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derdale, therefore, thought it advisable, on the 17th of July, in moving for copies of some corespondence relating to the administration of the Ionian islands, to enter into a detailed examination of the accusations, which had been advanced against his brother. These accusations, said lord Lauderdale, were, first, that Sir Thomas Maitland had neglected his duty in making an improvident bargain for the people of Parga; secondly, that he had expended large sums of money; thirdly, that he had adopted a system of impolitic and oppressive taxation, by which an insur. rection had been produced; and, lastly, that he had assumed an exorbitant power, which he exercised oppressively. The island of Parga was occupied as a military station, on one condition only, of attending to the benefit of the people. We came to no agree ment with the Parguinotes, and came under no obligation to them. This was the statement of general Campbell; none, indeed, who knew how Parga was placed at the conclusion of the treaty of Paris, would deny that fact. It was then stipulated, that Parga should be restored to the Porte; and indeed the expediency of keeping it in our own hands was only to be maintained by a total misrepresentation and misdescription of that island. It was without any port, and its means of subsistence were all derived from the coast of Albania. It could not have been defended against a strong force without new fortifications, and at least a regiment of men. The subjection of vessels coming to it to a quarantine of forty days, would have rendered its foreign inter

course most inconvenient. Now, what was Sir Thomas Maitland's conduct? He was either to make a convention with Turkey for securing the privileges of the Parguinotes, before he gave up the island, or to obtain a guarantee for their future security. In effect, the strongest stipulations were made for their protection and good government; and arrangements formed, by which those who chose it might retire. But then it was complained, that an incorrect valuation had been made, and that the Parguinotes had not been justly dealt with. It was not, however, usual to let individuals set a final valuation on their own property. Three commissioners had been appointed, who were conceived to be well qualified for the task, and they had named the sum of 280,000l., whilst the agent for the Turks estimated the value at 56,000%. only. After a deduction of 33 per cent, which was the established regulation in the West Indies, Sir T. Maitland secured to the Parguinotes payment of the sum of 150,000l. He himself had the most accurate information, that the Parguinotes were entirely satisfied with the arrangement, when first made. As there was not a sufficient quantity of Spanish dollars, a part was paid in gold, and there was no truth in the story of base money having been introduced. Many cases occurred of claims amongst the Parguinotes, and of debts and mortgages, 700 of which cases had been decided in three weeks. The authentic documents, which he had in his possession with reference to these circumstances, contained a body of irresistible evidence. As to the second charge,

the papers already produced clearly proved, that Sir Thomas Maitland was not drawing on the British treasury, but that he was carrying on all the purposes of his commission from the military funds. By the treaty of Paris we were pledged only to maintain the troops stationed in the Ionian islands, but, from an improvement of the revenues, Sir T. Maitland had been able to pay the whole Mediterranean staff. That officer looked forward to a yet greater augmentation of the revenue, and he did not wish to see the convention settled, till the amount of its produce could be ascertained. It had been urged, that the new system of taxation was extremely onerous-that it impoverished the rich and oppressed the poor. The fact was, that, since the constitution of the Ionian states, Sir T. Maitland had imposed but one new tax-that upon olive oil, which had, he believed, the effect of increasing the produce on every proprietor's estate. Again, it was said, that this was done without consulting the whole senate, and under the sanction of a committee only. On the contrary, no person had ever manifested a greater respect for the forms of the constitution, or a stronger disposition to maintain them. With regard to the charge of having established a monopoly of the corn trade, he had, in the first instance, put an end to a monopoly that before existed; but commercial intercourse was not there quite so free as it was in some other places, and Parga was actually threatened with famine by means of a combination of merchants in Corfu. It was for this reason, that corn was ordered to be purchased at the public ex

pense, and this system was to con tinue till the same danger should have ceased. The effect merely was, to raise the price a little higher than it formerly had been. He now came to another chargethat of imposing local taxes; and the whole of this resolved itself into an impost for the purpose of finishing a canal in Cephalonia, which was approved by every landed proprietor and merchant in that island. Every attempt had been made, however, both there and in the other states, to excite revolt, and to produce false impressions with regard to the objects of the British government. At Santa Maura these attempts had been actively and pertinaciously made, and he had received some information respecting them from the very best sources of intelligence. One of these-the eldest son of a principal inhabitant, who had represented Santa Maura in the assembly of the Ionian islands-described the insurrection to have been caused by a person, who had long been employed in endeavours to interrupt the tranquillity established by the British government: that it did not last above one day; and that it was raised chiefly by a false alarm that many of the inhabitants were to be conveyed to the West Indies. It was in fact brought about by much the same means, as those used in fomenting disturbances nearer home. Sir T. Maitland had throughout shown a respect for the constitution, and for the privileges of the inhabitants, which had not been shown by the Russian government. The civil goverument of the Ionian islands, including even Malta, formed no longer any charge on this country, and we were also on the point

of obtaining a reduction in our military expenditure.

Lord Bathurst bore willing testimony to the temper, moderation, and ability, with which Sir T. Maitland had conducted himself in the discharge of a most delicate trust, in which he could derive no aid from the lessons of experience. Even, however, upon lord Lauderdale's own showing, a considerable degree of doubt must be entertained on some of the subjects discussed by him. The taxes imposed may have been proper; yet he does not venture to assert, that they were not imposed by the authority of the governor. He affirms, that the administration of these islands were beneficial to them; but he does not deny that it was despotical; and in declaring that sir T. Maitland had shown more respect for the constitution, and for the privileges of the inhabitants, than the Russians had done, he merely says, that the proceedings of that officer had not reached the highest point of tyranny. There is no British authority which ought not to be ashamed of a panegyric, which can go no further, than to eulogize it for showing more respect to the rights of subjects, than had been exhibited by the delegates of the despotic ruler of a semi-barbarous empire.

On the 11th of July, Dr. Lushington brought forward a motion for the production of copies of all official communications, received by his majesty's ministers, relative to a negotiation between the French government, and that of Buenos-Ayres or its agents, for the establishment of a Bourbon dynasty in South America. This alleged negotiation had taken VOL. LXII.

place in the preceding year, about the month of May; and the prince, in whose favour it was carried on, was the prince of Lucca, nephew of Ferdinand VII. France was to procure the assent of Austria and Russia to the project, which was to be kept perfectly secret from England; and she was also to send such naval and land armaments, as might be required to support the prince, and to resist any forces that might be sent against him. The only power, from whom resistance was or could be anticipated, was England; and the negotiation, therefore, on the part of France, was a measure decidedly hostile towards us. The question, said Dr. Lushington, between Spain and her colonies, was now at an end, and we ought not to lie by, till a more ambitious rival should step in, and secure those benefits which it was in our power to enjoy. If a prince of the house of Bourbon were placed on the throne of Buenos-Ayres, could it be doubted, that rigid commercial laws, injurious to the interests of Great Britain, would be the first and dearest object of the new dynasty? This was a proceeding which ought to excite the utmost watchfulness of ministers; and he was sure they would have cause to regret their conduct, if they had ever approved of it. Let the House contemplate the events of the last thirteen months-let them

reflect on the blood and treasure which this country had spent. Yet, scarcely was the signature of the treaty dry, which placed the Bourbons on a throne, which they had been too weak to retain, and which they were too weak to recover, when this plot was secretly ["

formed for seating a member of their family on the throne of Buenos-Ayres. Britain had been a benefactor to the Bourbons; and though he did not say, that they should, on that account, make any sacrifice of the interests of France, yet he would affirm, that in this transaction they had acted treacherously and basely. The United States of America too were on the watch at the present moment; they showed no supineness, or neglect of their own interests, on any great transaction that was going on. They had sent persons into most of the provinces of South America, who had laid before the government of the United States all the information which they had been able to collect, both with regard to the political situation of the provinces, and to those points which related to commercial intercourse. The United States had two objects in view the first, to obtain the Floridas from Spain; and the other, to cultivate a friendly intercourse with the South-American government. No sooner had the first of these been secured, than a bill passed through the House of Congress, the intention of which was, to carry into effect the recognition of the independence of South America. On the motion of Mr. Clay, the lower House of Congress had voted a sum of money for the purpose of sending a minister to South Ame rica; and this measure had been declared to be only preliminary to a more formal acknowledgment of its independence. Was it wise to allow the United States thus to have the start of us, in establishing friendly relations and cultivating commercial inter

course with the government of South America? If we permitted this advantage to be gained over us at first, we should find it extremely difficult afterwards to introduce our commerce into the markets of that country. In such a case delay was ruinous; and there was no reason why we should not take advantage of the opportunity, which fortune placed in our hands. The population of the South American provinces amounted, at a moderate computation, to twenty millions of inhabitants; and on the opening of the ports of Chili, the British hardware and cutlery had been eagerly purchased, and substi❤ tuted for articles of the same description made of silver. What a field was here opened for our manufactures, at a time too when the capital of the country was lying dead for want of employ ment! He did not say that this would open an unbounded mart for our wares; and nothing could be farther from his mind, than to encourage that overtrading, which had already been productive of much evil. But it was clear, that this market might become a gra dual and constant outlet for the produce of our industry; and that such a trade would be one of the best description, since it would promote the mutual interest of both countries. He concluded by expressing an earnest hope, that his majesty's ministers would take the subject into their most serious consideration; that, in strict conformity with the law of nations, and the best interests of this country, they would at last indulge that feeling, which was common to every generous and liberal mind; and that, by ac

knowledging the independence of South America, they would add the consummation to that triumph, which a brave people had already achieved by their own arms.

Sir James Mackintosh supported Dr. Lushington's motion. Lord Castlereagh resisted it, on the ground, that the documents called for were not official; that they were imperfect, and that, to throw full light on the subject, many other papers would be requisite; that ministers could not be expected to explain facts, of which they were not in full possession; that the matter was not in a state, or of a kind, which fitted it for being brought forward in parliament; and that the discussion was, in all respects, premature. His lordship also expressed his dissent from the opinion, that we ought forthwith to recognize the local governments of South America. Mr. Canning followed on the same side; and, ultimately, the motion was withdrawn.

Such were the discussions which took place during this session, on our administration of foreign dependencies, and our relations with foreign countries. The situation of individual foreigners among us excited much keener debate. On the 1st of June, lord Castlereagh moved for leave to bring in a bill to continue, for two years, the act establishing certain regulations with respect to foreigners arriving and residing in England. It was stated, that the foreigners now in the country were much more numerous than in 1818, amounting to no less than twenty-five thousand, of whom very few were devoted to commercial pursuits. So large a number of persons

ought not to be left exempt from control. Though war had ceased, foreigners might be dangerous fomentors of treason and dissension among us, and our character would be injured in the eyes of foreign powers; at the same time that our amicable relations with them might be endangered, if we received and protected all, who, as a punishment, had been exiled, or, to escape punishment, had fled from other countries. The proposed bill, therefore, had nothing but our own safety and tranquillity in view. The regulations prescribed by it were very different from those which had been in force during the war. While the war lasted, every foreigner, who visited this country, was presumed to come with inimical feelings, and was placed under the inspection of the police. He was constrained to reside in a particular district, and treated, in every point of view, as a suspected person. He might be sent forth either for special reasons, or on violating the regulations which had been prescribed for his observance.

Now, there was no presumption against the foreigner; he was permitted to reside where, and to change his residence as often, as he pleased. All that was required of him was, to deliver his name at the port where he landed, and to sign it before a peace-officer. Every facility of access was then granted, and he was at liberty to enjoy, in its full latitude, the hospitality of the country. It was only when he was supposed to be engaged in schemes dangerous to the state, that he was to be sent away. This power had not been abused; nor was there any reason to imagine, that it would be abused in

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