Star. — London, England, 1826-12-13 00:00:00

. roads had been made.by POrtugueseroleserters. A boa* from Estramadura, equipped by Spanish authority, had' marched under the command of the Governor of Bade jos. This force advanced into Portugal, and toolopos session of Villa Nova. In addition to that circum stance,. there weep great and important considerations. An Army of communication was observed from one end of the frontier . ..to the other; and whilst one inroad was gide - at one place, another was made at another part of the frontier. This proved that the troops were not organised in Estramadura alone. It was evident there was a concert and arrangement sanctioned by the Spanish Government. it might be possible that an act of hostility might have been committed at the time the Spanish Government opposed the act, but an irruption of the magnitude described could not have been without the consent and connivance of that Government. The Noble E trl then adverted to the Treaties which existed between this country and Portugal. The first was en tered into in 1661, and there was one in 1703. The first contained stipulations by which this country was to send to the assistance of Portugal a force to the - extent of 3,000 men, and by , the. second 6,000 men: There was also an express stipulation in the Treaty. of Vienna in 1815, that nothing was to interfere with the anciaot Treaties which had so long existed between Great Bri tain and Portugal, on the contrary they were renewed. Their Lordships would see that the support to be sent to Portugal was not founded upon any wild or romantic Scheme. It was the effect of an alliance of the greatest advantage to this country. We were obliged to support Portugal, upon principles of , policy and good faith.— Under those circumstances, orders have been given for British troops to prepare to proceed to Lisbon, for the purpose of acting with the Portuguese. It was the in tention of his Majesty's - Government to bring about a tettlemeat of these disputes, and every effort had been 'lade for that purpose. A recommendation had been given to Spain to follow the same system which Portugal pursued, namely not to encourage deserters, which must aggravate their contentions. An hundred remon strances of that sort had been made by his Majesty's Government, in the hope of putting an end to aggres sions; but there was a powerfill faction, which set at nought all the orders of the King of Spain, if those orders did not square with their own feelings and passions— (l-leer). And when that faction was in existence, re *Wittig to obey the orders of their Sovereign, what could be expected? After the remonstrances of his Majesty's Government, through the medium of our Minister at Madrid, had failed, it became necessary to resort to *forcible and poweriul measures, in order that the faith of this country might be preserved, and a feeling of peace and amity on the part of Spain be restored. In the Address which it was his intends° to move, be should express the hope of that Mouse, that the Measures taken by his Majesty towards the King of Spain nal& tie effectual, and that the House of Lords moveyed to his Majesty an assurance of cordial support, for the purpose of securing the existence and independence of our oldest Ally.—The Noble Earl accordingly moved— " Tkat an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, to return the thanks'of that House for his mom gracious Message, and to erpreps that his. Majesty might rely en the concurrence of that House in maintaining the faith of treaties, ate. Ste Lord HOLLAND gave his cordial concurrence to 'the Address, because he thought . justice and sound policy required an early manifestation of spirit, and a conscientious adherence to the faith of treaties pn the part of Great Britain. It was, and should be always, the policy - of Great. Britain to preserve a friendly alliance : with Portugal ; and the greatest achievement of the Noble Duke ( Wellington) was the putting that alliance on the closest and firmest footing.. He had but little faith in the cu-operative professions of the French Go vernment. They professed sincerity of forbearance befuse they invaded Spain, and yet they held that country in military ',objection. He wished the independence of Pot tugal bad been then fought for on the plain, of Spain; and the cause of the Catholics of Ireland would not be now fought for on the plaits of Portugal ; until that country would be settled, it would be unfair to go to war; and it would not be sealed without Catholic Emancipation. - The Duke of WELLINGTON said he did not rise to offer any apology for the measure proposed by his Majesty's Government. On the contrary his anxious ish was, that all apology should be rendered unneces sary. The duty had devolved on him for many years of directing the resources both of Spain and Portugal, when Ibis country interfered to protect them hom the common enemy. He was therefore enabled to form some estimate of the general character of the people in the Peninsul as He hoped the circumstances in question were more to be attributed to the servants of the Go vernment than to the Spanish Government itself—more to the Captains General of the provinces than to his Catholic Majesty himself. But he did not care whether they took place with or without the concurrence of the . Spanish Government; he could not possibly see an armed force marching on both sides of the Douro, and to the south of the rages and Guadiana, at the same dose armed by Spanish Authorities, and not see that such a pro ceeding must have bad the concurrence of the Spanish Go vernment. He still thought, however, that war might be prevented; and he thought that the measure now pro posed by his Majesty's Ministers was the most likely to prevent ft. He hoped that, with the co-operation of his Most Chaisdan Majesty, his Catholic Majesty would be brought to a sense of his own interest, and induce his Government to take the necessary steps towards effecting an ae.conamodadoo. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, after some prefatory Tema' ks, said he was sure it was not necessary' for him to trespass on their Lordships - indulgence at any length, as there could be but one opinion on the subject now under consideration. If he had not hitherto adverted to that subject in the course of the present Session, it . was not from any thing like indifference to the great interests which it involved. Last week, when he was told that the ten itory of our faithful and ancient Ally was invade 3, it was not without anxious feeling that he restrained himself from asking some questions of a Noble Earl who was not now in his place. If he had not done so, however, it was because he felt assured that his Majesty's Ministers were not wanting to themselves or to the country on the occasion. He knew that they wanted not the spirit to act, and the power to execute. but while he allowed it to be matter of great com mendation to his Majesty's Ministers to make every effort to avert the calamities of war—he trusted also, that if war appeared necessary, they would not stop to in quire whether the cause had proceeded from the King M Spain, or from the faction under whose influence be seemed to act—(Hear, hear). He trusted that they would, with as little hesitation as possible, act upon the course which they had laid down, and that their Lord ships would have as little hesitation in approving of that course. Any hesitation at this juncture would be the very worst policy. It would be the worst policy, not only towards Portugal, but towards that Government, whose efforts they were told were united with ours in nuking remonstrances with Spain, but which needed not to be the less since re or act i ve i n h av i ng the power ful cooperat ion of this country. He hoped they would compel Spain, at her own peril, to respect the rights and independence of her altighbour—(Hpar).. Now,l while he entiralurgreed with chose who were of opinion diat the cants ftederis had here arisen. he would mans-, tritin that, on the principle of honesty alone, we ought to interfere for the defence of Portugal. We ought to use' our utmost efforts to prevent that interference with the independence of other nations, which, if once admitted, would in the end apply to this country. For his part k ' he should be prepared to sanction every possible mea sure for the.protection of Portugal, even if the country were not bound by ,the faith of Treaties. In giving his cordial approbation to the present measure, as well as' to the Address founded upon it—he trusted at the same tinie, that every thing that could be judiciously done' would be resorted to, in order to warn Spain of her' ' danger. He joined with the Noble Duke in hoping that these proceedings might be found to have emanated, not from the King of Spain, but from his servarito—but the principle was odious, it was one which ought to be resisted. The motion was then unanimously agreed to, and their Lordships adjourned at a Quarter before Siz. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Sir T. LETHBRIDGE presented a Petition front James Frampton, agent to Mr. Jarrard,.the Member returned for the boVisugh of Ham, is Yorkshire, pruying for an extension of one day, for entering Into the rucogniaances,ottlording to the Act regu lating Election Petitions. The Hon. Basonet stated. that 14 days were allowed by law for entering into the required recognisantes ; but the Petitioner having miscalculated Sunday in the fortnight, prayed that. the House would change the date from the 18th to the 19th. Petitioner being called to the bar, and interrogated u to the correctness of the allegations contained in the Petition, the date was enlarged from the 18th to the 18th. Mi. CALVERT presented a Petition from Thomas Smith, of the Ship Inn, Tottenham, praying for an alteration in the Act regu lating the licensing of alehouses. Mr. C. PA LLMER presented a Petition from John Holman Ridge, Army Agent, complaining of certain money transactions with the Marquis of Hastings, and praying that the House would institute an inquiry into his cue, and if requisite that the Marquis should be recalled from the Governorship of Malta, in order that certain money transactions, in which the Petitioner was concerned might be adjusted. Mr. Secretary CANNING thought the prayer of the Petition ought not to be entertained, inasmuch as the Marquis of Hastings was not at present in a situation to answer the allegations. After a few remarks from Mr. Paws= and Mr. WYNN, the Petition was laid on the table. _ _ A Message from the Lords acquainted the House that their Lordships had agreed the Exchequer Ws' BM, the Corn Importa tion Indemnity, and other Bills. Mr. J. WILLIAMS gave notice of a motion, after the holi days, relative to the business done in the Court of Chancery. Mr. Secretary CANNING, in reply to a question put to him, said, it was intended that Parliament should re-assemble, after the on the 9th of February. WAR WITH SPAIN. Mr. Secretary CANN ING moved, that the Order of the Day, fer the House taking Into consideration the Message of his Majesty to the Commons be 11311/ read. The Order of the Day being accordingly.read. Mr. CANNING rose, and in the most clear tone and emphatic manner, spoke as follows :—Mr. Speaker, in proposing to the House to acknowledge his Majesty's most gracious Message, and to reply to it in terms which will be an echo of the sentiments, and a fulfilment of the anticipations of his Majesty, I feel, that however confident I may be in the justice, and however clear as to the policy, of the measure which the Message em braces, it becomes a British Minister, in recommending to the House any step which approximates even to the hazards of war, to use the language of regret. I assure the House, that there is not within these walls any let of men more convinced than Ministers, nor any indisi• dad more intimately persuaded than he who has now the honour of addressing you, of the vital importance of the consequences of this policy to this country, and to the world (hear.) So strongly do I feel impressed with this opinion (and even berme I sit down I may have occasion to explain the difficulties), that there is no ques tion of denial—there is no question of present advant age—there is no question of an anticipation of remote good, which I would not pass over, compromise, or ad journ, rather than call upon the House, at this moment, to enter into a war. (hear.) Sir, I feel, and it has been felt, in the best times of EitAl.sh history, by the best statesmen of this country, and by the Parliaments by which those"statesmen have been supported, that there are only two causes . which cannot, under any cir cumstances, be compromised or adjourned. I mean, Sir, the causes of national faith and national ho nour (hear.) Sir, it I did not consider the present question as falling wiihin both these causes, I should not address you, as I do tO-day, with a confidence that the communication made to Parliament, in his Majes ty's Message, will • be met by the House with such a mind, as his Majesty confidently anticipates In order to bring the case under the cognizance of Parliament in the shortest and clearest form, I must permit myself to inquire into some of the collateral considerations with .. which it is-necessarily accompanied. I beg leave to state shortly, that it is a case, as it were, of law k of fact, a case of national law, and of notorious fact on the other Land ; and which, when brought under the considera tion of a British Ministry and - Parliament, it is impos sible to consider in any light but one—and quite as impossible for Parliament as for Government to come to any other than that: one decision. Sir, amongst the alliances' by which, at different periods of history, this country has been connected with the other nations of Europe, there is none either so old in faith, or so con scant in duration, or so precise in obligations, or so intimately interwoven with the whole history, aad with the most brilliant periods of the history of this country, as the alliance between Great Britain sod the Crown of Portugal.lt dates back to distant centuries; it has survived every great conflict. It is older than the epoch to which I am about to advert, but it received its greatest vigour when the present Royal Family of Portugal was seated on its throne. The House of Brakanza was placed at the bead of an independent IsConarchy, at the instance, and by the friendship, of Great Britain. The con. nezion between the two kingdoms has been continued, renewed, and maintained, under every difficulty ; it has been adhered to in periods when the faith of other alli• agues has been shaken; it has been vindicated in those fields of blood and glory which remain among the most brilliant pages of the history of England. Sit, in that alliance we - have always been scrupulously faithful. It may sometimes have been burthensome to England, and there may even new be those who wish to shake it off ; but a feeling growing out of national faith, *feeling of common interest, a sympathy between the two coun tries, must, upon consideration, convince every body of the comparative advantages and obligations of this alli ance. It is not wholly,bowever,at distant periods, it is not altogether amongst ages long gone by, that traces of this union are to be found. In the latest compact of modern Europe, that which now forms the patent law of the nations of the world —I mean the Convention of Vienna —this country, with hi eyes open to all the inconve , silences of the connection, but with its memory full of all kr benefits, and with all therieeliege belonging to them, renewed solemnly the previously existing obli gations. This it did in terms so strong, that these is no possibility of ♦iolating them, without the•most dis graceful breach of national honour. The question being one of public faith, I-take the liberty of referring to this treaty before I call upon the House for its vote.— (Here the Right - Thin. Gentliana referred to the treaty of Vienna). By the third article of the Treaty of Vienna, dated 22d of January, 1815, the Treaty of Alliance between Great Britain and Portugal, negociated at Rio de Janeiro, on the 19th of February, 1812, is thus al luded to: " The treaty of alliance concluded at Ain de Janeiro, on the 19th February, 1810, being founded on drcunutances-olutinpo rary nature, which have happily cased to east, the said treaty is hereby de clared to be void in all its parts, and of no effect ; without prejedice, however, to the ancient treaties of alliance, ftiendahip and guarantee, which have so long and so happily subsisted between the two crowns, and which are hereby renewed by the high con tracting parties, and acknowledged to be of full force and effect." In order that the House may appreciate accurately the effects of this obligation, they will permit me, per haps to explain the full force of the circumstances under which this treaty was contracted. In the year 1807, when, upon the declaration of Buonapar te, that the House of Braganca 4 ' ceased to reign." the Royal Family of Portugal was induced, by the advice, and upon the advances of this country, to sail for the Bra zils; in the act of embarking, a Secret Convention was signed by Portugal and Great Britain, stipulating, that in case of the King and Royal Family removing its re sidence to the Brazils, this country would never suffer Portugal to remain under any other dynasty than that of . the House of Bragansa. It was this Secret Convention that brought about the emigration, and greatly contri buted to decide that step by which the Royal Family of Portugal was removed from the Power of France. The King of Portugal having become established upon his throne,the Article ceased to be a secret, and was made a part of the law of nat'ons by the treaty of 1810, and from that time up to the treaty of Vienna. It was clearly un derstood throughout Europe that we had determined not to acknowledge any Sovereign in Portugal, except a member of the House of Braganca. But that determina tion arose solely from the supposition that that Sove reign would be compelled to a forced residence in Brazil. Beyond this it was not binding upon us, as it was felt that the moment the ground of the obligation ceased,. there was an end to the treaty. I shall next advert to the treaty of 1810, which I have already read to the House, and in which u e renewed those pledges of confi dence, alliance, friendship, and guarantee, which had so lung and so happily existed between the two Crowns. This treaty was ratified and recognized by the High Contracting Parties, and was acknowledged to be in full force and effect between this country and Portugal. But even if those treaties did not exist ; if by any sudden convulsion of nature, they had been consigned to eter nal oblivion, still I say that Great Britain would be, in a moral point of view, as much bound. Xs she now is to extend her protection and support to Portugal. (cries of hear, hear.) The case, howevet, is not so—the treaties de exist ; nay, mote ; their exigence has been known to Spain, to Europe, to all the civilized world. (hear.) So notorious, indeed, was and is the existence of these trea ties, that I shall only advert to one or two of them.— IL shall first take the treaty of 1661, upon the cenclu siois of the marriage between Charles the Second and the Infanta of Portugal. In that treaty, after making over Bombay and Tarijier, and some other places, some of. which are given up, and others of which remain to us, .was.declaredi a That the King of Great Britain, with the advice and consent of his Privy Council, took the interest and welfare of Portugal and her dominions greatly to heart, and that he pledged himself to protect and defend her and her possessions with all his power, both by sea and land, even as though she were part of England itself (hear) And it was by that treaty further promised, that his Majesty should send over two regiments of horse, of 500 each, and two regiments of foot, of 1,000 each, at the proper cost and charge of this country. Now, Sir, this was entering into the details, but I consider it so conclusive, that I scarcely consider it necessary to go any further. There is, however, one other treaty, to which I beg leave to call the attention of the HouSe—l mean the treaty of 1703. By the treaty of 1708, which a contemporaneous writer de- . _ _ • - . scribed as the famous Methuen Treaty ] , and which was still held binding. it was • stipulated between this Country, Portugal, and the States General of Hol land (in a defensive article), that if ever it *should hap pen that the King of Sinus or the King of France, or both, should go to war with Portugal, or give reason that they,,or either of them, meant to disturb her or her possessions beyond the. seas. in such case his Ma jesty and the States General should exert their good offices to prevent hostilities (hear, hear); and these good, offices failing, then England and Holland should go to war with France or Spain. or both; and in such case, Holland was to supply 12,000 men, and to support them at her own charge. I am ready to admit, Sir, that either of these treaties might be, by time and cir cumstances, supposed to have relaxed in their force; or it might be asked, why one party having. withdrawn itself from the responsibility, say Holland for instance, the other should be still considered as bound to adhere to it ? Sat without going into anythiog like,pleading upon the subject, I shall say that the objections, if any existed, to this treaty, ought to have been raised at the treaty of Vienna. There we, with our eyes open, and in the face of all the world, acknowledged that we felt bound by these treaties, and stated that we acknow ledged them to be in full force and effect. ' It is not, therefore, so much to those treaties as to what took place at Vienna, that we now find ourselves briund to Portugal, and that she has a right to look up to us as her ancient ally and friend. This is the great moral and political obligation which I do not feel ashamed to say we are bound by, and which gives Portugal, in her apprehension of the coming storm, a right to call upon us—(Hear). 1 feel it right to state, that no hesitation on the part of his Majesty's Government has been mani fested in answering the call of Portugal. We only waited, as we were bound to do, in order to ascertain whether a casus liederis bad arisen, before we took any decided step—(Hecq In entering into this explana tion I have incidenta lly answered an objection which I somewhere heard urged, as if any extraordinary delay had taken place on the part of his Majesty's Govern afent. It was only oo the Sd of December that I re ceived from the Portuguese Ambassador an application for assistance. To this application my answer was, that although rumours had reached Government. through France and'other pat is of the Continent, yet that we were not in.possession of that precis information upon which we could rely, or found any communication to Pgrlia, meat. It was only on Friday that information reached us in an authentic form; on Saturday Ministers came to a decision upon it ; on Sunday the consent of his Majesty was obtained ; on Monday the -nommunicatio n in , made to bath Houses of Parliament; and at the v et moment that !have the honour of addressing thi s H ouse , the troops are on their way to Portugal—(L ou d cries of Hear, hear, from both sides of the House). I trust, rh ea Sir, that no charge of unnecessary delay ca n b e made out agairtst his Majesty's Government ; b ut t h at, on the contrary , x in a case of this kind, spreadin g , at i t does, over suc h a variety of circumstances, and atte n d e d by such i m portant consequences, it wits our d u ty not is lend o u rselves to heat say or rumours, but a b stain from acting until we possessed a full knowledge llf the ACM The statements reached us at first through Madrid, where the facts were distorted in orcer fis answer political purposes; they reached as also through the Press of France, where facts st el e se disfigured, and represented in such curious forms, that any Gentleman would think the object was to (cm . ceal the real state of affairs. In a word, it was imp. s i Bible that any Ministers could found a grave a n d i no portant proceeding upon such statements as those co n . tamed in the Newspaper Press of France. Minis:cis were therefore obliged to wait until they could come before Parliament with a confidence that their state. meats were true; and that they had proper authority for their communications. There was, however, ano . they ground fore deferring-the communication in q 4,, tion to the present period. When Portugal on a tot. mer occasion claimed our aid, it was sufficient that she did so in resistance to a Foreign Power, and on the faith ,of old and existing treaties. But the claim of Portugal at present requited a differ. ent consideration; we bad to enquire, before a Britisb soldier put his foot on the Portuguese soil, nay, belore a British soldier was pot in motion to embark for that country, whether they would meet that general recep. tion to which they were entitled, and whether the consent of all the Constituted Authorities was in savour of their lending ? I assure the House that every precaution was taken to prevent involving this country in prcceedings which might be found unnecessary; or if not so, at least unpleasant in consequence of disagreements in that coun try. It was only this morning that I received intelligence announcing that the whole of the Constituted Authori ties in Portugal were most anxious for the presence of the British troops, and that both the Chambers had been unanimous upon the subject. (hear.) Sir W. A'Coart from whom the information came, stated in his dispatch, dated the 49th of November, that, " The day after the news arrived of the entry of the rebels into Villa Seca, (as we understood) application was made by the Minis. ters for British aid, upon the faith of ancient treaties._ The deputies, in a body, gave their assent ; and the Peers, rising from their seats, were to a man unani. mous upon the subject ; and the Duke of Carhaval de scribed them as all ready to offer every assistance, either personal or otherwise, in the r power. Sir W. A'Court's informant stated, that the feeling displayed upon - the occasion was worthy of the good days of Portugal. The question of the reception of our troops being arranged, it came next to be consi. dered whether the Cam Fcaderis had arrived. Now it is clear that bands of armed Portuguese, armed and equipped by Spain, had crossed the Portuguese fron tiers, and not in one place, but at several point's. One incursion had ' been made at Tras-os-Montes, and other points. It certainly is possible that some slight aggression might have been committed by a few discontented persons or stragglers at .a single point, without mating much alarm ; but when an at tack was made in this way upon a whole line of lion. tier, no doubt could be entertained of the nature and object of the aggression. It is true, it would be more undoubteal : if a single Spaniard had crossed the frontier with a hostile feeling. But the question with the &Milt Government was this :—ls there less hostility in a Portu guese army crossing the frontier when avowedly in t h e pay and service of Spain ? The incursionahen,by persons nurtured on the soil,was at the instigation and by the sup port of foreigners. It is therefore idle to say that is not in truth and in fact a foreign invasion. It is true that Spain has not availed herself of her own or other merce naries, but she has made use of the mercenaries of Pot tugal itself , —(Hear). I have already stated, that it was not his Majesty's intention to interfere with the internal regulations of Portugal; that is a question which they must .settle amongst themselves. But there is a wide distinction between her internal regulations, and foreign aggressions upon her. And when bands of armed re• fugees, confessedly supported by a foreign power, break in upon her peace and quiet, it would be a laxity in politics, and a solecism in morality, for which we should be justly condemned by this House, if we denied to interfere—(Hear). The question, as it appears to me, is this—there is a treaty, not framed in a corner, but openly avowed to the world—a treaty, known and ac knowledged to other Courts, and I am sure, thatteither can his Mijesty refuse to act in accordance with it, nor can the House of Commons consistently refuse to sup port his Majesty in maintaining the national honour and character—(Hear), and giving effect to these treaties. This is the case upon which I stand, and I put it without reference to any collateral points, because I with to be clearly understood by those to whom this statement will find its way. But I have something to add, to which I beg the attention of the House. When .l call for the aid of this House and the Country in favour of Portugal, it is not to be understood that I call upon it to go to war with Spain. I beg Honourable Gentle leen to bear this in mind, and further to understand, that though 1 think the conduct of Spain unamghbour like, nay, even contrary to the laws of GOD and man, still I do, not mean to, insinuate that there is no com punction, no locus penitentia, no possibility of re• dress, no hope of retracing their steps, .on the part of that Nation. Sir, I say- no such thing ; but Ido say that it is our duty to fly to the defence of Por tugal, be the assailant who be may—(Hear). I now come to the question of who is the assailant? Sir, the present state of Portugal is so unusual in the history of nations, its history is crowded with events so extraor dinary, that I hope I shall not be considered as uone cessarily wasting the time of the House, if I enter shortly, and as succinctly as possible, into a detail of a few of its leading facts, and their effects upon the pre , e. t position of Europe. It is generally known, that the King of Portugal was anxious to raise Brazil from a colony to metropolitan condition, and that upon his Majesty's resurn to Portugal, that colony became anxious to achieve her independence, and it was appre• bended that the two Crowns would be separated. The King of Portugal therefore determined to settle the sovereignty of Brazil upon his eldest son. This was hardly done, the ink with which the deed was made out waS hardly dried, when the premature death 0 1 the,King of Portugal again united both Crowns upon one head. The advice of this country, and another nation connected with Brazil, was tendered upon the occasion, but not before the King of Portugal had t:etermined to c I • a O