Star.
London, England, 1822-05-15 00:00:00

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lONIAN var-III"
Mr. HUME neer and sa;raldsk he
undertaken was not one plealteirteltitnself.
were anxious to consult his own Me he would
have interfered with the question ; but he conside
that the interests of 200,000 inhebitaats Of the Loin-
'stands, and the character of the British nation, from
tht protection it had undertaken to offer them, were
at stake. It was from these motives that he engaged
in a task unpleasant to his feelings--but one on which
his opinions were most decided. It was not the first
or the third time that he had called the attention of
the House to the subject ; last year he had laid before
it the situation of those Islands in a very detailed
manner. He said that he would, in justice to him-
self and to the cause of humanity in these Islands,
have to trespass on the time of the House at present,
but he would endeavour to compress the subject as
briefly as possible. He was anxious to state that he
had no personal feelings to gratify against the indi-
vidual whom he found it his duty to arraign. He did
not know him ; he had not any transactions with him ;
it was solely on public grounds he attacked his con-
duct. He (Mr. Hume) had spent a considerable time
in the lonian Islands, and had attached himself to
the inhabitants. He would, therefore, be blameable
if he did not give his attention to their present deplo-
rable state. At that time Corfu was held by France
—he passed through all the others ; he found the
name of England hailed as the harbinger of peace ;
its protection was supposed by the inhabitants to
bring to them *same libertythey had heard England
herself enjoyed. They regarded this country with
feelings of devotion and affection, which we had ill
repaid. These Islands belonged to the Government
of Venice in the year 1797 ; they followed the for-
tunes of that State, and in 1801 they became subject
to Russia. By a secret article of the Treaty of Tilsit
they were next conveyed from Russia to France, in
which situation they remained until 1810. At the
Treaty of Paris they were declared free and inde-
pendent, and placed under the special guarantee and
protection of Great Britain. There was an article in
the Treaty which stated that the Government then
existing in the lonian Islands should remain till there
was time to form a Constitutional Government. This
Treaty was agreed to on the 2d of May, 1816, and
was signed on the 11th of July following by his Bri-
tannic Majesty. He would view the question under
two heads : first, as regarded the expenses which
Great Britain incurred.% consequence of the posses-
sion of these Islands; and, secondly, as to the treat-
ment which these Islands had a right to expect from
Great Britain. He could refer to a speech of the
Noble Marquis on the subject of the Treaty of Paris,
'in which he explained the jealousy of the Russian
Government as to these Islands, and also said that
they expressed a wish to place hemselves under the
protection of England, in the expectation of receiving
a Constitution framed on the same principles as that
of this country. A Noble Earl expressed a similar
opinion in his place in the House of Lords. But, if
these Islands were to be placed under the protection
of England, it ought not to be at the expense of any
additional burden to this country. However, he
would be able to shew that, if the resources of these
Islands were properly managed, they would be quite
sufficient to defray all the expenses necessary for their
administration. It was expressed, in the Contitu-
tional Charter, as agreed upon at the Treaty of Paris,
that the Government of the lonian Islands should be
carried on in proportion to the revenues derived from
them, except when the garrison exceeded 3,000 men ;
then the Islands should not be subject to the expense
of maintaining them. By this article, then, Great
Britain, was obliged to defray the expense of keeping
a garrison of 3,000 men in these Islands, when their
own revenues would be sufficient to defray it, if they
were frugally managed. In 1816, after the conclu-
sion of the Treaty, Sir Thomas Maitland was ap-
pointed to succeed General Campbell. Sir Thomas
Maitland went to his new Government, and returned
in about two months, for the purpose of consulting
on the new Constitution to be given to these Islands.
He then went back with a Constitution framed ac-
cording to the agreement contained in the Treaty of
Paris. By the 12th article of the second chapter of
that Treaty, all the expenses of quartering the troops
of his Britannic Majesty, and all the expenses of sup-
porting 3,000 men, were to be defrayed out of the
treasury of the united States ; but, instead of that,
this country had still a very large annual sum to pay
towards the expenses of this Government. Now,
when the people of England were suffering so much
from distress—when economy was so much to be
desired in the expenses of Government, for the purpose
of alleviating the evils arising from a lavish expendi-
ture—at such a moment, ought it to be tolerated that
these Islands should entail an expense on this country?
He had no hesitation in saying, that the Noble Mar-
quis had neglected his duty, an not taking care that
the States should pay all the expenses of their own
government. According to the Returns which lie
had moved for, it appeared that this country paid to.
wards the government of the united States of the
lonian Islands, in the year ending the 24th of De-
cember, 1817, £145,203, exclusive of the transports,
which were kept there for three years. Now, he be-
lieved that only two were employed in conveying
troops. In 1518, the sum which was paid for the
same purpose was £120,000. In the beginning of the
present Session he moved for a continuation of these
Iltethrns, but they were not laid on the table. He
rsupposed those in the offices connected with this do-
partment would be able to account to the House;
but so far from the expenses being diminished since,
he had every reason to believe they were increased.
The troops, on the 23i of February last, amounted
to *op, exclusive of the artillery and commissariat.
Since tile Treaty of Paris, now seven years, the go-
vernment of the Islands cost this country £1,000,000.
IThis was not only an intolerable burden to England
under its present circumstances, but he mould shew it
was a lavish expenditure, and that there Was no occa-
fofit, as the revenue df the Islands was amply
sufficient to defray all expenses, if they were properly
administered. According to a Return laid bn the
table last year, it appeared that the revenue of the
Islands amounted to 391,000 dollars, or £87,000,
which, added to £145,000, made the expenses for
one year £232,000. The Revenue of the States
themselves would have keit' quite sufficient, were it
not for the number of appointments made by Sir
Thomas Maitland, and the enormous salary he had
himself. He had £5OOO e-year as Governor of Malta,
£3509 a-year as High Commissioner, £lOOO a-year

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Secretary,
There were several other offices,
from £2OO to 1.:250 a-year. attached to them. The
Members of the Council of Justice bad £2OOO it-year;
and, besides these, there was an Agent to the Islands,
residing in London, Sir Alexander Wood!' who had
4:500 a-year. What this Agent, resident in London,
bad to do, be could not conceive. The whole sum
annually paid to these different Officers amounted to
£11,767. Then the Chief Officer so the Island of
Corfu had £lOOO. Sir Thomas Adam held a situa-
tion, for whick he had 10001. a year. There were
four other Officers attached to the Government in this
Island, who had 3831. a-year, half-pay ; and there
were six Sub-Inspectors, with salaries of 1811. each
besides these there was a Chief Inspector, who had a
large salary, though he had not one day's duty to
do during the year. There were also ten Staff Of-
ficers, among whom was Major Thomas Fem.! Mem-
ber of that House. Major Stuart and Captain J. L.
White, too, were promoted to posts which had con-
siderable salaries attached to them, though no duty
was to be done. These appointments were made for
the purpose of patronage, and should these expenses
be tolerated when this country was called on to pay
the balance? There was a long list of 350 indivi-
duals, who were remunerated for performing the
duties of Magistrates, and this, be supposed, was
clone only to sanction the enormous sums paid to
'other individuals. When he was at the lonian Islands
no salary was paid to the Magistrates, and so far
from expecting any, he knew they considered at an
honour to have the office of Magistrate conferred on
them. It was said they took bribes—that he denied,
and he believed assertion at one side was just as good
as it was at another. The President of the Council,
when they were under the dominion of Russia, had
a salary of 1515 dollars, which was quite sufficient,
when the expenses of living were taken into considera-
tion. Everything was then very cheap, and one could
live for one-fourth or one-fifth of the sum it would
cost him in this country ; and such was the simpli-
city in which the inhabitants lived, that they pos-
sessed every domestic comfort at a moderate expense;
but Sir T. Maitland increased the salary to 6222 dollars;
The Senators received now 3,111 dollars. The whole
upper department, which, during the 'Russian domi-
nion, cost but 12,271 dollars, now cost 26,117 dol-
lars. The 39 Members of the Senate received 19,500
dollars, though there were only a few days on which
they had to perform any duty, and they were thus
paid a permanent salary, instead of paying them ac-
cording to the duty they performed. -Instead of
98,000 dollars, which was the expenditure of the
Islands during the Russian Government, it now
amounted to 221,000 dollars, being an increase of
27,0001. There were one or two items more, to which
be wished to call the attention of the House. Those,
seho were intrusted with the administration of justice
in the island of Malta filled so many other offices,
that he thought it quite impossible that justice could
be administered as it ought to be in that island. In
the Army Estimates, charges—and he could not con-
ceive why snch charges should be brought under the
Army Estimates—appeared for passage-money in-
curred for conveying Sir Thomas Maitland to dif-
ferent places. For one year, 1819, these charges
amounted to 7741. He ought to have been otherwise
employed ; what had he to do at Venice and Ancona,
if he meant to discharge conscientiously the duties of
his office? and if his health did not permit him, he
ought to have resigned his office, and left it to some
other individual who could attend and perform its
duties. The merchants of Malta had petitioned this
House, and complained of Sir Thomas Maitland
having neglected his duty, and- he (Mr. Hume) re-
gretted that the Petition was not more attended to.
The passage-money paid for Sir Thomas for four
years amounted to 5,2901. and exclusive of this, the
salaries attached to hii other offices amounted to
10,5001. a-year. Would the House tolerate such a
profusion of the public-money ? He wasaure it would
not, and he hoped to have its concurrence in the nu>
tion, which he should soon have the. honour of subs
mining. He begged now to-call the attention of the
House •to the treatment these Islanders received, in
which the character of Great Britain was deeply in-
volved, and in which he was sorry to say it suffered
much. There were many Englishmen there, where
he (Mr. Hume) was, who could bear testimony how
much the English character was respected ; and he
believed there were many Englishmen there since
they received that Constitution, from which they ex-
pected so much happiness, who could equally bear
testimony how much that character was now de-
tested and abhorred ; and he believed they were now
only anxious to seize the moment when they coal.)
free themselves from the thraldom 'of England.
Never was there a country which, under the sem
blance of liberty, suffered so much oppression. In
November, 1816, there was great rejoicing at Corfu,
on the arrival of Sir Thomas Maitland, in expecta-
tion of the promised freedom ; but his very first act
soon undeceived them, by the appointment of a man
of very doubtful character to the Presidency of the
Senate. Some attempts were then made to make the
Senators accede to certain regulations, but four of
them, in consequence of their opposition, were dis-
missed for inert and corrupt practices (this was the
literal translation of the Italian words), without a
single charge being proved against them, and that
dismissal was sanctioned by the Coimcil—(Hear)i—
This proceeding struck the public mind with terror,
and gave the inhabitants to understand that they were
to consult the will.of an individual. On the 17th'of
January, 1818, a most extraordinary circumstance
took place : the drams were beat, .the garrison was
immediately under arms, as if the island was on the
point of iseitig attacked ; the frigates•-on the stations
were ordered to moor, so as to be in readiness; and
all this, done under,the pretence of a conspiracy, was
really done for the purpose of preventing the inhabit-
ants from expressing their opinions. It was rather
singular, that two months.before this pretended con-
spiracy was got up, it was talked of at the Govern/.
meet House in Malta ; which circumstance clearly
proved that it was got up for the pdrpose of striking
all with consternation. Several of the most distin-
guished persons were arrested, priests, noblemen, and
lawyers; but not finding this serve their purpose, they

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liberty, only with a caution that their
should be watched. On a complitint mad*
those individuals thus treated, Lord Ba-
ote a letter to him, expressing his regret
should be placed in such a situation. fhe
this pl. was, that from that day no indivi.
Aught himself at liberty to express his senti-
__ freely. Addresses from the different islands
then followed, praising the Governtnent of Sir Thomrs
Maitland. In Corfu it was intended to erect a tri-
umphal arch in honour of him. In Cephalonia there
was to be a statue of him in bronte. In Zante he
was to have been honoured with a bust of large size,
by Canova. At Santa Maura also, a triumphal arch
was to have been erected to him. These addresses
were got up, and these honours were proposed, by
interested Sycophants. The Grand Cross of the Order
of St. Michael could explain how far loyalty could
be purchaied fox a particular purpose. If ever there
were any means worse than another for procuring in:.
fiuence, they were these of conferring honours. Ile
compared these addresses, and he could say that the
greater proportion of those addressing were such as
were rewarded ; and he never saw an Englishman or
Italian who travelled in these islands who did not
agree with him. The whole patronage was thrown
into the hands of Sir Thomas Maitland, since he had
the. power of nominating and dismissing every indi,
vidual from office. He said before, that the Scotch
Borough system was nothing to it: they were a self-
elected few, who treated the opinions of others with
contempt; but according to . the system of the,e
islands, while they professed to treat public opinion
with respect, they really treated it with palpable con-
tempt. In effect, the Lord High Commissioner had
the appointment of the majority of the Legislative
Body. * There was an instance where a Member had
been returned, although against the expressed voice
of the Electors ; for in that case the negative vote
was construed into an affirmative, and the Member
returned. In this way was the Legislative Body as.
sembled, to whose acceptance the Constitution was
offered. Sir Thomas Maitland's first step, after their
meeting,' was to make the Members take an oath not
to disclose anything of what had happened at Elec-
tions, or what was about to happen in the Assembly.
Having thus cleared the way, he then presented the
Constitution for their acceptance. This was only three
days after they first met; and, without any delibera-
tion, this important Constitution, this Magna Charta
of the lonian Islands, was accepted. There was no
debate, no discussion upon it; .for one Member who
stood up to make an observation, barely escaped
being put under arrest. So soon is the sth of May
following, a Deputation was sent to England to ob-
tain the Royal assent, and thus was this important
instrument foisted upon the people of the lonian
Islands. After this, would the House wonder that
the Constitution was so full of contradictions and in-
consistencies? But it was said that there was a part of
the Legislative Assembly which the Lord High Com-
missioner could not influence. This was not the fact;
there was no part of it over which his influence was
not felt; and it was a fact beyond contradiction, that
Sir Thomas Maitland had the whole controul over
every department of Government and act of legislation.
It was incumbent on the British People, for their own
character's sake, not to mention the safety of Cie
islands, to put an end to this state of things, and to
remove that obloquy which attached to the Briloh
name for its treatment of these islands, and still mere
especially of Parga—( Hear, hear)—throughout every
Court in Europe. The only answer to all this was
the disturbances which took place some time ago.—
But could these disturbances, even if they were of a
more serious nature, justify the cruelties which bad
been resorted to to suppress them ? He asked, was
It necessary to hang up two Greek Priests in their
canonicals, in order to deter the inhabitants of Santa
Maura from entering again upon insurrectionary
courses? He asked, was it necessary to drive the in-
habitants to madness and despair by the open insults
whichhad been put upon their Church, alai the gross
injustice exercised towards the holders of Church
lands, by a. resumption of these lands by the Govern-
ment, although they had been, some of them, for up-
wards of a century in the hands of their late owners?
The Hon. Member then alluded to the Act of Parlia-
ment, by which Colonel Robinson, an Officer of Ma-
rines, was declared Head of the Church of the lonian
Islands. It was true, he was not called Head of the
Church, but he was intrusted with such extensive
powers over the Church property, the appointment
of Priests, Abbots, and Abbesses, that he was, in
effect, supreme Head of the Church there ; and from
his decision, too, there remained no appeal to the
Legislative Body or the Council. One case only lie
would cite, to shew the injustice and rigour with
which the holders of Church property were treated.
A person named Battalia, being cited, was adjudged
tolose his property. It had belonged to his family for
more than a century, and he remonstrated. A Com-
mission of four Judges was appointed to hear Ole
appeal, and two gave judgment for the appellant.—
The Court was divided, and in the denier resod, the
Lord High Commissioner was referred to. What was
the decision, and on what grounds was it made?—
Against the appellant, on this ground, that in 1443
the Doge of Venice made a law by which it was pro-
hibited to alienate the property of the Church. But
here was property obtained from the Church nearly a
hundred years ago, therefore it was alienated, and
therefore it ought to be resumed—(Hear).—lt W4S
by such acts as those that the people of Santa Alaur.f
were driven to insurrection ; for what people wortht
not be put out of patience by such means? The
people, it was true, did commit some excesses, which
he (Mr. Hume) deplored ; but did that justify 1.:.e
unconstitutional treatment with which Alartenengo:
who was taken up on suspicion, was exposed to?--
Martenengo was not only tried upon a frivolous
charge, but was tried in an illegal manner, before .1
tribunal which the Constitution did not recognize.
He was however tried, and sentenced to what ?—to
twelve years' close confinement in Santa Maura!—
The sentence was begun to be put into execution,
when the Government at home, rightly ashamed of
these excesses, interfered—remitted the sentence, ant
limited the.punishment of Martenengo to duce or
four years banishment to Venice. These repeated acts
of injustice, he contended, were sufficient to di ive tae
inhabitants into open revolution, and to stimulate the
most indulent. But, as if this was not enough, another
act, though not of the same nature with regard to in-
dividual rigour, yet more dangerous as it was an in-
fringement ou the Constitution, followed upon ICI

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Pp aledhsioti. *ad 11000 alear as ftoloael of et Re a. vete set at
e bad gimps. Thus Sir Thomas Moithed had £lO,BOO conduct sho
if he a-xear, without including the prolessites attached to' by one of tl
d not 1 these offices, which would king* it nearly toil 5,000 therm wrote
Idered: a-Year. At all events, £13,000 altar of the public that he sho
Lonian 'inoney was wasted. Then he had a Secretary, and effect of this
, from lAssistant Secretary, at salaries of £3OOO a-year cich. dual thougi
words ftVer2l other offices, which had salaries tents freely