The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-04-17 00:00:00

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sztatcontait

THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 17, 1821

PARLIAMENTARY COMNIENTARY.

In the House OF LORDS nothing particular.
In the House or COMMONS, whole strings of peti•
lions against the Catholic elaitas.—Mr. Hume presented
a petition from the Free thinkers' Zetitic Society, Edin-
burgh. They complained of having been violenly dis-
persed, and of having had their books taken away from
them. After this came another great crowd of petitions
against the Catholic claims. But, the grand subject of
discussion was, a motion by Lord-Althorp for a repeal of
the Foreign Enlistment Bill. This Bill, which was
passed in 1919; this bill was quite as new thing in the
laws and usages of England. It was a thing that had
never been done before by any nation, though all the na-
tions in Europe had so frequently been at peace .wlien
others had been at war. There is the law of nations
to punish those who transgress the lam s of neutrality.
These laws:provide punishment for those who violate
them. The Belligerent Powers want no assistance from
neutral Powers in order to secure their own rights. To
"pass an Mt g.( this text is to acknowledge a species of
• dependence upon other •Powers; it is to acknow-
Tdge a right in them to see • that you itiflict, in
certain cases, punishments upon your own subjects;
and, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, every such
law must be partial.—lt must work in favour
of one party or the other. lynrever, the thing never
was done before ltil9; it was done to please the
Holy Alliance, and to gratify a feeling of ostr own Go-
vernment,which was like the feeling of the Holy Alliance,
with regard to the contest then going on in South Ame-
rica. It was, in short, to thwart the Lelings of the peo-
ple of England, which were in favour of the South Ame-
rican Colonies. This Act should not have been suffered
to sleep so long. A repeal of rt ought to bare been moved
long ago. To repeal it now would certainly be a breach
of neutrality,; and we-are not a little astonished to bear
Lord Althorp say that he-was for strict neutrality, at the
very moment that be was proposing this hostile measure.
This is the strong ground of the Ministers. They are
strong, because the country is steak : they, as the old Lord
Chatham said by the fundbolders, rise, because
the country falls. Lord Foutarrose, who seconded this
motion, took a different view of the matter. Ile
took occasion to remark upon the papers, the negocia-
tion papers,which had been laid upon the table on Mon.
day night; and he designated the conduct of the Minis-
tees as every thing that was disgraceful to the country.
In speaking of Mr. Canning's last miserable despatch
to our Envoy, at Parity hie Lordship observed that this
despatch went so far as to pretend to believe that the
. French were. not • situated by' motives of ambition or
aggrandizemeot, when it was notorions, that M. de
Chateaubriao.l and the Doke of Fitz-James had both ex-
presssly declarecirthat the invasion of Spain was intended
to bring that country into the same state with regard to
France, that it was in the reign of Louis the Fourteenth.
His Lordship remarked upon the incomparable mean-
ness ; the iniruitabie.homility. not to give it any viler
name ; the incomparable humility of the Foreign Secre-
tary, who was able to put upon paper the words of that
last distnel despatch, after reading the speeches of Mons.
de Chateaubriand and the Duke of Fitz-James. Lord
Folkestone contended that this truckling to the
• Bourbon Oovernment was the natural effect of
that load of Debt which the Ministers had brought
upon the country; and-he concluded by observing, that,
until that Debt was got rid of, England could never
resume the station to which she was entitled amongst
the nations of Europe. The Morning Chronicle, in
speaking of this speech of Lord Folkestone, does not
ton ice that partof it where his Lordship speaks of the
Debt. It noticed the condemnation, the reprobation,
whiolt he bestowed upon the Ministers. It agrees with
him in opinion, as to the Ministers having been perfidi-
ous deceivers or dupes. •It agrees with him that the pa-
pers ;sere enough to make every Englishman's blood
boil in his veins; but it says not a word relative to that
part of' his speech in which he spoke of the influence of
tne Debt. And this was all, in fact, it was the very
thing; for we shall see ,by and by, that it is upon this
ground that the Ministers will stand. Call them spa-
niels; call Orem lick-spittles ; call them the slaves of
the Bourbons ; but still their answer is: " Are you
triU-
ing to reduce the interest of the Debt because, if you
" are not, we cannot go to war without assignats."—
Mr. Bating said that there was other means besides those
of neutrality or war. He said that no man could read
the papers; that if the case had been argued as it should
have been,we should not bare bees in our present plight.
He spoke of the papers as disgraceful, from the want of
t dent that they discovered, and deviated that he never
read any thing so dic reditable to Government. This
is very true; the remark of Mr. Baring was very just.
There really does appear to have been a degree of im-
becility almost without a parallel prevailing from the
beginning to the end of this affair. Lord Folkestone put
the matter upon the right grossed. It was either feigned
imbecility or real imbecility.. It was, at any rate, a
base truckling to France; and, from this charge it was
immosible to escape. His Lordship reminded the
House of the lofty tone held only. a few years ago;
he reminded the House of the order of the garter which
had been conferred, by special statute, on the present
Prime Minister and on Lord Castlereagh, because, under
their administration the country had been raised to, an
une.rampled height of greatness and
_glory I ." Still,
said his Lordship, "u he the British Minister; still we