The Sun.
London, England, 1823-04-29 00:00:00

1. FY )11'

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PRICE SEVENPENCE,

matter which would make them cling with redoubled zeal and
emotion to those principles which they had previously avowed —no per Son, he thought, could desire that such papers should
Ling remain on the table of that House, unnoticed and un-
ack.nowledged. It iniget be well indeed that they should so
remain, till time had been aflbrded to enable the public them-
selves to form some opinion on these papers. It might he well
that the House should wait till those sensations little fitted for
deliberation, which the first view of them excited, should have
in soma degree subsided ; sensations full of surprisa, and di:,.
gust, accompanied with warm indignation, which these pupae
were well calculated to inspire ih every English heart. The pc.
riod necessary for this purpose bad new clamed, and he there-
fore ventured to stand there, as none of those around him who
were better qualified to perform the task had undertaken it,
to speak out frankly and fearlessly what he believed to be
the general feeling of the nation. They were now arrived at
one of those eras at which. they were imperiously called upon
by their duty to review the past conduct of the Government,
and the present condition of the nation. It was their duty to
inquire if events had not placed them in what the Duke of
Wellington had called " a forced position ;" to ascertain if
we did not stand in a situation in which we ought not to stand ;
and if we were not where we ought to be, to ascertain why
not. The House would permit him briefly to recall to their
recollection the circumstances which had brought the country
to the situation in which it now stood. The war which coin.
menced in 1793, and terminated in 1813 had forced England
from her natural policy, and associated ler with all the most
despotic Governments of the Continent. Into the origin of
that war he would not then go. But, with respect to out
entering into it, difficult as it might have been, he was in-
clined to say. that it could have been avoided. But was he
therefore to agree in the forced analogy insisted upon by M.
de Chateaubretrid, that we might now avoid interference in the
case of Spain ? This he would not admit. lie remembered
that in the debates which, took place at the commencement of
the last war, a Right Hon. Gentleman, of great eloquence,
had thus expressed himself :—" I fear the enemy less than the
allies," (this was before the time of Buonaparte,) " for I
know your allies deceive you as to their motives. You
are against the practical excesses of liberty, but your allies
are against liberty itself." , In the.progress of that war, if there
had been a period which united the hearts of all persons in this
country, it was that period when resistance to French tyranny
in Sain began. The people then said in effect—" whether
the Bourbons or the Buonapartes prevail is comparatively of
small importance to us ; but the neck of free Spain shall not
become the footstep' of the French Itlonarchy. ' When the
war terminated, as it happily did, by thteoverthrow of Buonae
parte's power, the French people were left, it was said, with
a free voice ; but be would not say so ; for ow, bayonets had
placed a- Bourbon on the throne of :Franca The cut int; and
parcelling out of small states had followed, to the disgust of
mankind. We were unfortunately too much mixed up in these
`proceedings to escape a share of the obliquy which fell on the
Continental Governments on that occasion ; and so long as the
names of Genoa and Norway were remembered, this reproach
must continue to be applied. The measures which we thee
adopted laid the foundation of future wars. In time of peace large
armies were kept up by other Powers, and Engl Ind, instead of
discountenencing the preetire bad followed the example. We
lost sight of the principles which we had professed, which be-
gan with, the partition of Poland, and ended, he had hoped
with the spoliations of 1814. Why did he state this ? He
stated it but to show that this country in character was not
so exactly like Caesar's wife, when the late negociations com-
menced, thi she had nothing to redeem, and therefore he con-
tended that she could not afford to lose such an.opportunity as
had lately offered for setting herself right in the opinion of
mankind. In 1812, a free Constitution was-given to Spain.—
It ens not a vain crude theory that was then adopted, but the
ancient Constitution of Spain. He did not stand there to con-
tend that that Constitution was in all respects fitted for the
govermnent of modern society, but it was such as he had de-
scribed it to be. Never had any monarchy been so limited as
that of ancient Castle. When this Uinstitution wits adopted
in 1812, to guard against momentary innovations, it had been
thought necessary by the Cortes to declare that no alteratieo
should be made in it till it had stood the test of eight years ex.
perience. The Allied Powers then seemed to
vie with each
other in acknowledging the regeneracy of Spain, and the great
Autocrat of Russia had beptised it with that one word, which'
was all in all—lie had pronounced it to be
In the year 1814, when Ferdinand was re-conducted to his
Throne by his people, the first act of his gratitude and
love to those who he l made so many sacrifices for him,
was to overthrow the Cons:ittition which they had esta4
blished, and he, the slave of bigotry anti Monks, had proe'
eceded to exile and incarcerate, nay, to execute those
who tad'
laboured most for the liberation of alit country which he had
betrayed. In 1820, (lon be thanked that fabric of tyranny.
which be had constructed, fell ; Portugal followed the example
of Spain, and the Peninsula was free. It was not to be ex-
pected that a country so under, they influence of priestcraft
would witness such a change without experiencing some re-
sistance front those to whose interest, the new order of things
was opposed; the wonder was, that time resistance offered
WILY so slight, till the French determined on ',commencing
the most iniquitous of all wars, by exciting intestine come
motions in Spain. They could only succeed in this in the
frontier provinces. But in 1820, the Emperor of Russia hav-
ing gained some new lights on the subject-0 on defend US from
such northerrilights!—ltad found out that the Constitution then
was very difierein from what it was in 1812, and had
,declared
himself opposed to the Spanish system. The late Alarquis of
Londonderry had addressed a /lOW to the Russian Government
on this subject, which in many parts (it was an exceedingly un-
equal production) .did him very great honour, opposing the
principles advanced by Russia. The Emperor found his pro-
position was not very warmly received by his Allies, and it
was in consequence apparently renounced. Thus matters
stood up to the commencement of the late negociations.
He might now as well offer a few words on the divisiona
actually subsisting in Spain. Divisions did exist, they had
been somewhat exaggerated, hut divisions did exist in that
country. It was thus divided—on the one side, was all the
landed proprietors, all the commercial body, all the liberal
professions, all connected with the sciences. On the other
hand, there was a knot of bigotted nobles, an intolerant priest-
hood, and the lower orders. Some differences (Opinion existed
as to the course which. we ought to have purimed in the late
negociations. Sonic were so pugnacious that they would have
replied to the prepositions then advanced but by a blow. fle
did not favour their opinion, nor had be more respect for that
of those who would have menaced war and not made it. But,
had they never heard of the wiight and just influence, of Eng-
land ? Of that weight which ought to attach to her representae
tons, and which did attach to them in former times? Had they
heard nothing of this that it could be imagined she could not re-
sist wrong by claiming the attention of as ally —that ally who was
bound to her by a thousand claims, and that she could put no.
thing forward but a declaration of war or a false neutrality.
Two questions suggested themselves—the first, whether we
had performed our duty as men ; the second, if we had, whe-
ther this war with Spain would have broken out ? Ills charge
against the Government was, not that they had not preciph
tilted us into a war, but that they had done nothing abaolutely
nothing, in the right quarter, at the right time, to preserve
peace. We went into the negociation, all but the certainty,
from the sacrifices which we had made, of being able to pre-
vent war; but he contended that, ultimately, our Minsaters
had lost sight of the dianity of the nation and England, and
had been held up to the world in ridicule and contempt. The
proceedings naturally divided thenntelves into three part...
the negotiations at Verona, the negociations (if such they
might be termed) at Paris, and the negociations at Madrid. The. Right "lon. Gentleman opposite had said it would surprise the House to hear, that our Plenipotentiary, when he left
England, did not know that the affairs of Spain were to be
submitted to the Congress. But the House was more surprised
to find that, for two years and a half, our Government had been
totally ignorant. of all that had passed between Spain and
France (he wondered whether they were also ignorant of what
had passed between France and Russia), and that toe, while
we communicated to the French Government all that passed
between tot and Spain. Had this statement come from any
other quarter, he should have thought it' a gross libel on the
Marquis of Londonderry, and a bitter satire on the Govern-
ment of this country. The Duke of Wellington left London—
he proceeded to Paris—he saw M. de Villele, who told him
that certain questions were to be submitted to the Congress re-
specting Spam which in effect came to this, that France was
desirous of knowing, if she made war on Spain, what counte-
nance she would receive from the Allies; and whether, in the
event of her making it, she might calculate on any assistance.
from them ? The Duke of Wellington gave is cautious repla, ;
and very properly wrote home not only to be informed as to
what time he should take, but also to be fornished with the ar-
guments which he was to use. The Right lion. Gentleman

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