The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-02-20 00:00:00

(To be continued.)

THE CORN LAWS.—The Morning Herald remarks as
follows, on the statement published by Mr. Painter of
the Strand, which appeared in our paper a short time
since ;---We received a little tract a day or two since, en-
titled " The Corn Laws ; Facts are Stubbon Things."
It contains, in two pages, a great amount of important
information. But among its statements we find the fol-
lowing :—" The average consumption of " wheat is about
19,00t,000 quarters annually, of " which 3,000,000 is im-
ported." Now this is a most serious error. The writer
has looked merely to the imports from 1838 to 1840 ;
three years of short harvest. But how came he to over-
look the fact, that in three favourable years, 1833, 1834,
and 1835, only 175,480 quarters of foreign wheat passed
our Custom House, or less than 60,000 quarters per an-
num ! This circumstance should never be allowed to
drop out of view, inasmuch as it proves, that in years
.of
average fruitfulness England is quite able to sustain its
own population.

RACY SPECIMENS FROM THE DEBATE ON
LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S MOTION.

For an outline of the speeches in this effort of Whig-
Radic Aim to misrepresent and denounce the Irish policy
of government, and purchase back the favour and support
oE O'Connell and his co-conspirators, we must refer the
readers of the Standard to our usual Parliamentary sum-
mary. We hive found it impossible, however, in the
space allowed for parliamentary proceedings in a weekly
paper, to furnish more than an outline; and we have there-
fore resorted, and shall perhaps continue to resort, to this
mode of giving to our readers such portions of the speeches
on both sides of the house as we conceive to be most wor-
thy of preservation in their original form. And first, to
shew the spirit of malignant hostility towards his political
opponents with which Lord John Russell approached the
question before the house, we give verbatim

LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S ATTACK UPON THE CHARACTSR

OF LORD LYNDHURST.

" Is there," said his lordship, " no person in this coun-
try who has endeavoured to excite feelings of in
the people of England towards the people of Ireland ? Is
there no person who affixed to them that name proper
only to persons born out of the Queen's allegiance ? And
for what purpose was this said ? For the purpose of de.
priving them of the same privileges which were enjoyed
with respect to corporations by the people of England.
(Cheers.) I ask where that person now is? Has the At-
torney-General prosecuted him in the Queen's Bench?
(Laughter.) Has the Attorney-General made a speech of
eleven hours showing the enormity of his offence ? (Laugh-
ter, and opposition cheeis.) I know it may be said that
the words were spoken in Parliament, and that the privi-
leges of Parliament secure that person from all proceedings
in a court of law. But is he in any way deprived of the
confidence of the crown ? Is he marked with its disfavour,
and rejected from the Queen's counsels ? On the contrary,
the very highest place in the Queen's counsels is assigned
to him—he is at the head of the magistracy and of the law
of England, and stands the very person to direct the pro-
secution against Mr. O'Connell for having excited
amongst the people of Ireland towards the people of Eng-
land. (Loud cheers from the opposition.) Was there
anything so monstrous as this inequality ? And I might
say, likewise, I do not believe that person holds the situa-
tion which he fills on account of any superior opinion of
his judgment in the court over which he presides, for I
believe that no duties are more highly paid, nor performed
more carelessly, than his duties—(Expressions of dissent)
but it is on account of his political delinquences—it is on
account of his hostility to the people of Ireland— it is for
these reasons that he had obtained his office. (Loud cries
of ' Oh, oh, oh'.)"

The above unwarrantable and foul attack was met by
the following

VINDICATION OF LORD LYNDHURST BY SIR JAMES

GRAHAM:-

" In more than one passage of the noble lord's speech,
he (Lord J. Russell) with a great deal of Christian for-
giveness and charity, had praised Mr. O'Connell very
much. (A laugh.) The noble lord praised Mr. O'Con-
nell and condemned Lord Lyndhurst—that was Lord
Lyndhurst's consolation. (Roars of laughter and much
applause.) Now, sir, (continued the right hon. baronet,)
I stand here the colleague of Lord Lyndhurst. (The
right hon. baronet had no sooner uttered this sentence,
than a shout, long and loud, of derisive and ironical cheer-
ing rose from all parts of the opposition benches. Sir
James Graham awaited with great coolness and good hu-
mour the subsidence of this burst, and of the round of mi-
nisterial cheers that responded to it. He then proceeded.)
Yes, lam his colleague—l am his friend—(applause) and
I am astonished that the noble lord should have thought
it becoming his station and character to speak of the Lord
Chancellor of England in the terms used by him when
speaking of Lord Lyndhurst. Why away with your high
aristocratic notions—with your high and noble birth, and
all its mighty advantages ! There is a man who, from his
first entrance into public life, has risen by his own exer.
tions and pre-eminent talent. Watch his progress at the
university and the bar. He has in politics created some
enemies. (" Hear," from the opposition.) Not many
in this country, where he is best known. (Cheers from
the ministerialists.) But I will undertake to say that no
man ever adorned the judgement seat with judicious facul-
ties of a higher order. His integrity is incorruptible, his
taking are first-rate, and I do think it hard that a man
who has risen to eminence, after a long life, by means not
dishonourable, should be taxed even in the midst of party
debate, by leaders of party, in terms so severe. This I
will say, too, I am fully convinced that Lord Lyndhurst
would not have spoken of any political opponent, in his
absence, in terms like those used by the noble lord. (Re-
newed cheering from the ministerialists. An unusual de-
gree of interest and sensation prevailed in the house
during the delivery of these sentences. Several members
on the back seats rose and crowded to the front, and va-
rious members of the opposition joined in and echoed the
ministerial cheers.) The noble lord had relied on par.
ticular expressions said to have been used by Lord Lynd-
hurst, and it was hinted that it was not for the noble and
learned lord's great eminence in the profession of the law,
nor for his former experience on the woolsack, that his
right hon. friend at the head of the government recom-
mended her Majesty to raise him again to the woolsack,
but that the recommendation was made on account of the
expressions complained of. He (Sir James Graham) feel-
ing sure that the noble lord (Lord J. Russell) was irri-
tated, did not wish to say more on the point; and he was
equally sure that the noble lord would, on reflection, re-
gret the language he had used that night. But with re-
spect to the expressions in question, Lord Lyndhurst, in
the House of Lords, in presence of those who had heard
them, and knew precisely what they were, came forward
within five or six days after using them, and positively
denied the use of them in the sense that bad been attri-
buted to them. (Cheers.) Not only this, but the noble
viscount then at the head of the government, and the no-
ble marquis then President of the Council, were reminded
that they bad been present when the expressions were
used, and that they had not commented nor objected to
them, as it would be their duty to do if they had under-
stood the expressions in the sense attempted to be fas,
tened on them. (Hear, hear, hesr.) It was not until a
gloss was put upon them, and certainly to the disad-
vantage of Lord Lyndhurst, that any communication was
made upon them. (Cheers.) Ha would now leave this
topic again assuring the noble lord of the very great regret
and surprise with which he had listened to his (Lord J.
Russell's) remarks upon it."
SIR JAMES GRAHAM'S REPLY TO THE CHARGE THAT
THE LEGAL PROMOTIONS IN IRELAND HAD BEEN
CONFINED TO PROTESTANTS.

" There were one or two other points which had been
brought forward against her Majesty's government, and
he felt it necessary to allude to them on that occasion.
The first was with reference to their judicial appoint-
ments. They had, it was said, appointed a Chief Justice,
a Master of the Rolls, and two Puisne Judges. (Hear,
hear.) They had fought that ground before (hear, hear);
and since they had taught it before they had received
' confirmation strong as proofs of holy writ,' that they
were right in the course which they had taken, and that
in fighting the ground as they had done before, they had
acted properly and justly. They stated, that in selecting
men to fill those offices they should select from the front
ranks of the legal profession, and that in doing so they
were not to select persons on account of being Roman
Catholics, any more than to reject them on such grounds.
(Hear, hear, hear.) Now, in order to ascertain the jus-
tice of the course which they bad adopted, he would ask
who were the counsel chosen by the traversers at the late
trials in Dublin? If the government could not, amongst
its political opponents, find persons whom they thought
fit to select for those judicial appointments, he would ask,
had the traversers selected their counsel from amongst
them ? (Cheers.) There were seven or eight counsel
employed by the traversers, and with the exception of
Mr. Pigott, the late Attorney-General for Ireland, Mr.
Sheil, and Mr. Monaghan, he believed all the rest were
conservatives. [An hon. member said Mr. Moore was
one of the counsel.] True, Mr. Moore was one of the
counsel, but he was a Protestant, and had been Solicitor-
General under her Majesty's former government. Now,
one would think that there could be no more irrefragable
proof of the justice of the course which her Majesty's
government had taken with reference to the judicial ap-
pouitments, than the opinion which had been indicated
by such members of the Roman Catholic body in Ireland,
by a person well versed in the law, and who must have
been as well capable of selecting counsel on that occasion
as any could be supposed to be ; and yet, with the excep-
tion of the Solicitor and Attorney General of the late
government—of Mr. Monaghan and of Mr. Sheil, who
had been Vice-President of the Board of Trade under
that government—with those exceptions, all the others
were Protestants and Conservatives. (` Hear, hear,' and
immense cheering.)"

IMPORTANT DECLARATION OF GOVERNMENT WITH RE-

SPECT TO THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH IN IRELAND.

After briefly describing the nature of the various pro-
positions for appeasing the Romiah party in Ireland,
amongst which was included the alienation in their favour
of a portion of the revenues of the Established Church,
Sir James Graham thus proceeded :—" Those were the
three propositions from which they had to choose; but
,
with respect to the Protestant Church of Ireland, he (Sir
J. Graham) rejected all those nostrums. (Tremendous
cheering.) He considered any of them, even if it were
feasible, as inconsistent with that preference which the
Protestant State of England had decided upon maintain-
ing with regard to the Protestant Church. (Renewed
cheering.) That decision was made et the Reformation
—it was confirmed at the Revolution—it was sealed by
the Act of Settlement -and ratified by the Act of Union.
(Loud cheers.) He held it to be the firmest foundation
of our liberties—he believed it to be the Work of the
greatest statesman, and IT SHOULD NOT BE OVERTHROWN
lIY ANY REPEAL ASSOCIATION, OR ANY BODY OF CON-
SPIRATORS, SUCH AS THEY (the government) HAD SUC-
CEEDED IN CONVICTING." (Immense cheering.)
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC GRIEVANCE AS TO THE STRI-

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.