Star. — London, England, 1821-01-24 00:00:00

Lord CASTLEREAGH objected to the infor-' polity of the conduct of Mr. Wetherell. s I r ,WETH SHELL said;thatbefore such-a. notice should have been liven, it . .would have been proper to move for papers containing instructions on the 1-object--(Cries of Movc!) _lle moved for copies of - I E - Collects or Litanies ill the Li.urgy of the Church, f ro m the earliest pet iod ; as also for copies of other papers, amongst which was the Order in COuncilter the exclusion 61 . her Majesty's name from . the'Liturgy. i.bject was to enable the House to come tia a'just . idea of the subject before it was brought. forward. lie cancel ved himself actin& in a Parliamentary . man or i n moving as he had done— (Hear, p hear). Lord CAS tIEREAGH opposed the reception of the notice, on the ground that, being Called'on thus ester, he could not deterrnime.whether the papers a n entioned were such as could-properly be produced. 'Thus moving inaanter was a..new doctrine; and he put it to the Hon. Gentleman to say whether these new doctrines were to be approved ?—:-( Hear; hear). had no intention to withhord this information from the House; but, if agreed to, it could only have the effect of delaying the Noble Lord's motion for F r iday, as the papers could not possibly be printed by that day ; and therefore he should hope the Hon. Gentleman would withdraw his motion, and give notice for to•morrow—(No . 1 No!).—Then, if the question were not withdrawn, be should feel it his duty to move the previous 9uestion. Mr. TIERNEY was at a loss to nnderstand the Noble Lord, who said, he had no objection to the papers us question being laid before the Ilouse, and yet he moved the previous question ; and the Noble Lords said this, because he did not know where the documetas were to be found, or how long they might take to prochtie. It was astonishing that the Noble Lords, who had advised the striking her Majesty's nerve out of the Liturgy should not know where the documents, upon which he must presume they bad acted, were to be found. The Noble Lord said these documents might take a long time to prepare; that was one reason why no time should be lost in order ing them. The Noble Lord had al o talked of in fluence used on their side of the House. Such lan guage ought eot to be adopted by the Noble Lord; who, though he had influence, and well knew he had it, also well knew that those who sat on his (Mr. Tieroey's) side of the house had but little influence, for they had no places to bestow, or to take away, as the Noble Lord had. Mr. WETHERELL, with much warmth, denied that he had intmded to take the House by surprize, as the Noble Lord had asserted. He could not sup pose, that the Noble Lord and his colleagues, how ever unadvisedly they might have acted, bud acted without consulting the important documents in Sues- tion ; upon which alone they could legally and con stitutionally act. Mr. BATHURST felt himself called on by the ar guments or the Learned and Hun. Gentleman. Mr. FLUME rose to order. The Right lion. Gen tleman was about to address the House; but before be proceeded, Re was desirous of knowing whether the .Right Hon. Gentleman was a Member of the House or not ? It was well known that the Right H. n. Gentleman bad recently accepted the office of Preadent of the Board of Controul, an office worth -4:50%). If this did not vacate his seat, he did not know what would ; and he bad not heard that the Right Hon. Gentleman had beers again elected. Mr. BATHURST was surprised that, before the Honourable Gentleman made his objection, he had not looked into the Act of Parliament. If he had, he w -uld have seen that the Act said nothing about the £5OOO a-year to the President of the Board of Oontroui. The Act gave his Majesty the power of appointing the salaries to the different Commissioners, and he could say he had no such salary ; and the Act specifically said, that the Commissioners should not, by their appointment, vacate their seats. TIERNEY was happy to hear that the Right Hon. Gentleman, being Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. performed the functions of Chairman of the Board of Controul without salary. Lord MILTON was not satisfied with this expla• nation. It was not sufficient for the Right Honour-- able Gentleman to say he had given up his salary . The House was bound by the fact, did the Act give him a salary ? Mr.CR EEVEY also considered the question to be, whether the Act gave any salary ? Mr. BATHURST said, he received no salary, and acted on his own responsibility. With respect to the motion, the production of these Papers must occupy a long time, as it would be necessary to search for authenticated copies of the Liturgy, and could not be satisfied by the production of extracts from com mon copies to be found ill any bookseller's shop. Sir JAMES M-ACKINTOSII could not discover any cause for delay on the subject. The Noble Lord and his Colleagues must have had those authentic copies in their possession before they could have acted. They certainly would not have acted on tin authenticated documents, and therefore they might at once lay their hands on them. SOLICITOR-GENERAL said, the proper course for his Learned Friend to have pursued would have been to move for the Order in Council made to! alter the Liturgy, as no alteration could be made without such an Order. There could have been nu objection to producing that Order, if moved for. SCARLETT supported the motion for the Production of these Papers. It appeared to him that they were liecessary, to consider whether the exclu sion of her Majesty's name from the Liturgy,, was, he would not say, legally, but constitutionally, and, svith propriety, effected. That was to be discussed I wholly independent of the dry question of law. The ground of delay was not a sufficient reason for his Learned Friend (Mr. Wetherell) to withdraw his motion. For his own part, he believed the whole of these-documents could be prepared in the course of Inc morning. Nli. Serjeant ONSLOW supported the motion, be cause he n as desirous of obtaining all possible infor tuation on this subject; but, by giving this vote, he eri,!leti to be understood as not binding himself on occasion in which this great subject, which at oesent so much agitated the country, might come Under discussio... The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was desirous this I should be considered impar 7 ti4i , v, and witi.ou. y feeling. He could not but t.,is motion - as ill-timed. Ile thought it -- Aud be postponed till after the Address was dis posed of; and therefore he should vote for the pre. vious question. The pllery was then cleared for a division : when the nutrabers were— . . _ _ For the previous question, moved by Lord Castlereagh 261 For Mr. Wethercll's MAIOP - - 169 • •31ajority Mr. WETHERELL then stated, that he would4,to morrow, move for the Papers he had already enu meratdJ; and several others which he named. ADDRESS TO HIS MAJESTY. The SPEAKER having read the King's Speech, (for which see Lords), Mr. G. BANKES rose and spoke as follows t— " Ma. SPEAKER—Sir, in proposing an Address to his Majesty of acknowledgment for the gracious Speech which we heard some hours ago, and which you have at last had an opportunity of reading to us, I shall not trouble you with any expressions of conscious insufficiency, because lam aware they are a very' poor excuse for the presumption of a volun tary undertaking, and because Ido not apprehend anything very difficult in returning a suitable acknow ledgment for gracious intimations and assurances every way calculated to inspire a dutiful and affec tionate feeling. As one of his Majesty's many, many loyal Subjects, I propose, Sir, that we approach his Throne, to assure him of the fidelity of a nation which is sound at heart—a nation not so intoxicated by the splendour of unparalleled triumphs, nor so lulled to apathy by the security of a profound peace, as to visit with ingratitude the promoter of those triumphs, and the procurer of this honourable repose. In a nation in which all are free, folly must have her freedom, and mischief will mark her for its tool : folly will discharge her debts of gratitude by deny isig their amount—by forgetting the danger from which she has been delivered, though ever when in petil herself the loudest to complain, and the fore most to despair. The spirit of mischief can have no account of gratitude to settle with the peace-maker ; it is a spirit obnoxious to repose ; inavar and tumult it can be content to hope all evil to the good order which it hates ; but in peace;.it must counsel and con trive it ; it is then that it is seen walking restless through the dry places of the land, instigating the owner of each poor and barren plot, not to cultivate and improve, but to curse the little portion•he i 5 heir to.— It was this same r spirit that could heretofore with mischievous exaggeration deck out the avowed im placable enemy of its country with irresistible might, with infallible sagacity, and inexhaustible resources, and with prophetic fervor could foretel the stability of all that he should set up, and the ruin of all he should denounce ; the same spirit that .could boldly excuse and justify. all his crimes, or more boldly could deny tnem. When baffled in its every hope, belied by every prophecy, this bankrupt firm of im pudent invention has still new fictions ready for new credulity, new idols for folly's worship, and honour able attributes for every new disturber of the public quiet.. If it he true, that each several nation has a peculiar national character belonging to its inhabit ants, the 'King, who finds himself at the head of a frank, a gallant, and a generous. People, can wish to exchange the subcts of his Government for no others on the face of the earth; in their valour he is re nowoed abroad—in their honourable allegiance he is secure at home; but there are circumstances that will invariably work a' change in every national character, and perhaps the strongest changes are the most gene rous and the best. Such is the circumstance of great national success in war—this will infuse an ardour— a zeal for enterprise—a restless desire of still finding something to oppose, and something to defend-4 chi valry that will delight in the mimic circumstance of war, the polished armour and the nodding plume—a chivalry that will combat imaginary oppressors, that will liberate convicted culprits, and commission them to carry their chains and their innocence to the in spii ing genius of its romantic history! Such draw backi to national successes, in the wild enthusiasm they inspire, it may be well for a Prince, on his own personal, account, to estimate before he voluntarily engages in a war; in defensive warfare, however, he can have no option, and where, upon first assuming the reins of Government, he finds the kingdoms of :his rule already engaged up to the very crisis of a contest, no alternative remaining but between perse verance in much peril, or submission in lowest de gradation, he has then only to select whether he will choose to reign over a broken-hearted, humbled people, who will never infringe his prerogatives, nor .question his rights, nor obstruct his functions, nor presume to insult his person, or whether, dismissing all selfish consideration, at the risk of the throne he sits on, unappalled by the fate of his neighbour Kings, then captive, or in exile, unintimidated by those at home whose patriotic prudence would suggest more cautious counsels—(Hear, hear) — whether he will, disdaining all compromise of national dinity, rouse the ardour of his empire, and dare to rely upon it? If he shall have pursued this course, and if in doing so he shall have saved for his king doms everything, and their honour, it is no small drawback that shall cancel the gratification of his bosom ; and could he, at a moment when popular ardour is misled, regret the deliverance he has worked and the laurels he has planted, he might perhaps de serve that those whose deliverance he has worked should withhold from him their gratitude and affec tion. The partial abuses of benefits conferred will not check the further efforts of beneficent minds ;if they did so, all national improvement must stand still, the illiterate must remain without instruction, because those who had hitherto abused their ignorance are now poisoning the new springs of their knowledge. Unhappily, this wick,edness hai r s not spared us—it is, Sir,, the unkindest cat of all; that benevolent, Christian, good-will towards man, which had spared neither toil nor cost, by education, to enlighten, and by enlightening to improve, is doomed to suffer, like the wounded bird of the Poet, who • Saw his own feather on the fatal dart, And wing'd the shaft which quiver'd in his heart: IP:en was the pang, but keener still to feel, He nut s'd the lunioo which impell'd the steel :' As one who can share a pride in the intellectual im. proverneat of his fellow-subjects: who can admire the *al which excite's, and the liberality which pro motes it ; who can appreciate the laborious, research which renovates pious endowments, leng since sleep ing with their. founders; as one who. can pay the humble tribute of his praise for all that has been done and is doing in this cause, I. cannot hut deeply share their mortification who deplore the base per. , version of such noble purposes. It is no new thing, indeed, for slander to arraign all that is high and holy.; birt the tongue of slander, however venomous, can inflict no wound, can effect no puncture in the character that is sound and whole; it is the pen of the libeller, against which innocence is no shield ; hand at a time when the evil eye of discontent not only envies its neighbours goods, but covets its neighbour's character, we have, Sir, to dread and to repel one general levelling system, both of property and of good name. . The barrier of the Constitution will net fall down at the first giddy shout of the multitude, the high tribunals which are its bulwarks will yet stand, though treason deny their authority, and con ,ciotis guilt their justice ; blasphemy may rail at the holy place, and hypocrisy defile it with her pageants long, long before the dome will totter ; but the ruin must come at last, if the remedy be not fitly interposed. When the league of what is base and false, profligate and malicious, shall unite honour and integrity to oppose it, the evil then works its own cure, and the remedy is near at hand ; we know its effi 'cacy, we have proved it scarce a twelvemonth since. In the shews and processions of the year which has . just expired, who but must have called. to mind the like exhibitions of the twelvemonth which preceded it ? The music, the march, and the banner ; the Meeting, the Resolution, and Address; those first' were the very prototypes of these last arrays; the same in their real origin, and in their real object, differing only in their method of pursuing it; the first pursued its'object by denouncing the Aristo cracy, the second by denouncing the Crown; the Aristocracy was then true to itself; the Represen tatives of the People were then faithful, and if the highest duties of fidelity be now as well fulfilled, the country is yet safe. It we turn our eyes from the cares of domestic solicitude and look abroad, the whole world is to us a scene of calm, of tranquillity ; our flag flies on every sea, our besy industry plies in every port ; our merchants are the rulers of king doms, our character everywhere high, and our credit everywhere firm. If this honour, if this power, if this peace have been worth winning, we might, Sir, think them worth enjoying ; but there is a con sistency in the perverseness of those who refuse to enjoy the fruits of measures which they have so loudly and indiscriminately condemned—( Hear). 11 the ill-humour which has for twenty long years and more so actively despaired of the public weal, would at last confine the limit of its despondency to its own particular views and its own private ends, content might then rest at home, and in its easy scat enjoy the fire-side it has defended ; but when the shout of clamour is heard from without that well known cry, which so loudly informed our enemies of the exhaustion of our resources and the futility of our resistance—that same cry which so loudly demanded a Reform, since confessed by its chiefest advocates to be impracticable or inexpedient—that same cry which so formidably opposed any protection to our Agricultural Interest, under which protection alone daily labour is now eating its daily bread ; as often as this cry of ill-omen is raised and is reiterated, ac tivity must become a duty, and the supineness of lop ialty is a cowardice at least. It is said that there are some, and there are some who have said it them selves, that on looking hack to the popular demands which they have sanctioned with their names, and supported with their abilities, they. are now con vinced that youthful ardour had led them to over step the line of expediency and prudence. It might be well if those whose second and better thoughts lead them to this conclusion, would apply their ma tured judgment to the consideration of the future as well as of the past, and would view in pros. pect the expediency of those measures to which they may now be lending the weight of their names, and of their stations, and of their characters. It might be well if they would remember that the strong assertion is received into ready ears, which are shut against tire subsequent explanation; and that there are some evils, easily inflicted, for which retractation is nu redress. The breach of that con fidence which ought to subsist, and which has sub sisted between the several orders of society living under this happy Constitution, must be an evil be yond redress; this confidence was our strength in battle, our union in effort, our hope, and our protec tion. He who dissolves it breaks our talisman, the only witchcrqft we have used, to make of a little island a great nation ! Sir, as a greavnation, taking a chief place among the chiefest powers of the earth, we have new functions to attend to, and a new degree of vigilance to exercise. The greatness we have so hardly earned we never shall willingly descend from; we shall bequeath it to posterity as we won it ; .It is a greatness which is no empty name. This great ness is the vigour of our commerce, and the credit of our mercantile good faith. We have no covetous craving to satisfy, either of riches or of territory_ the treasury of Europe was at our feet when our bayonets mounted . guard at Paris; we parted the spoil amongst the rightful claimants, keeping for onrsAves nothing but the satisfaction of having done so. Irani a Nation which has so acted, no well.consti tuted Government will fear aggression, nor will pro yoke it; and we have the satisfaction of knowing, that his Majesty receives from foreign Powers the assurance of a continuance of their friendly disposi.. lions. Whilst we lament that unfortunate circum stances affecting the Commercial credit of Ireland, have impeded the receipts of the l'ublic Revenue in that part of the United Kingdom, we turn with pt.; culiar pleasure to the consolatory balance (Their couragement to our Manufactures by the recent ith provemeut of our trade; and it is with satisfaction we hear that his Majesty has been enabled to make some further reduction in his Military Establishment. Sir, in adverting to the proposed provision for the Queen, 1 imagine it will he sufficient that, on the pre. sent occasion, we express our humble acquiescence in his Majesty's recommendation ; and, without pre suming to suggest what line of conduct may best become others, t am satisfied it will best become , me to avoid the utterance of a single word which might provoke premature discussion, and unnecessarily dis turb the unanimity of our this night's vote, It is in the sincere hope and expectation of an unanimous concurrence that I propose an Address consistent with the sentiments 4 bare declared, and with the ,feelings I entertain of loyalty to the Throne, and of ardent love for our Constitution as it stands, and as: it has so long good.' • Mr. BROWN, the seconder of the Address, then Lose.' Ilk began . in. ill toga of voice quite inaudible, and it was only at intervals that he could be under stood. At first he laboured under considerable em barrassment, but was encouraged by the lionse, and enabled to proceed, though not with perfect Confi dence. He said, that eventful times had been lately witnessed, in which destructive principles had as sumed new shapes, and menaced everythi.,, , valu able with ruin. He hoped such scenes s..urd never be renewed. •He could almost wish that they were obliterated from our history, if it were not that their remembrance might have a salutary influence on two sets of men—one of whom forgot their duty to their country in the heated activity of party, and the other passively submitted to the developement of principles at variance with all its interests. He could not ima gine on what grounds any opposition could be made to the present Address. There was one national topic introduced in it, which was of so much interest, that, though he might be accused of going out of the course in mentioning it, he could not retrain from doing so. By some strange infatuation, the business of Ire land, in that House, was received either with total cold ness, or, at most, decided after very short consulta tions. That country had seffered much—and what had been her conduct during the late proceedings. ? It had been most quiet and orderly. Not even the most furious demagogue had raised his voice to ap. plaud the scenes that were acting in this country— (Hear, hear).—The most distant attempt had not yet been made to introduce to that country the new doc trine—that of allowing to female manners in the United Kingdom the same license and latitude that ,were permitted in foreign lands—(Laughter and groans).—lt was not necessary for him w quote va rious authors to shrew that national debauchery and national ruin went hand in hand—( Hear, kcal ).—He would pursue this subject no further. He sincerely hoped Ministers would adopt a course of measures beneficial for the country, and worthy of the great glories they had achieved for the nation by the firm ness and vigour of their councils. Mr. CURWEN regretted that the mover and se conder of the Address, had not followed the exam ple of the Speech ; and abstained from topics that were likely to create irritation. He himself had often lamented that Ministers were so little acquainted with the state of the country, and bad made no allu sion in the Speech to the distress of the agricultural part of the community. That distress had been borne with the utmost patience ; and, amidst all their privations, the greatest loyalty had been displayed by that body of mien. He was unable to account for the allusions made by the mover and seconder to former •discnssions in that house. Though he wished for the removal of the present Ministers, yet he looked more to measures than to men ; at the same time, he was convinced there was a general convic tion in the country of the incompetence of the pre sent Ministers to conduct the machinery of public aft' Ors. None 'could imagine that men so ignorant of the state of the country could apply a remedy to the evils they had caused. Something efficient was necessary to be done relative to the condition of the. labouring poor, ani the Poor-rates at the present day were equal to the whole expendittne of the coun try 25 years ago. The danger was to be looked man fully in the face, and the patriotism of the countrt was sufficient fcr its deliverance, if assisted by an en lightened Government. Mr. TIERNEY expresses'. hi; satiLllction at being able to assent to the Address, without troubling the House with an Amendment, a piece of respect due to the Crown, uoless a contrary course was called for by imperious necessity. He heard, v. ith much satis faction, that the communications from foreign Powers had been of a pacific nature, as he was convinced that the whole of the prosperity of the country de pended upon the continuance of peace. The next sentence, however, was of a somewhat contradictory character, as it expressed regret for the state of Italy. It was the duty of Ministers to prevent aggression of the great upon the speller or weaker Powers.— He (Mr. Tierney) was surprised that England should send a Minister to a Congress that claimed the right of calling for. the attendance of Sovereigns. He must also state his opinion, that it would not have been too much on the part of the King, at the close of the last Session, to have expressed his satisfaction with the proceedings of Parliament. But it bad been the policy, because it was the interest, of his Majes ty's Ministers to stifle all discussion—( Hear). — On the subject of the reductions that were stated to have taken place, he could say nothing till the parti.. culars should be before the House, But he was asto nished to hear the statement, that the Revenue had been improved since the former year. That improve.. meet had arisen from the circumstance that three millions of new taxes had come into operation on the sth of January. It was also to be noticed, that though new taxes had been' imposed to the amount of .0,200,0tX), the accession of Revenue had been only 12,200,(XXJ.' Ile had' heard that improvements had taken place. In some particular Manufacturing . Districts, but-he was afraicrthe improvement had not been general:-=On the . subject Of a provision for the Queen, he believed the usual dourse to Le for the Crown to recommend the grant of a specific sum in the . case of any of the branchei of the Royal Family, and he hoped that such a course would, still be adopted by the Chancellor- of the Exchequer.: more gracious communication nrriht certainly have heel made, and an end-plit to the questiou • that had agi tated the country for the last nine *months—(llec,). From the tetras emplosjed, lie was afraid more was meant than met the ear. Heargreed ssith hisllonour able Friend (Jr. Cloven) :that some notice ought to have been taken v of the Agriclilturat distreis. lie was happy at the satisfaction' fclt 'lsy his Majesty at the different Addresses that had been matte to him ; bet he war, at the same time, confident th'at no satisfac tion could have been felt by any other man, as' the Addreises related to the King only; and dilnot say a word of his Minister's. He was happy that the Speech contained nothing on the subject cf B!a3. pherny, Sedition, or the abuse of the FreedOin of the Press, In fact, the only blasphemy its the country was indignation at the conduct of Ministers, and a wish ,to get rid of them—( Hear, hear).—Fgr the last two months Ministerthad been employed in getting up those Addresses, and Wherever they could, by means of Sheriffs, they had endeas'ourad to prevent open discussion. The conduct of some of chase Sl.e riffs had been most outrageous. He was happy that the House had been relieved from the discussion t f certain topics by the manner in which the Speeca had been framed. ol't r.