The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-24 00:00:00

observe that it would be the surrender of rights on both
sides, which it is utterly hopeless to expect, for all who
know any thing about that Prince, or the fanatical party
in whose bands he is a mere puppet, are aware that nothing
short of his being absolute, despotic King of Spain will
satisfy- him ; he therefore never would consent to abdicate
his (Urns in favour of his son. Then, as to the Queen
Regent, even supposing she would disregard every politi-
cal consideration, and abandon the party by which she has
hitherto been supported, can any one expect that she,
a mother as well as a Regent, should devote her daughter
to the life of misery that such a marriage would render in-
evitable, and permit to be enacted over again in Spain the
farce that was attempted in Portugal by the marriage of
Don Miguel with Donna Maria, wich proved, as might
have been foreseen, a miserable failure. But even
were all difficulties of this kind overcome, a plan for
placing the representatives of two antagonist principles
upon the same Throne, and for ensuring the co existence
of two rival and exasperated parties incapable of compro-
mising their difficulties, can only be considered a plan for
sowing the seeds of eternal civil war. My Lords, it is only
the fear of wearying your Lordships prevents my pointing out
the countless evils to which this project for tranquilizing
Spain must give rise. My Lords, in my opinion, the
Spanish question has not been rightly understood in
England, either in its general character or in its detai!si
Nor is this to be wondered at, for Spain differs in many
essential points from every European country? and as the
Spanish question is generally viewed and argued upon
according to our experience, and by the analogies drawn
from the history and character of other countries, the ques-
tion becomes embarrassed rather than illustrated by dis-
cussion. I am far from regretting, however, that such
difficulties have not deterred the Noble Marquis from con-
stantly bringing the affairs of Spain under the considera-
tion of your Lordships ; indeed, I think, that any Member
of Parliament who promotes discussion upon foreign affairs
does a great public good, for it is astonishing, and at the
same time lamentable, how great an apathy exists in Eng-
land with regard to our relations with foreign countries,
and how much indifference there is as to whether our inte-
rests in every part of the world are properly protected—
whether the reciprocal obligations of treaties are properly
observed—whether everything that is good in the laws,
institutions, and practices of a foreign country, is carefully
collected and sent home—and, above all, whether every
opportunity is turned to account for extending our com-
mercial relations ; for these, my Lords, I apprehend in the
present times are the real duties of diplomacy. It is
always, therefore, with satisfaction that I see any subject
connected with our foreign relations discussed in Parlia-
ment, in order that the country may have an opportunity of
learning its true position with regard to other nations. I
would certainly have wished that the Noble Marquis had been
somewhat more accurate in his statements with reference
to Spain, and I hope your Lordships will so far extend
your indulgence to me as to allow of my making a few
remarks upon the last speech of the Noble Marquis upon
this subject ; for he has in that so much misrepresented
the real state of things in Spain, unintentionally I am
quite sure, that he has laboured under the difficulty which
all more or less experience, in arriving at accurate informa-
tion upon Spain ; but from his speech this evening, I see
no reason to think that his opinions have undergone any
variation. My Lords, in that speech of the Noble Marquis,
delivered I think on the 18th of June last year, the Noble
Marquis was pleased to speak of me in terms of a very un-
flattering description. I shall now only reply 'ey admitting
his or any other person's complete right to canvass the
public conduct of a public servant, and to assure the Noble
Marquis that as I differ with him upon every point con-
nected with Spain, I cannot say that. I expected to merit
his approbation, neither, indeed, can I say that I was am-
bitious of it. I shall not think it necessary to allude to
the Noble Marquis's reflections and predictions on the
steady increase of Don Carlos's force, further than to beg
your Lordships to remember that the whole of Gallicia,
the Asnirias, Leon, Estremadura, Andalusia, Upper Ar-
ragon, and the two Castiles, are as peaceable as they ever
were at any period of Spanish history, and as com-
pletely attached to their lawful Sovereign ; and that
the civil war only exists, where it has so long
been confined, in the Basque Provinces, in a portion of
Lower Arragon and Valencia, and in a small district of
Catalonia, the whole of which isamontainous and of most
difficult access. Arid I will then ask your Lordships what
is to be thought of the increasing power of Don Carlos,
and whether it is best, or politic, or likely to serve any
practical object, to place him upon a footing of equality
With the Queen ? In the parts of the country I have just
named the war still exists, and may continue to do so for
some time, and while it lasts the Government must be
feeble, and the a hole country must suffer for the portion
of it which is so afflicted. That peace has not been re-
stored there can only be accounted for by the fact,
that Spaniards make war now in precisely the same
manner that they used to do—in the manner which
must be familiar to us all through the despatches of
the Noble Duke opposite. ' My Lords, upon those des-
patches, which have, if it be possible, placed the Noble
Duke's fame upon a still more imperishable basis than it
stood before, I feel it is next akin to presumption in me
to offer even the humblest tribute of,admiration. My only
excuse is, the six years I have passed in Spain, during the
whole of which time the country has been in war ; and my
Lords, it requires to have lived in Spain under such cir-
cumstances to appreciate those despatches at their full
worth—to understand the enormous difficulties with which
the Noble Duke had to contend, and his unrivalled merit
in overcoming them. My Lords, there is hardly one of
those despatches in,shioh a man haying a thorough know-
ledge of Spain and Spaniards would not fill up some hiatus
and supply omissions which would redound to the glory
of the Noble Duke, and prove the unassuming character
of true greatness. My Lords, I feel I ought to apologize
to your Lordships, and especially to the Noble Duke, for
having thus yielded to the temptation of expressing the
feelings I have entertained ever since I had the satisfac-
ti n of reading those despatches, and I shall now only
(ATI. a few remarks upon that portion of the Noble Mar-
quis's speech last year, in which he casts a great and unde-
served slur upon Spaniards by assuming that they feel dis-
gust at the free institutions endeavoured to be forced upon
them. The Noble Marquis, from the whole tenor of his
speech, means to convey the idea—the absolutely erroneous
idea—that the attempt to force these institutions upon
Spaniards was made by her Majesty's Government, and as
so much has been said respecting Spain, and so little that
is really accurate is known, it may be matter of interest, if
not of importance, to the people of this country to know
what these institutions were likely to effect for Spaniards,
what their feeling is towards them, and what interest
England has in the success of the Queen's cause. My
Lords, there is no greater error than to suppose that Span-
iards are unfit for freedom or averse to a Liberal form of
Government ; their own municipal institutions are the
freest and most popular in the world ; they existed in
Spain when the feudal system obtained in the rest of Eu•
rope ; although we have heard much lately in this House
respecting municipal institutions—and certainly they are
not here spoken of with much veneration—l consider them
as the best trainers for freedom, and the system which ren-
ders men the most fit to be entrusted with liberty. It is
certainly true that Spain has for centuries been under the
double yoke of a kingly and a priestly despotism, with all
the train of degradation and corruption that they bring with
them; but it is true that she has seized the first oppor-
tunity of emancipating herself, and the sacrifices to which
that nation now submits, and all the horrors of civil war
which Spaniards now endure, arc proofs of their
conviction that the objects which they have in
view more than outweigh the difficulties with which
' their attainment is surrounded ; but the contest they are
eegaged in is not sterile, they have already gained, and
gained much ; they have made such despotism as they
before endured in future impossible. Were Don Carlos
en the throne he could not restore it. He would try. The
bloody and fanatical party in whose hands he must always
b a blind and wretched, though not unwilling instrument,
would try It ; they would confiscate, and banish, and
gibbet, but they wuuld fail ; and I am convinced that if
Don Carlos were upon the throne he would, in the course
of one twelvemonths, do more to injure the monarchical
system, and to render monarchy abominable than all the
revolutions and constitutions that can be conceived would
ffsct in a century. It is true I am convinced that the
Northern powers of Europe would perceive their error in
having supported a cause without being fully acquainted
a'ih its objects, and a man who must render order and good
government in Spain impossible,and I art sure that order
add good government, by whatever means established, i 3
all that those Powers in reality desire; they can have no
other object and no other interest ; but Spaniards of the
present day have rendered any return to the despotism of
former times impossible, and I say that in thus setting as ide
all feelings of philanthropy, we have cause for satisfaction,
aud that it is for our interest that events should take the turn
they are now doing in Spain. Let any man compare the
system—the brutal, barbarous system which existed under
Ferdinand, when the priests exercised their tyranny and
heir vengeance without control—when correspondence
w.ith a relation exiled for his political opinions was punish-
able by death—when every domestic tie was loosened by
the vilest system of espionage—when knowledge was cri-
mina, a a ' end u liver3itie3 were close], and colleges for
nes
:mil-fighters opened--let any one compare such a system
with she one which prevails now, imperfect as it is in
many points. But it has produced popular representation,
free discussion, and a free press. They have produced
what was impossible before—public opinion ; and that has
la it ineesure corrected what was inevitable under the
government of Ferdinand—corruption. The consequences
of these are, that life and property (except in those parts
ifflicted by the civil war) arc more secure, that the reve-
nues of Spain are more than one half greater than they
were ever known to be before—that an enormous class of
proprietors has been created by the sale of national pro.
party—that capital flews into more wholesale and useful
channels--that education makes rapid advances, and agri-
culture is advancing—and, notwithstanding all the horrors
of war, Spain is at this moment laying a foundation for
future prosperity incalculably more solid than at the time
when, for her misfortune, she discovered America, and
lost all stimulus to future exertion. My Lords, lam aware
hat this account may appear to be exaggerated, but I say
nothing but what I know, and I say it under all the re-
sponsibility that should attach to any statement deliberately
made to your Lordships. Such is the state of things now
in Spain, and I think it requires no extraordinary degree
of intelligence to discover how that state is likely to be-
come advantageous to ua, and whether it is not pro
liable we shall gain more from Spain liberal-
ised; than under the absolute government of Ferdinand.
The Noble Marquis, in the speech to which I have al-
luded, inquires what commercial advantages we have
gained in return for our alliance ? My Lords, it is the
first time I have ever heard the alliance of Great Britain
treated as a marketable commodity, and I think that the
feeling of this country is of too noble and generous a cha-
racter to wish to turn the temporary distress of an ally to
a selfish account, however desirable it may be to establish
commercial relations with them upon a more liberal foot-
ing. And it would be but a short-sighted policy, for
every commercial arrangement, in order to be permanent,
should he based upon reciprocal commercial advantage;
and if Spaniards involved in war are a little slow to
comprehend the benefits of free trade, and have not yet
perceived the necessity of an unrestricted interchange of
productions with England (although the question is daily
making progress), let us, my Loids, remark, that Spain is
an agricultural country—that agricultural produce is all