The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-12 00:00:00

J'AJ4-Jening int

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1545.

The House of Lords met at five o'clock.
Ihe Marquis of CLAxarcAnDE gave notice of a ques-
tion for Monday on the subject of the Irish Railways.
The Bastardy Bill went through Committee.
The Earl of DALHOUSIE moved the third reading of
the Sugar Duties Bill, and dcfQnded the course which
the Government had pursued in regard to those duties.
Their Lordships were also addressed by the Earl cf
CLARENDON, Lord BRODUJIA3j, and Lord STANLEY, and
ultimately the Bill was read a third time and passed.
Their Lordships then adjourned.

The House of Commons met at Four o'clock.

There were an immense number of petitions presented
against the May nooth Bill. The presentation of these
petitions took up the whole of the- hour usually devoted
to private business, and on the suggestion of the
SPEAKER their presentation was permitted after five
o'clock. It was not until considerably after six o'clock
that the presentation of petitions was concluded.
The presentation of a petition by Mr. FERRAND, pray-
ing for the impeachment of Sir It. PEEL, gave rise to a
scene. Mr. ROEBUCK accused Mr. FERRAND of reading
the petition, which is contrary to the rules of the House,
and called him to order. At length, however, at the
suggestion of Sir B. PEEL, the- Hon. Member for
Knaresborough was permitted to rtad the prayer of it.
He did so amidst shouts of laughter from all parts of the
House, in which Sir IL PEEL joined most heartily.
Mr. WYNNE thought that as the petition called a
Member of Parliament to ace punt for his Par-
liamentary conduct, it ought not to bo permitted to
lie on the table.

Sir ROBERT PEEL thouht, as it' contained charges
against the Executive Government, it ought to be
received.

Ultimately the petition was received, and
Mr. FERRAND gave notice, that he should, on Monday,
move that it be printed with the votes.
Mr. WARD gave notice, that on the motion that the House
do go into Committee on the Alaynooth Bill, he should
move that it be an instruction to that Committee, that
any provision for the purposes of the Bill should be
supplied out of the funds already applicable to Ecclesi-
astical purposes in Ireland.
In answer to Lord DUNCAN, Mr. C. RUSSELL, the
Chairman of the Great Western Railway Company, as-
sured the House that the roof of the Box Tunnel was
perfectly safe, not.nithstanding the reports which had
been spread to the contrary.
On the order of the day for the second reading of the
Maynooth Bill being put,
Mr. COLQUHOUN characterised Conservatism as a
name without a notion, and said that it was treading not
on the heels but on the toes of Radicalism, and in some
cases getting before it. He should give the measure the
most strenuous opposition in his power ; and as it was
pressed forward in such a hasty manner as to allow no
time for its consideration, he should, as a Member of the
Minority, feel justified in exercising against it all those
rights with which Minorities were invested by the forms
of the House.

Mr. GROGAN would also give the measure his strongest
opposition. The Government had made out no case
either of compact or expediency in support of it.
Mr. GLADSTONE .followed, and after declaring his in-
tention to vote in favour of the grant, a declaration
which was received with tremendous cheering, spoke
at some length in defence of the proposed measure.
The House, was afterwards addressed by the Earl of
ARUNDEL alai', SURREY, Mr. D'ISRAELI, and Mr. ROE..
DUCK, after which the debate was adjourned till Monday.

The debate last night in the House of Commons on
the grant to Maynoetb, possesses more than ordinary
interest, because itineol yes a religions principle—the meat
difficult of all to control, and has reference to a question
of the highest importance to the united empire—the cor-
dial union of Great Britain and Ireland. The speakers
were few ; and if we exc pt Mr. COLQUIIOUN, who took
a one, sided view of the proposed measuro, and Mr.
D'lsaaELl, who seemed much influenced by per-
sonal considerations, the discussion was confined to
Mr. GLADSTONE and Mr. ROEBUCK, and admi-
rably did they perform their parts. They ad-
mitted the great regard which one man was bound
to show to the religious opinions of 'another, and did
justice to the Protestant feeling which pervaded the
country, while, at the same time, they took a higher
view of the points at issue—points which not only
included the sCety of the empire, but the
very existence of the Reformed religion. We
recommend Mr. GLADSTONE'S speech to the at-
tention of all parties. It did not contain one par-
ticle of bigotry, it was devoid of all political parti-
sanship, and breathed throughout an honesty of pur-
pose, and a spirit of Christian charity, which left no
doubt of the sincerity of the speaker, and
of the high religious principles with which
his mind is imbued. But while he did not forget his
religious duty, he remembered his duty as a good
citizen and a lover of his country, and proved, as clearly
as words can prove, that if the various religious sects
with which the country abounds, were each to claim
precedence and demand that their doctrines should
be paramount, nothing but endless war and ulti-
mate ruin must be the consequence. " With regard
to those," said he, " who contend that it is contrary to
their religious duty to make grants of this kind, I think
that they confound the principle which should actuate
them when acting in their individual capacity with that
principle which should influence them when combined
with the state. In our individual capacity we are guided
by our own will and conscience, which no man can force ;
but a political state can only subsist by a combination
of mutual wills and a mutual surrender and conces-
sion. If all those who live together in our situation were
to insist upon his own opinions being established, and
that no others were to be recognised in the laws of that
state, the whole empire would be thrown into utter
confusion." Here he looks only to the political ques-
tion, but in another plate he calculates the lamentable
result even to true Christianity.
_After adverting to
the agitation in Ireland, and to the no less violent agi-
tation in this country, he justly remarks:—" I deprecate
all agitation, on one side as well as on the other. I
trust that a gentler and wiser spirit will preside over the
minds of the Members of this House than seems to pre-
side over the minds of eedarge a portion of the country;
and I trust that in Ireland, as well as in England, parties
will come to the conviction at which I have arrived,
without any previous bias, that this is a surrender that
ought to be made of rival claims and of extreme
views. If, on the other hand, the doctrine is held that
in Ireland this will be a premium and an encouragement
to agitation and a reward for misbehaviour, and
if parties are told that the cause of religion
is involved in the question and is absolutely at stak
and that we ought not to allow of any secondary ems
sideration, I ask what is to be the state of the country—
what is to become of society ? It must be helplessly
torn asunder by religious disputes, to the loss, I fear, of
that religion which the parties opposed to this Bill pro-
fess to have so much at heart." Mr. ROEBUCK deserves
the highest praise too, not so much for his speech, ex-
cellent as it was, as for the manly, independent and
statesmanlike view of the measure proposed by Sir R.
PEEL. In the city which he represents, it is well known
there is a very strong feeling against Catholics; the
inhabitants, Churchmen as well as Dissenters, are
strongly impressed with the belief that concessions
are dangerous, and that it is their duty to,:. resist
them; but while Mr. ROEBUCK felt the force of
such sentiments, and the influence which they
might have at a future election, like an honest man,
he preferred truth, and justice, and mercy to all
other considerations. What is Bath to him, compared
with a pure conscience ? " When I look," said he, "to
the state of Ireland, to the circumstances under which
you come to give your vote, it does behove you to place
yourselves above the agitation of the crowd, to set the
example to the people you represent, and do your duty
boldly, and act up to the views which you think right
and proper, and which involve the happiness of this
great country." This advice was responded to with
loud and general cheers.
We may here add that we have received a communi-
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