The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-27 00:00:00

MR. FERRAND'S ACCUSATION.

On the motion of Sir R. PEEL, the Order of the Day
for proceeding With the matter of the complaint of the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman the• Member for Beverley,
and the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State
for the Home Department, was read.
The SPEAKER—Is William Busfeild Ferrand, Esq.,
in his place ?

, Mr. 'errand rose and bowed.
The Clerk at the table then read the report of Mr.
• Ferrand's speech.
Mr. FERRAND then rose and said, Sir, I owe, in
the first place, an apology to this House for having been
the unintentional means of taking up so much of its
valuable time. Had the Hon. and Learned Member for
Bath not taken me unawares the other evening—(Hear,
hear)--I should, on reflection, hare given him
the answer which the Honourable Member for
Finsbury said he would have given. But,
Sir, having in the hurry of the moment been
induced to reply to the question of the Hon. and-Learned.
Member, I ass sorry that I should have been the cause
of thus taking up the time of the House. I owe
another apology, Sir, to the working-classes in the fac-
tory districts, that I should have been the means this
gvening of depriving them of one moment of that sacred
time which they were expecting would be em-
ployed this evening in debating a question of
vital importance—a question to them of life or death.
I hope the House will do me the justice to believe that, if
any remarks of mine, either of a public or of a private
nature, should have wounded the feelings of any indi-
vidual, I shall ever be prepared to give that explanation
to that individual which one man of honour has a right to
expect from another. It appears to me, Sir, that there
have been unfounded conclusions arrived at as to what I
said in reference to the subject now brought before the
House. On Monday evening, as far as my recollection goes,
I said to this House, that I believed that every word of
mine, as reported in the Times newspaper, which related
to the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home
Department and to the Hon. and Learned Member for
Beverley was strictly true; but that I would not vouch
for them until I had again referred to that paper, andif they
were correct, I would come down the following day and
fearlessly and boldly, before this House, either avow or
disavow them. I redeemed my pledge to this House.
I came down with the full intention of doing so, and so
I did. Sir, the House labours under an incorrect
impression, when it supposes that I was driven from the
House by the rude and unmanly interruption
which was offered me by the Hon. Members
opposite—(Cries of " No, no," from the Opposition
benches)—or that I fled from the charge.
Sir, the charge which was made against me was that I used
language at Leeds affecting those two Hon. Gentlemen,
and I admitted I had done so. I admit so, for every
word in that paper is what I uttered at the Leeds meet-
ing. When I left this House I adopted a precedent
which has been pursued by Hon. Members placed under
the peculiar circumstances of myself. I retired from
the House, considering it would be improper in me, and
impertinent towards the House, if I remained one
moment longer. Having redeemed my pledge, I left,
lest I might be an impediment to the free discussion of
the subject. I have been ordered by the House of Com-
mons to appear in my seat to-day, and I respectfully
obeyed the summons, as I will obey every summons or
order this House may give me if it is justified in so do-
ing.—(Laughter.) lam given to understand that if I
was prepared in my place this evening to plead guilty
to the charge, which the Honourable and Learned
Gentleman has made against me, that I shall
receive a free pardon at his hands—that if I do not plead
guilty the House will then proceed to pass sentence on
me, without even examining ant evidence—t Cries of
" No, no")—that it will proceed to pass sentence on
me without producing any evidence as to the
construction to be put upon my words. I hope
I shill be allowed to say one word as to
the conduct hitherto pursued by this self-constituted
Court of Honour. Mr. Speaker—No man, Sir, ever sat
in that chair, who conducted himself with more strict
impartiality, more gentlemanly demeanour, or more
graceful bearing than yourself.—(Cheers.) But, Sir, in
this new office as judge of this self-constituted Court of
Honour, you yourself have found the greatest
difficulty •in acting as an impartial judge.
Sir, the other evening, when that common in-
former applied to me—(Loud cries of " Order,
order.") I retract the words, but I will
never retract the sentiment. (partial cheering.)
Sir, when that public accuser—(lnterruptioh)—it is a
Parliamentary phrase, and it is ungenerous to attempt
to interrupt me. Sir, when that public accuser applied
to me the epithet of falsehood the other evening, I declared
that the language was ungentlemanly. You called me
to order. Sir, when one of the witnesses in this prose-
cution read his evidence against me he supported it by
engrafting on that evidence a leading article in the
Times newspaper.—(Hear, hear.) Sir, the leading men
of both political parties in this House attacked me in
violent language, Nay, one of them, in language un-
justifiable, charged me with a- crime, Sir, of
which he himself was guilty. Is he a fit judge to sit
here? I admit that a more noble or generous-hearted man
never trod the soil of Britain; but under the excitement
of the moment he uttered expressions which were quite
unjustifiable.—(Hear, hear.) Sir, the shouts of revenge
which issued from the jury were also within your hear-
ing ; and let the House recollect that the Prime Mi-
nister of England, when I had scarcely left
these walls, declared in this House, that by having done
so I had deprived it of gratifying itself with a great
deal of amusement. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
Sir, as a Member of this House, I protest
against these proceedings. In the name of the people of
England—(lronical cheers)—l deny your right to try
me on this charge—in the name of the people of England
I pronounce this self-constituted Court of Honour to be
an illegal and an unconstitutional Court ; and, Sir, in
the name of the people of England, I refuse to plead at
its bar.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and partial cheering.)
Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he by no means rose to
address the House in answer to the speech of the
Honourable Gentleman who had just sat down.
But his Honourable Friend the Member for Bever-
ley had, in distinct terms, denied the accuracy
of the charge preferred against hint by the
Hon. Member for Knaresborough. He (Sir J. Graham)
had not given to the House any statement or assurance
in reference to the facts relating to the charge, which
was then under the consideration of the House,
and it was only for that purpose, before be re-
tired from the House, that he 'rose to address them.
Now, before the House proceeded further with the consi-
deration of this subject, they should hear his (Sir J.
Graham's statement. The Honourable Gentleman
had referred to the authority of this tribunal,
and said that he did not come to ask the
opinion of the House as to the accusation. But
he (Sir J. Graham), as the accused, was entitled to ask
them for their acquittal and justification.—(Hear, hear.)
He was in a condition to ask for that decision, and he had
a right to state what the answer was, both
as to what concerned himself personally or what
concerned the Hon. Member for Beverley. The first
charge, in which he alone was concerned, was couched
in these few words—that he was a person who had
taken steps to procure a false report for the
purpose of crushing the Him. Member for Knaresbo-
rough, and that he afterwards dismissed the poor wretch
whom he had used as his degraded and ignominious in•
strument. He had with the utmost diligence endeavoured
to ascertain whether he had had any communication,
direct or indirect, with Mr. Mott in reference to the
report. He was unable to find any trace
of any correspondence with the Assistant-Com-
missioner. (Loud cheers.) He had endeavoured
to find any trace of communication with the Commis-
sioners, the central authority, under whose directions the
Assistant-Commissioners acted. He could find no trace
of any such communication.—(Hear, hear.) With re-
ference to the report which .he had used in that House—
(Cheers)—ho was most anxious to ascertain whether,
although there had been no written communication with
the Commissioners, there had been any verbal commu-
nication between them in reference to the report. He
himself could not recollect that there had been any ;
but he had the positive assurance of the Commissioners
that there had been no such communication, and there-
fore he was in a condition to state in his place in the
House, as far as any assurance from him could be given,
that no direction whatever had issued from him is re-
ference to the report. He repeated, therefore, that it
was an erroneous statement—deliberately adhered to
and not now retracted—that he "had used his official
power to obtain a false report for the purpose of crush-
ingficuemnerngut."m--(enHt ewaerr, hear,
the Hon. Member, and that he dismissed the poor
man whom he had used for his degraded and ignomo-
nanjoyotshiningstleinlasungehhtaerd.)eniallf
necessaryand
as he now gave, he should say that any such thing as
the dismissrl by him -of n person in Mr. Mott's
situation was almost on the face of it absurd.'
Ile (Sir J. Graham) said most positively that the dis.