The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-09 00:00:00

MER
V to which I will not say tho present Government, but to
which no Government, and no statesman who can ever be
called upon to conduct the affairs of this country, would
ever consent ; because we are told that that which alone
will satisfy these vast assemblages and their leaders is the
adoption of manhood suffrage and vote by ballot, which,
combined, would absolutely and entirely destroy the Con-
stitution of this country. (Cheers.) Well, what encou-
ragement has Parliament for entering upon the course of
deliberating and considering how far it should extend the
franchise and increase the liberties of the people if it is
told, "All you do is nothing, is of no use whatever. Here
we bring together a demonstration of our phi sical strength
and our numbers, to show you, the Parliament, that unless
you do that which we know it is impossible you can ever
consent to do, all your labours will go for nothing—they
will produce no gratitude, but will only lead to fresh de-
monstrations and exhibitions of force, until we obtain that
which would be a practical revolution in this country ?"
(Cheers.) My lords, I have not so poor an opinion of the
House of Commons as to believe for a single moment
that any demonstration of this sort will intimidate
them or lead them to consent to extreme move-
ments. (Hear, hear.) On the contrary, I only hope
it may not have the opposite effect of deterring them from
fairiy and candidly considering the merits of the case, and
that they may not be induced to refrain from giving
that which may safely, reasonably, and justly be given,
owing to exhibitions of physical force and of numbers on
behalf of that which is whollyalien to the Constitution and
the spirit of the country. (Hear.) In regard to the noble
earl's inquiry as to what the Government are going to do
in respect to the proposed procession,it is only necessary to
say that they will confine themselves within the limits of
the law. We have carefully considered what measures it
might be in our power to take to put a stop to this demon-
stration and interfere with its progress; and we are in-
formed that this procession, however mischievous, inju-
rious, and liable to produce loss of property and of life, is
not in itself illegal, and that we should not be justified in
interfering with it so long as it conducts itself peacably,
and only passes quietly through the streets. There are
two Acts of Parliament which bear on this subject. One of
them, passed in the reign of Charles 11., prohibits any per-
sons, under a penalty, from attempting to present petitions
to Parliament in greater numbers than ten together. There
is another Act of the time of Geo. 111., to which, I suppose,
the noble earl referred, in respect to assemblages within a
mile of Parliament. It provides that if any persons shall
assemble within a mile of Parliament for the purpose of
either passing resolutions, petitions, or remonstrances with
regard to matters concerning the State, in that case the
assembly shall be an illegal assembly, with all the penal
consequences attaching to it as such. But thera is nothing
in the statute to say that persons shall net meet within a
mile of Parliament for the purpose of there forming a pro-
cession, not to come down to Parliament with a view of
intimidating it, but, as it said to be intended in this in-
stance, with a view of proceeding exactly in an opposite
direction—to Islington, there to hold a meeting in the
great Agricultural Hall. There is nothing absolutely
illegal in that. The duty of the Government, therefore,
must in this case be confined to taking care to have an
ample amount 'of force ready to interfere, if necessary,
for the preservation of the public peace, or for its restora-
tion, if that peace is disturbed. Further than that it is
not within our legal competence to interpose. But the
noble earl said, and it is a point very well worth considera-
tion, that the constant repetition of these processions and
demonstrations might render it necessary to make some
alteration in the law. (Hoar, hear.) I trust that nothing
of the kind will be required, because we know that such
an alteration of the law, however just or necessary, would
meet with very great resistance, and might be thought an
undue interference with the liberty of the people—an in-
terference which could not be justified except by a general
feeling on the part of the country that these demonstra-
tions had become quite intolerable, and a source of evil and
mischief so grave as to render the interposition of Parlia-
ment imperatively requisite. (Hear, hear.) Therefore I
can only say that, while deprecating the holding of this
procession, we cannot stop it legally except to prevent a
disturbance of the peace. We much regret the course
about to be pursued by its promoters, and we think it one
which is liable to lead to the most unfavourable conse-
quences, and likely to create a feeling of bitterness between
the different classes of the community, and we therefore
deem it to be the duty of every good citizen to use his in-
fluence, if possible, to stop it. (Cheers.)
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—I speak in the pre-
sence of noble and learned lords who aro able to correct
me, but the impression on my mind from what has taken
place in Parliament and elsewhere, and from the decisions
of the Judges, is that any great assemblage of people held
under circumstances producing fear—reasonable fear—on
the minds of firm mon, becomes of itself illegal, whether
actual violence be.committed or not.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—My noble friend has not
exactly stated the proposition correctly. it is true, it has
been frequently decided by the Judges of the land that
largo assemblages of persons, in terrorent populi, would con-
stitute an unlawful assembly, but no mere assemblage of
numbers would make it illegal. There must be a fear of
violence or disturbance of the public peace in order to con-
stitute an unlawful assembly.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—But this is not a mere
assemblage of persons, but an assemblage sufficiently drilled
to carry a column of 40,000 or 50,000 mon in military array
through the streets of London. That is net an ordinary
meeting of men.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—As I understand it, they
are sufficiently drilled to be able to proceed peaceably in
procession through the streets.
The subject then dropped.
Their lordships rose at ten minutes to seven o'clock.

;- ..k1

HOUSE OF COMMONS-LAST EVENING.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
NEW WRIT.

On the motion of Colonel TAYLOR a new writ was
ordered to issue for Colchester hi the room of Mr.
Taverner Miller.

THE ADDRESS.

The Comptroller of her Majesty's Household brought up
her Majesty's answer to the address of the house on the
opening of Parliament. Her Majesty thanked the house
for their address, and said that the house might rely upon
her co-operation in all matters to strengthen the free in-
stitutions and to promote the welfare and prosperity of her
subjects.
THE FAMINE IN INDIA.

Mr. KINNAIRD asked the Secretary of State for India
if he had any objection to lay upon the table of the house
a copy of tho minutes of the Chief Commissioner of Oudh
and of the Governor-General on the report of Davies, the
financial commissioner, on the rights of the ryots, and of
any orders passed by the Home Government of India on
Sir John Lawrence's decision ; and also, whether the Homo
Government, as stated in the Indian journals, had called
for a report on the late famine in Bengal ; and whether
attention had been directed to the following points :-Ist.
The extent of country affected, and the mortality caused;
2d. The causes of the famine, and how far avoidable in
future by works of irrigation ; 3d. The amount of warning
of its approach, and how far the existing machinery of
revenue administration was adapted to give the needed
warning; 4th. The measures of precaution adopted by
the local Government of Bengal on receipt of such
warning?

Viscount CRANBORNE said no orders had been passed
on the decision of Sir J. Lawrence. A despatch would
be written, a copy of which would be laid on the table of
the house. With respect to the second question the Home
Government had ordered a commission to be issued to in-
quire into the causes of the famine and the mortality oc-
casioned thereby. The report might be looked for very
speedily. The instructions given by the commission
were very large, and embraced nearly all the points men-
tioned by the hon. gentleman.

Mr. BRIGHT asked whether the commission was corn-
posed of members of the Indian Government, or of inde-
pendent members.
Viscount CHANBOURN said the commission would
be composed of persons possessing the confidence of the
Indian community. The president was Judge Campbell,
in whom the most implicit reliance was reposed.
CATTLE PLAGUE.

Mr. DENT asked the Vice-Presid;ntof the Committee
of Council if ho could give the house any information as
to the cause and extent of the recent outbreak of cattle
plague in the metropolis.

Mr. CORRY said a most searching inquiry had been
made into the matter. Tho number of animals slaugh-
tered had been 46, and since then no fresh case had been
reported.
INDIAN PRIZE MONEY.

Mr. H. LEWIS asked the Secretary of State for India,
when the distribution of the Central India prize money
(Lord Strathnairn's captures) would take place, and what
was the reason of the delay in distributing the same ?
Viscount CRANBORNE said the delay had arisen in
consequence of the litigation that had taken place on the
subject, but after this was concluied the sign manual was
issued and sent to India, with the direction that the dis-
tribution of the money should take place as speedily as
possible.