The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-04 00:00:00

together by our Sovereign, and say that we can do no-
thing but follow the same fruitless ceremony which was
followed before those sad events occurred. (Hear,
hear.) I make no doubt that hon. gentlemen have
given some attention during the recess to the labours
of the committee upon the banking community; I make
no doubt there are many gentlemen whose studies
were not limited to the labours of that committee, and that
they also have studied the labours of the committees of
1817 and 1850, but also that they have studied the labours
of the committees of the Lords upon the same subject.
(Hear.) Now, I ask those who have taken the trouble to
go through those papers which were printed by the com-
mittee of last year— although they contain a body of evi-
dence distinguished by a knowledge of the subject, and
which display the commanding and sufficient in formation
which they give them as a basis for legislation—l ask them
if they have found a single new fact or principle? Net
one ; and I defy any man to bring forward any more facts
or principles than have been already laid before committees
of both houses. You have had Lord Overstone before you,
a man who, by his commanding intellect, is perfectly com-
petent to convey abstract ideas, and to 'give you, in mas-
terly language, the conclusions at which he has arrived with
so much patient thought. But what the evidence of Lord
Overstone was in 1857 it will be in 1858, if we have him be-
fore this projected committee, which I trust the house will
not grant. In addition to Lord Overetone's, there was the
evidence of Mr. Tooke and his pupils, who so ably represent
him—any further evidence from whom would but bo a re-
newal of those admirable pamphlets which we all have in
our libraries. Nothing can be more painstaking or im-
portant than their investigations. Ido not think that in
the literature of any coantry is there such a mass of econo-
mical knowledge, combined with greater accuracy and
and admirable lucidity, than is to be found in the work of
Mr. Tooke upon crises. And on the Treasury bench -
among her Majesty's Ministers--I see experienced states-
men, who have set in this house for a long period of years,
and have taken part in all the great debates upon the pein-
ciples of currency—men thoroughly understanding any
subject to which they may give their intelligence ; and am
I to be told that at a moment when of all others it is most
important that this subject should no longer be left in the
same state in which it has been for the last 10 years, we are
to give up any attempt at legislation in despair, and allow
matters to drift on till fresh disasters and calamities may
occur which we may afterwards have deeply to de-
plore ? Well, sir, under these circumstances I must express
my hope that her Majesty's Ministers will reconsider the
notice they gave this evening through the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. I hope they will frankly answer the question
whether they intend to stand by the Bank Charter Act or
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the most important acts of the Legislature. How can they
justify the advice which they gave, if now they tell us
that that is the act which they ere prep tred to uphold ?
But if, on the other hand, Ministers will announce to us
that while they ask for an indemnity for a step which, in
an emergency, they thought necessary for the public safety
and public good, they will still say—not shutting their
eyes to all that has occurred—that they are prepared to
recommend a measure for the adoption of Parliament
which will remedy acknowledged grievances, which, in
their opinion, will be a just and fair, and even scientific,
settlement of difficulty. I think it will be the duty of
Parliament to accord to them that indemnity without the
slightest hesitation, and do all we can to assist the Go-
vernment in the solution of that difficulty. But against
the course intimated to-night I humbly, but earnestly,
protest • and if there are any hon. members anxious that
the Bank Charter Act should remain untouched and un-
criticised, I think they will be taking a course which is
calculated to imperil the stability of our commerce. I say
to them there is nothing which can be more injurious to
the policy which they wish to uphold than to allow a law
to exist which in a moment of emergency can always be
suspended, and which during moments of tranquillity can
be always submitted to the investigation of a committee of
the House of Commons. (Hear, hear.) It does, then, ap-
pear to me so necessary that we should have legislation on
the existing law that I do hope we shall be able before the
discussions which I anticipate on this subject finish to in-
duce the Government to take that course which will be for
their own honour and for the benefit of the country. Now,
sir, there aro a few other subjects which I feel it my duty
to touch upon to-night. It must be a source to the house of
the greatest satisfaction if that paragraph in her Majesty's
gracious Speech be correct which states that our relations
with our neighbours are of an amicable description.
Some of my friends have put an interpretation upon
that paragraph which I myself, more hopeful, do not share
in. They seem to think there is an expression of regret
conveyed in this paragraph—(a laugh)—as if the noble lord I
said, " I have done all I could—but there it is." (Re-
newed laughter.) He has come down and told us, " I
have done my best to support the ' turbulent and aggres-
sive' system, but we are in for it." (Much merriment.)
Now I accepted the belief that there was considered to be
a chance of tranquillity. I fully entered into that belief
until within about a month ago. About the time that
Parliament was going to be prorogued—at the time when
her Majesty's Ministers were going to violate an Act of
Parliament, there was a great anniversary, which in this
country is not merely an anniversary of social importance
but also political importance, at which the head men of the
country generally attend, and, in the absence of Parlia-
ment sitting, often convey to the public that information
which in a free lend like this should be afforded. I allude
to the banquet given to her Majesty's Ministers by the
right hon. gentleman who presides over the magistracy of
the City of London, and whom I am glad to see sitting on
this side of the house. The noble lord (Lord Palmerston)
attended the anniversary in question, and I shared the
pervading alarm from his speech, that we were to be in-
volved again in those difficulties in which we had before
found ourselves, and from which the noble lord is so happy
in extricating us. (A. laugh.) Certainly this was an ad-
dress calculated to attract the attention of foreign poten-
tates, considering the emphasis with which the noble lord
put forth his declaration. Since the speech of Harry Dun-
das, at the beginning of the revolutionary war, in which
he contended that " one Englishman could beat three
Frenchmen,"—a maxiu which, for a considerable time,
was acted upon as a faot —(laughter)--I hardly know any
speech which produced so great an effect, and which was
more calculated to animate the heart of a country which
was on the eve of being tried by an exigency of a most
perilous character. It was not clear to whom the noble
lord alluded, but that those to whom allusion was made
were Sovereigns of no mean order no one could doubt; some
people, jumping at rash conclusions, 'imagined that the
Emperor of Russia must be alluded to, while others ima-
gined that it must be the Emperor of the French who was
indicated. But the Speech of that night had dissipated all
such fears, an I it was now quite clear that if there was any
king who was going to make war with England it must be
the noble lord's old friend, the King of Naples—(loud
laughter)—and that if there be any Emperor who is really
going to invade England it meat be that other friend of
the noble lord's, the Emperor of China. (Much laughter.)
I will not stop to discuss he position in which our plenipo-
tentiary in the Chinese waters is now placed, nor to express
my lamentation " that the deep and eternal stain" on the
flag of England has not been wiped out. However, whe-
ther the " ruffianly" official who presides the great city of
Canton, and who, I presume, is still in office, notwithstand-
ing the invective the noble lord addressed against him on
the hustings at Tiverton, or whether he has ceased to oc-
cupy that position- I say, notwithstanding this, I can
certainly perceive that the quarrel with China has served
somebody else's interest besides that of Commissioner Yeh.
(A. laugh.) As, however, there are greater matters be-
tween us, I shall at once leave this all-important subject to
be fully discussed on the report of the Address. Her Ma-
jesty, sir, in her gracious Speech has adverted to the dis-
tress which has overtaken seine of our commercial classes,
and which, I am sure, must have commanded the deep
feeling and sympathy of the country. There is not any one
here, or in any part of the country, who will not sympa-
thise with her Majesty's declaration. (Hear, hear.) I will
now advert to the subject of India. (Cheers.) It was
said in 1818, when the very foundations of society in
France seemed to be endangered, that France was saved by
the army, and I am sure it can be said with more truth
that the empire of India has been saved by the army.
(Loud cheers.) It has been saved, I say, by an army which,
we should never forget, owes nothing to Cabinets in Lon-
don or to Councils in Calcutta. (Hear, hear.) Alone they
(lid it, and long will the memory of these rousing and start-
ling achievements live in the memory of this nation. Mr.
Canning once said of India that "it was a land fertile in
heroes ;" and, sir, in the use of that phrase, Mr. Canning
must have been as much influenced by prescience as by
memory ; for, if we look through the long list of heroic
men who have illustrated the history of our country since
that land has been under our dominion—amid all the com-
manding qualities of human nature that have been dis-
played as memorable incidents, I doubt whether die civil
prudence, the military skill, the soldier-like valour in which
we have so much excelled, has ever been displayed in a
more conspicuous manner than in the instances of those
glorious names now in the mouths of Englishmen. (Loud
cheers.) Many of them remain—many of them will re-
ceive from their Sovereign and from their country those
acknowledgments of their great qualities,which every Eng-
lishman is proud to possess, (Hear, hear.) I hope we shall
be applied to in this house to express that we, as the re-
presentatives of the people, are not wanting in the expres-
siontd those feelings which such achievements deserve ;
because, depend upon it, that however splendid may be the
orders of chivalry, however proud men may feel of obtain-
ing by the sword the honours which it brings them, that
the thanks of Parliament have a charm for them—as we
know that many have frankly declared—and that in the
hour of battle our heroes feel that they are doing that
which may entitle them to the thanks of the House of
Commons, (Hear, hear.) But when we remember the
names of Wilsen--of Havelock— and others that may be-
come before us, let us never forget the intrepid Nicholson
—let us warm at the mention of the fiery Neill. (Loud
cheers.) What these men have done cannot be calculated
until some time has elapsed ; what has been neglected by
others can only be estimated when some months have
passed away. What strikes us throughout these extra-
ordinary transactions is the total unpreparedness of those
who are responsible for the condition of this great empire.
Why, sir,l had occasion before Parliament was prorogued,
to make some observations upon the state of our Indian
empire—and I mention this by way of illustration. On
that occasion I took the liberty of intimating the causes
which had led to a chronic state of discontent among
powerful classes in our Eastern possessions. I said then
there was a primary cause for the insurrection which is now
acknowledged in her Majesty's Speech to be a deeply-
spread revolt •
of d and I said that the cause of it was the an-
nexationude. What happened on that occasion ? Her
Majesty's Government treated any allusion
to Ouda as the
cause of this revolt with derisive indignation; they said
that nothing had ever occurred that could in any way be
connected with Oude as the cause of the melancholy in-
telligence that had just arrived. They traced the discon-
tent to all sources but that. The members of the Go-
vernment ought to have been masters of the ques-
tion which they were treating, for they must have greatly
influenced the opinions of the house. But I ask the house
now if they are:of opinion that Oude has had nothing to do
with recent events ? Is there any subject, whatever may
be the controversy upon it- is there any point upon which
men are more agreed than that the annexation of
Oude was the chief and certain cause of the revolt? lam
not mentioning this with a view to entrapping the house
into a discussion of Indian affairs now, but to show the
fatal consequences of the inattention with which the sub-
ject has been regarded. I said then that it was absolutely
necessary to search out the canoe of this revolt, because
without this it was impossible to apply an adequate re-
medy. Very early in the year you received intimations
of the great disasters that have since occurred. On Feb.
8 there was considerable mutiny • it may be said that in-
dications of one had existed, and that it could not be ex-
pected that it would prove a revolt--but while such lan-
guage might come from ordinary members of the commu-
nity, or from members of Parliament, it ought not to
come from men who were responsible for the government
of the country, while in the month of February the spirit
of mutiny had given sufficient indications to show the sub-
ject
to be one of great importance. and by Aprillo the news
had been received in England. Those tidings were surely