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ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812 



them. The debate thenceforth be- 

 came nothing more than a contest 

 between the ministers and the op- 

 positionists, in which the political 

 points at issue between them were 

 recapitulated; butalthough several 

 of the principal speakers took their 

 share in it, there can be no advan- 

 tagein occupyingraore of our pages 

 with topics to which so much space 

 has already been devoted. The 

 house at length came to a division, 

 in which there appeared for the 

 motion 136, against it 209 ; majo- 

 rity 73. 



The subject of the Orders in 

 Council, which constituted so im- 

 portant a part of the negociations 

 between thiscountry and the United 

 States of America during the last 

 year, appears prominent in the 

 parliamentary discussions of the 

 present year ; and although their 

 importance has unfortunately been 

 diminished by the event — for the 

 Americans decided the question by 

 arms, whilst our senates were de- 

 bating it — they cannot be passed 

 over in a relation of the principal 

 occurrences in parliamentary his- 

 tory. 



The House of Lords having 

 been summoned on February 28, 

 in consequence of a motion of the 

 Marquis of Lansdowne, and the 

 order of the day being read, the 

 marquis rose to call the attention of 

 their lordships to the Orders in 

 Council, and to the system of 

 policy which had resulted from 

 those orders, so injurious to the 

 manufacturing and commercial in- 

 terests of the country, and to the 

 welfare of the state. He specified 

 the particular orders which he 

 meant to consider, to be those issued 

 in November 1807 prohibiting the 



trade to France and the countries 

 dependent upon her, at the same 

 time insisting on American vessels 

 coming first to our ports and paying 

 a tax there ; and also to the order 

 of April 1809, partly revoking the 

 former orders, by opening the 

 trade with the north of Europe. 

 He then took a view of the effects 

 of these orders as to their operation 

 on the enemy ; their operation on 

 the neutral ; their influence on the 

 commerce and internal resources of 

 this country ; and their effects on 

 its maritime policy. Under these 

 heads he made a number of obser- 

 vations which are incapable of 

 abridgment, as they all referred to 

 particular facts. One striking re- 

 mark of a general nature we shall 

 however transcribe. If (said the 

 noble speaker) at the time of the 

 revolution in America, any one 

 could have foreseen that the whole 

 commerce of continental Europe 

 would have fallen under the iron 

 grasp and dominion of France, 

 they would have looked to the 

 establishment of an independent 

 state on the other side of the At- 

 lantic, out of the reach of French 

 power to become the carrier of 

 our commerce, and purchaser of 

 our manufactures, as the greatest 

 boon that could have been given 

 us. Such an event had occurred 

 as if providentially ; yet this great 

 and inestimableadvantage had been 

 destroyed by the Orders in Council. 

 His lordship then adverted to the 

 abuses of the system of licences, 

 the number of which had increased 

 from 4,000 to 16,000 in the year ; 

 and to the system of simulation 

 and dissimulation by which our 

 commerce was now carried on, 

 and which had thrown discredit on 



the 



