The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-01 00:00:00

laws are like the laws Orthe Medes and Persians—we will
change them not Is this language likely to gain the con-
fidence of the country ?—are those wise statesmen who, be-
cause the aristocracy and the clergy give them their support,
refuse to he'er the labouring man who he is pleading for
the rights of industry ?—( Cheers.) There is another topic
on which you have given us no kind of information. A
great deal has been said on the subject of finality. The
word dropped accidentally from some Member of the
Ministry a few years since, end was immediately fastened
on by some friends, but by more enemies.—( Cheers. )
But there could be no doubt in the world on the subject
of your finality.—(Loud cheers.) While I regret the
secession of the Noble Lord ( Lord Howick) from office,
I cannot but admire the sincerity of his conduct in so
doing, although I certainly doubt whether his sincerity
was equalled by his good sense.— ( Cheers and laughter.)
But, at all events, his secession shows this, that there is
progressive reform on this aide of the House. He stated
expressly that he seceded from the Ministry, because they
were in favour of progressive reform ; but how is it on
the other side ? There is certainly no progression
there—there is not one increase of the franchise with them ;
they take their stand on the position of finality.
There is not one other. Englishman to whom they will give the
franchise, except those who have had it bestowed on them by
the Reform Bill, and the community mug rest for ever satisfied
with that paltry measure. Oh, what sanctity is there in the
Reform Bill, that you should refuse the franchiser to others
equally entitled to it ? lam speaking now, ;not to you alone,
but to the people of England, to those who are excluded by the
Reform Bill from the exercise of the franchise, and to those
who are excluded by your rate-paying clauses—they all
desire the franchise, and you tell them to turn from
you, to stand afar off, they are not worthy of you, that
You have placed, yourselves before them, that .you are
superior to them, and that they shall never be
entitled to the franchise. The Right Hon. Baronet the
Member for Pembroke is of high descent ; he numbers John of
the Bright Sword among his ancestry. The Noble Lord the
Member for North Lancashire is of still higher descent; he is
descended from Edward the Confessor. They may deem them-
selves entitled to tell the unenfranchised not to presume " to
come between the wind and their nobility."--( Cheers and
laughter.) • But is it so with the Right Hon. Baronet, who, in
my opinion, is of still more illustrious descent than they ? He
owes his station to the exercise of successful industry, guided
by upright integrity.—(Load cheers.) Yes, for that industry
could not have been so successful had it not been joined with
most high integrity.—(Leud cheers.) Is it right in him to
act thus?—( Loud cheering.) He belongs to this class ;
I have beard him say that lie is proud of belonging to it _
(Cheers.) Why does he stand between them and the men
deny 0, em their right to theirportion of the Legislature ?
( Hear, hear.) By the theory of the Constitution of England,
taxation is right, because the people consent to it by their re-,
presentatives, and taxation is robbe,a, if it is not founded on the representation of the people. The-theory of the Consti-
tution says, you rob the people if you tax them without repre-
sentation, and do you claim to be Ministers of the country, when
you say to the people who ask you not to rob them? We have
told you off into differentclasses ; we are a master class, we will
monopolize the whole of the legislative power. You are a slave
class oyou are not in our category ; and you shall never have any
share in the Legislature ; we will never comply with your
Prayers ? Now, I appeal from you to the people of England.
Holding these principles, is it safe to entrust you with the Go•
vernment of the country in its present disaffected state ? Why,
you tell the people that you will never give them the
franchise—that they must never expect to have their
grievances redressed. Oh, give them hope at least.—( Hear. )
Do not deprive them of the pleasure of hoping that at some
distant period they may be become entitled to the exercise of
the franchise. But you take your stand on this refusal—it is
your great principle--I am doing you good with your party by
• saying 50.-( Cheers from the Opposition.) I know it, but I
am not doing you good with the people.—(Cheers from the
Ministerial benches.) At this same meeting at Manchester,
on Tuesday, an address was agreed on to this House,
by the artisans there assembled. In this address "to
the Members of her Majesty's Government and both Houses of
Parliament," they say, " Still we are burdened with a political
State Church, that by its extortions and intolerence, under the
cloak of religion, brings the sublime and hallowed doctrines of
Christianity into disrepute—a, standing army as numerous and
expensive as if we were at war with all Europe—a ponderous
debt, that presses mist disastrously on the financial interests of
the country—a new Poor-law brought into existence, whilst
the cursed and abominable Corn-law exists, by which the
food of the people is restricted ;" and that is all
they say about the New Poor-law. "At the same time,
" they are starving by thousands in the land of their birth,
and in the midst of all this we are told that the reforms already
effected are to be final, and that further relief from our present
state of political slavery shall be afforded us by you. Already
has this doctrine of finality been
.productive of the most disas-
trous effects. A spirit of disaffection has exhibited itself in dif-
ferent parts of the empire, and the lives of some of our fellow-
subjects have been sacrificed. We deeply deplore this ;
we are as much opposed to. violence as any class of
men in her Majesty's dominions. We have never
joined in any effort that has been made to alter the present state of
things by force. We are determined to seek for
and obtain our
rights by all lawful and constitutional means, but we hesitate
not to express oar apprehension that unless such concessions be
speedily made by you as shall meet the wants, the wishes, and
the intelligence of the people, the recent outbreaks are only the
forerunners of an amount of destruction and loss of life that
will be productive of incalculable mischief to the best interests of
the country, and will leave a stain on the charact r of its Legisla.
tion that will not be easily obliterated. But what ate we to expect;
when we see a nation angered and vexed by a continued denial
of the redress of wrongs which common justice and common
honesty alike demand ?" This, then, is.the declaration of men
who are precluded by Hon. Gentlemen opposite, even from
hope ; who will be prohibited, I suppose, from complaining, for
Such must be the meaning of those declarations against the
illegality of public meetings. Do you mean to say that you will do
way with those meetings, which are the safety valves of the
nation, . allowing the political steam to evaporate If you
refuse to redress these grievances, hew can you undertake the
Government of England. The Noble Lord has said he is per.
fectly ready to undertake the Government; but I want to
know if these are the principles on which he is prepared to un-
dertake the Government? For if they are, the totterin gedifice
the' But State will shake to its foundations ?—( Hear, hear.)
what Will you do with Ireland?—(Loud cheers.)
how willyou govern Ireland ?—for whom will you govern Ire-
land ?—by whom will you govern Ireland ? Will you govern
her by means of the Learned Sergeant who has this evening
given us such specimens of meekness ? Is that ono of your
Judges ? I know that the Right Hen. Baronet will
give us most excellent phrases of conciliation—he will
make professions of impartiality, and he will profess his
readiness to do equal j uEtice to all,. We have bef. re heard
from him the same language. and with the same sincerity.—
Hear, hear, and cheers. ) I cannot doubt his sincerity.
Hear, hear.) Was he not equally sincere when he took the
Government the last time ?—( Hear, hear, hear.) Was
not the brave and gallant Officer who sits near him equally
sincere? and yet when he entered Dublin, over whose head was
it that the Orange flag was waved ?—( Cheers ) Who were
his Privy Councillors?—(Cheers ) Wkc those who supported
him, and the same thing would happen again. Why, the Right
Hon. Baronet has confessed that Ireland is his great difficulty.
The Hon. Member for Wakefield, whO he was sorry to see had
withdrawn his protection from Ireland, had talked of governing
Ireland as if there were two parties, into which that country
was divided. But is such the fact? -Is it not that there is the
people on the one side, and a party on the other ? Yes, the
universal people on the one side, and merely a party on the
other. You dare not govern Ireland, except by that party.
I implore the H use to recollect the history of Ireland. I will
merely allude to what passed before the Union. Ireland pre-
vious to that suffered 600 years of misgovernment.—(A laugh
from the Opposition, answered by cheers from the Ministerial
beeches.) Is that laugh meant to deny the fact ? If so, I pity
your ignorance.—(Loud cheers.) if you admit the fact, cannot rest ect your sense or your feelings. Ireland has suffered
600 years of cruel oppression, and you laugh at it.—(lmmense
cheering.) But I will allude only to what has taken place
since the Union. For the thirty years succeeding that the
Tory party governed Ireland, and of that. period, for twenty-
five years, the dabeas Corpus Act has been suspended in Ire-
land, and there have been Insurrection Acti and other means
to deprive the people of Ireland of the benefit of the Constitu-
tion. The Tory party governed Ireland for twenty-five years,
and I now ask you why you did not quiet Ireland during that
You? Because you preferred the faction to the people.
You could not control the faction, yet the people of Ireland
are tranquil. Yet is there one amongst them whose face would
not be like a bonfire if they were told that you would come into
office to-morrow ? The facti in would rejoice, because they
would know that their reign would commence at the same
time. The Learned Sergeant (Jackson) has wasted all his
declamation upon my poor self, but he was obliged to admit
the tranquillity of Ireland.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) Was
that ever admitted before? Has there ever happened
a four days' dsbate without the Learned Sergeant, or some of
his bigoted ceadjutors, getting up with a list in his hands of
threatenings to Magistrates or to Clergymen, or recent as..
saults, or even murders. English Conservatives, I appeal to
you, has there ever been a period before when it hat been ac-
knowledged that. Ireland was tranquil ?—( Loud cheers.) :That
tranquillity was not your doing; for, thank Heaven, you were
not in office. Perhaps it might be a recommenda-
tion to the Irish people that you have now changed
your politics ; has it been shown in your meetings ?—(Lottl
cheers.) Has it been shown in the manner in which your
Press has worked? Have they not poured out the vials of
their wrath upon the people of Ireland? Your Leading Jour-
nai, whose proprietor went to a very great expense only a few
days ago at an election, in order to put you into office ?
( Loud cheers.) They called the people of Ireland har-
t arians, savages—they even called them worse than the
inhabitants of New Zealand. And how was their priesthood
used? In the same Journal they were called surpliced ruffi ins
—sanguinary scoundrels—a demon priesthood. Yet Ireland is
tranquil.—( Loud cheers.) Am I in a civilized country?
Are the leaders of a large party in this State to allow the people
of Ireland, who have endureda persecution unexampled, to have
their pastors traduced in this way—a priesthood who, after all,
were the only friends of the poor man, who was his comfort
and his friend, and shrank not from approaching the bed of
death, inhaling the effluvia of the typhoid fever—a demon
priesthood ! Yes, such was the name that was given to them.
What would be the shout—what would be the yell wore the case
reversed? The people of Ireland may be wrong, but yet they
towoefr
do say, and they believe, that life and property are not sae
when
is placed in Tory hands. They complain, and
juh,setipy,
partisan Judges,. of partial Sheriffs, and of packed
Juries. That is the feeling of the people of Ireland. Can
You recover them from it 7---( Cheers ) If the people of
Ireland enjoy tranquillity now, it is not under the Government
of the Tories.—( Cheers. ) I have been informed,-1 was not
present myself,—and I .hope, if I state anything wrong,
that the Noble Lord will set me right • but I was in-
formed that the Noble Lord (Lord Stanley) is
reported to have passed a high ealogiurn upon Mr. ;
he spoke of him in terms of great praise.
Lord STANLEY—The words I used were " moderate,
sober, and quiet."
Mr. O'CONNELL—The Noble Lord, at all events, did
Pronounce an eulogium upon that Gentleman, so far as it went,
and the Noble Lord is to be your Secretary for Ireland.—
(Cries of " Oh, oh," and laughter.) Well, he is to be a
Cabinet Minister at all events; and what is the language
of that Reverend Gentleman at Manchester ?—" War
--war to the knife."—( Loud cheers.) " They tell you that
we are ministers of peace. Where do you find that, I ask you?
Not in the Scriptures, that I know of —there is nothing like it
in the Bible." Now look—l-hind what a clergyman says—the
Clergy ministers of peace—there is nothing like that in the
Bible. That is not my language, but the language of the Rev.
Mr. APNeil. "We are Ambassadors of Christ." And here
the Learned Sergeant probably would make an allusion to Lord
Howard de Walden.—(Cries of " Oh, oh !") " And what said
Christ? Do you think I cams on earth to bring peace ?—no,
but the sword. It is so that we have peace within, but our
ministration is not peace, but the sword. What peace can
you expect while the woman Jezebel lives 2—(Loud cheers.)
That was the language of one of your moderate supporters—
that is the language of the man upon whom the Noble Lord
has thought proper to pass that high eulogium.
I know per-
fectly many people have said that in that passage
the "Queen was pointed hate said
the woman Jezebel. Mind
you I don't say so, but when I read I did think
50..--( Hear, hear.). I do not say so now, because• the Rev.
Gentleman has since said that he
did not ,mearthe Queen,
but if he did not moan the Queen what did he say his meaning

was?—( Loud cheers.) He said he meant the religion of the
great majority of the Christian world.—(Cheers.) I do care
for the insult to the Queen, if it was so.—(Cheers:) Am I
not allowed to put an hypothetical case respecting the
opinions and sayings of such a man ?—( Cheers.) If it was not
the Queen he meant, then it was the religion in which I be-
lieve.--( Loud cheers.) There is no escaping from the dilemma
—it is either the Queen or the religion of the great majority of
the people of Ireland. Yet the Irish people are still tranquil.
Would you, the people of England, be tranquil, if the Popish
priest were to get into the pulpit and launch forth such foul
assertions?—(Cheers.) Yet it may be said that this is but
a single person ; but who, let me ask, invited him, and the
equally celebrated M'Ghee to Sheffield, to calumniate the
Irish people ? The Lord Wharneliffe, who I will not accuse
of fanaticism ; knowing the man, and that he gave the invita-
tion, I leave the House to draw its own conclusion.—( Cheers. )
These are'your instruments,—with them you prepare the way
for governing Ireland. I have been taunted more than once,
and sentence of death has been pronounced against me by the
Learned Sergeant opposite, and that with a countenance that
was truculent enough, even for the finisher of the law.—
(Loud laughter.) Now, I want to know what has been
preached on this subject. Has there been no treason against
the Queen? lam now about to read the speech of a Member
of this House ; but let me, before I do that, cell your
attention to sermons Frank Hewson delivered on the sth of
November, in which a parallel is instituted between the Queen
and James 11. He says "we see a striking resemblance to the
dispensing power whirls James 11. assumed, now pursued by
the Government in not enforcing the laws against Popery.
We see a striking resemblance to the foreign influence which
James was under in the present position of affairs at Court, in
the crowd of followers who infest the palace of our Queen, and
fill her mind with Popish and un-English sentiments." I will
not trouble the House with the whole, but I beg to call
your particular attention to the last paragraph. He
says, at the present time, " lastly, there is a striking
resemblance to the supposed birth of a Prince of Wales in the
times of James 11., and the supposed marriage of our Queen or
a German Prince, whose family are all Papists. When an heir
was born to James, the hope of England fell to the ground in the
prospect of a nominal Protestant. Is the prospect any better
now ?—(Cheers. ) James 11. lost his throne,•and deserved
to lose it. Is the Queen also to lose it---for what? I now
come, Sir, to the celebrated speech delivered at Canterbury.—
(Loud cheers.) I have to say, Sir, that the person
whose name appears at the head of this speech has
denied that he at all alluded to the Queen, but
that he alluded entirely to the Ministry.—(Hear.) Let
those who know him best believe him most.—( Cheers.) He
says, " Her Majesty's Ministers have recognised." The
speaker is alluding " to the fearful growth of Popery, allied as
it is with Atheism, Infidelity, and the Voluntary, or Anything-
arian principle." " Her Majesty's Ministers have recognised
this medley as their rule of faith, as exemplified in their pre-
cious scheme of education without religion, and I grieve to say
that her Majesty herself has shown too much countenance to
the enemies of the Protestant Church. Brought up under the
auspices of the Citieen King of the Belgians—the serf of
France, and guided by his influence, the Queen thinks
that if the Monarchy lasts her time it is enough."
Meaning by inuendo her Majesty.—( Hear, hear.) "But the
people of England will never consent that the Crown should
be degraded and debased for the inglorious ease of any created
being—( Tremendous cheers)—nor that the personal wishes"
—this is the Ministry still, take notice—( Langhter)—" and
caprices of the Sovereign" all the Ministry (Renewed
laughter)—" shall direct the conduct of the executive.—( Re-
newed cheering.) The monarchy has rights, but it has also
duties. The people of this country will not be trampled on
by Pope or Sovereign"—still meaning Ministers—" still less
will they endure that a petty German Prince should hold the
fair realm of England in fee-farm.—(Laughter.) We have
not forgotten the forced abdication of the second James"—how
the preacher and the speaker agree—(Cheers)—and that's the
Ministry still I suppose,—" nor are we ignorant that the title
to the throne of these realms is that derived from aProtestant
Princess. No man can regret more than Ido the growing un-
popularity of the Queen"—that's the Ministers !—( Laughter. )
I implore the House to permit me to read a passage or two
more:—" The Courts of former Sovereigns have been as fri-
volous, more vicious even, than the present, but the Govern-
ment of the country, and the direction of public affairs, has been
carried on by statesmen of known and recognised ability, ho-
nour, and independence._..( Cheers.) Men who were neither the
boon companions of the Sovereign nor the willing slaves of his
follies and caprices.—(Loud cheers.) I believe in my conscience
that the favourite Equerries are younger, better looking, and
better dressed men than Sir R. Pees."—( Great laughter. )
" That Lord Melbourne can tell a tale meet for a lady's ear
far better than the Duke of Wellington, and that neither Lord
Stanley nor Sir James Graham can compete with my Lord
Normanby in the getting up of a pageant."—( Renewed
laughter.) I suppose every loyal man in the House wishes -to
have the Queen spoken to in that manner.—(Loud cheers.)
Is there a gallant officer among you that does not feel indignant
that such language should be uttered or tolerated?—
( Cheers.) Is there a really loyal man among you that must
not deplore that ribaldry ?—(Cheers.) How many insinuations
are there? Would you permit your sister—l beg pardon, Ido
not mean to offend you—to be spoken of in that way ?
(Cheers.) Then, he says, " Look at the appointments that
these men and women have lately made. There is not
one of them which is not a direct insult to the nation.
See the Irish Papists preferred to place, to favour. and to
patronage"---this is one of your votes to-night.—( Cheers.)
" I shall take care, in thus referring to them, to contrast the
solemn oath sworn by her Majesty at the Coronation with her
subsequent acquiescence in these acts." Every thing that is
bad was said. " This oath is the compact made between the
Sovereign and the people—its obligations are mutual.—( Hear. )
I will now read it to you, and be ye judges whether or no they
have been truly fulfilled. Here are the late appointments of.
Papist Councillors. I take them together, and thus I
east them from me with disgust and indignation." How
the Catholics will be pleased—there is your supporter
—have you rejected him ?—(Cheers.) Well, then, he speaks
of the Ministry ; with the exception of one passage, the rest
certainly does relate to the Ministry, as a man of con-
science.—(Laughter on the Opposition benches ) I am
bound to say so. But is there a man among you who would
stand up and say the former charges did not apply directly to
the Queen ?—(Cheers. ) He says—" But his Ministry—his
sheet anchor is the body of Irish Papists and Rapparees, whom
the priests return to the House of Commons. These are the
men who represent the bigoted savages, hardly more civilized
than the natives of New Zealand." Is he a repealer
I want to know ?—(Hear)—" but animated with a fierce
undying hatred of England. I repeat, then, deliberately, that
the Papists of Ireland—priest and lsyman, peer and peasant,
are alike our enemies—aliens as they are in blood, language,
and religion."—( Hear, hear.) I believe that is a quotation
from a much greater man, the leader of the party whom you
told us made us weak in the House of Lords, and made you power-
ful.—( Hear.) " Yet on these men are bestowed"—again
we come to the Queen—" the countenance and sup-
port of the Queen of Protestant England, but,
alas, her Majesty is Queen only of a faction—( Hear)—
and is as much a partisan as the Lord Chancellor himself."
That means the Ministers.—(Loud cheers.) " But shall we
quail at this impending danger, and meanly submit without a
struggle ?—( Hear, hear.) No ; we will present the same bold
front as did our fathers of old, and God defend the right." The
right between him and the Queen.—(Cheers.) "We will
resist, to the death ill government and unjustly-usurped au-
thority." He says, " Petitions to the Crown are idle mockery.
We will no longer submit to be governed by a profligate Court.
It is in your hand, my friends—it is in the hands of the people
of England that her destinies are placed, for good or for evil."
The Learned Sergeant (lid not tell us of high treason in that
speech.—(Cheers.) The Learned Sergeant was silent upon
it, because it was from one of his own party. It was from one
of those with whom he will probably go arm in arm out of the
lobby to-night. The Hon. Member for Coleraine did not talk
of that speech, but they both talked of my reply to it ; and
I did say that against the Tory dominion of such traitors.
I did say that against such rebels I would and could bring into
the field 500,000 fighting men.—(Cheers.) I repeat it.
have some hereditary title to it, for an ancestor of mine fell
fighting for James IL—(Laughter from the Opposition.) The
lion. Member for Maidstone (Mr. D'lsraeli) uttered some pe-
culiar infelicities the other night—(Laughter)—he talked of
the House of Commons having in the reign of Charles the
First ordered a Quaker to their bar, and having his tongue cut
out. Now he was out in history. It happened five years after
Charles the First was in his grave—( A laugh)—under the
House of Commons chosen by Cromwell, with the dictation of
a tile of grenadiers. But that was the result of fanaticism—
fanatical missionaries were sent then, as now, about the
country. 'f hey did not scruple to speak of " Jezebel"
without disguise. And do you not think the same melts might
flow fion miller fanaticism? I have been speaking of what ap-
peared in the daily press ; but it seems it has all been collected
into a volume, under the title of " The Spirit of the Metropolitan
Conservative Press"—and in the pompous list of subscribers I
see the names of Sir R. Peel—(Cheers)—Recorder Shaw, and
J. Bradshaw, Esq., M.P.—(Cheers)—dedicated to Lord Lynd-
hurst—( Loud cheers)--and the motto is, " Serve God—honour
the Queen."—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) lam Counsel for
Ireland here. I plead her cause.—( Cheers.) Your country
is discontented and disaffected—lreland is tranquil. The phy-
sical farce Chartists have illumined the night with burn-
ing of houses, and the destruction of property has
been going on they have led armed men against
the Queen's troops—and Irishmen were among the
sold'ers—( Cheers) and estimable gentlemen have been
threatened with assassination—marked out for murder.—
( Hear, hear.) The, military force has been diminished in
e'and. Now lam taunted with wishing to interfere with the
just exercise of the prerogative, because I am struggling, and
will struggle, against sedition, rebellion, and treason.—
(Laughter from the Opposition, and cheers front the Ministerial
benches.) A speech of mine at Dublin was quoted from—but
not fairly—in this debate. I made an appeal then to the
English Conservatives. I addressed.the Gentlemen of England
who had property inherited from their aneestors.—who lived in
all the luxuries and blessings ',which this world could throw
around them. I said to them, will you send to Ireland a
Ministry who could not govern iv—whose followers would
he helloed on by men like this Bradshaw, who has received the
freedom of the Co, poration of Dublin—(Cheers)—who have
retained Orange Lodges in reality, though in name they are
abolished ?—( Hear.) I continue the appeal now from this spot.
English Gentlemen, we protected you last year, when, if we
had joined with your foes, your insecurity would have been
complete. But do not despair. Let not an eternal civil war
rage between us—oh beware of trusting to govern us by a Tory
Ministry.—( Cheers. ) I appeal to you in this House, I may
appeal in vain. You have been brought here by your leaders
—you have been gathered from n neh to south, from
east to west—you have been brought down here t 3
wake the grind " Waterloo charge," dictated at
Apsley-house, by the conclave to which you were
not admitted. " Up, Guards, and at them !" is the cry. Oh,
in the field of Waterloo were many gallant Irishmen—
(Cheers)—and never did the meteor flag of Britain shine on
victory more proudly than when, in- the red commingling
stream by which the triumph had been gained, there flawed
the blood alike of gallant Irishmen, Englishmen, and Scotch-
men.—(Loud cheers.) I awl said to be a Repealer. tam.
Why? Because I cannot get justice from this House. What
justice do I ask ? Equality with you! I ask no more. Am I
not entitled to it ?—( Cheers. ) And if you will not yield it,
what care I for the Un;on ?—an Act of Parliament ! I assert
my right, as an Irishman, to apply for its repeal whenever I thins
proper—indeed, it has been gravely doubted whether the Iris 1
Parliament had the power of stultifying, of abolishing its
powers, and these were the doubts of no less a person than an
Irish Attorney- General, the present Lord Chancellor of Ire-
land. What shall prevent me from applying for repeal, i fl
cannot obtain justice without. ? Now, there is yet another
feature in the present state of Ireland worthy of notice. It was
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Oh, you know
have shown it
often in matters of contest and strife, They will display it in
the most sublime principles of morality. I present it, Irish
people, before you.—(Cheers.) They have been assailed by ribaldry and aline ; but they bring before you this
Government
as their friends—as the first Ministry that ever rendered them
justice—who were prevented from doing them the full mea.
sure of justice they desired tit do—endeavoured to. administer
the law in justice and mercy. In the name of the Irish people,
I ask you, will you vote against them, with the M‘Neiles, the
M‘Ghees, the 13radshaws ; or will you rote for then:, as in
the name of truth and heaven, I demand ?__(Loud cheers.)
Mr, BRADSHAW could assure the House and the Country
with respect, to any impressions that rested on the minds of
Members wit reference.to any allusions he had ma

the name of the Sovereign, that nothing was further from his
intention than to make any personal allusions. He must, however,
take leave to say that the manner in which the Royal name was
mixed up with the Ministers on every possible occasion, made
it difficult for any one to approach the subject without referring
to it.—( Cries of " Oh.") After what took place in the month
of May last, when the persons who had been summoned
to her :Majesty's Councils had been so unceremoniously,
and in a manner that he believed to be perfectly unconstitu-
tional, and was never known in that country—( Cr ies of " Oh,
oh !" and cheering, which drowned the remainder of the sen-
tence.) He had certainly been very much to blame in bring-
ing for ward her Majesty's name—( He no man regretted
it more.—(Hear, hear.) It had been done in a moment
of excitement—( Hear, hear, and a laugh.) He would not
however submit to have his loyalty questioned, and attacked
in the most violent and unjustifiable manner, as if he had been
a most violent incendiary and agitator, or republican for 30
years of his life. If such had been the case he could not be
attacked in a more outrageous manner. No one was more in-
clined to support the institutions of the country, the cl.gnity
of the Crown, or the honour of her Majesty, and he regretted
most sincerely that that interpretation bad been put upon his
words. He allowed that the words did admit of that inter-
pretation, but he could only say that, he deeply regretted it.—
( Cheers. ) He must say that had it been a King of a mature
age who was sitting on the Throne, he would have been jus-
tified in the circumstances of the country in making these ob-
servations. With respect to what he had said of Ireland he
had read with some attention the report of the House of Lords
last year with respect to the mass of violence and outrage that
had taken place in that country : he thought it fully justified him
in the observations he had made, and of which he would re•
tract nothing.—( Cries of Oh," and cheers. )
Sir ROBERT PEEL then rose and said—Sir, I believe
there is no Gentleman in this House, however tired he may be
of this protracted discussion, how ever anxious he may be to
bring this debate to a close, there is no Gentleman who will not
admit that, considering the nature of the motion, con-
sidering the position in which I stand, I have no
alternative but to trespass upon their indulgence.--.(Hear.)
I am confident moreover, that if I must detail my opinion upon
many points, if I must vindicate myself from some accusations
that have been brought against me, I am confident, consider-
ing the prominent part which I personally have been made to
occupy throughout the discussion, that I shall not be charged
with any undue vanity or egotism, in taking such a course. Two
demands have been made by the opposite side of the House in
this discussion—the one a perfectly just one namely, that he
,
who takes a part in the debate and gives his vote of want of
confidence in the Government, should specify theground on which
that want of confidence is based. The other demand is that those
who, from their position, may be regarded as the probable suc-
cessors to this Government in the event of its dissolution should
state upon what grounds of public policy, they purposed to con-
duct the affairs of the country. The absolute justice of the fit st of
these demands I willingly admit. I feel it incumbent on me to
specify the grounds on wllich I withhold confidence from the
Government. The other demand, that I should explain and
detail my viesre of public policy, is perhaps not equally obliga-
tory on me, but it is a demand which I feel it reasonable
and politic to answer. I have answered every question that
has been put to me on that point, and there shall be no limit
to the fullness and unreservedness of the amount I give—the
exception shall be your indulgence.—(Cheers.) I know too
well the little value that should be placed on that which
arises from misconception of real opinion.—( Hear, hear.)
I have seen too much of magnificent professions out of
office, and meagre performances in office—(Laud cheers)—
I have had too much experience of solemn engagements entered
into for the purposeof overturning a Government, but neglected
when that object was attained.—(Cheers.) I so little de-
sire to benefit by such promises-1 so little desire to procure
a present confidence by concealing opinions or gaining good-
will from that side of the House by liberal professions which
I don't expect to redeem, that I rejoice in the opportunity
afforded me by the demand of a declaration of my opinions. I
rejo.ce in the opportunity of fully and • freely detailing them.—
(Cheers.) But I shall proceed, in the first instance, in
compliance with the demand which calls upon me to specify
the ground on which, with perfect cordiality, I shall join in the
motion of my Hon. Friend, and record my denial of confidence
in the present Government. I withheld my confidence from you
from the results of your public policy. I withhold my confi-
dence from you upon your own confession of incompetency. I
withhold my confidence from you, on the testimony of your
most valued friends. I withhold my confidence from you, on
the condition of your Government, and on the public princi-
ples which you are now forced to avow, in order to maintain
its existence.—(Loud cheers.) I said I withheld my confi-
dence from you, from the results of your policy. I compare it
not with any former period. I compare it with those results
of Conservative policy. I compare it not with the results of
which you must be proud, if you have any recollection of the
events in which you took a share, and if you have any respect
for the character of him by whosecounsels you accomplished them.
In 1834, the man under whose guidance you had effected the
Reform Bill retired from office, and this was the account which
Lord Grey gave in retiring from office, of the condition in which
he left the State. I compare then the state of the country, on
the testimony of Lord Grey, in the year 1834, with the results
of your policy, and the state in which I find the country on the
day on which I am about to record my denial of confidence in
your Government. Lord Grey said, on the 9th of July, 1834,
with respect to the actual state of the country then—and :now
mark the contrast in every particular —" With respect to the
internal state of the country we leave trade in a sound and
healthy condition. Our manufacturers are generally employed,
public credit is improved, the revenue is greatly increased, and
all our interests are in a better condition, with one single excep-
tion —the depreciation of agriculture—a depreciation less affect-
ing labourers than the landlords from the reduction of rents.
Political and trades' unions have been repressed. We have
asserted the power of the law, as it stood, for their suppres-
sion, and by administering it with a firm hand, the result has
been complete success." That was the testimony borne by
Lord Grey to the results of the administration of the Govern-
ment, when Lord Grey, when my Noble Friend the Member
for Lancashire, and my Right Hon. Friend the Member for
Cumberland took a part in it.—(Loud cheers.) You held un-
limited control, except for a period of four months, since then.
I call upon you now to render an account of your stewardship,
and tell me whose fault it is that this country presents such a
contrast to that which it then did?—( Loud cheering.)
You tell me that you have effected great public measures,
that reform has been progressing, that no obstruction has
been sufficient to control the steady march of your progress and
improvement. How cemes it, then, that in the year 1840
trade should be in an unsound and unhealthy state—that pub-
lic credit, instead of being improved, has deterior-
ated, and that for months public security has been
at a discount ? Agriculture, indeed, has improved,
and perhaps you will take credit to yourselves for
that improvement, and consider that it is to your manly
and consistent course on the Corn-laws that it is owing.—( Op-
position cheers.) But how happens it, if Government has
succeeded in extinguishing discontent, and, by a firm admi.
nistration of the laws, has suppressed the disorder—if its efforts
have been attended with complete success—if, you have been
able, by a course of useful reform to go to an
extent which no other Government went or could
have anticipated—to what is it owing that this country
is LOW convulsed by popular disorder, and that the spirit of in-
subordination and rebellion, and insurrection, rears its head ?
What has been the tendency of Government with respect to
its constitution, and what are the principles you profess to have
held? A Noble Lord, who spoke from the benches opposite,
the Member for Northumberland, said, that he had observed,
from month to month, the supporters of Government dis-
appear.—(Hear, hear.) Will the Noble Lord observe
the tendency of those same opinions with respect
to the members of Government ? How happens it that every
man who has attempted to assert the authority of the law—who
has ranged himself on the side of those who adhere to the
ancient institutions of the country, as they were according to
you at the period of the Reform Bill—how happens it that
every man, with one splendid exception I admit, that of the
Noble Lord—how happens it that every man conspicuous for his
talents, or possessing any great claims on the country from
his experience of public affairs—how happens it that they have
been driven, step by step, from the Government? Since the
beginning of 1839 the following Members of the Government
have retired from it—Lord Grey, Lord Stanley, Sir James
Graham, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Ripon, Lord
Brougham—( A laugh)—Sir Charles Grant, Mr. Spring Rice,
and Lord Howick, who is the last. Step by step these men
for some reason or another, have been gradually expelled from
among you. They have been expelled because it was found
necessary to make sacrifices of them in order to conciliate the
party with whom you are allied —(Cheerr. ) The last instance
is that of the Noble Lord, the Member for Northumberland.
That Noble Lord has left you because lie distrusted the prin-
ciples on which you now act, and because he foresees the in-
evitable consequences of yOur continuance in office. And yet
the Noble Lord has read us a lecture on the divisions of our
party. On what grounds did he relinquish his connection with
the Government? You who are prepared to-night to vote
your confidence in Ministers, on what grounds do you dissever
your connection with them? You left Government on public
principles—it was no personal mortification or disappoint-
ment—you took little interest in office—you had too high
an ambition—you left it on considerations of public prin-
ciple. Are you now entitled to censure us for with-
drawing our confidence from that Government, and from
recording our public convictions? How strong must have
been the motives which could justify your retirement ? The
Government was at the tithe in great difficulties—you had re-
turned last year to office, in order to protect, according to
your views, the rights of her Majesty. You thought that an
unjust and ungenerous attempt had been made to dictate to
her in the appointment of her household. I differed from
you, and I thought it would have been humiliating and uncon-
stitutional in me to have submitted on that occasion.—(Hear,
hear.) I adhere to that opinion, but you entertain a different
one. How strong, then, must have been your convic..
tion of the danger to which the present Government
was exposing the country, when at such a time and under such
circumstances yen withdrew from them your aid. You had
every tie of private esteem and personal friendship for those
men—we had none; we had always opposed—you had always
supported them. What strong considerations must have in-

fluenced yeu when the existence of the Ministry was in peril
—how convinced were you of the danger of the course they
were pursuing, and of the views they entertained, when you and
another gentleman with you could break your communication
with them, and retire from the service of the country ?
You retired at a time when, as far as the public is aware, a
proposal was made to place an Hon. Gentleman opposite, the
present President of the Board of Trade, in office, and when
you certainly were not aware that the Right Hon. Gentleman
professed any opinions which could form a great contrast with
those of his colleagues, and wkich could alarm you as to the
consequences of them. Will the Noble Lord allow me to ask
him whether subsequent appointments had tended to conciliate
him? The Right Hon. Member for Edinburgh, the Secretary
at War, had not been appointed when the Noble
Lord had withdrawn his confidence from the Govern-
ment. That appointment had since taken place. And I ask
the Noble Lord, whether the lecture we heard on the first
night of the debate on political differences has tended much to
conciliate his conduct towards the Ministry ?—(Opposition
cheers) I now say that I have the evidence of one of your
colleagues,one of your own friends, of one who entertains for
you both persoaal regard and private esteem. I have his evi-
dence, that he thinks you unworthy of public confidence, at
least, that he thinks you so unworthy of it, that he cannot con-
sent to commit his fortunes with yours. I shall even say that in
your own testimony I can prove that you are incompetent to
discharge the duties of a Government, and that you have not
that degree of public confidence which could enable you to
administer the affairs of the country. I shall redietn the
pledge. On what grounds did you retire from office after
having carried the sec.ind reading of the Jamaica Bill? You
had a majority of five on that occasion—you thought it unbe-
coming to persevere with the measure—you wished to with-
draw it ; I presume it was not the increased difficulties Of the
country which deterred you. I presume it was a belief that
the vote on the Jamaica Rill proved that you had not sufficiently
the confidence of this House to enable pin to administer
our affairs.—( Hear, hear, hear.) In a debate of the 7th
.
of May, when you declared the grounds of your withdrawal
from office, the Noble Lord the Member for Stroud, the leader
of the House of Commons, gave this explanation for the course
he was pursuing. .He said, it seems to me there is no option
but to g{v,e up the Bill. It is then a question whether, having
introduced a Bill of that importance, leaving the affairs of
Jamaica, of the West Indies, and of our colonies in general in
a state of neglect, with all those interests at stake, we can-
not now retain office by any contumacy of our party."
We not only gave a vote, but passed the Bill. You said the
Canada
Dill
was
pending_,. We cannot calculate on that sup-
port necessary for settling the affairs of Canada • therefore,
not having sufficient confidence and support, shall be ha-
zarding the state of the country. We must come to a dissolu-