§ MR. WESTsaid, he wished to ask, Whether the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Her Majesty's Govern- 1769 ment are parties to any arrangement by which the object of the Amendment of the hon. Member for Salford (Mr. Charley), respecting the appointment of Mr. Lowry, would be amicably attained?
THE SOLICITOR GENERALsaid, in reply, that his noble Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster had placed in his hands the Papers relating to the appointment of Mr. Lowry; and on the evening when the Amendment of the hon. Member for Salford (Mr. Charley) was to have come on, he had been in his place to give an explanation; but when the House was about to divide on the Banda and Kirwee Prize Money question, he went out, not wishing to take any part in that Division, because he had given an opinion on the question. The next day he was surprised to find it reported that in withdrawing his Motion the hon. Member for Salford stated he did so in consequence of his having reason to believe that the object he had in view would be amicably attained. Only half-an-hour before the hon. Gentleman withdrew his Amendment, he (the Solicitor General) told him that the Government had a complete answer to the case he proposed to put forward, that he was ready to meet the Motion, and that the hon. Gentleman might take his own course. He believed that between Gentlemen such a communication was generally understood as an intimation that there would be no compromise. He was much surprised, therefore, when he read what the hon. Member was reported to have said about an amicable arrangement.
§ MR. CHARLEYsaid, that when announcing his intention not to press his Amendment, he gave as a reason for not pressing it the hope he entertained that an amicable arrangement would be arrived at. That hope had not arisen from anything which had passed between the hon. and learned Solicitor General and himself, but from a conversation which he had had with other Members of that House.