this, that every member might make as many speeches as he chose, for the address was already before the whole House. The other amendment was of a different character, and, if he had been inclined to treat this as a party question, there might have been astute reasons why he should support it. But, after what he had heard, he was not disposed to do so, for he felt that the House was called upon to show by an overwhelming majority that it was not disposed to sanction a measure which would tend, not merely to legislative separation, but to actual dismemberment of the empire. Without mentioning parts of the speech about which there might be difference of opinion, he would give the address, and every part of it, his support. On the first question which came before the House, in a new session, unanimity was the first object; a preponderance of opinion was the next. On this occasion he thought it his duty to support the Crown, with no other view than that of maintaining law and order; and he wished it to be understood as an indication of the course he should feel it to be his duty to pursue on future occasions. Do not let it be said that he pursued this course from any desire to recover office. He felt that between himself and office there was as wide a gulf as could separate any man from it amongst those whom he addressed.

He

had no desire to replace those gentlemen he saw opposite; but, although he gave his support to them on this occasion, he gave it to them upon public grounds, as ministers of the Crown, because they required support,-not from any increase of confidence in them, or from any desire to benefit in the

slightest degree by the course he pursued. There had been a great change in the constitution of that House; and the course taken by public men in that House must vary also. When the House was divided into two great parties, contending for precedence, each had a right to resort to those tactics which would give effect to their mutual opposition, and that system of warfare, when employed by one party against another, was a legitimate one. But circumstances had changed; and he did not feel at liberty to resort to that course now. When he saw the government disposed to maintain the rights of property, the rights of authority, and the established order of things, against rash innovators, it was his duty to support the Crown, as a paramount consideration, not from any confidence in its ministers, but because he thought it right to throw the little weight he might possess into that scale which seemed in danger of being overpowered by the preponderance of those who discovered a general tendency to presume that everything established was wrong. He could not but fear that they met under a state of things in which, though grievancse might be abated, there might be too strong a presumption of the power of Parliament to redress grievances. He knew how many expectations had been excited, and he knew that three months would not have passed without a disappointment of those expectations, because to fulfil them was impossible. There was a desire for rash and precipitate legislation; and, from the number of subjects he saw already proposed for discussion, he feared there would be a failure in most, and that nothing would

be done. He would abstain from any reference to the subject of the Reform Bill; let them abandon the past, and look to the future, for the subject of reform had greatly agitated the public mind. He had heard the opinion expressed by his Majesty's government, that, whilst they wished all just subjects of grievance to be redressed, they were determined to stand by the constitution of this House as it existed, and to resist all experiments only calculated to unsettle the public mind. On that ground he supported them. Such experiments on the public mind, by disturbing the state of things, weakened the attachment of the labouring classes to order. It was only by encouraging their love of order, by maintaining their confidence in it, and by promoting the employment of the labouring classes, that their interests could be promoted; and it would afford them more permanent relief, than if they had free scope for confisca tion.

The House divided first on the amendment of Mr. O'Connell for a committee of the whole House on the address. Only 40 members, of whom 34 were Irish members, voted for it; against it, 428. Mr. Tennyson's amendment was then put, in these words; "But if, under the circumstances which may be disclosed to us, we may be induced to entrust your Majesty with additional powers, we shall feel it our duty to accompany our acquiescence in your wishes by a close and deliberate investigation into the causes of the discontent, with the view of applying an effectual remedy; and that it is the duty of this House to receive the petitions of the people of Ireland with to the legislative union,

and leave ourselves free to consider that subject; we are, at the same time, ready to support your Majesty in maintaining that union against all lawless attempts to defeat it, or to disturb the peace and security of your Majesty's dominions."-Lord Althorp was equally opposed to this amendment as to the former, because it did not, like the address, declare an opinion upon the subject of the repeal of the union, but left it doubtful what was the opinion of the House. On the division, 60 members voted for it; against it, 393.

The minority of 40 in favour of Mr. O'Connell's amendment, consisted, besides 34 Irish members, of 5 select English radicals, Mr. Hume, Messrs. Cobbett and Fielding, colleagues in the representation of Oldham; Mr. Attwood, member for Birmingham; Mr. Faithfull, for Brighton; and one Scotch member of the same party, the member for Dundee, all of them, with the exception of Mr. Hume, elected by new constituencies.

On the bringing up of the report, Mr. Cobbett moved that the whole of the address should be rejected, and that another which he proposed, to the following effect, should be adopted :-" Assuring his Majesty that the House of Commons would direct its most serious attention to the papers which his Majesty had directed to be laid on the table of the House relating to Portugal and Holland, and would anxiously consider the questions relating to the charters of the Bank of England and the East-India Company; thanking his Majesty for having suggested a very great alteration with respect to the temporalities of the church (laughter), and assuring his Majesty that the

House would enter into the examination of that subject without passion or prejudice; thanking his Majesty for having directed the estimates to be prepared with all due economy, and expressing regret that his Majesty had not been advised to suggest the propriety of lessening the burdens of the suffering community, and assuring him, that the House would investigate the causes of distress, and institute measures to produce effectual and permanent relief; informing his Majesty, that the House was ready to adopt every constitutional mode of controlling and punishing the disturbers of the public peace in Ireland, and of strengthening those ties which connected the two countries; deeming that their separation would be fraught with destruction to the peace and welfare of his Majesty's dominions, and assuring his Majesty that the House was determined to go into a full consideration of the manifold grievances under which the Irish people laboured." Mr. Cobbett found only 23 members to vote for his address, while 323 voted against it.

It was not without reason that Sir Robert Peel had anticipated an overwhelming quantity of attempted legislation, in consequence of the new constitution of the House, Ministers themselves saw that it would be impossible to confine the Session within any reasonable bounds, unless the working hours of the House were increased, and, if possible, the love of speechmaking placed under some straint. On the first day of the Session, lord Althorp gave notice of certain propositions which he intended to bring forward, with a view to these objects. One proposition was, that the VOL. LXXV.

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Speaker should take the chair at 12 o'clock, and proceed with private business until 3 o'clock, when the House would adjourn until 5 o'clock, at which hour the public business on the books should be proceeded with. He would also suggest an alteration in the number of times which members should be allowed to speak on the presentation of petitions. At present, a member was permitted to address the House, first on moving that the petition be brought up; again, on moving that it be read; a third time, on moving that it be laid on the table; and a fourth time, on moving that it be printed. He should propose that every petition should be brought up and read as a matter of course; and the first motion on which the member should address the House should be on that for the petition being laid on the table; and again on the motion, that it be printed; so that the mover would speak but twice, instead of four times, as at present. On the following day, his Lordship moved resolu tions in these terms. The resolution which regarded the presentation of petitions was agreed to. That which went to regulate the meetings of the House, fixing the morning meeting from 12 to 3, and the afternoon meeting at 5 o'clock, while it likewise provided that committees should sit from 9 to 12, and from 3 to 5, thus imposing on members who happened to be on committees (and they threatened to be numerous) uninterrupted labour for fifteen or seventeen hours, was delayed for a fortnight, on the suggestion of sir Robert Peel, who thought its consequences too important to justify its immediate adoption by a House [D]

containing 300 new members, unacquainted with parliamentary business. On the 20th of March, lord Althorp accordingly moved the following resolutions:

"That this House do meet every day, except Saturday at 12 o'clock, at noon, for private business and petitions, and do continue to sit until 3 o'clock, unless the business be sooner disposed of. That when such business has been dis posed of, if before 3 o'clock, or at 3 o'clock precisely, notwithstand ing there may be business under discussion, Mr. Speaker do adjourn the House till a quarter before 5 o'clock, and leave the chair with out putting any question for adjournment.

"That business thus interrupted be taken up again on the next sitting-day as an adjourned debate, in preference to other business of the same kind.

"That if a House be not formed before 1 o'clock, for the sitting between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock, Mr. Speaker do then take the chair, and count the House, and if 40 members be not present, do adjourn the House till a quarter before 5 o'clock; and in a like manner when the House is to meet at a quarter before 5, pursuant to adjournment, if the House be not formed before 5 o'clock, the Speaker do then take the chair, and count the House, and if 40 members be not present, do adjourn the House till 12 o'clock the next day, unless such day be Saturday, in which case Mr. Speaker do adjourn the House to Monday, at 12 o'clock,

"That when a House is formed at 5 o'clock, pursuant to adjourn ment, the House will immediately proceed to the business of the day set down in the order-book.

"That committees have power to sit from 10 o'clock in the forenoon until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and have leave to sit during the sitting of the House.

"That a select committee be appointed at the commencement of each Session, to which shall be referred all petitions presented to the House, with the exception of such as complain of undue returns, or relate to private bills; and that such committee do classify the same, and prepare abstracts of the same, in such form and manner as shall appear to them best suited to convey to the House all requisite information respecting their contents, and do report the same from time to time to the House; and that such reports do in all cases set forth the number of signatures to each petition.

"And that such committee have power to direct the printing in extenso of such petitions, or of such parts of petitions as shall appear to require it."

Some members having objected the probable difficulty of making a House of 40 members at 12, for the presentation of petitions, when a long sitting was to commence at 5 for public business, lord Althorp consented to a House being made if 20 members were present at a quarter past 12; but it would be left open to any member after that, who might object to any particular business being decided by so thin a House, to notice that 40 members were not present, and to move that the House be counted, in which case the House should stand adjourned till 5. If no counting out of the House took place, the House might sume at 5 without being again counted; but it should be counted, and 40 members be present, if the

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adjournment had been made from want of 40 members being present in the early sitting-Sir Robert Peel disliked the principle of the interval between 3 and 5, because he thought there would be difficulty in getting the members together again at the latter hour, and that the arrangement, however it might suit members who resided near the House, would be most inconvenient to those who lived at a distance. At all events, if the House was to meet at 12, the chair should then be taken by the chairman of committees, for no physical constitution could stand the additional labour which would otherwise be thrown on the Speaker. Mr. Hume wished to have it made imperative on the Speaker to adjourn the House every night at 10 o'clock; Mr. O'Connell proposed it should meet at 10 in the morning, and sit till 8 or 9 at night; and Mr. Buckingham, that it should sit from 2 to 11-the first two hours being devoted to private business, and the second two to public petitions. Mr. Goulburn was afraid, that any regulation like that proposed would only aggravate the great evil attending the presentation of petitions--namely, the disposition of members to make long speeches. To obviate the danger of long speeches, Mr. Buckingham proposed that all members who intended to speak on any subject should enter their names in a book-that the Speaker should call upon them in their orderthat every speaker should be limited to one speech of 20 minutes, except the mover, who was to be indulged with two, of half an hour each-that no member should be allowed to speak more than ten minutes on

the presentation of petitions, or more than five minutes when speaking to order, or in explanation; while Mr. Cobbett declared, that the whole arrangement was a premeditated plan to abridge the right of petition, or to render it useless, by having the petitions presented to empty benches. The resolutions were agreed to, and the House met at 12 o'clock, for the first time, on the 27th of February. Even this, however, was found insufficient to meet the business created for the House; and, on the 4th of July, it was resolved to devote the early sitting to orders of the day, on three days in the week, leaving the other two for petitions.

At the general election, the southern division of the county of Durham had returned, as one of its representatives, Mr. Pease, a gentleman who belonged to the Society of Friends. When Mr. Pease appeared, on the 8th of February, to be sworn in, he declined, as being a Quaker, to take any oath, but offered to give his solemu Affirmation. The Speaker directed him to withdraw, informing him, that he could not be admitted to make his affirmation without the sanction of the House. On the motion of lord Althorp, a committee was appointed to report what proceedings were to be found on the journals, and what was the state of the law, in regard to Quakers being allowed to make an Affirmation instead of taking an oath. On the 14th, the report of this committee was taken into consideration, and its chairman, Mr. Wynn, moved, that Mr. Pease was entitled to take his seat on making his solemn Affirmation and declaration at the table in lieu of those oaths which were