The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-27 00:00:00

S Ny JANUARY 27, 1847.

give their opinion upon a communication so entirely un-
expected, but that I could not avoid, at the- very first
moment, expressing strongly my great regret at what he
had just communicated to me, and my conviction that it
would excite very unpleasant feelings, both in the British
Government and in the country. lie said "he trusted
nothing that would last." I replied that, on the contrary, I
thought it was the step most likely to continue irritation.
" But," he interposed, "if the Queen has children ! " (Si
elle d des enfans ; nous verons.) I asked whether that meant
that the union should not take place unless she had children?
"No, no!" he exclaimed, "I can make no such promise." I
asked, whether, in point of fact, when the matter had been
mentioned before between him and Lord Aberdeen, he had
not coma to such an understanding? He replied, " that he
had, but that he had told Lord Aberdeen, in F. bruary last.
that if he saw any danger of a Coburg marriage, he should
consider himself absolved from that engagement. He
had considered that danger arrived, and, in consequence,
his course was changed when he saw, for the first time,
a Coburg Prince placed in the list of candidates; that the
late Government had declared such a marriage entirely out
of the question." I denied that there remained any trace
•sf such an understanding, and that, from what your Lord-
ship had stated to me, I did not believe that any such
had ever been communicated by Lord Aberdeen verbally to
you. He said he could assure me such had been the
case, on his word. I said that I could, of course, only
speak negatively, and must take his positive assertion, but
that any personal understanding of that kind could not bind
the British Government. He then pressed me to read a letter
from Count Jarnac, detailing what had passed with Lord
Aberdeen at Windsor, as a proof that your Lordship, to
whom the letter had been read, was aware of this a month
ago. I said that what was known to us officially was, that
the Prince of Coburg was not an English candidate ; that,
having been otherwise mentioned as a candidate for the hand
of the Queen of Spain, we of course considered the choice of
him as open to her Majesty; but that the last dispatch 1
had read to him showed that he was not the person recom-
mended by the British Government. " Yes," he said, " but
that was on the 28th of August, the other on the 19th of
July. I then made a proposal bf joint action with reference
to the two Princes. I was left all that time without an
answer. I could not wait; in the interim J'ai agi." I said
that, at any rate, the result has proved this delay on our
part to have had no concealed motive; that we should
have the consolation of knowing that, throughout, our
conduct had been perfectly straightforward and open,
and that we only desired the independence and
happiness of Spain. He replied, " And what should in-
terfere with that? When the Dake de Montpensier
marries the Infanta, they will reside in Paris. France.will
gain another Princess—Spain will not have an additional
Prince. Our line has always been the same ;" he added, "I
announced it four years ago. A Prince of the House of Bour-
bon for the Queen, not a Prince of the House of Orleans." I
said in reply that these were limits and distinctions of which
we knew nothing; that he could not expect that others
should view in the same light anything that tended towards
a union with the two crowns. "'That," he said, "need not be
feared; it is guarded against by the Treaty of Utrecht; our
line is always the same. a Bourbon on both thrones, but not
the same." I said, "Of course the danger to which I allude
was not an actual union between the two kingdoms,
but a rapprochement towards such a result," and that
we could not recognise the validity of the policy to
which we had alluded as established ; that I much re-
gretted what had occurred; there were few subjects which
could excite an anti-French feeling in England, where there
was such a friendly disposition ; that I feared, however,
this was one; that it would certainly completely destroy
any credit for the supposed sacrifice the King had made in
declining the Queen's hand for his son ; that he must not
suppose that it was only in England that such a feeling
would be excited ; and that, valuing as I did the French
alliance, I could not but foresee that a feeling of general un-
easiness might produce a different state of things from that
which had hitherto existed. He interrupted me by saying
that he did not think it would produce the effect I expected
in other quarters. I added, that he must only understand
me as unexpectedly called upon to express my own convic-
tions upon a subject on which, when I received his message.
I little thought I should be under the necessity of speaking;
but that I could not hold out to him the expectation that
the sentiments of my Government would be more favourable.
After explaining to me that the Chambers would probably
finish on Friday, and that it was his intention to leave Paris
for ten days on Sunday, I stated that that would be before I
could receive anything from my Government in reply to the
communication I should have to make to them. But we
settled that I should hereafter arrange with him how and
when we should meet, and thus we parted.
I have, kc.,
(Signed) NORMANBY.

No. 30.
VISCOUNT PALMERSTON TO MR. BULWER.
Foreign-office, Sept. 14, 1846.
transmit to you herewith the draught of a note
on the subject of the projected marriage of the Duke de
Montpensicr with the Infanta Luisa, Sister of the Queen
of Spain, which I have to desire that you will transcribe
literally, and immediately present to the Spanish Govern.
ment.—l am, &c.,

PALIAERSTON.

DRAUGHT OF NOTE TO BE PRESENTED BY MR.
BULWER TO THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. ~.
Sept., 1846.
The undersigned, &c., has been instructed to express to
the Spanish Government the deep regret and the extreme
surprise with which the Government of her Britannic Ma-
jesty ,has learned the intention which is said to be entertained
by the Government of Spain, of sanctioning the marriage of the
Infanta Luisa, sister to the Queen of Spain, and heiress-pre-
sumptive to the Spankh crown, to the Duke de Montpensier,
sen of the King of the French.
Such a marriage, if it were to take place, which the Bri-
tish Government sincerely hope may not happen, could not
be considered as a merely domestic and family arrangement
between the royal houses of France and Spain, with which
the Governments of other countries are not entitled to inter-
fere ; but it would, on the contrary, be looked upon as a
political measure of the highest importance, seriously affect-
ing the balance of power in Europe, deeply concerning the
interests of other states, and against which the Governments
of those countries, whose interests would be thus prejudiced,
would have an indisputable right of urging the strongest re-
nionttrance.
The Spanish monarchy is too great and important not to
form an essential element in the balance of power in Europe.
The wide extent and the productiveness of the territory
of Spain ; the noble qualities of her numereus and increas-
ing population ; the vast resources of naval and military
strength which she possesses within her European and colo-
nial empire, place her justly in the foremost rank among the
leading Powers of Europe. But the more prominent the posi-
tion which nature has thus qualified Spain to assume, and'
the more influential the part which that position may en-
able her to play the more essential it becomes for the in.
terests and for the safety of other states that Spain should
be politically independent as well as physically and morally
strong; and that other nations, in dealing with Spain, should
know that the foreign policy of Spain is guided by Spanish
feelings, and directed with a view to Spanish interests, and
is not made subservient to the policy of any other Power.
or as long
as Spain is politically independent in reality, as
F '
well as in name, other nations may reckon upon maintain-
ing relations of peace and friendship with Spain, as long as
they should show due respect for Spanish honour and dee
regard for Spanish rights. But if Spain should ever submit
to the overruling political influence of any foreign Power,
then other nations, anxious to remain on the most friendly
footing with Spain, and having given her no just cause of
offence, might find themselves involved in a rupture with
Spain on account of differences with another Power, in which
no Spanish interests were involved; and the restoration of
their friendly relations with Spain might be made to de-
pend upon their satisfying what might be the unjust and
unreasonable pretensions of some other foreign State.
The policy of Great Britain towards Spain has invariably
been guided by these considerations. It has been the wish
of England that Spain should be prosperous and strong, but
on the express condition that she should be independent also.
So great has been the importance which Great Britain has
alWays attached to the attainment of this end, that to arrive
at it she has repeatedly expended freely her treasure, and
poured forth the blood of her bravest subjects. It was for
thii end that, in the beginning of the last century, and in
the early years of the present, the soldiers of England have
fought side by side with Spanish comrades in many a battle-
field in Spain ; and, however ineffectual the efforts of Great
Britain may have proved at the former period, at the latter
period, at least, the joint exertions of England and of uni-
versal Spain were crowned with the success which they de-
served. It. was upon the same principle, and for the attain-
ment of the same end, that in 1835 Great Britain was
induced, at the special request of the Spanish Government,
to give to her present Majesty Queen Isabella that effective
assistance by virtue and in execution of the treaty of qua-
druple alliance, without which (it is not presuming too much
to pay) it may well be doubted whether her Majesty would
at this moment have been sitting upon her throne.
But, if Great Britain has during so long a period of time
been willing, when occasion required it, to make such great
exertions, and to submit to such great sacrifices, to establish
or to secure the political independence of the Spanish mo-
narchy, can it be supposed that she can regard with indiffer-
ence the prospect of an arrangement which, by a diplomatic
transaction, vainly endeavoured to be represented as of a
merely family character, tends to place the political inde-
pendence of Spain in a danger perhaps as great as any with
which in former periods it has been threatened by the open
foke of arms?
The British Government would not be true to its duty if
it were to remain silent and passive on this occasion. Indif-
ference on such a subject would ill accord with its obliga-
tion towards the British nation, and would.be a Bony proof
of; the interest which it feels in the welfare of the Spanish
people.
The undersigned is therefore instructed to remonstrate in
the strongest manner against the proposed marriage of the
Duke de Montpensier with the Infanta Luisa, as a measure
necessarily tending to affect the political independence of
Spain ; and to protest formally, as he now does, against
such an alliance, as calculated to exercise the most injurious
British
influence upon the future relations between the and
the Spanish Crowns.
The British Government, howeyer,stimllayenbteertpairnesmaathuorpee;
that its apprehensions on this matter
and that a wise consideration of all the
anyairaihousGboNe,earrinnmgsenot
Sp
f
the proposed measure may induce the p
o take a different course.
'The undersigned, kn•

No. 32.
THE MARQUIS OF NORMANBY TO VISCOUNT
PALMERSTON.
• Paris, Sept. 25, 1846.
Upon the receipt yesterday of your Lordship's dispatch of
the 22d inst. I immediately wrote to the uizot, asking him
to appoint a time for an interview. nvening I received
a note from him, appointing to see me between 10 and 11 this
morning.
I commenced by telling him that I had a communication
to make to him from her Majesty's Government on the ques-
tion of the Spanish marriages. , e •
When I had concluded, he stated that perhaps it would be
better, as the paper was long and comprised avariety of topics,
he should first read the copy which I had promised to send
him ; that he should also like to communicate with the King.
• • h•
•
I acquiesced in his decision for post-
ponement, which, under the circumstances, I considered very
natural ; but this request for postponement aaturally led me
to ask whether there was any truth in the report in the
newspapers of the immediate departure of the Duke de Mont-
palmier. lie ;stated that the Duke de Moutpenaier'e depir.

7 -

PRICE SD.

Lute was fixed for Monday., Upon my appearing surprised,
and about to remark upon this, he added, " and of course
cannot now be changed." I said it was not for me at that
moment to suggest the effect of the departure of the Duke de
Montpensier from Paris ; but that, in connexion with this
question, this haste appeared to me the more extraordinary,
as he would recollect that the last time I saw him, in answer
to my first question, he had stated the two marriages should
not take place at the same time. He denied at first having
used any such words. I reminded him that I had the next
day read to him what I had written to your Lordship as hav-
ing passed between us. and received his assent to its accuracy,
and added, I was certain he would recal the assurance
to his memory, when I reminded him that it was
in consequence of his original statement that
the Queen would announce, at the same time (en
Irme temps), the marriage of her sister with the Duke
de Montpensier, that I had at once exclaimed, " At the same
time ?" and he had replied, "Not that the marriage is to
take place at the same time." He then admitted that he
had said something to that effect, but only that the Queen's
marriage should take place first ; " and so," he added, " it
will ; she will be married first." I remarked, that I had re-
minded him of the words he had used, but that I had put
upon them their natural construction, that the two transac-
tions would be kept separate ; that I could not have imagined
he only meant that the Queen should be the first to go
through the ceremony.
He only answered that when he had seen me, which was
some time since, nothing whatever was settled, nor in fact
os yet, he added, has anything been settled as to the time
of the marriages. The Duke de Montpensier's departure is
fixed for Monday, but he said he would see me before then,
as soon as he had received the copy of the dispatch, and
communicated with the King.

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON TO MR. BULWER.
Foreign-office, Sept. 28, 1846.
Sir,—l transmit to you herewith the draught of a further
protest on the subject of the intended marriage of the In-
fanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain with the Duke of Montpen-
sier ; and I have to desire that, as in the former instance,
you will cause it to be transcribed, and that you brill present
it without delay, signed by yourself, to the Spanish Govern-
ment.—l am, &c., PALMERSTON.

(Enclosure in No. 33.)
DRAUGHT OF NOTE TO BE PRESENTED BY MR.
BULWER TO THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT.

October , 1846.
The undersigned, &c., has been instrncted by his Gover-
nment to refer the Government of her Majesty the Queen of
Spain to the protest which, on the of September of this
year, he presented, by the special orders of his Government,
against the projected marriage of the Infanta Luisa Fernanda
to the Duke of Montpensier.
On that occasion the undersigned protested, in the name
of the British Government, against the conclusion of that
marriage, upon the ground that it would be injurious to the
political independence of Spain, and detrimental to the
balance of power in Europe, and that it would, therefore,
most seriously affect the future relations between Spain and
Great Britain. 'The undersigned is now instructed to declare,
on behalf of the British Government, that the issue of such
marriage would be held by Great Britain to be disabled, by
the stipulations of treaties and by the public law of Europe,
from succeeding in any case to the Spanish throne.
For, in the first place, on the 19th of November, 1712, the
Duke of Orleans, in the act of renunciation then made by
him of all eventual right and title to the crown of Spain, de-
clared that his descendants were from that time forward and
for ever excluded and disabled from, and incapable of, succeed-
ing to the crown of Spain, whatever might bo the way in
which the succession might devolve upon his line; and this
renunciation and declaration on his part having been incor-
porated in the treaties signed in 1713 at Utrecht, became
thereby part and parcel of the public law of Europe.
Moreover, the third article of the treaty, concluded in 1725
between Spain and Austria, stipulates that the Crowns of
France and Spain shall never be united, either in the same
person or in the same line.
And secondly, Philip V. of Spain declared on the Bth of
July, 1712, that no descendant of any family which might
at any time reign in France should be capable of succeeding
to the thrcne of Spain ; and in 1713, the same Sovereign
issued a cedula, in which he declared that all the Princes of
the Blood of France, and all their lines, either then in
existence, or which might thenceforward exist, should re-
main excluded from the succession to the Spanish monarchy.
It is indisputably demonstrable, that, in consequence of
these pablic acts, no person being the offspring or the de-
scendant of the Duke of Montpensier, could under any cir-
cumstances succeed to the throne of Spain ; and, therefore,
the offspring or descendants of the marriage of the Duke
of Montpensier with the Infanta Luisa Fernanda, if that
marriage should take place, would be for ever excluded from
the succession to the Spanish Crown, in the event of a failure
of succession in the line of her present Majesty the Queen
Isabella ; nor could any right or capacity which such off-
spring or descendants of the marriage of the Duke of Mont.
pensier with the Infanta might inherit from the Infanta
prevail against the positive disqualification and exclusion
which would attach to them as descendants of the Duke of
Orleans of 1712.

The British Government deems it to be its duty to make
this public and solemn declaration of the incapacity, dis-
ability, and exclusion in regard to the succession to the throne
of Spain which would attach to any issue or descendants
of the marriage of the Infanta with the Duke of ➢iont-
pensier. if in utter disregard of the remonstrance and pro-
test of Great Britain that marriage should be persisted in ;
and thus, if at any future time any dispute should in con-
sequence thereof arise at to the succession to the throne of
Spain, and if Great Britain should in such case deem it
proper to take part in such dispute, in support of the princi-
ples which have been set forth in this note, it will not be in
the power of any of the parties concerned to allege that the
British Government did not give timely warning of its sen-
timents and views.
The undersigned, &c.