The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-16 00:00:00

not ran that heal taken place between Helfand and Bel- 1
glum as respected our particular interest, but because we
felt that if-natters between them were not adjusted, ,the
peace of Eur Ope Ismaild he endaneered, anal consequently
the peace of Great Britain.--(Sir R. Peel was under-
stood to say that Holland was clearly in the right.) If
so, of coarse, the Right Hon. Baronet might argue that
we were clearly in the wrong ; but that was assuming el e
whel- argument. If the whole of the premises were thus
to he assumed, no doubt the Right Hon. Baronet could
easily arrive at his conclusion ; but was be justified
in
assuming thi-m ? The Hon. and Learned Member corm-
tatted, by insintainine that where civil W3r had commenced
in a State, and had separated two parties in that State,
neither party being recognised, a foreign State. according
to all the authorities, 'night interpose. The Right Hon.
Baronet was aware that he might carry this argument a
ereat deal farther if be phased ; but it was more than suf.
fieient tor h a argument if thus much were admitted. Ile
did not need to press the case even to that extent, for he
contended that this country having great interests at stake,
which interests were put in jeopardy by the continuation
of the war between Holland and Belgium, had a right to
impose the embargo, for the protection of those interests.
The Right Hon. Baronet, with an air of triumph anal
satisfaction, had m ate some observations on the embargo
upon Prussian property ; butte (Dr. L.) begged the gorse
to remark, what was stated by the Order in Council itself
us the reason for the embargo, viz., that the King of Prussia
invaded the dominions of the King of Hanover. Not-
withstanding this clear assertion of the grounds on which
it was imposed, the Right Hon. Baronet had argued as if
there bad bean a previous detention of British vessels in
t' e ports of Prussia. He (Dr. Lushington) had perused
the document, since the reference to it by the Right Hun
Baronet, and be could take upon himself to say that there
was no passage in it to justify the position attempted to
he founded upon it. He insisted farrher, that the embargo
in question coulit only have been imposed by the autho-
rities of this country under the supposition that the state
of affairs in Prussia was likely to lead to the commence-
ment of hostilities ; and such being the undoubted reason
for it, he was surprised at the tone the Right Hon.
Baronet had assumed, as well as at the argument con-
structed upon this foundation. In one point he entirely
concurred with the Right Hon. Bart., viz., that the power
of imposing an embargo ought to be exercised with the
greatest caution, and that it was of the utmost importance
to the commerce and interests of this country. He agreed,
also, that it was a measure which ought only to be re-
sorted to in cases of extreme necessity. He did not
agree, however, that an embargo could never be im-
posed by authority of the Crown of Great Britain
excepting in cases where hostilities were immediately to
supervene ; and recollecting the set of the whole tide of
authorities, and the necessary acquaintance of the Right
Hon. Baronet with them, he was surprised that he had
supported so unwarranted a proposition. It was sufficient
to authorize an embargo if it appeared probable that such
might be the termination of the then existing state of affairs.
It the rule were otherwise, let the House reflect what
might be the situation of Great Britain in her negotia-
tions and intercourse with foreign Powers. Self-protec-
tion was the principle by which these matters were regu-
lated, and Great Britain did not impose embargoes far
the purpose of interfering with the just rights of other
States, or for the sake of promoting any particular inte-
rests, and giving one set of merchants the advantage over
another, but for the great and legitimate purpose of de-
fending her own rights and interests. Sometimes—and
in this instance such was possibly the case—an embargo
was resorted to in the earnest hope, if not expectation,
that a measure of such energy might prevent the alter-
native of a war, from the contemplation of the hor-
rors of which all men and all Governments naturally
shrink. In the case of 1766, to which the Right
Honourable Baronet had referred, it was supposed that
the Crown had violated the Statute of Charles the
Second, which enabled the King's subjects freely to ex-
pairt their corn, provided it bad not reached a certain
price. Whether a civil embargo could he imposed in case
of famine, or of the prevalence of pestilential disease, if
there were no statute expressly to authorize it, without
the necessity of Government afterwards coming down to
Parliament for an indemnity, was a great constitutional
question which he (Dr. Lushington) did not pretend to
settle, and the settlement of which was not at all neces-
sary upon the present occasion. But turning aside from
a cavil embargo, if be had proved to the satisfaction of
she House and the country, as lie believed he had, that the
earbargo against Holland was not of a civil nature, but in
anticipation of hostilities, :lien, according to the admission
of the Right Hon. Baronet, he was entitled to say that it
was not au inhingement of the rights and commerce of
foreign States. He begged to repeat, before he sat down,
that if he were wrong in his argument, the error was his
own; if be were mistaken in his facts, he had received
none of them from Government, and Government could not
therefore be compromised Although sincerely attached to
the present Ministers of the Crown, he had no connection
with, and was entirely independent of them ; and in the
discussion of this important question, in his own mind, he
hart not made the slightest reference to them upon any
point. One word more, and he had done. In the present
state of the nego i.ation between this country and Holland,
and in the present state of the affairs of Europe, was
it wise, was it politie, or could it he advantageous to
this country, that this debate should have been forced on
by the Right Hon. Baronet? Was it likely to promote a
favourable issue to the pending differences. or to secure the
peace of Europe at this crisis, that the Right Hon. Ba-
ronet of all own should undertake the task, and attribute
to the British Government a desire to do injustice to
Ha Hand ? It was not merely as if a set of men col-
heeled at a tavern had taken upon themselves to discuss
without information, and to decide without reflection ;
but the Right Hon. Baronet stepped out of his way,
anal deserted his esual course of prudence and discretion to
make an attack upon Ministers. It seemed to him
(Dr. L.), that at this moment, and in the present
aspect ca; affairs, a good subject best performed his duty
to his King and country by concealing many of the
India-lents which had been uttered, even if he entertained!
them. A proper time for the delivery of those senti-
ments would of course, ere long, arrive, and he deeply
di plor• d that the Right Hon. Baronet had thrown the
weight of his c' aracter into the scale—a circumstance not
very likely to moiterate the apparently determined re-
sistaace of Holland tat all that was just and reasonable.
11.- must also remark that it was rather a hard measure
of justice to tl.e present Government that the question was
not brought forward in a shape on which the sense of the
House could be taken, so that the charge would be sus-
pended until it could be brought forward in a form
which might promise greater success to the political ad-
sterearies of the present Government.
Mr. BARING began by paying a compliment to what
he terrneal the remarkable speech of the Right Honourable
Baronet, and then proceeded to notice sonic points in the
address of the last speaker. First, as to the accusation
of inopportune interference with the foreign policy of the
present Government, he denied that it was the intention
of the Right Honourable Baronet, or of those who thought
with hire, to embarrass na gotiations which appeared in-
terminable. Notwithstanding the length of time the No-
ble Lord (Palmerston) had been occupied in hammering
out protocols, the present was the earliest occasion in
which there had been any intervention on the part of this
Hawse, so that Members who sat on the Opposition side
ought rather to have been praised for their forbearance
than blamed for their indiscretion. For the last three
months during which the embargo had subsisted, there had
been a fatal interdict of trade between the country and one
of her principal customers ; and, from the intimate con-
nection between different branches of trade, the suffering
was by no means confined to that with Holland. Whatever
might be the result—which he would not anticipate—
Ministers had at all events continued to disturb the whole
of the canntnercial relations of the country as regarded
Holland and Portugal, hitherto considered the two na-
tions hest disposed towards Great Britain, 2nd most ca-
pable of being of service to her.—(Hear, hear. hear.)
Where there bad been so much protraction, he could
not help thinking there had been some mismanage-
ment ; and the effect, with regard to Holland, had
been to convert what began only in mediation into
tareatensd hostilities. Yet it could scarcely Int denied
that, from the fact that she bad most to lose by war, Great
Britain ought to have been the last of the mediating Powers
required to restart to coercion. The Hon, and Learned
Gentleman had indulged in a sneer against the meeting on
this subject at the Louden Tavern ; he (Mr. Baring) did
not attend it ; but this he would say for the enlightened
merchants of London, that they were well entitled, from
their knowledge, as well as from their interests, to take
part in such a proceeding. In the first part of his speech
the Hon. anal Learned Member seemed to admit the gene-
ral principle of the Right Hon. Baronet, that an embargo
must be justified on one of these grounds—expected hos
tilities, reprisals, or ti.a;ine. Famine and reprisals were
here out of the question; and the only remaining point
was, whether war was so threatened as w render the em-
bargo justifiable. After teeing puzzled not a little by
the terms of the speech delivered by the Not& Lord to his
constituents in Hampshire, the Haan. anti Learned Gentle-
man proceeded to contend that the existing embargo was
detensible, not because war was contemplated, but because
it operated as a prevention of hostilities. This introduced
the point whether an embargo could be resorted to,
according to the law of nations, in or•!er to further
negotiations, looking upon Great Britain as only a