Star.
London, England, 1814-05-03 00:00:00

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ward, defraying the expecces Incident to'eeping the harboring happy, filit (or Norway as a power, but for Norway
s safia,and good state. as a people. The case of Norway, he believed, was
The Hnuee divided Uponthe second reading, and the Bilt was
not much understood in this cottritry : it was one,
thrown out by a majority of lt—there being 16 for, and 30
however, worthy of the most serious and solemn con-
against.
sideration. They had been told that the ratification
of the Treaty between England and- Denmark had
not yet bees exchanged 4 but they had not yet been
told why. For himself, he found it difficult to ima-
gine a reason, when he reflected on the distance be-
tween the two countries. Not only, however, were
the ratifications unexchanged, but the Treaty had
not even found its way into the usual channels of in-
telligence in rais country—he meant the daily Jour-
nals. He had himself been utterly ignorant of its
stipulations, till very lately that a copy of it passed'
into his hands ; and upon examining them, he found
the second article provided, that " all prisoners of
war should be given up en masse immediately after
the ratification." Here then was the proper expla-
nation, which the Right Hon. Gentleman might have
given in reply to the question that had been put die
vetting the Danish prisoners ; but, instead of this,
they were told that a person had arrived from Den-
mark with powers to concert the return of those pri-
soners. Were they to understand, that a sort of veto
had been put upon the exchange of them by the Court
of Denmark, or was there to be a distinction made
between Danish and Norwegian prisoners, and was
the Commissary conic over to separate the one from
the other ?-11y another article of the Treaty, it was
stipulated, that recourse was not to be had to force
for effecting the annexation of Norway to Sweden,
unless the Court of Denmark should not join the
Northern alliance. Really, therefore, looking at the
present situation of things, at a moment when we
were applauding the magnanimity of the' Allied
Powers in every other transaction, and when we were
rejoicing in the effects of that wise, moderate, and
li'oeral policy which they have adopted, it is melan-
choly to think that so bright a scene should be
clouded—that the lustre of such achievements should
be tarnished by a spat like this—that we should be
engaged to starve a nation into submission to Swe-
den, whom, as a people, they detest, and whom they
are resolved to resist to the last extremity. If, ac.
cording to the Treaty between this country and Swe-
den, we are bound to accomplish the cession of Nor-
way, and if the Norwegi.sus mast be transferred like
sheep, from one master to another, surely, by the of-
ficial and solemn surrander.made by the Danish Go-
vernment, that end had been accomplished, and they
had now, in fact, become the subjects of Sweden.—
The question then resolved itself into this, whe-
ther the House would sanction the Goverement of
this country in aiding Sweden to starve a people into
submission to her power and rule, they having, in
fact, been transferred, as far as it was in tl:e ierwer
,of Denmark to make the traosler. When all the pa-
pers that would be moved for should be laid before
them, it would then be seer. whether the stipulations
so entered into by Sweden had been soperfortned by
her as to call upon England 'for what she was now
doing, in co-operating to produce a measure so de-
testable ? He should be most happy to learn that the
.negotiations now pending had tendered it unneces-
sary. When ' the Swedish Commissioners entered
Norway, their first demand was, that arms, ammuni-
tion, and fortresses of the Norwegians should be sur-
rendered. This demand was instantly resisted. Lie
knew it had been said, that this resistance was the act
of a single individual, who was intriguing to secure
the possession of Norway to himself, but that the
people of Norway were universally desirous of being
incorporated with Sweden, and taken under her pro-
tection. From all the inquiry, however, that he had
made, and from all the information produced by that
inquiry, the inhabitants of Norway, a patient, brave,
and enterprising people, were resolved, as one man,
to sacrifice their lives in the struggle rather than sub-
mit. This sentiment pervaded every part of the coun-
try, from not th to south, and the peasantry had already
armed, and were suffering the most dreadful privations.
They were determined that Norway should become a'
'desert rather than they would submit to the Swedish
yoke. And under whose auspices was all this cerded
on ? Under those of a great Captain who had been
elected to the high situation which he occupied ; and
who, having thus owed his elevation. to the choice of
a people, entered into a compact with other nations
Ito deliver to him another people who had no choice
with respect to their Government.—(Heate hear.)-
1. He hoped, for the sake of humanity, for the s.ike ut
that great person who had achieved so much for the
deliverance of Europe, for the honour of thiecoun-
try, for the honour of Government, whose steps with'
respect to foreign relations he had from a certain pe-
riod been most happy to applaud, that Ministers
would be able to extricate themselves from the diffi-
culties in which they seemed. involved on the subject;
and if not, he hoped he should be able to persuade
the House of Commons, on an examination and corn-,
paristm of the stipulations of the different treaties,
that the Government and the country were in no way
bound to be the abettors of this most disgracefull
attempt. tit present he would not further trouble
the House. He should be very glad to hear from the
Right Hen. Gentleman, why the Danish treaty had
not been ratified, and whether any Commissioner had
been sent from Denmark to make a selection between
the Danish and Norwegian prisoners, in order that
the one might be retained and the other set at liberty ?
Before he sat down he begged to recall the attention
of the House to the debate on the Swedish Treaty
last year, in the course of which a Right Honourable
Gentleman, whom he did not then see in 'his place,
asked whether the terms of it were to be interpreted
into a guarantee of the possession of Norway to sty;.
den ? The answer was, no; and more than that a
Noble Lord, in a remarkable mode of expression,
observed that the Right Hon. Gentleman who put
the question ought to be better disciplined in diplo-
matic terms than to suppose that the treaty could be
interpreted into such.a guarantee. The fact was,
that no tie existed by which the country wits bound,
or which called upon the House, to sanction the pub
lication in the Gazette of Saturday last.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
observed? that it could not be expected he should be
prepared to answer all the questions that had been
put to him. With respect to the treaty with Sweden
it was one which last year had received the approba-
tion of Parliament. The House would recollect that
the. treaty between Russia and Sweden was the key-
stone of that glorious confederacy by which such sig.
nal benefits to Europe had been atchieved. 'or our
part, we had done nothing in the coarse of the whole

TREATIES OF ALLIANCE.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
presented a copy of the Treaty of Union and Subsidy
between his Britannic Majesty and tj►e Emperor of
Austria. concluded at Chaumont the 31 of March
last. Also a copy of a similar Treaty with Russia,
and likewise with Prussia. He also presented a copy
of th,e Convention between his Majesty and the
French Goverutnent. concluded at Paris on the 2sd
April.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
stated that, with respect to these papers, it was at
present only his intention to wove that they should
lie on the table.
Mr. WHITBREAD took that opportunity to alk
Whether the Right Hon. Gentleman and his' col-
leagues had yet decided that they would or would
not lay before the House the Papers respecting the
negotiations at Chatillon, which had been prepared
and printed for production ? 1-le, of course, under-
stood that the Right Hon. Gentleman would soon
ropose to the House some motion on the subject of
the Treaties which he had just presented, and there-
fore begged to know his intention respecting those
papers.hitherto.withheld. as it was possible that the/
might be of the utmost consequence (as in his opin►on
they certainly would), to enable the House to form
a correct judgment respecting the Treaties then pre-
sented.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—
" At present his Majesty's Government had no in-
tention of laying jhese papers before the House. If
at any time it should be thought necessary that they
should by produced, they would immediately b 2 laid
before the House ; •but hitherto this did not seem at
all requisite .1'
Mr. WHITBREAD Does the Right Hon.
Gentleman mean to say, that his Majesty's blinisters
refuse to produce these papers ?" •
, The CHANCEL LO of the EXCHEQUER—
Sir, it is initrossible at present to answer such a
qtrestion. It may be found necessary for the coavc-
nience of the Huu►e to pres►x►t them."