§ THE EARL OF DERBYMy Lords, I trust I may be permitted to bring before the attention of your Lordships a matter personal to myself. My Lords, it has never been my custom to notice in any way any statements which may appear in the public press respecting my public conduct. If I depart from this rule on the present occasion it is because, in justice not only to myself but to others, I feel bound to refer to a report which has appeared in the public press, wholly unauthorized, and which could have been obtained only surreptitiously, of a meeting which was stated to have taken place at my house. That meeting did take place on Friday last, but not at my house; and the statements of what took place on that occasion, although they bear on the face of them undoubted evidence of having been furnished by some person who was present, or who heard what passed, are in many respects grossly inaccurate. They represent me, not only as having stated what I did not say, but as having stated the reverse of what I did say, and which, if I had stated it, would have been the reverse of the fact. My Lords, I am not now going to enter into any detailed explanations of what took place; but I only beg to refer to it now in order that it may not be supposed hereafter that I did make such statements; and that, if ever hereafter any reference should be made to that occasion, I may be able to avail myself of the protest which I have now made as to the inaccuracy of this report.