The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 26, 185 2.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

lind.

ROUSE OF LORDS.—YESTERDAY.
atT; o'clock.glrci CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack

The Earl of SHAFTESBURY presented a petition
from Natal, praying that the Government of the colony
may, as soon as possible, be assimilated to that of this
"1,3 r; also a petition from Pilminster, against the
opening of the Crystal Palace on Sundays.
Then. Lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—YESTEIIDAT.
The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock.
PETITIONS.
b Lord D. STUART presented a petition from Margie-
"; Praying for the interference of the house in the
case of Edward Murray.
Sir J. SHELLEY presented a petition from the metro-
Polls to the same effect.
Lieut. Col. BOYLE presented a petition from Frome
against the assembling of Convocation.
Mr. WILCOX presented a similar petition from the
Metropolis.

STATE OF PARTIES.
I.2ir W. CLAY rose to ask two questions—One of the
-.But 11°11. gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and the other of the hon. member for Wolverhampton ;
but before he put his questions, he should crave the in-
dulgence of the house to make a few brief observations.
Mr. COBDEN begged pardon for interrupting the
non. baronet, but he wished to speak to a point of order.
1:le thought it would be admitted on both sides of the
house, that it would be exceedingly inconvenient, under
e4Bting circumstances, if the hon. baronet were allowed
t 0
barae, e°luPany his questions with a speech. The
.hon.
In net should be rather prepared to conclude with a
h•eti°ll, and then other parties would have an opportu-
ity
-reoiking in reply if it was necessary to do so.
:a. hear.)
"eec h, or concluding W• CLAY said he had no intention of maim' g a
Wit with a motion, and therefore,
11°---ut
one single word of preface, he would take leave
to agi,
A -- the right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of the
Chequer whether he would be willing to withdraw the
anlendlnent which he had proposed to the motion of his
'''"ll. friend the member for Wolverhampton, upon the
understandingra
that the house would acquiesce in the
1:)."411 suggested by the noble lord the member for
-
"un• (Oh ! oh !) He wished, in the next place,
to am, k,
- his hon. friend the member for Wolverhampton
Whether, on a like understanding, he would be prepared
fk withdraw his motion ? And, lastly, he wished to ask
Whether in
gentle n the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Wolverhampton
in the event of the honourable member for
plubsti ton refusing to withdraw his motion, Go-
be p
cent will be prepared to accept the resolution pro-
; -sed 13Y tute tht fornoble lord the member for Tiverton, and to
the amendment already moved by the
•••uatteellor of the Exchequer. (Hear, hear.)
Bir 'TAMES GRAHAM said, a sense of public duty
,o
hly-'„nrillle,lled him to interpose here, and in order to bring
that
'within the rules of the house, he begged to state
flat he should conclude with a motion. (Hear, hear.)
Ravin'
the .6.1 had a long experience in Parliament, he was
1
• -"" man disposed to interfere with the privilege of
nd•
ependent members in putting questions or in reply-
lug to observations that might previously have been
Made .
.LOB
1, and therefore, in order that any one who
bele t° do so might have an opportunity of re-
'4"V to his remarks, he begged leave to make
the formal motion that the house do now adjourn. (Hear,
ear)vir„
h Ong placed himself within the rules of the
ho
he wished to make a few observations, before the
hedi
Cni Which had been put, was replied to. Well,
e„,
eio") the noble lord, the member for Tiverton, at the
thse of the debate the other night, suggested, not in
,2 form of a motion, but rather in the shape of an
Ve noendra elit to the original motion, certain words which
tandhe lord thought would steer a middle course,
enable all sides of the house to arrive at a a tis-
-717 conclusion, upon the great question which they
itu.,„alread, y had under discussion. (Hear, heax). w
Loaposaiblo for him not to do otherwise than to
ic'e a deep interest in the result of the debate. Hay-
n-ga served as a colleague of Sir Robert Peel,
si- taken an active part in 1846, in persuading
arlianient to repeal the corn laws, he naturally felt
toeeP interest in the matter, and he wished therefore
istals_
,te candidly to the house, the concern which he
"4°. in the drawing up of the original motion.
,-.-ear, the
He did not arrive in town until late
1,1 the evening preceding the Speech from the
;,, r'ue, and on the morning of that Speech, hav-
-1 taken his seat before two o'clock, he had an
fendt_el:lPortunity of conferring early with his noble
Lord Aberdeen, one of his former col-
lean-
-e.es, and with whom he still continued upon terms
°f the most cordial friendship. (Hear, hear.) His noble
friend told him what were the terms of the Speech in ref-
erence to the great question of our commercial policy.
411 e passage in the Royal Speech relating to free trade
Mr,
considered unsatisfactory, and it was agreed that
atr. Villiers should, on behalf of the free-trade party,
generally give notice of a substantive motion on the
subject. They thought that having fought the battle
,against monopoly manfully, it was but due to him in
re hour of that policy's success that he should be al-
',owed to take 'a prominent part in the discussion.
kilear, hear.) He (Sir J. Graham) was glad that no
atilenciment was moved to the Address, and he rejoiced
to
tive-ud that Mr. Villiers intended to propose a substan-
th resolution. He certainly expected that before
the th: d,,ebate on the Address commenced, the Chancellor o
dau:y-einxrehhrinequginer
bringing forward
have given notice of a particular
forward the promised measures of the
6vernnient. He failed, however, to do so ; and in the
rturse which he (Sir J. Graham) took in reference to
le. Villiers' motion, he could not fail to recollect that
,lil noble lord who moved the Address (the member for
a
~,°rthumberland), in a speech of great ability, displaced
or; fePr distinguished member of the house (Sir G. Grey),
-Le ground of his advocacy of protection. (Cheers.)
Su'Pt
MEMBER—No, No.
J. GRAHAM, not heeding the interruption, went
:11 to observe, that immediately after the speech of the
and asked
was concluded, Mr. Villiers leant over to him,
fi
asked if he should give notice of his motion, upon
ah'he (Sir J. Graham) replied, certainly. (Hear.)
Zfn it should be recollected that the notice was given
Q.O e any declaration was made of the policy of the
• 'verninent in either house. (Hear, hear.) He (Sir
Graham) frankly avowed that he took especial inte-
rest in the
the way in which the motion was framed. Having
Paragraph in the Royal Speech before him, he en-
(chavoured to word it in as fair a manner as possible.
net4l'3„) Re recollected that the House of Commons,
th sciebb;ustanding the variety of its opinions, was an as-
°f gentlemen, and he was anxious to insert no-
Perg, which might wound the feelings of those who,
to chaps, without changing their opinions, were willing
conic' lige their course upon a particular question. He
vert 11_,°t forget that he himself had once been a con-
son free trade, and that he was the last per-
tame line ought to tax others with the
gentle 'ie of conduct. (Cheers.) [The right hon.
he irlllan then read the draft of the resolution which
uP• It varied to some extent from the motion
the itted to the house by Mr. Villiers.] In wording
naondoel'e!.oirexilutsito fisting
n he put the question to himself, " What,
circumstances, would Sir R. Peel have
house „, had been still alive ?)" and he assured the
his i,`"TI 's honour that he believed, from the best of
tliqe-ndur ern. and his intimate acquaintance with
far hetts °f.Vaat Statesman, he would have framed a
/le
then er resoluton, but one in the same spirit. (Cheers.)
With
wi sent the draft resolution to Lord J. Russell,
and fri,,,,°,„ra he Was happy to say he had been in cordial
Go-ve,.,;''''Y communication. (Ironical laughter from the
tieii 8V:1r-wilt benches, and loud cheers from the Opposi-
te and.) That cheer convinced him there was an un-
t huagth
te her wasand
cheers.) actuated
rpsuospseic.ion(La
show to them, however, that they were pre-
ar t
fie
0::
e0::::41:::ia us
e Comingl r rpaor
tn eyo upsu
to such a conclusion. (Hear.) The
thi.; his noble friend was, that he approved of the
claue-"Gn but he suggested the insertion of the third
collgiecf vi?., that the house would be ready. to take. into
of
fr eration
4. any measures consistent with the principle
the 'rade that might be submitted to the house by
of theeverument, in order to show that the movers
:41,801;4 rtehseolution did not wish to offer any fac-
tb °PPosition. (Hear.) He (Sir James Graham)
suggestion admirable, and the clause was
Miteteleid: The resolution, in its altered state, he
sir
Curd Aberdeen and the other late colleagues
afterward; Peel, who discussed it carefully,
and it
The , underwent some further altetratait in
alteration.
fl'arohr.ul,4°n• baronet continued by observing, h
careful `4le before-mentioned resolutions, he had most
tearke tak" into consideration the nature of the re-
often..die°lltained in the Queen's Speech in the already
the terniseussed
had v. of th
been • atcertain injuries
Paragraph. He said that he considered...
subi iniLete Paragraph implied that
ects, and that
upon certain classes of her Majesty's
°Pea as,
door f --at it did this in a manner which kept
nation fro °I. Some future attempt to obtain compen-
e"M
the
• p•
• this, he had, a s
ectuall, parliament. Perceiving
:nde,eaft:re :t:r was
the endeavour to practicable under the circumstances,
traverse that portion of the subject by
this ra'uauta Part of the resolution. Having explained
to the to cursorily, he continued by referring
by the 111118 of the amendment submitted to the house
Infinitelyenuslyipon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
rather than would • fight
part could not but acknowledge that he
by therefer, according to the words advanced
latent advocate of unrestricted competition,
en, in fact,etoPwar:rdos
alnead t° aCCept the expression proposed by way of
Since then ,on the fthteheclopsree present Government.
eGsodvayenamnigehutt.s.
debate
ntton,roduced by the noble lord the member for Tiver-
been i a fresh amendment by way of compromise had
opinion,,Blween these three distinct documents the
to his oi the house were divided ; and now, according
take ,suggestions, the course most reasonably to be
tobe °Y the Opposition and the Government would
urecognise the words already intimated the reo
oof the free-trade principles, without having ga-
izrunlTeeeensfsor.i future compensation, and wi. th. out wound-
'tent. arnY the sensibility of the existing Govern-
Lord
and with econsdd
b LOVAIN • ..
baronet r his seat, rose to explain at some length
.1 erable tediousness, upon a somewhat per-
ukllter
111 c°2l4equeiloe of the allusions of the previous

speaker to the defeat of Sir George Grey in Northumber-

Mr. GLADSTONE rose to say a few words' with
respect to the question raised by his right hon. friend,
and he rose simply in the hope that anyiling which
might fall from him might not only be of such a charac-
ter as to contribute to the issue of. this discussion, such

as should be satisfactory to the great body
of the house, and the best calculated to
promote the undisputed permanence of the
present commercial policy of the eountry. (Hear, hear.)
He found that even up to that moment some progress
had been made towards a settlement of the whole ques-
tion, and he ventured to hope that they would agree to
the suggestions of his right hon. friend with regard to
the insertion of certain words in the amendment pro-

posed by the noble lord the member for Tiverton. And
then, although they would not, in point of form,
be entitled to say that either the amendment of the Go-

vernment or the'original motion should be withdrawn, yet
if the concession were made they would be entitled to come
to something like a common conclusion. (Hear, hear.)
Now, the whole question that was before them, related
to only two of the changes of policy and feeling
which had taken place in the house, and it
was now proposed in order to perpetuate that policy to
make a change in the first resolution, from the phrase—
"in a great measure," to the word " may." He
did not think that any objections was to be
taken to that change, and therefore he should confine
himself to the words proposed to be inserted in the se-
cond resolution. The question for them to consider was
simply what would be the bearing of those words if
adopted, and the sense and meaning of the resolution so
amended, namely, whether it would be agreeable to the
feelings and wishes of the great body of the house ?
He was one of those who thought that the House of
Commons should, under present circumstances, give a
sanction, firm and distinct, to the principles of free trade.
For that reason he was favourable to a motion of this
nature, but at the same time he did not think it desira-
ble that the question of compensation should be settled
in a motion directed simply to the purpose of establish-
ing the policy of free trade. He was not willing to pre-
clude the Government by an anticipatory motion from
bringing forward any measures, which they might think
fit to bring forward on this subject, He thought the
most acceptable way would be for the house to adopt
that course. _ _ _ _ .

iirs.."l.-IRINCOMBE said, that for the nine Parlia-

merits during which he had sat in the house, he never
befora had seen it so trifled with. First of all, they had

been made fools of, just as if it had been the first of
April, on Monday night last, when the motion for the
call of the house had been abandoned. He confessed he
should like to have seen the face of his hon. friend the
member for Montrose when he saw in the papers that
his motion had been withdrawn. (Laughter.) The
quarrel, as he thought, very pretty as it stood originally,
but with these amendments upon amendments, he was
quite of opinion that the country would be puzzled.
There was the original motion of the hon. member for
Wolverhampton, and the amendment of the Government,
and so far the course was plain ; but then came the motion
of the noble viscount the member for Tiverton, and now
they had something more recent from Carlisle. (Hear.)
He should like to ask that noble lord how it was that
he had become possessed of that motion from the right
hon. gentleman, the member for Carlisle I (Laughter.)
The conclusion the country would come to on the sub-
ject would be, that the gentlemen below, the
Whigs,—and he heartily wished that Whiggery were
about to be buried with protection—were not yet
ready to occupy the places of the gentlemen opposite.
He supposed the hon. baronet had been re-Whigged for
the occasion. (Laughter.) The best course would be to
take the hon. baronet at his word, and adjourn the
house, to give the right honourable gentlemen
time to settle amicably their little differences.
Mr. CAYLEY said it might be considered presump-
tuous in him to intrude himself into this discussion, but
he was an old soldier in this field of controversy ; he
hoped he had been a consistent one—(hear, hear)—and
he wished now to state his views as to the position they
were now placed in. He could state most sincerely that
ever since the repeal of the corn laws in 1848, he never
for a moment contemplated the re-imposition of them.
(Hear, hear.) He was certain that protection had at
that time got its death-blow, and that it could never be
restored again. (Hear, hear.) He was confident when
the hon. member for Wolverhampton gave notice of such
a motion as the one he had submitted to the house, if he
did not know that there was not the slightest hope of
ever again restoring protection, he was the only man in
that house who did not entertain such an opinion. He
did not, therefore, think it fair that by the hon. and
learned gentleman having submitted such a resolution
to the house, he and others who thought with him,
should be deprived of any outlet. He admitted that
free trade had taken the place of protection. and he
confessed that he should never make an attempt to re-
store protection, or endeavour to get compensation
for those who had suffered from its abolition—(hear,

hear)—and he had not the slightest idea that any mea-
sure of the kind was contemplated. (Hear, hear.) What
he understood by the paragraph in the Queen's Speech,
which had been so much talked of; was that if in ar-
ranging the finances of the country it was found that
taxation pressed unjustly on any particular interest mea-
sures would be introduced by the Government for the
purpose of remedying the evil. He asked no more
than that. He was willing to become amenable to the
law, as it stood, and had no objection to the continuance
of free trade—(hear, hear)—and he, therefore, thought it
unfair that he should have addressed to him the propo-
sition that he ought to recant every opinion he ever held
and everything he had ever said upon that subject.
(Hear.) Sitting in that house, they had perfect freedom
of person, they had perfect freedom of tongue, and he
was in hopes that a liberal Oppositiou would have per-
mitted them to have perfect freedom of thought. (Loud
Ministerial cheers.) He did not recant any of his former
opinions. (Hear, hear.) At the same time, he saw
that the country was placed in a dilemma ; and he,
therefore, thought if they wished to benefit the country
they should allow the matter to be finally pet at rest.
He was quite willing to accept of the resolution sug-
gested by the noble lord the member for Taunton, with
the additional words suggested by the right hon. baronet
the member for Carlisle, in order that a resolution in
favour of free trade might be placed upon the rolls of
that house ; and he hoped hon. members would not press
the discussion further. He was placed, then, in a some-
what anomalous position. He was an independent
member of the house, and on the free trade question had
done his best to maintain that position. He had never
entertained any rancorous feeling against Sir Robert
Peel, for certainly the last thing in his mind was the
entertaining anything like a personal rancorous feeling
against him. He might have had his doubts as to the
prudence of the course he took to carry out his views,
but that was all. He hoped, therefore, this useless dis-
cussion would be allowed to come to an end by accept-
ing the middle course now submitted.
Mr. ROBERT PALMER was prepared to give a di-
rect negative to the resolution of the honourable and
learned member for Wolverhampton. In the first place
he could not agree in that part of it which stated that
the act of 1846 was a " wise, just, and beneficial" mea-
sure. He had had some experience in that house, and it
was not likely that he would be made to recant opinions
which for more than 26 years he had there maintained,
by giving his sanction to such a resolution. The
opinions he had formed in respect of protection to native
industry had been held by men more wise than himself.
He had gathered them from Canning, from Sir Robert
Peel, from the noble lord, the member for London, and
from the right honourable baronet, the member for
Carlisle ; and though some of these had changed their
opinions, he had not. (Hear, hear.) He was aware
that the sense of the country had been decidedly against
any re-imposition of protective duties, but what he was
more particularly anxious to do was to state that should
the resolution of the noble lord the member for Tiverton
be adopted in place of the resolution of the honourable
member for Wolverhampton, or the amendment of the
Government—and he had as yet heard no word from the
Government what they were to do respecting it—he had
to enter his protest against being a party to it. The
country might be in favour of it, but that was not
enough to cause him to change those opinions he had
held for 25 or 26 years in that house, and the justice of
which he still maintained.
Lord PALMERSTON said he could not but hope
that the conversation which had taken place encouraged
the belief that there was a prospect of the house coming
to a more unanimous conclusion on the subject than he
had entertained when he suggested his resolution the
other night. (Hear, hear.) He must say that the
remark which had fallen from the hon. member for the
North Riding of Yorkshire (Mr. Cayley) did him the
highest credit—(hear, hear)--coming from one of his
standing in that house—one who had maintained an in-
dependent position in respect to the question—one who
throughout this controversy had exhibited good judg-
ment, and as to the soundness of whose convictions there
was no doubt, but who had yielded them to a sense of
public duty—it was to be hoped that what he had
stated would have influence on others, and lead them to
follow the course which the hon. gentleman had indi-
cated. (Hear.) His hon. friend the member for Fins-
bury (Mr. T. Duncombe) had put to him a question.
(Hear, hear, and laughter.) The question was
with regard to how he (Lord Palmerston) came by the
resolution of the right hon. baronet the member for
Carlisle. Now, he could assure his hon. friend he came
by it by very lawful means. (Much laughter.) He made
a slight alteration in it—(continued laughter)—for the
' purpose, as he imagined, of avoiding a discussion on
a collateral point, as to granting compensation to the
agricultural interests, but understanding since then that
the words he had omitted only applied to the future, and
left the case as to the past open, he had no objection to
their being introduced into his resolution, and he thought
he understood the hon. member for the North Riding
to say that he had no objection to their insertion also.—
(Hear, hear.) But his hon. friend, the member for Fins-
bury had put to him another, and a more practical
tfriionenfdor had e
hasokneodurhaibmie wmheamtbweroufoldr
hequ esdotioshnOullid tisheh°mno.
Wolverhampton be rejected, and the amendment of the
Government carried ? Would he put his resolution as
an amendment against that of the Government ? (Hear,
hear.) He could answer that question by asking another.
(Laughter.) Would his hon. friend support him ?
(Hear, hear, and laughter.)
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE.—Yes, certainly, against the
Government. (Hear, hear.)
Lerd PALMERSTON.—WeII, he could assure his
hon. friend that if he was encouraged with any expecta-
tion of adequate support he phould do ao—(hear, hear)

—and he should hope, from what had already passed,
that if the motion of the hon. member for Wolverhamp-
ton was either withdrawn or negatived, he might ex-
pect a general acquiescence in his resolution, for which,
as the house were aware, they were indebted to his
right hon. friend the member for Carlisle. (Cheers and
laughter.) He hoped both sides of the house would feel
that it was a matter of national importance the question
should be now set at rest. That question was not, as to
what were the opinions of the Government respecting
the justice of the act of 1846, but as to what they had
determined on doing to maintain and carry out that
policy, and if the house should come to a resolution that
it must be maintained and carried out, of course its
reversal was altogether untenable. (Hear, hear.) If, then
a majority of that house had found out that the policy
they had been pursuing was beneficial, let them calm
the public mind—let them set at rest those doubts re-
specting it which might still linger in the breasts of some
parties—let them answer by a resolution of that house
the question put when Parliament was closed, and let
them, as unanimously as possible, affirm that they had
established and recognised that system as the founda-
tion of the commercial legislation of this country.
(Loud cheers.)
Sir L. BULWER said the whole question was in
what form of words they could adopt a resolution on
the subject, which would best satisfy the people out of
doors. Now he could not assent to the resolution of
the hon. member for Wolverhampton, because it threw
out insinuations as to the motives which had actuated
hon. members on his (the Ministerial) side of the house
in times past. Well, the noble lord, the member for
Tiverton, had suggested a resolution for the purpose of
obviating that objection, and coming from one who had
long been accustomed to maintain their national honour
by advancing their political prosperity, he had no objec-
tion, especially after the speeches of the right hon. gen-
tleman, the member for the University of Oxford (Mr.
Gladstone) and the right hon. baronet the member for
Carlisle, to agree to it. (Hear.) After they had agreed
on the thing that was to be done, it was out of the ques-
tion to be nice as to verbal criticism, and in agreeing to
that resolution he did not consider himself prevented
from doing what he could to bring about a fair applica-
tion of that free trade which the agricultural interests
wanted. (Hear.) He, therefore, most cordially agreed
in the remarks which had fallen from the hon. member
for the North Riding, and he hoped that others would
evince the same conciliatory spirit by throwing aside
their party feelings and predilections and let the question
be settled.

The Marquis of GRANBY and Lord BERNARD rose
at the same time, but the latter giving way, the noble
marquis said he should like to hear from the honourable
and learned member for Wolverhampton, whether he
intended to persevere with his resolutions. (Hear, hear.)
He trusted he would persevere with them. (Cheers and
laughter from the Opposition.) He hoped he would do
so, because he heard the honourable member for Man-
chester declare the other evening that those who pre-
tended to be Free-traders' but were not prepared to vote
with the resolution, that the act of 1846, was "wise,
just, and useful," were no Free-traders at all ; and he
told the honourable member that if he did not divide
the house, it would go out to America, that the present
was a Protectionist Parliament. Last year a similar
motion was proposed, on which occasion he addressed
the house, but had received no answer to his remarks
then, nor had he since. What he was anxious to state
was, that he for one could not agree to any one of the
resolutions which had been submitted to the house.
(Cheers and laughter from the Opposition.) He
totally dissented from them all. (Laughter.) He agreed
with the honourable member for Finsbury, that there
was so much mystification and doubt about the resolu-
tians before them, that as to their meaning he owned he
was completely bankrupt. (Laughter.) If, however,
the debate should continue, he hoped the house would
allow him again to address them, but, if not, he
said once again that he dissented from all the reso-
lutions. (Loud laughter.) He did not think, ad-
mitting generally the prosperity of the country,
he did not think that such prosperity was owing to
recent legislation, but was to be attributed to other
causes, and if it was owing to legislation, it was not
owing to that which recognised a system of free compe-
tition. If, however, the country had been benefited by
the commercial policy pursued of late years—if the
poorer classes were better off now than they were before
the passing of the act of 1846, he did think that some
apology, that some acknowledgement was due to the
memory of the man—(loud cheers)—to the memory of
the man who commenced and carried out that policy,
whose patriotism he for one never doubted, and the
purity of whose motives he never impugned. (Continued
cheering.) He said that if it could be proved, which he
denied, that this policy had been beneficial to the coun-
try, then some acknowledgment was due to his memory
who had carried it out—some acknowledgment that it was
not only patriotic and conscientious, but farseeing and
sagacious. (Loud continued cheering.) Might he ad-
dress himself for one moment to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer—(hear, hear, and laughter)—might he tell
him that he cordially agreed with him in what he stated
the other night, when he said that he had never brought
the question of protection before the house ? but he was
sure the right hon. gentleman would admit, that at all
events he had been generously and without reserve sup-
ported by the Protectionist party in that house, and
also by the Protectionist party out of doors. (Loud
cheers.) With these few words he would quit the sub-
ject. He was not about to oppose himself to the de-
liberate verdict of the country. (Hear.) It was not his
wish to agitate the country on the question of protection
—(hear)—but entertaining the opinions which he did,
that the present prosperity of the country, which he ad-
mitted was owing to other causes than free trade, he re-
served to himself the right of maintaining those opinions
whenever and wherever he thought proper. (Cheers.)
Mr. H. B. JOHNSTONE considered all the house
had to do was to pass a resolution to the effect that the
system of free trade would not be interfered with. He
must, however, give his vote against the resolution of
the hon. member for Wolverhampton, as he considered
it a direct attack upon the honour of English gentlemen.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said his
hon. friend the member for Berkshire (Mr. R. Palmer)
stated that he had not replied to the question put to him

at a previous part of the discussion. But he confessed
the question was of such a nature that, not calculating
upon it as a contingent in the discussion, he did not
deem it his duty at once to answer it ; and he confessed
he thought the better and more regular course would
have been for the hon. member for Wolverhampton to
have stated what he intended to do respecting it. But,
as he had not done so, he should address the house. His
noble friend the member for Leicestershire had reminded
him how generously and unreservedly he had been sup-
ported by the protectionist party in that house and out
of it ; and he must say that, however highly he might
consider himself honoured by the confidence that party

had placed in him, he had done everything which his
abilities or his energies could do on behalf of the landed
interest, who, he thought, had been unjustly treated
by recent legislation, as expressed in the amendment
which had been placed upon the table. (Hear, and
cheers.) One would suppose, from some observations
which had been made, that the Protectionist Government
had come down to that house to avow a change in their
opinions. (Hear.) If any one should suppose that, he
had only to state that the opinions of the Government
were the same as ever. (Ministerial cheers.) Here was
a Government which in no way acceded to office on the
question of protection. (Hear, hear.) They said they
would leave that to be decided by a general election, and
the verdict of the country being taken, they would bow
to it. (Hear, hear.) If they had acceded to office for
the purpose of advocating a system of protection—had
dissolved Parliament on that question, and found that
the country would not support them in their advocacy of
it—then they would have resigned their position.
(Cheers.) But he was not aware, from all that had
occurred, that in present circumstances it was their duty
to follow such a course ; but if it was the opinion of a
majority of the house that it was, then the issue would
be speedily tried. (Hear, hear.) He had all along said
that this was a question of taxation. No one had con-
tended that the. native industry of the country had a,
right to support, unless it was subjected to heavy public
hurdens. He considered that such a course should be
pursued as would allow them to enter into competition
with the industry of the world. He would not now
name the course which the Protectionists might have
most conveniently pursued at a former time ; but he felt
that he would not be doing his duty to the party in this
house and out of the house, who had so generously sup-
ported the Government to which he had the honour
to belong, if he did not state that he was prepared
to bring forward measures which would have the effect,
he hoped, of giving them relief from the burdens
which pressed so heavily upon them ; and he hoped that
such measures would meet with the approbation of
Parliament--(hear, hear)—and prove of general ad-
vantage to the community. To the amendments pro-
posed by the right honourable baronet, the member for
Carlisle (Sir James Graham), and that of the noble lord,
the member for Tiverton (Lord Palmerston), he would
not personally offer any opposition, preferring rather to
leave it to the house to decide upon them ; but to the
resolution of the hon. and learned gentleman, the mem-
ber for Wolverhampton, he would offer his most decided
opposition. He had that night heard from the right
hon. baronet, the member for Carlisle, a complete vindi-
cation of that passage in her Majesty's Speech which
had been so severely criticised. The right honourable
baronet had told the house, that although no party was
entitled to compensation for any injury that might have
been alleged to have arisen from the legislation that had
taken place, still that the subject was a most legitimate
one for inquiry. (Hear, hear.) What was the language
expressed in the speech ? Why that if the Parliament
should be of opinion that certain interests were injured
by the legislation that had recently taken place—that
legislation which had contributed to the commercial wel-
fare of the country, the house would take it into consi-
deration— (hear, hear)—and that was the course which
the resolutions which he proposed to lay before the house
were intended to recommend. (Hear, hear.) He
would, when the time would come, state his views to
the house on the subject; but he did not know that
the question of compensation had ever been brought
forward. It was impossible that resolutions to that ef-
fect might find some favour in election speeches ; but hon.
gentlemen ought not to have had 'recourse to election
speeches, m order to deduce from them the maxims of
great statesmen, and the policy of the English Parlia-
ment, (Hear, hear.) Re contended then, that her Ma.

jesty's Ministers were fully warranted in advising the
allusion in the Speech to the subject, And he would
now say, that the expressions given utterance to by the
First Minister of the Crown, if there had been a doubt
on the minds of any party as to the meaning of the
Government—and there could not be, he thought, a
doubt in any one's mind—ought to have removed that
doubt. (Hear, hear.) It had been objected to him
that he was not more explicit on the subject of the
financial statement which he had intended to lay before
the house ; but he thought it better to reserve the few ob-
servations which he had to make to the house until the
day of such a statement had been fixed. There had
been a misconception, at least there was a feeling in the
house that there should be a declaration on the part of
the house that the verdict of the country had been un-
favourable to a protective policy ; but he thought that,
as a general rule, such declarations upon the national
policy were not extremely expedient—(hear, hear)—be-
cause after all, they were not decisive, and they did not
bind any question. (Hear, hear.) He did himself
most sincerely wish that the principle of inquiry into the
question of compensation should not be disturbed by
any hasty vote of the new Parliament. (Hear, hear.)
The Government were of opinion that no opposition
should be made if a resolution had been brought forward
in its character declaratory that the country had decided
in favour of commercial freedom. To him, indi-
vidually, it could, of course, be no object, because
if in the Measures he should have to recommend
for adoption to the house, he meant to show
one thing more than another it was a recognition
of the principle of unrestricted competition ; and if the
policy which he intended to recommend should not ap-
pear a fit one, the house would not support it. He
would not-now be led into any discussion of the charac--
ter of his intended measures, and he was quite sure that
the house would think it unfair that he should. His
noble friend (the Marquis of Granby) referred to the
generous support that the Government had met with
from the party to which he belonged ; and he (the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer) trusted that the measures which
the Government contemplated to submit to the house
would be found just and deserving of support. His
noble friend had communicated to him frequently, that
if a resolution was brought forward expressing the ver-
dict of the country in an unequivocal manner, that unre-
-strieted competition would be necessary, it would be
most unwise to keep alive the controversy. (Hear,
hear.) An appeal had been made to the opinion of the
country, and he might say that their resolution was a
most unequivocal one, deciding that the principle of free
trade should be the principle of their commercial policy.
There was nothing to that extent, in the resolutions sub-
mitted to the house, that the house might not accept.
There was no secret in the advice which his noble friend
had given ; but in the motion of the honourable and
learned gentleman the member for Wolverhampton, there
were three odious epithets. (Hear, hear.) Now, that
was not the way in which a question of this kind ought
to be treated. It was unnecessary to put offensive ex-
pressions into that resolution—(hear, hear)—and thus
make it a resolution not only offensive, but positively
injurious, to the feelings of gentlemen. Epithets of
the kind, he affirmed, ought not to be put into the reso-
lution. He had not the resolution by him, but he
thought that he could recollect that it was very objec-
tionable in stating that the welfare of the community
was mainly attributable to the operation of recent legis-
lation. The Government did not mean to deny that the
operation of commercial freedom had the effect of im-
proving the condition of the working classes ; but they
thought that they had laid down in language not to be
mistaken what their opinion was on the subject, in lan-
guage, he might add, so decisive, that hon. members had
admitted that it could not go :arther. (Hear, hear.
Yet the three odious epithets to which he had referred,)
had been introduced into the honourable gentleman's
resolution, since the meeting held at Lord Derby's.
They had, since that resolution we submitted, an amend-
ment contingent on the amendment of the noble Lord
the member for Tiverton ; so that there appeared four
amendments on the resolution before the house. First,
with regard to the amendment d the right honourable
baronet the member for Carlisle, it was difficult for him
to offer any personal opposition to it, or to enter into
discussion on an amendment which was not printed.
But if her Majesty's Ministers should bring forward cer-
tain measures, showing that certain classes in the country
had been injured by recent legislation, to say that those
classes had no claim to consideration would be most
unjust. He understood it to be the effect of the motion,
that no compensation was to be rade to injured parties.
Now, if that be the language ef the amendments, he
should not be very captious in expressing himself upon
it. But they had now to decide what they should do ;
and if the hon, and learned member for Wolverhampton
should persist in the course which he had entered upon,
he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) should certainly
resist that course—(hear, hear)—and on the ground that
it was most unjust and unwise, and he thought the
house would make a great mistake if they adopted that
resolution. (Hear, hear, from the Ministerial side of the
house.) With regard to the two amendments before the
house, he thought that, after all, they were merely fight-
ing about words. (Hear, hear.) There was no differ-
ence of opinion between the noble lord the member for
Tiverton and the Government, that the country, in a
most unmistakeable manner, had adopted the question of
free trade. It seemed, then that the country had adopted
the principle, and that it did not longer remain to be de-
cided by the house. (Hear, hear.) He confessed, then,
that he should not, there being no longer any difference
of opinion between them on the question, divide the
house on his own amendment, in opposition to those
amendments ; but the real question was, whether the
hon. and learned member for Wolverhampton, and those
who were acting with him, were resolved to persevere
with their motion—a motion which, coming from that
side of the house, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer),
without any disrespect to those gentlemen, must consider
it his duty to give his most earnest opposition. (Cheers.)
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, notwithstanding some
parts of the speech of the right hon. gentlemen. that the
house may yet be able to arrive at a decision on this
great question, they would at least include the great ma-
jority of the house, that it was most desirable that a
question which had been so long in dispute, should be
set at rest. (Hear, hear.) He should not now enter
into the early part of the speech of the right hon. gentle-
man respecting the character of his Government—whe-
ther it was to be called " a Protectionist Government."
Another day might arrive in which he might have
an opportunity to express his opinion on that subject.
He thought that it was most reasonable that when Par-
liament was assembled some decision should be come to
upon the great question of free trade, upon which the
country had been so long divided, and in the abstract it
appeared desirable that the Party who made themselves
the peculiar advocates, and styled themselves the de-
fenders of the interests that had been affected, as alleged,
by recent legislation, should have a full opportunity of
laying before the country these measures which were in-
/ and at the same time con-
dt ennede e
to d t
theo d ega
el
nw ie r
at hl
wt h
eel
feavr iel
(Hear, hear.) The house
had now before them two principles, and with respect
to the first, he owned that it appeared to him that a
great mistake had been made by her Majesty's Minis-
ters, in not advising her Majesty to make an express de-
claration on the question of free trade. He quite
agreed with the Secretary of State for the Home De-
partment, statement, that it would be neither
prudent
n o in r
desirablehe
Speech from the Throne matters that might excite the
i
public mind ; but the occasion in question was no ordi-
naryt on
occasion, but rather a great and extraordinary oc-
casion ; and whatever might have been the views of her
Majesty's Ministers, he (Lord J. Russell) thought it
was a duty that her Majesty's Ministers owed to the
people of this country, to have placed on record in the
Speech, whether or no the commercial policy that had
been instituted was to be continued, or whether it was to
be reserved. He was confirmed in this view by the
statement of the right hon. gentleman, who had himself
proposed a resolution with regard to their commercial
legislation. He had introduced a sort of supplementary
passage in the Queens Speech, which was intended to
supply something that was omitted. He (Lord J. Rus-
sell) maintained that all those who had an interest in the
question of free trade, had shown great forbearance in
nonmoving an amendment to the Address, Ile could
not but refer to the first paragraph in the Speech, and
would not have been surprised if some member had
risen to move an amendment on the subject. He main-
tained that the industry of this country was fully able,
and was never more so than at present, to meet oppo-
sition, and if not able, he would say further with respect
to the working classes, that if the industry of the country
could not meet competition, it would be imperative on
them to enable it do so ; so that it should not be said
that Parliament in its folly had entered on a course of
legislation that proved most
, iurious to the country.
that the no
He thought, then, use had exercised great
forbearance in not moving an amendment on the address
to the Speech, and no member would have been so fit to
do so as his hon. friend the member for Wolverhampton.
His hon. friend had
(Hear, hear.) given notice of a mo-
tion on the subject, and he (Lord John Russell) must
state a fact--and it was a fact from his own knowledge
—that the very first suggestion that he made to his hon.
friend on the subject of his resolution, contained the
words "wise, just, and beneficent"—(hear, hear)—and
he (Lord John Russell) himself was one of those who had
advised
his friend that he ought to put the words "wise,
just, and beneficent," in the resolution ; and he had done
so on the principle that as unrestricted competition had
been established, the measure should be sustained. Well,
he said that it was by Act of Parliament established, and
the present Parliament ought, in his opinion, to declare
that it would be unwise and unjust to disturb it. He
never could consent to any course calculated to disturb it.
He maintained that it was a wise act ; and he rejoiced
that some tribute of acknowledgment was offered to the
memory of that illustrious statesman (Sir Robert Peel)
who carried the measure. (Hear.) The result consti-
tuted a justification of the act. (Hear.) He repeated,
that the odious epithets complained of had been most
wisely inserted in the resolution. He thought that the
question was one for the house to determine, and that the
right honourable gentleman (the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer) ought to be most explicit in his resolutions. The
question was still one of free trade or protection (Hear,
hear.) The right honourable gentleman (the Chancellor
of the Exchequer) had charged him (Lord John
Russell) with " audacity" in the course he had taken on
a former occasion ; but he must notwithstanding say,
that the question ought to be now settled by the house
as to whether free trade was to be maintained. If the
right honourable gentleman should still call him auda-
cious for saying that this was a question of free trade or
protection, he (Lord John Russell) must say, that that
was the question, and that that question the representa-

tives of the people in this house should, notwithstanding
what might be said about audacity, now settle. (Cries of
" Hear, hear.") The right honourable gentleman seemed
to think that the only question worthy of consideration
and of a vote in that house was, whether or not the
conduct of himself and his colleagues was such that they
were bound to support them. Now, he must make some
comments on that subject, because he did not at all con-
cur in the views of the right honourable gentlenian on
that question ; but the time for that had not come. The

question that 'night was, whether that great system of
commercial policy, which the late Sir R. Peel, from the
year 1842 to the year 1846, had proposed and carried
into the shape of law, and which they (the opposition)
carried still further from 1847 to 1852, in the shape of
the sugar laws and the navigation laws, was a system
which had proved beneficial to the country, and ought
to be maintained, continued, and extended. (Hear,
hear.) Now, it was extremely desirable that all those
who were of that opinion, who thought that it was bene-
ficial, should unite, if possible, in one vote in the asser-
tion of that doctrine. (Hear, hear.) Do not tell him,
that what they were pleased to call abstract resolutions
were of no importance. The stability of our currency
stands upon an abstract resolution, passed in 1696, in
the reign of Wm. 111., when it was resolved that the

standard of silver should not be altered. The currency
was based on that resolution until 1828, when the ques-
tion having again been discussed, the House of Commons,

on the motion of Mr. Huskisson, reaffirmed that resolu-
tion ; and again, when Lord Althorp was Chancellor of
the Exchequer, the currency question having been in-

troduced, he called upon the house to reaffirm that re-

solution, and it did, so that from the year 1696 to 1852
the stability of our currency system stood upon that re-
solution. Well, then, after the opinion of the country
had been fully tested and taken as to what was to be
the commercial policy of the country, why should it not

be placed on record that the housc;adopied that policy,
and their conviction that, it should continue to be the

policy of generations yet to come ? Why should not
that be the case when that other great country—the
United States of North America—have recently, by a
_ _

great majority, decided that it, too, was favourable to

free trade ? Why should we not unite with them in
carrying out that policy—and thus, by the junction of
two great nations, sprung from the same race, make

- -
that policy rule the world ? (Cheers.) Well, then, if he
might venture to advise his hon. friend the member for
Wolverhampton, it would be this :—that the Chancellor

of the Exchequer having declared his willingness to
accept, instead of his own resolution, the amendment
which, it appeared, had first been drawn up by his right
honourable friend the member for Carlisle, and after-

wards placed on the table by the noble lord the member
for Tiverton, that he (Mr. Villiers) should likewise de-
clare his acceptance of that resolution—(Ministerial
cheers)—and that all who were Free-traders—whether
like his hon. friend the member for Wolverhampton, and
like the hon member for the West Riding, and other
hon. gentlemen, who were Free-traders of a very long
date—whether they were Free-traders of the date of
1842 or 1846, or only dated from the month of Novem-
ber in the present year—(a laugh)—whatever the date of
their Free-trade opinions, should all unite and give
these resolutions the stamp of the approval of the British
House of Commons. (Loud and general cheering.)
Mr. COBDEN (who rose amidst loud cries of " Vil-
liers " ) said he had felt considerable difficuty in com-

prehending what was the tendency of the remarks of some
of the speakers, and' the real object of this discussion,

and it was only by degrees that he arrived at a full un-
derstanding of what was the question at present. When
he listened to the remarks of the noble lord the member
for Tiverton, as to behaving in an ungentlemanly man-
ner, and the importance of the house coming to a general
agreement on this great question, he was almost, for the
moment, unconscious of what was the real question at
issue between them ; but the right hon. baronet the
member for Carlisle had, in his address, completely de-
veloped what was the issue. It appeared that a resolu-
d
ttpgcpmahioprleoeaaneanpnmittnenattwabehitrindlieneroh:ptraeopradraedasabeyrttilni
asserting
rightthat
thhoen.
free-tradeg ne m amn
e
d
easvillimcvhs
since 1846 had not the effect of inflicting any injury on
o
isn
Tiverton,
d.
wordsf
resolution,
let olse'Nrvon bl The
ei
tosr iaoiunang,ctadhhhbe tetrt
claims
oao
mnnhtesise
hgoma
de theyne
means
tt
takene
hlte
emowenrlaeaonori
were made.
it,
Ihtmesoe
arlaflndodondrreodt.
c after
tha
teemhlm eti
cutting out of it that important part, that all-important
part of the resolution, it had found its way to the Carl-
ton, and there, at a meeting of the protectionist party, it
had been resolved unanimously to accept that resolution.
(Cries of "No, no," on the Ministerial benches below
the gangway.) They were not unanimous. (No,
no.) Well, then, they were not to have this unanimity of
which so much was said. It appeared they were not going
to settle this matter in this gentlemanly well-behaved
drawing-room fashion. He would admit, to a certain
extent, the excellent tone and tendency of the reso-
lution drawn up by the right hon. member for Carlisle,
but as it had pleased the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
so it seemed the free-trade party had accepted the reso-
lution. (Hear.) Well, then, Downing-street and the
Carlton Club were not agreed in opposition. At Down-
ing-street there had been a meeting—some one had
once talked about the barracoons there—(a laugh)—and
there it had been resolved to support it when divested of
those odious epithets, which it was said the free-trade
party had inserted, for the purpose of preventing them
from accepting it. Now he might say, and it was, he
hoped, no presumption on his part to say so, that before
any resolution had been presented to that house as the
resolution of the free-trade party, it might have been
submitted to him. (Cheers.) Now, he never saw that
resolution which had been placed before the Carlton Club
and Downing-street. (Hear, hear.) He was no con-
senting party to it. He was of opinion that whatever
resolution they passed ought distinctly to acknowledge
the wisdom and the justice of the policy of 1846, but it
appeared that the resolution they had adopted was the
one from which the words wisdom and justice were ex-
punged, and which debarred them from claiming com-
pensation. Well, then, it seemed, after what had passed
that night, that this was a matter of great importance,
because the Chancellor of the Exchequer had told them
that he had measures which would ameliorate the condi-
tion, and compensate the classes who were injured.
(Hear.) He told them, in answer to the remarks of the
noble lord the member for Leicestershire, that he had re-
medial measures. Well, what would his hon. friend, the
member for the Tower Hamlets, say to that ? (A laugh.)
The last time he had the pleasure of meeting that hon.
baronet was on the platform of the Free-trade Hall, in
Manchester, and an appearance on these boards did not
usually deprive a man of his political virtue. (A laugh)
If the hon. baronet had supported the resolution of the
right honourable member for Carlisle, he would not
have been surprised, but after taking that from
the noble lord, he was certainly surprised at his want of
political sagacity. There had been, it appeared, some
little difficulty m framing this resolution to meet the
views of the right honourable gentleman, the member
for the University of Oxford. It seemed that the right
hon. gentleman had once been caught and voted for
some motion of the right hon. member for Bucks, and
that the resolution, therefore, while it debarred future
compensation should not shut out retroactive compensa-
tion. (No, no.) The resolution shut it out for past
injuries. Well, if they put that plainly it amounted to
this, " there shall be compensation for corn and cattle,
but no compensation for butter and cheese." (Hear,
and a laugh.) Well, now if the right hon. gentleman
should think himself bound by his precipitate vote on
a question of compensation in 1850, he would ask him
to contrast the condition of the people at present, and
of these very classes with what it was in 1850, when he
might have thought there was some claim to compensa-
tion, and he must come to the conclusion that there was
no such reason now. But the question came, whether
they were to have compensation at the expense of the
tax-payers, who were to pay for free trade ? (" No,
no," and cheers.) He said, if they admitted the ques-
tion at all, it came to that, and that it would be as easy
to take money out of the pockets of the tax-payers by
measures of compensation as by direct taxes. They
might levy under that guise imposts that would be as
burdensome as protection. (Hear, hear.) He said, as
Free-traders, they would not deal with the question in
that way. The Protectionists denied that it was a just
policy, and yet they made their " bow," as they called
it, to that policy. (A laugh.) The Free-traders did not
make their "bows" to majorities—(cheers)—and he said
that if they raised this compensation question, he warned
them solemnly, that if hon. gentlemen opposite did
this, such a struggle would be commenced—and if his
word and past conduct on such a subject had any
weight with them, he hoped they would mark what he
said—they would raise a struggle that would be far more
disastrous to them than any past struggle in which they
had been engaged. (Opposition cheers.) The object of
his hon. friend's resolutions was to bring to the test the
question, whether, after the dissolution, the Free-traders
stood in as good a position as before, not only in the last,
but in previous Parliaments, when they had beaten the
right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer by large
majorities on every question in which compensation was
involved. They wanted to know whether in this new
house, after this late election, after all the turmoil, ex-
pense, derangement, and extravagance of that election
—(hear)—whether that house was in favour of free trade.
They (the Free-traders) would have that question pure
and simple, submitted to the house, and, therefore, his
advice to his hon. friend the member for Wolverhamp-
ton was, that he would not withdraw his resolution.
(Cheers.) He hoped they would now take the real dis-
cussion, and when that was settled they would know
what was to be the work of the Free-traders in future.
(Cheers.)
Mr. NEWDEGATE, who was met by renewed cries
for Mr. Villiers, said the hon. member for the West
Riding was always plain spoken. He said that he wished
to try fairly whether those who said they had been in-
jured had aclaim
Bcoumtpheenhasatdionno or not. Well, eslla,yinhge
was tolerably well known as a consistent Protectionist,
and all he had got by being so was, anxiety, labour, and
expense. (Cheers.)
that they stood upon their old ground. They believed
they had been injured, and believing that, they were de-
termined to see whether the present Government would
acknowledge the injuries which had been done--the
existing injury, and provide remedial measures. If
the house adopted the resolution proposed on either
side, being a Protectionist, he should leave it, and
take no part in its deliberations until he saw what
measures the Government brought forward. As to
the language of the honourable member for the West
Riding in that house, it was in substance his language
out of doors. That honourable member was one of the
most successful demagogues of the age. (Oh, oh, and
hear.) Yes, he acknowledged it. At that meeting con-

vened by him at Manchester, and at which the ho a.
member for the Tower Hamlets was present, the ho .ti.
member for the West Riding brought the question to th
very issue that was now before them. He declared hi s
intention to convict the Protectionists of inconsistency
and just let them see the position in which he should b e
placed, if he voted either for the resolution of the hot L.
member for Wolverhampton or the Government. TI ae
hon. member said at Manchester, "we will place this
question so plainly before the house, that our old advc:r-
saries the Protectionists, shall not have any chance of
escaping from an honest avowal of their opinions; acid
if they have really changed, that they shall recant rill
they have said upon the subject of free trade and protec-
tion. But it must be emphatic. They must say that
free trade does not lower wages ; they must say that
free trade does not cause a drain of gold from this
country ; they must say that free trade has not thrown
land out of cultivation in this country—they must say
that the land of this country is still worth something ;
and they must say that wheat, good wheat, had not
been imported into this country, and cannot be, at 245.
a quarter. Those are a few of the things they must say,
when they said the very opposite before. And we must
have no accompaniment about ' compensation.' Do you
look in your dictionary, and see what the word
Compensation' means, and you will see, that if
there is any compensation due at all, it is to those
people who, from 1815 down to 1846, were kept upon
short commons by the aristocracy." Such were the
views of the hon. member and his party, and he rejoiced
that the Government resisted the motion brought
forward by that party. As men of honour, they were
bound to resist it, but, as men of honour, they were
bound also to bring forward remedial measures. Among
all the changes and events of late years, that which we
most deplored was the shock given to public confidence
by the men whom the conservative party had placed in
power, and if a second conservative Ministry gave a
second shock to public confidence in public men, it would
be far more injurious to them and to the country than
anything that could be done by the worst set of demo-
crats. (Hear, hear.) He had confidence in the Earl of
Derby when he submitted this question to the decision
of the country, and had waited to see what measures they
would take to test that decision. When the resolution
approving of free trade came forward, he would leave it
to those who approved of that policy to make it as far as
they could the decision, but he and those who thought
with him would leave it, and wait to see what course the
Ministry would take on that resolution—a course that
would decide, not only whether there should be compen-
sation, but upon the character of public men. (Hear.)
Mr. GLADSTONE, with reference to the allusion of
the hon. member (Mr. Cobden) to his vote in 1850, said
that it had no connection with the question now before
the house, and that he should consider himself perfectly
unfettered in coming to the question of compensation by
any previous vote. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. STAPLETON (who was greeted by loud cries of
"Villiers, Villiers," and was very imperfectly heard)
said—Comparing the two resolutions before the house,
he could have no hesitation in adopting that which in
the most distinct manner barred compensation. His
predecessor in that house was a Free-trader, but because
he hesitated to declare against compensation he had been
rejected; and in therefore supporting the strongest re-
solution, he should only be redeeming the pledges he had
given at the hustings.

Mr. VILLIERS- said, that after the appeal made to
him, and the discussion that had taken place, he must
say that he did not recollect having seen anything of a
similar description. He was summoned down to that
house by a letter, which the hon. member for the Tower
Hamlets was kind enough to send him about half an-
hour before the meeting of the house, as he had an im-
portant question to put to him. He had been waiting
for some time to hear reasons assigned by some one or
other who should withdraw the resolutions he had
moved—resolutions of which it was said he was the
mover but not the author. (Hear.) He had not the
honour of paternity, but he had all the liability. (Hear,
and a laugh.) In making his statement, it would
be very simple. He had heard nothing in any of
the speeches that night to show why his resolutions
should not be acceptable, and which the right honour-
ble baronet the member for Ripon, in a friendly spirit
towards him, had said he ought to be the mover of.
But as it was agreed that some resolution should be sub-
mitted to the house, he had naturally asked himself and
his friends what the purpose of that resolution was to
be ? He might as well state that even by the admission
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself, there was
not a sufficient degree of distinctness in the Queen's
Speech, on the subject of recent legislation. This reso-
lution was meant to supply the deficiency, and make up
for the omission, and to provide for the verdict of the
country, after the appeal that had been made, to its
being solemnly recorded in that house. (Hear.) Well,
then the real question—a question upon which Ministers
seemed not to have made up their mind was, whether
recent commercial legislation had been beneficial to the
country, and had been so tested as that it should be
maintained, extended, and become the basis of all future
legislation. That was his view, and the view of the
friends whom he spoke to on the subject ; and in that
view and spirit the resolution was prepared and pro-
posed. In that fair spirit was it proposed, in that spirit
it was drawn up, He did not deny that other gentle-
men sent new suggestions,—perhaps not less than ten
or twelve did so,—but they were all very simple, and all
of them included the terms or the statement, that
our recent legislation had been just and beneficial.
(Hear, hear.) It never entered into his mind,
it never entered the mind of any one, that
the legislation which had been just and beneficial
could be designated by " odious epithets." (Hear, hear.)
The right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer alluded to the very open way in which commu-
nications sometimes found their way from one party to
another, but he ought to be tender in saying so, bocause
he stated that to be a fact, from information of that na-
ture which was one of a most unfounded description.
He stated it as if with authority, he stated it distinctly
as a fact that the words, "wise, just, and beneficent,
said to be incompatible with the honour of the gentle-
man opposite, as applied to the act which repealed the
corn laws, were introduced into the resolution after the
meeting at: Lord Derby's. Now, he did not attribute
any wilful mistake to the right. hon. gentleman, but he
must give it as complete a contradiction as was consis-
tent with courtesy, and say it was most indisputably and
unequivocally untrue. (Loud cries of "hear, hear.")
All the resolutions drawn up on the subject contained
these words, and his noble friend the member for the
city of London in the draft which he drew up also in-
serted them. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Villiers) could
not for the life of him see why it was that such a con-
struction was put upon them as that they were offen-
sive. (Cheers.) If hon. gentlemen opposite committed
errors, let them take the consequences—(cheers)—it
was rather humbling to them, no doubt—(cheers)—but
many great and eminent men were to be found who con-
fessed the faults into which they had fallen, and he
certainly never thought it offensive or odious to have
such language applied to those who admitted they had
committed a mistake. (Hear, hear.) He wanted to
know what was so offensive in the resolutions. There
was something or another intended by those who thought
so—something concealed from view, which he could not
guess at, for the resolution was proposed for the simple
purpose of recording the opinion of the country upon
the subject. (Cheers.) That opinion he (Mr. Villiers)
held to be, that the recent policy pursued was wise, just,
and beneficial, and if hon. gentlemen opposite did not
see that before now, their experience ought to justify
them in saying so now. (Hear, hear.) The hon. mem-
ber for Berkshire was proof against experience, but let
him (Mr. Villiers) be told the side on which an hon.
gentleman sat, and he could give a pretty good guess as
to the manner in which he should vote. Why should not
that house profit by experience ? They did so every day,
and it was an open and fair course to take, that finding
the country declared, to state so unreservedly. (Hear.)
But then, it was said, that by doing so, they would be
offending the consistency of hon. gentlemen, that the
resolution proposed by him contained words incompatible
with their honour. He was told to leave out these
words for the sake of the recent conversion of the
Government. He heard one gentleman after another
rise behind the Government and exclaim "don't tret
us so horribly as this—(laughter)—propose . g
to reconcile to us the adoption of this policy ," and his
hon. friend the member for the North Riding of York-
shire declared he would never do again what was impos-
sible for him to do. (Laughter.) The hon. gentleman who
spoke from the opposite (Mr. Villiers's) side of the
house laid great stress on the effect which the words
must have at that moment ; they did not however, aban.
don their principles, and yet he was asked to be tende
of their consciences. (Cheers.) He did not draw up
his resolution for them. (Loud cheers.) The question
lay in a small compass : was the recent commercial policy
"wise, just, and beneficient 1" (Cheers.) The majority
of the house concurred in that policy, and it was pre-
cisely because of the opinion of that majority that it was
bound to declare the opinion of the country. (Loud
cheers.) The course he was bound to pursue was clear
and straightforward, and he should therefore persevere
with his resolution, whatever the opinion of certain hon.
gentlemed may be. (Loud cheers.)
Sir W. CLAY observed, that the hon. gentleman the
member for Wolverhampton had fallen into an inaccu-
racy as to the nature of the question he put in an earlier
part of the evening. He had written to him a note at
twelve o'clock that day, suggesting
to him to withdraw
his motion, with a view of submitting to the house the
resolution of the noble lord, the member for Tiverton,
and if he wanted any justification for putting his ques-
tion, he would find in the course of that disctiguiu.n,
be-
cause a large proportion of the usual leaders, and pro-
minent members in the house,
declared it would be
better to adopt the resolution of the noble
of "No, no.") The noble lord
the
lord. (Cries
memberdcries of " No,
for London
was in favour of such a course • (Loud
no.") It was adopted in sybrtnece
(bnyentehwe e
drigelt hsonef.
baronet the member for Ca
" No, no.") The noble lord baenldoweehwima,stltibeemriegmbbtehrofnor.
Tiverton, was in its f
favour,
or
the University of Oxford,
gentleman the member
and the Chancellor of theExcheoqnuwerhiasohsehnites dhotnoourit,
m laid
with the addition of
some
W.
words,
able friends near hi
Clay) thought it strange to be asked why, after this
almost universal assent—(cries of "No, no")—why it
was he put that question to his hon friend. He would
tell him why. He objected to his motion, because he
believed it can't have the effect which he supposed it
would have, and because, in addition to his declaration,
which he was willing to make even in stronger terms, it
insisted on adopting language to which the party oppo-
site could not be expected to submit. It was because he
wished to have the unanimous consent of the House of
Commons, and that he believed differences of opinion
would inflame instead of allaying animosities, and alien-
ate, instead of uniting, the friends of those great prin-
ciples, that he wiehed his hon, friend to withdraw hie

resolution. Did his hon. friend doubt his devotion to
free trade ? He did not believe that any could venture
to do so. Did he say that he (Sir W. Clay) did not be-
lieve the measure of 1846 was wise, just, or beneficent,
when it was recollected that nine years before that period
he proposed the repeal of the corn-laws in that house ;
(Hear, hear.) Unless his memory deceived him, the
consistent and honourable career of his hon. friend was
commenced by seconding his motion on that occasion.
His (Sir W. Clay's) objection to the present resolution
was, that it called on men of honour to express in terms
that they were wrong at a given time. (Cheers from
the Ministerial benches.) Was such a course, he asked,
consistent with common sense ? In private life, what
did they do ? If they were joined in the pursuit of a.
common object, they did not ask those who differed
from them that they should eat up every word they
uttered. His noble friend, the member for the city of
London, said it was justifiable to raise a discussion upon
the meaning of an abstract resolution, but it was not
that he objected to such a course that he was for its
withdrawal, but because it was impossible to gilt the
assent of a large majority, to pledge the house to its
adoption. His honourable friend, the member for the
West Riding, said it was not sufficiently clearly ex-
pressed, that measures would not be brought forward
for compensation to the landed interest. Now, he had
read the resolution of the honourable member for
Wolverhampton, at least twenty times, and defied his.
honourable friend to find any words which prevented
compensation being brought forward at any future time.
It was beyond the reach of human intellect to lay down
a priori some general proposition to meet such a
case. The difference between him and his honourable
friends was, that he objected to their inflicting a mor-
tification on their political opponents, for which there
was no occasion. He, on the contrary, should welcome
them with joy. He should be delighted to have there
advocacy in the future development of free trade, and
would not do anything which would prevent such a.
wished for union. He was sorry his hon. fnend. had not
thought fit to accede to his proposition ; he believed he
would have done wisely had he done so, and he did not
know what course the Government would take ; he, of
course, avowed that if hiehon. friend pressed his motion,
it was impossible for him not to support it. He would,
however, take that course with deep regret, because he
believed a union of all parties would best promote the
success of those great principles to which they were all
so much attached.

The SPEAKER reminded the house that the debate
was hardly in order. The question before them was,
that the house do adjourn, but as, according to strict
rule, that was a day when motions had precedence of
orders of the day, they must proceed accordingly.
Mr. BARROW believed he had a right to address the
house on the question of a motion for adjournment. He
rose principally that no mistake might arise as to his not
having uttered his opinions. He was sent to that house
because he had a strong opinion on the question of Free-
trade policy and its effect on the labouring classes, and
more especially on the occupiers of land. He maintained
that that policy was injurious, and not only injurious,
but unjust, and that it therefore could not be "
just, or beneficent." He believed the right free trade
would be, a free trade with moderate duties—(a laugh)
—and certainly, if they were to have a competition at
all, it should be an unrestricted competition, and a re-
moval of those burthens that now pressed on the °mu•
piers and owners of the soil.
Mr. STANHOPE had mixed much among the farmers
of his county, and could assure the house that a great and
permanent injury was sustained by the agriculturists of all
classes since the year 1846 up to the present time. Labour
had become cheaper and more difficult to procure, and
what, he asked, did cheap food do for the people, when they
had no employment ? and, if they had such employment,
received low wages? He was sent to that house by the
independent freeholders and tenant-farmers, and not by
any of the great landed interest, and he would not sup.
port any of the motions then before the house.
Sir J. GRAHAM then begged leave to withdraw his
motion, and it was withdrawn accordingly.
TENANT RIGHT IN IRELAND.
Mr. Sergeant SHEE obtained leave to bring in a bill
on the subject of tenant right. In bringing up the bill
some merriment was created at the expense of the hon.
and learned gentleman, in consequence of his want of
knowledge of the proper forms observed in bringing up a
bill for which leave had been obtained.
ADJOURNED DEBATE.

The order of the day for resuming the adjourned debate
was then read.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER saki that
perhaps the house would, in conformity with what he had
already said, allow him to withdraw the amendment of
which he had given notice.

The (Government) amenclinent was then formally with.
drawn.

Mr. BRIGHT took the opportunity of correcting au error
which had got abroad in some papers, when he referred to
the Lord Advocate's going to Lisburn. He was reported as
having said that he went there under the protection of the
Marquis of Londonderry, whereas it should have been the
Marquis of Hertford.

Mr. GLADSTONE said that he understood the Witte
now before the house was the resolution, and the amend.
ment of the noble viscount (Palmerston). That amendment
had not, however, yet been laid upon the table of the
house.

Lord PALMERSTON then formally moved his own
amendment :

" That it is the opinion of this house that the improved
condition of the country, and especially of the industrious
classes, is mainly the result of recent legislation, which has
established the -principle of unrestricted competition, has
abolished taxes imposed for the purposes of protection.
" That it is the opinion of this house that this policy,
followed, maintained, and prudently extended, will best
enable the industry of the country to bear its burdens, and
thereby most assuredly promote the welfare and content-
went of the people.
" That this house is ready to take into its consideration
any measures consistent with those principles, which, in
pursuance of her Majesty's Speech, may be laid before it
by her Majesty's Ministers."
Mr. BOOKER resumed the adjourned debate. He said
he could not give his acquiescence to the amendment in the
terms of the noble viscount (Palmerston). He regretted
the course adopted by Government. The speech of the
right hon. gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
the other night was a most masterly exposition of policy.
He was a member of that country party which he always
understood to be bound together by a principle—that prin -
ciple he always understood to be protection to British in-
dustry and capital. He had always adhered to that prin-
ciple, and now he was called upon to recant the opinions
of his whole life he hoped he might give a reason for the
hope that was in him. He approved of the legislation of
1842. The subsequent years to 1845 were years of great
national prosperity. In the year 1846 there was the wildest
speculations ; in 1847 there was a collapse and convulsion
which shook the commercial world•to its very centre. That
took place under the boasted system of free trade. The
year 1848 and 1849 exhibited great agricultural depression,
-unknown in this country. They suffered to the extent of
millions. That was under the boasted system of free trade.
That continued until Providence opened the immense
stores of metallic wealth, and so Providence, and not the
recent legislation, had produced the present prosperity.
He felt that the battle had been fought, and that they had
been fairly beaten. But the discovery of metallic wealth,
unexpected as it was, had produced, far more than recent
legislation, the comforts the industrious classes were en-
joying. Feeling this, he could not support the amend-
ment of the noble viscount, yet he did not wish to embar-
rass Government, and he should, upon questions of their
general policy, have his unreserved support. He was do
termined to oppose the resolution. (Hear.)
Mr. BERNAL OSBORNE said, that the supplemental
debate which had just taken place was one of the most
irregular that ever occurred in that house, and he hoped it
pnireocemdheonrtfoofritnhofuTtuowree.r
Hamlets(Hear.) His(sir
hon.riwgohultdnot be made a
friend the
William Clay) was a most gentlemanly man----(a laugh)—
a man of fine and susceptible feelings. The resolution had
jarred upon his feelings. His
resolution
Was sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."
(Laughter.) But if he brought these susceptibilities into
that house, he would be more fitted to weep over the Sor-
rows of Weeder than to debate in that house. (A laugh.)
But to the situation in which they stood at that moment.
He had no hesitation, on reading those resolutions, as to
the course which the house ought to adopt ; nor did he
think the country would have any hesitation. This was
not a question of words. (Hear.) The resolution was_thn
foundation of the policy of Sir Robert Peel enunci:ftgui
1842, and completed in 1846. Now, he w"gehnte,.and not
se
who considered what was wise and just
of the
what was agreeable to gentlemen on theanotrier side of the
house. He was much surprised at the amendment_Palmerston),
in which
noble lord the member for Tiverton (Lord
but he was still more surprised at speechthe
eot surprised at the
it
was conveyed. Some peopleso werertot wet nurse of this ad-
noble lord, who, as he was
and administer a mix-
turein and pat it on its back—(laughter)—
concoction. (Renewed laughter.) He took
ministration,they thought it not untural that he should step
of his own
sof his speech ; sure he was that
that side would. feel that his sentiments
pexeocpepletiwonhotositthoen terms
with gen-
tlemenof the house. He had
were more united with the Treasury Bench than *th
on his own aide _
ad-
miration of the noble lord, and he had proved that feeling
mariniwsthe4. hensamidi
by his acts, and he, therefore, felt that he had a right to
express his honest sentiments_ on the present occasion.
ghtthahts:eubeheetta
tawbelenttot°thef
a politic course, but he must dissent from his assertion
cflouersenowlles
creditable
ion that
it was creditable. (Hear.) When he
said that the hon
member for Manchester (Mr. Bright) was making this a
party question, who, he would ask, for six
this a party question but the noblelong years made
He thought that was a little t lord and his colleagues?
the conduct of the Protectionist much when he said that
noble lord had chosen to make Party was creditable. The
breaking up the united o an amendment which by
it was very natural that opinion on that !side of the house
r
his movement should be looked
upon with a certain
amount of suspicion. But if
he was surprised at the speech of the noble lord, what was
his surprise at hearing that delivered by the Proteus of the
Administration. H characterise it by
e could only saying
that the audacity of assertion was only equalled by the
fluency of the diction. (Hear.) He appeared to have
taken a redoubted French author for his guide- (Laughter.)
He did not allude to M. Thiers, but the French gamin,
who, when he was asked what was the secret of his success,
reiterated—audacity, audacity, audacity. (Loud laughter.)
He had asserted that neither Lord Derby, nor himself had
' endeavoured to reverse free trade. (Hear, hear.) He would
rather intimate that he was a Free-traderj. bnt, if he was,
he was rather heavy in the carnal part. He had got up a
history of the protection p
arty and their course during the
reminded last six years, that him very much of Hume,e
rts His speech might be looked
apology for the Stun •
Protectionist -
for theparty, or rather
upon as an apology
he said, endeavour for himself. He did not,
free there no agitation ? Was
there no house in Bond-street taken for the purpose of
disseminating tracts in favour of protection? What
was the first movement of that gang ? (A laugh.) Now
he hoped the house would bear with him, for this must
be a night of quotations. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
and the Earl of Derby said they never encouraged
agitation. (Hear, hear.) Now, for what wartht

house in Bond-street takes ? (Hear.) Did they remember
June, 1849, when there was a meeting at Drury-lane
Theatre, to receive the report of the Bond-street
DAuksso:ia-
tion the Duke of Richmond in the chair.
Rich The
was very active here and there, and fact of
in all
over the country. There might be said to be " six Rich-
mends in the field?' (Laughter.) The first resolution was
moved by a Cabinet Minister. These are the men who
never endeavoured to reverse free trade. He said he was
not one of those who wished Ministers to be obstinate in
details, but to be obstinate in principle. A man without
0 m onths before
principle was dangero_us.
corn laws were repealed ir 5 bthree ert Peel had spokenthe
in
their favour. (" Hear, hear," from Major Beresford.)
What became of his character as a public man ? It was
not too late to retrieve the steps already taken. He
hoped the time would never cease when free trade
should be finally accepted as the policy of the country,
but should that be so this country would soon return to
its natural state—a weather-beaten island in a northern
sea. (Great laughter.) And who was the speaker ? No
other person than the present Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Malmesbury, who never did
an"-tiging to reverse free trade. (Laughter.) That was
seconded by another Cabinet Minister, who took a passage
from his friend Disraeli, who also took from other people,
and his friend quoted from him. (A, laugh.) The cause
of protected and regenerated England must triumph.
He Went on to show that the British Lion was a bold one
—ho was not easily aroused, but when you did get him on,
his legs, he was an awkward animal to put up. (Laughter.)'
He was in mistake, he found, when he attributed this to a
Cabinet Minister. It was a Mr. Bosanquet. But there
was George Frederick Young, their great friend, who con-
cluded his address by saying—" Agitate, agitate, agitate."
(Hear.) So much for 1849. Let them follow them up.
(Laughter.) That assiduous gentleman, the Secretary for
the Admiralty, was everywhere. (A laugh.) They took
the Crown and Anchor on May 7th, 1850; there was a pub-
lic meeting, and the noble Duke of Richmond was again
in the chair, and the meeting was attended by the Earl of
Eglinton, Major Beresford, and poor Mr. Christopher—
(a laugh)—the Earl of Malmesbury, Mr. F. Mackenzie,
Lord X. Manners, Sir John Trollope, Mr. Paul Fosket, &c.
Now let them listen to this meeting. The chairman de-
clared that free trade had failed—he always said it would.
They must then tell the farmers to persevere. Mr. Booker
moved the first resolution. He need not read his speech,
as it was pretty much what it had been to-night.
(A laugh.) Here was his resolution—That the Free
trade policy had caused distress to agriculture and com-
mercial suffering, that it was fraught with consequences
most disastrous, and must prove fatal to public
credit, and endanger the Throne. This was carried
with great enthusiasm. Then there was the notorious
Chowler—(laughter)—and his famous horse speech. (Re-
newed laughter.) He would not read that speech. (Cries
of " Go on.") Ho said if the landlords would stick to them,
they would stick to the landlords. (Renewed laughter.)
Here, said the reporter, the whole assembly rose, and
cheered enthusiastically, and Earl Stanhope got up from
behind, and patted the speaker on the back. (Laughter.)
" We have nine-tenths of the horses in the country, and
men to ride them. We will protect her Majesty if she will
protect us. (Vociferous cheering.)"—(Laughter.) The
next resolution was one complaining of the indifference and
hard-heartedness of this house. It was moved by a gen-
tleman whom he saw present—Mr. E. Ball. He believed
it, was the samh gentleman. (Laughter.) Mr. Ball said—
and he spoke out, as he spoke the other night, honestly,
straightforwardly, and well, and if he (Mr. Osborne) dif-
fered from him, he felt for him and respected to the full a
man who advocated his opinions to the last ; he said—" It
was painful to speak in terms of disrespect of the landlords
anditheir offices. They had fallen' not through the League,
not through Sir Robert Peel, but because the aristocracy
ltul swerved from the path of their duty. Would any one
' then tell him"—(listen to this and look at the hon. gentle-
man)—" a broken-hearted-man—(here his voice faltered)"
—(laughter)—" passing into a state of miserable poverty, that
he would yield to the threats of a demagogue like Cobden ?
They, the tenant farmers, would be prepared to take those
terrible steps which it was most frightful to imagine, but
which necessity was driving them to contemplate. (Tre-
mendous cheering, at the close of which a gentleman on
the platform proposed three groans for Peel, the arch-enemy
of the human species.)" These were the gentlemen who
had done nothing for protection. And were they to be
afraid for wounding the feelings of those who proposed and
acceded to "three groans" for the greatest man this country
has seen ? (Cheers.) The evening was concluded by Lord
Eglinton, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, who proposed a
vote of thanks to the Duke of Richmond for his many ser-
vices and constant advocacy of the cause of protection,
which was seconded by Lord John Manners amidst great
cheering. Such were the proceedings of the hon. gentle-
men opposite out of Parliament ; and did honourable gen-
tlemen tell him that they (lid not stand by and pat these
gentlemen on the back, that, the Duke of Richmond, Mr.
Ball, and the whole kit of them, would have done so, had
-it not been agreeable to Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli ?
We must speak out ; we must not adopt the language
of diplomacy in order to snit the purposes of evasion.
When he heard the speech of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer the other night, he really began to think
that the right honourable gentleman had attempted
all along to reverse the policy of free trade in this house,
and that he had dreamed his errors ; but on looking over
the speeches of the right hon. gentleman, he again saw
what had actually been his course. He would not read
the right hon. gentleman's speeches ; he was ill, and they
might make him worse. But he must recal some of the
principal points. In January, 1846, he said—and let him
mark this—that the Ministry whom he was addressing was
an honest, upright, intelligent Ministry, whom it would be
matter of rejoicing to see in office to-day, for though he
often opposed it, yet he was at least confident of its sin-
cerity. The right hon. gentleman said—" Who does not
remember the sacred cause of protection,' the cause for
which Sovereigns were thwarted, Parliament dissolved, and
a nation taken in ? When one looks at the Ministry, see-
ing of what they are composed, one is hardly certain whe-
ther the fttimro, of wick; -41-coy-are thinking, is indeed
posterity, or only the .6:1, u,-; quarter-day." Such was
the language of the Cha- ,ellor of tho Exchequer in
January, 11-46. On the 2Otii February, 1846, he made one
of his attacks on the late Sir Robert Peel. It was on
the occasion when ho talko,l of the conversion of the
Saxons, in the time of Charlemagne, when he said of
Peel that "His life had been one great appropriation
clause;" and he concluded, "I believe the country will not
long endure this huckstering tyranny of the Treasury
bench,—these political pedlars, that bought their parties in
the cheapest market, and sold us in the clearest." The
right honourable gentleman never opposed free trade !
When an amendment was moved to the Address, he said
that free trade had had a fair trial, and he looked forward
to the time when it would be reversed. In 1847, ho said,
"he believed free trade had failed." In February, 1850,
he expressed " his unqualified condemnation of free
trade." (Hear, hear.) The right honourable gentle-
man had said that he never had made a distinct
motion for the repeal of the act of 1845. That was true.
But he took advantage of every circumstance to urge on his
party. Ho said, " I ask you to protect the rights and inte-
rests of labour generally—in the first place, by allowing no
free imports from countries which meet you with counter-
vailing duties ; and in the second place, with respect to
agricultural produce, to compensate the soil for the burdens
from which other classes are free, by an equivalent duty."
And yet the right honourable gentleman came to the house
in 1852, and with a face which he never saw equalled, even
in the theatre, and dared to say that he never moved for
the repeal of free trade. (Cheers.) So much for the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. But he went fur-
ther. He said Lord Derby lied never done so.
Between the two, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the
safer
man ; certainly a discreeter man than the noble lord
at the head of the Government. What had been the
course of the noble lord ? The other night he affected to
resent what appeared to be a slight on his personal, honour.
gross
It was a affectation. (Loud cries of Oh, oh.") He
would prove it, harsh language though it seemed. In 1849
the noble lord broke up the Government of Sir R. Peel.
" I had placed before me," ho told the House of Lords,
"the choice of separating from my colleagues. or of sacri-
ficing my own individual opinion, and what I conceive to
be my own personal consistency and honour. I had to
consider the course which, in my opinion, my public duty
and my private honour required. I tried to school myself
into the belief that, under certain circumstances, the
intereete'of the country might require even the sacrifice of
a public and personal character. My lords," he exclaims,
" I could not bring myself to so humiliating a conclusion."
It was lamentable to consider to what a life devoted to party
would bring a man in -his (Lord Derby's) position. (Loud
cries of " Oh, oh," and " Shame," from the Ministerial
benches.) Did hon. gentlemen want any more proofs? Was
not every man satisfied that the noble lord did everything
he could in Parliament, and out of it, to reverse the doc-
trines of free trade ? He did not want to hurt the feel-
ings of hon. gentlemen opposite, but he must give one
more quotation, it was so apposite. (Laughter.) It was
from the, celebrated speech which the noble lord made to
the deputation of farmers who waited on him at St.
Jamee's-square. He said on that occasion—
" If there be but one district in which a suspicion is en-
tertained that I am flinching from or hesitating in, my
advocacy of those principles on which I stood, in conjunc-
tion with my talented friend, Lord George Bentinck, I
authorise you, one and all, to assure those whom you re-
present that in me they will find no hesitation, no flinch-
ing, no change of opinion. I only look for the moment
when it may be possible for me to use the memorable words
of the Duke of Wellington on the field of Waterloo (which
he, Mr. B. Osborne, believed he never said) and say,
' Up Guards, and at 'em.' " ,
Was there any member so young, so inexperienced in Par-
liamentary debates, as to believe what was said by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, that neither he nor his col-
leagues, nor his party, took steps to reverse the free-trade
policy? They did more : they deceived their friends—
among them a gentleman of high character—the Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster. (Loud cries of " Oh, oh,"
from the Ministerial benches.) Did any one believe that
that right hon. gentleman could have gone to his constitu-
ents and addressed them as he had done, if he had known
the views of Lord Derby? His address to them had been
sent Osborne) to him (Mr. by one of the right hon. gentle-
man's, constituents, who had since then been disgusted
with what had taken place. Here it was :
Derec
i'rva fep office under the Administration of the Earl of
that e j°'ll a conviction of his sincere desire to reverse
neial and commercial policy which has proved so
Aix!
ch'te native indastry and capital."
(Loudhe would ask the house, had he made out a case?
been no at Was Was the house of opinion' that there had
gentleman ea,Pkt° get back protection; that the right hon.
to last, in sew;eencellor of the Exchequer had, from first
particular,
thatnhaeud out of season, been consistent in this
in the endeavour
trrd his colleagues had been strenuous
cheers.) The fact wal'erse the Policy of 1846? (Loud
« protection" waswtearkeeie::4: cry was necessary. The cry
these honest men, these
deluded farmers,and
be their next cry? penearl (Laughter.) mat would
in a month or two.
orevoativvaesßniOrue the house did not be-
He could not believe, awl he
12413 re-et had been one that
lievc-, that the course a the
would conduce to the cause of
protection was now aenengt,l7.li„t3a Although he
though t
Which right hon. gentleman calledmr"exnh'af::ionegns:nicilrielvere
late," yeas the house sure of this? Was ee'ed" and " obso-
that
these gentlemen were sincere ?
In that th th
markable speech made within the last fortnight the hat
of the Duchy of Lancaster to his
stituents.
bfyor
the
ee
He said :
" At the time my hon. colleague
.and I. offer-
u, ourselves
going on in this country, ,
principles"
there was a great struggle
maintenance of. Protestant and Protectionist
He did not know what connexion there was between the
two, except that they both began with " P.". (A laugh.)
" I trust the constitution of the present Parliament is such
as to leave no doubt they will fully uphold and defend our
Protestant institutions; and, with regard to the other sub-
ject--protection-=I have only emphatically to assure_ you
i that entirely I
adhere to the oinions and principles I have
always expressed. (Cheers.) can see nothing in the pp-
sent -aepect of affairs to alter my convictions that that which
is the protective policy 'is the true and wise policy
for the nation to adopt. . At the general election
1 started that if the Government At
unable to substitute
fiat piCrtective policy, which would not except foreign