Star. — London, England, 1816-02-02 00:00:00

• mk • 41111 . 11 . 111111111121- muntry Sl4O Europe. Even then their candligfied been tempered with too much lenity, and the Maw 'hewn him bad encouraged and enabledlins coax= cite fresh troubles in the heart of Europe,. and to awaken anew the spirit of war and devastaties..... Towards France, mildness alone had been displayed. She had been-left with an extent of territory greater than she bad possessed before she bad sent forth that fire which had ravaged the earth. He was glad that we had joined in that exercise of moderatioa—othat re. had sacrificed all our great conquests, and only asked what was for the good. of all. "When after wards the Sovereigns proceeded in Congress to heal the'breaches and repair the disorganization due to the excesses of France herself, she had been put on a ,footing to meet them there as an equal, and to share with them in the task of remedying the evils she had caned. Could a more conciliatory conduct have been . adopted towards hers But before the labours of the Congress had been completed, Bonaparte had burst again from his retirement, and, rekindled the spirit of violence.and war. Assisted by treachery, not recalled by the will of the nation, he had re. entered -Paris in a military ovation, and proved to Europe that the fee'ings of the French army, unsoft. ened by concessions, was in fact nothing else but the lust of conquest. Warned by the past, all Europe determined rot to incur again die dangers she had run, and joined to endeavoor to pet down for ever that restless military , spirit. He titinked GOD that the same success with which the country bad often been favoured in the support of a just cause, had again been vouchsafed to our arms at Waterloo.— •That seemed to have been the last contest between the Good and Evil Spirit. Only one man and one nation -eotild have achieved the triumph, and the Doke of Wellington had as mach surpassed in ge nius, as the cattle for which he fought did in impor tance. No battle had ever led to such decisive re sults. The King of France had immediately returned to his capital, and Bonaparte, as on former occasions of danger, had once more abolcated-and disappeared. Yet the situation of the world was still awful when 'the retreat of the Disturber was haknown, and he might still be expetted to burst upon the peace of the world. He did not appear till in our ship and on our coasts he came a prisoner to beg for admission and protection amongst us. It was a painful sight to see grandeur fallen, and to compare what be was With what he might have been. It *as a painful sight to behold him at the feet of the country, .the object of his inveterate hostility, and begging protec• tion from her as from his o most constant, his most powerful, and his most generous enemy." He highly approved of the answer which his Majesty's Mintsteis bad given. They had created him with all due kind. tress, but without neglecting the interests of the world and the grand object of the war. And they had wisrl).refused to acknowledge in him any title, which might inspire him with fresn hopes of being able one day to vitiate again the peace of 'Europe. The Speech informed the House, that whilst occupied in snaking arrangements to secure the repose of the world, the principles admitted were those of inodera tion'; also, the Allies were obliged to adopt some precautionary measures. It was a matter of great congratulation, that we now had a person to OINK with, whose bad faith we had no reason to suspect, and in whom we could place entire confidence, and this afforded us a fair prospect of permanently secur ing the object of the war. It was certainly desirable that our moderation should not at once desert us— but experience had taught us not to leave France more powerful than it was necessary, and to take suf. fiz le:.t precautions so be capable oirepelling any effort she might once more attempt to male. AU Otis was eff.ctcd by the conduct adopted towards- her. He particularly approved of the restotation to their law. till possessors, of all the paintings and statues 'rifled by her from other nations, as he was sure that the. French people and the French soldiers had always considered them as a trophy of their triumphs, which ve had not courage to take away.— (Hear, hear.) It was due to the proprietors and to the French them.' selves, not to leave those spoils in the hands of their ravislors, to feast their eyes with the memorials of their departed grandeur. We might thank our negotiators that we had taken nothing for ourselves. It was proper for the Prussian Commandei to go to the Louvre and retake what belonged to his country but for us to act the part of friends to the rightful owners, and that we had worthily done. Those vast stores of art which would have so highly ornamented our country, we had entirely disdained, and in this act of justice, the French, to use the words of our noble Commander, o had received a great moral lesson." It was also unnecessary for him to inform the House, that we had not claimed any thing for ourselves, beyond what had been stipulated by the Treaty of Paris. We had fought purely for safety, and not for aggrandizement. Well then might he, call upon the House to agree that no period of greater glory could be recalled, except the fortunate reign of Queen Anne, when, also in the cause of Europe, we . were fighting the same ambition and in the same country, 'and admiring the exploita.of a General un terpassed in the anoals of his age. And when peace had been concluded, though the terms did sot meer, brash general approbation, yet let it be remembered , that is was followed 'by 1.5 years of tranquillity to the country. Could any one assert that an opportu thy had occurred in the whole course of the late • war, in which we could have concluded a similar Treaty to the. presents before we had removed the military spirit out of France I One point he should bare been sorry to forget. In the Treaty of Utrecht we had used our influence, sot only in Europe, but in Africa, to appmpriste to ourselves for SO years the monopoly of the Slave Trade. How different bad our conduct this time been' Our Negotiator Iliad obtained, at least - so it was stated in the public papers, from the French Goverument, the complete recognition of the abolition of tisat trade. It was impossible that this should not excite gratitude,. and be felt sufficiently justified in calling upon the House to concur with him in an address el warm congratu- Lilian. Vat hi should not discharge his duty, if he did not allude to the difficulties and distresses which, bad been an accompanying result of oar glorious efforts. We could hot fairly judge, however, the ' present difficulties and distress of the country, unless, we compared them with those from whisk we had been delivered. Supposing that we had preferred a • state of apparent peace mid real war; and made-a . bad treaty with the Ruler of Franc, we sbould'ex- twines till nue flitirma, we be plated to beat It ? *it the country had been it Gould be Irroided, it • plain because great blessings ~eultien How fared other nation; change Situations with France t At the close of this hard contest, did not Prussia and Austria suffer in their finances ? At the end of the American war, could the Minister of the time have come down to the House and said' that the country was in a flou rishing state ? Yet ht about ten years she had recce vexed from all her losses, and now she would also recover. It would be well, however, for the House and for Government, to recollect what exertions the people had made for 25 years to support the line of policy which had at last so completely triumphed. Theyhad borne difficulties*, because they had believed that their duty to their countryiequired it, and be cause they hoped, that when they should obtain peace, it weeed be attended with real rest. They had strewn much confidence hi the measures of Govern ment; as his Majesty's Ministers must allow ; and it was in fact but common justice, that when Ministers bad led us through great difficulties, we should as sure them of our support in carrying us through the less ; but the country expected that they would give her all the relief ie their power to supply. That was the sense of' the country at large. Many of those who had given their wannest support to the public exertions, were slow, by the diminution of the capital employed, thrown out of their, occupations and in want of relief. He thanked the House for the in dulgence which bad been shows him ; he was not over anxious to trouble them, but when so much cre dit was due to the governing and governed, be could not du IA duty better to those who had sent him to that House, than by using this opportunity of return ing warm congratulation, for the attainment of so many blessings. He concluded by moving an Ad dress, ,corresponding With the leading points of the Speech. * • Mr. METHUEN rose to second the motion, and regretted that the task was not in better hands, con scious, as he was, of his inability to trait' a saint, to which so much justice had already been done by the eloquence of the Hod. Baronet. (Hear, hear 1)-0 Yet the circumstances of the country were such ascii' encourage examination. If the House looked back a few months, when-the Disturber of Europe had re. sumed his despotic power, what thanks would they. not give for their deliverance I They had not to coos gratulate the Niue Regent on a particular iticthefs however gratifying that might be, but on s lasting and honourable peace ; the result indeed of a glori ous action, and setting the seal to the fame of out Commander. To him we were iadebtel for our pre sent proud situation. It was gratifying to compare it with that in which we wail placed alter the Poet of 1802. We bad now reaped the haivest of our ex. anions. By our example Europe had been awakened, and to the firmness and decision of Ministers we owed that we were not now suffering under despedsee. We had supported the cause of liberty and justice against tyranny. Not only in Europe, but by the coa -1 quest of the kingdom of Candia, our arms had over 'thrown the vilest tyranny. Could any one recollect the horrors and toils which Europe had endored, and not be thankful for the blessings ebtained ? We had *been the rallying point of legitimate Sovereigns. We had heard the thunder rolling afar off, and seen the bolt strike others, and we had treasured freedom and, 'tranquillity, not only for this generation, but for our children. He then proceeded to the situation of agri culture, which, he thought, would soon recovet from a depression occasioned by extraordinary circum 'stances. He hoped, that while deploring that partial evil, no person would impress ideas of despondency on the people, and concluded by apologising to the House for trespassing so long upon their attention. Mr. BRAND felt b;mselt placed in peculiar cir eumseauces, in having to follow the lion. Baronet who bad spoken with so much eloquence and mode ration. He differed from him in very few points, and did not rise to oppose him. In fact, had the Hon. Baronet introduced into his Address a topic which he had discussed in his speech, he probably should have seen no occasion to intru6 upon the House.— The Honourable Baronet had alluded to the (Ill nesses of the times, and the necessity of relieving them ; but he bad omitted an his Address to lance duce a resolution to enter into such an inquiry as would iced to their being known and relieved.— This was the omission which he intended to till up. He wished the House to give a pledge that it wat ready to undergo any inquiry. There was another point too to which the Honourable Baronet had not alluded, and feeling as he did, and delighted as be was at the downfall of the French Tyrant, and the situation in which Europe was placed, he was un posed that the Honourable Baronet should have been content to remain so long in the dark, and that Par liament should not have been sunitnoned earlier to cake a view of Treaties of such importance. Thin in such circumstances Ministers should neglect to call together the National Representeitives, was a mark of disrespect to the people. When Treaties were entered into, the; raised questions of a doubt. fur nature respecting we laws of nations audible cap' stitetion. Means of arrangement must be adopted by which a large military force cats be maintained permanently, and many financial points are also to be considered. If a large military establishment be kept up abroad, the same must be retained at home, l in order to fill up the casualties, and maintain the ins tegrity of Cie former. He should abstain from enter- ing into particulars now, but he had only thrown out those observations to chew that subjects of vast con.' &neonatal importance ought not to have been kept so long from the scrutinizing eye of Parliament. He again lamented that the Honourable Baronet and se conder had not recollected in their address the raise: ries which the people endured, and wished the House to pledge itself to inquiry, because relief was deemed by many impossible. He did not think so. With proper economy the vast and oppressive taxation now existing might be greatly reduced, and the country , relieved in a considerable degree. He therefore wished Ministers to adept of themselves an expres sion of their determination to go into inquiry.. He did not do this in. a hostile manner, but he considered it their duty to lend ahead to raise the country out of its difficulties. The Honourable Baronet dross unconstitutionally to leave the country in the hands of Ministers for relief, whilst he wished to place it in the bands of its saws) guardians; the Coiamons.— he lam* with'sfeet opinion of the Hoare about the relief. If be could be sobappy _opinion' he should have done _ the people. With this view, there was little possibility of ob. jection to a ni;derite amer.dment, he would not anti cipate opposition to that which he should now pro.:, pose to the House. He then moved; that the follow. mg words should form part of the Addreis on the Speech : And to represent to his Royal Highness, that it was the duty of hi[ Majesty's Ministers to have advised his Royal High news to communicate te Parliament the Treaties coliciudel be tween the Allies and France, and which, after having beta acted upon for three months, are now laid before the Bowe. " To represent to his Royal Highness that the estratwaloary l e ngth of the prorogatien of Parliament was deeply ,e rotted by kis faithful COMIIIOOIIa as they considtred that the unexampled tatbarrewownts of Mutual aMirs, as well as foreign relations, particularly required SS sadist meeting of Parlament. " suds an earlier meeting appeared to be called for by the present necessity elating tur a careful revisal of the pubic expen diture, and that the Eiwae abauhi proceed without delay to take into its most serious consideration the state of the country." Lord JOHN RUSSELL, (on the Amendment being handed up to the Chair,) made some observa tions on the Address generally, and with certain parts of which he could not by any means agree.— Fhe Honourable Baronet who bid proposed it had alluded to the present distress of the country, as s thing unavoidable, and which was far moire than counterbalanced by the advantages of the peace, but he had not made any allowance for the causes of this distress. The distress was universal and evident, and the answer of the Honourable Baronet W 0... 46 Look at the present situation cf the country." Well, what was the real situation of the country ? Unfortunately, it was very different from that of the prosperity which had been boasted of. Of what con sequence was it to vaunt of our having gained vic tory after victory, when those successes had left the landlords all over the kingdom unaLle to pay their taxes ; their tenants unable to pay their rents, be cause they could not sell their produce; the trader unable to find purchasers for his goods ; the mecha nic,in consequence, thrown out of bread ; thus, in short, producing in all ranks, from the highest to the ',loyeet, one universal scene of poverty and distress.— In such a situation, it was too much to expect that the people would be entirely satisfied, with the peace, %bile they were obliged to support such a large esta blishment, as it was more than hinted would be ne cessary for our security. When the House was com plimented on the high situation which the country bad attained, he would ask Gentlemen to investigate the nature of this situation. Let them look. at our situation abroad as well as at hbnie, and then let them say whether we have obtained by the peace those ob jects with which any Englishman -can be satisfied.— After such terrible sacrifices of human lite, and the expenditure of countless millions in the prosecution of the war, could it be said that we were secure in not being engaged in a new one ? He thought our se curity rested On a very slender foundation. France had still as much territory left her as in the time of Williem 111. and what was to prevent her from again ' becoming a great military nation ? But oar situa don at home was truly dreadful, for the reported in tension: of Ministers left the people no hope of being relieved from their. burdens. It was reported tlin Ministers intended very shortly to propose to continue, a great part of the Income tax. He feared, how. ever, that when they came to milk the cow. they would find her dry. (Near, hear.) He would say that there could ,be no more dreadful calamity for this country than the continuance of the tax in ques tion. It had been mentioned, to the glory of Govern ment, that they bad succeeded in effecting the aboli tion of the Slave Trade on the part of France. No man more sincerely rejoiced at this event than him self ; but when he WAS asked to give praise to our negotiator for this advantage to humanity, he could not but remember that only a short time before the Noble Lord either did not use the same influence that he had lately done, or else the King of France had set his face entirely against the abolition. Bin be this as it may, though we were told that the King had at length succeeded in persuading his people to consent to the abolition, it onght to be rememhered that Bonaparte, whom it had been the custom, in and out of that House, continually to load with abuse, the greater part of which he dare say he might de. serve, (Laughkr), had effected this abolition at once, and without any ceremony ; the merit of the event, therefore, lay with him. it was he who had done the act, and he (Lord Russell) Should be very sorry if all the credit of it were given to our Government...-. The . good faith of the Bourbons was held out, as a security for the peace ; it had too often, however, been our. lot. on the occasion of former wars, to hear of their bad faith. He supposed, however, dint they ;night have learned, by their long residence in this country, the great moral lesson of good faith, and he hoped we might find that they would not forget it in their own. But of this he had his doubts. It ap peared to him, that chair want of. good faith, in the non-payment of -the pension agreesi to be given to Bonaparte, was the cause of his,return to France, and all the miseries attending it. He could not but notice one passage in the speech of the Hon. seconder of the motion. When alluding to the results of e the war, be bad said that this country had become the rallying point of legitimacy. It was now near a century and a half ago since his own (Lord Russell's) family were in an obscure situation, without any of that wealth and those honours which had since been be stowed on them, and he could not but think that it was a vast advantage to this country that such ideas did not then prevail. If they had—if this country -had been made a. rallying point for legitimacy then ; if it had not disturbed the regular order of the succes lion, what would have become of the present fa niily op the throne? He conceived they could not be [ober-pleased at hearing such long panegyrics on that subject, as, but for a different spirit at the time in question, they might now (instead of reigning over UliS great and powerful nation) be balding dominion Oar some little insignificant spot of Germany, and instead of having vast revenues and mighty fleets and ,armies at their disposal, have been engaged in direr. sing • the movements of a few thousands of infantry and two or time regiments of horse grenadiers.— Hiving thought it right to make these brie observa tions on those points ache speeches of the Honour able Member's which did not coincide with his own ideas. he should apologise to the douse for thus far taking up their time. -7------.---ft,----.7------- , , _ ,„ . _ s, /Is •.• • • . , tut in what A 4.11141 M t ilpa this. because -thskis k real& hit mild , . .waked the opi ten drawwinto diaiiiia whin . y of obtaining r would DO be wile to corn - as to call forth such an j lily were attended with dif: good to the feelings of tl other nadona I Would 'we. and conceiving that the, S . iFistennenodurtatlethMe ol:errlaendiml. 'The CHANCELLOR of the Exem s a a b i l d e , s th pe a e t ches. havingo thel it was impossible to avoid expressin g (1,, „ ' he felt on the general impress 0.1 IF, i ' I o arr the House, an impression which had ;nd,, c( 7, 1 tlemen opposite to declare, that eey ot - ; posed to disapprove of any part of the oi, that they approved of it, merely proposing i ment, regretting that Parliament l oo t not n ; and pledging the House to a tird inqu:rj 'Melia of reducing the public expenditu - i thby must be understood as willing to giv e to Ministers for that &ionise which had t, ' possible success. Gratified with this only found it necessary to mow onl or tw tions for the information of the House. place, time Honourable Gentleman who lo ss , self in the front of the battle, bad urged plaint against Ministers, the long prou.g 4 it they bad taken the trouble to pay atom dates of events which must have com e i m lice ot every individual, they would l ay e the Treaty of Peace about to be laid bo., tt was only signed on the '2oth of Nos-en:ha, nearly two months longer befoie the i were exchanged. These did not t'ke p' 22c1 of January, so that there was only a 1 days between the time that Ministers had power to make the commtmication to Parli the assembling of them tngethir. This a cause of the great delay complained n ten days formed the whole ot the film keen suffered to elapse before Parham"! formed of what had taken place. Oat of period must also be deducted whatever tit cessaty for the transmission of the T!eaty to London, as well as that respired toi ing of the Papers for the convee;ence ia They were now in such a state of foram when they came to be laid on the table, , would be seen that their number, either Conventions, or Proclamations, amounted sixty and seventy, every Gentleman no vinced, that not an hour had been lost. the sole cause of the delay. Respecting situation of the country, he could assur Gentleman who had moved the Amen, Ministers have paid the most anxious al ring attention to it; and however label honourably some of his colleagues ha ployed abroad, he would say for himself, never passed a Summer with less relaxat public duties. He could not but thi Speech which had bee. read contained e which the House could reasonably desire ject in question. It gave the strongest from the Crown to take all possible r praucini general economy in the star consistent with the situation of the count was a point which Ministers and the F never cease to keep in view. if it were p vert to the state of trade and commerce mencement of the contest, and on the ot chew the glories end triumphs and honosi we had now come out of it, he was se not a British heart which would hesitate 1 our present situation. As so many 1 would soon occur for the House musts der what could be done to improve tot 'country, he should touch but slightly relating to that topic. It must be evil venal circumstances contributed to predi nation, which could not possibly be at example, a very considerable stalemate commercial transactions, as soon as Ell tercoerse was ramewed with the Cout had been interrupted by. the war; this ductinn la the prices of all articles sin); which were allowed to be imported, and in those which formed the necessaries looking back to the year IS )1, it woo lected that apprehensiens were entertain deficiency in the supply of breed•ccen, of our own country; and these alarm proaeling scarcity, were coot nod for following ; thus vie prices of c an. and sary of lite rose rapidly and coutinued a• but when, by the restoration of vier. commerce were re.opened,the prices nec their level, and wheat, in particular,'w the pride it formerly bore. Another c scarcity of money, occasioned by thee .11 now so gloriously conclUded. Very la been drawn from the capital of this c great loans of the lest and the preceding lest three years the immense sum of 14' been granted for the expenses of the s gal, &c. ; of which about 42 millions paper. The abstraction of so large a ordinary channels of industry of the necessarily have produced a ;meat staff when the Papers that were preparing 4 (should be laid before dee House, the would be clearly seen into;, and all ti site would be ter Gentlemen not to co the gross, but scrupulously to erenong and, af.er an attentlve investigation, opinion as'to what pails of CA public can be properly dispensed with, as wel wants ire to be met which are mast ni welfare of the country. In answer e of the Nehie Lord opposite, he had r avow the intention ot Ministers to . o come Tax, on the modified scale ot Fll (Loud crier of hear, hear,frou all parer o. He should be able, at the proper ume, of all modes that could be thought c. be equally advantageous and econoniii pressive and burthensome to the comm tie was aware he should be tall, Mai now a large sum of maney, to superset `of this lax; but he shout., have no c 1,1., ing, that this triode would be found convenient and burthensome to obtail supply. But there would, -as he ha served, he .so many occasions for diset ject, that he should abstain from any , f at present, and only declare, that oil Address had his most unqualified ape Mr. BROUGHAM Olen rose ant following purport :..." Little as I am ject to the Address, yet i cannot n 0 cirles laid down by the Horiouratili moved it. lam not unwilling to ag dress gleserally, because it pledges