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Leader (1850-1860), 25th December 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 1222, Untitled Article

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      yet received . The Fishery question , we learn , is still open , with a prospect of friendly settlement . The Cuban question is still open , with a positive refusal from Mr . Fillmore to close it by joinipg France and England in disclaiming future annexation . The Lobos question is closed , with a handsome acknowledgment of " wrpog" done to Peru- —an acknowledgment which pobly proves the greatness . of the Republic . America is strengthening her naval defences , and is enjoying an extraordinary degree of commercial prosperity ; by favour of which her public debt is melting away .

      Our own colonies of Australia continue their wonderful reports . This time the news is darkened with a considerable revival of crime ; but the gold gilds all . The excitement in the City is immense : the shares of one company have mounted more than a hundred per cent . ; and emigration receives a new impulse—and meets with new difficulties . Two ships have returned not sea-worthy : one is the Adelaide , which was to have redeemed the character of its owners ; the other is the W . S . Lindsay . Are our naval architects losing their art , or are ships built and fitted in too great a hurry ?

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      THE PAELIAMENT OF THE WEEK . MINISTEEIAL RESIGNATIONS . Both Houses met on Monday to learn officially the intentions of the late Ministers , whose resignation had been known froin the public prints . There Avas a marked difference in the matter and tone of the speeches addressed to either House by the Prime Minister and his abler lieutenant . While Mr . Disraeli expressed , in his mellowest and most musical tones , regret for any personality which escaped him in the heat of Thursday ' s debate , and his generous apology was most generously received , Lord Derby was petulant , impudent , and incorrect . One was brief and pointed ; the other , long , rambling , and unsatisfactory . First let us recount the proceedings in THE HOUSE OF COMMONS . The Clerk read the order of the day for going into Committee of Ways and Means . Mr . Disraeli , whose face wore an expression of pathetic resignation , and whose coat was adorned with a red rose , got upon his logs and spoke as follows : — " Mr . Speaker , after the vote at which the House arrived on Thursday night , the Earl of Derby and his colleagues thought it their duty to tender tho resignation of their offices to her Majesty , and her Majesty has been most graciously pleased to accept the same . It lias readied me that lord Aberdeen lias undertaken tho office of forming a now Administration , and therefore it only remains for mo to Bay that wo hold our present offices only until our ( successors are appointed . 1 hope tho House will not think it presumptuous on my part if , under these circumstances ,

      I venture to oilier them my grateful thanks for tho indulgent , and 1 may even say tho generous , manner in which on both sides 1 have been supported in attempting to conduct the business of this House . ( Hear , hear , from both sides of the House . ) If , sir , in maintaining a too unoqual struggle , any word lias escaped my lips ( which I hope ; has never been the case except in ( Ik ; way of retort ) which has hurt the feelings of any gentleman in this I louse , 1 deeply regret it . ( Hear , hear , hear . ) And 1 hope that the impression on their part will be as transient as tho Reuse of provocation was on my own . ( . Hear , hear , hear . ) Tho kind opinion of the Members of this Houses whatever may be their political opinions , and wherever I may sit , will always be lo me a most precious possession , one which I . shall most covet and moHt appreciate . T beg , sir , to move that this JIouho on its rining do adjourn to Thursday next , "

      Ho was successively fallowed by Lord . John Russell , Sir . 1 nines Urnhuin , and Sir Charles Wood . . Lord John Rushki . i .: 1 rise , wir , for the purpose , in the first place , of saying 1 entirely coneur in the motion of the right , honourable gentleman , and in the next , place to say that . J feel quite certain Unit , if , in the course of our debates , Hying \ vordn should at , any time have carried a barh with them , it . is U > be attributed entirely to the cireumotaiuvs in which the House is placed ( hear , hear ); and for my part , I can only admire tho ability and gallantry with which the right honourable gentleman lias

      concluded himself , on tho part of the (« overinnonl , and in behalf of the cause which ho has undertaken , in the tit niggle in which he ban been for Home time engaged . ( Hear , hear . ) It is impossible to hope that , those haloyon days will over arrive in which , in tint coiii-mo of debate , unprcmcdit . atcd upeechcs shall not give rise to Home unpleasant , feeling ; hut , if ever it should occur , feelings of that kind must , bo done away , if the person in the situation of the right hon . gentleman iinitntoH Iwh example and disclaims the intention with tho samo frankness which he has displayed on the present ; occasion . ( Hear , hear . )

      Hie Jamkh ( Jiiaiiam : With respect to the ? fu turo J am altogether uninformed , but with respect to the past , after what has fallen from the right honourable gentleman , I cannot refrain from saying one word . It would bo

      impoa-There is no member of this House so deeply attached to freedom of debate as I am . ( Hear , hear . ) In the course of debates here , I have certainly , myself , used unguarded expressions to others , and should be the last person to teel resentment after receiving an explanation . At the same time I cordially join in what has fallen from my noble friend the member for the city of London . I have never failed to admire the talents of the rig ht hon . gentleman , and I also must say , under great difficulties he has conducted the cause of the Government in the last ten months in this House with signal ability . ( Hear , hear . ) I shall not for one moment recollect the expression to which I have thought it my duty to refer , and I hope my conduct in this House will alkali times insure some portion of its g

      sible for me not to * vow I was gomewhat pained by an expression which fell from the fight honourable gentleman on Thursday night . If I had thought that the right honourable gentleman , by premeditation , intended to wound me , my feelings would be far different , and it would be my duty to express them in a different manner . JBut I am not conscious that I have ever in the course of the debate said anything with the intentional purpose to wound the feelings of the right hon . gentleman , and I could not believe that , without provocation , he gave expression to words intended to Wound me . I was confident , therefore , that the expression that had pained me was without premeditation , and what the right hon . gentleman has just said to-niht has confirmed that impression . ( Hear , hear . )

      respect . ( Hear , hear . ) Sir Chables Wood : I think I should be wanting in that proper feeling which , has marked the conduct of the right honourable gentleman , if I did not say a word on this occasion . I can only say , if I had been conscious of having used an expression beyond the fair liberty of debate , I should not have been wanting in inclination to retract or apologise for that expression ; but being unconscious of having done so , I referred to a right honourable gentleman who sits near me , and he did not think I had used any expression to justify the attack of the right hon . gentleman . I think it fair to say this only in my own defence ; but feeling strongly as I did on the question under discussion , I may , in the heat of debate , have

      betrayed a warmth of expression far beyond any intention on my part . ( Hear , hear . ) I thought it fair to myself to say thus much , and I may add , I accept the expression of the right honourable gentleman's regret as frankly as he has proffered it . ( Hear , hear . ) I am sure that he must feel that , with the friendly and reciprocal terms on which we have heretofore communicated , I could not have intended to say anything personal . And I will say further , with regard to any expressions which gave him pain , there are no expressions of courtesy which I am not willing to make . ( Hear , hear . ) I am most anxious our debates in this House should be conducted with courtesy , and I am very sorry indeed that anything like personal observation should have arisen to interrupt it . ( Hear , hear . )

      Mr . Httme intimated that care must be taken to form the new Government upon principles of wise and progressive reform , especially in the representation Mr . Caymiy offered his " feeble tribute" admiration to Mr . Disraeli ; and then the House agreed to adjourn until Thursday . Now let us turn to

      THE HOUSE OF LORDS . The House of Lords was very full of strangers and members from the Commons ; but there were few peers . Lord Derby , consistently with tho usual practice , announced the dissolution of the Ministry—Tho responsibility of lightly abandoning office is not less than that of lightly accepting it ; and it is right that each House of Parliament and tho country shoula bo satisfied that those who were charged with the important duties of official responsibility should not throw up the discharge of those duties on light and trivial grounds , and leaat of all , on grounds that partake of pique or personal feeling . Tho causes which led to tho dissolution of tho " present" Government are patent to all mankind . And he proceeded to state those causes .

      " A careful examination of tho returns made by the different constituencies , and of tho policy professed by tho candidates at their several elections , rendered the position of the Government and of the other parties in the State a matter of no uncertainty , and of easy calculation . Ife was clear that there were , of the supporters of tho Government , on questions not involving I'Veo-trado or Protection , but of parties who were generally disposed to support her Majesty's Ministers , tilO gontlomen . There wero three other parties-- if , indeed , there wero not many more—tho lirst including in it . all the various gradations of opinion , from tho high aristocratic and exclusive Whig down to the wildest ; theorist and the extromest of tho Radical party , in all their raniilieations , comprising 2 ( 10 members . Tho third party consisted of gentlemen from the sister kingdom , principally representing the Irish Koman-catholie clergymen , and holding tho extreme doctrines of the

      Ultramontane school -all of them pledged by the declarations which they have put forward to uho their utmost endeavours for the overthrow of the pro-Rent , or any other , ( Government which in not prepared to act , upon their extreme opinions . Further , there was a parly , numerically Hinall , comprehending from thirty to thirty-five members , gentlemen of great personal worth , of great eminence and respeclability , possessing considerable otlicial ability and a largo amount . ol talent -gentlemen who once professed , and 1 believe do still profess , Conservative opinions . Those gentlemen possess talents which would reflect credit on any . Administration , but their numbers , as I staled , are comparatively small . In t , bin ntato of things it , was obvious to her Majesty ' s present Government , that though they had by far Wkj largortt party , and wero nearly u moiety of lht > whole lloutui of Commons , yet . they did not , possoHH tho support ol an absolute majority in that Houso , and that ,, consequently , if it « hould bo tho will of all tho three othor parties

      to whom I have referred to combine in carrying out a movement for the overthrow of the Government , those three parties so combining—whatever power they ' might possess for the formation of another Government—had full power to destroy and overthrow the Government which then existed . We were not long to be left in doubt as to whether the will existed on the part of those to whom I have alluded , to overthrow the Government . Before we had an opportunity of bringing forward any specific measures , notioe was given of a motion by a gentleman holding extreme opinions— -a gentleman of whoip . I desire to speak with all respect , because he has throughout consistently maintained and steadily supported the same opinions when they were unpopular which he did when

      subsequently ratified by public opinion , so that he at all events has a perfect right to plume himself on the consistency of his opinions , and to the hands of no man could a declaration of Free-trade policy be more fitly consigned . But the hon . gentleman holds extreme opinions ; and in order that the Government might be placed in a minorit y on that question , before we had any opportunity of bringing forward our measures , it was necessary that a concert should take place among all the parties to whom I have referred because , without such concert , the Government would still be in a majority . My lords , we are speaking here of no doubtful question . We have had some curious revelations made to us by a right hon . baronet , a member of the other House , who has lifted the curtain , admitted us behind the

      scenes , shown us the actors preparing for their parts , and discussing the most convenient phrases to be adopted in order to obtain that universal concurrence which was necessary to accomplish their object , and place the Government in a minority . The incidents , my lords , possess almost a dramatic character ; for when these concerted measures appeared ready for execution , an amendment was moved in another and unexpected quarter , which placed the matter on a different footing , and prevented that union of Whigs , Conservatives , and Radicals which was necessary for the Government to be placed in a minority . My lords , the Government escaped defeat on this

      occasion by the falling asunder of the different materials of which that combination was composed . We proceeded then to bring forward and to submit to Parliament the financial policy which we were to propose , and after a lengthened debate in the House of Commons , by the union of all the three parties , the Government were defeated in a House almost unprecedentedly full—a House , I believe , in which there were not more than six-and-twenty members in the whole House who , in one way or the other , did not record their opinions . In that House , so constituted , the Government were subjected to a defeat by a majority of nineteen . "

      Had he been , defeated on a minor point , greatly as he would have felt that the position of the Government was weakened , he would not have resigned . " But this defeat was on no minor question—it was on the basis of our whole financial policy—let me rather say it was ostensibly on the basis of the financial policy which was to be established in the country , and in reality and in truth it was , and it was known to be—it was avowed to be—a vote that was to determine the confidence or the want of confidence the Houso of Commons reposed in us . ( Hear , hear . ) I need not stop to provo that such was tho issuo really intended by tho vote of tho other House of Parliament—such was the issue laid before the country ; and on such an issue her Majesty's Government sustained an unequivocal

      defeat . I felt , and my colleagues felt with me , that no option remained but to tender to her Majesty the resignation of those offices with which she had entrusted us , but which we were no longer able to perform with satisfaction to ourselves or with tho ability to carry out our own views and objects . On the nioruing after we had sustained that defeat—my lords , I speak only of the facts of the case , I am not about to argue upon them ; something I perhaps might have said with regard to tho character of the combination and the animus displayed in this settled purpose to overthrow the Government , but I wish to abstain from all expressions the use of which can by possibility give rise

      to controversy or contradiction—having had a distinct declaration of want of confidence on the part of tho House ot Commons , and having ascertained that mv colleagues unanimously concurred with mo as to the only t ' " ? ° ™ ° ought lo pursue , I proceeded to wait upon her Majesty , and to tender to her , in my own name and that of . ™ ' " leagues , the humble resignation of our offices . Her -Majesty was pleased to accept our resignation , and . signuiw her p leasure , which was acted upon in tho course ol U' <> same day , to send and take the advice of noblemen , members of your lordships' house—both of them of great experience iirifl PonnirWnbln nliilitv—of loiw nractico " > pUlm ( ,

      life , and ono of them—I speak without , the slig htest disrespect of the other--peculiarly distinguished , not only ny long experience , but b y hiH well-known moderation « ' » temper , by tho spirit , of mingled jirmricas and courtesy with which lie has on all occasions discharged J « js <•" j ' here , and which is admirably calculated to conciliate lr )(! I 1 £ and to disarm opposition . The noble marquis <« ' vvl ^ oia allude was prevented by illness from attending lh « «•»"' - mons ofher Majesty , and on the following day , H » "'^ ^ to a further summons from lier Majesty ,. the lUirl ol Al »< j doen-- the oilier nobleman to whom I rofonw : wiuic upon her Majesty , and received her Majesty h couinianus ^ which he Hignitie ' d his readiness to obey—to undortal "' ' » formation of a new Administration"

      . , , .... What , its priiiciplen would be be knew not } hut JKir nicmhorcd hearing Lord Aberdeen Hay llial , oxcop _ Free-trade , ho knew of lil . tlo or no difference between I * 1111 " self and her Maj < mt , y'H priori ! , Government : iuid no i <» h an there is no difference , . Lord Derby will beliov" ' V | ( , now Ministry will be conservative in Hpirit' uiiu I" ' 1111 "' ' * j Yet , Lord Aberdeen must rely on having more lol ' " ' '' |!| | l ( , shown him by the great ( JoiiKerval . ivo party ""! . | , Conservative party ban experienced at the bunds of t > " (

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      1222 THE LEApE'R . [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 25, 1852, page 1222, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1966/page/2/