The Sun.
London, England, 1836-03-05 00:00:00

office, sacrifice his present income. To meet this, and to ob-
viate the difficulty, recourse was had to the Pension Act, and
under these circumstances he (Lord Howick) considered the
pension of Lord Auckland strictly honourable.—(Ministerial
cheers.)
Sir H. HA RDINGE complimented the Noble Lord
( Howick) on the straightforward, manly statement which he
had given of the subject. It however was obvious from the
Noble Lord's plain statement that there had been a stipula-
tion.—( Loud cheers from the Opposition.) It was a fair and
open avowal, and though no blame could attach to the Noble
Lord who was absent (Lord Auckland), blame certainly must
attach to the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the
Exchequer for the course which he had thought proper to
pursue. As to the Noble Lord at the head of the Admiralty,
it must be admitted that he acted with great prudence in giv-
ing up 1,6001. a-year to secure 2,000/—(Hear, hear, and
laughter)—more especially when that which lie gave up was
at the disposal of the Ministry. Nobody could deny that this
v,as a prudent, a considerate, and a wise arrangement. His
Right Hon. Friend (Sir J. Graham) had made no suggestion,
had used no insinuation, on the subject. He had stated a fact
in which he was fully borne out by what had fallen from the
Noble Lord (Howick.) It was not candid, therefore, in the
Right Hon. Gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to
insinuate that the motive of the Right Hon. Baronet was to
cast a stigma on Lord Auckland.—( Cheers.) The arrange-
ment might have been a good one for the Government ; no-
body could deny that it was a good arrangement for Lord
Auckland. There was no reproach on Lord Auckland for
his share in the transaction. If Lord Auckland could not
afford to make the sacrifice for the purpose of accepting office,
the Noble Lord the Secretary of War was perfectly right in
justifying the conduct of his friend ; but he (Sir H. Hardinge)
could not help saying that the mode pursued by the Right
Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer was most unfair and
ungenerous.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL could not agree in the opinioit
that the course adopted by his Right Hon. Friend the Chan.:
cellor of the Exchequer was either unfair or ungenerous.—
( Hear, hear, from the Ministerial benches.) The Right Hon.
Baronet had called the attention of the House to the pension

granted to Lord Auckland, but he had at the same time
omitted to state that Lord Auckland had given up an office
and a pension amounting to 1,6001. a-year. It was disinge-
nuous to state that Lord Auckland had, in consequence of ac-
cepting office, become entitled to a pension on the Civil List,
and at the same time to omit what Lord Auckland had given
up for the purpose of taking office. The Right Hon. Baronet
Thad alluded to the rumour which existed in his own country
with regard to his alleged sinister object in passing the Pension
Bill: He (Lord J. Russell) was most ready to admit that
the conduct of the Right Hon. Baronet on that occasion was
marked with the highest degree of public spirit, but in
contradicting the imputation attempted to be cast upon him
why introduce Lord Auckland, for the purpose of throwing
a stigma upon that Nobleman ?—( Hear, hear, from the
Ministerial benches.) •If this was not the object, why did
not the Right Hon. Baronet, when he alluded to the Pension
and the Civil List, also mention the pension ar.d office which
were given up ? As to the Right Hon. Baronet, the Member
for Launceston, though there was less of stigma there was
more of sneer in his observation. He characterised the con-
duct of a Noble Lord ( Auckland) as wise and prudent, be-
cause he abandoned an office which it was in the power of Mi-
nisters to confer upon some other person, and accepted a pen-
sion on the Civil List.—(" Hear, hear," from the Opposi-
tion.) Now this office had not been filled up by the Govern-
ment of that day. It had remained open for a considerable
time—up to the time when the Right Hon. Baronet the Mem-
ber for Tamworth came into office ; and if it had not been
then filled it still, for anything he (Lord. J. Russell) knew, re-
mained open.
Sir H. HARDINGE—What appointment did Mr. Creevey
get?
Lord HOWICK (as we understood) replied that Mr.
Creevey obtained the situation rendered vacant by the resigna-
tion of Lord Auckland ; but obtaining this, he resigned the ,
Treasurership of the Ordnance ?
Sir H. H A RDINGE—StiII there remained a vacancy,
and the situation which Mr. Creevey gave up he abandoned
for a permanent one.
An Hole.. MEMBER on the Ministerial Benches (who was
hidden froM our view by the Speaker's chair) asked who ob-
tained the Treasurership of the Ordnance ?
Colonel PERCEVAL said he bad got the office, but Mr.
Creevey had the pay up to the time that his (Col. Perceval's)
account passed the Bank of England. •
Sir E. CO DRINGTON hoped that he would not be
charged as having a part in the imputed slander.
Mr. GOUL B RN,said that the conversation certainly arose
out of the observations of the Gallant Admiral, and his desire
to show that the Noble Lord ( Auckland) had not been
anxious to jump into the place of First Lord of the Ad-
miralty. For his own part, he (Mr. Goulburn) had yet to
learn how it could be considered a stigma upon any person
engaged in the public service to receive the reward of his
labour.—(Cheers.)
Mr. CURTEIS was anxious to see provision made for
officers who had grown old in subordinate situations. He in-
stanced the case of a person who had been 40 years a mid-
shipman, and, when application was made on his behalf, the
reply was, that if one case were attended to it would open a
door to applications of which there would be no end.
- Mr. BUCKINGHAM said there was no denying the fact,
that promotion was the privilege of the aristocracy.
Alderman THOMPSON was of the opposite opinion, and
felt that merit would always insure success in the service.
Mr. HUME said that, having made use of some strong ex-
pressions relatiig to the Noble Lord, he now begged leave to
say, that he would not have made use of them had he been
aware of the circumstances just stated.
The vote was then agreed to.
It was then proposed that 437,1501. should be granted for
the purpose of victualling the seamen and marines.
This vote was also agreed to, after a short conversation.
The House then resumed, and, the other Orders of the Day
having been disposed of, it adjourned, a quarter past twelve
o'clock.

PUBLIC MEETING AT SHEFFIELD

(Abridged Report.)
On Monday last, Feb. 25, a numerous meeting of Mr.
Buckingham's constituents took place at the Town Hall, for
the purpose of considering the measures desirable to be taken
on the rejection of the Compensation Bill.
Mr. IBBOTSON being called to the chair, stated, that a short
time ago, he did not expect to have occupied that chair; they
bad expected the Master Cutler to fill it ; he had promised to
do so, unless prevented by other engagements. This unfortu-
nately occurred by his being called upon to preside at a Church
meeting elsewhere at the same hour they were to assemble
here. The most proper course he could pursue would be to
read a letter he. bad received from a gentleman who had kindly
consented to introduce Mr. Buckingham's Bill into Parlia-
ment, Mr. Tulk. He was a true Englishman, and evidently
felt keenly for a man who had suffered so much injustice as
Mr. Buckingham had done. The chairman then read the
letter from Mr. Tulk, and the reply which he had sent to that
gentleman, as follows :
TO WILLIAM IBBOTSON, ESQ., SHEFFIELD.
London, Feb. 25.

Sir —I take the liberty of addressing myself to you, as the
friend of Mr. Buckingham, and the Chairman of his Commit-
tee, on a peculiarly painful subject. Before this reaches you,
you will be informed of the fate of a Bill which I introduced
into the House of Commons at the beginning of this Session.
That Bill which was to award to him Compensation for the in-
fliction of a cruel wrong, has been rejected by a considerable
majority on its second reading.
This unexpected event is to be ascribed, partly, to the fact,
that many members, who had been the advocates of his claims,
and are his fast friends and supporters, were not aware, or pos-
sibly did not advert to its being a private Bill, which required
it to be brought on at the early hour set apart for private bu-
siness; partly, to the unusual assemblage of Tory members,
who, I believe, in many instances, were but too happy in the
opportunity offered them of upholding injustice and oppression ;
and, partly, to the lukewarmness of some, who now find it
more convenient to their interests to conciliate a powerful body
than to remain true to their former professions.
These appear to be the chief causes of that failure, which
every man must deploro who can appreciate the eminent ser-
vices of Mr. Buckingham to the commercial and manufactu-
ring interests, and whose sense of justice is not warped by
party, nor deadened by sordid and vindictive feeling.
That the unrelenting feeling of the East India Company is
mainly to be ascribed to the zeal of your Honourable Repre-
sentative in the cause of free discussion and good government
in India, and to his successful exertions in freeing this coun-
try from the tax of an oppressive monopoly, must be
sufficiently obvious. Unsupported by the Government, the
controuling influence of his enemies has prevailed, and his
hopes of redress are, for the present at least, utterly ex-
tinguished.
The consequences of this denial of justice are, as you must
be aware, of the most serious kind to your Representative.
After having been robbed of property to the amount of nearly
40,0001. by an act of wanton tyranny, he has now no other
satisfaction remaining than to find those very principles, for
advocating which he was driven from India, and his property
confiscated, declared by the late Governor-General, Lord
William Bentinck, to have actually " led to a very percep-
tible improvement in our Administration," and To
by
the present Government as the best safeguard To our Indian
possession's.
It has been urged by certain Members, and the objection
seemed to carry some weight with it, that it would be unjust
to tax the natives of India for an act done under the authority
of the law, which invested the Governor-General with the
power of banishing, without any cause assigned, every English-
man who resided there by the license of Company ; and
that the people of England who tolerated so iniquitous a law,
and by their representatives passed it, were the proper parties
to supply the Compensation. But by this specious show of
phiianthrophy they either deluded themselves, or intended to
delude others. They must or ought to have known that to
compensate Mr. Buckingham, not one sixpence of additional
tax would have been taken from the natives of India, but thac
the same surplus fund would have supplied the money which
pays the salaries of the Tanjore Commissioners, one of whom,
Sir Robert Inglis, seemed peculiarly sensitive on the occasion.
But though this reason for an appeal to the people of the
United Kingdom in behalf of Mr. Buckingham was not less
unfeeling than it was absurd, I think you will agree with me
that there is another reason which would justify such an ap-
peal in behalf of one, who has been a signal benefactor to all
classes, and especially to the manufacturing and commercial
classes of the community.
It is with this view, Sir, that I take the liberty of writing to
you; and through you, of addressing myself to the great body
4 Mr. Buckingham's friends in Sheffield. It is my intention
also to address myself to that gentleman's friends in the House
of Commons, with the earnest hope that they may concur with