The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-29 00:00:00

ilieseregp-set% -of-the-light hon, centlenine, who
has great powers of description and of eloquence, in re.
presenting to 'he people of Buckinghamshire that terrific
scene for which he was indebted to h s own imagina-
tion— (" Oh, oh," snd laughter)—rather than to fent,
it may moat appropriat,ly to s:.il of the
greatest poet of our country—

" Existence saw hint spurn her 6urcled reign,
And panting time toiled after him in vain."

That, no doubt, to a poet is great praise, but it is not
precisely the praise which a stateee,an ought to receive.
(Cheers.) Ho ought rather to eeenee hia"it Hens the
emits of that which actually eec'eat, awl ought not to put
time se remelt out of lee Atli as pet rosy. (FlSar, hear.)
Such L'elog statea.en, regard to those eff ins I
think- the reedit hon. eeetleinen bound e.xplsin what
he ready tneent, But there ie another matter upon
eich ho made a statement to his censtitneets which
appears to nto to bavo been hi-sly objectionable--I
allude to that etatement hf his which involves dvery se•
rions question—ono not to ha diecuesed in tide house,
but one at the rains time upon which the cohstitu ion c f
this country very much depends. It appears-that the
right hoe. gentleman toll his constituents that if a ma-
j lily c.f
.tt is house had voted a censure upon her Ma-
jeey's GoVerement, thsy would have to deferd their
opinions upon the Lusting& ( tfinisterial cheering.) Now
1 hee leave to remind the house w hat have been the
maxims on the subject cf other steteomen while presses'
ins the confidence of the Crown.? They have thought,
when there was a great question epeuding, upon which
no satisf..ctoy cow lcs.o could he obiained iu thi, house,
when 0 rehouse and the Ministt rs of the Crown were de-
cide, lv at variance, such as wa.s the ease upon the great
Isdie 811 of 1784, up-in the Retorts Btfl of 18.31, upon
the questioif of Free Tradein 1841-that the ioletion of
any such question should he em uglit in an appeal to the
electors of the united kinteloun Bat it is quite another
inretti:r when .the. question is whether the Prime Minister
or alias titular party should remain in offiee. And when
.S:r It. Pee), in 1848, expained la conduct in this house
on resiguirg c slice, 'he stated that he had declined to
propose or to advise her Majesty to dksolve this hence,
etc:it:se it was his opieiori that that teas a most deli-
cate and sacred prerogative of the Crown, said ought
not to be cxerc.sed for the ' ringlet° of any indi-
vidual who might be at the head of affairs, or for the
purpose of any party. Nov, that entirely agrees with
my opinion. And when I offered ruy resignation to her
Majesty in 1852 I deeined to offer any advtee to her
Majesty to dissolve the then Parliament. Bat there
seems to be an opinion acquiring weight, which lam
sorry 10 b4rve, that upcna.regoconsion-ivetea the
r has mit a majority he may haie'recourse to that which
Beek*: called, and I think truly celied, a penal dissolu-
tion—that is to Pay, be may not only :.put, the members
of this house to the great trouble and expense of an elec-
tion, but may expose there to the dengere of any misre-
presentatiee to which they may be subject in the per-
formance of their duty. (Hear.) Now, that I think ought
not to be the relation between the Crown and the mem-
bers of the House of Common,. (Cheer:v.) You, sir, and
your predecessors, when you have gene up to the other
house of Parliament to ask hr the approbation of the
Crown, have always asked that the most favourable con-
struction should be placed upon the motives and pro-
ceedings cf this house. That prayer may have alluded
originally to the personal will of the Sovereign. That
personal will, as we all know, is now represented by the
advisers of the Crown, and the advisers of the Crown
are bound not lightly or needles ly to attribute to unjust,
unpatriotic, or dishonest motives the proceedings of the
majority of this house. (Hear.) I lament very much that
it was thought necessary for the late Government to ad-
vise her Majesty to dissolve Parliament in the spring of
la-t year. I believe that dissolution wasehot justified
under the then existing circumstances. My opinion is
that my noble flittind 'the( member for Tiverton ought
then to have tendered his resignation and have advised
her Majesty to call Lord Derby to her counclls. I can-
ant think, sir, that the evil to which I have referred will
be remedied by Lord Derby saying hat whenever he is
thwarted in Parhament-L•that whenever any view which
ha may advance does Lot meet with the approbation of
Parliament, he will at once advise her Majesty to die-
solee Perhamett, and using that threat as a means of
covering the actions of members cif this house. (Hear.)
I can conceive nothing more likely to damage the con-
stittnion of the country—nothing more likely to brieg
on that question which is a question which might, I be-
lieve, be entertained, but which could not be entertained
without considerable discussion and without considerable
d,fference of opinion—I mean the question of shortening
the duration of Parliaments. (Hear.) That is a very
serious quest on, and' if we have repeated threats of dis-
solution in order to Compel members of this house, con-
trary to their own opinions, to vote according to the be,
het of a Minister, I can only say that this house will
stand ill with the Crown and. ill with the country, he-
cause the'country which sends us here does so in order
that we may net for the public welfare, and not for the
benefit c f any individual. These are general consider.;-
lions, and although the threat of a dissolution has not
hen used in this house it has been used very commonly
in society. (Ohl and del-hive chef re.) lam sure that I
have heard it stated several timer, and it is confirmed
by what was stated by the right hon. gentleman. [An
hon. mess her--" Where ?"] The right hon. gentleman
lei his speech at Slough said, that if the vote of this house
bar: been adverse to Government members of this house
would have had to defend their opinions to the country.
(Hear.) Now; that could point to nothing but a diesolu-
lion of Parliament—(hear, hear)—and I say that before
Fiiday last, it appeared from conversations on all sides,
that in ease of au adverse vote the Government were de-
termined to advise her Majesty to dissolve Parliament.
Tney may contradict it if they can, and if they can I hope
tricy will say that they had no such intention. (Oh, I h.)
Alter all, let use say again I think tbat, even affir the
result of the late inotien, the position of this house to-
wards the Governmenfis the Same as the position which
it held when the Administration was first formed. (Herr,
hear.) Ilthinlnthat it remaias still to be se, n whether the
present Government cen obtain and retain the support
of that which is ca led a Liberal House of Commons,
by which I mean a House e f Commons bound to sup-
port measures of reform. (Hear, hear.) If they can
do so, then this house, which has already waited with
great patience, will support them as coon as they have
gained that confidence. (Hear.) The aolutioa of the
question has not yet been arrived at. (Hear, hear.) There
are various questions which have to be brought forward
upon which the Government will have to produce mea-
sures and to defend their opinions. (Hear, hear.) Ido
not wish to anticipate any of them--(oh !oh 1") but we
shall have several of them in the course of the next fort-
night or three weeks, and, if the Government succeed in
gaining the majority of the house, those who agree with
thou will of course rej rice, wki'e these who do not will
have to bow to the decision. (Hear, bear.) I are willing
to accept that position, for I think it a constitutional
pesition for a Minister of the Crown, but I do not think
that any Government which does not obtain confidence,
which does not establish in elf 'in ' the opinion of this
house, ought by threats of a dissolution, or by any such
unworthy means of that kind, to endeavour to obtain
strength at the expense of the independence of members
of this house. (Cheers.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—I can
hardly flatter myself that hon. gentlemen have read the

observations which I very recently had the opportunity
of addressing to some of my constituents whom I had the
honour of meeting; but of this lam quite sure, that the
noble lord has assumed that hon. gentlemen present
could not have read them—(hear, hear)—because the
no le lord has endeavoured to convey to the house that
during the recess I went down to the county of which I
have the honour of being one of the representatives,
abusing the House of Commons, complaining of its con-
duct, and declaring that her Majesty's Ministers had
not received a fair and equitable treatqlent. (Hear.)
Perhaps tbv noble lord will permit me to remind him,
for he has read those ob€ervations=indeed. (pointing to
the noble lord, who' was pal using a dceument)—l see
that he is still reading them —(lold laughter)—and I
inur,t say that in my opinion be would have cone much
better to study them beforehand—(hear, hear)—perhaps,
I say, the noble lord wi 1 permit me to remind him
that there is not in that speech a sipgle statement
or a single phrase which authorises the statement which

he has made !----( 'Oh, oh !"- add 4*llear, hear")—not a
single sentence, I repeat, which authorises that state-
ment, or a single phrase which justifies theimpression
which he wished to convey. (LoUd cries of " Hear,
hear.") Nay more, I say that if hon. gentlemen will
read that spank they will find statements and phrases
whicf, convey a directly contrary meaning. (Hear.) I
am speaking from memory, hut I think that I have a
very fair recollection of what took place, and I felt it
my duty to say in reference to some observations of an
hon. gentleman, that I for one—and from my position
1 might be considered a candid and impartial judge—
had no reason to complain of the present House of Corn.

mons. Considering that it was elected under the aus.

picas of our rivals, considering that it was supposed to
possess an overwhelming majority against us when we
assume
' d the reins of office, I was bound to say that the
Government had received from tho nouse,of Commons,
as a body, a generous courtesy, and on more than one
ocessron the sense and spirit of the House of Commons
had baffisl the unceasing intrigues and the restless ma-
chinations by which, from the first moment of our enter- .
lug office the Government cf the Queen had been assailed.
(Cireers.) Was that an attack upon the House of Com-
cnons 1 (Cheers.) If so, I can only say that it was no
received as such by those to whom it was addressed, and
I am sure that all who listen "to me,
when they recall
what I have stated to their recoPection, will absolve me
from the charge which the noble lord has wished by
inueude to convey t 3 the lonse. Mine was a din.
n.r—(a lau4b)—and the noble !old ha 3 had the desert
—(laughter)—and although it has taken more prepara-
tion I'do not think that the entertainment of the toble
lord has been happier than that which I enjoyed.
("Hear," and laughter.) The noble 'lord says that he
thinks himself entitled to make the observations which
he has addressed to the house in consequenceof the grave
cbarantr of certain statements whiCh I made bu relation
to foreign affairs. He seems astounded at my having

6tated that when we acceded to office the question of peace
or war with France was of a very minute and delicate

character. The noble lord says that, after hearing that
for the &at time, he consulted Lord Clarendon upon the
subject, and that noble lord had informed him that he

had no knowledge of the immediate dang r of snoh an

eveut as war with Franco, Now, why did not the nobly