[50] [On June 5 Mr. Bankes moved in the House of Commons a resolution censuring the conduct of Lord Palmerston and Sir Henry Bulwer at Madrid. After a debate the motion was withdrawn, and the discussion turned out quite differently from what was expected. See infra, June 10th.]
[51] [On May 24 Mitchell, one of the leaders of the Young Ireland Party, was convicted of felony under the Act for the better security of the Crown and Government, and sentenced to be transported for fourteen years. The sentence was immediately carried into effect. It occasioned some commotion and disturbance amongst the Chartists and Irish in London and elsewhere.]
[52] [The Spanish Minister in London, Isturitz, was not withdrawn, but Mirasol was sent on a special mission to London, to explain the course adopted by the Spanish Government. He was unsuccessful, and on June 14 Isturitz received his passports and left the country. Diplomatic relations were thus suspended between England and Spain.]
[53] [Ministers were beaten in the House of Lords by a majority of six on the Irish Poor Law Bill, and by a majority of one in the House of Commons on a motion relating to the Public Accounts.]
[54] [The Princess Sophia, fifth daughter of King George III., born Nov. 3, 1777; died May 27, 1848.]
[55] [A strong attempt was made on behalf of the West India interest to exclude slave-grown sugar from this country. On June 16 Lord John Russell proposed to reduce the sugar duty from 13s. to 10s., which was ultimately carried by a majority of 260 to 245.]
[56] [Military precautions were taken against a rising of the Chartists in London on June 11. But the Chartist demonstration was a total failure.]
[57] [When Lord Clarendon went to Ireland in 1847, he was animated by an earnest desire and hope to conciliate the Irish Catholic body. He invited their prelates and their leaders to the Viceregal Lodge, opened his mind to them freely, and expressed with perfect sincerity his liberal intentions towards them. But the experience of a year, and more especially the conduct of the Roman Catholics during the agitation which had prevailed in Ireland, convinced Lord Clarendon that no reliance at all could be placed on the loyalty of the Catholic population or of its chiefs. He arrived most reluctantly at this conclusion, but it never altered his determination to treat the Catholics with perfect courtesy and justice.]
[58] [A fierce discussion took place in the House of Commons on May 23 on the postponement of Mr. Hume's motion on Reform. The motion came on, however, on June 20, and after several adjournments was defeated on July 6 by 358 to 84 votes. But the scene here referred to took place on a subsequent debate on Lord John Russell's Sugar Bill.]
[59] [Lord John Russell brought in his Bill for reducing the Sugar Duties on June 16. On the 19th, Sir John Pakington proposed an amendment, condemning the scheme of the Government. It was on this point that the fate of the Ministry turned. Lord George Bentinck envenomed the debate by accusing the Colonial Office (in which Mr. Hawes was Under Secretary) of the suppression of documents. Lord John Russell replied that such tricks were not resorted to by men high in office, but were rather characteristic of men engaged in the pursuits the noble lord had long followed. Upon this, Mr. Disraeli retorted that Lord George Bentinck was not to be bullied either in the ring or from the Treasury Bench. Sir John Pakington's amendment was rejected on June 29 by 260 to 245.]