The Sun.
London, England, 1824-02-05 00:00:00

THE VAGRANT ACT.

Mr. LITTLETON said, that he was requested by the Hon.
Member for Staffbrd (Mr. Chetwynde) to move for certain pa-
pers which were intended to show what had been the operation
of the Vagrant Act, which had been passed last Session. The
Act had been the object of muchiclamour, which arose from its
having been misunderstood. By having obtained the passing
of that Act, his Hon. Friend had saved the counties of England
and NVales• the .sum of 100,0001. annually, which had been
heretofore, expended in passing vagrants from one part of the
country to another. To his lion. Friend also belonged the
credit of having consolidated about 50 Acts relative to vagrancy
in one Act. When the subject should be discussed, he believ-
ed that it would be found that the clamour to which he had al-
luded had been excited, not so much by the law as by the in-
discretion of some Magistrates who had administered it..—
(Hear !)—He moved for a return of the number of persons
committed under the Vagrant Laws to the respective prisons in
England and Wales, specifying the particular act of vagrancy
for which each person was committed, from the Ist of January,
1820, to the Ist of January, 1824; likewise for a return of the
sums of money paid by the treasurers of connties in England
and Wales, for the passing of vagrants, from the Ist January,
1820, to the Ist of .January, 1824.—Ordered.
Mr. CANNING presented a copy of a convention agreed
upon between his Majesty and the Emperor of Austria, for the
settlement of the Austrian Loan ; and also a copy of an addi-
tional article of a convention between his Majesty and the
King of France, respecting the Slave Trade.—Ordered to be
printed.

NOTICES OF MOTIONS.
Mr. HOBBOUSE gave notice, that he would move em the
2d of March for the total repeal of the Window Tax, unless
the Chancellor of the Exchequer should previously declare his
intention of remitting that Tax.
Mr. CALCRAFT stated, that he would on the 25th inst.
move for the total repeal of the Leather Tax.
Mr. ABERCROMBY gave notice of a motion that he
would make on the 26th instant, for leave to bring in a Bill for
the more effectual representation of the City of Edinburgh in
Parliament.

111 r. WESTERN said, that on the 11th instant he would
move for leave to bring in a Bill to make some alteration in
the qualification of Jurors.
Sir J. NEWPORT stated, that he would on the 19th inst.,
move for the repeal of cap. 7of the 9th of William. His
object was to secure the right of burial to Roman Catholics and
Dissenters.

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Sir W. DE CRESPIGNY addressed a few words to Mr.
Canning, but in such a low tone that we were unable to hear
him. , We understood, however, that he asked whether it
it
motion ngrespectingate no i
was the intention of Ministers to increase the amount of the
army.
Mr. CANNING replied, that Ministers did intend to ap-
ply to Parliament to make some alteration in the present num-
ber of the land forces. When that application should he made,
every proper explanation would be given to Parliament. In
the mean time not a single man would be raised beyond the
vote of last year.
Mr. WM. LAMB presented a Petition from the Mayor and
Common Council of Canterbury, praying for the repeal of the
duty on coals.
THE ADDRESS TO HIS MAJESTY.
Mr. ROVVLAND HILL appeared at the bar with the re-
port of the address to his Majesty.
Mr. BOBLIOUSE said
that lie would take that opportunity
of proposing one or two questions to the Right Honourable
Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He must enter his protest, as
his Honourable and Learned Friend had last night done,
against being supposed to concur with the sentiments con-
tained in the address•• so far as regarded the foreign po.
licy of the Government. He should think that he dis-
graced himself by approving of the foreign policy of Mi-
nisters, for, in his opinion, they had been totally unmindful
of the renown of their country. He had attended with the
utmost attention to every word which dropped from the Right
lion. Secretary opposite last night. It was not surprising that
he should do so, for ail Europe was attending to what lie said,
conscious that on his words, in some degree, depended its very
fate. There was one point upon which he thought the Right llon.
Gent. was not sufficiently explicit in his explanation,—namely,
the South American States. The Right Hon. Gentleman ap-
peared to be aware of the difficulty of the subject, anti touched
upon it so lightly as to satisfy no person, except, perhaps, his
colleagues, who might have reasons for wishing to preserve
secrecy on that topic. The Right Hon. Secretary had said
that he considered it a " grace and favour done to Old Spain
to allow her an opportunity of attempting to recover possession
of her colonies." He would admit that if the King of Spain
were capable of governing his kingdom without foreign assist-
ance, he should be allowed an opportunity of employing the
resources of the once mighty Monarchy of Spain in the attempt
to re-conquer his trans-Atlantic colonies. But did the Right
Hon. Gentleman mean to say, that whilst the King of Spain
was only kept on his throne by the presence of 70,000 French
troops, whilst Barcelona, Cadiz, and every important fortress
in his territory were in possession of the French, Ferdinand was
to be suffered to employ his armies in an expedition against
South America ? It could not surely be said, that because
the constitutional system had been put down in Spain, and
there was at present no appearance of a re-action, Ferdinand
was therefore to be called a free King. If he was before a
prisoner to the Constitutionalists, what was he now ? He
was hemmed round with foreign bayonets; and every body
who was acquainted with the state of Spain knew that if the
French army was to withdraw from that country to-morrow„
the unfortunate King—unfortunate he meant only with re-
spect to his bud character, and not for his misfortunes—
would be driven from his throne. He wished, then, to know
from the Right Honourable Gentleman, whether, while the
French troops were in possession of Spain, the Government of
this country would allow any attempt to be made on the part
of a merely nominal King to recover possession of the south
American States ? He might allude to an important omission
in his Majesty's speech. The House had heard a great deal
during last Session about a positive guarantee on the part of the
French Ministers, and that there should be no permanent oc-
cupation of Spain by the French troops. The Right Hon.
Gentleman had not told the House whether he had asked Mon-
sieur Chateaubriand how long his master meant to keep pos-
sessimieif that country. lie (Mr. Hobhouse) dared to say that
the Right Honourable Gentleman had asked the question, and
he thought that the House of Commons had a right to know
what answer had been returned. He hoped that the Right
Honourable Gentleman would not take the word of the French
King for a guarantee. The word of no king was a guarantee,
much less of that king who had pledged his sacred word of
honour, and the sceptre which he wielded, that what he called
the Army of Observation should not cross the Pyrenees. After
that shameless breach of promise—after that falsehood which
would have disqualified a private individual for the society of
gentlemen—he trusted that the Right Honourable Gentleman
would not attach much weight to the word of the King of
France, or of his Minister Chateaubriand.—(Hear, hear t)—lle
would now take the liberty to allude to another matter not
unconnected with the foreign policy of Government. He
would wish to know whether the Colonial Secretary had
been informed of the reasons for the issuing of a recent pro-
claraation in the lonian Islands.—(Hear, hear I)—The pro-
clamation was so very extraordinary, that he should suppose
it to be the result of a drunken frolic, did not the high situa-
tion which sir Thomas Maitland held render it impossible for
him to suppose that that officer could so far forget himself as
.to be guilty of such folly. But when they knew that Sir
Thomas Maitland had issued such a proclamation as.tkis, put- •
ting two of the lonian Islands under quarantine for thirty days,
and when they recollected that this same Governorhwi aka-
,
miued one of the most flagrant breaches of quarantine in his
own case, one. ould not help feeling astonished at the occur-,
rence of which he (Mr. Hobhouse) now complained. The reason
assigned by":6ir ThOmas Maitland was also singular ; he states',

that Prince Maurocordato having approachett'tOo.• near'• thd
islands, the quarantine became necessary, Itztlhe British -Ge)-
vernment should appear in any way involVekor•as partakers,
in the cruelties "elsewhere inflteted—and inflicted 'by -*bent ?
•By the Greeks for he appeared in every instance to'attae'k
the Greeks, and to overlook the Turkish share of the atrocities
which had been committed. • Now he could assure the. House,
and on the authority of an. eye-witness of what had • occurred,
that the affair off the shore of Ithaca had been much mitre-,
presented. The facts were these—A small Greek squadron
having chased three Turkish armed vessels off that coast,
mastered one of them, the crew of which, however, escaped .on
shore ; and then, while the Greeks were rowing to the captured
vessel, poured from the land upon them a murderous fire. 714,
Greeks immediately landed in their turn, and ,took sonacre-,•:
venge upon their opponents. .But so far from the Greek
standing upon their justification for this retaliation, 'Prince
Matiroconlato made on their part the humblest apologies for
the infraction of the neutral shore ; and similar apologies were
now on their way to England.—But why throw all those acts •
upon the Greeks ? The Turks had repeatedly been guilty of
similar refractions, without drawing down upon their heads the
anathema of Sir Thomas Maitland. When he adverted 'to the
conduct of this Gevernor, he by no means wished to impugn the
conduct of the Government at home ; he knevrthat they could
not prevent the atrocities of either. side, as long as they observed
their neutral policy ; they could no more prevent the Oreeks
and the Turks, than they could the Spaniards and the. French,-
or the Italians and the Austrians, though he preferred the Turks
to the latter, and he knew both.—(A laugh.)—He had the
original Italian proclamation in his hand, and was ready to
present it to the Right Hon. Secretary.

Mr. CANNING said, that he should be always ready to re-
ceive from any Hon. Member whatever information upon
foreign affairs he thought proper to favour him with ; and also
ready to afford such information as his official duty permitted
him to furnish, in reply to any specific inquiry. But when the
Hon. Gent. adverted to some part of the observations which
fell from him (Mr. Canning) last night, he seemed to have
compounded his statement of principles with his statement of
facts. What he had said last night respecting the relative in-
ternational situation of a mother country and her colonies was
this—that in principle, a mother ceun'ry snd her colonies was
this—that in principle, a mother country had a right, if she
thought she had the power, to endeavour to recover possession
of any colonies which had by any effort of their own thrown off
her dominion; and that no other country in amity with her
would, upon the naked principle, be justified in intercepting
her efforts, or interfering in the first instance to endeavour to
prevent them. She had a right bona fide to a resumption of
her colonial possessions, if she were in a condition to reclaim
them, and it would not be correct in a friendly power to
mother
drularral
tr interferingti y
prevent her. When he said correct, he meant upon the Strict
principle of the law of nations, for circumstances might ren-
der
n s t
ait n
c correcteot
matheybi
abjured
uhtrtowe
dobgubeloyd det
toi
h:eemw
avowedly
00,
a e declaration,
and
the interferenceos nanodfwwwitoahur
l.aidn bet
Thish
aiding
i-dfii
legitimatenr
was
sgt
ipain,
the abstract principle he had stated, and which he maintained ;
trohitgheleurgoverned
e against the governor. Thel:oadnoulariadbledown
1;
Gen-
tleman had gone on to put certain possible volations of neu-
trality ; now, he would not follow him by. arguing upon as-
sumed probabilities, or possibilities, which might demand
a departure from the abstract principle he
but he (Mr. Canning) would most distinctly state, that. S
i that Europe, knew most unequivocally, that whilst England
admitted the right of Spain to recover her late Americatrpos-
I sessions, she denied the right of any foreign power to interfere
in aid of thelmother country in the attempt.—(Hear, hear !)
. With respect to the ultimate intentions of France upon Spain,
he felt a difficulty in satisfying the Hon. Gentleman, in conse-
quence of his observation that the British Government ought
not to give credence to the declarations of the French King or
his Ministers ; for he knew not how to satisfy the Hon. Gen-
tleman if lie refused him access to the official channels of com-
munication which the Government had always.maintained with
the other powers in amity with them. But if the Hon. Gentle-,
man would permit him to resort to the regular information of
his office, he could assure him in reply, that the Government
had the most positive assurances from the Court of France, that
they did not contemplate the permanent occupation of Spain.
He gave credit to those assurances, and would believe them
still, notwithstanding the doubt which the Hon. Gentleman,
had cast upon them. When he stated this, he begged also to
say, that he retained all the sentiments he had last year expres-
sed respecting French aggression upon Spain ;. but whilst he
retained those sentiments, he must be permitted to add,-that
the vice of the aggression apart—(Hear, hear !)—the conduct of
the French armies (always separating their conduct from the
principle of their entrance) was as unexceptionable as it possi-
bly could have been under any circumstances of military conflict.
He doubted whether history furnished a similar example of the
discipline of a foreign army engaged in the invasion of another
state ; or rather, as in this instance, called in by invitation to
assist a predominating party in putting down a rival faction.
Ha hoped he had said enough to explain the principle he had
laid down respecting Spain and her Colonies s he denied the
right of England to interfere; he equally denied the right
of any other power to interfere in the contest. flow far a
species of connivance to blind the plain meaning of his
principle might hereafter be set up by one power or
another, he could not say, and he would not now ar-
gue. He wished to be judged solely by his principle, according
to its plain and fair construction, and that he thought enough
to argue on the present occasion. As to the Hon. Gentleman's
second question, he had only to repeat, with the same confi-
dence he had stated it last year, that he apprehended there was
no danger of the permanent occupation of Spain by Franee.
If a question were put to him how long the duration of that
occupancy should continue, he would reply, that was an event
so entirely dependent upon circumstances, as to render it im-
possible for him to give an immediate reply ; but there was one
question to which he was ready at the moment to give an eir-
pile's answer. If he were asked, ought she French army to
evacuate Spain to-morrow, as a friend to humanity, he must
say no. With respect to the affairs of Greece, he believed he
was in possession of the requisite information upon that sub-
ject. Ile had not at present, although he had received the dO-
cument, an exact impression upon his memory of the facts' Of
the outrage to which Sir Thhmas Maitland's proclamation'ire-
ferred ; but he believed the facts to be these—A small Greek
squadron had pursued some Turkish vessels into the harbour
of Ithaca, where the crews of one of the latter landed ; they
were pursued ashore by the Greeks, who butchered, in cold
blood, 90 out of 120 men, of whom the crew was composed;
and this was done upon an island guarded by British neutra-
lity. On the subject of the impartiality with which the neu-
trality was enforced, he could distinctly aver, that according to-
the best information he had it in his power to obtain, from the
moment the neutrality was proclaimed, it was most strictly en-
forced against both parties. That outrages on both sidetthati
been committed, was as clear as it was to be lamented; but
not the smallest desire had been evinced by the British Autho-
rities to incline the balance either to one side or the other. :
Mr. WESTERN expressed his surprise at the declaration
of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that were he asked, if the French
army ought to evacuate Spain to-morrow, his answer should he
no.—(Hear, hear !)—Such a declaration opened the door to ott*
powers to prolong the continuance of a daring aggression 'uiiiirt
the rights of an independent state, according to their notidn'Of
the indefinite duration of motives of humanity. it was hilin-
tention, last night, to have moved an amendment to the Ad-
dress, had not his Honourable and Learned Frieed'(r.lt.
Brougham) anticipated what he'had to say in the able Old
eloquent speech which he made on the occasion. His *lts
decidely opposed to the policy of the present Cabinet lespaet-
ing Foreign Affairs, founded as it was upon a determinatiop 'to
preserve peace at all events. He appreciated the value of peace
as much as man could do; but still he could not go the kneh
of the Right Honourable Secretary in looking calinly- tr;Oh
aggressions like that on Spain, and in considering the iefriirge-
ment of the right of an independent nation to regulate jelling%
concerns as a matter of little importance to the--interest and
security of the British empire. Such an interference itith-the
internal policy of an independent state, as it had been Our. for- -
tune recently to witness, would have called forth the strierg'ie-
probation and decided opposition of our sturdy ancestors 's and
he, for one, could see no reason why we should abandon' the
heroic policy which they had bravely pursued at everylutzaid,
in various periods of our history. The principles whicJilhe
Holy Alliance had avowed on different occasions, ai'd'e als.tita_
larly in the state papers which they had sent forth
bach, had opened the eyes of every man in the cote
his Majesty's Ministers, to the infamous nature t
-signs. It would be in the recollection of the Houae
the lion. Mereiber for Yorkshire' moved for the pr
'those papers, Lord Castlereagh objected tolhe'enett
,ground that the peelers in reatimirtdrititined nein
than
,a promulgation of principles on which, then' was 41
tion of acting`,' and the 'flldtiOu• trati " iti oonsivpike fiegt