The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY

ceived from the Austrian Government with respect to the
cession of the lonian Islands. No such despatch had been
received from the Austrian Government, nor from any other
Government, on that subject. (Laughter.)
MESSAGE FROM HER MAJESTY.—THE ROYAL

MARRIAGE•
Viscount PALMERSTON appeared at the bar and
brought up a message from her Majesty, which was read
by the Speaker : " Her Majesty relies upon the liberality
and affection of her faithful Commons, and on the cordial

interest which they have manifested in the happy event of
the approaching marriage of the Prince of Wales and the

Princess Alexandra of Denmark; and that they will be
ready to concur in such a provision as they may judge ne-
cessary, to enable her Majesty to settle an establishment
for the Prince and Princess suitable to their rank and
dignity."

Viscount PALMERSTON said : The house has already
been informed by the Speech from the Throne of the in-
tended marriage of the Prince of Wales ; and in their ad-
dress they have expressed the sentiments they entertained
upon the subject. All that it becomes my duty to do is to ask
the House to agree to an address in answer to the mes-
sage which has just been read, assuring her Majesty that
this house will, at the earliest possible time, take
that message into consideration, with the view
of making such a provision for his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales and the Princess of Wales as may be suit•
able to their high rank and station. lam quite sure the
house will feel pleasure in adopting that course, and I now
give notice that on Thursday next, the earliest order day,
it will be my duty to propose a resolution to the house on
that subject. The house will of course understand that, in
agreeing to the address I am about to propose, there is no
pledge either implied or expressed as to any particular
arrangement, and it would be unfitting for me to go now
into details which I shall have occasion to explain to the
house on Thursday next. I shall, therefore, content my-
self by requesting the house to do that which has been usual
upon similar occasions, namely, to agree to an address to
the following effect : That an humble address be presented
to her Majesty, to express to her Majesty the thanks of
this house for her most gracious message, and to assure her
Majesty that this house will immediately proceed to the
consideration thereof in such a manner as will demonstrate
their zeal, duty, and affectionate attachment to her Majesty,
and with due regard to the rank and dignity of the Royal
family. (Cheers.)
Mr. DISRAELI said—l am sure the house will agree
to this address with a unanimity not only of the voice, but
of the heart. (Hear.) lam sure the House of Commons
will seize upon every occasion of testifying their affectionate
loyalty to the Sovereign under whose reign not only has
the greatness of the empire been sustained, but the happi-
ness of the people has been also increased. (Cheers.) Nor
can we ever forget that one of the most august of Sove-
reigns, during the long period of a quarter of a century, has
undeviatingly exercised an influence which has refined the
taste and elevated the sentiments of the whole community.
(Cheers.) The country, sir, takes a deep interest in the
happiness and order cf the household of the Prince of Wales
—and I am sure the house will support every reasonable
proposition brought forward by her Majesty's Ministers,
the object of which is to secure those results. (Cheers.)
In reply to Sir H. WILLOUGHBY and Mr. WILLIAMS,

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
a statement of the accounts of the Duchy of Cornwall was
laid on the table of the house that night. The report of the
council of the duchy would also be produced, which would
give a full account of the proceeds of the duchy.

The address was agreed to nem. con .1
ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.—COMMER-
CIAL TREATIES.:

On the motion that the house should, at its rising, ad.

in asserting that the Foreign-office had nothing to do with
the French treaty. The Foreign-office took up the matter
warmly, and the hon. member for Rochdale had himself ac-
knowledged the hearty and valuable co-operation he received
from Lord Cowley in the negotiations on the subject. (Hear.)

When the hon. member for Rockdale went to Paris on that
mission the first thing he was asked—what had he to offer ?
If he had gone to Paris with his hands empty, it was not
probable that he would have succeeCed in obtaining the
concessions which the French Government made to him.

Fortunately, however, the hon. gentleman had much to
offer. There were heavy duties on wine and other articles
of French produce and manufactures, and in consideration
of a reduction in those duties the French Government con-
sented to various changes in their tariff which had proved
very beneficial not only to this country but to France. It
was necessary to bear in mind that in our domestic legisla-
tion we differed from France. We at once gave the whole
world the benefit of the concessions which had been made to
our ally. France, on the other hand, withheld from others
the privileges she had conceded to us. and thus retained in
her hands the means of bargaining with other Powers for
mutual commercial concessions. When one nation sought
any favour from another nation, there were various grounds
on which the request might be blued. An appeal might be
made to the generosity of the other Power, but it was doubt-
ful whether that would have much effect ; or an appeal might
be'made to a treaty which gave the applicants the privileges
of the most favoured nation, and a claim advanced for
certain privileges which had been granted to another
State. Therefore it was, above all things, desirable that
when one had no concessions to offer in return for the ad-
vantages sought, some other Power, which possessed the
means of bargaining, should commence the negotiations.
That was the reason why France had been allowed to pre-
cede us in the present instance, and every concession which
was made to her gave us a right to claim the same. If we
had taken the initiative, the Italian Government would very
naturally have said, "You have nothing to give us in ex-
change for what we give you, and if we freely concede your
demands we shall be placed in a bad position in making
terms with France." So far from her Majesty's Govern-
ment not having endeavoured to make treaties of commerce
with other nations, the fact was that there was scarcely a
Power in Europe with whom negotiations had not been
opened during the last year or two. Treaties had been con-
cluded with Turkey and Belgium. The treaty with the
former was a very important one. The Turkish Government,
always adopting a very liberal policy in its commercial rela-
tions with other nations, had reduced its export duties to the
very lowest scale, and had placed the import duties on a fa-
vourable footing. (Hear,) The remarks ho had just made
applied with peculiar force to the case of the Belgian treaty.
The Belgian Government were asked to make a treaty of
commerce with us, as they had done with France, and it was
pointed out to them that it would be an unfriendly act, hav-
ing entered into a treaty with France, to refuse to negotiate
one with England. They replied by asking what we could
give them in return, and they suggested that if they gave
to us what they had given to France we should consent to
capitalise the Scheldt dues. Now, the capitalisation of the
Scheldt dues had nothing whatever to do with a treaty of
commerce, and our Government at once refused to admit the
principle of purchasing a treaty. Again and again they in-
sisted upon the unfriendliness of refusing to us what had
been given to France. Eventually that argument prevailed,
and in the end the Belgian Government made a treaty of
commerce with us, abandoning their demand for the capi-
talisation of the Scheldt dues, which formed the subject of a
separate negotiation. The right hen. member for Horsham
had been misinformed with respect to the Italian treaty. Last
year the French Government, desiring to place their com-
mercial relations with Italy upon a better footing, proposed
a treaty of commerce. The British and Italian Governments
were equally desirous of a treaty being negotiated between
Italy and this country. The Italian Government accord-