The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-03 00:00:00

MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE rose to acquaint
their Lordships, before he moved the adjournment of the
House, that her Majesty having duly reflected upon the
state:of affairs, and having witnessed the failure of three
several attempts to form an Administration, had
called upon those Ministers who had recently ad-
ministered the affairs of the country to resume their
offices, and to endeavour to carry on the Government of
the country. That step on the part of her Ma-
jesty had not been taken without due con-
sideration, and he had the authority of her Majesty
to ,state that, during the interval which bad
elapsed since he had last had the honour of address-
ing their Lordships, her Majesty had had recourse to the
opinion of the Noble and illustrious Duke the most illus-
trious member of their Lordships' House, who was now
sitting at the table, and that it was on the advice of
that Noble and illustrious Duke that her Majesty had
taken this step. Under these circumstances those who
had of late been Ministers of the Crown felt that they
had no alternative but to take the steps necessary
to carry into effect the desires of her Majesty.
He would add, for himself, that no person
could lament more deeply than he did
the existence of such differences of opinion as must
have made it obvious to their Lordships that it was im-
possible at present to construct a strong Administration.
—(Hear, heir, from Lord Brougham.) For himself,
whether in office or out of office, he should desire to see
the construction of a firm and durable Administration.
PAPAL AGGRESSION.

The Duko of ARGYLE, in presenting a petition from
Glasgow, on the subject of Papal aggression, declared
that, in the event of such au aggression taking place in
Scotland, the difficulty would be not to excite but to
restrain popular indignation. He could not agree that
the Papal power was a dead power, but a living and an
aggressive power; and he rejoiced to find that it had
been impossible to form an Administration on the basis
of passing over the aggression unnoticed. He supported
the measure of the Government.

Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the
Roman Catholic inhabitants of Cork, against the Go-
vernment Bill for repressing Papal aggression.
This petition characterised the Government mea-
sure as tyrannical, in that he could not
agree, neither could he agree in the other
terms in which the petitioners characterized that Bill,
but, considering the present state of agitation, he be-
sought their Lordships and the Government not to le-
gislate at present on the subject, bat to content them-
selves with resolu;ions of both Houses of Parliament, in
order to afford an opportunity for the present heats to
subside.

The Marquis of BREADALBANE presented several
petitions against the Papal aggression, and could
assure their Lordships that the people of Scotland
would have tolerated no such aggression. He thought
that a more complete icquiry ought to take place into
this subject before legislation, so as to ascertain pre-
cisely the powers which the person lately arrived in this
country—who was at the same time time a British subject
and a foreign Prince—claimed to exercise. He considered
that the existence of nunneries was incompatible with
civil liberty— they should introduce some measure to
make the law of this country paramount over the civil
and every other law.
Lord BROUGHAM explained.
The Earl of ABERDEEN had been misappre-
hended by the Noble Duke. He bad not recom-
mended this aggression to be passed over in si-
ence ; on the contrary, he had said that he thought
it might engage the attention of Government and of Par-
liament, and he was of opinion with his Noble and Learned
Friend that the proper way of proceeding would be
by resolution of both Houses, carried to the foot of the
Throne. The measure proposed by the Government was
a penal measure—persecution was different at different
times. Cranmer, when he ordered persons to be burned,
for denying the supremacy did not think he was perse-
cuting, neither did Calvin when he burned Ser-
vetus, neither did the Duke of Alva think he
was persecuting, be thought he was saving
people's souls. But anything that imposed
penalty for religious opinions might:be called persecu-
tion, although it was not a measure of severity, and if it
were, as he contended it was, a lawful right of the Ro-
man Catholic Church in this country to constitute its
episcopal government, anything that interfered with that
right was persecution.