The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-07 00:00:00

for not having given him the notice before. Having given
the public notice, he had thought that sufficient
to raise the whole question, and he had felt there
was the less necessity for mentioning this to
the Hon. Bart. as he had understood from the public papers,
that the Hon. Bart. was determined, on the first opportunity
that presented itself, to avow himself one of what was called
" the Spottiswoode Gang."—( Loud cheers and laughter.)
Mr. MORGAN O'CONNELL should certainly vote with
the Honourable Gentleman the Member for Limerick. The
Honourable Baronet the Member for Wiltshire had attacked
the Honourable Member fur Dublin, because he had told
the people to agitate. Now he (Mr. Morgan O'Connell)
should like to know what the Honourable Member for North
Wiltshire had spent the whole of his life in doing ?—( Laughter.)
He should like to know who it was that agitated this great me-
tropolis to its very centre, and who it was that disturbed the peace
and tranquillity of a great number of persons in this city.
The Hon. Baronet should be the last person to attack any
gentleman for pursuing a course that he himself had pursued
for so many years. He had repented, it was true, of his for-
mor errors.—( Cheers from the Tories, and laughter from the
Ministerial benches.) The Hon. Baronet had on every possible
occasion, whenever he could present himself to the public,
held up to the execration of the people those whom it was
now supposed he considered his dearest friends.—( Cheering
and laughter.) The Hon. Baronet indeed might have attacked
Hon. Member for Dublin, or any Gentleman who had passed
the the whole of his youth in advocating liberal principles,tand
in his old age had gone over to the Tories—(Laughter)—but
lie thought an attack of the sort they had heard came with an
exceeding ill grace from the Hon. Baronet. The Hon. Baronet
had attacked the Hon. Member for Dublin here and elsewhere.
He might attack the Hon. Member for Dublin here or else-
where; but he should like to know when he attacked that
Hon. and Learned Member, why he never said a word with
respect to any other member for Ireland. There were others
for Ireland who were in the same predicament with the Hon.
and Learned Member for Dublin ; but the Hon. Baronet had
beer, for ever silent in reference to them.
Major HANDLEY wished to make one observation with
respect to what had fallen from the Hon. Baronet opposite. He
desired to know whether what the House had witnessed to. night
was to be taken as an emblem of the impartiality which the
Hon. Baronet always wished to pursue ; or if there was not
something else combined with it of dishonour which ought
not to prevent him from voting in that House, either on this
occasion, or on any other on this side of Christmas.—( Hear. )
[ Sir Francis Burdett immediately bowed across to the
Honourable Member who had just sat down, rose,
and walked down the centre of the House amidst the
most deafening cheering from both sides, and when he
had reached the bar he turned round, bowed to the Chair and
to the House, and walked out. After the cheering had in
some degree subsided, strangers were ordered to withdraw ; the
effect produced by this novel scene was so exciting and in-
teresting as to leave any description greatly defective of that
which was felt by all who witnessed it.]
The House then divided, when there appeared—
For the motion 234
Against it
Majority for printing the petition
Mr. CHARLES BULLER presented a petition from
Mr. F. Ellis, of Southampton-buildings, praying for leave
to change the name of one of the securities in the Bodmin
Election Petition. -
The Petition having been read at length by the Clerk,
After a few words from an Hon. Member and the Attor-
ney-General, the petition was laid on the table.
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL brought up the second Report
of the Church of Scotland Commission.
HIGHWAY RATES BILL.
On the motion of Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE this Bill was
read a second time, and referred to a Select Committee.
On their names being read, Mr. HUME said they ought
to have been published in the votes.
After some conservation of a desultory nature, in which
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, Sir R. PEEL, and others took part,
Mr. HUME gave notice that he would bring the subject of
Committees on Private
.Bills before the House on an early
day.
The Committee on the Highways' Bill was then appointed.
CHURCH PROPERTY (IRELAND).
_ . _

Mr. MAH ON Y moved the readingof the Order of the Day
ibr the adjourned debate on the Bill for the better regulation
of Church property in Ireland, which was read, and (as we un-
derstood) leave was given to bring in the Bill, without dis-
cussion.
CUSTODY OF INSANE PERSONS BILL.

On the motion for the Order of the Day on this Bid,
Mr. W A RBURTON rose to present petitions respect-
lag it.
The Hon. MEMBER then said that he had an amendment
to propose for the insertion of a clause in the Bill, to secure
the employment of competent medical men for the purposes of
the Act.
After a few observations from Mr. BARNE B Y, the third
reading of the Bill was postponed till to-morrow.
APPOINTMENT OF ELECTION PETITIONS.
Lord J. RUSSELL rose, in pursuance of the notice he had
given, to name the days after Christmas when it would be con-
venient to consider the various Election Petitions before the
House. He would not say at once that, as it was expected
that the House would adjourn from the day immediately pre-
ceding the Christmas holidays until the Ist of February, he
should propose that the first petition on the list should be
taken into consideration on the Tuesday following the 6th of
February.—( Hear, hear.) He did not wish to provoke a de-
bate on a subject, which might be better considered
to-morrow night; but he must say that circumstances
had occurred before, during, and after the late Elections,
which had caused him ( Lord John Russell) to doubt
whether or not it might not become necessary to adopt
an extraordinary course in reference to these Petitions.
Threats had been held out in some instances that per-
sons whose return was certain would be opposed, and
that in case this opposition failed, the returns would be
petitioned against. In other cases contests were pro-
voked where there was no chance of a new candidate sue-
ceedin,g.—( Hear, hear, from both sides of the House.) Im-
mediately after the elections, particular reference was made
to those of Ireland, and it was openly declared that it was
necessary to raise a subscription to set aside the returns from
that country ; and it was stated that this was required, not on
the ground that the Members returned did not represent the
people of Ireland, but, specially, because they did not agree
with the majority of the representatives of England. These
circumstances, combined with others of a similar kind, had
induced him (Lord J. Russell) to suppose that there had
been an intention on the part of some individuals, by sending
in a vast number of vexatious petitions:against the returns of
Members of that House, to prevent them from taking a part
in the proceedings on election petitions, and so to prevent the
full operation of that law upon the subject known under the
name of the Grenville Act. He was ready to state now, how-
ever, that his suspicions as to these circumstances were re-
moved, and he would also acknowledge that no circum-
stances but those of a very extraordinary nature should in-
duce the House to adopt an unusual course in respect to
petitions relating to the seats of Members, or to defer their
consideration beyond the time which a due regard for the
dignity of the House and the character and claims of the
petitioners required. Now with regard to the number of
the Election Petitions already before the House, they did
Rot seem to exceed in so great a number the amount of
former occasions as to warrant the belief that any sinister
or peculiar motives had called them forth. In 1831 there
were 57 election petitions; after the dissolution in 1832 there
were 49; in 1835 there were 42; and in the present year, up
to the time he was speaking, there were 67 petition's, which
was only ten more than the number of petitions in 1831. As
far, therefore, as any deductions from numbers could guide
him, considering the great number of contests which had
taken place in the late election, considering also the narrow
majorities which sometimes occurred in the last Parliament,
and the very natural desire which existed on the part of the
minority to crop that majority, he did not think that the num-
ber of Election Petitions in the present year was such as to
warrant any extraordinary measures in regard to them. With
respect to the nature of the petitions themselves, he could only
say that, up to the present period, he did not perceive that
there was any great cluster of petitions or any one particular
kind, which would make it clear that there had been any
combination in order to present them, when no reasonable
grounds existed for their complaints ; and that they had
been presented merely for the purpose of influencing the '
results of divisions of that House, or for changing the tribu-
nals or altering the names of those who should be called on
to decide upon petitions of this kind. Under these circum-
stances, he should merely move, " That the petition on the
election for the county of Roxburgh be taken into considera-
tion on Tuesday, the 6th Febi nary."—( Hear. )
Sir R. PEEL rejoiced at the course which the Noble Lord
had taken, and which entirely precluded the necessity for his
( Sir R. Peel) making the motion of which he had given notice,
in the event that the Noble Lord's motion had not been made.
the course now adopted by the Noble Lord, it was declared
to the country that the House would proceed, immediately
after the recess, to try the election petitions, before the known
constitutional authority of Parliament, and therefore all par-
ties concerned in them would hold themselves in readiness to
give their attendance, and do all that might be required of
them in respect of them at that time. The 6th of February
was the day named for the first petition, and the rest on the
list must shortly follow in their order, at which time the par-
ties to them must be aware that they would be required to
have their witnesses in attendance to submit their cases before
the known tribunal appointed to decide upon them.—
( Hear, hear.) He knew enough of the Noble Lord to feel
assured that he would not depart, on the present occasion,
from the accustomed course of Parliament in these matters.
The number of election petitions in 1831 was 57, and in
the present year they were 67 in number ; and the Noble
Lord had very justly stated that in the relative numeri-
cal proportion of these petitions there was no ground
to impeach the bona fide origin and intention of the latter.
With respect to the parties from whom these petions ema-
nated, he believed that of the 67 hitherto presented, 27 or 28
came from parties on his (Sir R. Peel's) side of the House,
and 36 from parties interested in the opposite side of the
question--( Hear, hear, and laughter from the Opposition)--
which, with the fortunate intervention of three from neutral
parties, completed the number. The Noble Lord had stated
that there was no appearance upon the face of the petitions
themselves of their having been concerted by any combination
cf parties for sinister purposes. He ( Sir R. Peel) had looked
into the petitions emanating from parties on his side of the
House, and as far as they were concerned could fully bear
testimony to the truth of the Noble Lord's observations ; but
if the Noble Lord were to look into those of his side, he ( Sir
R. Peel) thought he might possibly find, some grounds to
shake his confidence in this matter.—( Opposition cheers.)
lie heartily rejoiced, therefore, that the contingency which had
been impending over their heads, and which was the more