Star. — London, England, 1816-02-16 00:00:00

, strove, done,. protested against Our right to interfere with another nation, by dictating to it the form of government which it should" adopt, otby imposing on a great people any king. or fa mily that it might be our wish to see reign over the m. While he maintained his former opinions on 'these subjects, he would contend that a right to interfere might spring from other circumstances; and. it was OR this principle that hr.should to-night submit his motion to the House. It could scarcely be oeeessary for him to remind those who beard him of the whole argument formerly held, when it Will resolved by Ministers to interfere with France. It was then as serted thit we had no right to interfere with that na tion, because she chose to be governed as a Repub lic s that en this account we were not bound to in terfere in behalf of those who had never been our al-• lies—that this fueltished no ground for the recal of our Ambassador from Franceor to break the peace which then subsisted between the two countries: — These principles, at the cotiimencement of the French Revolution, had been maintained on that side (the h Clpposhioa side) of the House, and these he still irnoted. So far was he from deviating from them; when be contended that the interference of thireountry with respect to Spain. was now called for, that the opinion of that great man. now no more (Me: Foal. guided him oh this occasion, and the sub stank:sof hafnium* motion was drawn from the words he (Mr. Fox) bad used when he last spoke in that House of our interforenee in the affatrs of France.- - The House would feel that he referred to a conver sation which had taken place about the end of De cember 1792. Previous to this. in consequence of the conduct of the Revolutionary Government towards the Royal Family of France, Lord.Gower, our Am bassador, had been recalled. A difference titular be tween the two countries, and the King's Ministers declared France had no longer a government capable 'of maintaining the relations of peace and amity.— Those who sat on the Opposition side of the House at that time, contended, that whatever might , be the faults of the . French Government. as it was then the Government &facto, it ought not to have been treated in this manner. But when the proceedings of those persons who were members of it became so atrocious as to shock those who had at first been disposed to think hvourably of them—when, having got the person of the King and others of the Royal Family into their possession, the catastrophe which ensued was but too distinctly foreseen ; and no doubt WAS entertained of their intention to sacrifice them—then all men whose minds deserved any consideration. were _shocked at the lengths to which the Revolutionists were going, and the opponents of Ministers .were unanimous• in their exerticnis to stop the evil which they all deplored. It was then that Mr. Fox bad come down to the House with his fi iends, and vindi cated the course which he bad thought it his duty to pursue ; he denied the propriety of Lord Gower's fecal. or rather he questioned the necessity of it, but be strongly expressed those feelings ul horror and in. die,nation with which the conduct of the Revolu tionists had inspired- him. He. on that occasion, ar gued that the treat of onr Ambassador, no one haring been 'appointed in his place as an accredited Minister • from this country,* must prove fatal to the .cause of the Royal Family of France. If we had kept our Ambassador, he contended, it would have been in our power to interfere our good offices in behalf of the unfortunate Monarch, and have given weight to the declarations of England. which , might have pro duced a strong feeling among the people, and which would-probably even have had some effect upon the Convention. In this spirit. Mr. Fox proposed that a motion should be made, the object of which was to afford the House an opportunity of expressing those feelings of indignation and sorrow which necessarily grew out at the events which had recently occurred. This, it was hoped, might operate in favour of the Royal Family, and deter the persecutors from the consummation of their guilt. A motion for this pur pose WAS made by Mr. Pita, on the recommendation of Mr. Pox, for the correspondence which had cakes plaice on the subject of the recal tit Lord Gower.— This gave all those who felt as Mr. Fox did, an op portunity of expressing their sentiments, and that Right Honourable Gentleman expressed a hope that the debate would have a salutary effect s though he did not calculate on its proving the salvation of the Bourbons, yet he expected it would do some good. lie however still telt that an accredited agent from this country was wanting in France, to give force to the representations of this country, and to throw its t hole setight into the scale with effect. He should not have gone so far into the history of these proceed ings, but for what occurred on a former night.— Having colic so far, it might now,.be accessary for Nutt to go . still farther, to compare circumstances of the intetterence which had been deterroined on then, with 'those under which a similar exertion was now called for. Those for whom he now wished this coon . try to interest itself,. were suf f ering patriots and our Thefwere 00w-oppressed, for having strug &la against the formeroppressors of their country. The King, the Queen, and the Royal Family of , Fiance, though in a deplorablestate, a state which might well call forth sympathy, were still, unlike the Spanish Patriots, wholly unconnected with this could try. They had no claim on us from any bond of u nion which.bad subsisted between the two partie Having been led to speak of preeedepts, he would adduceone or two More, that would b ear eqtrally on the case in point.* He would not go - b ack ,to the isit rind when queen.Elinaloith interfered in behalf of the 'Protestants in the Low . Cintries. nor would he dwell 1 on the steps which were afterwards ,taken on thepaitl of this cintutry, to procure some ameliorati o n of the situation of .the:Huitatota. These, is' well as the. • effort.: in.stleskiz Alive; Cromwell in favour of the per- , seCuted Procestants. must he fresh in the memory the lloose, and fig would nLundtaatly bear hire out •in Makingthe utodidWith which he purposed to cos t elude. .11Ar thc p i c :e si r i : noe . better than 411 these • . . . . • wpm 4.wlts,tip ~to get*Over—be alluded • to the Addresaee unanitiensly, voted on the subject of the hitt' Stare Tracts some years Wk. Bads ,ie Spanish on That occasion described the Inquisition and the co; lonial traffic to be htsxnaster's , two eyes. o Then.' replied that illegitimate Monarch (Oliver Cromwell) as I must trouble your master to put out his two eyes." He mentioned this, to skew the soreness of the Spa ilith Government an it o n i a ltraffic . being'touebed ben ; . and, if ;uteri' . et any thing on which its liensibility was in ,a te nt degree greater, it was on that in wliirh ir was most guilty—its trade in African *laves. It would be as safe to ask them to liberate a prisoner in the Inquisition, or to requite to work less hardly thgsLtunpinyed in the mines , as to interfere withtbrrithieen Slave Trade—(llear.)-- -To ask Spain and Portugal to give up ernes share in this commemOstas sot to do more than Spain and Portugal would de, if they were to send over to England to negociate a measure for the relief of their 'suffering brethren, the oppressed Catholics of Ire, Hand. The Slave Trade occupied the same place is the politics of Spain and Portugal, which the ciao. t ition of Catholics from a full participation in the .Beiii., tish Constitution held in our system. Notwithstaodir , big this was known when the Addresses he had men. tioned were proposed, so . determined were Parks. , meet on the subject, that no voice had been mina 3ilinat them, and they had been carOm to he t febt • the Throne with the unanimous approbation of, loth Houses. These had since been acted upon in the same spirit, as appeared from the correspondeppy. .now before the House. It was for thOse who shiliiild 'object to interference on behalf of the Spanish Pa triots, on the ground that such a proceeding had no precedent, to get rid of the interference for the Royal Family in France in the year 1792, and of the Ad. dresses respecting the African Slave Trade, to which be had directed their attention. If in these instances the House had interfered for those to whom they were bound by no common tie, save that which binds all mankind together, surely there could be no reason for refusing it when it was claimed in favour of the unfortunate Spaniards, with whom we had been united in the Council and the field. It would be for those who opposed the motion to shew that these our Allies were less connected with us than the Royal Family of France. or the African Slaves had been. It would he recollected that in 1800, Admiral Apo daca. the nominal Minister of Ferdinand, but really exerciaing the power of the Spanish Junta, concluded a Treaty with this country on behalf of Spain. This Treaty bound England never to negociate a Peace with France to the surrender of the rights of Ferdi nand, and Spain engaged neter to make a Peace without the concurrence of ibis country ; or, in any ease, to conclude one against its icterests. Some time had elapsed with various fortunes when negocia tions were entered into with the Spanish Government, by Lord Wellesley ; [and here he-offered the tribute of his admiration, of the enlarged, liberal, and statesmanlike views--of the cogent reasoning and persuasive eloquente uhich had distinguished the Notes of that N'ible Lord. and which had reflected, so much honour on the principles of the British Go; vernment]. The great object of the negotiations carried on by the •Marcptis of Wellesley, had been this—to assemble the Cortes. His language had been, " Call the - Cortes—do not be satisfied with an imperfect Representative Body unknown to the Con stitution of Spain, but call the Cortes at once, and let them take the whiile state of the country into their consideration, and effect the necessary reform in your system." In consequence of the great efforts made by the Noble Marquis, the Clines were called toge ther is the course of a few months, and a Regency was appointed. Of the individuals which formed this Regency (all the Members of which were select ed from our interposition), two had lately been sen tenced so punishment by Ferdinand, and were to be found in the Black List of his victims. These were part of that Regency who had maintained relations of amity wits us, who had made common cause nith 114 the interest of Spain being considered the interest of England, and the resources of England being li berallyresorted 'to in order effectually to sustain the cause of Spain. The real Allies of England were, the Regency and the Cones : they had struggled for the liberties of their country, when they were as ig norant how Ferdinand was employing himself, as he believed every one in that House was careless what Might ultimately be his fate. Towards the end of the year 1813, or the beginning of the year 1814, when the power of Bonaparte began to totter all over Europe, a Treaty was begun between him and Fer dinand his prisoner. By this Treaty he bound him- Pelf to remove the English army from Spain,ltinehe French army being withdrawn, and, in a word, co operated, as much as was in his power, with tuna-, parte, against this country and its Allies. Such con iklence had Napoleon in Ferdinand, thet he immr. diately suffered his prisoners to go at large (senSubfes' perhaps, that he could not do a worse serilce to Spain )•; and what did Ferdinand An on this -occa sion ? Did he revoke the Treaty of Valency 1 5 710 w. Did he hasten to Madrid? No, he avoided it, and retired to Valentia, after refusing to sign the Constle tntion, and to recognise the existing Authoritiee,i , without revoking the Treaty which be had been .in. duced to sign while in a state of duress.' All his thoughts seemed devoted to the study of th e means by which he might overthrow the Regency and the Cones, which, as the Allies of England, had so ef fectually laboured for the salvation of Spain. The Cortes refused to ratify the Treaty which Ferdinand hid conceded with ikinaparte, because it was in tonsistent with good faith to England. as it went against the stipulations of that concluded with this country by Admiral Apodaca in 1809. The Treaty of 1809 they adhered to r and this it bad been the object of Ferdinathrto break, and indeed to diseohre ell the arrangements which had served to knit the two countries,tooother. But though he bad formed thi s plan probabliby himself, he could not execute it with out our assistance. What representations were Dude to him by our Minister at Valencia he knew not;' at the time Ferdinand appeared to be countenanced ,by 'England in what he was doing, bet the Noble Lprd must know whit he had been tuthozised to make. . • • , curie' tn. luelient person (Sir /ate against his pro instructions, we should arhaie for seven - months had east on that case avoided. istpined by the counts men,. The troops' against _ Lin English pay, and at the head of the vanguard of Elio's corps marched ,en English officer. General Whittingham ( a Lieu. waist-Colonel in our army) had advanced to Madrid before Ferdinandhe surrounded the town; Ferdi nand meanwhile advanced in the rear, or behind the rear.—(4l laigh.)—The Cartes were surrounded by Gmrperal WhiningbeM, the proscribed list was then twaeght forward, and the Cartes, with two of the 'Regency, were arrested, and thrown into dungeons. This was effected by troops in English pay; but even hereour co-operatipn did not end. Pay and clothing had subsequently been advanced, to the amount of half a million of movy. He knew a Right Hoe. Gentleman opposite, admitting this, had said the ac icoutits were not closed at the time. This subterfuge was advanced to make it appear there was a balance due to Spain from this country. But he would ask, when we made the Treaty by which this money was to paid, were there no conditions on the other aide ? It there were conditions, had these conditions been fulfilled when the Treaty of Valency (which was not revoked) had been concluded against as ? Had we agreed to pay our money at all ha zards ? Were all - Treaties reciprocal but those which were to drain of citir redundant wealth ? Were we to advance nsonef to •Spain, whatever might occur— even though those we undertook to subsidise went over to Bonaparte ? After what had taken plait% not merely at Valency, but between Ferdinand and our Allies, the Regency, and the Cortes, this cons. try had a right to pause before it advanced another shilling. Nor was it only by money that our appro. .bation of the conduct of Ferdinand had been mani fested. General Whittingliam, sifter what hr had described, was made a Lieutenant-General is the Spanish service, and thus put above all the Spanish Major-Generals; and be was then, by the advice of the Noble Lord (Lord Castlereagh). so doubt, ad vanced in the English service. He had had the ho nour to be made an Aid she Camp to the Prince Re gent, and was thus put over about one hundred and fnrty Lieut.-Colonels in our army. The services of .General Whittingham he was not at all disposed to undervalue. They had not been confined to the ope. rations at Madrid—be had distinguished himself in the battles of Barrosa and Boyle% and witlipatriotic warmth he believed him to have nobly borne his share in all the Spanish campaigns ; but .the last ser vice he performed, and for which it might have up peered the ieward he received was given, was for making himself the tool and the satellite of Ferdi nand, by executing his plots against the liberties of the Spanish people. He doubted not. that General Whittingham bad his instructions for what be-had done • but he considered it to be his misfortune that he had not received the rewards (which he well de served) which had been bestowed.on him, at an ear lier period. It was a misfortune. not only for him, but for the character of the English Government, that he had seemed to betewartied, not for his exer tions in the battles of Baylen and Barrow, but for his exertions against the Allies of England, the Re gency, and the Cortes. He apprehended it was un necessary for hint to pursue further the conduct of Ferdinand. to prove the present to be a case which called for our interference, when he bad cruelly pu nished those who were united with us in war and in council, in his behalf---who had not only made this ungrateful return to them, but who had given up the Tie sty which had been negociattd in favour of this country. He-wished not to be unnecessarily minute in noticing the punishments which had taken place : it was, however, tight to state, that twenty-seven Neither' of the Cones, and two of the Regency, had been consigned to dungeons. and besides a great variety of persons in private stations, who had at tached themselves to the patriotic cause. These, af ter remaining nineteen or twenty months in confine ment without being brought to trial, Ferdinand, as if to take away that complaint, had ordered to be brought to trial. and had accordingly signed a cont. mission for that purpose. Three commissions, one after another, bad been signed by his Catholic Ma jesty. by which those persons were sent to be tried. not before men selected from the great body of the people, but helmet-creatures supposed to be subset:- 'teat to his views, and by them to be sentenced to punishment, or acquitted. according to the nature of their case,' on inquiry. It had further pleased his Catholic Majesty .to review their sentences, •and to proclaim to the world, either • that these creatures were not disposed to be sufficiently subservient to, his views, or that they had miscalculated the point at which they concluded his animosity would stop, by taking the work out of their hands. Some of these punishments would nevertheless have been thought sufficiently severe in this country. Several of the pattiees had been sentenced to two years' . imprison ment, and others were ordered to confinement for a longer period. • One, person, a poor tradesman, who had proved himself friendly to England on all occa sions, and who had been active in prompting politi. cal discussions on the conduct of the Government was sentenced by these tribunals to four yeayb' im prisonment. " What l" said Ferdinand, on seeing this sentence" only four years imprisonment fur a wretch who hadpresumed to speak in public on po (4 kragis.)--He immediately undertook to revise this sentence, and, taking a more enlarged and: legitimate, view of the subject, he immediately struck out the f i st assigned doom of this unfortunate man, who was a Op*, withltis own hand, and sentenced him to be hanged..-(Haar, /sear, hear.)—Tbe public, however—he meant the scum of Madrid, with whom Ferdinand wat.popular-.(a mournful proof of the assertion that. that comutry fires ill where the Mo narch-hid the melt for his ally), even these, his Ma jesty's own rabble, -had rescued this poor man from death, and the 0406ln:tent bid in consequence been commuted for imeritOnment for ten years. 'While 'speaking of the crualtfof the punishments inflicted, he thought it m' ht tie roper to mention the name of the virtuoui..the pahrantic Arguellaa, whose fate could net be. eoo4loliited bet with Oak end ind igna. tion—Aigueilas, the . otioit iiieghiened, the moat elo. anent of the peth whose eloquence had always _____ _ - - - -- - . , . . • • ' • . - f. . . . • . ' .... ..' • , , .. . st il. . , _ as tioq,seb tut *coßetiqed . iti striink this i Ina if theie. 16, .1 1 b011tbein) lent" 146 hay of losing the high - Character we had pri yklboa)otittibtfre delicate than another to be toukhed. •• ' ' d been:l,oA to that et wore degra.ding tbes.,l other. it •Wite • uoirest . lolV. it our.tli . plomatic tra - • 11 3 ;But no, at that time he Was sustpi marched against tlx Cones were i . teith Spain, it • Het** Wellesley Ito ' tenionstrati ably this, It was on tMkpriuciplS alone he now ca ' littioloiiial flare Trade . 'lt s known what . cetaktio. It he had had such instr ioewsrdi and doing this, be was antiotit toggle henOthe answeagivertio:ClliverCtonswell, when no; ...liave had the cm* we now 1 hi did Att sattillee -one tittle ofthat Opinion wit' .in the zenith. of his prosperity, and when by his means tleir stigma which tbilist twenty had formerly delivered on the injustice of interfering tile poorer of England bed been greatly tanamed; in r anisette inestbitet been in in certain cases withotheenations,Where this course his Ministers peAk to the Spanish Minister - against - bad been decided upon -by the English Gommttent. the Inquisition , ' andclaiming for this country . a Fir • ileac e of the English Govcrnrr As stro . ngly , .es be . bad ever done, he protested against ticiptionin the colonial wade. The Spanish courtier _ _ .. . ..... _.•A .1....... itt the head of the vaneuard of El y—that nf - 1.4 heti devoted to the right casse...whoo, raised his voice io praise of liberty-- n alliance with this count r y s a • " ftrei t i ftßiglit th e 1 )toel against the African Slave Trad e; A condemned to serve as a common ioldi rison of Ceuta, and had been sent %f e j t , - dungeon on the coast of Africa, withi n 6 . 6 -1 tress belonging•to this countr was now for the House to determine, a t,' " Tol t was a-case which. called for th eir inte-f 1 ;7 had shewn that this country had intetr ered ell- , t * of number in other cases ; at this nm essest 44 was maintained in France for the expre ss a° interfering in the concerns of that confute had it under the h an d o f t h e liable Let'd'"' (Lord Castlereagh). This interfere nce sea ,tensiwe, and the whole F renc h Police niash,L to be under the contrnul of t h e D uke of *'7 It was then for the House to say, w hil e ais conduct was pursued in one quarte t ., sehi . L. ought not to use. Mir weight and influeece7 those who, by acting in concert with this, had been brnfight into distress elsewh et e 6 good faith which they had observed wily as. had heard what distinction was dra ws " the two cases, he could not guess what ai ls% be given to this appial but the one he , The Regency-having been named by us, nod into the situation in which it now bo a t through this country, had a just claim ne ar ference. He should say no more till he statement could be opposed to this moti e , a , ed not to risk a termination of the stalest (such as it is) now existing between thistle., Spain, by threatening the Spanish Moak' vengeance; but he wished his apprels ens i e6 tto filar excited, that he should be led to m a k deuce (of which he did not believe Ferilitn e ; destitute) od the course proper to be purse s ; might be reminded how often the breath of England had scattered the whole resmults e empire ;—how she had trampled on Old ito s self, on which, thank GOD, we had stilt safely planted, in sight of the prison of they' Arguelles. If these considerations were home to Ferdinand, he might cease to be . to reason—he might learn what one of the Spaniards had ventured to tell his master had but two enemies—the one was the whole and the other his own Ministers.—(Hear, If na other good effect was produced by it, a t tation of the subject in this House would -remind the present occupier of the Spaoidi that there was one place in the world An t truth may yet be freely spoken—where vse n raised against tyranny and usurpation, in heita the oppressed against the oppressor. Delh i able Gentleman then concluded by moving -44 That an humble Address be premed al Royal Highness the Prince Regent, lama* Royal* Highness to take into his gracious coot tion the sufferings of the Members of the let e q nish Regency and Cones ; and represeatiag Royal Highness, that the relations now sew with his Most Catholic Majesty, afforded ano , vourable opportunity for interposing with acal behalf of these individuals." Lord CASTLEREAGH observed, diat ' tion had been brought forward without aay of facts to chew that an interference such as thr Gentleman wished to take place could be his speech was not calculated to lay a bias* * any such proceeding. Nothing could be nom' creet than that species of interference, which, severed in, might terminate only in war. It happened, that Gentlemen of the professions the Hon. Mover belonged. forgot the ' their clients, whom they were bound to deist,' endeavour to display some peculiar talent et' tire, and to establish some favouriteprinciple. was the case on the present occasion ; for he there never was a speech so much calculate feat the object intended to be attained as dial Hoe. Gentleman. The motion was foandelee imputation thrown out against the person nod Throne of Spain, assuming as a fact, that dap son had proceeded in a settled course of JO against Great Britain, in consequence-eh - knit Vales die, and had also persecuted the Alliesoßq land. In a case like this we could not interfen al ' other way except by going to war. If, howeseril interference proposed was to be of an amicable is the course pursued by the Hon. Gentleman ino _ _ very worst he could have adopted. He was adshit, that nothing could contribute MN b amelioration of Europe than a Briii+h discussing all the questions of gene: al policy is the civilized world was intertued, and the of their sentiments all over the woild. But if British Parliament should begin to sit is j on foreign Sovereigns, and attempt to discus ferences arising between these Sovereigns ni own subjects, in opposition to tho prerogalli, belonged to all Sovereigns, it would, by sat parture from its duty, deprive the world cages of a free'Legislation. Such priticipless had never gone abroad, and the 'presoak them would lower Pediment in the eyed world. He was ready to admit, that the red . racier which England had acquired co thee arose from the freedom of discussion that in every part of the couitary ; yet two 64J ow and these chiefly arose from frequentlyulve l 4 pond the line of our duty. He should sot, difulsarge his duty, if he did not state, that convenience must arise from interference, that , out of a moral feeling and a virtuous impaltil the same were duly checked. It was hardly piP tor any man to judge of the extent of this iaceri since who had not been on the Continent. 110 11 . true character cf the English' was more c'ollifw than in their own country. In the whole OW duct and feeling of Englishmen on the Cod there was generally c bserved a tone of ilitt and •a sort of contempt lor every thing .that ail come withilt_the scope of their own conceptiois' if this sort . of conduct Was not checked, throl rims inconveniences might follow. The people!: Continent would not acknowledge with grf: , any of the favours they might receive from es so logical proof that our interterence could lit Sable, when the Hon. Gentleman said auto!: 'fereace 23 years ago might hove sand the 1 ' certain illusttioui persons. As to the WO! which took place in the time of Maga! Cromwell in farina of persecuted Prohatiooli 1 , ..