The Express. — London, England, 1848-03-02 00:00:00

li THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 2, 1818. 2 IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—WaDsRsDAy, MARCH 1. The SPIAUR took the chair at a quarter pat 12 o'clock. PRIVATE BOERNE:18. Oa the ameba of Mr. Cosnious, the petitions of Mr. H. PUA= opehmt tbe reemit Oeleseised Company Ms were referred to the ems f elsee oh eke MY. POMO RUMNESS. runnows.—oes.rstoma.frem Belehasa Kt. 00 "T el it Rom h em Olomensestisse egirt the lamer taa.--elr. R. icane, hem Tort, origin est • rerisits et Ow tame end shear egasawation. —PEN K. parrs. from mufti' the Wisdom of Math by bw, sad fee the Oilhelbs a ll=i Ileum, from snubs saleneys wpdeetlies eseellingednigh—Yr. F. Mosso., several in Smear of the Land Ommeats mime. 1111100 ND READIMOS.—Ousey Rata; Poor Removal; Sills. EJECTMENTS IN IRELAND. I[r.T.'"SCßOPE4with reference to the retractation and which he had offered on a fernier occasion to Mr. 7 1 = a magistrate and landlord in Ireland, for having erroneously, as be thought , traduced him, begged to state that he had subsequently made inquiries Into the subject, and found that th ere been upwind' of 70 familia ejected by Mr. Walsh from their dwellings, and that the whole of them had been turned housele• into the open air, men, women, and children, in the heed of the winter ; for the eviction took place in the middle of the month of De cember. It was greatly to be deplored that the govern ment of. Ireland countenanced these proceedings, m itting soldiers and the police to assist in turning the poo tenantry into the roads and way sides. No one could won der if • people subjected to suchinhuman treatment were to rise and sweep their eppregeore in • stasitrom the face of their country in . Mr. MONSELL said that, whilst he quite agreed Cie remarks of the bon. member, he must express his surprise to find that, entertaining such sentiments seise had expressed on the subject of the treatment of the Irish people, his name was to be found in the majority of 61, who had voted in op position to the votes of Irish members, against the hon. an/ gallant member for Portarliugton last evening, and thereby 'misted in refusing that inquiry into the state of the Irish tenantry which his present statement proved was so much needed. Sir G. GREY said that without accepting the statement of the hon. member for Stroud as an exact account of the proceedings adopted towards his tenantry by Mr. Walsti, he must say that no man of right feeling could do other than deplore and reprobate such conduct if truly represented. He must beg however to deny that the government of Ireland assisted is ejecting the tenantry. AU that the authorities did was to send a force to protect the legal officers, if it was stated on oath before a magistrate that violence was apprehended by them. With every dis position to agree in the necessity for some modification of the law, he could not, without protesting against it, hear hon. members state that the tenants at will had a right to maintain poesessiou of their holdings without paying rent or other landlords' dues. With respect to the remark of the hon. member for Limerick on the vote of lest night, he must express his belief that the only remedy for the evils and the misery endured by the lower classed in Ireland was the poor law ; and he believed his hon. friend the member for Stroud, in giving his veto as he did on the occasion referred to, had merely meant to express a similar opinion to his own. (Hear, hest.) Mr. T. EGERTON deprecated such discussions as the present being brought on at the readiag of the order of the aay. Wednesday was the only day on which independent members could reckon for their respective purposes, and if the practice was continued it would he fur the house to de vise some more stringent rules than the present ones in order to suppress it. Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN said that the liberty of speech in that house was already too much restricted in regard to Irish subjects. It was too bad for hon. members to be dragged over from their country to attend parliament and then to be told that the case of the staving people of Ireland was not to be stated in that house. The o bs ervation of his hon. col league respectng the vote of the hon. member for Stroud last evening was perfectly just ; and he called upon the house and the country to bear in mind the fact that whilst 61 inde pendent Irish members had expressed their desire for an in quiry into a subject specially andrpeculiarly appertaining to the well-being of the Irish people, there had been only 8 votes of members for Ireland on the other side, 2 of which could not be considered independent ones, as the hon. members who gave them held office. Thus the expressed wishes of the Irish representatives were overpowered and refused by a ma jority composed of English and Scotch members. Mr. F. O'CONNOR reminded the right lion. baronet op posite of the numberless cases in which the soldiery and police were employed in Ireland intheeracution of distraint' and ejectment , . Sir 0. GREY reiterated that the forte was only called in when it was stated on oath before a magistrate that violence was apprehended by the legal officers. Mr. F. O'CONNOR—But in every ease the oath is offered, and the military were consequently always called on to act. They did not confine themselves to protection, for they often took part in the distraint', and dragoons had repeatedly been seen driving flocks of geese, pigs, and cattle. No man could answer for the continuance of the present sys ton for oue day longer. There ought to be a law of coin pensation adjustment bet ween landlord and teuant immedi ately pas ed. Mr. A. STAFFORD condemned the course adopted by the hon. member for Stroud of attacking a man's character in that house without, affording him any means of effectually counteracting the calumny, should, as it was evident might be, the statement prove unfounded. Had the poor law been in force, as was stated, would not Mr. Walsh have been obliged to support the families he had ejected from his estates? Six W. SOMERVILLE mid that Mr. Waleh's proceed ings oould have no reference to the poor law or the quarter. acre system. Mr. WAKLEY said he had thought there was something wrong about the bon. member for Stroud when he looked at the division list that morning. (Hear, hear.) Judging from that hon member's usual line of conduct with respect to the Irish poor.law, he had expected that he would t aye been the first to promote inquiry. (Hear, hear.) He trusted OA for the (stare, in discussions on the poorlaw, they would have the assistance of the bon. member for Li,keard. In his (Mr. Wakley's) opinion, attendance in that house during poor-law discussion', and more especially on the presentation of poor-law petitions, was one of the most important duties of the chief commissioner of poor laws. Mr. ANSTEY said he had listened to the hon. member for Dublin on the previous evening, and that that hon. member had esid nothing to lead to the inference that be sought to relieve the property of Ireland from the support of the poor. PRISONS ( I RELAND). Mr. S. CRAWFORD read an extract from an Irish paper describing y th a nd crowded k state of tbe workhouses and prima ot Galwa, ed whether government had had any official information of the facts I Sir G. GREY said that be had not seen the statement to which the hon. member referred, but be begged to remind him that the amount of prison accommodation was the affair of the country. With respect to the pauper accommodation, the fullest information would he found in the correspondence which would be laid on the table in a few days. Mr. O'FLAHERTY could confirm in every particular the statement which had been read by the hon. member for Rochdale relative to the state of the jail of Galway. That jail had been constructed to accommodate 120 persons, and at present it contained 900. (Hear, hear.) Application had been made to the Lord Lieutenant to send down a hulk, but be had not acceded to the application. Sir G. GREY said that, according to his information, the Lord-Lieutenant was making every exertion to provide in creased accommodation ; but again he must remind hon. members that the matter was properly one for the conside ration of the country. POOR LAW (IRELAND). Mr. GROGAN took that opportunity to explain a purt of kis speech of the previous evening, which bad been misun derstood. He had never intended it to be understood that his motive in supporting a committee of inquiry into the operation of the poor law in Irelaud was to relieve the Irish landlords from the duty of supporting the poor. NOTTINGHAM ELECTION. The SPEAKER informed the house that he had received a communication from the agent to the petition against the return for the borough of Nottingham, to the effect that it was not his intention to proceed further with that petition. COUNTY RATES BILL. On the motion of Mr. Peewee, the above bill was read a second time. POOR REMOVAL BILL. Mr. BAINES moved the second reading of the Poor Removal Bill. It was his intention to postpone the commit tee until the 3rd of May, in order that hon. members might have full opportunity for examining into the provisions of the bill. Mr. HENLEY would not oppose the bill' in its present stage, but was of opinion that the first clause would require considerable alteration. Mr. BAINES would thankfully receive suggestions from kon. members as to improvements in his bill. His only ob ct was to make it an efficient working measure. (Hear, hhear ) Bill read a second time, and committee fixed for 3rd May 4 : .1 next. AGRICULTURAL TENANT-RIGHT BILL. Mr. PUSEY postponed the second reading of the bill for three weeks. BRITISH RESIDENTS IN PARIS. Viscount PALMERSTON would, with the pennimion of the house, answer a question which had been placed in his hands by the hon. member for Finsbury. He had been asked whether any personal violence had been offered to the British residents in Paris during the recent disturbances in that capital. He was happy to say that he had no reason to believe that any incident of the kind had occurred. (Hear, hear.) He believed that the British subjects in Paris bad acted with the prudence and discretion which be came strange' in a country where political disturbances were going on—that was to say, had abstained from taking any part ig them, or mixing themselves up in any way with the seenetlthich were passing around them. (Loud cheers.) TREATY OF ADRIANOPLE.—ADJOURNED DEBATE. The order of the day foe the resumption of the adjourned debate was then read. Viscount PALMERSTON said, is resuming my state ment in reply to the charges brought forward by the hon. member for Yoagbal, I feel that I owe an apology to the house for detaining it with the narration of transactions which occurred 20 pears ago, and that, too, at a moment when public attention is completely absorbed by te matters of overpowering importance and overwhelming inrest, sue °seeding each other with unexampled activity, and which must throw into thooldide those Mug gone by and frequently dis missed events. (Hear.) I have to solicit also some indulgence minty own behalf, for is these times the proper persons, or , rather, body corporate, to be sppeintbd foreign soor 4 tar; woulel4 the Siamese twins, to write ell he ha; to write, and at the same time to say all he has to siy, and hey' h 6 2 ,2 A Jsoh. ( , 4 Boar," and a laugh.) If , thi), I have no: hid 741, 41..,„ t,„ • in mew wliee etbst have to say, I trust that any want , - 1 - teht with the eh. I limit a lank ? darrangement on my part—wbieh may, perhaps, be uses- V" (41 the wsnt nfursa=t azilib6" th. Usk and I amid member for Yong will resolve the mud kind = Le m of the Isom. In feet the hon. and leaned r so skipped about from transaction ateeseuon, and m Wended the micas matters in hie no tice, that the topics ta his speech might be likened tot he bap and portmanteaus tumbled out at a continental railway seethe, among which oath peareepr has great difficulty In finding out what boloogs Claude (A laugh.) The sub jects to which the bon. and learned member's notice relates are forty in number. have been the sub jects of one hundred and m ine thir dissuasions in par liament, and the correspondence relating to them is scattered over two thousand *even hundred and seventy-five folio volumes of office papers. (Laughter.) The house will there fore believe that I must mainly trust to my recollection for my t awniest., and that neither during the last week, nor tines the notice was given, has it been in my power to re yew with the degree of minuteness properly Demure hr disounsion the multiplied transactions to which that mile refers. (Hear, bear.) I remember • friend of mine mu. timing that a naval officer who was nearly drowned sad afterwards recovered, hod told him that in the moment of drowning the whole events of his past life rushed at ems be kis recollection. But sir, as I, although much thristimed and attaaked by the hon. and learned beeember, have net yet been entirely swamped, it cannot xpected th .t all thr events of my political life will at once real themselves sad range before my mental vision. (A laugh) I think, horn ever, that my memory is sufficiently tenacious to enable as to give such general explanations a. I trust will be mesh& . I think that the best way will be to take the lithe order In which they stand on the BMWs paper. The first topic is the treaty of A sad tbst is the question immediately before the house. N with regard to this and almost all the other matters alluded to in the speech of the hon. and learned member, I have to observe that papers relative to them have at different time been laid before parliament, containing such accounts of the transactions as appeared to the government at the time or te the parliament, sufficient to explain the transactions which had taken place. The hon. and learned member calls in his first resolution for all secret papers—heaven knows they are very few. But with regard to correspondence in general, the practice of government has been—and that pretties was mine—when transactions were being carried on resume ing which it was essential that the house and the country should be made acquainted with the conduct and motives of government, to lay before the house such portions of the diplomatic correspondence which had tiken place as might convey to parliament a true and faithful knowledge of all the main and important circumstances that had occurred. It was never the practice or the duty of government—on the contrary, it would be a breach of their duty to do so—to lay before parliament such portions of the correspondence as, containing opinions of individuals, or confidential communi cations made by the foreign minister to our diplomatic agents I abroad, might, by their disclosure, be injurious to the public service, or tend to defeat the objects which the parliament and the government had in view. (Hear, hear.) An am bassador at a foreign court is bound to tell his government everything be hears, and everything he thinks, and even. thing that may be mated to him by the government to which he is accredited; sod it is manifest that in such circumstances there must be things which, if published to the world, would deprive that minister, for the future, of the power of making such communications. (Hear, hear.) I will venture to say that any man who has ever been concerned in these matters, either in the government or in diplomacy, will at once see that if it were the rule that everything a foreign minister wrote to his government was to be laid before parliament, such minister would soon cease to write anything which would be of advantage to government in conducting the affairs of the country. (Hear, hear.) Therefore when any portion is withheld, it is nut with any wish or intention of wohholding from parliament essential knowledge, but sim ply for the purpose of not exposing your agent to be placed in such a position as wou:d deprive him of the power of be ing useful to his government. If the hon. and learned gen tleman now moves for additional papers beyond those which have been already produced respecting those different transactions, my only answer is, that it is not consistent with my public duty to consent to such a motion. If the house will appoint a secret committee to inquire into these transactions, I have no objection. If they go through the 2,775 folio volumes, I wish them joy of their task, but as far es lam concerned, I have not the slightest objection to their investigation. (Hear, hear.) The treaty of Adrian ople has been laid before parliament, but with It I have nothing to do. It was concluded when I was not in office. The next two or three motions of the honourable and learned member relate to matters of a somewhat similar kind, the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi and the communications held by Russia with the provinces of Moldavia and Wal lachia. Of these, the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi has been laid before parliament. Then came the question of the treaty of commerce concluded in 1838. Now, although a treaty of commerce is no novelty in the history of the world, and with respect to the merit of the contriver cannot be ranked with the invention of gunpowder or printing, I do not wish at all to detract from the merit of the honourable member for Stafford in the share he had in the preparation of that treaty. No doubt Mr. Urquhart did suggest the outline, and afterwards furnished details for the treaty of commerce with Turkey. 1 was at the same time glad to receive suggestions trom him, es I am alwa glad b. receive them from those whom I think arc capable ys of advancing the pub lic service. The learned gentleman had stated that the treaty as signed placed British subject% on the footing of the raysh subjects of the Porte, instead of on the taxing of the sub jects et the most fay cored nations. W.ll. as regarded the foot ing upon which British subjects under that treaty were placed. By the first articled the treaty of Constantinople, all former rights and privileges were continued ; and it was further stipulated, that all rights, privi:eges, and immonaioe which the Porte now grants, or may bireafter grant, to the ships or subjects of any foreign power thall be equally granted to and enjoyed boy the ships and subjects of Great Britain. (Hear, hear.) If that was not giving to British subjects and British ships all the advantages enjoyed by those of the most favoured nations, he did not know what it meant. tliear.) But beyond this, in all subsequent transactions that this con the meaning and interpretation of that ntipulatiee had base admitted, and it had been so acted upon by both Then the hon. gentleman said that Mr. Urquhart's eft of the treaty proposed that there should be no prohibition of the export of articles, the produce of Turkey, by British sub. jests- Why, this was a stipulation of the treaty also. The treaty distinctly declared that it should be lawful to export articles of Turkish produce upon payment of the duties fixed by the Turkish government, and in the tariff which fixed those duties, the articles "oil and timber "'were expressly specified. (Hear.) It was clear, therefore, that either the hon. and learned member had never read the treaty, or, having read it, that he did not understand it. Then, as to the alleged refusal of Russia to acquiesce in the treaty. Though Austria and other powers did acquiesce in it imme diately, it was undoubtedly true that for a long time Russia did not, but it was equally true that during the last three or four years she had acceded to it ; and that she had concluded a similar treaty on her own part—the only difference be tween the Reagan treaty of commerce with Turkey and our own being that the former gave permission to the Turkish government to prohibit the export of certain articles, or to establish monopolies in certain articles, end to impose restrictions on Russian subjects. It was said that similar restrictions were to be imposed on English subjects, but up to this time he (Lord Palmer ston) had declined to permit'it being done. (Hear, hear.) With regard to what had been said about the late Lard Sydenham, in connexion with this treaty, he need scarcely in that house declare that, if any man was incapable of being influenced by base or sordid motives, or of swerving in any way from what he believed to be his strict duty to his sove reign and his country, it was that noble lord. (Loud cheers.) He now came to a point in the treaty to which the draft did not in any way allude. The treaty specified in de tail the parts of the Ottoman empire to which its stipulations should apply, and limited the trade of all other foreign powers to three localities. (Hear, hear.) The next subject on which the hon. and learned gentleman had founded a charge against him was the treaty of July, 1840. Now, that treaty, together with the various transactions which ledth and had followed it, had been made the subject of much discussion in parliament. He had laid before the house at the time several blue books containing the correspondence and de spatches on the subject, and he believed the opinion of par lament had been pretty well settled in regard to it ; and to enter at large into all those transactions, to re-open the corre spondence and despatches with the view of answering in de tail the hon- member's statements, would require much more time than the house could indulge him with. In fact, there was scarcely one of those transac tions, which to discuss thoroughly, would not require a 1 whole night ' s debate. (Hear, bear.) He was aware that some there were who thought it would have been better to have allowed the new empire to be created, and to have entered into diplomatic relations with Mehemet Ali as an independent sovereign. That, however, was not his opi nion • neither was it that of the government of this country or o f other powers of Europe. It did appear to them that the Turkish empire as it existed, while it could not be formidable to any of its neighbours, was useful as an element in the maintenance of the general peace of the world—that if it were dismembered a general war might be the result, and it was therefore thought better to maintain that empire in its integrity.. That was the opinion of Eng land, Austria, Pnuata, and Russia, and at first they thought that it was also the opinion of France. The other powers were in communication with France, and believed that she would accede to the measures they pro pose& France, however, took different views, and it was not for him to pass judgment upon them ; but the result was that the French government declared that they could not, without running counter to public opinion in France, Join in coercive meuures against Mehemet Ali, to compel him to retire from Syria. The hon. and learned member had said that the French government proposed to ours to send a joint squadron to the Dardanelles, and that we de clined. The English government were perfectly right in so declining. (Hear.) The danger was not in the Darda nelles but in Syria, and the object was to compel Mehemet Alin retire from Syria. Of what use then would it have been to and • squadron to the Dardanelles ? (Hear.) We agreed with France (continued the noble lord), that if any thing of a hostile character should occur on the part of Russia against Turkey—though she coincided with us as to the necessity for putt ing down Mehemet Ali—we should be happy to join in sending such a representation of the Raul power of England to the Dardan =So as should show that we were determined to mid any attempts against the integrity of the Ottoman empire in that quarter. ne state of the case then WY this: the Frisch government declined to act with u s where aloes action was necessary, but she was willing to act where Mien could not possibly operate in the matter at lane. (BIM) But, said the hon. and learned gentleman, to the.eassalih meet of all Europe, towards the latter end of the year lea Baron Brunow arrived in England, with the object segit an ead to the mutual diatrust which since the year I elided between England and Ruins. How does that coin- that I had been =eh a devoted bistro . (Hoor, mid • laugh.) Be muck distrust ..... .. f w alltrl a ti teel that ft •coun wa tri:ll hiring eoonary Jul nine sue= come on • special shim to "MOTO Ben it ; sad yet ; es•isreuned df h•Thi&_besei iliS asheteelett heiresses% of rat power. (Her.) Morels so desist then that sews, die trust existed. Maas elresmetause bad essespired to mea nies it, and I admit that the object for which Bann Branow of to this country was by a frank and full explanation of the Dews and intentions of the Rmpesor of Amok to so. move that dis. rust. But aye the bon. and learned gentle. sum, the Baron Brunow came also with another purpose, which was to induce England to break its alliance with Truce, amid abandon all measures for maintaining the integ rity of Turkey. As he was right as to the first part of Baron Brunow's instructions. he was as wrong as to the second. (Hear.) So far from M. Brunow's instructions being to in duce England to break with France, one of the most explicit parts of his communication was to this effect: " We do not sok you to break with France; we know you desire to keep well with France, and we wish you to do so. We do not want to exclude France from our conference for the inde pendence of Turkey, but what we wish is that you should understand that our policy is an much as yours the mainte nance of the Turkish empire as A is. We are anxious to cooperate with you, and that you should co-operate with us in the endeavour to prevent the dismemberment of that empire by the establishment of an independent king dom within the limits of its territory." Nothing could be more frank than the conduct of Baron Brunow. Fortu nately the policy of Europe remained undisturbed, and France maintained her amicable relations not only witn this country but with the world. When the operations were concluded in 1941 there arose the question of the treaty of the Dardanelles, and as a proof that the course which had been adopted had not induced any hostility on the part of the French government, the representative of that govern ment at this court used every exertion to bring about the conclusion of that treaty, to which France was a party, and which was a sort of act of reconciliation between France and the other European powers. (Hear.) The hon. gentle man had said that since the events of 1840, and the treaty of the Dardanelles, English influence had been destroyed in Turkey, while that of Russia had become paramount. His (Lord Palmerr.on's) information in this respect differed widely from that of the hon. gentleman. So far from British influence having ceased to exist after the events of 1840, he would venture to say that at no period had British inflames been so powerful in Turkey as at that which imeedisealy followed these operations. For on what was bassos@ founded? Influence depended on one of two paegene— hope and fear. (Hear, hear.) Our influence in Turkey must always be founded on hope. Rumbn inflames depended on fear. When two powers were in immediate ' proximity, like Persia, or Turkey, and Ramie , the weaker I power must necessarily be influenced by the more powerful. In concluding the treaty of the Dardanelles, he denied that anything had been done to add to the influence Whisk Russia, from her geographical position and her power, naturally possessed over Turkey; but, on the um- teary, the opportunity which her disposition to eat in concert with the other powers gave, wee *Dui by them to place her equally under the proteellem ef all—and this, he contended, was eminently for the advaM lll ll 9 1 of the Turkish empire, and conducive to the maintenance of that independence which was necessary as an element in the balance of power in Europe. Then came the affair of Algiers—the occupation of that country by Fraace. This, he submitted, was not the moment to go into that ues q tion. ( Hear, hear.) They had had papers on the sub ject laid before them from time to time. Questions had been asked, and the houss had been informof France, ed of the statements and explanations of the government when the occupation was first carried into effect, and subse quently at various times by himself and those who were afterwards in power, and parliament had had various oppor tunities of pronouncing judgment upon the subject ; but at this time there were Aley reasons for not going further into it. (Loud cheers.) The next point raised by the hon. and learned member was the naval and military operations car ried on by Russia against Cilearria, and the consequent in terference with the commerce of this country. On this point the hon. member said that by the treaty of Adrianople, Turkey ceded to Russia certain territories on the eastern coin of the Black Sea; that the question was, did that treaty convey to Russia dominion over the interior as well as the coasts. The first question was whether Turkey bad herself ever possessed absolute dominion of the Circassian oasts ; how far she could cede it to Russia ; and next, how far Ruesia was empowered to exercise authority in the interior as well as on the coast. Much controversy took place on the question at the time, and, to *ay the truth, it was • question on which the g svernment of England was not very anxious to give any opinion. There were many reasons why it would have been most unwise for England to go point blank against the interpretation which Russia had put upon the treaty, and to deny her tight to the territory she claimed under it, The fate of Cireassia, however, attracted great sympathy in this country, and some of the more ardent friends of the Circanians were anxious for what they called " trying the question." Now, if any person wished to try a question of law or justice, nothing could be more laudable than for that purpose he should go in and assist a third party to obtain a decision ; but when they came to talk of trying the question of the right of the Russian government to the territory of the interior of Circa's* the real meaning was to place England and Runde in ouch a position of conflict of opinion that cm, of the other eon' give wan , or that bath must go to lee: .rheiels. (" Hear, hear," and a laugh.) It meant, in shunt, war with Reeds or submission. (Hear.) It was under these eirconittiones that a certain Mr. Bell freighted a vessel to Cireastia with salt inn article mui h wanted ii. Ciriaesisi, witi, Use avowed purenst of tr, i..g the question, at • 'me when the Russian government had riven notice that they had blockaded the roast. Of course Mr. Bell's meaning aas that, if his ship should be lik en by the Bonnet bleckeding a j o•dron— which, in all prol,bility, it would be—he would apply to his own government to obtain compeneation from Russia; and that, on Russia refusing to compensate, England would send a fleet to the Italtic--eink or take the blockading squadron, attack the Russian annuls, and that (said the noble lord), we should have a regular set to. (" Hear," and • laugh.) I have been often accused of my war propensities ; but I must own my courage was not up to that point. I did not fancy it, (Loud laughter.) Haw ing no inclination for the set. to, and not being able to bring myself to give an opinion unfavourable to the Circassians, and acknowledge the right of Russia, and so put a stop to the proposed expedition, I gave the answers to Mr. Bell's application which were published, and which I knew would be published, and that they were obtained for that purpose answers which were, perhaps, in some degree evasive, and, like some answers we are in the habit of giving to questions in this house, when official duty pre vents our gratifying mere curiosity. The result, how ever, was, that Mr. Bell proceeded with his expedition to Circassia, slid went as far as Constantinople, but being there warned be our ambassador, he returned and gave up the expedition. But he soon took the matter up again, proceeded with his ship (the Vixen) to Cir cassia, and was of course seised by the Russian cruisen. In consequence of the reeresentations made • long correspon dence took place between the two governments—the papers connected with which have all been laid on the table—and the decision ultimately come to was, that under the peculiar circumstances in which the vessel was seized England had no right to claim coin Don. The late Lord Durham was then our am or at the Russian court, and it was through him the matter was settled. There was mes cir cumstance connected with this matter which I will mantles here. Mr. Urquhart was at the time secretary of ember, at Constantinople. Now, the purpose for which ambame- dors and secretaries of embassies are gent to foreign cannel is to maintain peace—when we want war we send men d' . another profession. (Hear.) But some time after this I was shown, by one of the under secretaries of the Foreign-office, a private letter from Mr. Urquhart, in which he stated that Mr. Bell having, from the discouragement he had met with, abandoned the expedition, he(MeUrquhart) had sent for him and induced him to take it up again. The noble lord added that he considered this to be so great a breach of duty on the part of Mr. Urquhart, that he did think it right for the nobly service to discontinue the position he occupied as secretary to the embassy at Constantinople. (Hear.) And he ti. ingly wrote to; sly that as he (Mr. Urquhart) had obtained leave of absence to come home, he would not return in the lame capacity. How far that communication might haw affected his feelings and opinions, since e xpressed not very much to his (Lord Palmerston's) advantage (a laugh), it was not for him to pronounce. He merely stated the fact, wish ing . the house to know that the bundle of accusations brought against him by the hon. member for Youghal in reference to this part of the case came from the hon. member for Staf ford, who was the only man by whom the assertions he bad referred to could be made, and who, from the moment he had felt it his duty to recall him, had pursued him (Lord Palmerston) with the bitterest animosity, and attempted— he would not use hard words (cheers), but who, he must say, had been unceasing in his attacks upon him ever since. (Hear, hear.) Then be came to the paragraph of the hon. and learned gentleman's motion for " the treaty signed at London, in the year 1834, between his late Majesty King illiam IV. and the King of the French, and the Queens of Spain and Portugal, and all arrangements and transactions between or among the powers, or any of them, in relation thereto, etc." That was known by the name of the quadruple treaty ,• but he was not aware that the hon. and learned member dwelt particu larly upon it. Then came " the marriages of the Queen of Spain and her sister, Dona Luna Fernando', and the previous transactions relating thereto." That was a subject into which, at the present moment, he did not think he ought to enter. (Hear, hear.) He would content himself by saying that all the papers in reference to it were before parliament, and that the opinion of the country seemed to be that the British government acted throughout the transaction a straightforward, flair, and honourable part, and that no blame was attributable to them. He next came to " the intervention by British forces, in the present year, in the domestic affairs of Portugal, and the results of that interven tion." That subject had also been fully discussed in that house, and was one upon which very voluminous papers had been laid before it, and, whenever it might be the pleasure of the house again to go into the subject, he should be per fectly reedy to pursue it through all its details. (" Hear," from Mr. Antsy.) We had interfered, with France and Spain, to put an end to a civil war in Portugal which pro. mined no better result than bloodshed and devantation, and our interference restored peue. The desire of both parties was, that the party dissension which then prevailed in portagal should be transferred no its legitimate arena of parliamentary election ; and, to a certain extent, they sass l seeded. He would not say that they had entirely sue ' seeded—(hear, hear) • for, if asked whether the e l ec ti on s which had liken place and the parliament thereby assembled were those which were contemplated by the protocol, he was afraid he must say that they were not. (Hear, hear.) The Portuguese themselves contended that the elections were not free, and that parliamentccosequently was not • due representation of their political feelings. (Hear, bear.) All he could say en that subject was, that when • s ocstei tient offpwreasocsAa*Oldi Mose In stitution of sdliedl be wed; Agit lbs. solves one day or othor, smalls rides be tko psayin Por tugsl, therefore, would be, to wdl tot the met tare, for la the long rim their right* and libmtlso were corals to be se cured. (Hear, bear.) The nue WWl* of the hon. gen tleman's motion was, " This dew coasts of Mexico and Buenos Ayres by the hues et Francs in 1837 and 1838, and the measures (if any) taken by the British government to give effect to such blockades." Now of those blockades the hon. gentleman had not said much. (Hear, hear.) The next portion of the hon. gentleman's motion was for " the several trestle' contracted between the crown of these realms and the Emperor of Brazil, and all subsequent con vention (if any) between the said powers, for the repression of the due trade, and the measures (if any) taken by the British government in consequence or udder pretext thereof. Now be (Lord Palmerston) was not responsible either for the treaty which was concluded in 1826, nor the act of parlia ment of 1844, which was the aet of a government of which he was not a member, to which he only gave an individual support. These wire transactions, therefore, with which he had had nothing to do from beginning to end. He thought that the treaty was to be approved of, and that the act of parliament was necessary and right, and he was per fectly willing to take upon baleen the responsibility of hav ing approved of both, but he could not lay claim to the merit of being a party to either. How they could be brought for ward as evidence of his undue partiality towards Russia he was unable to discover, although it was possible the hon. mover could discover some logical connexion between them. Then came " The treaties signed by his late Majesty King George the Fourth and the King of Portugal for the repres doo of the slave trade, and the measures (if any) taken by the British government in consequence or wader pretext thereof." If there was any one subject which had been more fully discussed that another in that house it was that of the obligations contracted by Portugal fur the suppression of the slave trade. But he could not see how any part of that transaction bore upon our relations with Stumm, except so far as that the Russian government had been a party to the congress of Vienna, in which the whole European powers had engaged to do all they could to put down the slave trade ; that she afterwards agreed to a treaty with England respecting the right of search, declar ing that no Russian subject was evir suspected of being en gaged in the slave trade, but that as it was thought her flag might be fraudulently usurped, she would concede the right of search. There was nothing so amusing to some people as the solving of a riddle, or a clime problem, nr the'disoovery of a clue to some apparent labyrinth ; and so the hon. gen tleman might argue that this treaty and these transactions with Portugal bore upon his charge, and formed part of the great and gigantic plan which occupied his (Lord Palmer ston's)mind for laying England prostrate at the feet et Russia. The next item in the aociuntComplaints mode by or on the part of the French gov ernment in respect of the cap ture and condemnation of French vessels and their cargoes, leader pretext or in soasequence of their being engaged in the slave trade ; and the measures taken by the British go vernment in consequence of ouch complaints, specifying the cases wherein compensation bath been granted by the British government in respect of such captures and condemnations, and their particular and aggregate amounta." There had been no doubt one or two complaints of that kind. In 1831 and 1833 Lord Grey's government obtained from the government of F ranee a mutual right of search for the suppression of the slave trade, but the operation of the treaties of those years was suspended by the treaty of 1815; and here again he supposed the hon. gentleman would argue that his (Lord Palmerston's) only object in getting those treaties of 1831 and 1833 fur a right of search was not the suppression of the slave trade; but, by a sly, although rather circuitous me thod, to, - ,create another enemy against England, so that when she lay prostrate at the feet of Russia, France, like Portugal, might abandon her to her doom. (Laughter.) That was an argument really so puerile that he felt it unne cessary to answer it, further than by observing that those treaties were proofs of friendship, and not the seeds of enmity, and that we continued in cordial intimacy with France until, from other circumstances, a temporary coolness took place—(" Hear, hear," from Mr. Anstey)— but which soon ceased to exist (laughter)—and was followed by the same cordial amity as be fore. The next part of the motion was for "the instructions from tame to time jawed to officers in com mand of vessels of war in her Majesty's service, respecting the visitation, search, detention, and capture of foreign ves sels engaged or suspected of being engaged in the slave trade," &c. ; and then came " the several treaties signed at London between her Majesty and the republic of Texas, and the measures taken by her Majesty's government to prevent the introduction of slavery and the slave trade into the said republic, and to secure to her Majesty'. subjects, having a lien upon lands in Texas, for the amount of their claims upon the republic of Mexico, the enjoyment of their said lien, and the satisfaction of their said claims." These treaties were already before parliament. The British government being unable to induce Texas to remain subject to the re public of Mexico, thought that the next bait thing they could do was to persuade the two parties to separate as friends, and not go to war, and thereby give rise to those consequences which the British government had foreseen, and which had since taken place. They en deavoured to persuade the Mexicans that they had no hope of recooquest, but that they ought to acknowledge the in dependence of Texas upon conditions ; as the inevitable re sult of u prone *el refusal would be that the United States woidd interfere, as he had done. In the meantime the British government found that other powers had acknow ledged the independence of Texas, and as that country was likely to be • gmat cotton growing country, and presented other circumstances likel, to be advantageous to this, they consented to andooneluded a t ratty of commerce with Texas, which e 3.s in (net ackno • ...oging her independence. He conceived that in that to were perfectly right, and that it was a step which the best chance, if chance there was, of continuing that independence, and of giving security to oar commerce, so long as it did continue. Both hon. gentlemen found fault with him for not having stipulated that slavery should not be introduced into Texas. But his answer was that Texas would not have listened to such a proposal. (Hear, hear, hear.) He now came to "the award rendered by the King of the Netherlands in January 1831, under the treaty of the 29th day of September 1827, and the measures taken by the British government for giv ing or securing to the asid award its due effect; and also all leequent negotiations with the government of the United States of America in relation to the said award, or the matters therein referred to." Upon this the hon. gentleman made one of his greatest mis takes, accusing him (Lord Palmerston) of positive crimi nality by abandoning the definite and irrevocable settlement of the King of the Netherlands. He did no such thing. (Laughter). On the contrary, the British govenesteas, through him, sent that award without any obj which they might have raised, to the United Suit= submitted it as final and conclusive for the sake of peace , not withstanding that it involved a considerable sacrifice of ter ritory ; but the United States rejected it from the first mo ment, arguing that it was no award but a recommendation, which they deslined to act upon. Then followed the govern ment of Sir It. Peel and the Ashburton treaty, by which even something more was conceded than by the award of the King of the Netherlands. Passing over a pile of baggage, and getting to the other end of the train, he found "the selection, in 1834, of the present Shah of Persia to fill the throne of that country, the eubsequent rapture of the defensive alli ance between that power and Great Britain, the cause , . and consequences of such rupture, and the measures taken by the British government upon pretext Of by reason thereof, and porticularly with reference to the part taken by the Czar of Russia in respect thereof." In the East the law of successioa was not the same as in thee. countries: It as often descended to the brother of the reign ing monarch as his lineal descendant ; hat the opinion or wish of the reigning monarch was considered generally to settle the point ; it sometimes happened even that a pencil not related to him succeeded to the crown. The late Shah during his life expressed a wish, his eldest son being dead, that his grandson should succeed him ' and be settled the crown upon him. This wish was conve yedyed to the Hussite and British governments, who concurred in the choice. Had we taken another course, had we opposed that choice, and said that the late Shah's brother, and not his grandson, should be his successor, there would upon the Shah's death have been a civil war in Persia, in which Russia might have interfered. But that extreme jealousy which the hon. gen tleman opinion that w w expressed for Russian influence in Persia and the ere entirely excluded was not shared in by men who belonged to governments of which he (Lord Pal mento was not a member. The next subject ad- verted a t ) o by the hon. and learned member was the occu pation and retention of Aden by the naval and military forces of Great Britain, and the mums of or reasons for the same. Ave to that subject the papers were laid on the table in 1839. Aden was obtained by cession from the native chiefs, in order that it might be a half-way station between the Red Sea and India, where the steamers might find colds. There was good reason to believe that it might become a station of some commercial importance. But how it tended to promote the ambitious views of Russia he (Lord Palmerston) was utterly at a loss to perceive. The next point to which the bon, and learned gentleman had called their attention was " the assertion of ecclesiastical and temporal jurisdiction advanced by or on the part of the cr own of Portugal, or the viceroy of the said crown, in Goa, over the persons and properties of Roman catholic" being natural born British subjects within British India; and the measures (if any) taken by the British government to re press or maintain the assertion of such jurisdictim ; and the charges (if any) preferred against the said viceroy, of being engaged in collusion or conspiracy with t he de p osed Rajah of Satter", to the prejudice of the crown of Great Britain and its sovereignty within India; and the measures (if any) taken by the British government generally there upon, and particularly with reference to the said crown of Portugal, and its res p on sibility for the same." As to the question of Batten, he thought it would be better not to mix it up with the present discussion—it was a subject e nough of itself. (A laugh.) And with regard to Goa he must be excused from entering . on it, because, in the first place, it was a dispute as to spiritual jurisdiction between the Portuguese government and the East India Company and, in the second place, because the correspondence merely =Wthrough his hands ministerially as Foreign Secretary, as the question one which could even remotely affect Russia, until, by her having succseded to our Indian empire, she sho uld stand in the shoes of the East India Company, in their dispute with the Por tuguese government. (" Hear, hear," and a laugh.) The circumstances attendant on the death of Lord Napier would be in the recollection of the house. When he quitted the British factory at Canton he was suffering under severe illness, and his boat being surrounded by the Chinese junks, which kept up a continual noise of gongs, drams, and trumpets, the fever whic h had attacked him increased until it carried him off. The circumstances attendant on Lord Napier's death did not, however, appear to the go vernment to be such as to justify, them in commencing hos tile operations on that ground ; it was, indeed, hoped at the time that after the excitement and the ill-feeling had sub- —..--e—•—e--- ----. sided, the commercial relation between the British resi dents at Canton and the Chinese would have been resumed and things h av e returned to their ordinary peaceful date. But the policy punned by the British government was mis understood by the Chinese, and they presumed upon H. They ventured to seise the persons of the British authorities raddent at Canton, and committed them to prison, where they threatened to starve them to death unless they delivered up all the opium that was demanded of them. Then it was that the British government determined to exact satisfaction. The hostilities that ensued concluded in the treaty of Nan a,, and by that treaty Great Britain was placed in • better tion than she had before maintained in respect to China. 'a forts and positions were secured to England, by which the condition of her subjects in China was permanently improved. He did not know what charge the hon. member Intended to found upon those transactions. (Cheers and laughter.) The next point to which he must come related to the publication, in 1836 and 1837, of a perio dical called the Portfolio, and also the accounts of the cost of printing and publishing the same, as rendered by the publishers thereof ; also, all applications made to her Ma jesty's treasury or other departments of her Majesty's ser vice by any person or persons on the subject of the said pe riodical or accounts, and also the measures (if any) taken by her Majesty's government thereupon; and also, copies or duplicates of all affidavits filed and proceedings had in Michaelmas term 1837, and Hilary term 1838, in the matter of a criminal information against one Walker, for a libel on the late secretary of the British Legation at Constantinople, and of the measures (if any) taken by the British govern ment or by the British ambassador at Constantinople, in con sequence thereof ; and also, copies or duplicates et all docu ments relating to the appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Du Plat to be the British consul at Warsaw, and of Mr. Fonblaoque to be the British consul at Belgrade ; and of all correspondence with the cemmanderin chief of the forces in 1831, on the subject of the military pro motion of the said Lieut.-Colonel Du Plat. It had been the constant object of the hon. member for Stafford to repre sent him (Lord Palmerston) as having been the author or publisher of the I'ortfolw, and the mode in which the hon. member had endeavoured to connect his name with that publication wax, by stating that a Polish count, who had got possession of some documents, at the time when Warsaw was evacuated, 11.A1 delivered them to him (Lord: Palmer ston), and that the late king had made him deliver them over to the hon. member for Stafford, in order that they might he published in the l'orefolio. Now, the history of the transaction was as follows :—The Emperor of Russia, who entertained the hiehest consideration for his brother, the late Duke Constantine, then governor of Poland, was in the habit of ingraining to him copies of any documents of importance or interest which were in the Foreign-office of St. Petersburg. Several of those copies fell into the hands of the Polish nobleman already mentioned, at the period of the sudden evacuation of Warsaw. He (Lord Palmenton) subsequently became aware that throe papers were in London, and they were offered to him by a Polish gentleman. Having 'reed to accept them they were brought to the Foreign office, but having no time for their perusal, he (Lord Palmer ston) handed them over to Mr. Backhouse, and requested that gentleman to select any that might be of particular in terest or importance, and to lay those oxide for his perusal. Mr. Backhouse did select one which appeared to him more interesting than the rest, and soon after the occurrence he (Lord Palmerston) quitted office, taking the papers with him to his private residence, where they remained shut up in a private escritoire. Whilst there, a l'olish gentleman called upon him and claimed the papers. Having satisfied himself that this gentleman was entitled to their possession, the papers were delivered up to him. That was in the year 1830. It was, therefore, quite untrue when it was asserted that he (Lord Palmerston) had delivered those papers to the hon. member for Stafford. (Hear, hear.) About the same time it came to his knowledge that the hon. member far Stafford was about to translate a small work published is the German lenguoge, wherein were contained copies of some documents which had been abstracted from the minis. ter's office et Berlin. Mr. URQUHART interrupted the noble lord by saying that he had declined to translate the work referred to by him. Lord PALIIERSTON.—Then the project fell to the ground. But soon after the report to which he referred came to his ewe, a publication called the Portfolio was brought under his notice, wherein was printed one of the documents published in the German work, and also one of the documents abstracted from the Warsaw cabinet, and de livered by him to the Polish gentleman authorierd to reclaim them. Therefore he must say that, although he was per fectly well aware that the hon. member for Stafford was the editor of the l'ortfol io, he must still deny most pool tively that he had ever sanctioned that publication, or even knew beforehand what its contents would be. (Some con fusion and laughter were occasioned here by Mr. Urqu hart leaving has seat and going to the bar, when Lord merston expressed his hope that the hon. member would stay to hear what he bad to say on the point in question, as it was important. Mr. Urquhart remained at the bar, and in the meantime Mr. C. Anstey crossed the floor and left the house, when Lord Palmerston stopped and said be wou'd, with the permissiai of the house, await the hon. member's return. Mr. AMITE% having resumed his seat, Lord PALMERSTON continued: When he said that he did no, know beforehand what the contents of the Portfolio were to be, he must make one single exception, the circum. stances of which he would state. Mr. Strangeways who was in the confidence of the hon. member for Stafford, brought to him (Lord Palmerston) one day a dispatch, which he said was very curious, and as it we , about to be published, that . perhaps he would like to read it before it was printed. Now it would be recollected that an assertion had been made that the editor of the Pm folio bad never published any document in that work, without his (Lord Palmerston's) previos sanction. That assertion was not true. (Hear, hear.) But with respect to the despatch in question, he certainly did reed it before it was published, and he marked cue or two passages in it for omission. He was not able to recoil ' lest whether he put his initials to the passages so marked for omission, but the reason why he had desired their omission was, because they contained unjust reflections on two of the members of the King's government—he had no objection to say they were the Duke of Wellington and Lord Aberdeen—and there was also an expression of opinion disparaging to those noblemen which, he was convinced, the writer of the despatch would have felt to be unjust if he had had to write it over again. (Hear, hear.) Therefore he had recommeaded those passages should be struck out. (Hear, he a r.) Those were the circumstances under which there had been exercised any authority on his part en the publication of the Port/oh:0, and he had only done so with reference to what certainly was an undue and unjust reflection on two persons who were his personal ene mies. That was all he had ever had to do with the publication of the l'ortfol io, and although th e hon. member for Stafford had been most anxious to con ned the Foreign-office with that publication, there was the correspondence which he bad had with Mr. Backhouse, and which was published in the newspapers of the time. The noble lord here read a letter from Mr. Backhouse to Mr. Urquhart, dated the 24th Jan., 1839, wherein the former most strongly and peremptorily denied that the Foreign-office had anything to do with the Port folio, and citing circumstantial evidence in proof of his asse verations. Under the circumstances which he had stated to the house, he (Lord Palmerston) must therefore decline to accept of either praise or blame on account of the Portfolio. The hon. member fur Stafford would perhaps recollect also, that when he appointed him Secretary to the Embassy at Constantinople, he observed to him (Mr. Urquhart), that be did not inquire whether he was the author or editor of the l'ortfolio, bat that he had appointed him to the Constan tinopolitan embassy in spite of his being such. Not having, therefore, been in any way consulted as to, or connected with the Portfolio, which, moreover, had contained attacks on one otitis colleagues (Mr.P.Thompson), that he could never have sanctioned or allowed had he possessed any knowledge of, or control over, its contents—he certainly had refused to sane tion or recognise the claim of the hon. member for Stafford when he applied to the government to be paid for the pub- ! lication of the Portfolio. (Loud cries of " Hear," and cheer.) lie would not trouble the house with any remarks upon the other part of the motion which he had read, nor enter into the question of personal disputes between the hon. member for Stafford end Colonel Du Plat, which had been already before the proper tribunals. The next subject which the hon. and learned member's motion referred to was the treaty of Frankfort, and he had moved for copies of that treaty, and for copies of the despatches which had paused be tween the Foreign-office and the free city of Fraaklort, in re spect to the customs anion of Germany. The history of that treaty simply was, that the Prussian customs union having been formed—not in hostility to the English commercial in terests, for any customs union by which the multi farious tariffs of Germany were blended into one must be advantageous —tt was found, for the misfortune of England, that the tariff which was adopted by the union was that of Prussia, the moat hos tile of all the German states to British manufactures ; and in so far that union certainly was injurious to the interests of Great Britain, for some of the German states tariffs were lower than the Prussian tariff. One of the states of Germany which the government had sought to excludefrom the cus toms union was the free city of Frankfort, which it was thought might become a depdt for British manufactures in that part of the continent. The government of the state of Frankfort entertained the same opinion as the British go vernment, and a treaty of commerce and navigation was entered into by their agent, who came to London, charged with powers to effect the same. The government of Frank fort had thought that this treaty would enable them to re sist the attempt that was making to compel them to join the German customs union, but it was discovered to be no efficient protection against the united efforts of the circles of Germany. Consequently, after an in effectual struggle, Frankfort solicited from the Eag - Bah government the annulment of the treaty, to which the government at once acceded, thereby, in his opinion, exercising a wise and wholesome discretion. The next subject of the hon. and learned member's motion was the correspondence which had ensued en the appointment of Sir Stratford Canning to the embassy at St. Petersburg, the rescinding of that appointment, and the nomination of the Earl of Durham instead. On this latter point the hon. member for Stafford had made some great mistakes, for he asserted that he (Lord Palmerston) had for some days been virtually out of office in consequence of the displea sure conceived by the late King, which had been excited by . his having set aside Sir Stratford Canning and appointed the Earl of Durham in his stead. This was the first time he had heard of • four days' inten tion of removing him from office ; and he did not even now shudder at the gulf which it seemed he had lesPed. (Laugh ter.) In 1832, when he came into office, Lord Heytesbury was the ambassador at Russia, and it was the drain of the government that he should so continue. His lordship pre ferred to' retire ; he (Lord Palmerston) recommended Sir S. Canning; who was appointed to succeed to that embassy. It was well known that objections, fouvded prejudice, were taken to Sir Strafford, and, it was said, h e n would not be re 1 ihoeehetiv.,o:ll,:rit:al:hiev:orandtrmank,:thi"beitowthaitt..y'iito, those u"iruhitninrei s,dhee,go.u' independence ,adehnonen:adordthanebt h 2: result rhooia:td7. of lrd i t retired at St. Petersburg. The government, not esbo o a„ any man force an objectionable person on the court of Russia, da; send Sir B. Canning, nor any other andsmador, for a magm a two years; for the government did not think the ofti g i lien well founded. There was, therefore, only d'affaires at St. Petersburg ; and then the goyim - a t 446 ‘ ,.., out, and was succeeded by that of the Duke of W by whom Lord Londonderry was appointed, end asat — `l. Russia. That step precluded the crown from miasm a - i n course as a matter of etiquette; for it would than lei been perfectly untenable fer the British government mal e have taken up the ground of 1832. They had, thees * - ' nothing to do but select some one in th e place of Lord Is; donderry ; they selected the Earl of Durham, than whose. one was more likely, by his urbanity, uprightnee,, and i , 0 , 0 '" of honour, to uphold the interests of his country, " the interval of two and a half years, from the appoint of Ste S. Canning to that of Lord Durham, government c oa clearly waived the point of the objection mode by Rust - ; Sir S. Canning. Then came the riling in Poland ; an d . it said that had we joined with Franca and Austria, Poly would have been saved. But in 1831, Austria was am e n -- 211 .4 : h i w ,.. ith ee ß to uss o ia pp a o. n e d I had any sympathy with Poland was a thing so te ger &' nary, it was astonishing the hon. and learnedelmeste himself should believe it. (Laughter.) Had England unsi a European war, which this government was most anxious% prevent. Any one who looked at the situ ation of Po* on„the map would a r e that on the first intimation of Engles and France to take up arms for the Poles the three *- rounding countries would have pound their armies is ' c ount ry e v u ad t e r yn T urkey oa B. would o t d d b have been ready to meet the forces of England and Fri P ( asiig. .B HI I eanarnudui. would %It was :a:n:Ttnhea aggrandisement tinl c an h e r ushed AnceTant Sweden would have united for the pneervation of Isole e i pire. ged those counts lied Sweden to keep quiet. Any one who wished ti stimulate Sweden to make a demonstration with her fl had thought it their duty to counsel a very iliffere t coats march to defend the Polish territory. Why, was it " been rose, vknownpilledas i that tno slui kboemlnyil submit to tt t h h at r th e ee hussies ach ab %crept the terms proposed, under the advice of the British govern ji e prepare( to send 200,000 horse, which she never possessed in her I* for such a purpose ? But another power had b”..6. hided to, the Shah of Persia, as willing to aid i th • n e j oeo , tenance of Polish independence. What bad happsea to Penis ? Only in 1827 she had been e -- in war with Russia, had been defeated, and been eon to sion a most humiliating treaty of peace. Could any ise imagine that Persia, under such circumstance., would he ready to engage again in war with Russia, for the sake d Poland, whose wronge would with difficulty bare bee t rendered intelligible to Persian statesmen. Even had Penis shown such a disposition it would hove been the duty of * government to give the same advice as in the former (Hear, hear.) The result was the abrogation of the Poi* constitution ' and the establish me nt of what was called ales organic ad ministration. The Russian government tee. tended that civil war had abrogated the treaty of Visas with regard to Poland, and upon that they founded tbsie right to enter the territory. He did not mean to say tilt that was a good argument. Many things had since pew ha Poland of which the government disapproved ; but thug only means of enforcing the treaty would have been by s Totting Europe in war, and they did not think that thee. ject was sufficient to justify such a coarse. (Hear, hest As to Cracow, it had been the intention of this pennon's to send a consul there ; but to this there wu the strove objection on the part of the three protecting pow * who distinctly said they would not remise ow consul. What could we do? These three powers had de sole protection of Cracow, and the government del not tbilk it right to expose this country to the affront of ha,* consul refused at Cracow-a miserable little power, noun. ing on its own authority-aid the result must have bsea rupture with the three powers. Considering the imamate of the British ihterests involved, and the impokibffino maintaining peace with thusJ countries, the governmealleil thoultht it better not to send a consul. He had now gas through the charges of the hon. member, taking them tans order in which they were made; and if the house shied think fit to make an examination of the whole of his conduct, and to appoint a committee of rational men (book ter) to examine the whole of the cerrespondence, he moil most willingly submit to such an investigation. Sir (ad the noble viscount), I am conscious of none of the dime made against me by the hon. and learned member. (Clan) While I have bad the honour to direct the foreign relation of this country I have devoted to the task all the energised which I am capable. (Hear.) You might find mm doubt, who would have done it with more ability, but acs with more entire devotion. The principle upon which 1 haw thought that the foreign affairs of this country ought to In conducted, is that of maintaining peace and a friendly ands standing with all nations, as long as it is possible to de re consistently with • due regard to the interede, the home, and the dignity of the country. (Chan.) My endeavou has been to preserve that peace. I think the goverment of which I have had the honour to be a member have succeeded in accomplishing that object. Hence, the great sad min charge brought against me is, that I did not ineolvetkii country in perpetual quarrels from one end of the globs a the other. From the United States to China there is not country, of which it has not been made a part of the drop of the hon. member, that we have refrained from tem steps which might have led us into hostile conflict with as or other of those countries. (Hear, hear.) I think the n those occasions we have been supported by the opinioa and the approbation of the country. (Cheers.) We have so deavuured, wherever we could, to extend the commercials lations of this country, and to place them, where mean was not required, upon a firmer basis and a Moths d greater security. I think that in that respect we have notim an injury to the national interests, but that we bee render. 4 them great service. (Cheers.) With regard ti alliances, I hold that England is a power sufficiently mon and powerful to steer her own course, and not to Make. self as an appendage to the policy of any other government (Cheers.) I hold that the real policy of England, sparse from the questions which involve her own particular late' rests, political or commercial, is, to he the champion dna. See and of right-(hear, hcar)-pursuing that coos wit moderation and prudence ; not becoming the Quixote of the world, hut extending a moral sanction and support inns's: she thinks that justice is, or that wrong has been committal. (Cheers.) Sir, in pursuing that course, and in punning lea more limited direction of our own particular interests, nub► lief is, that as long as England keeps herself in the eight-s long as she seeks to promote no injustice, to countenances wrong-so long as she labours for these legitimate objecte d home, and sympathises with right and justice in other easr tries, she will never find herself left alone; she will be sue to find some other state of sufficient power, influent% and weight to support and aid her in the eons which she may think fit to pursue. (Cheers.) Thee fore I say it is a narrow policy to auppal that this country or that is to be marked out as meets nal ally or perpetual enemy. (Hear.) Sir, we have so eternal ally, no perpetual enemy. (Cheers.) Our interns are eternal and th meths], and those it is our duty to ale pert. (Hear.) When we find that other countries en marching in the same course and pursuing the same olio as ourselves, we ought to consider them as our fellows, mi be with them, for the moment, oa the most cordial foolig When we find them either to take a different view a t thwart us in the ob,ects we pursue it is our duty to me allowances for the different manners in which they nosy fir low out what appears to them the same object, and sat t pass too rash • judgment on others, because they do MI exactly . see things in the same light as we do. (Hear, hear., Bod it is our duty not lightly to engage this country is th dreadful responsibelty of war, because, from time to time, 11 may find this or that power inclined to oppose us in mans in which, in our own opinion, we are in the right. (anal Those have been the guiding principles of my made; and, if I might be allowed to express in one sentenced* principles which I think ought to guide an English roster, I would adopt the expression of Mr Cannin,# say, " The interests of England ought to be the Shibbcl of every British minister." (Loud cheers.) It being now within three minutes of six o'clock, Lord D. STUART moved the adjournment of the deb* (Cries of " No, no," and " Divide.") Mr. W. 6. O'BRIEN nee, amidst great confusion, ssi cries of " divide," apparently to second the motion lasi' journment ; but he was totally inaudible. Lord D. STUART again YOS` and attempted to quit but the confusion increased, mingled with loud aisle a division. The noble lord persisted in attempting to until the hour expired, when no division could take and the Speaker having left the chair, the debate 'toads& -.ed till this day. ELECTION COMMITTEES.—YESTERDSL BOLTON.—Mr. Serjeant Kinglake addressed tie committee at some length on behalf of the "Mks numbs after which strangers were ordered to withdraw.—The ear mittee having deliberated for a short time, the puties wet re-admitted, when the Chairman announced to them the the committee had come to the unanimous resolution Ws. Mr. Bolling had been duly elected for the borough _a Bolton. That several parties, upon their own arknowlsk menu, had been bribed, but it was nut proved that al were bribed by Mr. Bolling or his agents, or with the knowledge and consent. LYME REGIB.—Mr. Templar denied having bees authorised by Sr F. Kelly in any offers of assistance he . hid made to electors—Mr. Sellers, one of the parties said le have bribed the voters on behalf of Sir F. Kelly, proved thX he never either directly or indirectly bribed or attempted tl influence a Toter. CARLI6LE.—The select committee appointed to quire into the petitions presented against the return nt /it W. N. Hodgson and Mr. Dixon for the city of CarbieWat for the first time yesterday, Mr. Divett in the chair. II! petition against the return of Mr. Dixon was a coo Ele lion, but no one appeared for the hon. member.—Mr.olr_, jeant Kingiake opened the case for the petitioner*. o• stated that, to the passing of the Reform Act, a podia veiled at Carlisle of paying what was ca lled headknoolV all f r eemen who voted at the elections ; but when diem. form Act came into operation the practice was ahaaiMg At the election of 1841, however, it was revived, ami......1110 sou resorted to at the election last year, the root rm .- had been presented in the hope of effectually to this system of corruption. The majority or l bee l 7 l l NOW were induced to vote for Mr. Hodgson, by being with ad libitum supplies of drink of all kinds ender.* dens, while others were directly bribed with of the coin of the realm.—One or two wi= 11111 : 11 examined, and the committee adjourned to this day, SPZCIE PROM AMERICA.—Tbe New York IstekS . ship He Clay, which arrived at Liverpool yeaterdg brought 7,5001. in specie on freight I ''. .... :. : 4-' 1 - :t,,( t ' .' i