The Sun. — London, England, 1831-08-17 00:00:00

to be represent s ipuiation of 3 141 , upwards of 13•5;!:, of colour, 10 1° , this country to to five millions 6r` them imports to iortance of out l'" t tece , sary for h'in, et tile. Their et' Ll sII ; and it onlYr; nner he should those represente ti which he could to re, he NV t 9 assn rnents we re, in truth. Btginl, Eielf only 1, 9 • 0°- ' . l the servaiain arts of Bengal; same juri diet' sere were more th •'es born of Bri t ' e on of upwarth tir ion of a vilage v , le anti a half, th e pt '' :,000 British, I, Ise proposed to e, it that one woold t ' 4 inforntation uP a V the colony, - t i c aformation could Bras, amounting t`, only one Men sufficient for Anbay had, on importance, O r ', esidencies. 'land, taken as " 11 ; all that itnportP ire only four 10: [plain to the Boo': might be e lecte d tad made the r" and had left it I, the qualificat i l,. constituency I ° o give the righ t , Presidency to es -e ' t Jury. Altbool. it he very nurner n e ' d lily be augmen t e of the importso .er. In Sincap ott ; nd there did 11 141 1 ut he (Mr. Ho'n e t ' same law resP e , c „. 'a to those colon the constituency f t interests, He In the populationrt:t - own colonies; t o, the eatne grout for Menthe s as generally con_:o station, yet it f ned a populatil ts, exclusive of trade with Sp ° Now with reel k that there 0,0 them an exce bt o ce, Sir Alest o oo s of that island to ily it was not tit to sit as 11 'as at stake. tn i l l iv 3 vote for a Pe r % nan just below V, sl tves in those P ' s , r. H.) bad no t , ( 00 Ise to any but t ° , 1 , 1 nd he believed T, ere not so 0 0 , much fitter ( 1% 'as to have A 1 1 0 1 often stated in t , io contributed to ', OO py the consult:o , e voice in the e h°l t . .ed. That MO 1s •iasonabli, as ti' eft ouse would Ol e next cla.s of c ° 'eat India 18 1 un 4. and the Bahama, ' 0,000 free w i t 67,000. 13 0- ,i 1,957 whites, an ineent'S, Gr env' . 0 whiter and or Dominica ho t , e people of en it t ; 350 whites, 1,612 whires,Si; ites, 1,286 Pe 4 o , of Antigua ne t fo this last ol"!0 to each of the h '• Now he tin onveniently elegy' Were togethe r constituency t l Legislature shli 1 the :Wernher y be elected by S o , ie where the nu is should be ela te the vote of the ion. Gentlerna S :j ,brown in the a'lgi the formstie% in the Ea.t . o dr as he had alre°,; is in North Ae l i fg retained, e v o i e t them on the fa he e d irnings which ye been preven t h r Is of laying tb o l British Hom e r; ( atative. If t 'ot onnected with 'ii est% and wanle'd grievances sh' il d I of in vain , 0 , acing the 14 t o to the rete,i, of that Hoo e s re , short of the P 0 , 1,000 inhahi t3° ,l WO. New ld r° o l , 'rmuda, cont o ,000. It now o ' p the illembersso bought, then , West Indian I be equally American e el vere the M 1 en' ft 1 6 ' t hree lion he bad ,p trings to bit i r ee i , vhich those I're‘ ie elected for t h ere -10, whether P, i the ineasltiPl e p t :0 this Polio at a re-election:3o, that s hould a p i of the to t ; It ;inally ele c. en t u ntil the leo tnd cries of at it y to admit l"0,0 1 it a subject a t " before the Is pea Hon. Gen tle , 4 , bject. — LIt 40. 0 the leaders "sod, ion at all ; e sti he late Seer Ligh at s•-• I . Hun. 9erf :( h )ti ejj knOVle d g_ e ', L rof e ; sugges t IIP.:,10,0 a which cop' wetneJ t" be Isi ° ~, , he woul" kalt' f,,r the e ey st the SSH'e "Or ArlianiePt. ip the heir Oi ce° ,,rier i ' then their a ' t p re he y were i n to 1 Wee • n.; the go ts ii,,c )I ? d ia in twelve months at the moat. Having stated his v ' e ,ws, he had ,- to thank the House for the attention With he had he 11 62 been listened to. The measure which I , ,i o : o.,,r rn ta P n ° B ed was one to which he perhaps attached more ee than would be attributed to it by others. H, bo esu upon the colonies as valueless, r unless they were und to the mother country by identity of interests and cecrprocal advantages. If means could be devised to effect Suc h a union, lie thought it would be productive of the 7 gt , e al b est ad vantages to both.—(Hear.) The measure ~t he Proposed wo u ld h e , h e t h oug h t, more b ene fi c i a l " t he British public, t!,on even to the colonies themselves. It Would lead to the Reform of many abuses in the go ''ernment of the colonh R, by which the commerce of this country. Was irijuriously affected. It would lead to an tn..p.orta.rit. diminution . of the colonial expenditure ; and, ~Y iontiliating the people, it would relieve this country ' r "trt the burthet of siipporting large military establish 4!ntti I aMongst them. Alto Ugh he should move that a e-it he, ernbr a i g h's plan , should bo introduced into Is th i e j . Bill no e s: in i progress . through the House, yet if nistera ould consent to take subt into their own w hands, lie should leave it t to e them. jec Or he ittfoulti be willing to have a separate Bill introduced ; and till C ommitte e of three were appointed to prepare such a ' he would undertake to submit to tl e House a ritea- Idtli:teuXiich would carry his proposal int o . effect, without these "ig any interests whatever. It might be said that lis, co lonies which have already domestic Legislatures, 8 . ,_ ° , l etainn to he represented in the British Parliament. d f it was to be recollected that they were subject to two 4-rent kinds of leeislation, one of which respected their external arrangements and the other regulated their whole so—u`crirtnrtl.l in.teresto and i their . intercourse . with the mother lii t /i with other colonies, and with foreign . nations. . w. 5„ legislation of the latter kind was that in which he 4 " e ' l to give them some voice. It had hitherto been so rteldueted m as almost to ruin many of them.—(liear.) h at s :- often been admitted that the . Crown . c , olonies, tseg,no domestic legislature, were entitled to itprese.n th t 'n the British Parliament. But it appeared to him t 0 4 - not °nly this, but all the other colonies, had a right ss,., separate legislation for the management of the ir in snd''',' &freaks, and for the controol of their local taxation; rsp re n , a d also a right to be beard in that . House' by their th et , entatives upon all subjects of legislation by which j,. et ' were affected in common with all other British sub gise-'4--I.((flear, hear.) The lion. Member, having apolo risd exult so lon g occupy i ng t h e attent i on c f the House, tlOO airned t h at h e d i d not then intend to press th e ques itm to a divi s i on, concluded by moving, " That t b e an iti. ' k ructi °n to t h e Committee upon the Reform Bill to to t 'a Provi s i on for the return to that House of Members kz_ e Present the C o l on i s an d F ore i gn P ossess i ons of li. s iT' " 15i., 5 Marqui s o f C HANDOS seconded the mot i on. tr , ,,, ' LABOUCHERE said it was not his intention to hi,,,, Pa ," l ong upon th e H ouse . H e was sure t h e li on. diC u er for Middlesex would acquit him of levity or in -.(lince to the interests of the North American colonies that l ear ' b ear)—when he assured the Hon. Gentleman a di re ' had strong, indeed insuperable objections, to give to rh o re presentation in the British House of Commons s t , ll, se coloni es. (Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman h (x 5l to think that his plan was altogether novel ; but .'Ater`l`c. Labouchere) could show him that it was not so. Planl r ke had entertained some notion of a very similar f 1,,: 't the same great authority not only abandoned las ' Plan hi the but gave a complete answer to all sirni- Ltaopoitions in the words—" Posuit natura."—( Hear, f ` , l4 ) t, It was impossible that countries so far separated l ielh e ' n gland could be effectually represented in that t o l otli • It was impossible that a Member from the iic it at " could discharge their double duties. They could r e the t he same time give proper attention, as part of the rt,ttitentativiss of tile whole empire, to the general inte their°l the c ountry, and also the necessary attention to ol otli ' l thordi nate duty of promoting the interest of the lent t . It would b e qu i te as i mproper that gentlemen °1 thi: cit : the c o l on i es s h oul d vote for the taxation Should (nu ntrY, as that the House of Commons here rh o „ r egulat e t h e local taxation of the colonies. He sittilg''t that twenty gentlemen from the colonies eitre ' l:F in nt that Hous e wou ld f orm a li tt l e k not , isr,,,ln'ng together to carry some one particular d They o uid 4 totally i n diff erent a b out every ot h er. o he at the &spell of every Minister, and ready t o t Zer ari a body into a compact with the Minister arsoZ ettecti that if he supported them on . some tlir a' question they would support him, in re lies',ul).nn ever y other occasion.—( Hear, hear, hear.) ttbialeliria,tted that there was some weight in the objections : I, 4 , l 'j t eet of d th b een urged, and' the complaints made on the , 6 1 ° ' count a t want of representation of the colonies in ,:'"ich tho s e r ' b ut he thought much of the ground upon bthe furthe st I , 44 led, ting t ' b jection s and complaints rested would be de etter f o W ! r n the system of colonial agency placed upon a than it had ever yet been placed. He was count r .,,, in the world from wishing that the mother tok ttie , 8110111 d interfer e with the internal regulation or t tg i bi ' ; for it would be utterly impossible to find . a fir sh e 4t ure at hom e possessing the information requisite It bed tound and good government of a distant colony. Would Wo b een said, that Parliament was omnipoten t;t_hie s add that it was not omniscient; and that upon I ''!iject Al it ,,,, of colonial policy and regulation, . it had corn tho:n the greatest blunders. Having said so much upon different bran to ; 11 P.eN, he should now address himself to a dt,,th-eirrohf.thi,e,gsur.ject—he meant the importance attached . att4rUssion of great the assistance and ini po important n e t oloni ImperialalAlenibers in t h e questions—an . siprance which, though he was far from undervaluing, I t appe ar to him not to be required in that House. As . 1 1Z WI they had asse mbled withi n those walls the best and , . of 1, ,, 'est portion the British nation, he had no appre tihs4k4in hut that a high sense of their duty would at all >t es induce them to advocate colonial interests, and leave ts I se to he wished for upon that point. If it were so, lis et e , Presumed would not he doubted, he sc arce l y ex . 4,, ei4 that they would want the assistance of colonial 10;11")ers upon any other subjects. He had heard it said that tiii i 4 , l(i ng so great a change in the representation of the ke k ,,.Y , as by the present Bill it was p - oposed to effect, th, grea t ought to be taken for giving representatives to to ~,t't'tt Moneyed and banking interests of the country, tioo-t.ttO.grant some substitute for the virtual representa- I t4t - " lc h the Bill went, to destroy. That was a subject ht st isll - t e l m / connected with the quwstion which the Hon. ''r h' e „ c for Isliddlesex hail brought under consideration, i sa t4 u ,:" had reference to ' what was called indirect repre ttlist i b i "• He confessed hirns elf ' one of those who thought t:Ples,rletger,ea.t moneyed and banking interests ought to . be , 4 e, r u n to that House, and represented without bribery j i bes; Pt '°n• He never could be brought to think that tae ,f.atnid corruption were necessary to the reepresenta ,lve A ge 'moneyed interests in that House. Ten or , ti r t .%l e l ! , sent in from that class wool Ihe a very . th '''t ( l ir ad dition to that House ; but as to the plan of 5 ritr s ,, cet re presentation to the colonies, he entertained kr Rest objection to it . 141, . $F . objection DOUGLAS • AI 't of w said, that in the present i i :riih, f "le and sweeping change, the plan of the lion. o ' ll l'ors at c't Middlesex was a subject of the very highest e o "se-indeed an • thing that related to a branch of thi) n un met ,• , ) ti oti rs , oo ton Witten employed 4,58 0 . ships, tonnage N I !if 0 , 11 , ' In whatever point of view the great ques i Nei., (otonial produce and government came to h e i ii ereh er `, it It tvas impossible to doubt that t he . Hon. it,tiss*ltt°l Middlesex had done perfectly right in bring kit:-•ord al t he Present motion. t) ' t he d THORP would neither go into the principle s l o ills im e )e t a r i , rl of th . e proposition made by his lion. Friend toutstrlss w • 'Ol illiddle•ex. It was so perfectly clear that `F old e s the nature contemplated hy his Hon. Friend a, t) ° , l i .i ld ,•‘:tc.!): introduced inthe present measure, .that he k i .+ 444) 7 xte the time of the House by saying one Its 'e t epiti4trs adoption. They had now been in Collod ,tslsfest,ti Pe Reform Bill for more than a month, . an. hol.„„nd eo,i,,intself enable to comprehend how his lion. , IN leti.,t4ll" unagine the possibility of such a clause being t t 1• Polt s „ ecl i, ' When the importance of the colonies otitiboe,e-ornitiLl_le felt that Le should be the last man in ,hie ~ ett i,,,_ "e country to dissent from such a sentiment, k...7ll4‘,ltfrortance did not in the slightest degree remove C. 4 74 iot o ~l)t. introducine such a clause as had been pro tl's , t l lst narq te i. nil], Which, upon the showing of the Hon. Dth au te i "l'el, Was already complicated enough. If L 5t i1 ., 41. 7 tlo et as: ilani.(tlooe.stion were attempt e d to be introduced,. % ad t _ it would speedily follow, and there would k it ! th itt ih_q t t,._ t°Letil:rabli_sineess of the Committee. The fact Le 1 2 ,''inias th t Prfte I Clause . had been used . as an argu rd'' osh iool sed .' general provision s of the Bill; an d whe -I;rl,!yer p o i nta r o o the clause as creating increased delay, or 0 ' el ) 4 tn o , t L f v iew, he could not but regard its ten si,l osoti hostile ts, the great measure of Reform.— t ap 'eh h trams i. ,fire, enter into the question then, .for , k Nt' 5 lio shut causing to Ministers that delay ''' ' 44) • I " u cil a this Iv ald t. ,"--d l , l „ deprecated But be would put , O s ,11:1,.to the H ouse suppose the clause move d . could tit tist, hl ert ti, te t' t e tnt Bill ? and if so, did they think that ,Ntes,,, the ti ou ° Propose it? He should not be induced s t i;lr s. kt Y di se , longer, for his object was to prevent th ere lAL'ecul.'". 'it , Pre °LAI • 4 'O N rien tat . said that the colonies ought to re ,'t 11 , l Iv es, to e ti ill i re preB conipensate them for the loss of 1,,, t ,e 4 (5 : th e N_e,ntation of which they were deprived by oit 4 : 11 % ,.. °4le was said tbe motion the • 11;1 1 "`it b e v Iral Introduced with a hostile intention; 'the sob P ried that it exposed a great defect in n bievt or the colonies ought most certainly to be taken into immediate consideration; and though he r did not feel called upon to pledge himself to any particular plan, yet he hesi•ated not to affirm that not a moment should be lost in pressing upon the attention of Parliament the urgent necessity there existed for improving our colo nial system. Sir G. STAUNTON said a few words in support of the notion of the Hon. Member for Middlesex, but he was very imperfectly heard. Sir C. WETHERELL said that the present was one of the most formidable motions that had been made by the professed friends of the Reform 1311. The Noble Lord (th e Member for Northrruiptonshire) made one; the Hon Atember tor Oxford anot! cr ; and the third was m:ide by the Hon. Member for Middlesex; and it was a motion the largest and most important of the whole three. Taking a large and philosophical view of the Bill of the Noble Lord opposi e, he would say, that the motion of the Hon. Member for Middlesex was one of the very utmost im portance ; and though he could not give that motion his support, he must he allowed to derive from it a strong argument for allowing the system of represen tation to this country to remain unchanged ; that, at least, the colonies should not be deprived of that indirect representation which the existing system afforded them. Though that House did not occupy itself with the internal regulation of the colonies, yet it bad much to do with what might be called external legislation. By external legisla tion all the prorrty of the colonies might be made or un made. It was a known and acknowledged principle of the British Constitution, that taxation and representation should be co-extensive. True it was, that in the case of the colonies referred to, there was none of that species of taxation attempted in the case of America ; but was not the imposition of taxes as complete on titnber—of which the Noble Lord opposite could have no very agreeable re miniscence—and on Cape wine, as any mode of direct tax ation ? The Bill gave representatives to Greenwich, Brigh ton, and Cheltenham, but it tefused them to the E rat In dies or the West. The colonies were completely shut out, for the purpose of rearing up towns that did not possess one-tenth of the importance which belonged to any one of the colonies. Every time they opened this Bill, they were presented with a page of levity, folly, inconsistency, and injustice. The Hon. Member for Taunton appeared to be under apprehensions that there would be coalitions formed between the Members for the various colonies, which would he likely to produce undesirable results in the British House of Commons. Now he (Sir C. Wetherell) did not see why it was at all likely that such coalitions should take place. He saw no point of coalition between the sugar of the West Indies and the indigo of the East Indies, or between the fir timber that was grown in Canada, and the teak timber that was grown on the banks of the Ganges.—(A laugh.) It was true that the giving Members to the colonies would not be consonant with the principle of the Bill, and would, therefore, not he acceptable to the Bill-men—(A laugh)—but he cared neither for the Bill nor the Bill-rnen.—(Hear.) Let not discomfiture discourage the Hon. Member for Mid dlesex, for he would still have retaliation within his reach. If the Ministers voted against him on giving representa tives to the colonies, he could vote against the Ministers on the third reading of the Bill, and so be quits with them.—(A laugh.) But not only was the Hon. Member for Middlesex's motion a valuable one, but he had also backed it by a most valuable speech, of which he would say, that it had entirely made out the justice of the case, in support of which it had been made. It might be true that it might be found difficult to elect Members for the colonies on the 101. system which had been introduced into the Bill; but though that 101. system had been re presented to be so admirable, he still did not see why another almost as admirable might not lie found by which colonial representatives might be elected. He begged to recommend this consideration to the framers of this Bill— this unaltered and unalterable Bill—the first stereotype of which had long been extinct, and had been replaced by a second unaltered and unalterable Bill.—(Laughter and sheers.) Entertaining these views, he should certainly divide the House on the motion of the Hon. Member for Middlesex ; and in so doing, let it not be said that he was setting himself up as a new maker of the Constitution; it was because the mischief had already been done by others that he interfered ; and be did so in the hopes of somewhat ameliorating the dangers with which these changes appeared to him to be beset. Having said thus much, he begged leave to pay the Hon. Member for Mid dlesex a farewell compliment, by congratulating him on the latent Member for Montrose having broken through the exterior colouring of the Member for Middle sex—(Laughter)—and he trusted that when that Hun. Member should put on his philibegs—(Continued peals of laughter) —and arm himself for the Scotch Reform Bill, he would be found advocating the same principles that he had advanced that night, and taking Montrose under his special protection. One word further—they had been told by the advocates of the Bill that they ought to watch the signs of the times. Now, he bad been watching the signs of the times ; and he must say, that within the last four or five days the signs of the times had not been very couciliatory—(Cheers and laughter)—th e signs of the times were beginning to abuse the Bill—the signs of the times were beginning to call the framers of the Bill to task ; and he therefore trusted that his dissatisfaction and disapproval of the Bill would no longer be set down as something unnatural and indefensible.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. BURGE supported the motion, on the ground that the colonies had a right to be represented in the Bri tish Legislature. Sir C. FORBES, though be did not expect this pro• position would be carried, yet thought that its having been made would do good, inasmuch as it would prove to the colonists that their interests were not entirely over looked. Sir GEORGE 'MURRAY was happy to perceive that the House had been very attentive to the discussion, and it would no daub; profit by the observations of the Hon. Members for Middlesex and Taunton. In the discussion on the Reform Bill, the House had, he was afraid, in ge• neral forgotten that the empire consisted of various inte rests and different parts, and he was glad to hear the Hon. Member for Middlesex express sentiments on this point he did not expect to hear from him. The Hon. Member had shewn a due sense of the importance of our colonies, for which he had not before given him credit. The Hon. Member for Taunton had shewn that the interests of our colonies would not be consulted by the Reform Bill. He was satisfied that, when the Bill passed, there would be a want of that representation Which had been so beneficial to the colonies. He therefore was of opinion, that the sue gestion of the Hen. Member for Middlesex should be adopted, or some other thing should be suggested by his Majesty's Ministers to provide for the interests of these co lonies. He wished to make one observation on what fell from the Noble Lord, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He must, with reference to one remark made by the Noble Lord, deny that the objections to the Bill all proceeded from the enemies of the Bill. The Hon. Members for Middle• sex and Taunton were not hostile to the Bill, but disposed to amend it, and make it perfect. After all that the Bill proposed to do was done, it would be found that the varied and complicated interests of this mighty empire would not be provided for. The interests of this empire were not to be provided for by such simple means as the Bill proposed. Lord ALTHORP had not attribute!: to his Hon. Friend any hostility to Reform ; but he had said that his 'present motion was hostile to the Bill. Mr. HUME explained. He had not wished to attack the Bill ; and it was not fair that his own interpretation of his motive was net taken. HI teas sure that Ministers might add his Ingestion to the Bill, when they had time, with advantage both to the mother country and the colonies. The minion was then negatived without a division. Mr. CROKER moved for certain returns of the popula tiou and assessed taxes, according to the returns of 1821, which were already before the House, but in not so avail able a shape as he wished to make them.—Ordered. Mr. H. HUGHES gave notice that he would, in bring ing up the report of the Bill, move to omit all the words that related - to the division ofcounties. The House then resolved itself into the Committee. Lord ALTHORP moved the fourteenth clause, relative to the Isle of Wight, and proposed that the blank should be filled up with the word " One,' thus giving one Mem ber to the island. Mr. H. HUGHES adverted to the fact that the Isle of Wight was to lose four Members by the Bill. By sever ing the island, too, front Hampshire, the freeholders would lose their votes for the county. They would be disfran chised, and they were the only freeholders of the kingdom who would be disfranchised by the Bill. The population of the Island was 37,000, having increased by 4,000 since 1821. The number of electors under the new Bill would be 9 ,000. The district was, in his opinion, pecu liarly worthy of two representatives ; and he ' should, therefore, move that the word " Taro",be substituted for the word " One." Mr. H. GURNEY supported the amendment. H e - had had a petition in his hands for some time, praying fur two Members, and lie thought the island deserved it. Lord ALTHORP thought that the Bill did not place the freeholders of the Isle of Wight in a worse situation than they were at present. One representative for the island would he of more use to them than sharing the re presentat on with Southampton. He though the island Was benefited by the change. lle admitted the respecta bility of the constituency of the island, hut thought it would be amply represented by one Member. The que.i• tion was entirely one of degree, and no other arguments than these of proportion could be urged on either side. Sir GEORGE CLERK was nut disposed to agree to the amendment. He wished to know why the Isle of Wight was separated from Hampshire ? in fact, this Waa giving five Members to that county. The Noble Lord had not given five Members to other large counties ; and why, then, was this done for Hampshire ? Lincolnshire was well deserving- of five Members—better desrving of them indeed than Hampshire, for' it had tore people. Other counties h-rd lost boroughs as well as the Isle of Wight. Thus the county of Suffolk was reduced from thirteen to ni , :e Memb,rv. He believed that giving a Member to the Llc of W , glit would make it a niitninatit,n county. One interest would, he believed, predominate in it. The Isle of Man contained forty thousand inhabitants, and to it no Member was given. He did put it, therefore, to the Nolte Lord to explain why lie had given a fifth Member to Hampshire. Mr. BUN HAM CARTER did not know what r eason the Noble Lord might have for this arrangement, but kr.ew that the island was considered in the Statute-book as separate from the county of Southampton. If a Member store given to the Isle of Wight, he would he exclusively a Member of the agricultural interest. Al Hos. MEMBER thought the separation of the Isle of Wight from Southampton would authorise a separate polling-place, and not a teytrate Member. He should op pose the amendment. Lord MILTON said, that the reason why the Isle of Man was not included probably was, that the Isle of Man was pot taxed by that House. As he liked the general prnc;ple of giving Members to each pl ice, he should sup port the amendment. Lord ALTHORP,in reply to the objection respecting the Isle of Wight, contended that it would be exceedingly inconvenient to carry on a general election for Hampshire with voters brought from that island, and as it contained a great many persons of property and respectability, they had therefore thought it better to give it one Member separate from the county. Mr. CROKER said, that this proposition of the Noble Lord was another of the monstrous anomalit a of the Bill. The Noble Lord gave five voters to Hampshire, although there were fourteen counties of much greater population and importance, which were to have only four Members. He did not object to the Isle of Wight having a represen tative, but be did not object to the reason for giving that Member, and thought that the counties of Devon, Somerset, Lancaster, and Kent, and many others, had much reason to complain that they were to be placed in a worse condi tion than the county of Southamption. Sir GEORGE CLERK observed, that the Government were about to make the Isle of Wight the Gateshead of Southampton.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) Sir J.. MACDONALD defended the proposition for giving one Member to the Isle of Wight, and observed that Hampshire would still have a population of 250,000 persons. Sir R. INGLIS could not understand why the county of Southampton should have five Members when the gre count y of York, with a million and a half of inhabitants, was to have only six. He deprecated, too, the principle of dividing the Isle of Wight from Southampton, when it had the same jurisdiction, and was in every respect a part of the county. The whole plan was at variance with the principle of the Bill, and he had heard no reason front the Noble Lord in support of it. Mr. C. PELHAM objected to the principle of dividing districts which had been united for centuries. Mr. POYNTZ said he was well assured that the people of the Isle of Wight would be contented with one Member. Mr. HUNT said it was %eel known the county of Southampton, through the means of the dock-yards, was a mere Government borough. He did not believe the Isle of Wight would be under the same influence, and he therefore gave his consent to its having one Member; but he could not agree that it should have two Members when Bolton was to have but one. He begged, however, to be allowed to say a few words on the subject of the abuse of those Members who presumed to say that the l3ill was not all perfection. He, among others, had been denounced as an enemy to all Reform, because he merely ventured to hint that the Bill might be much improved, and that it would not give universal satisfaction. He was told that the people demanded the whole Bill and nothing else would they consent to have, and yet at that very moment some of those who were the loudest in sheaving for the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill, were moving amendments which were directed against the Bill.—(Hear, hear, and no, no.) He repeated, that according to the creed of the opposite party, all who did not take the Bill as it was presented to them by the Noble Lord, were to he consi dered enemies of Betiom, and they had the Member for Middlesex this evening moving an amends ent, and many others were to follow with their amendments.—(Hear.) He (Mr. Hunt) had two of his owta,—( Hear, and a laugh) .—of which he had given notice,at the very earliest mo ment. He repeated, however, that according to the doc trine of the Hon. Members opposite, all who attempted to amend the Bill were its enernies.—(Hear:) He had one word to add on the subject of the newspapers.—(Hear.) He must speak plainly, and call things by their names. He had not yet acquired the Parliamentary tactics Of ad verting to the Press under the name of the usual sources of it.formation.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) He wished to direct their attention to the course pursued by the Press, and particularly by the Times. That paper denounced every man who presumed to find fault with a single word of the Bill, as an enemy to his country. It had sa de nounced him. But he would ask them to look at the Times now. He would ask them to look at the Times of that morning, and see how it was laying it on Ministers about the division of the counties.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) He would ask them to see how the Times was calling on the country almost to rise in arms against a part of that Bill, the whole of which they had called on every man to accept without hesitation, under the pain of being considered an enemy of his country.—(Hear, hear.) The Times called on the counties to meet and petition for the purpose of putting a stop to that atrocious measure, the division of counties. But he could tell the Times their power was gone by. The day for obeying the calling f or up a Common Hall, but they failed ; and he would t e ll county meetings was gone. They had endeavoured to g e t them why : they could not get a Common Hall to suit their purpose; and if they were to attempt to get up county meetings, they would meet with the same disap was gone by for that. The Tim es , p however, disap pointment. e d T o l The daytli threats to the Members of that House, and he, for One, was for bringing the writers of these at tacks to the bar.—(Hear, hear.) In the Times of that day there was a general attack on the House, ae well as on individuals, and he should like either to have some of the gentlemen who wrote these attacks, or their ladies_ (A laugh)—brought up to the bir to answer for them. Mr. W. HARVEY rose to order. He wished to ask if there was any question before the House connected with the Times newspaper, and if the Hon. Member was in order in pursuing his present course of argument ? The CHAIRMAN, as he was thus called on to give his opinion, kit bound to say that he did not think the Hon. Member confined himself, as he should do, to the question before the Committee, and he, therefore, in his opinion, was out of order.—(No, no, go on, go on.) Mr. HUNT proceeded—lfevery Member, in the course of the debates, was forced to confine himself, as the Chair man said, to the question before the Committee, he knew not the man who would be in order.—(Hear, hear.) He was speaking of the newspapers at the time he was inter rupted. The press made it a practice at the present mo ment to abuse the House, and to misrepresent and vilify its Members: ,In one part of that day's Times they had alluded to the Member for Linco'n (Sibthorpe) by name; and what was the extraordinary and most infamous part of the business, they had coupled the Member for Lincoln and him (Hunt) together.—(Hear, hear, from Colonel Sibthorpe.) They had made a gross attack on the Member for Lincoln by name, and then they put hint and that Member to run as a couple.—( Hear, and a laugh.) He cared not what they said, but he would state it broadly and openly, that if the debates on the Bill had been carried on with closed doors, the country would have understood the Bill better than they now did, after the gross and scandalous misrepresentation of their proceedings which had appeared in the papers. The people would have read the Bill and judged for themselves, without being preju diced by the scandalous misrepresentations contained in the reports of the Press.—(Hear, hear.) He knew he would be libelled and calumniated for this, but he cared not for attacks of that kind. He was determined to do his duty, in spite of all the hostility with which he might be assailed. An HON. MEatnEn (we believe fur Hsinpshire), in reply to the assertion of the Member for Preston, that Hampshire would be a Government borough, said that undoubtedly the Government, through the means of the dock-yards, had great influence in time of war, but it had little or none in time of peace, and through the operation of the Bill would now lose it Atogether at any time. Colonel SIBTHORPE was very regardless of what the Press said of him, as their praise was frequently the deepest censure. He saw, however, that th e papers were disposed to favour one side more than the other, and it was probably for this reason that the Times, while it commented on his conduct, took no notice of the manner in which be had lashes' the First Lord of the Admiralty the other evening. —(oh, . oh, and hear.) That would not have suited their side. Without meaning any dis respect to the Noble Earl at the head of the Government, lie would say, however, in answer to the charge of being coupled with the Member for Preston ; that he was no greyhound, and that he would not run in coup!es with his Majesty's Ministers.—(A laughs and oh.) He would maintain that ,f the speeches of the Members of that liouse had been reported faithfully, the reaction in the country would have been Much ercater even than it was at present. Ministers and their adherents might, howeVer, write to all eternity in the newspapers; they would not be able to prevent the re-action agains'. the Bill from con tinuing to increa.e. . After a few further observa!ions from Mr. Baring, Litird Althorp, Mr. Hunt, Lord Stormont, Mr. Gore Langton, and Mr. Knig - ht (who ,bserv, d. that n o t b e i ng sat i s fi ed that the Governor of the Fie of Wight was a c i v i l officer, he would take an opportunity, after th e resump tion of th e House, of moving for a copy of his appoint rnent), Mi. H. Hughes said he would not press his motion to a division. The original motion was then agreed to, and the clause, alPer a few words from Nlr. Trevor, Lord Althorp, Cresset Pelham, and Mr. H. Gurney, was ortlercd to form part of the Bill. On the 15th clause being taken into consideration, Gdonel DAVIES stated that his observations upon it would probably extend to so great a length, that at that ite hour he thought it would be advisab'e to postpone the further consideration of the measure. Lord Aurnotte acquiescing in this suggestion, the House resumed, and the CHAIRMAN reported progress, and ob tained leave to sit again this day. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and at a Quarter before One this morning the House adjourned. HOUSE OF LORDS, d4causr 16. The Lotto CHANCIaI.OII. took his seat oa the Woolsack at Five o'clock. KINNAIRD'S DIVORCE BILL. On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, this Bill was read a third time and passed. BANKRUPTCY COURT BILL. The Earl of ELDON spoke a few words in a low tone, the import of which was, that it would be convenient to him that the Bankruptcy Court Bi l should be deferred from Friday to a future day. The LORD CHANCELLOR observed, that it was his intention to sit in the Court of Chancery till half past six o'clock on the evenings of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so as not to detain the bar longer than this week; and as that was the case, he had no objection to defer the discussion of the Bankruptcy Bill till Friday week. Another reason was, that the Lord Chief Baron was not very well, and probably would not be able to attend. The discussion on the Bill was accordingly postponed till Friday week. BELGIAN NEGOCIATIONS. Lord ORFORD rose to put some questions to the Noble Earl at the head of his Majesty's Administration, respecting the negotiations which had lately taken place relative to the settlement of the affairs of Holland and Belgium. From the events which had recently oc curred, and the documents which had been pub • lished, and the great anxiety which had been excited in the public mind, it was highly expedient that Ministers should give some explicit and distinct explanation on the subject. The questions which he particularly wished to put to the Noble Earl, related, Ist, to the present occupa tion of the Belgic territory by the French ; and 2,11 y, re lative to the fortresses on the French and 13elgic frontiers, some of which at least it appeared to be proposed to destroy. He wished to know for what purpose the French troops had entered Belgium, and upon what conditions, and how long they were to remain in that country ? And in the next place, he wished to know whether the Noble Earl was prepared to lay on the table a list of such of the fortresses as it was intended to demolish. In adverting to these topics, he might refer to what had been stated before, that France had entered the Belgic, torritory because the armis tice between Holland and Belgium, which had been esta blished under the sanction and guarantee of the five Powers, had been broken by the King of Holland. But from events which had lately occurred, and documents which had lately been published, it would appear, that according to the understanding of the King of Holland, no such armis tice had been established or had ever had existence.—. He might refer to documents which had recently been published, as a proof that the King of Holland did not recognise any armistice, except one which he himself was entitled to put an end to without any ref, rence to the five Powers. It appeared that the King of Holland had addressed a letter to the conferences, in which he stated that he intended to support the negotiations with Belgium par moyeus militaires. A letter, making use of the same expression, had been addressed to the conlerences by the King of Holland, and it was surprising that there should exist such a difference between the interpretation which he put on this expression, and that which was put on it by the five ,Potisers in their answer of the sth of Augast. The Noble Duke hail, on a former occasion, interpreted this as a meaning that the King of Holland would inter fere by military means. But the letter of the 2d August contained a corollary, which took away all pretence for the allegati on , t h at the Kin.'of Holland had given no notice of his intention to attack Belgium ; for in that letter he said, in su b stance, t h at i n order to i n d uce t h e Belgians to come to a settlement of the differences between them, he meant to turn his arms into the scale, to support the exer tions of the conferences. With these letters and that in terpretation b e f ore t h em , i t was s t ran ge that th e Ministers of the Powers engaged in the conferences shotld have written the answer of the sth of August to the Minister of the King of Holland, which answer contained these express sj"ns ;—" By the letter which your Excellency did us the hono ur to present to us on the tat of August, you h a d t h e goodness t o i n f or m us that it was the intention of the King, you r august Master, to support by uiditary measures, &c. We should h lye supposed that these irie sores would b e adopt e d on l y i n t h e interior of the territory of Holland, if public report did not inform us that they had been ex grimed against the Belgians by the King's orders; and that th e ex tender] b e y on d its frontiers ; that hostilities have b een re armistice concluded at Antwerp has just been denounced." Now it certainly was strange that the Ministers of the five Powers at the conferences should have put s uc h an inter pretation as this on the communications of the King of Holland. The real state of these transaction s might he described in a few words. On the 12th of January the Powe rs at the c onferences agreed on a protocol, by which it was provided that peace should be established between Holland and Belgium on certain terms, aml that in the tile in time an armistice should be concluded betvveen the contending parties, and that no King of Belgium should be recognised unless he agreed to adopt the basis of the terms proposed b y the conf erence . But no distinct and hostiliti e s o explicit armistice followed upon this ; on th e contrary, haleen This was 1 threatened,waso less cu r i ous t h at no pm and even f orce emp l oye d . curious—and tocol was communicated to the Ministers of "lie Kin g o f Holland till the 1 8 articles had been laid befor e hi m . A ib change had, however, talc, n place in the views of the Power s e ngaged in the conferences, and tie IS articles were different from the protocol. Such wa s t h e state o f affairs till Leopold was appointed Kin g o f Belgium. H ere he mi g ht have accspted the eighteen articles ; but th en , when h e went to Belgium, he had to swear to preserve the int eg rity of the Belgic territory, including certain places on the Scheldt. Now he wished to ask the Noble Earl whether, when the French ent e r e d B e ! g i utn to ass i st King Leopold, it was done under the protocol or under the eighteen articles, or u n d er th e C onst i tut i on sworn to by Leopold when he went to Belgium ?—all of them dif fering from each othe r . Th e F renc h h ad, it was true, declared their troops would be withdrawn on the return of t h e Dutch troops to Holland ; but then the French Mi nister had declared, in a speech in the Chambers, it was not the intention to withdraw theme on the return of the Dutch troops, but that they were to remain till some other French objects should be accomplished. The King o f Holland, however, had alw Lys insisted on his right to take the matter into his own h an d s, and that right had nev er been distinctly d en i e d . Then, with respect to the i f o rtresses, t was imp ortant to look at the speeches o f th e French Minister, Casimir Perier, delivered in the French Chamber: for th ese speeches were not like speeches deli vered in this and th e other House of Parliament in this cou ntry. The spe ec h es of the Ft ench Ministers were usu ally written out, and in some measure authenticated. Now, the French Minister, in the speech to which he al luded, had said that Leopold was not to be recognised by France as King of Belgium, until the honour of France should be complet e l y vindi cate d , an d al l vest i ges of the hu miliating terms imposed on France in 1815, by the erec tion of th ese fort resses, should be done away. • This lan guage.evidently,implied t h at all the fortresses were to be d e molished. Now, considering that these fortresses were erected at the expence of Great Britain and Holland, and that they were intend e d part i cu l arly f or t h e defence of Ilollaud, it was clear that 'no alteration should be made in the state of these fortresses, sinless Holland was made i! consenting party. It might be said that it might be desirable, as a m atter of economy for Belgium, t'hat .ome of these fortresses should be demolished, but the French Minister said that Leopold would not he recognised until the whole of them were demolished; and it might be implied that the French ?Ministry meant to make the de molition of these fortresses a condition of the withdrawing of the French fo rces from Belgium. In fine, then, hi asked the Noble Eat 1 for what Specific purpose the French troops hadentered B e l g i um, and ' in what event, and on what conditions they were to be withdrawn from the Bel- `o , Blto. gra let titory, and whether the whole of the frontier for tresses were to be demolished and if not, whether the N rile Earl Would consent to by on the table a list of each of the fortresses as were to he demolished ? E trl GREY protested against the practice of raising orematiire discussions on so' fires which were not yet ripe f r (lisoussibn, and against asking premdture questions to which no answer OW at present he given. But be had alss. on the presene occasirm, fo conlplain of the unpre cedented, and he might say the tiracanirteous, manner in which the Noble Lord had on the present occasion brought this subject before the House. He was there as Minister• of the Crown, bound to aasiver any question which it was proper to pat to him ; but it was :Leval, as a matter of courtesy to the Minister of the Crown, to gave him pre vious notice when questions were to be put to him, and to state the nature of these questions ; or, if it was in tended to bring forward a motion, it w.,s the roma! course, as a matter of courtesy, to give notice of ti c motion, an' to state the nature of it. This the Noble Lord had thoua it proper entirely to neglect, and to put questions to him without any previous communication whatever ; and, under the pretence of asking questions, he had entere into a statement of the proceedings and views of the Powers at the conferences, which statement was com pletely erroneous. He did trot mean, however, to follow th e Noble Lord at present through that statement, but would confine himself strictly to the questions which he had asked. In the first place, the Nob'e Lord asked for as la it purpose the French troops had entered 13,1giwn ? nr this the answer was, that the purpose, as had been dis tinctly stated in these documents, to support the King of the Belgians against the Dutch troops, which had entered Belgium in violation of the armistice. The Noble Lord said that no such armistice had been established ; but he (Earl Grey) said that it was est rblished under the guarantee of the five Powers, any of whom had a right to enforce its obedience against either of the parties which should violate it. 1 he Noble Lord asked whether the French troops would he withdrawn when the Dutch troops should retire within their own frontiers ? That was ob viously a question to which he could return no positive answer, nor could he pledge himself as to whether they would then return or not. But if the Noble-Lord had asked what this country had a right to expect upon that head, and what had been stipulated by solemn engagement, then he might have answered, that this country hail a right on every ground to expect that the French troops would he withdrawn from Belgium when the Dutch troops should have retired within their own frontiers. Now as to the speeches to which the Noble Lord had alluded, how could the Noble Lord expect any explanation from Ministers here as to the speeches, the matter of which rested on no official authority whatever ? Put this case. Suppose a speech were published in a newspaper said to have been spoken by a French Minister in a French Chamber, be would ask the Noble Lord on what ground a Minister could ask for explanations of a publication possessing no official autho rity or authenticity ? Or suppose such a speech to be published in a newspaper here as that made by a Mi- Meter, upon what ground could a French Minister ask for explanations with respect to such publication ? No thing could more strongly show the impropriety of the explanation called for by the Noble Lord than the bare statement of these suppositions. The Noble Lord had alluded to a supposed distinction between the authenticity of the speech of a French Minister when published in a Newspaper, and the speeches made in either House of Par liament here. But as to the point of official authenticity of authority, he knew no distinction between them. Then, i❑ the third place, the Noble Lord asked whether the whole of the fortresses were to be demolished, or whether he (Lord Grey) would lay on the table lists of such of them as were to be destroyed ? The only answer he could give to that was, that with respect to the fortresses, nothing hail as yet been determined on. All that had been determined on was, that in consequence of the alteration of circum stances which had taken place, certain of these might be, and should he demolished, and that negociations should be set on font in order to determine which of them should be demolished. As to any of the other matters touched upon in the Noble Lord's speech, he would say. nothing at pre sent, but would be well prepared to enter upon the dis cussion when the proper time and opportunity should arrive. Lord ORFORD still maintained that from the practice of writing out the speeches delivered in the French Cham bers, and handing them out for publication in this cor rected state, a greater degree of authenticity did attach to them than to the speeches delivered in Parliament here. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY was glad that the Noble Earl had given new assurances and pledges that the French troops should be withdrawn front B-lgium the ' moment when the Dutch troops should have withdrawn within their own territory. The Noble Earl had pledged himself that the French troops should remain no longer in ' Belgium than until the Dutch troops should be withdrawn, and therefore he would not pass any judgment on the Ministers at present with reference to the entry of the French into Belgium. But considering the excited state of the public mind in regard to these transactions, and the series of extraordinary blunders which these confer ences had exhibited, be thought that the Noble Lord be hind him did right in calling their Lordships' attention, and the attention of the country, to the curious contra dictions between the statements of the Ministers here anti the statements of the French Ministers, in their speeches in the Chambers. But the Noble Earl had given as surances that the French troops would withdraw when the Dutch should have withdrawn ; and there were those in that House who would take care that he should be respon sible for these assurances. He would not. at present say anything more on the subject, but when the proper time arrived he should take care that the subject should be fully discussed. The Duke of WELLINGTON was not surprised that sonic of their Lordships had thought proper to call the attention of their Lordships and the country to these transactions, for some o f them were rather strange, and were fit subjects for explanation, as far as explanation could be given consistently with the public interests. But at the same time he must observe that there was nothing in what Ministers might say in the Parliament here, nor in what the French Ministers might say in the Chainbcr of Deputies, that had anything like official authority or authenticity, as far an concerned foreign relations, or which could properly be made the subject of interna tional expknations. Ministers were bound only by their signatures attached to official documents, and not by loose cases st y: , w g s u ai e sg n s t t i F dl t i n en e o n yt t li s ial cne a g s d :h i ( c m.:‘, l) a at t h o n icne a gn ri ,h y h • ua o tt ffi e: c ffie i ra, in ndgtoia,cgeues-e-ny ny ial merits, regularly signed; and although the Noble Lords near hurt and the public might feel considerabl e anxiety as to these statements of the French Ministers, yet they ought not to have considered Ministers here as in the least responsible for any thing that might appear in such state ments or speeches. Earl GREY—The Noble Duke bad anticipated the ob servations which he (Earl Grey) had been about to make. He, as a Minister of the Crown, was to be judged here by official documents, and not by any vague and unau thenticated statements and speeches. He was responsible, as a Minister and a man or honour, for what he stated in that House ; and under that responsibility he had stated what this country had a right to expect under engage ments entered into with other Powers, and he was no further pledged, as to the introduction of the French troops into Belgium, or as to the purpose for which they entered, or as to when, or upon what conditions, they should be withdrawn. As to the observations of the Noble Earl opposite (Londonderry), he should only say, that if that Noble Earl wished to excite animosities be tween nations, and to interrupt the general peace, be could adopt no better course than that which he was pur suing.—(Hear.) The Marquis of LONDONDERRY denied having any desire to interrupt the general peace. He spoke to the aonduct of the Noble Earl from his signature to a Pro tocol, the terms of which had been contradicted by a speech of the French Minister. He repeated that there were contradictions between them ; and notwithstanding the cheers and yells which attended the Noble Earl's speeches, he would say that the time consumed in calling for ex planations had not been mis-spent. He insisted that he had a right to ask questions of the Noble Earl ; and if he refused to answer them, he had a right to make a motion, and would make a motion in order to procure the proper information. He hoped that the questiOns asked on his side of the House demanded respect.. Here the subject was dropped. The Marquis of SALISBURY presented a petition from occupiers of land in the county of Hertford, respect ing the extension of the elective franchise. Several petitions were presented from Edinburgh and other places, against the permission of the use of molasses in the distilleries.—The petitions were laid on the table. TURTON'S DIVORCE BILL. The . LORD CHANCELLOR stated, that on a. ta exa mination of the while of the evidence in this case, he thought that lady's conduct had on the whole been so cor rect that she was entitled to her divorce, and he moved • that the Bill be read a second time. Lord TENTERDEN concurred ; and the Bill was read a second time, and ordered to, be committed on Thursday Adjourned till Thursday. So abundant is silver coin in Cornwall, that the bankers have lately been oblige(' to *end many thou sand pounds' worth to London. .~5 ' .. rx Mill 20 1- 1 . - , ,, - ..i. -apl. 1 y_.44) -- - ,, !„. , - - - SPIRIT OF THE - - -- -1- -s i - : iLI7 -1 ;.,- la looking over the reportssafts - actoak place laat Saturday (the 13th) in the French Chamber of Deputies, our attention has been of necessity arrested by the speech of Marshal Soult, the French Minister of War. By way of " tranquillizing" the fears of the Chamber in relation to foreign Governments, 064 French Minister of War declared, that " the Duch army, against which the French army h a _ marched, has just received orders from its Sovereign to stop its march, and to retire before our troops. 'raj- , order has officially reached the King's Govern in, n•. HoUIeTCT, OUT troop will not return to France on that account. Our troops will take con client positions, in order to afford us the certainty that the Dutch troops will not return." We have quoted the above words, and merely placed them between inverted commas, in a quiet way, to mark hat they were a quotation. We have forborne to .innex to them any not( s of admiration or other in dices of astonishment. But there they s.and. The French troops marched into Holland, because (as it was said) the Dutch troops had previously marched thither, and because King Leopold, who did not 4pecifically require an armed force, had solicited generally the interposition of the French, as he did also that of the British Government. Well : the Dutch King, regarding the French army as repre sentative of the Confederate Powers, bows to their deria;en, and withdraws his troops. It was to be ex pected as a matter of course, that the French Govern ment, on learning that the alleged causes of its mili tary movement upon Belgium her: ceaaed, would have followed the example of the Kior of Holland, and ordered an immediate retreat within its own frontier, of the army comtnanded by Marshal Gerard. But we are now told, oil the authority of the French War Minister, that although the retreat of the Dutch troops had been made known officially to his Gavernment, the " Trench army will not re turn to France on that account !" Has Marshal Soult added to this " tranquillizin g " statement, that King Leopold desired the army of Marsha/ Gerat' to remain ?—or that its continued occupation of the Belgic territory " had the full concurrence of the Allied Powers," in the same way as its entrance into Belgium ? We lament to say that he has not. We find, indeed, that Marshal Soult introduced the last alarming menace by the qualification, that the order for the removal of the Dutch force must be " executed as well as issued ;" but he needed not to have thrown in as a farther motive for delay, that it was necessary to be assured the troops of Holland " would not return to Belgium." If the French army be to remain until a certainty can be procured that the Dutch troops will not return, then we say that the Ministers of Louis Philip intend to occupy Belgium for an indefinite period, and for purposes which they have not avowed. When Lord Pal merston was interrogated a few days ago upon the motives awl circumstances of the French irruption into Belgium, his. Lordship announced the most positive assurances, on the part of the French Government, that its troops would be withdrawn immediately an the retreat of the Dutch army. Yet we find Marshal Soult promising, amidst the acclamations of the Chamber, that Louis Philp would not withdraw his troops. What is the mean ing of all this ? Is the French Minister angling for a majority, by playing into the schoolboy appetite of his cou n t r y men f or a general war? an d - after the address shall have been adopted, may we expect a return to better faith and to more satisfactory decla rations ? In the House of Lords last night, Lord Grey expressed with great di st i nctness what it was that England had " a right to expect" on the with drawal of the Dutch troops; his Lordship declaring that in that case the British Government " had a right to expect, and did expect, that Fiance would withdraw her army, as soon as the object for which her aid had been required should be attained." What will Marshal Soult say to this? Has he not had enough of war with British armies? So M. Cas;- mir Perier,—majority-hunting, no doubt,—attempts to bully other countries, or to tickle France,by some bombastic nonsense about " 3,500,000 National Guards" in arms. Such vaunts will have little effect. Europe does not fear France. • England, Prussia, Austria, and Holland, will prone .too many for France, if France be weak enough and desperate enough to fling away the noblest stake that ever was ventured for—the revival of Poland, for the sake of a selfish, sordid, and unattainable project relating to the Belgic provinces.—Tbacs. The entrance of the French troops into Belgium was naturally viewed from the first with anxitty,and although that anxiety is now in a great measure re moved, still it is impossible not to feel some appre hension for the ultimate issue. - Marshal S vit has intimated that the French troops will remain in Bel gium to prevent the return of the Dutch. This of course gave a handle to our warlike Opposition, whose sympathy with the King of Holland is as intel ligible as their hatred to Reform. In the course of a speech last tight by Lord Orford in the House of Lords, on the subject of the Belgian negociations, he referred to this speech of the French Marshal : " The French," said his Lordship," had, it was true, declared that their troops would be withdrawn on the return of the Dutch troops to Holland—(Hear) —but then the French Minister had declared, in a speech in the Chamber, that it was not the intention to withdraw them on the return of the Dutch troops, but that they were to remain till some other French objects should be accomplished." Many parts of the Noble Lord's speech were such as could not with propriety be noticed at the present mo ment by Ministers ; but with respect to the part quoted by us, Lord Grey is reported to have said, " The Noble Lord asked whether the French troops would be withdrawn when the Dutch troops should retire vtithin their own frontiers ? That was ob viously a question to which he could return no par ticular answer ; nor could he pledge himself as to whether they would then return or not. But if the Noble Lord had asked what this country had a right to expect upon that head, and what had been stipulated by solemn engagement, then he might have answered, that this country had every ground to expect that the French troops would be with drawn from Belgium, when the Dutch troops would have retired within their own frontiers." It would have been singular if an opportunity favourable for promoting a quarrel had been neglected by the great mare's-nest finder, the Marquis of Londonderry. " He thought that the Noble Lord beh nd him (Or ford) did right in calling their Lordships' attention, and the attention of the country, to the curious con tradictions between the statements of the Ministeis here and the statements of the French Ministers in their speeches in the Chambers. But the Noble Earl had given assurances that the French troops would withdraw when the Dutch should Lave with drawn, and there were those in that House who would take care that he should be responsible for these assurances. He would not at present say anything more on the subject; and when the proper time arrived he should take care that the subject should be fully discussed." Earl Grey's reproof was evidently felt by the Noble Marquis, for he vapoured about the cheers and yells which attended the Noble Earl's speeches, his right to ask questions, and to make motions, and his determination to make motions. What Earl Grey said was, that " He, as a Minister of the Crown, was to be judged here by official documents, and not by any vague and un authentic statements and speeches. lie was responsible as a Minister and a react of honour for what he stated in that House ; and under that responsibility he had stated what hit country bad a right to expect under engagements entered into with other Powers, and be was no further pledged as to the introduction of the French troops into Belgium, or toas the purpose for which they entered, or as to when or upon what conditions tha.y should be withdrawn. As to the observations of the Noble Earl opposite (Londonderry) he shookd only say, that if that Noble Earl wished to ex cite animosities between nations, and to interrupt the gene tal peace, he could adopt no better course than that which he was pursuing."--(Hear hear.) i:f.sonn rsdm l a, i iitou ' ho l a t eef at i pritenrob i ,st,,rhvieenie entrance invasion f :a o tin r hoctenje.o e I hcne l o t ehig ly .wli t‘iirimste::2ticiteo;:sinsitytirti:pe(tegitst_l:ltoteltiii.cl!Jii:ln.i