The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-17 00:00:00

286
1
167

The Home divided, when there appeared--
Por the Motion
Againist it
Majority in favour of the M0ti0n..... -- 119
On our re-admission to the gallery we found
Mr. KELLY on his legs, exnressing
Noble Lord had succeeded'
bar of the House,in calling the Sheriffs to the
that they should bringhe a hope that as the
wouldwith
t
which they had acted in this case. If the Noble italipartofhri'.:tl3.oinrudoetliogn
not do so he should certainly propose an amendment to that
effect. make
em
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that the Sheriffs
• own accord, all writs and other
could bring with them, of their
documents under which they had acted, and such writs would
in some measure constitute their defence and justification. The
case of the inferior officers was different—they had acted under
the authority of the Sheriffs. The Sheriffs might bring the
writs if they chose so to do, but he did not think it any part of
the duty of the House to order them to do so.
Mr. LAW would ask if the argument against calling upon
the Sheriffs to produce the writs under which their acted, was
not equally valid in the case of the inferior officers being called
on to produce the authority under which they acted at the Bar
of the House? He trusted the Home wouldbe consistent, and
if they required the inferior officers to produce the authority
under which they had acted, the House would also force the She-
riffs to produce their authority, and thus face the real point in
dispute manfully. He trusted they did not :]ready begin to
flinch. A short time ago they were afraid of the Judges, and
now they were afraid of the writs. Either the Ncble Lord
should abandon so much of his motion as required the
inferior officers to produce the authority under which
they had acted, or they should make the Sheriffs pro-
duce the legal authority which they were bound to obey, the
writ of her Majesty. The House should say honestly whether
or no they were about to supersede the first legal tribunal in the
country, the Court of Queen's Bench—they should be prepared
to say if the Sheriffs, in the execution of her Majesty's com-
mands, as they were bound to do by their duty and their oath,
were to be held responsible to this House or not ? The autho-
rity under which the Sheriffs had acted was compulsory, and
he hoped that the Noble Lord would either abandon that part
of his motion calling on the inferior officers to produce their
authority, or call upon the Sheriffs to produce the writs, in
order that those who supported her Majesty's Ministers in their
measures might know what they really were doing, which
was, in fact, superseding the authority of the Court of Queen's
Bench.

Mr. KELLY then moved, as an amendment, that the
Sheriffs be ordered to bring with them to the bar all writs,
rules, and other authorities under which they have acted in the
case of Stockdale v. Hansard.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL said he would not object to the
introduction of the words moved by the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman as an amendment, directing the Sheriffs and Under-
Sheriff to bring any notices or documents under which they
had acted.

Mr. KELLY understood the Noble Lord did not object to
his moving for all rules, writs, and authorities under which
the Sheriffs had acted.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL would not object if the Honourable
and Learned Gentleman moved their production by way of
amendment.

The amendment of Mrl_Kelly was then put and agreed to.

THE ADDRESS.

The SPEAKER then announced to the House, that the
House had that morning been to the House of Peers, where
her Majesty had been pleased to deliver a most gracious
Speech, a copy of which be had procured. The Right Hon.
Gentleman then read the Speech.
Mr. CAVENDISH then rose to move that an humble Ad-
dress be presented to her Majesty in answer to her most gra-
cious Speech. The Hon. Gentleman spoke in so low a tone
of voice that not a single sentence was fairly heard in the
gallery. We understood him to say that the House must have
heard with lively joy and satisfaction the gracious intimation
which her Majesty had that day made to them. All would
hail the auspicious event with joy, as the high character of the
Prince would insure the happiness and peace of her Majesty,
and he had no doubt all would join with loyalty and at-
tachment in assuring her Majesty that they would make
such suitable provision for her august choice as would
enable him to maintain with dignity the high statism
to which she had called him. In relation to the affairs of the
East, he said the honesty and good faith of the Turkish Go-
vernment deserved the best offices of the European powers,
and he trusted the House would support that line of policy
which had secured the integrity of Turkey—a course which
would preserve peace in Europe. In speaking of the war in India
tie passed a high eulog;um upon the army engaged, and said,
when the noble and gallant warrior, the Duke of Wellington,
prophecied an attack upon Guzhnee would lead to fatal results,
he forgot, for the moment, his own glorious exploits in tht•
same country, which were left for an example.—( Cheers. )
The outbreaks in Wales had been put down by the firmness of
the Magistracy, the gallantry of the soldiers, and the noble con-
duct of the peaceably disposed inhabitants. The people of the
Principality ought to be educated, and then they would barn
that they were not mere machines, but deeply interested in the
welfare of our common country. The Hon. Gentleman eon_
clued an inaudible, but, in many places, a well cheered speech,
by moving the adoption of an Address„ which, as usual, was
an echo of the Speech.
Sir W. SOMERVILLE then rose, and in a most inaudible
tone begged to second the motion. Tie assured the House that
he most cordially coincided with the sentiments contained in
the Address. He congratulated the House on the signal ex-
ploits of our army in India, and of the prospect of a settle-
ment of the civil war in Spain. The Hon. Baronet then prog-
nosticated well of the state of things in Ireland, and trusted
that the long agitated questions of the Municipal Corporations
and tithes would no longer create party strite.--(Hear.) The
address having been read from the Chair—
_ _

Sir R. INCILIS said he felt it a duty, he hoped he could say
a painful duty, to say a few words. He would have wished her
Majesty had been advised to open the Parliament by a Coin-
mission.—(Cries of " Oh, oh," :rom the Ministerial benches. )
He would further observe that there was a remarkable omission
in the Speech, he could not think it was an unintentional or
na accidental omission—that the nation would not be assured
that her Majesty was about to ally herself to a Protestant
Prince—(Opposition cheers)—an assurance which could not
but be most important to the best interests of the empire.—
(Hear, hear.) Ile knew it would be said that the precedent
of Ueorge 111. had been implicitly followed—( Hear, hear)—
but then it should be recollected that circumstances might not
have required an assurance which would now be highly de •
sirable.—( Hear, hear.) And moreover, the House of Com -
mons, at the former period, had not been contented with
merely echoing the Speech, but had introduced the word
" Protestant" most emphatically in their congratulations.—
Ifear, hear.) Although there was no reason to doubt that the
Prince was a Protestant.—(Ministerial cheers)—yet he con-
sidered the Government should have made a most

explicit declaration of Loud Opposition cheers. )
In respet to the allusion to the Spanish con•est, be regretted
to hear, from the mouth of his Sovereign, an unqualified appro-
bation of a pacification which he believed had been effected by
atrocities calculated to awaken the disgust of every English
gentleman.—( Opposition cheers.) He had heard the mover
of the Address but very imperfectly. And he would only
further allude to the subject of China, upon which he could
not forbear expressing his regret that a cry should be raised
for a war with China for the prohibition of an introduction into
that Empire of a_pestilent poison.--( Hear. )
Lord PALMERSTON said he thought it would have
been universally unders ood that no Honourable Mem-
ber would pledge himself by agreeing to the Address. Nor
should he have found it necessary to rise did he not feel
that his silence might be considered an acquiesence in the in-
ferences and conclusions the Hon. Baronet had drawn on some
points adverted to in her Majesty's speech. In the first place,
with regard to no mention being made of the religion of the
Prince, who was about to be allied to her Majesty, the House
would at once see that it was wholly unnecessary for her Ma-
jesty to declare to Parliament a fact, which fact being esta-
blished by the law of the land would not be different. It was
unnecessary for her Majesty to state that Prince Albert was a
Protestant, because not only was that fact notorious to the world,
but the marriage would not have been contracted had he been
of a different religion. With regard to the statement of the
Hon. Baronet that no English gentleman could express satis-
faction at the termination of the civil war in Spain in conse-
quence of the circumstances which had led to it, he (Lord Pal-
merston) begged to say that he stood there ready, ether in his
private or public capacity to express his unfeigned satisfaction
at that event.—( Cheers.) He thought the termination of the
civil war by an arrangement—( Laughter from the Opposition
benches)--by which the subjects of their righteous Sovereign
were induced to return to their lawful obedience, and by which
the Sovereign secured to them privileges to which they attached
well merited value—he thought such an arrangement honoura-
ble alike to both parties, and that it was one which might be
viewed by all the friends of peace and good order with most sin-
cere and unmixed satisfaction.—( Loud cheers.) They had
heard on former occasions great anxiety for the suffering
Basques, and the necessity for their attaining the enjoyment of
their fueros.—( Hear, hear.) The peace between the itasque
Provinces and the Queen of Spain had been established upon
the enjoyment of their fueros, and it was certainly not from
that side of the House that he would expect to have heard
any expression of dissatisfaction, or that such an arrange-
ment should be termed treachery, when it consisted in
the return of subjects to their allegiance. That certainly
was not his understanding of the word treachery, and he
could not expect such an interpretation from Gentlemen
holding the opinions which they did upon other points.
With regard to the events that had lately taken place in
. .

IChina, the House would feel that it was unfitting for him to
enter on the discussion of the question. This he could say,
that in advising her Majesty to state what was contained
in the Speech from the throne regarding transactions in China,
her Majesty's Miniver, had no intention to dispute the
right of any Government to prohibit the importation of
any foreign commodity which that Government might
think it expedient to prohibit, and of enforcing that
prohibition by every means in its isower.—( Hear, hear.)
He had only risen because he felt that if he had been silent he
might be supposed to acquiesce in the definitions which the
Hon. Baronet had given of the affairs in Spain and China.
Col. SIBTHORP thought the omission of the word " Pro-
testant" came with a very ill grace from her Majesty's Mi-
nisters. There was no man entertained more profound respect
for her Majesty than himself, but he entertained no respect for
her Government.
Sir R. PEEL thought there was a general indisposition on
the part of Members to rise for the purpose of commenting on
the Speech from the Throne ; indicating a general desire that
they should be enabled not only to concur in the Address with-
out amendment, but also that they should be enabled to agree
to it without the introduction of any of those topics which were
likely to produce acrimonious feelings. He participated
11 that "11" he collected to be the general feeling of the
House.—( Hear, hear, hear.) Of late the polio.), of the
Government had generally been to avoid the introduction
of any topic likely to call for an amendment, while
the policy of opposition had rather been to discourage amend-
ments.—( Hear, hear.) He should not, under ordinary oirenm-
siesloftrcii
thatst an c
thees , consider
present
merehim bound by that rule ; but he did feel
yircumstances. When they
had met to consider a speech which
ing nuptials of her Majesty, that appearedannounced the approach-
ing him to be a rea-
son for not making the present speecha
of late years introduced. He should, therefore ore, be extremely
exception to the rule
unwilling to disturb the unanimity of the Ho
amendment.—(Hear, hear.) He was bound also mtonsvai)n,gthaant
nt l; et natureheaddresses
of Speechthe
Hon.fro mmtehseerTahnrdonsee,enaendderst
ohdcittia,na character
far as
possible, take away all ansiety for any am, ndinent,
dimi-
nished the temptation which existed in limes of great exciternent
and political feeling, to have questions of public interest fully dig.
cussed. He agreed entirely with his Hon. Friend, that he was
not precluded hereafter from the free discussion of all the
topics contained in that Speech, and separating the conduct of
the Queen's Government from the announcement in her
Speech, he should reserve to himself the right of expressing his
opinion of their conduct on public affairs. He cordially par-
ticipated in those congratulations which had been addressed to
her Majesty.—(Opposition cheers.) He entirely entered into
those heartfelt wishes which had been expressed for her Ma-
jesty's happiness in her apprutching nuptials.—(Cheers. )
Her Majesty had been able to contract a marriage under
circumstances which did not always attend Royal mar-
riages, where it too frequently happened that personal
feelings were sacrificed to political influences. It had been her
Majesty's good fortune to reconcile political influences with
her own private feelings, while she consulted the wishes of her
own heart, and he cordially and sincerely hoped that it would
have the effect of securing her Majesty's happiness, and extend-
ing the virtues of connubial felicity. With respect to the other
parts in the Speech he was rather surprised at the omission of
one point ; considering the important discussions that had
taken place during last Session on the Constitution of