The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-05-16 00:00:00

amiew
LAW INV? L I,IV ENG E.

from France; France has not meddled with you ;
France has expressed her anxious desire to live at
peace with you : and yet, you have gone to war
against France: if, therefore, it be base on my part
EXECUTORY DEVISES.
to make war upon yon, after you have begun war
upon France, where is your justification for having, sett Ale taA, ESQ. V. LORD WiIITWORTII eta
begun that war ?—Besides, have you no Ally ?—You 6711 ERS.
boast of having all Europe on your side. And shall On Saturday this interesting cause came on before
France have no Ally?—Shall you have twenty Al- his Itorsoutt, at the Rolls, on further direction,
lies against the old Ally of America, and shall it be Pursuant to a previous decree, pronounced in co:•.
&illation of the last will and tettameet of the is,_
deemed base in America to become the only Ally of
France ?—You say, that yours is a war of precan. tator, George Whitworth, Esq. deeessed, sho
visei to his son and heir, the Right lion. Isoist
. tion : so is mine. You fear that Napoleon may,
Whitworth, then Ambassador from Great Britain to
one day or other, get to London; and you have
been at Washington, at Frenchtown, and at Alex- the Court of St. Petersburgh, all the testator's
andria. estates, situate in the counties of Stafford and Salo
for life, with remainder to his first and other sons
It favourite saying, or it used to be in Ameri-
iu tail male, and in default of such heir males, to
ca, that it was her true policy to keep aloof from
European politics and wars. General Washington i Lord Ay beer for life, with remainder to his first and
several times expressed this sentiment. But can she other sons, in tail male in like manner ; sad in de.
do it? If Gen. Washington bad seen the Congress fault of such heirs in tail male, with reinaisiler is
like manner to Robert Pousford, Esq. slid his issue
House in flames, the other day, and had seen our i.
people se busy in packing up goods at Alexandria, i" tail male; and in default of such issue filo le, nits
he would, I imagine, have begun to think, that it was remainder to Edmund Plowden, Esq. for fife
not so easy a matter to keep aloof from European iin trust to preserve contingent remainders, with re.
wars; and, Vile had lived to be made acquainted winder over in fee to John M'Namara, second son
with the famous Captain •Ilenry's exploits, I think of John al`Natua", Esq. of— "gel in Wales,
he would have had his doubts as to the possibility of the present Plaintiff, en appealing on behalf of his
keeping aloof from European politics. Even we, in son in this suit.
England, say, that America should keep at peace, j Sir S. Remisor, supported by Mr. PIIILLINORE,
argued the foregoing singular clause of hesitancies,
though we ourselves are at war in some part or other
of the world ; though there is no war, in which we •in favour of the last remainder man in fee, praying
have not a hand. The truth is, that America must that all the preceding limitation, after the death of
take a part in the oars and politics of Europe. Here :Lord Whitworth, without issue male, may he de.
are Powers in Europe who can reach her, who have !creed.le be only contingent or void, and the ultimate
colonies in her neighbourhood, who have an interest, remainder over in fee deemed valid, by p liing the
or think they have an interest, in injuring her.—
intervening estates into strict settlement, for the he.
They combine and co-operate with one another ; and nefit of such remainder in fee. The Learned Coml.
'
she must form alliances too ; or, she cannot be many set contended that the words " in like manner, '
years an independent nation. ; repeatedly introduced in the clause, hail not varied
It was impudently asserted, not long ago, that the effect of the ultimate contingent remainder over
i
America had acted a foul part towards us, in the war; in fee, in the event of Lord IVhitworth's death with.
o
and she was called an assasin, who had attacked us out issue male, such novel words having been super_
in the dark. I was pleased to hear, from such a induced unnecessarily, and as surplusage merely in
quarter, a sentiment of abhorrence against assassins • the limitations.
but, I was displeased to hear such an act attributed i The Counsel of Lords Whitworth and Aylmer
to America ; because no charge was ever more false. made no objection to the proper construction to he
It is notorious, that America used every effort, and Put on the clause in question, they seeing by the pro-
made every sacrifice short of a surrender of her in. ceedings to have no issue male; bet on the part of
dependence, to maintain peace. with England ; and, Mr. Ponsford, Counsel opposed the arrangement;
that, so far from attacking us in the dark, she gave us and Mr. Plowden being a mere tenant for life and
t
• notice, for years before-hand, that she would repel trustee, submitted to the judgment of the Court, as
by force our seizure of her seamen, unless we ceased
to the proper construction of the limitation clause.
that pratice. What, then, could be meant by this , Sir S. HOMILLY forcibly replied for the remainder
charge of assassin-like? Really, we seem to have man in fee, Mr. M'Namara ; contending that the
taken into our heads, like the cock on the dunghill, words " in like manner" made no essential difference
that all the world was made for us ; that no nation is in the doctrine of limitations, and prayed a strict
to form an alliance, nor even to think of defending settlement.
itself by its own arms, if we disapprove of it. When His HONOUR, in a luminous but concise judgment,
our interest, real or imaginary, is in question, the in- Pronounced a decree for the strict settlement, end iu
terest of no other nation is to be thought of. The favour of the Plaintiff.
question with America, according to this presumptu-
ous whim, nes to be, not whether she suffered in-
jury ; but merely whether it was conducive to our
interest to impress her sailors. If it was useful to us
to do this, she was to deserve annihilation if she did
not quietly submit to it, and to all its cruel and de.
grading consequences.
We proceed upon the. same notion with regard to
alliances amongst foreign Powers. What ! America
make alliances with any Power but us! Dreadful
presumption ! Presumption which merits all the
weight of our vengeance ! What ! America seek
safety, when we think it best to keep her in continual
danger! America make an alliance for the purpose
of defending herself against us, whose public writers,
at least, devoted her Chief Magistrate to the gibbet,
and herself to a return under the mild protection of
" the parent state!" Nor are there wanting writers
in America to hold the same language ; bat they are
met by men, who are able to contend against them.
There the press is free, really free; and, there truth
will prevail.
A good specimen of this insolent way of talking
was given by Sir John Cox Hippisley, who at a late
County Meeting in Somersetshire, said, that the
Americans, or at least, their President end the ma-
jority of the Congress, were the slaves of the late
tyrant of France, a proof of which they had given ill
their late war against us. So, because America, in
defence of herself, went to war with us, while we
were at war against Napoleon, she was to be deemed
the slave of Napoleon, who had no power to hurt
her, and who had never called on her to go to war
in his behalf. She was to stop till our war with
him was at an end, before she sought to defend her-
self. It was baseness in her to assert her own rights,
at the end of many years of complaints, because we
were at war with Napoleon.
This insolent language, my Lord, is little mica- '
lated to heal the wounds of America. She will, in
spite of all we can say, reflect on her past danger,
and she must have lost her usual wisdom in profiting
from experience, if she does not now seek the means
of security betimes. That, with all her natural re-
luctance to war, she will be disposed to do this I am
certain ; and, it will, I imagine, require but a slight
provocation to induce her to act upon that disposi-
tion. It has been announced to us, that Switzer-
land
has been informed, that there are to be no neu-
trals in this war against Napoleon. liamburgh,
Tuscany, Genoa, and several other States felt the
effects of such a principle during the first war
against Republican France. Denmark felt those effects
during the last war. America will consider of,
and judge from the past ; and, your 'Lordship may
be assured, that she will not want the means of doing
what her permanent safety shall manifestly demand.
I have thus, my Lord, stated to you what I think
will be the view that the people of America will take
of the present scene ; what I think will he their feel.
logs ; anti I have pointed out the consequences,
which I apprehend from those feelings, if we enter
upon the war against France on the ground which is
at present set forth. The Americans, I repeat, are
prone to pence, as every uncorrupted nation is ; but
as it was said the other evening, that it was better to
gn to war now with a strong alliance on our side,
'than he compelled to go to war at the end of an ex-
hausting armed peace without Allies ; as this was
deemed triumphant reasoning in England, in behalf
of offensive war, you must not be surprised if it be
imitated in America, in behalf of a war of defence.

COURT OF CHANCERY, MAY IS.

Sitting; appointed in Mildlesex and London be-
fore the Right lion. Eowitto Lord ELLEYBOBOIL:SH,
Lord Chief Justice, &c. iu and after Trinity Term,
1815:

I am, &c. &c.,
11.,tley, May e, 1815.

~ti'll, connrTT.