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

HOUSE OF COMMONS, THURSDAY, MAY 3.

Mr. LIDDELL presented a petition from the persons
engaged in the Shipping Trade at North Shields, against
the existing state of the Navigation Laws. Ordered to be
laid on the table, and to be printed.

Mr. ELLISON presented a petition to the same effect,
from. the Shipown:2rs, &c. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Mr. RLTAIBOLD presented a similar petition from the
Shipowners of Yarmouth.
The proper Officer brought up the list of the Members
appointed to serve on the Camelford Election Committee.
The name of the Members ballotted were—Mr. -Ralph
Benson, Hon. T. Dundas, Hon. F. Ponsouby, Mr. Mo-
berly, Viscount Lowther, Mr. James Daly, Marquis of
Chandos, Lord Brudenell, Hon. W. F. S. Ponsonby, Mr.
James Brougham, Mr. E. Rogers, lion. Anthony Maitland,
Hon. H. C. Lowther, Mr. WilliaM Holmes, Mr. S. R.
Lushington.
Mr. HEATHCOTE presented a petition from the Ship-
owners of Boston, in Lincolnshire, praying for protection
to the Shipping Interest.
Sir T. LETHBRIDGE presented a petition from the
Inhabitants of Frome, in Somersetshire, praying that the
Home Manufacturing Trade to the East Indies might be
p^t on the same footing as that to the West India Colonies.
They also begged the House to take into considerati the
distressed state of the manufacturers.

Mr. H. GRATTAN presented a petition from the Ship-
owners of the city of Dublin, against the present System of
Free Trade.—Ordered to lie on the table and be printed.

SRIPPING INTEREST.
General C. ASCOYNE presented a petition from the
Shipowners of Liverpool, complaining of the Navigation
Laws, observing, at the same time, that the signatures
were those of most of the principal merchants, better known
to his Right Honourable Colleague (Mr. Huskisson) than
to himself, as they had hitherto been his principal sup-
porters.
The Gallant General then rose to bring forward the
motion upon this subject of which he had given notice in
February last, when he was interrupted by several Mem-
bers, who requested him to postpone the subject fur a few
minutes. Other Members called upon him to proceed, and
some confusion prevailed in the House in consequence.
• THE. NEW. MINISTRY.

Mr. GEORGE DA WSON rose, from .the Opposition
Bench, and order having been restored, be observed, that

lie had been for some time in anxious hopes of seeing the
First Minister of the Crown in his place, that be might
put to him a question of some importance. He did not
wish to interfere with the convenience of the Right Ho-
nourable Gentleman, hut at this hour he thought that
even the First Minister of the Crown might favour the
House with his presence.
Mr. HUSKISSON remarked, that he had not had an
opportunity of seeing his Right Honourable Friend to-day.
If the Honourable Gentleman had apprised the Chancellor
of the Exchequer of his intention, no doubt he would have
been present.—(Much cheering.)—Whatever might be the
inconvenience, as far as respected other branches of the
public service, the Right Hon. Gentleman would certainly
have been in his place, had he known that it was intended
to put a question to him.
Mr. G. DAWSON added, that before the ballot he had
given all the notice he could of his intention, by stating it
to the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Huskisson),
He did nut think that there was any fair ground to com-
plain of him (Mr. G. Dawson) for a want of courtesy in
this particular.
Mr. HUSKISSON had not meant to complain of the
course taken by the Hon. Gentleman. When he (Mr.
Huskisson) entered the House, he had certainly been in-
tlirmed that the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Dawson) meant to
put a nuestion to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he
(Mr. Huskisson) did not think he was thereby called upon
to send to his P'ght Hon. Friend.
General GASCOYNE again rose, and many Members
reqpired him to proceed with his Motion, but the Gallant
General said that he would defer it for five minutes. He.
_ _

lea' scarcely resumed .Ins seat when Mr. Canning entered
the House, and took his place.
Mr. G. DAWSON-4 wish to ascertain-from the Right-
Hon. Gentleman, the first Minister of .the. Crown, whether
any arrangements have been . made, or . are in-containpla-
tion, for filling up the vacant offices of Master of the Mint,
Judge Advocate General and Surveyor-General?
Mr. CANNING (in a very emphatic tone)---" Year,.
—(Loud and reiterated cheering from all sides.)
Mr. G. DAWSON—I confess myself at a loss to under-
stand the meaning of those cheers--(laughter, and hear) ;
—but in order- to bring the matter to a crisis, I tle this
opportunity of stating, that I.in•end to conclude by making
a motion, and that motion will .be for an Address to his
Majesty, praying that he will be graciously pleased to order
a copy of the appointment of-the Judge Martial and Advo-
cate-General to be laid upon the.table. I shall make this
motion, for the nrpose of introducing it by some few ob-
servations. After so long a delay, it would have been de-
sirable that the House' should know who are the Gentlemen
in contemplation to fill up the important offices I have men-
tioned. We have no information whatever on the subject,
and report having been busy, it has gone abroad, as one
rumour among many, that the vacancies are to be supplied
by Gentlemen who have lately coalesced with his Majesty's
present Ministers. If this report be correct, it will form
the last act of that political farce which the Right lion.
Gentleman has been performing for the last three weeks
with such varying success. There is one curious incident
in this farce to which I beg leave to advert. I heard the
other night in this House, from the Right Hon. Gentleman
. himself, that he received six of the resignations of the late
Ministers in the closet of his Sovereign. Now, in another
place, I heard four of these late Ministers declare, that their
resignations were sent in in time for the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman to have received- them at the Foreign Office. The
Right Hon. GentletrasOiowever, asserts--asd I am bound
to believe him—thatlin received these resignations in the
Royal Closet. -It: dOeif-appear to; rue.: an extraordinary
circumstanee, as:;"*. of these resignations were
sent in so milk,. Arligkire, as' eight o'clock- in the
morning of thy; 10:04- Right. Honourable Gen- ,
tleman received' f:,:aaad two of them the
night before,.that :-the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman unehe Aliat?'lltatreaeloset.: -To a man of
common and r that this must have
been done for ewe lattri*stt they were, in fact, re-
ceived in due „time at tiar.;roOi ri ,Office, and sent to the
Royal closet-by the liigliVab4Pentleman, it is not diffi-
cult to draw, an infirendij.fiCtii the fact. The only info-
reuce is, that it was calcailatest and intended to make an
impression on the RoyalOindAat these individuals had
entered into a fac Ali
been called a cabal, in
order to preVerif Aliso having the benefit of
their services: If .lid stpression—and I know
not Whether it Wat. . -is another curious cir-
cuinsta.nce, or rath - 4 ary coincidence, that the
same impression aim ateen made upon the public'
mind by the public 'Were the Secretary for the
Admiralty present, I would not ask him if he had any thing
to do with it, nor will -1 inquire of the Hon. Member for
Winchelsea (Mr. Brougham) whether lie had any hand in
it.—(Laughter and cheers).—lt is immaterial for me to
know how this impression was produced ; the naked fact
is, that it was produced on the Royal mind and oil the
public mind at the same time, and it forms a curious coin•
cidence. I should like, I own, to hear some %atisfactory
explanation of the circumstance. But curious coincidences
do not end here, and I now come to the immediate subject
of my observations. It has been stated publicly, that these
vacant places are either to beimmediately filled by Members
now supporting his Majesty's Government, who have hither-
to opposed their measures, or that a provisional arrangement
is to be made, and that the places are to be kept open
for future accessions, whenever it may please these squeamish
Gentlemen to accept office, and the Right Honourable
Gentleman to bestow it.—( Hear, hear. )—lt certainly

does appgr extraordinary, that this accession of strength
to the Right Hon. Gentleman should be acquired at this
particular moment, when these valuable situations are to
be supplied.—(Hear, hear.) It war stated the other night
by the Hon. Member for Winchelsea, in a hold and manly
tone, that be had long acquiesced in the views of the Right
non. Gentleman—that they had, in fact, no subjects of
difference—and that they had agreed upon all points of
foreign policy and internal regulation. I have no means
of knowing how far he has really concurred with the First
Minister of the Crown upon these points; I have no means
of getting at secret opinions, and can merely judge from
the recorded debates and proceedings of this House. From
these sources only can I learn the sentiments of all the
Hon. Gentlemen who were lately styled the Opposition,
and who have so suddenly become the adherents of the
King's Ministers.—(Cheers.) For the last five years,
during which the Right Hon. Gentleman has been the
Leader of this House, or Secretary for Foreign Affairs, if 1
refer to the Parliamentary Debates, and other authorities of
this kind—l perceive that far from their being any ap-
proximation of sentiment, on every subject but Catholic
Emancipation, the votes of these Hon. Gentlemen have
been in the direct negative.—(Hear, hear.) Since the
declaration of the Hon. Member for Winchelsea the other
night, I have taken the trouble to go over the proceedings
of the House since 1822, when the light Hon. Gentle-
man became its leader, and I find that there have been
about 94 or 95 divisions. The names of the Members
voting on each have been regularly recorded and published
t, the world. Among Caem I see the name of the Right
Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Knaresborough (Mr.
Tierney), whom report designates as the future Master of
the Mint, no less than forty-nine times in opposition to the
present head of his Majesty's Government.—(Hear, hear,
hear.) The name of the Honourable Member for Win-
' Chelsea occurs fifty times ; pretty good evidence of his
constant attendance to resist the measures of Ministers.
—(Hear, hear.) The Honourable Member for Wareham
(Mr. Calcraft), who has also been pointed out for
office, voted in opposition on forty-seven different 'soca.;
sions.—(Hear, hear.) An Hon. and Learned. Knight
(Sir J. Mackintosh), spoken of by report as Judge Advo-
cate General, although in ill health, was present on thirty
occasions, in order to show his decided animosity to the
measures of Government.—(Hear, bear.).—Does this look
like accordance, general and particular, does it not rather
show that there, in fact, exists no community of opinion
among those between whom the retention of office is now
to be the only bond of union and unanimity? Excepting
on the Catholic Question, there has been nothing like an
approximation of opinion; and that subject, the Right
Hon. Gentleman himself stated, is to be especially reserved.
The Hon. Baronet, the Member for Westminster, has said,
that he considers that subject the sine qua non of their
junction, but the head. of the Gcvernment had fairly and
honourably declared, that it was not to 'be made a Cabinet
question, and could not be considered a bond of union.—
If, then, this important topic is to be thrown aside, and
put out of view, we are necessarily driven to look to other
questions of pretended concord, but of real discord, be-
tween two hostile parties, now' made one amiable brother-
hood,. will trouble the House by reading over a few of
them, and I appeal to the House whether they are tempo-
.rary matters which have passed away, and regarding which
no interest is now taken. Let the House judge from hence
if there be not something unnatural and unprecedented in

this coalition.—(hear.)—At the head of the discussions
which have been followed by repeated divisions during the
last four or five years, stands Parliamentary R^form—( Hear).
The next question on which a difference of opinion-was
,nost strongly marked, relates to the Pension List. This
is followed by Diplomatic Expenditure, on which the de-
bates were frequent and hostile. The next topic of
tnagnitude is the influence of the Crown.(Hear, hear) ;
and then, in succession, follow the Sinking Fund, the State
of the Criminal Law, Scotch Representation, and the Ad-
ministration of the Law in Ireland. Another question of
severe dispute between the Right Honourable Gentleman
and his new friends related to the war between France
and Spain—(Hear, hear)—and looking at the variety of
subjects of former discordance, how they are now all of a
sudden to agree, God only knows. The repeal of the
Window Tax, Estimates of all kinds, Courts of Justice in
Scotland, the repairs of Windsor Castle—(Hear)—the
Church of Ireland, the Repeal of the Assessed Taxes, the
State of Ireland, the Colonial Policy, had all afforded op-
portunities of displaying pertinacious hostility. Will the
Honourable Member for Winchelsea pretend to say that
these matters are of little moment and temporary interest,
which has now altogether subsided? If they have been
got rid :of by some new and extraordinary legerdemain,
all I can say is, that I cannot comprehend it, and that
it will ti ob ably only be understood by those' who have
lately fitt much practised it.. If these subjects of differ-
ence still exist, it is an
_inexplicable mystery how
certain Honourable Gentlemen can fill the' places they
now occupy.—(Hear, hear, hear.)—As I said before,
the only bond of union between them is the Catholic
'Question, and it' will, be a gross delusion if that subject
be'not now brought forward by some of its advocates. If
the Right Hen. Gentleman or his friends neglect this op-
' portunity, give me leave to say, they will either betray the
King or the Catholics. They have no alternative left, and'
they will desert their duty if they allow one week to pass
without calling upon the House to come to some decision
upon that great topic of discussion.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
I have troubled the House more at length than I intended,
but I thoughtit necessary, to endeavour to bring the pub-
lick mind to bear upon this subject, and to let the country
knew that, in this extraordinary coalition, both parties
have lost sight of every principle that ought to regulate
their actions.—(Cheers.)—For one, I have no hesitation
in saying, that I look upon the conduct of the First Mi-
nister of the Crown in no other light than as the 'gratifica-
tion of his own personal ambition. I have no hesitation in
saying, too, however disagreeable it may be for me to say
it, and for the Right Hon. Gentleman to hear it—that I do
not think he has ever been over scrupulous as to the way
in which he has gratified it. As to the other party, the
Hon. Gentlemen who have now joined the Government, if
they lose sight of the Catholic question—if they abandon it
for a single moment—(Cheers, and some laughter,)—they
will lose every claim to consistency. If they abandon it,
they will do so for reasons which the public will appre-
ciate, at a moment when three valuable places are reported
to be about to be given away to those who by their subser-
vieuey may show themselves the most meritorious claim-
ants.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.)--They will abandon it
when, acecording to report,- other offices are to be reserved
for them, to reward their ready but discordant coalition.
--(Hear, hear.)—l conclude by moving an Address to the
Crown, for a copy of the appointment of the Judge Martial
and Advocate-General.

Before the Question was put from the Chair, •
Mr. BROUGHAM said, I rise to second the motion ni
the Hon. Gentleman—( Cheers and laughter.)—The House
will believe that, in so doing, while I have yielded to the
Hon. Gentleman my place on the other side, and have been
guilty, as he contends, of au accession to the forces on this
side, I have acceded also to a more than oedinary share of.
Ministerial candour. My successors, whonl,34aee with
pleasure on the opposite benches, have proved. WegkeelVes, in
turn, the most apt learners, I will not say .of all elie tricks
and wiles of faction, but at least of all the most eitragrdi-
nary resources of faction, I have ever yet weir fechseic in
that most respectable school—(Cheers.)—Nett, iiVthe
course of my experience of opposition, either as ad kriiteur
or as an artist, as a bye-stander or as a practicer in my own
person, have I witnessed any thing approaching the dexte-
rity of the evolution of to-day. With matchless skill, not
indeed in the middle, but in the exordium of a speech, of a
subject of which several weeks' notice had been given by
the Gallant Member for Liverpool, the Hon. Gentleman
has contrived to interject a motion, not for the sake of
annoying his Majesty's Ministers, but for the purpose of
creating an intercalary debate. Judging, then, of its after
performances from the beginning of the new Opposition—
be its career long as I might wish it, or short as they may
desire it—it is quite certain, that a more violent, a more
unhesitating, a more unscrupulous, party never was
gotten together, than that which broke ground for the
first time the night before last—(Loud cheering.)._
Now, before' I come to what may be called the trifles
and incumbrances of the subject—before 1 come to the
question which, in the excess of his self denial, the Hon.
Gentleman said lie would not address--before I come to
my no answer to his no•question, and reply to him in
much the same way as he appealed to me, I wish to
say a few words on the more important matter with which
he concluded. I admire the frankness and manliness of
the Hon. Gentleman—(Hear, hear, from General Gas-
coyne)—as much as the Gallant , General, or the Hon.
Member who assists him with au accordant , cheer. His
frank proceeding is infinitely better than an ambiguous
half-avowed, and half-concealed resistance, because it at
once discloses the foot which is meant to carry the
Hon. Gentleman back to office, and to kick the Catholics
far from Emancipation—(repeated cheering and laughter.)
—He declares at once, on the subject of the claims, that
he would not wait until converse shall have reconciled
more of their opponents, and newspaper discussion en-
lightened the ignorant, under the peculiarly unfortunate
turn which, he complains, the public press of the country
has taken ; he will not wait till the Times (not the news-
paper but the aspect) shall have produced a change : he
will not wait until the Post (meaning of course only the
letter-bag from Dublin) shall contain evidence of a gradual
conviction : he will not wait until the Mail (not the news-
paper with that title, but the public conveyance with that
name) shall have brought tidings to warrant concession ;
but lie will leave events to take their course, and in defiance
of old trammels, former professions, speeches and pledges,
rush at once into the subject without remorse or scruple.
He has been but a week out of place, and he finds his situa-
tion not so agreeable as to make him wish to continue a
month out of it, much less for half a year ; and his pru..
dent plan, therefore, is to urge the open friends of the Ca-
tholic Question to do that which, I verily in my conscience
believe, would be fatal to its success.—(Hear. )—There are
times and seasons when it is Proverbially awful to take a
lesson from the enemy. Let me caution the Catholics who
too often for their own benefit have taken lessons from
over zealous and indiscreet friends, against taking a second
lesson from their opponents, in addition to that of which I
warned them a few days ago. The Hon. Gentleman may
proffer his advice and tuition—he may give the Catholics
all the benefit of his repeated and reiterated instruction, but
they are stricken with nothing less than madness if they
doubt now that to follow his recommendation would be
the total ruin of their interests. Let the Catholics trust to
the effects of discussion, of time, of better lights breaking
In from various quarters, of their own forbearance (hear,
hear), of their own abstinence from orensive topics
(hear, hear), and of their rejection of the influence of sus-
picious advisers. Let them conciliate those who are hostile
from honest prejudices, by respecting scruples, of the exist-
ence of which we have all but authentic information from the
Hon. Gentleman on the Bench opposite. Let them hope
all from forbearance, moderation, and a conciliatory de-
meanour : let them eschew the hasty councils of intem-
perate friends ; but, above all, let them eschew the wily
counsels of open and avowed enemies, who, for party pm-
poses—(reiterated cheers)--throw over the naked deformity
of the most virulent factious feeling by far the thinnest
disguise I ever yet beheld.—(Hear, hear.) Let them
eschew the advice of their open, avowed, manly, and honest
enemies. ,But when I call them honest enemies, I must
add one word, not in qualification of a well-merited
epithet, but in order not to let it be supposed, I am admit-
ting their consistency, when I assert the honesty of my
Anti-Catholic adversaries. That I, belonging as it were
to the present Government, devoted to liberal opinions,
and the constant friend of the repeal of all penal laws af-
fecting men civilly for religion and conscience sake—that
I, naturally impatient to seize every occasion, at all risks,
of furthering the great Catholic cause, should not hesitate
to involve the country in something like confusion and
a tendency to a breach of the King's peace to obtain
the object to which I am so zealously devoted, would not
be deemed extraordinary; but it is, indeed, strange,
that those who have hitherto been always exclaiming,
" ior God's sake, do not stir this eternal question," should

now be most eager in recommending its discussion. I
un not like the Hon. Member, I have not the debates at
uiy fingers' ends—l have not his speeches by heart, as he
seems to have mine (not because they are less valuable) ;
though, like him, out of office I am not out of employ ; I
obliged to attend a Court of LaW, and have. not time to
dissect the discussions of successive years; but I cannot
forget the manner in which they deprecated the agitation
of the subject. " Frightful (said they) as concession would
he to the Church, horrible to the State, and odious to all
good Protestants, there is one thing even worse—the con•
scant agitation of the claims." From that doctrine, of
course, I differ toto ca'lo, and it might therefore be con-
sistent in me to precipitate discussion ; but where is the
consistency of such advice in those who have always con-
tended that discussion was even worse than concession?
Nothing more monstrously inconsistent was ever, I will
venture to say, heard within the walls of Parliament.—
(Hear, bear.)—The cry of the Hon. Gentleman now is—
" For God's sake, bring forward that vital question : do
not delay it for a week !—a little week is too long for me
to continue on my seat of thorns, and I have no chance of
relief but from that perilous discussion : a little week is
too long for me to be excluded from the sunshine of Royal
Favour : I have nothing now to do—no employment hut
reading the fag-ends of bye-gone debates ; and instead of
calculating the budget fur the current year—insteld of
summing up' the various items of expenditure,- and the
still more endearing items of receipt—here I sit, --11',e
a greedy and disappointed bird of prey upon -a bar-
ren rock, surrounded by those who are in as bad plight
as myself—( Hear, hear, and laughter.)—ln the listlessness
of inaction, I have been reduced even to the necessity of
counting how many times the future Master of the Mint
has voted against the First Lord of the Treasury; and how
many times the almost-made Judge-Advocate has joined
divisions in opposition to the measures .of the' new Cabinet.
Driven from my former post to my present pillar, I can'
only indulge in a melancholy retrospect of my former hap-
pinest„ nod endeavour to sow discord among those who
either are enjoying the sweets of promotion, or have pro-
motion to give away. No wonder, then, lam impatient
for a fresh debate upon Emancipation—no wonder I
cannot allow it to rest for a single month. A month ?
Not for a ; You are men abandoned to all sense
of honour in public life, the very mirrors of inconsistency,
if you do not instantly convulse England, distract Ire-
land, and fill the whole empire with terror and dismay,
by br!nging forward that question, dreadful in itself, but
worst of all in its agitation. If you have not abandoned
your principles, and sacrificed the Catholics to the sordid
love of place, you cannot refuse, instantly, to renew the
discussion of the only topic which can give us a chance of
once more enjoying the emoluments of office!" Such are
the terms the Honourable Gentleman and his ex-friends,
in their consistency, employ; and now 1 will say one
word in answer to his question, or rather in no answer
to his no question. He observed, that he would not ask
the Secretary for the Admiralty whether he was the cause
of the phenomenon of which he complains, and which
lie deplores that the public press of the country has
taken but one direction in the course 'of the present dis-
k cussions. As he would not ask this of the Secretary for
the Admiralty—though he might have done so very safely,
as the Honourable Gentleman was absent—so he would
not put the same to me (the Member for Winchelsea.)
In the same liberal spirit that he abstained from the in
terrogatory, I will abstain from a response ; but thus much

I will say, that it is surely no wonder if those news-
papers which were formerly in favour of liberal prin-
ciples should continue to advocate the same side of the
question. Such as had opposed that portion of the
Government which retired, naturally maintained their
opposition to them when out office ; but the wonder is
(and that is what seems to gall the Honourable Gentleman
and his friends), that that part of the Press, without nam-
ing any newspapers individually, which used to support the
Hon. Gentleman and his co-adjutors when in place, should
now either be wholly silent in their behalf, or become ab-
solute defenders of the late exercise of the King's preroga-
tive, and of the Right Hon. Gentleman, who, having been
selected by his 'Majesty for a particular duty, had been
placed in circumstances of difficulty and embarrassment,
clearly not of his own seeking.—(Hear, hear.)—With re-
spect to the discussion of the Press, particularly of the
Daily Press, and the ‘articles which had appeared in the
papers, whatever may be said' about the extent to whic-..
they lead and influence public opinion, I cannot help be-
lieving that the press' itself is as much, if not more, influ-
enced by public opinion ; and from what I have seen of
the contents of the most respectable of the papers, and

. .
from what I have heard from others—Mr I have no time
to examine them very"minutely myself—but from all I have
seen and have heard of the discussions of the late transac-
tions, they are such as afford the clearest evidence of a strong
opinion of that part of the mass of the public in favour of
the late arrangements. My opinion is, that the great mass
of the people saw the embarrassing situation in which the
Sovereign was placed, and hence those expressions of re-
gret at the resignation of the Right Hon. Gentleman, the
Secretary of State for the Home department. On this
point the expression of the Press, conformable to the state
of public opinion, had been general and uniform. There
had been no attack by the Press on that Right Hon., Gen-
tleman, nor had there been, generally speaking, on the
part of the Press, any serious vituperation of the conduct of
an illustrious person (we believe he meant Mr. Canning)
who is high in the present Administration. But I ant
very sorry to say that I find, not from any sentiments in
the Newspapers, but from other sources, that an attack
had been made in some quarter on the very distin-
guished individual to whom I allude, whose character
belongs to the country, to Europe, and to the world.—
For my own part, I do net at all, in general, approve
of attacks upon individuals on account of their dealings
with the Crown—and I 'say nothing about the motives
of such of the late Ministers as have resigned. Perhaps it
may not be very strictly correct to say to the Sovereign,
" we will not accept office if this or that person is set over
us ;". but still, as long as human nature is what it is, men
will sometimes do so, and, no doubt, from the most unex-
ceptionable motives. But, at the same time, if they thought
themselves bound in conscience to resign their situations, it
would be the summitof injustice towards me to tax me with
any blame for my endeavours to bring into the places of those
who resigned persons who were able to fill those places, and
who might do so without any real ground for the slightest
scruple either of honour or conscience. 'What the si-
tuation of his Majesty? Out of the former Cabinet six had
resigned, and it was clearly of the last importance
that an Administration should be made up without de-
_ _

lay, which might be expected to meet the exigencies of the
times—a point at present of no common magnitude ; and I
do now believe that, after a great deal of difficulty and
trouble, an Administration has now been formed well cal-
culated to restore confidence in our relations, foreign and
domestic, and particularly well calculated to conciliate and
tranquillize Ireland—a matter of the very last importance.
In this hope, I approve of the Administration as at present
constituted. I have, for myself, nothing to explain or an-
swer for ; and for the Right Hon. Gentlemen concerned,
they are able to answer for themselves. But this, Low-
ever, I can say, that never was there in any instance less
disposition exhibited to grasp at, or even come into office,
than has been shown by those who have lately joined
the Administration. Never were there greater difficul-
ties to be overcome—and here I speak as a witness, and
affirm with as much truth and solemnity as if I were
on my death-bed, that so far from their evincing any
eagerness or disposition to snatch and grasp at office, there
were, to my knowledge, a great lir ny difficulties to he
smoothed over, scud scruples, w'uch I thought unfounded, to
be removed. Their whole conduct was the very reverse
of eagerly catching at office. On the contrary, such
backwardness and scruples on the most minute matters,
even seeming objection, I never saw in my life—recol-
lecting, at the same time, the arrangements which were it,
agitation in 1811 and 1812, and those which were in
embryo at a subsequent period. The great difficulty
was to get them to listen to any terms whatever ; and it
Was with the most unspeakable satisfaction that I myself
had been the means of removing many of them. The ut-
most scrupulousness was evinced, and difficulties perpetu-
ally started where there were no real difficulties. In short,
there appeared such a perpetual raising of difficulties and
objections on the slightest grounds, that I at last became
weary of removing them, and could not bear to hear of
them with patience. So much then for their alleged
eager anxiety and desire for office; and if they stood so
high upon their principles, and had so often refused office
because they would not even appear to compromise them,
when they sat on the other side—if these persons will,
merely because they have now come to sit on this side,
abandon their principles, either upon the question of Catho-
lic Emancipation or any other important question—it will
certainly be the most extraordinary miracle of modern times