Star. — London, England, 1815-04-28 00:00:00

Government; and its he tonna , that to prevail, he veins to afford them assistance in throiing off that veke. But he contended, that after due deliberation, i t we, found that the spirit of Italy was not such as t lo ti,F any co-operation on the part of this coun is .. so that our force, intended for that co-opera ees sent to the Eastern Coast of Spain. It did r „, ~ppear to him that the Proclamation of Lord W. It ; criil ,- 1; had pledged us to restore the ancient intle hii,!enee of Italy ; for it only celled on the People ii..e themselves from the iron yoke of Bonaparte. ;e f if it did, we were only bound as the People of /els exerted themselves to throw off that yoke. They .3,.1 not do so ; and, therefore, we should have been from any such engagement it we had entered it. The Honourable Mover had represented the eee cli of Lord W. Bentinck's army to Genoa as a -,,,impleint one, whereas the officers of that army had / assented it, and no doubt truly, as most difficult eel dangerous. That was a proof that the Italians 'e no effort in our favour. Even the inhabitants the large city of Genoa did not rise and expel the smart French garrison from their walls. Instead of t t ; ,t, a deputation of the inhabitants of Genre+, ac conpanied a French officer to Lord Bentinck to m il ee a delay of military operations. That was re fused; and instead of the French garrison surrender. e e: . i s prisoners, they quitted the town with all the ho floors of war. From these grounds he suspected that w. 7 send small co-operation from the people of Italy. lle J that there was a provisional government ~ p cire,ed by Lord Wm. Bentinck previous to the estabi;sotnent of a more permanent one ; but it was done under the immediate military occupation of the town bs his ; and, so ter from pledging his Government, Lord Wm. Bentinck seemed to confine that act to hinieelf by his Proclamation, and not to xteuti it to his own Government. ' In that Procla ination, Lord Wm. Bentinck did not state that he esta:ilisited this provisional government under the au thority of this country or of its Allies. Lord Wm. bentinck knew a provisional government must be established in Genoa : he put it in the ancient form of Government, possibly, because it was Most agree able to the people of that city. From all these cir cumstances, he contended, that the British faith was :let pledged to the restrnation of the ancient form of government in Genoa. He contended, that Lord Wm. Bentinck did not contravene the orders of his Government, although the Honourable Members op posite wished to establish that he had. It had been asserted, that Genoa, a neteitime State, would ma t-rielly suffer by its ennexetion to Piedmont, which %et: .111 agricultural country. Nis , / it appeared ;6 hint that no rivalry could prevail between those two coun tries ; hut rather that the commerce of the one, and the vent for the agricultural produce of the other, tivou!,l be mutually beneficial to both. Ever since the Congress of Westphalia, it was the policy of Eu rope that all the•great Powers should consult for the bonalit of the smaller States, and apportion them for general good.—Both Sicily and Tuscany were by that Treaty given to the Duke of Savoy, and the Ili. ctor of Bavaria, and by them exchanged. By the Treaty of 17G3 Canada was given by France to us; and all these without consulting the feelings of these countries. By annexing the Netherlanis to Holland, and Savoy to Piedmont, it removed the two great ;:renas on which the powers of France- and Anstria n d to decide their wars. To him then it appeared hat the late Congress had followed the ex .mple f all form •r ones in consulting for, and se curirg th peace of Europe, by annexing the detached • w; ich were always whirling in the vortex of polar, 4 .; in • i lieater Powers. He concluded by tn.teirg the previous question. Mr. J. P GRANT contended, that in the transfer of Genoa, the faith of this country had been violated. Itt whole of the discussions on this stesject, Mini. stt . .., had been placed in a dilemma, out of which t1,..y could not extricate themselves; for they must i;7i,er admit that Lord IVrn. Bentinck had .xt.eeded iwtrircthens, or that the faith of this country had h.:a violated. Now, if the instructions of Lord W. hattira.k had not been rec.aled, the latter must he Cle 'rheie instructions had not been recalled, 7-1,1.1 therefore the pledge Lord W. Bentinck gave to the pet ; sit of Genoa was sanctioned hy them. He c .;',ten,:ed, that by the Proclamation of Lord Wm. 11:11tinck, the Genoese were called to resume their, af:cicnt pendence, as Spain and Holl tad had sir' try J• sees The letter of Lord Castlereagh to lard W. bentiock, en receiving this Proclamation, is•L'ltitted .I:at the latter had acted rightly, according to Instructions from home ; but that in the view -, vernment hal now taken of the aff Lira of Eu rt;se, sor.ie of his expressions might lead to deduc uceei inCal:.ivent with the present view of Europeati, The Ito:lour:hie Gentleman contended at s rue long:!) ti:e intkAtiou of Lord W. Bentinck ' out n.. e,tahllati merely a Provisional Govern-, lifv;tt, hut t ,, restore :he ancient Constitution of Genoa. • cielormey with their eat nest desire. They dreaded niieea g enure . than annexation of their territory i'ittreit. The whole of the conduct of the Allies in to t!;Is transaction (which affixed disgrace r ''' C;•;•:cro mew) was such AS to met it the seve rt.-:t cer.a.;r-. i tic fetal of England had been broken. lie (Lejtal that Genoa became subject to the will oi is right of conquest. He asked. could an i.ot,oic.: b e produced of a State having - fallen under the tl ,, triination of a greater Power, and, being rescu ed by .1 friettilly one, having been annexed to another, wiciout the free will of that rescued State? The old s, stern ei European policy had been departed from. • new syst e m adoyed, by the Noble Lord, and lhe 41. t 11‘.notirable Geotleman near him, which • .i.:r.iceful to any -co.intry. The Honourable r , • entleittan referred to the vpinioii of the late King of that a smeller State, wit!, industry and good ceir s ippon itself against a larger, with vi `'' ~ pniveniities. H : concluded with condemning l `„ 1 “ ie cy, which i n du c ed thr e e or four powerful to meet and concert together, for the pur -1"."-' fc. itching a small State. "' 7 . R. WARD declared, that the speech of the 11 '" and Learned Mover was full of declamation, eid little of argument. The Hen. Gentleman con ttn'itd, that it was not the intenion, whets the code• cer4cy seas entered into, that the States should retain their ancient Governnients, for 'they hod expressly declared to the world, that, with a view to settle the .tri ce of power in Europe, and restrain the influence Of • France ; the face of Governments in certain guar tt:rs must undergo a change. Adverting to the par vesin a Poland, • upon which the Honourable Gen- demin had relied, es a case In point, Poland was la a state of repose ; different from that was the situation of Genoa, for in the latter case the whole of the world were at war. With respect to the Proclamation of Lord W. Bentinck, it was issued with a view to a Provisional Government only. The Genoese did not come forward to second any assistance which they might require. He denied that Genoa could be con sidered as a friendly union ; therefore the argument went for nothing, which maintained that sae was friendly, hot had been tre.tted by us as belligerent. There was no breach of faith ; nor was there any idea on the part of Lord W. Bentinck to give a lasting Constitution to the Gen.)ese, and that the people knew so ; they did not expect.it. The Hon. Gentleman de fended the character of Sir J. Dalrymple from the im putations which the Hon. Gentleman had east upon it. He admitted the assertion of the am. Gentleman, thnt the good old times were very desirable ; but whose fault was it that they were not now in existence ? It was the fault of France, and not the Allies. He con clUded with supporting the previous question. Mr. W. $4ll referred to a sentence in the in structions given by Lord 13athutst, in December, 1813, to Lord W. Bentinck, desiring him to take possession of Genoa for Sardinia, 44 if it could be done with the entire concurrence of the inhabitants." In one pan of Lord W. Bentinck's Proclamation, he says, that he will take steps a for the re-establish. ment of the ancient form of Government." This was sufficient, the Honourable Gentleman thouAht, to satisfy the House that faith had not been kept with the Genoes". Mr. W. BATEITJRST defended the conduct of Ministers, and the Proclamation of Lord W. Ben tmck, on the ground that the Government which the Noble Lord had provided was only a provisional one. Lord A. HAMILTON supported the motion. Lord CAS TLEREAGH was disposed to exa mine the qtrestion in two points of view—in respect to its policy and expediency. It had been contended by the Hon. Gentleman, that it was expedient to re.' fer back to a period antecedent to 1792. But would it be stated, that with a view to the moral policy of the state of the Continent, previous to the Treaty of Paris, and 'with reference to the aggrandisementk of the minor Powers, that it was possible to settle a state of things upon the ancient footing, to which refe rence had been made Congress had found that they were bound, under that state of policy which had governed Europe for the last twenty years, to adhere to a line of conduct which should have fr.r its object to keep in check the domineering influence of France, and prevent a recurrence of those evils which had devastated Europe during that period. In taking therefore the occupancy of Genoa, she did so nomi nally. It was to be considered, that she formed a barrier either in the hands of Austria or France which might he of considerable danger to other States. To avert that danger, it became necessary that the an nexation of the territor y to Sardinia should take place. What was 'he conduct of Genoa during the war ? The Noble Lord then entered into a review of what had been the conduct of Genoa during the whole of the war ; and contended, that there was nothing in the conduct of Genoa which entitled her to any par- Ocular consideration. With respect to Lord W. Bentinck's going against Genoa, he did not go against the place in consequence of any invitation which he received from the people of Genoa, but he cause he understood the garrison did ni.'t consist of more than '2OOO men. The N,,ble Lt.r.l then =tiered: into a justificati , n of Congress ; and said, that the division of Genoa was a circumstance called for to insure the peace of E , rope: This measure was de termined on even during Mr. Pitt's life-time. Mr. Pitt was of• r pinion Genoa ought to be divided, it ever it should be wrested from France ;—and that Austria should have one halt, and the King of Sardinia the other. The Noble Lord then read ex tracts from a written opinion of Mr. Pitt on this sub ject, contained ins dispatch written in 1805. Sir J. MACKINTOSH rose, and warmly repelled the charge of impeaching the honour of the country. He was convinced that the transfer of Genoa was only from tyrant to tyrant, from chains to chains. Lord BINNING could not stiffer the expressions which had• been used by the Hon. and Learned Baronet who brought forward the motion, as applied to Sir J. Dalrymple, to pass unnoticed ; there could not exist a man of more honourable feelings than the Officer alluded to ; arid if the Hon. Gentleman had again read over the dispatch of Sir John Dalrymple, he would immediately have seen it would not bear the interpretation which had been put upon it. He (Lard Binning) had hoped the Honourable Gentle man would have done so, and have taken the oppor tunity of his reply to soften the asperity of the expres sion he had used ire his opening speech. Thus much he had thought it nvessary . to say, with respect to as honourable an Odicer as any in his Majesty's service. Sir J. NIACKIN l'O SEI assured the Noble Lord he had intruded nothigig. Personal to Sir J.Dalrymple; he had only Made such observations upon a written document as he considered that document would bear. A division then took place on the first Resolution. The numbers were—For the Resolution, 6a—Against it, 17I—Majority against the Resolution, 111. The other Resolutions were then severally put and negatived without any division.—Adjourned at Hall past Two o'Clock. COMMOV 11/ILL. ' Yesterday a very tailicrous aisembly of the Livery of London was held at Guildhall, in putsuance of a Requisitfon, 44 To com.i,..er what measures it may be necessary to adopt; in order to prevent the Ministers of the Crown from again plunging this exhausted country into a destructive aid roinnus War, until it shall have been clearly ascertained, that every at tempt by fair and honourable negociation, to avert so dread•ul a calamity, shall have proved ineffectual; and to protest against the evident impolicy and gross injustice of all attempts to dictate to France, or any other country, as to the form of its Government— the person or persons whom they may invest with the Supreme Authority—or in any manner to inter fere wilt the internal economy thereof." The Lotto MAYOR came forward, and requested that the Livery would remain silent during the dis cussion on the Requisition, in order that it might be duly considered on all sides.. Thq Requisition having been read, Mr. WAITIMAN addressed the Livery. He had appeared, be obseived i on a great many occasions, before them; but In no etre where the :object for con: sideration was of greater importance than the .. pre. sent. Tie greatest -importance, theiefOre , would be attached to their proceedings by the nation at large on this day. He would not enter into the d;scussions on any abstract principles of the form of Covernment for France, or on the tights of any particulet family to the Throne of that ktngdom. He would, on rite contrary, endeavour to persuade the British Govern ment to recognize the Constitution, and to act on the principles of that Constitution, by endeavouring to save the country from the !terrors of a war, which now seemed pending over its head. Twenty years ago he had the honour of addressing them, tit enforce the same principles --to accomplish the serne aject. However the opinions of the Livery might he treated in certain quarters, the Government renseelculated upon the progress of knowledge, if they thought the Livery did not understand the question. At thee period, he hid deprecated the idea of diet ttine to lily other country the form of Governmetit which it should those; that principle had been enc,nced et the time by Mr. Wilbetforce, in the House of Co:Ti mms ; butt it was not acceded to, war was entered into ; and the dreadful consequences of that war the Livery well knew. On that ground he nosy stood ; and it was a matter of indifference whether a country was well or ill governed ; but with respect to internal interferences, that was a question which mieht to be abandoned. On that principle the Revolution of 1683 was established. If o e lot •ed at the conse (mixes of such It proceeding, and saw a g: eat nem ber of Sovereigns leagued together, for the purpose of dictating to the people. of another country whst Sovereign they should have to reign over them, those consequences blight be dreadful, and there was no saying where the dictation might end.—(Loud aft trnstes.)—We might look at home, and see if any amendritteat was necessary. The Declaration of the Anted Sovereigns was a disgrace to them ; and he was sorry and ashamed to see tl:e Minister of his Bri- Itenitic Majesty lending his signature to such a Des claration, which denounced the Head of the French Government'as "out of the pale of the law, and liable to public vengeance."—(Lsed ami'auser.)—The cha racter or principles of the individual alluded to, needed nut to be discussed—the great ohject was, the consequences of such a Declaration. It these Sove reigns erect J themselves into a sort of Jury, what nation er ciinstry was secure froen the effect of it ? (Loud liplitort.)—What weuld our ancestors have thouget, when the bigot James quitted :he Throne, it such means had been resorted to. llc J the nation would indignantly spurn any attempt et :he kind, to thrust upon the French Throne, a Cone; which the people despised. Bat to see the Mioiste: s of Russia, Prussia, Austria, France (or rather Prince Talleyrand) Sweden, and even Seem, joining in such a proceeding, was disgractlel. S t ele!, t .0— the beloved 1 2 srdinand, who had established the in quisition, and oppressed the Patriots of that tellterit. nate country, yet these Ministers had the audacity to hold out a doctrine so pernicious. Ile lamented teet means could not be taken to expel ;he £Jr:ed Ferdi nand from the Throne of Seain—(Lon/ e/ Ministers had lent themselves to these acts, and wit essed other acts of spoti.ei sn by the Congress. So much for the principles—he would now look at the consequences. He had heard war formerly deprecia ted ; and there were some Gentlemen now behind him on the Hustings who, at that timeerecommemled a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull eltogethrr;" and then we should have the blessings of Peace. The blessings of Peace had, after many sacrifices on the part of this country, fallowed, and the people knew the amount of those blee.iegs, fOr they had got a pretty large hill to pay for the long pull and the strong pull.—(lecerranf applayser.)—But they might complain. Whet attention was paid to their com plaints ? They had petitioned lately against the Corn Bill, as being the means of raising the price of every article of life to double its amount. What was the consequence ? In defiance of their Petition, the Mi nisters had the effrontery to pass the Bill, laying thereby exactions upon the people in time of peace which should be laid only in :a season of war.—(L'aid aftftlaures.)—lf people would reason from facts, in stead of being led away by statements such as Ministers had wed, they would see, on consulting common sense by the rule of three, which every schoolb my could tell, that if the price of corn, at the commencement of the war, was 44e. and the war raised it to 60s. and that was to continue as the peace price, it must, in the event of another war, as the natural consequence, be raised from SOs. to 120 s. Yet this was the way in which the people were in sulted—the Corn Bill, they were told, was to make the loaf cheap. So raising the price of Corn was to lower the price of Bread !—(4/0/auser.) With re spect to the individual on the French Throne, for whose expulsion this war was to be waged, Minis ters found something so infatuating, so intoxicating in power, they set no bounds to their ambition, so long as they could carry their schemes into execu tion. The friends of liberty had seen these sorts of schemes run from one extreme to the other, and at length end in tyranny. It we were to judge by corn. parison, the Constitution at present laid down by the ', Ruler of France was the best of any which other Go vernments could produce. However, the broad prin ciple upon which he wished the Btitieh Government to act was, to guard and protect ourselves.; but to proscribe an individual, was so arrogate to ourselves that power which alone belonged to the Supreme.— He was surprised when he saw men of moral con. duct holding religious opinions and worship ie respect countenance principles so very infamous. [Here Mr. Waithman was interrupted with hisses, which pro. ceeded from the lower end of the H al, and o hich 'was continued for nearly ten minutes, notwithsanding by far the greater part of the Hall, which was com pletely full, were decidedly in favour of the speaker. The uproar was so great that at length] The Lotto MAYOR came forward and said—" Gen tlemen of the Livery, on my election I promised to suffer no political opinions to sway my conduct, as a .pledge of that promise, I have endeavoured to hold the scales equally, and in pursuance of a Requisition, I convened you here this day. You will recollect that I am sworn to maintain impartiality and the public tranquillity. I have sworn so to do, and I am de termined to maintain it. As other persons may speak on the other side of the question, and as this Meeting is convened for consideration, you do away the object, by turning into clamour what should be temperately discussed. I hope, therefore, you will • . , tartar? optn:oo, or t Mitt Ant end to die' meeting."—(Ltud altltlatats.) Mr. IVarrtistarr resumed; but the hisset were re- - peated by a few at the bottom of the Hall. He °Ere served, that if those of the Livery w.io supported his .opinions Were to behave so to the speakers on the other side, these speakers would be soon put d')Wn ; for their voices would be one hundred to one (Bravo tc44od aliftlausei.) If he was wrong in advocating and promulgating his opinions, G.,0 forbid he should press them; nor would he prevent ne man from 6- I+vering counter-sentiments. Put he would not he dismayed by any upriiat, for that :trade of proceed ing was a proof that hi: arguments were unanswer. able—(AM:hurts.) This country had nothing to fear !tons France ; we had shewn on banner occasions, when the Allies were 4g;litaq us, that we c atid corn. hit. singly France. 011 e el the conscqu . ..nces of the tsar w..s, that which 111:: Reciitisitien referred ti—i.he Property-tax When the re,i'ines against it were presented, the Minister had th!" cant!our to give it up—hut within ten days after he had given it tap, he had the audacity to take to it again, and to hold it either for purposes of react• or war. He h .0, to be sure, given up the Assessed l',!xcs ; hut he (Nlr.W.) verily believed that those TaK,'S Wt:re brought tor ward to alarm the people, and rtaike them agicr to the Property -tax, which wag one of nature, and could n be endured by the t at:n e w ; and was not, as a worthy Ivlerrilkar of the City had u`,- served, 6' a very comfortable sort el thiag." Hs) hoped that Member would he imtaucted ntiat.rv.:se. If the Tax was now laid on, it would never be itot tad of. Mr. ‘Vaithm in concluded with moving his :le. solutions, which embraced the princip.il objets luded to in his speech. Mr. FAVELL seeolAded the Resolutions ; observing, that scarcely was the Cup of Peace and Traliqullity held to the lips, when it was snatched away. Mr. Favell went over the old grounds, regretting that the advice of Mr. Fox had not been attended to, which would have saved the country a vast effusion cf blood and treasure. He deprecated the adoption of the Tax. Mr. PERRINO admitted that the Reso:utions might be extremely proper; but they were above his com prehension. He could not understand such a mass of abstract reasoning. H , understood the lte(i4i tion. The question for discussion was, P..ace or War ? He, for one, was rex desirous that the coun- try shouli be pledged to the latter :the:native. It had been said, that it was intended to inen fere ve:th the internal Government of another country ; that he denied—no such thing had been advanced. On the contrary it had been expressly disclaimed--(kiiret.) It was so disclaimed in the Tteaty. In respect to the aostract right of vim; to war with the fiend of the French Government there was no question, if ti.e country were so inciined, that the Government was justified in prosecuting it. He distrusted, however. the materiel of the composition of the Allied Powers, and thought that if the war was renewed, we should have to create anew the energies necessary for c. 0.- tying it on. Besides, it would he a cor.te,t to •Nhicit our finances were not adequate—he ci3 not rneau that they were so much exhausted, but that the oh ject was not sun - I:lent to rouse them. Kew -.he country that its honour was concerned in a conte st of the kind, and the means of carrying it on would soon be found. There was, however, but one course to pursue, and that was one of sound policy—a state of • preparation for war— ( Aliftlaules.) He distracted the . declarations of Bonapane—his sentiments he Was no d in the habit of changing. ll' would as soon exrect, " The Ethiopian to change his skin, and the Leopard his spots" as that person his sentiments. Mn HUNT assured the Livery that thouga the list speaker did not understand the Resolutions, he did petfectly ; and from principle and policy they should have his support. He condemned our Gevernment for sending back the first messenger from France.— The question for discussion was—Peace or War ; and not whether the Bourbons should he placed to rule over France ? To force on a nation of th;ity mil lions of persons a Government they abhorred and de tested, was beyond endurance. Such a war wou:cl be one of unjust aggression. Mr. Hunt made sonic further observations upon Crowned Heads, but the remainder of his speech was received with considerahle marks of disapprobation, and he was obliged to retire. Mr. THONIPSON supported the Resolutions, pro , posing, that as the war was to be against an indivi. dual only, and not against the French nation, the Prince Regent should send a challenge to Bonaparte to fight a single combat. Mr. Dtxost denied that the war was about to be- gin, or that the Allies wanted to dictate a Govern• . ment to France. He would be sorry if they were so to do. But let it be recollected, that Bonaparte never kept a single engagement a moment longer than was necessary to serve his own purpose. What thie country in common with the Allies said, was this—. " We cannot treat with a man who has deceived us before:" Would the Livery wish Government to enter into a treaty with him ? (Rims.) Would any one of the Gentlemen who had addressed them th7s day give security for Bonaparte's goad behavieur ? ( Hisses.) Mr. Dixon here oteserved—s , lem asked it I will give security for Lord Castlereagh ?"—}lere the hisses became so violent that the Lotto Misr •tt was obliged again to come forward and reqnest that they would fulfil the pledge which they had g'‘ee., and listen to every Gentleman. Mr. Dixow did not call their attention ne a f lie demanded it as a right. It ha zl been that the cop of peace had been dashed feern their rips ; but who had dashed it ? He also asked the Livery whether the return of Bonaparte had been. caused :fly the people of France ? They were not consulted. It had been done by the Army. (Crier of Yo, /0, atol hints, ackiels contirtufel.) Mr. Dixon concluded with thankinte them for their attention. Mr. FLOWER supported the Resolutions ir. a long sreeeli. Mr. WAITIMAN replied, and the Resolutions Were can A Petition, founded on the Resolutions, was then agreed to. It is to be presente Ito the House of Com mons by the Representatives for the City. Mr. Warrusratr then moved the Thanks of the Hall to the Lott') MAYON, for his readiness in con vening the Meeting, and his strict impartiality in the . Chair. The LORD MAYOR esptessed his acknowledgments. Thanks were then voted to the Mover and Secott• der, and the Hall was dissolved. 'l' I 4 , f ' i i f ; I tt I ! l is . 1. ' It , I . 1 r r~