European Intelligence. HOUSE OF LORDS. February 3.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIV, Issue 1031, 15 May 1857, Page 3

European Intelligence. HOUSE OF LORDS. February 3.

Immediately upon the delivery of the Speech their' lordships adjourned until five o'clock, when the House' resumed. The Bishops of London, Gloucester, and Durham, and Lord Belper, took the oaths and their seats, and Lord Berners gave notice of motion for returns on. the tieket-of-leave system. Her Majesty's speech having been read by the LordChancellor, The Earl of Cork, in moving the Address, expressed his appreciation of the arduousness and importance of the subjects proposed tor their lordship's consideration by her Majesty, and sp»ke ot the difficulty he felt in approaching them without that further information which would doubtless be soon placed at their disposal. He spoke of the delay of Russia in carrying out the terms of peace, and the allaying of all difficulties before the resolution of England and France, andi compact front of their alliance. The insurrection at Neufchatel he characterised as " a miserable attempt,"' with which it was impossible to suppose Prussia could! have any connection. But it unluckily raised the question of the titular rights of the King of Prussia to. the sovereignty of that State, thus involving po&sible consequences to the peace of Europe, which their lordships must share the gratification of her Majesty im finding aveited by a wise, a prudent, and unselfish diplomacy. Their ri,ht of interfering with Naples and: the Sicilie* he would not enter upon ; but no one could deny that it would be a want of self-respect in England' were she to countenance, by the presence of her representatives, a system of tyranny such as existed in those States. After felicitating with their lordships on the conclusion of the treaties (in respect to Central America) with the United States and Honduras, and on the prospects of enlarged commerce from that with Siatn, the noble earl proceeded to regret the necessity which the conduct of the Shah of Persia, in regard to Herat,, had imposed on this country of making a demonstration on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Deplorable as was the occasion, not so was the result. Unwilling a* we were to resort to the extreme of war it had become our only alternative, the only means by which we could! hope the Shah might be induced to accede to our justdemands. In China, again, acts of violence and injury —emanating certainly trom the local government— hadi brought U 9 into contact with the Chinese at Canton. But these were measures of, policy rather than of the grand action and purposes of war. An admirable forbearance had been exercised, but it was not improbable that the foolish conceit of the Chinese, which had ledl them to such frequent infraction of the treaties and denial of redress, might end in placing the commercial relations of this country with China on a firmer and broader basis than heretofore. In touching upon the law reforms alluded to in the speech, the noble earl indicated the law of divorce, and the Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill, as the most necessary, if not the main f«a--tures of those reforms ; and, with a brief reference to> the prosperous and contented state of the people, fhe increase by twenty millions of exports over those of 1851, and the difference between the 50,000 persons now. receiving workhouse relief in Ireland, as contrasted, with the 206,000 who did so in 1851, his lordship concluded with prayers, praises, and congratulations, bymoving the Address in the usual form of a mere echo> of the Speech. The Earl Cowppr, in seconding the motion, spoke oft the unanimous vigour and energy which men of alii parties had shown in carrying out the war with Russia.. _He congratulated the country on the termination _ of:" the recent disagreements on the frontier line, by wh^chi the freedom of the Danube hnd been secured ; and* theclose of the petty fracas in Neufchatel, not without a compliment to the Swiss as a nation ior the alacrity and courage they had shown— worthy of the ancient, guardians of liberty. His hope for Naples lay in the« Conciliatory power of Austria, and her ability and wish l to induce the Sovereigu of Naples to adopt more liberal) measures. After touching briefly on the other topics of. the Speech, the noble earl concluded by seconding the Address. The Earl of Derby deprecated, with the Earl of Cork,, a miscellaneous discussion on subjects of such grave ■ importance as those suggested by her Majesty's speech.. So much for the present — but of the future how meagre was the bill of fare presented' to them. The amendment of the law, so often bespoken of in that House.— andl the renewal of the Bank Charter. For the first; he. hoped that high legal authorities would not be seen, as. before, ranged on different sides. For the second; hewas amused and surprised to observe the noble lord] who seconded the Address preserve a discreet silence on, the subject. Did this silence foreshadow, the abyss oft a select committee— or was it that the noble viscount atr the head of the Government had agreed with the noble ear) who seconded, the address, that, it was wise to. sa^ nothing on a. subject of which he knew nothingv What a deluge of pamphlets, what a heavy shower of letter*, from " Mercator," loomed- about them. Ha tr.uitted.th*. Minister would, on his own responsibility, enlighten, Parliament with a measure such, as would 1 enable them, to set'le the question* But there was a reference to. " attention, to. economy" in the Speech, whioh he hopedl was not without its due meaning. The budget of, 1853;, in its comprehensive view of the national finance, to r*> lieve certain minor pressures, imposed a great one;, niw. der the pledge given, that in 1860 great ones should, b#. abolished. Now, the Parliament must see that pledg« ; performed, and, the Income T.ax taken off. Th£ J>l*4^fe ■L

Hid been suspended, and the .tax had been increased by the generous self-devotion of the people during the war. < As a war-tax, tta Income Tax "was a tremendous weapon of sttength, hi the hands of the Government, for * >»r { but for war it must be reserved 5 if not, it was in. deed a dangerous facility in the handb of u Minister. The House, then, must imperatively demand that the pledge of the termination of this tax after 1860 be carried out. He regretted the Absence trom the speech ot the old stereotyped paragraph with respect to friendly relations with Foreign Powers. The country Would "be glad to see that restored. The King ofSiam was a man of intelligence { as surh, he appreciated Civilisation; and therefore he (Lord Derby) would unite with the noble mover in his congratulations at the dis*ove*v~of a new outlet for our commerce. He regretted tfiat the noble mover had, in his allusions to the Treaty of Paris, thought it advisable to cast a slur upon the good faith of our late adversary. The difficulty had its origin in the want of a map.auch as any auctioneers, having property to dispose ot. would have provided themselves with. Diplomatists were not quite such tnen of business, hence the necessity for a second Conference. But how did the result of that second Conference bear out the Manchester tone of the Prime Minister?— his threatened fleets and armies? His lordship then referred, at some length, to the Ni-uf-tshatd question and the rights of the King ot Piussia, »nd commended the course adopted by that Sovereign ms strictly in accordance with treaties. As for the Central American question, he trusted they had rererved a clear right of transit over the Isthmus of "Panama. Lord Palmerston Was so clever in extricating himself from difficulties, that people suspected r-e occasionally got into them to shew his adroitness in getting out of them. What had he been dmng in Italy ? Did his treaty with Sardin a require his interference with Naples? Was it forethought, or an afterthought, or a love of meddling ? Protect British subjects if yo'i ploase, but Irave other king's subjects alone there must be a limit to the righc of meddling. On what principle could we defend the withdraw«l of diplomatic relations because a king declined to govern after the British fashion ? Both France and England were in error in this instance, and the King of Naples was right in telling them to mind their own Winess-an indignity to which we were obliged to submit. Our affairs in Persia and In China he looked ■upon with deep regret. Our policy as to Herat had "been tortuous and devious— hence the difficulty in which we are now placed. Our own conduct to that power had driven Persia into an alliance with Russia. But was this a British or an Indian war? If the former, the constitutional forms had not been obierved. Parliament should have been summoned at an early day, and the circumstances under which the Crown had exfercised its prerogative of «'eclaring war should have Wn submitted to them. Under these circumstances, he proaouneed that proclamation to be unconstitutional and ' illegal. The noble earl then entered into the doubtful circumstances that originated the war with China, and characterised the proceedings as likely to retard rather than advance onr progress in that quarter. Iv conclusion, aftef premising that he should not move an amendment, his lordship expressed hia regret that so much of tie Speech should have been occupied with foreign polioy, as exhibiting a tendency, in the hands of the Government, to carry on a system of mischievous intermeddling, which must result in the perpetual disturbance of our commercial relations and the retardation of the growing and increasing prosperity of the empire. ' The Earl of Clarendon complained that the Earl of Derby had not waited for the promised ••papers" before discussing the Persian and Chinese questions. His Lordship then entered upon the question of the two Bolgrads, which he handled at some length— the oniy new piece of information conTeyed by which was, that the Isle of Serpents, which belonged by treaty to the Moldavian territory, was given to Turkey because Moldavia, having no ships, had no reason to keep up a lighthouse. He agreed with Lord Derby as to the impolicy of interference with the internal affairs of other i nations, but contended that the plenipotentiaries would { lave been wanting in their duty at the Conferences of Paris, had they not entered upon the subject of the j present condition of Italy. Italy was an exceptional ' case. Humanity called for their interference in Na- ' pies. The withdrawal of the representatives was a protest against the system of the King of Naples. France and England sought not to change the dynasty of Naples, but to obtain better treatment for the Neapolitans. By so doing they had brought about various amnesties, and a voluntary deportation to South America for prisoner* who chose to accept their liberty on those terms. Hi 3 Lordship then alluded to the treaty with Honduras, to which State the vexatious, and much coveted, and little worth, Isle of Ruatan, had been made over. He spoke of a "roaBy ana a right and practicable mode of communication over the Isthmus, which would undoubtedly soon be made, and which would be used by all parties." In relation to this road, the recent trea- ' ties with Honduras and the United States had been | made. A free transit over the isthmus was all they had to care for. He would now turn to Persia. What was insinuated against Mr. Murray, their envoy, was utterly unfounded. An insult has been offered to our flag at Teheran, and he had suspended relations, which he properly refused to resume without an amende. Again, I as to Herat, the character of England for resolution to maintain her rights, her prestige throughout India, depended on her not allowing Persia to hold that city, a place whence Russia might exercitatea dangerous complication of our relations with Afghanistan. Persia had broken her engagements— she must not do this with ' impunity. They had gone to war with her in the full < ■confidence that war alone would bring her to a right j sense of her true position. He had reason to believe ' this was already accomplished. The Persian ambassa- j dor had exhibited to Lord Cowley, at Paris, full powers for treating for peace on conditions. England required ! s guarantee — that was her sole demand, and when that '• was given, negociations would commence. The Chinese question was not so simply and self-evidently against them as Lord Derby supposed. The noble Earl then stated the case in the terms of the despatches, and said that the European residents all thought they had acted rightly, and urged the Go\ ernment to insist on opening of the four ports to the British trade. He had just received from the United States Government an intimation of its accordance with the course pursued, and he had full confidence that their assertion of their rights would not only vindicate the national honour, but lead also to great increase of commercial intercourse. i Earl Grey expressed his intention to move an amendment. He could not concur in the justice or the policy of the Persian war. Herat was an independent state. The people of this- State made forays into Persia. "Was Persia required to submit to these outrages ? They were wrong in attempting to get up relations with the barbarous nations and tribes of Central Asia. If they feared Russian influence there, where was their best, their most ready, their strongest ally ? In Persia surely. Again the me- : tbod of bringing about this vrar was unconstitutional. The prerogative had been wrongly exercised. Ministers had entered on the war without affording Parliament an opportunity of expressing an opinion* upon it It was not an Indian, but a British war. Government had evaded the usual proclamation of war, but they could not avoid the responsibility of it. It was a question of their lordships' dignity and authority, and therefore he would move an amendment — "humbly to inform her Majesty, that while we deeply deplore Ihe occurrence of circumstances which have led to hostilities between her Majesty and the Shah of Persia, we also feel it to be our duty very respectfully to express our regret, that when her Majesty's servants advised !>«r Majesty to give orders for the invasion of Persia by the British forces, that they dM-tiot-at the same time advise her Majesty to call her Parliament together, so that Parliament might haye r learned at the time that the nation was about to be invob&ed in war, and might have had the , opportunity of humbly submitting to" her Majesty auy acfvice such as the occasion might require." -, - Earl Granville contended that the course taken, was advisable, but the Persians were the aggressors, and said that the ' 'Papers'' would supply an answer to the Objections of the noble Earl of the constitutional point. Earl of Derby said he wished to have tn understanding that the Address pledged no one to any principles. Earl Granville assented. Earl Grey considered that the Address pledged them to the fact that the Shah of Persia had provoked the war, whereas he considered that the conductr of the Government had done so. . v ' Lord Brougham hoped, when' matters came to be really discussed, it would not be found that we had be«n picking -quarrels to gan advantage*. As regarded luly, he approved entirely of what bad-been done, but, nevertheless, it was not our duty or our mission to propagate constitution*. The speech, he thought, looked at everything, and said nothing. As for the income tax, he remembered the .old six weeks' fight, and ultimate glorious victory of 1816, -*hen they took seventeen millions of war taxes at once off jthe Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget. The Lord Chancellor said the vagueness of the intimation oij law reform* in tiie speech, was intentional, that the performance might be greater than toe promise. These Included testamentary jurisdiction, marriage, and divorce, ghurch discipline, criminal procedure, transfer of land, registration of moifg.iirce ronsolidarjon of Mie criminal statutes, the appolntrreni i)l' «n officer to '"jinjjiov'c the \du- ! guage" of AcK of Pas-ham-' nr, mv> to ■•'.■salij the statutes. Their lordships divided on Ear! Gie\'s amcnriine.n — "Contents 12 Npji-contents 45 'Majority against amendment —33 TJbeir lordships thtn agreed tp the Address, and adjpurne«V