The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-07-07 00:00:00

end the ether for Ireland, and in neither el those bilis was
the qualification mentioned, but two separate bills were in-
troduced to regulate the qualification in the two respective
countries. The reason why
.the Attorney-General had de-
clined to state his own opinion was intelligent enough ; his
opinion would not have suited the purpose of his speech.
Sir E. Sugden then argued, from the wording of the Reform
Bill, that the legislature did not mean thereby to alter the
qualification.
Sir D. NORREYS strongly feeling the importance of a set-
tlement on this disputed question, regretted that a proposal
of this kind was brought forward on an occasion like the pre-
sent, when there was no chance of deciding the matter. He
did not at all agree in Mr. O'Connell's construction of the
act.
Mr. SHAW quoted a passage from a speech of Mr. O'Con-
nell upon a former registration bill, in which that learned
member had said his reason for supporting the Registration
Bill of 1835 was, that it provided for annual registration and
double appeal.
Mr. LirroN observed, that the Attorney-General, and
those who defended the dissentient judges, bad not been able
to cite one single instance, or at all events only one, in which
any English judge had declined to be bound by the opinion
of the majority.
Mr. GRATTAN vehemently declaimed against Lord Stanley
and his bill, and against the corruptions of Ludlow and Cam-
bridge, which ought, he said. to have been reformed before
Ireland was attacked. Lord Stanley ought to bear the name
of Captain Rock, for his bill was but a Rockite notice.
Lord STANLEY said, that in one of the former debates
this very subject had been fully discussed ; a division had
taken place upon it, and the house bad declined to entertain
it. Lord J. Russell had concurred in the rejection, and
would, no doubt, do the same thing that night ; but it would
have been more convenient that the noble lord should have
declared himself to that effect in an earlier part of the
evening, before an additional night had been wasted by
a course tending, if not actually intended, to delay the sub-
ject for another week. And this had been done, not upon
the notice of Mr. O'Connell, as originally given, which
related to cesses and taxes, but upon a new motion wholly
varying from that notice. For himself, he would not aid the
intended delay by entering into any debate upon the merits
of this often mooted instruction. .

Lord JOHN RUSSELL said it would have been, in his
judgment, improper to interfere so early as to prevent his
legal friends from explaining their views on this important
subject, although he certainly intended to oppose the in-
struction. The debate of this evening had thrown a valuable
light on the bill. The Attorney-General, a high authority,
had declared the dissentient judges to be warranted in con-
travening the decisions of their colleagues ; and Sir E.
Sugden, also a high authority, might, if his own test were
applied to him, be considered, from his silence on the sub-
ject, as concurring in the doctrine of the Attorney-General.
It was not expedient to leave these political questions to the
judges. In any close contest they would be accused, how-
ever unjustly, of favouring their own partisans. If the
appeal clauses were not struck of, he should think it is duty
to make a further attempt at obtaining a distinct definition
of the franchise. _ _

Sir R. PEEL said, that the course pursued on thi:
unlike anything theretofore attempted. A notice c

bill was

an in-
!s and

struction. had been given to define municipal c(
taxes. That notice had been wholly abandoned, and a mo-
tion made of which no notice at all had been given. Lord J.
Russell had allowed the debate to go on the whole evening,
and at last, when he rose to declare his dissent from Mr.
O'Connell's instruction, had spoken 20 minutes just in the
most critical part of the evening, while yet there would have
been a chance for going into the committee. It really was
matter of surprise to him that the noble lord and his friends
should submit to a humiliation like this, For his own part,
he should not be disheartened even if the effect of all these
proceedings should delay the bill too long for the present
session ; satisfied, as he was, that the cause of truth would
ultimately prevail, and that all these obstructions would but
strengthen this measure amongst the thinking part of the
people of Ireland.
The motion of Mr. O'Connell was negatived by a majority
of 311 against 162, and the further proceeding was fixed for
Thursday next.
The registration of voters (Ireland) bill, No. 2, was fixed
for Thursday, and the qualification of voters (Ireland) bill
for Monday.