NEW ADMINISTRATION. (Hansard, 7 May 1827)

The Marquis of Londonderry,

in rising to move for some information, in addition to that moved for by his noble friend a few days before, which would enable their lordships to form a correct estimate of the state of the Foreign Office, spoke to the following effect:—If the noble lords opposite will get up and state, that the present administration is constituted as it is to remain—that it is not, in the view of the noble lords opposite, merely provisional—then I will not persevere in pressing this subject on your lordships, or move for those papers which I now mean to ask for. But, unless they make such a declaration, I shall feel it my duty, not only now, but at every subsequent opportunity, to ask for such information as will enable us to see what is the state of the offices held by the noble lords on the other side. My noble friend said, the other night, he wished for a fair field and no favour; and my noble friend will do me the justice to believe, that I am not a man who wants any thing but a fair fight. I think I have served my country sufficiently long to entitle me to try a little to find out what is going on, and I shall bring forward motions until I see in what state the government stands. Its present posit on is quite a new one. Is it 565 only a provisional government? Are not many of the noble lords whom I now see merely the shadows of office? I have read of a shadowless man; but, in my humble opinion, the First Lord of the Treasury has many shadows. I mean to move for a return which will elucidate the present situation of the Foreign Office, and what it was when it was held by my most lamented brother. It was said, that, in this department, the expenditure has been much increased since then. I believe also, as it is stated, that the First Lord of the Treasury has taken care of himself, and that he has made sure of being provided for—that he has actually received a pension of 3,000l. a-year for his services. I want to ascertain exactly what is the situation of the Foreign Office; and, therefore, I shall move for the Returns I shall mention. If, however, the noble lords opposite will say the government is not provisional, I will not press the motion. But, until the point is ascertained, I will continually and repeatedly call on the House, till the end of the session, to ascertain this point. It is said that the Secretary of State for the Home Department is provisional, and that the First Lord of the Treasury is to return to the Foreign Office; seeing that the patronage and appointments are so great. This is only a report, but I believe the report may be true. I am told that, in a short time, the Secretary of War is to take the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer; and that the First Lord of the Treasury is to unite in himself that office with the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs. When I hear these things stated, I wish to know the grounds of this desire, on his part, to return; and therefore it is, that I shall move for some Returns to show the extent of the establishment. I see a change in all the offices of the country, from that state in which the wisdom of our ancestors had settled them. I see a change in those established systems which the greatest statesmen and the wisest men of this country have approved of. They are all of a sudden overturned, and new arrangements made. We have a new administration, in form as well as in men. Of the navy I speak with humility, for I know nothing of it; but of the army I know more; and the army is now to be so regulated, that the whole patronage is to be thrown into the hands of the ministers. It has always been customary for some 566 person to be placed at the head of the army, who knows how to select the officers, and who can give officers of merit that promotion which their character deserves; but the army is now to be entirely regulated by the Secretary of War. The fact is, that difficulties are every where met with, because nobody knows whether he is to remain in office or not. I declare to my noble friend (lord Goderich)—to whom, privately, nobody bears more affection than I do—that I am sorry to see him numbering in his ranks those noble lords who have long been the champions of reform. He has united himself with a democracy, who have always been acting as if they were aiming at a Revolution. I speak my opinion freely of the situation of the country; and this is also, I believe, the opinion of every rational man. I give notice, my lords, that I will seize every opportunity of endeavouring to find out on what ground the government stands. I am but a humble individual to undertake such a task; but I do it conscientiously. I have no feeling but that of duty. I should not certainly have quitted my usual course, and have pressed myself on your lordships' attention, if I did not think it was my duty. It becomes a man of spirit to declare his opinions, and I declare that the present administration is the most contemptible in the whole range of history. I speak with submission, and mean nothing personal to the individuals. I speak not of noble lords individually; but to the administration as a whole. But I must call this the most trifling and mean arrangement I ever heard of; and this stops far short, I believe, of the general opinion of the country. When I see the noble lords now sitting opposite, place themselves under the direction of my noble friend, to carry into effect some little arrangements, to get over the business for a short period, and that then the parliament, as it is said, at least the House of Commons, is to be sent to the right about—so I understand the President of the Board of Trade has stated elsewhere—I ask, are we to go through the session with one hand tied, and not know who are to be ministers and how we are to be governed? There are some great names in our history, such as Pitt and Fox. Would they, I ask, have submitted to such a system as this? Would they have consented to make a part of a provisional government? If the noble lords opposite will stand up, and say this is not the case, I will waive my 567 purpose, and will not move for the papers which I propose to have laid before your lordships. If not, I declare, that day after day, I will show up the drivelling, the contemptible position, in which the public men of our time are placed. There are some other points into which I will enter. I will state to your lordships some of the reports in circulation. I am entitled to do this, though I am not able to prove them to the House. With respect to these reports, they do no credit to the noble marquis on the opposite side; and he and other noble lords would find nothing so easy as to contradict them. In stating them, perhaps I may be accused of indiscretion; and I know that I run a great risk that what I state may not be true. I will not go into the details of all this provisional arrangement, but I will state in what manner it was made. Your lordships may perhaps attempt to arrest my progress, and perhaps I may be written down by a vile and a venal press [hear, hear!]. I know that I shall be assailed by ridicule, on every succeeding day; but that shall not stop me from pursuing my course. I know, and your lordships all feel, how disagreeable it is to be so assailed; but I will not be stopped, whether the attempt be made to arrest me in this House, or to beat me down by a venal press; because I will tell both, that all their ridicule passes by me "as the idle wind, which I regard not." It is reported—and if I state it, I may perhaps induce noble lords here, and right hon. gentlemen in another place, distinctly to deny it—it is reported, I say, that an eminent barrister, a member of the other House, did make certain overtures respecting himself and his party, and respecting a noble marquis and his party, to the First Lord of the Treasury [hear, hear!]. I beg leave to state, that I give this on no authority; it is only a rumour. But, at the same time that the overtures came, they were received and put into the right hon. gentleman's pockets. He held no consultation as to these overtures, and had not made acquainted his colleagues with their nature. He pocketed them. Some time afterwards, the First Lord of the Treasury went to Windsor, and while there a certain use was made of these overtures, and that brought about the connection, into the particulars of which I will not enter further. The result is there to shew what took place, and to show what were the 568 consequences of the learned advocate's overtures, and the noble marquis's adherence to them. I will also state to the House what has been said of the manner in which his colleagues were treated by the First Lord of the Treasury. They were kept entirely ignorant of the whole proceeding until ten days afterwards—entirely ignorant of the use made of these overtures at Windsor. There has been a great deal of talk about cabal, by which the present administration has been formed; though, if the report be true, there is another word which would be more appropriate than cabal. I should call it an intrigue. If the overtures were concealed ten days after the negotiations were closed with the other party, there has been nothing before like it in our history, if I except some proceedings in the year 1809. How this came to be known I am not acquainted, but secrets will come out; and the First Lord of the Treasury found it necessary to tell one or more of his colleagues, the Secretary of State for the Home Department for example; when that gentleman asked him what was the date of the overtures, and then exclaimed, "Good God! Is it possible that you can have had them in your pocket a whole fortnight, and not have communicated them to any of your colleagues?" Are these things true, I ask, or are they not? Will the noble marquis stand up and say that no overtures were ever made? Will the First Lord of the Treasury deny what is loudly proclaimed? I declare I have no information [loud cries of hear, hear!]. Noble lords cry "hear!" but though I have no particular information, these things are reported in public; and let those to whom they apply deny them, and I shall be the first to throw myself on the indulgence of your lordships. Let those I have named say the reports are incorrect, and I shall be the first, not only to acknowledge my error, but to request the indulgence of your lordships, and humbly to ask pardon. Nothing is more easy than to deny such assertions; and if they be denied, I shall not follow up this motion. If this provisional government continues, I shall feel it my right, and my duty, to assail them in every possible manner, until the real state of the circumstances are known; and I hope, before long, to hear the truth acknowledged, and to see some arrangement made for a permanent administration. The present one cannot receive any support, composed 569 as it is of Whigs and Tories. I declare to God that the noble marquis is in a position in which I should not like to stand. He is like a fish in the water—propelled by his tail. The tail of his party has forced him into office. He has left the great post he occupied, on the side of the House whence he dealt forth the thunder of his eloquence, and he has walked over to the other side, and placed himself under the direction of my noble friend. I have a great respect for my noble friend. We have known each other long, and we respect and love each other; but I must confess, that I think him not at all to be compared to that noble marquis, whom we have all heard with respect and admiration; not at all to be compared, I say, to lord Lansdown [Order, order!]—not at all to be compared to another noble lord, who has notwithstanding descended from his high pinnacle, and now condescends to serve en second under my noble friend. This is my general opinion, and I have thought proper to state it; because, on all public occasions, one feeling in me is paramount to all others—the feeling that I ought to do my duty. I have acted on this feeling in every situation, and will act on it while God pleases to prolong my life. I acted on it for twenty years while I was a soldier; and I now feel it more necessary than ever to do so. It is the duty of every honest man to stand up in his place and speak his opinions, when the abominable and ungrateful press of the country is showering its abuse on the illustrious duke who saved the country, and secured for it its present glory; when it is made the instrument for paralysing the public mind, and neutralising all parties, spreading abroad vile and abominable principles, and running down the greatest man of our time; when this is the case, it is not possible that he should not recall to the recollection of the country those periods when the late administration held the reigns of government; and it was impossible but that that administration would shine, in the records of history, to the present, like the sun to darkness.—The noble marquis concluded by moving; 1st, for a Return of all appointments made by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, whether at home or abroad, since January 1st, 1822, specifying the Nature of the Office, the Salary, the Name of the Persons appointed, as well as the Salaries of all Ministers, Consuls, Secretaries, and other Officers ap 570 pointed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and distinguishing the Total Expenditure of the Foreign Office; 2nd, for a Return of all the Extraordinary Expenses of the Foreign Department since 1822; 3rd, an Account of all the New Appointments made by the Foreign Office since November, 1822, to the present time, stating the cause why the Appointment was made; 4th, for a Return of the Names of all Persons under the Administration of the Foreign Office, from the Secretary of State to the lowest Officer, who have retired from office with Pensions and Allowances, since September, 1822, up to the present time, distinguishing for what Services the Pension has been granted, and under what Authority; stating also, if the Grant has been made with the authority of the Lords of the Treasury. The last Return, the noble marquis explained, included ambassadors and other diplomatic characters. He had himself had the honour to fill a situation of this kind, and he wished to know if the noble lords who had held these situations had received, or ought to receive, pensions? He had served eleven years, and was not one of those who had obtained a pension.