deceased and also for the county of Dublin, in the room of Hans Hamilton, Esq., deceased; and also new writs for the borough of Orford, in the room of the Marquis of Londonderry deceased; for the borough of Derby, in the room of Edward Miller Mundy deceased; for the county of Salop, in the room of Sir John Kynaston Powell, Bart., deceased; for Ross-shire, in the room of Thomas Mackenzie, Esq., deceased; for the university of Cambridge, in the room of John Henry Smyth, Esq., deceased; and for the borough of Wilton, in the room of Ralph Sheldon, Esq., deceased.

Lord John Russell moved a new writ for Peterborough, in the room of James Scarlett, Esq., who had accepted the office of steward of one of his majesty's Chiltern hundreds.

Mr. Lushington moved a new writ for Liverpool, in the room of the Right Hon. George Canning, who had accepted the office of one of his majesty's secretaries of state. He also moved new writs for Harwich, in the room of the Right Hon. Nicholas Vansittart, who had accepted the Chiltern hundreds; for the borough of Harwich, in the room of the Right Hon. Charles Bathurst, who had also accepted the Chiltern hundreds; for the borough of Ripon, in the room of the Right Hon. F. G. Robinson, who had accepted the office of chancellor of the exchequer; for the borough of Chichester, in the room of the Right Hon. William Huskisson, who had accepted the office of treasurer of his majesty's navy; for the borough of St. Germains, in the room of the Right Hon. Charles Arbuthnot, who had accepted the office of first com

missioner of his majesty's woods and forests; for the borough of New Windsor, in the room of Sir Herbert Taylor, who had accepted the office of steward of the manor of East Hendred; for the borough of Berwick, in the room of Viscount Ossulston, now Earl of Tankerville; and for the borough of Coleraine, in the room of Sir John P. Beresford, who had accepted an office in his majesty's east stannaries.

The clandestine marriage bill, the first bill of the session, was, according to form, read a first time.

Mr. Hume gave notice, that on the 6th of March he should submit a motion to the house respecting the church establishment of Ireland, the church property of Ireland, and the commutation of tithes. He also gave notice, that on the 6th of this month he should move for a copy of the report of the commissioners of crown lands; also a copy of the letter from the Irish government to Mr. Goulburn, respecting the office of vicetreasurer of Ireland, and a copy of any warrants issued respecting the establishment of such office.

Mr. G. Bennet said, that in consequence of the indisposition of his honourable friend the member for Essex, he now gave notice in the name of that honourable member, that on an early day he (Mr. Western) would submit a motion to the house on the state of the currency.

Lord John Russell gave notice of his intention of submitting a motion shortly after the recess, on the subject of parliamentary reform.

Mr. Hume gave notice, that on the 11th of the present month he

should

should move that an account of the separate estimate of the revenues and expenditure of each of the colonies belonging to Great Britain be laid before the house.

Mr. Maberly gave notice, that on the 18th of March he should move for a return of the state of the revenue, the expenditure, and the sinking fund, and for the immediate repeal of the whole of the assessed taxes. He would tomorrow move for papers on the subject, and he would take that opportunity of saying a few words, lest any alarm should be created which would have the effect of injuring the public credit.

His

object was only to diminish the taxes to the amount of the sinking fund, thus affording to the country the benefit of that diminution without injuring the public credit.

Mr. Wynn, in the absence of the attorney-general for Ireland, gave notice of a motion for that hon. member on the catholic question, for Thursday, the 20th of this month.

Mr. P. Moore gave notice of a motion for the 17th instant.

The Speaker acquainted the house, that he had attended at the house of peers to hear his majesty's speech read. He then directed the clerk to read the speech.

The speech having been read accordingly,

Mr. Childe rose, to move the address; he rejoiced in the declaration of his majesty's efforts to preserve the peace of Europe; it was an unequivocal admission of the right of self-government upon the part of a foreign nation; he also touched upon the other topics of the speech, and concluded by moving the address.

Mr. Wildman rose to second the address, and spoke much to the same effect; the address was then read from the chair, and,

Sir J. Yorke rose, he said, not to first, or second, but third the address: he then remarked upon the impropriety of this country taking any step which might lead

to war.

Mr. Brougham rose, he said, in consequence of the appeal made to every member of the house by. the gallant officer who had just sat down to declare his sentiments: he answered to that appeal, which did credit to the honour, to the English feeling of that gallant officer, and he joined with him, and with every man who deserved the name of Briton, in unqualified abhorrence and detestation at the practice of interference to which he had alluded; or if that detestation was qualified, it was only by indignation and disgust at the canting hypocrisy of the language in which the atrocious principles. of the parties concerned were promulgated. He had risen to make this declaration, called upon as he was in common with every member; but he should ill discharge his duty if he did not mark his sense of the candour of the two hon. gentlemen who had moved and seconded the address, and express his satisfaction at what, in the house, whatever its division upon other points, would be almost, and in the country certainly unanimously felt to be, the sound and liberal view which they had taken of this matter. Indeed, he knew not how, circumstanced as they were, they could go farther; or how his majesty's ministers could, in the present state of this very intricate affair, have gone be

yond

yond the communication of this day. That communication would be a diffusion of joy and exultation to England-it would diffuse joy and exultation to Spain, would be a source of comfort to other states, but would bring confusion and dismay to the allies, who, by a pretended respect, but a real mockery of religion and morality, made war upon liberty in the abstract, and endeavoured to crush independence wherever it was to be found, and who were now ready with their armed hordes to carry their baleful projects into execution. That Spain would take comfort from the principles avowed in that house this evening, he was certain; and he was not less certain, that the handful of men who at present surrounded our nearest and most interesting neighbour, (who, by the way, had some how or other endeavoured to get over the prudent councils which had till of late prevailed with him,) would feel dismayed with those principles in proportion as others would be encouraged. Cheering, however, as was the prevalence of such sentiments, highly as they raised the character of the nation, and much as might be argued from their effects, still he thought no man could deny that the country was at present involved in a crisis such as had not occurred almost within a century, but certainly not since the French revolution. Whether he viewed the internal condition of the kingdom, the severe distress which pressed upon that most important and most useful branch of the community, the agriculturists, or cast his eyes upon our external relations, our circumstances were, in the mind of every thinking man, critical and alarming.

They might, it was true, soon wear a better aspect; but to tell that the result would be favourable, he must be a bold and fearless man, and not a little of a prophet who could say that we should have that happy fortune. It was the deep consideration of these circumstances which induced him to come forward and make a declaration of his principles; and these were, the adherence to the most rigid economy in every department-that economy which he was at all times, if not the first, at least amongst the foremost, to support, and which was so necessary under all circumstances, but particularly under the change which had taken place in the condition of a large portion of the community. He feared that the distresses of the last year had received but a very partial relief from the reduction of certain taxes. With respect to our situation as related to foreign affairs, he would say, that we ought not to make the least diminution in our naval force. If any reform could be effected in its management, let it be done; if any abuses existed, let inquiry be made, and let them be redressed; but he for one would not diminish its present force by a single ship. or even by one man. In our present situation, as arising from the aspect of foreign affairs, any reduction in the most important branch of our national strength would not be economy-it would be the height of impolicy. The same argument, however, did not, in his opinion, apply to any other branch of the public service. Let the aspect of foreign affairs be even more threatening, he would not increase the army; and after the unparalleled prodigality with which

the

then, did he recommend economical reduction in every branch of our service except the navy?— because he thought that if war once commenced, we should soon be compelled to take some part in it one way or other, and that for such an emergency, every shilling which could be saved by the most rigid economy should be reserved. He thought our intervention in some shape would be unavoidable. We were bound to assist one party, our old ally Portugal, if she should be engaged; and it was not likely that she could remain neuter, if the present ill-fated conspiracy against Spain should proceed to open hostility. In this view of the question it was, in which he differed from the gallant officer (Sir C. Yorke) who last spoke; and he was glad that he could not collect from the hon. mover or seconder, the words "strict neutrality," as applying to this country in the threatened contest. A state of declared neutrality on our part would be nothing less than a declared permission of those evils which we condemned, and a tacit allowance of the atrocious principles which we were unanimous in deprecating. He would say, therefore, that it would be the duty of his majesty's ministers, with whom he should be glad to co-operate on the occasion-and so, he was certain,

would every one who then heard him-to come to the resolution, that when certain things should take place on the continent, they should be ready to assist the Spaniards-a measure necessary to prevent evils, which even those the least fond of war must admit to be inevitable. Our assistance would be necessary to avert the wicked enforcement of principles contrary to the law of nations, and repugnant to every idea of national independence. To judge of the principles now avowed, let any man read patiently, if he could, the declarations in the notes of Russia, Prussia, and Austria; and with all due respect to those high authorities, he would venture to say, that to produce any thing more preposterous, more absurd, more extravagant, more calculated to excite a mixed feeling of disgust and derision, would baffle any chancery or state-paper-office in Europe.

He would not trouble the house through the whole absurd detail; he would only select a few passages from those notable productions of legitimacy. In the note from the minister of his Prussian majesty, the re-establishment. of the Cortes of 1812 was thus described-" which, confounding all elements, and all power, and assuming only the single principle of a permanent and legal opposi tion against the government, necessarily destroyed that central and tutelary authority which constitutes the essence of the monarchical system." Thus far the king of Prussia, in terms, which to say the least, afforded some proof of the writer's knowledge of the monarchical system, and of the contrast which, in his opinion, it bore to the present govern

ment

ment of Spain. The Emperor of Russia, in terms not less strong, called the constitutional government of the Cortes, "laws which the public reason of Europe, enlightened by the experience of all ages, stamped with its disapprobation." Where, in the conser vative character of keeper of the peace of Europe, did his imperial majesty discover that the constitution of Spain had been stamped with the disapprobation of the public reason of Europe? Let the house observe that the "public reason of Europe, enlightened by the experience of all ages," happened to be that of his imperial majesty himself for the last ten years; for, notwithstanding that he had the experience of all ages" before his eyes, he did in the year 1812 enter into a treaty with Spain, with the same Cortes, the same constitution, not one word of which had been changed up to the present hour. In that treaty his imperial majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, speaking of the then government, did use the very word by which he and his allies would themselves be designated the word by the abuse of which they were known-he did call the Spanish government of the Cortes "a legitimate government" that very government, of the constitution of which the Spaniards, with a precision not often found in such cases, had not changed one word; and God for bid they should change even a letter of it while they had the bayonet of a foreign soldier at their breast! He hoped, if it had faults -and some faults it might have that when the day and the hour arrived, the Spaniards themselves would correct. If they would listen to the ardent wish of their best

friends of those who had marked their progress, and gloried in the strides they had made towards freedom and happiness-who would not have them yield an iota to force, it would be to disarm the reasonable objections of their friends, but not give up any thing to the menaces of their enemies. He would not go more into detail at the present moment, for ample opportunities would occur of discussing this subject; but he would ask, in the name of common sense, could any thing be more absurd, more inconsistent, than that Spain should now be repudiated as illegitimate by those, some of whom had, in treaties with her, described her govern➡ ment in its present shape by the very term "most legitimate government ?" But not only was the conduct of the allies inconsistent with the treaties of some among them with Spain; he would show that their principle of interference was wholly at variance with treaties recently made amongst themselves. He would prove that one of the fundamental principles of a late treaty was decidedly opposite to any discussion amongst them respecting the internal situation of that coun try. By the 4th article of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, it was laid down that a special congress should be held from time to time on the affairs of Europe, or, using the words and borrowing the hypocritical cant of their predecessors, the three powers who basely partitioned Poland-who, while they despoiled a helpless nation of its independence, kept preaching about the quiet of Europe, the integrity of its states, and the morality and happiness of its people

who talked daily about their de