The Sun.
London, England, 1831-08-13 00:00:00

tiere•at ter.

The okielvatim he wali going to maiie applied

simply to the conduct of his Mejesi,'s Ministers in the
txecution of their public duties in that House. He was
not going to enter err the large question of flit tiffairs of
'Belgium with Ho{ am?, or of France with Belgium. He
wzt going to peat right, if he could, a wide-spread n`ltl
wide-spreading misunderstanding. In proce4A4yith
this view, he felt that to his Noble Friereo
with whom he had lived on terms of r;••ach long and affec-
tionate intercourse, it was grit; unnecessary to say—
although to other Honourable 11leenbers in that House, it
might net be unneccs,al,7 to say—that the d.igh 'respect
be entertained for bk.g good qualities, and the Intimate and
long knowledge lie had of him, wilich had matured those •
riginally high opinions into the greatest 'respect and
esteem, would prevent him (Mr. Croker) 'from making
i545y motion to offend his Noble Friend, that such might
not be supposed to be his intention in the least delzreg,
he begg. d it to he distactly understood that hie ‘-.)notion
applied to the Government in general, if, then, his
Noble Friend's name be mentioned in this affair, let it he
always supposed to he so in cornwean with the other Minis-
ters. In whatever he said, tiia was considered as disre-
spectful to his Noble Fttond ; and if anything wearing
ouch a semblance shutii;l happen to escape from him, it
was to be consVered as addressed, not to his Noble
Friend's personal character, but addressed to him abstract-
edly- there, as the representative of his Majesty's Govern-
ment. Before proceeding further, he must recal to the re-
collection of the House the circumstances which lately
occurred with regard to the questions—let him rather say
—than the discussions which had taken place in that
House on the Belgic question. The House would recol-
sect
that on Friday, the nth of August—but first, hr must
beg to ask for that reply to the question, which his Noble
Friend could not give yesterday, namely, on what day the
communication to him and the Noble Earl at the head of
the Government relative to the recommencement of hosti.,
lities had been made by the Dutch Ambassador ?
Lord PALNIERSTON—On Friday.
!dr. CROKER resumed. On Friday, the sth of Au-
gust, the country was surpeleed by the announcement thet
his Majesty the King of the Netherlands had entered Bel-
gium with an armed force. His lion. Friend the Member
for Oakhampton (Sir R. Vyvyan) on the meeting of the
House next day, as was natural, inquired of the Nebl'e
.Lord Chaucellor of the Exchequer who happened to be in
his place, his Noble Friend (Lord Palmerston) not being in
his, whether it was true the Dutch troops had thug hostilely
entered the new kingdom of Belgium? The Noble Lord
(Mihail)) in reply, answered to the following effect, lie
would not, in matters of such delicacy, trust too much to
his own recollection, but would read the reply as it had
gone forth to the world :
That his Majesty's Government had undoubtedly reeeiveq
information from Sir C. Bagot, that orders for brertkitr;A the
armistice had been given, and he had no doubt that the, Zdmistice
leas now broken." .

The mention of receiving advices totiching the breaking
of the armistice from Sir Charles Ilagot excited his atten-
tion, because it seemed passing strange that a great mea-
sure of this kind should have been left to communication
at second-hand to the great mediating Powers by the King
of the Netherlands. Common justice, natural humanitv,
the courtesy doe among nations, forbade the belief that the
King of 'Holland shouts? decide upon recommencing hos-
tiities, and act ❑pon that decision, without directly an-
nouncing it to England. lie therefore took the liberty of
asking the Noble Lord. The zmpliatie mention of Sir
Clarks Ba.got'a name induced him to take the liberty of
asking the Noble Lord, if the Dutch Government had for-
warded no communication upon the subject to his Majesty ?
The Noble Lord gave him an answer, which, he would do
burn the justice to say, was like all his answers, full of ro-
priety and perspicuiq. the Noble Lord sitid a 'reply to
tlis question might lead him into further tlttails than he
would be justified in entering upon at the pre.ent time ;
but that certainly the first information received was from
Sir C. Bsgot. But then the Noble Lord, upon sitting
down, received a communication from the only other Mi-
nister in the House, and it was not too much to assume
upon this subject; anti he then rose a second time, and
said he would give him (Mr. Croker) an answer, and this
answer was

It was undoubtedly v.ith the greatest stirpi.l-.;e that his Ma-
'testv's Government had received the information that it was in-
tended to break the armistice ; because at that very moment
there had been a Minister sent Rests the King of Holland to this
country, in order to enter into negociations. That Minister had
had an interview with hie Noble Friend,the Secretary for Ftntign
Affairs, and had mentioned nothing whatever of an!' ltdention
to break the armistice ; and it was not till late In the evening,
after some questions had been asked by a Noble Lord in that
House (on Wednesday last), that the Noble Lord at the head of
the Foreign Department received information, by despatches
from Sir C. Bagot, that the armistice was to be broken."
There was nobody that heard this answer who was not
deeply surprised at the conduct of the Kint of Holland ;
the Noble Lord (Althorp) having positively denie.l that
any communication had been made, and having added a

strong insinuation of perfidy on the part of the King of
Holland, when he stated that he had determined en com-
mencing hostilities, at the very moment these had been a
Minister sent by him to this country, in order to enter
into negociations. He had now stated the short facts
of the case, and that simply, and not what the under-
atauding of gentlemen on his side of the House was ;
and he believed he could prove that that the state of
the case did not bear out the impression which naturally
might be formed from what bad been declared by the Noble
Lord. But the case was not left in that point ; fur the Hon.
3.lember for Oakhampton (Sir R. Vyvyan) gave notice
that he would bring the subject forward next day. On
Saturday, accordingly, his Noble Friend (Lord Palmer-
ston) was pot to a kind of political catechism, which he
bore with exceeding good humour. He (Mr. Croker) did
not think of embarrassing him with any question, for he
was cony'need, by what had fallen from the Noble Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer on the previous day--he was con-
vinced, but he was not satisfied ; for he felt greatly sur-
prised that our ancient and esteemed ally, Holland, bad

been guilty of such perfidy. lie w.?,‘ silenced, however,
- by the statement of the Noble Chancellor of the Exche-
quer. Others, however, did put questions to his
Noble Friend (Lord Palmerston), and repeated the state-
ment in general terms, that there was no doubt the King
of Holland had broken the armistice, and without notice.
He remembered then stretching across the table to his
Noble Friend, when he used the words " broken the ar-
mistice," and suggested to him the propriety of saying,
"'renounced the armistice." But his Noble Friend disre-

garded this suggestion, and even rose and repeated in a
more solemn way, that the Dutch had violated the armis-
tice. The Hight Hon. Member for Tamworth (Sir R.Peel)
then stated to his Noble Friend (Lord Palmerston)

that he (Lord Palmerston) had, Perhaps, through inad

vertence, used the terms " violated the armistice" and
" broken the armistice," which implied had faith on the
part of the Dutch Government, and therefore he (Sir R
Peel) was desirous of now asking him, wh: ther he really
slid mean to say that the King of the Netherlands had
broken the armistice, for that his (Sir R. Peel's) view of
the care was different? His Noble Friend (Lord P.) ex-
pressly stated, that he believed his Right Hon. Friend was
in error, and observed, there were two arrnistii es, one oi
which was local, and formed between the Dutch Corn
wander at Antwerp and the Belgian Commander at Ant-
werp, and which might be terminated by a notice of three
days ; the other was more general, as it extended along
the line, and was formed under the sanction of the five
Powers. This, the latter, it was of which he had spoken
when be observed the Dutch violated the armistice. Here

then were the Dutch not only declared to have violated
the armistice without notice to the Belgians, the party
against which hostilities were to commence, but likewise
of violating it without notice to the mediating Powers ;
and moreover, his Noble Friend' (Lord P.) added, that
up to the moment at which he was speaking, no com-
munication had been made to his Majesty's Govern
rnent on the subject by the Plenipotentiary of the
King of the Netherlands.—(Elear.) On Tuesday again
his Noble Friend was put in the confessional, and again
the same facts in general were enumerated. Now,
such being the statements, he (Mr. Croker)'wartted words
to describe his surprise, after all the questioning:in that
House, when after another long and protracted de-
bate in another place, he and other Members of that House
in their individual characters, and also by the ordinary
channels of information, ascertained that it appeared the
Dutch not only had not been guilty of the perfidy with
which they had been charged, but that they had absolutely
done that which he and other Members of this House had
understood his Noble Friend bad denied they they hid &re.
In another place, to which he could not more distinctly al-
lude, that denial had been made. He knew it, because hr
had read in the public papers an ingenious treatise r.n the
subject, introduced in the shape of a dialogue, in which his
Majesty s Ministers and their opponen's were supposed to
bear a part ; and in that treatise it was stated that his
Majesty's Ministers had admitted that on Wednesday
morning (his narration, it would be- rernemle•red begat,
with Friday evening)—that on Wednesday morning the
Minister of Holland waited upon his Noble Friend, and
after some conversation delivered to him. a certain letter.
It appeared also that the letter had remained unopened for
above twenty-four hours.—(Hear, hear.) The reason that
was alleged in the work to which he had helm e alluded for
this apparent neglect wag, the letter was not addressed to
his Noble Friend, but to the conference at large.—(Hear.,
bear.) If his Noble, Friend- wmlld-assirre- him .that
was not the hahiS2of:i4iiir Ministers to take notice
nof
papers addressed,--not to them individually,. but to the
forderenee,. of Which they formed a part—rf his Noble
Friend would telt him that it was not the practice to