The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-27 00:00:00

Opposition on trifling, unimportant questions. That was not
the case now. This was a great and patriotic question—a
question to the decision of which the people look with
the utmost anxiety, on which he was sure the House
would well deliberate, ere they refused their assent
to the amendment of the Noble Lord (Morpeth), and the suc-
cess of which would stamp the character of this House, and be
a guarantee that it was prepared to adopt all constitutional
improvements. He would, in conclusion, briefly advert
to the statement that the dissolution of the late Go-
vernment was owing to the removal of Lord Althorp from
the House of Commons to the House of Lords. Was it to be
believed, that because a man highly respected, and who died
in the fulness of years—could it be believed that that was a
satisfactory reason why a British House of Commons should
be dismissed like a flock of sheep on losing their head?
—( Hear, hear.) As was remarked by an Irish Member (Mr.
Sheil) the House of Commons was not sitting when
the Noble Earl ( Spencer) died. He could not be deceived
by any such pretext, for, as it was said by a man in whose
honour and veracity he placed the most implicit confidence, the
government of Lord Melbourne was prepared to go on, and to
conduct the business of the country, even if Lord Althorp had
withdrawn finally from the Cabinet, a step which did not fol-
low from his removal from the House of Commons. There-
fore, he was convinced that that was not the real reason why
the Melbourne administration was dismissed, and as yet
the House did not know what the real reason was.—( Hear.)
Whatever reasons there might be, there were two points not
cleared up, and which were, how came the Hon. Gentlemen
into the seats which they occupy, and now that they were
there what did they intend to do? How these Hon. Gentlemen
came there he could not tell, but it appeared that it was in-
volved in a tale of mystery—in fact, their whole progress to
office was involved in mystery.—( Loud cheering. He,
therefore, not having confidence in them, would vote
for the Amendment of the Noble Lord, the Member for York-
shire.
Mr. DONALD NPLE AN said that they had met upon
an occasion of a most singular nature. It was to present
an Address to his Majesty in accordance with the views of his
Prime Minister, or to adopt the Amendment of the Noble
Lord the Member for Yorkshire, who brought it forward upon
the ground that his Majesty's gracious Speech was so indefinite
that it did not speak the sense of his faithful Commons.
He could assure the House that he listened with the greatest
attention to all the arguments which had been advanced on the
other side, and he really could not extract one single
reason which could in any degree induce them to vote for
the amendment of the Noble Lord, who considered the Speech
from the Throne so vague and indefinite, that, to express
the sense of the House of Commons, it was necessary to
bring forward an amendment. He would ask how did
that tally with the declaration of the Honourable Member
for Southwark, as well as that of a Noble Lord who
represents a part of Lancashire, who said that they never
in their political life saw any thing so clear and definite as the
speech or the Right Hon. Baronet. Every sentence of the
speech delivered at Tamworth gave a fair exposition of the'
old Whig principles.—( Hear.) It was said that the late
dissolution of Parliament was an interruption to the pro-
gress of the Reform Bill.—( Hear, hear.) He thought no
no such ground of complaint ought to exist. Did not the
Reform Bill profess to be the advocate of the limited dura-
tion of PArliaments, as the oftener the people had
the opportunity of exercising their franchise, so often
would the principles of Reform progress ?—( Loud cheers.)
And therefore lie thought, by the recent dissolution, the prin-
ciples of Refarm ran no risk of being impeded. Therefore,
as the amendment went to censure the recent dissolution, he
could not vote for it. It was not what it professed to be.
They had been asked by the Gentlemen opposite upon what
grounds the present. Administration had taken office ? Why,
the most simple grounds possible. What was the language of
Lord Melbourne when he accepted the seals ? Did he not
acknowledge the great importance of Lord Althorp to
his Government, and did he not declare that he had
accepted office only upon the condition of having Lord Al-
thorp's assistance and co-operation ? Did not also Earl Grey
declare, in alluding to Lord Althorp, that he could not con-
tinue in office after losing his " right arm ?"—( Hear, hear.)
This, then, was sufficient to explain how the present
Administration came into office ; and this should be
a satisfactory answer to the gentlemen opposite, and was a
sufficient reason for his Majesty to seek other servants. When
also the retirement of Lord Althorp was accompanied by the
declaration of Earl Grey, already alluded to, it was natural
that it should have led to the breaking up of the Ad-
ministration.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") It was to be
expected that under such circumstances his Majesty should
think that it was then proper and quite time for him to seek
another Administration, especially when the chief members
of the Government were themselves expressing their convic-
tion of the grievous loss they had met with by the retirement
of Lord Althorp—( Hear, hear.) He would now refer
to the observations which had been made by gentlemen oppo-
site on what had fallen from a Noble Lord near him. ( The
Hon. Gentleman, no doubt, referred to Lord Stanley.) That
Noble Lord was placed in a peculiarly delicate situation with
regard to both sides of the House. It was impossible that the
Noble Lord could join with the gentlemen opposite, for he
(Mr. Maclean) did not doubt that when the Noble Lord con-
templated the discordant materials of which the Opposition
was composed, his mind was filled with that sense of the ridi-
culous which inspired the Roman poet when he said,
Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
Jungere si relit, et varias inducere formas
Undique collatis membris ut turpiter strum
( Cries of " Oh, oh I")
Desinat is piseem moiler formosa superne,
Spectatum admissi risum teneatis &midi ?
( Cries of " Oh I" and great laughter.)
Now, they were no doubt all admirers of the " mulier formosa
superne," but few of them would, he thought, admire the
" turpiter atrum desinat in piscem."—( Laughter.) He placed
full confidence in the declaration of the Right Hon. Baronet,
and be was ready to give him the fair trial he asked, because
his ( Mr. M.'s) opinion of the chief utility of the House of Com-
mons consisted in its preserving that medium, which prevented
it from being either an aristocratical senate, or a democratical as-
sembly. By adopting that course, they would be doing their
duty by preserving the institutions of the country, and also by
preserving the liberties of the people on one hand, and the
privileges of the House of Lords on the other.
Lord DUDLEY STUART said he had been called upon
to vote on that occasion. He must confess that he found
himself placed in a situation not quite free from embarrass-
ment. But before he applied himself to the consideration of
the question immediately before the House, he should notice
an observation which fell from an Hon. Gentleman opposite,
in the course of last night's debate, and when he did so, he
was surprised it had not been earlier replied to. Various
opinions existed with regard to the dissolution of the late Mi-
nistry—variouscauses were assigned for the dismissal of
that Government, but a declaration came from a Honour-
able Gentleman opposite, which he (Lord Dudley Stuart)
confidently asserted any other man in that House or in the
country would not have the assurance to pronounce.—( Cheers. )
The declaration made by the Honourable Gentleman was
in substance quite an insult to the former Parliament, at
least to a majority of the late House of Commons, as
he believed it would be found to be inconsistent with
the feelings of the majority of the present.—(Cheers.) The
Hon. Gentleman declared his opinion that no honest man
sincerely approved of the Melbourne Administration. He
( Lord D. Stuart) need only appeal to the country at
large for an answer to the assertion. He for one
claimed for himself the character of an honest man, and
he would tell that Hon. Gentleman—he would tell that
House and the country, that he approved of the Government
of Lord Melbourne. He deeply regretted the dismissal of
that Cabinet from office, and in the sentiments he then uttered,
he believed the majority of that House would fully ccncur.
Having said so much upon that point, he would now apply him-
self to the question before the House. He had no wish to join
in any factious opposition to the Government ; he desired not
to give against them any factious vote ; he declared that intention
to his constituents on the hustings ; and they were pleased to
approve of the course he intended to follow. He would re-
gard not men but measures ; and let good measures come from
shat side of the House they might, they should have his cordial
support. He would assist in carrying forward such enactments
as appeared to him calculated to promote the prosperity of the
country and to meet the just expectations of the people.—
( Cheers.) He could not concur in the Address proposed in
answer to the speech from the Throne, because that
Speech was not such as could, in his opinion, satisfy
the country, or the majority of the House. There were many
things in it which he was glad to hear ; there were many
points of which he approved. He was glad that attentiGn
would be paid to the agricultural interests, which were hitherto
too much neglected.— ( Cheers from the Treasury benches.)
He was happy to find that measures were in contemplation for
the relief of these impoverished classes ; he rejoiced to hear
that even to a certain extent the Dissenters would be relieved,
and he heard with still greater satisfaction, from the speech of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that relief would be ex-
tended still further than was mentioned in the Speech from the
Throne. He found great fault with the Speech and with the
Address, not so much for what it said, as for what it omitted.
He was not satisfied with the speech which had been made by
his Majesty, and the declaration of his Majesty's Ministers and
their supporters had not been sufficient to remove that dissatis-
faction. The Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer had
excused himself from giving any pledge to any measure of
municipal reform, by stating that the report of the Commis-
sioners appointed to inquire into the corporations of the coun-
try was not yet before the House—that excuse might, at first
sight, appear very plausible. The Right Hon. Baronet said,
" let us wait till we have more information before us—
let us see what the report is, and then let us decide on what
measures we ought to adopt ?" If the Right Hon. Baronet had
said the same thing with regard to another commission of no
less importance—if the speech from the throne had alluded to
the commission appointed to inquire into the state of the Irish
Church—( Hear, hear)—he (Lord Dudley Stuart) was not
prepared to say that he would have voted against the address—
( Hear.) The Right. Hon. Baronet in a manner extremely
creditable to himself, had come forward and stated, first,
that he would take the entire responsibilty of assum-
ing the Government on himself, and then he stated the
measures which he meant to introduce. Some Gentlemen
had said, the Right Hon. Baronet was not sufficiently explicit
in his statement, and that they could not make out what line
the Right Honourable Baronet meant to pursue, or what
measures he meant to introduce. Why, if there were any
doubt as to the measures which the Right Hon. Gentleman
meant to introduce, or if there were any doubt as to what he
meant to do—no one could have any doubt as to what he
meant not to do.—( Cheers and laughter.) The Right Hon.
Baronet find stated, in point of fact, that' whatever might
be the report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into
the Irish Church—whatever it might appear was the amount
of the revenues of that Church—whatever were the murmurs of
those for.whom those revenues were intended to be applied,