The Sun.
London, England, 1836-03-19 00:00:00

British troops usually received in foreign warfare, or was it
one which would have the effect of sending them back to this
country when their term of service had expired, or their assis-
tance was no longer wanted, brutalised to a degree which no
war engaged in by this country or heard of in any other ever
could have effected ? ( Hear, hear.) Unaccustomed as the
people of England were to armies and armed men, it was
quite obvious that whenever these persons returned to this
country they would necessarily become objects of the most
serious attention to its inhabitants. What was the ob•
ject which induced his Majesty's Government to facilitate
the engagement of these persons in that destructive war-
fare? Were they of such a magnitude as to warrant their so-
licitude ? There was absolutely nothing in connection with
the subject which could at all justify his Majesty's Government
in suspending the law, and taking the part they did in such an
atrocious war.—( Hear, hear.) It had been said that the Go-
vernment were justified in permitting these persons to take
part in that contest, because that there were some circum-
stances in the history of this country which presented an
analogous case. He (the Earl of Aberdeen) in the first place
denied the analogy ; and, in the second, he would assert, that
even if there was it would be a precedent " more honoured in
the breach than in the observance." He was most anxious to
hear what the Noble Viscount opposite had done to modify the
character of that contest. The House would credit him, he
believed, when he saidthat it was at once in the power of the
Noble Viscount and the Government to give another character
altogether to it. If the Noble Viscount chose to say, " I shall
revoke the Order in Councl which affords you supplies ; his
Majesty will recall his subjects from your service ; and nothing
shall be furnished you from this country, except what is ab-
solutely necessary to comply with the conditions of the Qua-
druple Treaty, unless you at once change your system of war-
fare, carry on your contest in a legitimate manner, and fight
no longer like tigers and hyenas, but like human beings and
civilized men"—if the Noble Viscount had made that declara-
tion of his intentions, would it have no effect ? It was idle to
suppose for a moment that the Spanish Government would
hesitate a minute in acceding to his wishes. But if such a sup-
position were within the compass of possibility, and that the
Noble Viscount did not find it in his power to deal with such
barbarity as he could desire, he had only to come out from
among them—(Hear, hear, hear)—to dissolve all connection
with them whatever.—( Hear, hear.) Nothing could justify a
continuance of our connection with such barbarians. The
Noble Earl then moved for copies or extracts of all corre-
spondence which had taken place between his Majesty's
Government and his Majesty's Minister at Madrid, showing
the endeavours which had been made by his Majesty's Gcs.
vernment to mitigate the sanguinary character of the war in'
the northern provinces of Spain, and the remonstrances which
had been addressed to the Government of her Catholic Ma-
jesty on the subject.
Viscount MELBOURNE entirely concurred in all the '
horror manifested by the Noble Earl on the subject of the
atrocities perpetrated in the contest for the Spanish Crown,
and in the reprobation which he had bestowed upon the cha-
racter of the struggle. But he should remind the House that
in cases of horror imagination is apt to accumulate, and that
exaggeration was very often a very active agent. He believed
it to be so in the case of the Noble Lord ; he conceived the
Noble Lord to have involuntarily exaggerated when he said
the atrocities of this war had no parallel in history. He (Vis-
count Melbourne) believed that no war had ever been carried
on in Spain which was not of a sanguinary character. The
brightest pages in her annals were deeply tarnished with
blood. Even the war in which the Noble Duke opposite
had taken such a prominent part was marked in its commence-
ment with excesses—accompanied in its progress by horror. His
Noble Friend had begun his speech by saying that he would
not condemn his Majesty's Government for following up
the Quadruple treaty ; that he would not dispute that they
had acted properly on the occasion ; that he would offer no
objection to the course they had taken in compliance with it ;
but he (Viscount Melbourne) thought his Noble Friend had
departed, from that declaration by the censure which he cast
on the policy which dictated the Order in Council of last year.
A whole year had been passed since that Order had been
made and since it had been in active operation. The Noble
Earl had stated that he was opposed to it. Why did he not
bring it before their Lordships in all that time ? He (Vis-
count Melbourne) would say that it was not fair to the Go-
vernment to lay, as it were, a trap for them ; that it was not
fair to the Crown, that it was not fair to the country, to let
such a matter rest so long, if the Noble Earl believed the po-
licy which dictated it to be of such a pernicious tendency. It
was the duty of the Noble Earl to come forward at once, and,
by exposing it, avert the evil which he might believe it
threatened. He (Viscount Melbourne) would repeat that it
was not fair to the Government, fair to the Crown, or fair to
the country, to wait until a measure which was believed by the
Noble Earl to be bad had been tried, and then to come forward
and oppose it, when it was found not to be quite successful.
The most erroneous line of policy which could be adopted was
better, if firmly adhered to, than the best, if it were subject to
fluctuation. It was worse than the worst species of demo-
cracy to lie a long. time in wait for a Government to commit
a fault, and then come open-mouthed on them in condemnation
of it. The Noble Earl had said that an attempt had been made
by the Noble Duke near him to put an end to the horrors of the
system of warfare in Spain ; and that that attempt had been
successful in a certain degree, and would be more so but for his
Majesty's Ministers. He had charged the Government with
the failure of the convention in consequence of their conduct ;
• and stated that it was entirely owing. to them that it was trodden
under foot. The Noble Earl, however, could have hardly
meant to insinuate that the policy of his Majesty's Govern-
ment in permitting those people to sail from this country to
Spain, engaging themselves in the service of the Queen, had
originated the decree of Don Carlos, which was the first viola-
tion of the convention. The Noble Earl had assumed that the
convention was a failure ; the Noble Earl was mistaken. He
( Viscount Melbourne) could assure him that it was no such
thing, that it had not failed, that it was in full force, that
exchanges of prisoners were still made under its provisions,
and that the atrocities which he so much condemned had
not been at all committed on the theatre of warfare
to which it more particularly referred, but in Catalonia.
He would beg leave to say that -the convention had not
failed in its object. He believed that much good bad been
effected by it, and that many lives had been saved under its
provisions. The Noble Earl opposite had stated, very cor-
rectly, the facts of the case—facts which had attracted the
attention and exhibited the feeling of their Lordships in com-
mon with all mankind, and which the Noble Earl allowed to
be the immediate cause of his motion. The Noble Earl had
stated that Nogueras had directed the Governor of the city cf.
Tolosa to seize the mother of Cabrera, who resided in that
city. The Governor at first refused to obey the order, but re-
ference was made to Mina, who directed it to be carried into
execution, and the unfortunate lady was shot. Cabrera, as
soon as he heard of the death of his mother, directed four wives
of officers serving in the Queen's army and thirty others to be
shot. The moment this news was received his Noble Friend
(Lord Palmerston) wrote to the Prime Minister of the Queen
of Spain, expressing the utmost indignation, and de-
manding the most prompt inquiry and satisfaction.—( Hear,
hear.) Mr. Villiers, the English Ambassador at Madrid did
not wait to receive any instruction from his Government, but
he at once waited upon the Prime Minister, and demanded
satisfaction for these horrible atrocities. Nogueras, it had
bpen ascertained, bad since been deprived of his command, and
an inquiry instituted into the whole of his conduct. Some
observations had been made as to the manner in which Gene-
ral Mina was received on board one of his Majesty's ships.
He ( Viscount Melbourne) thought that the honours he re-
ceived were merely paid to the office he held, and it was
hardly to be expected that the officers of a ship were bound to
consider the character and reputation of a man who was about
to come on board their ship. His Noble Friend condemned
the policy of the Government in permitting British subjects to
volunteer into the service of the Queen of Spain. This po-
licy he (Viscount Melbourne) was most decidedly prepared to
support. It was unfortunate that there should be wars at all ;
but wars were necessary, and if wars were being waged in
other parts of the world, no obstacle he conceived should be
thrown in the way of those who were desirous of engaging in
war, and who were desirous of learning that which was
merely a practical art. What education, he would ask, did
soldiers generally receive 2—( Hear, hear.) War was a hard
and cruel mistress, and those who were subject to her sway
naturally partook of her character and disposition. Now,
these men would only receive the education that all soldiers
received, or at least would receive under similar circum-
stances ; and as to the apprehension entertained against their
return into the bosom of the community, he conceived that to
be utterly fanciful and visionary. He did not intend to say
much more on this subject. It might very well be supposed,
from the character of soldiers, and the acts to which they
were accustomed, that their previous habits were not likely
to render them very peaceful members of the community—
( Hear, hear)—but in practice this was not found to be the
case • for experience proved that soldiers could return to
the habits of civil life just as readily as those who had never
been engaged in warfare. He could only repeat, that no ex-
ertion had been wanted to discourage these horrible atrocities,
which he (Viscount Melbourne) viewed with horror and de-
testation ; and he would say that he had no objection whatever
to accede to the motion of the Noble Earl ; but at the same
time he would state to the House that, as many of these pa-
pers had passed in private correspondence, they would not be,
in all probability, as large, full, or numerous as might be ex-
pected. He would also assure the House that no opportunity
of interfering; either generally or singly, as circumstances
should require, would be omitted. In making this statement,
he desired most distinctly to be understood that be did not in-
tend to cast any peculiar reproach upon the Spanish Govern-
ment, nor in any manner to imply that more of these atrocities
had been committed by the one side than by the other ; but as far
as he had information he believed that they had been commenced
—and he did not wish to palliate them—by the partisans of
Don Carlos. The massacre at Barcelona was said to have been
produced by an act of the most horrible atrocity ; but as this
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The Duke of WELLINGTON rose and said,
my eLords,: I
am one of those who have invariably objected to these subjects
being brought under discussion in this House. I refrained
myself from proceeding upon a notice which I gave in the
last session of Parliament on the subject of this very contest.
My Lords, I little expected that my Noble Friend and myself
should have been reproached for having refrained from bring..
ind forward the subject—( Hear, hear) —that we should be
told that we have been almost guilty of an offence" in having
refrained from bringing the subject under discussion in this
House.--(Hear, hear.) My Lords, I will tell your Lordships
fairly why we refrained. First of all, I will say. I fully acquit
the Noble Lords of any intention whatever to give any encou-