cause of congratulation, and particularly he was not enrolled under the banners of in the contrast of its present condition the executive, and did not receive or adopt with what it had been when their lordships with implicit faith every statement that had last been called together. The coun- ministers might choose to make. In pub. try had at that time been threatened with lic life, he had no other object than the anarchy and rebellion; commerce had be- happiness and prosperity of his country. come stagnant in all its channels; and a But if he was ever unwilling to consider deep and settled gloom and consternation the narrow interests, or serve the purhung over the country, of a darker cha- poses, of a party, he should at the preracter than any they had experienced sent moment, more than ever, condemn a during the long course of the preceding systematic opposition to government, hostilities. To this, however, a triumph when principles were making hourly prohad succeeded, a triumph not indeed ac- gress which threatened the extinction of companied by the "pride, pomp, and social order. Whatever opinion might circumstance of war," but one wherein have been entertained at a former period wisdom and moderation had counteracted respecting the measures that had been the desolating spirit of revolution, crushed pursued for the suppression of this spirit the seeds of anarchy, and reestablished of anarchy and insubordination, let us at peace, confidence, and tranquillity. The length be open to conviction: let us adnoble lord then alluded to the increase in mit, that under the present administration the revenue, as mentioned in the Prince these principles, so dangerous to society, Regent's Speech, and attributed the happy have been more effectually opposed than change in every part of the country to the ever. Let us admit that their measures wise precautionary measures adopted by have ensured the peace and happiness, the government. But if the state of domestic tranquillity and security of the country. affairs was thus consolatory, there was no Let us admit, that his majesty's ministers less cause for exultation in reviewing our have steered the vessel of the state in relations with foreign states. Alluding to safety through a storm unparalleled in the treaties for the suppression of the difficulty and danger. But, though the slave trade, concluded with Spain and political ocean was now in some measure Portugal, the noble lord commended the tranquillized, the horizon was far from personal exertions made by the illustrious being clear; the troubled waves of faction person at the head of the government in still continued to roll, and dangers were attaining that object, and in terminating yet to be apprehended. This he felt it a traffic alike revolting to the feelings of necessary to state, in consequence of rehumanity, and disgraceful to any state ports that had reached him from various professing the pure doctrines of Christia- quarters. If it were true, that the king nity. With respect to the deficiency in of France reigned in the hearts of his the number of places for public worship, subjects as much as some had represented, the fact was too notorious to require ex- what evil could result from setting at liplanation. In support of the urgent ne- berty the state prisoner at St. Helena? cessity, of correcting that deficiency, In that case, he must, on landing in there was no necessity to adduce argu- France, only meet with his own destrucments. Many parts of the kingdom, he tion, and the event would only tend to lamented to say, were utterly destitute strengthen the Bourbons on the throne. of any means of acquiring moral instruc- But his confinement there was a tacit adtion, which as had been well observed in mission that the affections of the French the Speech from the throne, was the only for their king could not be depended on, sure foundation of national prosperity. and that the liberation of Buonaparte would but consolidate the power of democracy. If this was true, it was clear that the government of France, as far as it could rely on its own means for support, did not rest on any solid foundation. He did not speak with reference to the present administration of that country, the measures they were pursuing, or the opinions they might entertain: he spoke of facts notorious to the whole world. It was notorious that Louis 18th had been Earl Stanhope said, that in rising to express his sentiments on the present state of the country, nothing was farther from his intention than to object to the Address which had been proposed; but as the Speech from the throne was generally understood to be an exposition of the state of public affairs, the debate upon it naturally afforded a favourable opportunity of offering an opinion on the political condition of the empire. The noble earl said [10 placed on his throne by the bayonets of | see their armies again devastating the face foreign armies; that he had twice entered of Europe, and pursuing the same course his capital in the rear of troops who had of rapine and aggression that had marked conquered the country he was destined to their progress during the last twenty govern, and that he now only retained his years. Had their lordships sufficiently throne by the protection of the sword. considered the character of that people? On this head, we had been told, that we -a people the most unprincipled on the had no right to interfere with the internal face of the globe-a people who had purgovernment of another nation; but he sued the career of slaves and robbers, and should say, that they who had a right to were now the most abject of the human the greater, had also a right to the less. race. If the calamities of the last twenty France had been twice conquered, and years were to be renewed from the same the allies had, therefore, a right to dis- quarter and to the same degree, for what pose of her in what manner they pleased. purpose had we fought and bled?-for The safest policy they could have pursued what purpose had we triumphed ?-what would have been to have partitioned was the object of all our toils, and all the France, not for the sake of adding to the privations occasioned by the burthens of allied powers, but of erecting new and war? The laurels we had reaped would separate dynasties. The best mode of di- but wither on our brow, and all our battles vision would have been that stated in have been fought in vain. He did not Cæsar's Commentaries-a 'division into presume to obtrude his own crude opithree parts. But, if any individual was nions on their lordships attention: the to be placed on the throne of the country opinions he had advanced were those of as it stood, certainly the allies could not persons the best qualified to form a judghave made a more judicious choice than ment on the subject: he had the authority Louis 18th, not to weaken their power or of a man who had a better opportunity deprive them of the means of defence, than any other of knowing, and of knowbut to "abate their pride, assuage their ing officially the character of the French malice, and confound their devices;" at people; a man whose eagle eye had searched the same time to inflict a sort of chastise- from one end of France to the other-he ment for their crimes, and afford some- meant the duke of Otranto, better known thing like a security to the rest of Europe. by the name of Fouche. It was his opiThe very reasons which rendered Louis nion, that the instant the allied troops 18th unacceptable to France, were those were withdrawn, would be followed by of all others which ought to have weighed the fall of the Bourbons: the fall of that with the allies, and rendered him accept- family would ensure a war against the rest able to them: he was obliged to the allies of Europe, from motives of ambition or for his throne, and depended on them al- vengeance; and the renewal of such a most entirely for support; common gra- contest as that which we had latley been titude, therefore, would prevent him from engaged in, must be attended with inevitamaking any attack on their peace, or the ble destruction to this country. The resystem they maintained. That peace they newal of the contest would bring on hoshad nobly conquered, and of that peace tilities not similar to those which had the best guarantee was Louis 18th. His been unexampled in glory by all that government could not be destroyed with-history could produce, which had raised out striking at the root of social order in every surrounding nation. A revolution there would not only be attended with calamity to France and the Bourbons, but to every part of Europe; and it would be as impossible to predict what the extent of its effect might be, as it was in the year 1793. It was obvious that, in the event of a change, the man who, by force or fraud, should attempt to gain the supreme dominion of the French people, would endeavour to effect his purpose by proposing that which was dearest to the heart of every Frenchmen-foreign conquest and foreign dominion: and we should then this nation to a pitch of glory it had never attained before-he meant the hostilities that ended with the battle of Waterloo. This country still continued to feel exhausted with the gigantic efforts she had made in that contest, and it would be now utterly impossible for her to renew it with any hope of success. But the more he felt convinced that peace was necessary to the existence of this country, the more he wished every possible means to be resorted to for recovering that desirable tranquillity. Those means were already in our own hands. We had only to retain in France all the allied forces that He en now occupied that country; at all events | not be called economy. Indeed, no word for the whole period stipulated by treaty, was so ill understood. In the language and, if necessary, even for a longer pe- of many, it implied retrenchment of all, riod. He was not ignorant of the precise even the most necessary, expenses; and and imperative terms of that treaty, but reform, a change of every thing, even the he would contend that every treaty ought fundamentals of government. to be executed according to its intention treated their lordships, before they reand spirit, and not according to the letter. linquished the security they already posThus the noble earl opposite had, on a sessed in France, to turn their attention former occasion, refused to evacuate to the improvements in the internal siMalta according to the strict terms of tuation of the country, and the measures that treaty, but retained it according to that might be necessary for the future. the clear spirit of that treaty. Now, the He was happy to hear that there was no clear spirit of the treaty in question was, farther necessity for the suspension of the first, that France should not be eva- Habeas Corpus act; but he begged not cuated before the contributions were all to be understood as throwing any doubt paid; secondly, that time should be al- on the propriety of that measure, to the lowed to erect barrier of fortresses on firm adoption of which he attributed the the Rhine; and thirdly, that a guarantee tranquillity that now prevailed. The best should be secured to Europe against the proof of the necessity of the measures return of those calamities that had been which his majesty's ministers had adopted, so repeatedly inflicted on us by the un- was afforded by the experience of what principled aggression and ambition of the had been the situation of the country. country we had succeeded in twice con- He should have the honour, when the quering. Nothing but the most perfect question came regularly before the House, security against such an occurrence could, to state the grounds and reasons which inin his opinion, justify the removal of the duced him to differ on this subject from army of occupation. He was aware that many of those near him, as well as to this country must follow the line of poli- dissent from all those chimeras of parliatics adopted by the allies, but he hoped mentary reform which had been made the that they would be alive to the dangers of pretexts for disturbing the tranquillity of too easy a relinquishment of the security the country. they now held. It was said, indeed, that the government of Louis 18th could not be sustained under the unpopularity occasioned by the presence of a foreign army; but the answer was, that the government of Louis 18th was only the means, the tranquillity of Europe the end, of all our precautions. He entreated his majesty's ministers to weigh well the consequences of withdrawing the army of occupation. The first event, after any political change in France, would be an irruption into Belgium. He entreated their lordships to consider what they would lose, and what the enemy would gain, by the line of fortresses which would thus fall into their hands. We should next be required to give up Buonaparte, an event that could not but be attended with the utter ruin of this country. He forbore to touch on any other topic; but he trusted the Prince Regent (in whose wisdom he had the highest confidence) would avert the evil he so much apprehended. No man could be a warmer advocate of economy than himself; but we could have no economy, unless we were at peace; and retrenchments that endangered our security could The Marquis of Lansdowne said, he could have wished that the address had been so framed on the present occasion, as to have enabled him to give it his unqualified approbation. There were parts of it which were unobjectionable, and which he was fully prepared to support; but it contained, at the same time, some topics which he found it impossible to allow to pass unnoticed. Without imputing any blame to the noble lords who moved and seconded the address, or those who might have suggested the topics to which he alluded, he must say that, had it been possible to separate them from the expression of their lordships regret for that severe calamity which had afflicted the nation, he should have felt great pleasure in joining in the unanimity of the vote which must have been given on that subject. How that affliction had been regarded, was known from the manner in which it had, in the metropolis, and all over this busy country, interrupted the active pursuits of life. Never had any occurrence cast so deep a shade over the public mind, as this melancholy event had done. If ever there had been an occasion on which the feel had not produced in the last session of parliament a tittle of evidence as to the extent of the conspiracy. They had asserted that it had ramifications throughout the country; but in the trials at Derby, where it was the business and the parti ings and voice of a people were unanimously expressed, it had occurred in this country in consequence of the calamity they had experienced. Those feelings, and that voice, had been manifested in the most general and strongest manner, and had been conveyed in accents of condo-cular object of the attorney-general to lence to the foot of the throne, and in prove that the discontented there had a prayers to the foot of the altar. Before correspondence with others in different he quitted this melancholy subject, he quarters, he had completely failed. He must take the liberty of remarking, that could not prove that in any part of the the event they had so much reason to de- country there had been the slightest conplore, had afforded the strongest proof, nexion with these conspirators. This terwere any proof wanting, of the unfeigned rible conspiracy, too, was suppressed and unalterable attachment of the people without the slightest difficulty by eighteen to the principles of the act of settlement, dragoons. He was satisfied that the men by which the House of Brunswick was engaged in that transaction were very called to the throne-to the constitutional properly brought to trial, and justly conmonarchy of the country, and to the order victed; but it was the only thing ministers of succession which had been established. had to bring forward as an apology for Having said this much, it was unnecessary their measures. It was natural that the for him to assure their lordships, that the attorney-general should have exerted all part of the address relating to the event his great abilities to prove, if he could, which had occasioned such universal sor- the existence of a communication between row had his most unqualified approbation. these conspirators and others in different With regard to other parts of the parts of the country; for the only chance Address, though he could not give them of an acquittal depended on the actual inhis concurrence, yet it was not his inten- significance of the affair. The learned tion to propose any amendment. It was, counsel for the Crown, had, however, eshowever, impossible for him to allow it to tablished no connexion whatever. Nobe supposed that one topic could have thing could more decidedly demonstrate either directly or indirectly his approba- the absurdity of this conspiracy than the tion. He meant that part of the Address evidence of what had been declared by in which was implied a doubt, whether the leader, or Nottingham captain-genetranquillity could have been obtained ral, as he was called, who had been desunder the usual operation of the constitu-cribed to have announced to his followers, tion, if there had not been a change in the situation of the country. Was it possible for their lordships now to entertain any such doubt, after all that had passed last session, and all they had learned since? Where had there been any appearance of a conspiracy, for the suppression of which the laws were inadequate? After all the trials and investigations which had taken place, their lordships might ask themselves whether they had discovered evidence of any thing like an organized conspiracy, which called for the setting aside the constitution; and whether any discontent which had existed, was manifested in such a manner, or possessed such a force, that the ordinary and fair administration of the laws could not have suppressed it? He should expect ministers to show distinctly, not only that there had been a conspiracy, but that the number and character of the persons engaged in it were such as to require extraordinary measures for its suppression. He would maintain that they that France, England, and Ireland, and clouds from the north, would assist them in their insurrection. But, after all, the insurrection required no force to meet it, and might have been suppressed by a few parish constables. It was not the suspension of the Habeas Corpus that put' down the insurrection, or the conspiracy, whichever it might be called: it had been extinguished by the due administration of the law-by apprehending and bringing the persons accused to trial; and the same law could have been applied with equal efficiency, though the Habeas Corpus act had remained in force. At the same time it was to be observed, that there was no proof of any conspiracy hostile to the institutions of the country. The whole disturbance sprung from partial discontent, with which the great body of the population of the place where it broke out were untainted. Even in the very villages through which the insurgents passed, the people ran away from them; calling for any such opinion on the part of others, that it might be so framed as to obtain the unanimous approbation of the House. In this they were persuaded they had succeeded; and he hoped, when the noble marquis reconsidered the sub and in no part of the country was there any trace to be found of the existence of a conspiracy to alter the king's government. He must therefore continue to maintain, that the grounds on which the suspension of the Habeas Corpus was called for by ministers, were entirely un-ject, that he would abandon the view of founded, and that the measure was alto- the Speech which he had taken. In fact, gether unnecessary. What he had that the Speech did nothing more than state, night heard of the state of the country that the improved situation of the country afforded him great pleasure, but he could had withdrawn from the disaffected the not give that change the credit which mi- principal means on which they relied for nisters seemed desirous of attributing to accomplishing their seditious or treasonable it, of removing great disaffection, and sup- ends. This had no reference to the quespressing extensive conspiracies. The re- tion of the propriety of suspending the turning prosperity, on which ministers Habeas Corpus act last session. The noble had dwelt with so much emphasis, was marquis thought there was no necessity for what he was happy to hear. He hoped that measure: he (lord Liverpool) thought also that the predictions of the improve- there was: but whether the opinion of the ment of the revenue would be realized, noble marquis or that which he opposed to and he trusted it would continue to flou- it was the right one, had nothing to do rish, and that the burthens of the country with the present address.-He must now would be diminished; but he must con- say a word or two on what had fallen from fess, that this was a matter which, in his a noble friend of his (earl Stanhope) in a opinion, admitted rather of hope than of speech of great ability, which he had adcertainty. He had thought it necessary dressed to their lordships. In his noble to make these observations, though, as friend's peculiar situation it appeared that he had stated, he did not on this occasion he considered himself called upon to state intend to trouble their lordships with any his sentiments, and he approved of the proposition. feeling on which he acted. He thought The Earl of Liverpool said, he was gra- it necessary, however, to remark, that the tified with the manner in which the noble observations of his noble friend were not marquis had expressed his concurrence of that kind on which it would be fitting with one part of the address, and acknow- for him to dwell. All he wished to say ledged the candour with which he had was, that the great policy of this country stated his sentiments respecting other parts. was, to maintain the present peace, so imIf this were the proper occasion for enter-portant to this country and to Europe: ing into a consideration of the subjects to which the noble marquis had referred, he should be ready to maintain and prove that the precautionary measures which ministers had proposed were called for by the necessity of the case. The reports which had been made by committees chosen by their lordships, and facts subsequently disclosed, all showed that the state of the country was such as to require that extra. ordinary measures should be resorted to. If this were the time for discussing the subject, he was prepared to maintain that, in a case which involved the tranquillity and safety of the country, it would ill be come their lordships to calculate how much danger and risk ought to be incurred before they employed the means of security which they held in their hands. With regard to the Speech from the throne, he must frankly confess that it had been the wish of ministers, without giving any opinion on disputable points themselves, or and that it would be the object of his ma- This |