The Sun.
London, England, 1840-05-15 00:00:00

PERSIA.

Sir S. CANNING said he wished now to put some in-
quiries to the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Af-
fairs on the subject of our relations with Persia, and he
trusted the House would feel the deep importance of that
subject to the interests of this country, particularly at
a period when so many of our foreign relations were in a
state of doubt and perplexity. He wished to know what
was the character of our relations with Persia? Sup-
posing our diplomatic relations with Persia to be sus-
pended, whether negotiations were in progress to restore
them ? What difficulty, if any, had arisen, to retard the suc-
cess of those negotiations ? Whether that difficulty, did it
exist, had arisen since the assurances given in her Majesty's
speech from the throne at the opening of the Session,
that our difficulties with Persia would soon be satisfactorily
settled? At present he would confine himself to these
questions. On the answers to those queries would depend
whether he should have to make any further inquiries.
Lord PA LM ER STON said the present state of our
relations with Persia was exactly what it had been for the
last twelve months. The state of those relations was pre-
cisely this—last summer an Envoy from Persia came here,
to whom he (Lord Palmerston) gave a distinct statement
of our demands, to which the envoy gave a reply far from
satisfactory, fcr, professing to agree to all those demands,
it in reality proceeded to neutralise that profession by the
way in which it pretended to carry it out. To that reply
a rejoinder had been sent, which would have reached
Teheran, late in March. The answer had not yet been
received. The Right Hon. Gentleman would perceive
that negotiations were in progress for bringing about a
settlement, and nothing had occurred ito destroy the hope
held out in her Majesty's speech, that this settlement
might be expected at no distant period, because the last
communications from Persia announced the determination
to comply with our demands, and probably that bad not
been done because of the misunderstanding of our demands.
Sir S. CANNING wished, with the permission of the
House, to put one more question__ Was Sir John M'Neil
still invested with the powers of Envo!• ?
Lord PALMERSTON—Sir John M'Neil was now on
leave of absence received by him last year. The Second
Officer was in office as Charge d'Affaires.
Sir S. CANNING begged pardon of the House for
putting one more question. He wished to know whether
our important trade with Persia was still under Consular
protection.

Lord PALM E RSTON said the Consul at Tabreez had
his commission still.

Mr. M. PHILLIPS rose amidst loud cries of " Lord
Darlington." He merely wished to ask the Attorney-
General when it was likely that the question respecting
the validity of the Charters of Corporation lately
granted to some large towns was to be settled. The liti-
gation which was going on was leading to a state of total
disorganization in those towns, and it was most important
that it should be settled at the earliest period.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL had expected that
that day the case would have been argued in the Exche-
quer Chamber; however, some of the Judges had been
obliged to attend the Central Criminal Court, and the
case was now fixed to be argued on the 21st of this month,
on which day he trusted there would be a favourable result.
In answer to a question from Mr. W. PATTEN,
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that negotiations were
still being carried on between this country and France—
no treaty had actually been concluded.
In answer to a question from Mr. T. PARKER, •
Mr. F. MAULE said the Bill stood for committal, and
the Hon. Member for Kent had given notice that he would
move that it be referred to a Select Committee. He
(Mr. F. Maule) intended to oppose that motion, and if he
succeeded he should have the Bill committed pro forma,
and have it reprinted, with certain amendments which
he proposed to introduce, in consequence of suggestions
that had been made to him.
NEW WRIT FOR LUDLOW.

The Earl of DARLINGTON rose to move that the
Speaker do issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Crown,
for a new writ for the borough of Ludlow. He was happy
to see the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies in
his place, and as the public journals must have made
him acquainted with the proceedings in that House,
he would offcr no further observations to the Noble
Lord, than to say that, if lie supposed ho meant
any discourtesy, lie begged to assure hies that it was far
from his intention to do anything of the kind.---( Hear,
hear.) No person.could have been more happy to have done
anythine to meet the wishes of the Noble Lord, and if,
after that explanation he still thought he was in the wrong,
no one could regret it more.--(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
With these observations he would move, that a new writ do
issue for the Borough of Ludlow, and after he had
heard what the Noble Lord had to say on the subject, per-
haps the House would allow him to make a few remarks.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL could assure the Noble
Lord that he had no intention of accusing him
of any want of courtesy to himself, and he
presumed to think that the Noble Lord had been influenced
(entirely disregarding any request that he might have
made) solely by a wish to discharge his public duty in that
House. He considered, however, that the present was a
question of very great public importance, and the
Noble Lord would allow him to say further, that he
did not think the Noble Lord had taken up that view
which was consistent with the advantage of that House in
making the proposition he had done, without giving the
House an opportunity for the fullest consideration _
( Hear, bear, hear.) In saying that he certainly
thought that no party advantage could be derived
in any way from giving the subject the
fullest consideration with respect to the parties who
had been concerned in such disgraceful proceedings which
had been brought to light by the Committee.—( Hear,
hear.) He could not undertake to say that either one
political party or the other had any reason to pride
itself on bring free from the contamination of
those proceedings—( Cries of " Hear, hear")—but
going on from the proceedings before the Committee,
after it had conic to a resolution, declaring that the can-
didates for these two boroughs had been guilty by their
agents, both of bribery and corruption— having likewise
ertered into a special resolution, which was then pre-
sented to the Ilouse, and the House having thought
fit to order the whole of the evidence to be laid before it,
he must tell the Noble Lord that any one who interposed
an obstacle to the proceedings which the Ilouse might
think proper to adopt to mark its sense of the grave
and important character of the subject, would be
doing an injury to his own party.—( Hear, hear.)
The two parties he believer' had little advantage the one
over the other in respect of the election, but that party
would be prejudiced who should in that House in any way
appear to the public as being justly chargeable
with the endeavour to slur over these proceedings--( hear,
hear)—to consider them az; a light matter, and to proceed
at once, without further notice, to issue writs, as if this was
merely an unfortunate Case in which, corrupt practices
having been discovered, the parties must be more
prudent for the future, but not marking in
any way a sense of the dereliction of the parties
and their determination to remedy the evil of such prac-
tices.—(Hear, bear, hear.) Therefore he thought
the Noble Lord had committed an error, and though
he no doubt would differ from him in opinion,
he (Lord John Russell) thought he would agree
with him in the general principle that that party
would he the loser which appeared to countenance these
proceedings ; and that there could he no greater advan-
tage, if he wished to make a party use of this,
an opportunity of showing that his (Lord
John Rus-
sell's) sell's.) party in the House were
anxious
to dis-
courage, prevent, and punish such
!: favourable
and those opposed to them took
and lenient view of them. But he felt assured, or
stated the course he meant to take, that whatever on
there might be as to the propriety of the proceedings
when
opinion
nnihe
pt, that whatever
which he should ask the House to ado