ing the duchess of Parma and Placentia, and her son? What steps had been taken to carry them into execution, or had they not been entirely neglected? The Powers of Europe might, perhaps, deem themselves secure; but under any circumstances could it be held wise or prudent not to keep up at least the semblance of justice with regard to those distinguished persons in whose fate France was so deeply interested? Was it wise or prudent to afford such a powerful weapon to Buonaparté ? The noble earl had asserted, that the Treaty was made when Buonaparté was at the head of a large force; if so, all who still adhered to his cause must be considered, in some sort, parties to the engage to all the other governments of Europe: | had been done on the stipulations regard in the second place, if general changes and distributions of territory were resolved upon, that the same rule should be applied to France that regulated other powers. Had either of these lines of policy been pursued? No: no general system had been acted upon; the mere will and pleasure of the parties was con sulted, and the Sovereigns at Vienna had punished one Power because it first entered into the contest with them, and another because it had last quitted the cause which it had espoused. The result had been, that instead of fixing a system of permanent tranquillity and happiness, the labours of Congress had been devoted to establish a system of gross injustice and absolute discordance. The misfortunement; and what could be thought of the with regard to France was, that neither of the two principles he had noticed had been observed: she had been compelled, with a very slight deviation, to retire within her ancient frontiers; she had been severely punished, while other Powers had been aggrandized to an immense extent, and great accessions of territory and strength had been given to those who had, from various causes, become objects of peculiar favour. This it was that had produced so strong a feeling in France against the Bourbons; for the people considered them merely as agents in the hands of foreign Powers, who had made them the instruments of degradation and injustice to the French nation. One of the chief advantages obtained by Buonaparté, and of which he had made such ample use in his declarations, was, that France had been degraded and lowered in the eyes of all Europe, by means of those whom foreigners had placed upon her throne. With respect to what the noble earl had said upon the Treaty of Fontainbleau, he had no difficulty in admitting, that there had been such a contravention of its articles as would justify this country in going to war: we had the right of commencing hostilities; but that was only half our case, since before war was declared, it would be fit to know whether such a measure were prudent and politic. He was, however, by no means disposed to admit all that the noble earl had stated upon the subject of the Treaty of Fontainbleau, especially that part in which he had argued that the terms had not been infringed, because the sum agreed to be paid had not yet become due. But even for a moment allowing that assertion, what combined wisdom of those who not only neglected the proper custody of the person of the individual, but were so careless in the observation of the articles as to enable him to return with a strong semblance of justice on his side? He hoped that the noble earl would, on an early day, fulfil his promise of bringing down a full explanation of all the circumstances of this arrangement, and then the House would have an opportunity of more satisfactorily investigating this point. In the mean time he should express his sincere hope, that any dreadful consequences resulting from a breach of this Treaty, on either side, might be averted, and that it might be attended with the beneficial result of enabling Congress to review the arrangements they had made, and without any views of individual aggrandizement to act upon the broad principle of general advantage. As his noble friend who spoke last had well observed, all private and personal interests must be sacrificed to the general welfare; and it was in vain to hope for harmony and union among the Powers of Europe until they consented to look at Europe as a whole, and to legislate for the happiness and tranquillity of that whole. The noble marquis ardently hoped that the aggravated calamities of a new war would be averted, and that the state of peace which we had only contemplated might be realised, for our own welfare, and for the welfare of the rest of Europe; but if it were necessary to recommence hostilities, if its policy were proved, he would say in conclusion, that no man in the country would be found more ready than himself to give every support to the executive government, for the vigorous and successful, prosecution of a just and necessary war. Earl Grey was happy to be relieved from the necessity of giving any opposition to the motion before the House; he consequently should not detain the House at any length upon the present occasion, more especially after what had been so ably stated by his noble friend who had just taken his seat. He could not, however, avoid making a few observations upon some part of what had fallen from the noble mover of the Address. Among other things it had been observed, that it could not be expected that Europe could revert from a state of military armament to a condition of tranquillity and social happiness, without some convulsion or disturbance in our progress to that condition. All men who contemplated the affairs of Europe with the eye of a statesman, must be sensible of the truth of the remark; but what his lordship complained of was this, that instead of measures having been taken to avert the evils which the noble lord had asserted were foreseen, all the arrangements of Congress had contributed to produce that convulsion and disturbance. At one time there was actually danger, that before the conclusion of any negociations, a war would be commenced between some of the Powers, and the arrangements were not completed without many disputes and differences. Indeed it could scarcely he hoped, even if France should have continued under the reign of the beneficent monarch, whose dethronement all regretted, that she could long remain uninvolved in hostilities. Why had not precautionary measures been taken, if such consequences were foreseen? Ministers might on some future occasion be called to a severe account for the share they had had in this neglect; and if his lordship was not much mistaken, their conduct throughout had been marked with a total absence of principle, and a most culpable blindness to that which they now wished to persuade the House they had contemplated. By their means, in his lordship's judgment, some of the highest interests of Europe and the world had been sacrificed, and to them was principally to be attributed the new war in which we were about to be involved. The noble earl had argued, that it was our interest to conclude a peace honourable to France. Unquestionably that was the fit line of policy. Such conduct would have been wise and (VOL. XXX. ) meritorious; but instead of pursuing it, as the noble marquis had said, our conduct had been totally different, and we had given Buonaparté and the French people reason to say, that we had made the family of Bourbon, instruments in the disgrace and degradation of France in the eyes of the world. Thus, then, ministers had abandoned that very line of policy which the noble lord had declared to be just towards France and politic towards our selves. For this deviation from their duty ministers had incurred a heavy responsibility, and might be called to a severe account.-The noble earl had next adverted to the inducements held out for the Treaty of Fontainbleau. Admitting that Buonaparté was then in power, and that it was necessary to make some concessions to obtain his removal, yet in that very proportion were ministers bound strictly to observe the conditions of the Treaty. If it was then important to obtain it, it was equally important that it should be observed by the good faith of the nation. The noble earl declared, however, that the articles of the Treaty of Fontainbleau had not been broken, and that Buonaparté had not insisted upon it in his declarations. The public journals were the only sources from which he (earl Grey) could of course, obtain information, and they contained a proclamation, in which Buonaparté expressly stated as a ground for his conduct, the breach of the article that related to the duchess of Parma and his son. If the noble earl rested the right of this country to make war upon France upon the infraction of the Treaty of Fontainbleau by France, it became him in the first place to shew (and the House would require further information upon that point), that we at least had done our duty, that we had broken no faith-and that before any plea was given by the late emperor of France to renew hostilities against him. He hoped, whatever might be the result, that we never should be reduced to the low and pitiful expedient of arguing, that the terms of the Treaty of Fontainbleau had not been infringed with regard to the pecuniary engagement, because the money stipulated to be paid did not become due until the termination of the year.-As to what the noble earl had observed upon the immediate subject of war, his lordship thought that it would have been much more prudent and politic not to make any declaration of a right to make war until the country was prepared to maintain that (2 B) right by the actual commencement of hostilities. The noble earl admitted, that the question had not yet arrived, whether we should or should not actually declare war; then, where was the prudence or policy, in the mean time, of insisting upon the right? Many inconveniencies might result from such a hasty proceeding; we insisted to France upon our right to make war, and that we would prosecute it if we were able. If, then, we abstained from the prosecution, what was the inevitable inference, but that we were not in a situation to do so from the state of weakness to which we had been reduced? There did not, therefore, appear much wisdom in this premature and hasty assertion of the abstract right. At the same time his lordship readily allowed that it was necessary to take precautionary measures, by the augmentation of the effective force of the country, as was stated in the first part of the Message, and, as in the second, to establish such an intimate connexion and concert with our Allies, as to enable us to act with vigour and decision, should we unfortunately be reduced to that extremity. His lordship begged to state, in a few words, the grounds of his opinion, with respect to the question of the right of war. The noble earl, in arguing this point, had, in his opinion, rested it upon the very worst grounds that he could have chosen, when he argued, that Buonaparté had broken the conditions of the Treaty of Fontainbleau; and, therefore, that we had a right of war, although he (earl Grey) was not at all prepared to deny the conclusion; on the contrary, he was about to argue in its favour, but on different grounds. It would be right, considering the circumstances under which they were executed, to contemplate the treaty of Fontainbleau, the Convention of Paris, and the Treaty of Paris, as but one instrument; and there was no principle of the Jaw of nations more clear than this, that if in a treaty between two powers, certain conditions are inserted, grounded upon a particular state of circumstances, if those circumstances should be altered with respect to one of the powers, the other party to the Treaty is absolved from all the obligations which were binding, until the condition of affairs was so altered. Consequently, the right of making war, and of demanding additional securities, reverted to the power whose circumstances remained unchanged. His lordship further established his position by a quotation from Vattel. He then proceeded to apply this principle to the case of France: the Treaty of Fontainbleau had been signed in contemplation of Louis the 18th continuing upon the throne of France; those were the circumstances, which were now totally changed by the invasion of Buonaparté; consequently the conditions of the Treaty were abrogated, as far as related to this country, and we were absolved from any adherence to it. On this ground, setting aside the flimsy pretences of the noble earl who moved the Address, his lordship was of opinion that we had a claim to demand from France, under the new circumstances of the case, additional securities, and a right of resorting to arms in case the Government of that country should refuse to afford Great Britain those securities. Such were the general principles of the law of nations on which his lordship grounded the abstract right of Great Britain to make war upon France, should such a step, on future consideration, be deemed necessary, politic, or expedient. He begged leave, however, to disclaim that against which he had ever protested, the interference of this country with the people of France, or of any other kingdom, in the internal arrangements they may think fit to adopt. In all that had been so eloquently stated by his noble friend (lord Grenville) upon the general interests and the true mode.of promoting the general welfare of Europe, he fully concurred, and he hoped that the Allied Powers, should they again be called upon to legislate for Europe, would revert to those general and generous principles for which they professed to have fought, and upon which their declarations originally avowed that they were determined to act. No opinions upon this subject were however contained in the Address; and he therefore cordially approved of its terms, and rejoiced that he was placed in a situa. tion to concur in its spirit and its letter, the ulterior question being still left undecided. His lordship hoped that before Parliament was called upon to make any decision on a question of such incalculable magnitude, such communications would be made as would enable the House to exercise a sound judgment and a wise discretion, without hurrying the country into a war in which its best interests were involved. So important to England and to Europe, did his lordship consider a state of tranquillity, that to the last he should fondly cherish a hope that peace might be maintained. The Address was then agreed to,nem, diss. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Friday, April 7. DECLARATION OF THE ALLIES, DATED VIENNA, MARCH 13, 1815.] Lord Castlereagh presented, by command of the Prince Regent, a Copy of " the Declaration of the Allies, dated March 13, 1815," and Translation: viz. "DECLARATION. "Les Puissances qui ont signé le Traité de Paris, rassemblées en Congrès à Vienne, ayant été informées de l'évasion de Napoléon Buonaparté, et de son entrée en France avec une force armée, doivent à leur dignité et aux intérêts de l'ordre social de faire une déclaration solennelle des sentimens que cet événement leur a inspirés. "En violant ainsi la Convention qui l'a établi, dans l'Ile d'Elbe, Buonaparté détruit le seul titre légal dont son existence dépendait; en reparaissant en France avec des projets de confusion et de désordre, il s'est mis hors de la protection de la loi, et il manifeste à l'univers qu'il ne peut y avoir ni paix, ni treve avec lui. en seront requis, toute l'assistance nécessaire pour rétablir la tranquillité, et à faire cause commune contre tous ceux qui tenteraient de la compromettre. "La présente Déclaration, insérée au protocole du Congrès assemblé à Vienne, le 13 Mars 1815, sera rendue publique. "Fait et attesté par les Plénipotentiaires GRANde Bretagne.-WELLINGTON, CLAN- PRUSSE.-Le Prince HARDENBERG, le Baron Translation. " DECLARATION. "Les Puissances déclarent en conséquence que Napoléon Buonaparté s'est exclu des relations civiles et sociales, et que comme ennemi et perturbateur du "The Powers who signed the Treaty monde, il a encouru la vindicte publique. of Paris, assembled in Congress at Vienna, "Elles déclarent en même temps qu'é- being informed of the escape of Napoleon tant fermement résolues à maintenir dans Buonaparté, and of his entrance into France son intégrité le traité de Paris du 30 Mai with an armed force, owe it to their own 1814, et les dispositions sanctionnées par dignity and to the interest of social order, ce traité, ainsi que celles qui ont été arrê- to make a solemn declaration of the senti tées ou le seront par la suite, pour le comments which this event has excited in pletter et le consolider, elles employeront tous leurs moyens et réuniront tous leurs efforts pour que la paix générale, l'objet des vœux, de l'Europe, et le but constant de leurs travaux, ne soient pas troublée de nouveau, et pour se garantir de toutes les tentatives qui menaceraient de replonger l'univers dans les désordres et les malheurs des Révolutions. "Et quoique bien persuadées que toute la France, se ralliant autour de son Souverain légitime, anéantira immédiatement ce dernier effort d'un délire coupable et impuissant, tous les Souverains de l'Europe, animés des mêmes sentimens, et guidés par les mêmes principes, déclarent que si, contre toute attente, il résultait aucun danger réel de cet événement, ils seront prêts à donner au Roi de France et à la nation Française, ou à tout autre Gouvernement qui sera attaqué, aussitôt qu'ils them. "By thus violating the Convention which had established him in the Island of Elba, Buonaparté destroys the only legal title on which his existence depend‣ ed; by appearing again in France with projects of confusion and disorder, he has deprived himself of the protection of the law, and has manifested to the universe that there can be neither truce nor peace with him. "The Powers consequently declare, that Napoleon Buonaparté has placed him self without the pale of civil and social relations, and that as an enemy and a disturber of the tranquillity of the world, he has rendered himself liable to public vengeance. " They declare, at the same time, that firmly resolved to maintain entire the Treaty of Paris, of the 30th of May, 1814, BATHURST. Paris, April 13th, 1814. and the dispositions sanctioned by that | No. 1.-Viscount CASTLEREAGH to Earl Treaty, and those which they have resolved on, or shall hereafter resolve on, to complete and to consolidate it, they will employ all their means, and unite all their efforts; that thus the general peace, the object of the wishes of Europe, and the constant purpose of their labours, may not again be troubled, and to guard themselves against every attempt which shall threaten to re-plunge the world in the disorders and miseries of revolution. "And although entirely persuaded that all France, rallying round its legitimate Sovereign, will immediately annihilate this last effort of a criminal and impotent delirium, all the Sovereigns of Europe, animated by the same sentiments, and guided by the same principles, declare, that, if contrary to all calculations, there should result from this event any real danger, they will be ready to give to the King of France, and the French nation, or to any other government that shall be attacked, as soon as they shall be called upon, all the assistance requisite to restore public tranquillity, and to make a common cause against all those who should undertake to compromise it. "The present Declaration, inserted in the Register of the Congress, assembled at Vienna, on the 13th of March, 1815, shall be made public. "Done and attested by the Plenipotentiaries who signed the Treaty of Paris." Vienna, March, 13th, 1815.' [Here follow the signatures in the alhabetical order of the Courts.] AUSTRIA.-Prince METTERNICH, Baron WESSENBERG. FRANCE.-Prince TALLEYRAND, le Duc de DALBERG, LATOUR DU PIN, Count ALEXIS de NOAILLES. My Lord;-I arrived here on the 10th in the evening. The great and auspicious events which had intervened between my last dispatches from Dijon, I had the satisfaction to find had been regularly transmitted home by viscount Cathcart and sir Charles Stewart. The hurry of a first arrival must excuse me to your lordship, for adding little to the mass of important and interesting matter, which you will find detailed in the various Journals, with respect to the progress of the happy change which has been effected. I shall therefore, on the present occasion, confine myself to an explanation of what has passed with respect to the future destination and settlement of Napoleon and his family. Your lordship has been already informed, by lord Cathcart, of the Act of Abdication which was passed by Buonaparté on the 4th instant, and of the assurance given him by the Emperor of Russia and the provisional Government, of a pecuniary provision of six millions of francs, with a safe asylum in the Island of Elba. The Act in question was deposited in the hands of M. de Caulaincourt and the marshals Ney and Macdonald, to be given up upon the due execution of engagements on the part of the Allies, with respect to the proposed arrangement. These persons were also authorized to agree to an armistice, and to settle such a line of demarcation as might be satisfactory to the Allies, and, in the mean time, prevent an unnecessary effusion of blood. On my arrival I found this arrangement on the point of execution. A convention GREAT BRITAIN. WELLINGTON, CLAN- had been discussed, and would have, in CARTY, CATHCART, STEWART. PORTUGAL.Count PALMELLA, SALDANHA, LOBO. PRUSSIA. Prince HARDENBERG, Baron RUSSIA. Count RASOUMOUSKY, Count SWEDEN.-LOEWENHIELM. PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE PERSON AND FAMILY OF BUONAPARTE.] Lord Castlereagh presented, by command of the Prince Regent, the following Papers, relative to the person and family of Napoleon Buonaparté. fact, been signed in the course of the day, by the Russian minister, had not the approach of the allied ministers been announced. The motives for accelerating the immediate conclusion of this Act were the inconvenience, if not the danger, of Napoleon's remaining at Fontainbleau, surrounded by troops, who still, in a considerable degree, remained faithful to him, the apprehension of intrigues in the army and in the capital, and the importance attached, by a considerable por. tion of the officers, to some arrangement favourable to their Chief, in satisfaction of their personal honour, before they left him. On the night of my arrival, the four |