The Sun. — London, England, 1847-06-12 00:00:00

idnciple was to be conceded. However, he should have .10 objedioa, to postpone the motion till Monday next. The motion was socordingly withdrawn. EXCISE. Dr. BOWRING moved for a return, for the latest period to which it can be made up, of the establishments of the Excise, in the same form and under the same heads as that printed by the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry ia their Twentieth Report, Appendix 12. Agreed to. HOUSE OF COMMONS' TAXATION OF COSTS BILL. On the order of the day being read for receiving the report on this Bill, An Host. MEMBER, begged to move that the amend ments be agreed to. The amendments were accordingly agreed to, and the Bill was ordered to be read a third time on Friday next. CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY BRIDGES. Sir G. CLERK drew attention to a statement alluded to by the Hon. Member for Nottingham, that Mr. Locke, C.E., had written a letter to the Earl f Dalhousie, re presenting that railway bridges were constructed of such dimensions as to render them unsafe for the pur poses of public conveyance, and recommending that they should be made according to certain estimates enclosed in that letter. This was signed by other parties. He had diseovered that such a letter was written on the 30th April, 1846, but it had reference to crossing roads, and not to bridges over waters. Mr. GISBORNE explained that his information was collected from a paragraph in a public print, and that he had stated so at the time to the House. THE AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL. Mr. HUME said that, in rising to make the motion of which be had given notice to the House, he could assure them that he had seldom risen in his place in that House to do what he considered a duty so unpleasant to him self, because he was about to complain of the Government measures as dangerous in every way to the British con stitution—measures which, if he could read them aright, were likely to lead to consequences most disastrous, not only to this country, but to the whole civilised world. He considered it valuable to maintain those principles upon which the British constitution was founded. They owed the liberties they possessed to the stipulations made between the people and the Sovereign, and by them they were enabled, after a long interval, to settle among themselves what were the laws under which the United Kingdom should be ruled. The So- Tereigh , of this day owed much to these resolutions of 1688, and had any Sovereign of Europe in those days ventured to take the part which the British Government had taken with regard to Portugal, where would he have been?—(llear.) In short, instead of taking ten or twelve days, an ordinary member would have col lected all the evidence in four-and-twenty hours; the matter of real importance would go into a very small num ber of pages. He considered that they had lost a great deal of time, and although it might be desirable to know what effect their proceedings would have, yet the news of the day showed how fatal had been their interference. It cast a stain upon the honour of the country. He objected to the principle of armed interference, and he also objected to the manner in which it was done. While Parliament was sitting the Ministers ought to have come down and asked the consent of the country. He would, therefore, move, " That, in the judgment of this House, the armed interference of this Government between political parties in Portugal is unwarrantable in principle, and likely to lead to serious and mischievous consequences." And they had a precedent for such a resolution in the year 182 t, when there was a triparte treaty, and when they were bound to furnish troops for Portugal. During the time of Mr. Canning, the Cabinet showed its respect to the House of Commons, and the import ance with which it viewed the subject before it. What took place on that occasion? On Friday, the 9th of the month, the news arrived that an invasion had taken place. On the following day a Cabinet Council was held, and a resolution was come to to afford the country that assistance which it sought, and on Monday it was resolved to send a message to that effect to the House of Commons. A debate took place on the receipt of the message from the Cabinet ; and Mr. Canning on that occasion stated that they were called upon to interfere in the internal affairs of that country, and that unless there was a treaty existing be tween the two countries to that effect, he should be the first to refuse it, and the conduct of the Government upon that occasion did it much credit. In the other House Lord Bathurst concurred entirely in this view. Thus was passed an interference very unnecessarily. It did prove to be very serviceable to Portugal in the event, but it ought to be remarked that England interfered under a treaty, and in order to preserve good faith which he (Mr. Hume) preferred at a sacrifice, which could only be felt for a short time, but a bad example continued in its ill effects. On this occasion he did think England was setting a bad example. Mr. Canning, on the occasion he had referred to, on the 12th Dec., 1826, deprecated on all occasions intermeddling with the internal affairs of any other Government. But if that interference was wrong then, what could he say for the interference on this occasion? Spain had not invaded Portugal; France had not— there had been no invasion. He was aware that civil war had continued in that country for a number of m enths, and the contending parties had not been able to arrange a settlement. On that subject, however, he could never enter without re co ll ect i ng t h e or i g i n of that war, and he could not speak of this without complaining of She negotiations of this country with :Portugal, Ile did not, in saying this, refer to the Noble Lord in the Foreign-office, for he had looked over the dispatches up to the sth April last, and there was not one dispatch of Lord Palmerston's in which he did not most entirely concur. He found the Noble Lord continually, on every application, repulsing the idea of an armed intervention. Before showing what had led to this result, he thought he might be allowed to state what had taken place from the beginning, and what that unfortunate country had been subjected to. He thought that the violation by the Queen of Portugal of the charter had roused the people of that country into resistance. The only demand that had been made by the English:Government was, that the Queen of Portugal should dismiss from her councils those evil councillors who had advised her to depart from the principles of the charter. He thought that that charter was established in the reign of John the Sixth ; it was overturned three or four times, but it was subsequently restored. It was for the violation of that charter, that the people were now in arms, and if they did not resist that infringe ment of these liberties, he thought that they would be hooted by all the liberal and en lightened nations of Europe. He would ask whether such a proceeding should be sanctioned by this country. Lord Howard de Walden, in his dispatch, after stating that the changes which had taken place bad surprised everybody, said that the change in the Government had been effected in the manner of a mili tary revolution, and he thought it had been caused by the election of the Duke of Palmella being doubtful. He further says, " It is expected now (says Saldanha) that the Queen's proclamation will keep the country in a state of general tranquility, and that the suppres sion of all the newspapers, excepting those of the Government, will aid this purpose. But still, con sidering the small military forces of the Government, and the facility with which the soldiery can be gained over by every party, I contemplate the future with great anxiety." Now, I must trouble the House with another quotation. I will not read it, but it is " a list of the unfortunate beings who are to be removed," as being odious to that party. Now I ask the House is it prepared to sanction any act of the . Ministry that will uphold that Government, whose first act was the violation of the charter? He would now refer to an important paper which gave the stipulations of the charter, and, with the permission of the House, he would state a few violations of the charter which Palmella had carried oat in Portugal, with perfect satisfaction to the whole Court. But he thought it necessary to state first that in the whole of these papers it was assumed to be necessary that they should depress the popular party as much as possible, and they had brought forward an absurd allegation that the Miguelites were the party to be dreaded in this in spite of the state ments of the English Minister for Forign Affairs. Bat the Miguelites had now united with the national party. These violations had been carried out to such en extent that the whole country was in disorder. The Hon. Member then read further extracts, proving the unconstitutional proceedings of the Court of PortugaL The people had been prepared by a series of acts of in justice from the Government, sanctioned by the Crown, to take the first opportunity of resisting them. He had seen a person that day who was one of those who were among the arrests. He might say, indeed, that the acts of the Government had been nothing but arrests, imprisonment, dismissal, and transportation, and all without the semblance of law, without an appearance of right—in fact upon no other ground than the simple will of the Minister of Justice of the day. He had seen a gentleman that day who was one of 700 political prisoners who had been heaped together in a prison not properly capable of containing one-half of the number—who was one of those who escaped on the 29th of April, when the disturbances at Lisbon opened all the prison doors. True it was that he escaped, but seventy or eighty were butchered in the streets by the pollee, although they were quietly returning to their homes without arms in their hands. If lion. Members who had not read those papers would follow him, he would be enabled to make it clear to them, that every liberty and privilege of a free country and l a i p, e , had been violat e d. I n th e 19 t h art i c l e of the people l emucode th ere were ordered to be independent judge and juries a as w ell in civil as criminal cases, and there vio latio n hadb ee f n roml of that article in removing these jud ges Ile might say that ' ascuechto place and dismissing theca. been heaped upon each atalogues of cruelties had individual,a that it would tire the "louse were he to do more t tu a de to there. The pro tection which was set forth on this constitution was not granted. The liberty of the put down, prin a t u b e d e d e e n xcept those and no newspaper was allowed to be it was rather under the sanction of the Government; have Governmentted in curious that the Noble Lord should th e se papers a number of extracts from the as if Members of Parliament had not the sense t o apers, was. judge of what an article in . a common newspaper without conviction, These prisoners were carried o ff without charge, and without tr ial, and locked up with films of the worst description. So much for the Government which they bad undertaken to protect. lie would pass over other matters of minor importance, The chief of the police had the entire control and domination in the country; no man could live, move, or have his being without him. Liberty of the press was abolished. In article 25 the secrecy dletters was declared inviolable, yet Mr. Hume had seen many individuals whose letters had been opened, and yet they were called upon to interfere and preve:nt the people, who had been driven OD desperation, from obtaining their just and undeniable rights. The Queen had established herself dictatress, said put an end to the working of every court and tribunal in the country. She had also appointed her Consort Commander-in-Chief of the Army, a pro ceeding which was against the law of the country, and against the Charter of 15311, that act of her's had alarmed many individuals who were disposed in her favour. He would not weary the House with a detail of the tyrannies committed; taxes bed been levied without law, and what was most disgraceful, they had sent over Spanish bonds, similar to those N 4 hiCh had been selling in the country, and which would lead people to sup pose gave the holder a claim upon the Government. And this was the Government they were called upon to support. It was of importance for him to adduce autho rities to show the real state of the cuestion. He (Mr. Hume) recollected the time when Lord Grey, and when the Noble Lord, now at the head of the Government, obtained office on the express understanding that they would attend to three important points—that they should be friendly to reform, advocates of economy, and above all, that their Government should stand in a position of non interference in the affairs of other foreign countries. Lord J. RUSSELL—Bidhce. Mr. HUME—Yes; peace between foreign countries. He would read the sentiments of Earl Grey, and leave the Noble Lord to speak for himself. He said, if they wished to be at peace with other countries they must maintain the principle of non-interference, because any departure from such a course would in evitably lead them into war; and, further, that every Englishman must rejoice that Louis Philippe had been placed on the throne of France. Earl Grey made one of these expressions when they had expelled Charles XII. ; but he was not guilty of one twentieth part of the conduct of which the Queen of Portugal had been guilty.—(Loud cheers.) And if infatuation had ever possessed any man, it surely had possessed Louis Phi lippe—(Hear)—he who owed his crown to the barri cades—(lmmense cheering)—he who, but for the Duke of Wellington, would not have been placed upon the throne of France, because the Holy Alliance were against him, and the Duke of Wellington was the man who acknowledged the power of the people, for he would not allow any in terference of this kind ; and he believed no man was alive at that moment who took a more determined and popular part than the Duke of Wellington, because he supported the claims of Louis Philippe when the revolution took place to France, and was it not miraculous that the man who was so careful of his own interests as Louis Philippe should be a party to a measure of this kind, and his ex cuse was, that France and Spain were going to do something. What had they done ? Let the House hear, for it appeared to him that they had done nothing—could any man of common sense believe that the man of whom Earl Grey spoke in these eulogistic terms would have so acted ; and what were the Englishmen doing? But here are the Portuguese ten times worse in their Government, and led on in their opposition by the most virtuous men in the nation. After making inquiries, and satisfying himself in reference to their character, he repeated that he believed them the most virtuous men in the nation. Some of the papers he saw called them " Chartists ;" where they have got the name he knew not, or what they mean by it ; but if anything disreputable was in tended, he must say that they were men possessed of a character which commanded the confidence of the people, and was it not painful to see the flag of England flutter ing over the suppression of a movement led on by men like these. The Noble Lord said peace, Lord Grey said nothing about that. Lord Grey, in the case of France, approved the ready recognition of the new Go vernment, and applauded the might which had been allowed to the voice of the people, in a matter of this kind, and hoped that the ready recognition of the new Government, would tend to a good understanding be • tween the two nations, as the foundation of peace. Lord Grey when in office, being asked a question of the same kind said, he had but to repeat then what he had said when out of office. As for peace, he (Mr. Hume) could not answer for the consequences which would follow. Perhaps the Government might think that after taking Conde Das Antes and his two thousand men prisoners they had obtained their object. They were further from it than ever. Could they persevere ? They must keep a British army in Portugal to support an infamous Government.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) Was that the only authority on the subject ? Why, the Duke of Wellington, in 1833, on this very question, moved, " that an address be presented to his Majesty, praying that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to give such directions as would lead to the English troops preserving a strict neutrality in the affairs of Portugal." And then the Noble Duke gave Lord Stowell's definition of neutrality, namely, that "neutrality meant not giving succour to either side." Lord Stowell also said, that " interference should not take place without a notice or a declaration of war." Had they done that ? No ; quite the contrary. A paper had certainly been sent; but why did not Sir George Hamilton find a party to ensure its arrival in time ? The General who commanded the troops in Portugal did not believe that they would run the risk they had done. They had a firm belief that justice would result from the interference of England, and that such an act of injustice would not be perpetrated. And he must say that a stain had been cast on this country which would never be removed. Now, lest there should be any doubt on the subject, he should read a question that had been asked of Earl Grey. That Noble Lord was asked, whether they were perfectly safe ? He had not yet seen the order under which these proceedings were taking place. But Earl Grey said, we sent Admiral Parker to the Tagus, with orders to observe the strict est neutrality. On the Ist of June, Admiral Parker was told by the Admiralty that, under all the circum stances, he was to observe the strictest neutrality. " Why was it that England, in 1833, had acted such a just and honest part, and in 1847 had acted in a manner directly opposite. He believed that if they had sent 5,000 men from England, and excluded Spain altogether, that the Portuguese would have submitted as to a stronger power; but if Hon. Members had heard, as he had done, the expressions of animosity that had been heard on the frontiers of Spain, they would have some conception of the bitter animosity that existed be tween them. Border feuds were nothing to it. An Honourable Member near him, said that Louis Philippe was concerned in this. He believed himself that Louis Philippe was at the bottom of it.—(Laughter.) Mr. Sotheron, in his letter, had stated that there was, on the part of the people. every desire to make peace, but that taxation had been greatly increased, and that rates were levied to make new roads, while there was not in all Portugal a road fit for any continued use. External commerce had been kept away by a system of high duties, and an inquisitorial system which was carried on against the masters of merchant vessels. There had been the abolition of trial by jury, and many other inflictions upon the people in comple contravention of the articles 16, 17, and 18, in the treaty of 1842. By the abolition of the right of trial by jury the sub jects of her most faithful Majesty were placed at the disposal of the executive, and such an executive.— (Hear.) Mr. Buiwer, in his letter, gave it as his opinion, that interference was most objectionable, he alluded to his letter so late as on the 29th of October last, when hearing that a party of troops were moving down, he wrote to inquire as to the truth of the report. He would also quote the opinion of a public officer, Mr. Sotheron, who, writing so late as the 19th of December last, says, that interference is objectionable, and that it pro duces more evil than good, and that it was rapidly giving a national colour to the present contest. He said that no Hon. Member who had read these docu ments could fail to be of opinion that they had added to the cost of the civil war which had broken out, and that they had increased the difficulties of the country; and it appeared to him that they would find much more difficulty in settling the affairs of the country than they imagined. Ile should not, he f e ar e d, di sc h arge hi s duty if he made any exemption of the Noble Lord the Member fcr Tiverton (Lord Palinctraton)—(Hear, hear, and laughter)—because he intended to read several of his letters, and thus, as it were, to make him speak for him self. (The Hon. Gentleman then read a dispatch, dated the 29th of November, stating that every opportunity ought to be taken advantage of to impress the Portu guese Government with the desirability of entering into some amicable arrangement with the discon tented parts of the country, for the pur pose of putting an end to the insurrec tion. It went on to say that the English Go vernment saw with regret that a great proportion of the people of Portugal were in insurrection, and that it was advisable that steps should be taken when it was once suppressed from allowing it to break out again). What was to prevent it from bursting out again?— (Hear, hear.) It went on to say, that the practical question then was, whether the Queen could consistently with her dignity and Crown, consent to an arrange ment satisfactory to the nation, and which could put an end to the insurrection. That was a very wise considera tion. The dispatch went on to say, that the fleet should abstain from taking any other part in this civil war than that of a friendly power. The Hon. Gentleman then read the dispatch from Lord Palmerston of the 4th of January, and a dispatch from Mr. Sotheron on the 10th of January from Lisbon, stating that the prisons were full of members of :the best families. Many persons of high rank had already been imprisoned upon the very slightest grounds. He had probably failed in stating what he intended to state—the causes of complaint upon the part of the people. There was one ground which he had forgotten ' namely, that the con stitution by which the Queen derived her power from the people, enacted that the Cortes alone should regulate and prevent the introduction of foreign land and sea forces into the country. And yet the British Govern ment supported Donna Maria, in violation of that con stitution.—(Hear, hear.) There was another act of vio lence which he forgot to state. On the 3d of November the following decree was passed, namely, that all ecclesi astics, or laity, or officers arrested with arms in their hands, should be immediately shot—three of the officers of the troops arresting them to form a court-martial, to hear them verbally, and the execution of the sentence to depend upon the will of the chief commanding officers. This was in order, as the proclamation stated, to keep the country as much as possible from the horrors of a civil war. Many of the officers taken prisoners had been sent to Africa, to the most unhealthy settlement there, and sent eut in such a manner as to call forth the re monstrances of the captain of the ship which conveyed them. One captain was superseded, and another ap pointed, merely for having, in that case, made an appeal the Foreign-office, to_ the humanity of the Government.—(Hear, hoar.) The of things then existing Hon. Member then read, at some length, a paper from construction of the treaty of -office, dated April 5, with reference to the necessarylB34.Portugal,notandthinktotheMany referto ceve to the proceedings of the actse of not s nm e er l it at any greater length. of the treaty, only interference, but of viola tion Government in supportuc:tfifibieleunna Maria. None of oarseeven called for. He committed by the interfere o n t c . which were in any way j interference in violation thought that he had made out a c Prussia,inantdie affairs anything to Of a treaty, and an improper of another country. If Russia, were to send troops to France and interfere in tltrstirnia ternal arrangements, could the English say it? If they were desirous of interference, why did they Queen of England hold her pow er ? not prevent Mexico fro m bein g overrun b y A merica? By • I xi wh g a ti t unotraltli9idoterber ower occo 9y9r Id interfere the affairs of Ireland? The principle which the English Government had laid down appeared to him a most dan gerous one, and one which was capable of the mess se rious and injurious application. He therefore made the motion of which he had given notice, although with deep regret, for he felt that the occasion for such a motion was one which could not be productive of anything but danger to this country and injustice to others.—(Hear.) Mr. OSBORNE seconded the motion. Lord HARRY VANE then rose, but in consequence of the confusion prevailing in the House he was for a short time inaudible. His Hon. Friend had quoted the dispatches of different agents of the Government in behalf of the principle which he advocated—that interfe rence of the present description was unjustifiable. He (Lord Harry Vane) admitted that the general principle ought to be that of non-intervention, but there were cases of exception, under certain circum stances, which clearly made some interference necessary. The diplomatic agents had, in their representations to their respective Governments, objected to all interfe rence, and it was not, till it was signified that France and Spain would interfere, that it was considered right the British Government should assent to the principle cf intervention. Had the insurgents been allowed to proceed unchecked, there could be,no doubt that they would, in a short time, have undermined the throne of Donna Maria, and, perhaps, seated Don Miguel upon its ruins. The consequence of this would be, that Spain would have been obliged to cross the frontier, and at tempt to restore the monarchy to its rightful possessor. This would necessarily have led to the interference of France ; and from the dispatches of M. Guizot there is no doubt but measures would be taken by France, in conjunction with Spain, to put down the pretensions of the new usurper to the throne. He thought, therefore, that under those circumstances the British Govern ment was called upon to take the steps which it did, and thereby prevent the evils which would have inevitably taken place had she remained quiescent. No doubt the Administration of the Queen of Portugal had been very arbitrary, and had been guilty of acts which made it liable to the greatest censure ; but this could not justify the extreme measures which had been resorted to by the Junta for the purpose of redressing them. He admitted the Queen had violated the constitution, and that if she had attempted to govern through the means of a fair representation of the people, the scenes which had occurred would not have taken place. He thought, however, if the British Government had not interfered, Portugal would have been overrun by a Spanish army, and far greater evils than those which now existed would have been the result. He answered, if they had not interfered they would have have been obliged to send an army to put an end to the far worse state of things which would have resulted in the event of the interference having been left to Spain. Now, he did not think that this, which would have been a matter of necessity on the part of the British Go vernment, wonld have met the approval of the Hon. Member for Maidstone. —(Hear, hear.) He was of opinion, therefore, that a complete case of justification was made out. It was impossible that a great nation like that of England, should not interfere in order to protect her own interests. Under these circumstances, he should give his decided opposition to the measure.-- (Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord then resumed his seat. A pause then ensued for some minutes. Loud cries for Lord Palmerston succeeded, but the Noble Lord did not respond to the call. A curious scene then occurred. Mr. B. ESCOTT loudly called " Question, question." After an interval of some minutes, in which the cries of " Withdraw " and " Divide " alternated, thus failing of its object in calling up the Noble Lord, Mr. B. ESCOTT drew the attention of the House to the tact that strangers were in the gallery. The gallery was then cleared, but in a few moments the press were re-admitted. Mr. M. MILNES rose to support the policy of the Government. He contended that it was not only right but necessary that Great Britain should interfere, and he trusted that when she did so, it would always be in a way befitting her dignity. It was not to be expected that a country such as Portugal would of itself—so young in all the constitutional principles of Government, and in the necessary experience, speedily effect those ob jects to which reference had been made. In Nov., 1846, The Palmella Administration was suspended by what was called the Ultra-Tory party, and which finally established the Marquis of Saldanha in the Councils of the Clown of Portugal. If they looked at the course of events which led to that result, they would discover nothing but one issue of illegal acts and unconstitutional proceedings which could not in England be enacted. He found that Mr. Bulwer, in a conversation with Count Thomar, advocated the non-introduction of foreign powers in the affairs of Spain. Count Thomar, however, took another view of it, and evinced a strong feeling on the part of the Spanish Government to interfere, and Mr. Bulwer wrote to Lord Palmerston that it would be impossible to avoid interference. In the meantime, Sir H. Seymour used every means which were in his power to moderate the asperities of the contend ing parties. The Honourable Gentleman quoted another dispatch to that effect. He was sure that it would be admitted by the Hon. Member that every effort had been used to end hostilities without force ; but all failed, every effort was vain, and what remained? Nothing but an armed intervention remained, and now it became an important consideration with every country, and this country, how they would act in case of an armed intervention. (The Hon. Gentleman then quoted a dispatch from Baron Munhausen, stating by authority, that the French King had announced his good disposition to the Queen's cause, and asking Eng land also to interfere.) Now he said they were come to the crisis when England had to consider whether she would interfere in the affairs of Portugal, and to what extent she would do so. Then came the dispatch of the sth of April, a dispatch which he believed was, under the circumstances, the best policy. That dispatch set forth those very principles which had been advocated by the Hon. Member for Montrose. The Noble Lord set forth the broad grounds on which he based his interference. The interference of England was introduced on principles which in no way discouraged the expression of the popular opinion, and the result intended was to restore all to their former position in the kingdom. Propositions contained in that dispatch were laid before the Junta, who expressed themselves highly satisfied with them. Terms at length were of fered on the part of the Government, treaties were being negociated until an ultimatum was offered, supported by an armed force in case of refusal. The Junta, at the unhappy moment, was, he believed, over awed by various parties and considerations. This appeared by a dispatch from Colonel Wylde. What would be the effect of giving sway to the violence of the impetuous national character? Why, it would have been most injurious, and he thought that Colonel Wylde had acted perfectly right. It appeared from the public journals that the Conde das Antes was in reality a prisoner in the hands of the British Government.—(Hear, hear.) Conde das Antes and the troops under him were conquered, but as brave men might be by the force of overwhelming numbers. For Conde das Antes, or any other person, to suppose that this country should go and make a formal declaration of war he considered absurd. He thought on the entire that they had a right to congra tulate themselves upon the conclusion at which they had arrived. He thought the Noble Lord was called upon to do all he could to secure for Portugal constitutional liberty. All that could be done by the English Go vernment should be done for those brave men in Por tugal who were endeavouring to maintain inviolate the constitutional liberty, and he trusted that the Crown of Portugal might be taught—if Crowns could be taught lessons —not to attempt to invade the liberties of the people. Lord W. POWLETT said that he thought that Govern ment might have interfered to protect the Queen, but should not have gone further. Mr. WARBURTON said that the opinion of Sir Thomas Monroe on the interference of this country i n India was so applicable to the present question, that he would beg leave to read what he stated in a letter to the Secretary of the India House, who produced it when under examination before a Committee of the House. The Honourable Member here read an extract from the document in question, which strongly deprecated the interference of a foreign power in the affairs of India, as it was calculated to sustain oppression on the part of the Sovereign, and to suppress all effbrts for liberty on the part of the people. The Hon. Member also read extracts from some letters of Mr. John Mills, who asserted that foreign interference had the effect of supporting despotism, and engendering a tutilage on the part of native Princes, who, from a custom of de pending upon foreign assistance, would naturally be en feebled. As a man that was accustomed to go on crutches would never be able to use his limbs perfectly. Mr. H. BAILLIE said that ho did not attach much importance to the delay of these papers, because he knew that that habit of delay was an old failing on the part of tho Noble Lord opposite ; for as long ago as 1841 ho found that great complaints were made of the delay of papers in the affairs of Portugal. The question for them that night, was not the infringement of the charter, but the right of a foreign power to interfere in the in ternal affairs of a foreign country, when that country was not threatened with aggression by a foreign foe ; and he should like to ask the Noble Lord if their former interferences with other countries had redounded to the credit of the British arms—from interferences which he could not designate by any other name than unjust and impolitic interferences ; and however anxious he might be to ascertain the opinions of the Noble Lord (Palmerston), he should feel it his duty, in the absence of that experience, to illustrate his own opinion by reference to the history of other interferences ; and, for this purpose, he should not go further back than the origin of the late disturbances in Portugal. What had their interference with the affairs of Portugal got for t he people of this country while Miguel wasde taste the King of Portugal? They had a commercial treaty, which was liberal to this country, but they chose to interfere in behalf of Don Pedro, and after a bloody struggle, Don Miguel was driven out of the country. What had they gained? Nothing. Their commercial relations with that country were in a worse state than before. What had their in terference with Spain done them? They found Spain in a state of civil anarchy, and they thought, improperly thought, that they were called ou to interfere. They proposed to raise a large body of men in this country to assist in the warfare of that country ; these men to be commanded by able British officers. What was the result ? Late events had shown them, Spain had truckled to Louis Philippe, and England's former services were forgotten. And now they were again prepared to interfere in the affairs of Portugal, despite their former experience. They were again pre pared to embroil themselves in the civil warfare of Con tinental Europe.—(Hear, hear.) He trusted that this course would tnot receive the sanction or ap probation of that House ; he trusted that steps would not be taken which would prevent them reced ing with honour, and without loss ; and he hoped that the House would recognise the principle now fully acted upon by the people of this country, namely , that interve n • cenutrieo woo generally unjust ontl alwayO TUE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE l2, 1847. A considerable time having elapsed before any Hon. Member's offering to address the HOUSP, and loud calls for Ler Pele,er hating been neete i Mr. B OSBORNE ruse and sled, teat he had tee d to have had the experience of any of the Ai embers of the Government who might have chosen to ad dress the House on this subject, but having been unsuccessful in this endeavour, (although he cer tainly expected that some of the Lords of the Treasury, who were as mute as they were distinguished, would have been put forward,) he was forced to content himself with the explanation given by the two Hon. Members who had spoken on the side of the Government. Had the lion. Member for Pontefract not appeared to the rescue ; had he not illustrated in his own person the advantages of intervention, the " red box" would have been in considerable danger, for a division would pro bably have been in danger, a n d t h e Mi n i sters wou ld evidently be in a minority. Ile considered that the Hon. Member for Pontefract had drawn on his poeti cal invention—(Laughter)—when he said that a young could explain, country required e sch e o :.a li 3 n . g b i y n c v, o , n h s ie ti h tu t t i i l o e n y al e government.ou There was only on this. If they only allowed one person to tell his story continually from morning till night every day for a twelvemonth, that person would in the end become their master. On no other principle could he account for the otherwise unaccountable conduct of the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies, clinging to a Cabinet which he refused to become a Memb er o f i n 1 8 45 b ecause o f the meddling capacities of the pres en t S ecre t ar y f or Foreign Affairs. It might be said that this inter vention was a great scheme for the improve ment of Portugal, but if it could be shown that this intervention, so far from pacifying Portugal, was laying the seeds of a general European war, en dangering the existence of Portugal, and upholding anarchy and despotic principles ; he maintained that every Member of that House who preferred liberal principles was called upon to support the motion of the Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Montrose. What induced the Noble Lord, on the 25th of May, to arrive at the conclusion ? Fie was unable to account for it by the ordinary rules of reasoning. There certainly were at the time whispers about mysteriousinfluences, but no import ance was attached to them, and he could not believe that the Noble Lord, the Secretary f or F ore i gn Aff a i rs , suffered himself to be influenced by them. The only conclusion, therefore, he could bring himself to arrive at after an attentive perusal of these papers was, that the Noble Lord was averse to the whole proceeding. The Noble Lord must have been out-voted in the Cabinet. Now it was necessary in coming to this debate that they should have a definite meaning of the word" intervention." He believed he was right in saying that the term was modern, and he could not, he thought, put the subject on a better footing than by reading the definition of the word " intervention," given by a statesman of great influence and experience. Hero was the definition. The term " intervention" he defined to be, " the principle that every nation has the right of managing its own internal affairs, and regulating its in ternal policy so long as it does not injure its neighbour; and no nation has the right to control by force of arms the appointment of its Govenments or rulers." That was the definition of the Noble Lord the present Secre tary for Foreign Affairs on June the Ist, 1829; and, therefore, he felt bound to ask the Noble Lord who ought not, he thought, to retain his seat with such pertinacious obstinacy, why, if in June 1829 he held this principle to be sacred, how was it that he now violated it in his own person, and outraged the liberties of Europe by his own proceedings?—(Hear, hear.) It was well to remark that all this intervention had been done secretly, and the greatest fuss had been made in that House about the production of the papers relating to it.—(Hear, hear.) Why, at the very moment when the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Montrose was pressing the Government for them, the protocol was actually published in Paris.—(Hear, hear.) In reading these papers, and examining all these transactions, he was most forcibly struck with the astute conduct of Louis Philippe. That great genius did not appear in these transactions to the extent of the part he had taken in them. Whenever there was any dirty work to be clone, Louis Philippe, like a second Mephistophiles, urged on the Noble Lord, who was at the head of the Foreign Department, and the time would come when he would reap all the advantage of the interven tion, while the Noble Lord would have to bear the whole odium of the proceeding.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member for Montrose had told them that the Queen of Portugal sacrificed her Crown, and broke her oath when she sought for the intervention of a foreign power. The. Noble Lord readily responded to the call, but how dee ferent was the course pursued by Mr. Canning in 1826, when the intervention of this country was sought then by Portugal. That great statesman would not allow u single British soldier to embark until the concurrence of the Portuguese Legislature had been obtained to the proceeding. In 1847, however, the Noble Lord sets aside all charters and treaties, and only loaking to at, absolute monarchy, paying no regard to constitutionai liberty, he did not wait to ask a single question, but actually put the army in possession of the Jnnta, before the Cortes had taken any consideration of the subject.— (Hear, hear.) It was not very difficult to discover from the contents of the blue book, the real object of the Court of Portugal since October 1846. Its whole object had been foreign intervention. That was distinctly to be traced from the very beginning of the counter-revolution and the military " move" executed under the auspices of the Court itself.—(Hear, hear.) They had heard a great deal which did not appear in the blue book ; but are Hon. Gentlemen really aware of what Costa Cabral', administration was ? Costa Cabral, like many others, commenced his career as a furious Liberal, but the mo ment he got into power he became the patron of abso lute monarchy. Tney had some instances of this, though on a humbler scale, on that side of the House. They had some Gentlemen who had been very loud in opposition, but became very quiet in office. Now, by the intrigues of Cabral the charter of 1826 was got rid of, because there were articles in th a t c h arter w hi c h pre vented him from carrying out his designs, and substi tuted in its stead the charter of 1838. Not content with that, however, his first act, under this new char ter, was to appoint his broth er J ose C a b ral to b e Mi nister of Public Duties. He then took to levying taxes without the consent of the Cortes—he imprisoned people without trial—and, at last, he took a policy, which on all occasions, and at all times, had pro voked the resistance of the people.—(Hear, hear.) He began by levying two taxes, one upon salt, and the other upon burials, a tax of 10s. was levied upon the friends of every person w h o was b ur i e d, and this gave rise to the insurrections in the provinces. The minister was then dismissed, and the Duke Palmella was sent for, who was induced to accept office, but on the 6th of October he was desired to sign his own dis missal. At first he hesitated doing so, but he was told he must consider himself a prisoner, and after having being confined ono night in the palace. he signed the decree of his own dismissal. The dis missal was brought about by the King Consort, who ha taken the army under his control ; and when the com manding officers would not bend to his will, he substi tuted creatures of his own in their place. He offered Das Antes, a Marquasa if he would take part in the counter-revolution, but that distinguished man refused the bribe, and he (Mr. Osborne) was sure had the Honourable Member for Pontefract been as celebrated for war as he was for verse, he would have followed the same course.—(Hear, and laughter.) When Cabral was disposed of—to use a common English phrase—he was kicked up stairs. The Queen made him courtier, and sent him to Madrid, where he had concocted the whole of this scheme et foreign intervention, which had brought eternal disgraoe upon the British name.—(Hear.) At that moment Cabral ruled Portugal ; at that moment he ruled this country, and he (Mr. O s b orne ) b e li eved that, however well-in tentioned the Noble Lord at the head of the Foreign Department might be in his interference, the Noble Lord, in thi s instance, had been caught napping. The Noble Ford, in fact,was nothing more than a child in the / leading strings of Costa Cabral and Louis Philippe. Although she was waited upon by the wives and daugh ters of those who had suffered in her royal father's cause, she sent these prisoners to a convict ship, and from thence to a penal colony. What was the conduct of Mr. Sotheron? he remonstrated with the Government, although without any orders from his own Government; but what did they do? they lied to him.—(Hear, hear.) Yes, there should be speaking out. They said that they would send those prisoners of Torres Vedras to Madeira. and was this now the Government whom they were about to bolster up? Could any one believe that the Queen, starting with the prestige of royalty, and a good and disciplined army, that she should be driven into a corner, relying for her protection upon the British fleet in the Tagus. unless the voice of the people was unani mously raised to hurl her from her throne, he must say that the appointment of the gallant officer, Colonel Wylde, was most injudicious. They said that they only appointed him in order to give a military opinion, but it was a very curious circusnetance that throughout the . whole of th e di scuss i on and the reports not one of those military opinions was hazarded. tie did not suit the views, however, of the Noble Lord, and his commis sion was reca l led in consequence, as it was alleged of his having s p o k en d i sparaging l y o f t h e M arquis D e Sal danha's tro o p s, l et them remem b er t h a t. Thi s was on l y the statement of the Marquis, for Colonel Wylde denied having give n any offence to the Marshal Saldanha, al though h e f ound him forging h i s name. H e woul d quote several passages to prove that Colonel Wylde was sentin any ch aracter b ut th a t of a military one; he was rather sent as a med i ator, an d if he came from the Foreign- o ff ice, i he would leave it to the House, it war most injudi c i ous to send a person lik e C o lon e l Wyld e , who was a m ost ' ga l lant off i cer, b u t w h o w as so much connected with the Court, to get information about the army. He was not th e perso n to be intrusted with th. management of those affairs, and he should like to have sees one of th e N o bl e Lor d' s di spa t c h e s reproving him for exceeding the bounds of his authority, when he threatened the M arqu i s S a da Baudiera, that if he should be successful, he should have to meet the British troops. What right, he should like to know, had he to take the name of th e Q ueen an d the peop l e o f England in vain? he protested against such conduct, be protested against it being e ven tac i t l y approve d o f b y th e Minister, as there was no appearance that he had been reproved for it. It appeared that the Queen had broken through every oath, and it was impossible to rely upon what bet Ministers would say. But as soon as Sir Hamilton Seymour appeared, the whole scene changed. All the dispatches assumed the character of rose-water. The Queen went out and attended the wounded. He wa sent out in order to make a case for the Court. Tie Noble Lord was very much mistaken if he thought that M. Guizot or Louis Philippe would be caught in a bl ue b oo k—(L aug h ter ) —and he certainly thought that he could not make out his case, througe them. Now he con s id ere d t h at it wa s necessary, in such, a crisis as the present, to speak out the whole truth, and in his opinion, Sir Hamilton Seymour exceeded his au thority, for they were only bound to guarantee the life of the Queen, and not her throne; but he had gun ranteed the throne, and in this ho overstepped the 00111440 of his duty. Lyery ode kurf that there was no treaty which guaranteed more than the protection of the throne in eases of fereign in t - v IWPrt. t wishes of the people. Trie treaties entered in o with Portugal did not guarantee shy particular dynasty. They did not pledge this country to mix itself up with the internal disputes of Portugal. Mr. Canning had maintained this doctrine, and so did Mr. Peel in 1829 ; and he hoped that the Right Honourable Baronet would be prepared' in 1847 to support that view. The Noble Lord (Palmerston) believed that the quadruple alliance was at an end, and it was not even pre tended that this convention was made in conformity with that treaty. He did not know then what to call this new arrangement, and he hoped the Noble Lord would get up in a short time and explain under what treaty or understanding this protocol was issued. He thought if there was any constitutional feeling in France, the people of that country would demand from Louis Philippe the cause of this in fringement of the liberties of Europe. He would ask this House and the country, wbat they had gained by these conventions that had been lately entered into ? —(Hear.) The Noble Lord might ask, what he (Mr. Osborne) would have done under the circumstances ? He would reply that he would have given instructions to the British representative in Portugal to communicate to Spain, that on the very first soldier that would cross by the frontier into Portugal, a British army would be directly sent there to oppose them.—(Hear.) The Go vernment organ had to. night intimated that the whole affair was settled—that the policy was triumphant. He would ask the Noble Lord to get up and tell them how the the affairs of Portugal were settled. They were not settled.—(Hear, hear.) They had done more to unsettle them, and to disturb monarchical principle in Europe than any Government that ever preceded them.—(Hear, hear.) What guarantee had they that the same scenes would not occur again in the space of three months. The speech of the Noble Lord in 1e29 went counter to almost every Act which he had authorised since, and that speech was made on the affairs of Portugal, and was administered as a rebuke to the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel). He would, in conclusion, ask him to get up now, and say, as he said then, that he was defending the cause of liberty from the banks of the Tagus to the shores of the Bosphorus.—(Cheers.) Lord JOHN RUSSELL—I was anxious that the earliest possible day should be given to the Hon. Member for Montrose that he might have an opportunity of bringing his resolution before the House, condemning the course which the Government is pursuing with respect to the affairs of Portugal; but, Sir, after hearing his speech, and that of the Hon. Gentleman who has just sat down, I am in doubt whether our natural anxiety to have this question brought before the House, and not to shrink from any accusation that might be made against us has not brought upon the House the inconvenience of Gentlemen preparing their opinions and their speeches upon this subject, without reference to the facts upon which they have to speak—(Hear)— because, Sir, both the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Montrose, but more especially the lion. Gentleman who has just sat down spoke entirely from a reference to some papers which did not exist, whilst the details of the subject were to be found in the pipers which have been placed on the table of the Hone. The Honourable Gentleman who has just spoken has founded his speech and his censure entirely upon the supposition that her Majesty's Government were en gaged in establishing an absolute Government in Porte. gal.—(Hear, bear.) That it was their intention to maintain a despotism in that country, and he therefore broke out in declamation, and gibes, and inferences against the Ministry who could be guilty of such pro eeedings. But the simple tact is, that we had no such thing in view at all—that, on the contrary, the pro positions made, which my Noble Friend proposed first to the Queen of Portugal, and afterwards to the Junta' of Oporto ; those terms were that all previous decrees should cease, and that everything done on the 6th of October should be revoked ; that the jury should be called, and that the constitutional law of the country should have full play ; and that simple observation de stroys, I think, three-fourths of the specious assertions of the Hon. Gentleman. With respect to the interven tion, it appears, a.- I shall afterwards remark, that he cannot blame us for interference, when he would have interfered in this manner—he would have told the Crown or Spain that no Spanish force should enter Portugal. —ear.) Sir, wh a t I h ave to conten d , i n opposition to the Hon. Gentleman who has made this speech—attack ng the conduct of the Government is this—that it was necessary to interfere,first for the welfare of the interests of Portugal, and secondly, for the interests of this country ; and further, I am ready to maintain, that by that interference we not have risked the dagger of an European war. These three propositions I think can be proved from the papers which have been laid before the House, and from the events which have taken place within the last few days.—(Hear.) Sir, I will not follow the Honourable Gentleman who has just sat down, upon the subject of the previous administrations of Portugal during the time of the Cabrals. That body was destroyed by a revolution—by a military revolution —like others which have since held office. The Duke of Palmella was at the head of the administration when that meeting of the Cabral party took place, which caused the Government so much alarm, and to all parties theu out of power, because they threatened the suppression of the constitution and the destruction of the power of the monarchy. The Queen thought ieneces -ary, being acted upon by these alarms, partaking of the fears that were entertained,joining with those who formed a considerable party ; she thought it necessary to ask the Duke of Palmella if he could save her from the dangers which she apprehended, and on his professing himself ready to continue the Ministry, but not offering any gua rantee as to what might occur, he desired that he might be permitted to resign and immediately form another Miuistry.—(Hear, hear.) Now, so far there was nothing unconstitutional. There might be some imprudence in the conduct of the Sovereign of Portugal, but so far as the dismissal of the Ministry was concerned, that was an act of the Sovereign, and one to which the Minister of any Sovereign might be subject. Lord Howard de Walden, who was then at Lisbon, seems to have supposed at first that the nomination of the Ministry of Das Antes would be favourably received. Upon a party waiting upon him, and asking him whether they would be safe, and whether they might depend upon the execution of the law, in reply he stated that, he expected that the law could be administered without any revolutionary move ment ; but in a few days after, the parties opposed to them, and who urged the Duke of Palmella to change his Ministers, joined Das Antes, and they formed a Junta in Oporto. They sent circular addresses to the Sovereign, in which they demanded that the new Ministry should be dismissed, and expressed their fears of what is called Cabralistic faction in Portugal. Upon that demand being refused they placed themselves in arms against their Sovereign. I am not now to argue whether they were justified in heir fears, or whether that which they apprehended would have taken place, but I am quite ready to admit that at Oporto and various other places the provisions of the constitution were entirely thrown aside, and the most disgraceful and arbitrary acts of the most despotic nature were the consequences, which were sanctionediby the Government. The Hon. Member fur Montrose went tarough the narrative of those various acts as if they were those which her Majesty's Government were prepared to defend, and which they received with indulgence. I say, on the contrary, that those very acts form a part of our case. is it was to put an end to proceedings like these, and to April sth, in which he proposed the terms to the Queen t i t e n y u a N n o e h e l e o F f r t i l e i h a d t w a r r b o i t t e r a t hr e d s i e s i p st a e t m eh o o f :arose, and you will find that her Majesty's Minister at ft • p, u o re d v v er e t n n h in t o e t j u h t u e , n t t h c a ' ai n t Lisbon disapproved of what they did afterwards, and , arnestly remonstrated with the Government at Lisbon Take the acts in succession as they upon the which tbearbitra w r3 a's the char deputationacterof of the these acts.Ta p k r e is o o n n e er a s f them, taken at Torres Vedras, an act of great injustice in itself, and certainly most cruel to those persons. Unfortunately, the Queen of Portugal had placed herself in the hands of a party who seemed to have thought that the indulgence of cruelty should be part of their policy, and who continued so to act, in j defiance of every remonstrance. Now, sir, the lion. Gentleman who spoke last has said much in favour of the people, and much against the conduct of the Queen of Portugal. I will now read to the House a report of Mr. Sotheron, with respect to the Torres Vedras question. (Thc Noble Lord than road the report, which stated that the subject had received the most careful deliberation of the Council, and he was happy to think that the benevolent feelings of her Majesty towards the prisoners would not unlikely lead to an immediate resignation of the Ministry, and the same might be said with respect to every act then adopted). My Noble Friend wrote to the Junta to pro pose that the terms should be altered, and communicated the same intention to Das Antes, urging that he should resign the command of the army and return into private lif e . We are easily induced to consider in this country —we are easily induced to believe that those who are in the service of the Sovereign are responsible for the acts of the Sovereign. I think it was a most imprudent thing for the Queen to put herself into the hands of a party which governed for several months. But I think it is too much for the Hon. Member for Wycombe to lay the blame personally upon the Sove reign, and not to consider that this party, who had the Ministry in its hands, and who proposed to leave the oe ren Queen without a G overnment, or without direction of epaardtlyht. adhering n c g o u t the army, that th e y are not responsible for their acts. the feeling s o f t h e peop l e, or went the n n a tth t o i e o s t iaoayn t I:lAfteront ther yreferring ni : t i e d: h a d o n i o gn t ot h ov e e r t rhn e r e x e de lOns the body, th representing ing handset the Junta b ecame l ess an d es a tract from the report of Mr. S ot h eron, the Noble Lord parties, in the most arbitrary manner ; the second were the Junta and its adherents, some of whom en tertained the most violent democratic princi ples, who professed themselves ready to take up arms in defence of the liberties of the people, but who acted in the most oppressive manner. The third were the Miguelites, who were a numerous party, who formed with the others, and added to their power thereby, sup porting Das Antes, who was emboldened by his military successes at Torres Vedras. Things went on in this stale, and neither party seemed likely to gain a victory. eortugal was being destroyed, her commerce and agri culture were neglected, and danger and rapine arise. the whole country was divided among the soldiery. Every dispatch which arrived deplored this state ef things. If in these circumstances a termination could have been put to these civil broils, and the constitution of the country secured from danger, which would have Atisfied those who had taken part on one side or the eller, and which would have recalled, at the same time, :hose who had been sent to Angola, providing for the convocatien of the Cortes as a security for the pass ing of all those measures, he thought it must be ob virms to every one that the greatest good would accrue to Portugal ; and such, in tact, was the pro- Qf (In dispatch of the 01 , 14 of April, The Noble Lord then read the dispatch referred to. It wit' eensiderel the !ten tle a- d d aek are:id-nal o rine, rec. mama :ea, et tee sane time, the exile or the hatters el the ineurrectioe. Sir H. Seymeur, wheee zeal and ability deserved the highest preise, insisted that the terms offered by this country should be witadrawn, and ad negotiation should cease, if these conditions were insisted upon ; and the Cabinet coincided in this opinion, considerieg the original proposition fair, as plae7ng the country upon a constitu tional basis. Before that reply went back, the Queen had accepted the conditions of the British Government. 'he had also accepted the resignation of her Minist-rs, and replaced them with more moderate' men. The Go• vernment of this country stated, that if the Queen would be bound Isy the terms us originelly proposed, they would take steps in order to comp, I tee Junta to submit to them. Now, w, re the Government justified in so doing. (Hear, beer.) He thought the papers, which he would not fatigue the Heine by gaming at any length, would prove that the interest of this country in the affairs of Portugal, was such tha it was impossible that the condition of this ancient ally, with whom they had such intimate commercial relations, and the most brotherly connexions in arms, was such as to induce them to take any step by which the freedom of Portu gal was secured. But there was another question which pressed itself upon their consideration—what was the interest of England in the mutter ?—(Cheers)—and what would follow from her adoeting that course, and what, from renising so to de. Let him re mind the House of the ancient relations subsisting between the countries, and the periods of difficulty in which Portugal was their ally. Since the commence. ment of the last century there had not been less than four wars, in which Spain had joined with France, yet whilst they were at war with this country, Portugal re mained firm in her alliance with England. At the end of the seven years' war, Spain joined in an alliance against England, but Portugal still remained firm At the end of the American war Spain was similarly engaged with France, and still Portugal was toued faithful in their ranks. And during the conflict with respect to the Bourbons and the revolutionary war in France Por tugal was equally true.—(llesr, hear, and cheers.) What would the Spaniards and Portuguese together have done ? They would have insisted on the banish ment of the Junta, and then indeed the liberties of Por tugal would have been prostrated. If the Spanish army had been allowed to interfere only, then the state of anarchy predicted by Hon. Gentlemen would indeed come to pass. Mr. Bulwer said that they could not in terfere in Portugal unless under circumstances, but if those circumstances arose , t h en , indeed, England would be prepared to interfere. The circumstances had arisen, and her Majesty's Government did interfere. If they had longer delayed, the position and ultimate de termination of the Spanish Government was to interfere. What, then, became of the Hon. Member for Wycombe and the Hon, and peaceful Member for Montrose, who introduced this discussion ?—(Hear, hear.) Now let the House consider for a moment what was the situa tion in which we were threatened with war? Donna Maria was reigning in Portugaaand we telt it possible that Don Miguel might have e3 : ablishi , d a footing in Portugal. If the Government had not taken part against Spain, they must have taken part with Don Miguel, and against the ancient house of 13raganza, with which this country had been on terms of intimacy for centuries, and whom we are called upon to sustain in splendour and security. What, then, did the Junta of Oporto propose? Das Antes was stated to have lost his authority ever his fol lowers, and every person residing at Lisbon who did not belong to that party dreaded, if they should succeed, that a state of anarchy would follow, and that bloodshed and murder would be perpetreted in the street. Immense difficulty would have followed if the Government had undertaken to defend the Portuguese against the armed intervention of Spain. Had Spain succeeded in her armed intervention, she would nave had the good wishes, if not at least the active support it la luxe, for the Minis ter of France hail declared long ago that he thought the case was one in which the terms of tha quadruple alliance was applicable. What then would be the consequence if Spain, backed by France, should succeed in establishing a supremacy in Portugal ? Waa the House prepared for such a state of things as that ? Was it prepared to see that ancient alliance, which se lone existed beta eel this country and Portugal, destroyed by Spanish supre macy in that country ? This was a point, which through out the discussion, he had nut failed to adopt. Atter that long connexion with Portugal, he should be sorry that this Government which was called upon by the Government of Portugal to interfere, having the means and the power to dictate the terms of the interference, should shrink from so doing, and giving that assistance, and thereby become disconnected ler ever with the Go vernment of Portugal. It had often been said that the safety of this country was founded upon a system of alliances, and except this country maintained its alliances with Pertugal, her ancient ally, there was no security for the peace of Europe, and this country would be o liged to accept dishonourable terms, or to keep a large army and a considerable fleet fur the purpose of preserving the independence. He was speak ing language in conformity with that of a very great man. In the year 1786, there was a democratic party in the Netherlands, which was supported by France; the authority of the Prince of Orange was altogether subordinate, and all the power of the Government was placed in the hands of the democratic party. England interfered on that occasion. The King of Prussia took occasion of an insult offer ed to the Princess of Orange, when passing in her carriage ; he accordingly displaced that Government, and put the Government of the Stilt holder in its place ; and England stated that if France attempted to disturb that settlement made by Prussia, they would interfere. Both Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox concurred in that opinion. The present was pre cisely a similar case to that of Prussia ai.d the Netherlands. The terms which had been offered by this country to the Junta were such as he fully thought they would have acceded to. Das Antes himself stated that the terms were excellent and unexceptionable. The question is, what inducement could the Junta have had in refusing those terms? They happened at the same time to have received advices of some successes which had taken place. The third point was, that the leaders of the Junta had not offered to disobey their orders, and that they feared not only danger to their authority but to their persons.—(Hear, hear.) Such were the reasons why these terms were not accepted in the first instance. Sir Hamilton Seymour, seeing the state of affairs, seeing the urgency of the occasion, and in formed by the dispatch of April that England intended to interfere, desired Sir William Parker to send troops to Oporto. Notice had been given, and letters were written, stating to the Junta that the hostile proceedings would no longer be carried on by ties country. The Count Das Antes had embarked his troops at this period. Sir Thomas Maitland had received those orders sent to Mr. Salter, that if his ships pro ceeded they would be captured by her Majesty's vessels. Another letter had been written which gave rise to the opinion that a due notice had not been given to the Junta. There only retrained one last letter which they had not received. He believed that the Junta, Count Das Antes, and those who were with him. must have been fully aware of what was to follow if they persisted. Sir Thomas hiaitland, seeing what had been advanced, thought it right to carry his intentions into execution. He informed the officers that he would not allow them toproceed south, or enter the port. They then surrendered, the Count Das Antas stating that they surrendered themselves Si. the British troops, and only desired not to he delivered to the Portuguese Government. This was up ag reed to, and with the honour that has always marked British troops, that agreement was strictly aehered to, and they were placed in confinement under British su perintendence, and treated in every respect as prisoners of war. The consequence of this he hoped would be, that both the Junta and the Government of Portugal would accept the terms originally proposed by her Majesty's Government, namely, that all these offences should be passed over, and that the Constitution should be re-established.—(Hear.) Therefore, so far from establishing despotism, what they (the Govern ment) had dune was to do away with that despotism that existed at Lisbon. They interfered for the peace of Europe.—(Hear, hear.) In the last place, let the House consider I what would have been the danger if they had taken the course which was now recommended to them. If they had insisted that Spain should not inter fere, they would make a cases ben Such a de termination of Government at that juncture might have been disastrous to the peace of Europe. Let them consider that with regard to these questio, s of pa litical constitutions, they were not in a state very different from that in which Europe was placed during the wars that, succeeded the Reformation. The French Pro testants then sympathised with the Protestants of Eng land, while the Cathodes of Spain sympathised with the Catholics of England—Queen Elizabeth endeavouring to promote a revolution against the Catholics, while Philip of Spain eudeavoured to excite a revolution in this country. He thought it must be evident to any one who gave any attention to the events of Govern ments, that Governments could not be indifferent to the form of the constitution established in neighbouring na. tions. Thus they had seen that numerous cases of inter ference had taken place during the last twenty years. Interference had taken place within that time between Turkey and Greeee, and in 1831 interference also was considered to be necessary with respect to Belgium. The Belgians , had revolted against the treaty of Vienna. and withdrew their allegiance from the Prince of Orange, though they had bound them selves to that allegiance by oath. What happened? When the Prince of Orange was marching troops into Belgium, Sir Robert Adair was Sent to stop him, and told him that he must not proceed any further. Was that not an interference to establish a free constitution in Belgium, apart from Holland?—(Hear.) Subsequently With regard to Portugal itself there was an intervention on the part of this country. There was an interference in the case of Don Miguel and Donna Maria was placed on the throne by the assistance of France, Spain, and of England. He would not go through the different cases in which this country interfered in the affairs of other countries. He was merely showing that this country had interfered, and that there was nothing new in the principle which they introduced —not us the holy alliances to establish despotism, but to establish a limited monarchy, arid to secure the freedom of the people; and he believed that, in this instance, their interference would lead to useful results. The revolution of 1688 had been edverted to in the course of the debates, and it h a d b een alleged that that was a revolution brought about without the aid of foreign interference. lie had every respect tat the set in tlement which h a d put the reigning fatly on the ttrone ; but he could nut Prince of O ran forget t h at Willi am ge was not invited until he tied secured foreign interference and braugat "Si good engineers with hen."—(idao ' g to establi s h hen they wished prince of Germany 'l..) on the h throw-, they called in t h e a i d of six thousand Dic nd blish claims. The Noble 'Lurd uthen continue troops todestao much for the absence of f ign interference in our own al Giro d welt Ir) Ow Lica QuiAlo. ' man.—(Cheers and laughter.) I admit that these essea ::: eisss : :s sissd:l ss, ! e re 7 : -:t 1 a 3 a 1111 C, bu that they ought rather to be excels' i,...; to tse g ets a+ policy of the State.—(Cheers.) Aed therefore it, is with respsct to this particular 111;Ifiriet• we have he ' n sloW to listen to the representatistis of the Queet, of Portugal or to the representations of Spain. We wished, if v' sible, that the civil war should cease hy the offer of fair terms by the Queen, and the acceptance of those terte3 by the Junta. Neither party, however, could agree upo2 the terms to be proposed or accepted; an d seeing POr' tugal in so dress - Hal a state, and that if we longer 2 12 ' her stained from interfering, we should only prolong . misery without any increased ptoTect of genie; and tha t if we allowed Spain to interfere, backed by the assist• !ince of France, another misery w o uld be iiiffcted on l'ottngssl, anti our aricient alliance. with that country ill' sured; seeing that it had become a question w hether o r not we should maintain that alliance, we did at la° agree to this interference.—(Cheers.) Hon. Gi-nilet t3 ., ea have asked what gua r a ntee have we that the terms "ef e fE i li m ai po o s f e t d he will be kept? We have the guarantee 0 That is not the have o Queen nl), o security l) o rtu g w a e l . have;(D e r Government has pledged itself to us, to France , an d t Spain, that these terms shall be carried into effect. Thef are bound to us not only by good faith, e arrY; interests fir their course skill be strengthened by in the terms into effect. The parties who were in sr l l:a to Portugal.—(D e e; s he e F i t t i l r a t u g g h e t e e r s o e ) have laid them down, and it is to the interest of SI , . endeavour to carry our stipulations into effect, and til v ti e ' put au end to the wretched dissensions which b a 1, but by their owli destroyed the happiness and prosperity of Portugal. My beli e f is that our interference will be conducive to that end. At all events, I have the satisfeetion of kn°.‘!" ing that I do not belong to a Government which_b_a; abandoned an alliance which England had cherished for c tw el o au e r e i n e t s u t r o ie c s, om an e d .— wt t ic o h ud l chhoepeersw.)ill be inaint aiDe Mr. PETER of the debate until Menday.—Agreed to. BORTHWICK moved the adjournment IRI6II RAILN% AY 'S. In reply to a question from Mr. 11.1.1-D SON, week, if Lord JOHN itUSSELL---I would say nest e I thought it likely a day could be named; but thereibulre, so many adjourned debates that I fear t hat ii imposs2l4 , I shall certainly take th e railway measur e on tbe and the Irish gill will come on afterwards. The remaining orders of the da w ere then disposed 1:e of, and the House adjourned at a were Trie o'clock. SIEGE OPERATIONS at aIIA A T g i n de !b 3f le 3, t e 9th inst., was a day o f con-- , f 0 Wednesda , h interest to tbe military of the garrison 00f account 'go, a e_lc a perimnt in destroying a double stockade of verY h is New Zealand, strength, and resembling that of lielti' s P it Ibis _ o Zealand, by the Chelsea outpensioners sent to u nder pla_.e to be instructed in field. ope rations linur t:l Colonel Sir Frederick Smith, K.H., of the R° t Y ola of g h ineers. The stockade was erected s t the b c4 we ro t e field works, and to witness the experiale,TlC w el ae assembled the Commandant of the Garrison, `l,°, anl rn s Simpson, the Brigade Major, Captain We ciu of theprincipal officers of the staff. The C o lon pensioners were put thr y poutigeilingthaetir drill hY he stockade commenced Sir F. Smith, some dista nce , the pah four large sap rollers and a small haad tree" The nand ller° a p n u d ue t d he b ffrst l operation of breachinqual on which were placed bags of gunpowder 'IP ° - ° na h orecision a _ and truck were moved forward with , , need, the steadiness, the soldiers stooKfing as they O vs , „ o f the rollers covering ' them from the thing of musice'ri , to et;if e emy inside of the stockade. On arriving close 1.10, erection, the truck was disengaged' from th e g ij blig and was run close under cover and tilted, cau sin g h -- c ies ° of powder to lie close up against the stock_ade.;htga 08 (" Binkford's") was then phced. Sir F. b u ' ll : 9 line 10 whole of the company of pensioners drawn t I P. 1 tel th 9 , fr_ot , tt of the building, and he described very ;Ea nu, J end 2 , 1 t- utter of powder plac.-d as the present charges wrre.'valy rp evt 4 ~e o„ ?:r detailing the flcture of similar experinieets tried, t ordered the pensioners to fall back, with the el;.' vi r i , red of two or three, who remained to witness the el;.' B by the slow match by the lion. J" 11 , 11 Ise' thenassistedAllen,-it-c"ol'e retired, and after the lapse o tw ° w hich had s a m.;At, awful ex i .•)l.sion ba w lit a s def° e f a e t h iga it ; the effect of de stro) big several her above a foot in thickness, and opening a br ooo l b* both lines of from 8 to 9 feet. The bags contained ja de of powder. Yesterday a similar experiment we n s of against a stockade when charges containing 2- 1 01t7. e d powder were laid on the ground close up and t. er° ,; P oil p firmly by six damp bags tilled with sand, i t!' n i .,j a ce, being tired, a loud and terrific explosion too* r h of scattering the timber, and making a h, r9i nb o thirteen feet. The explosion had such an e ueev r alat e about nr 200 panes of glass were broken in the CO " r ot of a acks, occupied by the invalid soldiers; and ter e ii i large building used by the Royal Engineer and re' so damaged, that the whole must be taken of f Er placed; several panes of glass of pr i va te house s and the mouth -terrace were also broken b - y the report. e n " Or tli hp bystanders standing some distance s tated that t..• - sir trembled under their feet. The breaching was ed 0 tisfactory to Sir F. Smith, and also to all the effi„caeof present. The pensioners are to go throug h ac° king instruction in making gabions, sap ro llers. tit tg ' c a , ifh stockades by means of sapping, forming bride, 6 9 14 casks, breastworks, and everything connected wt t seie duties; and every means will be taken to rew"sw,`,,fedf veterans as perfect as possible within the ti me which is 14 days. . tvA „ t he LONGEVITY IN WEST CUMEIERLAN. , •" . a y OA often had occasion to notice the great age which r aa lie o ,l o inhabitants of West Cumberland attain before they gbooic and are no more seen ; but we never before ha d cthe gee so large a number as forty persons having died l e ,„ 10 -sc., aboc ted w t bst town, within 17 months, whose ages averaged years each. We have on former occasions stated . 0 II places could equal Cockermouth for the longev,l, 1 13 v g isad ` O / habitants, and we are not afraid to challenge al . ' ',Ain . P. l3 . produce a parallel to what we are about to sta te _ A , a utt! ire course, the time over which our chronicle ex .t D re t l eo . 00 1 4 extent of the population of the place to which I c oo kero of subjoin a list of 40 individuals interred at and the Ist opt Church between the Ist of January, 18 46 • a ars e 5 1 0° June,lB47—a period of 17 montmouth,whose u nited ag .' befog old to three thousand two h un d re d an d n inety-one nani es average of more than foursc ore years each. ages of this extraordinary list of octagenaria 9 41 Skelton ....• 1,,7 Joseph Reed - nson • Benjamin White ... 77 ElizabethkTetirtuf. ..... . Jane Franklin ...... e n ••• Susannah Maxwell Nancy Johnston ......... h BA , " 92 Mary Barnes 77 J , "se n P ForsYth ......... 76 William Shaw 76 oat e i Witted .......... 85 Ellen Mager BO 1,3 " r; n a ilowaY ........ 78 Ann Burns Jonathan Birkett E l ea nor fi • el.• Ann Askew 76 Carmicha 82 82 Riephen • Sarah Jennings......,,. 86 d Rubinson ....•• Abba Swain Bl Richer c inichae l '" 94 Isabella ar James Muratroyd 84 ............ 76 Isaac Robinson. .... Rebecca Brown.— ....... 8804 `Villiam D ing ... ... .. . 79 ........ 77 82 Mary But ..... j a a a m rt e h s a A s n i d u r s e g w ra s ve .. , Thomas Slater 79 Jose Mary Thompson .. 80 William Hunter • 00 t? . Independent of the above, the church register co.,";be debt natnes of upwards of 20 individuals who have pal ittid of nature within the above &tined period whose ab from 70 to 75 years ea , :h.— Cumberland Pacquet. Joseph Larnbton •....... 76.1, it y [ADVEHTIsEMENT.]—SENT INTO THE tA:I/42.- . 0 (1/' 1:1FON APPROBATION.—No. 39, Albemarle-street, .vented eOle Spectacles, Invisible and all kinds of Acoustic Instfi l loi:e for relief of the most extreme deafness.—Opera and n os' Glasses and Telescopes.—Patronized by Field Marsh a ll " sir venor, Generals Sir Edward Paget, Sir Evan LloY cl iser; John Keatings, Maiston, Frederick Goodfallow. Clayton , ow risen, Dyot Uobertson, Mackenzie, Galway Biggs, Sht aid e ' J aJ Sir P. Maitland, Woolf, M urray, Walker, Fox, Price, Undo' , 50 'fhackray, Major-Generals sir John hose, Sir James Ceck b9 „ il o 4 . James Itus‘ell, and T. 11. Bl a i r, Aucinnuty, Baltine P. iljoisii`. Mackleod, Hamilton, Turner, Weinyss, and Cook L i eu art; il Generals Sir Henry Bouve r i e, Si r J. Macdonald, Sir b u llet' Sir T. Dallas, Sir - I , v in. Eustance, Sir Edward Kerrison. au", fu ndsi: Admirals Lord John Hay, Si r G . Coc kb urn, Si r George . ' ; Gal Sir George Martin, Si r J ames H . Whits h e d, 81r ',),itiej Sir Edward Coddrington, R oss , Al exan d er, C u rzons, To rn ! . jl/: Hollis, and Price; Vice-Admiral Sir F. Aus tel liso Admirals Brown and Elboulean, the lion. J. Pere'', /' 4 ,'„, r ococ es s l i f erful Achromatic Teles co p es , Op era Gl asses , Aud ot ir. Cautiou—Messrs. S. and B Solemons, opticians, ar e t i w ir in' le o st way connected with a perso n o f th e same name in To pre it slate neighbourhood, nor in any part of the country. jjvaisr mistakes, be cautious, an d o b serve — O n l y to b e had at 3 9 ' , A co o street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel. , no go 100 rADvERTHEmENT.] —TnE EARL OF AL.' „ n irzi s by thin ac] ) 4 AND IIoLLOI7AVS I'ILLS.—AII witounding cure , isl-• medicine, after every other means had failed. Steets eb I" ne o Lordship's letter, dated " Villa Messina, Leghorn, „,03‘ Professor Holloway—Sir : I beg to acquaint you that cYf tt . it ct oot effected a cure of a disorder in my liver and ste c in i l en t, 1 , 7 3,la eminent of the facnity, at home and all over the fake d °r 14 11 been able to effect ; nay. not ever the waters ig rienirad. (Sfored) " ALnnottouon." These m cure any diseAse of the liver or stomach.—s ch ` t. 244, St' — Ointent) at Professor Holloway's Establishm e ; wor ld. by all medicine vendors throughout the civilise. -----:""----------- —7------------ lady of William Graham, Esq of Bl d 1:711. 5 : • - the 1 On the 6th inst., at Castle Milk Lanarkshire, On the Bth ins A t i ,.. a at . of A' H. Frost, Esq., ~O aka L a u u d g g h e, te F r. indiley, the 'y Islington, ttriser, o h n e , 0f 9tha son. mo o d, the wife of Mr. R. Eden, piT per -0 WO On the 9th inst., at Circus-road, St. John a " tba of _A. A. Lackersten, Esq., of a son. r g oo. the On the 9th inst., the wife of G. B. Allen, ET r i' t , O p il stric , "- On the 10th inst. , at I , loucester Villa, Reg i v lady of Robert Phillips, Esq. of a daughter. r fg ec lit;rlo o .)6,n i a r ort t fich h jte e i: l nglo o .ut t h h oarl i ej! n vn, s o t f ., the lady of James Taylor, 4 -' s4 '' ° the i n gton , e st r . , , a E a s s t o g n if .a a l r . l v eyfo o r f d; i p! t te , ~ •, - - • to MARRIED.. Onthe o B r th th i e ns la t. t , e a s t ir th l e v. R p oy r3 a .s l d C a i l r e c . u o s t , r E i d lnburgb ou tle° W. Lane, Esq , advocate, to Margaret Mary, tte uchar• 0' daughter , Orr 0 , On the Bth inst., at St. Michael's Church, Tox: e s Ole Liverpool, James Edwards, Esq M.D., to EI JI , daughter of the late Jonathan Smith, ' Esq. ~.., ht, 000111,4, On the 3d inst., at Northwood, Isle of Idg, SO — third son of William Wcollev, Esq. of Peckharn, to Graf* second daughter of the late T. King ' sley, Esq., of t ,.... sic Camber well. On the Bth inst., at St. Mary's, Warwick, the Re,:;101' Laudor, Vicar of Wichenford, Worceste:shire, to ' g bridg . youngest daughter of W. Staunton, Esq ., of ''''ll House, Warwickshire. DIE& On the 2d inst., Mr. George Dutton, aged 56. F eeo o On the 4th inst., at Tunbridge-wells, FranceS,ed 7 , daughter of the Hon. and Rev. Andrew G. Stuart, a co t* a On the 7th inst., at Woolwich, Mr. Abr aham B- , li c har On the 9th inst , in London, Lieutenc.nt-ColorAel Irton, of the Rifle Brigade, aged 42. re goj i ., °f. On the 9th inst., in Baker. strea, Portman-Si"' .'linle-t‘ General Archibald Robertson, of the Bombay Establ%..o4' On the 9th inst., at Gloucester-terrace , Begen tt Loo, fgl ; Louisa Decima, youngest daughter of the late J. Co 0 ,00 On the 9th inst., at Clapham, Emily Jane, se c°nd of H. W. Hewlett, Esq., aged 12 o f Selig Ate On the 10th iust., Mr. William Collingwoo-' m On trket. 11 °,,°, e, isq' the Bth inst., in Woburn- squar e, Cabe' l'l l ) , r ue, On the 9th inst., at East Dulwich, B'o o ' by N a' I •••••••••••••- - LOU ei en • . mated , . - and Publtsged by MURDO YOI,, ,' 10 I ..de ' ;I I , trand, Printr, at Mt ''' 4,4 Office 2:o. ii.", St' s 'a''' .I .v i sh 4 thl OM , in tk, (3 , i 21,14.tva1il W l.° ji"itlY * N) ..,._... Th e A StCe h tor w£ Wi Na Fiar I, ll tlit 4 8 ob hP„ 4 Ex a tti ru 11 o r ~!'„z n i th,'„ c oT aice meat c or 23.Ceiotng .LIS life Eza Inent of 28. Ida Li( tza '.. 5 kent trA t a 1121 /tl5, ?n . T °N C . I ti