The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-08 00:00:00

but now the Secretary for the Colonies came down and asked
them how they could censure the Queen's Government on the
present occasion, when they had concurred in the address.—
( Cheers.) Then stcod up -the President of the Board
of Trade, and met the charge thus : —he said, " When
the issue of the rebellion was uncertain, you (tho
Opposition) indicated no opposition to the Government
—you kept back, and by your silence you almost implied ap.-
hrobntion. But now when every symptom of rebellion has
ce.'n suppressed, you come forward to make charges against
the Government for the policy in which you acquiesced."—
(Ministerial cheers.) Why, to be sure, when they (the Op-
position) heard of the defeat of the British arms—when the
public mind was agitated, and the result was uncertain, they
did not come forward to create an undue feeling against her
Majesty's Government.—(Cheers.) Did he (Sir R. Peel)
shrink from proposing amendments in the Canadian Bill
when it was before the House ?—( Loud cheers.) Did
be show auy want of political courage, such as had been
imputed to him?—( Repeated cheering from the Tory
benches.) Was that to be imputed to him, because he avoided
to disturb her Majesty's Government when they were
brought into difficulty ? Did the Right Hon. Gentlemen
so soon forget the course which he (Sir Robert Peel)
took upon that occasion ?—( Hear, hear, and cheers.)
Did he not give notice, that, there being parts of the Canada
Bill he decidedly objected to, he should move amendments on
which he meant to take the sense of the House ?—(Hear,
hear, and cheers.) l'erhaps the Right Hon. Gentleman did
not consider the amendments of any importance. The Noble
Lord had not, however, so considered them, for the Noble
Lord had told him that if he persisted in making them and
that he declared he had persevered in proposing them, not
from a mere desire to vilify errors in detail, but because he
dissented from the policy of the Bill—had not the Noble Lord
intimated to him that it would become a question of grave consi-
deration whether her Majesty's Government could retain office.
Had he ( Sir R. Peel) been able to give the Noble Lord
any satisfactory assurance—had lie been able to give
him any consolatory reply on that occasion ?—( Aear,
hear.) Had he not stated that it was no point of de-
tail ?—Did he not, after the express intimation of the
Noble Lord, state that he adhered to every thing he had
before stated—that his objections were not objections of
detail but of principle—and had he not the satisfaction of
finding that the Noble Lord after all had adopted his amend-
ment!?—( Vehement cheering.) He, therefore, did not con-
sider himself liable to the charge either of the Noble Lord
the Secretary of the Colonies, that they were now bringing,
forward an amendment inconsistent with the spirit of
their first address ; nor did he consider himself liable
to the charge of the Right Honourable Gentleman
that when the issue of the event was uncertain, he had ab-
stained from pressing such amendments to the Canada Bi3l-
- Why, he had thought these amendments mate-
, rial, after he had been told that the pressing of them might
endanger the existence of the Ministry.—(Renewed cheers.)
The Right Hon. Gentleman had preferred another charge
specifically against him. He had asked how it was possih,e for
him to concur in a condemnation of her Majesty's Government;
seeing he had been connected with an Administration which na'
been mainly instrumental in aggravating the difficulties woich.
had attended the administration of the affairs of Canada;
the Right Hon. Gentleman had asserted that the Government
previous to 1828, before the Canada Committee was appointed
was the Government chargeable with the delinquences in re,
spectto Canada. ( Cheers.) That being the opinion of the gig".
Hon. Gentleman, and of her Majesty's Government, it did
somewhat surprise him that when that Government came into
power, they had showed any disposition whatever to unit!
with those who were somewhat responsible for those dil-
fieulties—and when the Right Hon. Secretary for the
Colonies was dealing out so largely his blows against the
Administration previous to 1828, he wished that Sight Hon'
nourable Gentleman and his friends would look to the right
hand and to their left, and to remember that their present
colleagues were just as much chargeable with that leis'
conduct.—( Vehement Opposition cheering.) The Noble.
Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs was connected
w'th that Government from the year 1600, and he knew not
Wien.—(Laughter and cheering.) His Noble Friend, the
Earl of Ripon, was also connected with that Gevernmer?t,
whose colonial policy had been so much objected to, and
why
had they not refused to form a coalition with these person%
Was Mr. Grant (Lord Glenelg) no Member at that time
What course did the Government pursue ? Why did they not
take Lord Ripon for Colonial Secretary ? The very man wit a
they had appointed to the Colonial Office had been
connected with the Government till the year 1827. ‘vitir.
course had the Government pursued with respect to ,
Wilmot Horton, who had been in the Colonial Departme7
from 1822 to 1828? Why,he was made the Governor of Ce.!;
lon.—(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Gent. mistook the peihtt
issue. He did not deny that great difficulties attended.
arising
affairs of Canada ; there was no doubt great difficulties ar:vsereg
from the neglect of former Administrations ; some
inseparable from the state of society in the country' "`""
ted
arose from opposite connections, which greatly the
the difficulties attending the Colonies. Bnt what
wasot a
h charge brought against the Government ? It
was
n the
denial that they had difficulties to contend with ;
butrevolt
charge which they preferred was this—that the
re
r yolt
in Canada, the necessity for putting down that x.
by force of arms, the necessity for measures of e,
treme severity by the suspension of constitutional rights
might have been averted, if ordinary foresight had been
shown, and ordinary talents exercised.—( Cheers.) He ( Sir
Robert Peel) conscientiously believed that proof, amounting
rava
agg
to demonstration of the charge, could be adduced from the
papers he held in his hand.—( Cheers.) He believed that
admitting all the difficulties on account of delay, and the acts
of former Administrations, and the state of society in Canada,
if he had to argue the question before twelve men who we!!
conversant with matters of this description, he felt no don
na
he should obtain from them a verdict of guilty urn
o hcfthe charge.—(Cheers.) There had been on the part f
Majesty's Ministers vacillation, irresolution, and a waht__`L:.
foresight sufficient to account for the revolt that had brolsrl7he
Again, it was said that the charge which was preferred ega,n
Ministers was because their course had been conciliatory. Tailgtt
was not his charge against: Ministers—his charge ag .n.
them was, that the course they had adopted was utterly in
consistent ; in one instance they ,had dealt kindly, and_nue
another they had exercised rigour. Now he vvould
trast the policy which had been pursued by the Pet!.
sent Government with that pursued by Lord Aberde
When Lord Aberdeen was appointed in the year 1835,,a.
Ca-
proceeded at once to the consideration of the affairs of
nada. The Right lion. Gentleman had referred to the 015._
it
patch written by his Noble Friend ; but he thought _
would have been but fair if that Right Honourable Gen
rn tlean had produced that dispatch.—( Hear, hear, heaf.',.
The Right Honourable Gentleman had no right to show 017)
,
consistency between his Noble Friend and himself fr
dispatches remaining at the Office when those dispatches wic:rs.6.
not before Parliament. It placed him (Sir Robert) in a °ltin
advantageous position, and the Hon. Gent's sarcasms on 9
differences between his Noble Friend and himself, so far 8,
werethey related to that despatch, throen out in 8,
unfair and very ungenerous manner, as he had not Prslr
duced the despatch.—( Loud cheers.) But then he (leisis
Robert Peel) said with respect to that despatch, that __
Noble Friend in April 1835, was prepared to make an inng'a,
diste settlement of every important disputed question in
nada, reserving for future inquiry matter of mere subordinate
debate.—( Cheers.) This he asserted, without the
been
of contradiction, that when two years had 1),..d
permitted to pass away, and the resolution of last session r_
been brought forward, as the result of the inquiry of'
sa.u_
Commission, those resolutions did not propose the
.__e_lo
tlement of one single litigated point, which
.703
years before his Noble Friend had not g„
Lord Amherst instructions to settle. He challenged the "°„:,
Gentleman to contradict that. The only difference W-v.-
this, that their resolutions professed to take the
of the Canadians, but his Noble Friend's disPa''.
proposed no such thing.—k Hear, hear, he2r.) That olg
the only point on which their resolutions differed from I'l's
Noble Friend's instructions to Lord Amherst. His
e
Friend gave positive instructions with regard to the Legislative
Council, the Canada Tenures Act, the Trade Act, Legislate
the settlement of the financial question. His ogle
Friend told Lord Amherst his duty was to remedy all CO;1"
plaints, and redress and apply an efficacious remedy to cver
grievance—that was the main object of his mission, '5,
the Honourable Gentleman said Lord Aberdeen propoeu t,„17
give up the revenues to the House of Assembly, but Up
se
express conditions.—( Cheers.) What were they ?,Upon tl 0
conditions. First, That a Civil List should be granted
revenues were not to be given up till the conditions were fu
h,
filled'; and instead of entering into indefinite inquiries on e -
state in which the colony was, they wanted not fresh inquiriebscP
but the redress of practical grievances. What was
t
course the Government took? They sent out a Governorwith specific instructions on every point, but instructions
couched :in language admitting of; doubt and raising) false
expectations. Lord Aberdeen had instructed Lord Am-
herst at once to offer to give up the territorial r.ji
venues, but expressly on the condition that the Ciks'e
List for the payment of the civil officers should
granted ; that the judges should be provided for ; that a con-
tingent fund should be provided for the casual expenses ;t
and if these conditions were rejected, the Governrn,
must consider the steps proper hereafter to be adopted
Lord Aberdeen said he was willing to listen to the
arguments for the improvement of the Legislative an
Executive Councils, but he did not " palter with theta
uvorAcfposrotslnne7bmm9eaelb:al
st;:lit.ota7Ejkfelae(cenritCitaci sva
Hear,
respectedhear.) Council,
\t
sha,ehn
adtresponsibleco u r Legislativese
in a double sense." He distinctly said that the Constitution
of
?whNiVehhy
had
dey
blicaednfirtshtoaropupgohinlytedexahCauostatemd,iss:ul
upon which inquiry would rather overburden, and instructl
and when the Colony was panting for something decisive and
a dt
the
Assembly,
the 11 ons iht] soGe"010..
effectual, the Government sent out three Commissioners-
(Hear, hear, from Col. Sibthorp, and laughter)—and
all the documents calculated to excite discontent and
ridicule the report of these Commissioners was the most
remarkable. The Commissioners were almost certain to dif-
fer, and the event realised the expectations thus .—regarding
the Executive Council, one Commissioner signed the report ;
and then appended a remonstrance against his own recommen-
dation. Another Commissioner signed and remonstrated al
the same way, and then the Chief-Commissioner, "by
decision, embroils the fray."—(Hear, and loud langhter.)
In paragraphs 12, 14, andl6, the Commissioners deprecated.th•
making of the Executive Council responsible to the House :of
mended Assembly,
measures and in paragraphs
directly
of a n 30, 3p2, e
,
opposite t3snde3ny. 6Ctbey(Lactiog:
mh
ter.) Then, let it be considered whether two years mode no
difference in the history of a Colony.—(Ministerial cheers.)
If you think
so,
(exclaimed the Right lion. Baronet) you
cheer because you are thinking of Ireland--you direct a point-
re