Star.
London, England, 1816-01-26 00:00:00

Spanish Government.

:plat _ say !presentatiVes chosen in the
midst of foreign tronps, possessing the dominion of the
country, while here it is not allowed by law that any
military shall be stationed, or even appear within a
certain distapce of the place of election ? . Is there
not in France a blood-thirsty faction which domineer
over the King and the people, eager to make one the
histiument, and the teher the victim, of the most vin-
dictive cruelty ? Is this the happiness that the Allies,
in their solemn Declaration, promised to France ?
Is it thus that the pledge is redeemed ? If it be now
pretended that the Allies should not intetfere in the
internal concerns of France. the answer is obvious,
that they interfered for the Monarch, and against the
people. Yes, the rule which was set at nought when
the interest cf a King was involved, may be held
sacred when the people call for justice. We, whose
ancestors expelled the tyrant James, and asserted
their right to choose their own Government, must
deprecate such conduct. It is boasted that Louis
gave a Constitutional Charter to the French, which
Charter, by the way, was daily violated. But in
England the Charter was not a King's gift. No ;
'Ling William did not give us a Charter—we provi-
ded one for ourselves—we claimed, demanded, and
insisted upon our undoubted rights, and conferred the
Crown upon that Prince, on certain conditions, and
under certain restrictions. What should we have
said had the Bourbons succeeded in their endeavours
to place James 11. upon the throne of these realms{
what should we have said if he had come here and
pretended to have given us a Charter ? Had he
destroyed freedom of speech and freedom of writing.
and• kept a foreign force in the land at the expense of
the people to support his authority, and to keep them
in awe and subjection ? Would net the noble pa-
triots, Lord Somers and others, who so gloriously re.
Listed tyranny, have been brought to the scaffold or
driven into exile ? Is it possible that 26 millions of
people can be kept in this state of slavery ? Will the
alliances hold—and ',Could it be politic ? Can we
expect that peace, friendship, and mutual confidence
can be restored, and that commercial benefits can re.
suit ? If all &trope are to unite under the pretence of
resisting the tyranny of one wan, and thus to impose,
slavery upon a whole nation, what a precedent will
st not establish, and how soon may we not experience
such a dictation ? What chance is there that the
powers of Europe should long agree ; and upon the
first rupture, or even jealousy, will not France break'
the chains that h.ore been placed upon her ? Yes, the
same causes which induced the. French to receive NI.
poleun with open arms while the King with all his
valiant loyalists, who now bluster so much, will still
continue to operate and prevent a teconciliation of
the people to the Beurbens. Yes,.if the dastately
revenge of those noisy loyalists he indulged who were
never seen in the hour of danger, who never, indeed,
were heard of until they could abuse and persecute,
the throne of the Bourbons cannot be safe. So many
millions of
.people, educated in oppes;te princelis,
cannot tamely submit to the old maxims of arbitrary
poarer. Such a calculation would ba absurd, and )et
it appears to be entertained. Where, then, is the
prospect of a secure peace ?
Ifhere are the fruits of trace to Et found ? Not in
France. Is it then in Spain, in Italy, or other coun-
tries, where, alas, the most cruel bigotry is raying ?
Where (to use a phrase of certain gentlemen) she;
:Whore of Babylon has been set tip at the expence of;
British blood and British treasure. In Spain, after!
our immense sacrifices, after expending or 1171
millions of money, our whole Property Tao, and;
thousands of lives, in a single year, the noble. the;
high-minded, and virtuous patriata, who so nobly;
united with us, are doomed to slavery the most de-;
basing, to exile, and dragged to the scaffold; and,'
although ready to risk our lives and fortunes in *spit;
righteous cause of legitimate Sovereigns," not an'
effort has bean made, not a sigh, not a tear ob:ierved
in their behalf.

!f/ha are our ekinertic prosreett ? have we experi-
enced any diminution of our huttliens, any prospect
of rebel from the most vexatioes of them ? Are our
manufactures and commace Nourishing? Are the
land-owners and the cultivators thereof in a state or
prosperity ? In short, is not the whole country in an
unparalleled state of depression and distress?
What is there then, whereupon we can carry up
our congratulations ? Can we be said to be at peace
where there is no confidence or friendly intercourse?
all is gloom, doubt, and uncertainty, and -me havi•
no chance el a solid peace, unless a great effort be
made, and more enlightened views and princilles
acted upon ? Under all these circumstances we can•
not congratulate t4e Throne—upon the security of
Europe. We cannot congratulate upon the freedom
Or happiness of the subjects of Spain, Italy, and other
States. We cannot congratulate upon the peace,
liberty, and happiness of the .people of France. We
cannot exult in the prosperity of our own concerns, in
the profits of our trade, manufacture, or agriculture, in
the reduction of our army and war establishments,
nor in the prospect of any material reduction in our
grievous taxation. An Address of Congratulation
ought to spring from a spontaneous feeling, and
should be done immediately or not at all, If, indeed,
we bad remained so long in doubt, we should at least
,wait until we had all the documents laid before Par-
liament, and we could form a better judgment.' That
an end was put the destruction of human life, ought
to 1:4 gratifying to all; but, although averse to war,
• and sorry, as we ought to be, to see it renewed, it
'did not follow that we could commend the terms of
the peace, from which we had experienced no benefit,
and could see no prospect of its permanenci or allaying;
the terrible animosities which the war had engendere&
Mr. Disou, observing that the last speaker had
• been speaking against time, wassailed to order.
resuming, Mr. D. maintained that the greater part
of wbAt the last speaker had. stated was quite irrele
vant to the question before the Court, and expressed
his belief that certain- Gentlemen would have been
quite ready to vote an Address of Congratulation
Alpert the conclusion of peace, if that peace had been
concluded rather with, an Usurper or with Regicides,'
than 'with a legitimate' Monarch. He rem:liked uposi
the wish expressed fur our interference in the cool
mos of Splice; by the law individual who depot

_—igeiVlM6ll 1i 01. 11110114. Mkt at a fo-
naiios, and who,. be (Mr. D.) wits folly pr-
,, would have been among the fires eibepeoUte
Ministers bad they interfered with the collates of

*ors and Mr. R. DAVIS spoke in support of

Mr. FATIILL began by regretting that any thing
should be said in the coarse of the discussion, calm-
:lated to disturb the harmony which ought always to
prevail on such an occasion; and he was therefore
sorry that a worthy Member opposite (Mr. & Dison)
should have thought proper to observe, that those
who did not approte of the Address *maid have had
no objection to a peace if it had been concluded with
regicides. This bore but cob strong a resemblanee
to the practice of former days, when the epithets Ja.
cobin and spy were often applied to whoever did not
approve of the measures of Government. He thought
that that Gentleman, before making such an obser-
vation, would have done well to hre borne in mind,
that those whose measures he bra advocated in that
Court, had not only strewn a willingness to conclude
a peace with these very Jacobins, but had actually
concluded a peace with the monster Bonaparte, as he
Was called by them. He could not help expressing
his surprise at hearing the advocates for the Address,
who formerly maintained that the object of the late
war had been the putting down Bonaparte, now
maintain that it was necessary for the purpose of
keeping down the French nation. This declaration
was certainly rather a frightful omen for the country.
(Hear, hear.) He certainly rejoiced that peace had
at length been obtained, and had no objection to vote
an Address, expressive of his satisfaction at that
event, provided there were recorded in it as declara-
tion of the calamities brought upon this country by
the wars in which we had been engaged from the be-
ginning of the last century up to the present period,
the vain and insufficient nature of the causes of these
wars, and the failure in the accomplishment of the oh-•
jeers for which they were said to have been undertaken,
in order that the Government of the country and the
public might derive a useful lesson from the reflections
which the expression of these calamitiescould not fail to
suggest. Out of the 55 years of Ins life this country
had, during thirty-four, been engaged in war. The
review of our late wars afforded a solemn and inte-
resting lesson to humanity. It was time now to
make Something like a stand against those erroneous
principles by which nations were deluded into ruin-
, ()us and unnecessary wars. The diffusion of true
and sound views on this subject were the only safe-
guard which we could have • against a recurrence cf
these evils. He was, and always had been, an advo-
cate for the diffusion of truth and knowledge ; and
' tie was much mistaken if there was not as mach ge-
neral knowledge at the present day in the Court
which lie had the honour to address as there was in
tf,e highest assembly of the country fifty years ago.
This was the pp per time for recording their opinions
on the subject ; for whenever in the course of a war
any objection was stated against its justice, those who
made such objection were uniformly stigmatized by
the Islinistry and their adherents as enemies of their
country. How cons:antly had they been met during
the American war and the last war, when they had
come to investigate their causes or the conduct which
had marked their progress by language like this :
Do you mean to serve the enemies of your cour.try ?
Do you mean to weaken the arm of Government in
an emergency like the present ? Bnt it was imposti.
to hold such language now ; and it was therefore
the proper time to put something on record against
war in general. The worthy Member then went into
a review of the successive wars is which we had been
engaged since the spmmencentent of the last century,
• and contended that they were all undertaken without
lufficient cause, and had been solely productive of
calamity to the coun:ry and to humanity in general ;
and he concluded by moving the following Address :
TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT,
acc. •
•

We, Lis Majesty's dutiful, loyal, and affectionate Subjects,
the Lord Nlayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the• City
of London, in Common Cuut:eil assembled, beg leave• to ap-
proach your Royal Highness with sentiments of respect and'
attachment to your Royal Per•on and Family, and to cunzratu.
late your Royal Hilliness on the definiii.e Treaty of Peace
recently cot:clue:ea with his Majesty the King of I ranee, and
we sincerely trust chat ibis impot-ant event may lead the nations
of Europe to those measures, which may long insure the happi-
ness and tranquillity of the world At the same time we feel it
our Inver:tins duty to by before your Royal Hitliness, those
reflections which elite from the History of English Was during
the last century; and we are the more induced to offer these
sentiments (tont his Nl:deity's faithful Citizens of London at this
+Mies • because to whatever sources may be referred those cala•
widen which tietli,y affect the cu:sntry, we cannot but conclude
that they are cht.fly to be imputed to the errors of our ancestors,
at:d to those conlaniqtd ha our own times by rash, impolitic,

and unjust wars, and bt..:ause any attempts to discuss such causes
at the commencement of hostilities, are constantly met by objec-
tions, that they tend to relax ti:•al weaken the efforts of his
ajesty's Government in prosecuting the war. If your Royal,
Highness will condescend to refer to the history of the ten year*
war which preceded the happy event of your Royal Highness's
Family be.'g stated on ihe 'throne of these Reahni, you will
.
find that notwithstanding the brilliant success of the British arms
emit r the Duke of Marlborough, the object of the war, in secur-
ing, the Austrian Succession in Spain, was lost, and a few years
vaposed the fallacy Of its principle, when England, France, Hol-
land, and the Emperor were waited against Spain, at hough
governed by a Monarch of the House of Bourbon. The nett
war, of 1759, arose out of a frivolous claim to cut logwood In the
Bay of Canipeachy, which, after nine years contest, ended In
accumulated burdens, and the basis of the Treaty °CAI:Ia-Ow
pelts was a restoration of alt soaquests on each side. Equally
futile and absurd was the war of 1756, originating in territorial
claims upon the Banks of the Ohio, which embroiled all Europe
for seven years; and although It terminated with more glotY
than former wars, yet it was thus described by that great States-
man, the Earl of Chatham :—He says the whole scheme of our
politics was equally absurd and desperate. It was no other thin
together and combine tbs Powers of the Coutinent into an *III.,
sore of magnitude, sufßelent to withstand the effoits of France
and her adherents against the Electorate of Hanover, at the single
expense of Great Britain. The three last wars against France,
be says, cost us 120 millions. We have suffered ourselves to be
deittived by names and sounds, the general came, the balanceve
power, the libortlea of Europe, and have exhinAed our wealth
vithout airy rational objeit. The peace of 1763 soon disclosed
tine burdens of war, and tempted thellinisten to raise a revenue
in America by the Stamp Act, and other oppreasivwmeasurteil
Mhich led fp those &sumo abitipoklaptcly sestre4Ske Ames•

- •
eadinAiiit Aadtl4l Imo. to iIA years after
pates of 17SS, when the enterprise and mirk of his Majesty's
sahivers began to restore the general prosperity of the 'country, it
again arrested by a hasty dismissal of the French Antbas-a-
loelo inte„and by a further refusal to treat with Mons. Mares,
;Aida led to the most sanguinary and protracted contest record-
seli in the annals of the world: and althotigh we most heartily
rejoice, that after the wide wasting ravages of near till years, the
combined efforts of the Allies, together with the Most tpl.ndid
11181
atchievements of his Majesty's arms under the illustrious Com-
mander, the Duke of Wellington, have disappointed the projects
of ambition, and brought it to a happy conclusion, yet we trust
it will long remain as a beacon to warn all nations of its fatal
policy. We are well aware that we live too near these extraor-
dinary events (upon which the greatest Statesmen have differed)
to appreciate them with all the advantages which may be derived
Coon the calm review of history, yet 'we cannot but impute the
disastrous results, which during the first ten years of the war
had nearly overturned the Goeerentent of the whole civilized
world, to the want of defiuite and avowed objects, founded upon
just principles, and with a due regard to the rights of the French
people to form a Government for them.elves, and to those im-
politic and violent manifeitos which, while they divided the best
friends of Great Britain, rooted and united its enemies to those
exertions which appaled the most heroic, and threatened univer-
sal conquest, and which, under DIVINE PROVIDENCE, nothing
but the madness and folly of their own Chief could have eff..ctu•
ally counteracted. Arrived at this awful period, when the conse-
quences of these wars are likely to raise our peace establis!.me:tt
beyond what could even have been contemplated In war—when
agriculture, commerce, and every class of the community, are
groaning under its effects—when we have been threatened w!th
taxes in peace which were solemnly pledged only to be raised la
war-=we hem* trust your Royal Highness will nut deem it un-
necessary to review these allegations, which are most respectfully
brought to the Royal ear, without any view to dirract or em-
barr.ss your Royal 11,,thnew's Quvernment, but to discharge a
solemn duty to our King and country, and to place upon its re-
cord those great principles of loyalty, independence, and consti-
tutional freedom, worthy of the first city in the Empire, and to
hold out to all onatfms the practical wisdom which may and
ought to be learned from experience, hoping they will not in fu•
sure suffer their own prejudices or the folly of their ruler; to
hurry them into future wars, without causes the most urgent,
which wisdom may approve and justice warrant. Sincerely
wishing your Royal Highness and the whole House of Brutes.
wick may long enjoy the blessings of peace and tranquillity, and
reign In the hear:. of e free and happy people."
Mr. WHIT/ rose to second the Address of Mr. Fa.
veil. It became a question now, whether the peace
which they were called on to approve was in reality
a peace, or merely a truce ? whether we had obtained
any thing like au indemnity for the past, or security
for the future ? The whole revenues of all the States
with whom we had been in alliance would not reins.
burn us for the expenses to which we had been put
during the war, without taking into account the im-
mense mass of misery which it had otherwise occa-
sioned. And as to security for the future, how had
' this been obtained in the peace recently concluded ?
lie was of opinion that no such thing had been ob-
tained. The statesmen by whom the peace had been
arranged had squared one part and rounded another;
they had gone to work like so many land surveyors
in measuring out parks and pleasure-grounds. It seen-
rity had not been obtained for the future, what good
had been done ? He wouli defy the worthy Alder-
man ( ileygate) to say, after a consideration of the
pia sent state of Europe, that prejudices of all desciip-
non were not in full force. The Allies had set about
restoring some half score of families in Europe to
their former thrones; but the interests of the people
had been wholly neglected by them. They had
plentifully sown the seeds of discord, and at a period
of time not far distant the fruits would be seen.—
They had joined together the Netherlands and Hol-
land, Prussia and Saxony, Sweden and Norway,
Piedmont and Genoa, contrary to the wishes of the
inhabitants of those countries. That knc:wledge
seemed altogether to have escaped them, that men
were not made merely for the pleasure of Princes.
They had placed an ignorant and bigotted monk on
the throne—ia speaking of that disgrace to human
nature, Ferdinand of Spain, he was afraid to trust
himself. He load given every assistance in his power
to the measures adopted fur driving the Usurper from
Spain; but that usurper. bad as he was, heel some
good qualities, and had done some good during his •
usurpation ; among other things, he had abolished
'the Inquisition. They had driven out the Usurper,
but What was the result ! Was liberty restored ?
Ne ! Bet Ferdinand, by the aid of the English con-
tributions, had been enabled to destroy the liberties of
his country. The peace had failed to secure any of
the objects for which the war had been undertaken.
The interest act the thrones had been attended to, but
the interests of the people had been neglected; and
none of the blessings for which alone men are justi- I
fled in drawing the sword had been obtained.
Mr. Alderman Hitecaes, in reply, was at a loss to
conceive how the distresses of the country, occasioned
by war, on which several Gentlemen had dwelt so',
much, could be an argument against a peace. A wor-
thy Gentleman had asked if France was now free And
happy ? But he would ask in return, if that was the
object for which the war had been undertaken ?
Mr. WAII'IJAIAN said, in explanation, that was one
of the objects stated in the Declaration.
Mr. Alderman HEVGATE said, the war was for the
establishment of such a Government in France as
would let the other countries alone. If a bigotted
Minister and Tyrant was on the throne of Spain was
Britain to blame ? Was a crusade at an expense of 500
millions to be undertaken to restore liberty to Spain ?
Were Ministers to propose such a war, none would
be more ready than the Honourable Gentleman to
declare his opposition to it. He should have thought
that those who expressed so strong a feeling of the
distresses of the country, would have been the first to
join in an Address of 'Congratulation on the esta-
blishment of peace, because the burdens of the coun-
try could only he diminished by a peace. It was the
only season when a reduction of our establishments
could take place. He wished the Honourable Gen-
denten (Mr. Waithman) in reading the Addriss of
1814, had read the whole of it; he bad omitted a
sentence dictated by himself, Stating that the Bour-
bons had been o recalled to the throne of France by
the spontaneous wishes of the people of,that country."
Notwithstanding the confident assertions of some
Gentlemen to the contrary, he would. maintain that a
great improvement had taken place all over. Europe.
In France a Constitution had been obtained, by
which civil and religious liberty was secured, and that
security guaranteed by the great Powers of Europe.
Was the Battik now in existeace ? Were the lowei

sted
relent been s np)sy i by the voice otireign
the .people I Is the r at now up- isuided, wi
held by foreign tree Coastita. ,our Minist
tion ? Is t like civil or re- the Spanis
li.;ious fiber:_ ch possess the liberty Mr. Jac
of speech, or tite.laiTif ill; thee. press I What should the Addre
we in England say of representatiVes chosen in the Mr. FA'