Star.
London, England, 1812-07-22 00:00:00

t assist him in his attempts against this country
e could not see that any fair opportunity bad been
ffered for negociation by the late overture of France, ,'
or could he see that that overture was sincere. He ',
'oncluded by moving, 1
lest an entreat, ietories be presented to his Royal HI, ttiess
he litif,co Urgent, paying that his Poy.ti Highness wouht or-
rte' he va;cl two: e rbe tiouse, Copts of all such Corrs- pon-
iettee as had tz.kert place between this Country and France, siact
v • el egionf.l if April Lest.
Mr. Vt7HITE it EAD, in rising to second the Mo.
ion of. his Right Honourable Friend, expressed an ,
ope that there was no person in the House who '
• otild for one moment suppose that he would be
apable of counselling the acceptance of any offers
tom the French Government, which would tend to',
. eprade us as a nation, bat he could not contemplate'
. ithunt extreme uneasiness the prospect of an ex-
itended war between the two countries. His Right
Hon. Friend had dwelt much on the maritime rights
of Great Britain, and had insinuated a doubt as to
his wish to uphold them, but he was satisfied that
nothing he had ever said in tbat House could in the
!least evince any thing derogatory to them. His Right
Hon. Friend had asserted that England had never
done any thing which could reasonably provoke hos.
. tilities, but he would ask him if he had forgotten the
circumstances under which Spain had been driven
into a war with us ? Was the atrocious act commit-
ted against Spain (the seizure of the frigates) so soon
•, forgotten ? Was the Copenhagen business obliterated
from the anrals of our history ? And was it ;recess.
eery to call lorth the powerful eloquence of his Right
Honourable Friend, to array in brilliant colours those
black deeds ? Was it a proper period, when the ar.
relies of France had advanced tq the frontiers of Rus.
aL ? He would not go the length of saying that we
i should have accepted the proposals of the French
i Emperor, but we should have, at least, not refused
i to treat, let the basis be what it might, in order
to make it plain to the world that our enemy was
is the wrong. He could see no reason why that
negociation shiiuld not go on, and the war, now
commencing in the North, be avoided. The
; preseet was a war, during which, some Mem-
I bers of that Islotee had been born, and in which
many-of them had grown old, and though it may
I happen that peace could not he now achieved upon
horiourahle terms, that was not a reason why the ne-
gotiation should not, at least, be commenced. The
hatred of Bonaparte to the interests of England was
i no reason, at least, against the commencement of the
negoti;:tion. His aversion to tngland was not
sooner than the aversbn of England to him. • In
his opinion, the answer of the Government was a di.
sect negative upon negotiation ; they might have been
led to this refusal by the expected-state of affairs in
the North : he did not think that England owed much
'to Russia. All the Northern Powers, and Russia
among the rest, had, both lately and in former times,
shewit as moth jealousy of naval superiority of Great
'Britain, as France herself had shewn.—Ministers were
so. totaliy unprepared for this struggle in the North,
.that lie believed Bonaparte would arrive in Peters..
burgh before Lord Cathcart, who had lately set off
on his mission to the Russian Court. He did not
think that Russia, considering the state of her finance,
could continue the war very long. He would be
better pleased the country should perish than do what
was dishonourable; but he could not agree that she
should perish, merely on a false point of honour.—
He deprecated the war with America, and next to
r that event he lamented ntirst, that the late opportunity
I for negotiation-with France had.been thrown away.
Lord CASTLEREAGH said be would not op.
pose the production of the Papers; but he would pet
it to the judgment of any man, whether he could
consider the answer of the British Government as an 1
absolute rejection of negociation ; and whether, if
the suggestion of the Honourable Gentleman (Mr. 1
Whitbread) had been adopted, the Government '
would not have violated the most obvious principles
of policy '? It could not be denied, that the views of
- the Government of France must be ever hostile to
the naval power of this country ; and that such must
be its views, even if a Bourbon were to be on the
throne of that country, though he was no advocate
for interminable war, that man must have attended
but little to the events of the last twenty years, who
could say that the present was a moment most fa.
vourable to negociation. He could not conceive
. . there was a man to be found, at the present day, in
Europe, alto would say that every negociation corn.
.ineneed within the last years by the enemy, was cum.
menced 'in sincerity. If there was a man who Could
say so, he must look upon him as a person whose
mind was not fit to core to the consideration of
the present question. He • could, indeed, see no.
thing in the lime which lillor.la prevent the Goverh-
went from meeting the proposal for negociation upon ,
general grounds ;1-,ut it was hard not to perceive that,
there was something in the time to induce a suipi-
s .
cion that such a plopos4e vres'not made by the enc.
my eoniplctely in a spirit of sincerity, because every
person Item that such proposals had bzen frequently
made b f.4e, when the person at the head of the
French Cover, meat was on the point of leading his
armies into the field, with the view of being instra7
mental in the ruin of the power he was proceeding to
crush. He could not, therefore, admit that there was
not thatiu the proposal, which should put Ministers on
their guard. When Lord Lauderdale had been dis.
patched to France stisder a Ministry who bad a better
- right than the present to expect sincerity from the'
French Ruler, it was well known, that in the midst of
the negotiation he had left Paris for the purpose our
putting himself at the' head of his troops. With re-
spect to the proposition made by the French Govern- i
went, the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Whitbread) had
saggested. the species of answer he wished to have
beetereturned be this country. • But he would ask,
-what answer could be Girly returned until the nature
et then reposition made became known ? The de-
mand of explanation was accompanied with a direct
. assurance to treat upon every other point, and to give
repose if possabie to Europe. At Erfurth the gooci
. faith of this country was sufficiently preserved by
allowing sFain, to negociate in conjunction witi,
the otter Powers. But be would ask could the
„late proposition be answered in the same way ?_
1.. The'-ohject of it was clearly to preserve the in.
V staa:egpinasts; of Spain. Could a proposition more
, insulting to all Coe tc:lings ct a Spaniard be offered'
by Cleat Britain, that that he slieuhl recognize the
brother of Bonaparte as their Monarch : The Ho.