Page:The new monthly magazine and literary journal. Volume 3, 1821. (IA s3id13414670).pdf/107

 ( 97 )

POLITICAL EVENTS.

MARCH 1

GREAT 1821.

BRITAIN.

Parliamentary Proceedings.—The H ouse of Peers met on the 25th of January, the next day but one after the delivery of the King’s speech, when a number of petitions were presented, praying that no further pro¬ ceedings might be instituted against the Queen. Earl Grey adverted to a declaration of the Allied Sovereigns respecting Naples, and enquired whe¬ ther England was a party to the prin¬ ciples set forth in that document. Lord Liverpool denied the existence of any treaty imposing an obligation upon Great Britain; and he stated that an answer had been returned by ministers to “ the declaration” alluded to, jvhich would shortly belaid before parliament; after this, the house ad¬ journed vuntil the following Wednes¬ day. On that day, the Marquis of Lansdowne announced his intention of moving for the renewal of the committee of enquiry relative to the state of Foreign Trade; to which mo¬ tion Lord Liverpool intimated his assent. On Thursday, the 1st ult. Lord Liverpool presented to the house the circular of the British Govern¬ ment, in answer to the declaration of the Allied Powers, of which the fol¬ lowing is a copy :— “ Foreign Office, Jan. 19, 1821. should not have felt it ne¬ cessary to have made any communica¬ tion to you, in the present state of the discussions, begun at Troppau and trans¬ ferred to Laybach, had it not been for a circular communication, which has been addressed by the Courts of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, to their several missions, and which his Majesty’s Go¬ vernment conceive, if not adverted to, might (however unintentionally) convey, upon the subject therein alluded to, very erroneous impressions of the past, as well as of the present, sentiments of the British Government. “ It has become, therefore, necessary to inform you, that the King has felt himself obliged to decline becoming a party to the measures in question. “ These measures embrace two dis“ Sir,—I

vol. III. no. hi.

tinct objects r 1st. The establishment of certain general principles for the regu¬ lation of the future political conduct of the Allies in the cases therein described. 2dly. The proposed mode of dealing, under these principles, with the existing alfairs of Naples. “ The system of measures, proposed under the former head, if to be recipro¬ cally acted upon, would be in direct re¬ pugnance to the fundamental laws of this country. But even if this decisive objection did not exist, the British Go¬ vernment would, nevertheless, regard the principles on which these measures rest, to be such as could not be safely admit¬ ted as a system of international law. They are of opinion, that their adoption would inevitably sanction, and, in the hands of less beneficent monarchs, might hereafter lead to, a much more frequent and extensive interference in the internal transactions of States, than, they are persuaded, is intended by the august parties from whom they proceed, or can be reconciled either with the ge¬ neral interest, or with the efficient au¬ thority and dignity, of independent Sove¬ reigns. They do not regard the Alliance as entitled, under existing treaties, to assume, in their character as Allies, any such general powers; nor do they con¬ ceive that such extraordinary powers could be assumed, in virtue of any fresh diplomatic transaction among the Allied Courts, without their either attributing to themselves a supremacy incompatible with the rights of other States, or, if to be acquired through the special accession of such States, without introducing a fe¬ derative system in Europe, not only un¬ wieldy and ineffectual to its object, but leading to many most serious inconve? niences. “ With respect to the particular case of Naples, the British Government, at the very earliest moment, did not hesi¬ tate to express their strong disapproba¬ tion of the mode and circumstances un¬ der which that revolution was under¬ stood to have been effected; but they, at the same time, expressly declared to the several Allied Courts, that they should not consider themselves as either called upon, or justified, to advise an interference on the part of this country; O