Star. — London, England, 1814-05-11 00:00:00

*larch, stimulated by the execrations of his people, opposed one of Edward's daring encroachments, Sew to arms, and being crushed by his adversary, meanly. surrendered his crovin and rights into the hands of . Edward. And what did Scotland do ? Wben her Nobles had fallen or submitted, and when Bruce had joined the conqueror, Wallace—who - had not heard of that K Great patriot hero, ill-requited r undaunted, and almost alone, drew his sword and stemmed the torrent of . oppression, .and made all na tions resound with the fame of his Matchless exploits. —(Thar )—And who blamed Wallace ? who did not ii•vere him as the invincible: champion of free dom ? and who did not wish to have fought by his sid , , as they perused his wonderful tale ?—( firao.)— Did not every one. deem . his conduct heroic ?* and did not his execution foi ever , tarnish tbe.renown of the m gnu Ed ward ? The work that he commenced was cialsummated by Bruce, Whom poets and histo rians ha vc Alike deliglated.to celebrate . ; every bosom beat, and every heart grew warm with Burns's heroic welcUme of the Bruce of Banockburn— “ Scots wha bar we Wallace bled, Scots wham Armee has alien led,. Welcome to your or bed, Or to victory. Thit bosom had little sympathy with freedoM or with poetry that did not glow with the perusal of that admiral poem. :Another poet of the same nation (Sinollet ) had nobly characterised Independence: by spirit, independence ! let me share ! Lord I the lion heart and eagle eye ' • Thy step , I follow, with my bosom bare, Nor herd the storms that howl along the sky r Who . had read the sirong . sentimems of the ,Scottish historians without. admirauon ? All the world con curred in the deliverance of Scotland, and execrated the cruel policy of its baffled invader, whose renown h , d" been sullied . by the Cruel treatment of the illus trious- Wallace. Who could say the rights of a na tion du uld be destroyed, and the people alienated from a' chosen governmelit against their will? (Hear.) most now call their Lordships' attention to the next question for-their consideration. It was a matter of regtet,•that the inlormation he had moved for, had not been produced, only to a certain extent. — Their Lordships wouid remember he had moved for I an MCC. out of the number'of troops brought into the &Id by Sweden, azcording to the stipulation contain ed in the Treaty, and the only account produced on the, table was, that of the number of troops said to be supplied on the 6th of June, 1813. To say the least, and speak in the mildest manner of this return,. he must charge upon the o ffi ce from whence it came a conduct that was not ingenuous nor fair. It pur ported on the face of it, to in\imate that the troops wise then on the Continent of Europe, where hostili.; ties were carried on, and their presence was necessary. `Phis was not true, they were then only at Stralsund. —( Here the Noble Earl read the account from the Foreign Office.) —Neither did the number stated appear to be correct, for it declared that 30,000 - and odd effective men were supplied, with other contin gent juices; but it also appeared from another ac count of last year, from the same office,. that' about 28,000 only were in readiness at the tittle. He there. fore had a right to put this construction, that the prev at return was not true, and he had the authority of his Majesty's Ministers themselves, by their prior account of the same event. It was very clear, how. - ever, titan the money stipulated to beadvanced bythti country to the Crov.oPrince, had been regularly paid,' . and therefore it was just to expect that the conditions. of the Treaty should have been fulfilled on his part.— t what was the fact'? Was it not apparent . that while the Allies were engaged against France, after the in. 'Aston of Russia, Sweden made no esettions to unite ith them in the Calls; ? Did- the . .Crown Prince advance when the battles of Lutzen and Bautz-tt had suspended the success of the Allied Powers, and once more placed in the hands of that man an °pp nullity, which, if he had taken the 'advantage of t, would have averted his overthrow, and have sup died him with fresh meanvof subjugating . Europe ? ;yen afterwards where was the Crown Prince, and what was the amount-0i his services? After the bat tle of Leipsic, did the Crown Prince push forward to ,ke advantage of the enemy's defeat ? Fpr what purpose the Noble Earl knew not, but we found him at that time marching to Hanover, and presently he turns his 'attention to Norway. It were much to be wished that their Lordships could have had that noble and veteran hero, Blucher, examined at their bar, and they would then have known his sentiments' as to the conduct of the Crown Prince of Sweden. After settling with Denmark, the terms of the cession of Norway, in. February, we find the Prince at Liege. and there a paper, which he believed to be demi-offi cial, contained a ktter which went to account for his not being present.'with the Alliei; for Bernadotte, like his roaster, was so fond of liberty, that a paper, where be was resident, would be cautious of having inserted what would incur his disapprobation. This 1-tier, after anggesting theprobabilitytbatmany might woudar wisy tbeßrince remained inactive, except in at. reviews and fetes, watts, that be had no repro. 'curative at Chatillon, and that he had remonstrated Ipon the subject, and should not advance till that dif. fereoice was arranged. Assoon as these misturderitand i rigs were adjusted, the Crown Prince proceeded to join :he Allies in 1 1 41,4—but while rivers of blood were still flowing in France, and the fate of Europe was as is were upon the cast of the ctie, we found this man in active. He had not performed the conditions of the Treaty : and were we therefore to be called upon to Juitil, in return for a breach of faith, a contract doubt ful in its construction, odious in its supposed stipula tion, and void in the legality of its principle ? If a general peace should happily realize all our present expectationss we ought still to regulate our conduct upon the probability of future difference. France and England would ever have separate interests, and the inclination. of Sweden would lead her more than other Northern Powers to favour the preponderance of that country. He did hope that every care would be ever. cised by Ministers, io the present juncture of affairs, to conciliate all nations and all parties; and though we had reason to hail the fortunate change which had, taken place in France s and that the ketiniare Sove; reign had been restored, still there were •SO jealousy and distrust, and if their r • wao• put themselves in the pine, gf Fristchiptth they would. feel something about %is =like the deradation? of concidest- There was leint to which be *c4l44re4ueK tits 1110411 0 14 glAirt 144 ... been intimated that Danmark, though she outwardly ceded the kingdom of Norway, she was not sin cere in her professions ; that she favoured, at the same time, a faction, in the ceded country ; and that the presumptive Heir to the Throne of Den mark was the person set up for the sosereignty of Norway. If, on the one band, it were true, this was. only a faction us Norway, there w. neither justice, nor necessity in' our blockade of their ports ; and if, On the other band, it was the determination of fr whole kingdom not to be ceded to a foreign power, our interference by starvation was repugnant to every principle of moral justice, arid the rights of nations: As to the Prince the Norwegians had chosen, he might very reasonably consider, if left to his choice, Norway alone preferable to the other part of the Danish territory. Norway was happily situated by a long line of coast, and on the other side by inacH cessible mountains, which formed a complete barrier; of defence against the attacks of her neighbours, and; in the Noble Earl's opinion, rendered that part of the Danish dominions preferable to the other. He next adverted to the comparison between the cession of Spain by Ferdinand, and the cession of Norway by the King of Denmark, and contended that the prin ciple in-both countries was precisely, the same., He could assure their Lordships that had they seen the Norwegian Deputy, and had heard his noble and animated representation of the distressful situation of his country, it would have affected their feelings, With tears in his eyes, he requested him (the Noble Earl) to make the sentiments of his countrymen known to the public of this country, for the Norwe gians were determined not to submit to a Foreign Power, and in that resolution they would spill the last drop of their blood.. The Noble Earl made along and eloquent speechoto which our limits will not permit us to do all the justice we consider its due, and he concluded by moving, “ That an humble Address be presented to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, requesting that he would use his mediation with the Powers of Europe to prevent the reduction of Norway to a Foreign Power; and that, while discussions should be carried on for that purpose, he would give direc tions that all hostile measures on the part of this coun try, against Norway, should be suspended." Lord HA RROWBY said the object ottheTreaty had been to enable Sweden, without danger, to turn her ants to the aid of the common cause. And the price of such co-operation was to be the annexation of Norway to Sweden, Denmark being then at war with Sweden; in consequence of' this Treaty, this country agreed to co-operate, if necessary, wi:h Swe den and Russia, to obtain from Denmark the cession of Norway. This, he contended, was not the mer e nominal cession, hot the bona . fids possession of Nor way by Sweden. The Noble Lord proceeded to con tend, that such-a treaty and such a cession, on the part of Denmark, was justified by universal practice. He was ready to pay all possible deference to the opinion of those great men whose names had been mentioned by the Noble Earl, but these men were not infallible. Like the Pope's infallibility, it only carried authority with it when supported by the opi nion of the universal church. It the Noble Lord would look into the history of Europe, he would find that"there was scarcely a State in Europe which had not at different times made transfers similar to that now proposed. With respect to the comparison which the. Noble Earl had drawn between the case of Nor way and Spain, it did not, in his opinion, at all agree. The two cases were as dissimilar as possible. No person had ever contended that a Sovereign, had the power of transferring his whole dominion . ; or that more especially he had the power of doing eel wbe in confinement, and under the entire controul of-the person to whom the cession was made, as had been the case with P•rdinand VII. when he ceded Spain to Bonaparte. But would any one coniend, that if Denmark had been reduced to such a state that only by giving up Norway could she have preserved her own existence as a kingdom, that she would not have had a right to give up Norway ? The Noble Lord then entered into a justification of the conduct of the Clown Prince. and 'contended that he had always had his full ci n:ingent of troops in the field, accord ing to the stipulations of the Treaty ; and that the common cause had derived the greatest advantage from his co-operation. The Noble Lord concluded by declaring his opinion that this country was acting in a manner most beneficial to the Continent, and thetefore most honourable to itself. Lord GRENVILLE contended, that nothing could, in his opinion. be more unjust than this attempt to subject Norway to Sweden, who was always her most inveterate enemy, and against whose aggres sions it had alitass been the pride and boast of this country to have protected Norway. How much, therefore, was he astonished to learn, not from the open avowal of the Noble Lcid (Liverpool), but horn his.silence, more eloquent than any avowal. that we were using our utmost efforts, not by open war in deed, but by blockade avid starvation, to reduce her to the dominion of Sweden.—The Noble Baron ob served, this was the conduct of France, which this country had been opposing for the last 20 years by the greatest sacrifices ; and if we wished to draw a veil over all the atrocities of the man *Mee inieSi had so lately been overthrown, the Government of this country would persevere in the line of conduct which we tad adopted towards Norway. If we wish ed to restore comparative tranquility to Europe, we must commence by restoring the old . order of things, and not by an attempt to overturn the established Law of Nations, as had been recommended by the Noble Lord who spoke last. The Noble Lord con tended, that according to the laws of nations, as laid down by Grotius, Puffendorf and Vattel, no Sovereign had any power to alienameither a part or the whole disk dominions but with the assent of his subjects., There were two cases in which cession could exist, namely, of a country in possession of a conqueror; ' and that of a country not in possession of aconqueror. The last was the present case ; and be trusted in Goo it would continue to be so; for he hoped the decision of to-night would prevent the Sovereign, to whom Norway was ceded, having the aid of thi s country to conquer it; and, without that aid, be was convinced Sweden never -would conquer beta The comes, how ever, were different. When a country was already conquered, the Sovereign ceded only bis own right. He did not attempt the transfer ; the transfer bad already taken place by conquest, and the Mimi** of the people was at an end. Not so its the present . instance : the Norwegians were still unsubdued, and bad A right to mast, The Noble Lps4 who wok • last had 'contended, that" a Sovereign had a right :to cede a part, though not the whole, of his kingdom. Here then was an answer by.his own mouth. Nor way was the whole of a kingdom : the King of Den mark was not. King of Norway because he was King of Denmark, but because he was Kirig of Norway by . descent. Norway was a kingdom as ancient as Bri tain, or more so ; and the King of Denmark could no more cede Norway for the benefit of Denmark, than the King of England could cede England for the benefit of Hanover. It was said the Norwegians were -to be removed from under the controtil of a most despotic • Goternmeet to the enjoyment of a free Con stitution; but what was the first article of this free Con stitution? Why, that the people of Norway should give up their arms and resign their fortresses. If such were the effects of the free constitution offered to them, he hoped the Norwegians would not suffer their free dem to depend on either party, but do what they were so well able to do—preserve it for themselves. The Noble Lord then adverted to the services per formed by the .Crown Prince ; and contended, that the aid given by him to the common cause, even in the first part of the contest, was doubtful ; but that he had failed to do so in the latter part a the contest, was obvious to all Europe. He would ask, after the battle of Leipzic, when the aid of the Swedish troops would probably have put an end to the contest; and saved rivers of blood from Sooting, where were they gone ? Where ? to Paris ? No ; their backs were turned upon France, and they were marching to the conquest of Norway. There was one question he wished to have answered : had sneden discharged her engagements to the satisfaction of this country ? The House hack a right to an answer on this point.— Before he came into the House this evening, he was _of opinion she had not, and the silence of the Noble Lord on that point had convinced him his opinion was well founded. The Noble Lord then proceeded to take a review of the state of the North of Europz, and contended that notonly justice, but policy, valid on us to prevent the innexation , of Not way to Ssie tclen—Saeden which would always incline to France, and thus give that power too great an influence in the North. The Noble Lord concluded by declaring he would agree to any measure which might be pro posed, which should give Ministers time to reflect on the impolitic measures in which they were engaged. 'rite Earl of LIVERPOOL said, that after the assistance given by the Crown Prince of Sweden to the Allies, he turned his arms against Denmark, then the ally of France, and by conquering Holstein, and taking the fortresses of Glue kstadt and Frederiiklnt, laid open the province or Jutland to his arms. In coo sequence of this the King of Denmark ceded one part of his dominions to preserve the other. Nevertheless, he thought that no Monarch could cede a part of his dominions to which lie had no right if the people were averse to the cession. But in this case the King of Denmark could not be said to have ceded any rights which he did not possess, for he was, perhaps, the 'only really absolute Monarch in Europe. Indeed there was none so absolute by the principles of the law of his kingdom. At the time the treaty wiih Sweden was made, the whole of the kingdom of Den mark, emelt the island of Zealand and Norway, was under or open to, the power of the enemy. If the principle of cession was one which could be recog nised by the national law of Europe, it appeared to himohat this was one of the least exceptionable of those COGill that equta cake 12Froidea fro collected, the protection and asylum which Norway. had afforded to the enemy's cruizers preying upon our commerce. Norway hod been at war with us merely as a province, but she had new erected herself into an independent ,kingdom for the purpose of preventing us from fulfilling our engagements with our Allies. —He denied that in this case they could assume, that the deal trim of independence of 'Norway had been made by the free voice of the people. For the halo presumptive of Denmark, by the delegated authority ,of Regent of Norway, takes upon himself to declaaa Norway inds . pendent. Was not that an act ri rebsd• Doi, in refusing to agree,to the Treaty made by chi Courts of Sweden and Denmark.—(A cry of Ne.'tier from the Opposition).—He contended that it wilaa , complete assumption of power; and that even ellte People of Norway had been led to believe, at theist* Diet in that country, that he was sere of the coattail. rence and protection of this Government. Thus mo tifices had been used, and the truth suppressed, **- bring about these disturbances in Norway. For theme reasons he could not agree with the.proposition of the Noble Lord opposite. Lord HOLLAND said, that the whole of thn Noble Earl's aigunootts went to say that we should do a crying injustice, which would attach infamy to this country during all time, in order to fulfil our en pgentents with an ally. He contended, that by the Treaty we were not bound to use force, unless Den mark had refused to cede Norway to Sweden by Treaty ; but as that had been dime by Denmark, we were of course released from the obligation of using force to compel Norway to accede to that Treaty.— But the Noble Lords on the opposite side were like every one else who did apinjury to the feelings of an individual or of a,courstry ; for nothing of that kind was ever done, but the excuse was, it was done for the individual's or the country's benefit. He agreed with all the principles of , public policy as laid down by his Noble Friend (Earl Grey), and he would thevefore vote for the motion. Lord BOR RI NGDON thought it impossible not to take the measures now recommended by his Ma jesty's Ministers. From the words of the treaty in the original it appeared to Min that they sboild even employ their naval force, if necessary. The Treaty implied as much. - Earl GREY rose to reply. The Noble Earl (Li verpool) in his speech ;tensed to ge upon a different 'principle from that which ought to direct the conduct of nations. The principle was fiat jtutitia rotas calms. His principle seemed to be real jastitia, let justice be disregarded, but let the political interests of the coma. try be preserved. If he had sheens that the oblige. dons into which his Majesty's Ministers had enter ed were incompatible with right end justice, the circumstances were not so pressing as to warrant a breach of them in this particular case. (Hear) — Were they, who always condemned so straggly the same conduct in other Powers, now to east away the principles of public law for a mere political object The Noble Earl (Liverpool') cootended,,that Nor- Way, being ooly a part of the kingdom of Demisarit.i it may be sacrificed for the salvation of tine whole... This ha would not allow. -Norway was-net ammo part, it wit a -separate crown, aid it could-not be violated without' as infraction of the principles o' j_astice.'.. Norway. was in the mate situation. as Ireland, or Bohemia, or Heavily. Denmark bad *filled her part of tbe Treaty, by the cession of ~14istway and atter that tlits .country wee not rdfted to use force for that purpose.—plrar. —Doubt was exposited 1110 so the good faith of Den mark in her conduct. Ile did not think that either the King of Denmark or Prince Christian were likely to act in the way that was repressing/. Prince Chris tian was the presumptive heir to the Gown, and he had a righgto select that part of the kingdom to which he was disposed to adhere. He did set *et as the Delegate of Denmark..but as amen lay the people of Norway, who bad as gond a right to sale* him. and confer the power lie now held upon lam, as the people of Amsterdam lately had to coder it en the Pilate of Ohms,. A Convocation met in Norway, by which the Constitution was to be' settled. They se lected Prince Christian as the bead ti the Govern ment, and in this they °lily followed the example of the people who had done the same before them. The country oughtnot tube compelled to submission by the horrors of a famine. Their resistance was legitimate, and their Lordships had no right to join in any act of compulsion against a people time circumstanced...- If their resistance was not general. this country bad no occasion to interfere, for Sweden herself would be able to enforce submission. They should seed Nig°. ciatore to Norway, and point out to the people the advantage of the change. It, sifter that, the people accepted it, he should have. no objections otherwise, he would oppose it so long as it was in his power to make opposition. He Should 'be. glad to know, if Sweden had fulfilled her treaty *kb this country, or employed the number of troops for which she had engaged ? It was his firm belief, that from the time the armistice was broke riff, in August, no effectual service had been'performed by Sweden. The Hails?. divided—Far the motion 31—Against • it Ils—Majority 81..-Adjourned. . • HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. CREEVEY postponed his motion, which stood for this day, for the productloisol copies o• the Correspondence between the. Board of Contronl and the East India Company, respecting Pensions, to Ibis day se'unight. the House resolved into a Committee en the Brl. Halt .F isheries Act, in which Mr. Ross obtained leave to brine, in a Bill to amend and coetinue the 48th. of ' the King, as far as it ielates to the Fidieries. CoiensLl vas heard in a Committee on Green's Di. - voter Bill, and witnesses examined. The Bill was - then reported, and ordeted to be read a third' time on Friday. Mr. ROSE brought up his Bill to continue an 4 - amend several Acts 'elating to the British Wili:eHer. sing fishery, which was re.d a fiestlime, and ordered to be read a second time to-mon-ow. Mr. TAYLOR presented two Petitions from King; - horn, in Scotland, against any alteration being made in the Corn Laws.—Ordered to lie on the table. Sir G. CLERK presented a Petition from Mussel btirth, against any alteration in the Corn Laws.— Ordered to lie on the table. Several other Petitions were' presented from sari. ous places against the Cora Laws, and ware ordered to lie on the table. Mr. WHITBREAD moved the second reading u:f.thF tin:bury .ewe pot. Mr. MELLISH opposed the Bill, and moved that it be read a second time that day three months. •Mr. BYIiG seconded the ameadnieto. Mr. WHITBREAD replied, and the House di. sided—For theater:and reading, 49—Apinst it, Ilk The Bill Was then read a second time. The CHANCELLOR of the ExcHF.Qtrts brought a Message from his Royal Highappli Prince Regent.—(See Lords.) The Message was ordered tO be taken into toola deletion to-morrow. • Sir G. CLERK moved fora Committee to midi into the Laws ' Weights and Measttea.... • He expatiated at genie on the impatient" 4 the subject, and on - the etpedieacy of Legislative.ina s; terference, with s+ view to remove the evils and 61111111_... gelarities which at present existed. Mr.' WHITBREAD highly approved of dill Hon. Bereest's object, and hoped that he wool./ halt. more suecessiul in the - attainment or it than his pros• deeesiors weft in the same effort. Mr. D. GIDDY approved of the melon. aal # Committee was appointed. • Sir J. NEWPORT gave notice that he timid as that day week move for a Committee to alee consideration the punishment for murder. The Repart of the Committee of Supply was t 0... ceived and the Resckition agreed to. ' Ths Report of the Committee on Excise, Customs, and Hides 'were received. - The' Resolutions were agreed to, and the Bills °Wiled to be bsought in at. curdingly. • The House then went into a Committee no the Sugar - Bill- The Bill *at ordered to be received to. morrow. The Irish Ecclesiastical Courts . ..BSl. and the &Mali Verdict Bill were read a-third time and passed. COPY RIGHTS 91 AUTSOIIO. Mr. D, GIDDY called,the ettentioo of the Howe to a measure which he had aubmitted to it last Session of Parliament, reipectiag 'certain hardships relating • to the Crpy-right of Tooki. A Committer was formed, and it was there . 'hewn, that great hard. • ships existed from the lleiversisies and ether Bodies demanding copies of books. When a man enter ed his work at Stationer's Hall, be was obliged to deposit gratuitously 'number of copies of it for the use of these Public Bodies. He thought . that it was wrong to establish arch a gratuitous distribution of expensive works MOOD; the Uni. varsities, which, otherwise, would most Me be she best customers for them. The object of his Dili vas,' that no person who should give up the copy.rigbiot ' his work should be obliged to furnish the Universities with gratuitous copies ot it. lie then moved fur leave to bring in a Bill to amend the several Acts for the • Encourayement of Learning, and for securing the Copy-right of Books. Sir F. FLOOD hoped the Bill and its provisiohs would-be ilitenti44l to 'rebind. Mr. D. GIDDY said, that the whole kingdom of Ireland having but two Universities, he did not ate any great necessity of altering the law on that subject, as fat as related to-Ireland. Leave was then given to bring in his NIL Adjourned. „L had and oPP E vi vi wh• tie tak put at I tur w*l nui , bat as Al of an 4 cia nol lilt wh ins wc tet set up • ler in) chi flu WA AC Ju fu tic ge AS , 111 in • ci ci tl ig je fe of vi C=C iMG=I:I PR IC! Rain' Bank Eicb Nest Cent, in Oiunlnn 46 I WWI evity befoi the I visit Semi, lilies dm 4 Vi does .4 • usigr of of the and d•A Ci the - tak to I . b ail De He La SO dm ;21 't• 1