§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNE, in moving that the House go into Committee on this Bill, said, that his original intention was to have moved the suspension of Standing Orders Nos. 26 and 155, with a view of proceeding with the other stages of the Bill forthwith. He would, however, not press that Motion; but if their Lordships agreed to pass the Bill pro formâ through Committee, for the purpose of having the amendments printed, he would propose the third reading of the Bill to-morrow, when the amendments could be considered.
§ The EARL of ELLENBOROUGH said, that one of these amendments gave aliens a right of appeal to the Privy Council. The result would be, that instead of having these suspicious-looking persons sent on board a steamer, and shipped off at once, every one of them would appeal; so that the Privy Council would have to be continually sitting, and yet be unable to get through half the business that would come before them.
§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNE said, that so far from agreeing in the apprehensions of the noble Lord, he did not anticipate any great number of appeals at all under the Bill.
§ House in Committee.
§ LORD HOLLAND said, that he regretted having to differ in opinion from the majority of their Lordships on this Bill, and nothing could have induced him to take a course hostile to the general feeling of their Lordships' House but the strong objection which he entertained to the measure now before them. Instead of occupying their Lordships' time with any remarks of his own on the subject, he would beg to read a protest which his Father had entered against a similar Bill on a former occasion. [The noble Lord read the protest, and then continued.] He begged to say that he should enter the same protest upon their Lordships' journals against the present Alien Bill, with only a few verbal alterations to suit it more completely to the circumstances.
§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNE said, that it was with great pleasure he had 398 heard the noble Lord's voice for the first time in that House; and it was with the greater pleasure he heard it, as it showed a disposition in the noble Lord to take a part in the business of the House; for, in addition to the claim which the noble Lord had upon the House through his own talents personally, he had the additional one for the sake of those of his great and illustrious Father, to the recollection of whom the noble Lord well knew no one was more truly and affectionately attached than he (the Marquess of Lansdowne). But when his noble Friend alluded to the protest of his noble Father, the late Lord Holland, against the Alien Bill, he should recollect that it was not against such an Alien Bill as that now before the House. The former Bill was not only of a far more stringent character, but, as the protest itself set forth and proved, it had been adopted by the House under totally different circumstances. It was proposed in a time of profound peace—a peace which had lasted for seven years previously—and the very surface of society was not even being ruffled by disturbance. Against that Bill several noble Lords besides Lord Holland protested. But such an objection could not now be urged. Such an objection would not now hold good, especially as he (the Marquess of Lansdowne) remembered, that in the speech which preceded the making of that protest, his noble Friend, the late Lord Holland, had stated, as one of his grounds of opposition, not his sole objection, but as his great objection, that it would be favouring the view of the Holy Alliance. He need not say, no Holy Alliance existed at present, but rather a state of things, by which society was convulsed from one end to the other; and no one knew when compulsion might be necessary to check or prevent the interference of foreigners in the affairs of this country. But there was one matter which removed any doubt from his mind, if he could have entertained any. It was this. At the time that the protest was entered, a noble and learned Lord (not at that moment in the House), a noble Lord, who was most eminent for his attachment to the constitution and the law of this country, had taken part with Lord Holland in his opposition. That noble and learned Lord had stated in the House, not his objection to the present Bill, but his conviction of its necessity, and his willingness to support it, notwithstanding the reluctance which he felt to the previous mea- 399 sure. That noble and learned Lord was the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench (Lord Denman). But he (the Marquess of Lansdowne) did not wish to see the Alien Bill become the law of the land. He prayed to God it might never be so. It was intended but as a temporary expedient, only justified by the state of things which now existed throughout the world—a state which was well known to their Lordships, but which he hoped would not last long enough to make it necessary that that Bill should be introduced amongst the laws of the country. It was to have effect for only one year, and it was the mildest and most lenient that had ever been proposed for such a purpose.
§ The EARL of ABERDEEN said, that when the noble Marquess alleged that the Bill was intended to last for only one year, he was forgetful of its provisions. It was enacted to last for two years; because it was for the Session in which it was passed, and to the end of the next ensuing Session of Parliament, and to the end of the year next ensuing to that Session. It, consequently, would have effect for more than two years.
§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNE: No, no: only one year and a half.
§ LORD STANLEY said, it was to be in force to the end of the year 1850.
§ LORD BROUGHAM suggested that a day should be named for its termination.
§ LORD CAMPBELL said, it would be inconvenient to name a specific day, because there might then be a necessity for renewing it.
§ Bill committed.