The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-03 00:00:00

MORNING EDITWN

satudon of Jamaica. The bill was passed by so small a
majority that it was lost, and tree island was saved.:---
()Near, hear.) The Goveroment thought they were
called upon by that result to quit office, and they
returned tinder circumstances but little calcu-

lated to regaiii the confidence which had been previously
reposed in them. It would not do to let the Session pass
without seine fresh proposal, and in spite of repeated de-
fi'.:lencies, in defiance of warnings given by gentlemen
who- were experienced in financial affairs, at the instance
of the Hon. "Member for Greenock, they threw away

1,200,000/. Then came 1840, when the confidence of
the Noble Lord was renewed by the House, and he be-
mime exceedingly- triumphant. The Hon. Member for
I)hvonshire, however, proposed a vote of want of confi-
dence, and the Noble Lord on that occasion was sup-
ported by a majority of 20. He would now beg the
attention of the House to these points. The Noble Lord
proposed an annuity of 50,000/. a year to Prince Albert.
A large majority of the House considered that in the
then state of the finances, 30,0001. would be ample. He
toek that as a declaration, on the part of the Members of
the Houses that they had not confidence in the economy
of the Noble Lord. In the in ehth of February the Hon.
Member for Harwich brought forward a. question re-
specting the finances of the eountry. On that °tension
a large mtjority of the Members declared that they had
no coatidenee in his financial wisdom. Then there was
pte-ition respecting the pension of Sir John Newport,
eel a third time did- the House affirm its want of eon-
thience. They had proved that they had nn con&
dense ii their economy—no confidence in their
wisdom, and e very small degree of confidence in their
political integrity. The. Government, however, had suf-
thnent to shuttle through the House the remainder of the
Was it confidence in their weakness or in
their strength ? Was it confidence in their love of
country or confidence in their love of place ? The Go-
cerement having declared their intention to relinquish
their attempts .to purify the system of registration in
e-eelatid, the Noble Lord. the Member for North Lamm-
shire
brought forward his Bill, and upon several ocea-
lied a majority of that House against the Go-
sioes obt.:4
worn:merit. 14
e.twas at last defeated, not by the
en:e3 but by thd 1,.
speeches of those Members, who
nought to &ley what thl',AY could not otherwise defeat.
So closed the Session of' 1810, and then came that of
1841 ; and in that Session surely the Noble Lord must
have felt that the confidence whieh the House reposed
in him was at a -eery low ebb indeed, for he failed in
olauest every question which he ro t fughorward. In
she resent Session, then, what wabs he to do for the par-
Foes of gaining the favour he had lost ? Why, he
brought a Bill into the House which was to give a new
norAtitution to Ireland. Had the Noble Lord the con •
el- ice of the Homes on that occasions? No, he was defeated,
end teen ciao the Budget of the Chancellor of the Ex •
chequer, esed the proposition for cheap sugar,were th cheap
vorn, and eh '4P timber. Why, he. would ask,they
to have measnrOlgought forward which, two yeare age,
colleagu:' of the Noble Lord had declared
some of the
•te be madness to think or'. Those who supported the
Noble Lord in his proposition w;:!i respect to the Corn-
laws did it not from a supposition that they would be
beuefited by-a protective duty, but under the hope
be that,
from the weakness of the Noble Lord; they would en-
-abled to obtain a total repeal of the Cora-lave,—(Cheers.)
Did the Noble Lord, he would ask, remain in LAWN now
for the purpose of carrying on the real business of the
country ? No; it was only for the purpose of bringing
tete debates on such subjects as the torn-laws for
the purpose of exciting turbulence and disaffection
throughout the country.—(Hear, hear.) Was the Noble
Lord holding office for the purpose of fighting the battles
of the Crown against the House of Commons, because it
had enereaehed upon its prerogatives ? He was doing
Ile such thing- He was remaining in office in order that
be rdp,itt, male the representatives odious to the repre-
aseuted,—(Cheers.) tie treated that the Noble Lori'
woujel pausea,eo lie attempted to eury out the course he
see_ned deterniliteel to pursue. He hotted the Noble Lord
had sense regard for teeethumoue fathe, and be thought
that he was likely to attain it through the inetriuneutelite of
,the Hon. Member for Fieshitry. They had bard of wytiig
and Tory Administrations ; they had heard
of ~rgad-
lehenn and ReforM Administrations, the latter of whie:;,
is the halide of the present Government, had dwindled
elowa to what the lion. Member for Finsbury had called" the
N'ieez:able Athisinistration."—(Laughter.) He thought
if tea Noble Lerd' continued to pursue the course he
wai I,:tw attempting to carry out, he and his colleagues,
instead eFbeing called " the squeezable," would be de-
. nominated the wicked Administration. In conclusion
he heel:Ted to esy that lie supported most cordially the
iesolution propieled by his Right Hon. Friend.
Dr. LLTSIIINCirTOS thought that the House would
not be surprised, when it recollected the circumttarteas
which had recently taken place, at the part which he had
- thought it his duty to take, end the vote which lie then gave.
He thought the House would not be surprised that he
St•,s inn ;t anxious, on the present occasion, to explain
and Jefead the course which lie had thought it his
hueale:e Jety to take Oa a late occasion. Nothing was
feenher from, his intention than to refer back to the de-
bate which oetapled, them House so many days by what
he then etated he wee re to abide---(11ea ilear)—hy
the rettemee he then offered, he, was ready to ettheel—he
• .repented not of the part he thee' eook—he would net re-
argue the question, but he would re-affirm the statements
he had then made.—(Hear, hear.) lie should, however,
deprecate the cours.- taken, both on one side off
the
the
House and the other, with respect• to the astieseion o
question. He denied, on the part of his Right lion. Friend,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer that he had a right iss
essanne :ogetlust• questions which stood under very dif-
ferent eireatnetatie es, saying to the Member; of the
House that they should Lake them as a whole. ele re-
nudiate that which tell from the Right Hon. nat, in
She. course of the debate, when he said that the questioi
w a vote of confidence or not. He had a right to address
that observation to those who were his supporters, and
he weuid not have the meanness to shrink from the vote
Ole intended to give. But lie declared now as then, that
anion the merits of the question his vote was alone d
*ermined. With respect to the motion of. the Right
lion. Baronet, eotwithstanding all that had been cotid
the Hon. Member for Hull. he (Dr. Lushington) would
still adhere to Whig principles.—(Hear.) When they
were speaking of the great principles advocated by rex
- and Crey, it was not to those who had repudiated those
princiehee that they were to look to see if they were
• maintained, .tut it was to those who had never faded to
support them. fl was not to the Noble. Lord the Meal-
her for North LaO:tashire, who had left his friends oa
that side of ete House, Or the Right Hon. Baronet the-
Member for Pembroke, to e.hetrete them with defection
Item those principles. Let lion. Members look to the
father of the House of Commons, and .qeveral other Mem-
bers, aniline, ? would see that there had cm been a sue le
defection. The same observation would app';eftually to
the House of Lords, for there the conduct of the t.ele Lerd
Holland had shown the true Whig principle still exited.
They were not to be displaced by mere assertions from
the position they occupied—they were to be judged by
those who were hest acquainted with their principles,
and also by the conntry. The Right Hon. Baronet-had
maid, that in retaining office the present Ministers were
acting against the spirit of the Constitution. He (1)r.
Leshington) could not help observing, that throughout
the whole speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman there
leas an apparent wish to avoid the true question.—
(Cheere.) The Right Hon. Gentleman well knew that
the sole question was whether, looking at all the circum-
stances of the case, her Majesty's Government ought to
resign office, or appeal to the people ? In every
instance to which the Right Hon. Baronet had referred,
;here was this dear line of demarcation, that wherever
there had been a resignation in consequence of not corn-
esanding a majority in that House, there had been an '
absolute impossibility of dissolving Parliament. Stich
was the cue in the time of Sir Robert Walpole ; SO in the
Administration-4)f 1807. In that year what said 'Mr.
,Ctureing ? Whye that lie defied all their votes ; -that
be would stand by the Crown, and appeal to the people,
and he was just in a situation to do so. In 1830 the
itiight nondurable Baronet was defeated, and in
1833 he forestalled a dissolution,. because he
eatuld not, with the slightest probability of
eateeess, have eelletl a new Parliament together.
Now what was the case with respect to the present Par-
liaeneht ? It had sat tour years, and during that period
many great ineasares hal been wrought forward by her
majesty', Government. In sonic of them they had been
elefeated, and in some they had succeeded, and he (I)r.
• Leshingten) ~wanted to know whether, speaking as to
the principles of the Constitution, it was not competent
to her t. own v'e Goecrament, though they Were judges
itt that. own case, es every Ministry must be when they
Zest,' yeti Parliament—he wanted to know w
behfor eat eventpred
at
than, Wm going to the country, laying
flier lid
eon-, and what they had attempted to
do, mei thee. the country
pare upon
pare their pea'zeipeee with those who must
succeed them if they were el. nisi heed In the course of
with. surprise
the present debate he had ht 7::
Members state that beceuse other _uoP. Member. air
fered fiona the Government on one topic !10-t, they were
bound to differ from them in all. He was surpr:eed to here
it stated that tuett a course should have been purse `t
by
the Noble Led the Member for Lincolnshire, and the,.
it should be said that he oaght to have assisted to put men
into power whose principles he had opposed through life.
If an important principle had not been involved in the ques-
tion, he would hare followed the usual course, and yielded his
judgment to those with whom he generally acted. But upon
great and important questions, men were justified in acting
_upon separate and independent principles. But because he so
voted, was he to recant, the principles he had maintained
form his earliest days ?—( Hear, hear.) He did not mean
any disrepect to the Right Hon. Baronet and those by whom
he was surrounded, but he could not avoid looking at the con•
sequences which a change in the Government would produce.
He could not help tuf nitil his thoughts in the first instance to
Ireland. Two years ago the Right Hon. Gentleman had said,
My difficulty is not-Canada—my difficulty is Ireland."—
( Hear, h•.ar.) If he thought the Right Hon. Baronet would
he allowed to pursue the dictates of his own sound understand-
ing, he n.ight perhaps express less alarm. But how wet Ire-
land governed now ? In accordance with the wishes and feel-
ings of the g eat majority of the people.—( Ghee: s. )
With prosi.er.ty, which might be but slowly increasing,
and with p aee and tranquillity, which if n t entire was vet
greatly beyond what it had ever enjolud.—( Hear, hear.) • If
the lI gat lion. Baronet came into p er what wou'd be the
;first consequence? Why he must govern Ireland by the aid.
;arid assistance of the reun:ant of a party in opposition to the
great in tjority of the population. Look at the Irish Registra-
tion Bill propo,ed by the Noble Lord opposite—its objects
were to diminish the already too scanty tranchise of Ireland ;
the consequences would be that the present prosperity could
not be maintained—confidence could not exist—the peace of
the country would be distracted, or could not be maintained
except by force of arms.—( Hear, hear.) If he passed to
other con •
siderattons he confessed the same views forced them-
. . upon his mind • the Right Hon. Baronet had spoken of
France, and reserved
‘,. to himself the right to offer an opinion
as to whether it.
gars, ntot through the policy of the Govern•
meet that that
with c utitry had been estranged from its
bonds of amity
to restore England.ieae tit.st likelyßut he asked which party was
and amity between the two
countries ? A Government which,
ofd it wouid not be in the opinion of the world,
of the House, was one which efonri'd on the opposite side
porters of the despotic policy of Germany,
years had been the sup-
porters of
the party which had declared and Prnsi• and
red itself the advocate of

free institutions ?—( Loud cheers.) If he had one wish more
than another it was that they should re-establish with France
the firm and united feelings of peace.—( Loud cheers.) When
he looked at the immense advantages the one nation could
confer upon the other if they only entertained just feelings and
views of their respective interests, he was the more anxious to
see that peace re-established. When he looked at the great
cause of liberty and free institutions, he was the more anxious
to see France and England leagued together. He would not
trespass much further on the time of the House, but he wished
to say a word as to the home policy of the Government with
regard to the education of the people.—( Loud cheers.) He
wished to see education diffused from the mountains of Ber-
wickshire to the mines of Cornwall ; but he would never go
along with the Right Honourable Baronet in confiding
it to the hands of one particular sect, or exclusive party,
because he believed that such a course would defeat its
great objects, fetter its exertions, and defeat the wishes
and expectations-of the people.—( Hear, hear.) Anxious as he
was on that subject, and knowing how deeply the Noble Lord
was attached to it, long before he assumed any Ministerial
office, he should be sorry indeed to lose his services. One
word more: he looked to their colonial empire, and he remem-
bered how it had been governed for many years, and he re-
gretted to see how little of justice the Government Lad dis-
pensed to the inhabitants of these colonies, how much they had
been neglected, and how little had been done for their improve-
ment. Let Hon. Members recollect the speech that had been
uttered by a political enemy the other night, the agent for the
island of Jamaica, who paid a just tribute of praise to the policy
of the Colonial Government, although it was utterly alien to
his own. He (Dr. Lushington) had some means of knowing
how that policy affected the welfare and comfort, and tranquil-
lity of the island of Jamaica ; and he was anxious that the same
system should be pursued ; and he Lelieved, as retarded that
country and the colonies, the resignation of the present Alin:stry
was a step greatly to be deplored. He must be permitted to
make one remark upon the Hon. and Learned Member fur
Liverpool, and he thought that Hon. and Learned Member
had no right to stand up in that House and denounce,
without discrimination, all the persons who supported the Go-
vernment as the enemies of the Church.—( Hear, hear.) He

had no right to make that charge ; it could answer no pur-
pose but to embitter party spirit ; and if ever there was a
state of public affairs which imperatively called for calm
consideration—(Loud cheers, and counter cheering)—with
a view to the administration of those remedies which might be
best to effect an alleviation, if not a cure, he apprehended that both
sides of the House would be of opinion that the present was that
time.—(Renewed cheering.) They were then to consider
whether, under existing circumstances, some efforts should not
be made for that purpose. Let them look at the state of their
manufacturing districts.—( Hear. hear.) He might, if he
pleased, as the Right Hon. Baronet had done, refer to paper
after paper, to show that the trade of the country was not fail-
ing off ; but experience demonstrated, that whatever might
be the state of trade upon paper, the reality was, that they
were in the midst of the deepest suffering and distress.—
( Hear, hear.) They might depend upon it that it was impos-
sible the people of that country could maintain themselves, un-
less the trade and manufactures not only did not remain sta-
tionary, but advanced. They might boast of their
enormous wealth—they might exclaim of the immense exports
and imparts, but if they were not increasing according
to the demands of the populatEon, absolute wealth was as no-
thing ; fire misery would continue, and the people would still
perish by slow degrees. Had any one proposed a remedy fur
that state of things. He had heard of none. The people had
borne the distress with unexampled patience. They had en-
dured the misery with a resignation which that House, and
every man of property, could not be sufficiently grateful for.
It was to be recollected that there was a limit, beyond which
human endurance could not enable men to go. There was a
limit, beyond which endurance must fail; and the consequence
must be the entire destruction of their establishments. He
was not now going to discuss the question of the Corn-laws.
It was suggested to the House as a remedy, and it was well
worth their consideration. If they looked to some of the
speeches of the late Earl of Liverpool, they would see, how,
after that question had been agitated from time to time, his
candid mind dealt with it ; that he discarded and rejected the
question of an alteration in those laws save in the possibility
in case of war or a state of destitution. He (Dr. Lushington)
had ever supported the measure from his earliest days. He
had a firm opinion of its necessity. The people of this country,
t o, were now coming to that conclusion, and he believed
when they expressed their opinions, justice, as well necessity
would compel the House to adopt the measure. Above all
things, he would say—let them not throw the question aside—
let them not abandon the labouring population of this country
to utter and entire destitution. The present was, probably,
the list time he should have the honour of addressing that
How, and he was therefore desirous that he should still be found
to adhere (if any doubt could be entertained of it) to the grin-
,:isles which he had ever professed. Avowing himself a party
man, but utterly disavowing any bitterness towards his enrages-
!lists, he hoped When he quitted that Hous he should have the
satisfaction of thinking !hat though he had been opposed to a
Large political party, he should not have left amongst them a
personal enemy.—( Cheers from the Opposition tenches.) He
would not trouble the House further. He would conclude by
stating that he still supported, as he ever did, the principles of
civil and religious liberty throughout the world. He believed
that those with whom he acted were disposed to extend those
principles, and he prayed that by their determination they
would advance them.—( Cheers. )
Sir W. FOLLETT said he had no intention of charging his
Right Hon. Friend with inconsistency. because he pave his
vote in favour of those principles to which he was so long at-
tached. Bo wenld charge the Right Hon. Gentleman with no
inconsistency, because paving voted against the proposition of
her Majesty's Government, and now faithful to his party, he
had stated his intention of giving what was probably his last
rote in favour of that party to which he had always adhered.
Noe would he (Sir W. Follett) stop to inquire whether the
Right Holt. end Learned Gentleman was right in saying that
neither he nor the Oovernment had swerved; he did not pro-
fess to enter into that 4lseussion with the Right Hon. and
Isearned Gentleman, but he risiih,t, express his surprise when he
(fie. Lushington) appealed to the 1144, 41ember for Middlesex.
that taoslie not think it right to appeal t'iso #,Q the Noble Earl
whom he into4oned as the head of the party in the ,-Louse;
—to Earl Grey. lise Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman 'teal
not appealed to Earl Grey, blithe appealed to those who acted
with that Noble Earl. But he (R4r W. Follett) asked why it
svgs that that Noble Earl, instead of Wing now a supporter of
her Maiesty's Ministers did, they had reason to believe, con-
demn the po icy of Ministers. The Hon. (Pollen-4u
:ltat the Go,
had said that the ~croon between them was,
vernment, after having sesteined defeats in that House, 7vere
ts.sstipg unconstitutionally in still retaining office. He (Sir W.
Folie(t ) did not see that such was unconstitutional, but he said
that was MA the case hetweenthem. The present resolution was
brought forward not to condemn an appeal to the people, but to
condemn a continuance in office, without an appeal to the people,
pf Ministers who had not had fur many Sessions sufficient con-
fidence in that House to enable them to carry their measures.
When Wry spoke of dissolution and an appeal to the people,
under whet ettreumstances was it announced ? The Noble Lord
the Secretary foe Wind had stated on the first or second night
of the debate, that the Govenamere, at no distant period, in-
snded to dissolve—that they had advised the Sovereign to that
egeet, and that the Sovert ign acquiesced therein. But he
(Sir Wee, Follett) asked why did they not at once dissolve?
They said they slid not mean to dissolve till they had had a
discussion on the subject of the Corn-laws.—( Hear.) Yes, that
subject on which of all others the Right Hon. and Learned
Gentleman had said it was most necessary to come to a calm,
full, and dispassionate consideration. The language of Mi-
nisters was that they meant to dissolve Parliament, but before
doing so they ifizant to ask the concurrence of the House, or
rather to propose to ii, en alteration in the Corn-laws, which
most deeply affected the passions of the people, and the com-
merce and manufactures of the country ; yes, they meant to
propose the question to the House, but they did not mean to
ask them to concur in it. Why was it, he would ask, that they
proposed this measure, and at the same time announced the
intention of dissolving, if they meant the House to concur in it?
Why else , did they propose it save in the hope that
something might take place in the course of the
debate which could be made use of upon the passions of the
people et the forthcoming struggle. The Right Hon;lG,entle-
man the trieeretary at War had told them plainly and., astirictly
that they had never any expectation of carrying the measure.
If they looked to the course taken by the Noble Lord the
Secretary for the Colbsies with respect to another Bill, he
would ask did not the routins of the Government show the
object with Which they held out their threat of dissolution?
The Noble Lord said he would nit bring forward in this Ses-
sion the Hill for continuing the Poor. law. Wig not ? The
Government had every reason to believe !hat BM woes!d meet
with the concurrence of the House, that that Bill might be
carried into a law ; but the Noble Lord refused to bring for-
ward that Bill because it was one deeply affecting the paZiells
of the people, and he thought he should not get a full and calm
discussion on it. But it was quite evident that the discussion
on the Poor-law Amendment Bill was put off, and the discus-
sion on the Corn-law brought forward, because the discussion
on the one measure might prove injurious to the Government,
and the discussion on the other might assist their interests ;
and that they hoped the people would have strength enough to
resist the overbearing power of the aristocracy.—(Cheers.)
Well, Hon. Gentlemen opposite cheered him, but would the
Right Hon. Secretary at War say that he thought it consistent
with his duty as a Cabinet Minister not to smooth down the
jealousies between the different classes, but to attempt to aggra-
vate them, to inflame their passions and prejudices, to excite
one class of society against another.—(Cheers.) He thought
the Right Hon. Gentleman would have remembered what the
Noble Lord (J. Russell) had said of that very agitation in
1831—that it stirred society to its foundations, and arrayed one
class against another, man against man, with the spirit of
I deepest hostility.—( Cheers.) Yet it was that sp.nt that a
Member of the Cabinet had thought it right to state a wish to
see revived.—(Cheers.) He (Sir W. Follett) believed the
Flight Hon. Gentleman was much mistaken, and that the
people of this country would not again be deluded
Inp;oopte x l
would
oeoruhtl
hdi bent toiot ta
injury of h
a out
fbaaetl sfltireoai
pleased
-(
eede
ptoChheree
raise
rso.
Majesty'sn) e
class H He
thought
atinaii
sotsetnt he
an-
other,i
n
office, or to relieve them from their difficulties.—(Cheers. )
He thought the Government had greatly overrated their
power of agitating the people (Chee'rs.) Still, when he con-
sidered the mode in which- this dissolution was announced, he
wouldwould
haveta tthoedleescisde upon
lesson as aasndintit,eantdse,d,u,s, wandheatshetrheheHrnttse
Ma-
jesty's Ministers had or had not sufficiently the confidence of
that House, and whether they were justified in retaining
444 T without that confidence his a Rightqesquestion
ono
f Honourable and
serneel Friend had treated this asdissolution.
Follett) admitted that those who sup-
portedion were hound to make out their pro-
le". Honourable President of the Board
He
clear, from the month of May,
positiontsh.e
T:el:e(n.uttt
s Mini_ themselves declared they
of Control devised tie first Proposition ; but he (Sir W. Fol-
lett)
the Government—he
said that it was perie:tlY
e concurrence of
been
1839, when her Majesty'
;Isle to carry
had not sufficient confidence to can'
said that from that time they had "1.
through Parliament any measure; without t,t2
his Right Hon. Friend (Sir R. Peel) and the I,:rtY opposed
to them—(Cheers)—and the Secretary at War ,:needed
this, but said that, in a constitutional point of view, there V.."
nothing in the circumstances under which they retained office
contrary to historical precedent and the spirit of the consti-
tution. That he (Sir W. Follett) boldly denied—(Loud
cheers)—and he said that the Right Hon. Gentleman ought not
to have excluded from his arguments and illustrations one
essential ingredient which had belonged to the Constitution
since the accession of the House of Hanover ; he meant the
mode in which Government and the Opposition to Govern-
ment was conducted by party combinations in Parliament. He
said that all the historical precetients brought torward did not
apply to what would be found in the proposition of his Right
Hon. Friend. it was where they found the continued inabi-
lity of the Government to carry any measure without the suf-
ferance of the party in opposition—(Cheers)—it was that situ-
ation in which she present Government was placed, and it was
their continuance in office under such circumstances, which,
be maintained, was contrary to historical precedent and
the spirit of the Constitution.—( Cheers. ) The measures which
had been mentioned by the President of the Board of Control,
as indication of the confidence reposed by the House in the
present Government, had been alreadydisposed of, but there
was one which he bad mentioned, to which he (Sir W.
Follett) must allude, for amending the registration of voters
in Ireland. Was it possible that any one, who had any know-
ledge of that Bill, should not perceive that they could not
have a stronger proof of the weakness of the
House
Govern-
ment, and the want of confidence in that ? On the
proposition for altering the elective franchise, the House had
two divisions, on ene of which the Government were in a
minorityof 11, and on the otherin a minority of 21, and yet this
Bill was immediately followed by this budget, and by the propo-
sitions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, propositions which the