&bairn an 15nm/dugs in Varliamtut.

PRINDIPAL BUSINESS OF TME WEER.

Hausa OF Loans. Monday, Dec. 27. The Ministry ; Lord Aberdeen's Statement

—House adjourned till the 10th February.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. Monday, Dee. 27. New Writs.

Tuesday, Dec. 28. No business of importance. Wednesday. Dec. 29. New Writs. Thursday, Dec, 30. No sitting. Friday. Dee. 31. New Writs—House adjourned till the 10th Febniary.

TIME-TABLE.

Monday

The Lords.

Hoar of Meeting.

Sh

Hour of Adjournment.

6h 30m

Monday Tuesday

Wednesday

Friday

The Coma:ens.

Hour of Hour of Meeting. Adjournment. 2h 2h Ibm

2h 2h lint

Noon .... 12h 30M

21, .... 21115m

Sittings this Week, 1; Tine. 1k 30m SIttingsthis Week, 41 Time. lb tbrn — this Session, 2b; — 285 95m — this Session, 33; — 1591130m

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT.

At the sitting of the Rouse of Lords on Monday, there was a moderate attendance of Peers, and a very large assemblage of Commons below the bar and of strangers in other places to hear the opening statement of the' neW Premier. Lord Derby and his friends had removed to the Opposition benches ; Lord Aberdeen, Lord Lansdowne, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Clarendon, and others, to the Treasury-bench; Lord Devon, Lord Har- rowby, Lord Fitewilliam, and Lord Monteagle, sat on the cross-benches ; the Bishops of London and Oxford Were the only occupants of the Epis- copal bench. Soon after five o'clock, the Earl of ABERDEEN rose mud having laid some papers on the table of the House, proceeded to address their Lord- ships nearly as follows. " In rising to move the adjournment of the House, it is my duty, as it is /fly desire, to give your Lordships the requisite information respecting the reeei3t construction of her Majesty's Government, and to indicate, though Very briefly, the principles atid general policy Anson which we propose to act. I believe it has been the usual course for men placed in the situation in which I have now the honour to stand to profess the diffidence and reluct- ance with which they have undertaken the task imposed upon them. T doubt not they hare detai so With perfect truth and sincerity ; but if that has been the ease with others, your Lordships may easily imagine how much more largely I participate in these feelings. Yon Lordships must be aware that I have taken little part in the proceedings of this House, except upon such occasions as were necessarily connected with the departments which I have had the honour to hold ; and you may readily conceive that those were the proceedings in Which, from my tastes and habits, I was best qualified to share. Arrived, too, at the very verge of that petiod Which has been assigned to human life it may well be supposed that other thoughts and other interests Might rims% properly attract My attention. Nevertheless, I felt it to be my duty to obey the commands of her Majesty.

"Before describing the proceedings which have recently 'taken place, I I wish to advert to a circumstance which I understand occurred a few days back, when the noble Earl opposite, at a time and Upon an occasion not al- together usual, accused me and those who acted with me of having entered into a species of combination or conspiracy to overthrow his Government. I believe the accusation was answered at the time by the noble Duke near me [the Duke of Newcastle] : however, I wish to add, that my share in such a conspiracy was not for the purpose a ejecting the noble Earl from office, but for the purpose of keeping him in offiee. When it appeared, from the am- biguous and uncertain nature of an important paragraph in her Majesty's Speech, that it was indispensably necessary that some resolution should be moved, or some declaration made of the advantages of Free-trade, my only anxiety was that the terms of diet resolution should be such as the noble Lads opposite and their Colleagues Might adopt consistently with their own declarations, and without doing violence to their own feelings. Those terms were framed and adopted ; and, singularly enough, they had the effect intended by those who prepared them—namely, that of ena- bling the noble Lords to continue to hold the offices which they then held ; and by the assistance and the votes of the Very conspirators themselves they were so enabled to continue to hold those offites. If any further evidence were required of the nature of that conspiracy, I have to state, that precisely at that time, I had myself taken measures to engage a residence at Nice, with the firm determination of passing a few winter months upon the shores of the Mediterranean. So much for the conspiracy. "My Lords, on Saturday week, after the division upon the Budget, and the resignation of the noble Earl and his colleagues I received a message from the Queen, desiring my attendance at the Isle oiWight, and informing me at the same time that her Majesty had been pleased to summon my noble friend the noble Marquis near me [the Marquis of Lansdowne] to attend at the same time and place. Upon communication with the noble Marquis, I found that, in consequence of indispositiont he was unable at that time to leave the house. I therefore thought it incumbent upon me to wait her !Majesty's further commands. I received them upon the following day : and, soy Lords, I confess it appeared to me that the time had arrived when it was possible for men whose political differences the course of events and recent legislation had almost altogether removed, and whose personal respect and friendship had never been interrupted—I say I thought that the time had arrived when it was possible for those persons to act together in concert. I thought that probably the time had come when this country was tired of distinctions without differences, and which had no real effect upon the prin- dples of the polioy to be carried out. It apneared to me that if my noble friend the Member for the city of London should entertain the same views and the same opinions, I might attempt to undertake the task which had been imposed upon me. Without that I should have been unable to do so ; for I have neither the requisite strength, influence, nor ability for the pur- pose. But the day before I went to the Isle of Wight, I ascertained that his sentiments were entirely in conformity, with my own ; and I therefore had no difficulty in assuring her Majesty that I would endeavour to comply

with the command which she was pleased to lay upon ute. •

"My Lords, upon my return I lost no time in eudeavouring to fulfil the injunctions of her Majesty ; and I do not say that that was attended with no difficulty; but this I will say, that I found in every quarter the greatest rlesire to lay aside all personal feeling, and cordially to unite as far as possible in the promotion of that policy which we believe to be essential to the welfare of the country. In the course of the week I succeeded in pre- paring a list for her Majesty's inspection which was fortunate enough to receive the approbation of the Queen. Theiieble Earl stated, I believe, that he thought I might have done that in twenty-four hours. I can assure him that we found the period for which we did ask limited enough. "I shall now proceed very briefly to touch on the different objects we have in view, and the policy we propose to adopt. I need not detain your Lordships on the nature of our relations with foreign powers. The truth is' that for the last thirty years the principles of the foreign policy of this country have never varied. There may have been differences in execution, according to the different hands intrusted with the direction of that policy ; but the foundation of the foreign policy of this country for the last thirty years has been the same. It has been, to respect all independent states ; to abstain as much as possible from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries; an assertion of our honourrindinterest; and, above all, an earnest desire to secure the general peace of Europe by all such means as we have in our power. I will not say we may not have our sympathies excited on be- half of certain states and their endeavours to promote constitutional govern- meat; but the principle of our policy has always been to respect the inde- pendence, the entire independence of other states, and not to-interfere with their internal concerns. This, I trust, will be still the case; and that we shall retain the friendship and deserve the good-will of foreign powers of all descriptions whatever may be the nature of their government or constitu- tion. And if ever it should be the fate of this country to be called on to interfere, my earnest hope is, that it may be only to exercise the blessed office of peacemakers.

"But, my Lords, earnestly as I desire to see the continuance of peace, and anxiously as I wish to promote it, at the same time I am by no means dis- posed to relax in those defensive preparations which have been undertaken recently, and which perhaps have been too long neglected. Not that these indicate any expectation of hostile proceedings from others,—on the con- trary, they are adopted in the interest of peace itself; and as those prepara- tions are essentially defensive, they ought not to give umbrage to any power whatsoever.

"But, my Lords, the great object of her Majestie present Ministers, the great characteristic of this Government, and the mission with which we are peculiarly intrusted, is the maintenance and the prudent extension of free trade, and the commercial and financial system established by the late Sir Robert PeeL I am not going to enter into a discussion of the respective merits of direct or indirect taxation; it is obvious that in a revenue such as ours the union of both is indispensable; and it is to the application of that principle that we look for the prosperity of the country. J.n our financial system, a difficalty—a crisis, I worild almost say—will necessarily arise, by the early cessation of a very large branch of the revenue. That must necessarily be supplied ; and doubtless it will tax the ingenuity of all those who are con- cerned in this undertaking to , accomplish that great work according to the principles of justice and equity.

"Another matter to which I may refer, in which the country is deeply interested, and upon which a general expectation exists, is the extensiou of national education —a want which the country strongly desires to see sup- plied, and which lifts engaged the attention of all who have undertaken the direction of public affairs. I am old enough to remember the introduction into this country of the Bell and Lancaster system of education, and I well remember the apprehensions it excited and the opposition it encountered; but by degrees these have ceased, and the only difference among us now ia, not whether education should be general or universal, but the mode in which the end can best be effected. I admit that the subject is full of diffi- culty, and attended with very grave considerations. It is undoubtedly my great desire, recognizing as I do the vital importance of the religious ele- ment in all education, to see the due influence of the Church exercised in matters of this kind, consistently with that perfect right and freedom which all men are entitled to expect in such matters In this country, and which it has long been oar pride to acknowledge.

"Another want, and which I may say the people have now demanded, has been the progress of those law reforms which were introduced by a late Government, and which were taken up by the noble and learned Lord, now on the woolsack [Lord St. Leonards], and prosecuted with so much vigour, ability, and success in his hands. This course must still bo pursued ; and it is no doubt one that will meet with the concurrence of your Lordships, and finally will give that satisfaction to the public which they have a right 'n, receive. It is an object which we have all had in view, but which until 'En-15'4111e we have not been able to accomplish. "my Lards, whether by the extension of education, or by the progress of law reform, I trust the social condition of this country will be materially improved. By a cautious and steady. progress in these directions, we hope that both the intellectual and matenal condition of the people will be im- proved. This will not exclude amendments of our representative system, not rashly or hastily undertaken, but by safe, well-considered measures. It can, I think, hardly be denied by any man that some amendment of this description is necessary; and unquestionably the events of the last election have not been such as to render any man more enamoured of the present system.

"The noble Earl referred, as I understand,to the existence of a Conserva- tive Government, and expressed some surprise and curiosity to learn how I should be able to carry on the service of the Crown surrounded by those per- sons with whom I was likely to be associated. Now, my Lords, I declare to the Earl, that in my opinion no Government in this country is now possible except a Conservative Government ; and to that I add another declaration, which I take to be as indubitably true, that no Government in this country is now possible except a Liberal Government. The truth is, that those terms have no definite meaning. I never should have thought of approaching my noble friend the Member for the city of London unless I had thought he was Conservative, and I am sure he never would have associated himself

with me unless he had thought that I was Liberal. These terms it may be con- venient to keep up for the sake of party elections, but the country is sick of these distinctions, which have no real meaning, and prevent men from act- ing together who are able to perform good service to the Crown and the country. I trust, therefore, that in the just acceptation of the word, what- ever the measures proposed by the present Government may be, they will be Conservative measures as well as Liberal; for I consider both to be essen- tially necessary. "'The noble Earl also referred to the necessity of resisting the encroach- ment of Democracy. I am quite ready to unite with him in resisting the encroachment of Democracy, or any encroachment of an illegal character ; but I am at a loss to see where this Democracy exists. I look in vain for any such indications at the present moment. I should say, on the contrary, I never saw this country more tranquil, more contented, lees abounding in subjects of danger and alarm than at the present moment; and this prosperity, contentment, and happiness, I believe to be mainly owing to the system the late Sir Robert Peel established, and which it is our business to uphold and to extend. No doubt, speculative men have at all times in this country, in their closets, come to the conclusion that a democratic form of government may be preferable to a monarchical ; but these are not men who subvert states, and are therefore not dangerous. In a state of society like ours, that there must always be men reckless, violent, and unprincipled, ready for any excess and outrage, is but too true ; but there is less reason to entertain such apprehensions at the present moment than I recollect in the course of my life. I have great confidence in the people of this country ; and I do believe the imputation of the existence of any cause for alarm at this moment is almost a libel on the people. " My Lords, I regret to have been informed that the noble Earl spoke in a tone which indicated hostility to the Government. I regret it deeply, be- cause I well know the vast powers of the noble Earl ; I am well aware of all that he is able to do. But I believe that we have a good cause ; and I trust, if it can only be made manifest that we are sincerely animated by a real desire to promote the welfare of the great body of the people, we shall have the support of the country, as I am sure we shall have the approbation of your Lordships. "I beg to move that this House do adjourn until Thursday the 10th of February."

Lord DERBY concurred in so much of what had just been stated, that had not a personal reference been made to himself, he would not have addressed the House.

Professing neither personal nor political hostility to Lord Aberdeen, he in- timated that if Lord Aberdeen still held those CoUservative principles com- mon to both, he would receive the cordial support of Lord Derby's friends.

In order to sustain the charge he brought last week against the late Oppo- sition, of combination to expel his Government, he restated his speech of Monday week, with fuller details. With the narrative Lord Derby inter- wove an elaborate attack on Sir James Graham, especially with reference to his Carlisle speeches ; describing him as one who "in his early youth repre- sented the Radical constituency of Carlisle—who has represented various places and various constituencies in the interim—has returned again to his former

constituents at Car" confessed his little infidelities, deviating at one time into Whiggism, at another time into Conservatism; but who has con- fessed that he has now found the error of his ways, and that he has returned again to the faithful bosom of his old constituents and to those loved Radical

principles to which he at first professed his attachment." Lord i Derby fur- ther described Sir Tames—" between whom and myself the difference s not without a very broad distinction "—as exhibiting extraordinary activity and energy in concerting the opposition ; and he inferred from the obvious con- cert of parties' comprising Sir James Graham, Lord John Russell, Mr. Vil- liers, and Mr. Bright, a desire on their part to eject the Government. But he would not identify Lord Aberdeen with the political views expressed by Sir James Graham at Carlisle ; and after what had been stated that night, he was bound to believe that it was not the wish of "several gentlemen who took part- in the combination," nor of Lord Aberdeen, that the Government should have been compelled to resign. Finding little fault with Lord Aberdeen's programme, he protested against the assertion that there were only some immaterial points of difference be- tween him and his colleagues. Either Lord Aberdeen is now greatly mis- taken, or he must have been greatly mistaken in his former conduct. Con- cession of personal views is no doubt necessary ; but it would seem that con- cession has been carried to a considerable length. Lord Derby was aston- ished at hearing Lord Aberdeen say that our foreign policy has been sub- stantially the same for the last thirty years ; especially as he had formerly condemned, not an incidental case, but the system of a preceding Government. In the extension of education—" by which I mean a sound religious educa- tion "—and in law reform, he promised his support. Lord Derby's next reference was to political reform. "The noble Earl tells us that he also intends to deal with the law affecting the representation of the people : and upon this subject the noble Earl spoke with a prudence almost oracular; for he means to be Conservative or else he could not ob- tain the support of his friends the Conservatives, and at the same time he means to be Liberal or else he could not obtain the support of the noble Lord the Member for London. The noble Earl intends upon the subject of the representation of the people, as upon other subjects, to be Conservative- Liberal and Liberal-Conservative ; and that is all the information we are to have as to his future policy. I confess that this declaration does not convey to my mind any distinct opinion. It seems as if the noble Earl had reserved to himself the power to say to men who might think his measure of reform went too far, Did loot tell you that I meant to be Liberal ?' while to others who might think that the measure effected no improvement en the present system, that it was in fact a distinction without a difference,' he might have the power of saying, 'Oh I told you from the very outset, tha I meant to act on principles of strict Conservatism.' So that they would be equally prepared with their answer whether they went the whole length of the right honourable Baronet the Member for Carlisle, and inclined to adopt the ballot, or whether they proposed some petty alteration, for which they would get no thanks, and for which it would not be worth while to disturb the existing constitution. My Lords, the representa-

tion of the country is not perfect—it is capable of amendment and improve- tnent; but with regard to its reform, everything depends upon the animus with which that reform may be introduced ; and I say that the noble Earl will not act wisely in venturing upon any measure which is calculated to raise apprehensions respecting the stability of our institutions, unless he sees that a great, clear, and manifest advantage is to be derived from it. "The noble Earl also alluded to the language whichI have used at various times, and which I repeat now, with regard to my apprehensions from the extension of the democratic principle. The noble Earl says that he never knew the country more content—that he never kne% the tune when the masses were more reasonable or lees disposed to listen to the declamation of agitators. He sees nothing like the prevalence of Democracy ; and though there may be individuals here and there who hold extreme maidens, yet he does not believe that the great body of the people sympathize with them. My Lords, I concur with the noble Earl. I think that the great body of the people are loyal and devoted to the institutions of the country; and that if they foresaw the consequences of many of the measures which they demanl