The Sun.
London, England, 1834-04-24 00:00:00

CALL OF THE HOUSE.

Several Hon. Members, who were absent last evening,
to their names at the call of the house this

evening.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY.

Mr. GOULI4UktI\---Sa; that as he was prevented
from presenting a second petition from Cambridge that
day, he should do so on Friday next.

ADJOURNED DEBATE

Mr. Spring Rice entered the house at this moment (a
quarter to six), and was received with loud cheers.
On the motion that the adjourned debate be resumed,
Mr. SPRING RICE said that he was aware
of the great responsibility he had taken upon himself
in casting himself upon a question of such importance as
the one now before the house ; but, at the same time, it
was a responsibility he courted more than shrunk
from (Hear, hear), because he considered it his
duty to go through it ; and he would even rejoice in a
failure, should such be the result of his attempt. The
question before the house was one which, he knew, could
receive a direct negative; and he had to express his regret
—his regret merely, for he did not complain, but he had
to regret that the hon. and learned gentleman who brought
the
continued question
e
he
ebeforers. 3 them he
(ou:Ns
le
rw. ass
S.
not
Rice)present.
1i i
reason
Loud and
an
be-
lieve, because he had a communication to that Llreeto that
indisposition was the cause of the hon. member's absi,m9
and he did not complain of it, but he referred to it, in or;
der that whatever should fall from him in the question be-
fore the house, should not be considered as an observation
which he would not make were the hon. gentleman
present. That was his only object in alluding to the ab-
sence of the hon. gentleman ; for whatever weight or
authority might be attached to the hon. gentleman, any
individual in that house who bore a part of that discussion
was to be considered as sharing in the importance that the
consideration of such a question involved, a question
which was identified with the best interests of the state.
He had said, or was about to say, that the question was one
which should not be met with a direct negative. It would
not satisfy him—he trusted it would not satisfy the house nor
the country, to put a mere negative on a motion for a corn.;
mittee of that sort. (Hear, hear.) If the matter rested
merely within the walls of that house, such proceeding
might be satisfactory, but on an occasion in which'.
the stability of the empire was involved, those who
were interested in the welfare of that empire should do
more than put a mere negative upon it. (Loud cries of
" Hear, hear.") It seemed, indeed, to have teen origiz
nally the object of the honourable and learnectinem:
ber to have brought the question to a fair istii,C.,'
for he first raised the question of its expediency. If tit,:
hon. and learned member thought it expedient to vary the
day upon which he intended to bring it forward, it was
perfectly open for him to have fixed the discussion of the
question upon its own merits. He did not do so. ( Hear.) He
substituted another proposition, and therefore most fortu-
nately he (Mr. S. Rice) was entitled to say that from that
first question the hon. and learned member had thought it
either his duty or his policy to shrink. He thought that the
hon. member had candidly afforded that house acommentary
on the merits of the motion by the substitution of one for an-
other ; because, in a written document which he had given
to the world, he had stated that, by reason of the alteration
in the terms of his notice, he hoped to have a better divi-
sion. He (Mr. Spring Rice) trusted that even among
the hon. members of that house, who were not long versed
in the signs of parliamentary tactics, no iiinnmdsievlitclauttaltoolbwicocaoutulsitid:
dbv
oue
te foundeesd. b y I sts oo
i,,, weakNuullgda or blindrporodr
un,coerna s n
oto
out
ea lffal
effect
c't st,
subterfugehimself
and it was with respect to its effect in Ireland
that he would wish to allude to it. (Hear.) At the
outset he denied there was any difference in the
subject of the motion. Gentlemen here, who represented
counties and cities in England, were just as much
charged with the protection of Irish interests and Irish
rights as if they had Irish constituents (Hear, hear), and
Irish members on the other hand knew full well (and
they acted on that notion) that there was no question of
English policy brought before Parliament in which they
had not the same full, free, and unrestrained right of deli-
beration and discussion that belonged to any English
member. But allowing him thus to separate the classes
of members, the houses would permit him to state
to gentlemen who were not aware of the fact, what the
effect would be on the other side of the water of voting
istunNuaNt,v.bneo.sdraseeiva learned
Ireland.we
ftath leyt
for this motion. There would not be one found to vote
for it of whom it would be said he was a decided
repealer. On the other hand, it was said gentlemen who
voted only for an inquiry, and they were asked for
nothing else on the present occasion (Hear), gentle-
men who voted for the inquiry would be pledged to nothing ;
only let the committee be appointed to prove that those
who ask for it were wrong. (Hear.) He had se-
veral times heard that argument used in Parliament,
but he had never heard it on any occasion without de-
tecting its fallacies and sophisms. But he did not stop
here. The hon. and learned member who was now
present, had himself supplied a commentary on
this motion. An honourable gentleman, who was
not now a member of the house, but a petitioner at the bar,
had stated to his constituents in Ireland that the question
of repeal was one that occupied at present much of
public attention in Ireland, and in his opinion the Irish
representatives would but ill discharge their duty if they
did not press for an early inquiry on the question,
and, with that view, he would certainly vote for
a committee to have the inquiry fully, fairly, and
impartially gone into. The hon. member, in
adverting to that statement, said, amongst other things,
that such a speech was as gross a species of delusion as
ever was practised. (Hear, hear.) He added, it was
an insult to the understanding to suppose that any
one could be taken in by so flimsy and futile an assertion,
and that the individual who could make the statement was
despicable as a politician. (Hear, hear.) Here. then,
in the first place, was a distinct admission that the substi-
tution of the motion for a committee for a decision upon
the practical question of repeal was a gross delusion—that
it was an insult to the understanding, and that the man who
could propose it was despicable as a politician. (Hear. )
The proposition before the house was for a select com-
mittee, to be appointed to inquire into the circum-
stances which led to the dissolution of the Parlia-
ment of Ireland. He should- be prepared to discuss
that point hereafter ; but the question was, whether the
interests of the nation at large were involved in the
repeal of the union. (Hear, hear, hear.) Never
was so miserable an attempt to impose on the industrious
classes of England as this. There never was so ridiculous
an attempt to bait a crooked pin to catch minnows
(Hear, hear, and laughter), a mere attempt to
catch stray votes here and there ; but it was fruitless,
for those who represented the manufacturing interests of
this country knew too well how to appreciate this movement.
It was known that it sprung from an individual
actures for
anticipated raising the duties on English
the(H epaur
.r r sue
eo
regretted
preventingt
he
absence their
ei introduction
last
dtfot.ut)suhs.eeeesth.sihmiloodnna nn
I.
in. particular. An
at papers inquired
those papers for his own
for by the hon. gentleman in t
gentlemanimputation
hoadn abcocoonunthtroonf,
3thire.
accommodation, having them already in his possession,
but for the information of the house, and on that
account alone they were introduced early. (Hear, hear. )
lmtiheoal cl,t,
e,
duhne fort until
dsi,,od,me
were
not which
laidh
ri cehcibueihfroeer
before
He asked whether that was acting right or wrong? He gave
n oonueht t a . .
the information uncalled for, for the benefit not only of
those who agreed with him, but also of those who were
opposed to his views. He trusted, therefore, that he should
stand acquitted by the house for the course he had
adopted. (Hear.) He should feel compelled to occupy
the time of the house at some length, feeling that every
thing connected with this subject was of great import-
ance. (Hear.) He rejoiced at the attention which
had been given to the speech of the hon. and learned
member, and he hoped that it would go forth to the
people of Ireland that this Imperial Parliament, as he called
it—but Saxon or foreign Parliament as some persons called
it—had listened with profound attention, during a period
almost unexampled, to the speech of that' hon. member.
After some farther observations the right hen. gentleman
stated the substance of the amendment which is was his duty
should be called on to express in a most solemn
,t provohi
ehp
ao sdeirecHt ght the
dnotprienSeCeltit Naan occasion
t,,h-es
casen
case. They
e;