120] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1S14. 



operation of the Danish govern- 

 ment ? Norway is the better half 

 of the Danish dominions. Prince 

 Christian therefore took his choice ; 

 and, said the noble Lord, I should 

 have made the same. 



Earl Grey concluded a long and 

 eloquent speech with moving — 

 " That an humble address be pre- 

 sented to his Royal Highness the 

 Prince Regent, humbly to request 

 that his Royal Highness would be 

 graciously pleased to interpose his 

 mediation (o r-scue the unoffend- 

 ing people of Norway from the 

 dreadful alternative of famine, or 

 of subjugation to the yoke of a 

 foreign and hostile power: and 

 that during the discussion of such 

 proposals as his Roj^al Highness 

 may be advised to make ior this 

 most desirable object, all hostile 

 operations on the part of this coun- 

 try, against a people struggling 

 for the sacred right of national in- 

 dependence, may be discontinued." 



The Earl of Harroicby in reply 

 first considered the intention of 

 the parties at the time of contract- 

 ing the treaty with Sweden. It 

 was the desire of this country, at 

 a time when the co-operation of 

 Sweden was most essential to the 

 interests of Europe, to obtain the 

 assistance of that power against 

 the common enemy, for which 

 purpose we engaged to put it in 

 possession of Norway, which, be- 

 longing to a hostile state, rendered 

 it insecure for Sweden to withdraw 

 (ts military force from its own ter- 

 ritories. There could, therefore, 

 be no doubt that we were bona 

 ^de held to secure the possession 

 of it tp Sweden ; and unless in the 

 nature of the treaty there wassome- 

 thing which rendered it null and 

 Toid, or in the conduct of the 



other contracting party something 

 which might absolve us from our 

 engagements, we ought not to stop 

 at a nominal cession. As to the 

 justice of the treaty in question, 

 though grave authorities had been 

 quoted by the noble Earl, yet 

 writers were not unanimous on 

 the subject of the law of nations. 

 Dr. Paley said that the law of na- 

 tions depended on the fact of its 

 being established, no matter w lien, 

 or by whom. Looking therefore 

 at those treaties by wliich long 

 wars had been concluded, as the 

 practical exposition of the law of 

 nations, we shall find that on many 

 occasions cessions had been made 

 of whole states. Of these he gave 

 instances; and affirmed, that al- 

 most every state, except the great 

 countries of Europe, had at times 

 been transferred from one power 

 to another. No Sovereign, he 

 allowed, could cede the whole of 

 his dominions ; but when much 

 pressed by war, he might cede a 

 part for the salvation of the re- 

 mainder, the inhabitants of which 

 were bound to submit peaceably 

 for the ojeneral jrood. His Lord- 

 ship dwelt somewhat at large ui)on 

 this idea, and applied it to Norway. 

 He then replied to the observations 

 which had been made on the fail- 

 ure of due co-operation on the 

 part of the Crown Prince of Swe- 

 den, and on the impolicy of the 

 treaty ; and he concluded with 

 saying, that if thpj Norwegians 

 were in some degree sacrificed, 

 considering our engagements with 

 Sweden, and that this was the only 

 sacrifice to the general liberty of 

 Europe, while liberty was secured 

 to the Norwegians by the i'rince 

 to whom they were ceded, and 

 guaranteed by one of the most 



