§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY,who bad given notice to move for Copy of Memorial of the Protestant Alliance to the First Lord of the Treasury in the matter of Mr. Turnbull, rose to postpone his Motion, and said: My Lords, the Motion I have to make will not detain your Lordships five minutes. I have been compelled to put this Notice on the paper because the noble Marquess (the Marquess of Normanby) came down to this House a few days ago and stated that it was his intention to make a Motion impugning the conduct of the Protestant Alliance, of which I am the President, and their objections to the appointment of a certain gentleman in the Record Office. I attended in my place to give your Lordships all the information on this matter so far as I was concerned; but the noble Marquess put off his Motion indefinitely—he has named no day on which he will bring it forward. And in the meantime I am lying under certain personal charges—I am charged with having done two or three unkind and unfair things towards Mr. Turhbull. I am anxious to take the earliest opportunity to answer these charges on my own account and the society of which I am the representative. In the first place, we have been charged with circulating a memorial containing grave charges against Mr. Turnbull in secret. Now, I can prove that a copy of that memorial was sent to Sir John Romilly as soon as it was issued. In the second place, we have been accused of bringing a charge against a respectable gentleman, that he has suppressed and mutilated certain public documents. We 583 never made such a charge—we never thought of making it—and I defy any one to lay his finger on any part of our memorial that insinuates it. The third charge is, that we took the course we did because Mr. Turnbull is a Roman Catholic. I deny it. I say that with the means we have—with the professions we make—with the ideas we entertain of the qualifications required for this office—we would have acted in the same way against a Protestant that we have done against a Roman Catholic. The noble Marquess says that in taking the course I have done in bringing forward this Motion I have acted unfairly to him. I can only express my hope he will lose no time in fixing a day for his Motion, and that he will fix as early a day as possible, and that he will then state what he has to say to your Lordships against the Protestant Alliance, and against me as their representative; and I shall then be able to show that we have acted throughout with fairness and justice, and in as straightforward a manner as any person or body of persons could have done.
THE MARQUESS OF NORMANBYMy Lords, the indignation of the noble Earl at my not having brought forward my Motion is quite unfounded. Little more than five minutes ago I told the noble Earl that I did intend to bring the subject before the House, and that the reason of the delay was because I thought that the course of justice requires that an appeal should be first made to the Prime Minister of the country to ascertain whether he, acting under the inspiration of the noble Earl and the Protestant Alliance, would disregard the remonstrance of the legal functionary at the head of the Record Office, who, on receiving the resignation of Mr. Turnbull, expressed his sense of the detriment that resignation would be to the public service, on account of Mr. Turnbull's eminent qualifications to discharge all the public duties of the office, which he is compelled to resign only on account of the ex parte statements of the Protestant Alliance. Now, one word as to the charges the noble Earl describes. I accuse the Protestant Alliance, upon the testimony of the noble Earl himself, of having published what they must have known to be a misstatement. They have published in their monthly report words to the effect that it was lucky Mr. Turnbull had retired "from the task of writing officially the History of Religion in England under Queen 584 Mary." Now, this is distinctly a false statement. But on this I have nothing more to say, as the noble Earl has himself admitted, in a letter to a public journal, that nobody ought to have made it. The noble Earl need not fear that I shall not bring the Motion forward. I think it is very important, since Lord Palmerston gave this morning judgment to that effect to an influential deputation of Protestants, that it should be declared by your Lordships, whether a person entertaining strong opinions with regard to religion should, on that account, be prevented from fulfilling a duty that, in every respect, he is peculiarly well qualified to discharge? The question will certainly be brought forward, but I will not fix a day till I have ascertained what the order of business is likely to be.
§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURYIt will not be disputed that this is something of a personal attack. I, therefore, requested the noble Marquess to give me an early opportunity of stating what are my views of the case, and to enable me to say that we have not been animated by the spirit he alleges, but have taken a course we think most conducive to the public service.
§ THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGHIf we are to have a discussion on this subject it will be a great convenience to me, and probably to many other noble Lords, if the noble Earl will have the goodness to explain the nature of the paper he asks to have laid on the table; and if he will explain also, what the Protestant Alliance is. I have never heard it explained; the noble Earl appears to represent, in person, the great Alliance that has kindly undertaken the protection of the Protestant religion. Undoubtedly it is a good intention; but what may be the practical advantage to the Protestant religion I know not. I should wish to know who are the Alliance, what they are, what are its objects, what is its constitution, and what are we to expect from it?
THE EARL OF DONOUGHMOREhoped that the noble Earl (the Earl of Shaftesbury) would be prepared, when the Motion of the noble Marquess was brought forward, to state distinctly to the House the grounds of the Protestant Alliance for making the charge that had been referred to against this unfortunate man. If there was no imputation on his character, what was it all about? Was a man, who had been declared by high authority eminently suited 585 for his peculiar duties, to be driven from that employ because he was a consistent Roman Catholic? If that was the ground on which the noble Earl and the Alliance over which he presided made their charge against Mr. Turnbull, all he could say was, that, although a staunch Protestant, he disavowed any participation in the proceedings or mode of action of such a society.
THE MARQUESS OF NORMANBYsaid, he would consult with the noble Earl (Earl Granville) as to a day on which the Government business would not be likely to occupy much time.
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, he was not prepared to name any such day at that moment.
§ Notice of Motion put off.
§ House adjourned at Eight o'clock, to Thursday next, Half-past Ten o'clock.