The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-09 00:00:00

down certain general opinions with respect to civilisation to
the inepplicability of all the laws of nations, very loose as these
laws generally were, and very favourable as they hod been to
conquest and aggression of all kinds. 'The Right Hon. Gen •
tletnan, he repeated ,made certain observations upon that subject
which seemed to admit a latitude of aggression in which
he ( Lord John Russell) would be very sorry to participate.—
( Hear, hear.) It would seem that the next conquest was to be
the conquest of the Punjaub. There was no doubt that the
treachery of the Ameers—the dread of their conspiring with
the Russians or Persians against British power might induce
the Governor-General to direct an advance across the Indus.
It was said with respect to the Punjaub, that it was in a state
of anarchy, that its native princes had been dethroned and
assassinated, and that the country was torn by dissen•
sions. It was further alleged, with respect to the State
of Sinde, that it bad been immersed in barbarism, and
that much was to be expected from the progress of civili-
sation there, and the Right lion. Baronet observed that the
regulations which controlled European nations could not be
applied to Sinde. All this would lead one to expect that we
apposed civilisation to their barbarism, and the successful in-
troduction of the former was sufficient to justify aggression.
If such principles were acted upon, it nes hard to say where
British conquest would stop—they would go on conquering
one country after another, but they might depend upon it that
the extent would cause irremediable weakness.—(dear, hear. )
He wondered that none of the Directors of the East India
Company had spoken. The Noble Lord who introduced the
resolution had at all events elicited the opinion of that House
Ameers, in whose defence he stood up, would be
the Indian Government with liberality and kindness.
that tie
treated by
Sir ROBERT PEEL explained. "she Noble Lord had
not represented what he said truly. What he said was,
that he was afraid it would be impossible to decline inter-
ference in the affairs of Sinde on the same grounds as mighf
be urged by the nations of Europe.
Mr. HUM E said that the Noble Lord seemed to wonder
that no member of the East India Company had spoken on
the present subject. Why, the late Government had de-
stroyed their power, and therefore it was perfectly farcical
to eels them why they did not interfere.—(Laughter.)
The whole conduct of Lord Ellenborough towards the Ameers
had been founded upon one single letter, and on that account
he thought the policy of the Governor-General in this case was
the most unjust that ever had been pursued since we first made
footing in India.—( Hear, hear. and " Question.") At the
same time he saw in the statement of the Hight lion. Baronet
a desire to alleviate the condition of the Ameers. But so far
did he consider their power of no avail against the influence of
India, that he thought there would be no danger whatever in
restoring them to their dominions.—(Hear.) And he be-
lieved that the expense of maintaining the authority of England
in Sinde would cost four times as much as any advantage that
could be derived from the possession.
Mr. V. SMITH, ( who spoke amidst loud cries of "'Question,
question," " Divide, divide,") was understood to say that he
thought there could be no objection whatever to liberating those
unfortunate Ameers, and allowing them to return to their own
country. ( Question, question.)
Lord ASHLEY said that, at this very late hour of
the night, he would not trespass at any length upon
the House, even if it were necessary to make any
reply to the objections offered to his motion. But as it was,
he had heard nothing to make it necessary. Yet one thing
which had been said by the Right Hon. Baronet, to the effect
that this House ought not to interpose, required him to ask—
what redress was there in eases of oppression, if the House was
not to interpose?—( Cheers.) What became of the responsi-
bility of the Governor-General? (Cheers. ) What became of
the controlling power of the House ?—(Cheers.) Ihe whole
argument of the Hon. Member for Bath, and of his friend the
Prime Minister, was, that the conduct of the Governor-Gene-
ral was founded upon reasons of state. If that argument were
of any weight, was it to be said that those unfortunate princes
should be robbed of their dominions, torn frees their hones, and
incarcerated ?—( Hear, hear. ) He could not sit down with-
out saying, in explanation to tke Gallant Commodore opposite,
the Member for Marylebone, that, in referring to the letter of
that Gallant Officer's distinguished relative (Sir C. Napier),
he had ro intenti in of lowering his character, for he held him
in the highest esteem.—( Hear, hear.) He was happy to hear
the sympathy of the House so strongly expressed, and it led
him to hope that the Ameers would be restored to liberty.
But, unwilling as he was to vote against the friends with whom
lie was in the habit of acting, he felt bound to divide the
House, because he was convinced that the policy of which he
complained was injurious to the character of this country, and
inciinsistent with the religion which this country professed,
The House then divided. The numbers were—
For the motion
Against it
Majority against the motion —134
MR. BONHAM.
Mr. DIVETT then rose to bring forward the motion of
which he had given notice, "'That an humble address be
presented to her Majesty, praying that she will be graciously
pleased to dismiss Francis Robert Bonham, Esq , from the office
of store-keeper of her Majesty's Ordnance." He said he had always
considerable reluctance in venturing to trespass on the attention
of the House, and if that was the case in reference to a public
concern, it was much more so with a matter that concerned
himself personally, and therefore it was only from a sense of
public duty that he had put his motion on the books respecting
Mr. Bonham. He thought he had great reason to complain
of the conduct of that gentleman, in reference to certain pro-
ceedings at the last London election. Mr. Bonham, who held
a public situation, w s the general electioneering agent of the
Conservative party.—(lronical cheers and laughter from the
Ministerial benches.) Honourable Gentlemen might laugh at
it, but it was notorious to all the political world,
and should be made notorious to the whole community. It
was notorious that, as political agent, that Gentleman did
things for which he ought to be made responsible, and, on the
occasion of the last London election, the services which he
usually rendered to his party were more particularly called into
play. He (Mr. Divett) might be allowed, in passing, to ad-
vert to the language of the Attorney-General on the matter,
which was something in the shape of a menace, namely, that
his (Mr. Divett's) having put that notice on the books in re-
ference to Mr. Bonham. was not decent--(Cheers from the
Ministerial benches)—just as if he said he would move
his (Mr. Divett's) exeulsion fro.n the House. At the
time of the election for the City of London in October
last, he ( Mr. Divett) was residing in Devonshire. His name
was on the register of electors for the City of London, and Sir
Gregory Lewin had proposed to pair off with him. Sir Gregory
had written to Mr. Bonham on the subject, and Mr. Bonham
had written down to state that his (Mr. Divett's) name was
not upon the register.—( A laugh.) He (Mr. Divett) told
Sir Gregory he was sure it was a mistake; that he would
go to London with him. They did go to town, and they had
voted.-- (A laugh.) There had been no difficulty; when he
came to the poll-book, his name was found on the re-
gister at once.—( A laugh.) Sir Gregory Lewin had written
to Mr. Bonham for an explanation, but no explanation had
been afforded him from that day to the present.—( Hear, hear. )
Had Mr. Bonham written to say that it was a mistake, he (Mr.
Divett) should have thought nothing further of it, but he felt
that Mr. Bonham had cast an imputation on his honour by re-
presenting that he (Mr. Divett) was capable of saying that his
name was on the register when it was not.—(Cries of " No,
no,"um cheers,arices and
in bringing
I aug ht
r . ) t
eH efelt
matter justified,b before
nre undertbe these
House.— c -
st
( A laugh.) Hon. Members might laugh, but he considered the
c
honour of public men should be scrupulously guarded; and he
hoped never to see the day when it would be otherwise.—
( Cries of " Move ! move !") The Hon. Gentleman concluded
by moving, amidst roars of laughter, that an address be pre-
sented to her Majesty praying her to dismiss Mr. Bonham.
The SPEAKER—Who seconds the motion?
No one seconding the motion, it fell to the ground.
Sir ROBERT PEEL rose, not to second the motion, but
to move the adjournment of the House. As, however, the
Hon. Gentleman had made his statement, he (Sir R. Peel)
felt it his duty to come forward and defend an honourable and
high-minded man—( Cheers)—a man he was proud to call his
friend—(Loud cheers)—from the charges which had been
brought against him. —( H
-ear•) The- Hon. Gentleman,
according to his own showing, was not actuated by any sense
of public virtue, because he himself had said that if Mr. Ben-
ham had written to him, the House would have heard nothing
of the matter.—( Cheers and laughter.) The state of the case,
a 3 he understood it, was this :—Sir Grego y Lewin had called
upon the Right Honourable Gentleman or
Devonshire, and
had proposed to him to pair off for the City of London election.
The Right Hon. Baronet then read the letter, which stated
that he and Mr. Divett had paired off for the City of London
election, and that he went to Mr. Bonham to inform him of the
fact, that Mr. Bonham sent him a letter stating that the name
of Mr. i'ivett was nut to be found upon the register; that he
(Sir Gregory Lewin) informed Mr. Divett that his name
was not to be found on the register, at which Mr.
Divett seemed annoyed. He (Mr. Divett) said it was a trick
that Isis name was not on the register, and that he would go
to London to vote. There was nothing in this letter (said the
Right Hon. Baronet) to show that Mr. Bonham had ever
charged the Hon. Gentleman with not having a vote at the
election. He only stated the information that he had re-
ceived himself from the General Committee, the chairman of
which was Mr. Russell Ellice, a gentleman well known to be
of the highest character.—(Hear.) He would now read a
liter from Mr. Ellice to Mr. Bonham, written after the notice
of the Hon. Gentleman. The letter stated that, on the pro-
duction of Sir Gregory Lenin's letter by Mr. Bonham, the
into
the had, according to their invariable rule, looked
the register for the name of Mr. Divett. No person could
d
regret more than he the mistake which' had occurr
insm
and which he believed arose from not
to what Livery Mr. Divett belonged.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. Bonham, in a letter to Sir Gregory Lewin, also expressed
his regret for what had occurred ; it was a mistake, and he
could say no more.—( Cheers.) If he (Sir R. Peel) had been
told that his name was not on the register for the City of West-
minster, he should be sorry to impute a had motive to any gen-
tleman for saying so. The only complaint against Mr. Bonham
was that he made an apology to Sir Gregory Lenin and not to
the Hon. Gentleman—((:beers)—and yet for this the
Hun. Gentleman gave notice of a motion for the first day of
the session, without any communication with Mr. Bonham,
which would lead the friends of that gentleman to suppose that
he was guilty of some gross official misconduct.—(Cheers.)
But, considering that the Hon. Gentleman had riot even found
a seconder, his speech would very little diminish the estimation
in which Mr. Bonham was held by his private friends.—( Hear. )
After a few words from Mr. Div ETT,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that he rose for the
purpose of apologising to the Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr.
Divett). He did state to the Hon. Gentleman that, in his
opinion, it was not right to obtrude private matters upon the
House—( Hear, hear)—and that it was about as proper a pro-
ceeding as if an Hon. Gentleman, in order to make his speech,
should move for the expulsion of another Hon. Member.--
( Hear, hear.) He was in habits of more than ordinary ac-
quaintance with the lion. Gentleman, and he told him frankly,
and with good will, what his opinions were upon the subject.
The Hon. Gentleman appeared to receive the information with
a smile, but he begged to apologise to him if he misunderstood
the terms upon which he stood towards him. He (the At-
torney-General) had meant no offence, and he merely stated,
in perfect good humour, what he thought was the character of
the motion. He begged to say that anything like menace was
equall foreign to his thoughts and intentions. He little
expected that that short conversation would have been
made the subject of complaint against him. And now
he would just throw in, by way of parenthesis, that a gen-
tlemen of more intl. p mCient mind did not exisl either in that
House or out of it, and, baying stated this in a parenthesis,
he would conclude by expressing his opinion that he did not
think the Honourable Member (Mr. Divett) was the most fit
judge of those matters which he had so rashly ventured to
bring before the House.--( Laughter and cheers. )
gr. LEADER said that the gentleman who had
been described as the confidential servant of the
Government in certain matters—the manager and dis-
burser of their Secret Service money—would not, he (Mr.
Leader) would venture boldly to assert, ever do anything re-
pugnant to propriety and honour—(Hear, hear)—and that
he was not a very virulent politician might be gathered from the
fact that he had voted for him at the last election. Sure he was
that a more honourable man did not exist, and he really thought
it rather too bad that a man should be exposed to the surmises
which such a notice as that on the paper was sure to produce
in the public mind from a mere mistake in an election vote.
Mr. B. COCHRANE said he had one more to add to the
many mistakes already eommittel by the Hon. Member for
Exeter (Mr. Divert). He had said or insinuated that at the
time alluded to Mr. Bonham had gone into the coun-
try, in order to settle some business in which he
(Mr. Cochrane) was concerned. Now Mr. Bonham neither
went down nor was sent down to arrange these matters for
him, nor had he ever had anything to do with them. —( Great
laughter and cheers.).
The House then adjourned, at Five Minutes to Two o'clock.