ests of England and America were both bound up in the continuance of peace, and he hoped that, in spite of newspaper paragraphs in both countries, the good feelings of honest and independent men on both sides of the water would prevent any interruption of it. Indeed, from the mutual interests which sprang up under it, the maintenance of peace was a guarantee for its prolonged continuance. As a security for peace, England should always be prepared for war; and if the increase of our commercial transactions, and the introduction of steam navigation, had produced new circumstances which endangered our safety, he was sure that the national spirit would gladly provide funds to meet a necessary expenditure to avert that danger. He spoke in terms of great satisfaction on the flourishing prospects of the iron manufacture, and on the improved condition of the shipping interest. The cotton manufacture, and still more the woollen trade-the latter of which indicated an improved condition of the poorer classeswere also prosperous. The same was the case with the manufactures of flax, hemp and silk.

Our im

ports and exports had both increased, as was evident from the Custom-house returns on tea, coffee, sugar and tobacco. This prosperity had acted on the finances of the country, which now appeared in a very satisfactory condition. That condition had arisen from the imposition of the Income-tax, which had changed a deficiency into a surplus of revenue. If the country was to have relief either from a remission of duty in taxation, or from a change in the mode of raising and collecting the revenue, he thought that it would not be

wise to depart from this source of income.

Lord J. Russell could readily concur in the terms of the Address proposed on this occasion; but there were topics in the Speech of Her Majesty, and in the Address in reply to it, which called for remark. That the visits of foreign sovereigns to this country might be a fresh guarantee for the continuance of peace, must be the anxious wish and sanguine expectation of every man who heard him; but it was something singular that though the mover and seconder of the Address were both expressing hopes of peace, Ministers were themselves taking precautions against the contingency of war. He congratu

lated the House that our amicable relations with France were not broken; but said that he could not participate in those phrases of satisfaction which Ministers used in their own praise at the conclusion of the last session. They then thought it right to advise Her Majesty to praise the wisdom and moderation with which they had conducted the negotiations with France. He saw no cause for admiring either their wisdom or their moderation. What was the case? Mr. Pritchard had been put under arrest, and had been committed to solitary confinement, by the French commandant at Tahiti, on suspicion of encouraging insurrection among the natives; and it was communicated to him that if insurrection took place, he should be held responsible for all the bloodshed which might ensue. Another French commandant arrived, who thought that there was no ground for such severity, but who also thought it unsafe that Pritchard should remain at Tahiti, and therefore desired him to leave the island.

It was impossible not to admit that if Captain Bruat thought the conduct of Pritchard to be a cause of danger, he had a right to remove him; but to place him in solitary confinement, and to say that he should be responsible with his life for any insurrection, was a gross outrage, and demanded reparation. He was of opinion that if there had been that cordial understand ing between the two Governments of which their partisans boasted so loudly, a satisfactory arrangement might have been made without the delay of two months, and without any danger of war. He commented at some length upon the correspondence which had taken place between M. Guizot and the Comte de Jarnac on this subject, and said those papers made him believe that the two Governments of France and England were both too much influenced by the pressure from without, and that the understanding between them was not cordial or complete. The cloud which menaced the duration of peace had, however, blown away, and he now trusted that the Ministers on both sides of the Channel would feel that it was for the interest of their respective nations, and for the peace of the world, that they should remain united, and that they should not suffer their subordinate officers, at the distance of three or four thousand leagues, to disturb their common tranquillity. The present state of Spain had been produced by the cordial understanding between England and France, two of the most free nations of the earth, and that was a result which no man could be proud of. Whilst he hoped that that cordial understanding would yet ripen into friendship, he hoped that it would in future be em

ployed in the promotion of commerce, in the propagation of intelligence, the advancement of freedom, and the destruction of slavery, and not for the substitution of a tyrannical government for mild and constitutional sway. He was not satisfied with the revival of the commission for the revision of the treaties on the slave-trade; yet, if they thought that the exercise of the right of search would interrupt peace, the Ministers ought to tell the public what substitute they intended to propose for it. He congratulated the House on the improved condition of our commercial relations with China, and rejoiced that it had tended much to increase commercial and manufacturing industry in Great Britain.

Lord John Russell then referred to the paragraph in the Address relating to the abatement of agitation in Ireland, and said that, nevertheless, the accounts which he had received from that country referred to many symptoms which were highly menacing. No man said that there was fear of insurrection, or increase of agitation; but no man could say that there was that love and affection for the imperial Legislature which ought to exist in the inhabitants of a free country. He attributed that want of love and affection to the very injudicious proceedings which had been taken against several leading persons in that country. He then referred at great length to the O'Connell trial, and to the several judgments in the House of Lords, particularly noticing the judgment of Lord Denman, who declared that the defendants upon the record had not had a fair trial, and that if trials were to be conducted in that way, the trial by jury was "a delusion, a mockery and a snare."

As to the plan of academical education in Ireland, he did not know whether it was a wise one or not; but as it had led Mr. Gladstone, whose talents he eulogized highly, to leave the Ministry of which he was so valuable a member, he hoped that some explanation would be given of a measure which had excited so much objection in that right honourable gentleman's mind. Every measure of that kind was calculated to excite suspicion, not only in England, but in Ireland also. He quoted the Charitable Bequests Bill as a proof of that position, and imputed the unpopu larity of its reception in Ireland to the want of confidence in the sincerity of the party which proffered it, which was felt by the Irish people. That party had inflamed religious prejudices for years; and now, when its leaders were adopting a better policy, could they wonder that the agitators should throw back upon them the phrases of "surpliced ruffians " and " demon priesthood" which they themselves once used? Such was the retribution which always fell on men who, instead of appealing to sound opinion, appealed to popular prejudice, and founded their power on the delusions of their countrymen. He expressed great satisfaction at hearing that the Government were now adopting several measures which, when proposed by their predecessors, they had condemned. He rejoiced also in the present gratifying state of our commercial and manufacturing industry, but reminded the House that the prosperity of 1836 had been followed by the distress of 1838, 1839, and 1840. We might prevent such vicissitudes in future, not by interfering with the dispensations of Providence, but by enabling the

manufacturers of the country to exchange their produce for the productions of other nations. He implored the House to endeavour to ward off the mischief which other deficient harvests might bring upon us, by giving a freer inlet to the productions of other countries. He was convinced that protection was not the support, but the bane of agriculture. That the present duties on foreign corn should be diminished, he had no doubt, neither had the Government. He therefore insisted that they ought to reduce them-he would not now say to what amount-whilst we were, as now, in a state of calm, and not hastily, in time of popular uproar, when it would be said that we could not refuse what we appeared to grant.

Mr. Miles wished to know why Lord John Russell had proposed a fixed duty, if he was so convinced that protection was the bane of agriculture? Had his Lordship found it convenient to make a compact alliance with the Corn Law League? If the Income-tax were continued, he should claim that in the reduction of taxation the agricultural interest should not be forgotten.

Mr. Gladstone entered into an explanation of the reasons which had induced him to retire from the Cabinet of Sir R. Peel. After thanking Lord J. Russell for the very kind terms in which he had spoken of his services, he ob served, that in the statement which he was about to make, he had no blame to cast on any of his colleagues for any dereliction of their principles or professions. His statement, therefore, would not be a controversial statement, or a justification of his conduct, but a mere explanation of circum

stances, which if misstated or misconceived, might lead to mischievous mistakes.

I have not resigned on account of the intention of the Government, so far as I have a knowledge of it, to introduce any measure relating to the Church of England or of Ireland. The cause, then, I am about to lay before the House, is the sole cause which has led to the step I have adopted. I had taken upon myself some years ago, whether wisely or unwisely is not now the question, to state to the world, and that in a form the most detailed and deliberate, not under the influence of momentary consideration nor impelled by the heat and pressure of debate, the views which I entertained on the subject of the relation of a Christian state in its alliance with a Christian church. Of all subjects, therefore, which could be raised, this I had treated in a manner the most detailed and deliberate. I have never, how ever, been guilty of the folly which has been charged upon me by some, of holding that there were any theories which were to be regarded alike under all circumstances as immutable and unalterable. But, on the other hand, I have a strong conviction, speaking under ordinary circumstances and as a general rule, that those who have borne solemn testimony on great constitutional questions ought not to be parties to proposing a material departure from them. It may be in the recollection of the House that my right honourable friend at the head of the Government did, towards the close of last session, allude to inquiries he was about to make into the possibility of extending academical education in Ireland, and indicate

the spirit in which that important matter might be dealt with. I am not in possession of the mature intentions of the Government, and can only refer to them so far as they are known to me. I am bound to say, in regard to what the Government contemplate in regard to the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth-a subject to which my right honourable friend made distinct allusion-that I know nothing beyond what might fairly be inferred from what my right honourable friend then said. But those intentions were at variance with what I have stated as the best and most salutary principles, and in my view, a departure from them: I do not mean a first departure from them: but I think the public would feel, and justly feel, that the spirit of that measure did involve a material alteration of the system which upon its own merits I have felt it my duty to advocate. I therefore held it to be my duty, whenever such a measure came before the House, to apply my mind to its consideration free from all biassed or selfish considerations, and with the sole and single view of arriving at such a conclusion as upon the whole the interests of the country and the circumstances of the case might seem to demand. Again I tell the House, I am sensible how fallible my judgment is, and how easily I might have erred; but still it has been my conviction, that although I was not to fetter my judgment as a Member of Parliament by a reference to abstract theories, yet, on the other hand, it was absolutely due to the public, and due to myself, that I should, so far as in me lay, place myself in a position to form an opinion upon a matter of so great

As to the plan of academical education in Ireland, he did not know whether it was a wise one or not; but as it had led Mr. Gladstone, whose talents he eulogized highly, to leave the Ministry of which he was so valuable a member, he hoped that some explanation would be given of a measure which had excited so much objection in that right honourable gentleman's mind. Every measure of that kind was calculated to excite suspicion, not only in England, but in Ireland also. He quoted the Charitable Bequests Bill as a proof of that position, and imputed the unpopu larity of its reception in Ireland to the want of confidence in the sincerity of the party which proffered it, which was felt by the Irish people. That party had inflamed religious prejudices for years; and now, when its leaders were adopting a better policy, could they wonder that the agitators should throw back upon them the phrases of "surpliced ruffians" and "demon priesthood" which they themselves once used? Such was the retribution which always fell on men who, instead of appealing to sound opinion, appealed to popular prejudice, and founded their power on the delusions of their countrymen. He expressed great satisfaction at hearing that the Government were now adopting several measures which, when proposed by their predecessors, they had condemned. He rejoiced also in the present gratifying state of our commercial and manufacturing industry, but reminded the House that the prosperity of 1836 had been followed by the distress of 1838, 1839, and 1840. We might prevent such vicissitudes in future, not by interfering with the dispensations of Providence, but by enabling the

manufacturers of the country to exchange their produce for the productions of other nations. He implored the House to endeavour to ward off the mischief which other deficient harvests might bring upon us, by giving a freer inlet to the productions of other countries. He was convinced that protection was not the support, but the bane of agriculture. That the present duties on foreign corn should be diminished, he had no doubt, neither had the Government. He therefore insisted that they ought to reduce them-he would not now say to what amount-whilst we were, as now, in a state of calm, and not hastily, in time of popular uproar, when it would be said that we could not refuse what we appeared to grant.

Mr. Miles wished to know why Lord John Russell had proposed a fixed duty, if he was so convinced that protection was the bane of agriculture? Had his Lordship found it convenient to make a compact alliance with the Corn Law League? If the Income-tax were continued, he should claim that in the reduction of taxation the agricultural interest should not be forgotten.

Mr. Gladstone entered into an explanation of the reasons which had induced him to retire from the Cabinet of Sir R. Peel. After thanking Lord J. Russell for the very kind terms in which he had spoken of his services, he ob served, that in the statement which he was about to make, he had no blame to cast on any of his colleagues for any dereliction of their principles or professions. His statement, therefore, would not be a controversial statement, or a justification of his conduct, but a mere explanation of circum