Star. — London, England, 1805-02-13 00:00:00

tl•em that we fhould content to forbear for a definite period for a definite purpofe, to their advance of the tubfidy alluded to, which purpofe, if not anfwered, our forbearance muff ceafe. As to the principles of national honour and good faith, which had been re• ferred to in the courfe of the debate, and which tome Gentlemen aliened had been outraged by the man ner of commencing the war with Spain, no man was more anxious to maintain chore principles on- Ihaken than he was—and be would ever contend ..... that there was not the flightell violence of thofe in the condua purfued by Mininers ; but, en the con trary, that they were religiouily attended to.— What was the cafe between this country and Spain ? Very early in the negotiation we Rated, that we Mould look upon any hollile armaments in the .tipanifh ports with the, uttssolk jealnufy, and after ds, lea there ilsould be any difpnte as to the nature of what was to be confidered a hnilile arma- merit, it was brought to this determinate point, that theie fhould be a celfation of all armaments. This was acceded to by Spain. and it was obferved, that it was q humiliating condition to require of what fame Gentlemen thought proper to call a °tetra! power. But this was a charaeter which; from the reaty of Ildefonfo, did not belong to Spain. He would admit 'that it would not be competent to any State to mate fuch a propofition to a neutral power, becaufe fuch a power might well anther, " We are arming to five our neutrality," or Rate other reafons that would be deemed (efficient. A neutral power Spain was not to be confidered by this country, for this plain realms, that, from her peculiar polition, any armament that might be prepared in her ports was liable, by the controlling power of France, to be con vened at any moment into an hollile armament againft us. To put a Rop to fuch armament altoge ther, therefore, was necelfary to our fecuritv. and Spain contented to do fo, as part of the conditions of our declining to make war upon her. That this formed the condition of our forbearance, according to the uoderftanding of Spain herfelf, he need only re fer to the several difpatches of ChevalierCevallos to M. d'Andnaga, and the notes of the latter to our !di stiller for Foreign Affairs, refpefting our complaints as to the preparation of certain armaments in the Spanifh ports. There armaments, notwithflanding the moll pofitive engagement to the contrary, it was notorious were in preparation at the time we pro ceeded to that aft, which it was Paid we &old not have attempted without giving previous notice of hoftility. But that notice, he maintained, Spain was not entitled to look for, becaufe her preparation of soy armament, without previous explanation to this Court as to the amount and object of fuch arma snent, was an aft of abfolute hotlility on her part The order, therefore, which was iffued by Minifters on the receipt of Admiral Cochrane's difpatches re lative to the armament at Ferrol, was perfeftly jufti- Sable. It had been raid that the objeft of that arma ment was not Wile to this country ; but, if net, if it was merely meant for the conveyance of troops to Rifcay, as was pretended, why was not the purpofe of it explained to this country before the preparation of it was commenced r This was required by the terms of their agreement ; but the fall was, that not withftanding the pretences alledged, there was ibme thing peculiarly myfterious in that armament—fume thing thrit eves to this hoar had not been fatisfaftn rily explained. From all appearances, and the infor mation which our Government received, it was an armament that he thought could not have been made without a hofide purpofe. If even a neutral power were preparing an extraordinary armament, the oh jefft of which Ow &mild ea application decline to ex plain, the Power applyinet would be jellified in con. fidering Inch refufal a fair objet of fufpicion, and a full caufe of war ; what then was to be thought Of an unfatisfadory explanation of an armament by Spain under the eircumftances he had already &imbed I That country did, he maintained, by tine annalneets at Ferrol, to which Admiral Coch rane's difpatch referred • not merely afford a tank of war, but :ideally plane herfelf in a date of war again ft this country, and of tour& the orders ailed on the slith of September were folly warranted. Such an armament was, in raft, an agreed carafe of var.-a.' Spain was the firft to break the engagement up on which we promifed her neutrality : and !he had no right, upon any principle of equity, or the law of nations, to complain of the confequences which that breach provoked. When the armaments were made known to our Minifter at Madrid, his applications to homage acquainted with the panieulart of the fob& diary treaty were perfectly neutral. We would not be warranted in any longer relying on the interpretations of that treaty, which had been previoufly given us by the Spina Minillry, that it contained nothing boßile to us ; particularly as it appeared that M. Cevallos had, within a few days. differed in his con- Sfullion of the agreement of forbearance, or, as he termed it, convention of neutrality, which exiled between Great Britain and Spain, as to the time at which the amount of the Spanifh naval armament was to be fixed. The refufal of Chevalier Cevallos to explain fully the nature of the fubfsdiary Treaty, was, in his judgment, (efficient to jellify Mr. Frere in quitting Madrid ; In far was Mr. Frere from aping with any precipitation, that he confidered his conclutt to manifeft the fame degree of moderation that chit rreterifed the whole proper, of the negotiation. He did not take any Sep without Rating the regions to the Spanifh Government, and pointing out the means that fhould be taken to present matters from pro s:ccding to extremity. The Learned Gentleman re capitulated the arguments which appeared to him to jollity the conduit of Minifters. There were two dif tinft grounds for the conamencement of the war ; t the violation of the conditions entered into by the Spanifts Government as the price of our forbearance; and fecundly, the refufal of that Government to afford us an expinhatiors upon points ferreting which we were entitled to demand that explanation.— The violation of the conditions ,he alluded to. be though quite fufficient to form the jollification of Minillers, and that any perfon who fairly confidered all the citcumllances of that violation, could not Rate that the chandler of this country was ftigmatized by the order which they iffued for the capture of the Sparta frigates, an order which Arndt his mind to be not merely warrantable, but to be fuch that, had they declined to iffue it, they would have been guilty of a moll criminal defertion of duty. The Hon. Cent. concluded with *Curing the Houfe that he confcien tionflyconfidered the coedit.* of Minifters to be as wife and jug as their motives were human and honourable. At a-late hotti Mr. FOX rote, and began by oh retying that it was the lets neeetrary for him to occu py much of theil attention, fence the arguments urged by his Hon. Friend who moved the Addrefs remain ed completely unanfwered ; and the Hon. and Lear ned Gentleman who had jug fat down, had not at all fucceeded in overthrowing the doctrine laid down in the fpeech of his Hon. and Learned Friend near him (Dr.Lawrence)—a rpeeeb not only replete with good fenfe, but what was far more valuable, with the molt enlightened and liberal maxims of policy. But what fill farther ruperfeded the necctlhy of his going into any length of diftuffion was, that the Hon. and Lear ned Gentleman had not, in the courfe of his reelbh ing, attempted to uphold the diftindion betwikt a fieipenfion of hoftilities and a fyftem Of neutrality, by which we were to be placed in a More favourable fituation, and enabled to take whatever advantages we thought proper, whenever a convenient opportu nity offered itfelf. He confeffed that the langua he had heard on this fubj e d from th e Ri g ht H o n. Ge who opened the dircuffinn, and other Gentle men on the fame fide, frock him with anonithment. It was neither more or Ids than the language of pas fraud. When he heard the right of putting an end to neutrality affected, jolt at that period when we could take the greaten advantage of the Rate with which the neutrality previoully gained, he could not help confidering it as altogether =infirm. He was happy to find the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had not attempted to ruppott filch a doctrine as this, that we would be jullified in entering into an implied agreement with another power, by which that power conceived itfelf fee from attack, merely with the purpofe of renewing hoffilities, at the moment when they were lean expelled. He was glad to find, at the fame time, that the Learned Gentleman was not difpofed to deny the exittence of that agreement, which Come other Gentlemen teemed fo anxious. either to deny altogether, or to mifreprefent its nature and extent. lie hoped the Houfe would hear no more of the idea of appearing to acquiefo! in an arrangement, and afterward* dirclaiming its exittence. when Come finitter or criminal purpofe was to be promoted. He had read in an ancient tragedy of one of the characters expreffing a with to Jupiter, that for the purpofe of preventing the ef feds of deceit, man had been provided with two voi ces, the one for the utterance of truth and the other for the utterance of fallihood. It had not, indeed, pleated the Government of the world to form filch an arrangement, but if there was not an ghat differ ence of voice, there was an eternal difference of language, and if there was any dictionary for this language it would be important to have it under- Rood, that to pars over was not to acquiefce in—that to wave the exercife of a right was merely to wait for the convenient moment to employ it with greater effect. If he had underlined the Honourable and Learned Gentleman, he confined his grounds of the war chiefly to two circumliances: The firm of there he had filed the remote cede, and the armaments in the Spanith ports he had defcribed as the proximate caufe of the renewal of hoftilities. With refpell to the remote caufe of the war he bad no difficulty in f.iyinp, that if the treaty of Ildefonfo was an °fen five Treaty. and he had alto as little hefitation in adding, that he did confider it in that light, its er- Mence was unqueftionably a clear ground of war againft Spain. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman had fated, that this Treaty was hill more Wile to this country than the family crimped, as the fuccours nipulated were to be given without any right to ark for explanation ab to the grounds of the war in which they might happen to be employed. He was not quite Cure that in the family centime there was an abfolute clank to this effect, but certainly this pe remptory power of demanding the fuccours had always been urged as one of the moll powerful menu againli that Treaty. However this might be, it was not very material to the prefent argument. But though he coincided entirely with the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, as to the right of this country to compel Spain to renounce the Treaty of Ilde fonfo, or to declare hottilities againft her, he took up his grand objection to the condud of Mininers, in not coming to an immediate explanation on the Cultic& as foun as ever hollilities were renewed between this country and France. Admitting our tight to de clare war, it became a queftion of policy whether Tome arrangement could not he formed by which the good underltanding betwixt the two countries might be pre - ferved. Such an arrangement. he confeffed s appeared to himconfittent with a liberal policy,and Minillers ap peared to have entertained a limiter opinion. When war with France became inevitable, it was cagy enough to forefee that Spain min, from her engagement with France, loon be brought into a difagreeable dilem ma, and what he complained of was, that no Reps were taken by Minifters to make provifion for the confequences. In the firft letter of Lord Hawker bury, he found our Minitter at Madrid, ordered to make the ftrideft inquiries refpeding the views of the Court of Spain, and afterwards it did not appear that he ever came to any explanation on the rubjed. An Honourable Member on the fame bench, (Mr. Banks) had, in his rpeech, attempted to point out what were the relative duties of the two countries in rather a novel ftyle. He had fated that initialers, opennefs, and candour were required of Spain; that vigilance, circumfpcttion, and jealonfy were the duty of this ' country. He confelfed he had ever conceived that franknefs was a quality which could only be mutual. If we wilhed others to he frank, we molt fiat be frank ourfelves. Uwe expelled full and candid explanation, it was fiat incumbent on us to exhibit, in our own conduit, proofs of opennefs and integrity. There ob lemtiens were founded, not on the laws of nations, or the cunoms of England, but in the cnnftitution of things, and the laws of our being. Till he had per ufed the letters on the table, he had not conceived it poffible that any lines but two could have been purfu ed. The firft was a determination for infant war. lf, on the contrary, a different courfe was to be at tempted, that no time would be loft while the difpo fition of the Spaniards remained amicable, to conclude any arrangement by which their neutrality might be preferved. What then was it that Knitters had done to accomplith this moo important °Wed ? In the month of June, Lord Haskefbury had given our Minitter at Madrid no powers to form any arrange ment ; and five months elapfed during which nothing was done, and that when Minifters could not be ig norant.that French intrigue would be fufficiently ac tive in inlligating Spain to ad up to the terms of the Subfidiary rusty. During all this period there is no eons . Munkadon made, no explanation authorized. no intelligence given to the Spanifh Court of the cb jed, views and difpofitions of our Court. What was here to be concluded, but that Minifters believed that Spar.ilh neutrality was intimately conflated with the ditlates of policy, hut had left the whole matter wholly to chance, which every man of common fenfe law to be full of difficulty and embarraffment ? Not only do five months elapfe without any remonftrance or explanation, bpt this filence is obferved at a time when the hope of fuccefsfol negotiation was by far the molt natural. Spain did not attempt to conceal her real fituation. She difclnfed the demands which France was making, and if we were unable to yield het affiftance, Rue had at !call a right to look for our advice for the eftablifhment of her future relations with this Country. But what rendered the conciud of Minifters the mare inexcufable was ' that though they knew as far back as the t zth of September, and were again affured on the sath of the fame month, that a Subfidiary Treaty was aloofly negotiating, they did not make even oae effort to prevent fuch an arrangement from taking place. Under all theft cir cumftances Spain was now attempted to be calum niated for commuting the Treaty, by which a contin gent was to be given for a fubfidiary agreement.— Much ftrefs was alfo laid on calculations that the amount of the fubfidy was greater than the amount which by the Treaty of Ildefonfo they had agreed to furnith to France. This, however, was nothing to the purpofe. It *as very material, fo far as refpated France and Spain, though not this country and Spain. The queltion was, had or had not Spain reafon to fuppole that the commutation as the contingent for o fum of money would be more agreeable to this coun try ? and (he had not at on the idea that the change would he defirable. Spain wok the method of reliev ing herfelf frotn her enthairaffments which appeared the molt unexceptionable ; and if Minifters here, who were apprifed of the Rep the was about to take, difapproved of it, why did they not remonftrate on the fubjed. But it was clear, from the language of Lord Hawkeffiury, that he did not confider the com mutation as in the leap objedionable. In one of his difpatchec he inftruas Mr. Frere. that if on inquiry he finds that the Court of Spain had determined on giving the contingent, immediately to demand his palfport and quit Kidd:: but that if he thould find a propofition for a commutation treaty, he (broad take nu Reps on the occafion, but report to his Court. Was this not a decifive proof in what light Minilters viewed the commutation treaty? But now Spain was traduced for fubfidifing France. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman had allowed, that ever fince the family compact there was always a (lender profped of the continuance of peace with Spain, while hoffilities exulted between this country and France. He had even mentioned that the Ad miniftration of 1778 had been cenfured for not fore teeing and providing againft fuels an event. He thanked Gon, that (boner or later the fentiments of oppofition had full jußice done, and he was happy that the oppofition of 18oshad left future oppnfitions an example by which to form an tail:nate on this tub jed. He certainly thought that the Adminiftra tion of 1778 was very fhort-lighted not to provide againft the probability of a rupture with Spain. But how much more thort-lighted and culpable were Mi nifters now, when the great difference in the Rate of Spain was confidered ? Formerly the controul ex. ercifed was the controul of the Government of France over the Government of Spain, but was not a con troul arifing from the wilbes of the people or the ap prehenfion of a French army taking Madrid. Now, it was tite apprebenlion of being over-run by the Fre.„-h troops. that rendered every ad of the Spa nifh Court abfolutely dependent. Formerly, there might have been a prefumption of a holtile mind. —Now there was not tlse haft room for fuch a fufpi cion. It was ridiculous to think of Spain wilting now to (hare in the conqueßs of France, or the glo ries of her chief. The events which had lately hap pened in turope, mull, he hoped, have cured the info nor States of this mad ambition. But as Minifters molt have Confect the probability of a rupture, as they were apprifed of the arrangement of Spain to ward off this calamity by a fubfidy to France, the quellion arofe out of the extent of this pecuniary fa erifice. Now it was faying nothing to fay that its amount was larger than the amount of the contin gent, becanfe Spain, being forced to have recourfe to this expedient, could not prevent this relish from taking place. It was well known, that the perfnn commuting a contingent for a fum of money, was, to a certain degree. at the mercy of him by whom the commutation is to be received. This was precife ly the fituation of Spain, but Spaia could net in jultice be blamed for a circuniftance necelfarily arifing out of her dependent (hoodoo. The Hon. Gentleman, after again expreffing his indignation againft the idea of keeping back grounds of offence, went on to com ment on the agreement of the :Bth of January, and confirmed by another letter of the 18th of February, by which the payment of the fubfidy to France was acquiefeed in as a temporary expedient. It was true that Mr. Frere thought proper to deny that there was any agreement, and though it is pofitively referred to in M. Cevallos's letters, he fags his only reafon for not protefting againft its exiflence was, that no part of his conversation countenanced the idea. But Purely, this was a curious realists, t:sut Mr. Frere, be. caufe he found M. Cevallos labouring under an error, would take no trouble in correding the millake.— M. Cevallos continues to believe in the exigence of the agreement. M. Anduaga exprefsly mentions its exigence to Lord Hawkefbory, and his Lordfhip ne ver drops a hint of there being no fuch arrange ment. Was it fair, he alked, betwixt men 'that fuch an agreement fhoull have been under dood to be in existence for a number of months. that the Spa nifh Court thould have uniformly aged on it, and that when it tidied our Minillers it *add be de nied. M. Cevallos, in his letters, aliens the exit!. ence of the agreement, knd explains the two condi tions on which it is to continue in force. As to the Pale of prizes in the Spanifh ports, there were no difference of opinion. The other refpeding or moments was alfo acceded to, though certainly M. Cevallos contends, and not without great reafon, that . the armaments should refer to fuch as were meant to fuccour France,or to ad hoßilely againft this country. Here the Honourable Member argued on the Rate of the enemy's preparations, which never could have excited ferious apprehenfions. The armaments at Ferrol were quite inconfiderable. They never ex ceeded three fail of the line, only half manned. 'They were fefficiently Etta to craq troops to Bircay, and ;however abfurd it might he rerreiented, ev.n Mr. Frere hint. who was no , the molt difpofel to pr . a favourable conflruerrat on the views of the Cou of Spain, allowed that this w,as their deflination.- IThe orders for failing from the outer to the inner harbour, were given on the 7th of Sept. and on the t6th they were again ordered to be laid up in or. dinary. Here then only nine days elapfed before eve ry fource of apprehenfion from thefe preparations was removed. No man could ferioufly believe that Spain had holtile intentions. If any thing had been wanting to convince us of her pacific intentions. her condo& on this occafion ought to have removed all ground of fufpicion. He condemned Miniflert molt warmly for illiting thufe orders which had pro duced filch unpleafant and unfortunate confequencest which had plunged in war twe countries having no caufe of hotlility to each other, without inquiry into the information which Admiral Cochrane had tranf mitted from Ferrol. He meant no reflection on the charaEler of that gallant officer, but he had tranf. mitted erroneous information hoth as to Carthagena and Cadiz, in none of which ports were there the leaQ fymptoms of preparation.—The pacific views of Spain were. indeed, manifel to all Europe, and it was the height of abfurdity to talk of her armaments. —lt had been Paid by the Learned Gentleman (the Mailer of the Rolls), that the armament at Ferrol was at kali myflerious, and remained fo. On the contrary there appeared every reafon to believe, that Spain confidered that armament no violation f the ezifling agreement—and indeed, its being fo fpeedily countermanded, moft clearly evinced that it could never have been undertalcen . on any fyftem of hofli lity to this country. With refpeft to that armament, however, Lord Harrowby, in his 2d letter, admits bat it might be capable of fatisfaftory explanation, but might even be fuch as this country would ap prove its continuance. Much had been Paid about. the refufal to communicate the Treaty of Subfidy, hut in fat, from what appeared in the papers, no formal official demand of its communication had been made till o.ftober, jult before Mr. Frere'a departure from Madrid. Nor was this, in all probability, an ac• cidental omillion• ' for the circumftance had frequently beecn the fubje 2 of converfation, particularly cn an occalion with the Prince of Peace, when the latter re- ferred Mr. Frere to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, M. Cevallos ; and though Mr. Ft ere had re. fulved to demand a conference, in order to !late the quaint% to the Secretary, it teemed that no fuch con. terenee ever took place.. Nor was it perhaps a matter of blame that thiofficial demand of this cOmmunica. Lion WAS deferred, becaufe Minifters might have feen that there was no immediate occafion for it. They certainly had it in contemplation, on the recall of Mr. Frere, to Cenda perfon every way qualified for the Ration, Mr. Wefiefley, to negociate on the whole hate of onr relations with Spain; and if, for the fake of avoiding prejudices that might have been hurtful to the fuccefs of any negociation in the hands of Mr. Frere, after the difference with the Prince of Peace, - - it cutely would have been proper alto to have recall• . . ed his brother, whofe co n ne xion was calculated to keep alive thofe very prejudices which the recall of the former was intended to prevent. The demand of the treaty, however, was at left made officially jut before Mr. Frere left Madrid, and at a time when it mull have been manifell that war was re folved on ; although indeed there was nothing in Lord Harrowby's mftruCtions that authorized Mr. Frere to leave Madrid, if in the firft inliance the claims he had been direfted to infifk on were not granted in all their extent. Befides, though not formally communicated, it was pretty evident that Mini Hers were acquainted with the terms of the treaty, and perhaps too from confidential communi cations by the Spann Government. Yet even the refufal of the communication of the treaty could not be confidered a juffification of the war, fo far as the capture of the frigates was concerned, becaufe that refufal was fubfequent to the order which produced the capture. It was laid, however, that at the period when that order was given, we would have been Jul.. tificd in going to war, and of c chile were jullified in every meafure that was fhort of war. In what ' light then was the capture of the frigates to be view • ed—was it of war or precaution ? It it was a pre caution, it was to be remembered that there was a molt important diftinflion between detention of pro. perty in our hands and an attack on the loyal flag of another nation. In the one cafe property might be retlored, but in the other an apology, perhaps of e humiliating kind, might be neceffiary to give fatif fation, not to mention the lamentable and unnecclfary factifice of human lives. The meafure, however, feemed to have been confidered rather as an ad of war than of precaution. What dreadful confequences then mull follow, if on the alledged violation of a cou nt-naive agreement, loofely worded, altual war were to be commenced ? If it was a meafure of war, to what purpofe imbue Mr. Frere to negotiate on the footing of tranquillity, Rill cu tting? To what purpofe labour to prolong peace, when war was aCtually begun ? It was like laying, when a man had already been hang ed, let him fill have a fair trial to fee whether there was reafon to hang him or not. Indeed, there was fomething in this tranfaltion that equalled in bad faith any of the molt perfidious alts of the wort of govern ments in any age. What inflance, unreprobated and uncondemned by hiflory, could be found to ju lily it? —Suppofe that difcuffions exiled between any Go vernment ; that a public Minifter was direaed to ne gociate for the removal of any °blades that might difturb the exiling tranquillity : Snppofe that with much addrels he had prevailed upon the pride of the other Government to fubmit to conceffions, that he had brought them to a temper of conciliation; a poll arrives from his Court, and thole with whom he had negociated, then Imagining that they were to reap the fruit of their conceffions, wh :n, instead of the confir mation of peace, it is announcedthat efts of open hof tility had been committed while negotiations were going ou upon the tooting of aCtual tranquillity.What mutt he the feelings of tuch a Government ? What would be thought of any public Minilter who could lend himfelf to loch a fcene of fraud and duplicity ? b it poffible that any perfon in the rank of a gentle. man could defcend to play In unworthy a part ? Yet, what was the fad here ? Had not the Spanifh Iri gate; been captured, and was not Mr. Frere inftroLft ed to negotiate as on the footing o uninterru,..ed peace, and to bring matters to an arrangement, Alto gether keeping out of view the hoffilities commit . ed ? He had no doubt, therefore, that Mr. Frere malt have V