of the potato crop, and the inconveniences likely to result, my right honourable friend at the head of Her Majesty's Government deemed it his duty to call together his colleagues, in order to take those reports into consideration. Accordingly he did so; reports and propositions were submitted to the Cabinet; and among the rest Sir R. Peel proposed to suspend the operation of the existing Corn Law, so as to open the ports for the admission of corn duty free. It is not necessary, my Lords, that I should discuss the motives or the grounds on which that proposal was founded. I was, however, one of those who considered that it was not necessary that such a measure should be adopted at that time. I considered, that although the misfortune to which I have referred would undoubtedly have the effect of depriving millions, I may say, of a large portion of the provision they had made for their sustenance during the year, yet that there

was

not exactly a deficiency of food. Millions, it is true, had been deprived of their food; but still there was no deficiency of food in the country, according to all accounts. It was my opinion that it was advisable arrangements should be made, as had been done before, to find the means of employment for parties who had suffered this deprivation, and to find also the means of rewarding them for their labour, and of giving them food. My lords, it appears to me, besides, that, under the provisions of the existing Corn Law, Parliament had provided for such an emergency. If the price of corn reached such an amount that there should ap. pear to be any deficiency of supply, or any want of food in the coun

try, the law had provided that corn should be admitted at a nominal duty. Under these circumstances, it appeared to me to be unnecessary to suspend the law; and on that ground I certainly was one of those who objected to this proposition of my right honourable friend. At the same time I was most anxious-and the Government almost unanimously concurred in the same view-to adopt such measures as, under the circumstances, might seem calculated to meet the apprehended misfortune. A commission was appointed and instructed to take measures for employing the people, paying them, and procuring food for them-indeed, all the measures adopted on former similar occasions. In the course of the discussions on the subject, it was intimated that the suspension of the Corn Law might make its renewal very difficult; and subsequently, Sir Robert Peel intimated his opinion of the absolute necessity of making an essential alteration in the Corn Laws. I believe every body admitted that some alteration was necessary -that an alteration upon certain points was necessary. I think there is no doubt about that. That was admitted by all. My right honourable friend considered that it was necessary to make an essential alteration in the existing Corn Law. Many members of the Cabinet objected to this suggested alteration; and there was a strong difference of opinion on the subject. For my own part, I certainly was of opinion that it was desirable to avoid making any essential alteration in the Corn Laws. I confess also, my lords, that I considered it was essential to the safety of the Government that the differences of opinion in the Cabinet should

be reconciled. Having served the Crown of England now for above fifty years, I consider it my duty on all occasions to endeavour to promote the interests of the State; and I did every thing in my power to reconcile the differences of opinion among my colleagues-to preserve in union a Government which enjoyed the confidence of the Sovereign, of the public, and of both Houses of Parliament. I considered it my duty to make every effort to retain union in the Cabinet, and to reconcile differences of opinion, as the best service I could render to the Sovereign in the circumstances in which the Cabinet was placed with reference to this subject. My lords, unfortunately in these efforts I did not succeed; and the result was an intimation on the part of my right honourable friend, that he would submit to Her Majesty the resignation of his office, and that he would recommend Her Majesty to endeavour to form another Government. My lords, this course was adopted, after a discussion whether it was advisable that my right honourable friend should come down to Parliament to make his proposition for an alteration of the Corn Laws as the head of a Cabinet, a majority of which was against the proposition; or whether it was not best, and more for the interest and convenience of Her Majesty, that he should at once intimate to Her Majesty the position in which he stood, and express his desire that Her Majesty would permit him to resign his office; and I certainly thought that it was desirable that my right honourable friend should resign his office, rather than make his proposition to Parliament with a divided Cabinet; and I believe every member of the Cabinet en

At

tertained the same opinion. a subsequent period a noble lord attempted unsuccessfully to form another Administration, and Her Majesty called upon Sir R. Peel to resume his duties. My right honourable friend wrote to me (I was in the country at the time) informing me of the circumstance; and stating, that if he did resume office he had determined, happen what might, if he stood alone, that, as the Minister of the Crown, he would enable Her Majesty to meet her Parliament. I highly applauded my right honourable friend on that occasion, and I determined that I, for one, would stand by him. I felt it my duty; and I did think the formation of a Government in which Her Majesty would have confidence was of greater importance than any opinions of any individual upon the Corn Law or any other law. (A laugh.) My lords, my right honourable friend wrote to me, and desired me to attend the Cabinet that evening, which I did. I admired the conduct of my right honourable friend; I was delighted with it; it was exactly the course which I should have followed myself under similar circumstances; and I determined that I would stand by him. My lords, at the same time that I did this, I knew well the position in which my right honourable friend stood in relation to the Corn Laws. knew well, that in consequence of his having resigned his office into Her Majesty's hands, because he could not prevail upon his Cabinet to support him in a material alteration of the Corn Law, those who were employed to form a Government must have had a knowledge of the particular circumstances under which my right

I

honourable friend had resigned his office; and, my lords, how could my right honourable friend go into the House of Commons, and again defend the Corn Law, as he had done only the preceding July(A laugh)-how could he go into Parliament and defend the Corn Law against those gentlemen who were informed of his opinion that it ought to be altered, and who, of course, would have reproached him with a fresh alteration of opinion? I knew well, therefore, when I told my right honourable friend that I would stand by him in the resumption of his Government, that in doing so I must be a party to the proposition for a material alteration of the Corn Law. It could not be otherwise. I knew it, and I did it." The duke went on to express his belief that the measures to be proposed by Sir Robert Peel would be satisfactory to the country, and to his right honourable friends. He observed, that the President of the Board of Control, a great landed proprietor, would scarcely propose measures that would betray the interests agriculture. He entreated their lordships to wait and hear the measures which would be laid before them, and they would then see whether Sir R. Peel had betrayed his duty. But, at all events, my lords, whatever that measure may be, I say, that, situated as I am in this country, highly rewarded as I have been by the Sovereign and the people of England, I could not refuse that Sovereign to aid her to form a Government when called upon, in order to enable Her Majesty to meet her Parliament, and carry on the business of the country. Upon that ground, my lords, I

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of

The Government, it appeared, had become quite a free-trade Government; and he wished to know why, when Lord John Russell attempted to form Government, the present Ministers had not supported him. for himself, he would join with the Duke of Richmond to defeat any measure of this or of any Govern. ment to introduce free trade.

As

The Duke of Wellington.-I don't know what the noble duke means by a "Free-trade Government." Perhaps the noble duke will explain what he means. (Laughter.)

The Duke of Buckingham."No doubt the noble duke is staggered to find himself in a Cabinet professing measures so totally different to what he formerly professed. Ministers who are now ready to carry out measures which they opposed in 1841, form, if not a free-trade Government, as nearly one as possible.

The Marquis of Lansdowne said, that as the circumstances under which Lord John Russell had attempted to form a Government had been fully explained to the public, he did not feel called upon to recapitulate them. He explained, however, how he himself had determined to abandon

the principle of a fixed duty on

corn.

"A friend to the principle of a fixed duty, I saw good reason for abandoning it at this moment, after the public declarations that had been made against it by a person so high in authority as the right honourable Baronet at the head of the present Government and at the head of the former Government, that that substitution for the existing Corn Law was one to which he never could consent. And when I found that to his high authority was added that of my noble friend the member for the city of London, I-retaining my opinion that a fixed duty would have been the most satisfactory arrangement that could be made of this question, and one which, had it been adopted earlier, would have prevented the agitation which has taken place on this subject-I did think that it was impracticable to bring a fixed duty before the consideration of Parliament with any chance of its being adopted. In the course of some further remarks, Lord Lansdowne mentioned, that when Sir R. Peel found himself unable to carry on the Government, an effort was made to ascertain whether those who differed from him in the Cabinet thought themselves capable of carrying it on. He hoped that the House would now devote itself to the satisfactory settlement of the question. "I for one do hold the opinion, that the facilities enjoyed by the noble lords opposite of carrying this question were greater than those which others could have, as the question only could be carried by effecting conversions in some quarter or another. Those conversions are needed, not

It is perfectly true, as stated by the noble marquis, that in the course of the discussions which took place (after the resignation of my right honourable friend, and before the resumption of his office) between Her Majesty and the noble lord in another place and the noble marquis-it is perfectly true that I, and I believe others, were called upon to state whether any one of us was disposed to form a Government on the principle of maintaining the existing Corn Law, My lords, what others answered I cannot pretend to say. I answered immediately, that I was not; that I could not undertake to form a Government. lords, when I made that answer, I did it not only out of diffidence in my own ability to undertake such a charge, but likewise, my lords, because I felt that it would be absolutely impossible, according to my knowledge of the disposition of the House of Commons, to form a Government in which the public would have confidence which should be formed on the principle of supporting that measure. Under those circumstances, my lords, I certainly, when called upon to say whether I would or

But, my

The Earl of Radnor asked how it was that if Sir R. Peel thought it necessary, on October the 31st, to open the ports, and if, as he said, in two months the failure of the potato crop would prove so very serious a visitation, the Cabinet had not met from the 6th to the 25th of November. Had any thing yet been done to provide for such a state of things? The Duke of Wellington repeated his assurance that precau

tions had been taken.

The Duke of Richmond hoped that inquiry would take place before changes were made in the law.

The Marquis of Clanricarde said he wished for inquiry, but the Duke of Richmond's friends had always opposed it.

The Duke of Richmond said they had done so because the free-trade party had demanded it, with the avowal that their object was to get rid of the Corn Laws. His friends were always ready to give every information upon that subject. He supposed that the highway-rates and the poorrates were not burdens upon land? (Cries of "No, no!") He should like to know whether one of his tenants did not pay more than the whole League put together? (Laughter.) Lord Clanricarde had said that Mr. Cobden had made converts of the whole of the Cabinet of Sir R. Peel and the rest of the Ministers, and then he said that

he had made converts of the people out of doors: if that were the case, then let the Minister dissolve Parliament and go to the country. He (the Duke of Richmond) would say to the farmers throughout the country, "Protection, not to corn alone, but to British industry." Let them go to the country, and ask the manufacturers of England -ay, the manufacturers of this town-the English tailors and shoemakers-whether they would consent to foreign articles coming in free of duty? He defied them to go to the country; let them go and appeal to those constituencies that placed the present Government in power, and those constituencies would say, We are against free trade now."

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Lord Beaumont spoke in favour of protection, and demanded to know the reasons which had made converts of those members of Sir Robert Peel's Cabinet who had at first opposed him in it, especially designating the Earls of Ripon, Haddington, and Aberdeen.

The Earl of Aberdeen responded to the appeal on his own behalf. He said: "When my right honourable friend, early in November, made that proposal to the Government which has been alluded to, I gave to it my cordial and unhesitating assent. It would not be proper at this time to enter into the reasons which induced me to come to that opinion; but such is the opinion which I then entertained, and which I entertain now."

The discussion here terminated.