The Sun.
London, England, 1838-06-20 00:00:00

In the most inhuman manner, the regular system of exchange as
practised in the way of civilised nations had been laid aside. Did the
Noble Duke permit this to continue ? No, by establishing the Eliot
Convention he put an end to that barbarous mode of welfare. So long
as the Noble Duke was at the head of the Government that was nut
heard of ; but as soon as the Noble Viscount opposite had succeeded
him the convention was virtually put an end to by an expedition which
was got up In the Isle of Dogs, and encouraged by the British Govern_
ment. Previously to this period Don Carlos had acted up to the Eliot
C invention most strictly. What was the consequence of this enlistment
of British subjects for the purpose of taking a part in the war in
Spain Why, this was the consequence—Don Carlos said, when he
saw the Legion was being formed, that the Noble Viscount opposite
had thus departed from the terms of the convention, and had in fact
permitted the British nation to become one of the belligerent par_
ties.—(Hear, hear.) He said that when the convention called the
Eliot Convention, had been made, it had never been contemplated
to permit English subjects to take up arms in support of the
Queen, and that, as England had thus broken the convention, he was
no longer bound by it. He (the Marquis of Londonderry) was not call.
ling upon their Lerdships to take his own statement of this fact ; he
would read for them the words of the Noble Duke who had, for the
best of purposes, established the convention, and whose word with
England, and indeed with Europe, would be looked upon as affording an
authority quite as good as that of the Noble Viscount opposite. Here '
the Noble Marquis read the following extract :—" By the act of sending
troops the Noble Viscount commenced putting an end to the convention
With Don Carlos. The troops in question were not included in the
Cartel, and it is clear in consequence the cartel cannot now be executed.
If any clemency has been offered to any of these troops they are indebted
to it solely to the humanity of that Prince, because they do not belong
to the contracting armies. What the Noble Viscount has done by
sending a body of troops to Spain is to make his Majesty a party
in the war in that country, and to lose all influence over Don Carlos
In other respects, as well as in humanizing the conduct of the war."
He had thus given them the highest authority for the opinion that this
was a violation of the Eliot Convention. The consequence which fol-
lowed the raising of the Legion was the celebrated Durango decree. He
did not mean to go the length of defending that decree. He lamented
It, as he should regret anything which increased the horrors of war ;
but he should say that, in his opinion, the Noble Viscount opposite had
been a party to the issuing of that decree by giving his countenance to
the expedition from the Isle of Dogs. He then asked the Noble
Viscount whether the troops of the British Auxiliary Legion were
to obtain the advantages of the Eliot Convention ? To this the Noble
Viscount answered that there were, and that no doubt could exist
upon that subject. In another place a question was put to the Secre.
Lary for Foreign Affairs, who might be expected to have a
better knowledge of the subject than the Noble Lord, con-
sidering the multiplicity of his numerous and immense arrangements.—
(Laughter.) When the question was put to the Foreign Secretary his
answer was that the soldiers of the British Legion, many of whom
were at that period enlisting, were, beyond a doubt, included in the
cert,l. If Government had no sufficient authority upon the subjeet,
there never was anything so rash as this answer. The Government had
thus given the fullest confidence to the subjects of Great Britain that
In entering the service of the Queen they were about to engage
in a war which would be conducted in the same manner as the
wars of civilised nations were carried on—such a war as many
of them had served in under the Duke of Wellington—and con-
sequently that they should have all the advantages of a cart!'; and
yet subsequent occurrences had shown that in this respect the men I
had been entirely misled. Was ever anything so rash then as this
answer, involving as it did a guarantee to these men who enlisted in the
Legion ? Perhaps if the orders which the Government had sent to
Canada were known they would be found to be not so very far removed
from the style of the Durango decree. The next point to which he
would allude was the part which Colonel Wylde had taken, and the
connection which his proceedings had with the Government. In 1836,
he (the Marquis of Londonderry) had inquired from the Noble Viscount
if the proceedings of Colonel Wylde. were under the sanction of the
Government; and upon that occasion the Noble Viscount got up in his
place, and said that Col. Wylde had no authority from the British Govern.
ment to act, but that the Government had approved of the course of con_
duct which he had adopted upon his own responsibility. 'The Noble Duke
near hint (the Duke of Wellington) then said that if Colonel Wylde
was without instructions from the Government he was taking upon him-
self a most heavy responsibility. A few evenings since, when he had
presented to their Lerdships a petition upon thesubject of the part which
Colonel Wylde had taken, and the connection which the British Govern-
ment had had with the re-enlistment which took place under his super-
intendence, a doubt had been expressed by a Noble Lord as to the cor-
rectness of the statements in that petition, The expression of that doubt
had produced a letter from the officer who made the statement to him
(the Marquis of Londonderry), and who naturally felt his honour af-
fected by the expression of a doubt as to the truth of his statement. If
the statements in that letter could be borne out, he had no hesitation in
saying that the Noble Viscount opposite and the Government had, hi-
deed, incurred a heavy and deep responsibility. The Noble Marquis
then read the following letter :

" London, June 18, 1838.
" My Lord,—Having been informed that an the ni2ht of your present-
ine the petition relative lo the British Auxiliary Legion, one or two
Noble Lords challenged the correctness of certain statements I had made
in a speech delivered by me at the Crown and Anchor, May 14 more
particularly animadverting on my assertion that her Majesty's Ministers
had exerted their personal influence to induce officers to join the Legion
I beg leave to inform your Lordship that I will not, and indeed with
truth and justice cannot, retract or explain away one iota of a'l the obser-
vations I made upon that occasion. Twe of the most striking instances
of the interference of Ministers to induce officers and men to go out to
Spain in the Legion are presented by the following facts, well known to
all who were c innected with that force : —When Colonel Shaw, late
Commandant of the Artillery, oyes first appointed to a commission as
Lieutenant-Colonel, Captain Colquhoun, of the Royal Artillery, was
Colonel, and it was arranged between those two officers that the I :tier
should go out to Seain, and that the fermer should remain to organise
the corps, and forward stores. &c., from London. It was in centempla-
tirm at this time to purchase the di charges of about 50 men of the Royal
Artillery, for the purpose of sending them out to Spain to assist in hasten..
ing the organisation of the Artillery of the Legion.
" Mr. Carbonell, the Spanish agent, had a sum of money prepared for
this object. The circumstance, howeves, came to the ears of his Bite
Majesty King William evS, mei he immediately pet a stop to the t ransec-
tin declaring that his artillerymen should be used for no such purpree.
His 'Majesty further directed that Captain Colquhenn should not be per-
mitted to go out, and terse Brevet-Maior Reid, of the Royal Engineers,
who had aireedv joined the Lession at Bilbao, should he immediately re-
celled. Colonel Shaw was the b aver of a letter to Major Reid, then a
Brigadier-General to the Legion, to this effect.
" Thus, my Lord, it appears these two officers were actually suff,rel to
enter a foreign service without their King's consent. Sol viers of the
Royel Artillery, tinder like eirettnistances, were about also to serve a
foreign power. Tae la: ter object was at once abanaoned, but his Majesty
was at length persuaded to allow both M ijor Reid and Capt. Colquimun to
remain in the Legion. Both these officers were placed on temporary half-
pay, and at the expiration of one year's service, all that his Majesty would
permit, were it's ored to their former rank and stations in their respective
corps. Captain Colquhroun, on his return to England, was made Brevet.
major, and sent out to Spain again, to cotiimand the detachment of the
Royal Artillery there -crying. Now, my Lord, the na'ural question is
—who were the persons who evinced so great an enxiety to get these
officers wto the Legion, and whose influence was sufficiently powerful to
overcome the doubts uenn the measure, not to say repugnance, which
pervaded the royal breast? When I say that his Majesty's Ministers must,
by virtue of their offices, have been deeply implicated in such an inter-
fsrene a I feel a surest that I shall be fully berm out in my assertion by
every man of common sense and discrimination. The part that Colo-
nel Wylde took in endeavouring to induce the officers and men of
the Legion to re-enlist, after the expiration of their two years' ser-
vice, was indeed most remarkable. The words which I quoted in
my address at the public meeting, May 14, as haying been made
use of by hum at St. Sebastian, were taken down at the time they
were delivered in a square formed of the men under Brigadier-General
o'. onnelle Capt, in Robert., of the eth "regiment, Captain Foster, of
the nth Regiment, and several privates who were present, have assured
me of the perfect correctness of thet report ,• and Brigadier-General
O'Connell himself who commanded'henarade, has stated to me that
from tee tenor and purport of Colonel Wylde's speech he felt himself
fully warranted in undertaking the arduous and responsible situation of
commander of the new, Legion ; that his firm conviction was that he
would be strenuously and effectively supported in that capacty by the
British Government—that is to say, that the British Government would
see that justice should he done to his men, and that good faith should he
kept with them, or that he certainly would never have consented to have
rem lined in the Queen of Spain's service.
" At more than one meeting of elficers, heist in St. Sebastian, Colonel
Wylde held Smiler lam:nage, tending to strengthen, more end more the
belie that the new Legion was at out to be formed under the especial
protection and support of the British Government. The following st de-
ment, comprisiog some of that officer's expressions, has been forwarded
to me, signed! y Surgeon Crosse, of the Artillery ; Lieutenant Shaw, of
the same force ; Captain Rca, Ist Regiment ; Lieutenant Fryer, En-
tra•eers ; Mr. Atkinson, Commissariat Department; Captain Forster, 6 h
Regiment; Lieutenant Stack, 3d Regiment; and Quartermaster Brad-
ford, 3d Regiment ; that at a meeting held at St. Sebastian in the month
^r June, IS:7, Colonel Wylde said, That he, as the representative of
the tlritish Government, was authorised to say that his Govern-
ment was well pleased with the services of the Legion, and that
every exertion was being made to procure a settlement of the
just claims of the officers and men, not only by the Ministers in England,
but by their representative at the Court of Madrid, air George Villiers ;
that Sir George Villiers had written to him (Colonel Wylde) stating that
the house of O'Shea and Co , in Madrid, had contracted to pay. &c., the
new force, and that he (Colonel Wylde) had no hesitation in promising
thet the British Government would see them paid, and that even to the
mai cst fraction.' At a subsequent meeting, that officer again declared,
as a s' ember of the Royal Commission assembled to settle the accounts of
the Legion, I can inform you that your paymaster will be authorised to
estimate for the net pay of the respective ranks you hold, until such time
as tie Spanish Government will be prepared to settle finally with
the Legion.' My Lord, of a'l these fine speeches and verbal promises
the officers and soldiers of the Leg on have been the miserable dupes.
They have been regularly swindled. A swindler, in common life, is dragged
before a court of justice and esinshed. Now, my Lord, the question ap-
pears to me to very simple. In this instance, is Colonel Wylde the
swindler, or her Majesty's Government? Either the one party or the
other is guilty, and whichever it be, the party offending should most
assuredly be brought to account. Lord Melbourne, I understand, has
affirmed ill his place in the House of 1 ords that the Government has
approved of all Colonel Wylde's acts. If such be the case—if Lord Mel.
bourne still adheres to that declaration—and if steps are not immediately
taken to redeem all the promises made by Colonel Wylde—l can only say,
coo ly and dispassionately, that her Majesty's Ministers are accessories to
as gross a piece of injustice as ever disgraced the transactions of modern
statesman, and that they are destitute even of that sense of honour which
is sometimes found to supply the place of public virtue. I have the honour
to remain, my Lord, your obliged and obedient servant,
" CHARLES TOWNSHEND,
" Late colonel in the British Legion."
It was true a Commission had been appointed to inquire into the claims
of the officers and men of the Legion, and the netural inference was that
as soon as the claims would have been substantiated, the men would have
been paid. But nothing was further from the fact. The Commission
had merely authority to inquire into the claims, but bad no authority to
take the smallest step towards the liquidation of those claims. The
Spanish Colonel who had been appointed along with Colonel Wylde
to inquire into the claims of those who had served in the Legion,
upon being asked by a paymaster if he had any authority for paying
them, said he had full authority to investigate their claims, but
that he had no authority whatsoever to interfere in their liqui.
dation. There was a degree of duplicity, and want of common
integrity in treating men thus which was truly lamentable.
Were the men who bad been encouraged to go out to Spain
to be thus defrauded of their pay ? Was the Government to be sa-
tisfied with the sitting of the Commission ? The Government ought
not to permit this ; they ought to demand from Spain a categorical
answer upon the subject, and bring it to a final decision. The Noble
Viscount could not say that he did not know how Spain was to dis-
charge those claims, A memorandum had been drawn up by
Colonel McDougall, showing how Spain could easily liquidate
them. At present the consumption of British manufactured cot-
ton goads, which obtained admission in different ways amounted to
one million and a half annually, and if a port in Spain
were appointed to receive those goods, a tax of one per
cent. would produce a sum quite sufficient for the pur.
pose. He would continue week after week, even at the risk of be-
coming tiresome to their Lordships, to seek protection for those men,
He called upon their Loldships to co-operate with him, for the sake of
their character as a nation, in preventing the palpable injustice of in.
ducing men to sacrifice everything in a cause ; to leave their homes, and
risk their lives; and then to be refused the fulfillment of those promises
under the delusion of which they were induced to do so. The atroci-
ties which had taken place in this heartless war were also well worthy
of their Lordships attention. What had been done by the Government
of this country to repress these atrocities ? Nothing. And yet it was
in the power of the Noble Viscount opposite to humanise the war as
well as it was now in his power to compel the payment of the sums
remaining due to the Legion. Ministers came down to the Houae
last Session, and in the speeches from the Throne, expressed
iniallt hopes and assurances that all would ultimately and
n—that Carlos woald be put down,
melnsion.— ( Hear.) There wire four
rather remarkable that in the two last
the hopes which had been previously ex.
The first of those speeches was that de-
-1834 ; it ran on thus:—" I have still to
contest in the northern provinces of
have taken, and the engagements into
rtly prove my deep anxiety for its termi-
igneous conduct of the present Govern-
. a hope that the authority of the Queen
every part of her dominions, and that the
ected by friendship with Great Britain, will
Sternal tranquillity and union." In 1834
' He had great satisfaction in declaring

. -
quickly be right in Spain—
and the war come to a con
A Nitiortle! pf Ws sort, but it was I
there aPpet.treraArninution of tl
messed with-sucTi confidence. '
%tred-on the ,ith-01, February, 1
i... ?'..,!".,-lament the continnance of the
,jc 41-, Spain. The measures which I h
c.‘, which I have entered, aufficientl
nation ; and tha prudent and viE
s,
silent of Spain invites me with t
will anon bsestablithed in ever:
Spa ni4h nation; ao long connecte
again' enjoy the blessings of inte
the Foreign Secretary talc!, "