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

poverAment never expected to carry into effect. He trustedhe e Right Hon. Baronet had then said that the Government had r
should be pardoned for adverting to the precedent of Mr Pitt, in laid a measure on the table of that House without any inten-
-1787. He was far from intending to assert that there might not be tion of passing it, but merely fur the purpose of popular ex-
cases, although they must be extremely peculiar ones, in which citernent, and that they were taxing a course fraught with dan-
the Minister of the Crown might well be justified in holdir.g ger, and which must lead to tumult.—( s.) To him ii
office against a majority of the House, but circumstances so was gratifying to witness the entlue.ia,m which had been ex-
peculiar were not likely often to recur, and, lie thought that a cited when the Right Hon. B..ronet had been reminded of the ,
struggle under any circumstances against a majority in that dissolution of 1831. He had frankly admited the precedent,
House could not be continued without endangering the pre- and had said " Dissolve, but dissolve with sphit. Dissolve a.
rogative of the Crown.—(Cheers.) But, with respect to the once."—( (heers. ) But he must recollect that those yin'
precedent of Mr. Pitt, he said that posterity had pronounced its cheered him had equally cheered the attack made by the Rig'y
cendemnation against the coalition of Lord North and Mr. Fox, Honourable Baronet and many of his associates with regard t
and against the India Bill brought forward by that coalition as, the dissolution of the year 1831.:--(Cri, s of " Hear, hear.")
an undue encroachment upon the prerogative of the Crown, It was a gratifying scene for any one who felt an interest in
and as likely to be dangerous to the liberties of the people. the measures then proposed to Parliament, and who remem-
That was the opinion of Mr. Pitt, that was the opinion bered the course of events then taken ; and he must say it
of the majority of the House of. Lords, and of the gave him a hope that before another ten y. ate were past the
constituent body in the other House. He asked whether Right Hon. Baronet would be found among those who would
under those circumstances Mr. Pitt was not fully justified approve the course now taken, and think tl at under exist:np
in resisting for a space of time—from December until the circumstances they merited the approbation of posterity. Ur
following April—whether he was not justified in resisting to the speech of the Hen. Gentleman opi osite he had con-
the party arrayed against him, and arrayed not upon any public ceived that the object of the motion was to obtain a vote which
principle, but as ho thought from purely factious motives, might have the effect of inducing the present Government to
and unsupported by the country.—(Hear, hear.) But surely abandon office without an appeal to the country. What was
th ,t afforded no justification for a weak and powerless Ministry there to be deprecated in a discussion of the Corn-laws in that
not acting upon any public principle.—( Hear, hear, and House? He could deprecate meetings like that which had
ironical cheers from the Ministerial benches.) Why, upon been alluded to which took place at Stroud.—( Hear,
what public principle did they stand ?—( Opposition cheers.) Iran ) Nothing could tend more to bring popular meetings
Was it the principle of free trade? Was it their struggle for into discredit than meetings disturbed by an unhallowed union
an alteration in the Corn-laws? Was that the great principle between Chartists and Conservatives, who attended for the
on which they stood ?—( Hear, hear.) Why, when did they express purpose of interrupting the proceedings.—( Hear. )
announce that principle ?—( Opposition cheers.) When did His Noble Friend the Member for Marylebone had told them
they announce any principle which could have kept them in the other night that he had spent three hours in the company
office from the month of May, 1839, up to the present time ? of a deputation of Chartists, who told him that they were no
Why, within the last week or fortnight. after they had been supporters of the present Government, but that they were pre-
defeated on the Irish Registration Bill. They had never pared to support a Tory Government, believing that they would
heard of the principle before.—(Hear, hear.) They had no do more for them that-. any Government which had hitherto
doubt maintained a long struggle against the present existed. His Noble Friend should have gone a little further,
Parliament ; and was that the ground on which and told them what measures were proposed in the course of
they had retained office ? Their commercial measures those three hours for securing a continuance of that support.—
were now brought forward, not with any view of passing them ( Hear, hear.) These wera the men who disturbed and
into a law, but to serve the purposes of the hour.—(Cheers.) brought discredit upon public meetings. He would ask, was
He would refer to another precedent—the precedent of his it possible to suppose that any scene like that to which he had
Right Hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth, in 1835, and referred could take place within the walls of that House
he would a-k whether that precedent justified the course now Had they any reason to suppose that the subject would
pursued by the present Government? For his part, he had not be discussed with the calmness, the deliberation,
thought that if that precedent would have been at all referred and the dignity which became that assembly ?—( Hear. )
to, it would have been against the course of the Ministry, and It would tend to dissipate much of the delusion which
not in favour of it. What were the facts of the case which existed on the subject of the Corn-laws, and rather calm
the Right Hon. Gentleman, the President of the Board of than excite the feelings of the people.—(Hear, hear.)
Control, said he was now at liberty to state ? The Right Hon. That it was an inconvenient subject for Hon. Gentlemen op-
Gentleman said that his (Sir W. Follett's) Right Hon. Friend posite to discuss he was perfectly ready to admit.—( Hear,
possessed the unbounded confidence of the King—he had a hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet opposite had said that he
large majority in the House of Lords ; and the Right Honour- had no wish for concealment ; but after listening with the ut-
able Gentleman added that his Right Honourable Friend most anxiety to hear what his opinions were, all he could col-
had not only the entire confidence of his Majesty, but that his lect was, that he pledged himself to the maintenance of a
Majesty had the greatest reluctance to accept the present sliding scale in opposition to a fixed duty.—( Hear, hear.
Ministers. He (Sir William Follett) would add another fact. Why, was that, he would ask, being explicit?—(Cheers.) A
—that his Right on. Friend had the support of a great and sliding scale might be consistent with the absence of all pro-
powerful party in the country—that he had the support of a tection whatever.—( Hear, hear.) When the Noble Lord gave
majority, at least of this portion of the United Kingdom.— notice of his motion in the first instance, the greatest import-
(Loud cries of " Hear, hear, 'from the Ministerial benches.) He ante was attached by Hon. Gentlemen opposite to the amount
lid make that reference by way of drawing a distinction be- of duty._ He stated distinctly what duty he proposed, and they
_ .

.ween the several portion; of the realm.

He was not stating

had the full benefit of that statement. The Hon. Baronet avoided

the fact with any such view; he had Mated it for the purpose
of showing that his Right Hon. Friend had not only the con-
fidence of the Crown and of a majority of the House of Lords,
but that he was supported by a very great and powerful party in
the country.—(Hear, hear.) Notwithstanding all that sup-
port, his Right Hon. Friend, at the first moment he had
been defeated on a legislative measure in that House resigned

giving any opinion on the subject ; and while petitions were
pouring in from the agricultural districts, praying that no
alteration whatever might take place, the Right Hon. Baronet
deprecated the agitation because it would tend to prevent a
settlement of the question. It might be extremely convenient
to the Right Hon. Baronet to avoid being explicit, particu-
larly when he saw candidates, some of whom stood high in his

office. He would asi. whether such a precedent atforded'any
justification for the continuance in office of her Majesty's pre-
sent advisers, under the circumstances under which they were
now placed ?—( Hear.) His Right Hon. Friend said upon
that occasion that in the midst of the difficulties which sur-
rounded him he could never have thought of advising the
Crown to resign that great source of moral strength which
consisted in a strict adherence to the practice, to the principles,
to the letter, and the spirit of the Constitution.—( Hear, hear. )
It was in conformity with that language that his Right Hon.
Friend had resigned office ; and he would say, that if her Ma-
jesty's present Ministers had acted upon a similar prin-
ciple when they resigned office in May, 1839, they should
not have accepted again without being assured of a
greater share of the confidence of the House and of the country.
He would not allude to the circumstances under which Mini-

confidence, making propositions which were utterly inconsistent
with the present system.—( Hear. ) With regard to the dis-
solution the question was whether it should take place before
or after the discussion of the Corn-laws. In his (Sir G.
Grey's) opinion it would not be just to dissolve Parliament
until Hon. Members had had the fullest opportunity of ex-
pressing their opinions. One of the principal grounds upon
which the resolution of the Right Hon. Baronet had been sup-
ported was the modification of measures which had been put
forward by the Government. Those modifications were not
in the slightest degree owing to the want of confidence in the
Government on the part of that House, but to the means
which Hon. Gentlemen opposite possessed of thwarting their
measures. Upon what ground did the Right Hon. Baronet
ask for the confidence of the House ? Looking back to former
Governments, they found
_the principles of opposition clearly
. .