The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-12 00:00:00

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE IN SPAIN.

On the motion that the house at its rising do adjourn
until Monday next,
Sir R. H. INGLIS begged to put a question to his
noble friend the Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs,
of which he had given him private and public notice.
It had reference to a decree issued by the Spanish Go-
vernment, and dated November 17, 1852, by which it
was provided that no stranger, whether domiciliated in
Spain, or passing through it, should be permitted to
profess any other religion than that of the Catholic,
Apostolical, and Roman--in other words, the Roman
Catholic subjects. If this had: applied only to Spanish
subjects, it would not, he admitted, have been a fair
subject for the house. Whether the King of Dahomey
had an army ofimen and women, and could put to death
6,000 of them in one day, was a matter which, however
as Christians and men of humanity we might deplore it,
we should still have no right to- interfere in. But when
the decree to which he called the attention of the house
applied as much to any hon. member of this house tra-
velling in Spain as to the natural born subjects of the
Queen of Spain, he thought it due, not only to our com-
mon character as Protestants, or even our character as
Englishmen, but to the great intercourse of social 'ife
throughout Europe, that such ran interdiction should not
be applied to those professing what they believed to be
the truth—(hear)—and let his noble friend recollect that
this was not an interference will either public meetings
or preaching. With that he had nothing to do. He
called-up-on- the lie tolisten to that part of the decree
which related to the subject in question, and to say
whether it did not distinctly prohibit the profession of
any religion, whether by natives or foreigners except
that of the Church of Rome. The decree, which was
dated the 17th Nov., appearect in the Spanish Ga4,:te
of the 25th. The par'.; of the decree to which he parti-
cularly referred, was tho 25th article of the 3d chapter,
and it is stated, with regard to the civil condition of
persons domiciled or travelling in Spain, that no such
stranger shall profess, in Spain, any other religion than
the apostolic faith of Rome. lie asked if it was consist-
ent with the duty of the members of that house, or with
the duty of the noble lord who had the control of our
intercourse with foreign powers, that such a decree
should be permitted to pass unnoticed. (Hear, hear.)
When he first called the attention of the house to the
subject, the thing appeared to him to be so utterly un-
reasonable as to be incredible. He believed the noble
lord had received some information on the subject, and
he wished to ask him distinctly whether he had or had
not received such information ; whether, if such infor-
mation had been received, it was the intention of the
noble lord to lay it on the tab'e of the house ; and whe-
ther the noble lord had or had r in the name of the
Queen of this Protestant country, taken some measures
to redress the possible or the probable wrong which such
a decree unaltered might produce on her Majesty's Pro-
testant subjects ? Let it not be said that this was a mere
Papal intrigue. It might be convenient for the Court of
Spain not to. put into, force such a decree against such
an ally as. England ;, but_sc long as it remained Imre-
pealed, the time might -not be very far'distant when' it
might be found convenient for, the Government of Spain,
to act upon it ; and when, without referring to persons
in Italy or other parts of the world, it might be con-
venient, as had already been done, to seize an English
subject for professing his belief in the Protestant religion,
not because he was opening a conventicle without the
sanction of the law, or preaching in the street, but be-
cause he was assembling his own family for Protestant
worship.
Mr. M. MILNES said, before the noble lord answered
the question he wished to ask him another, somewhat in
connection with 'the same subject. It was stated not
long ago by the then Foreign Minister, that after sundry
negotiations with the Spanish Government, permission
had at last been given to open a. Protestant burial-ground
in the city of Madrid. He believed an intimation had
since been given, that although we were permitted to
bury our fellow subjects in ground to which some reli-
gious ceremony was attached, that nevertheless a con-
dition was insisted upon that we should perform no
religious ceremony whatever over the grave of the per-
son thus interred. He considered such a condition de-
rogatory to the position which England had a right to
insist upon, and ho therefore wished to ask the noble
lord whether, if this condition still continued, he would
have any objection to instruct our representative at
Madrid to reopen the question with the Spanish Govern-
ment, in order to the removal of such a disgraceful pro-
hibition ? (Hear.l_

Lord J. RUSSELL said, with respect to the question
of his hon. friend the member for the University of
Oxford, he begged to state that it was certainly quite
true that, by the 25th article of the law to which he had
referred, it was declaTed that no stranger, no foreigner,
can profess in Spain any other religion than the Catholic
Apostolic Roman religion. The noble lord who
preceded him in the Foreign-office had asked for
an explanation of this decree, and he now held in his
hand the answer of Lord Howden to the despatch sent
to him on the subject. Lord Howden acknowledged the
receipt of the dispatch of the 20th of December, desir-
ing him to ask verbally of, the Minister for Foreign Af-
fairs the meaning intended to be conveyed by the word
" profess," as used in the 25th article of the 3d chapter
of the decree of the 17th of NoVember. Lord Howden
went on to say that, in answer to the inquiries he had
made, he had been informed that the contents of the said
article did not in the slightest degree change the piac-
tice which had hitherto been observed, nor consequently
would any alteration be-thereby introduced with respect
to that practice. If his hon. friend wished that this dis-
patch, or any other relating to that subject, should be
laid before the house, he should have no hesitation in
complying with his wish. (Hear.) With regard to the
question relating to the burial-ground at Madrid, some
correspondence had recently taken place on the subject.
A piece of ground for the purpose of burial had been
offered by the Spanish Govertment. Some objections
existed to the ground, but he believed there had not
lately been any question as to the performance of cere-
monies. He was not aware that any question was likely
to be asked on the subject, and if he had been mistaken
in his answer, he would take the opportunity of correct-
ing his statement at some other time. He believed there
was no objection on the part of the Spanish Government,
unless it, was to the erection of a chapel. (Hear.)