§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONSir,—it is right I should inform the House that the Chancellor, in deference to the vote of this House last night, and the expression of opinion which that vote implied, has deemed it his duty, through me, to tender to Her Majesty the resignation of his office; which accordingly I have done. I think it, at the same time, due to the Chancellor to state that as early as the beginning of the Session—of the year I may say—the Chancellor, stung in his feelings by the various attacks which were made upon him from different quarters, often pressed upon me that his resignation should be conveyed to Her Majesty. I, upon public and upon private and personal grounds, declined to be the channel of conveying the resignation to Her Majesty; and I urged upon the Chancellor to remain in his post, for this reason—that if he had resigned in consequence of these various—some of them anonymous—attacks, he would thereby be considered as in some sort admitting the various charges which had been made, and even other charges which never had been made. I, on the other hand, represented to him that if he remained at his post there would, no doubt, be a Parliamentary inquiry into the matters alleged; and, knowing and believing his motives to be perfectly pure and incorrupt, I believed that out of that inquiry would result, as has resulted, an entire acquittal of the Chancellor of any corrupt motive. It will be necessary that he should continue to hold the Great Seal until Friday mornings, in order that he may go through the proceedings and ceremonials in connection with the prorogation and dissolution of Parliament; but on Friday he will resign the seals into the hands of Her Majesty.