The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1805-02-13 00:00:00

the benefits of a neutrality, tleaigh they were not in an aRuAI state of neutrality. Sp iin was to use her utmost efforts to keep out of the war, if she could do so by means of our forbearance. Lord flAwkesbury described the neture ef forbearance, and he might a t the same time have told them, the treaty of St. fidefonso is Altogether an offensive treaty, and you trust either take your option of rennuecing it, or of being at war with us. His lion. and Leat nett Friend, w ho spoke last, had said, in the course of his /tree ment, that it was incumbent on His Majest. 's - nistes to keep up the good faith fur which this nation had ever been so deservedl y celebrated; and particularly in its relations with the Spanish Government. He would certainly he at all time a most. strenuous advocate for keeping up t he good faith and honour, as well as justice, of the nation ; and, in the present case, that point had been most scrupulously adhered to. In the course of the negotiations relative to this treaty, we exact two conditions, en the exalt fulfilment of which by the Steroish ;ttlitlisters, the whole basis or strength if nor 3.Verment, or convention, or compact, for he bet:se:ea it hid been alluded to by all these terms, .was to rest. It was necessary, he thought, in this place, to state exaflly what we had obtained from Spa.n, in Order that she might keep out of the war which had just been commenced between France and this country. In the first place, then,. Spain was to re strain itself from any appearance of hostile erma snon. here again it may, perhaps. be asked, whet it was that should be deemed to be such ? Mr. Frere, he said, always desirous to do away every doubt that might take place on the iultjeft, had brought it to a more certain point, and, to avoid every probable chance of any mistake, he expressly says, that the Court of Spain most abstain from all armaments. This showed most clearly, that the meatewe was adopted in consequence of an express agreement on the occasion, which no neutral power could require ; as such, Lord Hawkeshury, in his dispatches to Mr. Frere, said eev armament whatsoever will be a cause of jealousy; riel why ? for this obvious reason. that if they had any armament at all, it might at any time be brought to aft against us. It was not, he said, by any means his intention to say that we ought to tie Spain down to the strietest possible per formance of that condition. He was far from wishing to infer that Spain should not be allowed to equip any ships, for the purpose of any internal service, that might aftually require it; such as the conveyance of troops to quell any insurraai in or re bellion, or any such a similar faltr4ce of real neces sity. It would first require proof that such arma ment as that described was wanting ; and there could be no doubt, but on the necessity and ad vanrege being made apparent, the King's Miaiste:. at the Court of Spain would readily give cons tot to every requisite adjustment shat the Court of Spain could der ire. Here the Hon and Learned Gentleman 211thled t M. Cevallos's letter, of the Is: of April, in which he stew:, that His M ije.:v has acceded to the conditions demanded by Mr. Frere ; and on the Bth Jun:, Mr. Frere states the conversation lie hid with M. Ct , willos on the siihjed. The next proof is M. Cevalloe's note of the O t rert of Oft. in which is stated, that England agrees to the mentrality of Spain, on condition that she shall cease all armaments what ever, accoremg to the tree intent and meaning rof the convention. M. Anduega, in his letters of the 'ad of December, states, that England had agreed to a neutrality on condition that they should cease from all ulterior armaments. Here seemed to be an ambiguous vari ition of the language in these two letters, that of the 29th of October, stating, that, in return for the condition of neutrality, Spain was to cease from all armaments. Aceording to the tenor of the coeeention, whilst That of the 221 of December says, all ulterior armaments. — There certeinty was a diffarent . e. in the word ing of the two notes, which, with other cite urn stances, induced a suspicion that the Spanish Ministers wished to introduce a phraseology that would bear a difference of interpretation. It had been said by his Honourable and Learned Frknd, suppose Spain had o:cesen to eqtrip ships, in order to suppress a relsellioa in any of the provinces. She must not be Allowed to equip one for even such a purpose. The Hon • and Learned Gentleman denied this, and said it would be unrea sonable. It never could be the wish of this country t to put Spain into such a situation; but, if Spain were to attempt to fit out any extraordinary armaments, we should certainly have a right to aft hostilely to wards her. Our situation would certainly not 1w se cure, if Spain were allowed to arm at say time, with out expleitiing. le this view of thesubject. he thought I. might as , nd many of the very minute matters, seitich the Hen. and Learned Gentleman who had te sat desen, and some others who had spoken on 5:,,• ,uhi.,,et, had particularly adverted to. His chief oej:et twine to impress it on the mind of the Howie, that we tied acceded toe neutrality, orf'ubeatone,on the express conditinu, that Spain should cease from all armaments whateyer; and if they broke through that condition. or materially infringed it, that wauld be a good and sufficient cause of sear. We had, in the first instance, a good calm of war its the treaty of St. Ildefonso itself; but as Spain thought they were not beund to as by that treats-, they were swiftly bound to fulfil the condition ,n wh:ch th:y had obtained a stipulated farhearance on the part of this country. How then d J the mat ter stand After this? Mr. Frere received intelligence from Admiral Cochrane, that great numbei s of rench solders a,ti sailors were suffered us pass retough Spain for the purpose of 'limning and equip hug the French ships of war lying i i the Port of Fermi; and further, that Sp sni was also ;inning arid equipping several ships not only in that l'ort, but in the Ports also ot Cadiz and Carthagena. An Hots. Gmtleman who moved the Amenlnu had, lest night. stated, for what reason he seas ar a loss to guess, that any intelligence on this stihjeft, coming from that gallant Officer, should not lie relied on, with too much contidence.—Why ?—He thought it, in every respea, to be implici.ly relied on. Did it not agree with the account contained in the letter of the Captain General of Gallicie, who al lows, that these are the exact number of ships which have been attempted to be armed, as described by Admiral Cochrane, viz.= Three ships of the line. That Was, beyond a dietht, a very mesterious armament, and altogether of that kind or de . scription, which Spain, from the nature and spirit of the agreement, then rec.•oily entered into with this country, was nut, in any manner, warranted to make or attempt. We had 4 specific Agreeunnit, that Spain r . should not arm at all. An armament is however set on foot. On Mr. Frere's inquiry into the cause of it, he is told, that it is for the particular purpose of quelling a rebellion which had broken out in the Province of Biscay, and he thought Lord Har rowby was perfeAly right, when he said, he di 1 not think it possible that a satisfa&ory answer could be given on that subjeff, When Mr. Frere first made the enquiry, no such reason was pretend ed. He was told, that the armament was entirely laid aside, but that, such as it was, it was never meant with any view whatever that was in the most distant degree hostile or inimical to Great Britain. The first hint which was ever given of its being intended to quell the rebellion in Biscay, appears in the Note of M. Anduaga here, who suggests, that he cannot conceive for what reason it was made, unless it was to convey troops more speedily and conveniently to the province of Biscay, in order to que'l the rebellion then raging there. Here then the Honourable and Learned Gentleman contended was not only a right to declare war, but a good and sufficient cause of war also, for Spain had procured from you a neutrality, or for bearance, all an express stipulation and condition that she shall positively cease from all armaments, and that cenditinn being once broken in upon, or iefringed in any degree, you are in all respects completely justified in issuing the orders of September for the seizure and detention of the Spanish frigates. The H , et. and Learned Genie went even further, and said that your causes of war were so palpable, that you would have been completely justified in issuing imme diate orders for capture in the first instance, which of course includes detention. He did not mean,howevet, that the measure should be absolute, provided the Spanish Court would consent to give a proper sa tisfaftion, and an assurance that it would hereafter scrupulously adhere Co the conditions on which the neutrally or forbearance on our part was granted. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman f illy defended the measure of seizing and detaining these frig; aces. Yet, he said, it was always intended by His Majesty's Ministers, as a measure of precaution, though our cause of war was so notorious, for in a few days after the order was issued for their detention, there was another issued for their restitution. Mr. Frere was desired not to consider this step as absolutely ren dering it necessary to quit Madrid, but to try every means of convincing the Spanish Government that we did not wish to break with them if we could possibly avoid it. The Honourable and Learned Gentlemen insisted that we only wished to de tain these frigates as a pledge or hostage till Spain should give us satisfaction on particular points. Ail the instrections given to the com manders and officers of out own ships clearly proved this ; and those commanders and effizers had acted with the strictest attentions •to the orders they had so received. The utmost osit. cecy was used in the Ali of communicating those in eruelions to the Captains and Commanders of the Spanish frigates; and, whatever melancholy circum stances have ensued, were not owing to our Officers, but to the obstinate determination on the part of the Spanish Commanders, not to submit to the dis. tentioa, though urged with every degree of huma nity and respeet ; that any lives had been lost, he ‘l - was deeply to be regretted; but, under all cite circumstances, no blame could therefore be thrown with fairness and candour, because they had taken every precaution to guard against any such melancho ly consena maces. When the whole conduit of the Spanish Government is impartially and molly con sidered, it will be found that oar Minister had just cause to be alarmed. The treaty of St. Ildefonso itself was certainly an offensive one, and, as such, gave us a good cause of war in the first instance, even the first moment we found ourselves engaged in hostilities with France. He would, however, sup. pose, fur the sake of argument, that he conduct of the Court of Spain only eetitled us to make a de. mand of explanation. Surel), if Spain acted with due regard to the treaty of neutrality or forbearance, we would not be induced to suppo‘e there was any thing in the treaty which the Spanish Government wanted carefully to conceal. Put if she gives us res. els to supply that there is any thing concealed, we have an undoubted right to a communication of the terms of that treaty, in o der to be certaiit, and to have it iliCend sled teat nothing injurious to our interests is contained therein. It alitia'ly became necessary to know whether the accounts received by Mr. Frere relative to the armaments were true or false. M. Cevallos states, that all armaments against Great Britain shall cease, whereas by agree ment, all Armaments whetever were to cease, and it would be utterly, and to all intents and purposes, impossible for us to know the intentions of the Spanish Gov !rement, wiles/ she would give.us some information relative to the st pul Mons contained in that treaty, end therefore you get nothing by the ! treaty more than you always have bed with all neutral nations. The Hon. and Learned Gentle man begged the House to recolle& that on the 3d of November 1804, M. Cevellos gives in his ultimatum as an answer to Mr. Frere's two notes in the follow ing word, : SlR—i! have menet the twa Notes which you were phased to eldress to roe, dated the 20th of October last, and th 2d insult ; and, having given eteriont to the Ring my %latter uf their content, I have the honour to declare to you, that Spain has given constant proofs of good correspond e i r with Great Britain ; of hex %delity In observing the sty of Neutrality (called by you a siemen.ion of limtnities, tnough thy have ant disturbed the state of peace since the Treaty of Amiens), and has completely alone twat the ; i ppon henions which England founded upon vague accouie+ of sr 111.11111PIlli which neither did sent, nor, if they had existed, had any tendency prej. &Mal to the tranquillity of Greet Britain. " And although these three points are satnfied in my Note of the 29th of a tuber last, still His Maoisty is era rag to nuke a fresh sacrifice to peace, carrying his Royal condescension to the point which you demure, and ordering mu: te satisfy your genitors., as I do, in tile rend u equivocal manner, saying— "To ill! fiist, That Spair, coitanquiersce of the Treaty of Neutrality concluded On I9urr October, 1803, will make no agreement Gutman , to the said n.nreetion. " To the second, That there is not a greater number of sbiln armed than there was at the e,roch of the said convention. To the third, 'Enat no change intraltory of the neutrality s:rel: h!. rim le it tine distribut a the ships already armed t mow it it like ly that there should be any need in change the said rhanbution, under the supposition of neutrality. " To the fourth, That the Treaty of Subsidy with France e u teatime to our neutrality with Great Bd. LIM, and that the subsidies me equivalent to what would be the esp lace n( the naval and military succours, stipulated in the Treaty of Alliance with the French Repubnc. " As iny answers are not hos distinct than satisfactory, for they have been formed in nu other style than that of good faith, I think 1 have a tredi right to be eatisied by you in regard to the measure take„ by the Witisli Cabinet in ordering that the Corn dander of its forces before Ferrol should prevent the entrance of Spanish ships into the mid port a complaint l have not bad the honour to see sati.fiel by you, as becomes a mitasore which carriss With it a mistrust a the Spanish Goesetruclati ' a.iil ~spends it. honour .sid dignity, by shackling the exerm• of its domestic authority. (Signed) " PEDRO CEVAILOS" By this it appears that Spain, in consequence of the treaty of neutrality, will make no armament contrary to the said convention ; this was the ex plicit language used by M. Cevallos on the 29th of 011ober ; but he became more mysterious and am biguous in the language of his note of the 3d of No vember, which gave Mr. Vette great reason to be lieve that there was some secret engagement between France and Spain, which rendered it doubtful Spain could not consistently enter into any with Great Britain. That would in itself be a good and sufficient cause of war; they tell us there is nothing in the treaty contrary to the terms of the neutrality with Great Britain, though we have nothing more to depend on remelting this, only their own con struaion of their own treaty, which they have uni formly refused to let us see, and on which, after the experience we have had, we may well suppose there is no reliance to be placed. Mr. Frere afterwards pointed out, wherein it was, that they might give the satisfaCtion required in the following terms in his Note of the 30th of Oftober : " True it is, that His Britannic Majesty has received vague assuran ces as to the amount of the sums paid to France, but these assurances are insufficient to enable him to decide upon the nature of the permanent relations which should subsist between him and His Catholic Majesty ; especially, as, should these assurances be exalt, no reason remains to refuse the eommu nication of the Treaty, since sour Excellency has assured me, that it does not contain any stipula tions hostile to Great Britain." 'Thus, by a full and dear 'explanation, they might have satis fied His Majesty's Ministers, and kept entire those peaceful relations, to keep and maintain which it had been the constant wish of His Majesty, . sod the uniform efforts of his Ministers. By the condua of the Ministers of Spain, we have had a palpable breach of a particular agreement, made for the express purpose of enabling Spaia to enjoy) a state of neutrality or forbearance, or rather, as Mr. Frere says, a suspension of hostilities, which is 1 an immediate cause of war; and that event hav ing happened, you had an instantaneous right to detain, or even capture, their ships, without any for mal declaration of war taking place. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman assured the House he was , well convinced of this, notwithstanding what had fallen from his Hon. and learned friend (Dr. Law rence) on this subject, and was sorry he had ap plied an epithet so little deserved by that transac tion, as that of piracy. A charge so very far from being the case, according to the established usages ' and customs of the laws of nations, that it could not be supported fin an instant, till some new code shall be introduced,aud receive the sanetion of those who are to be bound by it. The Hon. Gentleman said, he had but one observation more to make on the pre sent occision. We bad reason to Iseli..ve, that by the treaty of St Ildefonso, France was entitled to call upon Siain for certain stipulated succours, the extent of which was not limited or defined, and of the continuance of which, we could form no kind of ju 'groom, except by guess. This was partly the case with the Family Compalt, and the. House would be pleased to recoiled, that when that treaty came to be known, it was found not to be so hostile to our interests as had been expected. The same thing might perhaps be found the case of the trig of St. Ildefonso . but still that is no reason why we should not dema nd inquiry ; and, having done so repeatedly, in vain, our Minister was at last under the necessity of demanding his passports, and re turning home, which he thought was the most proper step that could be taken. Having thus taken a fair anti impartial view of the most promi nent features of the present case, and its various principal points, be should abstain from many ode* which had been mentioned by his Hon. and ed Friend, as well as other Gentlemen in the of the Debate, as he did not wish at so late anise* se intrude longer on the time and patience of the House. He had deliberately perused the whole of the Papers, and after the most mature consideration, be thought His Majesty's Ministers not only deserved great praise for what they had done, but that they would have been highly culpable had they aged otherwise. Mr. FOX began by assuring the House, that after the very long and full discussion which this subjea had undergone, and particularly at so late an hour, he would trespass on them not a moment longer than he could well avoid in delivering his senti ' mein, on this most interesting and important subject, fie was happy to reflect, that some part of what bad fallen from the Hon. and Learned Gent. who I tad just sat down, would spare him the trouble of noticing some points, as he should be also saved that in many others, by tlseexcellent speech of his Hon. and Learned Friend, which was so replete with Woe- Amnion, so adorned and enriched with the profound learning, and so pregnant with ziel: of wise and enlightened policy. The Mull Learned Gentleman, who had just sat deiesebeid admitted, that after you have once waved' rear 1 right of going to war, you are bound to glee an ut tesior nonce before you go to war. This language was very different from that which bad been held by an Honourable and Learned Gent. in the same debate yesterday, in which he contended, in terms which he thought the language of fraud and falsehood; thAt to pass over in silence the supposed faults or aggressions of another power, with whom you are at peace, is not acqatescence ; and that the abstinence from hostilities is not a reeogni 'lion of neutrality, but that the right of war might be reserved for some other convenient and more favourable opportunity. 'rids he could not but conceive was a monstrous proposition. The Treaty of St. lidelonso, he,ifor his own part, looked onto be entirely and altogether offensive, and though not perhaps, as the I earned Gentleman thought, stronger than the family compalt. As to the general construe ion of it, he begged leave to remind the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, that the most ob jeaionable part of that Treaty was the succours sti• pulated to be granted without the party granting enquiry into the purposes for which they would be wanted. He adverted to the dispatches and instruc tions of the late Secretary of State, in which he de mands so many things from Spain as duties, which differ most essentially with the duties appertaining to Great Britain. It his, in his Lordship's opinion, the true duty of Spain to be open, candid, and sincere, - while the true duties of Great Britain are to be doubt, susnicion, and mistrust. He was At a loss to conceive how tilt* could be teison cited with each other, and while the Nible Lord was expelling such a condi' 't from Spain, ae should recommend a procedust on our part, which was in itself so diametrically opposite 'flat the (ameN rbk Lord should demand the most unreserved confi fence and grant none in return, was really most w:Arri cal, and fully justified the argurneots of H;s Hon. Friend, who moved the Amendment yester day, in what he then said on the subjed of that let. ter.—lt was impossible that in a tralsattion of this nature, Lord HAwkesbury should not • have chosen one of these two grounds —lf Spain did not renounce the treaty to go to war dire.flly ; the other was unquestiona!ily to frame a system of neutrality, which, by the bye, Spain could not frame by herself; but in which she must stand in need of the advice, co-opera tion, and assistance of Great Britain D_t us see, said Mr. Fox, how this matter stood.— Spain and Great Britain are on the eve of a war; the former wants advice sad assistance from • the latter, which is in some measure promised in the commencement of the dispute ; bat when we come to that long interval, from the 2d of June to the month of November, there are five months passed without any attempt to advise or conciliate, what can I say, but that there is a Minister, who leaves every thing to chance, and never thinks it worth Lis while to tale soy measures which may tend to save his country from the h.nrors, calamities, and enormous (*peaces of that most cruel of all scourges—war What, after such an opening of the business as Mr. Freres communication as to the treaty of St. Ede- fonso, could the Spanish Ministers expect? Why they undoubtedly expefted advice; but, alas! in vain! five months are suffered to elapse, and in all that time not a single word passes on the subject of what would at least be the condo& of Great Britain. As it has been the business at the present period to tax Spain with the crime of having done more for France than she was bound to do by treaty ; let us see what is the best way to ascertain the treaty do this with proper el left, we must ask the question, not what she di, with raped to France, but what she had aftuall i done, or was willing to do, with respeft to GUM Britain ? It appeared to be the opinien of Span in tie very outset of the business, that by avoid ing to furnish the troops and ships to France as she was. hound by this treaty, she was in dined to commute fur them subsid;et, a::d that b so doing, she was obliging Great ]hernia more the by fulfilling the Treaty, and furnishing th •contingent. Hence her proposed sync= of net 'Stalky —or, what is called, oar's of f. rbearano Through all these proceedings, Spain had right to think, that she had been veil bard] *lnk by. It was not an optioned smatter i Spain whether she would or w. utd slot wit] draw herself from the treaty of St. Ildefonec circumstanced as she was between France as this country, it was natural enough that she sh be very desirous of knowing the opinion of t;• Court of London on the conduit she should pis sue; hut that information was withheld from thee There Isere many reams which. might ha' induced the King of Spain to give the peel rence to subsidy, even the contingent itl n o es and ships, u by that he asig:it avoid the occasions of irritation during the war, which were be most likely to involve him in hostilities he ma be every way desirous of avoiding; and in this he 7 . pears to have judged very right, for while she Brit Cabinet avoided giving any advice to that of Spa ks temper pretty clearly appeared in the instruais sent to Mr. Frere, directing him to quit Madrid any intelligence of French troops being allowed pus through the Spanish territories. After and Sae of conduCt, it must be harsh and cruel in th to be reproaching Spain on eve y occasion of I sighing that kind of assistance to France, IA would be most advantageito: to the interests of t country, and most injurious to ours. The Ri Hon. and Learned Gentleman (the Master of Rolls', to elucidate some of his observations on grounds of partiality, has infsemed us, that fc long series of years past, France was not cage in any war, except one, in which, at some pet or other of it, she did not connive to involve Si as an ally ; and this that Riffit Hon. Gentlest and many others beside him, had perhaps often tributed to some natural partiality or pathy they had fur each other. He, however, wa opinion, that those could know but little of but nature who could ascribe political combination any such cense. In the unfortunate war which country so long waged against France, eves y knew that there was nothing Spain dreaded so n as the freedom of that continent which she think it was more her interest to preireit. at , d political combinations, and their de l en,lenci each, made Spain the ally of France in the Atte:. of an object perfectly adverse from every let of its heart. Such was also the case in the pr war, iu which the impulse of the mind is not suited. Should we, by a combination of cirt stances, find our friend Portugal now lea against us, it would he unjust to consider it a aft of self-will. While under the contro influence of much more powerful state., I Minor nations are never allowed a choice ; and m-operation cannot prove the males inners. Their link barks may, with their sa.k, " Pursue the trlualphi, and partake the gales." They have their scanty proportion of the quests, but they are never engaged for Any oh their own. It was in vain, then, to contend the Spaniards were so much devoted to the interests, as to grant to them a subsidy of millions, one half of their revenue, from ,ny • r ri c:f t le than that of necessity. He re with those wbe were of opinisie it was immaterial to this country and its in whether the contingent stipulated by the t St. Ildefenso was paid in kind or in subsid he did not see the justice with which so muc elle was attempted to be thrown on the obser of M. Anduaga, that if we are agreed to let make good the contingent stipulated by the the French would have no pretext for de ing any tun ; but when it was attempted commuted for a sum of money, they had an opportunity of setting a greater reice u th n it might possibly have deserved. Th s tying no snore tl.an what every man exper who ever made a bargain. if be demands rd. Now, as ould be • little wised it should tbiguous upon of the contrary The Ho n . he must pre. on that point, was to be con- ,t this country, nore offensive /en in the FA. rechislesi front tr, and called ors against in the essly provides slated amount hether the wat just, or .who hat a treaty re! I just cause ~! once it, ,pl ace , if 'he be sr, s, red has an -.•i- - !tug our Relit,' war, the lie. pecuniary sn- city. Not tdatld tipult pupated by the may have been • tbstituted in its parties, ,and in !ndency. Our minipaired by said, that sup. s hnund to ex. natives tat Wanes do, rt. of its jest' ary, upon the' of that sort uf to to war with teal neutrality, roid a rupture. :ittesnien, wise- ln event certain a laudable pn- lie hlow•unia Th is counsewv melted wallah:, scan colonies. F tame less with Spai, be wank. after a position diJ nut 11/hinter of the me him for.nu at once.—Both our .prtlitical re- tuliaray of her involved in any Ice ; and :re:, ret :hat overbearreg • at the pies?os igainst Govern- strong and ala nes with Spain. strong, pun Spain at a/ erms, to dec!are e Treaty of 6t. a the -negative, in terms (final- confine herself test tor, in the ? This was !to line of conduit; our A minima- of the Spanish ietenn, and there- ,. Hebelinvedit s to instruEl their , to communicate 'elating, upon the minationor fixoti case of this kintt the question id - ument wished - re g refused, I.rad iniotruFted ran a if the Spanish ere was ,nothi:T would report tbc he was allow- rised to follov. the Spaniih Go- of the hunt_ lefinite and St meaitt re, ; • 'tat Lora capable they might !!ANC lain iate3 sheen ight have taken a For a consider- le, which could rims issue. In a slr. Frere holds neutrality might nothing had then Nit Britain to per- ieu of furnishing to be paid by the To that note, by M Cevallos. !newed this ;lem- on two express all Armaments ue tion of the sale•of 'land, and carried the positive And he 2d of March, that it was agree- Ilos, and perte" led on the two les- arch, in which it tte,which the Han. ame as neutralitt , ;ht be substiattel eased to take tor ! had certainly no same, during that !ate of neutrality. and depended en- nces of the case. near to give them .......... -•-••••• - ' Y d '''''''. - . i "gall vailigdll