The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-16 00:00:00

denounced as faithless among the faithful. At the
present moment the landed interest had no
quarter to which to look for receiving a due attention to
their interests, while questions seriously affecting
there were about to be brought forward questions upon
which they would feel deeply ; there was the Law of
Settlement Bill, the Highway Rates Bill, the Turnpike
Trusts, and other Bills affecting the question of local
taxation. He begged leave to tell his Noble Friend that
if his Administration was to last, it must be by its mea-
sures ; that it would last, and that the defect in his
Ministry to which he had alluded, he was sorry to say
was one of such a nature as to prevent him giving it
that degree of confidence which he would otherwise
have been happy to afford.
Colonel WOOD thought that the Hon. Member who
last addressed the House should have allowed the Noble
Lord to state the course which he intended to pursue
before he had attempted to find fault with his Ministry.
He thought that his Hon. Friend was somewhat mis-
taken iu the view he had taken of the division of the
Poor-law Removal Bill. The question of settlement
was one which was not proposed by the Right
Hon. Baronet at the head of the late administration,
when he first announced the measure. It was a Bill
merely to prevent the removal of paupers. The
clause affecting the settlement of the poor
was introduced afterwards by the Honourable Member
for Maldon (Mr. E. Denison) himself.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said that he took the liberty a
few evenings ago to put a question to the Noble Lord as
to the principles upon which the Government was to be
conducted. That question had excited irritation in the
Noble Lord's mind, but it was a question which the
country would require to have answered. Let them
look at the state of the House at present. Nobody
knew where to sit.—(Laughter.) Sitting on the
same side with the Noble Lord were those who had
hitherto been his bitterest enemies. The reason of this
was, as he understood, that they had been informed that
none but the extremes would be dissatisfied. Now this
required explanation. Every Prime Minister in coming,
into office had stated the principles on which he intended
to act. The Noble Lord had said that he should conduct
the Government on the principles which he had hitherto
adopted. Now, who could put a right construction upon
that ? Nobody knew what it meant. To what period
of his life did the Noble Lord allude ? Had he said, I
shall act on the principles of Lord Grey's Government,
he (Mr. Duncombe) would have understood him. Then
there was another question. Had not the Noble Lord
applied to Sir Robert Peel to lend him three distin-
guished members of the late Government ?—(A laugh.)
Now he (Mr. Duncombe) wished to krow if such ap-
plication had been made. If the Noble Lord were to
go to Guildhall now his reception would not be so
gratifying as it was a few days ago.—(Disappro-
bation.) Why, let the Noble Lord try it.—(Laughter.)
He (Mr. Duncombe) had seen some of the Noble Lord's
constituents that morning, hnd one of them said he was
afraid they were going to have the old Whig dodge again.
He read at the time a statement made in a paper called
the Weekly Chronicle, which was composed with great
ability, as everything which proceeded from the pen of
his Hon. Friend the St cretary of the Admiralty, was
written with great ability.—(Loud laughter.) He read
that ten days ago. It stated that there could be nothing
more absurd than the rumours which had been
circulated, and were hourly circulated about the
new Ministry. Every hour had its lie, and every
lie its believer. That was one of their crotchets. They
could comprehend the crotchet of a Peel mania, a Sid-
ney Herbert mania, and a Lord Granville Somerset
mania. If there was to be a fusion of parties to make a
Government, let them have Sir R. Peel and Sir J. Gra-
ham, and they would then have something for their money.
—(Laughter.) The Sun also had its rumours. The
Sun says, " We eannot conceive a system of Irish ge-
vernment, in which Lord Lincoln is the confidential agent."
They heard this as an absurd rumour in which there
was not a word of truth. The Times also be-
comes the confidential organ of the Government.
Would any man in that House say that they were not
entitled to an explanation ? The country whose desti-
nies the Government was about to direct were also en-
titled to some explanation from them—(Hear, hear)—
and he therefore did expect that the Noble Lord
would have been anxious to hare stated the principles
on which he intended to conduct the Government.
He (Mr. Duncombe) wanted to know what were the in-
tentions of the Government. The Noble Lord had re-
moved part of the difficulty, because he had told the
House that he meant to conduct his Government upon
the principles that he had always advocated, and
the opinions he had always expressed. Well, then,
he (Mr. Duncombe) also wanted to know what were the
intentions of the Noble Lord with regard to the Irish
Church?—(Hear, hear.) What were the opinions of
the Noble Lord with respect to the Irish Church last
year. His (Mr. Duncombe's) Honourable Friend
the Member for Sheffield (Mr. Ward), moved
upon the discussion of the Maynooth Bill,
" That it is the opinion of this House that any provi-
sions to be made for that purpose by the present Bill
ought to be taken from the funds already applicable
to ecclesiastical purposes in Ireland." Now the
Noble Lord supported and voted for that motion.
Well, then, he wished to know whether that was to be
the principle upon which the Government was to be di-
rected on that subject ?—(Hear, hear.) Let the House
know what was the Governments intention. The
Noble Gentleman opposite, of the country party, who
had a dinner the other day at Greenwich,
(Great laughter)—declared, amidst cheers which shook
the House in which they met to its foundations, that
their principles were the same in 1846 as they were in
1841.—(Great cheering from the Protectionists.) But
he should like to know what were their principles in
1841.—k Laughter, and cheers.) Did they not in 1841
come to a resolution that the Goveanment of that time
had no confidence in that House, and that her Majesty
should be prayed to appoint a new.Ministry?—(Hear,
hear, and cheers.) And yet, were they not now support-
ing that very Government in whom they, in 1841,
declared they had no confidence.—(Cries of " No, no,"
from the Protectionists.) They did support them, or
why did they sit on the same benches. (Hear,
hear, and cheers.)