The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-17 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT,

any reduction. Another burden is the charge for the civil
establishments of the, country. I do not think i hat any ma-
terial reduction can be effecte'd in • he i toms coneti tuting that,
ohOge. Then there ; re next the three great ;,ratiebes of
our expenditure, namely, the army, the Lau, and ti e
miscellaneous estimates. It is on thee° three branches, if
any, that any considerable re lotion (f t xpenditure can be
made. I anyone of the fa-t who desire to see the public e
tablishruentsof this country reduced teal ) A state. I should
be sorry to see those establidonente reduced to the print
at which they were between 1340 and 1350. I depot think
that that state of things would be consistent with our
safety. But I brink you may cembine considerations of
economy with a due regard to the public service; it an-
pears to the you may keep your naval and army esta-
blishments orgariicallyas strong in ev, rything that relates
to science, in everything that cannot he provided on the
spire of the mement, or at all events during the ell _:x of
a moderate time dui in ht prepare for
g which you mitt
war. I speak more esp chilly cf the army, preserving it
in a state of efficiency ; but, on the other band, it is the
duty of the Gen e'nme t and the country, whil i main-
tai .iarg the army organically strong, t , have it numeri-
cally as is consistent w,th thealue diseharge of its ordi-
nary duties in time of peace. Again, with regard to the
miscellaneous estimates—these estimaCs tiave increa ed
out of all propertion within the last few years. They
have increased, I an bound to say, not by the fault or 1
with the consent of the present or any previous Gevern-
insnt, but they have increased mainly from the preQsure
and ez ravagance of Parliament it-elf. (hear.) It has '
been the theory that Parliament ought to be the check on
the tendency of Government t, ex ravagance with re-
gaid to the iniscello.neoes at d other; estimates ; but that
position has boen reversed, and the Gavernment has
been the check, but not the sufficient and effectual check,
on the extravagance of Parliament. Now I do not pro-
pose
to go further into this subjsct, but I wish merely to
urge on the consideration of your 1 aelehips and the
country that if you desire to get ad of the burden of the
income tex, if you do not wish, to sea tt incorporated as
a permanent p ation of your system of taxation, you
must in the pare intervening between now and 1360
apply yourselves vigorously and rigi ily to a system of
economy and redaction of expenditure as, consistently
with the efficiency of the service of the country, may
render it possible fur you to recover your balance of re-
venue and expenditure. Bat it is quite obvious that the
expenditure of this country, and more especially the ex-
penditure of your warlit,e establishment=, must depend
mainly upon the system of policy which you pursue—
(hear, hear)—a, d more especially upon your foreign
p, licy. -(!dear, hear, hear.) if you determine that
that policy, shall be one of respect far the independence
and for the rights of foreign nations, abstaining from in-
tervention with their purely internal concerns, avoiding
by every possible means offensive language, and dealing '
with them in a temper which shall substitute, in case of
a fancied injury, a tone of conciliation for the tone of
menace and braggadocio—if you adopt this course, and
be not slow to take ex' lanations asked for in a friendly
spirit, and given in the same spirit by other Govern-
ments, I have no fear in the present condition cf the
world, and with the general feeling which pervades al-
most all foreign nations, I
have no fear
_that for the
exigency of the public service you will have to keep up a
wa
on
the
e Largeopp
otooting
policy, intime
if
yoofu peace.deter.
lenturt is.a
fyob'bin
ulipreceenetd on
mine to meddle with the internal concerns of every coun-
try, dictating to them how they shad deal with their
own subjects, interfering when the interests of your
own subjects are notin the elighte-t degree concerned, to
threaten and to bully, and to use the language of menace
and intimidation to powers which even if weak may re-
fuse to submit to such a course of conduct- then I tail
you, and I tell the country, you must keep your estab-
lishments oh a war footing, and you must teen be pre-
pared to back up every petty quarrel, and be ready at
all times, at a fortnight's notice,
to provide for a war that
may spread over the whole face of the world. And above
all, if you are to lay down this dangerous principle, that
your subordinate officials in every part of the world are
to have the power at their discretion of committing this
country to war, if you lay down the broad principle that,
right or wrong, their acts must be approved of by the
Government of the day, and if you lay down further the
principle that being so approved by the Government at
home, it is beyond the competence of Parliament to ex-
press an opinion for fear of being charged with factious
combinations—(hear, hear) —then give up all your ideas
of economy, arm yourselves cap-a-pie, and prepare your-
selves fur all the.horrors of war at the discretion or in-
dia ration of any official you
may have in any pert of the
wool 1 proud of a little brief authority, and prepared to
rest on the misplaced confidence which the Government
reposes in them. (Hear, hear.) This leads me to the
point as to the circuunitances under which you are t 11
an appeal is to be made to the country at large. My
loads, you need not be apprehensive that I am going
again to trouble you smith any oti-servarions as to the
legality of the proceedings in China. I am going to as-
sume for the present that the whole of those steps were
per setly legal, but I am going to point out to your
lordships the position in which the country is placed by
those proceedings. It is no slight public evil that in the
month of March, just at the commencement of the ses-
sion, and as the House of Commons is preparing to be-
gin the business of leg elation, it should be suddenly in-
terrupted by a dissolution of Parliament—a dissolution
which creates the greatest pus: ills inconvenience with
regard to public: and private affairs, and involves not
only the loss • of time taken up by the elections, but the
further loss Of time necessarily taken up in the business
incident to a new Parliament, all which will I venture
to say. reader . the pi-paw* sermon-even less productive
of beneficial iniia4dres than was promised even by the
meagre programme which wan presented to us at the
commencement of it. The inconvenience is great; and
surely we ought to inquire why it has been inflicted.
You tell me the Government haye had a vote against
them, which renders it necessary either to resign or to
appeal to the country. - Now I ask whose fault was it
that made the question one which involved the character
of Government ? I am going to offer my apology to your
lordships' house and the House of Commons for having
so far misunderstood the spirit of the constitutien as to
believe that it was within their constitutional competence
to take notice of, and taking notice of to express an in-
dependent opinion on, the conduct of an official on whose
conduct the Government, by command of her Majesty,
had laid the papers and documents before Parliament. I
may be mistaken, but I have certainly thought that when
papers were laid on the table of the house by her Majes-
ty's Government, it was for the very purpose of inviting
on those papers the expression of the opinion of Parlia-
ment. It may be said that either this or the other house
of Parliament has been anxious to interfere with the exe-
cutive duties of Government, or with those functions
which'properly be;ong totheCrown. Now they have mani-
feAecl, on the contrary, a degree of forbearance of which
I do not complain, but which I venture to say is almost
unparalleled in the history of the country. Well, my
lords, what is the case I A quarrel has been entered into,
troops have been despatched, war has been declared, an
expedition bas been undertaken, negotiations have been
entered into, negotiations have been concluded, peace has
been made, and from the first to the last, from the hour at
which the quarrel first began to the hour at which I am
addressing your lordships, the House of Lords and the
House of Commons have not had one scrap of paper, one
official document, to show them the object, the cause, the
intention of the war, the terms upon which it has been
terminated ; and last of all, the Reuse of Commons,
which ought to furnish the seppliee upon an estimate of
the expenses of the war, are nut likely to know anything
about the expenses until they have been called upon to
pay the bill. Therefore I say, the House of Lords and the
House of Coruruons have displayed no undue anxiety to
interfere with the duties of her Majesty'e Government, or in
any way to hamper or embarrass the executive. But
when papers are laid before Parliament it is an invita-
tion on the part of the Crown to Parliament to express
their opinion upon the subject matter of those papers,
and if we do not so express our opinion .we neglect,
grossly neglect our duty, and by a tacit acquiescence
may seem to sanction acts which are most repugnant to
our feelings and most objectionable to our consciences.
And now, my lords, what has taken place ? Upon a
perusal of those papers a motion was made in the other
House of Pariiainent by a gentleman usually, I believe,
a supporter of her Majesty's Government, and, most un-
doubtedly,
wholly unconnected with the Conservative
party in the House of Commons. That motion declared
that in the opinion of that house the pipers which bad
been laid upon the table failed to afford a sufficient justi•
fication of,- what had taken place in Chum. What was
the course taken by me relative to that subject? I gave
notice, and brought forward a [notion iu this house vary-
ing in terms, but entirely the same in effect. And what
was the course pursued by the , Government in both
houses ? Why, to assume to themselves the whole re-
sponsibility of the conduct of their agents in China—
, to make themselves parties to the proceedings—to insist
upon being censured, mote insist rather upon this, that
Parliament should either forbear the expression of its
opiniou or be charged most unjustly with a desire to cen-
sure, and still more to displace her Majesty's Govern-
ment. Now, I will venture to say, that it, instead of
the course pursued by her Majesty's Government, vin-
dicating to the uttermost the conduct of their agents,
they had come forward with a statement, which would ,
have expressed their own honest and sincere conviction
that a hasty and ill-judged step had been taken by their
plenipotentiary, which might involve con, e Q,„„, which
he would be the first to regret, and the last to contem-
plate—if they had said that they cou'd not eltogether
vindicate the course which he had pursued, but that
allowance ought to be made for the difficulty of the
position in which he was paced—and if they bad
concluded with an intimation of their intention to do
that which they have subsequently done, ramely,
to send a plenipotentiary with full power, if not to
supersede to override the authority of their official, and
bring tie matter to a speedy conclusion—if they bad
ventured to make that decimation in this and the other
house of Parliament? I believe it would have put an end
to the discussion, to all debate, and most undeubtellY
to all opposition.
(![ear.) But what course did the
Government take I /lure is a proposition that the pap, rs
before us do
ntiot :Wilily the c.milnet of the nfli iale ie
China. !kr litaj"sly'e t...4uveriouent Oin ig.:ite e.!:,1 do"
clare that in their judene its tii,,c, rapers, e jietify the
conduct of their offieials. They compel you to eay
ii
"aye" or " no," arid it is quite obvious that towards the
conclusion of the debate in the How.° of Commons 8 'flle
little cloange came over the spirit of the dream of
inc Government, because we find the supporters of the
(laveroment isoying, after
all it vies very hard that
lier Majesty's Goverinneet should be hold reseonsill
f..r what had been dime by their officials--fur matters
of which they had Iv) cognisance—matters which
were done without their knowledge. (Hear, bear.)
It was not we in the House of Commons, but it was
' they who made themselves responeibn for the conduct of
their agents. (Hear.) And let me warn you, that how-
ever magnanimous and grand it may sound on all occa-
sions to Fay that puldic servants, more especially absent
public Eervante, ought to be defended, and to carry that
pri!leiplti as far :le yea
viol rannietently with justice, and
even with indu
igence, Yet when it 'senses to this, that

HOUSE •OF LORDS.—(YESTERDAY.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his scat on the woolsack
at 5 o'lock.

The Earl of. ALBEMARLE said he had a
motion on the paper for Friday nu respecting
torture in India, but ho thcught he shoul I beet
serve the interests of the millions represented
if he withdraw the motion until the assembling of the
next Pdrliame, t. . .

The Earl of EGLINTON presented petitions frill dif-
ferent ports of Scotland, praying for a restriction on the
Fall of spirits.

MUTINY BILL.

Oa the motion of the Eul GItANVILLE, this bill
was read a first time.
LIGHTING OF TOWNS (IRELAND) BILL.
On the motion of the Marqu,s of CLANRICARDE
this bill was read a third time aid passed.
CONIMISSIONERS OF SUPPLY (SCOTLAND)

• BILL.
This b'll passed through cootruittee.
INCOME-TAX BILL.

Earl GRANVILLE moved the second reading of t%is

The Earl of DERBY—My lords, I hardly need say it is
not my intention to avail my,•elf of the present opportu-
nity to 6ffer any obj,-ction to the second reading of this
bill, which has been moved by the noble earl ; at the
same time I connot cone( a! the expression of my regret
that it has been thought consistent with the public ser-
vice to defer the consideration of a measure so important
until a new Parliament is about to be summoned. When
the new Parliament meets it will, in my judgment, greatly
tail in one of its first duties if in the very ea, lkst pericdof
its existence it does not take into its serious consideration
the wh(l question of the finances and taxation of the

country. I need not say that with regard to taxation your
lordships have nothing to do, more than that which consists
in simply bearing your allotted portion of the burden. We
have heard in various quarters propositions for rendering
taxttion and legislation co-extensive. I have never yet
heard and do not expect to hear, of any proposition either to
relieve your lordships of taxation, which you have no
voice in imposing, or, on the other hand, of giving to
your lordships, in your legislative capacity, the power of
exercising some control over taxation, or giving you
in your individual capacity that which btlongs to the
humblest elector in the kingdom—the right of choosing
representatives to sit in the other house of Parliament.
Neverthelte a I do not think that the subject of taxation
is a sulject altogether unworthy of your lordships' con-
sideration, nor that I shall be out of place on the present
occasion in bringing the subject of the taxation and
faeces of the country under the careful considera-
tion of her Majesty's Government. I confess If
look with deep concern upon the present state o
the finances of the country. For several years the
cardinal point agreed upon on all hands has been
that at the earliest possible moineet the income tax,
which is eo earnestly condemned by public opinion and
the voice of every public man, should be repealed, and
that henceforth it should be considered, as heretofore it
has always been considered, a useful engine in
time of war, but to be kept sacred for extraordinary
emergencies and expenditure in time of war, and to be
excludtd altogether from your system of taxation in time
of peace. I had indulged the sanguine hope and ex-
pectation—l have not altogether abandoned the hope—
that we ii ay, those who are alive in the year 1860, see
the realisation of that which I will ca'l the pledge of the
Government of 1853 to the country, that at the expira-
tion of that period the income tax should altogether
cease and determine. But I am bound to point out to
your lordships arid to submit to the Government that
the present state of oar finances, unless some vigorous
and active measures are taken, leave me with little ex-
pectation that that 'lodge will he fulfilled in the year
1840. In the present year the Chancellor of the Excite•
qusr calculates upon having a surplus of somewhere about
500,0001. It was a p ,rtien of the provision of the act
of 1853, that in order to prepare for the final abolition
of the income tax in 1860 it should be reduced—com-
mencing on the sth April, 1857—from 7d. to sd. in the
pound, and so remain until its final extinction iu the year
1860. The war supervened, and so far from its being
possible to diminish the income tax during the continu-
ance
of the war, it was found necessary to double the
amount, to raise it in the first instance from 7d. to 141.
in the pound, and subsequently to increase it still fur.
ther to 161. in the pound. The act which increased the
rate to 14d. in the pound bore on the face of it the
enactment, that the income tax, which was levied for the
extraordinary purposes of the war, should continue for
one year after the conclusion of peace and no longer.
The act introduced by the present Government pro-
fessed to contain the same provision, and to be no-
thing more than an extension of the rate from 14d.
to I6d. ; but by that which had been represented ai
a mere slip of the pen, a mere casual error, it did so
turn out, from the wording of the act, and from the
period at which the peace was concluded, and the
period at which the treaty was ratified, that the let-
ter of the law instead of continuing the tax for one
year after the termination of the war, practically. con-
tinued it for two. It was admitted on all hands that that
was not the intention of the Legislature, and it was loudly '
proclaimed on the part of the Government that they
should be ashamed to avail themselves of that paltry
quibble. Now, if they did not wish to avail themselves of
that paltry quibble, the simple course would have been to
repeal the act, the consequence of which would have been
to reduce the tar.. to sd. in the pound. I cannot but ex-
press my deep regret, on account of the principle it in
volves, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should have
taken advantage of that error in the act of Parliament,
not indeed for keeping up the whole war tax for the pre-
sent year, but for making an addition for the ordinary re-
venues of the country of 21. in the pound beyond that
which it bad been the intention of Parliament to grant.
Your lordships will see how that applies. Undoubtedly
the act of the Chancellor of the Exchequer wag, by
the increase of that 2d., which means two millions,
to increase the amount of the income tax for the ordi-
nary and not the extraordinary purposes of the year.
I regret to say that that appears to me an evasion
of the pri, ciple which".was laid down in 1853. With
this addition of two millions, the Chance for of the
Exchequer calculates that, for the year 1857-8,
1 he will have a surplus revenue of 500,0001., that surplus
revenue accruing on the assumption that there will be
no extraordinary demand on the resources of the country
during the present year, and consequently no provision
is made for that most calamitous, and I are afraid, most
expensive war with China, in which we are unhappily
involved by no choice of our own. But even on the sup-
pesition that the war with China is to cost you nothing,
and on the improbable supposition that the war with
Persia is to cost you only 250,0001., you will only have,
according to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a surplus
of 500,0001. Now, to make up that surplus of s
500,0001., you will receive in the present year the half
of the war income tax of 9d.,amounting in round figures to
four milions and a half. That source of revenue will fail
you altogether in 1858. You will therefore have your re-
venue for 1858, compared with that for 1857, diminished
by four millions and a half of war income tsx. If the law
stands without further alteration it will be further dimin-
ished from 7d. to sd. for the year 1858-9, which, making
an allowance fee. the half-year to be collected, will cause a
further falling off of a million. Yon will therefore have
ha 1858, as compared with 1857, a diminution to the
amount of four millions and half ; but in addition to that,
in 1858, you will have to commence the payment of a
sinking fund, to provide for debt raised by the Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer, which Will swell your expenditure
for 1858 above your expenditure for 1857 a million and a
half. You will have therefore in 1858 a diminished re-
venue to the extent of 5,500,000/., and an increased ex-
penditure to the amount of 1,500,0001., leaving alto-
gether a balance to the deficit of 7,000,0001., against
which you have to set your assumed surplus for the pre-
sent y, ar of 500,0001. As you stand at present, with no
extraordinary expenditure, no war in Persia, no war in
China, the programme of the Government is that in 1858
you wi'l have a deficit of 6,500,0001. I will not go so far
forward as the year 1860, when, according to the plan
of 1858, the whole of the income tax is to be sacrificed,
which would make a further reduction of five millions.
I will not do so, because in that year there will be a fal-
ling in of Long Annuities to the amount of four millions,
ant there will be a cessation of the payments of Exche-
quer Bonds ; but it is sefficieut for my purpose to show
that there wi 1 be an increasing deficit, and that you
have a deficit this year of no less than six milliops and a
half. Now, I ask whether this is not a circurnstarce
which is worthy of the serious consideration of both
houses of Parliatuent 1 I ask, iii this state of things,
what hope have you, unless some serious alteration be
made, by which the revenue and expenditure may be ba•
lanco I, that in the year 1860, or at any sub,equeet pc
;lot!, yen will be relies e Ifrour the iiitolerAble pre:set e of
the income tax? Now, there are three nit-des by which
you Can rest ;re a bAtnee in your revenue and expends- '
ture— by one of three, or by all of three; by the increased
produete venese of existing taxes ; or by the institution
of a rigid system of economy. I fear that you have oc-
ca ion to apply to all three. I venture to express undouht-
tel coef;dence in the elasticity of the revenue of this coun-
try if relieved frow the gigantic taxation which at present
keeps it down, butit would be folly to suppose that any in-
creased productiveness of existing taxes will increase the
revenue by any sum approaching 6,500,000/. Theo,
with retard
to new taxes, we all know with what dis-
ta,te and disgust this country looks to the imposition of
new texas in time of peace. There remains only the
third coin se—a erict reduction of the national expendi-
ture. Now, the principal burden on the nationa.l(xpen-
Lure is for the payment of the interest on the national
dept, in which it is obvious that, keeping faith with the
public credit)r, we cannot by any effort of ours make

your agent has plunged you iota a war, the expsnsee of
which (.ou cannot calculate, wet h rr •re of which
cannot b.i tel I, if he is to rec.-let' ne,sis!a or to ti eX,,11,
of dissolving Parliaeant if Paeliarn a 'OCS tC mem. in
his proccedings—you er." giving the most exerhiteat en-
couragement to. hasty action, :see! the ivaut of pr ,per
sense of responsibility to every agent yoe sinpley in
every part of the globe. (lie ar, hear.) Bet if you cen-
sidcred the conduct of your aeent t ntialy 'olamelegs,
it you thought the papers quite je stiff ,d his prudence,
and Allowed that he was the fittest inati to conduct your
affairs, why supersede him ?—(hear)--why c emnit the
injustice of sending, out a person to take the authority
out of hi.: hands ? (Hear ) I know not wh, titer the de-
termination to send out thatsupersali'-o officer aa, come
to before or after the division in the liaise of Commons;
but in either case it affords to the inaj eats in that house
an ample vindication of the couree
weich they pun tied,
If it was the intention of the G wernmeat, previous to
that debate, to supersede Sir J. i: )wringe in the first.
declaration would have put an end to tae
e
pl ice they ought frankly to have said so; and such a
win ile qearr.:l
In the next place, the intention of the Government to
' supersede him w ould argue the foregone coaclusion in
totem unnds that tl.• paperswhich they h a.d produced
did not justify his conduct. I, Halt j ideenent was only
formed saner the decisien of the Hee, of ceesmoos had
shown them what was the sense of the repr seetet;vee of
the country, I say the floase of C
eroan is re-former! a
signs! service in conipeiling the Geveraaitni; the'r
vote to do that which they ought to have dune irrespec-
tive of any such vote. (Hoer) In eith, r case the vete
of tha. maj i ity is amply justified, if it wily resit t ..1 in
tee fact of having induced the G (vernnicrit to sup-aa3.l,
Sir J. B authority. Tao moment the rie j erity
was declared, there areee the cry of a factious comeiee_
tion, of an unnatural coil Lion, of an uepr'neialed at-
tempt to overthrow the Government—then areehergee
the most revolting to the freliege of every lienewahle
tnal—charges which I pronounce here to be base end
uof mndei.-7charges which I no not, think that any of
your lord hips will ever have the c urage t e stand for-
ward and support and express. (Cheers.) For myself I
will only say, and I ray it on the word and honour of a
peer and a gentletna.n, I do not know, an l I Lave root
known, any coalition, or any combineti a , or any aje(--
meet, or any untleJaking with regerd to tho e votes rami
those motions between any persons not pre fessing pre-
cisely the same opinions ill either house of Pei !lament. I
have distinctly and solemnly declared that I have been nor
party to any combination, and I have as empliatica ly de-
clared my solemn conviction that the vote which was ar-
rivedat. in the House of Co canons was the result of no
combination, of no concert, still less of any desire to co-
alesce against her Majesty's Government for political ob-
jects, but that it was the spontaneous ( xoression of opi-
nions, reluctantly exoress,d by many hon. meinbera
with regard to the officials iu China. I blue what I. hey,
stated will carry conviction wi h it—at ell events to the
minds of all those with whom I haves the honour of a
personal acquaintance--and I trust it will also carry cot-e-
-viction to the minds of many more to whom I am not
personally known. But I will proceed to state to your
lordships facts whith I think wi 1 convince the meet p•
tical that there could nut be al ielhe,.ion of that kind.
Your lordships wilt, perhap,, have dine me the honour
of recodecting that upon the first night of the sessien,
from the information which I had se• n in tie puhfie
papers, I expressed my great at x4.:ty regerd to the
position of affairs in China. I exyeesed great doubt
as to the legality and prudence of the cour-e wi isti
had been pursued, and my great apprehension that
that e euree would be productive of signal digesters.
Shortly after the papers were laid upon it e t (Ws of the
house I made it my duty most carefully and a, xiensly
to ex amine the whole of them ; and, having d does
so, I found that the informati n which had been fur-
nished by her Majesty's Government only strengthened
and confirmed the impressions which I hail rec:ived from
the information which I had seen in the newspaper.. I
gave notice accordingly of my int eeti en ti bring for ward
a resolution on the subject, and at the same time aseed
her Majesty's Government to furnish tae with some
other papers ; and I must do my noble friend (the E art
of Clarendon) the justice to say that he made no obj:ction
to the production of the documents for which I aeleed,
and I thank him for the readiness and courtesy with
which he furnished all the necessary informa. ion on the
rubj-ct. Having rend those papers, I came to the conclu-
sion that it was my bounden duly to bring the question
under the consi(leration of your loaieiipi. I did not men-
tion that intention to more than three or f cur of those i

you contemplate.' Now, is it not possible fur the hon.
and learned gentlemen to suppose that there may be a
fourth ? Is it not possible fur him to speculate upon the
poeeieility that men in this house may intend to give
thiir votes without teference to political combinations?
DJ!'s he Cxel.vie the peseiblity of that fourth course of
action whi arises from a conscientious conviction as 4.0
the truth ? Is that excluded from his contemplation ?
Nlay it not be possible that men cannot subscribe te a re-
solution which -a-istrts that a certain course has been
best
.calculated to preserve peace, and to support the
honour and dignity of this country ? Is it possible that,
Without reference to. party or personal interests, men may
decline to affirm a resolution which deals with principles
•of greater importance to the welfare of this country,
for good or for evil, than have ever been under the
c msideratiou of the house ?" Now, my lords, who
ware the parties ? By a singular coincidence it hap-
pens that the speech in the House of Commons
was delivered in consequence of a motion made by myeelf
in your 1 irdsbip's house censuring the conduct of the Gee
vernment, and which was carried by a majerityt Who
was the defendant in that case? The noble viscount at
the head of her Majesty's Government. He was Ole man
whose conduct, censured by the House of Lords, was
made the subject of appeal in the House of Commons.
He considered there was so much doubt as to the judg-
ment which the house might give, that then, as now, he
did not think it unworthy of him to raise the cry of com-
bination and conspiracy, and to abuse the judgment of
the bowie, and divert them from the merits of the case by
the same cry which his followers are raising with the
same truth as at this moment. The accuser, if I may use
the term, was the same. The defendant was the same.
And who were the parties involved in the guilt of that
conspiracy ? I need hardly tell you that the eminent
statesman whose indignant repudiation I have cited,
was charged with a combination and conspiracy against
the Government, was one who for four years before had
given them his unvarying and disinterested support, for-
getful of ell previous causes of insult. That statesman
was Sir It. Peel, and that speech was the last speech
which he delivered in Parliament, oaly a few hours be-
fore that unhappy occurrence which deprived the coun-
try of hie eminent. services. Who was the man who put
himself forward as the chivalrous defender of the noble
viscount on that occasion? Who was the man who
brought for ward the exculpatory resolutions in the House
of Commons? That man was Mr. Roebuck, one of the
present ceespirators and accomplices in this base combi.
nation. My lords, I have given you facts to prove the
improbability, I would say the impossibility, of such a
coalition. The very notion of it is too absurd to be swal-
lowed down by the veriest gobemouche reading the pest
canard in the newspaper. It is more absurd than the
wholesale railway massacre in America, of which the
must egregious dupe was the leading journal of this
country. (Laughter.) It is more absurd and incredible
than any stretch of imagination or fiction. My lords, I
know. well the ease with which, as has been somewhere
The barefaced lie, launched with malignant force,
Untried by thousands, is believed of course.
I know the Antssus-like power with which calumny, re-
futed a dozen times, springs from the ground with addi-
tional strength, and, notwithstanding the solemn Resec-
tions which I have made, and the facts which I have
stated, nothing will surprise me less than to see the daily
press to-morrow teeming with a repetition of this base
and infamous calumny, and to find it made the subject,
the stock-in-trade of addresses and electioneering speech e:

di vid uale who are most intimately arid politic:3l'y connected
with me; and until the time I came into the house and laid
the resolutions upon the table, I believe I ant litereily
correct in eayiag that no human being had seen those re-
volutions, or was responsible for one syllable which they
contained. (Hear.) Well, my leriv, what was the reeult?
If the House of Commons is to bo accused of a lac:ions
cog ition and an unprincipled c)mbination, are your
lordships to escape scot free ? Why is not the same charge
and the same imputation to be made here, because we
were in the minority and not in the majority ? I believe
the charge to be as true with regard to one houst as to
the other. I brought forward the question, and by whom
was it supported I Not only by gentlemen who ordi-
narily sit on the same side with me, but by two noble
earls opposite (the Earl 01 Aberdeen and E trl Grey), by
the Comptroller of the Exebequer (Lord Honteagle), by
a noble earl than who:; there is no man a mere atauuch
supporter of her Majesty's Govern.nent., a more decided
• Whig of the old school—Bail Fitz vi 1 am. (Hear, hear.)
I said I had had no combi .na.;,oli and nil concert with
any person previous to c ming into the house, and I
spoke the literal and exact truth ; but when I came
into the house I took the opportunity of showing
to my noble and learned friend (Lord Lyndhurst)
the resolution which I intended to propose, and
I was fortunate enough to receive his entire approval.
There Was at the time sitting by my noble and learned
friend a Whig peer—a man of great eminence and dis-
tinction, and a most cordial supporter of her Majesty's •
Government—who asked if he might be allowed to see
the resolution. I said, " Certainly," and placed it in his
bands. He read it carefully, and asked if I had any ob-
jection to strike out one epithet ? I said "no," and drew
my pen through it, observing, " Now that I have altered
ray resolution to suit your convenience, I presume I shall
have your vote." (Laughter.) That is the only combina-
tion of which I know, and a proof that it was not very
offensive to the Government is to be found in the fact that
since that hour Earl Fitz ,villiaen has been appointed lord
lieutenant of the West Riling. (Hear, hear.) S!eortly
after I had given my notice in your 1 rrdships' hou-e, and
at a tune when the House of Commons was occupied and
its attention altogether engrossed by the discussion of
the budget, a right hon. friend, with whom I am in con-
smlt intimate political communication, asked ins if I did
not think the subject of China was a very desirable one to
bring before the House of Commons, intimating that he
wished to take that course. I said I quite concurred in
his opinion—that I thought it was impossible to allow
the case to pass over ; but I advised him not to give any
notice on his part until be had cummurticated with one
or two of his political friends, and mere e peeially with
my right hon. friend the avowed leader of the Conserva-
tive party in the House of Commons. My right hon.
friend returned some 24 hours afterwards, and said, " I
have acted upon your advice, and have given no notice,
but I am sorry to tell you that Mr. Cobden has taken the
case out of our hands—he has stepped in between us and
given a notice sn the same subject, and e,n,equentla
has prevented me from bringing it forward." He further
said—and I c incurred in his remark, and it may serve
to show what a coalition and CaretAnation existed at the
time—he said that the fact of the subject being brought
forward by a person from whom he entirely di,seLted in
politics would indispose some of those who acted
with him politically to give the ],reposition their
support. (Hear, hear.) We hive it on the authority of
Mr. Cobden himself—a gentleman with whom I Lave
not the slightest personal aequalwanee, and with whom
I never exchanged in my life a word on :ley subject pub-
lic or private—we have the declarati rn of Mr. Cobden
that before he brought forward hit motion h communi-
cated with no one except his intimate friend Mr.
Ban, the hon. member for Manchester. We l', my beds,
am I to vindicate myself or my friends against the charge
of combining for the purpose of effecting the overthrow of
the Government with Lord J. Russell, with Sir F. Bfring,
with Lord R. Grosvenor, and other of the most di-tin
guished and faithful adherents of the Weig party ? The y
all voted in the majority, and are, I presume, according
to the scandalous reports iu circulation, to be c:msidered
accomplices in that base and infamous coalition. (Elear.)
Wily, my lords, that majority compriqid-many of the
supporters of her Majesty's Government. It comprised,
with the exception ot-those aceially in the Geyer:anent,
I may venture to stay ever man of note of every party in
the House of Commons. (Hear, hear.) One party of
these gentlemen, who go by the term of "Peelite4,"
be:, who do not always act in very great concert with
each other—(a laugh)—Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Sidney
Herbert, Sir James Graham, and Mr. Card well—all
joined in the majority—three out of the four naturally
more disposed to support the Government than to adopt
the politics of the opp,sition. I will put by Lord J,:hn
Russell, Sir Francis Baring, Lord itqbert Grosvenor,
and the Whig party. I suppose wd sled! hardly be
charged with combining or coale,cieg wiLli Mr. Cobden
and Mr. Gibson, or on the other hind with r‘lr. Roebuck
etxretestinl,ltlalei evatt,er.y
a( 111,83t,lar1:1
atity of
thtuleed a laugh.)rsetiPpr[eoesnedta tol vollohbei nf tvhaeetri tyxu
n, is its t r meth ,:core.
can understand, fir political objects, two parties not
very materially differing from each other in general
views of polity, and thinking that between them they
might be abbe to carry on the affairs of the Government
—I can imagine their sinking point,: of miner
difference and combining for a p ditic obj mt. But
that such a combination should be formed of five
different parties, all differing from each other widely
vmith regard t.i almost every political question, is a
monstrous abmrdity, and ought ti he sufficient to settle
the idea of combination. (Hear.) My 1 ,rd,, this cry of
combination and co lition is nothing new. It is usually
the resort of a Government when it thuds public opinion
in l'arliamout too strong for it. Now, what is I'ar la-
ment to do ? If a case is submitted t r it ii, which the
conduct et Geyer-en:era is itnpuoried, and trot care is
reipperted by till the gentlemee it free ev•ioos
it is a periy qu7stioe, a trial of t trer,g, nethine
ni re. No reference is made to the merits of the ca,e,
but it is a mere trial of strength between the pat ties.
Bat if among the opponents of the G. vernment you tied
those who are its habitual and arineet supporters, you
turn round and say it is a factious cembieation, an un-
principled coalition. (Hear.) But I have heard it seid
that the strenlth of the case was sn ?reat Orate von meny
of those who are Conservatives felt oeund to uphold the
policy of the Government. I have never questioned the
judgment—l have never questioned the cii,cretion—;tell
less the motive of those who voted on that occasion
in opposition to their party. I have assumed that they
did so froea the conviction that the case was such xi not
to call for a vote of censure. Some reasons were given by
those gentlemen which do not appear to toe to be very
conelusi ve ae to the merits of their %ere-3. We were t
Id
they could not vote against ;ho Geeeroment vet i oh lead
made such excellent ecclesiastical appQiutiueuV.. I con-

for the spice of the next three weeks. My Loris, I t,ay
—of course without personal offence to any one—but by

whomsoever that shall henceforth be said, written, or
printed, I solemnly declare that the statement bears pre•
eieiy that relation to truth which was expressed in the
eery pithy lir;guage used in the first line which I just
quoted. (Laughter) My lords, let me ask how long it is
since her Majesty's Government came to the conclusion
that the votes of parties not concurring in general poli-
tical principles, but joining together on same political
occasion, must necessarily begiven from factious motives?
I will go back to the earlier history of the life of the
noble viscount now at the head of the Government. No
man certainly is better qualified t 3 speak of combinations
than the noble viscount, who has been engaged in so many
such transactions. I will not go back even to the com-
mencement of the present session of Parliament. I will
recal your lordships' recolection to a certain motion
which eras brought forward in the House of Commons by
a supporter of the Government—a gentleman named Mr.
Locke King. That motion was in favour of reform and
an extension of the franchise. It was opposed by the
noble lord at the head of the Government, and to sup-
port his opposition to the motion of his own supporters
and adherents the noble lord brought into the field the
magnificent sum of cne and thirty members, of whom one
and twenty were persons holding official situations.
Against him, of his own supporters, wore arrayed 179.
(Mbar.) 179 to 31 was the majority against the G -
vernment, left by themselver to their own resources
and that of their supportere. 01 that occasion of
c Aubination was the combination repudiated with scorn!
No. The Coeservative party, true to their principles,
and casting aside all question of whom to suppOrt and
whom to defend, came to the rescue, and they placed
that miserable 31 of the Government in a majority of
192 to 179 ; and that act of the Conservative party saved '
the Government from defeat ; saved them from being de-
voured by their own hounds. (" Hear, hear," and laugh-
ter.) Oee fortnight after that time, the party who had
thus, regaretteos of political consideration, and looking
only to principle, defended and supported the noble vis-
count against his own adherents—when, in conjunction
with some of those adherents, they passed their deliber-
ate judgment upon the papers submitted to their comi-
&ration —that party, who saved the noble viscount
from annihilation, are charged by him with a disgrace-
ful cralition for the purpose of getting him out of office.
(Hear, hear. I ask your lordships to put the two cir-
cumstances together, and tell me if the charge of faction
is brought against either party, to which party that
charge of faction is attributable (Hear.) My noble
and learned friend (Lord Brougham) in his speech on the
address, 'pressed a hope that in the matter of China our
officials abroad were not seeking for a pretext for picking
a quarrel for their own advantage. I may venture to
parody the expression of my noble and learned friend,
and to express my hope that in this matter her Majesty's
Government were not seeking a pretext to pick a quarrel
with their own supporters. (Rear.) I think it possible
that the Government, not finding triemselves quite com-
fortable with regard to some questions about to be sub-
nutted to Parliament, were not sorry to avail themselves
of what they thou;ht a favourable opportunity of going
to the country, not upon any consideration of the -ques
Lion of Ceiva, but upon the question of the general sup
pert arid confidence of the country in the noble lord. I
believe that this Chinese question will have noiefluence
Whatever, and was not intended to have any influence,
except so far as it is connected with the cry of combina-
tion. The real question put to the country by the noble
viscount is this—have I your confidence (Hear.) I
mention emphatically the noble viscount at the head of
the Government, because I must, with all possible
respect for the noble lords opposite, and right hon.
gentlemen iv. the other house, express my convic-
tion that, exe.ept myself-, there is not a man in the
country who dues not consider the whole of the colleagues
of the notle viscount as mere appendagei of the noble
viscount, and as utterly unsubstantial as cyphers. Some
of tgear may be useful and very ornamental appendages,
but they are appendages alone, and the question is not
one of confidenceeiu the Government, but one of confi-
dence in head of the Government. I have already
adverted to one Suiject which was rather out of place iu
the discussion on the China question—l mean the eccle-
siastical appointments of the noble viscount. That
question I know has been and will be prominently put
forward at the coming elections. lam quite aware of
the benefit of bringing questions of that kind before the
publie, especially at the present moment. Nevertheless,
I feel it my duty to express my opinion on that question,
which has excited, and continues to excite, public in-
terest. I trust I tball be able so to express myself as to
give no offence to any human being, and least of all is it
my duty to say a siogh word in derogation of the four
prtl4to,, of the church who, by a very unusual number
of vacancies occurring at We !elm() time, have beery asp
pointed upon the recannneu6.ation Gf the noble viscount.
So far from saying a eingle. werd in d.rugs.l-it_m of those
right reverend prektes—l have not the honour el the
personal acquaintance of any of th,m ; hut I know with
regard to some; and I believe with regard to others, that
they hare been distinguished as men laborious, diligent,
earnest, and zealous in the sacred rofession to which
they belong, arid that some of them have energetically
14boured in the discharge of their parochial duty or some
of the largest parishes in the kingdom, and tberefereoli
am tot disposed to say a single word in derogact.iorthe_
their aopoiuttnents. But there i° nothing' which
themselves mu,t more regret than that a party use_acoeo.u,i
be made of their names; tbat they should be placed 1
invidious contrast with their right reverend brethren, and
than their appointments shout t bela udotifid ,ene
so,tbount accountbecau
se
of their acknowledged fitness for
represent theirer one of the ex-
treme
they are supposed to typify
Reclaims of the Chnrcir o'f England into which it is
unhappily divided. Let me not be misunderstood. I
have no sympathy With the Tractarian party. I believ

_ _ _ ______---...,_........._...................
fess I am not able to trace any connection between the e that that party Las done much which has tended to pro.
fact of the Governmen, haying !nada €zosllert ecelet,ias- duce the d.ei;Ter et a Oisruption of the eburch, that it has
,s and the juitifleation of ail that La, ' deoe much to crate and to,ter a spirit of alieriwion in
ticil apeeintmen
been cone by Sir J. Bowrie-g. (Lane h .;f I*. ) I do not maey oi 4,-,e co rtenueil y from thteloctriries and teaching of
que,tien the motives of the genii. •,men who so voted. the ehurcb,and that they have gone, far to produce akind cf
Bit if the argmeent i,! good on one side, it ought to be reaction in tho church itself which isaltront asciangerous on
good on the other— the other side. They have assumed a tone wish regard to
i eecle,iastical power and authority which is net suited t)
" litmus hanc vedirre petimurciu 3 viciscim."
If theF are eetithd to say, on the part of the Government, the genius and the temper of the present day--which,
" the case wa3 so strong that y.iur own supporters carne however suited to the feelings and the habits of times
to aid us," is it not right to say on the other side, " the long past, are considered and
treated as unwarrantable
case was so clear, its merits were such, that parties dif- and iutractab'e-in the pre-eat timo. Tbey.have, in
my from ourselves hi; it too i.trong for the consciences, belief, fallen into a grievous error in introdutung into the
and could not swallow it." what do we see in the ad- cercaionials of the church Practices cud forms which are
dre,ses now ping forth to the country ? . There is either, irnmateri,,l in thernselvee, and if so,
to be avoidtd
ha!dly one which does not soy, :.hat the clrcuinstanees as ca,culated to raiseqhei,tion and contreverey, or which,
wrath oc.:urrf-d at Csnt.on were eery much ta he re- if they are more than fords and ceromonials.eave a lean-
-4 ae7elle.nt and ceii,coetious personal
grett,:d—tlett it would have been much better if our ing an tendency to that. creed whk,e_...e.,iti„,ll
I.lmil o'eetiary had . cited for instructions from home— repeat fel- the very
led; up )11 as rel.,giously corrupt and petal-
that tis conduct woe not ju,tifiald.t. Bet then comes the r!-.nt-i of the church which prteess that- 'crecd—l, as a infamous COATI; on and coei binatzon," which overbans Protestent,
every other coe,ideratif:n. This cry of combination isms- tally ,'argeroan,,. s(at-ar ) 1,
~ therefore nave no s m-
-1 th:n now, and let me read to your I.)rdshps the iaeguage pathy with the Tractarian party, and I believe that Yrio-
used'hy a very eminent statesmen some years ago, when thing can be more dangereus than the existence of that
i i the church. But at the same time I do not
a stud it cry was raised in the House of Commons : party
" The Loa. an I learned gentleman the member for South- nece: I trdy 3,..lipatliisc wiLli t ICss who
.nrotess a. kind of
ainie•
.•nn, an, ,i s ntied a full txo n laatiou of the circurn pseudotier -li,lism and latitn,linariauisrn of . epinions an
. • ieme
Atencia nt d,r which my votewi'l he given. Sir, he shall regar is the doctrines and di.3eivliue of the Established
have that explanation. I have no reserve. roe hon. and CAurcli. 1 have the c.reatest re:pect f: r the energy and
learned inelnher has stated•tbat there is a dishoneuraids labor in the cans of religien which is diviayed by
coospiracy formed against her INl;j?sty's Government,. many cas,os of Dis,enters. T:mero is room enough, God
6r, a more ti,,f ,undid charge never was preferred. itnows ! IT tnein awl tneChureli
,ef Englatuf t . engat.e
(Hear, hear.) He presumes that there has been some in a common cyllibat ae.,tui:rt %ice ai:d arrtlijtm : ants,
base comi,r •inise between gentlemen siPing on this 38 I hoS' who are iiot a.eaieist, 114 lisp.-4; he with us, I wise,
aide of the 11,118 e, but baling different opinions upon them God speed in the good wok in which .they labour. .
matters of vitro int,•re,t. Ile is wholly tristakeu. There But reY 3.',llpathifr.t,4 anti tifectious are with that great
has born co such compromise. lie talks of there 'o.aly of tie clergy of tl:e church, the mernbere of la h'c't
beli; three. e •urses to pursue. He tells us there are are, I lot Leer, the most numerotP, who, preferring the
three c itu Wiwi ins by which office may he obtamed. He religion of the c!oset to the demonstration- of the plat-
says, `I donsa,,d to know which of these threes courses forte, with the 13i1,1e for their guide, and with the an-

cis nt fithers and leareed c Pinuenta'ors of the church for
their aesistante, are most desircus of inculcelltieg t e
practical truths of religion ; and who, while they base
every deeireeto maintain the bonds of union and peace
with every denomination of their Christianetrethren, are
yet not reaiy to compliTent away any of the doctrines
it the church which ie their hearts and their coo-
eelences they believe .1;o be fundameutel anti eseential.
It is because these are my opittione, an i I believe them
to be the opinions of many, very many, of the sound-
thinking men of E gland, that I regret that the Go-
vernment should have ter° am, or appeared to have
thrown, the whole weight of their influence and autbc-
rity into that end of the scale in which the wide latitude
of the Church of Entlend allows freedom of opinion to
be weighed. These topics are not exactly spell ni are fit-
ting to be dealt with by your 1 nelshipe, even although
we approach them with every feeling of veneration a: el
re pest ; and if that be so, how much less fit are such
topics for the bitter political contests of the liestinea—
how much less fit are they to be mixed up with the heats
and bickerings of election contests, and the coarse and
ribald jests which are ever the attendants of the a ,tur-
nalia of an election ! Fur the sake of the church, for the
sake of the Government, and for the sake of the coun-
try, it would be most unfortunate for the Government
to go to the country and to enter on an election on a
question of the leaning 'of the Government to one side or
other of the different sections into Which, unhappily, the
Church of England is divided. I cantint conceive a more
unhappy subject on which the fortunes of an election
should turn, or one fraught with mere uuwttigatej dan-
rto the church itself. I will now, my lords, turn to
topics which are more usually the objects of discussion in
your lordships' house. The real question is, has the noble
viscount at the head of the Government the confidence of
the country ? Before I answer that question I must look
to what has been and what is supposed to be the policy
of the noble viscount. And first, as regards the foreign
policy of the noble viscount. (Hear.) On that point I am
afraid I must repeat much of that which I have said be-
fore in expressing my want of confluence in the conduct
of the foreign affeirs of this country by the noble vie-
count. I cannot f Prget the affair of 1848 ' • I cannot for-
get the affair of 1850 ; but I will look only to the situa-
tion of affairs at the present moment, and I shall find as
unchaeged con inuance in that mischievous system of
interference in the affairs and concerns of foreign coun-
tries which I have eo conetantly and earnestly depre-
cated. I give the noble viscount full credit for many
things. I give him full credit for the courage with which
in 1855 he accepted the arduous duties cast upon the
Ministry. I give him full credit, with his colleagues, for
the efferte which he made to bring the war to a euccesee
tut issue. But as regards the ends and objects of the
war, I cannot say that I give my unqualified assent to
the terms on which that war was concluded, or for the
conduct of some part of the negotiations which led to
the treaty of peace. At the conferences at Paris, tbe
noble viscount, and those who acted with him, were
parties to a grievous injury which was inflicted on tbe
maritime influence of this country. I allude to the con-
cession of that which has for ages been one of the chief
rights of this country as a maritime power ; and I need
hardly add, that without our maritime supremacy this
country will be nothing as a leerier of Europe. I be-
lieve that to hay been a most unfortunate conces,ion,
and the more unfortunate as it wilt made entirely gra-
tuitouely. (Hear ) Again, look at the mischievous and
wholly unjustifiable interference of the Government of
this country in the affairs of Naples. (Dear.) We have

hai before us papers which purported to contain expla-
nations of the cause of
.that iutMerence ; but anything

so meagre, anything throwing so little light, or rather
throwing so much darkness, on the transactions in gees-
- tiee, I never saw. Of the 45 pages of which those
papery" consisted, theft) were but three which contained
anything bearing et, the sutject on which we desired to
know anything. They reterred principally to trials
which had taker' place, and to memoranda, mostly
anonymous, to internal matters which had taken place
in Naples, but they did not contain anything which
could show the right of our country to interfere in the
internal affairs of another country. Your lordships could
not find one single thing in, those papers which gave a
shadow of a pretext for saying that any European inte-
rest was in danger, that there were any European griev-
ances to complain of; and the only question with the
King of Naples was a complaint of the French aed Eng-
lish Governments that he would not adopt a new course
of international policy which they recommended. Their
advice and remonstrance were rejected by the King of
Naples, as it would have been by any independent sove-
reign who had the slightest regard for his own dignity. It
was recommended by our Government that the king of
Naples should grant an amnesty to cerain persons. To
whom I Were they our subjects, and was there anything
unreasonable, if, in answer to such an application, we
received for an answer, " What business is it of years I"
Suppose that before Mr. Smith O'Brien and some other
persons had received that pardon from her Majesty which
had
Mr. Smith O'Brien's aubsequent conduct has fully justi-
fied ; suppose that before that pardon was granted, the
representative of the Government of any other country
had come to us and reported officially that it would be a
Igreat gratification to the people of Ireland if a free par-
don were granted to Mr. Smith O'Brien and his col-
' leagues—l will not call them by any other name—and
entreated our Government for its own sake to , xtend a
pardon to these pi:illicit! offenders. Can there be any
doubt that the answer of our minister would not be
half as civil as that which we received from the King
of Naples ? and roost probably the minister of the foreign
country in question would have been requested to take
the document he had brought with him away, and most
I,kely then he would have been asked to walk out of the
house, and not to give himself the trouble to walk in
again. What did the King of Naples do? He writes
a letter, in which, after giving e'very credit to the
Government of this country for the feelings which they
expressed, he calmly stated that he did not see what
right they had to interfere. Some time passed, and
then another communication was made to the King of
Naples, in which a complaint was made that his letter
was not altogether courteous. To this the King of Na-
plea replied, and he stated in the fullest terms his readi-
ness and his anxiety to keep on a friendly footing with
England, and his regret that his sense of the indepen-
dence of his country did not permit him to accept the '
advice tendered to him by France and England. The
only answer to that communication was the recall of our
minister from Naples. What was there in all this to
justify the breaking off of diplomatic relations with a
power which bad expressed itself so anxious2‘ hat
was
the ready
to maintain friendly relations with us .
the cons,quence ? The retirement "of our minister
was treated as a matter of indiffereuce, and in
the face of Europe the minister of England was allowed
'contemptuou eilenoe ; while, at the
to
beat's
ineiinNap
e, ales i'
an assurance 'contemptuous silence
was given by the Gov, rnmeut
of Naples that there need be no fear for the safety of
the sold ,cts of England and France, notwithstanding the
withdram al of the tninistere of those countries. De you
think that under such circumstances England stands in
a dignified position before the world 'I I ceuld under-
stand if the noble viscount had had some scheme of na-
tional policy for Naples, however unjustifiable such a
ceur2e might be, which he attempted to carry out. That _
mieht be something. But what shall we say to that
enures which employed the lanermee el menace and iuti-
midation ; which three: eeed Naples with the presence of
our fleet ; and istetuula.ted tnti hopes andassions of the
diecontei.ted peoVe to. the very verge of insurrection,
when, if sn,h an insurrection hal broken out, I am con-
fident that from England the
yoked into it by the conduct of the Br.tisb Government,
would have received neither support, cometenance,linotr
commieeration, parties who had been pre-
hut would have been loft to hiedaerda
andi
miserable and disastrous consentionce
Ilna
policy of
alone. (Hear.) I then, so far as th_e, foreignsavthat I have
the not,le vhcount is concerned, csnny
any confidence in bine (11"hre' hear.) But lam still
noble viscount ;
fig'', "crahre noble viscount and I have
more doubtful with regard to the
eady7noesttwicithpsotlaicnydionfgtthhee
long period
been in
rate, before be asks Ili to give him
' policy L. pet iiini'ne-e Ivyllia] utterly at a loss to say what his
known to us what is hies
• any
Op7l,e7y7fidefto%.plee:e Lim - swtahkaet " Each man in his turn
e.,„Seb3pk'rts," but the noble viscount in politics has
plays ninny ilpa.rt. (Hear ) He is not inertly a Janus
~, Pl'Yc- -h
7- Janus Centieeps ;he is the very clime-
, Biceps, but a
i ewe and no one cau say to what line of poli-
leen ofpoo ,-,
~,
' tie be pledgee bimself when lie outlerteks..s to follow the
',"(4'eeeal lead of the noble viscount. (Hear, bear.)
tet us know to what course of pulley we are pledging
ourselves when we give our confidence to the noble
viscount Some of the cries with which he is said to
be going to the country would, I should think, rather
iastonish the noble viscount. It is now, ." Palmerston"
—it is all along Palmerston, and not the Government—
“palcuerstou and Liberalism," " Palmerston and Pro-
testantism," "Palmerston and the abolition of purchase
in the army," " Palmerston, and down with Maynooth,"
"Palmerston, the only Christian Premier." And it has
even been blesphemeuely said "Palmerston, the man of
. God." (Hear, hear, and laughter ) Yes, my lords, it
i has been announced in a clerical paper that Palmerston
1
[' is the man of God. (Hear, hear) Some of your lord-
ships may perhaps remember a caricature which was iu