The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-25 00:00:00

land, and even the constituents of that Hon. and Learned Gentleman,
were not disgusted with the expressions then used, he (Colonel Sibthurpc)

was much mistaken. On the present occasion, he thought commonjus-
tice demanded that they should give what the Right Hon. Baronet de-

manded, namely—a fair trial.

Mr. CLAY thought that if one duty was more incumbent than an-
other on the Members of the House a• the present moment, it was that
they should openly declare their opinion on the circumstances which
had recently occurred connected with the change in the Government of
the country. His Majesty, in his Speech, had been pleased to allude to
certain reforms which it was intended to propose, but in such words,
and might be so diluted, that they could not, if granted, satisfy the just
expectations of the people. It therefore became their duty to show by
what principles they were actuated, and that they were determined to

. .
apply to the work of reform with energy and good faith, and whatever
other changes might take place, that they would remain the same,
and would continue to pursue a course of just reform. That was
not the time for any ambiguity in the expression of opinions, and there-
fore he thought that it was the duty of the House to vote for the
Amendment; and in doing so, he trusted that the House would ex.
press respectfully to his Majesty the extreme disappointment they ex-
periencediat the recent exercise of the prerogative of the Crown—(Hear,
hear)—in changing its responsible advisers, and in the subsequent
dissolution of Parliament.—(Hear, hear.) Would it be denied by any
Gentleman opposite, that the Melbourne Cabinet enjoyed a large share
of the confidence of the House of Commons ? Would any gentleman
deny that the late House of Commons was dismissed because it placed
confidence in the late Administration ?--(Hear, hear.) The late disso-
lution was a most uncourteous dismissal of the Parliament, and no pre-
vious House of Commons had experienced such treatment from a
Prince of the House of Brunswick. And upon what House of Com-
mons, he would ask, was this experiment made ?—(Hear, hear.)
Was it a House containing a number of nominees of Peers and
other persons ? Was it an assemblage composed of the re-
presentatives of rotten boroughs or corrupt constituencies ?
Was it a Parliament possessing little of the confidence of the people
of this country ? On the contrary, it was a House more truly repre-
senting the interests and hopes of all classes in the community, and en-
joying a greater share of public confidence, than any House that had
existed in this country for the last two hundred years, or perhaps had
ever assembled in this country.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Ea-
'

ronet (Sir R. Peel) in his address to his constituents, asked whether it
was intended that himself and colleagues should be excluded from
office for ever ? He (Mr. Clay) answered distinctly in the affirmative.

—(Cheers and a laugh.) Were those men to be selected to manage the
affairs of the country who had disgraced themselves by defending those

monstrous abuses, Gatton and Old Sarum ? (Hear, hear.) He meant
to say nothing personally offensive to the Right Hon. Gentleman
and his colleagues; and he believed that he had abstained from
doing so out of the House as well as within its walls; but
their opposition to reform was too recent to enable them now
' •"

to serve the Crown effectively.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.'

He repeated that they did not possess the confidence of the people of
England to an extent to enable them to be effective Ministers of the
Crown.—(Cheers.) He believed that only one opinion prevailed

throughout the country as to the late change in the Administration—
namely, that the Ministers had been dismissed because they were de-
termined to bring forward an efficient measure of Reform on a great

vital question—on a question on which the late Ministry and the House
of Commons were agreed in opinion.—(Hear, hear.) It had been

stated that the time had arrived to make a stand,

He (Mr. Clay;

-would give the party opposite some credit for making a stand, if they
had ever shown a disposition to yield to the wishes of the people. They

had been for nearly seventy years, with little intermission, in the pos
session of power, and they had ever been making what they called stands.
_ .

and all their stands had been eminently unsuccessful. As the Repre-
sentative of the largest borough Constituency in the empire, he felt
called upon to declare his opinions on the present occasion, and he had
no hesitation in saying, that the large body of intelligent voters which
he rTpresented were almost unanimous in their feelings against the pre.

sent Government.
Mr. CRSSLETT PELHAM addressed the House in a low tone of
voice, and the greater portion of his observations were inaudible in the
gallery. We under.,tood him to declare that he intended to vote for
the Address, as he thought that it was a delicate and dangerous thing to
interfere with the prerogative of the Crown. He considered it to be
just as much a part of the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament as to

dismiss the Ministers.
Sir SAMUEL WHALLEY denied that there was that concurrence
of opinion amongst the supporters of the Government which they con-
tended ought to be found amongst its opponents. The present Admi-
nistration was framed of more discordant materials than any that had
previously been formed. It was formerly the laudable custom to refuse
to grant the supplies until a redress had been afforded to grievances ;
and he trusted that the present House would not give any supplies until
an ample remedy had been afforded to grievances.—(Hear, hear.) He
trusted that the House would not listen to the question of supply—
oud cries of " Hear, hear")—until ample redress had been afforded
for the late outrage offered to the constituent body of the empire.
Lord CASTLEREAGH said it was his bounden duty to one of the

largest constituencies in Ireland to declare, that it was their firm deter.
mination to give the Government a fair and impartial trial. Having ac-
cepted office, and gone back to his constituents, and been returned in
the manner he had been, he was not only entitled, but bound to give the
representation of their sentiments.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. BARRY represented as large, and quite as intelligent a consti-
tuency as did the Noble Lord. It was certainly not a constituency which
had entered into an unnatural coalition to force two Noble Lords upon
that House, but pne of the most free in Ireland, not hampered by land-
lords, or any other extraneous influence--(Cheers from the Treasury
benches)—but who voti`,l by right of their own property, freely and
without coercion.—(Cheers from the Opposition.) He gave them no
pledge; but at the hustings he mode a simple declaration of his hostility
to the men now in power, and that was enough to secure his triumph.
ant return.—(Renewed cheers.)
Mr. KEA RSLEY (as we understood), addressing himself directly to
the Speaker, observed that it was probably expected that he rose to
avail himself of the earliest opportunity to offer to the Right Honour-
able Gentleman those compliments upon his elevation to the chair which
were so justly his due.—(A laugh from the Ministerial benches.) That,
however, was not his intention. He rose to advert to what had fallen
from the Hon. Member for Shaftesbury, (Mr. Poulter,) who had
thought fit to bring up an angel from below to influence the debate.
Now what he had to say was this : he would most cheerfully give his
vote for that being upon the condition that he would take the late Pay-
master of the Forces and all his tag, rag, and bobtail away to sup with
him that night.—(Laughter.)
Dr. BOWRING denied that the representation made by Hon. Mem-
bers, in the course of the debate, as to the influence possessed by the pre-
sent Ministers upon the Continent, and the advantage of that influence
to this c*PUntry, was a correct representation. This was a subject which
had fallen within the sphere of his observation, and he could speak with
confidence Won it. When the power of corruption was broken by the
enactment of the, Reform Bill, amid the shouts of concurring millions,
this country took up a new position in the civilized world. It was felt
that she was identifiz4 with the progress of liberty throughout the
world. The advent of the present Ministry to power had totally
changed the prospect; and be feared that opportunities ha been lost of
beaefitting the country whiclf never would be regained. When called
upon for a vote of confidence in the present Government, he could only
answer that lie was not ignorant enough of the past, or credulous
enoligh as to the future, to place power in such hands. They were
willing to recognize the Reform Bill. Doubtless they were as an
historical fact ; but not as a living principle, from which it was intended
by the advocates of that measure, and expected by the people of Eng-
land, that much benefit was yet to accrue. His Majesty had told them
that the diplomatic relations between him and other Courts were unin.
terrupted, and that the spirit of peace and harmony prevailed. He (Dr.
M.) hoped that this country was looking to something better than mere
relations of friendship and diplomacy between Kings, Princes, and
Courtiers.—(Hear, hear.) Such alliances were not durable. He ven-
tured to tell the House that many hopes had been disappointed, and
many !night prospects of freedom overcast, by the dismissal of the
Reform Nnistry.—(Cheers, mingled with cries of " Question," and
" Divide.")
After a pause of some minutes, the Speaker proceeded to read the
Address and the Amendment, and put the question. Strangers were
ordered to withdraw, and the Gallery had been half cleared, when
Sir ROBERT PEEL rose and addressed the House to
the following effect :—ln the situation in which he stood, he
thought it would argue great disrespect towards the House—
disrespect totally alien to his feelings—if he could permit that
debate to close, and a divisiotr to take place, without availing'
himself of the opportunity of giving that explanation which
was required of him—(hear, hear). However his opinions
might occasionally differ from the opinions of those whom he
then had the honour of addressing, he could never entertain
the disposition to show any disrespect to the House, and be
had every wish to give the strictest explanations either as to
his own conduct in his private capacity, or as a part of that
,Government of which his sense of public duty required him to
assome the responsibility. He should, therefore, with the per-
mission of the House, and with the continuance of that indul-
gence which he had so frequently, on former occasions, expe-
rienced, enter upon the explanations called for at his hand ;
and in the discharge of this important duty, he trusted he
should receive every consideration and indulgence while
he referred to the matters alluded to, respecting which
doubts had been expressed by some, and explanations re-
quired by others-4. Loud cheers, with cries of hear, hear)—
He should refer to the circumstances under which the Govern-
ment was constituted„vid he should defend the course he had
advised the King to pursue--(cheers)—and he should also
give those required explanations as to his future course which
he thought Hon. Members had a 4:frfect right to require at
his hands, and which he would be shrinking from his duty if
he were not to avow his disposition to Hear, hear.)
He stood there as the Minister of the Crown—p! aced in that
situation by no act of his own—(tremendous cheering from all
parts of the House)—by no combination with those to w::`lse
principles he was opposed—(Loud cheering from the Minis
terial benches.) He had not sought a temporary alliance
with such persons with a view to embarrass the former Go-
vernment-4 Reiterated cheering.) He stood there in the
fulfilment of a great public duty—(Hear, hear)—shrinking
from Ile responsibility—(Loud cheering)—with no arrogant
pretensions of defying the majorities of that House--( Immense
cheering)—but resolved to persevere to the last, so far as was
consistent with the honour of a public man, in maintaining the
prerogative of the Crown, and fulfilling the duties which he
owed to his King and to his country--( Continued cheering.)
In vindication of the course he had pursued, it would be ne-
cessary to refer to circumstances which had preceded the
dissolution of the late Parliament—( Hear, hear.) It might
be Asked if he meant to impose upon the Crown the responsi-
bility of the dismissal of the late Government. In reply, he
would say that he claimed all the responsibility that attached
to that step himself. He took all the responsibility by the
assumption of the duties of office on the removal of the late
Government.—(Hear.) God forbid that he should seek to
fling the responsibility upon that high authority which was in-
capable of error. Consistently with the respect which he
owed to his own character, he must at the same time declare
that under no circumstances would he be a party to counselling
the dismissal of any Government whatever.—(Loud cheers.)
He had been no party to any mean or low intrigues, but he was
called upon to lend his assistance at a peculiar crisis, being no
party to the previous circumstances, and having had no commu-
nication with any one, much less with the highest authority in
the kingdom, upon hat was about to take place.---(Loud
cheers.) By the assumption of office, however, the responsi-
bility of the Crown was transferred to the advisers of the
Crown, and he was ready, be the majority against him what it
might, to submit to any consequences which that responsibility
might bring upon him.—( Hear, hear.) He did think that the
act of removing the last Government was perfectly justifiable.
( Cries of " Hear.") He would review all that had taken
place previous to the dismissal of that Ministry, and in doing
so he would look back to the meeting of the, first reformed
Parliament in 1833. The Government of that period was
'formed under the auspices of Earl Grey, and he saw that it
continued a systematic course of action for a certain period.
Had he seen no change in the circumstances of that Govern-
ment ?—( Cheers.) Vas he insensible of the change of power
which the Reform Bill had occasioned ?—( Cheers.) Was he
not the first to avow in the year 1833, when power could not be
in the slightest degree in his contemplation, that the ordinary