The Express.
London, England, 1847-06-15 00:00:00

tr.• . • •
Tuß,ExPßos;:Turitirat riTENlN6,4iiiiii 15, 1)347.

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144011

Aid, is Jae intsgrt. tini
hi not Interim,
view, hit was nolljt= whatever roe' anwsmd=n-etetn
on our part. Our conduct must stand or fa; by its MS
lowlier demerit. If interferases was wrong, on no ocirsit.
shandd we have been a party hit; ear thou ebedi
M to felest eil of te big&
Bea was the 'Gadget of he
when Mr. Canning was in power. ' hie
whoa, in that year, he asked the eggnellnien es=
rests of parliament to the course he was *beat to
towards Portugal ? It was almost the hut spew* he (Crr.,
Buncombe) had ever heard that eminent statesman make fit
parliament, and well did he recollect his ooncludiug words.
"We go,' he said, "to plant the standard of Eng-
land on the heights of Lisbon, and where that
standard is, foreign dominion anall not come." (Hear.)
Respecting the motion of his hon. friend, he could not, after
reading the pipers before the house, agree in the conclu-
sion* to which his hon. friend had come. He did not think
the remit of our interference would be dangerous or min
chinos§ to the liberties of Portugal. What said the Cabral
faction, which had been the cause of the whole dissension? la
one of their documents, published in Lisbon, and tonna
the .I.rl of Loyalty,' addressing the Portuguese people.
them that theirs was the cause of wade-
:Vey, that the proposal of the English cabinet
sought to place the Queen's throne below the level
of the junta, and that they ought to rally
round the throne and Asked the imiitsctee of the country.
This showed that it was time he .any man to say whether
the government had enewegiged this prheiple of absolutism,
or stood by the eoestitatimmitresehen lithe people. Sir H.
Seymour, in addressing Lewd Pahnembra, ea April 14, said :
Bot is. two Othemetenese I sheet/ hid serealos es to the themes
cemented the whin ti her 114•Witi=mset thee ha meth
tic.. The AM ofthos hos hem the metith
eery ribber afro orris, Mad awl mallelakVerli."theeseed
rdl le ea smog hoe Ilia sonethese ons le he meth 'Me
nibs greet Meshy, Night dome soh the emir rod eon elith I
tot ta my ht ; hut We
the abeam theatheoatabie.
He thought it much to the credit of the government that
they would not sanction the sacrifice of any individual who
nee in defence of the constitutional rights of the people of
Portugal. The Queen's party continued obstinate, not being
willing to grant a full amnesty, while the junta demanded'
ether guarantees than those of the government if they laid
down their arms. They had now laid down their arse or
rather, we had wrested them from them,—(a laugh)—ind
baying interfered so far, it was our duty te go further. The
members of the junta and their party were no sons culottes
revolutionists, but men of rack and respectability; and be
believed they would have confidence in the joint declaration
and guarantee of the three powers, particularly if
supported by the voice of that house. (Hear, hear.)
Their earnest wish, speaking in the name of the Portuguese
nation, was to be governed under definite and permanent in-
stitutions, such as could and would insure to the people tub
enjoyment of real constitutional freedom—institutions which
would not be changed to meet the insidious designs of a
minister, which would protect the rights of property, en-'
courage the national resources, sad lead to the restoration of
public confidence, by fair and equitable means. No aro
could dissent from these sentiments as expressed the
junta. They further observed, that it was not &she of
change, but actual wrongs, that had driven them to the
attitude they had assumed, and which they declared they
would not abandon until they received a guarantee that the
representative government should not be a mockery or
irresponsible for its own acts. Being now prisoners of war,
he was sure the house would agree to his motion, and, by
so doing, not only strengthen the hands of her Majesty's
government, and give effect to the recent declarations of the
First Lord of the Treasury and enable him to carry them
out, but deserve the gratitude and approbation of every
civilised nation. His amendment was— •
That Omit Britais hash. home a party to kelp
_armed bine-
bream b Portugal to timbals the vox thr leppW, preys&
la that Modem, It Is the Ni
at the home het. es temieNny
bm seilena, ham= the &swat dr hid& ptheeseo
ethe mewls be samba to the seeds et Partied the hthAoy.
mot d thdr scorehnional rights ledpristkees
Lard DUNCAN having seconded it
Mr. MACAULAY said that he bad heard with great
the amendment which bad just been moved—
, fereleurrseand counter cheers)—by his hon. friend, who had
taken a correct view of the principles which had guided, and
would continue to guide, her Mgjesty's government. He had
also observed with pleasure that his hon. friend and others,
who were at first deposed to censure the course adopted by
the government, had, upon an examination of the unfortu-
nate circumstances which had compelled them to depart
from the general rule, which proscribed an abstinence from
interference is the internal affairs of foreign na-
tions, seen sufficient reason in those circumstances to
justify that departure. He woo not surprised that such a
fooling should have at first existed ; for there was no doubt
that the minister who deviated from the sound general rule
data-interference, was bound to makeout acmes for interfer-
ing, to the satisfaction of the country. (Hear, bear) There
could be no doubt, and this was part of their case, that the
crown of Portugal had long been surrounded by evil coun-
cillors (hear, hear) ; that most violent and unconstitu-
tional measures had been adopted; that acts, both cruel and
diroceful, had been committed ; and that altogether cir-
lismstances had occurred to justify the people of Portugal
be receiving with distrust any assurance on the part of
the crown. It was not surprising, then, that the in-
terference of this country should be viewed with jealousy
when the object of it seemed to be to rescue that govern-
meat, which was mark. d by so many faults, from peril.
(Hear, hear.) Admitting all this, he was fully convinced
that the government of this country had chosen the less of
two evils ; for a choice of evils was all that could be expected
' from such a state of things. Considering that Portugal was
distracted by civil war, and that other powers had • strong
bean*a to interfere, he held it to be clear that no course
whaerthri, absolutely exempt from inconvenience and risk,
was open to the British government. (Hear, hear.) He
maintained, also, that no gentleman's argument against that
course was sound unless he himself pointed out another line
of conduct, and advanced good reasons for behest
g
that it would be less hazardous. (Hear. he,,'
Of the course that had been taken they knew and felt all the
evils, but they did not feel the evils of the course which had
not been taken. This being so he thought the government
was fairly entitled to call upon every gentleman to lay before
the house, not merely a statement of those inconveniences
which were Inseparable front interference, but the plan of
policy which should distinctly avoid those inconveniences
without leaving still greater. (Hear, hear.) No such mea-
sure had yet been submitted to the house ; and he doubted if
it wee in any hon. gentleman's power to devise such a plan
of policy. In fact he saw in every other course
than that which her Majesty's government bad followed
inconveniences greater than attended it ; and hi- argument
rested upon the peculiar relations that esisted between Eng-
land and Portugal. With any other powers so such ques-
tion could arise. In a similar state of circumstances in the
kingdom of the Two Sicilies or the Grand Duchy of
Tuscany we might tend a force into the Bay of Naples to
I see after the lives of British subjects, but no such
interference as in the case of Portugal would ever
be matter of discussion. Our relations with Portugal
were most peculiar, and he believed without any
parallel in European politics, he might say in the
history of the world. The right hon. gentleman pro-
ceeded to show this by a reference to various treaties be-
tween the two countries since the year 1381, when 30;
archers and 500 men in arms were sent to Portugal, to aid
that country in repelling a Castilian invasion. Such an un-
broken alliance of 500 years was without precedent in the
history of the world. Eventually Portugal became
the spot from which England moved the whole
world, sad fought the battle of her own defence,
as was observed by that general in those remarkable papers
which, perhaps, still more than his military achievements,
weed& land down his fame to posterity. That struggle
elided, we bad all those old engagements solemnly re-
affirmed is the settlement of 1815. In 1820 we sent
them emistaaes ; and again, in 1834, England Interfered,
sad Demme a party to the quadruple alliance.
Well, here was a country allied to us in this remarkable
mazer, and for eight months that country had been the
' theatre of an extraordinary civil war. If he were asked
what was the origin of that war, he should, without bents-
don, say misgovernmeat. (Hear, hear.) Constitutional
rights violated at Lisbon, revolutiouary movements going on
at Oporto : on the one side the most outrageous despotism,
on the other a momentary approximation to
t=teialt
the one side and on the other of the con
those who seemed to guide were in everything otherged.
There was not either on the part of the queen or of the junta
power to dictate terms to their adherents. The queen mdght
be mid to have beta held in a species of tutelage by bar
ministers, who threatened to resign their offices or maittarryy
commands. On the other side the junta were nmrretadod
by the very scum of military. adventurers eager ler em-
ployment, and discountenancing fiercely eery shiver
of peace. The country. remained uncultivated. trade was
suspended, and British antenna aniseed severely_ mid pet,
for several months, the British gewernmat Jaletlethi say
by healing counsel, and by presebing moderation to loth
factions. It had been admitted by all, even by the hon.
member for Montrose, and those who most blamed the go-
vernment, that never had the principles of non-interference
been more clearly or more ably put forth than during the
flex months of this struggle in the state papers of his noble
friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. (Hear, hear.)
But It had been said that a change came over
the government policy, that the words harmonised
badly with the deeds, .that there must have been some
mysterious cause, some back-stoirs influence, to cause so re-
markable an alteration. Surely, according to his view, the
simplest inspection of the papers would nuke the change
easily understood. (Hear, hear.) The reason was simply
this, while the question remained purely an internal ques-
tion, the English government interfered only by counselling
moderation to both aides, but when it became an inter-
national question, a more marked and positive interference
became necessary. (Hear, hear.) The inspection of
dates, in the bluesbook, the contrast there presented in
the tone and temper of the different despatches would show
that the English government ceased to follow the strict course
of non-interference exactly at the moment when the ques-
tion ceased to be en internal question and became an la-
ternational one. He would oak his hon. friend the member
for Montrose, or any other hon. member, however attached
he might be to the general principle of non-interference
whether he would not admit the, that sometimes the intone'
affairs of a country became intermixed with its foreign rela-
tions ? Nould any one deny that there were some instances in
which the general rule of noninterference mast he sus-
pended? (Hear.) Two instances bad been meek alluded to ha
the muse of that debate, and either would Mutest@ the
position which he bad advanced. Take the interference of
Queen Elizabeth in the internal affairs of France. What, in
the abstract, was it to Eastland whether the court party or
the league predominated ? But the queen knew that if the
league prevailed it would have the effect of throwing Franco
into the hands auto house of Austria, already too powerful
for the security of Europe. On the other hand the success
of Henry IV. would give us a powerful ally against Spain.
Foe these reasons all persons, however attached they might
be to the principle of non-interference, Lad always