HC Deb 01 April 1862 vol 166 cc334-6
MR. FARRER

Sir, in rising to call the attention of the House to what I conceive to be a breach of privilege, and to a question in which my own personal honour is concerned, I feel assured I shall not in vain ask hon. Members to allow me to trespass for a short time upon their attention while I state the position in which I find myself placed. It will be in the recollection of the House that a few evenings ago a Motion was brought forward by an independent Member of this House, the hon. and learned Member for Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck), with the view to obtain a Select Committee to inquire into certain allegations contained in a petition which he had been requested to present, and to the charges contained in which I thought it my duty to reply in opposition to the Motion of the hon. and learned Gentleman. It is, I think, scarcely necessary for me to recapitulate the statements which I made on that occasion. They were twofold, and were based upon printed documents which had been placed in my hand on the morning of the day on which the Motion was made, and which I had every reason to believe were accurate. It was, therefore, with some surprise that two days afterwards I read in the morning papers a letter from the petitioner, Mr. Benjamin Coleman, in which he stated that I had been deceived, and that the statements I had made were incorrect. If the matter had been allowed to remain there, I should not have thought it necessary to take any further steps in it. There was nothing particularly uncourteous in the letter of Mr. Coleman. It contained a mere assertion that I had been deceived, and I should have been contented to take no further notice of it. But, my statements having been impeached, I considered it my duty to institute inquiries, and the result of those inquiries has been such as to satisfy me that Mr. Coleman, when he wrote his letter, must have himself forgotten the part he had taken in the matter on a previous occasion, otherwise he would not have thought it necessary to dispute what I had said. The matter, however, did not terminate there. Yesterday morning I received a newspaper from the north of England, in a paragraph of which are contained imputations of so grave a character that, as an English gentleman, I cannot retain my seat here without bringing them under the notice of the House. I think, when I read those statements, which with your permission, Sir, I shall now proceed to do, it will be the unanimous opinion of the House, that could I have been guilty of the offence laid to my charge, I should be utterly unworthy to occupy a seat in the Imperial Parliament, or to associate with English gentlemen. The passage to which I beg the earnest and patient attention of every hon. Member is taken from a paper called the Stockton Gazette and Middlesborough Times. It is to the following effect:— It is true that pending the proceedings in Chancery the House of Commons has declined to enter upon the consideration of this gigantic fraud. Let the House notice what follows:— And that Mr. Farrer has endeavoured to repay to Mr. Jackson some of his political obligations by promulgating a statement which we are in a position to designate as a deliberate lie, and by which he endeavoured to make it appear that Mr. Coleman was to be bought for £6,000, and his evidence thus suppressed. With respect to the first part of the paragraph, I may say, that as most hon. Members of this House have the confidence, the influence, and the support of their friends afforded to them, so I am under similar obligations to Mr. Jackson. His political principles and my own happen to agree, and I have had his support; but, if it is intended to insinuate that from unworthy motives I have endeavoured to palm upon the House and the country an incorrect statement, I think the House, while I believe it will be disposed to acquit me of any possible participation in such a disgraceful transaction, will feel that I am not only justified in bringing the matter under its consideration, but that in so doing I am only discharging a bounden duty. I have no desire to act in any manner that may appear vindictive. I have every reason to suppose that the person who has, in my individual instance, assailed the privileges of this House, has probably done so in ignorance. I am well aware, that if I were to move that he should be brought to the bar of this House, my Motion would be at once agreed to; but I do not know that such a course would be in accordance with my own wishes. I have considered it my duty to lay the matter before the House. I place myself in the hands of the House, and I think that, at all events, hon. Members will be of opinion, that while I have not hesitated to defend my own honour, I have not been backward in my endeavours to assert the privileges of this House.

SIR GEORGE GREY

Sir, as the hon. Member has not concluded his speech with a Motion, I do not know that I am in order in rising to make an observation. It was certainly to be expected that the hon. Gentleman should feel indignant at the gross charge which has been made against him, but the high character which he maintains is of itself sufficient vindication, and it was altogether unnecessary for him to rebut a charge which carries on the face of it its own refutation.