mation that others, ordered on the motion of Mr. Robinson, were intended to afford.

Mr. Alexander Baring* moved, on the 15th, for another return. Mr. Horner asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, "whether he intended to take the sense of the House at once upon resolutions, which had perhaps been fully discussed, and unanimously carried, at the house of Lord Liverpool, but of the grounds of which, or the justness of the reasonings urged in their support, Parliament could have no knowledge. In all great questions, it had been the practice to communicate some information, before calling upon the House to vote; instead of which, a sort of Lords of Articles had been sitting in Whitehall-yard, to determine upon what should be brought forward, and making a compromise of opinions. He certainly did consider that such a proceeding had a tendency to fetter the freedom of opinion in that House."

Mr. Robinson brought forward his resolutions on the 17th, the most important of which were, in substance, -that foreign corn, &c., might be bonded and re-exported without payment of duty; and that the importation from foreign countries for home-consumption should be prohibited altogether, until wheat rose to eighty shillings the quarter, and other kinds of grain in the same proportions as then existed; and that the same prohibition should apply to our North American colonies, until wheat rose to sixty-seven shillings. After a long debate, it was agreed that the resolutions should be. recommitted, pro forma, on the 20th, and the Report be received on the 22d. On the latter day Colonel Gore Langton, after stating that he was opposed to any change

* The present Lord Ashburton.

66

being made in these laws, opposed the motion for the House going into Committee; but only 6 voted with him in a House of 203. On that occasion Mr. Horner said, —“he came down to the House with a sincere desire of hearing the question fully discussed; for, however strong might be his own opinions, he thought it due to the importance of the subject to hear the opinions of all who had considered it, and to ascertain the various modes in which the evidence which had been adduced had struck various minds." The debate lasted till two o'clock in the morning, and was adjourned to the next day; and then Mr. Horner delivered his sentiments on the question. The report of his speech, as given in Hansard's Debates, will be found in the Appendix.

Another adjournment took place at half after three in the morning to the 24th, when Mr. Robinson's resolutions were agreed to. Another and a very long debate took place on the bringing up of the Report on the 27th; Mr. Baring proposed, and Mr. Horner seconded a motion for adjournment, which was negatived; but soon afterwards the motion was renewed by Mr. Baring, and seconded by Mr. Horner, and carried. The resolutions were finally agreed to on the 28th, a Bill was brought in next day, and, after long discussions in its several stages, was passed on the 10th of March.

LETTER CCXXIX.* FROM LORD HOLLAND.

Dear Horner,

Naples, 1st March, 1815.

The King of Sardinia and the Pope have intercepted all regular communication by post and private

hands, and extraordinary couriers are the only means of intercourse, and in case either should occur, I write this to be ready for the opportunity. You may be curious about the court, both as a solitary specimen of the sort, and as a dynasty which may be supposed to owe its elevation to some merit, military or political. The King* is a fine good-humoured soldier, too theatrical in his dress and mode of playing royalty, but even his deficiencies calculated to put those with whom he converses completely at their ease. He pays the English great court, opens every privileged place to them, invites them to fetes, balls, chases, and reviews, mounts those who like to ride, talks openly on politics to all of them, and has this very day pardoned a delinquent condemned to death, at the request of Lady Gage. At the same chase one of his horses, lent to an Englishman, was wounded by a boar, in a way that made it necessary to shoot him on the spot. Such misfortunes, as well as the loss of nine games of chess in fourteen to Lord Granville Somerset, and two in three to me, he bears with a good-humour, natural enough in General Murat, but quite uncommon in a King of Naples. His own taste, or his Queen's, makes him abstain from all vulgar abuse of Bonaparte, and preserve his pictures and busts in his palaces.

The Queen is pretty, though in bad health; her manners are very agreeable and gentle, and she is said to possess her full share of the abilities and decision of character, for which her family are remarkable. She has more consistency and a better understanding, than her husband. It is an amiable trait in the latter that he has been more attentive to her, since the fall of Napo

*Joachim Murat.

leon, than when he was in power, and too frequently made the umpire of their disputes. Joachim is evidently uneasy, but by dint of saying to himself and to others, that he can make a stout fight for it, and throw Italy in confusion, he will, if driven to the wall, be induced to attempt it, and may perhaps succeed in the attempt. You know the Austrian treaty and Castlereagh's letter. Joachim seems to adhere to the indemnity of 400,000 men, and to Ancona in particular, more than 'his own execution of the stipulations perhaps warrants; and certainly more than justice to the governed can sanction, or sound policy and discretion in his situation can approve. In short, he has a little too much of the spirit of a military chief, pour ne pas dire un aventurier. To excuse, or to support his pretensions, and the half formed ambitious designs which sometimes dazzle his imagination, he has some personal qualities, some adventitious circumstances, and an army strong at least in numbers, though hitherto untried in its affections. I suspect him of some such designs, or rather inclinations, and of a keener appetite for indemnities and conquests than is wise or honest; from the manner rather than from the substance of his conversation. He spoke of his adherence to treaties, and particularly of his fidelity to the Austrians, as an exertion of very painful virtue, and the obvious weakness and unpopularity of the Austrians in Italy are enough to tempt any Italian Prince of a warlike character to a rupture, even if his elevation were not such as to throw some doubts on the value of a good character, to the attainment of which he may think he is sacrificing much.

Of England, however, he is evidently afraid, and by her councils, if treated well, he would be implicitly guided. His personal qualities, to which I have alluded

above, are great courage in the field, gallant, gay, open manners, and great mildness and good nature to his subjects; without reckoning the advantages of a martial figure, and the accomplishments of horsemanship, &c., &c., which have at all times some effect on the vulgar and on the soldiery, and are the more respected in Italy from having been so rare in their princes and governors. But Bonaparte knows him better than I can, and he says of him, c'est un brave militaire, l'homme le plus brilliant que j'ai jamais vu dans un champ de battaille. Pas beaucoup de talens, peu de courage moral, assez timide, même pour Tarrangement des opérations; mais devant l'ennemi tout cela disparait; c'est alors le coup d'oeil le plus rapide, la valeur vraiment chevaleresque; d'ailleurs bel homme, parè toujours avec beaucoup de soin, quelquefois un peu fantasquement, enfin un magnifique lazzarone. His army is admirably appointed, and some carry its numbers as high as 100,000 men. There is, too, in it more military spirit than ever existed in a Neapolitan or perhaps in any modern Italian army; and it is rather the attachment of the army to Joachim, than its formidable character, which is questionable. If he can reckon on their dispositions, he is a great military power. As to the affections of his people, and of those whose territories are adjoining to his, and likely to become the theatre of war, in short his force morale, as they call it, it is perhaps very difficult to estimate it correctly. He has for him the majority, or at least, the most active and important, of the nobility. Though the revolution and the tribunals instituted by Joseph have reduced the revenues and somewhat partially, and even unjustly, deprived them of their rights, without sufficient indemnity; yet they have not suffered confiscation or persecution from Murat, who has spared the property of his most inveterate enemies, and never made never made political