The Sun.
London, England, 1833-01-16 00:00:00

THE lONIAN ISLANDS.

The following is the Proclamation of his Excel-
lency the Right Hon. Lord Nugent, K.G.C., of the
most distinguished Order of St. Michael and Sr.
George, &c. &c., Lord High Commissioner to the
United States of the lonian Islands :

In assuming the functions with which I have been
invested by my Royal Master, the Sovereign Pro-
tector of these United States, I feel that everything
regarding the public good which I can hope to effect
has been already commenced by the wisdom, vigi-
lance, and moderation which have been conspicuous
in the acts of Sir F. Adam, as well as those of the
distinguishel personage to whom the duties of Lord
High Commissioner have,owing to unforeseen events,
been for some time intrusted, with so much advan-
tage to the public service, and so much honour to
himself.

The perscnal thanks of an individual so little ex-
perienced in your local affairs to Sir Alexander
Woodford, so well known and so deservedly es-
teemed amongst you, will be a tribute of very trifling
value ; still I cannot refrain from offering him those
thanks which are so justly his due. But whatever
may be the advantages which I shall derive from the
system adopted by my immediate predecessors, they
lay the greater obligation on me rightly to perform
the duties I owe to my Sovereign and to these
States, so much good has resulted to the public from
their Government. My responsibility becomes in-
creased by their success. That the honour of the
lonian banner has been preserved and respected in
the midst of those tumults which have shaken the
peace of neighbouring countries, while a strict neu-
trality has been observed ; that the soil of these
islands, like the protecting country, has been a re-
fuge for the oppressed and persecuted ; that their
peaceful institutions, their system of general educa-
tion, their public works, the facilities of internal
communication, have gradually become a pattern for
less favoured nations ; such are the examples which
to-day present themselves to my sight. From the
prudence and virtue of the Parliament which is about
to be elected I hope for both counsel and assistance.
The great project of a new code of laws, which
has so long engaged the attention of the Senate and
Legislative Assembly, has obtained the hearty con-
currence of the protecting Sovereign. He perceives
that this is a work full of justice, moderation, and
humanity ; and he is fully persuaded that where
it differs from the enactments of English law, its
framers have endeavoured, with the greatest care
and practical knowledge, to adapt it to the genius
and local circumstances of that people for whose
benefit it is intended. Bad laws make a bad people,
and while one of the most grievous faults is that of
a bad legislation, so, to remedy the known defects
of jurisprudence, and to enact laws capable of secu-
ring justice at once impartial and easy of access—
laws which are not uselessly severe, while they are
strict enough to effect their end—this is to raise a
noble monument sufficient to perpetuate the fame
of a wise Parliament. Laws, however, are not the
only barrier against the progress of the wicked ; edu-
cation and public opinion are the Limps which
guide the steps of those who would walk in the
paths of honour and virtue. Light thus diffused
does not endure only for the short time required to
impart its rays to others, but is reflected back on its
first possessors with increased splendour. Without
education, without public opinion, the laws have
but little good effect, and to these, which have al-
ready made such progress among you, I shall give
my most anxious and unremitting attention.
This is an outline of the duties of that protection
which it is mine to fulfil, and with this spirit I un-
dertake it, viz., to provide that the laws be made
generally known, and that they be impartially ad-
ministered to rich and poor, to high and low; ever
bearing in mind that, as power and wealth, when
well applied, give greater means of acquiring the
knowledge of what is practically useful,sn, if abused,
they become the means of doing greater evil.
But this code is concerned with civil as well as
criminal justice. It is not individual security
alone that laws must have in view; without that
respect which each should have for them all pro-
perty becomes insecure and of no value. The pro-
perty of a State consists of its agriculture, manu-
factures, and commerce. To defend and promote
these, to remove as far as is practicable every bur-
den which presses upon industry and enterprise,
will be by me esteemed a sacred duty, as well as to
patronize and maintain public opinion in every thing
to which it is directed. Whatever systems have
been adopted amongst the most liberal of modern
nations with a view to preserve their liberty and en-
gage the affection of the people, of those all the first
types and models have been derived from the an-
cient institutions of Greece, and if, under the domi-
nion of foreign despots, and amidst confusion arid
internal discord, the noble nature of this glorious
land has grown barren and corrupt, it is at this time
a high privilege for one free nation, and not less its
sacred duty, to protect the independence of any
portion of that land, zealously to engage in repro-
ducing its prosperity, and in forming a brave and
active people, capable of appreciating them, of ren-
dering themselves worthy of and of enjoying them.
Above every thing, remember that if regulations,
in themselves wise and good, require to be from
time to time amended, in order that they may keep
pace with the improving character of the people, we
have no right to blame their authors for the mode
in which they originally framed them. We Britons
also know arid feel that, much as we pride ourselves
on the institutions of our ancestors, yet progressive
repairs are beneficial to them.
To cultivate a national spirit of independence is
by no means incompatible with a feeling of grati-
tude and close alachment due to a more powerful
State for the protection which it affords, nor is it
incompatible with the indissoluble connexion which
ought to be maintained, and which it will always
be my duty to preserve inviolate and undisputed
between all and each of these United States and
the protecting Government of Great Britain. When-
ever your history relates to your misfortunes, it fails
not also to tell that the cause of this was in those
who called themselves your protectors. All your
errors belong to them ; all your virtues have been
and will continue to be your own. You are now
under the protection of a great and free people,
which knows both how to love its own freedom and
to respect that of others. I call on you, then, by
what you owe to your country, your character, and
to posterity, to assist me in maintaining this na-
tional spirit; the more any one aids me in cultivating
it the better citizen lie will be.
But a highly important part of the liberty of a
State is its religious liberty. The prevailing form
of worship amongst a people ought to be reverenced
above all others, and by none will it be so more
than by myself. Still every mode of approach to
God claims respect and perfect freedom. Religious
liberty is one of the first civil rights ; and while I
will carefully maintain the privileges and the dignity
of your national faith, I will never allow any one
who may differ from it to be compelled to an ap-
parent conformity, or to be molested or insulted in
the free exercise of his own worship. Thus, with
the aid of the Parliament, and of the whole people, I
hope to fulfil my duty. It will be my happiness, as
it becomes the station which I hold, to take care
that there be not one of your citizens whose in-
terests, if it is in my power to promote them, I
have not promoted ; or one whose wrongs, if he has
suffered any, I have not repaired, as soon as the one
et- the other comes to my knowledge. Such in-
formation will always be gratefully received by me;
I expr ct it from you, expressed in the only spirit in
which a man of honour can give it, I mean openly;
for openly, also, will the interests of each be main-
tained by me, or his wrongs redressed.
By • conduct I shall best represent the wishes
of tyr- . ereign, whose highest glory is that of
havittt the chief promoter of the free institu-
tion;iatAbe great nation over which he reigns.
NUGENT.
- - Pilatikest St, Michael and St. George, Corfu, Dec. 1.
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