§ MR. ROEBUCKSir, I do not want to make any Motion, but I hope I shall not be precluded from asking a Question. I wish to put a Question to the noble Lord on the subject of which I gave him notice last Tuesday. It is not on the paper, but I gave him public notice, and he told me that he would accept my Question then as a notice. The Question I wish to put refers to matters now going on in the West Indian waters and very nearly affecting English trade. I allude to the proceedings of an Admiral in the United States service with respect to English merchant shipping going from an English port to a neutral port. I wish to preface my question with one or two observations, but I will not occupy the time of the House very long.
§ MR. KNIGHTLEYsaid, he rose to order. He wished to know whether it was according to the courtesy of the House that the hon. and learned Gentleman should interpose without notice, after the appeal of the noble Lord, before going into Committee of Supply.
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONMay I be just allowed to answer my hon. and learned Friend's Question?
§ MR. ROEBUCKI know the noble Lord is an older man than I am, but still, old as he is, he will not take me in in that way. I wish to make a few observations before I put the Question to the noble Lord. The question relates to the conduct of Admiral Wilkes. Sir, when the American war broke out, I may say, the leading minds of the English people—the large majority at least—felt a shock of pain at the quarrel between the various States of America. I may say for myself that that shock was of a very strong character, for all my early notions were that in America a great experiment was being made in government. I thought they had entered on that experiment in a way that mankind had never done before, and that if fortune would prevail in their favour, it would be shown that men were worthy of governing themselves. When the news came, and that great experiment was at an end—for it is at an end—my heart failed me, for then I was compelled to acknowledge that men, under the most favourable circumstances, had proved themselves unworthy of governing themselves. That was my feeling at that time, and my feeling was in favour of the North. Time went on, and their whole conduct was such as proved them not only unfit for the government of themselves, but unfit for the courtesies and the community of the civilized world. ["Oh, oh!"] Oh! yes, Sir, I know there are degenerate Englishmen who tike the part of the North against their own country; and whenever matters come into collision between America and England, their voice is raised on the side of America. ["Oh, oh!"] I can perfectly understand those cries—I am very glad to find that what I say touches the hon. Gentlemen opposite. It appears that the question of which I have given notice creates a great sensation among them. Well, Sir, the conduct of the North American dis-United States has been such as is humiliating to the people of England. The noble Lord has shown himself, hitherto, a friend of the honour, the dignity, and the prosperity of England. He never showed that more than in his conduct as the head of the Administration in the circumstances connected with the Trent. We have been subject to every species of violent language—not of insinuation, but of accusation. We were threatened with war, and King Cotton was 578 to crush us; he has tried his power, and King Cotton has failed. We resented an act insolent and overbearing; we called them to account, and they truckled in their answer. Another outrage has taken place, and by the same man who perpetrated the insult offered to our flag in the case of the Trent. A vessel leaves the English shore; the hon. Member for London (Mr. Crawford) opposite, says he has seen her papers, and her cargo was perfectly harmless. She was bound to a neutral port. She was seized by an American man-of-war, taken into an American port, and the expectations of the English merchant in his honourable trade have been utterly destroyed by the conduct of the American Government. I say that conduct of the American Government you ought to resent. But not only was this done, there were persons calling themselves English merchants who applied to; the American Minister for a permit to allow their ship to proceed in safety to its destination. That permit is granted, and why? Because that ship carried out arms to the Mexicans, to be used against our ally, France. Since then other men calling themselves English merchants have applied to the same authority for the same permit. They have been refused, and why? Because they are Englishmen, and because they are not carrying out arms to aid the Mexicans in the war, though they were trading to the same port. The permit, I repeat, was refused, and now I must say that Mr. Adams, the American Minister, is the Minister for Commerce in England. Sir, I would put it to the noble Lord, the man who has hitherto shown himself alive to the dignity and honour of England—I would ask him whether the Government of which he is the head has come to any determination in this matter; and if they have, whether he is able to tell Parliament what that determination is. Sir, I know the consequences of the action he may take. It may lead to war, and I, speaking here for the English people, am prepared for war. I know that language will strike the heart of the Peace party in this country, but it will also strike the hearts of the insolent people who govern America; and we shall have justice done to the honour and dignity of England, and the commerce of this country will no longer be subject to the overbearing and domineering insolence of an upstart race. The question I have to ask the noble Lord is, Whether the Government of which he is the head 579 have formed any determination with regard to the conduct of Admiral Wilkes; whether they have addressed any remonstrance to the American Government; and whether he is prepared now to state the course the Government have determined to pursue?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONSir, the House will have seen and understood from what has fallen from my hon. and learned Friend that the matter to which his Question relates is one of the greatest possible importance. All I can say is that it is receiving due consideration on the part of Her Majesty's Government, but I am not prepared at present to state what result Her Majesty's Government may come to.