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bill fairly and boldly ( hear , hear ) , arid I trust that the House and the country will not misunderstand tlip issue which he has raised . The question is not whether we shall have this bill , or agree to . this factious resolution it is whether the House of Commons shall fairly grapple with this ; difficult subjectwhether -we shall go in a fair spirit into committeewhether the House shall accept what is good in the bill ana amend what may be bad—whether we shall arrive at a settlement of the question on principles safe moderate , and temperate , or fling it abroad to
wait a settlement hereafter by other parties in ^ a snirit not of safe Conservative reform , but a wild democratic innovation ? " ( Hear , hear . )—Mr . Gladstone having moved the adjournment of the debate , Sir G . Grey , referring to the statement that the resolution now under discussion was unparliamentary and irregular , denied that allegation , and appealed to the Speaker to corroborate his opinion on that point . —After some explanations from Sir J . Pakingtox , the Speaker ruled that the resolution was perfectly in order . ; ' ' ¦ ¦ Lewis that the debathad
Sir G . C . , remarking e already lasted five nightSj hoped that the House might be allowed to come to a division on Tuesday evening . Urgent remonstrances against this premature close of the discussion were interposed by many lion , members , and the Chancellor of the Exchequer intimated that no objection . would be raised against ; the prolongation of the debate . The remaining orders were then proceeded with ; certain bills were forwarded a stage , and the House adjourned at five minutes to one o ' clock .
Tuesday ,. March 29 . In the House of Lords , Lord SIalmesbttrt made a farther explanation respecting the Congress on Italian affairs , the object of ^ vhich was to show that Russia does not deserve all the credit for having proposed that such a Congress should be held .
JURIES IN CIVIL CAUSES . Lord Campbell , in moving the second reading , observed that this bill applied solely to civil cases . He brought forward several instances to prove that the unanimity of juries was not in former times imperative , but that the opinion of a . majority was binding Jon the minority , a custom still in force among grand juries , and among their lordships in their judicial capacity . He proceeded to dwell on . the hardships which one wrong-headed juryman could inflict on the others , and the injury and expense to the suitors . He thought that the jury on retiring should be supplied with refreshments , and , after they had been confined a certain number of hours that the
decision of a majority of nine should be sufficient for a verdict . There was a growing tendency among juries to disagree , and he thought that if we expected unanimity we might as well abolish trial by jury altogether . — - Lord' Ijyxdiiursx opposed the second reading of the bill because its object was to change one of the fundamental laAvs of the kingdom . The proposed alteration would affect a law which had existed for the last 500 years , and which , with one or two exceptions , had been admired and applauded by all our most eminent lawyers . This bill originated from a trial relating to a railway accident , which involved a question of such nicety that five juries who had tried tho question could come to no decision upon it . His lordship , speaking of Lord Campbell ' s
facetious address to one of these juries , said— - "My noble and learned friend ,, as your lordships are aware , is very fond of introducing a little pleasantry into the proceedings of courts of justice , with the view to relievo their dulness . ( A laugh . ) Upon tho occasion to which I allude tho jury were brought into court in the morning . They were wretched , haggard , pale , and exhausted ; and then it was my noble and learned friend made n statement which he has in substance repeated this evening , and gave a history of the law witli respect to the 'unanimity' of juries . He told thorn that , accordingto ancient tradition , at assizes , if a jury differed , the judge ordered them to bo taken round the circuit in a cart , and then thrown into the next ditch . ( A laugh . ) Of course my noblo anil learned mend know that would produce some laughter . In howeve
that , r , the jury so circumstanced could hardly bo expected to join . But ho assuaged their feelings with soft words ; they had been confined all night , and lio said , " You have suffered great inconvenience , and therefore I will discharge ypu , " I have thought it nocossary , my lords , to examine a nttlo into the accuracy of the statement mado by my noblo and loarnod friend on that occasion , and 1 have to state that there is no instanco to bo found in tho judicial history of this country in which a jury havo boon carried round a circuit in a- cart , much Joss of their having boon afterwards shot into a ditch . " Lord Lyhulhurst thon showed tlint Lord Campbell hud mistranslated and ontiroly jnisconcoivod tho meaning of the ancient statute ; and with reg ard to tho proposed alteration in the law , said , tnafc if tliie olmugo was effected there would ho a matorialluorcttso j u the number of new trials ' mid of
the expenses of litigation ; and it would stifle that discussion which was the very basis on which unanimity of juries was founded . —The bill was supported by Earl Granville , Lord Cr an worth , and Lord Kingsdowk , and opposed by the Lord Chancellor and Lord WjJnsleydale . On a division there appeared—Contents , 7 ; hon-cOntents , 23—16 . The bill is thus lost . Their lordships adjourned at a quarter to ten . In the House of Commons , Mr . Disraeli made an intimation which appeared to give satisfaction , that the debate ' might be again adjourned , on the understanding that it be brought to a conclusion on Thursday . Sir 3 . Trelawst postponed progress with his Church-rate Bill till Tuesday next .
THE REFORM BILL . The adjourned debate was resumed by Mr . Gladstoke , who observed that , with the exception of official speakers , every member on either side who had addressed the house on the subject of reform appeared to be hi perfect concurrence with one another , within very narrow shades of difference . This coincidence of opinion , oh which he remarked in detail , seemed to hold out the prospect of a ready and satisfactory solution of the question . With regard to Mr . Bright , he said : — " I could not help being struck with what fell from my hon . friend the member for Birmingham upon this subject . He selected in the course of his speech * one address
from those which had preceded his own for commendation , land three—shall I say for anathema or for censure ? The speech which he commended . was the speech of a county member , on this side of the House—I mean the hon . member for Dorset—a gentleman X believe , of unsuspected orthodoxy in bis political creed . ( A laugh . ) The speeches which were censured by my hon , friend—the speeches which he said filled him with alarm— -were the declarations of three right hon . friends sitting on the other side of the House . ( Hear , hear . ) He was alarmed at the spe ' ech of the tight lion , gentleman tlie member for Stroud ; he did not say for what particular reason ,, but I concluded because he
regarded my right hon . friend as a disorderly person upon the present occasion . ( A laugh . ) He was alarmed with the speech of my right hon . friend the member for South Wilts , because , I suppose , my right hon . friend gently suggested in one portion of his excellent address that that chamber hi the mind of my" hon . friend the member for Birmingham which ought to be supplied with a certain reverence for ancient traditions is less well furnished than all the rest of that remarkable structure . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Then , Sir , the hon . member , still adhering to his ' pwii side of the House , censured likewise the sagacious letter of my right lion , friend the member for Coventry . There the reason , I think ,
was plain enough ; because , my right hon . friend , whose hospitalities are . proverbial , in that letter promised to liis constituents a magnificent banquet of ' reform , where the viand was dressed in every possible shape , but concluded by expressing his regret that on account of the state of public opinion they could , not just yet sit down . ( Cheers and laughter . ) The truth is , Sir , there is no substantial difference , of opinion traceable to differences in this House between political parties upon this groat and transcendant subject ; and therefore it is to me a matter of deep regret , that when there is such union of sentiment upon the question at issue , we should be ranged in hostile debate ( cheers ) , with a division
before its- which must , tend , to estrange froni one another , those who are not separated by clear , broad , conscientious differences of opinion , and by whose united efforts alone , this great subject can bp brought tp a satisfactory settlement . " ( Continued cheering . ) Mr . Gladstone observed that ho dissented from the resolution as inconsistent with tho spirit , though not with tlio letter of tho rules and precedents of tho House . But if it woro a factious resolution , it would also bo an injudicious one ; for some of the principal supporters of the motion havo also avowed their intention of supporting tlie second reading of the bill . Tho attack made upon Lord John Kussoll by the Holieitor-Goneral , lie attributed to tho compulsion * under which tho ablest speakers sometimes find
themselves of saying what they had not intended . With regard to tho bill , tho difficulties of tho Government aroso from tho errors they had committed in framing their measure , and which they would have avoided if they had adopted tho propositions suggested by Mr . Wulnolo and Mr , Henley . Ho felt , nevertheless , that tlie ministry- — partly as tho originators of the bill , partly as happening to bo already in office , and partly because all other parties had failed in their attempts to solve tho problem—wore entitled to claim much forbearance iVoiu tho House whon endeavouring to contrive a satisfactory solioino of representative reform . Illustrating this conclusion by referonce to the successive blll « that had boon introduced or promised on tills subject during the past tea years , tho right hen
member submitted that no unnecessary obstacle should now be pliaced in the way of the present measure . If the resolution were carried , it had become manifest that the bill would be defeated . Yet while agreeing with everything that had been said against it , he still thought that the measure contained some acceptable provisions , and ought to be considered in committee . Among others , he approved of , the proposed redistribution of seats , ; which , of itself comprised the most important element of every reform bill . Any comprehensive disfranchisement of small boroughs would prove fatal to the carriage of the bill ; and if carried , would , prove injurious to the character of the House . By small
constituencies , and even from nomination boroughs ^ members were returned whose presence in the Legist lature was necessary for the diversity arid the completeness of representation . This apparent paradox was , lie declared , only one on paper . In practice it disappeared , and , by way of proof , cited the examples of Pelham , Chatham , Fox , Pitt , Canning , and Peel , all of whom had obtained ingress to Parliament through the medium of nomination boroughs . These places , indeed , had often proved the nurseryground of statesmen . Reverting to the resolution , he observed that every object it was intended to obtain would be far more effectually ensured during the discussions in committee . The objectionable features of the bill—the uniformity of franchise , the disfranchisement of the borough freeholders , and the transfer of votes from counties to boroughs—were
doomed by general assent . These objects would be accomplished if the resolution were negatived ; but if , on the contrary , it passed , there was too great probability that no reform bill at all would be proceeded with , and the whole question hung up for years as an object for prolonged and perhaps dangerous agitation . Of Mr . Stanley ' s threatened motion of want of confidence , the right hon , gentleman remarked ¦ : —* - " A hostile attack on the Government has recently been started > but of all the compliments paid to the Government , I know iione that can compete with the act of the hon . member for Beaumaris ( Mr . O . Stanley ) . He produced a notice of motion announcing that in a certain contingency he would move a vote of want of confidence . He gave that notice in one parliamentary sitting , and withdrew it the next ( cheers ); certainly a very short life . ¦
' Ostendunt terris hsee fata , neque ultra ease sinent . ' The writer from Whom I quote says of his hero ; that' Ms enemies fled when they saw his burnished armour gleaming in the shade . ' My hon . friend ( and he is the gentleman who has accomplished the feat ) fled when he saw his own armour . " ( Cheers and laughter . ) Having the matter in their own hands , Mr . Gladstone thought that the House would act wisely in keeping it there , and in settling this great question would be left at liberty to address themselves to other demands upon their time and care . "I consider this , " said he , " a golden opportunity of settling the question ; but if we let it slip , can any man predict what will be the result ? ( Hear , hear . ) Are this itated after ?
we to have question ag year year ( Hear , hear . ) After the number of miscarriages , it is is impossible but that the character of Parliament will suffer if every alternate year we are to have a promise of a reform bill , and in every other year find a bill introduced and brought before the country to occupy the House with the discussion of great organic changes . With all our strength—and I believe no assembly in the world can transact the same amount of business—yet , with all that strength , such is the vastness of our concerns , such the accumulation of territories , such tho diversities of interests among tho subjects of the Queen , that with all our capacity the business must fall into arrear . Iti
would be most unfortunate and most injurious—nfty , nothing less than disgraceful —> if our action was . to bo paralysed , not because of any weakness , Imc because wo were Occupied with this question year after year . Tho constant recurrence of this question would be a proof of an unhealthy state of tho imMio mind . Even an individual . cannot be constantly watching his health without injuring it . , It would have a most unwholesome effect if the attention of tho country woro to bo constantly directed to an alteration of our institutions , instead of doing our duty hero . I feel it my duty to givo that vote which may lead to a settlement of tho question . 1 agree with my hon , friend tho manlier for
Birmingham that wo ought to approach this quostion u > a spirit of trust in tho people ( hear , hear ); and l would entreat him not .. to use lite jnfluonoo to delay tho settlement . In tho voto which I shall give , I shall voto without regard to tho Government , wit lout rognrd to parly . ( Hear , hour . ) I trust , 111 tliq remarks T have nindo , I havo ( riven no offeneo to any one . I shall voto in tho negative of tho resolution , became I bolJovo by that voto wo shall best clisahargo the duty incumbent on us as chief amongst tho ffiumlians of tho British ooiirtlllution and of tho welfare of the British peoplo , " ( Loud choors . )— - Mr . Monohisiiw , in supporting tho resolutions , contended that they related not to isolated points ,
Untitled Article
TSTo . 471 , April 2 , 1859 . 1 THE LEADER 421
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Leader (1850-1860), April 2, 1859, page 421, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2288/page/5/
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