Mr. Secretary Canningsaid, he had come down to the House, in order to answer certain questions which had been put, on a preceding evening, by the hon. member for Taunton (Mr. Baring), whom he did not now see in his place. The hon. member had remarked, that an individual of great respectability, accredited to this country by the state of Buenos Ayres, had not been presented at the last levee; and, from that fact, the hon. member had inferred, that some interference had been used by foreign powers to prevent that gentleman's being so received. This suggestion he desired to say was wholly void of foundation. No attempt had been made on the part of 1486 any foreign state to regulate, in the slightest degree, the conduct of this country towards any of the states of South America; nor, if such an attempt had been made, could there have been the least chance of its being successful. The reason why the individual in question had not been presented, was, that although he appeared in the character of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, he had no regular credentials. The state of Buenos Ayres had sent this gentleman a paper appointing him minister plenipotentiary to this country, but making him minister plenipotentiary also to France; and he did think that England was not stickling too much upon ceremony in saying that she must have an entire minister to herself. It had benn suggested, in some quarters, that these states, which were as new powers in the division of the world, might well be placed, in some points, upon a more free footing than the older ones. In this view, he by no means agreed. He thought it was sufficient that they were fully and regularly brought into the community of nations; and, as far as his advice went, the same full observance of all forms and arrangements should be required from them, as from the oldest, best secured, or most despotic governments existing. The paper which this gentleman produced might be sufficient between his government and himself; but it was not sufficient between his government and this country; nor could he be properly admited into the condition of a minister without producing the formal and usual credentials. There was another point, upon which he desired to say a few words. It so happened, that at an early period of the present year, the state of Buenos Ayres had appointed a British subject, a gentleman who was a partner in a considerable mercantile house in this country, its consul-general for England. In that capacity the individual alluded to had called upon him, and, tendering his commission, had proposed to enter with him into the discussion of highly material political transactions. Now, under such circumstances, he had no hesitation in decidedly refusing to listen to that gentleman; and he had, moreover, refused even to see him a second time. He had taken that course, in the first place, because the appointment in question had not been regular; but he had felt another objection, of still greater importance. In all the relations of England with these new states— 1487 there had been a great deal more of commercial and of speculative, than of political actual transaction. And whoever considered what had been the fluctuation of various projects within the last year in this country, would see, that it was only taking a proper precaution, when he had expressed a desire that the states of America, generally, would not appoint British merchants in this country to be their consuls. Upon the same principle, he had written, to his Majesty's Charge d'Affaires at Buenos Ayres, and to the resident ministers at other places, requesting that such nominations might not take place in future. He had, moreover, written to the officers of this country appointed in America, generally, desiring that they would not engage in commercial transactions; and he had removed any whom he thought to have done so in despite of that prohibition.