Star.
London, England, 1819-05-14 00:00:00

tonii‘ton.lie? in all cases, lie thOught that it 'ought tOI
he dect2i*d by.ifindtt ; thh-lase ostgitt-talsa dis-
tinctly Consistent: but intiodsting thh
whiehVai'dre-cfitjett.Of ilillabet picepvsect tale-
duce thg penalty presefthet hi:LW-Act of George
from felony to -misdertieaiteutSlM4 that- skid) should.
be ate penalty towards those iithti enlisted in the setLl
"Ice of recitniied..Goierliments to' which that kat
appliedf as Well as.towafdflhose persons or colonies !
by whom or in which the powers of Government
were assumed or exercised. That the enactment of
such a measure was proper and necessSary in order
to maintain neutrality; esrecially in a contest between
any recogniied er`fturent &ate and the Colonies con-
nected with it, was a proposition which, be thought,
Could hardly be withstood. It might be said that as
it was against the law of arty State that jts subjects
should enlist in the service of another &ate without
the permission of their Sovereign, or violate.the neu-
tralityof the State asidi *dab were connected,
the proposition whit the submitted was unnecessary.
Bet theobjed of Ids proposition was to render the
law quite explicit and indubitable, and in this object
he was proceeding upon the spirit of the Act of
George 11. TO mei that Obit into complete effect,
he iroposed that the law should be ecpial and congru-
ous with regard to the enlistment of British subjects
in the service of foreign Powers, whether those
Polders were acknowledged or unacknowledged by
our own Government. fhis was the first purpose of
Ms proposition ; but there was another purpose also,
namely, to provide that no assistance should baaf-
fohied by our *objects in the fitting out or furnishing
ships, for warlike purposes to any'belligerent Powers,
with which thilcountry was at peace. Such a provi-
. . .

. .
lion was seobviotisly necessary to maintain neutra.
'lily, that he could not anticipate any resistance to its,
adoption, as it would be preposterous to say this
.country was neutral, if, for instance, in the dispute
between Spain and its Colonies, it Allowed ships to be
equipped and supplied with ammunition for warlike
purposes on the part of the South American Colo-
nies, while Spain was precluded frOM any such ac-
commodation. To establish this provision was the

second object of the Bill which he 'Proposed to bring
forward, and the necessity of such a provision, with
a view to the preservation of our neutrality, could
not be questioned by any one acquainted with what
was going forward in various parts for the pur-
poses of seconding the people of &nth America.
It was not by any means his intention to prevent the
ships of either of the belligerent parties from receiving
a supply of provisions in the ports of the Empire,
but merely to prohibit the supply of warlike atores.
FroM what he had stated; he apprehended that no
objection could be made to his motion, unless it was
intended that a distinction should be made between
Powers that were acknowledged and those that
were not acknowledged by the Government of this
country, and that a decisive advantage should be
given to the latter—(Near, hear, hear.) Such a
distinction would be in violation of the common law
of the land, as well as of the spirit of the general
Law of Nations. The measure then which he pro-
posed was only to.be regarded as
.a declaratory law,
which was called for by peculiar circumstances, in
order to proclaim the will of Parliament, and to
guard against any doubt as to the nature of the law.
The Learned Gentleman concluded with movie& for
leave to bring iii a Bill to prohibit British subjects
from enlisting in foreign service, and the fitting out
or equipping of vessels for warlike purposes in any
of his Majesty's ports, without license of Government.
Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH confessed his.asto,
nishment at the declarations of his Hotiourabie and
Learned Friend (the Attorney-General). Were he
(Sir James) to consider the intended law as a simple
amendment of a law, he would not perhaps at this
stage of the business object to the motion.. But
viewing it as a declaratory act against the people of
South. America, now struggling for their dearest
rights and liberties—(Hear, hear),—it became him
as a Member of the British Parliament to enter his
against the measure. His Honourable and
protest
Learned Friend had described the law as it now stood
on erroneous principles. -When he mentioned that, it
had originated in the particular pressure of the times,
he forgot to acknowledge that it was a law against
persons who were then termed Jacobites. It was a
measure of temporary policy, affecting the interests I
of the existing Government, and therefore deemed
necessary. Whatever might be the pretended title,
of the Bill, it was evidently designed to prevent the
subjects of this country from lending any aid to the
people of South America, now laudably and gloti
ously fighting for their liberties-.- (Hear, hear),
Thence we were to consider the fatal policy of Go-
vernment, who, after allowing or conniving at the
assistance afforded be many subjects of this country
to the Patriots of South America, came now for=
ward for the first time to espouse the cause of Old
Spain, consequently the cause of oppression and tyz
ranny against reason and freedom—(Near, hear)....-
No man could deny that the Sovereign of this coun-
try had not the same power of restriction over his
subjects which ought always to be maintained for
the good of the community ; but every man of
liberal principles would lament that the exercise.
of that power was converted to such a wretched
policy. The whole was a kind of disguise, a mask,
to cover the real designs of Government, by a spe-
cious enactment, not immediately called upon.---
That the law itself was absurd and imperfect, hii
Honourable and Learned Friend readily acknow
ledged ; and he. (Sir James) was so mush of thesame
opinion, that it was one of those Acts to which he.
had turned his attention for erasure or amendment.
But why was his Honourable and Learned Friend
called upon at this particular period to bring forward
such a measure? Because the Patriots of South And
rice appeared successful, and became our Governs.,
meat was about to declare against American inde.s,
pendence. Ile. did not wish to detain the Hotise on
the introduction of the measure; for many opportu-
nities would occur before it passed ; but he could not
help expressing his honest indignation at every e#s)re
to 'crush the cause of ,rational liberty--(Hear,
hies). The situation of our fellow-subjects whb etiv
gaged la the service of the Muth Americans Would
be rendered perilous, indeed, by the operations of thsr
new law. It was empOwering tie Governniefit et
Old Spain to treat all subjects of this country in South.'
fieserica to pirates or traitors, and ibtident*--the pains
and penalties, and berm-9; of. their,iimplikablepros
ceedinigs. Was a violent effort to tenter ***rivet
the ra'enaltd'Spain on the Patriots of StudrAing-