Majority for Bill, 10.
- fied with a Bill passed by a bare majority of the
House, under pressure never heard of before, and with menaces such as had been thrown out. The people of this country will never know when they are beaten. The Marquess of Lansdowne having replied, repelling in indignant language the charge of having used menaces, the House went to a division at half-past four o'clock on the morning of the 10th May, on the question that "now" stand part of the motion. There appeared, Contents, present, 105; Proxies, 68; Total, 173: Non-contents, present, 119; Proxies, 44: Total, 163: Majority, 10!
Duke of Wellington votes for it. This division was regarded at the time as of great political importance. Much uncertainty and speculation had before prevailed as to the relative state of parties upon the question in the House of Lords, and the fate of the Administration was generally supposed to depend on the decision as to the second reading of the Bill. The Shipowners were in the highest degree exasperated that they should be defeated by that which they called a pocket majority of proxies, as they had actually a majority of the Peers present adverse to the Bill. Perhaps that which occasioned the deepest mortification to them was that the Duke of Wellington, who had recently called attention to the state of the national defences, voted with the majority. With so narrow a majority as ten against them, the Shipowners resolved to make fresh efforts to obtain another division in committee, when, as proxies could not be accepted, it was anticipated that the obnoxious measure would be so altered, as to deprive it of its most objectionable features.
