Star.
London, England, 1821-06-22 00:00:00

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY was ready to
admit the competence of the Noble Lord to come
forward with a motion relative to transactions with
which he had so great a personal acquaintance; but
observed that it was now rather too late to call on
Parliament to interfere and pronounce a judgment
upon them. After a period of six years had elapsed
since those transactions had occurred, he did not think
it would be wise in the British Parliament to act
upon the Noble Lord's representation, and to incite
his Majesty's interposition between the Government
of Naples and the wishes of the Sicilian people. If
the transactions of which the Noble Lord complained
were erroneous, he should have come forward at the
time, and Parliament would then have been called
upon to consider them at a time when the measures
of the Neapolitan Government were open to qualifi-
cation; but, besides the period that had since elapsed,
there was another reason for dissuading the House
from entering into the consideration of these transac-
tions now, when Sicily was about to undergo another
organization. What the precise mode of that new
organization was to be, he did not as yet distinctly
know, but as far as he was acquainted with it, the
Government of Sicily was to be a separate Govern-
ment, and altogether distinct ftom that of Naples.
Five years had gone by since the change of which
the Noble Lord complained had taken place, and he
had waited to bring forward that complaint until Si-
cily was upon the pint of undergoing another
change. How far the projected dissolution. of the
union which bad now existed for some years, would
be satisfactory /o the people of Sicily, he could not
answer. Ile believed, that although both in Scotland
and Ireland persons might be found, from motives of
national pride, to wish for the separate existence of
their revective countries, yet that generally a great
reluctance would be felt to undo a union that was
found so serviceable to both countries. He persuaded
himself that in Ireland they had made rapid strides
in finding out that there might be combinations of
government which were more conducive to the li-
berty of the people than insulated governments. But
with respect to the Sicilians, they were about to en-
joy again the blessing, if such they deemed it, of a
separate government, and therefore it would be pe-
coliarly unwise to institute any proceedings with re-
ference to a mode of administration which, perhaps
at this moment, was no longer in existence. As to
our connection with Sicily, it should be remembered,
that though we had always felt a lively interest in
the freedom and happiness of that country, yet, that
in taking military occupation of it, we were governed
by motives of expediency, in order to form a harrier
against the strides of French dominion—a barrier
hich, from the insular position of Sicily, was mote
within the power of our natural resources. We were
also induced to do so, in order to protect the Royal
Family, and from a hope that an opportunity might
occur of operating upon the continent of Italy, so as
to shake the extent of Fi ench influence there. In a
similar way we had possession of Portugal. Vl'e had
given no express assurance or guarantee to Sicily of
teeming to it any particular form of government,
though circumstances rendered a chaage in their
mode of government necessary ; and a Constitution
was certainly formed, somewhat upon the plan of our
own. While our at my remained in Sicily, there was
undoubtedly a necessity for some intervention on our
part, in order to enable the Government of the island
to go on, and to preserve it in a state of defence
against the common enemy. It was equally true
that in consequence of this inevitable necessity, the
Noble Lord opposite was mixed up with many strong
remonstrances, the object of which was to secure the
tiefin.ive strength of the island : but neither the No-
ble Lord, nor his Majesty's Government, was there-
fore understood to have virtually contracted any
obligation as to the future government of Sicily. He
would not now disguise that the Noble Lord on those
occasions was placed in situations of great difficulty.
Nor could he conceal that the Government at home
felt itself frequently much embarrassed ; for it was
naturally painful to an independent Power to have a
foreign army in its garrisons, interfering with every
movement of its domestic government—(llear).
, These things were, however, matters of histot y, and
he would not go into their merits farther than to de-
clare, that, as far as he could judge of,a Constitution,
he never saw one less suited to a people than the
Constitution which was established in Sicily under
the Noble Lord's sanction. There was no one point
of union more decidedly adopted throughout Sicily,
from the Crown down to the lowest peasant, than
that that Constitution could not stand. Although
in the number of its Chambers their Patliament.imi-
tated ours, yet he could not pay it the homage to say
that it resembled that of Great Britain in any other
respect. As far as the rule and the compass could
make a Constitution, therefore, the people of Sicily
had one; but a more imperfect one, considering the
circumstances, and character, and habits of the peo-
ple, never,- he believed, was produced. The Noble'
Lord himself must have felt this, since at every turn
he felt himself under the necessity of having recourse
to military interference. In 1814, Sir Wm. A'Court
was authorised to make explanations to the people,
to account for the exercise of that authority which
we had used, to open the eyes of the people, and to
spew them that it was for their own preservation
that authority had been so put in force; and also to
say that the moment was then approaching when our
army would evacuate the island. But no declaration
as to the mode of future Government was made.—
Some changes were indeed strongly recommended,
but they were also recommended to be worked out
by means of the Constitution. A reform was re-
commended, but not by means of an army. The
Parliament had employed itself for twelve months in
the work of reform, but without any effect, and at
last the two Houses addressed the Cro.vn to appoint
a Commission. After a good deal of time was lost,
the Royal Commission was named, and he believed
that they made some progress. But even with the
Commission the ancient privileges of the Sicilians
were never talked of. The amendment and adapta-
tion of the Constitution of 1812 were their whole
object, yet they did nothing effectually ; and finally,
they were superseded by a Council of State, which
was equally inefficient. So that, unless the Noble,
Lord was prepared to say that old Chaos should be
re-established in his empire, it •was necessary that,
something should be done, in order to carry on the
Government. The instructions given to Sir Wm.
A'Court had met the approbation of the Noble Lord ;
and when that Minister left Sicily in 1816, it was

never thought of that it was incumbent upon ns to
make a Constittition for that Island. The making of
a Constitution for any country was the last act which
he hoped a British Government would ever do—
(Hear, hear). It was a responsibility which, more
than any other act whatever, would make our name
odious abroad ; and he for one would always raise
his voice against our making Constitutions for other'
countries—(Hear, hear). Such interposition was, in
general, more likely to be defeated than to be suc-
cessful ; and when the Noble Lord at the head of
25,000 men could not make his voice to be heard
within the Palace of the King, he could scarcely now
expect that the voice of the House of Commons
could be heard there—(Hear, hear). With respect
to the instructions which were sent to Sir William
A'Court, he had to state, that no instructions would
have been sent to him, if a communication had not
been previously received from the Neapolitan Go-
vernment that some change was intended, and they
asked advice and assistance of his Majesty's Govern-
ment on the subject. Ministers replied, that they
were totally incompetent to form a judgment as to
the fitness of a Constitution for the people of Sicily,
and they did not wish to take the responsibility of it
upon them. At the same time they felt it to be their
duty towards the Sicilian people to make two re-
serves. The first of these had not been touched on'
by the Noble Lord, and therefore he would not dwell
upon it. But it was rendered unnecessary by the re-
port which Sir William A'Court had made, who
stated that all the higher offices of the Sicilian Go-
vernment were to be filled by all the most distin-
guished characters in the island who had been in
connection with the British Government. He con-
fessed that when he had signed the instructions, he
had believed that if the offices in the Government
had not been so filled, there would have been no end
to the persecution of individuals, on account of the
extent of private claims, and he did not look forward
to many applications of a painful nature. But, with
the exception of General Romeo's case—a case which
stood entirely on its own merits—he was happy to
say, that there had not been a single complaint made
to him from Sicily, down to the very hour at which
he was now addressing the House—(Hear, hear).'
fle could not go. quite so far as to pay homage to
the Noble Lord in his character of supreme judge of '
the liberties of the people of Sicily ; and seeing that
he had received no credentials from them to come to
this House—that a period of six years had elapsed
since the form of the Constitution had been substan-
tially changed, and that Sicily was now on the eve of
becoming again independent, he could not conceive
what possible utility could result from this motion.
The spirit of the second reserve was this, that his Ma-
jesty's Ministers kept to themselves the power of in-
terference, so far as to preserve to the people of Sicily',
their ancient rights. The Noble,Lord, indeed, sup-
posed those rights to be the most perfect of their
kind. They had, it was true, a Parliament, which
never met un!s!ss merely to impose taxes; and per-
haps they had the power of removing some griev-
ances, by annexing that removal as the condition of
giving the supplies—(Hear, hear).—But whether
those ancient rights were few or many, the " reserve"
connected with them was not to be considered as a
perpetual obligation upon this country. It was made
only with a view to the change which was then im-
pending, and it was only incumbent upon the British
Government to see that the Sicilians did not lose
their ancient rights by our occupation of their island.
We were not to assume, in consequence, a general
and permanent jurisdiction over the affairs of Sicily
—(h fear, hear).—As to the changes that had been
made in 1816, the instructions sent to Sir W. A'Court
with respect to them were of such a nature as to ob-
tain the approbation of the Noble Lord himself, for
he had the goodness to endorse them. There was no
reason to suppose that Sir W. A'Court had made a
wrong use of those instructions, for he was an indi-
vidual of great knowledge—indeed of as great know-
ledge as any individual he had ever had occasion to
communicate with. That Minister had seen nothing
in the conduct of the Neapolitan Government to ex-
cite the jealousy of this Government. No design was
seen on the part of the King to aim covertly at the
liberties of the people. Indeed, his Government
would have been glad to get his Britannic Majesty's
Ministers to make a Constitution for Sicily; "but
no," said we; " we have burnt our fingers already;
there is no obligation upon us to interfere in this mat-
ter." Arid, in his opinion, they acted with proper
caution in not wishing to involve the Sovereign, and
'the great people over whom he presided, in the
disgrace which was likely to wait on such interposi-
tion, if it had been resolved upon. Sir W. A'Court,
indeed, was asked to give his advice as a private
friend, and he did attend several Councils in that ca-
pacity, without being at all officially responsible for
what he said or did. But now, when not a vestige
of that system, perhaps, remained, which the Noble
Lord reprobated, it was easy to conceive how ridiculous
such an interference would be as that which he de-
sired. Ile (the Marquis of Londonderry) did not by
any means wish to advocate the system which had
been established in Sicily after the events of 1816;
but the question was, did it deteriorate the ancient
privileges of the Sicilians to such an extent as to jus-
tify the British Government in using an interference
which they were not actually bound to use? He did
not mean to say that there was nothing objectionable
in the Government of Sicily, but he conceived that
the Ministers of this country were incapable of judg-
ing in detail of an administrative system applied to
Sicily. Here the Noble Marquis read a Report from
Sir W. A'Court, which was sufficient, in his opinion,
to quiet the apprehensions of this Government as to
any danger of re-action. It was also manifest, and
even acknowledged by the Carbonari, in one of the
first papers they had published, that the Government
of the King of Naples was administered in a spirit of
great mildness. He had now made a general de-
fence for his Majesty's Ministers. He would now
look upon it as a general transaction—one which was
to be examined as such, and not inquired into with
the microscopic eye of constitutional criticism. He
would hold, that there was nothing in the change
which took place in 1816 injurious to the dignity or
interests of the Sicilians, which could, awaken the

alarm of the British Government, pledged as they
were to the maintenance of the rights and liberties
of that people, as they found them at the period of
our military occupation of the Island. So far did he
believe was the change from bringing degradation
upon them; that it was his decided opinion they were

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