popular enthusiasm against France had then been roused. The long oppression of Germany, the perfidious occupation of Spain, and the tremendous overthrow in Russia, were necessary to excite a popular revolt against the universal oppressor. These were events which Mr. Pitt could not have contemplated, nor a state of things to which his reasonings could be applied without important modifications. Is it too much to say, that when the Sovereigns of Europe had called their people to arms, and had in fact become the leaders of a popular insurrection against Napoleon, Mr. Pitt would have regarded so memorable a change as morally contracting the fund which was subservient to royal greatness, in order to enlarge the means of re-establishing in dependent nations ?

But, above all, would Mr. Pitt have been indifferent to the effect of lord William Bentinck's proclamation, to the friendship of the Genoese people during his march, to the establishment (for it was an establishment, not a promise,) of the ancient government of the republic? Supposing that he did not consider these transactions as amounting to a positive engagement, could he have avoided a fear that they were at least words which excited reasonable expectations, and that such expectations could not be disappointed with out bringing the public faith (to say the least) into question, and giving room for specious doubts of the inviolability of British honour? Surely neither the tone nor the reasonings of Mr. Pitt were such as to authorize an idea that he considered the convenience of annexing Genoa to Piedmont as worthy of being weighed against these sacred and inestimable objects.

Sir James observed, that respecting Mr. Fox he must own that his sentiments were different, and he should feel the greatest sorrow and mortification if he could believe, that on a question like the present, he differed from that illustrious person. Since the appeal made to the authority of Mr. Fox by his honourable friend (Mr. Grant), he had anxiously examined the dispatch, and he would now read part of it to the House.*

* Mr. Secretary Fox to the Earl of
Yarmouth.

Downing-street, July 18th, 1806. "An exchange is now offered for Sicily, and it is in that view, and not in that of an absolute and uncompensated cession,

The first question he must ask was, when was this dispatch written? It was after the battles of Austerlitz and Jena, when Austria was the subservient ally, and Prussia the oppressed vassal of France. It was a time of universal subjugation and despair. Only one ray of hope pierced the darkness. The last hope of the continent seemed to be the alliance of England and Russia. To prevent a separate peace between Russia and France, to preserve the last ally of England and the last hope of Europe, was naturally the predominant thought of an English statesman. If at that dreadful moment, to avert what seemed the consummation of all evil, he had made some sacrifice of principle, what moralist would be so rigorous as to hold him altogether without excuse; and what reasoner could consider such a sacrifice as a precedent for such an act as the transfer of Genoa on mere speculations of expediency, without any pretence of urgent motives, in the midst of victory and triumph, and with a prospect of general and permanent tranquillity? Could the noble lord now plead that dire necessity which justifies only what it compels ? The dispatch of Mr. Fox, even if it had been what it is represented, is no final act. It only conveys a conditional assent to an arrangement which at the same time it represents as almost impossible ever to be realized.

The House could not fail to have ob

served Mr. Fox's objections to the acceptance even of a Turkish province, though in a state of substantial independence. Though he did not shock his correspondent by speaking of national independence, the sentiment which influenced his mind is easily perceived. It is avowed on the subject of Ragusa, to which he objects; "1. Because it was independent. 2. Because it was ceded by no treaty to France. 3. Because it had been only recently occupied by the French." The House will see with what exactness every one of these observations is applicable to the cession of Genoa, which Mr. Fox has thus condemned by anticipation in this dispatch, thus unfor tunately cited as an authority for its jus

that the question is to be considered. In this shape of the business it is obvious, that the value of that exchange must be to be judged of, not only by this country and by Russia, but also by his Sicilian Majesty. As the King, whose troops were

tification. In consistency with his prin- | ciples, which were not those of the Congress of Vienna, in the last paragraph just read, he excludes Ragusa from the enumeration of the territories which were to form a compensation to the King of Sicily. On the same principle, he rejects the Hans towns, whether offered as an indemnity to the King of Sicily, or held out as a lure to the House of Hanover, by a proposal to incorporate them with that electorate. Such was his invariable reverence for the independence of the feeblest commonwealths in Europe.

But it is said, that he was ready to accept Venice from France, for the King of Sicily. Under what circumstances? The Venetian territory had been ceded by Austria to France at the Treaty of Presburgh. The original seizure of that state by France and Austria was indeed the most atrocious act of injustice recorded in the history of human villainy; but it had been sanctioned by the Treaties of Campo-Formio and Luneville, and effectually, perhaps though tacitly, by the Treaty of Amiens. No hopes of independence had been held out to the

admitted into Sicily for its defence and protection, naturally feels insuperable objections to any proposal for abandoning that island, unless with the free and full consent of its Sovereign, and in consequence of such arrangement as should provide for his interests by a compensa tion really satisfactory both in point of value and of security.

"The plan of creating for him a new kingdom, to consist of Dalmatia, Ragusa, and Albania, does not appear likely to answer this description. Albania, which forms so large a part of this proposed Sovereignty, is now a province of the Turkish empire, the dismemberment of which it is a principal object of the policy of Great Britain to prevent. That province has, indeed, been frequently involved in the same sort of confusion which prevails in many other parts of that empire. But this circumstance only increases the difficulty of giving any consistence to a state to be formed out of such materials. It does not lessen the other objections to such a plan.

Venetian people: no British army had rescued them from the domination of France. What was more, there was not the slenderest hope that such a rescue could be accomplished. The question proposed by Mr. Fox, was not whether the people were again to be Venetians or to become Sicilians; but whether they were to continue French, or to be transferred to Sicily. It was a choice between two foreign masters: not between the most hated of foreign masters and the ancient government of the republic restored to independence. In all these important particulars, the project about the cession of Venice, was diametrically opposite to the measure executed in the case of Genoa. If they had been similar, the House would judge in what manner Mr. Fox would have received such a proposition, from the manner in which he actually did receive the proposals for receiving Ragusa, or for seizing Hamburgh. Above all, it could not be doubted how Mr. Fox would have treated a proposal to subject an ancient commonwealth to her most hated neighbour-an atrocity unexampled in the annals of mankind, till it was attempted towards Saxony, and unfortu

and of which she can consequently have no right to dispose, her occupation of it being indeed of very recent date.

"If there could, with the consent of his Sicilian Majesty, be any question of an exchange for Sicily, by the creation of a new state in that quarter; it is obvious that this could no otherwise be done than by annexing to Dalmatia not only the whole of Istria, but also a very large portion, if not the whole of the Venetian states, including, if possible, the city of Venice itself.

"In some such shape as this it is possible that the proposition might be rendered not wholly unacceptable to his Sicilian Majesty. And although the interests of this country separately would be far less consulted by such a plan than by the continued occupation of Sicily, yet the sense which the Russian minister at Paris appears to entertain of the advantage which might result from it to Austria and Russia from the recovery of Dalmatia, if it were well combined with future arrangements of defence, might induce his Ma

nately cousummated towards Norway and Genoa.

The Congress of Vienna must be content with the precedents afforded by the members of their own body. They had the authority of the spoilers of Poland. They had an example in the robbery perpetrated by France and Austria against Venice. They might quote the precedent of the partition of Germany under the name of indemnities, by France and Russia in 1802; and of the cession of Hanover by France to Prussia in 1806. Each of the three great Powers had committed a similar crime as the accomplice of France. But they would in vain seek any warrant for their acts in the former conduct of Great Britain, and they must not hope to shelter a mere lawless exercise of force, under the spotless name of Mr. Fox.

Lord Binning could not allow the House to separate without defending his respected friend, sir J. Dalrymple, against the suspicion of democratical sentiments, or levity of conduct, in what he had said respecting the fall of the aristocracy. His language had been misunderstood.

Sir James Mackintosh, in explanation, declared, that he never meant to apply the words which he used to the intentions of sir J. Dalrymple, but only to his language; and after what he had been privately told by his noble friend, he could not doubt that sir J. Dalrymple could not have intended to employ the language in the sense which seemed to him so extremely objectionable.

The previous question being moved on the first Resolution, the House divided: For the Resolution Against it.........

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PRIVATE MAD-HOUSES.] Mr. Rose adverted to the great abuses which existed in the mad-houses in England, and pointed out the necessity of the subject being brought under the examination of the House. Among the variety of cases which had recently come to his knowledge, and which proved the necessity of this proceeding, was that of a young woman, who, although in such a situation as to require some restraint, was yet perfectly innocent and harmless. This young woman was found chained to the ground by the leg and arm, a degree of cruelty which was in no respect justified. The right hon. gentleman, with the view of correcting such practices, moved, "That a Committee be appointed to consider of provision being made for the better regulation of Mad-houses in England; and to report the same, with their observations thereupon, to the House."-The motion was agreed to."

IRISH TAXES.] Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald moved, that the House should resolve itself into a Committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Whitbread, before the present motion should be agreed to, wished to know from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it was his intention to bring on the discussion respecting the Propertytax, before the motion of which he had given notice for that night, as this was one of the nights on which orders preceded notices; and whether, out of cour

tesy, he would not give him (Mr. W.) precedence?

Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald said, he would not press the measure, if this was any object to the hon. gentleman: though he conceived the taxes which he had to propose, would not occupy much of the time of the House.

bring it forward thus early; and he was the more inclined to anticipate this indulgence, when he recollected that an impression prevailed in the House, that Ireland did not afford a fair contribution towards the general expenses of the state. He had two measures to propose, which were as unobjectionable as any which, in his opinion, the ingenuity of the House could devise. One was the equalization of the assessed taxes now paid in Ireland with those paid in the other parts of Great

Mr. Whitbread said, that when the right hon. gentleman considered the important nature of the subject of his motion, with which the renewal of the Property-tax was most intimately connected, he was rather astonished at the refusal he had met with, more especially after the bravado of the noble lord, whom he did not then see in his place (lord Castlereagh), a few nights ago, of his (Mr. W.'s) shrinking from his motion, and of the facilities which he would afford. The regulation on which the right hon. gentleman relied, had never obtained his (Mr. W.'s) assent, though he should only be disposed to infringe it on an important occasion like the present. The answer of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland had been perfectly satisfactory, and therefore he would not oppose the going into a committee of ways and means. But if the right hon. gentleman should think proper, in direct violation of the promise of facilities by the noble lord, and to which he himself acceded, to persist in wishing to precede him, he was determined to take the sense of the House, whether they would proceed with the Property-tax at that time or not. He had no objection to its coming on after his own motion should have been discussed.

The House then formed itself into a Committee of Ways and Means. Upon which,

Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald rose, for the purpose of submitting to the House some addition to the taxes of Ireland. He was aware that in bringing forward such a subject, objections would arise to his not accompanying it by a general statement of the finances of that country. Such a statement it was his intention hereafter to make; but for the present he hoped the House would do him the justice of believing, that nothing but the necessity of the measure could have induced him to

of the duty on malt in both countries. He also took occasion to remark, that he should, in a few days, submit a proposition to the House for making a concurrent addition to the duties on distilleries, which would prevent any discouragement being given to the breweries. With respect to malt, it was his intention to propose an increased duty of six shillings, which, with the thirteen shillings already paid, would have the effect of producing an addition to the price of beer of rather less than a halfpenny per pot. The duty would also be imposed in such a way as to secure to the revenue the most beneficial result; while the public and the brewer would be placed upon an equal footing, each bearing a proportionate weight of the burthen. The right hon. gentleman concluded by moving, as a Resolution, "That the present Rates of Assessment on Houses, Windows, Dogs, Horses, Carriages, &c. in Ireland, should cease and determine;" with the view of substituting a scale of rates similar to that adopted in England.

Sir John Newport said, he was willing to give the right hon. gentleman every credit for the motives by which he was actuated on the present occasion, and he was equally willing to allow that the task of imposing new taxes on Ireland was extremely difficult. To any addition to the assessed taxes of Ireland, however, he had at all times objected, from a conviction that such a measure would only tend to augment the evil under which that country already laboured in a most lamentable degree-he meant the absence of those gentry who by their residence in their native land would contribute towards its prosperity and wealth. That was the great and crying evil by which Ireland was afflicted; and which, he was sorry to say, every day accumulated more and more. The right hon. gentleman on the present occasion, in proposing an equalization of the assessed taxes, seemed to have forgotten that the

inhabitants of Ireland already bore the burthen of a tax which was unknown in this country; he meant the hearth-tax. If any increase was made to the assessed taxes, he was inclined to think that, instead of an addition to the revenue, a diminution would be produced. Such had been the case with respect to the additional duties on wine; and he trusted that example would be sufficient to induce the right hon. gentleman to abandon his intention. With respect to the malt-tax, it should be recollected, that, if the proposed addition took place, it was not an addition founded upon the permanent malt duty in this country, but upon the war duties; and he feared that, when a deduction took place in the English duties, at the conclusion of the war, those in Ireland would still be maintained, and that that would become permanent in Ireland which in England was but temporary. Independent of this, he considered it was wise and politic, in every point of view, to encourage the breweries in Ireland, with the view of substituting the consumption of a wholesome beverage in preference to ardent spirits, which was alike destructive to the health and morals of the people. Any addition to the duties on distillation, at which the right hon. gentleman had hinted, would, in his estimation, as he had often before declared, be productive of no benefit whatever; but, on the contrary, by affording an additional inducement to illicit distillation, would extend that practice which was already an evil of crying magnitude, still more widely, and thereby lessen, instead of increase, the resources of the

revenue.

Mr. Bankes said, that as his objections to the financial system of Ireland were of a general nature, he should postpone any observations which he had to make upon this subject till the right hon. gentleman brought forward the financial statement to which he had alluded. He could not help repeating what he had said on a former night, however, that the contributions of Ireland, in the way of public revenue, were by no means equal to her proportionate share of the burthens of the United Kingdom.

Sir John Newport contended, that Ireland had borne her fair proportion of the burthens of the State; and as a proof of this assertion, he referred the hon. gentleman to the documents which had been laid on the table of the House within the last fortnight.

Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald said, in answer to what had fallen from the right hon. baro. net, that the material result of an additional duty on any article was a diminution to a certain extent. The increase, however, was to be set against the probable diminu. tion, and that it was which must decide the application of the tax. With respect to the proposed increase of the assessed taxes, he had calculated its produce to amount to 250,000l.; but when he came to state the general Ways and Means of the country, he should not take it at more than 200,000l. The Malt Duty he had calculated upon the returns made in the last year, ending in 1815, which amounted to 8,364,000 barrels, and adding an additional duty of 6s. per barrel on each of these, it would produce 264,000l.; but this too he should take only at 200,000l., which would afford full scope for any diminution that might take place from the proposed addition.

Sir John Newport abstained from offering any further objection to these measures now-reserving himself for those opportunities which the different stages of the bills through the House would afford.

The question was then put and carried; as was a resolution of a similar nature respecting the Malt-tax. The House resumed, and the Report was ordered to be brought up on Monday.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved, that the House, at its rising, should adjourn to Monday.

Mr. Whitbread now repeated his question as to whether the right hon. gentleman meant to persevere in his intention of moving the committee on the Propertytax, previous to the consideration of the motion of which he had given notice for that night, and which he could not but consider of paramount importance. It was true, by a resolution of that House, come to so far back as the year 1810, but to which he had never given his sanction, that on that day orders had precedence of notices. Nevertheless he could not help saying, that this resolution was one likely to be productive of great inconvenience, and one which, in future, might cramp and fetter the freedom of discussion. Previous to this resolution, which had been introduced by Mr. Perceval under peculiar circumstances, that of the public business being retarded by the examination of two subjects, to which it was not necessary to allude, notices always had precedence, inasmuch as, by the rules of the