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IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, March 26.
Causes cf the late Change in Administration.
Lord llowfck addressed the
Speaker nearly in the following terms:
Sir, as a motion has been made by
an hon. gentleman I'orthc adjournment
ofthe house during that period, which,
at this season ol the year, is usually al
lowed as a relief from the fatigues of
business, I trust it will not be consid
ered improper or irrelevant in me, to
take the opportunity of giving the
house that explanation which last night
I intimated, that it was my intention
to communicate. It is of the utmost
importance to myself and my col
leagues, that the circumstances which
led to the recent change in his majes
ty’s councils, should be fully and fair
ly explained. It is undoubtedly of
considerable importance to the house
and to the public, to receive that ex
planation, that they may be enabled to
form a proper estimate of the character
and disposition of those persons to
whom the administration of the coun
try has been lately entrusted; of the
transactions which led to the dismis
sal of those persons, and of the proba
ble result of the change. These con
siderations render important also the
decision ol’the present question, as to
the propriety of a longer or shorter ad
journment of the House, from the ne
cessity that may occur of bringing for
ward some measure which the late ex
traordinary .events may shew to be
expedient. For myself, sir, every feel
in:;-, every motive by which man can
be actuated, makes it of the highest
importance to me, that as soon as pos
sible 1 may have the opportunity ol
convincing the house, that my belia
vionr in this affair has not been
as to induce them to repent the kind
ness which l have ever had the good
fortune to receive at their hands. Eve
ry moment’s delay, while, during that
moment, a doubt may be entertained
by the house ol'the conduct of mysell
and my colleagues, who have hereto
fore enjoyed so many instances of their
(listingui died confidence and support,
is indeed to me most painful. But
anxious, sir, as I naturally am, to clear
myself and those with whom I have
had the honor to act, from the imputa
tions that have been cast upon us, 1
tael in common with the hon., gentle
man who so expressed himself yester
day evening (Air. Sturges Bourne)
great regret at the necessity which i
a.n under of doing so in the absence oi
taosc who, as some seem to think,
ought to be present, to watch my state
ments, and. detect my inaccuracies. In
r aying this, I am far from imputing to
tint hon. gentleman the intention ol
tin ■ wing out any unfair insinuations.
I know well the natural partiality every
o ie entertains for himself, and I know
that partiality may bias a man, and in
duce him to take a view, perhaps not
sti iat '.y correct, of a subject in which
he. is personally interested ; l am,
therefore, as anxious as the hon. gen
t mui can be, tint those persons
sh m.d be present at the investigation
tu the tran actions l have alluded to ;
and 1 earnestly hope that this matter
may yet be discussed on some future
ti e , wnen those honorable gentlemen
m.iv assist the house in examining and
sitting the details of it in every part,
from the commencement to the con
clusion. Sir, it is neither in my na
ilin', nor in my habits, to shrink from
the examination of mv life ; but l am
reduced to this alternative, either to
submit to have the public mind preju
diced by reports and misrepresenta
tions, supported by partial extracts
from confidential papers, or, in the ab
sence ol’ those, who cannot now be
present, to do that which justice to
myself, and to my colleagues, impe
riously calls upon me to do, by a fair,
open, and manly exposition of every
part of the late transactions, to afford
the only antidote against the mischiev
ous effects of those garbled statements
and wilful misrepresentations. Under
&uch circumstances, sir, it is impossi
ble, In the fulfilment of my duty to my
self, to my- colleagues, to the house,
and to niv country, to suffer such a pe
riod to elapse before I make this ex
planation, as must necessarily inter
vene, ere the persons to whom I have
alluded can resume their scats in par
liament. Their absence, however,
will have this effect; it will induce me
to coniine myself as closely as possible
to a dry statement of facts. I shall
carefully avoid e very thing that may
lead to a discussion, and dwell on those
points alone which are necessary for
t!e vindication of myself and my
b iends. I shall cautiously’ abstain from
entering into any argument founded
on the facts which I shall relate, leav
ing, until after the holidays, wnen-those
gentlemen will take their places on the
opposite benches, the further investi
gation c f this business.
Having promised this much, sir, I
shail proceed, with as much clearness
as I can, to make the statement that I
have promised. It is well known, sir,
that when the late administration was
formed, it contained in it, many mem
bers whose opinions and principles, on
v iiat is termed, the Catholic Question,
had been recently manifested by their
speeches and voleo in parliament. They
came into administration, therefore,
with a general knowledge of those
principles and opinions ; for certainly
no expectation could have been enter
tained that those persons whose char
acters were sufficiently known, would
be willing, for the sake of any consid
erations of emolument, to abandon
principles which they h and so lately end
so warmly espoused. No such requi
sition, sir, was in fact made to them;
in support of their honor, and I am
sure that they would have felt it strong
ly to be their duty then, as now, to de
cline office. While I assert, that the
sentiments of the greater part of the
members of the late administration on
this subject, were well known on their
coming into power, 1 do not pretend
to deny that the difficulties which ex
isted in tire way of any further conces
sion to-the Catholics of England and
Ireland were also well known. But
as tin y came into office unfettered, and
free to offer their advice on this impor
tant question, so also, I will answer for
evuy individual of them, they came
into office with*a sincere desire, while
they adhered to their principles, to a
void every subject that might prove
repugnant to those feelings, which they
were bound, by evi ry motive of duty,
of affection, and of attachment, to res
pect. (Hear! hear! hear!) —This,
sir, was the state ol'the case; their o
pinionsoathe Catholic question were
Will known; but they hoped, by a con
ciliatory mode of government, to keep
that question at rest. For a long tune
no difficulty occurred; at length, to
wards the end of last year, some cir
cumstances took place in the west oi
Ireland'—the most valuable, and 1 very
much fear that 1 must add, the most
vulnerable part of the empire—which
called upon his majesty’s ministers for
attention, and which strongly excited
the anxiety that such circumstances
must naturally excite. Unwilling to
use that force, which, but two days
after the meeting of this parliament,
was strongly recommended by a person
in this house, who was too impatient
to wait for the operation of more leni
ent measures, his majesty’s ministers
hoped, and that hope was gratified, to
reduce the spirit of disturbance, that
had been manifested by a vigorous
exertion of the power of the laws alone,
without resorting to any intemperate
proceedings. This occurrence, how
ever, naturally led to the consideration
of some measure, which might at once
give satisfaction to the people of Ire
land, and strengthen the means and
policy ol'the empire. Various were
the propositions that were agitated in
the cabinet, but the one which was
deemed to be the most obviously ad
vantageous, was that, sir, which 1 had
the honor to recommend to tiie adop
tion of this house. It appeared to us
calculated to be highly beneficial to the
empire at large, by affording the means
of recruiting, to the greatest possible
extent, the army and navy, from which
so many persons are now excluded by
what we conceive to be a weak and ill
understood policy. It appeared to us
calculated to be highly beneficial to
Ireland, for the reasons which I have
before stated in this house, as tending
to tranquilizc that country, by holding
out to the gentry, the prospect of rising
in the military and naval services, and
thus attaching them to this country,
and also by affording a vent to the per
haps superabundant population of Ire
land, and thus drawing from the very
sources of discontent, the means of
strength and union. These, sir, were
the motives by which we were ‘actuated.
It is surely not necessary to repeat,
and yet the base arts which are prac
tised with so much industry, may
make it useful to repeat, that in this
measure our object was not to invade,
but to secure the establishments'of the
empire. If Ireland were rendered in
secure, the establishments of England
would be exposed to greater danger
than any which could possibly result
from such a boon to the Catholics. If,
under such circumstances, a success
ful invasion of Ireland by the enemy
were to take place, I call upon those
who accuse, us of endangering tire es
tablishments of this country, in God’s
name, to consider to what hazard those
establishments would then be subject.
: Sir, while this measure was under the
; consideration of his majesty’s minis
ters, letters were received from the
! lord lieutenant of Ireland, in which his
! grace stated, that a disposition had a
risen among the Catholics, to prose
cu'e the claims that they had so imsuc
| cessfully urged in the imperial parlia
j nient. Sir, I was the known suopor
| ter of those claims, but I could nota
void considering the prosecution of
them at that moment as most impolitic.
As far as my private opinion went, I
did strongly recommend the discon
tmirance of any such attempt. The par
tial measure then under contemplation
appeared admirably suited to induce
that discontinuance, and that discon
tinuance was effected.
Such, sir, were our inducements;
the general inducements of policy and
principle. But wc had also another
inducement; we did hope that this
limited measure would not encounter
the opposition to which we well knew
the general question was exposed. In
reverting to the act of the Irish Parlia
ment of 1793, we found that a pledge
had been given by the highest servants
of the crown, that a similar measure
should be brought forward in this
country. Tins pledge was recorded
in the Secretary of State’s Office, by a
dispatch from lord Hobart, in which
lie distinctly stated the fact. Thus,
becoming a question not of policy a
loue, but also of good faith, we did
hope that tiie limited measure might
receive that assent and approbation, of
which, on the more general question,
we therefore sedulously avoided. On
these grounds, the measure that I had
the honor of introducing into the
house, was submitted to his majesty.
A detailed dispatch, which I wish it
was in my power to lay on the table,
was written to the lord lieutenant of
Ireland, stating explicitly the motives
for tlus measure, and this detailed dis
patch was sent to his majesty, accom
panied by a cabinet minister. From
that first proposition, his majesty cer
tainly expressed a strong dissent: on
that dissent being made known to
them, the cabinet deliberated, and the
result was a respectful representation
to his majesty of the grounds on which
they thought the measure expedient.
To those representations were return
ed an answer, in which his majesty,
with considerable reluctance unques
tionably, signified his assent—certain
ly with reluctance, but a positive as
sent. Under the sanction of this as
sent, the dispatch was sent to the lord
lieutenant. At a meeting of the Ca
tholics in Ireland, Mr. Elliot, the se
cretary of state, informed them of the t
separate measure which it was inten
ded to propose. Some discussions en
sued; and to a question from Mr.
O’Connor, whether every ran ft in the
army was to be opened to the Catho
lics, or whether they were still to be
precluded from the staff’, Mr. Llliot'S
answer was, that as the words of the
dispatch implied that the Catholics
would be allowed to hold any commis
sion in the army, cn taking an oatfr of
allegiance, he conceived that the stars
was included. A dispatch, containing
an account of this conference, was sent
to his majesty’s government at home;
and saon alter a second dispatch,, in
which it was stated, that the subject had
been conferred to tlx consideration of
a general meeting of Catholics, by
whom, notwithstanding the doubts
that had been incidentally thrown cut,
it was understood that every military
situation was to be rendered accessible
:o them. These dispatch.es, sir, c4>n
aining these explicit statements, were
lent to his majesty at Windsor, and
received his most gracious perusal,
but no objection whatever was them
made by his majesty to the measure
which they related. However, subse
quently to this period, there certainly
did arise a doubt, whether the mea
sure was distinctly understood in its
fullest extent. It is only fair to say,
tiuit this doubt originated wit 1C some
members of the cabinet. On its be
ing started, I, and others of those with
wlicm I had the honor to act, were
most anxious that it should be com
pletely removed, before the introduc
tion of the measure into parliament. •
(To be continued.)
TIIE ARTS.
The printing bufinefsin the United States labor*
under no difficulty or ohflrudion so great as that
which arises from the scarcity of rags; of course the
scarcity and high price of paper, w hich has not only
retarded, but prevented many ufefu! publications— Au-
K.ORA.
ft is very certain that as many ran* are now wafted
in the United States, through the indifference and inat.
tention of house keepers, as would supply many hun
dred thousand reams of paper...why do not heads of
families, if they do not set any value on the price of
rags, at least set fome value on the advantages which
the country would derive front so laudable a spirit af
economy?...if they think nothing of the proceed) oft wa
er three or a dozen pounds of rags, there are ttfefdl
public inllittttions which will not rejeifl them as dona
tions.—ibid.
The number of carding machines, erected in fhi*
(late within two years, is really surprising; and the
quantity of wool carded, spun, dyed, and woven into
coatings, exceeds every calculation that has been made
for years part.—ibid.
Machinery for carding and spinning cotton is row
eftabldhed in Kentucky, on a very liberal feale. Ar
rangements ara making to introduce cotton fpinn-ng
machinery in Tennefiee.—ibid.
Domestic MANorscrusrs—The manufacture of
Tortoiseshell and Horn Combs, in Philadelphia, has
arrived at a stage of utility, elegance and qua ity,
which may be jullly said to be eftabifhed. The prices
are so moderate, as to destroy the danger of injury from
importation—-ibid.
Alexandria, May 11.
Shearing of Jour Lambs of the Arlington Tm .
proved, or American Long IVoolled breed of
Sheep.
Agreeably to our promise to our readers, we have
obtained an accurate account of the (hearing according
to the w eight of carcase ; from which may be foimed
a comparative view of the value of the fleece.
Mr. Vint and Mr. Young, from the city, both of
whom were in a habit of breeding sheep in England,
and from long experience best calculated to judge in
the present instance, attended on Saturday at Arling
ton, and Iheared the four lambs above mentioned-, whole
fleece and weight were as follow :
1. A ewe of one year old, carcase eflrmated at ftven
pounds per quarter. Fleece seven pounds. Length of
woof, nine inches.
2. A lam lamb of one year old ; C3rcafe ten pounds
per quarter. Fluece, seven and a half pounds. Length,
nine inches.
3. A ram lamb of one year old ; carcase, eleven
pounds per quarter. Fleece, seven pounds and a quar
ter. Length, nine inches.
4. A ewe lamb of one year old ; carcase, tight pounds
per quarter. Fleece, five pounds and three quarters
Length, eight inches.
The lambs were all bred from Bakeweil, the prise
ram of 1306, and eroded upon the lad improvements
Addison says, that a dog has been the companion of
man for 6000 years, and has learned of hi ui only one
of his vices...that is, to worry his fpeties when he
finds them in diflrefs. Tie a sauce-pan to a dog's tail
and another will fail on him...put a man in prilon for
debt, and another will lodge a attainder ag unil him.