opinion is not altered; no part of the bill is safe; but undoubtedly, a part of the bill is better, that is to say, less injurious, than the whole bill; and, certainly, it must at least be admitted that it is better than the destruction of the constitution of the country by the destruction of the independence of this house.  Under these circumstances, my Lords, I gave my consent to assist his Majesty in forming a new government.  I know many may be of opinion that I should have acted a more prudent part if I had looked to anterior circumstances, and if I had regarded the opinions and pledges I had given, and if, placing my attention exclusively upon the desire of acting a consistent part in public life, I had pursued a different course, and refused my assistance to his Majesty, I should have done better and more wisely.

I do not mean to detract from the merits of those who thought proper to pursue a course contrary to mine upon the occasion.  I am grieved that it should have been my misfortune to differ with some right honourable friends of mine, with whom I have been for many years in habits of cordial union, co-operation, and friendship, and from whom I hope this momentary separation will not dissever me.  Nay, my lords, their position was different from mine.  I was situated in a position very different from that in which they felt themselves to stand.  They regretted that they could not take the same course with me; but for myself, my Lords, I cannot help feeling that, if I had been capable of refusing my assistance to his Majesty—­if I had been capable of saying to his Majesty, “I cannot assist you in this affair, because I have, in my place in parliament, expressed strong opinions against a measure to which your Majesty is friendly,” I do not think I could have shewn my face in the streets for shame of having done it—­for shame of having abandoned my Sovereign under such distressing circumstances.  I have, indeed, the misfortune of differing from many noble Lords, but I cannot regret the steps I have taken.  If I have made a mistake, I regret it; but I am not aware that I have made any mistake.  It was impossible that I could shrink from his Majesty in the distressing circumstances under which he was placed.  I will not detain your Lordships longer with a detail of the circumstances which led to the dilemma in which we are now placed.  But, my Lords, if you will only look back to the commencement of those transactions—­if you look to the speech which his Majesty made from the throne to this and the other house of Parliament, in June 1831,—­if you recollect that his Majesty stated, in very strong terms, that that important question should receive the earliest and most attentive consideration, saying, “—­Having had recourse to that measure for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of my people on the expediency of a reform in the representation, I have now to recommend that important question to your earliest and most attentive consideration, confident that, in any measure which you may propose for its adjustment, you will carefully adhere to the acknowledged principles of the constitution, by which the prerogatives of the Crown, the authority of both Houses of Parliament, and the rights and liberties of the people, are equally secured.”