Star.
London, England, 1827-05-02 00:00:00

,piacitcesae%ooll2lll* . D, OA." Now, it
Ain the name of policy, as expedient,
as, in t e of humanity, it is charitable, and, in the'
sae of Gon, just," my confidence in the sincerity of
'11,01:Ix ht Hon. Friend does not permit me to don
mtw
-thif ill press forward a measure which be so
.scle-
. scribes, whenever an opportunity shall occur; at* 4P
have reason to conclude that be will not rest here,..iis
can*, tetcircfing- to his own- Wraith on that •ciecisiOti,
"could not conclude without* anticipating.that the pee.
.mint partial success would lead to the attamusent of tba
relater concession." Then, I say, it was not in my
Paver to have taken ofilie, by whiCh I should have
been party to a direct attack on those measures whi .
I. advocated. It was not in' my power to have ea,
Viewed in any partial contessiops, which were in.
othoded to-lead to greater; neither was it in my power
to have acquiesced in any motion, whether general of
-Partial, which bad for its object the removal of those
restrictions which I consider necessary for protecting
the Protestant Church and the British Constitution. If
I had taken office under such circumstances, I should,
in fact, have held that office only upon sufferance, and
should have been liable to receive the notice of a week
that I mast retire, when,perha ps,to do so,would have been
snore inconvenient than under present circumstances,it is.
Sir, could ! have entertained a doubt, after the example
that had been set me by my Right Hon. Friend himself,
that it was my duty both as a man and as a Minister,
to retire immediately that my Right Hon. Friend was
placed at the head of the Administration? I was, in
fact, placed under circumstances nearly similar to those
under which my Right Hon. Friend was himself placed
in 1807, when he was invited to Emil part of an Ad-
ministration in which the Catholic Question was 110t40
be considered as a Cabinet question, but one on which
every individual was to be permitted his own opinions,
and to make his own observations. My Right Hon.
Friend then stated the grounds on which he retired.
from office, and he used words which I could never
have borne to hear applied to me, had I retained my
office as Secretary of State for the Home Department.
On a motion made by Mr. Stuart Wortley, now Lord
Wharncliffe, in the House of Commons, on the 21st of
May, 1812, my Right Hon. Friend took an opportunity
of publicly stating the reasons which had induced him
to decline connecting himself with those among whom
the Roman Catholic Question was to be considered an
open que tion. Nearly do those sentiments correspond
with mine. So nearly do the motives which induced
him to refuse office, compel me to retire from the public
service, that I will quote his own eloquent words, to
express what I think and what I feel:—" I have brim
asked whether, supposing 1 had accepted the offer that
was made to me, I should not have felt myself at perfect'
liberty to act as my own opinions should dictate upon
the great question which constitutes the main bar of
separation? I reply, thug as a Minister, I know I should
have been at liberty. Ido not mean to assert, that if
I had jedned the present Administration. to fight against
my own principles under the banners of the Noble
;Lord, I should not still have had the power of making
my solitary speech,and of giving my solitary votein sup-
port of opinions I had previously maintained. 1 will not
even say, that them may not be honourable minds who
would be satisfied with such a distinction, and it may
be my misfortune, or my fault, that mine is not a mind
of that construction. If, when out of office, I have lent '
to any cause that I deemed just, my influence and my
authority, I never can consent to accept office under the
condition that I shall instantly divest myself of that in-
-gm:ace and authority which ought still to be my con.
.panions, and to leave them on one great and vital ques-
tion, in open and wilful abeyance. Personal objections
to the Noble Lord, I declare I have none; I am ac.uated
.by no feeling of rivalry, and, with this particular ques-
tion excepted, I could have no earthly hesitation either
in acting with or under him; but 1 cannot allow, that
the predominance of his opinion shall stifle mine. I
cannot enter the Cabinet, pretending not to know that
the influence of the Noble Lord will be such as to para-
lyse all my feeble efforts there." The Right H .n. Gentle-
man then proceeded :—I am, like my Right Hon. Friend,
actuated by no feeling of rivalry, Whea the question of
the admission of my RightHon.Friend to the Cabinet was
proposed—l mean at the period when my Right Hon.
Friend was about to sail for India—my opinion of him
was the same as it is now, and I kept my lips closed
during my absence from town, while attending his
Majesty iii Scotland ; but on my return, when ipm-
municating with my Noble Friend on the subject, I
said, that if the accession of my Right Honourable
Friend to the Ministry was deemed es.ential to the
public interests, and to the public service, no personal
feelings of mine, founded on the difference of our sen-
timents on particular questions, should induce me to
offer any im; ediment to his appointment.—(Hear, hear).
I bad no feeling of rivalry. Like him, on the occasion
to which I have already referred, lean say, that, " per-
. sonal objection to him I have none. lam actuated by
no feeling of rivalry. and, with this particular question
.excepted, I could have no earthly hesitation either in
. acting with him or under him ; but I cannot allow that
_the predominance of his opinion shall stifle mine. I
have,' repeat, no objection of a personal nature to act with
.
"Or under him, but I could not retain the place I had
hitherto held in the Administration of the country,
knowing that the predominance of my Right Hon.
Friend would completely countervail mine on those
important subjects, on which 1 had, of er the utmost
deliberation, made up my mind, and expressed my opi-
nion (Cheers); and I felt, above all, that, in thus acting,
. I must be right, following, as I did, the example of my
Right Hon. Friend himselfa--(Cheers). My Right
lion. Friend adds something, with respect to his views
of what the duty of a Rime Minister are, and added,
“"If I had joined this portus ikon of dissent, as Mr.
But ke once called it, we should have framed as beau.
tiful a variety as was ever assembled in so small a
collection"—(Hear, hear, and laughter). 4 But," con-
tinued my Honourable Friend, ,i in such unprecedented
differences, on which side is the influence and autho- ,
rity of Government enlisted ? That is the main question.,
This man may hold a blue opinion—another, a white—a
third, a green—a fourth, a yellow—and a fifth, a red ;'
but with which of these shades does the sentiments of
Government most nearly accord ? Undoubtedly, this
point will be decided by the individual, who, holding
the principal office, pie-eminently enjoys the confidence
d the occupant of the Throne—and the additional
weight he adds to the scale must overbalance the re-
Winder. I could not, therefore, feel that I entered the
Cabinet with honour, if I consented to give there a mere
barren, solitary vote. I trust, although not very fairly
put on my trial, that my conduct is completely justified
;fl abe eyes of theHouse,and of the country."' fairly own,
that whatever the situation or rank I should hold in his
Majesty's Government, after the line of conduct I had
adopted throughout the whole of pay connection with the

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