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    ~ ould not individually differ from me in opinion ) --I have ^ pressed the opinion that in regard , to flw who have Offered from the changes made , in being left without a ^ responding alteration in the expenditure , thrown upon Hum ^ he moderate imposition of a duty producing a large r « venue , and thereby enabling other taxation to be take * ^ with hardly an appreciable effect on . the food of the JJople , would be * most jus , t , a jnost ^ conooiieal , and for the Country a most advantageous mode of affording relief ? Sear hear } But I think that a proposition which no nunistW ought to bring for * viu : d and submit to parliament unless he is clear , riot only of a bare majority , but of a very ffeiieral concurrence of opinion throughout the country . in

    f sat that it is only one portion or a great ; question , taking into consideration the course they ought to pursue , thev Ire bound not , as the noble lord suggested , to fling down some months before a definite fixed proposition , which for five or six months to come should be made the subject of controversy and agitation , but , commending those sufferjnir interests , not to the care of agitators and demagogues , but to the calm , deliberate sense of the country , the question would be , haying ascertained that calm and deliberate sense of the country , how to take those measures which , though not in their own judgment abstractedly the most desirable , they may yet carry into effect with the general approbation , and in accordance with the opinion of Parliaarid without using feelings other

    merit , ro angry among classes of the community . " ( Hear , hear . ) It was not a " paltry question , it was not a question , whether > du | y shall be imposed on foreign produce ; not on such a question— -said the npble lord—when I appeal to the country , do I intend that appeal to be made ! " Then turning -abruptly from statirig on what questions he intended to appeal , he attacked the (? hesham-place convention , " which he said bid fair , to rival the " liehfield House compact . " The course adopted by lord John had filled him with surprise and regret . The 1081 members present at that convention h > i been absent from the Hbuse in the moment of danger , and although they had shown themselves " unwilling to support the measures of the late

    government , they were quite willing to Join in measures for rendering any one impossible . " And Xord John Russell , who laid claim to the cbarateter of a ? statesman and a patriot , consented to organize such an opposition ; thoujght it not unworthy his high character arid station to associate with those who had strenuously opposed him ; arid said that his next administration should not be a Whig administration , but on a much wider basis ! Bising higher and higher in his tone as he approached the termination of his speech , Lord -Derby turned away , as if in disgust , from the intrigues of Chesham-place ,, and stated , still melodramatically , his own intentions . " I shall go then to the country when it is consistent with my diity to my Sovereign and

    to my coimtry that I should go there ^ not on a qiieetioii oi the kind suggested . That question I shall leave to the deliberate judgment of the public . JNshaU leave it to the general concurrence of the country , without which I shall not bring forward that proposition . v ( Loud and renewed cheering . ) I say I will not flinch from performing my duty without fear , if the sense of the people and of the Parliament shall be with me and shall support me in a measure which I believe would be useful for the country . Put I will not overstrain the influence which belongs to a government , I will not abuse the high position in , which my sovereign has placed me ; and I will not by a bare majority force on the country a measure against which a great proportion of the country has expressed an opinion . ( Cheers . )"

    It might bo possible to render available the assistance of those who generally agreed with him , but objected to protective policy . But there was another question : — "We are threatened with far more serious difficulties than opposition to the imposition of a 5 s . or 6 s . or 7 s . duty . It is a question whether the government of this country can bo carried on , and on what principles , and through what medium ; and when I appeal to the country I should do so on this ground—Will you , who desire well to all tho interests of the country , place your confidence and give your support to a government which , in the hour of peril , did not hesitate to take the post of danger when the helmsman had left the helm P ( Loud cheers . ) Will you

    support a ( Government which is against hostile attacks , which would maintain the peace of the world , which would uphold the Protestant institutions of the country , which would give strength and increased power to religious and moral education throughout tho land , and which would oxert itself moreover , I will not hesitate to say , to oppose some barrier against tho current , that is continually encroaching , of democratic influence , ' which would throw power nominally into the hands of the masses , practically into those of the demagogues who lead thomP Will you

    j j " overnm <> nt which desires to oppose that noxious »*» a dangerous influence , and to maintain tho prerogatives ottho Crown , the rights of your lordships' house , and the privileges of the other freely elected andfairly represented toouso of Parliament P Those are the principles on which -iBliaUmake my appeal on behalf of myself and of my ? f £ affUe 8 ' ' m wo . which are placed in the mouths or tho meanest felons in tho dock , ana which aro not un worthy tho lips of a First Minister of the Crown , ' I elect that we shall be tried by God and our country . ' ( Groat

    Lord Gmjy followed Lord Dorby , stoutly defending tho lato , and attacking tho present , ministry , with norce pertinacity . He insisted at great length , and in recurring and various expression * , of the same opinion , that it was now and anomalous for a minister to como aown to that house ! and say , " Our convictions / my wrus , as to what oujjjit to bo done aro as strong as over , but wo will not tell you whether or not wo Intend Jo act upon those convictions . '' Ministers were bound to say « w are for protection / ' or « We are ngainst protection , " Lord Grey represented tho policy as to too food of tho people as too vital to bo kept in tho

    backgrounds And as to the uncertainty being lessened by the change of ministers , until the change there had been no uncertainty -w ; nateyer . The uncertainty had been created by the advent of Lord Derby , and for the best ; of reasons—that ithad always been stated , that the great object of the party composing * the present goyerninenty ^ was to re-establish protection . . As to the fall of the late cabinet , When Lord Derby said that it had fallen from want of support , he ought to have remembered the cause of that . Had not Protection been the rallying cry of a party for five years and a-half ? Lord Grey did not say that there had been a factious opposition , but , by all the means in their power , the noble lord and his colleagues had collected and kept

    together a powerful party , whose binding principle was the restoration of protection , and conducted a decided and eager opposition to the late government . He did hot complain of that , but it was too inuch , af ter the Earl of Derby had been finally successful , for him to turn round and say—office' . fell into our hands , we did not seek it , therefore , we may dispense with the ordinary rules of proceeding . And that Lord Derby would attempt to restore the protective policy it was natural to expect , especially after the declaration made by him in February last year , when he said that , as an honest man , and asi an "honourable man , he could not tajie office without attempting to retrace the false step which had- been taken , and remedy the wrong which had been done , by imposing a moderate duty on

    corn ; ; . ¦ - ¦ ¦ . . ; - ¦ ¦ .. - ¦ , . ; ; Lord Grey argued that a dissolution was imperative on the possessors of office , because they were in a minority , and held opinions hostile to Free-trade . That was the course insisted on by Sir Bobert Peel in 1841 ; that was the honest course . But what an extraordinary state of things bad come about . The Prime Minister declared that be would not attempt to re-impose corn duties without the concurrence ot the

    country , not even if be had only _ a bare majority . " Now , there Was no man of common understanding who , hearing these words ; did not clearly see that they gave up = protection . " Nothing could be done wjth such " rose-water support as this . " What , then , was the object of the noble earl ? If he meant to give us protection , why did be not say so ? The fact was , he meant to canvass the counties as a protectionist , and the towns as a Free-trader . Would it not be difficult

    for the npble earl to prove , under these circumstances , that want of foresight , not want of candour , had been at the bottom of his conduct ? In this strain , Lord Grey wound up a not ineffective speech , the sting of which was in the final words : Never , he said , throughout the annals of this country , had there been an instance of the public interests being so grievously sacrificed to party feelings . The regular partisans of Government and Opposition now succeeded each other . Lord Abiugek said he

    bad " privately remonstrated with Sir Robert Peel on the danger and injustice of repealing the Corn-Laws ! Lord CiiANBiCABDE echoed Lord Grey , pushing home the charge of inconsistency between practice and opinion , and , what was more damaging to Minister )) , peHinaciously following up Lord Grey ' s line in showing that Ministers wore about to cheat both the farmers and their parliamentary friends . Tho Earl of Habrowby ( formerly Lord Sandon ) addressed himself to the friendly task of converting Lord Derby to an honest avowal that he Had given up Protection .

    "Ho believed that there was noli tho slightest chance of success for a protectivo policy , and if they went to tho country upon that he felt sure that tho result would be that the Conservative interest would be put upon a false issue , and that instead of trying tho question of " Protection or not , " the real question that Avould bo tried would bo Democracy or not r" ( Hear , hear . ) Lord Beaumont gave a second edition of his former speech . Lord WoDEnousE preached on the moral danger of establishing the precedent that it was consistent with the duty of public- men to abandon , when they obtained office , the measures the advocacy of which had brought them into power . Lord Powis defended Ministers , and so ended tho debate .

    In the House of Commons tho debate partook of tho character of the great contest in 1846 , There was a strong muster of members early in the afternoon . The dramatis tpersoiHB were newly arranged . The Opposition benches and tho gallery above wore crowded ; indeed , bo full that some Opposition members were seen perohed over the Ministerial benches . On tho Mountain of the Opposition , but not below the gangway , wore seated Mr . Cobden , Mr . Bright , and tho members of that section of tho enpportors of tho Chesham-place policy ; while bolow tlio gallery wore Lord Palmorston , his orderly , Mr . Monckton Milncs ; Sir Jamos Graham , Mr . Gladstone , and the Peolitos generally . Ministers occupied tho front benches on the right of the , Speaker , baokod by the baronet chivalry of the Country Party—Sir John Tyrrol and

    Sir John Walsh , and next to them , Mr . George Frederick Young . Below the Ministerial gangway sat a select squadron of agricultural members , headed by Colonel Sibthorpe . 'The battle began by small skirmishes with Sir John Pakingfrm and Mr . Disraeli . Mr . James Witsoir askckl the Colonial Secretary what he intended to do with his notice- <> f motion respecting the sugar duties , now standing on the paper as a dropped order ? Sir John Pakington replied , that he had felt it his duty as a member of the Opposition ( a remark met by ironical cheers ) to press upon Her Majesty ' s Ministers what he

    believed to be the disastrous effects of their own acts ; but as the present Government was " in an acknowledged minority" in that House , it was no less bis duty to do what he thought best for the promotion of the objects they bad in view ; and he did not think he would be doing his duty by pressing the question , and therefore he did not intend to bring forward the motion . ( Cheers and counter cheers . ) He , however , reserved the right of hereafter dealing with the question , "if they should be in a position so to do . " ( Ironical cries of " hear" from the Opposition , and cheers from the Ministerialists . ) It was understood

    that the Government would not interfere in any way with the reduction of the duty on sugar , Which would come into operation on tlie 5 th of July next . Mr . HeadIiAM asked whether it was intended to put a tax on coals . The Chance : m , ob of the Exchequer thought that was not a fair question . But he would so far overstep the bounds of the usual official reserve as to say , that at present Government had no such intention . " But , " continued Mr . Disraeli , "if the proposition is likely to obtain the favour of the honourable gentleman ' s constituents , it shall receive on our part the inost respectful attention , " a sally followed by " loud laughter" and " cheers . "

    After these small passages of arms , the main combat was commenced by Mr . Melnek Gibson , who , " amid the stirring cheers of the Opposition , presented , and stated With great gravity , the now famous Manchester petition ; and Mr . William Beown followed up the -advance of the member Jor Manchester , by throwing in a similar petitionJfrom Liverpool . The order of the day for going into Committee of Supply was read , and the CHAKCEMioii of the Excheqtteb moved that the

    Speaker do now leave the chair . This was the signal for Mr . VlMilEBS , the old champion of free trade , who rose to put to the Chancellor of the Exchequer a series of inquiries , agreed to at the Chesham-placo meeting , as to the intentions of her Majesty's Government . This he did in a speech of great weight , solidity , and with a certain earnestness of tone and language , supported by the encouraging cheers of the Opposition , and ironical interruptions from the Ministerial benches .

    He described the importance of the subject as it affected trade , commerce , and domestic life . Information , he said , was wanted ; it would bo incorrect to say that the public had recefved none ( alluding to the hustings speeches of Ministers ) j but it would bo quite true to say that they would have been less perplexed if they had not received any . ( Laughter . ) He hoped that his motives in asking for information would not be misunderstood ; ho had no factious motives ( ironical laughter from tho Ministerial benches , and cheers from tho Opposition ) , no party object . ( Cheers . ) Ho proceeded to vindicate his right—indeed , his peculiar fitness—ns an old and disinterested advocato

    of free-trade , to ask for explanations . He had onl y been silent because ho had believed the question safe . But the advent of tho present Ministers had unsettled everything , and caused groat apprehensions . Ho did not rogvot to soo thorn in power ; ho know what forbearance was duo to a Ministry suddenl y installed in oflico , and as yet unprepared to state their opinions on matters which required long consideration . But that was not tho caso with tho present Ministers in relation to tho chiof question , since thoir minds had long boon made up , and thoy were unknown except as identified with protection . To roatoro that , thoy had been banded togother—for that thoy had sought and assumed power ; and ho thought thoy could not object to boing called on to state in what way and how soon , thoy lntaviflftrl in rait . ftttliHii nnw iTirvir wmr »*> in nnaron fl »/» v ^ rhlvsi- ** Hivvvtitw # mw ~ | f § h

    ^^ ' ^^ w ^^ *» - v wn ^ m M **^^ vt Vtfw * * t ^ 'rfk ^* J ^ mm m-r ^ J Ww ^^ Jl * ^^ ij ^ jH ^ which tlioir chiofs had rocommondod whilo in Opposition . Passing by Mr . Disraeli and tho lessor lights of the country party , no dwolt at some length on tho reasons why , above all men , lord Derby ought to frankly declare his policy ; and ho quoted tho famous speech of May , 1861 , when Lord Derby said to hia followers , that in him thoy would find " no hesitation , no flinching , no ohango of opinion : " ho only looked for tho moment to cry , " Up Guarda , and at thoin 1 " It was not therefore unreasonable in persona , representing tho lutorosts to bo attacked , to aek tho noblo

    lord to have tho Jundnosa to toll when ho was going to dirnot his soldiovs to bo " up and at thorn . " ( Choera and laughter . ) He described tho prosperous state of tho country ; oven agriculture had improved , even tho colonies woro better off ; ami the country rested in that prospority . But now mon pledged to revorso tho policy in force woro in power , apprehonnion and uncertainty provailod : contracts wore not comp leted , orders woro not sent homo by foroign agonts , bocauso thoy did not know how to act for thoir principals . ^ For thrOo wooks tho country soomod to have been labouring undor a paralysis . After vindicating tho people from the ohargo of being imlifforen to groat Hbortioo conferred ou thorn , and Baying thoy woro often too

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1852, page 263, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1927/page/3/