The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-28 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS
EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, EIGHT O'CLOCK.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Six O'CLOCK.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL entered the House of Com-
mons at half-past four o'clock. As he walked up the
lobby he was the object of much attention. He
held in his left hand an official box, and led by his
right a child in a Scotch cap and dress, one of his own
children, whom he took into the House with him.
He took his seat in his usual place,
and rose to a crowded House and over-crowded gal-
lery at ten minutes past five. He explained all the
circumstances of the last week, which will be found
in our Parliamentary report, and announced that no
final arrangements would be made till the Duke of
WELLINGTON had been consulted. A long debate
seems probable.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
(THIS EVENING.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool-
sack at Five o'clock.
NEW PEER.
Lord BROUGHTON (late Sir J. C. Hubbonse) took the
oaths and his seat.
COUNTY COURTS EXTENSION BILL
Lord BROUGHAM. presented several petitions in
favour of this Bill.
NEW VICE•CHANCELLORS BILL.
On the motion of Lord LANGDALE this Bill was
read a third time and passed.
MINISTERIAL EXPLANATIONS.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE then rose to explain
- the state of the Ministerial crisis. On Monday last he
• bad had occasion to address their Lordships, and to ask
them to give time for the reconstruction of a Ministry,
he had hoped for the la-st time. He had stated on that
occasion that Lord John Russell was engaged in the re-
construction of the Government, and he had hoped
that the crisis would have been passed by this day.
Lord John Russell had entered into negotiations
with a Noble Earl opposite, and with Sir James
(graham. The negotiation had failed ; and then
her Majesty had applied to the Noble Earl op-
posite, who had declined to form an Administration.
The attempts at the reconstruction had failed, not in con-
sequence of any personal difference between the
parties engaged in the negotiations, but from honest
and honourable difference in principle. Those attempts
baying failed, her Majesty applied to the Noble Earl op-
positet to form an Administration, which
s. he
declined. Her Majesty then applied to the
Noble Lord (Stanley), and yesterday afternoon
the Noble Lord informed her Majesty of his
inability to form an Administration. Her Majesty had
then consulted him (the Marquis of Lansdowne) as to
what course it would be proper to pursue in a state of
things so novel and unprecedented, and this morning her
Majesty had sent for a Noble and Illustrious Duke,
who was not now in the House, in order to obtain his
advice and opinion on the present important and delicate
state of affairs. He would not sit down without stating that
it was most consolatory in the present state of affairs to
know that the difficulties and differences which had pre-
vented these negotiations from succeeding, had been
• differences and difficulties not of any personal nature, but
were the natural results of honest differences of opinion.
All public men were called on to make great sacrifices
of personal ease and comfort for the sake of their coun-
try, but they would not be called upon to make
sacrifices of principle, and no persons would
be justified is making a prolonged attemft
under any circumstances to carry on the affairs of the
. country without securing that degree of support which
was necessary to all Governments. Any such attempt
. must end in danger to the safety of the Crown
and of the country.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.)
The Earl of ABERDEEN felt called upon, after the
statement of the Noble Marquis, to explain to your Lord-
ships what had been the course of conduct which he had
pursuced in these negotiations. Her Majesty had sent
for him on Saturday, and he had expressed his
willingness to co-operate in the reconstruction of the
Government. He had met Sir James Graham and Lord
John Russell, and after mutual explanations Lord
John Russell had laid before them the
basis on which he proposed to reconstruct
the Government, and had explained to them the
several measures which he intended to propose. What
those measures were ho would then explain, because,
after consideration, he believed that himself, and hi,
Right Honourable Friend, would have been enabled to
accede to all of them with certain modifications.
except one. Their differences with Lord John Russell
arose exclusively on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill,
and both his Bight Honourable Friend and him-
self felt an invincible repugnance to adopt any measure
of penal legislation towards the Roman Catholic subjects
of this country. To any legislation of that kind they
were opposed. It was at all times exceedinly difficult by
legislation to give a criminal character to acts which were
indifferent in themselves, and it was more especially so
when those acts assumed the appearnce of the perform-
ance of a religious duty. No doubt the Noble Lerd had
proposed certain modifications, but all legislation tit
such a nature must be necessarily inefficient. For 200
years they had tried, by persecution, to limit the numbers
of the Roman Cathodes and the only effict had been to
increase them. Bat while deprecating legislation on the
subject, be had been not the less sensible to the
arrogant assumption of the Pontiff and of the Cardinal;
but he did not think that afforded grounds for any Le-
gislative interference with the religious liberties of our
Roman Catholic fellow-subj, co. His Right Hon. Friend
Sir James Graham, with whom he had had no previous
communication, entirely agreed with him, and therefore
they had declined to join Lord John Russell in
the reconstruction of the Ministry. Her Majesty
had then requested him (the Earl of Aberdeen)
to undertake the formation of an Administration; but
when he considered that the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill
was before the other House of Parliament, and had been
approved of by a very large majority, and that it would
most likely also meet with the approbation of a majority
of their Lordships; he felt that he must decline the task
which her Majesty had been graciously pleased to im-
pose upon him, but to which Le had never felt himself
equal.—(Cheers.)
Lord STANLEY felt that the time was now
come when it was his duty to explain to their
Lordships the part which ho had taken in the recent
transactions.—(Hear, hoar.) On Saturday last her
Majesty had sent for talc, and had explained to him the
causes of the resignation cf the late Ministry, and as
they-had been explained iu that House by the Noble
Merquie, and in the other Ilcu3e by Lord John Russell.
He must express his conviction that those were not the
only, if not the chief causes of the difficulty. The mea-
sure to suppress the Popish aggression, he believed,
had much to do with the resolution come
to by her Majesty's Goverment, that they
could not carry on the Government of the country.
That difficulty was also aggravated by the anticipated
failure of the Budget of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and the small majority of 14 in the House of Comanons,
against which a Government could not well proceed
with their measures. In that division many
of their own supporters voted against them. Ou
Mr. King's motion fur an extensive alteration of the
Reform Bill the Government were defeated by 100 to
54,votes, and of those 54 votes 17 were by members of
the Protectionist body, 27 by official members of the
thivernment, leaving only 10 independent members who
voted in their favour. He communicated these facts to her
Majesty, but he distinctly stag d that he would not take
- office on any other condition than that he should endeavour
in a bond fide manner to give effect to his conviction of the
necessity of giving legislative relief to the agricultural
interest. His Lordship then stated that he bad
also informed her Mak sty of the peculiar state of
parties iu the House of Commons. After alluding to
the three great ies into which the House was di
d
Tided, he said p irt
it might almost. be said there' was a fourth
party, viz., the Roman Catholic Irish party. He
suggested the practicability of forming such a Govern-
ment as would be able to
conduct the affairs of the
country. His Lordahi
next adverted to the correctness
of Lord J. RniselV statementeon Monday, that he had
adandoned his
intention of fedrming a Government,
observing that though he did
not wish to impute
any deliberate misrepresentation to his Lordship, his
statement was . not literally correct.
Hethe. substancefromwhich then read the
minute which he had prepared of
interview with her Majesty, f
appeared
that he had only consented to takesAi
event of a reconstruction of the present Administration
illthe
not being accomplished. He hoped the Reuse would
acquit him of any undue haste to
grasp at office, and
also give him credit for not shrinking from that r
the difficulty in which the Queen was re-
espen..
sibidty, seeing
duced,of tendering the best services he could, even though
at the risk of his own personal honour and reputation.
• The Noble Lord then detailed the nature of his interviews
with his colleagues, and said, that many from one reason
or another, declined to join as members of a new Admi-
nistration. Mr. Gladstone, a hose services he thought
it advisable to secure, found he could net give him his
adhesion, and under these circumstances a meeting was
held at hie residence last evening, and an unanimous
conclusion was arrived at that it would nut be possible
form
a Government with any probability of
NT;; SPAParrying on the Government for any length of
-- . .e, and h
•.. 4 r , e felt it consistent with his duty
4 . •mg to communicate the result to her Majesty
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