Mr. Speaker—I hope, Sir, that in addressing the House I may be excused for expressing the deep regret which I feel, and which I am sure every Member of this House must feel, at the loss which we have so lately sustained by the death of Sir Robert Peel. I cannot, Sir, allude to the conduct, or the career, of that right hon. Gentleman, more particularly of the latter years of his life, during which events of immense importance have taken place, mainly owing to the part which he took in this House, without forming the highest opinion of the man who could sacrifice power, and the friendship of intimate friends and acquaintances—everything to perform those duties which he believed the imperial interests of the country demanded of him. It is, Sir, needless for me to say more than to express the hope that, if the House shall concur with me in the sentiments of deep regret which I have feebly attempted to express, that they will also concur with me in doing that which is the best means by which we can, upon this occasion, show our best respect for our great departed statesman and late Member, by moving the adjournment of this House, and not proceeding with any of the business of the day. It is impossible for me to state—indeed, Sir, I have not the power to express my feelings, and I feel so strongly the public loss the right hon. Baronet's death has caused, that I have only, Sir, humbly to submit that the House should concur in a unanimous resolution of adjourning, out of respect to the memory of the right hon. Baronet. When I contemplate the immense sacrifices which he has made, the feeling of interest which has been manifested in this metropolis, and which will, I doubt not, be extended throughout the whole of the country, I hope I may be excused, even if there should be no precedent—and I am not aware that there is any—for the course which I have adopted upon an occasion so seldom, or ever, likely to occur again, at least not in my time; and I trust that the House will concur in the Motion that, out of respect to the right hon. Baronet, to his memory and his services, the House do now adjourn without proceeding to any further business.

said: Sir, as the hon. Member for Montrose, from motives which I am sure all of us appreciate, has submitted this Motion to the House, and as I see no other person present who has ever been connected by office with the lamented statesman, of whose loss it is intended to mark our deep sense, by an adjournment, I beg leave to second the Motion which has been made by the hon. Member. I am perfectly sure that it will be a matter of deep regret to the noble Lord at the head of the Government, who in consequence probably of the introduction of this subject a few moments earlier than might have been expected, has been deprived of the satisfaction which I am sure he would have felt in bearing a part on this melancholy occasion. He will regret, I am certain, that he was deprived of bearing his part in this, the earliest, but not the last, high tribute of respect which will be paid to the memory of one whom, Sir, I am, alas! no longer forbidden to name in this place, the late Sir Robert Peel. The subject introduced by the hon. Member for Montrose—he will understand me when I say it—it is one which does not at this moment admit of discussion. I am quite sure that every heart is much too full to allow us, at a period so early, to enter upon the consideration of the amount of that calamity with which the country has been visited in his, I must even now say, premature death; for though he has died full of years, and full of honours, yet it is a death which our human eyes will regard as premature; because we had fondly hoped, that in whatever position he was placed, by the weight of his character, by the splendour of his talents, by the purity of his virtues, he would still have been spared to render to his country the most essential services. I will only, Sir, quote those most touching and feeling lines which were applied by one of the greatest poets of this country to the memory of a man great indeed, but yet not greater than Sir Robert Peel:—

"Now is the stately column broke,

The beacon light is quenched in smoke;

The trumpet's silver voice is still;

The warder silent on the hill."

Sir, I will add no more—In saying this I have, perhaps, said too much. It might have been better had I simply confined myself to seconding the Motion. I was, however, in hopes that, by my protracting these observations for a few seconds, there might, perhaps, have entered the House some persons who would have been more worthy than I to bear some part in this melancholy duty. It is not so; and I am sure the tribute of respect which we now offer will be all the more valuable from the silence with which the Motion is received, and which I well know has not arisen from the want but from the excess of feeling on the part of Members of this House.

said: As I am connected with some of the Bills which are set down as Orders of the Day for to-day, and which I have endeavoured for some time to bring before the notice of the House, perhaps I may be permitted to say how willingly I would waive everything to testify in any manner I could my esteem for the right hon. Baronet, and my sorrow and regret for the loss which the country has sustained in his death. It is a very curious circumstance that a large portion of the legislative measures to which I was about to ask the attention of hon. Members, had been supplied to the House by the legislative wisdom of that great man who has just been gathered to his fathers. It was this which inspired and encouraged me to follow humbly the efforts of him who, by legislation in connexion with the records he has left in the criminal jurisprudence of the country, has given us memorials of enlightened wisdom, which entitle him to claim the gratitude and the homage of all classes of the country. I was struck, Sir, this morning, when the news came to me of the death of the right hon. Baronet, when I thought what a few short hours it was since he stood in his place, in this House, in the vigour and fulness of intellectual power, chastened but not impaired by its maturity, to think what shadows we are, and that the life of the wisest and the strongest of us us is but as a wavering flame. I gladly, Sir, postpone all matters connected with the business of the day, and most willingly concur in this, the only tribute which we can pay to the memory of the right hon. Baronet upon this occasion.

Perhaps, Sir, my right hon. Friend the Member for the University of Oxford was right when he suggested that silence was more eloquent than any words which we could use upon the occasion of such a loss as this House, this country—I may almost say the whole of the European community—has suffered in the death of Sir Robert Peel. At the same time, Sir, as the silence which followed the address of my right hon. Friend has been broken with equal feeling and truth by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for the University of Dublin, perhaps I may be permitted, in bearing my humble but heartfelt tribute to the character of the friend whom we have now lost, to say that I trust his memory may be brought to our hearts and minds without the least reference to those questions of politics which have hitherto divided us, and to which some passing reference was made in the introductory speech of the hon. Member for Montrose. It is not necessary to call upon the House to forbear, at such a time, from any topic which might disturb the unanimity of feeling and sen- timent which upon this subject prevails, not in this House only, but throughout the country. It is, Sir, with the most cordial feeling and cordial respect that I rise at once—not that I am in any sense entitled to bear my testimony to the character of that great man, but as one who has had a seat for some time in this House—to state that I believe there never was a man who made greater sacrifices for the public good. Power, Sir, he sacrificed willingly. I believe he would have sacrificed everything, except that which he considered paramount to everything—the good of his country. Those, Sir, who most differ from the right hon. Baronet in their views upon those subjects referred to by the hon. Member for Montrose, will, I am sure, unite in one cordial feeling of respect, and, I may say, of grateful respect, for the memory of a man who really did more to distinguish this House among the deliberative bodies of the world, than perhaps any man who ever sat within its walls. I most cordially concur in the proposition made to the House, and received by it with so much feeling, that, in order to mark our sense of respect for the late right hon. Baronet, and of the loss which we have sustained in his death, we proceed no further with any of the business of the day.

said: No notice, Sir, having been given of the intention on the part of any hon. Member to move the adjournment of the House, and as it accidentally happens that no Member of Her Majesty's Cabinet is present in this House, perhaps I may be permitted to say that, had such been the case, some persons of greater importance in this House than myself would have risen to express their deep feeling of regret at the loss which the country has sustained in the death of that eminent statesman whose death we now deplore. I will say no more upon this occasion. It would hardly become so humble a Member to say more than that I deeply participate in the feeling—the general feeling—of this House; and I am quite sure that if the noble Lord at the head of the Government was in his place—and his absence is only attributable to the fact that he did not expect this Motion would have come on so early—he would, I am sure, concur in expressing his deepest sympathy, his feeling of highest respect and honour for that great statesman who has just passed from among us, and his sincere condolence at the loss which this House and the country has sustained in his death. I have only to say that I most cordially concur in the Motion for the adjournment of the House.

rose to put the Motion.

again rose, and said: I have just been informed—I was not previously aware of the fact—that the noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown happens at this moment to be in the country. He left town last night.

Motion made and Question, "That this House do now adjourn"—put and agreed to, Nemine Contradicente.

The House adjourned at a quarter after Twelve o'clock.