181 



Political Afl'aiis in Junuari/. 



LMarch 



ScMnlaiiiovc — Lovil S(..•l^Io^ — LordJ. Slu;ir( — Daninl 

 tS,l,t>.<— Mftl■.|lle^^ qt TilVli!ip|il_R. W. Talbot— 

 M:iri|. Tnvjslncli— M. A. Tavlo — lU. Hnn. Georse 

 Turne\— J. A. Wain— Ed. Weljl.c— C. C. Wes- 

 leri; — lohn Wlia Ion— Siiiniiel C.WIiKhreail— W. 

 H. WliitUtead— Walter Wilkin<— Win. Williams 

 AMeiman Wood — M. Wyvil — W. W. V\'Iiiliiiore 

 (". B. Wall— Will. Wilberforce- C. Wetherell— 

 Tellers— Jnlin Smith and C. Tcniiysoiu 



Paired olf. — Hon. G. Anson — Visct. Belsravc — 

 John Balfour — Sir 1. Coffin — Samuel Ciompton — 

 H.Gniiiev- R. G. Graham— Sir Thomas Mosljii- 

 SirG. Xoel— Hon. F. C. P.misolIiv— Rol.ert ^^mith 

 —William Siiiilh— S r K. Wmniiitjlcn- LiikeWhiie 



The follottinj; Gentlemen we'ie .sjiul oul, the 

 Division hiving taken place nnexpectedly: — Tlins. 

 Cretvej; Sii R^ Fergiisson, J. G. Lamhlo'n, Earl of 

 .Sefton, Sir John Sebright, and Sir R. Wilson. 



Mh\<)RIT V 0/ TuH'nty-tivo, againsl J'otint; any 

 Money unlit ^'7-irvii}irrs iire rer/ressi'fl, Feb. 14. 

 S.M.Barreil— H.G. Bennct— R. Benial— T. H. 

 Diivies — Tho. DoniTian — Sir K. Fergiis.son— Lord 

 Folkestone—I. ('. Hohliouse— I. Hume— Hon. C. 

 Hiilchiiison — K. F. Kennedy — .J. G. Lambton^Sir 

 E. Llovd— J. Marlin— J. B. Monck— f. F. Palmer- 

 Sir H. Parnell— Prvse Piyse— D. Ricardo— Lord 

 Sefton— C. C. Western— il. Wyvill.— Fillers.- sir 

 R. Wilson and Th.^mas Creevey. 



Circular Despatch fo liis Majesty's 

 Missions, at Foipiijii Courts, in regard 

 to theaft'iiirs of Naples. 



Foreign Office, Jan. 19, l%i[. 



Sir, -I shoull i:ot linve Celt it neee.s.sary 

 to have mute ci»iy conuiiimication lo you, in 

 llie pre.sent slnte of tiie di.scii.s.siops bej^un fit 

 TiO|)j)iiu ami transferred to Layliacli, hart 

 it not been for 11 Circular ccnmiunication 

 which has been tulijres.sed to the Coiirl.s of 

 Austria, Prussia, and Russia, to tiieir .several 

 missions, and which his Majesty's Govern- 

 nieut conceive, if not adverted to, might 

 (however nuinlsnlionally) convey, upon the 

 .subject tli-rein .illuded to, very erroneous 

 impressions of (l;e past, as well as of the 

 present, t.entinienls of the British Govern- 

 ment. 



It has become, therefore, necessary to 

 inform you that the King ha.s felt hini.self 

 obliged to decline becoiiing a party lo the 

 measures in question. 



These measures embrace two distinct 

 objects: — Isi. The establishment of certain 

 general principles for the regulation of the 

 future political conduct of the .Allies in the 

 ca.ses therein described : — 2dly. The proposed 

 mode of dealing, under these principles, with 

 liie existius affairs of Naples. 



The .system of meas'ires proposed under 

 (lie former head, if to be reciprocally acted 

 upon, would be in direct reiuignaiyce to the 

 fundamental laws of this country. But even 

 if this decisive objection did not exist, the 

 British Government would nevertheless re- 

 gard the principles on which the.se measures 

 rest, to be such as could uot be safely admit- 

 ted as a .system of internal ional law. Tliey 

 are of opinion that their adoption would in- 

 evitably sanction, and, in the hands of less 

 beneliceul monurchs, might hereafter lead to 

 a much more frequent and extensive inter- 

 fi-rence in the inlernul transac'Jonsof States, 

 tliau they are persuaded is intended by the 

 august parties from whom they proceed, or 



can be reconcileable either with the general 

 iuteresl, or with (he efficient authority and 

 dignity of indeperidcnt Sovereigns. They 

 do not regard the tilliance as entitled, under 

 existing treaties, to assume, in their charac- 

 (er as Allies, any such general powers; nor 

 do (hey conceive that such extraordinary 

 powers could be assumed, in virtue of any 

 fresh diplomatic transaction among the Allied 

 Courts, without tiieir either attributing to 

 themselves a supremacy incuitipaiible with 

 the rights of other .States, or, if to be ac- 

 quired through the special accession of such 

 States, without iutroduciug a federative sys- 

 tem in Europe not only ■ uuwieldLy and in- 

 effectual lo its object, but leading to many 

 mo.st serious inconveniences. 



Wiih respect to the particular case of 

 Naples, the British Government, at the very 

 earliest moment, did not hesitate (o express 

 their strong disapprobation of the mode and 

 circumstance under which that revolution 

 Mils understood to have been effected ; but 

 they, at (he same time, expressly declared lo 

 the several Allied Courts that (hey should not 

 consider iheniselves as either called upon, 

 orjuslilied, to advise an interference on (he 

 part of this coun(ry : they fully admitted, 

 iiowever, that other European Stales, and 

 especially Austria and the Italian Powers, 

 might feel themselves differently circum- 

 stanced ; and (hey professed tl.at it was not 

 (heir purpose (o i)rejndge the question as it 

 might affect them, or to interfere with the 

 course which such States might think fit to 

 adopt, wi(h a view to their own secsri(y, 

 provided only that they were ready to gi\e 

 every reasonable assurance that their views 

 wvre uot directed to iiiirposesof aggrandize- 

 ment, subversive of (he territorial system of 

 Europe, as establisheil by (he late treaties. 



Upon these principles the conduct of his 

 Majesty's Government with regard to the 

 Neapolitan question has been, from the first 

 moment, uniformly regulated, and cojiies of 

 (he successive ins(ructions sent to (he British 

 authorities at Naples for their guidance, have 

 been from time to time transmitted for the 

 information of (he Allied Governments. 



With regard (o (he expectation which is 

 expressed in the circular above alluded to, 

 of the assent of the Courts of London and 

 Paris, (o (he more general measures proposed 

 for (heir adopdon, founded, as it is alleged, 

 upon exis(ingtrea(ies: in jus(ifica(ion of i(s 

 own consistency and good faith, the British 

 Government, in withholding such assent, 

 must protest against any such interpretation 

 being pu( upon (he treaties iu question, as is 

 (herein assumed. 



They have never understood these treaties 

 to impose any such obligations; and they 

 have, on various occasions, bolh in Parlia- 

 ment and iu their intercourse with the Allied 

 Governmenis, distinctly maintained the ne- 

 gative of such a proposition. Tha( (hey 

 have acted with all po.ssible explicitness upon 

 this subject, would at once appear from 

 reference 



