The Sun.
London, England, 1827-05-04 00:00:00

THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.

The Earl of WINCHELSEA then rose and said, I wish
to know from the Noble Lords who have so recently taken
their seats on the opposite side, whetht i• it is their inten-
tion to bring forward any of the three great Constitutional
questions which they have hitherto so ably and so strongly
supported. --(Hear, hear.) I allude, my Lords, to Par-
,mentary Reform—the Abolition of Sinecuresand the
Repeal of Corporation and Test Acts ?—(Cheers and laugh-
ter.) if they do not bring them forward I certainly
will. Under the existing state of the Administration,
of "the country, it is, I feel, my duty to quiet the extraor-
dinary agitation which prevails as to the course they are
about to adopt. We have a Government composed of two
parties, who had each violently " and, I believe,
honestly differed in their opinions—and who entertained
sentiments diametrically opposite, upon all the great
questions that interest the nation. This is a sub-
ject upon which we ought no longer Cu remain
in suspeuce, and I am determined to bring to the test the
principles of the present Adminiatration. With this view,
I now give notice, that on 'the I Ith of ince, I will bring
forward a motion to the -, AO that this House resolve
itself into a Committee to :consider the, s,s4e of the Nation.
(Cheera.)7---It i, clear, my Lords,, that some extraordi-
nary' alteration has taken place. There his ',either been
on. the part of the Members of the _Administration, an
abandonment of the opinions Which hitherto regulated
their public life, or else there "hew exists no unanimity
between them.--(Cheer.)=—:Orie,oriither of these pOsitions
must be conceded to roe; and with the view of bringing
the question to a decided issue, I now move that your
Lordships be summoned for Monday the I Ith of June. .
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY then • rose.—We
are informed, my, Lords, by. public report, that some
of the members of die new Administratiou have ,been only
provisionally placed there, and
The Earl of HARROWBY.,-My, Lords, so irregular
a proceeding as this I never., heard.. A Noble Lord
has merely ,given notice of a motion for a future day--
there is no question now hefove cannot, therefore,
allow the Noble Lord tosproCeed, in this irregular manner.
—(Hear, hear,)
The Earl of LAUDERDALE--I apprehend, my Lords,
there is a question before the House, and that peation is,
'that your Lordships be summoned on Monday the 11th
of June—(Cheers and laughter.)
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY again arose, and,
with considerable warmth said—l will not be put down by
any Noble Lord on that side.of the House. If the Noble Earl
who interrupted me, wishes to prevent the expression of
my sentiments, be must address himself to a man of a differ-
ent character and spirit from me. The extreme baste
with which the Noble Lord attempted to arrest me proves
that what I was going to say was not likely to be very
agreeable to him.—(Laughter. )—The Noble Earl felt rather
awkward,—lie is not sure, and hi: does not wish to have it
asked whether the Noble Lords on his right and on his left
are to remain there.—(Continued laughter.)--I now say,
that which is publicly declared, namely, that the in-
dividuals who fill some of the offices of the new Admi-
nistrations—those for instance, of Secretary for Foreign
Affitirs and the Home Department are not to be permanently
fixed there. They are merely placed there until certain
Noble Lords find how the campaign is likely tg go on.
(Laughter.)—Until they find whether they are to march
and join, or to fall hack and retire.—(Laughter.)—
After remarking upon the state of things in this
strain for some time, the Noble Marquis proceeded
When I look on the opposite benches and see the motley
assemblage, I cannot but conclude that the Artificer
who formed the administration has divested it of
all its ornament and support. It is now a sort of
rubbish—(continued laughter)--very dexterously I will
admit put together, but with respect to its durability I can-
not say much. The artificer has placed himself between•
two opposing parties who will not, I am sure, have
enough of strength to keep bim floating in the middle.—
(Cheers.)—He had un.toried a part of the Tories,
and unwhigged a part of the Whigs.—(Great laughter.)
When I see the country situated as it is ; when
I find that as I go aloe throug this metropolis
every man I meet asks in God's name what is to
become of us. Can I remain silent? The present
Prime Minister has allied himself to those, whom for
twenty years, he had been opposed—nay, more, lie has ad-
mitted them to his Councils.—(Cheers)—There is one point
to which I cannot allude but with the greatest pain. I
cannot contemplate with other feelings the situation of a
Noble friend (Lord Goderich) of mine who- has receently
taken his :seat on the opposite Benches. A friend
with whom, since early life, I have walked, as it Were,
bond in hand:--an individual who has assisted in carrying
the glory of his country to the highest pitch, by his
sedulous attention to its interests, and his' indefatigable in-
dustry. What must lie feel now on: being compelled
to join with those to whom he had through life
opposed. The Prime Minister may send Lords up here
to us, but I am determined that "they shall net lord it
over us.--(Cheers and laughter.)
Lord GOODRICH said, 1 will not consent to be
beaten in detail by going into this discussion, when the great
campaign is to be opened on us on the 11th of June, and
all the rubbish blown to the winds, and I declare to my
God, that I care not what the result of that campaign may
be.—(Great cheers.)
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY, in explanation,
observed, that lie did not intend to include the Noble Lord
(Goderich) in that phrase to which he seemed to object.
He only applied it to that portion of the Administration
whiei had lat ly come in:
The Marquis of ANGLESEA said, that the explanation
which the Noble Lord had given of course applied to bin'.

He was part of the " rubbish," but nothing that could be
said in that way would induce him to to enter into a pre-
mature discusion.—(Hear, from the Treasury Bench.)
Lord KING said, that if the Noble Marquis knew any-
thing of building, he must be aware that it was generally
the rubbish which was removed.—(Great laughter.)—
However extraordinary the Constitution of the present Ad-
ministration was in his (Lord King's) opinion, it was both
more useful and more ornamental than the old House, which
bad fallen.—(Hear and laughter.)—He would therefore
remind Noble Lords of the expression of a celebrated French
General, when he was told of the enemy's inclination to
give battle. " I shall not fight" said he " when they wish
but when I will.

The Marquis of SALISBURY said, that however the

present discussion was deprecated, it had originated in
the undue• warmth which a Noble Lord opposite
had evinced in endeavouring to stifle the observations
.of his Noble Friend (the Marquis of Londonderry.)
[Hear, from the Opposition benches.] That Noble Lord's
long intercourse with the forms of the House might have
taught him the impropriety of such interruptions. He
confessed that he (the 'Marquis of Salisbury) was most de-
sirous to know the truth ofthat report which was in every
one's mouth out of doors, namely, that some of the Noble
Lords who now sit. on the Treasury Bench, had taken
office provisionally.
Lard HARROWBY rose to explain. The interruption
he had given to the Noble Marquess, had been only for the
purpose of preserving that order which was so necessary
in the discussions of every assembly. As to the ge-
neral observations which had been made, for his
own part, he could add but little to the observations
of his Noble Friend (Lord Gooderich) like that Noble
Lord, if he (Lord Harrowby) had acted in accord-
ance with his own wishes, he would have withdrawn alto-
gether from public life. He felt that this step would have
been sanctioned by his increasing years ; for he felt that
whatever faculties he might have had for the public service
were daily diminishing. He had acted, however, on the
advice and persuasion of others, who had informed him
that the postponement of his intention would be useful
to the public service. He could assure their Lordships
his Lordship directed his eyes to the cross-bench on which
that in acceding to the advice given him on this subject,
he had made a great sacrifice of personal feeling,—(hear,)
—and he owned he felt that sacrifice was greatly augment-
ed by his separation from those with whom he was accus-
tomtomed to act for many years, and fur whom he ever
had, and ever would feel the deepest respect and the
warmest attachment.---[The Noble Lord here became evi-
dently affected.]---It would be impossible for their Lord-
ships to estimate qis feelings, when he beheld those
whom lie so much respected and esteemed.—(Here the
Lord Eldon sate) sitting apart from him. • It was a source
of unaffected regret to him, but he acted on principle, and
that. principle he would be ready to explain on a proper
occasion, that occasion the motion of a Noble Lord would
afford. He for one, was most happy that such au oppor-
tunity had been afforded.
The Farl of WINCHELSEA begged to be allowed to
change the date of his motion from the II th June to the
31st May. -
Earl SPENCER objected to - the manner in which the
Noble- Lords' motion was made. -It 'should decide what
day he intended to fix for his motion. The Noble Lord
was quite irregular.
Lord ELDON said, that the comicality if not the irre-
gularity of the Noble Lord's motion, wakthat he postponed
it from June to May.
The Earl of WINCHELSEA ultimately withdrew his
motion, observing, that on Monday next he would fix on a
precise day to bring it forward.
Their Lordships then adjourned.