§ MR. DISRAELIsaid, that when the noble Lord at the head of the Government had stated the alterations he proposed to make in the Lords' Amendments, there was no question before the House, and therefore it was not possible for him (Mr. Disraeli) to give an intimation, which he was now desirous of conveying, to the Government. He regretted that a more conciliatory spirit had not been shown by Her Majesty's Government, and that there was not, in consequence, any prospect of the Bill passing into a law during the present Session. But he thought it right to state that his Friends on that side of the House would feel it their duty to oppose the alterations which the noble Lord had declared would be made in the Irish Franchise Bill as it had been returned to them from the other House.
§ LORD J. RUSSELLPerhaps the House will allow me to make a few remarks on what has just fallen from the hon. Gentleman. The proposal I shall have to make with respect to the Irish Franchise Bill is certainly liable to observation and to censure, on the ground that it is too great a departure from the original principle of the Bill; and when I say that for the sake of obtaining the assent of Parliament to the Bill, I consent to an alteration of the franchise from 8l. to 12l., and only ask the House of Lords to go from 15l. to 12l., the want of a conciliatory spirit is, I must say, the last charge the hon. Gentleman could fairly make against us.