Star. — London, England, 1830-03-11 00:00:00

MIMI jpl%,"‘ tunes. She received all dishonours due to her u a queen. in the recent speech from the throne, however, it was intimated, in pretty distinct teems, that the time was, probably, not far distant when it would be deemed expedient to recognise the usurper of her throne., He conceived, therefore , that it would be useful to have an opportu ntty of comparing the correspondence which took place at the time of her majesty's arrival in this countrywith the announcement (when ever it should come forth) that the British government had recognised and sanctioned the claims of Don Miguel. He should also mole for copies of those negotiations for reconciling the Princes of the house of Braganca, which were alluded to in his Majesty's speech. In the speech,from the throne, in July, 1828, his Majesty said that he would rely upon the wisdom of the august sovereign, the head of the house of Braganzs, to take the course which should be best calculated to maintain the interests and honour of that illus. trions family, and to secure the peace and happiness of the domi nions over which it reigned. This was a very wise maxim, because it implied that the sovereign of a state was the best judge of the measures necessary for the goverment of the people. It seemed, however, as if this intimation was intended as a kind of hint to the august personage to whom it referred. But, in the speech of Feb. 1829, it appeared that the reliance before declared had never been very firm, snd was not of long duration. It appeared to have been considered that the wisdom for which his Majesty gave credit to his ally might be assisted with a little advice, and an ambassador was sent for that purpose. In 1829, parliament was told that, "deeply interested in the prosperity of the Portuguese monarchy, his Ma jesty had entered into negotiations with the head of the house of Braganca in the hope of terminating a state of affairs which was incompatible with the permanent tranquillity and welfare of Portu gal.- Now, let gentlemen say what they would, or do what they would, there was a fatality which drew us, like the moth at tracted by the candle, to interfere in the internal affairs of Portu gal ; and no man could deny that England was deeply interested in the tranquillity and happiness of Portugal ; and even that government, who said it would leave Portugal alone, was obliged afterwards to step in, although too late, and unsuccessfully, for the intended object. At the end of the last session the country was told that the negotiations were still going on ; but at the beginning of the present session it was intimated that they had been unsuc cessful. The speech from the throne, at the opening of the present session, said, his majesty laments that he is unable to 101110alla the prospect of a reconciliation between the princes of the bongo of Braganca." It was a usual, and certainly a becoming when Parliament was informed that certain negotiations Er been carried on, and that they had failed, to give some information re specting them, in order that it might be seen whether their failure was attributable to the advisers of the crown. He should have thought that the government themselves would have produced the necessary papers ; but, as they had failed to do so, it was his intention to move for their production ; and he was the more impelled to it be. cause part of them were before the house, and it appeared that the government had founded their negotiations upon grounds which would be unequivocally condemned by the home. They had made the marriage of the Queen Donna Maria, if not a sine qua non, at least a point upon which subsequent proceedings were to rest. But it was said that that marriage was a part of the plan contemplated by Don Pedro in 1827, and that it was recommended in conformity with his views. Now, would any man say that under the dif ferent aspects which affairs had assumed, and after the unfore. seen events that had occurred, that marriage, which might have been expedient at the former time, was equally so at the latter; or that in fact it could, in any fur or true sense, be called the same marriage in 1829? Little more than one year bad elapsed between these periods, but within that small space Don M iguel had found " Ample verge and spa ce enough The characters of Hell to trace. " If, in 1827, Don Pedro or Mr. Canning could have opened the book of fate, and foreseen the events which took place In the short but momentous year, 1828, would they, for an instant, have thought of such a marrisl,e ? It was a matter of surprise that, with the events of 1828 before their eyes, an English Government could have proposed to a father and a Sovereign to confide his daughter to her rival and enemy—(hear, hear,) —an individual who has shewn that he dealt with perjury as an amusing exercise of his mind ; - (hear,)—who, by their own admission, to the baseness of cowardice added the cruelty of massacre I—who, in glutting his revenge, or in endeavouring to secure the regal sway, spared neither infancy nor age, and respected neither sex nor station. (Cheers.) He asked, could that marriage have been projected with any other view than to secure to Don Miguel the fruits of his vio. lence and his injustice ? It confirmed the opinion of those who looked upon the whole of the transactions of the government, in connection with this subject, as proofs that they laboured to assist the usurpation of Don Miguel. The basis on which the negocia. tions were founded comprised five distinct propositions--Ist, That there should be an immediate marriage of the Queen with the Infant Don Miguel, who should immediately take the title of King-..2d, That on account of the family connection, any differences should be referred to the Emperor of Austria — bd. . That on the death of the Queen, if she should die without issue, and before Don Miguel, the crown should pass to the royal branch of the family--that was Don bliguel.-4th, That if the King should die without issue the Queen should reign --sth, That no notice should be taken of the past changes in the government of Portugal. There was a sixth article, but of minor importance, relating to the removal of the young Queen from this country, and her being placed under the care of the Emperor of Austria. Now with regard to Don Miguel assuming the title of King, he must say that such a regula tion was in direct contravention of those laws relating to the sun. cession which had been in force for 700 years. The laws of La. mego laid it down that the Queen should many only a noble Por tuguese, and that he should not assume the title of King until he should have had issue male by the Queen. Therefore, the first re gulation in these negotiations was in violation of the laws of La. mego. As to the second stipulation, he should say nothing in op position to it, as he thought it a fair regulation, considering the re lationship o f parties. The acquiescence o f English govern ment in the usurpation of Don Miguel had the effect of not only passing over the right of Donna Maria, but also the right of three other individuals of the house of Brogans', in violation of the laws of Lamego, which ordained that the daughter of a King Regent should each of them have a preference as to their right of succession to the sons of his brother, except such daughter should marry a fo reigner, or make other positive defeasance or forfeiture of her title to succeed. Donna Maria's right, then, was that of the other three daughters of the house of Brawn. The fifth article of this cele brated negotiation settled that no notice was to be taken:La; change which might take place in the Government of Porto It certainly seemed strange that England, whose avowed principle of political conduct was noninterference, should thus make itself, by stipulation, a guarantee to a change in those laws which bad ex isted 700 years back, and to putting aside the right of three indivi duals of a family, who by treaty and by political interests it was certainly called on to support. But the English Government turned round and said, this was not one of their propositions. Was it then a Brazilian proposition ? Could it have been made in compliance with the suggestions of Don Pedro ? If not a Brazilian proposition, was it then a Spanish proposition ? The facts enume ra ted would speak for themselves. But, if it was found to be neither a Spanish nor a Brazilian proposition, might it not be fairly imagined to be that of Don Miguel ? He, however, would not on this occasion cell on the house to express any opinion. He believed there was not now any intention on the part of government to recognise Don Miguel. It was impossible for him to think so, and recollect what bad lately reached our ears as to the determination of Don Pedro, or before our government was acquainted with the issue of the now fast.opprottch log crisis at Terceira. It was much more likely in his mind they would proceed to acknowledge the regency of Donna Maria at that island. He was aware that in that house there were some who would resort to a strange sort of avgument, resembling rather a cry —namely, that he was to be looked on with suspicion and doubt, as disposed to involve this nation in war. He denied both the argu. went and the fact. He was not such a fool, not so destitute of ordi nary understanding, as to wish any such dangerous result; but he certainly thought the measures now followed, avowedly to maintain a seeming neutrality, were much more likely to involve us, and that at no very distant period, in war.—(Hear.) In seeking to maintain peace, we should not forget, as a nation, that respect which was due to ourselves, and to other nations in alliance with us. Our princi ple should he that of neither doing nor suffering an injustice— neither seeking enemies, nor offering offence. If this was our course we should be strong in the consciousness of right, and, if war was unhappily the result, join battle in the confidence of a. good cause. (Hear, hear.) In other countries it had been taunt ingly said that, because a nation with whom we were in alliance had declined to accept our rule of conduct for its political duty, all he r of maintaining peace on the Peninsula was at an end. Changes in Administration had of late years taken place sufficiently on this side of the British Channel to warrant a suspicion that such changes might take place on the other side of it. Other governments might be found yet disposed to assume our proud place as arbiter of a nation's happiness and welfare, and to afford that succour and support to a popular and rightful Monarch which we did not hesitate to give to a usurper. This was a ease, he thought, not only comprising he question of the tranquilization of Portugal, but that of the whole Peninsula. In fact it was char that a case might arise in which we might either be to abandon the cause of Don Miguel, as we had already Mignon. fully done with respect to the Portuguese Connitutionallets, or haveth fight the battle of the usurper Miguel. Our great it appeared, had been, due we had thrown that country, which bad been so long in close alliance with and dependent on thia nation, into the confidence of another, against whose influence it had hitherto been our anxious wish t o guard them—namely, Spain. The triumph of Don Miguel was the triumph of Spain, who Ntd cowl. senanced the rebellion of a prince, of whom, notwithstanding all we bad done to protect his colonies and countenance his usurpation, this government could not obtain from him the remission of a cruel and UWE •.I~ • anjust persecution of somoindivklitals wheat s eansfieig etched their reluctant sympathy. That frivol o :lZ We eon* nillebtain by our influence, it was said had .46.-- , • though 'eolter: 7 been peo :4, cured through the more leyittence of 81taht as otalse half. The noble lord call *a glidelY ORewe" Frbeg: which, it appeared, iliticaldnet of 1826, with which had directed the condo % of.the British government . in 1829 ; and contended that the latter had, unlike that of 31r. Psi. ' ning, betrayed its trust, shrunk from the performance of its ,m s solemn engagements with an hitherto faithlld ay . (Portugal), 'and' thereby lost our influetwe with that Pa l l l , and,. thrown them into the counsels of Spain. If the house or the country were to demand why all this had been done, or what was the price of that line se conduct which had tarnished our character, and hazarded the per manence of that peace which was so essential for the true interests of this country, he would answer in one short sentence—which might he the motto of his majesty's ministers In respect to that ill fated country—that the constitution of Portugal might more Are tunny be condemned and destroyed. The noble lord concluded his speech, amid loud cheering, by moving for extracts of the instruc tions given to Major-Oen. Sir W. Clinton, in the month of Dee. 1826, relating to the interference of that officer, and the troops under his command, in preventing disturbances likelf 3 t: n riLe in Portugal and protecting the royal family of the house of ; also copies of instructions to Sir Wm. &Court ; and despatches to and horn Sir F. lamb; with the instructions sent out from Lord Strangford, and a copy of the armament entered into between the different branches of the house of Braganza. Mr. HERMES, on the motion being put, rose and claimed the indulgence of the house while he stated a few objections to the mo. don of his noble Mend, and a few reasons why the house should not comply with the motion. He would not pretend to determine the decision of the house, knowing, as he did, that several of his right hon. friends were ready, and better able than he was to answer the noble lord ; lie would only enforce some points the noble lord had slurred over, and explain the incorrect view be had taken of others. The noble had had already made as serious an attack as he could make if he had all the papers he moved for, and they corresponded entirely to the supposed view of their contents. The only object, indeed, for which the speech of the noble lord was made, was to attack the administration now in existence, though most of the actions the noble iced complained of were begun under the administration of which he was a member, and which must share the blame, if blame were due to them, with the present administration. He should object to the production of papers during the progreas of negotiations, and which might frustrate their object. The noble lord did not directly assert that the government had advised the giving, and had supported the constitution, but he said that which implied it.— (Hear, hear.) He had no documents to establish such an asser tion ; but he wished to insinuate a sort of moral connection. He would first of all refer to the documents of the period aIH luded to, in order to show that we we were not committed to sup ' that Con stitution.i The noble lord had implied this, not as it; but there were documents to show not only that this government had no connection with the giving of that Constitution, but also to show that it was under no obligation to support it. The best stokes* on this subject was that of the statesman whose address to the bones on that subject could not be forgotten. The speeches of Mr. Canning had been collected and edited with no ordinary care, and might be considered as the correct records of his sentiments. Nothing could be stronger than Mr. Canning's declaration, in his speech of December 12th—" It has been surmised (he said) that this measure, as well as the abdication which it accompanied, tar the offspring of our advice. No such thing. Great Britain did nit empit this measure. It is not her duty nor her practice toegillo saggestiana for the internal regulation of foreign states." Apia, Mr. Canning stated—" I am neither the champion nor the critic of the Portuguese constitution." The right honourable gendeman quoted several other short passages from Mr. Canning', speech to show that Great Britain had neither influenced the giving of the constitution to Portugal, nor was bound to support it. He did wit agree with the noble lord that the lima was yet arrived as whets pap could be laid before the house, though the • t lord thought the time was arrived when they might be, and Whim he might obtain the objects he had in view. The noble lord had al. gued his case on the strength of a number of documents which were piled on the seat behind him, and from which he made frequent' quotations. (Hear.) He (Mr. Henries) did not know what ad* be the degree of authenticity which those documents puma* but this he would say, that if any one called on him is pg.. duce those documents which might be an answer to them, and which might prove the noble lord's statements were not authende t he would reply, that these documents were in a course of preparation, and that when laid on the able of the hones, they would prove that the noble lord's arguments were not quite so well founded, and that the imputations which he threw out avian the government could not be supported. The noble lord had alluded often to the question of the propriety of interference. Now, he would not enter into that question at the present moment: he would merely beg the house to observe, that when the pa pers were laid on the table, they would show that strict atten tion had been paid to the principle laid down in the oft-re. peated declaration of Mr. Canning, that it was not the feeling of this country to interfere with the external affairs of Portugal (h car, hear.) It seemed, however, to be the object of the noble Imd, by this motion, to procure a premature production of a portion of these papers in order to find a cause of censure on the conduct of the government. Against this it was the duty of his ma jesty's ministers to guard; and, inasmuch as it appeared to him to be prejudicial to the great interests that were at stake. and likely to throw an impediment in the way of the successful and prosperous conclusion of the negociations which might be pond. m g , he on this, as it had been the practice on all former occa sions, felt that the government should not produce a portion of the documents, nor give the information required until these ne gociations were brought to a termination. The noble lord had accused the government, in no unsparing language, of a base and unworthy subserviency to the views of other courts on the continent. To that accusation it was only left to him to give a positive and peremptory denial. (Hear.) The government had, throughout the whole course of these transactions with Portugal, looked solely to the maintenance of the honour and dignity of this country. The noble lord had himself been very lately a party to these transactions ; and what, he would uk, did the noble lord see in the conduct or principles of the government now, which would justify him in supposing there had been so great a de parture from that honourable course of conduct pursued during the time the noble lord formed a part of the administration ? He could assure the noble lord that its principles were as pure and as honourable as at any time they had been during the knowledge of the noble lord, and that the production of the papers would prove them to have been so. The noble lord had blamed the government for not withdrawing the English troops be. fore the usurpation of Don Miguel. He could assure the noble lord that it was the intention of the government, in furtherance of their principle of non-interference, to withdraw the troops before even the arrival of Don Miguel at Lisbon, and that they were per mitted to remain in consequence of an express and earnest appli. cation that they should do so until Miguel took possession of the government. The right hon. gentleman concluded by asserting that the papers connected with the negociations would, when produced, prove an ample vindication of the conduct of. the government; but that be was so deeply impressed with the injury to the public ser vice which must result from the premature production of a part al them, that he must give the motion of the Noble Lord a decided negative. On the question being put, strangers were ordered to withdraw, but Lord JOHN RUSSELL rose, and said he could 'not allow the question to go to a division, without stating his Masons for supporting the motion of the noble lord, when the speech from the throne stated, " that the numerous embarrassments arising from the interruption of our diplomatic relations with Portugal, increased his majesty's desire to effect the ter minauon of the evil ;" and when they were told that the recog nition of Don Miguel was not far distant, he thought there was no time so proper for the production of the papers connected with the negociations as the present. in order that the house might be able to judge of the propriety of the course of con duct pursued by his majesty's ministers.—(hear, hear, hear.) If the papers were not to be produced now, he did not know when they would be. (Hear.) It was now more than two years since the usurpation took place. It was more than one since a motion of aright bon. gentleman (Sir J. Mackintosh) obtained a portion of the papers connected with the negociations which ensued; although it was now contended that to produce part of the correspondence would be premature and unjust. (Hear, hear!) Premature information was given twelve months ago, but further information was withheld now, because it was not mature enough fot production. This was the argument of the right hon. gentleman. (Hear.) The right hon. gentleman. feeling himself unable to answer the noble lord, had shown a discretion much to be commended by passing over in Ince all the most important topics of his speech. He agreed with the right hon. gentleman, however, that the government of this country did not give the constitution to Portugal ; but, If it did not give it, the ambassador of this country, Lord Stuart, had concurred in its propriety, and been instrumental in its transmission from Bra. ail; and Mr. Canning, when it arrived, declared distinctly in one of his dispatches to the Portuguese regency, recommending them to put in operation that constitution—" that any other course than the adoption of the constitution would be full of danger, not only to the safety of the crown of Portugal, but the monarchy of Brazil." (Hear, hear.) Now, he would ask. what better recognition of the constitution could be required ? What stronger reason esitM be demanded for its adoption by the people of Portugal ? flat me& try was the Weaker power, looking to England ibr defence and assistance ; and although the constitution was mid not to be given by England, there is no doubt that the people of Portugal ac' cepted it at the recommendation of Englapdunder the opinion that England would assist them - to tnuintain t; and 'it wis under that impression that the Duke de Cadoval was sent to Brazil to ratan Den Tedsre.-thanks for the boon be had Koehn the people. (Hear.) Could it be said, after this, that govemineet were not mantels of the Conedtudon ? If expected to held any moral influence over ether countries, or se be ' f wd, by any of the feelings mid principles which she 11, it could not be contended that the goveenment did net it s moral influence and sipport to the Constitution thus given to hrtugaL Those persons who are celled the Mends of that G v onstips. who have suffered grievously for their adherence to it, woe to become parties at any time to a rebellion against the , . , • government. They accepted the Consdtudon because it came ~ guaranteed by the credit of England ; and they afterwards' r , d ned in support of it because they considered themselves to he sup. porting a legitimate authority, which would receive the aid and countenance of:tbe English Government. It was crud to think to what a fate anise unhappy persons had been subjected, and to feel that their chains and the dungeons to which they had 'been dragged, and the scaffolds on which they had perished, he their support of the constitution, were the work of the English G0., 1 vonment, and the result of that course sicooduct which had proved 1 it se Inconsistent with itself (hear, hear.) If Mr. Canning had bet lived, that constitution would have been protected by the seed faith, and supported by the alliance , of England (boir.) in the beautiful language of that statesman. It was declared, that " where the British flag waves, foreign dominion must not mono" He would have added, that where that flag waves, perfidy sued disloyalty must not be allowed to prosper. After observing that the Brithih ambassador should have had power to interfere, through the means of the British troops for the protection of the constitution. 1 the noble lord proceeded to say, that he knew an application had been made by a Portuguese of rank to an officer high in command of the British troops, to know what course would be pursued in the event of an attempt to remove those who were hostile to the coned swim front Lisbon ; and he was told that the British troops had 1 ammands to protect the royal family, and that they must resist such • attempt with force. (Hear.) This was the consequence of the instructions sent to the Bridal, troops; and the result was, , that they did not confine themselves merely to the pr section of the esysi family, but they supported the power of Don Miguel, until be lad, by removing the colonels of the regiments, obtained the means of overthrowing the constitution. The noble lord then referred to that part of the negotiations which had been published on Idm Continent, and commented on the singular course which it I Erwas pursued by the British government in sending Strangford as a special ambassador to Brasil to procure Doe Pedro's consent to all the wishes of Miguel, at the very moment when he was heaping the od insults end indignities on British subjects and on the Bri governments these pro. ' positions being to place a crown on the bead of Miguel, and to deliver into his hands, sa a wife, the Princess Maria—the only who could maintain with him a successful rivalry. The g e Marquess Barbacena, who appears to have carried on the correspon dence on the subject with the Earl of Aberdeen, states one curious fact as forming a point in these negotiations, which Lord Aberdeen considered indispensable to the support of the Princess and the es tablishment of her right, and that was, that she must make a jour. ney to Vienna. Whether It was supposed that the Princess would succeed better in her claim on the throne by going to Vienna, because Miguel, who had succeeded in his usurpation, had been them before her, be could not tell; but Lord Aberdeen con. sidered the journey to be quite indispensable. The question of an Amnesty for the unhappy persons who had lost their all in defame of the constitution, and who had been driven into exile, was, according to this British minister, only important ; but the journey , to Vienna was quite indispensible to the success of Maria's claims. If Miguel should be recognised, although he hoped that time would never come, some amnesty, of a peculiar kind, guarantied by the power of England, must be exacted from a sera. reign who, according to the secretary for foreign affairs, is Wu, cruel, cowardly, and tyrannical. He knew the difficulty of securing such an amnesty ; but he thought it was not impossible to the power of England, if it did not yield a subserviency to the views of Por tupl or Spain. The conduct of Don Pedro, when required to give his consent to the marriage of his daughter with Don Miguel, exhi bited a magnanimity which demanded admiration. He declared " that his paternal tenderness would not permit him to give his daughter to the usurper of his Throne; and he thought the and. meat would sot fail to be appreciated by the Sovereign of Great Britain." However it might be appreciated by the Sovereign, it did not seem to be understood by his Majesty's Minister who had prepared it - ( hear.)—tide was rejoiced that the plan of those Mi. Mates had failed; he was rejoiced that Doane Maria had not been sacrificed to their views of settlement; and that she had been saved from the pollution of a marriage with a relation, the usurper of her rights.—(hear.) "Pies victor* Teri tetigit raptiert crape" (hear, hear !) He rejoiced that Miguel had not another crime to answer for in his conduct to his niece; (hear.) and if he had not to answer for that other, it was not to be attributed to any sense of honour, good feel ing, or policy, displayed by the members of his majesty's govern ment. (Hear.) The noble lord concluded by expressing his deter mination to vote for the production of the papers ; and obserial that he regretted much to be compelled to say that die ptomain had, in these transactions, displayed a love of arbitrary power, ant a tendency to despotism, and to compliance with the wishes of despotic ministers, instead of showing, as they were bound to do, and as they profaned, a disposition to interfere in the cause of loyalty, In the cause of freedom, and in the cause of justice. (Hear, hear, hear.) Mr. CALCRAFT was not surprised at the natural V lion which had been expressed by the noble lord against y and treachery. But they whose duty it was to mesh bit. nour and true interests of the country, must not alb, dimenffietti to be induced to swerve from the direct path of theft duty by ate; considerations having reference to the personal character of the Princes with whom they had to treat. Unless this were the case, the cry would still be, War ! war ! war ! and that without any adequate reason, without any of the motives of honour or interest by which, and by which alone, any government ought to be ac tuated. As to the q uestion of interference in the affairs of foreign countries, they who bad heed so long in the world as he had done knew the evils of such interference, and the manner in which it had brought us into the condition In which we now were. Whatever per sonal indignation, therefore, any hon. member might feel at the foul conduct of the prtnee in question, that had nothing to do with political considerations. There was no one thing which Mr. Canning more distinctly disclaimed than the right of this coun try to interfere in the internal affairs of any othet. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Gloat) most completely concurred in the principles of Mr. Canning on that point. The noble lord wished for further information oa the subject. That wish bad been re plied to by his right honourable friend, who had said that when the pending negociations were at an end, that information should be furnished; but that any communication at the present mo ment would, probably, interfere with the negoctatlons in progress. No fact had been stated by the noble lord to 'how that any thing short of actual hostility on the part of his hisjesty,s government could have prevented what had taken place in Portugal. Unless the perfidy of Don Miguel towards Portugal were to be considered a sufficient cause for a different course, he could not conceive a 'course more specifically pointed out to his Majesty's government than that which they had adopted. It had been said, that if Mr. Canning were living, lie would have protected the lives and property of the unfortunate Portuguese refugees; but unless hli sentiments had =noisily changed (a laugh), Mr. Canning would have abstained from the interference recommended by the noble lord. It had also been said that we ought to behave like good hours to Portugal. True; but that behaviour consisted in good offices to a neighbour, and not in interfering in his matters. His right lion friend had, however, so completely seaward all the noble lad's arguments, that he felt it to be quite unneassony to trespame any further on the attention of tbe house. Lord 111ORPETH was of opinion, that his noble friend had mum pletely establishedlis case, and a painful case it was. Enough had ban proved to justify his noble friend in deploring the fallen credit it this country, and arraigning the conduct pursued by her government. That government ought not to have permitted the publication of the correspondence of Lord Bererford, boasting of the friendship of the party of Don Miguel ; it ought not to have acknowledged the blockade of Oporto ; it ought not to have allowed the occupation of Portugal by our arty to appear as the proiimate cause of the downfall of the Portuguese Constitution. The right honourable member for Wareham deprecated any interference in domestic affairs : but how could we interfere more effectually in the do. mestic affairs of any man than by recommending 'him a wife? I The right honourabk gentleman also talked of the evils of war. Thrice he repeated the words brlia, horrida balk! He (Lord Alorpeth) always rejoiced to heir the invaluable, and he feared in the present state of the country, the necessary word, peace; but, as a right hon. gent. had observed hi the discussion on the navy estimates, the best way to avert war was to shots a readiness for h if required. In his opinion, however, the polity which our govern.. ment had pursued was most calculated to lead us into Star. The Continent might be divided into two great parties s—The military panel of Russia, and the great liberal powers in the west of hu.• rope. Three years ago the former was disposed to admit the as cendancy of - England. It was not so at present. 14 ith marvellous ingenuity we had contrived to irritate those whom we could not res train. As to the liberal powers, a few days *Odd probably *Coed us further informational that subject. He should cordially vote for his noble friend's modem Ott BEREBFOI%D ttsdd dist his noble relation had shown the eessoopendence to which the noble lota referred to the noble duke at doithlMl of his Majestrs Ooliniment, who had tit d it a• his that that correspondence was not calcu to compromise Majesty's Government. • Mr: E. DAVENPOit r trusted that, after the drgradation which the national honour had already undtrgone by the total cheese in our foreign policy within the last two years, and especially by the share we had in the establishment of despotism in Poetupi, the house would express its decided sense against our incurring tht further disgrace of confirming the week of our own bands by any further recognition of the usurper's- title. It was near two years since he (Mr. Davenport) had first endeavoured so excite the attention of the house to the mischief then brewing in Portugal, and which had since covered that unhappy country with dens lakes and mourning; and he believed there was =rea pe riod 10 our history when ouch appeal to the generous fee lings of Englishmen, or to the high spirit of a British House of Commons, would not have been more effectual. At that time, however, that which he would call the police of Parliament was in the midst of a sort of speechless trance, owing, first, to the promise, and then to the concession, of a finance committee. Afterwards the lease of their silence was again renewed in favour of the Catholic question, and then again indefinitely continued for having carried it into execution; and for these reasons they had not only neglected our internal inter. rests, but been unmindful of the national honour abroad, and in no respect more so than in this Portuguese tragedy, concerning which we had literally no information except those meagre and garbled papers laid upon the table at the very end of the last Session.— It was then manifest, to all who did not choose to shut their eyes to the facts, that a det estable tyranny, bottomed upon treachery and perjury, was establishing itself under the connivance, if not under the actual instrumentality, of the British government. Besides the inauspicious fact of the genius of Metternich getting enshrined in our Foreign Office, three fees were then known—first, the with drawing the British' force, after it had just staid long enough to enable the usurper to lay his plans, and just at the critical moment when its longer continuance constituted the only guaran tee against the completion of his treasons—secondly the surrender of the forts on the Tagus, one of which, called the Buzio, is a rock in the middle of a river, and completely commands the passage, and might have been held against any force by 50 artillery. men t they were all surrendered unconditionally into the hands of the vay individual who had usurped the throne of the lawful sore. reign, from whom we received them—and, lastly, the correspondence of a ?ea and privy counsellor of the king with the ministers and chiefs of the intrusive government. What satisfactory answer had the government ever given to those charges ? Lord Beresford's correspondence—though ignored in that house—had been acknow. ledged by the Duke of Wellington, and put a stop to. But who had ever seen the Noble Lord's letters ? Instead, moreover, of being dismissed, he had been promoted to a higher office, in which, no doubt, his counsels and advice had not been thrown away ; and it is in such men and Lord Aberdeen that we were some times invited to confide. What excuse had they made for with drawing the troops at the critical moment when their stay was most desirable ? The answer of the Secretary of State was that it was time to withdraw them. Who is the judge of this. The time for recalling an army is whenever its work is done—why, then, were they not recalled twelve motths sooner ? for the Spanish invasion was quelled, and the troops disarmed, above a year before. Did not Sir F. Lamb take on Linuelf to retain the troops till the peremp tory order for their recall ? Why were the forts given up ? Be cause, says the secretary of state, we had no right to retain them. Why, then, did we ever accept the deposit ? Suppose the right honourable pm to leave his purse or his pocket-book in charge with any friend, and that friend were to give it up to some enthuse of the right honourable gentleman, upon the plea that he had no right to retain it, would he not justly charge such a person with breach of trust? After such indications a man must be sanguine indeed who could entertain much hopes of the conduct the government were likely to pursue ; and accordingly lord Aberdeen had justified all the anticipations he (Mr. D.) had formed of him. All his acts had been in conflinnity, and by his paper blockades, and his gratuitous recognition of the title of Regent, he had done all in his power to favour the cause of tyranny. That celebrated ncgo. tiator, who, at Chatillon, could not prevail upon himself to pro. nounee the very name of the French Emperor with atom he was sc. Melly negotiating, and with whom it was an object to conciliate, went out of his way to recognise a usurper with whom he had ac. totally broken off all connection on account of his wagon. And what was the pitiful apology of the two right hon. gentlemen for this wretched course of policy ? The fear of war ! With whom ? With the magnanimous mouse in all her panoply. But even had this been the alternative, which lie denied, he would ask the military members of the government, and who knew the country, whether either of them would have hesitated to march from one end of the country to the other, at the head of the two brigades of English troops then at Lisbon ? But it neither was, is, or ever was, the question in this ease. The only thing at first required (and this be would beg to impress on those who measure all national honour by a scale of pounds, shillings, and pence,) was to re tain our troops till the emperor of Brazil's pleasure should be known,—a term of three months, and at an outlay of a very few thousand pounds ; and all that was since wanted was a bens fide interference on the cause of freedom to as great an extent as we had hitherto interfered against her. He called on the house of conunons to bear in mind its ancient character as the shield and advocate of foreign liberty, and to attend more than it bad of late done to the national honour, compromised, as it had lately been, by our foreign policy. He desired gentlemen to bear in mind that the same men were now in office who had connived at or approved the Austrian seizure of Naples, and the French invasion of Spin. The Secretary of State lad justified the former outrage, on the ground that a nation was justified in suppressing a contiguous nuimace. He viewed the free institutions of Italy as a sort of steam engine ee gas-work, which its virtuous neighbour was justified in stimunig, lest the pestilential effluvia should infect its pure at- But if this crest-fallen nation had no feeling or strength te justify foreign sympathies, he trusted the ministers would them. ashes want the courage to affix on their own names, and on that of diiir country, the indelible stigma of any further recognition of the tyrant. (Hear, hear.) • Sir F. BURDETT, after complimenting the noble lord (Pel agian) upon the eloquent and argumentative marner in which he hri introduced this motion to the house, proceeded to say that he Mt that this was a subject in which the character of this country was at stake, and for that reason he wished, as an Englishman deeply concerned for the national honour of his country, to declare his opinions upon the question. The national character of this country, he knew from experience, was at present at a very low estimate amongst the people on the continent of Europe, and that was entirely attributable to the foreign policy which had been lat. terly pursued by our government. The motion of the noble lord, if acceded to, was calculated in scene degree to raise our charac ter amongst foreign nations, and to prove in the face of I. urope that the House of Commons at last was nut indifferent to the na tional honour. All the most important portions of the documents bearing upon this question were still withheld by government, and it was absolutely necessary that documents called for by the noble lord should be laid before the house before it could possibly pro nounce its opinion as to the transactions to which those documents had reference. It was absolutely niceesary, he would repeat, that all those papers should be laid before the house. The right honourable gentleman, who had attempted to answer the able speech of the noble lord, had offered a most flimsy pretence for refusing to ' give those documents and the information which the noble lord required. The right honourable gentleman said that that would be Merfaing with pending negotiations. Why, a mere reference to the dates of thaw papers would show that there was not one of them, or at must, not above one of them, the production of which could posedbly interfere with any pending negotiations.—(hear, hear.) — Is the result of that negotiation, the character of this country was lowly involved it was plain im Ministers were not very chary OS le the maintenance of that character ; indeed, it was impossible Re amide in them in that respect, after what had already occurred, ad miss' such circumignoces he conceived that that House inlet span the reduction of every species of intomm. Son wed •to the meaner in which those negotiations ba lky ii dimpegbe il IttugiEdurowpebeto t am be c th ha e ractai esme stic or berty sad cherish the feelings of patriotism and love of restrain the strong—to assist the week .—to resist the enemodunents of de:modem—and to afford a refuge to the destitute and oppressed. But the present character of her system of foreign policy was quite the reverie. (hear.) He did not know but the time would soon come when many persons would speak of that calumniated personage, Don Miguel. He was far from knowing how long it might be before such language might be used in reference to Don Miguel by his best friend, Lord Aberdeen —(a laugh, and ales of " hear, heir,") who had so lately andio . justly depicted him to the people of Europe, as " cruel." " base,' " cowardly," " false," and f' treacherous." lie (nir F. Butdett) did not know how long that Noble Lord would continue to say that Don Miguel deserves! the application of such terms, and he was net sure but slut person might well say ram si ego dignus hie contumelli " Sum msxume, at to indiguus qui flume tamers "—((.'peers.) He was of opinion that the whole of these transactions should be fully detailed to the house and the country. Don Miguel was first con firmed by England in the possession of power in Portugal ; and then, when there, he acted a part so different from that which we had sanctioned, and to which he had bound himself, when here, to perform, and for the performance of which this country was in some measure a guarantee, that his conduct was a disgrace and insult to the crown of this country. lie Don was convinced that but for the death of Mr. Canning Don Miguel would never have played such a part (hear.) He would have known if Mr. Canning were living that he could not enact such a part with impunity, and he ,'pull not have bad the countenance or supposed understanding of the English tiovernnient to support him in his doings in Portugal. To what extent or amount that countenance went, and how far it nes maintained by the correspondence of Lord Beresford, it was not •' posh le iEo my, unless the house had the whole of the documents be fore It Ifs ddferent line of policy, if the policy of Mr. Llinninithad hien pUtsued in reference to PortugaLit would have prevented all those difficulties in which we now found ourselves placed. He should seaZ Itoththoas to the propriety of whet had been done at Vienneseoeshousu be say whether it devolved upon an English anthessaine to return frau Brazil with a conuitution in his pocket for Portugal ; but lie was sure that Mr. C.uming, seeing the necessity of some inter. I