SIR ROBERT PEEL JULY 20, 1832 RUSSIAN DUTCH LOAN

The right hon. gentleman stated that the present Government had found themselves bound hand and foot by the engagements of their predecessors, who consented to guarantee a loan of L800,000 in aid of Prince Leopold, on his election to the throne of Greece.  The right hon. gentleman had no right to say that the hands of himself and coadjutors were tied by the last Ministers.  They were no parties to the original Treaty of 1827; but when they came into office they found themselves compelled to fulfil the treaties made by their predecessors.  The Duke of Wellington, in 1830, three years after the treaty had been made, and not very long after he came into power, was engaged in the consideration of the Greek question.  Prince Otho of Bavaria was then proposed as the Sovereign of Greece, and the Duke of Wellington objected to the appointment of that prince on account of his youth, he being then not more than fourteen.  After considerable discussion, the Powers parties to the treaty agreed to the nomination of Prince Leopold, and the question of pecuniary aid was proposed.  The Duke of Wellington said the Government of England had never given pecuniary aid in such a case, and refused to accede to the proposition.  Prince Leopold then applied to the three sovereigns and declared he would not accept the throne of Greece unless the money were advanced.  The Government of the Duke of Wellington, being anxious to establish a sovereign on the throne of Greece, did, at last, reluctantly concur with Russia and France, rather than, by withholding their consent from the proposed arrangement, deprive Greece of the services of Prince Leopold and separate the policy of this country from that of France and Russia.  The right hon.  Secretary might have contended that the present Government found themselves bound to guarantee a loan to Prince Leopold; but he was not warranted in saying that they were pledged by the acts of a former Government to guarantee a loan to any other prince.  To come to the question immediately before the committee, he admitted that it was a case involved in considerable difficulty.  He could conceive that circumstances might be established which would compel him to acquiesce in the payment of the money to Russia.  He had some doubts as to whom the money was payable, and as to the justice of the arrangements into which this country was about to enter.  These doubts might, however, be removed by explanation; and he must say, that while England retained possession of the colonies wrested from Holland she ought not to be very astute in finding reasons for excepting herself from the terms of her contract.  With the information at present before the House, he was not prepared to state whether the payments were due to Holland or to Russia, but to one or other they were, in his opinion, due.  If his vote were to imply a decided opinion that the money was not