Parliament re-*assembles on February 3, 1848.
Lord Palmerston admits the correspondence with. America.
On the evening of the 3rd February, 1848, the
day of the re-assembling of Parliament, there was
considerable excitement in the House of Commons,
and, amidst it, Mr. Robinson asked the Foreign
Minister whether any correspondence or communication
had taken place between him and the Minister
of the United States about the Navigation Laws;
and, if so, whether he would lay it upon the table?
Lord Palmerston, with the ready tact for which he
was distinguished, and with the smiling coolness so
characteristic of him, especially in times of excitement,
at once and frankly avowed that there had
been such a correspondence; looking, with a twinkle
in his eye and a smile on his lip, at Mr. Robinson,
as if to inquire in turn, and "if there has been,
what is there to make such a fuss about?" adding
that the correspondence would, at once, be laid on
the table.
This announcement, perhaps more from the manner in which it was made than from the fact accompanying it, that Ministers intended immediately to submit to Parliament a proposition on the subject, quieted the House, but, at the same time, awakened the shipowners out of doors to what they considered their dangerous situation. They felt conscious that, in the House of Commons, a Free-trade majority would sanction any measure the Government might have the courage to propose. On the other hand, in the House of Lords, where popular passions prevailed less, they hoped to find a less prejudiced tribunal; hence, they prudently resolved to change the "venue," and to appeal to the Upper House for the perpetuation of Protection. With this view they selected
