Mr. Mileswas sorry to interfere, or to interrupt the business of the House, but in reference to the vote to which it had just now come, he felt himself bound to offer an observation. By that vote, he considered that the honour of an individual, a Member of the House, and well known and esteemed by him, had been called in question, and he thought it necessary that that hon. Member should be ordered to attend in his place, and meet the denial of Mr. Cundy face to face. The House had proceeded on the letter of the hon. Member for Wiltshire, and though the contents of that letter had not been directly put to Mr. Cundy, yet its substance had been stated to that Gentleman, who had denied its accuracy, and the House had acted on the contradiction thus given to that which was gravely asserted by the hon. Member for Wiltshire, in the letter which had been read to the House, [cries of"No."] He was glad to hear the cry of "No," but feeling deeply for his Friend, the hon. Member for Wiltshire, he thought it necessary for his justification, that the parties should be brought face to face, and he therefore should move, that Mr.Benett be ordered to attend in his place on Friday next, and that Mr. Cundy be ordered to attend the House on the same day.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequersubmitted to the hon. Gentleman who had just sat down, that if the course he proposed was taken, it would imply a charge against the hon. Member for Wiltshire, which he was called upon to answer. He (Mr. Rice) was an old and attached friend to the hon. Member for Wiltshire, and nothing was further from his intention than to impute, by the vote he had given, the slightest blame, or to cast the least stigma upon the character of his hon. Friend. He (Mr. Rice) entreated the hon. Gentlemen opposite, to look at the effect of his motion. It would give, if carried, currency and sanction to that which did not exist in the mind of any Member of the House—viz., that the hon. Member had some charge to answer. Nothing, he was sure, could be further from the intentions of both sides of the House, than to convey such an implication; and he was satisfied no course could be pursued more entirely contrary to the views and feelings of the House than that proposed.
§ Sir Charles Burrellwas sure, that if the statement of the hon. Member for Will-shire had been in the slightest degree contradicted, that hon. Member would not fail to vindicate his character. He trusted, how-ever, that the hon. Member (Mr. Miles) would not persevere in pressing his motion, as he had that morning received a letter from the hon. Member for Wiltshire, stating his inability to attend in the House, in con sequence of ill health.
§ Dr. Bowringsaid, the motion might be taken, most unjustly, to imply a doubt, on the part of the House, of the correctness of the hon. Member for Wiltshire's statement. He therefore hoped that the motion would be withdrawn.
Mr. Milessaid, that he considered the character of the hon. Member for Wiltshire to be perfectly vindicated by the feeling which had been generally evinced by the House, and he should not, consequently, pursue the matter further.