The Sun. — London, England, 1848-06-06 00:00:00

early opportunity should be given of vindicating it, as he hoped it would be vindicated; and that it was also 1 due to the character of the country he represented, and with a view of setting the Spanish Government right respecting their mistake, if mistaken they were. Prepared, as he was, to join the Government in any measure for vindicating the character of the country, ha felt assured he would be the better aleAe to pursue that course if, in the out set, he admitted that a g rievous error had been com mitted on their part. He should Elsie to know from the Roble Lord whether it was or was not the fact that the whole grounds of the charges brought against their Am bassador were assigned in toe papers before them? It was most essential that they should know that ; and he could conceive no grounds for concealment upon the subject. It was impossible that the Noble Lord should not be cognisant of the whole facts, for he had every in dividual before him from whom information could be obtained—the Ambassador himself and the special Envoy from the Court of Madrid, with whom he be lieved the Noble Lord was in communication through the Spanish Ambassador. He knew the story on one side and the other ; he knew what the other accusations were, if other accusations existed than those con taine4 in the papers. He believed that the dispatch of the Noble Lord was an unhappy and unfortunate piece of diplomacy, but that that could form any justification for the expulsion of their Ambassador was what no man in that House would believe.—(Hear, hear.) He might and did lament that any instructions given to their Am bassador—though not exceeded by him, as far as his judgment led him to form a conclusion—should have led to a result so humiliating to them—that the Government of Spain should have rejected the dispatch of the Noble Lord, and that they, as a nation, should be insulted. As the Noble Lord had justified the conduct of the Am bassador the latter should receive no blame from him (Mr. Bankes). But having gone to that extent, which in his opinion was far indeed, the Spanish Government went a step further, when they not only returned the Ambassador's dispatch, but rejected also the Ambassa dor, telling him that though he and his nation "might not be offended," yet that he had better not stay there, but take himself off in order to avoid offence. —(Hear, hear.) The House had before them, in the papers presented by the Government, the dispatches which had first passed respecting these matters. Un doubtedly those dispatches were from the first consi dered in that House to present points for grave consi deration. It had seemed to him, and he believed to others, that an interference had been proposed with the affairs of a friendly power which no Government could have borne without resentment ; and, certainly from the first, he had anticipated that something would follow calculated to disturb the friendly relations subsisting between England and Spain—relations which had existed for many years, and which were maintained by many important considerations. True it was that Spain owed to us a debt of gratitude; but it could not but be felt by a generous people that a claim of that sort insisted upon at all times, and under a;1 circumstances , c ould not be advanced creditably to ourselves nor without offence to a t proud, a chivalrous, and gallant nation. He could net but feel, moreover, that if Spain had derived advantages from us we bad also derived ad vantages from our connexion with Spain. It was in her plains that our gallant army first learnt to beat the warriors of Napoleon, and though Spain would never forget her obligations, yet the con stant reiteration of them by us might arouse something bordering on a vindictive feeling to supply the place of international friendship. He regretted these unhappy dispatches, therefore, on other grounds than the mere dismissal of our Minister. He regretted them, amen.. other things, because he feared they might b e e drawn into a precedent. It was for thatreason that he had been most anxious to press forward this debate so early. He wished to guard against these papers being placed in the library of that House without there being an nexed to them an immediate protest —an immediate re monstrance. Ile wished to guard against the possibi lity of any one saying in future times, " Oh, a great affront has been offered to us, but there is a precedent for our treating it ssith silence ; for in 1848, when Lord Palmerston was Foreign Minister, a British Am bassador at the Court of Madrid was contemptuously dismissed. The papers on the subject are all extant —and not ono word was said by Parliament or by the country on the subject."—(Hear, hear.) That was what he desired to guard against. And now let him come to the consideration of the documents that were placed before them. In the outset he must complain that the papers presented to Parliament as "papers rela tive to the affairs of Spain" were mere extracts, and very partial ones. What did the House think, for in stance, of such a correspondence as this: — "Mr. Buiwer to Viscount Palmerston-1 have just had an interview with the Duke of Sotomayor, who, having re quested to sue me, stated" . • • • (Loud laughter.) Absolutely that was alL—(Renewed laughter.) That was a complete paragraph in a dispatch of our Spanish Ambassador to his Minister, communi cated for the information of the British House of Com mons!—(Cheers.) Almost on the same page with this remarkable State document was another dispatch, in which Lord Palmerston expressed himself highly dis pleased at the decree of the Cortes giving the Government of Spain extraordinary powers. Why, what right had the Noble Lord to be highly displeased or offended with such matters? These powers were voted by the Spanish Cortes by a majority of 148 to 45 in one house, and of 6 to 83 in the other assembly. He must remark, too, that a great portion of these "papers" was composed of extracts from newspapers. He (Mr. Bankes) did not un dervalue newspapers. He had no doubt that in Spain, as in England, there were papers conducted by men of the highest talent and of the purest character; but as newspapers both in Spain and England were anonymous publications, he must always feel regret when he found them brought forward as authorities upon matters of State.—(Hear, hear.) Only two hours had elapsed since •the last series of papers upon this subject had been deli vered to Members of the Legislature, and in this series there were, he must remark, extracts from newspapers, which he thought the Government had scarcely exercised a wise discretion in introducing. One of these was from the Heraldo of May 24, which, after setting forth that fears were entertained in Spain of the anger of England in consequence of these events, proceeded thus: " A singular reflection however arises, viz., the impossibi lity of England taking offence at present, in consequence of the hostile attitude of Ireland, which is wasting her re sources—by the increasing deficit in her treasury—by the suspicions entertained of her throughout Europe—in conse quence of her friendly relations with the court of Vienna— and finally, by the proceedings of the Chartist party, which calculates on the support of the new Parliamentary party, headed by Messrs. Hume and Cobden—(Loud laughter)— who will no doubt hire advantage of the difficulties into which the country is thrown, in order to kindle the torch of civil discord throughout the land." (Much laughter and some opposition cheering.) These were the documents the Noble Lord gave to them as part of a great Parliamentary record.—(Hear, hear.) Thus it was that state papers were made up—(Cheers) —and he must say that it did seem to him that these sort of things had been put together with considerable haste in order to occasion a delay—that they had been collected with much toilsome industry in order to gain tithe.—(Cheers.) He now came to the next important document—the Noble Lord's memorable " confidential" dispatch to Mr. Bulwer of March 16. It would be re collected that it ran thus : " I have to instruct you to recommend earnestly to the Spanish Government and to the Queen-Mother, if you have an opportunity of doing so, the adoption of a legal and con stitutional course of government in Spain. —(Hear, from the Liberal side.) This was pretty well. The Cortes it would be remembered was sitting at the time, carrying what they thought 7." legal and constitu tional measures" by large majorities. " The recent fall of the King of the French and of his whole family, and the expulsion of his Ministers, ought to teach the Spanish Court and Government how great is the danger of an attempt to govern a country in a manner at va rience with the feelings and opinions of the nation ; and the catastrophe which has happened in Franca must serve to show that even a large and well-disciplined army becomes an ineffectual defznce for the Crown when the course pursued by the Crown is at variance with the general sentiments of the country. It would then be wise for the Queen of Spain in the present critical state of affairs to strengthen the Execu tive Government by enlarging the basis upon which the ad ministration is founded, and ny calling to her councils some of those men who pos3e33 the confidence of the liberal party." (Much cheering from the Liberal side.) Now it might have been good for Spain and this country if the policy recommended by the Nobl e Lord had be en adopted, but certainly if the Noble Lord wished to defeat such a measure he could nut have adopted a course more cal culated to carry that object.—(Hear, h_ear.) e ('l- Bantus) was ready to admit t hat the feeling of Spain towards us had not been very f avourable, and that the acts of the Spanish Government had not been very kindly. We had probably suffered some disappoint ment by the course Spain had chosen to pursue wit reference to our free-trade policy. In Novem . be Mr. Dulwer applied to the Duke de S 3 tomayor for r coins last, alteration of the duties with reference to woollen goods. A correspondence ensued, and the House woul d recollect that when the matter was brought before Parliament, the Noble Lord stated that he thought we ought to be satis fied, because we were placed by Spain in no worse posi tron than she placed France. To put us in the same position in which she placed France was not in his (Mr. Bankes's) judgment exactly all that ought to satisfy this country; and if the interference of the Noble Lard had been confined to matters of commercial relation, he cer tainly should not have objected. There was not, as he , conceived, any better employment of time for Ministers than watching our commercial relations with foreign coun ties; but he did doubt the expediency of interfering with the political affairs of nations, and especially of en deavouring to force upon them certain individuals and parties to act as ministers and governors of the country. -7(Cheers.) Why, what should we say if the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, seeing the Chartists in England and the repeaters in Ireland in a state of dis content, were to write to us, insisting that it would be better for Great Britain, if the Government were placed upon a wider basis, and if Messrs. Cobden and Hume were at once called to the councils of the Sovereign ? (Hear, hear.) What should we say if, having told ns that *ley were to conclude by stating that whether we adopted such measures or not, they would at least have the satisfaction of having given timely warning ? (Cheers.) The Noble Lord might say that Spain was in peculiar relations towards England—he might insist on the sort of obligatory link which existed —and which he seemed to think bound the Spanish nation to a state of subserviency to us because of benefits re ceived ; but this was not enough. Cases had hap pened before where diplomatists as able as the Noble Lord had been concerned, and where a very different tone had been assumed on subjects by no means dissimilar to that under discussion. The Noble Lord, he was sure, would not be offended a ith a comparison which be would institute. Holland, at one period of her history, was a stets divided by opposite factions. She was under - the greatest obligations to us for the preservation of her liberty, and for affording her the means of carrying on her commerce. At such a time, and at a period of great THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 6, 1848. danger to her, we had a vigilant and able ambassador at the Hague, whoset dispatches were extant. He alluded to the Noble Lord's ancestor, Sir W. Temple. Writing from the Hague in 1670, that gentleman, after adverting to the state of internal affairs in Holland, said:— "I have thought fit to say this much that so you may make up your reports of these affairs, and it is our part to seem the least concerned we can is them, the best we can do is to watch the interests of the country, doing as little as we can to interfere with their internal interests." He (Mr. Bankes) wished the Noble Lord had followed the example of his great ancestor, and been satisfied with watching vigilantly and anxiously the domestic interests of Spain—ready to afford aid when required, but knowing that to offer it unasked was only likely to excite ill will.—(Cheers.) But he had another case to cite. Nearly at the same period, in 1678, we had au Ambassador at Madrid, Sir William Godolphin, who had occasion to make remonstrance of a serious nature on the part of his Government. He addressed a letter to Don John of Austria, informing him that " the King his nas.,ter, had commanded him frequently to complain of the ill conduct of the Spanish Ministers at his Court, which he was directed to say had not been amended by the Minister now present." What was the result of this remonstrance? It met with immediate attention. The Spanish Minister at the Court of St. James's was removed, showing that Spain, at the period of her most palmy greatness, was not above receiving with courtesy an appeal for the removal of her Ambassador. What reason was there to suppose that her heart was so broken by subsequent misfortune that she should not rise up now in resentment when an experiment was tried upon er patienc,er?h—e (followingwßasutfrhoorapyroicseceoduent with the di h spatches. Palmerston to Mr. Bulvver:— I , h senclosures, received I have to instruct you to state to the D "Foreign-office, April 20 , 1843 . Sir your dispatch of the 11th instant , with jt ave and that her Majesty's Government entire l y app p uk of rove Sotoma the ate yor and likewise of your note o f the 12th. T a her Majesty's you took in making your communication h ot t the 7th instant, Government, however, are not at all offended, either by the sending back of your com munication of tth 7 e t uke o A ofpri,l, or by the angry tone a nd lan g uageD Soto mayor's note of the 10th, however they may regret the ex istence of those feelings in the minds of the Spanish Go vernment, of which the language of his Exellency's note and the return of yours were proofs. Her Majesty's Go vernment, in making to the Government of Spain the re presentations, and is giving the advice which your commu nication conveyed, were inspired by no sentiment but that of sincere friendship for Spain, and of deep interest in the welfare of Queen Isabella. They felt that in making that communication they were performing a duty, and not taking any undue liberty ; and therefore, at all events, it is a satis faction to her Majesty's Government to reflect that although their counsel has been rejected and their communication has been returned, the note has, nevertheless, been read, and the counsel has been tendered, and that whatever calamity may happen in Spain her Majesty's Government stand acquitted of not having done what they could to prevent it. With regard to the contents of the Duke of Sotomavor's note, her Kingdom rlilgahj etsetyf'hs ehrGove rnment lead disputed ui h ta jeaedviyes: e fo , efi vttihhlaeNtvijai war bad dd e have only tn a el pretender thelo t°hn brsoe ; r arisen out of such a confixt of claims • if the British Govern ment had only a few years ago sent a special envoy to Madrid • • to solicit the assistance of Spain, in order to place her Majesty on the tbrahi ; if that assistance had been given, both morally by treaty engagements, and physically by mili tary and naval for ces; if t h e a id th us a ff o rded by - Spain had contributed in so essential a degree to secure the crown to her Majesty, that it might with truth be said that without such aid her Majesty would not now have been Queen of England ; if, moreover, there still remained a pretender, who asserted his right and whose pretensions were backed by a large party in the United Kingdom ; and if upon every symptom of danger from that pretender, and that party, the British Government was in the habit of reminding Spain of the treaty engagements which she had entered into; was also in the habit of asserting that those engagements were still in force, and was continually claiming the benefit of the alleged existence of those engagements; if all those things existed, and if the Government of Spain had, in a moment of general disturbance in Europe, warned the British Govern ment of dangers by which, in their opinion, the security of her Majesty's throne was menaced—l think I may confi dently affirm that, under such circumstances, any statesmen who might be Ministers of the British Crown, instead of sending back the note in which such representations were conveyed, and instead of replying to it in discourteous terms, would have accepted the communication in the same spirit of friendsip in which it was made; and whether they adopted or not the advice which it contained, would at least have considered it a proof of the continued existence of that friendship on the part of Spain, to which in such case would have been owing the circumstance that those British Mi nisters had the honour of being advisers of the Crown, in stead of being proscribed exiles in a foreign land. You will transmit to the Duke of Sotomayor a copy of this dispatch. (Signed) " PALMERSTON." Now, certainly it was rather strong to tell the Govern ment of Spain that we had been the instrument of put ting the crown of Spain on the head of the Queen, when all we had purported to do was to lend our aid in confir mation of the claims of the person whom we considered justly entitled to that crown. Altogether, he could not but think that, whatever blame attached to the subse quent conduct of the Spanish Government towards Sir Henry Bulwer—and he quite agreed in censuring that conduct as highly arbitrary and improper—there had been in the tone observed by the Noble Lord much that would naturally irritate and wound the feelings of the Spanish Government and nation, and he therefore trusted that in the explanation which the Noble Lord would, he presumed, that night offer, the Noble Lord would admit what he surely unt,t feel, that he had been injudicious, at all events in the manner and time of his interposition. Most undoubtedly the British nation, while ever pre pared to vindicate its honour, would not hesitate to ex press its regret, if any hasty expressions on the part of its Government had wounded the generous sensibilities of a high-3ouled and friendly people.—(Hear, hear.) Such an expression of regret on the part of the Noble Lord would at once tend to smooth away the unfortu nate asperities which had arisen. It should not be for gotten that the Noblo Lord and his Noble Colleague at the head of aff.tirs were members of that same Govern ment of Lord Grey whose grand profession of faith was economy, reform, and non-interference with foreign states. Viscount PALMERSTON —Peace, retrenchment, and reform. Mr. BANKES--These were the same things in other words; peace was non-intervention, and non-intervention peace. This profession of faith had reference to the contrary policy of tormer Governments— of one or more of which, very possibly, the Noble Viscount had himself formed part.—(A laugh.) And the Noble Viscount would have done well had he adhered to it in the present matter. Among the papers delivered to Members that morning, there was one in particular, from Sir H. Bul wer, which he would beg to quote. And here let him observe that he had throughout considered Sir Henry Balwer's conduct required no vindication.—(Hear.) That functionary had on no apparent occasion exceeded or fallen short of his instructions, but had, it would seem, exactly carried out the ♦iews of the Noble Vii. count. There were various points to which he (Mr. Bankes) desired to direct the Noble Viscount's reply:- Ist. Whether any other cause or causes than those al ready made known had been assigned by the Spanish Go vernment for dismissing Sir H. Bulwer? 2d, As to the degree of approbation, whether more or less complete, which the British Government gave to Sir ll.Bulwer's pro ceedings? Next, as to the precise nature and extent of the hold which the British Government assumed to have upon the Crown and Government of Spain; for instance, whether the Noble Viscount really assumed that we had placed Donna Isabella on the throne, not from any claim of right on her part, but because of the peculiar prin ciples which she and her adherents professed, in con tradistinction to those advocated by other pretenders to the throne? In the note of Sir H. Bulwer to the Duke of Sotomayor, dated April 16th, we find this pas sage:— " There are cases, indeed, in which mere advice from one Government to another would be a questionable act of pro priety and interference; but where it so happens that the former Government has received particular support from another, and this on account of particular principles ; and more especially where it so happens that the former Govern ment may still entertain the hope that if the struggle in which it, has once been victorious were to be renewed, it would again receive similar assistance from its late auxiliary ; hero exists one of those peculiar cases in which, without any attempt at dictation, a State which has proved an useful ally may say to that State which it has served, " Take care, you are in a moment of danger; beware that you do not separate yourself from those principles which were the original feature of your cause; in this manner you may lose the throne you desire to maintain ; in this manner you may forfeit the support of your best friends both at home and abroad; let me beseech you, even if your intentions are good, to avoid arraying, if possible, appearances against you." Such were some of the points to which he desired to di rect the N o bl e Vi scount ' s reply. There was yet anot h er: It appeared very singular that among the papers already produced there were no instructions from the Noble Lord subsequent to the 20th of April. He should wish to know whether there had been any instructions issued posterior to that date? Probably, and it might be at no distant period, when this matter should be settled, as he trusted it would be settled in an amicable way between the two countries, the Noble Lord, in making a state ment to that effect to the House, would feel it necessary to call upon the House for an opinion as to the whole of these proceedings. Meanwhile, he would remark, that he had brought forward the present resolution because he had heard from the Noble Loni that its discussion would in no degree embarrass the existing negotiations. Had the Noble Lord given any other intimation, he s houldr o. COUTSO have delayed the proposition. Should the resolution he was now about to submit to the House give to the Noble Lord an opportunity for making any explanatory or conciliatory statement, tending to heal the wound which had been inflicted on the honest pride of the Spanish nation, he should rejoice in the part he had which had The resolution having been p ut from the chair, arisen towards between removingthe two hitherto feeling s o Mr. SHELL said—The Hon. Gentleman on the 10th of May gave notice of a motion , in relation to a para graph in one of Sir H. Bulwer's letters, for the purpose of information. Ho has now changed his ground, and proposes for the adoption of the House a resolution of censure on my Noble ; Friend. I am very far from saying that this change in his tactics is not deserv ing of commendation. My Noble Friend is clearly re sponsible for all that has been said or clone by Sir H. Bulwer, and I therefore think the Hon. Gentleman quite right in saying that by his motion he is conferring an obligation on my Noble Friend ; my Noble Friend is equally indebted to the Honourable Gentleman for his motion and for his speech, for both will servo him. — (Hear, hear.) The true question is—l purposely avoid any prefatory prolixity—the true question is, whether the Noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was justified in interfering in the in:ernal affairs of Spain, by the peculiar relations in which we stand to wards that country 4—(Hear, hear.) What are those relations ? It will be necessary to take a retrospect; which I promise you shall be a rapid one. In 1834, the Spanish Government solicited the assistance of England L —a special negotiator, the Marquis Miraihrcs, was sent to England. That Nobleman has published an ac count of his mission, which I think I see in the hands of the Honourable Member for Pontefract.—(A laugh.) The Marquis states that Lord Palmerston had very great difficulties to contend against, but his earnestness in the cause of Spain and of Spanish liberty overcame every obstacle that stood in his way, and on the 22d of April, 1834, the preliminary articles of a treaty of quadruple alliance were signed. At that period the Duke of Richmond, Sir James Graham, the Earl of Ripon, and the Nobleman who has recently taken so active a part in the question in another House (Lord Stanley) bad not retired from theCsbinct.—(Hear, hear.) The Marquis states that the effect of even these preliminary articles was signal and immediate. Don Carlos assented, and it was supposed that the pacifica tion of Spain would be the result of the articles. This anticipation was not carried oat. Don Carlos retired into the provinces, and the entire of the Basque popu lation arose for him; the Court of Spain was filled with dismay, and the Marquis Mireflores, instructed by his Government, again waited upon Lord Palmerston, and to use his own language, " implored his aid with adjurations, ardent and unremitted." Lord Palmerston redeemed the pledge he had given, by aid, naval, midi tary, and moral, and there cannot be a doubt, but that for the interposition of England, Don Carlos would have been King of Spain.—(Loud cries of "Hear, hear," from Mr. Baillie Cochrane.) The whole population of the Basque provinces, the Church, the monastic orders, the nobility, and the still nobler peasantry of Spain, were all the Carlist party.—(Renowed cheers from the same quarter.) It is said by the Duke of Sotomayor, in very sonorous Castilian, that England interfered from selfish motives. From what selfish motives I cannot conjecture.—(Hear, bear.) The people of this country filled with an ardent love of liberty, which I trust will ever inspire them, gave energetic aid to a nation strug gling for freedom ; but England as Sir H. Bulwer wrll pointed out, had nothing to gain in the matter but the lofty consciousness of having assisted the Spanish people in the assertion of their right to free institutions. These institutions were established, and they remained stable till the fall of Espartero. The late Minister of this country, I well remember, expressed deep regret for that fall, and in his regret Lord Aberdeen fully con curred. I am far from disapproving of the policy of Lord Aberdeen towards Spain. It was Lord Aberdeen who appointed Sir H. Bulwer to the post ho lately occu pied, and in this appointment Lord Aberdeen manifested a just and most sound appreciation of the valuable ser vices which Sir H. Bulwer had rendered to his country at Constantinople and in other quarters.—(Bear, hear.) It is said that Lord Aberdeen ',ever interfered in the affairs of Spain. I will show the contrary ; I will show that Lord Aberdeen did interfere in the affairs of Spain, and this in a manner which reflected upon him the greatest honour. Sir H. Bulwer wrote to Lord Aber deen that he had heard from persons of good authority that it was in contemplation to plight the Queen first, and then communicate the fact to the Cortes, when it should be too late to revoke the betrothal. Thereupon Lord Aberdeen at once sent directions to Sir 11. Bulwer to call upon General Narvaez without delay, and to say to him that he could not, indeed, believe the report in Question, but that if any such illicit and discreditable proceedings were intended, the British Government would protest against it as an infringement on the Spa nish Constitution, as exposing the Queen to danger, and as calcuated to spread confusion ai.d peril throughout the country. Here, surely, was a case of ititerference— (Hear, hear)—and, as such, if Lord Aberdeen was war ranted—and warranted he was—in interfering, L,ml Palmerston was called upon ,to do so when he saw the Cortes about to be abolished, and every vestige of free dom about to he swept away. In 1846 Lord Aberdeen retired from office, and Lord Palmerston, upon acceding to it, naturally directed his attention to the affairs of Spain. I have read the remarkable dispatch of July, 1846, to which reference has been made by the greatest journal of this country, which, in relation to it, speaks of the dispatch as having proceeded from my Noble Friend, when baffled on the great Montpensier machination. Now, it was not till September that the Spanish marriages took place, and at the time of the dis patch in July there was no sort of quarrel with Spain on that subject. But the Cortes had been rendered a passive instrument in the hands of the Government, the liberty of the press was a nullity, the property and the liberty of the subject were outraged with impunity, and men were daily put to death without a shadow of trial ; the name of freedom had, in a word, become a mockery. Lord Palmerston, struck with this spectacle, did what a British Minister was bound to do under the circumstances—he intimated to the Spanish Government that it was not for the purpose of establishing a grinding , tyranny in Spain, that the English Government inter fered to settle the crown of Spain on its present basis. —(Hear, hear.) The circumstances of 1848 are diffe rent, be it remembered, from those of 1846. In 1846 there was no European convulsion ; the authority of Louis Philippe was ostensibly stable. In 1848 occurred those mighty events at whose aspect contemporaries stand appalled,• and at which history will look back with amazement. The Noble Lord was warned by Sir 11. Bulwer that revolution threatened Spain, that the Carliats were in motion, and that, if they were en couraged to come forward, a disastrous • civil war would be the inevitable result, involving the country and its throne in the utmost misfortune and peril. His Noble Friend hereupon transmitted that dispatch which has been so repeatedly referred to. But when this dis patch was given to Sir 11. Bulwer, did he at once rush to the palace and deliver it up in the abrupt manner sug gested ? No; he kept it by him for twenty days, re serving it as a last expedient—as a final resource. Mark the dates—the dispatch was received by Sir H. Bulwer on the 21st of March ; on the 211 the Cortes were dis solved ; on the 31st an insurrection took place at Madrid. On these occasions Sir H. Bulwer offered counsel to the Spanish Government in the most amicable spirit ; but, as yet be did not produce the dispatch. His preliminary efforts were of no avail; he went to the Queen-Mother with as littte effect; and, at length, on the 9th of April, Sir 11. Bulwer, finding that every other expedient had been exhausted, and thinking that Lord Palmeriton's dispatch might produce an effect which his own verbal communications had failed to do, sent in the dispatch, and it is but an act of justice to Sir 11. Bulwer that I should here read an extract from one of his letters in vindication of the conduct he bad pursued, and which, I submit, perfectly justified that conduct. In the letter dated April 22, 1848, Sir H. Bulwer says : "In this state of circumstances I consulted my instruc tions; I had already acted upon them by giving friendly and intimate advice without any effect being produced. It began to be very probable that Count Montemolin might show himself, supported by the Liberal party, and with the cry of the Constitution of 1812: this was here canvassed on one side, a Republic on the other. Now, if the Pretender raised his banner, proclaiming constitutional principles, and we were called upon to support Queen Isabella, her Catholic Majesty upholding military government, it would be difficult for us to support the military government against the con stitutional one, or to desert Queen Isabella suddenly, on the ground that we disapproved of the course she had pursued, unless there was some proof that we had so disapproved. My ur.official conversations had no authority. Even if her Ca tholic Majesty fell without exposing us to this difficult and particular question, it might be said, Why did not Mr. lialwer want the Spanish Government of the dangerous course they were pursuing? Why did he not do so with all the weight that a formal communication of the views Jf Great Britain would have afforded?' It was, my Lord, in view of all these various probabilities that I gave the sanc tion of your Lordship's name, and of my opinion to the ad vice I presumed to offer. It was not, that lam aware of, couched in improper terms; I did not, therefore, expect a voluntary hostile reply, or that the present Government of Spain would involve amongst Queen Isabella's enemies her Majesty's Government, with more than the precipitancy with which it had included in this category distinguished sad loyal Spaniards. The result shows I was mistaken." And the result does show this.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. liembei• has read paragraphs from the Spanish newspaper, the Herald°. The ilereddo was edited at one period by Sartorius, and is still wholly under his influence, or, as the French express it, inspired by him. It may, in a word, be considered the organ of the opinions, feelings, and views of the Spanish Govern ment, The Hon. Gentleman has read an extract from this paper, whence it appears that the editor and the Government expected a revolution in England, mistak ing a Chartist procession for a national march—(Hear, hear)—not knowing that in England liberty and order have entered into .mutual guarantees—(Hear, hear) — not knowing that our institutions are built on a rock, and bound together with an imperishable cement — (Hear)—imagining, in short, that our polity was as frail as the weak, loose structures which continental ar chitects are pleased to call constitutions.—(Hear, hear.) Under this impression it was that the Spanish Govern ment thought it could put contumely upon my Noble Friend and upon the English nation, forgetting the ser vices conferred by us upon Spain—(Hear)—or rather. perhaps, I may say, resenting the obligations we had conferred upon her.—(Hear, hear.) The Spanish Go vernment thought, under such circumstances, to put an insult upon my Noble Friend; and the Hon. Gentleman over the way says that the Government of England has been humiliated. It would be strange, indeed, if the Government of this great and powerful country—a country which had the power to avenge an insult, but could afford to despise one—it would be strange, indeed, if the Government of England could be humiliated by anything that could be done by the Spanish Government, that, in its need, fell down on its knees before 113. — (Hear, hear.) But instead of relying on this, I prefer to insist that with truth, with right, with reason, and with honour, humiliation cannot co-exist.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman spoke of the quarrels of individuals and of nations, and said they were the same thing. It is, I admit, with nations as with men, and I will put this case to the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. If a man calling himself his friend had fled to him for aid, if the required assistance had been given, and he had not only raised the suppliant from the earth, but elevated him into prosperity, and become his surety and pledge to others, and, if then, seeing this man rushing on to ruin, he were to interfere to save him, and, instead of gratitude was to meet with contumely, would not the Lion. and Learned Gentleman feel that the insult recoiled. and that the intended insult fell full upon the degraded ingrate himself and not upon his benefactor ? This point of view applied to the whole of the present transaction. From the first report of Sir 11. Bulwer down to the letter dismissing Sir H. Bulwer from Spain, on grounds of which the annals of diplomacy afforded no parallel—(Bear, hear)—Sir 11. Bulwer had been assailed with every species of calumny, with every threat, assassination included, and with the declaration that he was abandoned here. But he is not abandoned here.—(Cheers.) He is not abandoned by Parliament, he is not abandoned by the Government, he is not aban doned by my Noble Friend at the head of the department in which Sir 11, Bulwer has so ably served, and who, I am well assured, will rather throw his office to the e s s e e r r y t e he o u man r e common h m o o h n e s c s o o u d n e t r v 3 o v. t e d T I e ur i d o under his win d a is' e t c h t a i n o n d , and Learned Gentleman asked whether any other charges have been made against Sir E. Bulwer ? I know not what further allegations may be adduced by the Spanish Government, but I know that calumnies of the vilest sort have been put in circulation against him. derived from the vile source of inquisitorial espionage. I One example will suffice: it was said, when Fulgosio was put to death, that Mr. Bulwer paid for his death in gold. Calumnies such as these will be treated by the people of this country simply with disgust and scorn.— (ilear and cheers.) This is not the first time that my Noble Friend has been made the object of fierce and calumnious attack. Many a time have I heard him assailed in this House with vehement vituperation ; but my Noble Friend has ever, when ar raigned before the great tribunal, where the public men of England are tried by the gentlemen of England, has ever vindicated himself with triumph from each attack, and has proved himself the conscientious, as he is the able, champion of liberty all over the worP.— (Hear, hear.) He will, I am sure, do so now.—(Hear, hear.) My Noble Friend, like the rest of us, has his faults ; but these are not times in which such faults as his are to be made subjects of party strife—(Hear, hear) —the tremendous crisis of E uro p ean a ff a i rs w ill not admit of our making experiments heedlesaly upon public men.—(Hear, hear.) My Noble Friend has his faults ; but among these faults his enemies will not reckon the want of sagacity to discern danger, or the want of firm tranquil courage, and of indomitable con stancy to encounter it. Viscount MAHON assured the House that he ca tered upon the present discussion with the sincerest respect for the Noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs, on account of his eminence and undoubted ability, his long experience in public affeirs, and the high 1 ost he now filled. Nor was he insensible to the inconvenience of saying anything that might tend to increase the diffi culty of our position with regard to a foreign power—a foreign power, and lately a friendly power.—([lear.) But this question having been once brought before the House, he would venture to state the opinion which he had formed respecting the transaction. In the first place ho would concede to the Right Hon. Gentleman that the Noble Secretary had a right, under all circum stances, to tender some advice to Spain. He thought that, after the sacrifices which we had made for that country, and after the assistance we had given her in the civil strife connected with Don Carlos, we cer tainly were not to be considered as precluded from offering suitable advice to the Spanish Govern ment. But then came the question—in what terms, and to what effect, that advice was conveyed ? And when he looked to the dispatch of the Noble Foreign Secretary, of the 16th March, he was compelled to own that he could not concur either in the scope of the advice he gave or the terms in which it was given.— (Hear, hear.) In the dispatch of the 16th of March, the Noble Lord not only stated his advice as to the course of policy which should be pursued in Spain, but he went on to recommend a change of administration, and advised that the Queen of Spain should call to her counsels some of those men who possessed the confidence of the Libsral party. Now, he (Lord Mahon) could not but think that it was stepping somewhat beyond the proper and the usual line in such cases to „give advice, not simply with respect to the measures to be pursued, but as to the men to bo employed. Let them look at what might happen in this country. Ho believed that it was not unusual for men of weight and station, who stood in friendly relations to any Governmen', from time to time, if they saw occasion, to go to the head of that Government, and state their views with regard to the course which the Government might be following; and if such counsels were given in an amicable spirit they were generally received in an amicable spirit- But the else would assume a totally different aspect if the friends of the Government were to say, " We advise you to change the Administration; we trivio! the Queen to call other men to her counsels;" and he could nut help thinking that by so doing the friendly line he supposed to exist would thus be overstepped. So the Noble Lord, in the dispatch alluded to, had given advice not only as to measures, but also as to the wets to be em ployed; and, looking at the terms of that dispatch, he roust say that in them also lie saw some ground for re gret. Such a dispatch as that ought to have been worded with the utmost circumspection, and with every imagin able care, lea a single word should fell from him which was calculated to wound the sensitive jealousy of the Spanish nation.—(Hear.) But let the House see bow short—how unaccompanied by any argument—was this dispatch, and how peremptory in its tone. It began— " I have to instruct you to recommend earnestly to the Spanish Government, and to the Queen Mother, if you have an opportunity of doing so, the adoption of a legal and constitutional course of Government in Spain." Why, surely, if his (Lord Mahon's) pre- ceding observations had any foundation at all, the Noble Lord ought to have prefaced those instruc tions with some reasons or explanations, and not to have this decisively given his instructions to Sir Henry Bulwer to interfere in the affairs of a foreign power. The dispatch of the 16th March havin g been communicated by Sir Henry to the Spanish overn ment, the Noble Lord, on the 19th of April, sent another dispatch to him, approving the language he had held to Queen Christina; and again another dispatch on the 20th, instructing him to state to the Duke of Sotomayor that her Majesty's Government entirely approved of the step which he (Sir H. Bulwer) had taken in making his communication of the 7th instant, and likewise of his note of the lAth. Now he confessed that he did not see how the Noble Lord was to be entirely defended in re ference to these dispatches. If the first dispatch was intended for communication to the Spanish Government, it tended to weaken the claim, which we fully possessed, of giving advice; but if it was only intended for the private information of the Ambassador, and was marked, as such, " confidential," then he asked why the Noble Lord sanctioned the step of communicating it to the Government of Spain? Did he or did he not intend that that dispatch should be laid before the Spanish Government, and if he did so intend, why did he express it in a tone which he must admit was calcu lated to give offence? If, on the contrary, it was not in tended, then he asked how the Noble Lord could recoil • cile to his sense of duty to sanction a step which was clearly an error in judgment? He admitted that the dispatches of the 16th of March and of the 20th of April might be justified if taken separately, but how they were to be justified both together he hoped to hear from the Noble Lord in the course of the evening. Consistently with his respect for the Noble Lord, he must observe that there was another, and that the mot important point, still behind, and that was with regard to the rela tionsinwhioint h which we e e stood to the Spanish w Upon this p as m oGovernment.most correspondence inconclu sive; but the Noble Lord had pr om i se d f u rther papers w h e n the negotiations were compl e t e , an d he could not but think that the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire would have exercised a sounder discretion had he postponed his motion until those papers were produced.—(Cheers.) At present they were discussing the question in the dark; but this state of obscurity was not to be perpetual, for the Noble Lord had pr om i se d th a t it should be rem oved. Doubtless, while negotiations were ac tually pending with a foreign power, the Noble Lord might be perfectly justified in withholding the dispatches until• those negotiations were com pleted; and as far as his judgment was concerned he thought they ought not to have entered upon the dis cussion at all at a time when the most important part of the case, and that not touching e parties or individuals, but the national honour, of England, was not before them. In this state of the case, therefore, seeing that they possessed no information with respect to the grounds on which the . Spanish Gov ern ment had acted in their dismi ssal ol• Sir henry Bulwer, it would not become him to pronounce an opinion on that part of the subject. This, however, he would say, that so far as the papers on the table were concerned, lie saw no justification whatever for the Spanish Government in dismissing the ambassador of that very power which had befriended t h em as the Goverment of this country had done. — (Cheers.) They ought not to have forgotten that we had stepped forward to assist them with our blood, our treasure, and our moral influence; and that the assist ance we had given them would require very strong pro vocation indeed on our part before we could justify so great an outrage as had been offered to us. But in those papers there was no such justification, nor even the shadow of such a justification.—(Cheers.) He did not presume to say what else the Spanish Government might h ave to bring forward. On that point, if it were necessary, they would be able to express an opinion hereafter. Nor did he mean to deny that in one respect the Noble Lord's dispatches were fairly open to some degree of blame; but what he contended for was, that the outrage far exceeded the provocation—that it bore no proportion to the provocation, and that as far as he could see there never was an act of so much importance undertaken upon grounds which appeared to be so slight and inconclusive.—(Loud cheers.) True we had done such acts ourselves, for Count Gyllenberg, the Swedish Minister, was sent out of this country, in 1716, but we gave the strongest re asons for doing it, inasmuch as he had been detected in c orrespondence with the Pretender. It the Spanish Govern ment could show a similar cause then he was sure t h a t this House would not preclude itself from admitti e g it as existed, a justification ; • but at present no such justificatio n had been show n. exd, he And if it Ia s shouldcer tain v turn out that no such justification differences within the House, or party that no party dd would prevent them from concur feelings of arty ki n ring in any course w hich the vindication of our national honour might see m to require.—(Cheers.) This was of the subject; though what he had to say o n that part he deeply regretted t hat it should have been stirred and at a time when they could speak only_ documents were '° d important buts," because the m ost now to be considered not before them. It remained whether the House would concur in the vote proposed by the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire. Ile (Lord Mahon) he could not concur iw it. That would say, at once, tha t _ vote was a vote of - ensu re; it expressed regret, but regret nothing m from this house was n ore nor less than a vote of censure. And let Hon. Gentlemenremember what would be the consequence of carrying in this House a ' resolution like that whic h the Hon. Gentleman had pro posed, expressive of the Le deep regret with which the of the English House observed the humiliating position Government.—(Hear, • ,o har and laughter.) He admitted the humiliation, but he wa s not yet prepared to say by whether that humiliation was incurred the fault of our diplomacy, or by the unjust suspicions oft t hhSp_a_mish Government.—(Hear, hear.) The condhe eti t ie Noble Lord was partially open to animadversion;to say immediate retirement animadversion should be f ollowed b y the retirement of the Noble Lord from the councils of the Queen, and the possible ret i r ement of all those Noble Lords and ,„Right Hon. Gentlem en who now com p osed the Government of her Majesty, was what ho could not coincide in; and he must observe that, until they had fuller info rm ation respecting the whole case, he could not but think that the House of Commons would not consult the true interests of the country, or show a proper feeling of dignity,. if, • upon imperfect information, it came to any such decision.—(Cheers.) Lord J. RUSSELL, —Mr. Speaker—The Noble Lord who has just sat down has spoken so fairly on this eines. tion—(Cheers)—has expressed his doubts where ho has doubts, his approbation where he approves, and his re luctance to agree with a vote of censure, in terms so be coming a Member of this House, that I cannot refrain from at once rising to endeavour to satisfy the Noble Lord with regard to those points upon which he is as yet uninformed. The Noble Lord is wiling to admit, and I think the majority of this House must he willing to admit, that, even putting aside the peculiar relations which subsist between this country and Spain, it is com petent for the Government of one country to give advice to the Government of another; and that it may even feel at times bound to give that advice with respect to its in ternal affairs.—(Hear, hear.) Provided that advice is conveyed in friendly terms, and that it has a friendly object, there are few Members in this House who will deny that there may be occasions on which such advice may be given. —(Hear, hear.) Without referring to the innumerable examples which may be found where such advice has been given by persons of the highest authority on all matters of international relations, I will mention one case that I happened to be reading, I think, not more than two or three days ago, with re spect to the late events in Naples. A person of high authority sent for three of the Foreign Ministers, and informed them that tranquillity was restored in the Cabinet; whereupon one or them took upon himself to speak on behalf of his colleagues, the two ~ther Foreign Ministers, and said that their opinion was that the time had come when clemency ought to be shown by the,So • vereign and the Government. Who was the Minister who tendered, unasked, this advice to the Government of Naples? It was the representative of her Most Ca tholic Majesty the Queen of Spain.—(Loud cheers and laughter.) Subsequent discussion occurred with one of the Ministers of the King of Naples, in which the nature of the Constitution and the propriety of dissolving the Chambers were laid before those Foreign Ministers. Various opinions were given, the Spanish Minister giving one opinion, the English Minister giving another but it never occurred to the Minister of the Kieg of Naples to say, " Any advice upon the internal affairs of this kingdom is an unjustifiable int , rference, and I call upon you to refrain from such interference, unless you wish, me to give advice with respect to the mode of conducting the Governments of England and of Spain."—(Hear, hear.) But, Sir, there were, as the Noble Lord admits, peculiar reasons why England should have some title to give its advice to the Go vernment of the Queen of Spain.—(Hear.) Her in terests had been deeply concerned when the Marquis of Nliraflores came here to pray, to beg, to supplicate for assistance. Our assistance had been given too readily —our assistance had been too effectual—for us not to think that if an occasion arose when the throne of the Queen of Spain should be in danger, our sympathy might be exhibited, and our friendly counsels might be tendered without fear of arousing the national suscep• tibility. Sir, the events of the present year have been extraordinary. My Right Hon. Friend the Master of the Mint (Mr. Sheil). who went through this case in a manner so masterly that I can add but little to what he addressed to the House, referred most aptly to a dis patch of my Noble Friend in 1846, in which my Noble Friend observed to the Ambassador—" Such are the sen- timents of the British Government, and you will inform those with whom you have intercourse that you will act in accordance with those sentiments: kut you will not obtrude any advice with respect to the internal affairs of Spain." But, as I have said, the events of this year have been most extraordinary, and there was no country hardly which could be considered to be sate from those convulsions which have overset thrones—have destroyed constitutions—have placed towns at the mercy of mobs, and have threatened to convulse the whole of Europe. It was impossible, considering the relations between this country and Spain, that the state of Spain should not seriously and painfully attract the attention of the British Government. My N, , t& Friend read a dispatch of the 16th Match, and the NAL, Lord opposite asks a perfectly justifiable qu'stinn—viz., whether that dispatch was written with a view to being communicated to the Spanish Government, or whether it was only intended for the information of Sir H. Bulwer? The answer which I shall give will be given in relating the events as they occurred. My Noble Friend reai that dispatch. It is in those terms in which a dis patch is couched that is communicated in a note to a foreign Government. It' was in a dispatch written in that form which is intended for the informs.- tion of the Minister; but at the same time it was for the information and guidance of a Minister who had been cho.en for his eminent abilities—who was tho roughly acquainted with the state of Spain, and in whom the Government of this country most wisely re posed confidence. Sir H. Bulwcr, in the first place, under stood that dispatch as it was meant—as being for his guidance. But there occurred a state of things which tilled him with alarm as to the security of the throne of Spain. He has described the circumstances in a dispatch dated the 22d of April. In that dispatch he relates that extraordinary powers were obtained by the Spanish Government—that the Cortes were prorogued—but that no sooner were they prorogued than almost every officer of note in the Progresista party was arrested or ban ished, and some of the most distinguished deputies were seized and imprisoned, with the apparent intent to de port them, and all this without the parties thus treated being told of their offence or submitted to any sort of trial. Now, on this part of the case I must say what I believe the opinion of Sir H. Bulwer to have been, for 1 have seen it frequently stated in dispatches and letters of his, viz., that the best policy for the Queen of Spain to pursue would be to unite, if possible, in her councils the most eminent of those who support her title as opposed to the title of Don Carlos; and that, whether they were called Moderadoes or Progresistas, it was her interest to see her throne surrounded by both those parties, and to make of those parties, united as it were, a rampart against the attempts of those who support the pretensions of another prince. Whether that were a just opinion or not I have no occasion to argue. I only say that was the opinion formed by Sir H. Bulwer, not from any regard for one party o r tl e other—not from any wish to take part in the internal politics of Spain, but from a wish to see the Throne of Spain strengthened, and the title of the present Queen confirmed and esta blished by the whole nation. With this opinion, then, the House can well conceive that Sir H. Bulwer saw with alarm that not only was an extraordinary law passed suspending all the guarantees of public liberty, but that the most eminent men who had held Progre sista opinions in the Cortes—men who were distinguished writers—men of attainments and of character, were seized and imprisoned without a trial, and threatened with the loss of their liberty wherever they went. Such being the case, Sir 11. Bulwcr was afraid that the par tikins of Don Carlos or of a republic might make a successful insurrection. "In this state of circumstances," he says, " I consulted my instructions. I had already acted upon them by giving friendly' and intimate advice, without any effect having been produced." That shows he rightly understood the instructions authorizing him to use friendly and intimate advice without immediately producing the note in which he was authorized to do so. But it occurred to him that if he went no further no record would remain of that advice which had passed in conversation ; and it seemed to him that for the sake of the British Government, that it might appear we bad left no warning untried which could have been ten dered, that we had not allowed recklessly the throne of the Queen of Spain to be subverted, and that at all events we should be justified in case the throne were placed in peril,—in those circumstances ha wrote the note to the Duke de Sotomayor, enclosing the dispatch of my Noble Friend. These are the circumstances that account, first, for the dispatch being written in terms which, I think, were un thought of and were more abrupt than those in which my Noble Friend would have written if he were sending a noto intended to be laid before the Spanish Govern. moat ; but they also account for the conduct of Sir. 11. Bulwer in afterwards delivering that note to the Spanish Government. What course were we to take, then ? It was not at first intended that the note should be laid be fore the Spanish Government, but then Sir H. Bulwer acted upon his discretion, and wo have to consider whether he had properly acted upon that discretion. It was our opinion that he had so acted properly upon his discretion, and that he deserved our support and ap probation. I think it would have been a bad course, in in- deed, if, looking to the conduct and career of Sir H. But wer at Madrid, who had been there for years, and who was well acquainted with that country, if we had taken advantage of a technical point, and said, ",You were not instructed to give that note, and therefore your conduct must be disavowed." We should have very much lowered the Government had ,we so acted, and we consider we were right in taking upon ourselves the responsibility, or rather let us say, the greater part of the responsibility, for the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire is right in saying that if there is cause for censure, the censure must rest on the Go vernment at home, and not on the agent.—(Hear.) We therefore, do take the greater share of that responsibi lity, and we stand here to be acquitted of all blame, or to be censured, if it should please the House to censure our conduct in this proceeding. But, at all events, sot denying or seeking to evade the responsibility which properly rests upon us, my Noble Friend's subsequent dispatches to Sir Henry Bulwer have been censured on another ground ; and it has been said that after such an affront had been offered him as that of sending back his dispatch, he ought to have fallen into a pas sion, and in pompous terms, and by some acts of an extreme nature, he ought to have resented the indig nity put upon him. I think my Noble Friend took a much better and a wiser course in explaining that his motives were friendly, and that if the Spanish Ministers were angry, we should not be offended with them. j recollect a story which Lord Rolland told me, of a din ner at which he was invited ; and when he arrived, he found there lord Archibald Hamilton end a gentleman who was not known to him. Lard Archibald came up to him and said that the gentleman had been saying such things to him that he must either laugh at him or knock him down; upon which, said Lord Holland, I advised my friend to laugh, and not to think of knocking down. So, I think, is the case with my Noble Friend (Lord Palmer ston), the question is not one which involves a grave na tional quarrel. Then there has been another species of criticism passed upon the language used in the notes ad dressed to the Minister of Spain by Sir IT. Bulwer. It has been said that we ought not to remind Spain of the obligations she is under to this country. Now, I differ in opinion with those who think thus. Ido not think that it the Spanish Government had really consulted the in terests of their mistress they would have returned such an answer as that of the Duke of Sotomayor to Sir 11. Bulwer. They ought to have been too mindful of their Queen's interests to indulge in such sarcasms as were vented in their reply to Sir Henry Balwer's note of April 7. But as they had chosen to do so, they fairly drew upon themselves the retort that the Queen of England had received no such obligation as had been bestowed upon the Queen of Spain. The Honourable Member for Dorsetshire has chosen to bring forward his motion, and he thinks it both wise and becoming to do so whilst negotiations are yet pending on the very sub ject under discussion. He professes only to ask for in formation, and doing so, he proposes to the House to agree to a vote of censure on our conduct. I endea voured to justify the discretion of the Honourable Mem ber; for whilst it was not proper for us to ask him to put off his motion, I cannot agree with him in his asser- tion that it was highly proper to bring such a resole- Lion forward whilst the matters involved in it were et being discussed ; and if the House el - Conan:loos adopts that resolution the effect cannot but be to weaken —I will not say the present Government—bus her Ma• jesty's representatives wherever they nuay be stationed. —(lkar, hear.) As to our relations with Spain they are alike peculiar and delicate ; but whilst the existing state of them demands that we preserve the honour of England, we must also act with the greatest forbearance Perhaps, if the forces of the two kingdoms were more equal, it would be more difficult than it now is to ob serve that forbearance. But, :knowing the power of England and that of Spain, we are not only justified in so acting, but we are absolutely bound to show the utmost forbearance and consideration for the latter country. I trust we shall be able to take care that no stain remains on the honour of England whilst we endeavour to pre serve the friendly relations which exist between the two countries. If, as I confess lam unable, I cannot find any reasonable excuse for the violence which has been committed, yet I must consider that there is the Queen of Spain, whose throne demands the utmost support we can give it, and whose country requires all our best and most friendly efforts. There is the Spanish nation, as gallant and highly endowed a people as any in Europe ; and whilst I think that the Queen of Spain has unfortu nately, placed the affairs of tne nation in hands wanting in discretion, wanting in temper, and wanting in de meanour to a faithful, a warm, and a generous ally ; and whilst, moreover, I think that the Spanish nation pos sesses only very imperfect organs in the Dukes of Va lencia and Sotomayor, yet at the same time, Sir, I think that in all we do, in all we say, and in all we write on this subject, we ought never to 4 orget that whilst those persons whom I have named are only the temporary re presentatives of Spain, the interests of the Queen of that nation, and also the character of that high-spirited and noble race of men, demand to be regarded by us with the utmost degree of consideration. Mr. DISRAELI—Sir, it would be difficult, in fol lowing the debate as it has hitherto proceeded, for any one who had not been previously acquainted with the public affairs which have occurred between this country and Spain, easily to anticipate what had actually hap pened. Is it possible to imagine that a gross outrage has been committed, a gross public outrage, under cir cumstances of unparalleled flagrancy, and upon an in dividual who, both from the position which he occupied, and the public estimation which he had acquired, was one in whose career, conduct, and treatment, this coun try had naturally a great interest?—(Hear, hear.) Would any one have imagined a foreign country had dismissed the representative of the Queen of Great Bri tain almost ignominiously from her capital—that he had arrived here hurried and in haste—that the circum stances which led to that outrage had only transpired originally to the English House of Commons through foreign newspapers—that it was with the utmost diffi culty that any public notice of these events could be obtained in that House, the chosen temple of the na tional rights and the national honour ; and that when at last, upon an occasion most constitutional and most legi timate, some notice is taken of it, the Prime Minister should tell us that negotiations are going on.—(Hear.) Why, Sir, that is the great fault we find with the Minis ters and the present state of offairs. I want to know, after this outrage has been committed, why full and complete satisfaction has not long before this been ob tained ? That is the primary condition which we ought to notice—that is the primary condition which we ought to demand to be fulfilled before we even enter into the question of the policy of the Government or the conduct of the Minister. I see no reason why the representa tive of her Majesty was dismissed with shame and dis honour from the capital of Spain, but the Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs at Madrid most courteously and politely informed Sir H. Buie cc of the reason. He was abused by the English press, disowned in the English Parliament—they could not tieswer for his safety, they sent him his passports, and as he stepped into his carriage, the Under-Secretary of State was ready to essure him of the very high consideration of the Spanish Government.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) But yet negotiations are going on. Why, Sir, a reason has been given for the dismissal of Sir 11. Bulwer trom Madrid. Do you think it satisfactory? for that is the real ques tion before the House.—(llear, hear.) Is the message of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at Mteqrid, or the dispatch of the Duke of Sotomayor, an ample satisfaction to you for the unprecedented outrage? Why, we are told that a distinguished gentleman left Madrid twenty-four hours before the English Minister, in order, in detail, to satisfy the Court of St. James's of the expediency and extreme necessity for the unprece dented step which the Spanish Government had taken. According to every principle of public law—according to all the practices of nations in their mutual and reci procal conduct—that could not have been a justification for the step which the Spanish Government had taken. They officially announced grounds. Those grounds were utterly unsatisfactory; and there the question, as far as its strict merits are concerned, might rest. I can readily understand why the British Government can feel that a country like Great Britain can afford to be generous, even to the verge of contemptuousness—all that I can understand and allow; and if it had reached the ear of our Foreign Minister that, notwithstanding the formal politeness of the dispatch of the Spanish Minister—not withstanding the civil message of the Under-Secretary of State—notwithstanding those circumstances, still there were accusations in detail which could be proved with facility against a men occupying so high and re sponsible a position as her Majesty's Minister Plenipo tentiary at Madrid—thenlcan easily understand that the Noble Lord, waving all the ceremony of office, and urging notwithstanding that you should have communicated with us through the accredited organ of the country, the Spanish Minister here, before you inflicted upon us an insult in the face of Europe and the world, yet we are powerful enough to endure the insult if it can be explained and apologised for.—(Hear.) But Sir, where is that organ whom they have sent to England? Where is that extraordinary Minister Plenipotentiary who comes over the day after the insult to vindicate the outrage? Has he ever applied to the Noble Lord ? The Noble Lord said, " A man has applied to me; he was not accredited to me, and I refused to see him; I informed him, how ever, that he might communicate to me through the Spanish Minister, but that any communication must be in writing." I think even in that respect the Noble Lord did too much. What business had he to agree to receive any communication, even in writing, from a per son who was not accredited?—(Year, hear.) I want to know who this gentleman is, this Mr. Mirasol—(A laugh)—is he still in London? Ile may meet in the House of Comm Ons an impartial tribunal, if not at the Foreign-office, if he have any accusation to make, either orally or by written statement, against Sir H. Bulwer. Who is he? What is he? Why is ho here? Why is his name bruited about? Why is his anomalous authority quoted on this occasion ? The time has come when we ought to know who this person is, and whether he or any one else is • ready to vindi cate the gross and unparalleled outrage which has been committed; and before we can enter into the question of policy, that great question ought first to be resolved. If that Minister had been accredited to the Noble Lord, and had made his conainunication, it would, I doubt not, by this time have been upon the table of the House. If, taking advantage of the permission granted him by the Noble Lord, he had communicated in writing to the Spanish Minister—if lie could have written anything worth listening to—if he could have composed anything which the Spanish Minister, without a blushing front, could have offered to the Noble Lord, it would have been upon the table of this Il e ou r sen a o r w o , and ought to have been ten days agee—(Ha, he Why did he come here? To tell the truth? He might have done it in twenty-four hours; and if he had tra velled a little faster, he might have been here twenty f air hours before the arrival of the British Minister, so that by the time Sir H. Bulwer arrived at the Clarendon or Mivart's, the Noble Lord might have been acquainted with all the charges against him. But, after all the delay that has taken place, I have a right to infer that the Spanish Government have no accusation whatever against Sir H. I3ulwer; and except the exclusion of Sir H. Bulwer from Madrid, I can conceive no outrage greater than that they should send a person over here circu lating those rumours, ready to substantiate statements which were never written, and which from his character can never be received. I say that that gross outrage was the first thing that ought to be noticed, and I think that the Government was to blame for entering into negotiations upon that outrage. Before they negotiated upon any point the honour of the country ought to have been vindicated. If the Noble Lord had not chosen to have sent M. Isturitz his passports the same day that Sir 11. Bulwer arrived here, which I think would have been a fair return, he might have shown at least some use for the new Alien Act, and have sent away the Count do Mirasol.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) It is of the greatest importance, in the first place, tracing the matter from the outrage, taking into considera tion the total want of cause for the outrage, dis missing from our minds all views of Spanish policy, keeping our eyes upon the great fact of the gross outrage which has been inflicted upon this country—then, I say, we should remember how impor tant it is, and how it is' the first duty of the House of Commons in the consideration of public transactions abroad to be most jealous of the honour and most careful of the character of the public Ministers acting in foreign countries in behalf of Great Britain.—(Hear, hear.) The diplomatist is really the most forlorn of animals. Very few of them ever find their w ayt w o e t v h e i r s House; and, however injured by t he Minister, ho misrepresented by the Minister in P a rliament . i , t would be fatal to any one to protest a g ainst the conduct of his political cbiel.—(H i ear, hear.) A scapegoat is the easiest character in all transactions, and no scapegoat is more easy to select than the mae. engaged in transacting the business under discussion, in a foreign scene, at a distant time, acquainted with circumstances with which we cannot be familiar; and the non-answering of a letter, or the presentation of a letter not duly authorised, or not duly considered as dul y authorised, may be held as exonerating the whole character of the Cabinet, and save it from fatal Parliamentary censure. I do not make that observation (which is a most general one) with reference to present circumstances. lam willing to believe that her Majesty's Ministers are not going to desert one of the ablest servants of the Crown — (Hear, hear.) I say this notwithstanding the observa tion of the Noble Lord, who tells us that ho and his colleagues are prepared to take their share of responsi bility, and afterwards amplifying and enriching his phraseology, assuring U 3 that her Majesty's Ministers in the present case are even prepared to take the greater part of the responsibility. I can tell the Noble Lord that Ministers must take the responsibility, and the whole re sponsibility, and not this portion. Lord J. RUSSELL—I said that. Mr. DISRAELI—I am delighted to understand that the Noble Lord said that which is totally different from what my ears led me to credit. lam perfectly ready to accept the expression of the Noble Lord in that sense; but let me remind the House, lam rising to defend i -- -----__ Sir H. Bulwer, because in the course of the debate, r• am glad to see, notwithstanding the ioubtful exiles sion which is satisfactorily explained, he has not beet attacked by Ministers in the House of C ommons, bug he has been personally attacked and insulted by the Government of Spain.—(Hear.) In a question like th , c, present, before we entee into the h .11 hov e I . l to this memorable transaction, w e at least, uuless e have good groulids —and I maintain we have none, are' spective of party—the House of Commons should deter mine to uphold any English Minister abroad Who th e e ? believe had done his duty .—(hear, hear.) The g911,1. ,' man in question, who is called . before our consideratic_a, to-night is one ehoin a discussion, so painful as it tels e '! be under any circumstances to his feelings, and verde. 5, as it would he to the passions of many, is one who ol i o not to he afraid to meet an English Parliament. 'l lO , Right Hon. Gentleman the Master of the Mint .e is quently described his character. I cannot describe itna language so finished and glowing; but this I am bca l eoh to say, that it has been my fortune to be iced ore te lfix one country when that gentleman was engagin ccaol, transactions of State, and I believe there is Dom sadeorie ployed in foreign service by her Majesty who sore sr better service to the Crown, or who has shown inorelo gacity, more penetration, and, notwithstandinVot, extraordinarycircumstance, I will stlY , ij3 p temper than that ntlernav• _ o f man has atory succeeded more under ge circuinstaise.e_ao great difficulty, and great p o litical uneesivie Ho manifestly succeeded at Constant-10j and as for 1840, the many events that have hr-Pf ie d 0 within the last few months, permit even what is to tiact s private Member of Parliament to speak on these 5t00.,0, in a way which otherwise he would not be entitled .810, but I say that the conduct of Sir H. Bulvver in ! lice , and the information he obtained, and the sa to ; founded on the best personal knowledge and ', be for e, extensive acquaintance by a public roan !r i cotta tion he gave was of the mist signal service to thee, 0, not of England and the fortunes of this country'. i 11 ,, ros ia aware that the labours of that gentleman were o°`..oiet causes which prevented war at t h a t time. Ills allitna ment to the Court of Madrid answered the g re d eits? eminent achievements of 18 40 . W ho promote 9f eis Not the Noble Lord who was most conscious:loos merits, and most anxious to acknowledge then l ' i4 e 3 re f the archives of the Foreign-office, it was the rep , f ele his eminent services, that induced Lord Abercleem to ° succeeded the Noble Lord, when he entered office;ol,oel on Sir H. Bulwer as the man best (1 .. t er both by his natural talents and his greeleeor Perienee, to fill the most difficult heind reel ltr x r sible office in the diplomacy of " tliti II" 4 That alone forms a prima facie case of his capsulfixteolil conduct which the house will not forget; B , lld ipeci, at entering into the peculiar policy of the Nobi e t th e ' far as Sir 11. Bulwer is concerned, let us not fcle!„, es 'e he acted under Lot d Aberdeen, who is suppeseu oid to s pursued a different policy from the Noble Lord' ea rSt it e ß o i n g s h i, t hs f r l a o h n ie Gentleman (Sir R. Peel) for three tip Eltr interval; and I have no hesitationthe log ing, although I have not what the Masters g o o s e c ; called the inspiration of Lord Aberdeen, ha, h , eondt thority of as great a nature, and I say tha lu t — i l ia es il e ot -t. of the Right Hon. Gentleman an when at 0-- .heori ess bolr, L ah o x r i d oa A s b t e o rd h e e en a , would party at least prove thlt, to a factious ponce' , i f ip ow,,d, could only attain to office or maintain hi Noble Ii);" by pandering to the prurient feelings of the '"'"d the lii Under Lord Aberdeen, Sir H. Bulwer obei e Oh „ etruetions, and developed and rformed thelf,,,retieh; that tact, that delicateness, andPe force of 0.- - t o tii which were intrusted to him both by the l ate Oil present Secretary of State for Foreigway ts e o r earnest rn feeles tthe Iv hointionmuyponduttlyils subject,to erpress w eet eg os decision the House may come toheocalitise:/iZeler; occasion, whatever opinion may be most por' oo vito, as majorities are concerned in this flottsct f eP t ee O d or called foreign policy and councils, it is of the tbo, o t r e. importance that vie should show to Eu lll Eelf anie party quarrels do not prevent us from Per' o ," said .0,011 cutting the conduct of public men. nti'istieh ear let us conceive what must be the position 0 0, 0 enduring such an outrage, arriving il", n e l og r ec e el dit ing in England nearly a fortnight, and hy in g sr:lir:oo6 no public recognition of his services, or of $ i isee't'diei' of his fellow-countrymen to stand by him' the the to say, think what must be the feelings ,'' doe foi e , dual ; but that may be too sentiments' ~ tbeil e bi must be the interests of these Ministers; ha" n ee bib suffer at this period, when the world is gol e , re r e tlie, oss opinions —when it is the opinion of the ra rr e o ilas" Otig moral conduct and great public spirit of •" f 0010 foe it is almost necessary to your systern c'weiebo't so public power—think how that opini°ll,lsbed bo ttet sacrificed so much, which you have c„ . ` is 0 eolf much cost, and which, depend upon . I " o ees e e , -- a . .0 1° ., army than troops or police tom aint01,11;0010';b0: that opinion must have suffered when Olt" a 01 ,. fr r e 13 : . committed on such a man—when sec" be ll' o elapsed since his arrival in this countrlotioe sae country should have expressed their tort ° eel se e conduct, and the behaviour of a foreign Curt 0 ' 0 0 0 ; Think how that opinion must be sge t e l e gitit e- ofe; attempt is made in a manner the most n iin°' ea 1 constitutional by a Member of the OPP; forf ri - te a, House, in a Committee of Supply, to 10 ' 12 ,7, aetl'obi t ",, great public grievance (and lamat a lor to ilagli3 what is a public grievance, if this le re ige r ar ge,,, grievance). It is an insult to your Sol e— t itC„b 1 1 V to yourselves, and an insult to the n ation 0.00 ask you, how that opinion, on which Yon h s : otte ° a it!, must suffer, when we are forced to ai l t ' - tiee' illi fier the Parliament of England to this circuinstat tbos,eeie, coolly told by the head of the Goverutnera Te P,,,liP tiations are going on. Going on for wh° 00, or se el fresh insults? Who is left that rePr ee- neg c leg. , n matter can be explained? The more le a s h ies,, ot er more certain you are of receiving fr. h ' ton s il:: form that opinion from the dccurnents waver &li fe , toi, R l - , obligingly placed before us. Sir H• 1311(eL drie ce e - 00 05. dispatch, and makes certain friendly remc c- l'hel dill; Spanish Government. Viis is a great offe ace. disPa te w ith e ! l e Minister of Foreign Affairs retorts in a _ itt ett 0 e I s tinguished by some acerbity, ability. The representative of the u n i t ! te best?, not wAoyotetSerogie, another place, takes the earliest opPor tu (tieiT t wll ic % the conduct taken by Sir H. Bulwe r • • c iao' Jo That is the whole cause of the miserable in e y e eir De e rftl v afterwards occurred.—(Hear, hear.) .IP vie regret that a Nobleman so distinguished 1 . 1 . e epc,,a 85 downe, so eminent for his knowledge, ' 3 ;: f re h ees: his tone in political affairs, and the po, 507 1 lightened views that he takes upon all °j o ie 8 1 , r haarviteisbheemnithhisetemneanßsuotfinfficting s uch 0 00 0 tb. o feti e t , suppose is had 11 2 t it an o itie e ; 1 President of the Council. Had it P ee , s o e be e e Minister, had he been in a position 0' 0 0 4 ie' and who might have been supposed t f i '' ord , I bi j)l, influenced with respect to the Noble d j e er, o ings not so humble as no doubt influen ce r , t ied e bee 1, downe, the circumstance might have bee . bat jig , 0 0 the result would not have been so rioxiolf_ese_ jo ob to e .1 , have witnessed a public man, second to 1 1 7 ' 10 illy 1 9 none in public character, come for wa V e o toi l/s ot / 0e eminent as the House of Lords, and de c i l- douhs, e - ot a ,:ell. conduct of a British Minister, pe rs on o the e : ool3lll h : li th u e - p e i l d P ,,. 11 0 hesitatedswahlotedrawraerddtsotoliaireictlislike before s , etirogdisetabe we now have discussed? We are told it w h i e e ir . le 6 of the Noble Lord that did all this rail e ,' hec eif til! 0 Noble Lord mean it? Did the Noble ' l° , o l titeolot i h i e he was writing? Was he, in such egi c r e ory C os t 1 : 0 with every capital in excitement, en , see ipt, e rfr,e, revolt, he forgot to mention in the P° B eio eteP e ote,'o, dispatch was to be shown. Here is the !e_e x , 10 t oig i Noble Lord, to which I will a dvert t i t e 3l D e rd oo attlo It was not the dispatch of the N° !stet, io olig i o did this; it was the speech of 3 Mil li wr ittett t lts,e place. All dispatches, for they were w ir e P . , have been easily arranged. _All effe e :;peri ee ierSl been removed by a diplomatist of greet ~,. is dif_!. e ctl . „ perfect temper, for his great characteris.':rhe c o dr ib cannot be taken from Sir H. Bulwer, if the is $ 1' .. ,s Lord Lansdowne had not been made. !Igoe?"' t 05i headed patch, so characterised, Cohfideh t Confidential." ~ of th e 16th 01 i ...e, bat elaborate :—" The recentlftalila of the e v l e C r i Y ng3 th h e i °l ! 4 .4 oitlel; : and of his whole family, and the a n dexpulsic Giefe e r f P o Os ters, ought to teach the Spanish Court eo g O . e_ . , $O . , how great is the danger of an Moroi"! ' &e V& P: country in a manner at variance with th o e ho 0_ 0 ; 3 0 1 opinions of the nation ; and the catastr _Post ° l Ol O 5 happened in France must servo to shti w ro itelf !P o large and well disciplined army hee'" canee 'arO ned ei 0 1w / CdertoewncheifsoratthvearCiarhoewenw, iwthhetnhethgeinceotrefriminteoll;eiroPe; country." It is like reading a passag e : di:ol oo lit , Al (A laugh.) Nothing can be Lord, nioreeE, 00 0 f id . , man of such experience as the Nobl o th bell Ihe ose. the of wa ). s Commons, had th the which ge ed t nrtane prevents of ' IT:P I e 1 tier ll / 11 0 1); f stilted, should write it, urP an excellent letter for its P w her s t be ° l o ll letter was written for a countri, god _.00,.01 like grand sentences.—(Much laugl.it!1:1300 rooel(fr patch been in the same style eh i e t s nil o g h u l i e ,e c or a d et i i s iie o o o l, o ol this disagreeable occurrence. T to the dramatic, but the style is hie h is di s c 0 0 0 laugh.) It is utterly impossible thst h t t - for Ol t . 4 0 , the 16th of March could have been m e ei • l ms elf. 0 00'0 0 than Sotomayor or General Narvses " 1 eilli a. s' fiden ll 01 1 confidential dispatch, and it was con 9 00 00 5 0 ! nicated. Sir H. Bulwer was twenty daY ot iog 0 pf was told to seize an occasion of cononucl a il a o f ..f ber , 00 f oet IF , tents, especially to the Queen-eeot t e a e, t e e fidence, from what I have observed o e 'l d dorT o l9 , H. Bulwer, that the talent he exhihi,. s o ,, s elf e c oe l f, twenty days in finding and availing '' N elda. yrF i ee tunities was most distinguishedt He P, ix , this t er, , nicaied in French, not being able to attain debt l's'oi style of the Noble Lord. The Cioc ca ' eo s, hol e to ° ti; an especial ear to his implied Inen e a d e oong die, ened by phraseology, until he ri^P t had a b a een t, w , e d etl etO e T A ‘ i'S that he was in earnest. He d evolve S t/1 0 0 V t sinuating to the Queen-Mother, tin e , _ euif t do y biti i k , produced no effect, they thoughtGtitivey le She ele e r te ° Sec Noble Lord wrote in this way roduc e ;big t 0 141 1 11° S can—do every thing you can te t r e . di d 00 0 ,0' s te last the English Envoy, findingeMaed to co e ' r bey deuce to his insinuations, was hil lee to c c)evi t rie n ,1 1114ri$1 was the course that he was ta el thisthis rceoPnrvee* r e s n s ci rie x i e; .hglelir e j-i t 7 e l3; 0 1.11 he had a was fo gone r a m n a t h l inform the Duke of Soto Mayor, th e `,',.' ect tho_..in rEI see if the letter would have mor effect de r ye fro ulwer rea" b e id l es edest tion. It was still Sir H. olhreoitsulteeede—atorttheneraaukindersignaedisleisie os_trettoptes!,%, discretion, and shown the letter on ly ceerioneeeen ?ell; responsibleaer'tatina atnodhisifGtohveeyrnilt3inal edtnftirilfelbliaeicell-leitnill3Psto-eeellifysi the exhibition of conduct, nic to great e,nievre hAotitit'es pursued by a man, and it was to be regretted !that that i s b r 4 0 inhappy th House talent foro f he etinsofauegthtottioforshoawn E it h . g . lis T h Say .... tittopf,corer: 004/v LhioarPdrsw°, fteoitii:ltthieSethte°o.rllos9'l9oeoCo:l7l,loCliocroiree,; who is employed in a difficult trans'w Pik"