was necessary
and he himself being a sufferer could speak to the neces-
sity for the reformation to which her Majesty had that
day alluded in her Speech from the Throne. Into that
matter, however, he *mid not enter. The mischief and
the evils were patent to all, so that it was quite
unnecessary to particularize instances for an in-
dasement to the reformation of the whole of our
equitable jurisdiction in matters of property.
He was not a personal sufferer, but he had been a trus-
tee for a relative cf his who unfortunately had become
connected with a set of usurers and Jews.—(Laughter.)
The trust was for simple sale, but before it could out
they had to encounter eight suits in chancery, to some
of which there were fifty or sixty parties; 10,000/. had
been spent in defending actions, and the costs of
litigation had in ail amounted to no less
thou 70,000/, ; and instead of a surplus
there had been in the end a deficiency. Rather than
such a state of things should be permitted, he would say,
perish the Court of Chancery and all connected with it.
An Encumbered Estates Act would in truth be a blessing
for this country. The Noble Lord, however, could not have
chosen a better time for introducing this measure, for
there never teas a time when there were more Gen-
tlemen of the legal profession in the House
than the present. With respect to the manufacturing
interest, which they were told by the Royal Speech, was
in a state of prosperity, notwithstanding that there was
a great number of gentlemen both in and out of
that House, who asserted that the commercial pros•
perity of the country was a fallacy, he, himself, often
as he had heard the contrary, was convinced that
there never was a time when the manufacturing
interest had been more prosperous then the
present. He came next to the consideration of the
measure upon which he expected there might be
some diversity of opinion. He alluded to the extension
of the suffrage. Political writers had blamed the Noble
Lord for not introducing this measure earlier in
the present Parliament; but he thought they did him
great injustice. Did they not remember the
number of measures which had occupied the
attention of that House during every session?
one session was occupied in regulating the duties on
corn, another in removing the navigatiort•laws, and the
last year divided between the pleasures of the Exhi-
bition and a religious warfare in that House. The time
had now arrived when Ministers were about to place on
the table of the House their measure for extending the
suffrage. Some funny writer or other had said, that in
this: House Gentlemen " thought in herds."—(Laughter.)
and that he thought was often the case—what one man
said another thought, and so in time it became a party
cry. He, for one, would be perfectly willing that every
man ',contributing to the direct taxation of the state
should have a vote—that every man holding a small
sum, say 101, in the savings bak should vote; but he
would give no man two votes; and for the way
of taking them, he must express his utter
abhorrence of the ballot. As for triennial Parliaments,
ho thought they would have the effect of driving every
person of station and property out of the House, because
who would submit himself to the triennial nuisance of an
election. Who was afraid to extend the suffrage?
Could they forget that within a short time three of
the principal cities of Europe—Paris, Berlin, and
Vienna—were in the hands of the mob, and in this
country we had not the slightest attempt from the work-
ing classes, their loyalty to the Throne never once shook,
nor was their respect for constituted authority lessened
one jot. But it would be said —What had Reform done
for the' working classes ? Since the Reform Bill the
whole attention of that House had been turned to
the bettering the condition of the working clauses.
The Hon. Member then alluded to the state of Ireland.
He observed that the late Sir R. Peel once stated that
he never recollected a session withou a Salmon Fibbers,
Bill. Now, during the wholn time he had been a Mem-
ber he (Sir R. H. Bulkeley) scarely remembered
a session in which the grievances of Ireland did not form
the principal subject of discussion.—(Hear.) He was
happy, however, to inform the House, that though some
lamentable circumstances had occurred in Ire-
land, her Majesty's Ministers bad no derire of
proposing any additional legislation on the
subject. They hoped that the ordinary course of the
law would restore tranquillity. He had learnt from the
peas in Ireland that the same line of conduct would
be pursued by Irish Members this session as that
they had formerly adopted, let the measure be
whatever it might.--(bear, hear.) He would
earnestly appealed to those Hon. Members to recon-
sider their conduct. Where, he asked, could they find
occurrences such as those which took place last year,
treated with so much leniency and consideration as
they were by her Majesty's Ministers 2—(Hear, hear.)
On the continent of Europe events were now happening
to which, as Englishmen and Protestants, they could
not be insensible. Two parties were there striving for
mastery—constitutional freedom on the one side, and
despotism on the other. Despotism had called
to its assistance the ultramontane party of
the Roman Catholic Church, and they had as
the mission. Now we could not and would not
further the ends of despotism—whether it was that of
the old constitutional dynasties of Europe or of
any upstart ruler who might have risen out of
the circumstances of the times.—(Hear, hear.)
We wished not only the letter, but the spirit of the
Emancipation Bill to be adopted, and we wished to re-
store that harmony which existed in this country pre-
vious to the arrival of the Papal ordinance; but they
were bound to maintain the Queen on the throne.
(LEFT SPEAKING.)