The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-19 00:00:00

the character of the Earl of Hardwick and the Board of
Guardians of the Thrapston Union. He would only
relate the situation in which that Board was placed.
The House would scarcely believe that the Ho-
nourable Member for Oldham had given no notice to the
parties concerned, of his intention to present this petition,
and that they had, consequently, no opportunity afforded
them of denying the allegations. He would ask that Hon.
Member if the petition had been examined by him previous
to presentation, xsith a view to investigate the truth
of its allegations— if it had been sent to him by
the person from whom it purported to come,
as there was attached to the petition only the mark of that
individual, and that mark unattested. He would further
ask him if he had communicated the contents of that peti-
tion to the Board of Guardians of the Thrapston Union, or
to the Earl of Hardwick, and if he had intended to follow
it up by any specific motion.—(Cheers.)
Mr. FIELDEN said the petition had been sent to him
some mouths ago, by a clergyman resident in the parish.
He had looked it over, and seeing nothing improper in it,
he had thought it his duty to place it before the House.
He had not explained the subject of it on the presentation,
as that would be against the rules of the House; but he
would now inform the Housethat he had yesterday morning
received a communication from the individual from whom
he had received the petition, stating that the man bad since
been committed to prison as a rogue and vagabond, but
that he could bring forward eighteen responsible witnesses
to trove that he was neither the one nor the other, and
efeollowsuinbjedgecutp. He (Mr. Fielden)
the persecution to which
htheathtandis wasalr merely following
already been
did not intend. to follow up this subject by,
any motion. Had a Committee been appointed to inves-
tigate the working of the Poor-law, he would have laid
that petition before it, but he knew how difficult it was to
get the grievances of any poor man investigated in that
House. He might as well state that the Rev. Mr. Ma.
berley. (" Hear, hear," from Mr. Yorke)—was the indi-
vidual who had sent the petition to him.
Mr. YORKE said that as the Honourable Gentle-
man did not intend to follow this matter up, he
hoped the House would grant him a Committee
to investigate the allegations in this petition, for he was sure
that there never was a case so completely demonstrative
of the manner in which cases against the Poor-law Act
were got up. He did not ask this on behalf of the
Earl of Hardwick, but on public grounds, in order
to show the manner in which these cases were got up.
He did not wish to be on the Committee himself,
nor did he wish to have the appointment of it, but he
could assure the House, from his own knowledge of the
facts, that had the Hon. Member for Oldham made any
inquiries into the case, he would hardly have taken upon
himself the responsibility of presenting that petition. He
would give notice that on Tuesday next he would move
for the appointment of a Committee.
Mr. FIELDEN hoped the Noble Lord should agree
to have the case inquired into, and if it should be proved
that the parties had been charged unfairly, no one would
regret more than himself that the petition had
been placed in his hands, but having been confided
to him, he had no alternative but to present it. He
hoped the Noble Lord would put him on the
Committee, in order that he' might investigate the circum-
stances, and if he should find he had been misled he should
be happy to state so to the House.
Mr. G ULBURN moved for copies of certain corre-
spondence which passed between the Marquis of Normanby
and the Agent for Jamaica.—Ordered.
Mr. BR 0 ADLE Y asked if the Warehousing Bill was
to be proceeded with to-night?
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said it would be brought for.
ward early to-morrow.
LOWER CANADA GOVERNMENT BILL.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved the third reading of
this Bill.
Mr. HUTT wished to say a few words before the Bill
was read a third time. Although he did not sup-
port with his vote the resolution proposed by the
Hon. Member for Leeds with respect to this measure, he
thought that any person who looked at the present state of
Canada would be struck with the effects of bad Govern-
ment in that Colony. It was only held in allegiance with
Great Britain by 30,000 soldiers, and emigration to that
country was rapidly diminishing in consequence of emi-
grants proceeding to other colonies, where they could
find that protection for themselves and their property
which they could not find in Canada.—( Hear, hear.)
He lamented the determination of the present Govern-
ment to put off any legislation for the general
Government of Canada to another Session, because he was
afraid that such a step might be followed by another insur-
rection in that colony. There was one subject which he wished
to draw to the attention of the Noble Lord. He thought
that some measure ought to be adopted for regulating the
disposal of land, and promoting free emigration to the
Colony. He considered it expedient that the Noble Lord
should inform the House whether it was the intention of
the Government, at an early period in the next Session, to
bring the subject forward. All the materials for legislating
with respect to Canada had been placed within the reach of
the Government by the Hon. Member for Liskeard, and he
thought, therefore, that the House was entitled to have
some explanation from the Noble Lord as to the course he
intended to pursue. He trusted that the Noble Lord
would give some explanation, and he would not, at the
present moment, offer any resistance to the third reading.
Mr. LEADER could not agree with his Hon. Friend
as to the propriety of not offering any opposition to
the third reading of the Bill. He objected to the Bill for
several reasons. In the first place, he looked upon it as
a continuation of the Coercion Bill of last year, secondly
it was not the measure which the Government ought to
have introduced for the regulation of the affairs of Canada,
because the measure that was required was one that would
give a permanent regulation to the affairs of that country.
He objected to the Bill, because it contained a clause so
highly objectionable, that any Bill containing such
a clause ought not to meet with the sanction of
Parliament. He alluded to the clause giving to
the Government the power of permanent taxation against
the wish of the people of the Province.—( Hear, hear.) In
the present case there were four parties, Lord Durham
and those who agreed with him, and the Government,
and the people of England and of Canada. In his
opinion the two former had grossly neglected their
duty towards the two latter. The conduct of Lurd
Durham was to him quite incomprehensible. Why had
he not, according to his promise, done something in ano-
ther place 7—( Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord had
made promises, and pompous declarations of disclosures,
which he had never made. The Noble Lord had stated
in Canada, that he would exert himself to the utmost on
his arrival in this country on behalf of. the Canadian
people, and he would defy Hon. Members to point out
what he had done. He must say that the people
of Canada, if he was to judge from what had already
been effected, bad nothing to expect from the Noble
Lord or those who agreed with him. Far more culpable,
however, was the conduct of her Majesty's Government.
They had had many promises of legislative measures, yet
nothing had been done. If the consequences were not so
serious it would be laughable to see such a moun-
tain in labour, for all their promises had ended
in that miserable abortion of a Bill for continuing
the Coercion Bill. The delay had already cost this
country upwards of a million sterling. The further
delay proposed by the present Bill, would cost the country
another million; perhaps the expense might reach two or
three millions—( Hear, hear)—an expense which could not
well be borne in the present state of the finances. The
great sufferers, ho;vever, were the people of Canada. They
were suffaring from a total depression of trade and
an uncertainty of life and limb. An extract, which he then
held in his hands, was taken from a Toronto paper of the
17th April, from which it appeared that then, upwards of
three months ago, the people of Canada were ex-
pecting that the Great Western would take out the
Bill which they expected to be founded upon the
Report of Lord Durham; so confident were they, that
the editor promised in case of the arrival of the
steamer to publish the expected news in a second
edition. How miserably disappointed then must they
have been. What was the state of the Canadas at the
present moment ? There was a complete stagnation
of trade—there was a total cessation of emigration to
the colonies, and the Canadians, the subjects of her
Majesty, were fast crossing into the United States
where they had security of life and property—no less than
700 Canadians had crossed within ten days—driven from
their homes by the neglect of the Government to give
them security. All parties agreed that delay was the
cause of much mischief, yet the Government allowed
the whole Session to pass over without doing anything, so
inflicting that very mischief upon the people of Canada
for another year. The people of Canada would feel them-
selves not onlyaggrieved but insulted in the delay which took
place in giving them a permanent system of Government.
The Government had endeavored to get through the Ses-
sion without doing anything they ought to have
done, or at least with doing as little as possible.
The first three weeks of the Session the Government
said—" We are preparing Bills—we have this and that
under consideration; don't trouble us now; don't put any
questions to us; don't annoy us." Members had inno-
cently waited all this time expecting measures would be
brought forward, but now they were told, at the end of tha
Session, it was too late, Ministers had had other things to
attend to, and thus the real business of the country was
slurred over and shuffled off from one Session to the
other, and the real interests of the people utterly neglected.
He had purposely
refrained from attacking the Govern-
ment, or even urging the Government to do anything in
respect of Canada, because he had believed it was their
intention to do the best they could to settle the questions
that agitated that country. He had received several com.
munications from persons in Canada, but had not answered
one of them, because he had been afraid of raising hopes
that might be disappointed, and because he was afraid of
causing any demonstration in that province which might
subject the people to additional severities, and call on
them the punishments of courts-martial. But he now re-
gretted he had been silent; he was afraid he bad neglected
his duty towards those unhappy Canadians, in not having
brought their grievances before the House; and he re-
gretted having placed even the little confidence he had in
the Government, and
having trusted them so much.—.
(Hear.) There could be but one opinion in this country
and the colonies as to the conduct of the Government in
regard to Canada ; that opinion must be, that they had
grossly neglected their duty, and if any mischief should
arise during the coming winter, the responsibility of all
that mischief would rest on their beads,—(Hear.) He
trusted gentlemen opposite would agree with him in op-
paing the third reading of this Bill, and he begged to
remind them there still remained in it clauses against
which they had divided. As it would be useless for him
(Mr. L.) then to go into a lengthened statement of the
grievances of the Canadians, of the
evils likely to result
from delay, and of the great responsibility the Government
had incurred by its conduct, he would sit down by stating
his determination to oppose the Bill, and he would divide
the House upon it.
Mr. O'CONNELL was not one of those who thought
the Government could have done much more in the affairs
of Canada than, they had done, unless they had been pre-
pared to restore the Constitution of Lower Canada.—
( Hear.) He must express his regret that the quarrel in
Canada had taken a religious turn—that the people
were separated, not on account of political diffe-
rencea, but that there was fomented and encouraged