§ On the question "that the House resolve itself into a Committee on the Reform Bill,"
§ Sir Richard Vyvyansaid, that he had given notice to his noble friend (Viscount Palmerston), the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, of his intention to ask a question relative to the Protocols which had been published in the newspapers to-day. As, however, his noble friend was not present, he must throw himself upon the courtesy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for an answer. Every Gentleman, no doubt, had seen the Protocols to which he referred, in the daily papers. They were four in number—the first being dated the 6th of August, and the last the 23rd of August. The fourth was the most important one. In that the Plenipotentiaries agreed to propose to the government of his Majesty the King of the Netherlands, and to the Belgian Government—"The establishment of a suspension of hostilities for six weeks. This suspension to be placed under the guarantee of the five Powers, and if one of the two parties should violate it, that party to be considered in a state of hostility to the five Powers. During the suspension of hostilities, the respective troops are to remain beyond the line that separated them before the resumption of the hostilities." In the preceding part of the Protocol it was stated, "That the Plenipotentiaries had received official information of the withdrawal of the Dutch troops into the territory of Holland." Supposing these Protocols to be genuine, he must observe, that when it was asked in that House, whether an assurance had been given by the French Government, that as soon as the Dutch troops had withdrawn into their own territory the French troops should be recalled, it was answered by his noble friend (Viscount Palmerston) that such an assurance had been given. He thought, therefore, that the question he was about to put was one in which the character of this country was deeply involved. If any number of French troops, however small that number might be, were allowed to remain in Belgium after the withdrawal of the Dutch troops into Holland, he must say, that, in his opinion, our Government would have to answer for conduct which he would not trust himself with language to describe. The questions which he had to put to the noble Chancellor of the Exchequer were these;—First, were these Protocols genuine? 1032 Second, had the armistice spoken of in the last Protocol been acceded to either by Holland or Belgium, by both, or by either of them? Third, had the French government renewed the assurance that their forces should be withdrawn from Belgium, and would the performance of that assurance be insisted upon, if Holland should accede to the armistice? He would only add, that it was natural to expect an answer to these questions, inasmuch as they read every day in French and in English papers that the French had formed a camp at Nivelles, and that there was to be a French army of occupation in Belgium.
§ Lord Althorpsaid, that the hon. Gentleman had referred to documents, professing to be Protocols, which had appeared in the newspapers, and asked him if they were genuine. He could assure the hon. Gentleman that he had not had time to read the newspapers, and he could not, therefore, answer the question. However, he had no hesitation in saying, that there were Protocols answering the description of the documents which the hon. Gentleman had described as appearing in the newspapers. As to the other questions of the hon. Gentleman, they were like other questions which had been put upon the same subject; that was to say, questions which, if a Gentleman wished to involve this country in a war, were the questions most likely to effect the consummation of that wish. He hoped the hon. Gentleman would excuse him if he gave no answer at all to those questions.
§ Sir Richard Vyvyanmust repel the insinuation that he wished to involve the country in a war. The questions which he had put were questions of fact, and questions which involved the honour of the country. He had seen it stated in a speech delivered by a Minister in the Chamber of Deputies, that all the French troops were not to be withdrawn from Belgium; and after what had fallen from his noble friend (Viscount Palmerston) on this subject, he had thought, it right to ask these questions of a British Minister in the House of Commons.