The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-15 00:00:00

difficulties might be, they were nothing as compared with
the inconveniences felt by the sort of force .adopted on
the present occasion. He hoped, however, there
would be no argument on this occasion raised to pro-
duce any angry feeling, and he should abstain from
going further into the matter, reserving to himself the
privilege of making a reply to any observations
that might be offtire,l requiring a reply, should any
such be made. There were many accusations

afloat just now of a general and yet most unusual cha-
racter, to which he was most exceedingly callous.
There were some accusations on the contrary, which
he was inclined to feel most severely. He was very indif-
ferent as to all those gymnastic accusations of a desire to
keep place from a wish for gain, from feelings of avaric,.,
from feelings of ambition, he dill not deny them at all—he
did not deny parts of any of them—( Hear, hear, and
laughter)—he cared but very little about any of
them ; but he should indeed be exceedingly sorry if he

could be accused of running away from his post on ac-
count of the difficulties or dangers of the state of the
country, or of abandoning any party in the county by
whom he had been maintained and supported.—(Much
cheering.) He had a very strong feeling on that,
and he should be very sorry indeed if that reproach
could, with any show of justice, be cast upon him. In
1835 he had declared upon occasions when he had oppor-
tunities of addressing large bodies of his fellow-subjects,
that it was the disunion of the other party that had
overthrown it, and that nothing but a complete union
could support the party in favour of the views he
advocated. He had now thought that union was broken
up, he thought there was such a disunion among his sup-
porters as made it impos&ble for him to think
he could conduct the affairs of the Govern-
ment, and carry through the measures that were ne-
cessary for that purpose with a hope of success. He
resigned his office, therefore, he would not harshly say
because he was abandoned by those who had supported
him, but because there had arisen among his sup-
. _ _

, .
porters that difference of opinion which led him to
suppose lie could no longer, with advantage, con-
duct the affairs of the nation, and he rfow did that

which was equivalent to resuming his office, solely be-
cause he would not abandon his Sovereign—(Much
cheering)—in a situation of difficulty and distress, when
that was demanded of her which could not but be de-
nied, and which demand,' to have been complied with,
would have been inconsistent with her Majesty's per-
sonal comfort, her personal honour, and which, if
agreed to, would have rendered her whole domestic life
subject to Continual change, unhappiness, and distress.
—(Much cheering.)
The Duke of WELLINGTON who spoke in a
very low tone of voice, so as to be at times utterly in-
audible, said he should imitate the moderation that
had eine aeterized part of what the Noble Viscount
had said. In doing so he should adopt a course most
becoming his own situation, most suitable to the sub-
ject he had to discuss, and most agreeable to their Lord-
ships' feelings. In order that he ~might sustain
that tone of moderation with which he had commenced,
he would take the liberty of laying out of the question
altogether those reports which the Noble Viscount
had referred to, because he thought they had
nothing to do with the subject.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
Probably, if he were to enter upon a discussion
of those reports, he should likewise have a little to say
upon them ; and in referring to them he might be in-
duced, as the Noble Viscount had been, to de-
part a little from the tone of moderation.
which it was his firm intention to ad-
here to throughout what he had to address
to their Lordships. He must however say, that he had
one advantage over the Noble Viscount in this respect.
He had served the sovereigns of this country for 50
years, and through the whole of that period, he bad
been exposed to evil and good report, and he had
still continued to serve, whether the report
was good or evil ; and he confessed himself to be very
indifferent as to the nature of those reports. But, to be
sure, it did surprise him to find in the reports
of the last few days, that Ise was accused of
having ill-treated his Sovereign, when he was about
to take upon himself to enter into her service—to
be responsible for the conduct of her Government ;
and for no one reason that he knew of excepting to
undertake the trouble and responsibility of bearing his
share in the affairs of that Government.—(Cheers.)
Something however appeared to him to be necessary to
be said about certain reports which had been in circu-
lation. The Noble Lord had commenced his address
by stating that he had expected that he (the Duke of
Wellington) would have commenced ; he felt much
obliged to the Noble Lord for offering him the prece-
dence on this occasion, but he held there was no oc-
casion for him to do so, and he should not have
thought it necessary to trouble their Lordships this
day unless he had been called upon to do so.
He had heard that a full, distinct, and satisfac-
tory explanation had been given by a Right Hon. Friend
in another place, but he thought that their Lordships
had a right to demand an explanation. He thought
that a Member of their Lordship's House should ex-
plain to their Lordships' every thing that had passed on
this subject, more particularly 'when called upon by a
Noble Lord to do so. It was perfectly well known
that he had long ago entertained an opinion that the
Minister of this country, under existing circumstances,
should sit in the other House of Parliament ; it would
be a great advantage in carrying on the service of the
country, that he should sit in the other House,
of Parliament, and it was well knotvn that when, on a
former occasion, he had been called on to give his ad-
vice to his Sovereign, he had advised that a Member of
the other House of Parliament should be called on to
undertake the charge of the Government. When the
Noble Lord had announced, on Tuesday last, in the
House, that he had resigned office, the probability oc-
curred to his (the Duke of Wellington's) mind, that he
might be called upon to tender his advice, and conse-
quently he had turned his attention to the subject ; with
regard to the composition of the Administration, and with
regard to the composition of the Royal Household, all
these circumstances had come under his consideration
in case he should be called upon to offer his advice ;
and he would confess that he thought it absolutely im-
possible that any set of men could take upon them-
selves the offices of her Majesty's Government
without having the usual influence and control
over the establishment of the Royal Household.
It appeared to him to be especially necessary that such
controul should be given, when he considered how the
Household had been constituted by their predecessors in
office, in order that the country might feel that the Go-
vernment which had just been constituted possessed to
the fullest extent the confidence of her Majesty. He had
considered the nature of the formation of the Household
in the Civil List Act, passed in her present Majesty's
reign. He had considered well the difference between
the Housm hold of a Queen Consort and a Queen regnant,
lie considered that the Household of a Queen reg-
nant ought to be composed of political persons, in the
same way as the offs tes of the State were filled, and be
did not wish to interfere, in the slightest degree, with
the tight of her Majesty to make these appointments.
—(Hear, hear, hear.) He felt the serious and
anxious task which the Minister, in the possession
of that controul and influence, would have laid upon
him. He was sensible that in every movement and
every step he should take in respect to that Household
he should consult not only the honour of her Majesty
and of her Crown and her Royal estate and dignity, but
also her personal ease and convenience and comfort, and
everything that would conduce to the happines; of her
life. He considered those conditions to be most par-
ticularly incumbent upon a Minister who would take
charge of the conduct of the affairs of that country at the
present moment, when he took into account the com-
parative youth and inexperience of the Sovereign on the
throne ; and he must s.y that if he had been the per-
son to be consulted upon the the exercise of time
influence and control in question, he should
suffer any inconvenience whatever, rather than
take any steps which might interfere with the
wishes or domestic comforts of her Majesty.
That was his opinion, and he begged their Lordships to
consider the whole of the case, and say, that entertain-
ing these opinions could he have acted otherwise? There
was one more subject, the possibility of making any con-
ditions or stipulations with respect to the exercise of
such influence and control. It appeared to him
that the persons about to undertake the charge
of the conduct of the affairs of this country, if'
they did not make such stipulations and conditions,
I would do neither more nor less than this—that
they would not perform their duty.—(Cheers.) He
would not perform, his duty if he did not give such ad-
vice to the Crown as he thought was for its advantage.
If he took office without such conditions, he would take
it merely for the sake of office. He did not think it
possible that a Sovereign should impose any such condi-
tions upon any Minister, for it would appear that her
Majesty had no confidence—that the Minister was un-
worthy her confidence, the Sovereign would be placed
in a very disagreeable situation—such a situation
as he hoped he would never see the Throne placed in.
He could not state what passed between himself and
her Majesty—he had not thought it necessary to
ask her Majesty's permission to state what had
passed—but he could say thus much, that nothing
had been uttered at all inconsistent with the
facts or the principles which he had laid down.
He had stated that he was perfectly willing to serve her
Majesty in office or out of office ; that he preferred to
serve her Majesty out of office ; but that be was willing
to undertake to conduct the Government in their Lord-
ships' House out of office, or that if her Majesty's
Ministers thought it would be better—to un-
dertake any office—(Hear)—in short, that he would
pursue any course which was most convenient for her
Majesty and her Government.—(Hear, hear.) After
the interview with Sir R. Peel, the Right Honourable
Baronet had proposed to send for him (the Duke),
and had come to his house to inform him of what
had passed ; upon which he (the Duke) had
waited upon her Majesty. What passed he could
nor state—not having asked for her Majesty's permis-
•
won. All that he could say was, dhat nothing took
place inconsistent with that which he had stated as to
the Administration and the control of the Government.
His "night lion. Vriencl, had ;tat::.d in his letter most