Star.
London, England, 1815-04-29 00:00:00

that no peace was to be liejthisn ? Whervert I
the financial means, he woolde.for carryings owl
this colossal warfare? Wei Rossie, or Austria, or
Prussia, in such a financial situation that any one of
them could rely on its own resources ? The fact wine
they were all of them in a-state approaching to com-
plete ex:aanstion, and must be remveted by stepplics
from this country. What, then, was the situation of
our own finances ? On this point it was sufficient to
gait'. that no man, however sanguine his views, could
say that the contest could be a loug one without their
total ruin. Teen it should be well considered what
was the probability of the Allies continuing united
fur any length of time. In the new Treaty of Vi-
enna, there was a reference to the Treaty of Chau-
meet, in which he understood it was stipulated, that
the Allies should maintain a defensive leagite fur •a I
period of 20 years. This might be very proper ;•but
let the House look back to the last 20 years, and see
the political changes which had taken place ; that
those Powers we new acted with had not long since
been pat tners to the hostile. exclusion of our com-
merce from the Continent ; and that all the Powers
in the progress of the contest would each have his
own particular interest as serve. Even supposing,
also, that the even; was as successful as the most
sanguine could hope, and that the Allies were again
able to march their armies under the walls of Paris,
what would he the result ? They would most likely
maintain the government they imposed by their con.
federated arms, and the event might be fatal to the
liberties of mankind. It wes now, however, obvious
that the Allies could not take Bonaparte by surprise,
because they could not take France by a coup-de-
main. He had been preparing various means of de-
fence; the white flag no where waved in any part of
France ; and the intemperate manifesto of the Allies
must have consolidated the strength of that country
in his favour. Every day the chances of success be-
came weaker, and lies means of resistance stronger.
On all these grounds he moved ,e An Address to the
Prince Regent, praying that he would be pleased to
take such measures as mieht be necessary to prevent
this country from being involved in war, on the ground
that the executive power in France was vested in the
hands of any particular person."
Sir M. W. RIDLEY seconded the motion. It
was an indisputable principle, that every nation bud
a right to choose its Sovereign, and that House should
be the last place where such. a principle was denied,
AS it was to its exercise that we owed the privileges
we possessed. He really believed, however unple4-
sant it might be to Mink so, that Boneparte's Go-
vernment seas founded on the affections of the French
people .; and he was afraid that the personal feelings
of animosity wi h which that man was regarded,
were in danger of banishing the better judgment
the H'suse and of the country. He should out give
way to these feelings, but consider as deliberately as
he could the grounds of nauonal policy on which the
House ought to proceed. He hoped that Ministers
w.:olci that an elternative of peace still existed.
He agreed, that from
.past experience we had little
reason to trust the promises of Dmiaparte ; but if the
new Frerch Constitution was carried into effect, he
was lti:cly to be less aule to interfere with the interests
of tee; or other countries. Before the House
launched. into a boundless expenditure, it became
them to reflect upon the tioamial situation of the
country. They ;lid that nir heard the declarition
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland, that
taxation had reached its limits, and that no other tax
but what he Mid proposed was likely to produce any-
thing. This was a must serious consideration, and
for this and other reasons he should support the mo-
tion with the view of protecting the country from what
he considered an unjust, unjustifiable, and unneces-
sary war.
, Lord CASTtEREAGH said, that in any obser-
vations he had to make, he should certainly confine
himself within as narrow limits as possible. After the
conduct which the Honourable Gentleman had pur-
sued, he could not, certainly, feel surprised at suelea
motion as the present, even from him—but he should
feel surprised if the Honourable Gentleman succeed-
ed in inducing the House to vote in support of it.—
What must be the effect of the success of such a mo-
tion in fettering the hands of the executive govern-
ment, and on the general system of our policy as it
regarded our Allies ? It was impossible, he conceived,
for any man to concur in the address, who had .not
made up his mind" n the question, whether our secu-
thy was to be looked to in immediate war, or in an
armed state of nominal peace, and who was not pre-
pared to approve that nominal peace, which must be
attended with an expendituie nearly as great as war.
Such a person Muse also be convinced, that in the
present critical circumstance, it would be wise to
adopt a course at variance with our allies. Sure he
was, that no Honourable Gentleman could think it
wise for the Goverement to depart from the pledges
it had given, unless the safety of the world WAS t') be
butighr for in separating the interests of this country
le en those of the Continent. He was not surprised
at the Honourable Gentleman's looking as he did to
whet he called peace, rather than to the means of
pet mitten and ultimate security. He was not sute
ised at the gloomy picture which the Homy,* •
Gentleman had drawn, when he recollected his pro.
phecies on former occasions ; but it was•at. least rea-
sonable to add, that if the House had been unfortu-
nately so ill-advised as to listen to his advice, and to
these predictions, the prospects even of an armed
!.ease would have been very different from those
wit ca the country nowenjOyed, and we should have left
in the hands of the enemy most extensive and fertile
districts, whose independence was most closely con•,
nested with the interests of this country. Neither.'
would the Powers of the Continent have been left
in that state of strength and vigotir which they now
foitunately presented., and. which left at their disposer
the alternative of peace or war.—(Hear, He'
wished shortly to -advert to the consideration, whether
the conduct of Goverment had been conttitnti•bnally
Correct ? Parliament in their address of the 7th inst.
lied gitferi irci pledge as to the' polity whether Of war,
or peace. 'the only pledge they had given was, that
the arm of the executive gavernMent should be ford-
tied tenth by sea and Lend ; but:Winn° way expressed
w:lether the security of the countity eflobld be ben
sought hy active Warfare (thy a defetesive 'system—
ee mit the flritisie ionfd st9f•exercise its contendling
'studio* y. fut the Hohdurable Gentlerrtan thongl.l•
.I,at his Majesty's Miiiiiters were guilty of a Oreach
id duty unless they declared tacit opinisbas as to theist
pieranttory EntAturet dtiith railianteut had audio.;

rprincitedloaineidonthewrieriscuhltsmitoniwstelth
hathdrfacmtedightwielered.
thtrieThe
—that if'tMere avid a doubt as to the mut* to be
'firefeitince which the Powers of tile Conti
pursued, then Ott line of policy should bare the
s
being first exposed to the danger, should deem it best
tow au dl
d opt
be - ;la or
eda
sirfm'
tfihieryourer soemlybeendrioinng wilaintitiehtern
stuhpat.
port. rather than separating our interests from their's.
Ministers were perfectly willing to allow our Allies
the full benefit of a deliberate review of all the circum-
stances of the case. To illottrrite thiselliethould ad-
vert to the chronology of the whole of the transac-
tions. When the Allies issued their declaration of
the 113th of March, it was directed against an indvi-
dual who, in breach of the most solemn engage-
ments, Isas invading France, and whom they con.
ceived as far from being likely at that time to exer-
cise the chief authority in that country. He differed
from the Honourable Gentleman as to the character
of that declaration, and when the time for discuioing
it wrived, Le would be prepared to spew that or on
no fair c eistruction was such a meaning imputable
to it as the Honourable Gentleman attached, and
that it gave as little countenance to assassination as
many speeches he had heard from the Honourable
Gentleman in that House. But to return to the sub-
ject more immediately before them,. he would state,
that if the Powers of the Continent resolved, that
their safety was best to be consulted by arms, they
had come to this conviction from a consideration of
the dangers with which they were individually
threatened. They had not been goaded on by incite-
ments from this country ; for the course pursued by
Ministers had le:en rather that of suggeiting the
difficulties they w. re likely to encounter. Indeed,
if the Continent did not feel that war was their true
interest, it would have been the most unwise policy
to urge them into it, as such a coalition could only
be kept together by a feeling of sacred interest. Mi-
nisters had no hesitation in saying, that if the semi-
ments of the Continental Powers remained deter-
mined as to war, then they were prepared to en-
gage in their support ; but if circumstances suioe-
quent to the declaration had led them to hesitate and
material differences of position had taken place,
Ministers were perfectly desirous that these considera
dons should be taken into accouat. At the time when
the Ticaty was signed at Vienna,.it was known that
Ney had acted the part of a traitor, and that little
dependence could be placed on the army at Melun ;
but it was not known that the King would be obliged
to retire from his capital. Hence the Allies were
called upon to see a character of greater difficulty and
danger ill the events which had occurred. Something
hat; been said of the little dependence that was to be
pl iced on coalitions—but as tar as he had an oppor-
tunity of examining the principles on which the
Alies acted, he was enabled to declare, that their
sense of the greatness of the danger to which they
were exposed had only added to their sober COD-
viction that they . could not take the benefit of
peace in the present circumstances of Europe.—
lite present circumstances bad a character more pe.
culler than any thing presented in history, by that
flagrant breach of treaty which had deprived Europe
of all the advantages she expected from the peace
which had been concluded. The return of this man
to tranee, in defiance of all engagement:, was an in-
Salt as 'well as an injury to all parties,. and exceeded
whatever. was done by preceding Governments of
France, however base and degraded. This man
glorified himself on the perpetration of his bad faith.
Resentment was net, indeed, to commit another ha-
don to ail the consequences of war; but the character
of Bonaparte in these transactions was marked in
distinct and legible terms. • The Hon. Member had
never thought Bonaparte's character a matter of
great importance: but take his previous conduct,
and couple' it with the present circumstances, and a
complete case was made out against any reliance
upon him, and which reduced the question merely to
that of power. We were fully entitled to presume
that he would only preserve peace till the occasion
suited him to violate it, when we had, with other na-
tions reduced our expenses, while he continued his
labours to augment his military force. Were it sup-
posed that this new Constitution would be any sudi
cient controul ? How many constitutions had France
already received in the course of a few years ? It
constituticuts on paper could coetroul Bonaparte, lie
would be the most inoffensive of persons alive. The
party in France with whom he at present connected
himself did not entertain sentiments in general in
common with him, and he viewed them only as in-
' strumenteby which he could reassemble his formerly
victorious bands, who were still thirsting for plunder
and spoliation. Did any body think than when lie
again got at the head of 400,000 troops, he %souk'
`find any obj-ction or difficulty to disposing of his
present Counsellors, whether Fouche or Lucien Bo-
naparte, if they opposed his views ? What did he
say to Monsieur Labile, who was at the head of sonic
assembly or other ? He told him after his return
from Russiao that they talked about what they did
not understand, that they might go about their busi-
ness, that he was born for his situation, and that the
Wishes of the Preach had made him their Emperor.
'--It had been said somewhere that he was now a
changed Man, and that since his return he was deter-
mined only on the conciliation of ad Powers, Great
Britain among the rest ; and as a proof of this, he
q)ad taken a'measure on one Subject which particu.
iarly proved his conciliatory views as they regarded
'doe opinions of Great Britain : but this measure 'he
had previously opposed, and said he would be the
lid
to agree to, even for the honour of France.—
These opinions were not idle dreams as to what
could be his conduct if his career were suffered to
proceed to any great extent. What grounds were
there for trusting to his keeping the peace that were
donsistent with the views and expectations of the per-
Aired Fri army ? His present situation might be
Oiled a re-election : but it was the effort of a large
dorrupfed
tired of peace, dissatisfied with halt.
pay, uneas under the
wa
benevolents dby thehonouitandpacfi
'elf Lour X ll pacific
respect
sway
I. which
iff the other nations.- The prospects of the soldiery
drtre tiireiel'again in the plunder of other countries,
and t`e; gain military promotion through war : they
gsbaapebovheii tcldirei)rdurecstpltoivredirnagnktso.
4474 only
Ye
odricirnisoint
tkiir views of pfonioiion and pillage, he was likely
,o Meet the contempt of the army, and to become
l'ottiontlo them. The Noble Lord sincerely believed
'this mutt lie-lifs'course. With such a pers'on the