§ Viscount Melbourne saidI consider it, my Lords, my duty to seize the earliest opportunity afforded to me to acquaint your Lordships, that in consequence of the vote to which the House of Commons has come this morning, and which your Lordships may all see by the votes of that House of Parliament—a vote which, though not immediately fatal to the measure against which it was directed, yet at the same time is one, that it must be obvious to all who are acquainted with Parliamentary proceedings, is such, as they must know, will render the final success of the measure totally impossible; and considering my Lords, the measure as of the highest possible importance, of the most paramount importance, to the welfare of the great island to which it relates, and to the working out of the great measure of negro emancipation, which was voted by both Houses of Parliament with so much satisfaction, and for which such great sacrifices were made; considering, I say, this measure of the utmost, the most paramount, and indis- 974 pensable importance for the completion of that great object—considering, too, that the vote on this occasion is not only necessarily fatal to the ultimate success of that great measure, but that it also does, with sufficient clearness and distinctness, indicate such a want of confidence on the part of a great proportion of that House of Parliament, as to render it impossible that we should continue to administer the affairs of her Majesty's Government in a manner that can be useful or beneficial to the country, and which render it impossible that we can take measures of energy and importance that are absolutely required by the situation and circumstances of the country; but which, my Lords, if they are taken, allow me to say, that then there is no danger or peril whatever to be apprehended from any of the conflicting and difficult matters which at present hang over this country—I say, then, my Lords, under these considerations, and under the pressure of these circumstances, we have thought it to be our duty to tender the resignation of the offices which we hold, and her Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept our resignation. And we now only retain these offices, and discharge the functions connected with them, until other arrangements can be made, and successors appointed, to carry on the business of the country.
Lord BroughamMy Lords, after what has fallen from the noble Lord I shall postpone the second reading of the Beer Bill, although I consider that bill to be of more importance as regards the public morals than the resignation of any ministry. I do not apprehend that any legislature will be so wanting in a due regard to what I hold to be the highest functions of the Legislature, namely, superintending the morals, the instruction, and the welfare of the people under their care, as to allow any mere party feeling, any temporary, and, it may be, only momentary gratification of those feelings, to interfere with what I hold to be the highest duty of the senate in this country. My lords, I hold this bill, the repealing the sale of beer act, to be of greater moment than any party question that can divide either House of Parliament; and I shall persist, whoever holds the office of Minister of this country, in my endeavours to obtain the repeal of a measure, which I believe to be permanently fraught with mischief to the character of the country. I have only to add, in reference to 975 what has fallen from my noble Friend respecting the measure, touched, and as he thought justly, fatally touched by the vote of this morning in the other House of Parliament—that I greatly rejoice to hear him say that one of his reasons for lamenting the fate of that measure was, that it tended to interfere with the well working of the great measure of negro emancipation. My lords, that measure was confined to Jamaica—that measure, if it was good as a complement to the emancipation Act in Jamaica, was good for all the other slave colonies; and I therefore take the earliest occasion of stating, that I shall not be wanting in my duty to that great measure of emancipation, and that whoever holds the government of this country, I shall give that government an early opportunity of testifying what I verily believe to be the unanimous determination of all parties, of all men, and of both houses of Parliament—the strict enforcement, according to the spirit as well as the letter, of the great measure of negro emancipation all over the colonies; and no greater error—believe me—no greater error was committed by men, by parties, by assemblies, or by legislatures in general, than the Jamaica Assembly will commit, if they believe that this is a triumph of the white over the black. Men may duller as to the mode of proceeding—men may prefer one mode, or they may prefer another, but there is no loss sustained by the slave, who has been emancipated, in the loss of one measure, if other measures can be propounded, which will effectually secure the working, and enforcement in the spirit as well as in the letter, all over the colonies, as well as in Jamaica, of the great measure of negro emancipation. My Lords, all the legislators of this country, and all the people of this country, are solemnly pledged to take that course; and I do not believe that any Government can stand in this country for forty-eight hours which showed that it was not determined firmly and honestly to execute that law.
Viscount St. Vincentsaid, that being connected with Jamaica, he certainly rejoiced in the recent vote of the House of Commons. He did so, because he considered the bill that had been introduced as calculated to place both blacks and whites under an arbitrary and despotic Government.
§ Adjourned.