The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-09 00:00:00

CANTERBURY ELECTION.

Mr. C. BULLER then presented a petition from Canter-
bury, complaining of the decision of the Election Committee
lately appointed to inquire into the election of tkat city. He was
sorry to bring forth the petition in consequence of the absence of
several Hon. Members who had been on the Committee. He
had given notice to the Sitting Member for Canterbury, not
knowing the interest he might take in the matter. The peti-
tioners stated that they had been put to great expense, and were
prepared to prove that Mr. Villiers was duly returned, and pre-
pared to meet the case of Mr. Lushington, but were pre-
vented from establishing their case, in consequence of
the decision of the Committee, which they had stated
was contrary to the Act of -Parliament providing for such cases.
The petitioners prayed that so mischievous a decision might
not be drawn into a precedent, which would be alike destruc-
tive -to the rights of the petitioners and the elective body in
general. All he wished to call the attention of the House to
was the excessive hardship the petitioners had been subjected to,
'by the very incomplete decision which was given by the
Committee.—( Hear, hear.) He had received a statement from
Canterbury, which seemed to him so remarkable that he
wished to draw the attention of the House to it. It
mentioned that as the names of the Committee, to whom the
decision of the election had been referred, were known, they
had been marked with the letters C and R, for Conservatives
and Reformers ; and so sure an indication was this considered
of what would be the decision of the Committee, that the
triumph was celebrated there beforehand. This showed what
was the public opinion as to the justice of Parliamentary Com-
mittees.

Mr. LU SHING TON rose, but was for a considerable time
almost totally inaudible. He was understood to complain of
the allegations of the petition, which he said were totally un-
founded. The petitioners complained of being aggrieved ; for
his own part, he conceived he had the greatest reason to com-
plain, inasmuch as he had been kept for nearly two months and
a half out of his seat.

Mr. SPRING RICE did not think this the proper time
for entering on a discussion on the merits of an election pe-
tition, which ought to have appeared before the Com-
mittee. No one could deny but that it was possible for
Committees to make mistakes, and in those cases it was
perfectly justifiable to bring the circumstances before the con-
sideration of Parliament. He remembered, in his own
case, a friend bringing forward a petition on his behalf,
with respect to a legal construction ; but though he did this
as far as the law was concerned, it was the furthest from his
mind to appeal against the decision of the Committee.
After a few observations from Sir E. KNATCHBCLL, Lord
SANDON, and Mr. AGLIONBY, ,
Mr. BULLER wished that Hon. Members would take the
trouble to listen to what he did say. He did not impugn the
decision of the Committee by any means, but merely stated
what the opinion of the people of Canterbury was. It was
his intention to move that no Committee shall have the power
of deciding upon a portion of a case, instead of upon the whole.
Sir C. LEMON presented a petition from a town in Corn-
wall against the increased spirit licences.
Mr. POTTER presented a petition from Wigan against
certain clauses in the Dissenters' Marriage Bill.
Lord JAMES STE WART presented petitions from Ar-
gyle, and other places in Scotland, in favour of the Bill for
the abolition of Imprisonment for Debt.

Petitions (of no public importance) were presented up to
five o'clock. Sir R. Peel entered the House at ten minutes
before five o'clock, and was received with cheers from both sides
of the House. He was followed by upwards of 100 Mem-
bers, who were most anxious for seats, but they were obliged
to content themselves with standing at the back, and places
in the gallery—the House being then quite full.
Mr. RICHARDS rose to present a petition from James
Nicholls, of Lincoln's Inn, attorney at law, against the Bill for
the Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt. The Hon. Gentle-
man persisted in reading the petition, though repeatedly inter-
rupted by loud cries of " Oh, oh !" and other expressions of
impatience.
RESIGNATION OF MINISTERS.

The SPEAKER went through his daily list of Members in
turn to present petitions. Amidst the continued anxiety of
the House not a word cou'A be heard until

Sir R. PEEL rose, and immediately the utmost silence
was observed in every part of tile House, when the Right Hon.
Baronet proceeded as follows:—Sir, it is my intention that the
Mutiny Bill be read a third time, and in making that motion,
I wish to avail myself of the opportunity which it affords me
of signifying to the House, that I, in conjunction with all my
colleagues in his Majesty's service, and in conformity with
their unanimous opinion, have felt it incumbent upon
us, upon combined consideration of the vote to which
the House came last night, and of our position as a Govern-
ment, to signify to his Majesty that it was our duty to place
the offices which we held at the disposal of his Majesty. Ido
not hesitate to say that I have taken this course with the utmost
reluctance, and not without the deepest sense of its necessity,
because I felt that being in possession of the confidence
of the King, and having received from his Majesty the
most cordial and unremitting support—looking at the pre-
sent position of public affairs, and at the present
state of political parties—looking also at their strength—the
numerical strength of that great party by which we have been
supported—l have felt it my duty to continue the attempt
of administering the public affairs, as the responsible
adviser of the Crown up to the latest moment consistent with
the interests of the public service. Sir, when Ido not hesitate
to avow that reluctance, I believe I shall have credit with a
great majority of the House of Commons—(Loud cries of
" Hear," from the Opposition)—that that reluctance is con-
nected with public principle.—( Reiterated Opposition cheers. )
I have a strong impression that when a public man, at a crisis
of great importance, undertakes the public trust of adminis-
tering the affairs of the Government of this country, that
he does incur an oblivion of penevering in the administration