The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-10 00:00:00

" Lenit albeseens nimos capillus ;"

because he was an illustration of the fact that one might lose
one's curls and still retain one's taste for sarcasm. (Laugh-
ter and cheers.) I must say, sir, on this occasion that I had
the honour of a seat in the house when the right hon. gen-

tleman first took his place in it. I early, indeed immediately,
recognised his great abilities, and without envy, without the
slightest grudging, I have watched his rise to his present
pre-eminence. But intemperate language in a position such
as the right hon. gentleman occupies is always a proof to
me of a falling cause--(cheers)—and I regard that speech
and those expressions as a happy omen of the coming suc-
cess of this motion. (Renewed cheers.) The right hon.
gentleman will pardon me if I express to him an opinion. I
regard him as the Red Indian of debate. (Laughter.) By
the use of the tomahawk he has cut his way to power, and
by a recurrence to the scalping system he hopes to prevent
the loss of it. (Cheers and laughter.) When the right
hon. gentleman uses towards one who has offered him no
offence—(" Oh, oh I")—language of the tone and character
which he has applied to me, I say this, that I was as-
tonished at the rudeness of the assault—(" Oh, oh !" and
cheers)—but I readily forgive it on account of the feeling of
anger and of disappointment at blighted hopes by which it
was dictated. (" Oh, oh 1" and cheers.)

" Nunc ad te, et tua magna, Pater, consulta revertor,"
I gladly turn from these personal topics, but under the circum-
stances I felt it impossible to leave them wholly unnoticed.

(Hear.) I now pasion to review some of the acts of the late Go-
vernment--(laughter)—l mean of the present Government.
On Monday next, perhaps, the expression I inadvertently
used will be more apposite. (Laughter and cheers.) Like
the hon. member for Dorsetshire (Mr. Ker Seymer) I was a
party to the overthrow of the Government of the noble
viscount the member for Tiverton. I voted also as that
hon. gentleman did on the China question. I never
gave a vote with more confidence. I never looked
back upon a vote with less regret. So likewise with regard
to my vote on the Conspiracy Bill. I voted with the
majority on that occasion,. and, having overthrown the
Government of the noble viscount, ii appeared to me to be
a public duty not upon captious or light grounds to oppose
the Government which succeeded it. I appeal to the house, I
appeal even to hon. gentlemen on the Treasury Benchwhether
through the whole of last year I did not give them a fair
support whenever it was in my power to do so. During the
progress of the India Bill I did my utmost to render the
passing of that measure as easy to them as possible. With
respect to the motion of my right hon. friend the member
for Oxford, I agreed with them in defending the Oude Pro-
clamation. Did I conceal my opinion? Did I not rather
do my very utmost to aid them ? On no occasion until the
introduction of their Reform Bill did I refrain, when a sense
of public duty allowed of it, from supporting them. I may be
permitted to advert, as other hon. members have done so, to
the first India Bill which they proposed. I see opposite to
me the noble lord the Secretary of State for India. I admire
his talents ; I think highly of his administrative skill ;
I sometimes almost regard him as the spes altera of Rome.
For the first India Bill I believe he was not immediately
responsible ; but it was a bill not actually stillborn but
smothered with ridicule almost before its first feeble cry was
heard, (Laughter.) The noble lord afterwards brought
forward a measure of substitution, and I must be allowed to
say that in dealing with the grave difficulties of India he
has not been very successful. After the termination, or
rather the overthrow of that fatal mutiny by the skill of
our generals, the gallantry of our troops, and the ability of
the civil and military servants formerly attached to the East
India Company two great difficulties remained. These were
the financial affairs of India and the reorganisation of the

Indian army. Now, how has the Government handled these
Feat questions ? With respect to finance and debt, the
tatement was officially made to the house about the Bth of
howeverr,el7Eit
Februaryance that the Indian Exchequer would require assist-
to the amount of £5,000,000 sterling. A month,
estimate wads hdaerfidelyieneltaphsed before it turned out that this
millions ; and it now sumeemnytaioT f tohfisnheoausrlye
to another
provide fi v
ae
further loan to the extent
re-organisation of the army. w£5,000,000. Next as to the
Europe has for some time pastl3
as to that problem at this moment ? While the state of
What is the position of affairs
troops
as to cause anxiety
g Al iessehn late
as March last the
have been at the
in many quarters, 100,000 En
o pE
xpeoesni tt ei
vceo r no
oevr e ofr
n mt heen wt
so
or ludg.
ht to send to India 10
co
panies of artillery. I do not see the hon and gallant m -
em-
. m
ber for Westminster (General Evans) in his 1
house,
all know that it was by the intervention of tli'isae
the earnest entreaty of that gallant officer, backed I:tlfitet
opinion of many other hon. members, that the sending out
of those 10 companies of artillery was prevented. Jut is
that all ? The reorganisation of the Indian army is, after
all, the capital difficulty with which the Government and
the Legislature of this country have to contend, with a
view to giving security to our Indian possessions. Well,
what has the Government done with regard to that great
question ? They threw it down before a commission.
There are arrayed on that commission two Secretaries of
State, the Secretary of State for India, the Secretary of
State for War, the Commander-in-Chief, and Indian autho-
rities, and servants of the Crown. They are so exactly
balanced in numbers, so equally divided in opinion, that
they have, as I believe, looking to the evidence and the
questions put, a Seerktary of State on each side, the Com-
mander-in-Chief and the Queen's officers inclining one way,
while the Company's servants and other authorities incline
the other. The consequence is that this great question not
onrests in suspense, but is the subject at this moment of
the reatest conflict of opinion, and it remains still unde-
cided..vl by the authority of her Majesty's advisers. Talk of
that which 7 Where could you have wider division than
the which exists between the Secretary of State for India,
thisw imponrtdanyte
___arC.omAntander-in•Chief, and the Secretary of State for
the subject of finjanecce
stuthheirtunitedd counsels. are necessaryA todbring
to a I definitive A
notiv e
disposedsolution. v!
needlessly to Oppose .
the Government, or to offer any hostile
remarks upon their
budget ? Without the'
budget of last year, but what was that
willinglyo ruP
upon
the responsibility of intervention of Parliament, upon
direct taxes in the shape
Government, it allowed two millions of
allowed to remain unritote
income-tax to be remitted. It
upon tea and sugar. It
increased
millions of war taxes
peace to the extent of two millionsased our debt in time of
that sum has since been repaid, it by
a fresh loan, and if
of the balances at the exchequer, ci.only have been so out
paramount importance to keep full which it is an object of
as at the present. (Hear, hear.)
The
eo critical a juncture
Dorset has adverted to the subject of ben*member
church-rates.for Here,
again, notwithstanding my earnest desire
Government, I found it utterly impossibleto support the
t
the measure which was brought forward by the
ocountenance
gentleman the member for Cambridge University. right hon.
ap-
peared to me to violate every principle for which it
a Church-
man could contend with respect to the union
Church and State. It offered a premium to Dissent
scnt with-
outs between
satisfying assenters—(hear, hear)—it left an angry
controversy open ; in short, a more feeble effort to
deal
with a great difficulty was never witnessed in this house.
(Hear.) So with rasped to the Jews. Of all the impotent
conclusions that Parliament ever arrived at, I think the
so-called settlement of the Jew question decidedly the worst.
(Hear, hear.) It leaves the difference between the two
houses untouched, and, so far from preventing controversy,
it is so shaped that in each session the questien can hardly
fail to be revived. Already, sir, you have had ample proof
that it has not put an end to angry and disagreeable con-
tention. (Hear, hear) I now turn to foreign affairs, though
I do not intend to travel at length into that matter. I must
say, however, that I heard with surprise a statement made
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer the other night with re-
gard to Austria. He said, speaking of the resolution pro-
posed at the end of the late Parliament by the noble lord the
member for London, that the carrying of that resolution
altogether raralysed the influence of England with the
Cabinet of Vienna, that it converted the Government, as it
were, into a dead body, and rendered its counsels unavail-
ing. I am open to correction, but if I am not much mis•
taken, if was after the vote in question that the Government

of Lord Derby advised the Government of Austria to suspend
its threatened invasion of Sardinia until a proposition made
at their instance to France and Sardinia had received an an-
swer ; and, so far from their influence being paralysed at
Vienna, in an evil hour the Austrian Government hearkened
to their counsel, and suspended the invasion of Piedmont for
four days, to their own great and, perhaps, irreparable loss.
(Hear.) I differ from the hnn. member for Birmingham
with regard to the policy of the Government in arming the
fleet Their conduct in that respect has been, I think quite
correct. (Hear, hear.) With the view of mediating at a
fit opportunity between the contending parties, and in the
interests of peace, it is right that England should be strong,
and strengthening our fleet has this great advantage, that
to continental Powers who fight with armies England so
armed cannot be an object of suspicion or anger. (Hear,
hear.) The dissolution of the late Parliament, however, is
a point upon which the Government are fairly liable to se-
vere censure. That dissolution was in theory a rash and
improvident measure, while practically has led to evil re-
sults. (Cries of "Oh I" and cheers.) I am not speaking
of evil results in a party sense, but of evil results in a na-
tional sense. (Hear, hear.) Is it seemly that the First
Minister of England, having made a declaration of policy
in the House of Lords, and circumstances varying, and he
seeing it to be necessary more or less to correct his state-
ment, should not have an opportunity of making that cor-
rection in Parliament, where his authority is supreme, but
should be driven to explain himself at a civic feast in the
Mansion-house of the city of London ? (Hear, hear.) The
Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs has talked of the levity
of hustings speeches, but what was the extraordinary gravity
of the speech which he addressed to his constituents at
Horsham ? Some doubt had been thrown upon the ques-
tion of the relations between France and Russia. There was
no opportunity of answering any question here or in the
House of Lords ; Parliament was dissolved ; and the hon.
gentleman was compelled by a sense of public duty to make
the following important communication from the hustings
at Horsham :

"In connection with the question of the supposed alliance
between France and Russia, the Government of this country
considered it their duty to address to the Emperor of Russia
a direct and categorical inquiry as to whether such a treaty
containing anything hostile to England did exist; and the
answer received from Prince Gortschakoff was as follows :
' I do not deny that there may exist a written engagement
between France and Russia, but I canatsureyouinthemost
positive manner that such arrangement contains nothing that
in the most distant manner could be interpreted as consti-
tuting a hostile alliance against Europe. If Lord Ma]-
mesbury should be questioned on this subject, he
may answer with confidence in the above sense, and I give
you my personal guarantee that the declaration will not be
falsified by the facts.' "

Mr. S. 'FITZGERALD- I may be permitted to state
that in one report of my speech the language which the
right hon. baronet has quoted is certainly attributed to me ;
but if the right hon. gentleman refers to other journals—(a
laugh)—he will find that the word "Europe'' is simply a
misprint for " England." The expression used in the an-
swer received from Prince Gortschakoff was, " a hostile
alliance against England."
Sir J. GRAHAM—I am glad to receive the explanation
of the hon. gentleman, but could anything prove more con-
clusively the inconvenience, to say the least, of having such
important matters communicated to the public in an elec-
tion speech, with imperfect means of reporting, and what
must be the opinion of Prince Gortschakoff whn he hears
that during an interregnum of nearly six weeks our Govern-
ment were driven to the necessity of publishing the con-
tents of important despatches from the hustings at an elec-
tion? (Hear, hear.) But the awkwardness does not end
here, for I understand that the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer gave to his constituents at Aylesbury a somewhat dif-
ferent account of the Russian despatch. The Under-Secre-
tary for Foreign Affairs did not deny that Prince
Gortschakoff admitted there was a written engagement, but
I think the Chancellor of the Exchequer said at Aylesbury
that there was no written engagement.
The CH ANCE LL OR of the E XCHE QUER—No treaty.
(A laugh.) •

• _
Sir J. GRAHAM—No treaty—a written engagement as
distinguished from a treaty ; but if there be nothing hostile
to England in this written engagement which is not a treaty,
why has it not been communicated to England ? (Hear,
hear.) Has it been so communicated ? If it has not, that
is a circumstance of the utmost gravity, capable of exciting
serious apprehension, and showing how dangerous it was
to disable the Crown from taking the advice of Parliament
at so critical a juncture. (Cheers.) Now, I have before
said I entirely approve of an efficient armament. But
during the interregnum, and when the Government, as
described by Lord Derby himself, was in the position of
an officer about to be tried by court-martial, with the
judgment not yet pronounced, when he could not tell
whether his sword would be returned to him or not,—
under these circumstances her Majesty's Government has,
without the advice and knowledge of Parliament, taken twe
of the most important steps with regard to the army and
nary any Gevernment has ever adopted. (Loud cheers
from the Ministerial benches.) Well, public necessity
may have justified those measures. (Cheers.) I am not
prepared to deny that they were necessary. (Cheers.) But
I say this, adopting those measures exposes her Majesty's
Government to a most awkward alternative. They either
knew there was an imminent danger of war, or they were
ignorant of it, and were grossly deceived. Ido not think
they would attempt to deceive us; but being deceived
themselves, and having recklessly dissolved Parliament,
they were involved in a great constitutional difficulty, and
dealt with the army and navy in the manner I must shortly
describe. First, with regard to the navy ; they have issued
by proclamation an offer of a large bounty, £lO to able sea-
men, ato ordinary seamen, and £3 to landsmen. Now, I
deny that any offer of a bounty was necessary for able seamen;
the gallant member for Southwark has stated that the number
of able seamen likely to be obtained by the bounty is small ;
but, small or great, the offer of the bounty involves an im-
mense principle. What will be the effect of the bounty on
the sailors already in the navy ? What will be its effect on
the system of continuous service ? All the efforts of every
naval Administration have been directed to increase the
number of men entering for continuous service. But what
man would enter the navy for a long period, knowing that
in time of peace, on any apprehension of its disturbance, a
bounty of £lO would be offered ? (Hear.) I have always
contended that giving a bounty raises the rate of wages in
the merchant service in a corresponding degree. I under-
stand that the wages in that service have, since the Govern-
ment proclamation, been raised 20s. a month. Taking the
number of men in the mercantile marine at 300,000, what
is the amount of the increase of £l2 a-year per man? • It
is the heaviest tax to which the shipping interest could
possibly be exposed; and it would bear it were it neces-
sary; but is it necessary ? During the Russian
war, I resisted the plan of a bounty, yet I and
my colleagues succeeded in manning the fleet. lam
persuaded that this plan of a bounty in time of peace fpre
stalls that which is the compensation for the compulsory
service formerly exacted in time of war. You have had
recourse in time of peace to an expedient that should be
strictly reserved for a time of war, and I believe the mea-
sure is imprudent and impolitic in the highest degree.
(Hear, hear.) With regard to the army, the Govern-
ment has, by another proclamatism, encouraged the arming
of the entire'sommunity ; but I am wrong in saying the en-
tire community—it is one class of the community only.
But if the system is carried out this class arming cannot
stand for a momeht; and if you arm the whole community
the utmost precaution will be necessary—precautions care-.
fully considered and wisely framed—or the consequences'
will be dangerous in the highest degree. On this subject I
will refer to an admirable passage in the works of M.
Guizot. When Louis Philippe came to the throne it was
his duty to act in the organisation of the National Guard
of France. Of this -measure M. Guizot says—" The danger
and the merit of the National Guard consist in the excite-
ment of hopes essentially different. The powerful organi-
sation of this body gave great satisfaction to those who
were uneasy with respect to the independence and foreign
influence of the nation." (That is the view of the leading
journal of the day in this country.) "The friends of order
hoped to find in the National Guard a force made to main-
tain order, should tne army fail from its weakness or disaf-
fection. The Liberals flattered themselves that the National
Guard, being always available, a great standing army
would no longer be necessary." (This view is also enter-
tained in this country.) " The democrats were delighted
to see the great body of the people armed, and thus placed
in a position to interfere with effect in the management of
public affairs." Now, I think these sentences are pregnant
with warning. Yet Parliament, not being sitting, by an
act of the prerogative alone, the first step has been taken
towards the establishment of a National Guard. (Hear,
hear.) During the interregnum, the Executive, with a bold-
ness far exceeding its strength, has decided questions with
regard to both armyand navy greater than any Government
ever before dealt with. I will now only trouble the house
with one short reference to the subject of reform. This
was one of those questions on'which I found it impossible to
continue my support to her Majesty's Government. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer said, and said truly, with
respect to the £lO county franchise, that the Government
thought it expedient to accompany it with stme counter-
vailing provision, that might modify the application of it.
When he came to speak of the borough franchise he said
that the great danger, in his view, was "keeping the word
of promise to the ear" while "breaking it to the hope,"
Now, that is an exact description of what the Government
did with regard to the county franchise ; they contrived to
neutralise it, and even to throw its influence in the opposite
direction. But we have not fought this battle in vain. Her
Majesty's Government has discovered the expediency of a
lower franchise in the towns, and even of its redistribution,
and the disfranchisement of some of the small boroughs. It
these offers had been made as frankly before the dissolution
as they were on Tuesday night, I am satisfied that a bill
might have been carried with the consent of a large majority
of this house, to which the other House of Parliament would
have assented, and this angry question of the reform of
her'
'Well,M andajes is
this's G onveewr ntme ehni tmh?a vles nowa
dcios me
eev
et
ro
y.
Parliament might have been settled on the very basis which
h (Cheers.)
rasd.
e)
latelyC
in consequence of the general election? It is the view which
the sagacity of the rigllt ,hon. gentleman the member for
Oxfordshire and the integrity of 'my right hon. friend the
member for the University of Cambridge pointed out to
them. (Cheers.) Well, now where are we The principle
of identity of suffrage being essential in ttle view of her
Majesty's present advisers any lowering of the franchise in
boroughs was dangerous, inadmissible, and in favour of
the views of those democrats with whom I and the hon.
member for Birmingham are classed. (Ministerial cheers.)
So dangerous was it that it was not to be tolerated for a
moment. Gentlemen behind there cheer. (Hear, hear, and -
laughter.) What, may I ask, is your view of it ? Are you
prepared for a £lO franchise without compensating provi-
sions, and are you prepared for a considerable lowering of
the franchise below £lO and in an extension of disfranchise-
merit and redistribution of seats ? (Hear, hear.) Is that
your view ? Say so with the Government, and then all
the difficulties with respect to reform will for tire present
be at an end. But I say that groat questions have been
paltered with, great hopes have been excited. I have
some sympathy with the late House of Commons which the
right hon. gentleman the member for Droitwich treats
with so much contempt. I think
that it was treated in an
unworthy manner. But you shall hear, both with respect
to the dissolution aid with respect to the vote of want
of confidence, words which convey with the utmost vigour
and perspicacity the opinion which I entertain as to this
amendment ; and perhaps the house will bear with me when
I say that it is with this quotation that I mean to conclude.
'The words are these—
" For the exercise of the prerogative of dissolving, for the
time, for the mode, for the occasion, for all the circum-
stances attending a dissolution, the advisers of the Crown
will be responsible to a future Parliament. It is a despe-
perate effort by means of agitation and excitement to prop
up for a while a tottering Administration. (Hear.) There
is a time when the measure of the iniquities of a Govern-
ment is full. There is a time when if they refuse to listen
to the voice of friendly to attend to gentler
hints, forbearance m warning or
end, and the plainest language
must be spoken to them."
The The quotation I have read from are the words of Lord
counter cheers)—when Derby in ]B4l—(cheers and
I had
the honour of voting with
hin
Peel, of want of confidence. 4.,0n a motion made by Sir IL
The time has arrived. Hints
are disregarded, The plainest 11
language must be spoken.
The noble marquis has proposed words sufficiently intelli-
gible, about which there can be no mistake, and without