The Sun.
London, England, 1837-04-18 00:00:00

he could pretend to ; and he had no doubt they would
on that occasion say all that was necessary on that part of the
subject.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") But the Noble Lord the
Secretary for Foreign Affairs had never attempted to justify
theintervention that had taken place in the affairs of the
north of Spain, on the plea that it was called for by the
stipulations of that treaty; nor had he said that the order
sll council was required by the Quadripartite Treaty, or by
the additional articles. The Noble Lord, he repeated, had
never asserted that the proceedings that had taken place
with reference to the legion
Grew out of the Quadripartite
Treaty, He therefore said flat the Noble Lord and the Go-
lio•ert nment, in issuieg their orders in council, pursued a course
involved in the question of the treaty, but merely so acted
as a matter of policy on their part. It appeared that his Ma-
jesty's Government had, by the conduct they had pursued,
Placed his Majesty's subjects in the situation of being dealt
with as pirates and robbers ; and when they did not take
any steps to protect those of his Majesty's subjects who had
Proceeded to Spain in conformity with the issuing of the
Order in Council ; he must say that the way in which the
war had been carried on was a most unsatisfactory mode of
proceeding. (Hear, hear, hear.) He considered that the
Noble Lord, by the measures which he had pursued on this
theSubject,H
had very
country.—( much implicated the national character of
ear, hear.) He had implicated, by the
operations which he
had chosen to pursue, the military re-
rtation of this country.—( Hear, hear.) He repeated, that
Was of opinion that the very act of raising 10,000 men
for the service of the Queen of Spain lowered the high
character of this nation, and the military reputation of the
country, which had been carried to such a high degree of
renown, at the close of the late war, and which had not been
uwered during the peace until by these recent proceedings,
and which had been handed over, pure and unspotted, to the
Present Government, and which it was their duty to preserve
as national propertv.—(Cheers.) It was the duty of the
House to see that the national property, the national honour,
was not tarnished by the course pursued by the Noble Lord
aml, his colleagues.—( Loud cheers.) There was another
'ene of viewing this subject—namely, as affecting the moral
character of this country, which, in his opinion, was a matter
„°,f high consideration.—( Hear, hear.) It remained a matter
neep consideration for the inhabitants of this Christian
acountry whether his Majesty's Ministers and that House should
llow se ' ss •uen, tee natives of this country, to become accustomed
shed the blood of their brother men in a quarrel in which
were not interested. There was no positive motive for
all_rowing the proceedings that had taken place : the character
udre_ethe.country did not require it—the maintenance of the in-
p neence of Spain did not call for it—and while it seemed
to be the act of the Noble Lord, he did not recollect any sin-
gle instance of an explanation where the Noble Lord had ac-
counted for his sanctioning the raising of the legion, and the
steps that had taken place with reference to it, unless indeed
haven the Noble Lord said, in the summer of 1833, that they
,ad sanctioned the raising this body of troops to put down a
'fly thousands of men who were engaged in a local and par-
North of p •
):::1 insurrection in the S Spain. This being the case, it
th;eante necessary to know who were the people engaged in
War. Ile had lived for two months with this people in
the North of Spain, and he was convinced that a more inde-
Pendent, honest, and upright people than the inhabitants of
the Basque provinces did not live.—( Hear.) He was sorry
he did not see in his place the lion. and Learned Member for
Bath,
-..0 at the commencement of the Session stated, that
the
.4rtili of
interference of this country in the present contest in the
Spain, was as undignified as it was useless ; if he
had seen the Hon. Gentleman he should have appealed to him
oa, the su►
ject. lie would appeal, however, to ars authority
which he was sure would have weight with many Hon. Gcn-
tiensen opposite, he meant Mr. John Quincy Adams, the late
President of the United States of America, who had given his
°l"inion on the character of the natives of the Basque pro-
,,,;;aces• After drawing a most favourable view of the inhabi-
tants of the United States, he proceeded to say that in all
Europe
there was no race of people who had such claims to
respect on the score of liberty as the inhabitants of the Basque
Provinces. He said, " while their neighbours have long since
resigned all their possessions into the hands of kings and
Priests, this extraordinary people have preserved their an-
cient language, genius, laws, government, and manners,
without innovation, longer than any nation of Europe. Ac-
tive, vigilant, generous, brave, hardy, inclined to war and
navigation, they have enjoyed for two thousand years the
t'ePutation of the best soldiers and sailors in Spain. Many
writers ascribe their flourishing commerce to their situation,
but as this is no better than that of Ferrol or Corunna, that
advantage is more probably due to their liberty. In riding
through this little territory, you would fancy yourself in Con-
necticut; instead of miserable huts. built of mud and covered
with straw, you see the country full of large and commodious
houses and barns of the farmer, tile lands well cultivated, and
a wealthy and happy ycomanry."—( Hear, hear.) Such was
the account that the late president Adams gave of this people,
and he would ask the Noble Lord whether he would allow that
this country was at war with this people, for the purpose of
Putting down whom he had allowed the raising of 10,000
Inen? If he wanted a more recent expression of opinion as to
the character of this people, be would refer to the authority
of one of the Hon. Members for Westminster—he meant Ge-
neral Evans—who, in his proclamation to the inhabitants of
the Basque provinces, of the 14th of February last, said,
" All Spain was now desirous of enjoying those liberties
which you (addressing the people of those provinces) have
to long possessed." Was not this an admission that the liber-
ties of this people were real and substantial ? \Vas this
the reason that the Noble Lord wished to coerce this people,
by sending 10,000 men to make war upon them? He could
not conceive any proceeding more unjust, than the course
pursued by the Noble Lord and his Government.---( Hear,
hear.) But unjust as this policy was, the time of' interfe-
rence was also as impolitic. The date of the Order in Council
was the 10th ofJunc, 1835 ; the date of the convention signed
by Lord Eliot was in February. He was convinced that the
Order in Council impeded the carrying into effect the conyen-
!len, which, if enforced, would have humanized the war ; for
immediately the Noble Lord took part in the contest by his
roost impolitic interference, the convention became almost dis-
regarded. What was the date of the convention ? The first
act of his Noble Friend (the Duke of Wellington), when he
accepted the seals as Foreign Secretary, was to endeavour to
wad out a way to put a stop to the cruelties carried on in the
r in Spain. His Noble Friend sent over Lord Eliot, and
Athat Noble Lord succeeded in the commission entrusted fo
at. But when the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign
airs adopted his Orders in Council, the system acted upon
ihconformity with that convention was abandoned. They had
e authority of General Cordova for asserting, that previous
Cthe Order in Council the lives of between 500 and 600
ristino prisoners had been saved. Mr. Henningsen also 1
steted that during the few months between the signing the
convention and the issuing the Order in Council, the lives of
,:°°o prisoners had been saved by the Carlists. He was con-
titneed by this that the war had been humanized by the conven-
and that it was the duty of the Noble ord t abstain
`rem interfering with such a force as that whicLh heo was the
telos of sending out—namely, ten thousand muskets ; but
+e ought to have attempted, by means of negociations,
.hurnanize the war, and, if possible, to put an end to
instead of resorting to measures which, so far from
irnanizing it, tended only to brutalize it.—( Hear, hear.)
f did not make this statement on light grounds, but was
i.,I"Y able to establish it. 'The first operations of General
against Hernani, and on that occasion the force of the Le-
t' was accompanied by a regiment of Chapelgorries. These
apelgorries were natives of the Basque provinces, who
wale in the service of the Christinos, and they were regarded
With strong feelings of animosity and hatred by the Carlists.
tie was also accompanied by another Spanish force, rimmed
c regiment of Fernando. The Legion, with these regiments,
ero,,
eeded against an enemy upon whom this country had no
ntleht to make war—(hear, hear) —at the same time it shonld
(` be forgotten that this advance was made on a Sunday.—
leer, near, and oh.) He said that he believed that this
was
Place on a Sunday ; he knew that the battle of Waterloo
b as fought on a Sunday, but that was a matter of necessity ;
tit the advance on Hernani was a voluntary act of going out
°:111 Sunday, The fact was, the enemy was driven under the
st-a s of Hernani, and at length General Evans either deemed
enaZlPedient or necessary, as it entered into his views, to
e
a return to St. Sebastian. On his return, the Fer-
t aild° regiment lost eight men as prisoners to the_ Car-
ats, while at the same time, that regiment took four-
then
Carlists prisoners.—( Hear, hear.) This took place after
fo' convention had been siemed, and after it had been in
force
fur some months. Now he would ask, did the
ql-7,r'sts and Christinos really carry this convention into
sue?' t? Up to this period it had been carried into effect, the
of the prisoners taken on both sides were spared ; but
was the feeling of exasperation which existed in !,he
,rtmindsof the Carlists at the appearance of foreigners taking
the in this contest—for he need not inform the House that
of f Spanish nation was extremely jealous at the interference
°reigners in their affairs—such was the feeling of exaspe-
ration excited at the part taken by these 10,000 men of the
tTagtit7l, that he had the authority of a person present to state
re • the Carlists put to death the eight men of the Fernando
Put to taken prisoners by them, and the Fernando regiment
to death their fourteen Carlist prisoners. In addition to
huno.autliority of the persons he alluded to he held in his hand a
i,rr_esk.written by Major Richardson, of the Legion, who was
sthwsedast at the affair before Hernani ; and from the praise
bbe-
onl on General Evans in the first part of the book, nd
hatt,te stoner terms of censure applied to tile Tory parties,
berac little doubt but that the author of this work was a Li-
earl The passage he alluded to was as follows In the
priz(Y) Part of the action the Carlists had made seven or eight
Riefler:7\s of the regiments of Fernando (a regular Spanish re.-
tisti
.`), who, in sight of several officers of the Ist Bri-
per_ were taken to the rear and deliberately shot. The
The regiment had taken fourteeil Carlists prisoners.
fen Uarlists were in closepursuit. In this emergency,
4rl" th • • •
suited" , eir prisoners might be recaptuscd, they
at the together for a few moments, and then
cha. leans of their victims a simultaneous dis-
htirge, and they fell, the bayonet completing what the
ree,Xn had left unfinished." This was a Sunday afternoon's
be °4aanca ! Such was the state of the case which had
and th e"4lst about by the unfortunate act of thc Noble Lord
teutin_ Government.—( Hoar, hear.) He felt justified in iin-
ogn the change that had taken place in the mode of carry-
the war the present Goverment, and every ting
'r" he had seento , and read, and heard,n confirmed him 'inh this
°Pininn• He had before him a paper from Captain Hen-
ssine,ey• ,
su'e who, from the period of the convention to a date
Bonn
caerio_ hsequent to the advance of the Legion, was with Don
tog Spin. He says, " I have no hesitation in assert-
a„t. in all the actions subsequent to the first attack on
es,urehenireAgiumgennstt,ofltBl,3esl,inneot more than one soldier of the
(the least obnoxious part of the
trpen-Zi)oliiss rwapar,ed during the fight for four who were spared
_„
.0 the disembarkation of the Legion. An examine-
" 0J the Proportion of prisoners to the killed and wounded

in the affairs that have taken place, before and after that pe-
riod, will, I think, sufficiently demonstrate the correctness of
what I advance on this subject."—( Hear.) The Noble Lord
might say that it was not his fault that the Durango decree
had been issued. But it ought not to be forgotten that the
Durango decree was subsequent to the embarkation of the
Legion, and was not framed before it was sent to Spain.
He ( Sir Henry Hardinge) deprecated this assassin-like de-
cree as much as any one possibly could.—( Hear, hear.) It
was such a monstrous offence against the laws of humanity,
that if any such document should incapacitate any one from
holding a crown, this was the decree that should do so.
—(Cheers.) But what was happening at the very moment
this took place in other parts of Spain ? Mina at this period
was carrying on a most cruel war, and from the mode in which
this was done the Noble Lord was not justified in enlisting
10,000 men into the service of the Queen of Spain. He knew
that General Evans was a gallant man, and a man of honour
and humanity ; and yet he might he might have been called
upon to serve the cause of the Queen of Spain under the or
ders of General Mina, and he might then be called upon to
take part in and even execute the atrocities directed by that
man. But he would say, that not only the character of the
Legion had been affected, but the soldiers bad been inured to
a system of bloodshed such as British soldiers had never been
present at before.—( Hear, bear.) When the Legion arrived
at Vittoria on the 11th of August, it was a strong body, and it
remained there for the period of four months. During the
a hole of this time the troops were placed in uninhabited con-
vents, without being furnished with bedding, fuel, or indeed
supplies of any kind. The men were kept there in spite of
the strong remonstrances of General Evans, and the wants of
the men increased to such an extent that not less than forty
officers and 700 men fell victims. At the same time that the
soldiers of the Legion were suffering these hardships, the Al-
gerine brigade was billeted in the houses of the town. On
that occasion General Bernelle, who commanded them, said to
the e'd-d-camp of Gen. Evans, that the authorities wished to
ssnd his troops to the uninhabited convents; but he told them
that he would billet them by force on the inhabitants the next
day, if they were not furnished with what they required. Ma-
jor Richardson said, at page 177 :—" February 20, 1836
We have lost upwards of 700 men and 40 officers, exclusive
of those who have died elsewhere since Christmas." In
little more than two months, Major Hall, General Evans's
aide-de-camp, says The cause and origin of disease at
such a season of the year was attributed invariably to the want
of proper accommodation, bad food, little clothing, and, in-
deed, the absence of all the necessaries of life." Again Major
Hall, in another part of the book, says :—" Notwithstanding
the continued exertions and applications of General Evans,
the consequence of want became daily, nay hourly, more fatal;
and nothing can atone for the unpardonable neglect and bru-
tality of those whose duty it was to supply the unfortunate
sick with the most common necessaries. Beds were wanting,
and even covering for more than half the number. What
were the unhappy consequences may be easily conceived ;
ten and fifteen men were each day consigned to the earth."
He then praises the unceasing attentions of the medical offi-
cers. These statements showed the impropriety of the con-
duct of his Majesty's Government in allowing 10,000 British
subjects to be enlisted into the service of the Queen of Spain
without ensuring to them better means of support, and bet-
ter protection of their rights. If the Noble Lord wished
to liken this country to the Swiss and Hessians in re-
spect to hiring out troops, he, at any rate, was bound to
imitate the Swiss and Hessians in another respect, namely,
by taking such steps that the rights of their men should be
protected, and that they should not be exposed to such
sufferings and hardships as they had been subjected to.—
( Hear, hear.) He believed that General Evans had done
all in his power to provide for his troops. He had sent Ge-
neral Macdougal to Madrid for this purpose ; he believed
that he was accompanied by Colonel Wilde, his Majesty's
Commissioner in Spain, and that these two officers entered
into an agreement with Mendizabal for the supply of the Bri-
tish troops. If this officer had been a party to this proceed-
ing, the Noble Lord had sanctioned the engagement, and
General Evans had a right to expect that his men would be
provided with what they required, and that they would be duly
paid. Had he been in the situation of General Evans, this
occurrence alone should have prevented him from leading back
the troops to England, in order to rescue them from the
sufferings they were subjected to in consequence of the bad
faith of the Spanish Government ; but under the circum-
stances he considered that General Evans was perfectly
warranted in acting upon the promise, given through these
officers, that the Legion should be better treated for the fu-
ture. He had been present during the Peninsular war in IHI3
at the battle of Vittoria, and he could state that in that glo-
rious action time loss of the British was little more than half
number of men the Legion had thus lost by the ill conduct
and brutality of the Spanish Government.—( Loud cheer as)
The Legion then went to Trevino, and here again men
daily died from the effects of cold and hunger, and
the condition of the whole army was that of the
utmost misery and destitution. To use the words of Major
Hall, " Numbers of the men were sacrificed who returned
with frozen feet, sick, wet, and weary, without any change
of clothes ; and thus many died in misery and pain, whilst
others, by the loss of legs and feet which required ampu-
tation, were left mutilated, in the vain hope of receiving
pensions, wherewith to drag out the remainder of their mise-
rable existence. But every officer of the Legion is well aware
how cruelly and dishonourably these hopes have as yet re-
mained unfulfilled." This was about six or seven months after
their arrival in Spain. Now he (Sir H. Hardinge) had been,
when a young man, in this very part of Spain, commanding a
brigade, and although the snow lay deep on the ground, he had
not lost a single man. The secret of such different circum-
stances was simply that his men were well clothed and well
fed, while the Legion had been suffered by the Spanish Go-
vernment to remain destitute of food, destitute of clothes, and
destitute of proper lodging. The Legion on its return to San
Sebastian found things no better, for notwithstanding the pro-
mise given through General M'Dougal, they received not a
farthing of their pay, although it was three, four, five months
in arrear.—( Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances the
troops showed a great disposition to mutiny and insubordina-
tion, a fact which forcibly showed the impolicy of bringing
together a body of men such as those who composed the Le-
gion without previously insisting upon the best security that
they should be well fed, clothed, and lodged. It was impos-
sible to keep an army together in good discipline unless the
bargains made with each individual soldier were scrupulously
fulfilled.—( Hear.) It was not long before a mutiny actually
broke out ; scenes of the most painful description followed, and
there appeared every reason to apprehend that the blood of
one regiment would be shed by the soldiers of another. This
was on the occasion of the Scotch regiment, 400 strong, re-
fusing to serve, they alleging that the time of their stipulated
service was up, while the authorities insisted that they had still
another year to serve. What took place then ? An Irish regi-
ment, the 10th, offered to fire on the Scottish regiment, if it
did not submit. The result was, that the latter were actually
forced on shipboard at the point of the bayonet, having been
previously marched, through the streets of San Sebastian,
through lines of Spanish troops. Surely it was most outrageous
that a body of 400 British soldiers, for claiming what they con-
sidered their just rights, should undergo the degradation of
being forced on shipboard under such deeply-insulting circum-
stances as these.—( Hear.) The cause, in a great degree, of
all the discontents on the part of the Legion was this very dis-
pute as to the period of service which the troops had agreed
for ; they maintaining that the stipulated period was one year
only, while, on the other hand, the authorities insisted that the
agreement was for two years. Major Richardson, a gentleman
of unexceptionable character and conduct, was very precise in
his information on this part of the subject; and his statement
of it was this

" The beginning of August was the termination of the
year of service of many of the men of the Legion, and more
particularly of the Scotch regiments, the 6th and Bth. The
Bth had previously mutinied for want of pay, which step
they found successful in obtaining it, although it had been
pretended there was no money whatever in the military chest.
" Their conduct was considered so refractory, that it was
deemed prudent to get them out of the way altogether; and
some troops being required at Santander, where Gomez had
made his appearance, they were driven on board for that
destination, literally at the point of the bayonet, by the 9th
Irish. While at Santander their conduct did not improve :
they sold their necessaries in every part of the town, and were
constantly inebriated with the proceeds. Their original
insubordination had been caused solely by a violation on the
part of the lieutenant-general of the terms under which they
had engaged in the service."
" The 6th, among whom insobriety was of rare occurrence,
were also infinitely more determined. The regiment having
vainly demanded a release from the service, in consequence of
their haling fulfilled the year of contract for which they bad
been engaged, refused to obey their officers ; accordingly they
were marched upon the glacis of the town, for the purpose of
being disarmed. About 300 returned to their duty, after a
sharp lecture from Brigadier-General Shaw ; the remainder
(about 300 also) were sent to the Castle of St. Sebastian, in
the expectation that their resistance would be thereby subdued.
General Evans was obliged eventually to acknowledge their
claims to retirement, and to send them home."
" The 6th were much condemned for insisting upon their
right of retirement. The 10th Irish regiment, which had been
the first to offer to fire upon them if required, and to express
their readiness to serve without pay, subsequently threatened
to go over to Don Carlos, unless they were settled with ; and
when they di'l receive their money (mutiny, which ought to
hare been anticipated, achieved this result), they continued
for a length of time in the most riotous state."
Could any one be surprised at what had taken place after
hearing such a statement as this ?—( Hear, hear.) He (Sir
H. Hardinge) would himself offer no opinion as to whether
the men were right or wrong in claiming their discharge ;
but Major Richardson strongly insisted that the men were per-
fectly justified in making such a claim. The whole account
of Major Richardson exhibited a state of things so monstrous
that nothing could possibly demonstrate more strongly the im-
policy of Government in having permitted a body of men to
be raised for this service without taking care that their pay
and proper maintenance were fully guaranteed.—( Hear, hear.)
After such statements no one could be surprised at reading in
the papers the accounts of the 200 deserters collected toge-
ther at Bayonne, whose treatment had excited such general
indignation. Deeply painful was it to read the accounts of the
manner in which these unfortunate men had been compelled
by the authorities there to march out in brigades of ten and
twelve men at a time on the high road, exposed to the insults
of the passers by, who jeered at them, exclaiming, " Voila les
Anglais."—( Hear.) When he coupled this with the recol-
lection of the different manner in which British soldiers had for-
merly traversed the same road, he felt that. whatever the mis-
demeanour of these unfortunate men, the degradation inflicted
in their persons on the national character called for the se-
verest reprobation of the system under which it occurred.—
(Hear, hear.) He had another authority which he thought
would have great weight with the House, in the person of an
officer who had served with the Legion for a year and a half,

and was one of its best officers, but who had left the service in
despair. This gentleman (Colonel Churchill), in a letter
which he had thought it due to himself to write in explanation
of his reasons for quitting the service expressed himself
thus :—" Colonel Churchill gives his reasons for resigning,
the command of the Westminster Guards. After the meet-
ing of the superior officers of the Legion, early in December,
it appeared to me obvious that there was no prospect of
any amelioration in our affairs. With an empty chest, and
clo3e run for rations, my heart revolted at the idea of a
recurrence of the horrors and disasters of last winter at
Vittoria. In the next place, it was evident that the officers
had not that control over their men which is indispensable for
the well-being of an army. The soldiers had so much ground
for complaint, and the nature of the service was such, that
subordination seemed almost at an end. Could my longer
continuance in the Legion have been of any practical benefit
to those who naturally looked up to me for support, I would
never have left the brave men I had the honour to command,
in whose sufferings I sympathised, and in whose glories i par-
ticipated. For these reasons my principles as a British officer,
and my pride as an independent Englishman, made me feel
that the time for endurance had been passed. I resolved to
submit to such a state of things no longer. When the taint
of indiscipline and disorganization has once affected an army,
it is not the cry of victory that will destroy its fatal conse-
quences. Let justice be done to our countrymen. 'File), ask
no more. That will have more effect on them than twenty
victories. " C. CHURCHILL,

" Late Colonel Westminster Guards."
The misfortunes of the Legion did not stop here. He ( Sir
H. Hardinge) had shown what was the condition of the Le-
gion at Vittoria, at San Sebastian, and elsewhere, and the
consequences resulting from that condition, mutiny and insu-
bordination. He had now come to another most painful part
of the subject—the frightful atrocities committed in the prose-
cution of this war, the bloodthirsty and brutal acts perpetrated
by both parties. Last year the Earl of Aberdeen had most
forcibly stated to the Noble Premier the pernicious effects of
allowing these troops to remain in Spain, and take part in such
an atrocious system of warfare—and what was the answer of
that Noble Viscount ? Why, that "it was desirable that no
impediments should be thrown in the way of those who wished
to take advantage of any war that might be going forward to
educate themselves as soldiers ; that as to these men, they
would only receive the education that all soldiers received, or,
at least, would receive, under similar circumstances ; and that
young officers should not be forbidden from seeking crosses,
and unemployed persons of the lower classes be prevented from
gaining an hone t livelihood." Now, he (Sir H. Hardinge) had
served for many years in the army, and ho had never before
heard it stated that such a school as this was a fit one for
forming a soldier.—( Hear, hear.) The species of exasperation
which animated both the men and the officers—for the
officers fully participated in the feeling—was strikingly il-
lustrated in an account of the proceedings of the Legion,
which appeared in a publication called The Monthly Reposi-
tory, the author of which, as he ( Sir H. Hardinge) had been
assured by the editor of this publication, was a person of the
highest authority. This account, the accuracy of which, he
would add, had been fully corroborated by an officer of high
character recently arrived from Spain, stated—" The spirit
with which the British Legion entered into action on the sth
of May may be gathered from the verbatim addresses of the
commanding officers to the regiments under their command.
Rifles r said the Major, who, in the absence of Baron de Rot-
tenburgh, commanded that regiment, ' we are going to be en-
gaged to-morrow : the enemy shows no quarter, neither shall
we; skiver every man you catch ; take no prisoners ; show no
pity to the wounded ; skiver every man you meet 1" Men r
said the gallant Colonel of the 4th Regiment, now, we will
have no nonsense; no firing behind walls—fix bayonets, walk
into them, and skewer the scoundrels !' " These were orders,
be it remarked, given in cold blood the day before the action
took place. How that order had bee❑ carried into effect was
stated by Major Richardson, an unexceptionable authority, in
these terms :—" A heavy cannonade was opened by the Phoenix
upon the enemy's battery, on the left of their position, which
the Ist Brigade had attempted, ineffectually, to carry. By
this fire a breach was effected; and the 4!li and Bth (reserve)
coming up, the left of the position was stormed and gained.
The Carlists, thunderstruck, saw that the day was lost, and
sought safety in flight ; but no mercy was shown them, for they
had savagely bayoneted several wounded officers and men in
the early repulses. Numbers fell beneath the steel of the en-
:steed assailants, burning for revenge; and not a Carlist who
could be reached lived to recount to his comrades that the
English Auxiliaries, i❑ imitation of the examples sot by theta-
selves, give no quarter. The other brigades, cheered by the
example of their comrades, who had come fresh into action,
once more moved to the assault. The Irish, like the let Bri-
gitte, bayoneted all that came near them. We have 78 officers
and nearly 800 men killed and wounded." This statement was
sufficient to show that the auxiliary army i❑ Spain was not the
hest possible school to which British officers could resort for
their education, whatever the Noble Premier might think of
the matter. The mode in which this war had been carried on
was altogether unlike anything in his (Sir Henry Hardinge's)
own experience. He believed that General Evans had done
everything in his power, by negociation with the oppos':e
army, to induce them to lay aside the ferocious mode of
making war which had been adopted. Though he might be
of opinion that in some in,tances that Gallant Officer had been
misled by his judgment, he thought lie had done all he could
to humanize the war, and the way in which it was conducted
was no fault of his. He believed that the Gallant Officer

(General Evans) was totally ignorant of those orders which he
had referred to as having been given by one or two of his of-
ficers. He thought he had succeeded in showing that the
state of the Legion was such that, as Colonel Churchill had
said, "it was hopeless to expect amendment." There had
been slaughter and brutality on both sides. This was not ho-
nourable war ; it was butchery ; and we were butchering a
people who, as he said before, were a fine and independent
people, and who had committed no offence against this coun-
try.—( Hear, hear.) When he put together these facts—.
when he recollected that these Basque people were a proud,
free, and independent people—be would ask what right had
this country to carry on a war of extermination ? He denied
the right, and he called on the Noble Lord to retrace his
steps, and to revoke the order in council tile first opportunity.
111-treatment, want of food, and want of clothes, had induced
these unfortunate men to become parties to mutiny and insub-
ordination ; and what followed? Why, that they ceased to
have the proper confidence in their officers. They had not
confidence in their officers when the opposing army appeared,
and that which was to be expected followed, viz., defeat
and disgrace.—(Hear, hear, hear.) Let them palliate the
misfortune as they would, however disagreeable it might be
to many, there was no doubt of the fact that a large body of
soldiers who were British subjects had suffered a defeat such
as he believed no British soldiers had suffered in the course of
the last five or six hundred years. He would not enter into a
detailed description of the circumstances attending the action
to which he was adverting ; it was sufficient for his present
purpose to state that we had a large proportion of his Majesty's
artillery there, which, in his opinion, ought not to have been
there ; and the conduct of those men contrasted most favoura-
bly with the conduct of those who, when commanded by offs.
cers in whom they confided, showed on previous occasions that
they were as brave as the men of any other nation in the
world, because they were treated as he had described they
ought to be ; but on the present occasion, having lost all con-
fidence in their officers, they were defeated. On the occasion
of the 16th of March, being within three miles of the maga-
zines, and having been exposed to the inclemency of the wea-
ther for a week, it might be supposed that they would have
been well supplied with rations. On the 16th of March, how_
ever, there were no rations to eat, but there was, he believed,
a ration of rum. The women who had followed the army
from St. Sebastian had brought some spirits with them. In
order to destroy the sense of hunger the men resorted to the
spirits, and the consequence was that more than half the
Legion were intoxicated on that day. What could be ex-
pected from an army in such a condition ?—( Loud cries of
" Hear, hear, hear," from the Opposition.) How was this
state of things to be remedied ? The only thing fur the
Noble Lord to do was to recal the Legion. He should say
let the Noble Lord contrast the conduct of the British Legion
on the 16th of March with the conduct of his Majesty's Royal
Marines.—(Cheers.) The Royal Marines were on that- day
officered by gentlemen holding his Majesty's commission—by
gentlemen in whom the men were accustomed to place confi-
dence ; and the men themselves were well paid, clothed, and
fed. The British Marines did their duty—(Cheers)—so did
the Royal Artillery. Of their force, comprising from 80 to
90 men, not one man misconducted himself, though the rest
of the forces—though the British Legion—were seized with
panic. In the midst of the humiliation he felt on account
of that defeat, it was some consolation to him to know that
the regular part of his Majesty's service had done their duty.
In making these remarks, he wished not to be understood
as reflecting in any way on the officers ; no one could deny
that General Evans and the officers of the British Legion
had conducted themselves with the greatest bravery.—
( Cheers.) But he would say, if we made war, let us
make it directly, and not indirectly ; let us make it in a
manner that was honourable—( Opposition cheers)—do not let
us adopt such a course as he was deprecating., because if we did
the result would be inevitable failure and disgrace. He main-
tained that the marines on that occasion, great as was their
good conduct, and able as was the manner in which they were
commanded by Colonel Owen, were improperly called into
action ; he maintained it was no part of the articles of the
treaty that his Majesty's navy should be so employed. If it
were necessary that our vessels of war should be placed on part
of the line of coast occupied by the belligerent parties, it might
be necessary to have in our possession some batteries, in order
to secure the place of anchorage ; and if the Noble Lord had
contented himself with allowing the British artillery and marines
to remain in the garrison of Passages, though he might have
objected to their taking up a position on land, he did not
know that he should have felt himself called on to bring the
subject under the consideration of the House—( Hear, hear)—
but the Noble Lord was not contented with landing 400 of his
Majesty's marines, and eighty of his Majesty's artillery of the
land service ; he was not contented with landing these eighty
artillerymen and the 400 marines from the four vessels in his
Majesty's service—a proceeding, the justification of which was
only to be found in the occupation of the fort of Passages
being necessary to secure the place of anchorage. No ; these
marines and artillerymen, instead of keeping within their lines
and guarding their anchorage, were allowed to march seven
miles inland ; and not only did they take up that position in
support of General Evans, but they acted on the offensive.
His Majesty's artillery, seven miles inland, under the command
of Colonel Colquhoun, was employed throwing shells on Her-
nani. Could that be a proceeding within the terms of the
treaty? What were the terms? The articles to which he
was adverting were the two additional articles ; and, what
was a great advantage in documents of this description, they
were short. The Hon. and Gallant Officer then read the
articles as follow :—" Article 1. His Majesty the King
of the French engages to adopt such measures on the fron-
tiers of his states as may prevent the Spanish insurgents