HC Deb 23 March 1843 vol 67 cc1317-8
Viscount Palmerston

wished to correct a statement he had made the other evening with regard to a noble Lord. He had stated that Lord Ashburton was not only a British subject but an American citizen. He had been informed by the noble Lord, in the course of the morning, that in this respect he was mistaken, and that there was no foundation for the supposition that the noble Lord was an American citizen. He, therefore, felt, it his bounden duty to avail himself of the first opportunity to say that he had made this statement under an erroneous impression. He must say, however, that the noble Lord had understood the assertion to convey an imputation on his character, from supposing that he had spoken under the belief that, in order to become an American citizen, the party must renounce the country in which he was born. If he had had any notion that this condition was requisite, he should not have thought of saying that the noble Lord was an American citizen. His impression was, that in the United States it was the same as in some of the republican states of South America, and that a party could become a citizen without renouncing his native country. This not being the case, of course it was more incumbent upon him to correct the error into which he had fallen when he said that the noble Lord was an American citizen.