then began to develop itself the propogandist spirit of their fathers, which proposed to carry their reforming principles and practice into every country in Europe. The conduct of Her Majesty's Government with respect to Switzerland, does not seem to be correctly understood by the House; nor has the right hon. Baronet the Member for Ripon accurately stated it, nor did the noble Lord the Foreign Secretary clearly explain it. The fact is this: the old constitution of Switzerland was a confederacy of independent cantons; each was sufficient to itself, and its internal arrangements were not to be meddled with by the rest. This constitution was guaranteed by the four Powers who were parties to the treaty of Vienna. Certain small cantons permitted the establishment of the Jesuits; whilst other cantons admitted some of the desperadoes who were labouring to revolutionise all Europe. The majority of the cantons, not liking the Jesuits, called unconstitutionally on the minority to expel the Jesuits, an interference in which they were not justified, and accordingly the minority refused to obey, and claimed assistance from the contracting Powers who had guaranteed the preservation of the constitution. Prussia, Austria, and Russia, however, were fully employed, and the noble Lord at the head of the Foreign Department took the part of the unconstitutional majority, which had raised an army under M. Ochsenbein to compel the submission of the constitutional minority. Here then was an uncalled-for interference, and a siding with revolution for the mere love of revolution, for there was nothing whatever to gain to ourselves.

The present Ministry was founded on agitation originally, and is supported by agitation now; and it is impossible that a Government which is the creature of agitation at home, can be the promoters of peace abroad. Amongst the chief supporters of the Government are the Manchester School, the heads of which have openly declared the ultimate object that they have in view. The hon. Member for Manchester declared lately at a public meeting

the corinthian capital of the column, would soon begin to crumble; and fall they must, for they are rotten at the core."

I am at a loss to discover any difference between these principles and those enunciated by the noble Lord the other night at the conclusion of his speech. I was lately looking at a bed of red roses; many were of different shades, some deep red, and called the Black Prince, and some quite light, and rejoicing in the name of the Maiden's Blush. I am willing to conclude that Her Majesty's Ministers are of the delicate tint of the maiden's blush; but still they are all red: some darker and some lighter, but all alike red; and I am totally unable to discover any difference between them and the red republicans, save as one red rose differs from another. Whatever can be called principle in the Manchester School, depends upon the price of cotton; whatever policy will extend cotton manufactures is good; whatever will curtail them is bad. Under the present system the Queen is a perfect cipher; and even the other night when the noble Lord at the head of the Government spoke of resigning the seals of office, he did not speak of resigning them into the hands of the Queen, as the person from whom he had received them, as the head and fountain of honour, but into the hands of Lord Stanley. The noble Lord stated last night that kings were slow to learn the lesson of submitting to their people. The whole object of the Government, both at home and abroad, was to put the sovereigns under the people; and however laudable this policy might appear in the eyes of those who adopted it, it is not surprising that kings should object to it a little, especially at the commencement. Some of the friends of the noble Lord at the head of the Government who are in the habit of speaking of him in terms of familiarity which I should not venture to use, tell us that there is no danger in the course which we are pursuing, because he is, as they say, such a 'plucky little fellow," that he has courage enough for anything, not only to take the command of the Channel fleet, but even to couch Lord Lyndhurst. There is, however, in moral as in physical courage, such a thing as foolhardiness: I remember the late Lord Rivers saying, of some young men who were very courage

66

"We live in an age of agitation. I am one of those who greatly approve of this state of things, and rejoice at it. There is a party in this country rapidly moving onward towards a peaceable, wide, and enduring democracy. The glorious constitution of Crown, Lords, and Commons, is in fact an imposture, which it is part of my duty to expose."ous riders, to one who was praising their Another speaker of the same class said"If the working classes will but join the middle classes in right good earnest, the upper classes,

boldness, that they deserved no praise at all, for they had merely not sense enough to know their danger. We cannot say

that the noble Lord has not sense enough for anything he pleases to undertake; but I must say, in reference to the course he pursues with foreign nations, Sin in tanto omnium metu solus non timet, eo magis refert me mihi atque vobis timere.

the career of that foreign policy which we are now called upon to judge. But although convinced of this, I will not consent on this account to serve the purposes of a faction by inflicting a wound upon the present Administration, because I cannot forget that Lord Stanley and the right hon. Member for Ripon are as deeply responsible for that Reform Bill as any others, and I will not consent to overthrow one set of men merely to uphold another equally culpable with themselves.

MR. COCKBURN moved the adjournment of the debate.

Debate further adjourned till To-morrow. The House adjourned at a quarter after Two o'clock.

HOUSE OF LORDS,

Friday, June 28, 1850.

MINUTES.] PUBLIC BILLS.-23 Metropolitan In

terments; General Board of Health.

3 Landlord and Tenant (Ireland); Public Houses (Scotland); Small Tenements Recovery (Ireland).

OUTRAGE ON HER MAJESTY.

We are told that this is to be a vote of confidence in the Ministers. I confess I do not know what meaning to affix to that word. I have confidence in every man, and in every animal, according to his or its nature. I have confidence in a tailor to make a coat, but I have no confidence in him to make a pair of shoes. I have a confidence amounting to a perfect conviction that Her Majesty's Ministers will continue to act in the way in which they ever have acted. I have confidence that the party now dominant in this country, which, as I have said before, is striving to destroy everything in order to establish democracy -that party which has avowed that it wishes to destroy the House of Lords, and will only tolerate the Queen so long as she is a respectable individual-I have confidence that this party, which in my opinion ought to be extirpated like rats, will continue to be the party to whom the Ministers will look for support. I have confidence that the Administration which was founded on agitation, which gave to Ireland the parting charge to " Agitate, agitate, agitate!" will never be an Admin. istration to promote tranquillity abroad. It is absurd to suppose that we can adopt agitation as a political principle at home, and make tranquillity the principle of our transactions abroad. The principle of the Government from first to last has been to keep up a system of political agitation; and the Ministers are only the stormy petrels, the harbingers of universal Euro-ed to exhibit in the strongest possible point pean convulsion. I have no doubt that of view the courage, the firmness, and the they will so continue, and that nothing presence of mind of the Illustrious Indiviwill stop them. But I deprecate any at- dual who now sits upon the throne. And, tempt to overturn the Government so long my Lords, the occurrence of last night as the country is unconvinced of the delu- also furnished an opportunity for exhibitsiveness of the path which we are pursuing on the part of Her Majesty's subjects ing-a path which I am convinced can lead but to one result, which is the involving of all the countries in Europe in one scene of universal bloodshed. It was the Reform Bill which has produced the revolution that at the time was denied, but of which the hon. and learned Gentleman who opened the debate, and the other panegyrists of it, now boast with so much ostentation-it was this revolution which has made the policy of the Government such as it now is, and which has opened

The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNE: My Lords, I think it but a respect and duty I owe to this House that, by way of information, I should allude to a circumstance which all your Lordships must most deeply deplore. My Lords, it has been my unfortunate lot more than once before the occurrence of this circumstance, to call the attention of the House to circumstances of a somewhat similar character. Unfortunately, I say, such has been my lot; but fortunately, in one respect, that on each occasion these circumstances have only tend

of all classes of society an unanimous, an enthusiastic, and indignant feeling of disgust at the perpetration of such an outrage. That event, as I believe most of your Lordships know, consisted in the following occurrence :-Her Majesty was assaulted by an individual whilst paying a visit to her illustrious relative the Duke of Cambridge at his house, and at the point of leaving the court-yard of the house, Such, my Lords, was the outrage, the motive of which has yet to be ascertained.

very subject. In discussing the question | in its favour were laid on the table immeof a double chamber, there was no practical diately, he (Earl Grey) begged to remind difference of opinion between himself and the noble Lord that great part of his (the his noble Friend; but his noble Friend had noble Lord's) speech was grounded on destated that he was extremely unwilling to spatches which were laid on the table on force anything on an unwilling people, and the very day or the day after they were rehe considered that the Australian Colonies ceived by the Government, and that some had declared themselves adverse to a double of the information which he possessed, and chamber. It had been suggested that the which was most favourable to the Bill, he Colonies had not expressed so decided an only possessed through the medium of the opinion, and that their real feelings were newspapers. His noble Friend (Lord Montfavourable to a double chamber. Now, he eagle) said this Bill was a striking illus(Lord Monteagle) had recently received tration of the advantages of a double chamaccounts from the Colonies, by which it ber, and that the amendments it had unappeared that meetings had been held and dergone proved how great was the advanresolutions passed in favour of a double tage of having two opportunities of dischamber. One of the resolutions stated cussing measures of importance. He (Earl that the colonists were most anxious" that Grey) certainly never denied there were the colony should have a form of govern- very great advantages in having two ment in which all classes of the people branches of the Legislature. He thought, should be equally represented;" and then however, those advantages did not exist in it went on to say, "and which shall re- the same degree in the colonies as they did semble the British constitution as closely at home; he thought that those advanas possible." The colonists had, there- tages were to be attained in the colonies fore, clearly intimated their desire for a by other means, and especially by the double chamber in the resolutions he re- power which the Governor had of returnferred to. He (Lord Monteagle) could not ing resolutions passed by the Legislature refrain from complaining that every reso- for their reconsideration, instead of their lution from the Colonies that told in favour being negatived by the Crown in this of this measure was laid on the table of country. He did not think this Bill formtheir Lordships' House with marvellous ed such a very special illustration as the rapidity after its receipt, whilst those noble Lord said it did. In the first place, which made against the Bill were long there was the omission of the clauses redelayed, or were not forthcoming at all. garding the federal assembly. Why were In conclusion, he had to say that he felt they omitted? Not because there was it was a matter of first necessity with any change of feeling in the Government respect to the future government of those respecting them, but simply on the ground Colonies, that a matter so essential as the that on looking into those clauses, it cerformation of a new constitution should be tainly did appear to them that there were discussed deliberately, and decided upon many defects in the machinery which by the men who had been assembled and would have prevented them coming into returned by the improved constituency. practical operation; and he believed, as the Unless that was so, that new constitution clauses stood, they would have been a would give no satisfaction; and he entreat- dead letter. The real object of the omised their Lordships not to give to an assem- sion, therefore, was merely to strike out bly returned by an inferior constituency the clauses which as they stood would have privilege of forming that new constitu- been inoperative. There was a change tion. proposed by his noble Friend (Lord Lyttelton), and he (Earl Grey) acknowledged that that change was an improvement. If the Bill had passed in its original shape, the only effect would have been to defer for one or two years, probably, that reduction of the franchise which was now taking place. The alteration had no other object but the hastening the period of that reduction. With that single exception the Bill was essentially the same as when it was first introduced into Parliament, and out of that fiery ordeal it had come unscathed

put

EARL GREY said, he had only been in possession of the resolutions referred to by the noble Lord who last addressed their Lordships by having seen them in the public journals; and he believed those resolutions were not passed at a meeting of any very great importance, or passed by any very large number of the colonists. With respect to the charge made by the noble Lord, that resolutions made against this Bill had not come to hand in time, and that, on the other hand, papers that made