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BRITISH MINISTRY. [ln the Times ol Monday andTues d i\, ( -ic our paper of ‘I utsdity and Thursday, last week) we published tlie speech ol Lord iiowick, in the British house of commons, d< tailing the caus es u hich led to the change of ministry. As there was no member ol the new administration present, there was no counter statenu nt given in that house. lii the house of lords, the same even ing, lord Grenville gaie a similar nar rative to that of lord liowick, together with a brief discussion ol the merits ol the subjec t. Lord Sidmeuth followed with further explanations. Lord Hawkcsbury, now secretary of state, then rose, and in the follow ing Speech corrected the statements of lord Gren ville and lord Sidmonth.] Lord Hawkesbub y was fully sen sible of the delicacy of the que.V.ion be fore tin hom e ; he felt the delicacy of the discussion when a question was at issue between a subject and his sove reign. It was not tor him to decide wild her or not this discussion could have been avoided. Much had been said by the noble baron and the noble viscount, of the publications that lad taken place on this subject. Os these he knew nothing, and lilt: s much ri - gret as any person, that such state ments should have found their way to the public. Bui he must observe, that previous to his having any knowledge of the transaction, there had been ma ny rumours in circulation, directly contrary to the fact, and proved to be so by the stamp of the noble baronet himself, which had proceeded, no doubt, from individuals not connected with his majesty’s government. Un der these ‘circumstances, he had tho’t it his duty to request the permission of his sovereign, after notice of the noble baron’s intention had been given, to communicate the whole circumstan ces of the case to his friends, in order, that if tlii:. <Udcu*shm should m fortu nately coiue on, they might be pre pared to meet it, and to state, on the part of his majesty, w hat were those principles, boih with regard to the honor of the crown ancl the interests of die empire, that had inducid him to adopt the course w hich lie had taken. The catholic subject was not anew one. It had often been under consideration, and had about two \ ours since, after the most ample discussion in both houses of parliament, been decided upon by the largest majorities ever known, considering the character and t dents of the persons w ho had brought it forward. The noble baron had stal ed what would be the effect of the measure, both as to its immediate re sult, and with reference to its fuuire consequences ; but he should beg leave to state wMiat had been the feel ings of that illustrious person (Mr. Pitt) w.iose virtues, character, and unrival ed abilities, were universally admired, beloved, and revered, but who unfor tunately was then no more, upon this subject. When that distinguished person had come last into office, tho’ lie had before withdrawn from his public situation in consequence of this measure, yet knowing the honest, con scientious principles that prevailed against it—prim iples which ought to be upheld in any quarter, but still more in that exalted quarter in which they existed, he hail not in consequence of any pledge demanded of him, but vo luntarily engaged not to bring forward the question. He stated this as a fact known to himself, and not as a re proach to the noble baron; he stated merely what had been the opinion and feeling upon this subject of so high an authority, for which the noble baron must entertain as high a respect as him self. lie had less difficulty in stating this, because he had always differed from his right hon. friend upon this question, which he had always esti mated on its merits. He agreed cn tirelv with the noble viscount, that if the policy pursued should not be stea dv on this head, they would continu ally be fomenting troubles and discon tents. Whilst he was ready to admit that no ordinary law should be un changeable, there were fundi men tal laws which ought not to be altered, except upon the most pressing neces sity. The right of petition, the trial by jury, and the independence of the judges, were fundamental principles of the constitution, and a protestant government and establishments were equally so. The same changes that might be wise with respe ct to othei laws, w ere not to be applied to funda mental laws. They might alter the constitution of the army, the'establish ment of the navy, the regulations ol the revenue, or, as they were at that time in the course of doing, the ad ministration ot justice ; but it any such change were to be carried into effect with respect to the national establish ment, it would overthrow the consti tution. This doctrine might he term eel bigotry ; but he would prefer to any ne w lights, the bigotry of 1658, which had effected the revolution, and established the liberties of this country oil the most solid foundation. Before he should comment upon what had been stated by the noble baron, he begged to say a few words upon the subject of the particular measures that have led to the present circumstances. He could not conceive any piactical good that would result from it. lie had differed with the noble lords op posite on the Catholic claims, and on that subject’ lie could understand their arguments, but it was otherwise with respect to this measure. Had they any reason to think that this mea sure w ould have satisfied the Catholics, or, that having obtained this, they would not equally desire any’ thing else ? This measure was to give them the sword, but to re fuse them every thing beside; and yet he led never conversed with ar.y person upon the subject, who would not rather grant to the Catholics what his majesty’s ministe rs by this measure refused them and refuse w hat they granted. He was adverse to the measure, because it would grant what was dangerous to give, and was not calculated to give satisfaction or to produce content. He came next to consider the misun derstanding that had taken place upon the subject. In observing upon this part of the statements of the noble baron, and in supplying some particu lars which had bee n omitted by him, he eliel not feel any inclination to de tract from the credit due to the noble baron’s statement, or to give a partial colour to the case. If he should be guilty of any inaccuracy, the noble baron would, lie trusted, correct him ; and in the observations which he pro posed to make, he was actuated by a desire of promoting the honor of the crown, the dignity of the king, and, with re ference to the mselve s, of dis charging a most scrupulous duty. The noble baron had accurately sta ted, that the measure had originated in the dispatch from the Irish govern ment. This dispatch had bee n laid before his majesty, and upon an atten tive perusal of the contents of that dis patch, he was of the opinion of his no ble friend, that all that was desired in the dispatch was the extension of the provisions of the Irish act generally. This was the impression upon his mind on reading the dispatch, anel the same impression seems to have been felt In- Mr. Elliott, who, when asked by the Catholic deputies, whether the mea sure was to remove the limitations of the Irish act, declined an explicit an swer, till he should refer the question to the British government. His ma jesty had, in the first instance, unequi vocally anel strongly- declared his dis approbation of the measure. In con sequence of this disapprobation, a long cabinet minute had been laid before his majestv, detailing, in an able manner, the reasons for the adoption of the measure, with a view to induce him to retract his objection, and to consent to a measure of a limited nature. It was impossible, therefore, that either the noble viscount, or the noble anel learn ed lord, could have supposed that the measuii- was to go farther than to make tlie provisions of the Irish act generali A doubt might indeed have been fejt, and he had entertained that feeling,j whether the measure was on ly to .include Irish Catholics, or the Catholh s,cf the empire. But upon a more aljLci.tive perusal of the minute, he was convinc< and that it had been pro posed :o extend the pioe isiors c. the measur e to the- Catholics of the em pire. lie stated this to prove, that by eve ry i rgument w hich had been used to obtain lus majesty’s consent to the measure, it was clear the bill proposed was oi J' : to e xtend the pro\ isions of the Irish biff. llis majesty was assured, that it i tas only the same measure to w hich e 1 ad consented in 1793, and that tL*. present measure was only in ter.dedUo carry into effect that act ac cording to the principle upon w hich it had been enacted. That prine ipic had been to give the Catholics the privi lege of holding certain commissions in the army-, at the same time reserving others; and if the principle of the act of 1793, w ere to have been the princi ple of the proposed measure, lie eon teneled that the rise rvations formed as much a part of that principle, as the admission to certain commissions. This opinion lie felt mote strongly, from the manner in which the mea sure had been brought forward, so dif ferent from that which had been first ! proposed. It had been at first intend -1 ed to carry the principle into effect, by the introduction of clauses for that j! purpose ; but when it was determined [on to carry the measure farther than ii was at first proposed, it was found that jj a clause in the mutiny” bill could not l make that law general, which had been | before limited, and therefore a sepe rate bill had be en thought necessary. The result of ali he had stated w as, that no prohibit ion could be clearer than that the lirst object was only” to make the i Irish act of 1793 the general law of the empire. How the misapprehension arose upon the subject it was not for him to decide, and certainly he would be the last mania such a case to assert or suspect that the misapprehension was w ilful on either siele. He had, however, authority to state, that on the 3el of March a communication had been made to his majesty on the sub ject, and on the 4fh, loiel liowick had an audience of his majesty-, at the queen’s.palace. At this inten iew, his majesty had stated his objections to the measure, but he was ready- to ad mit that the noble lord had felt convin ced in his own mind, that nothing-had fallen from the august personage dur ing his auelience of him, that preclu ded him from opening the measures as he had done to parliament. W hen, however, the misapprehension that haei taken place, hail been more explicitly staled, tlie noble baron, and the noble viscount, and the other members of the cabinet, had considered the sub ject in a long consultation, to ascertain vvnether the biff could be modified, so as to answer the purpose for w hich it hitd been intended, the result of which was, that they thought it better to drop the bill altogether, w ith some reserva tions, of which he proposed to take some notice before he should sit down. In withdrawing the bill, it appeared that they had made two reserves ; lirst, that they should be at liberty to de | clnre their opinions on the general po lh y of the measure, as well on the w ithdrawing the bill, as on the event of the Catholic pctitioji being presented. The second reserve was, that as a go vernment, they should be at liberty to bring the subject from time to time, under his majesty’s consideration, bv recommending such measures as thev might deem proper to be adopted. W here any indivielu.il consents to give up any measure, lie had, no doubt, a right to propose conditions ; but in this case there were two parties, and though the ministers hael a right to propose conditions, the situation of his majesty was not to be forgotten. He should not say that thev had not con sc tenuously proposed these reserves, but he asked their lordships to consid er what would have been die situation oi the king, if he had acceded to ti.e proposition. W hat would have been the effect of such an assent, but to di vide the ur.ityof the executive ? Would it not be to destroy the constitution, one of the w ise maxims of w hich was, that the king could do no wrong, there by casting a veil over his sacred cha racter? Would it not have*the effect of casting the w hole odium on his ma jesty, of resisting the measure, and of gi\ irig the whole popularity to his min isters ? Was his majesty to wait until the time should arrive, when his min isters micht think it convenient to ej bring the quetion again forward, with more prospect of effect? He was not aware of any other alternative Ins ma jesty hi el, when they hull refused to withdraw their statement, or to make any promise respecting the future, but that w hich lie had adopted. The no ble baron’s opinion had certainly been known to his majesty- on this subject, but his majesty could r.ot forward, it or w hether his opinions upon it might not have derived additional strength from the decision upon the question, hjk the greatest majorities that had ever been known upon any public question. But when they” had given up their half measure, it was rather extraordinary that they should reserve the pow er of bringing forward the whole question. All that he had authority to state on the part of his majesty” w r us, that the measure w hich had been brought in w-us widely different from that w hich had been sanctioned by his majesty, as first proposed. He could distinctly state with reference to this subject, that until he hud been called upon, in conjunction w ith his noble and learn ed friend,.(lord Eldon) by his majestv, lie was ignoiant of this ti nsaction. But having been so called upon by his sovereign, he should have Ju unk from his duty, if he had not yielded obe dience to his commands. He wasfui ly aware of the weight that was to be derived from the support of all the great interests that had given their countenance to the late administration ; he was sensible of the splendid talents of the noble baron, and of the great energies that we re necessary for the government in the present crisis, but he should have sin unk from his duty", if he had not been ready at the call of his majesty to come forward on a question which he thought necessary” for upholding the dignity of the crown, for maintaining the interests of the country, and for maintaining; the pub lic establishments, which he looked upon as intimately connected w ith the prosperity- of the empire. The emperor of Russia has suppress’d the imperial seminary for the reception of \ oi:ig ladies, founded by the empress Kliz. be'h, on the same model as the convent of St. Scyr in Trance In the preamble of his edict, he de ck: es, that the tunds may be used to greater advantage, if applied to the education of those youths whd are intended to serve their coun try —and that the education of a femalcvbeing limited to domesiic management, she will learn it sooner in her father’s house, than in a sump tuous establishment, where it is vainly attempt ed to teach the sciences, the knowledge of which nature foibids them. Amidst the details of battle we are informed of the future destiny of the Louvre. The em peror has declared to consecrate it entirely to the set vice of literature. The French say that in a tower of this edifice, Charles V. establish ed the first library in France, if not in all Eu rope. That upon the death of Charles ft con tained about 900 volumes, which Henry VI. of England violated. That Henry IV. again ap propriated it for valuable collections in the arts, But. say the French, other times, other cases. It is now to be the imperial library, which al ready contains 300,000 printed volumes, 70,C00 mat uscripts, 20.000 engravings, 40,000 bronze medals, and 30,000 medals in gold. Napole on has assigned this library lor the Louvre, which first received its gtfts from Charles V. the wise and eloquent, five hundred years from the present time. Tilled with the, great de signs of Henry IV. he wishes to collect as he did, under his own eyes, and within the enclo sures of his own palace, all tlie ‘monuments of the sciences and of the arts obtained bv his arms perfected and arranged under his govern ment. The Museum of painting will still occupy the great gallery, and anew structure will be added to the palace for the statues. The other collections will be accommodated so that the immense treasures of the Louvre, secur ed by guards, might never be endangered in tlie night by being in the palaces inhabited by men.