The Sun.
London, England, 1814-07-16 00:00:00

GERMAN SUFFERERS.

Lord Livanrooe having moved the order of the
day, tor taking into consideration the Prince Re-
gent's ?Message relative to the German Sufferers,
stated that in rising •to 'propose an Address con-
curring in the 'object of his Royal Highness in
the Message, he was desirous to say a few, and
but a few words: dr was known to their Lord-
ships, that in consequeute of the distresses. to
which a part of Germany had been exposed, by
having been, made the theatre of xvar, a voluntary-
subscription had been Opened in this country for
the relief of the stilkaaa I lead once been hoped
the stint subscribed would have been sufficient to
afford, not full but:such a-degree of relief
as would have rendered an application to -Parlia-
ment ;unnecessary. "The sum subscribed;was one
hundred thousand pounds, to the great' honour
of those Who'did subscribe. This had been- dis-
tributed, but did not answer the purpose in view.
In 63 villages about Leipsic, property to the ex-,
tent of 500,0001. had been completely destroy-
ed.• It bad, therefore, been thought expedient
to come to Parliament tor a sum in aid of the vo-
luntary subscription e and he might state to their
Loads Lips, that• the.suin intended to- be granted
was 100,000 t. He was willing to rest the 'pro-
priety•of making this grant upon this—that Eua
rope 'had been twenty years at war, and that the
.people of that part of the Continent where the
war .had more particularly raged, -had suffered the
severest losses and calamities ; and that though 'the
war had pressed heavily on this country, we had
front our situation enjoyed great advantages. The
chief of these' advantages was, that Great Britain
had not been the theatre of war ; and whatever
• distresses and privations the people might have -
suffered, they were as nothing compared with the
losses and miseries eadured by the people of those-
countries which had been the theatre of war.
These miseries !lad been felt in the heaviest turd
most direct manner by the country for whose re-
lief this grant was intended. It was not of an
amount sufficient to afford complete relief, hat it
would s.oav the dispoaition of this. country,
could not do all that it wished, to do all the good
that it could. -He moved an Address accordingly.
Lord HOLLAND felt. it tt.i..be- a most ungracioua
duty to resist an appeal to their Lordships' gene-
rosity ; but he was comPelled, notwithstanding--
that circumstance, by his sen.Se f public ditty,
to enter his protest against this 'lavish expetuli-
i lure of the pittajic money:- In the case of• Port it-
gal, consaleringeallahe circumstances, there ex-
isted stroag grounds foe grant, which was
little more than an act -of jostiee. la the ease of
Moscow, he had rather aeoiiii-ced in, than approv,
ed of the grant; and he had in .e.,ieseed not from any
opinion that the grant count good,• but
because, when such erant was op.:. ajeaposed,, it
was better to agree to it than to :n 'order
to'shew 'avery dispoSition to in.die banana, cause;
with Russia, „Bich was- then au Ohjeeta ut great
importance.• Bat here-, they weee called upim at
the close of the war, lvithotit any'examination,
to vote away titia slim of, money, at a time when
the people of this cOuntry. were suffering severely _
from the effects of the- war, and when -there was
no appearance of their littrthens being,' iniote-
diately least, very much diminished, He
was well aware of the, calamities wiieb must be
en(lered by the people of those countries which
had been more peculiarly the theatre of war • but
these calamities were
.tot of a nature to berelleved.
by money, and therefore this was imposing an ad-
ditional btirtiten on this country, Without doing li
much gOodio. thOse places where the. bounty was
to be distributed They ought first 'to look at
home. To come to Parliament with so little ce-
remony
for money, dia appear to hint not exactly
a proper-mode of proceeding; and hoWeVer ttu-
gracious the duty might be, he was coMpelled to
give this addreasa decided.negative.
Lord BoItiNGDON spoke in favour of the Ad-
dress, and said that there appeared asome incon-
sistency iu agreeing to the, Grants to the people
of Portugal and Moscow, and objecting to this.
Lord HOLLAND denied that there was any in-
consistency, and repeated what he had said as to
•the difference in circumstances..
Lord LAUDERDALE -recommended looking at
home for objects of charity, 'and diSapproved of
the arant.. .
Lord Senatottain had heard with-astonishment
the observations of the Noble Lords, knowing,
as he did, that the exertions of public spirit had
never, on any-former occasion, in the history of
this country, been accompanied with such' ex-
tensive benevolence.- The number of charitable
institutions had increased, during the war, be-
yond all former. example 5- and the sums which
had been sOdistiibuted in charity were unprece-
dented. It was also.to be considered, that the.
policy of the law of this country had provided a•
security against- the extreinity of want, which,was
not to be found in any other country. He ad-
mitted that the circumstances were different from
those under which the rottughese 11(1 'Moscow
grants had been made ; but in those cases
much goodaltad been done bysthe bounty of this'
country. The deviistations in Portugal had not
been occasioned by the British, but by the French,

‘z I!ase Cdurte Was like that- of Attila, like a liotde
• f. harba'fians, anxious 0. destrny •where they
(tould-.not conquer. Ile %vas convinced that the
1 present.:; rant ivoUld do g-ood .. :It was, besides,--a
,grant ivhieli Might be justified in 'SoundrpOlicy,
on account of the.,,,ipitss.i,,p which it w6iiid
create with respect to this counti,v.;. and-he.had.
no `doubt •but it would Meet with the hearty con
' currdnee of every part di' the nation. : :.
' The Archbishop of CA*titalli;RY Ilion ;ht it was
hardly possible that any Briton Who had, during
-the War, remained safe at hOthe athidst the caJa-
, niities which had , spread over the .eontiment,' to
contemplate tli amiseries enilnred by other coun-
tries, without feeling thankful to Providence t\w
' the protection Afforded to this Nation, and with-
' out the most anxious desire to relieve the dis-
tresses of "his fellow-creatures, whOse lot had
fallen in less favourable situations. Ile was sure
the Noble. Earl himself,: if he were satisfied that
we were nor neglecting our own poor, would
most willingly, agree.irto . this address. Now
his :opinion was,' that our own poor -had been
most carefully attended to; and that they had by
no means suffered so much distress as the riot. in
. those parts of the Continent Which bad been the
theatre of war, wino, he it remembered, had sulf
• fere& in a cause, from the favourable result of
Which we now derived so many advantages. ' As
to the digtribution_ of, the money collected by vo-
luntary subscription, every thing -had been gone
which man could do to prevent fraud, as he could
well testify, having had a considerable share in
the management himself.
' The Address was then. agreed W.—Adjourned.