The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-04 00:00:00

"The Queen, however, having most solemnly declared
again and again, and which declarations have been trans-
mitted by her, both to the King of the French as well as
the Queen of England, that it was through fear, and fear
alone, arising from the menaces that overwhelmed her,
that her Majesty put her name with agonising reluct-
ance, as she herself states (and this is confirmed by
those who were then around her), to the paper that was
sent to her to sign, I feel convinced, Sir, that when your
Sovereign is made acquainted with this important fact,
his Majesty will withhold his ratification until further
explanation has been had on this grave question; and I
feel equally satisfied, Sir, that had you been fully ac-
quainted with all the events that occurred at that period
near the Queen at Eimeo, you never would have sanc-
tioned such proceedings being used towards her Majesty,
and the more especially so, whilst you had borne in mind
the delicate situation in which her Majesty then was ; a
situation which has ever claimed from men of every civil
lized country in the world protection, and kindness, and
favour, and, most of all, from those of a nation which
stands pre-eminent in its chivalric gallantry towards that
sex whom we all regard it to be our highest honour to
guard from insult, and to shield from wrong.
" In addition to this painful circumstance, I have
further to observe, that I have been credibly assured that,
some days subsequent to her Majesty having, after many
hours' refusal, at length, through threats on the one side,
and urgent importunities on the other, put her name
to the first document that was forwarded to her at
Eimeo (the treaty), and which act she did, as she then
declared, and still declares, solely to save her subjects
from the fire of your guns, a second (the proclamation),
was laid before her Majesty for her signature, and which
at last her Majesty also signed, through the menacing
demands of the Consul of France, and these insulting
threats were offered, it cannot be forgotten, at a time
when the Queen's accouchement was hourly looked for,
and, in truth, within one hour of her Majesty's signa-
ture being so unfeelingly and so harshly obtained, she
was actually taken in labour, the pains of which were has-
tened, as it is universally believed, by the great distress
of mind, together with the offensive conduct of the
French Consul towards this unhappy defenceless woman!
And her Majesty gave birth tb a child, after great suf-
fering, on the following day.
"France, Europe, the world, Sir, will form its opinion
of these unexampled proceedings; and which you will,
I am assured, alike censure and condemn.
" These facts, which you thus become possessed of,
and which, I believe, were hitherto unknown to you,
will, I feel convinced, cause you sincerely to deplore the
events that I now describe, in relation to the Queen of
this island, and these events, when brought to the con-
sideration of your generous Sovereign, will, I am confi-
dent, at once induce his Majesty to restore to the Queen
Pomare all those rights which, it is manifest, she most
unwillingly and most reluctantly surrendered. Hence I
trust you will, on becoming acquainted with the true
state of Her Majesty's case, unite with me, and with all
who have heard of these facts, in reprobation of the
I conduct of the individual* who has been the main in-
strument of all the evils that have arisen of late in
Otaheite, and who, I am credibly informed, has been
heard to say, on one or more occasions, ' That it should
not be his fault if there was not a war between the two
nations ! ' meaning France and England. This feeling
he seems indeed to have acted up to in every trans-
action ; but I sincerely trust and hope that his self-
interested views will, in this and in every other point, be
frustrated and rendered wholly abortive.
" I must now remark, Sir, that throughout my cor-
respondence with the Provisional Government, my ear-
nest desire has been, that the arguments I have adduced
in answer to their various representations, and in sup-
port of the different measures that I may have adopted,
should be submitted to you on your arrival, or earlier, if
the opportunities offered of forwarding my several letters
to you ; indeed they were written with this sole inten-
tion, and I gave the copies of two of these letters to
Commodore Lavaud with the request that he would
transmit them to you on his reaching Valparaiso, as I
have been very anxious that you should be informed of
the view I have taken of the treaty made by you with
Queen Pomare and her Chiefs in September last ; and
this anxiety has been increased by my learning the
peculiar, and I may add, I believe, the unprecedented
circumstances which, as I have just represented, attended
the Sovereign's signature being procured to that docu-
ment.
" These circumstances will, I consider, in accordance
with the opinions that have been held by the first writers
on international law, render this treaty void ab initio, for
the following reasons :
" Puffendorf (book iii., chap. 6, sec. 9) states, that—
"'Promises made under fear, that is, under a vehe-
ment terror of the mind caused by a threatening of some
grievous mischief, are evidently not binding.'
" And again, in section 10 of the same book and chap-
ter, he says:—
" ' Aristotle calls those only mixed, that is partly vo-
luntary and partly involuntary actions, which are under
taken for the sake of declining some mischief which we
are like to sutler, such as throwing goods overboard in a
storm to preserve our lives.'
" And in the same section it is expressly said, that—
" ' Fear alone invalidates and destroys an obligation.'
(3). (See also book i., chap. iv., sec. 9.)
" And here I should observe, Sir, that the evident mis-
chief that the Queen dreaded was your threat to fire on
her subjects if her Majesty did not sign this treaty, or
pay into your hands the sum of 10,000 hard dollars
within a stipulated number of hours; whereas, this de-
mand of hard dollars was quite as impossible for the
Queen to fulfil, as must have been well known to the
Consul of France, as if you had stipulated for 10,000
rubies.
"Barbeyrac, who, you are aware, was the translator
of, and commentator on, the works of Grotius and Puf-
fendorf, and who, it is said, has been considered to have
approached the nearest to the true law of nations, gives
in his note (3) to the above extract from Puffendorf the
following quotation from Cicero:—
" ' Jam illis promissis standum non esse quis non
videt, qum coactus quis metu, quse deceptus dolo pro-
miserit? Qum quidem pleraque jure Prmtorio liberantur
nonnulla legibus.' De Onie. 1. 1, c. 10; id est—'As for
promises extorted by fear and fraud, who sees not that
we are not obliged to keep them? The praetor himself
frees us from many of them, and the laws from others.'
" Further Barbeyrac says in his note 5 to section x.,
p. 278

he seeks is to see the Sovereign of the island free and
Independent, giving the same favour and protection to
subjects of every state, without showing undue partiality
to either.

" I cannot terminate my letter without conveying to
you my sense of the amicable disposition that has been
generally evinced by the commander of the naval forces
here, Captain Vrignaud, for the maintenance of harmony
between our respective flags; and, but for his praise-
worthy measures, I shall always believe that there would
have been a rupture between our two nations.
" June S.—Having just heard from Captain Gambier,
of the Satellite, that you are not likely, in his belief, to
come immediately to Otaheite, I will take leave to for-
ward this letter by Captain Vrignaud; and my best hope
is that it may be my good fortune to have the honour of
making your acquaintance at no distant period, even
though I may not be fated to do so at Otaheite.--WiCl
the highest consideration, I have the honour to be, Sir
your very obedient, very humble servant,
" J. TOUP NICOLAS, Commodore."

" We must then conclude that, by natural right, all
force, and every kind of violence, direct or indirect, all
menaces, and in general all unlawful influences which
oblige men, contrary to their inclination, to give their
consent, which otherwise they would not, takes away
that liberty which is necessary to make an engagement
valid, and consequently renders all promises and agree-
ments in such cases null and void.'
" Further, in section xi. of the same book and chap-
ter (1. 2, book iii., chap. vi.) it is stated— -
" Those promises, then, or pacts, we take to be in-
valid which a man is compelled to be engaged in by the
unjust force of the party to whom they are made; since
he who extorts anything from another by using unjust
terrors is, by the law of nations, bound to restore it, and
must, consequently, make good what the other person
loses by such a forced bargain.'
" And again, in the same section, it is stated, that—
" That which renders the contract unjust is the hard
fortune of the sufferer, not the person of the doer.'—' It
would be a foolish and idle way of acting, when we are
once got clear of the danger, to pay voluntarily what
we promised upon force.' And it is also said in this
section that—
" A promise made through the compulsion of fear
shall not be binding.'
"And in section xiii., Puffendorf gives a quotation
from Dionys. Halicar, (1. viii., p. 509, in fin. Edit. Lips.),
wherein it is maintained that—
" Whatever is extorted from private men, or from
public states, by force and necessity, holds no longer
than the necessity itself continues.'
"Grotius also (lib. 2. c. xi. s. 7) says—
" That if he to whom the promise was made did ob-
tain it of the other party, by putting him in a fear,
though never so slight, he is obliged to release the pro-
miser if he desires it.'
" Vattel, in book iv. chap. iv. s. 37, likewise maintains
the same principle, as he says, of a constrained or forced
submission :
" If ever the plea of constraint may be alleged, it is
against an act which does not deserve the name of a
treaty of peace—against a forced submission to conditions
which are equally offensive to justice and to all the du-
ties of humanity.' And, further,' If an unjust and ra-
pacious conqueror subdues a nation and forces her to
accept of hard, and ignominious, and unsupportable con-
ditions, necessity obliges her to submit ; but this appa-
rent tranquillity is not a peace; it is an oppression which
she endures only so long as she wants the means of
shaking it off, and against which men of spirit rise on
the first favourable opportunity.'
" And, again,—' Although the law of nations aims at
protecting the safety and peace of nations, by enjoining
the faithful observance of provinces, it does not fa% our
oppressors.'
With these incontrovertible data, it is, I contend,
quite impossible to maintain the validity of the treaty in
question, even supposing you had been furnished with
Ithe;h
express credentials from your Sovereign to conclude
if I am rightly informed, you never in-
3t,e(nmdaeduteoarheadveoetr it,
the harbour of Papeete, when
in September last,hadpreteded o
for your adopting the course which
at lengtnhdtecenymtioeteli
Consul, on his visit to you, found some
you
it right to pursue.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly before Four
o'Ciock.

course,, I may be allowed to say, Sir, appears
; the more extraordinary after the letters that were writ-
ten to Queen Pomare by Commodore Buglet, your im-
mediate predecessor in the command of the naval forces
' of France irt•the seas, only six months before your ar-
rival at Otaheite, and those of Captain du Bouzec of
L'Aube,' written but a few weeks antecedent to your
coming here, and the copies of these are in my posses-
sion, in both of which were expressed the most perfect
satisfaction with all the last measures pursued by the
Queen with regard to the subjects of the French nation
in Otaheite.
" Amidst the variety of reflections, Sr, which the deli-
cate duties I have had to execute at Otaheite during the
last four months will hereafter create in me, that which
I shall ever pride myself the most upon will be the temper
and forbearance which I feel that I have uniformly
evinced, and this every disinterested person here will, I
am confident, confirm, in the various difficulties, and
I may also add offences (as my letters, to which I have
called your attention, will prove), that have been offered
towards me by the individual whom I charge with
being the sole cause of all those late misunderstandings
that have arisen in this island, and which, had I been
actuated with the same spirit, must, in my belief, have
produced a war between Great Britain and France. That
this may be long averted is, lam assured, the best de-
sire of the Governments of each, and should be that of
all who serve under them.

DEVIZES ELECTION.

The SPEAKER informed the House that he had
received a communication from the examiner of the
recognisances in the case of the petition against the
return for Devizes, who reported that the sureties on
that petition were unexceptionable.
RAILWAY BILLS.

" I consider it right that I should now assure you,
Sir, that I am confident England seeks not—desires not
—to possess a paramount influence in Otaheite. All

* M. Moorenhout, Fench Consul at Otaheite.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 4; 1844.

• the Right Rev. Gentleman who had been made the
subject of accusation.
The conversation then dropped.
SIR AUGUSTUS D'ESTE. -
' Lord BROUGHAM, in presenting a petition from
' Sir Augustus D'Este said, that a former petition of
that distinguished individual, respecting his right to
the titles of the late Duke of Sussex, had been re-
ferred to the Committee of Privileges. The Prussian
Minister, the Chevalier Bunsen, who was an important
witness in the matter was about to proceed on Satur-
day next to his own country, from which he would
riot return for three months, and the prayer of the
petition which he now presented was that the Stand-
ing Order, No. 120, of their Lordships House, might
be suspended, and he now gave notice of a motion to
that effect for to-morrow, in order that the evidence
of that witness, de bene esse, might be taken previous
to his leaving this country.
After a few words from Lord CAMPBELL and the
LORD CHANCELLOR, the petition was ordered to lie
on the table.
COMMITTEE OP THE PRIVY COUNCIL.
Lord BROUGHAM laid on the table a Bill for
Improving the Jurisdiction of the Judicial Commit-
tee of the Privy Council.
The Bill was read a first time.
SLAVERY IN AMERICA.
Lord BROUGHAM said that he had received
many applications within the last few weeks upon a
very painful subject, and though he had refused the
applicants to present any petition upon it, still he
could not help saying a few words upon the matter,
while he stated briefly the reasons for which he re-
fused to present any petition. Nothing could
he more painful than any interference whatever of
either House of Parliament with any matter
or thing that was connected with the domestic policy
of any foreign country, or belongingtothe adminis-
tration of the muninicpal law of that country. He
thought it was no reason for breaking that
rule, that it happened that any law of that coun-
try was revolting to our feelings, because we
had nothing whatever to do except with our-
selves and our own law, and the administration
of our own jurisprudence, and we had no business
whatever to interfere with any foreign country in any
respect whatsoever, while that foreign country con-
fined itself to its own law and the adminstration of
that law. That .he held to be so sacred
a principle, that he had refused to take
any step whatever on the question brought before
him. But it was a case which greatly interested his
feelings. A man had been condemned to death in
the Criminal Court of Lousiana, with the
sentence passed by the Learned Judge, as
if he had committed murder—with the
appropriate language of such a sentence, as if such
a man had been guilty of the greatest wickedness—
with directions to the unfortunate man to improve
the interval between the sentence and his dying upon
the gallows—with reference to the sacred truths of
religion, as if the man had committed impiously an
irreligious and cruel and barbarous murder. That
was the case to which his attention had been
drawn. He was bound to suppose that the Louisianian
law had been justly administered, and that the un-
fortunate person had forfeited his life according
to that law, and he was also bound to suppose
that that judge was by no means ignorant of the law, or
was guilty of maladministration or perversion of it.
He believed that the judge had not maladministered
the law ; it was the law, and he was condemned to
die for aiding the escape of a slave. That was the
law of Louisiana; it was not the law of England
—God forbid it should be. But he might
humbly, and with every respect towards the
Government and Legislature of Louisiana, express
his fervent hope that advantage would be taken of
the long interval between this and the 26th of April,
when he was condemned to die, for the sacred purpose
of extending mercy to this criminal. He treated him as
a criminal, because the laws of his country had so dealt
with him ; but he hoped and trusted that the humane
and merciful consideration of the Louisanian Govern-
ment would be extended to this unfortunate individual.
CORN LAWS.

SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY BILL.
Mr. C. RUSSELL moved the second reading of
this Bill.
Mr. S. HERBERT rose for the purpose of stating
that very grave objections had been made to this Bill.
The Board of Admiralty had received several memo-
ials from persons interested in the neighbourhood of
Exeter. In consecidenee of their representations, the
Board of Admiralty had sent down Mr. Walker to
examine into the matter. He should, therefore, make
no objection to the second reading of this Bill, pro-
vided a distinct assurance were given
.by the pro-
moters of the Bill that the Committee would not b.,
appointed until after Mr. Walker's report should be
received.
Mr. C. RUSSELL was ready to accede to so rea-
sonable a proposition.
Lord SEYMOUR wished to know at what time
Mr. Walker's report might be'expected.
Mr. S. HERBERT said he expected it in about a
fortnight.
The Bill was then read a second time.
On the motion of Mr. AINSWORTH, the Bolton
Railway Bill was read a second time, and ordered to
be committed.

RAILWAY BILLS.

Mr. GL A DSTONE:, in rising to propose the re-
solutions of which he had given notice, respecting
Railway Bills, said, he would take that opportunity
of making a few observations upon the subject of
those resolutions. A question had been raised
before the Committee on Railways with re-
spect to competing lines. It was intended on Thurs-
day next to move the appointment of the Committee
on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, and he should
on that occasion propose that the Committee on that
Bill should be deferred for a reasonable time, as the
question of referring the Bills for competing lines to
the same Committee affected this Bill. The principle
hitherto adopted by that House with respect to pri-
vate Bills, had been to appoint the Committees upon
these Bills from Members connected with the local
interest to which the particular Bill might apply.
The Committee, after mature consideration, had come,to
the determination of recommending the House to de-
part from that principle in respect to Railway Bills
to be introduced during the present session. It was
felt by the Committee that, where two Railway Bills
were proposed, the lines to run from the same or
nearly the same termini, and to be established for the
accommodation of the same district, that such
Bills ought to be referred to the same Committee
of that House. In considering this subject, however,
the Committee had had to contend with several diffi-
culties. One was with respect to the rail-
way 'from the town of Ashton to Staleybridge,
There were two lines proposed, and both were for the
accommodation of the same town. One of those
railways joined the Manchester and Sheffield Rail-
way; and the other, the Manchester and Leeds Rail-
way. The two termini of these railways were in
two counties, for it appeared thaikthe town stood on
the borders of different counties. Now, this was a
case of some difficulty. In former years an experi-
ment was tried, with respect to such a case as this,
which was, that the Committee should be appointed
from Members connected with different counties.
This experiment, however, he believed, had
worked in a most unsatisfactory manner.
and had not been repeated. Although a railway Bill
was in itself a private Bill, yet no one could doubt
that the public had a great interest in such Bills.
The Committee had, therefore, determined to recom-
mend the House to depart from the general rule with
respect to the appointment of the Committees on
railway Bills. They felt in cases of competing
lines that the number of Members on the
Committee who were connected with or represented
the local interests, should be materially restricted.
He did not mean to say that this reiohition
had been come to without any difference of
opinion in the Committee, of which he was
Chairman. But after mature deliberation this was the
conclusion at which they had arrived. They pro-
posed that there should be a limited representation of
local interests, in the Committee, but they considered
that the local interests ought to be made subservient
to the public interests. The Committee, therefore,
recommended this resolution to the consideration
of the House, bearing in mind that the experi-
ment was only recommended for the present session.
He should propose that this Committee should be
composed of five gentlemen totally unconnected with
the local interests of the particular places in which
the line lay. The number of Bills which were con-
stantly under the consideration of the House, and the
vast expenses which were occasioned to parties under
the present system, and the time occupied in the in-
vestigation, rendered it a most important element
for the consideration of the House. He was not
aware that there was any other important point to
which it was necessary for him to further allude, and
he should therefore conclude,by moving a resolution
to the effect that, when any Bills were brought in to
authorise the establishment of two lines of railway to
one point, that matter should be referred to one Com-
mittee.
Mr. LABOUCIIERE said the Right Hon. Gen-
tlemen who had just sat down had involved some
most important points in his resolution. He thought
it was a question to see whether the House would
try the experiment of carrying on the private matters
of the country—in fact, whether a tribunal could not
be appointed to try private Bills, in the manner
suggested by the Right Hon. Gentleman, and which
might be also more largely and more effectively adopted
by investing those Committees with a judicial
character--(Hear, hear)—and by purging them of
all personal interest, and also by diminishing their
numbers so much as to fasten upon each of those in-
dividual Members a particular responsibility, obtain
the result which they sought, and which was so much
desired by the public. This would tend to di-
minish the fearful expenses to which appli-
cants were subjected, and insure to those Com-
mittees that weight which impartiality alone
could give them, and_ which Committees on private
Bills did not possess now. He was not insensible to
the difficulties by which this matter was surrounded,
but still he should say that he was glad the experi-
ment was about to be made, and an opportunity
afforded of trying how far it would be safe to carry
the experiment. There was another point of so
much importance that he could not help alluding to it.
He said he believed the number would amount to
ten Committees, which would require the services of
about fifty Members. The main difficulty would be
to find Members who would devote their time to
private Bills in which neither themselves nor their
constituents had any interest. The working of the
plan depended entirely on gentlemen devoting their
time to private Bills, and consent to investigate those
that might be referred to them. He hoped there
might be no difficulty in finding fifty gentlemen to
undertake the duty. He could only say that he gave
his hearty support in the main to those resolutions.
In some points he did not agree with them, but they
were not points of essential importance; in the main
spirit and tenour of these resolutions he entirely con-
curred. They were a great experiment, and a novelty
that he had always desired to see applied. He hoped
they would have a fair trial, and he should not despair
of this being the first step towards putting the private
business of the House on a sounder foundation. If
the House could effect this they would effect a very
salutary change, and do that which would tend to
raise the character of the House in the eyes
,of the
public.

The Earl of DEVON presented two petitions from
to county of Somerset in favour of the corn-laws.
-_,ANDLORD AND TENANT COMMISSION.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE gave notice that
he should put a question to the Noble Earl opposite
(the Earl of Devon), as to the Landlord and Tenant
Commission. Some contradictory reports had been
in circulation, and the objest of his question would he
to elicit from the Noble Earl, the real scope, aim, and
object of the Commission.
NATIONAL EDUCATION.
The Marquis of NORMANB Y rose for the pur-
pose of presenting the petition of which he had given
notice, from John and Elizabeth Ryan, the keepers of the
parochial school of Ballysack, in the diocese of Kildare,
complaining that the interest of 2001., the legacy of a
former rector of the parish, had been unjustly stopped
for the last seventeen months by the Board of Charitable
Bequests in Ireland, in consequence of the introduc-
tion of the national system of education into the
school. The petition prayed for a Committee of
enquiry into the constitution of this board.
In the year 1794 a Committee of the House of Lords
took upon themselves the examination and control of
charitable bequests and donations in Ireland, and
they. instituted prosecutions with a view to the resto-
ration of sums which had been misappropriated.
Just previous to the Union it occurred to the Irish
Parliament that something should 1 e done with refe-
renceat
the judges
was
of to
h t becom-
posed
to these trusts, and one of the last Acts of
that Parliament was to establish a board of charitable
es e Pre-
rogative
Court, of all the common law judges in Ire-
land,
bequests
of
theand
Lord Chancellor,
donations.
Th
land, of all Bishops, and of the nineteen rectors of
the different parishes in Dublin. In the year
1829 a Committee was appointed to consi-
der this subject, and very important evidence
was given before that Committee by Mr. O'Connell.
Mr. O'Connell said, that many persons had consulted
him on the subject of this Board. They complained
of its composition. Mr. O'Connell stated, that owing
to the Protestant character of that Board,
large sums of money had been lost to the
charities of Ireland. lie, therefore, recom-
mended an alteration and revision. From that
time to the year 1838 nothing farther was done in
the matter. In that year, however, the Hon. Mem-
ber for Waterford introduced a Bill on the sub-
ject in the other House of Parliament, but that
Bill never reached their Lordships' House.
The Noble Marquis then read the will of Mr. Few,
the former rector of the parish, of which he left the
interest of 2001. towards the support of the school.
Fie would now say one word upon the state of the
parish of Ballysack, of which he knew something,
having had a residence there, to 'which he some-
times retired when his avocations would permit him
to do so. That parish was supposed to contain about
3,000, inhabitants, butit had since been ascertained that
the number of inhabitants was only 1,300, and of that
number only 40 were Protestants. The present
rector of the parish, Mr. Burmann, had exerted
himself in a praiseworthy manner to make the school
what it was at present. The former state of
the parish was this, there was a schoolmaster,
who received the interest of the gift, but there
was no school or scholars. At present there were
78 Roman Catholic scholars, boys and girls, who
were educated under the regulation of a National
Board ; there were, however, only four Protestant
children went there, their parents making no objection
Such was the state" of the parish of Bally-
sack. Now, with respect to the Reverend Mr.
Burman, he was originally curate of St. Bride's.
That gentleman had been appointed chaplain to the
Lord Lieutenant by the Marquis Wellesley, he had
been continued as chaplain by his Noble Friend op-
posite and by himself. Under the present Ministry
the appointment to the chaplaincy had been, he was
bound to say, of a more exclusively political cha-
•racter, and Mr. Burman had been no longer con-
tinued chaplain. Mr. Burmann had been appointed
to the rectory of Ballysack. The system which had
been pursued there had continued without interrup-
tion up to last year, when the Board of Charitable
Bequests had thought proper to interfere.
(LEFT SPEARING.)

Mr. H. HINDE said there was no information
before the House to induce it to come to a contrary
conclusion from that of former sessions. Before he
was called on to give his vote, he thought he was
entitled to see the evidence that had influenced
the Committee in coming to this decision. No-
tice was only given of these resolutions on Friday,
and between that day and the present is the time
when Members have the least chance of considering
these things. Alterations had lately been made with
regard to the Standing Orders affecting Railway
Bills, but they had not turned out to be of the most
felicitous character. The Right Hon. Gentleman
(Mr. Gladstone) ought to give them some days for
consideration. If he did not grant this, he must at
all events request him to afford the House s little
more information on the subject of the fifth reso-
lution. What, however, he (Mr. Ilinde) should most
prefer would be a Committee of five gentlemen who
were for excluding all local interest whatsoever. A
system such as this would he far preferable to any
yet proposed, and would give greater confidence to
the country, and enhance the character of the House.
Mr. MART said he heard, with the greatest
satisfaction, the proposition of the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman, and he believed the House and the country
would join with him in that satisfaction. He agreed
with the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last in the
opinion that when a new principle was intro-
duced it ought to be worked out. He hoped that the
principle which the Right Hon. Gentleman now in-
troduced with regard to railways would be applied
to all private Bills, for it was equally applicable to
all private Bills. He was sorry the Right Hon.
Gentleman opposite and the Right Hon. Gentleman,
the late President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Labou-
chere), did not give him a more ardent support than
they had done, when two sessions ago he brought for-
ward a proposition on the subject. The principle now in-
troduced would remove all local and personal interest.
He thought it was better that the number of the
Committee should be diminished to five. The prin-
ciple had been most satisfactorily introduced into the
House of Lords. There was not a Member of the
House of Lords who was not satisfied with the mode
in which the principle had worked. The Parliamentary
agents agreed that the systeip had worked well. In 1839
they said that this principle ought to be applied to all
private Bills. In Committees on private Bills with
regard to rates, and a variety of other things, circum-
stances, not only of a local, but of a political elyy '
racter were introduced. If he wilted the highest
authority as to the utility of the principle, he need
only appeal to the opinion of the Right Honourable
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