The Sun.
London, England, 1828-05-21 00:00:00

cf Mr. Canning , he had never had any inter,cur:se with
trim, except at social meetings ; hut even in his slight inter-
course lie witnessed the benevolent feelings, which he mani-
fested towards all thoselrel sons who were near him. He
could not but feel a grateful recollection of him; and when
he found that in the face of England and of that House
that great man (for such he assuredly would be regarded)
was so treated—when lie found that an opportunity was
taken ti, go over his whole life—(hear)—not with the
minute skill of an anatoniist and dissector of a dead sub-
ject, but of a living subject, for his family was living--
(hear)—and the fame anti character of Mr. Canning made
less in the public view—when what he had done, and what
he bad not done—(cheers)—was made the subject of a
charge against him, he owned his blood had boiled, al-
though he was no friend or connexion of Mr. Canning.
Me acted under the influence of such feelings, and perhaps—
(Here the Hon. Member passed rapidly to another sub•
ject. )—But alt the censure which had been passed upon his
memory was not for acts which Mr. Canning had done,
but which the House had sanctioned. Yet obloquy was
heaped upon him. He (Mr. S. Rice), therefore, felt as
a man and as a Member of Parliament, that such a course
of proceeding should he pursued, not against the living
but the dead, and which, if the individual had been liv-
4hg, the House would have heard little of.—(Hear.)—lf
Mr. Canning was the individual who had produced all that
lavish expenditure which had embarrassed the country,
why were the persons who made the charge backward in
bringing it forward ? If it was true now, it ought to
have been urged when he was alive. If Mr. Canning
sent an army into Portugal, he was not alone to blame.—
(Cheers.) It was net sufficient to charge Mr. Canning as
principal ; the House were his accessories, and the nation
his supporters. —( Hear. It was under the influence of that
speech that he (Mr. S. Rice) had made the observations
which fell from him. He had no intention to impute to
any class of men improper motives. It might be that
some gentlemen voted against the grant on the ground
that Mr. Canning had not oisiended_ sufficient protection
to the agricultnral interest ; but that was no reason why
they should quarrel with him (Mr. Rice.) If he had on a
former night stated his sentiments Stronger than circum-
stances bore him out in doing, he could only say that he
:yoke Under the influence of excited feelings, the same feel-
ings which at present moved him. Those feelings he
would intro retract. He might here observe, that
other matters which had occurred in that House with
closed doors, after the gallery was cleared for a
division, had found their way before the public. The
speeches of the Hon. Member for Essex (Mr. Western),
the Gallant Commander-in-Chief fir Ireland (Sir
G. Murray), to which he had listened with admiration in
that House, after the gallery was cleared, were laid before
the public in 21 hours after their delivery.—(Haar.)—His
Gallant Friend (Sir R. Ferguson) was in error if he sup-
posed he (Mr. S. Rice) was concerned in the publication
of the proceedings alluded to, to the extent to which his
observations would apply. On all occasions he had looked
to the influence of Mr. Canning in the state, to his com-
manding powers and extraordinary abilities, as the proud
glory of England ; and he would not shrink from declaring
his opinion on that point under any:possible circumstances.
He had so opportunity of stating these sentiments while
Mr. Canning was living aid invested with power. He
had never declared them, directly or indirectly for
the purpose of acquiring power himself. What he
had said was as a tribute ,to the memory of Mr. Can-
ning, and to discharge the:feelings of his heart. There
was only another point upon which he would touch. The
Hon. Member opposite (Mr. Keck) had made use of a word
which he wished had been spared, or if nut, that'it bad
been employed in a more explicit manner. He trusted,
that in discussions of a personal nature, the House would
not allow themselves to be carried away by the influence of

suggestions. If any Member wished to make a charge, he
would best consult the dignity of the House, and the justice
of the case, by making it explicitly. The Honourable
Member opposite said, thatt when he (Mr. Rice) spoke of
personal motives, he (Mr. Keck) might do something in
the way of retaliation. ! ti i =.)l .411:
Mr. LEGH KECK—NO,
Mr. S. RICE—The Honourable Member certainly used
the word retaliation.
Mr. LEGH KECK—I Said nothing at all about it.—
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. RICE proceeded—lt:was his Gallant Friend, then,
who had employed that word. He desired thai the House
should be set right upon thiei point. It could, not ',ll-C from,
motives of personal interest that he had defended the, me_
sorry of the deceased statesman. What motive of that
nature could any man now hive for pursuing such a course ?
What person—what interest could he.conciliate by doing
so ? Hs bad acted only under the impulse of the feelings
of the heart. If he had done wrong, it was perhaps from
yielding to that impulse too much. He saw nothing to
regret in the feelings which had actuated him, and if his
feelings were right, he cared not for the manner in which
they had been expressed : at the same time if he. had said
any thing which offended the feelings of any class, of per-
sons in that House ; be would declare that be was sorry
for it, but he would go no further than that.
Sir R. FERGUSSON said, that though. he had made
N. use 'of the word "retaliate," he did not mean to apply it
to any part of the Hon. Member's public conduct. He
merely stated, as a general', proposition, that when per-
sonal motives were attributed to an opponent, it would
provoke retaliation.
Mr. G. BANKES said, that the observations of the
Hon. Member who had just, addressed, the House might
excuse, if they did not calif for, a, feW observations from,
him. He bad given one vote on the question of the pro-
.

posed grant, aid he had hoped that that would have been
the last occasion on which be should have been called upon

either to vote or to speak on the subject. That vote was
one of the most painful he had ever had occasion to give in
that House. For his part, he not only fully recognized the
proposition laid down by the Hon. Member that the dead

_ .
ought to be treated with respect and reverence, but he
would extend it even to the absent. Ile must, however,
Nay, that the lion. Member had lost sight of the generous
principle to which he (Mr. Bankes) was disposed to give
his acquiescence, when he indulged in remarks on two
n'abeent Members, which could not fail to be most painful
to them if reported to their cars, and was unquestionably
painful to those who were attached to those Members,
either by feelings of friendship or by stronger ties.—(Hear,
hear. )_With respect to the Noble Lotd (Chandos)
who had been alluded to, be could state, without, how-
ever, having authority to say anything on his part, that
,the was engaged in public business in the county to
ft which he belonged. Had that circumstance been
si known to the Hon. Member, he probably would have
postponed some of the observation 3 with which he had
favoured the House. After all the explanationswhich the
Hon. Member had offered, he could not think that he was
justified in using the language that wa:i complained of.
When the Hon. Member talked of the Member for Dor-
e,e,,efshire (Mr. Bankes) dragging forward and reviewing
the conduct of Mr. Canning, did he think that he put the
case in a fair point of view ? Was the Member for Dor-
eetshire, or any other Member who in the discharge of his
duty opposed a grant like that which the Hon. Gentleruau
advocated; to be considered as having dragged forward the
' conduct of Mr. Canning ? (Cheers.) lion. Members had
come forward to oppose a proposition, which in its very
nature called for a review of the public character of the in-
dividual to whom it referred. (Loud cries of hear...)
A, The public conduct of Mr. Canning was the very ground-
work of the proposition. (An expression of dissent.) He
was aware that the friends and relatives of the deceased
Minister declared that they asked for the vote, not as a
charitable grant, hut as an act of justice. This was the
language wich had keen employed by them, and with it,
as coming from them, he was riot disposed to find fault.
ft. But he could not help deprecating the assertion which the
Hon. Member had so rashly and unwarrantably made,—
namely, that Hon. Members had dragged Mr. Canning's
conduct forward with a view of exposing it to public
-odium. (Hear.) The coialuct of Mr. Canning was not
brought forward by those who opposed the grant, They
'bad merely declared, when called upon, their coition of
conduct. Whether that opinion were right or wrong,
it was not becoming the lion. Member to decide upon
it as he had done. (Hear.) Now with respect to the
e:-'Hon. Member's explanation. He had better not have
ventured to allude to the charges which had been brought
against him at all, or have made nit+ defeace more com-
plete than he had done. The gallant General (Fergusson)
had referred to a maser which be must ;apologise for el_
luding to, connected as it was with a breach of the pri-
vileges of that House. Undoubtedly the Hon. Member
had not answered the question of the Gallant General on
this point,—namely, whether he was not directly cogni-
zant of the mode in which particular circumstances which
had taken place within the walls of that House, had been
transmitted to publication. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr.
Bankes) would never have questioned the Hon. Member
on such a point, because he had no right to do so ; but lie
must observe that the Hon. Member, having entered on
his defence voluntarily, had left it incomplete. (Hear.)
Ile thought it was greatly to he lamented that the state-
ment of what occurred in that House should have been
made, public, not only on account of the sentiments which
it attributed to the Hon. Member, but ;its() those attri-
buted to a Noble Lord (Palmerston), which were eaten-
/a.ted to wound the feelings of those who had taken part in
the former discussion on the vote. He lamented, there-
fore, that the statement had been thrust on the public
notice. (Hear.) The Hon. Member conclu,!ed by lug-.

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