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these romantic doings is the wholesale desertion of the troops , who left the King- at Coimbra with scarcely a guard . The people of the United States are ' the victims of two sentiments , of both of which the brigands and vagabonds of the United States take advantage . The south desires additions of slave territory , and the whole union desires additions of territory in any shape . The brigands of the south have long had their covetous eye fixed on Cuba , and they have taken advantge of popular feeling in favour of
aggrandisement to assist their blackguard designs , hoping that that feeling will be strong- enough to nullify the repressive action of the Federal Government . They seem to have made a slight miscalculation . Egregkmsly defeated under Lopez last year , they have been arrested this time by the simple intervention of the United States marshal . This display of firmness is honourable to the Government . The only justifiable ground of annexation clearly is that there should be an indisputable and indisputably expressed desire on the part of the state to be annexed . It is not at all clear that such a desire exists among the Cubans .
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The discovery of an alleged irregularity in the proceedings with regard to the Papal Aggression Bill threatened at one time to quash the whole affair on Monday evening . The order of the day having been read for going into committee on the bill , Mr . Moore , the member for Mayo , called the attention of the House to the fact that the measure had been introduced without the preliminary sanction of a committee . Now , according to a standing order , it ¦ was provided that "No bill relating to religion , or the alteration of the laws regarding religion , be brought into the House until the proposition shall "have heen considered in a committee of the whole
House , and agreed to . After arguing at some length that the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill related to religious matters , and that it , therefore , clearly fell within the scope of the standing order , Mr . Moore concluded by moving that the standing order to ¦ w hich he had referred be read , and that the order for the committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Assumption Bill be discharged . Sir George Grey , in opposing the motion , contended that the opponents of the bill would have gained nothing , although the course advocated by Mr . Moore had been taken . Lord John Russell had stated the provisions of hi 9 intended measure quite as minutely before introducing it , as he would have
done in a committee of the whole House . The question of form had , however , not been overlooked by Government . The opinion of the Speaker hud been taken , and his decision sanctioned the course pursued by Ministers in the matter . He had no doubt that the Speaker , after listening to the arguments of Mr . Moore , would again favour the House with , his opinion . The Spkakek said he adhered to the opinion he had previously given . He still thought that the bill belonged to that class of measures which did not require to be considered in a committee of the whole house . At the same time he admitted that the precedents were very various . Mr . Roeiiuck supported the amendment . Mr . Gimson suggested that the point should be referred to a select committee to search for precedents . Having made a motion to that effect , which was seconded by Mr .
Grattan , the Speaker , explained that the motion before the House was , that he should leave the chair . That question must be settled first . Mr . Reynolds moved the adjournment ; upon which the discussion relating to Mr . Moore ' s amendment w « a resumed . Mr . Keooh and Mr . Gladstone we re both of opinion that the bill rolated to religion , and was therefore affected by the standing order . The Soljcitok-Gknbuai- contonded that the standing order must bo understood as referring merely to mutters connected with the faith and doctrine of the Established Church , and not to mutters of ecclesiastical arrangement or j urisdiction . Lord John IIukskll took the Biimo view . He could see no reason for referring the point to a nelcct committee . Mr . Hhioht thought , if nny flnubt existed on the matter , that the lloman
Catholics should have the benefit , of that doubt . Several divisions then took place on the question whether the House should adjourn , and these having been lost by large majorities , the House onco more began to discuss the threudbure question of the bill itself . Mr . Morgan John O'Connkll resisted the principle % ? i limine ; for he foresaw that if they legislated in that direction nguimt the Roman CatholicH they mi ^ fairly be culled upon to legislate in another direction denominated ites
against the religious party PuHey . Hut he might lie asked if they were not to legislate , what wore they to do ? Ho would answer at oncedo nothing . Mr . Uuquiiakt repeated a portion of Ilia Friday evening ' s speech , in order to show that the Pope was not a free agent in what ho had done , and thnt Lord John Russell hud played into the . Pope ' s hands , by this absurd courno he had taken . Mr . Kjcoaii made an eloquent speech against the bill , in
which he ridiculed tbe pretended alarm of Ministers at the proceedings of the Synod of Thurles , which were no way different from those of other religious synods , at various periods . He concluded his speech , by asking the liberals who supported Ministers to look to the harm , they were doing to the Reform cause : —• " He would ask those gentlemen where would the question of parliamentary reform , or even the question of free trade be , if Roman Catholic emancipation had not been carried ? But the members for Manchester , the honourable member for the West Riding , the veteran leader of parliamentary reform in that House , the most
distinguished statesmen of the late Administration to a man were on their side , and that being so , they could well afford the sneers of the small body who sat around and behind the distinguished advocates of Free Trade . ( Hear , hear . ) The noble lord should have reflected before he introduced a measure of the kind , he should have hesitated long before he raised the fanatical spirit of religious animosity . ( Hear , hear . ) It might take a twenty j ears' struggle to get rid of the effect of that night ' s decision . ( Hear , hear . ) The result might be long delayed , as it was before , but he had no doubt that ultimately right and justice would be victorious . ( Hear , hear . ) But now the people of Ireland would never sheath their swords till they had deprived those who would oppress them of the power to do so . ( Cheers . ) They won the
struggle before . The noble lord boasted of the part he took in that contest , and if he had not by this measure retracted all he had done , it was the proudest boast he could have made ( Hear , hear . ) If the noble lord by means of a tyrannical majority succeeded in that House in striking down religious liberty , then they would go out of the house , and would never cease till they had reestablished it . ( Cheers . ) They were not to be intimidated by a momentary defeat . ( Hear . ) They had borne centuries of persecution . Over the avenging and fanatic sword of Cromwell , the insidious treachery of the Stuarts , the exactions and confiscations—he used the term openly , plainly , and advisedly—in which the ancestors of the noble lord took a conspicuous part , they had triumphed , and would triumph again . "
Lord John Ri t ssell replied at considerable length to Mr . Keogh , contending that the bill was a political measure , directed against a political encroachment . In conclusion , he said , "We will not suffer the name of religious liberty to be prostituted for the purpose of covering foreign aggressions . " Mr . Bright gave a clever abstract of the whole history of the Ministerial blunder from the letter to the Bishop of Durham down to the present state of the bill . He pointed out , in strong terms , the damage inflicted on Protestantism by the Ministerial alarmist * : —
" He asked any gentleman there , not a Roman Catholic , what would be the effect of the rectnt proceedings on him if he were a member of that Church ? Did that House suppose there was a Roman Catholic family in the empire , when assembled round the hearth , that did not entertain a greater respect for the Pope now than before those mischievous proceedings commenced ? ( Hear , hear . ) And did it not stand to reason that the missionary agencies of that Church , scattered over the kingdom for the conversion of Protestants , would take fresh
hope from the paroxysm of terror and alarm into which the Protestants of England had thrown themselves ? ( Hear , hear . ) The apostles overthrew the pagan worship of Rome ; Luther , single handed , wrested whole empires from the Pope ; whilst here was a Church endowed with millions , and having fifteen thousand learned clergymen for its guidance and control , thrown into a paroxysm of ludicrous terror , and all that by a Church which , in these realms , had not the thousandth part of the advantages possessed by its opponents . ( Cheers . ) He wished the noble lord had told the House where the gain lay . "
When Mr . Bright sat down Mr . Scully moved tho adjournment of the debate , which was negatived by 3 Gfi to 54 . Lord John Russell said he thought they had us much discussion upon the bill as it required before going into committee , but as he did not wiah to keep the House dividing all night , lie would not oppose the adjournment of the debate till Thursday next . Mr . Hume'a motion on the subject of Parliamentary Reform was quashed on Tuesday for want of a House , there being only twenty-one members present at four o ' clock . A short conversation took place on the subject on Wednesday , when Mr . Huwk
explained that ho had been engaged on the Army , Navy , and Estimates Committee up to four o ' clock on Tuesday , and although he made as much hafite us he could , he find not been able to enter tho House in time . He stated that Mr . Cobden had heen engaged on the iiaino committee . Mr . Rhynoi . dh said it was rather strange that there were not Reformers enough to make a Hou » e on a question of reform , and that there should alwayw be a full spring tide of th « m when questions of religious liberty were concerned . He saw many reformers who were at that moment in
the House taking shelter on Tuesday in tho holutt and corners of the Houhc . They locked very much like drowned political rats in tho lobbies and corridors of the House whilut the motion of the Nestor of reform was left to shift for ilMclf . Air . Hharmakt CiiAWi-oitO could not help thinking that if the body of reformers in the House who had pledged thomselvcH to this question had been in earnest tK « y would have been prepared to conic down in suHicitiit numbers to make a House on Tuesday . Tho second reading of tho bill to prevent the
forcible detention of females in religious houses was moved by Mr . Lacy , who taid his object was that all religious houses ( Protestant included ) in which ladies resided bound by monastic or religious vows should be registered , and that in all counties in which houses of this kind should be registered , six magistrates should he appointed at quarter sessions to visit such houses without notice , with power , if they found any lady there Who wished to come out , to take her out . He had ascertained that there were fifty-three such houses in England and Wales , and that they were vastly on the increase , nineteen having been added within the last four years . If he
showed that there was an occasional escape from such houses , he thought he might assume that there were persons within them who wanted to come out ; and Mr . Lacy detailed , amongst other incidents connected with these houses , the circumstances attending the alleged escape of two females from convents in England . He drew a similar inference from the necessary irksomeness of conventual restraints , and , admitting the inconvenience that might accompany the unexpected visits of magistrates , he still maintained that it was slight in comparison with the evil of allowing a person to pine unwillingly within the
walls of a convent . Mr . Hume said the introduction of this bill showed the evil of allowing the Legislature to interfere with religion . He hoped that some member of the Government would oppose it . Sir Geokge Grey said if Mr . Hume had moved a postponement of the bill for six months , he should have seconded it . He admitted that the question was an important one ; nor could he deny that a dangerous amount of control was exercised in religious houses , but it was moral , not physical control , which was thus exercised , and no legislation could reach that . Mr . Newdegate and Mr . Plumptre both declared
their intentions to vote in favour of the bill . Mr . B ,. Palmer and Mr . Grattan contended that no ease for interference had been made out . Lord Ashley was of the same opinion , and therefore he advised the withdrawal of the bill , although he was fully of opinion that a very strong ease might be made out . Several Protestant members declared their intention to vote for the bill unless Ministers pledged themselves to deal with the subject , which Sir Georgk Grey declined to do . The Earl of Arttndel and Surrey moved that the bill be read that day six months ; and after a little more disoussion the bill was rejected by 123 against 91 .
The Commons on Thursday were occupied nearly all the evening with the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill . Before the motion " that the Speaker do now leave the chair" was put , Mr . T . Duncombe gave notice that he would move , as an amendment to Mr . Hume ' s motion , postponed to June 3 , " That the House , at the earliest opportunity in the next session of Parliament , should take into its serious consideration the representation of the people , with a view to the extension of the elective franchise . "
Mr . Scully resumed the debate on the Papal Bill . He declared that if the measure should be carried out it would do much to destroy the pe «« e of Ireland ; but if , on the other hand , it was intended that the bill should remain a dead letter and prove a mere sham , why pass it at all ? Mr . Campbell briefly supported the bill , which Mr . Trelawnky opposed . He wished to support the Government as far us he could , but they had got into a wrong groove , and so long as they continued in it he could not support them . Mr . Philip Howard thoug ht that the measure wns an attempt to interfere between man and his Maker . The Loud Advocate was then put up , and made a long weak speech , winding up with denying that the Scotch cared little about the measure . They had made no noise , certainly , but their old spirit was unabated .
Mr . Reynolds was glad ' the voice from Scotland " hnd spoken . " He had been accused of saying he would vote black white to get rid of this bill ; he had not used the phrase . He would ask if those who went to their club * and dined , and then came down to that House , could vote as they did without voting that black was white ? ( Hear , hear . ) If the officials on the Treasury bench wtre asked how and why they voted as they did , their reply was that
they could not help it ; that they were labouring under a kind of trammel which other people < jouhl not understand . ( A laugh . ) Then , if they "ere naked why thty did not ot up in the llouae aiu' apeak against this opprcsHion , their reply would he— ' I cannot speak—I am labouring under a disuse peculiar to the Treasury benches , called lucr-tlve taciturnity . * ( Great laughter . ) This was prottj much the case with all those officials of the Treaaury . "
Mr . Whitubidm , in a maiden speech , supported tho bill while condemning tho conduct of tho Government ; , especially that of Lord Clarendon . The speech woh decidedly of tho Orango tint . Mr . Lawluhh moved , and Mr . Moohm seconded , the adjournment of the debate . The House then divided . The nuinbcts were : —Vox the adjournment , 40 ; against , . ' 5 / 59 ; majority , 313 . Mr . R . M . Fox then moved the adjournment of tho House , upon which Lord John Russell consented to the adjournment of tho debate . Tho House was counted out at a quarter to two . In the Iloi / HH of Louuh no business of importance was transacted .
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454 ®\) t Ht after . [ Saturday ,
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PARLIAMENT OF THE WEEK .
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Leader (1850-1860), May 17, 1851, page 454, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1883/page/2/
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