The Sun.
London, England, 1824-02-18 00:00:00

GAME LAWS

Mr. S. WORTlE'Cre:pursuant to notice, to bring in a
Bill to amend the laws for the preservation of game. He con-
sidered nothing to be more important to the happiness, the well.
being, and the moral character of the country, than an imme-
diate revision of these laws. Though he was by station a coun-
try gentleman, and had for many years past been a strict pre-
server of his game, he was convinced that these laws might be
so amended, as to enable individuals, who were anxious to pre-
serve their game, to preserve it with greater ease and satisfac-
tion to themselves, and with leas prejudice and detriment to the
country, than they could ever hope for under the present sys-
tem. Game had hitherto never been considered in this coun-
try as property, but had been protected by a code of law pecu-
liarly its own. Now the first principle of his Bill was to make
game as nearly property as its nature would admit; and he
therefore gave to every person on whose land game was
reared, permission to act with it as he pleased. From this
a permission to dispose of game
ilile kobeeten promulgated throughout the country,
eafter the evidence which had been
arl for followed
Cootnniittee of that House, and which
shifii
bsdwotmop
d uelpstnlitrneinden:lbe madness to suppose that game was not sold,
and as regularly supplied to the market as any other luxury.
_lndeed, after the Report of the Game Committee, no
delicacy of feeling could prevent any man- from purchasing
game ; and it was quite evident that no blame could possibly
attach to any of their friends in large towns, who thought lit so
to purchase it. He did not apprehend any of the evil conse-
quences
which some gentlemen anticipated from legalizing the
sale of game, ac he proposed that no person should sell it with-
out being provided with a licence. It was his intention to do
away with all qualifications arising from land.—(Hear, hear !)
—and to put the law upon nearly the same footing ns it now
rested on in Scotland. By the law of Scotland, every man is
allowed to kill game on Ins own land, and any man who pos-
sesses a plougligate of land has a right to give another leave to
shoot upon it. Now, he intended to give the same right to any
man who Was in possession of a certain quantity of land, which
might be hereafter determined. The Hon. Member then de-
tailed certain alterations which he intended to make in the law
relative to the appointment of gamekeepers, but with a voice
so very inarticulate as to be inaudible in the gallery. He in-
tended to give to the owner of the land a summary remedy
against all trespassers—to make the persons so trespassing liable
' to a penalty, if they refused to give their names upon demand,
and to increase that penalty, if upon trial of the information it
were found that they had given false names. The Hon. Gen-
tleman then observed, that there was one description of persons
of which there was a very great number in this country, whose
occupation led to more vice and wretchedness than was to be
found in almost any other class.—(Hear, hear !)—He alluded
to those persons who went out at night poaching.—(Hear!)—
Those persons, in his opinion, ought to be severely punished,
and, (as we understood) the punishment should be varied
for the first, second, and third offence. It would, he be-
lieved, have an excellent effect, if those who were detected
were, in the first instance, obliged to enter into recognizances
to abstain from such Practices in. future. Nothing was so
likely to prevent a poacher from carrying on this trade, as the
recollection that some friends or relations were bound over
with him for his good behaviour. It was a system practised
in several other cases ; and persons disposed to offend in a par-
ticular manner, were often stopped from committing crime, by
the recollection, that if they erred, others would suffer for their
misconduct. He was not aware that he had spy thing farther
to state. He might, however, observe, that when he proposed
to place the sale of game in the hands of licensed persons, he
had not stated how or to what extent that was to be effected.
Ile had merely laid down the principle on which he meant to
proceed. He would put it to those gentlemen who were satis-
fied with the present state of the law as sufficient for the pro-
tection of game, whether the practice of poaching was not
hourly and. daily on the increase ? Law had followed law,
one more severe than another ; but still the evil had increased.
—(Hear, hear !)—The more they looked into the subject, the
more clearly would they perceive the truth of the facts stated
before the Committee, and the subsequent necessity of alter-
ing and amending the law. The Hon. Gentleman then moved
" for leave to bring in a bill to amend the laws for the Preser-
vation of Game."

Sir J. SHELLEY did not rise to oppose the bringing in of
the bill ; but he must, in the outset, protest against the principle
on whi-h it proceeded. If this bill were carried, game would
soon disappear, and those field-sports to which country gentle-
men were so much attached would be effectually destroyed.
On the second reading, he should certainly take the sense of
the House. He begged of his Hon. Friend to put off the second
reading of the bill for some time. Gentlemen in various parts
of the country were extremely anxious on this measure, and an
opportunity ought to be afforded them to state their sentiments.
Let not gentlemen suppcse that game alone would be affected
by the proposed alteration: The fact was, that if it were car-
ried, fox-hunting also would be destroyed.—(A laugh.)
Mr. S. WORTLEY was desirous to obtain the opinion of
all persons who were concerned in. the measure, and with that
view would allow as much time as could conveniently be spared.
But his Hon. Friend would recollect, that besides the class he
had alluded to, there was a very large body of persons—name-
ly, the public—who were interested'in this measure. It was
undoubtedly of importanceto that body, that the question should

be decided as early as possible.—(Hear !)—He hoped-I°l4ring
on the second reading before the holidays. ".
Sir J. SHELLEY was anxious for a week longer.
Leave was then given to bring in the Bill.
CONDUCT OF HIS MAJESTY'S MINISTERS TO;
WARDS SPAIN.
Lord NUGENT said, ir. laying before the House the grounds
of the motion of which he had some days ago given notice, he
must begin with stating, that he did not mean to animadvert on
the vote to which the House had agreed on the first night of the
session. This, however, lie must say—that with -respect 'to that
part of the address of his Majesty's Ministers whichregarded
the neutrality of this country between France and Spain, he
felt entirely with his Honourable and Learned Friend '(Mr.
Brougham), who on that night so forcibly and so eloquently
expressed his sentiments,—he felt with him,. that it was very
difficult indeed to concur entieelyin the terms of an address
which could see nothing but a subject of congratulation' in the
result of the policy pursued by this country during the war which
had just terminated. He thought, on the one hand, that the po-
licy which Government professed to adopt towards Spain, was,
from the outset, very little suited to the high and energetic tone
which this country ought to assume to herself; and, on the
other, he could not help thinking that our conduct,-ingot ad-
hering to that intonded policy, had been most insincere and un-
worthy. He could not persuade himself but that the course
taken by Ministers had beer most hostile to the cause of Spain
—that cause, with reference to which they had expressed them-
selves determined to remain neutral on several occasions. This
country had been exposed, in consequence, to the reproaches of
every friend of liberty, and to the scorn and contempt of those
Powers who had, unfortunately, triumphedagainst the freedom.
of Spain. The result had been as injurious to the interests of
England as to those of the conquered country. He could not
but deeply lenient, that Spain had been allowed to fall, almost
without a blow. She was not ruined by the actual hostility of
this country ; hut by being, as lie believed she had been, de-
ceived by the hollow professions of neutrality which were held
out by this country. He did not think he could fail in making
out a case for the production of the papers which he meant to
conclude by calling for. He thought it right to state, that,
in the course of his observations, he meant not to contra-
dict, in any respect, those words of his Majesty's speech
in which it was said, " that, in the strict neutrality
which he determined to observe in that contest, he best
consulted the true interests of his people :" but he would
argue, that in the course of those transactions, the Govern-
ment of this country had made themselves parties against Spain,
at the most critical end important moment of her history. The
last Session came to a close without this House being able to
look fairly at the character of the neutral policy, as it was
called, which had been adopted. Unanimous as they were
at that time, in their disapprobation of the unjust and violent
aggression which was then meditated against that state, it was
impossible for them to forsee the conduct which Ministers
meant to pursue. They were prepared for Ministers de-
clining to take any part in a foreign quarrel, although in
that quarrel were involved questions of principle most import-
ant to England—most important to all free states—ques-
tions of principle on which, indeed, the independence of all
free states mainly rested: but they were not prepared then for
a gratuitous departure from a professed neutrality—they were
not prepared for a course of conduct which was every way-in-
jurious to our interests. The language of Ministers led them
to suppose, that if they did not take that more generous part
which appeared to some better befitting. the ancient character
and liberal policy of this country, they would not, at least, de-
scend secretly and covertly to become the partisans and assist-
ants of France in her unprincipled aggression. How far they
had done so, was now to be inquired into. The useless regrets
which had been expressed by the other side of' the house—thevain lamentations which had been poured forth over the fate of
Spain—were but a poor atonement for the evils which, he be-
lieved, this country so mainly contributed to bring upon her.
They could not disguise from their own feelings this fact—that
owing to the course which had been taken, Ministers must be
considered as theprincipal spoliators of the Peninsula. They had
given to the French those advantages which they well knew how
to make use of; and, -by doing so, they had given up the
strongest grounds of the prosperity and security of their country.
He meant not to advert to what took place last year—he would
not touch on the many compliances which were then unfor-
tunately made by Ministers on questions of principle the mos:
essential to our welfare as a free state—he would not allude to
the abandonment of all those real and effective means which this
country possessed, of giving a support worthy of England to
those rights—of giving a support worthy of England to that con-
stitutional system of Spain, to which, be it remembered, we
gave our solemn sanction in 1812. lie would not ask now,
whether, it' a bold and decisive tone had been used at the Con-
gress at Verona, it would have saved Spain, without the neces-
sity of this country embarking in a war : neither would he ask
whether, under any given circumstance, it became England to
stand by, patiently, with her eyes shut to the cool disregard
with which his Most Christian Majesty treated our protest.
These questions had been decided last year, and he would not
introduce them now. He would merely demand, was this syse
tern of neutrality the fit policy for the country to pursue? Be
believed it was so considered by the great bulk of the English
people. All that be meant to say was, that this ground, low and
humble as it unquestionably Was, Ministers had since abandoned.
What was considered at Verona as a possible ground for the in-
terference of this country, if it occurred, had actually taken
place. Yet we had not only not opposed France, but we abso-
lutely assisted her. We had allowed some of the most important
privileges of our trading system, and even the honour of our
flag, to be invaded with impunity. The possible cause of our
taking part in this war was foreseen at Verona. That cause
was, if circumstances imparted to it the character of a war of
annexation. That was looked upon as a ground which would
inevitably lead us to take a part in the contest. It was evident;
from various acts of the French Government, that the war did
assume that aspect. No sooner did the Duke d'Angouletrie be-
come aware of the difficulty of advancing into Spain—no sooner
was he made acquainted with the vast expence which was ocea_
sioned by that servile body whom he had himself' agreed toeup-
port—than, by a public edict, he declared his object to be to
take possession of Spain. He (Lord N.) alluded to the edict
published at Andujar in the beginning of Aug. last. The Duke
d'Angouleme then declared the power of the Spanish Regencket
an end, and he called for the military, as well as the civil autho-
rity, to be placed in his hands. Did he (Lord N.) blame the
Duke d'Angouleme for this act? No. He believed it was{
founded in humanity, and was demanded by the mort immediate
necessity ; but he must say, that it was a declaration, as strong
as terms could make it, "that the real ohjectof the war was the
annexation of Spain as a province of France." This was not
a mere vain empty proclamation on his part. The edict of
Andujar was not in general circulation through Spain, when,
in point of fact, the French flag was hoisted on almost every
town in the Peninsula. They certainly could not praise• the
good faith of France on that occasion ; because, on crossing the
Pyrenees, a proclamation was issued by theinvading army,
promising the Spanish nation that no flag but the Spanish flag
should be hoisted in such towns as might be garrisoned by the
French. But no sooner was the proclamation of Andujar pub,
lished, than the whole character, appearance, and object Of
the war with Spain was altered ; and the Duke d'Angouleme-
became virtually Viceroy of the Spanish provinces. But the
British Cabinet had declared, in those famous notes of instruc-
.tion (of which they bad heard so much last year) from the Right
Hon. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Duke of
Wellington, that " come what come may, this country would'
never assist France in the invasion of -Spain." But how was.
this declaration adhered to ? On the issue of that question he-
. would rest his case. " Come what come may, this country would
never assist France in the invasion of Spain," was a tolerablyh
strong phrase ; and he remembered the cheers with which that
declaration was received when it was propounded to 'the
House by the Right Honourable Secretary as part of his in- •
structions to the Duke of Wellington. But, in less than a
month afterwards, what was their surprise and that of poor,
sacrificed, betrayed Spain, to see the British Minister, accredit-
ed to the Spanish Government at Seville, throw himself into
the hands of the Duke d'Angouleme and the French Govern_
ment; and stating the ground of that step to be, an act which
the Spanish Cortes had done in the management of• the in-
ternal affairs of Spain ! The moment Sir W. A'('ourt with-
drew himself from Seville, it might he said that this Govern-
ment .had published a proclamation against the liberties of
Spain.—(Hear !)—A distinct indication of a hostile feeling was
thus manifested. Was that withdrawal, or we it not, an
indication of a hostile nature ? Did Sir \V. A'("eurt withdraw
himself from the Spanish Government in accordance with in-
structions which he had received from home ? If' lie did not
act in consequence of instructions from home, why was he Oen-
tinued ? Having. withdrawn himself under such circumstances;
and at such a moment, when perhaps the fate of Spain hinged
on the conduct of.thie country, why was he not reetilled—why

was he not impeached by Ministers, if he hail acted without
others ? If he took this step in consequence ofinstroctions from
home, then he contended it was contrary to all our professions,
'to all our arrangements, to all our previous declarations, to all our
hledges of good faith. This country appeared to nave evinced a
ostile feeling tawards Spain, because the Cortes, in the legal
exercise of their unquestionable authority, had declared the
King for a time incapable of exercising the Royal functions, and
appointed a Regency for the special and only purpose of reinov -
ing the seat of government to Cadiz, where the King was again
to be restored to his authority. In doing that act, the Cortes
caercieed their undoubted right. Were they, the Parliament of
England, the persons who ought to question the legality of such
a proceeding, in common with Sir W. A'Court ? Did they for-
get the act of the British Parliament in ICI ? In adverting
to that subject, he felt the delicacy of the ground on which he
trod ; and God forbid that he should fora moment think of in-
rioskieing in the same sentence the name of our late revered So-
vereign—a Sovereign generally revered and beloved, who, at the
close of-a long reign, was struck with the heaviest calamity that
ensued-afflict our nature—God forbid tits: he should be capable of
.introducing his name along with that of a wretch, who, unfortu-
uwely placed on a throne, was the scourge and abhorrence of his
eople—who visited them with the basest ingratitude for all that
they hail done, and for all they had forborne to do—who afforded
the most finished specimen that perhaps ever existed in human
aature,ofall that was base and grovelling, perfidious, bloody, and
tyrannical. Tnerefore he was a fit object for the tender sym-
pathiea of those Powers who venerated divine right and adored
legitimacy. The circumstances which led to the conduct of Par-
lioment in 181(1, and thoseon which the Cortes acted in 1323, were
enfferent ; hut the exercise of power was the same. Now, had
the Cortes of Spain that power, or had they not ? And was Sir
Wm. A'Court a fit judge of the circumstances under which
that power ought to be used If, in 1810, the Minister of any
foreign Court had withdrawn himself frosts London, on
account of the Regency Act—if the Spanish Ambassador had
objected to that measure, and cited it as a reason for quitting
the metropolis—if he had said, that lie was accredited to
the King, and not to the Regent, should we not have con-
sidered such a Minister as either insane, or as having been
inetracted by his Government to manifest a hostile feeling?
—He would not advert to the case of the Convention Par-
liament, which was a self-constituted body. The Cortes had
net assumed such a power as that Parliament had wielded.
The Cortes distinctly said, the Ring is incapable for a time
to exercise the Royal functions, but we will provide for .his
immediate restoration; when he is in a place of safety." Yet
. it was on this account that Sir W. A'Court abandoned the
Spanish Government, to which he had been accredited. Then
came the three celebrated notes of the Allied Powers—England,
in the person of Sir Wm. A'Court, following in the train of
those three Powers, whose principles she had previously dis-
claimed, and against whose conduct she had protested. Yes,
she followed in their train at an humble distance, but with the
most fatal effect. He did not think that Ministers could be
insincere enough, and base enough, to warrant this proceed-
jog ; hut certain it was, that Sir William A'Court had not
been recalled to answer those charges, which, if this country
had not acted with the basest duplicity towards Spain, they
were bound to investigate. No set of men were so particularly
interested in examining the conduct of Sir William A'Court
throughout these transactions as the Ministers of this coun-
try. Ile hoped that much better opportunities would be given
to that House, by the production of the correspondence with
the Spanish Government, to ascertain clearly what the real
conduct of Sir William A'Court had been. Any thing which
he could state on this subject must rest oily on bare as-
sertion ; and whatever credit the House might be prepared to
to give to his statement, it could not be considered as a ground
for any proceeding when tangible documents were producible.
Full, however, as Sir W. A'Court was of his unabated desire
to mediate, at any moment, in a spirit friendly to Spain, he
always contrived to place himself in a position where mediation
was impossible. Ile allowed the time to pass away, when tile
Government left Seville, until the blockade of Cadiz was com-
menced, which effectually prevented him from proceeding to
that place, and he knew very well that Cadiz alone was the pro-
per spot fur negociation. Where was Sir W. A'Court from the
period of the Governmentleaving Seville, until the period of the
investment and blockade of Cadiz ? He was at Seville with the
French army—the army of the Faith, and the Servile Army.
He was at Seville, where he must have known the encourage-
ment which he was giving by his presence to the Servile Army.
Ile would state a circumstance which would show the effect Sir
. A'Court's pretence had on the Servile party. No less a
proposition was made to him by an infuriated and sanguinary
mob, headed by their priests, than that he should be made Go.
Tenor of Seville in the name of the absolute King ! The offar
was declined, by his stating, that if so preposterous a proposal
-was again made to him, he must leave Seville. Ile (Lord
Nia3ent) demanded why he had remained one moment in
Seville with the French army, the Servile-party, the priests, and
their mob ? He must have remained under the impression that
this Government was taking a decided part against the liberties
of Spain. This was done in the teeth of the professions we
made of our anxious inclination and wish to come forward, at
ony moment, with a proffer of mediation, in a friendly disposi-
tion, towards Spain. • -Now, what was the immediate effect of
S;r W. A'Court's conduct. The immediate effect of his with-
drawing himself front the Government of Spain, and the rea-
son he assigned for so doing, was this—the hint which he thus
offered, very intelligibly, was immediately taken by every trai-
to: in Spain, from one end of the country to the other; the
army commanded by Morillo immediately deserted; that Ge-
neral also deserted, stating, by a public proclamation, that the
grounds for his treachery were the same that hail influenced
tele proceedings of Sir W. A'Court, and that the conduct of
gait individual, the conduct of the British Minister, was the
curse of his treason to his country. Here they saw a base
wretch defending the treason be had committed against the free-
darn of his native landeby reference to the conduct of th e Minister
of n gland. There 'musette part of the conduct of Sir W. A'Court
as which he could not but refer. He was bound to believe that
Sir W. A'Court meant well, meant charitably and generously,
in the attempt he made, in more than one instance, to induce
the Spanish Generals to withdraw from the contest after the
treason of Baliasteros. He had given this advice to General
Alava—a man whose patriotic, honourable, and high-minded
character, stood not in need of his praise. What he was to re-
-.late oa this point, he would begin by stating, upon his honour,
that he had not heard it directly or indirectly from that gal-
lant officer. He had it from general notoriety, and as such
lie would state it, although he was never more certain of
the truth of any given fact. General Alava, it was true,
had never expressed any decided concurrence in the abstract
principles of the Spanish Constitution ; but he had felt nobly
and honestly, that from the moment Spain was threatened
with a foreign attempt to disturb her institutions, the cause
of those institutions became identified with herself. Faithful,
therefore,_ to his duty—true and loyal to principles which could
only at such a time be questioned by those who sought the over-
throw of Spanish independence—General Alava had withstood
the temptation held out to him, to save his own most valuable
life from the wreck of his wretched country ; and who was the
.person who had tried to persuade this officer to save himself
trout the sinking cause of Spain—secretly to withdraw himself
from tier, and so extingnish her last hope ? It was Sir William
A'Court, whom he (Lord Nugent) was bound to believe
-had 'done this upon principles of the purest generosity, and
out of the deepest personal attachment to an individual whose
patriotism he admired, but who must, nevertheless, at the
same time have forgotten—what General Alava himself
did not forget—that the withdrawing of such a person
from Cadis at such a time could riot fail to he in im-
minent danger, if not destruction, to the cause of liberty—to
hasten to the fate of Spain, while yet by possibility it might be
protracted, and to subject his own character to the reproach, to
the abomination, and indelible infamy, which had blasted the
names of Abishal, Morillo, and Ballasteros. He repeated his
conviction that Sir W. A'Court could have been moved to this
act by nothing Init a zealous it:1(1,1119st generous wish to save the
life of one of the best men in Spain—of a man whose connec-
tions with British influence and honour had made hint pecu-
liarly an object of sympathy both here and in his country ; but
still, was it fair, or within the duty of Sir W. A'Court, as the
representative of England—was it within his duty—the maq
who, to say the least of it, had kept studiously aloof from
co-operating with the Constitutional Government—who I:ad
kept himself aloof at Gibraltar—who had placed himself in
a distant position from Cadiz—who at best had been but a
cold, sullen, non-conthicting medium between the last sighs of
expiring Spain and the sympathies of this country ? Was it
wroth Sir William A'Court's while, even to save such amen as
General Alava, to strike a last blow at the dying- strength of
the Spanish constitution ? It v'as with great unwillingness that
he-trespassed so long upon the time of the House, and he would
not continue to do FA/ one moment longer than was absolutely
necessary butthere were one or two facts within his know-
ledge which might not be generally known to Honourable
Members. Ile assorted—and it was a fact which Ile believed
Plinisters woald not deny—that overture. had been made at
Madrid by the Cortes and acting Government of Spain to
Sir William A'Court, offering to recognize the independence
of Spanish South America upon terms most advantageous in
every way to Great Britain ? Was the Right Hon. Gentleman
opposite (Mr. Canning) prepared to deny that this was the
fact ? Then he should assert, until he was contradicted by the
Right lion. Gentleman opposite, that such overtures had been
made, and upon the terms which lie had described ; and yet
the English Government had rather preferred to risk all the
danger and distress which might occur between England and
the Absolute aiovernment of Spain upon that subject—all the
disputes which, verliaps,.• before twelve months were over our
heads, might plunge us into a war which would extend through •
all Europe ; —we had thought proper to risk all this, rather than
accept the proposition of the Constitutional party. He asserted
—let it Ise contradicted !—that the Cortes had repealed the ancient

Spanish laws, restricting foreign commerce • that they had ac-
knowledged, in the most liberal manner, the claims of the British
merchants, and gone on to make a provision for the liquidation
of those claims i indeed, upon that point, we had had an as-
surance, and received a congratulation. last year in the King's
Speech. These things had been offered as an earnest of tlee de-
sire of Spain to make the mediation of -Engle:al in.' er, *se,
r
not merely an act of justice and humanity, but e .iterest ;
but we had neglected them!all, in ordet to . grad ~,,, te iheore
important consideration of enabling France to restore Ferdinand
to the throne,' and of allowing him• fully to gratify all 'the
hellish, murderous passions, which had been in action eve:
since he had been permitted to leave Cadiz, to glut his ven-
geance with the expatriation or destruction of all those who
had dared to give Spain those free institutions which we (Eng-
land) had acknowledged for her in 1812. The rest—besides
the blood—which we had conceded to France, might be stated
shartly. We had allowed a blockade to be formed by France,
of such a nature that we ourselves, in very mid-day of our
maritime power—masters, as we were, of the sea, and assert-
ing rights upon it which, until now, we had never recognised
in any foreign State—as we ourselves had never instituted,
or pretended to institute—a blockade, by which not only the
whole English commerce had been excluded from the ports
of Spain, but the seat of her government invested, and our own
Minister shut out from political communication. All this,
which was a concession perfectly new and unprecedented, we
had conceded, without remonstrance, to the successful am-
bition of the French: the right of search, too, had been
given, and still without remonstrance, under circumstances
which afforded no pretext even for such a precaution. English
merchant vessels had been boarded and detained, under every
circumstance of violence and insult. Their captains had been
detained prisoners upon the decks of French ships. In more
than one instance, this had occurred at sea—not, even, in the
neighbourhood of the port of Cadiz, but more than one degree
of west longitude from it. English ships had been detained
which had entered Cadiz previous to the blockade. They had
lain there, with cargoes on board, to the ruin of their owners,
without the means of applying for aid to any political authority
of ow. own ; and when application had been made upon the sub-
ject to the French Admiral, it had been refused with every mea-
sure of incivility and insult. It might be asked, why representa-
tions had not been made to the regular authorities ? For this
plain reason—because there were no British authorities in Cadiz
at the tinie—because the British Minister, instead of remaining +o
protect, at least, British interests at Cadiz, had withdrawn him-
self, and was passing his autumn at Gibraltar—because ti e
British Consul at Cadiz, Mr. Brackenbury, insteatlof being at
his post, had also withdrawn, and was passing his autumn in
England —because there was no one at all, in short, at Cadiz,
to whom representations could he made, except a merchant, a
Mr. England, acting under the title of Vice-Consul, but with-
out authority, without instructions, without influence, without
support, or any means of interfering effectually for the protec-
tion of British property. And this really was not all. He did
not know how the House might feel as to a circumstance which
he was about to relate ; but he perfectly remembered what he
himself had felt at hearing of it; and, avowing that those feel-
ings had been feelings of shame and of disgust, he still trusted
they were only such as must be natural in the breast of any
man who felt keenly and delicately for the honour of the
country of which he was a member. Let the House hear
the fact, and judge. Mr. Appleton, the American Charge
d'Affaires, at Cadiz, was preparing a protest to the Duke d'An-
gouleme in the matter of certain American vessels detained at
Cadiz. Two English captains of merchant ships, who had en-
tered Cadiz and taken in their cargoes prior to the blockade by
the French being declared—who were lying in the harbour to
the ruin of their owners, and saw no means of application, nor
British authorities to apply to—these captains went to Mr.
Appleton, to the American Minister, and entreated as a favour
that he would have the goodness to include their namesin his pro-
test. Here, then, was the British flag asking protection from the
Am wicans against the French ! For the Americans, they were
our brothers in origin and in feeling. He trusted that he should
I always think of them as he thought of them now—with the
warmest interest and admiration. He hoped at some period
to see England and America linked in the bonds of the closest
interest and amity, forming a rallying point for the rights and
liberties of the world ; and he trusted that the time at which
he should behold this was not very far distant ; but he might
he allowed to feel some jealousy, some slight humiliation, at
seeing the interest of the British flag abandoned by the British
Minister, and seeking, though protection from America, yet
still protection from a foreign Power. For the effect of this in-
glorious policy, as regarded England, we need now look only
at the Spanish ports, and see all the commerce of the country
under the controul and in the hands of France. French vessels,
he was informed, were admitted duty free into every port of
Spain, while heavy duties were still levied upon the shipsof Great
Britain. Bilboa, Malaga, Cadiz, Barcelona, Carthagena, all
were garrisoned by the soldiers of France—Bilboa and Malaga,
which had long been the seats of British factories ; Cadiz, per-
haps the most formidable point for a naval force in the world;
Carthagena, proverbially the finest harbour in all Spain. He
said " proverbially," because there was a Spanish proverb
which said—in the metaphoric style of that country—that there
were but three safe harbours in Spain—June, July, and Car-
thagena. Then there was Barcelona—the key, in a military
view, of the whole country. Barcelona was in the possession of
the French, as well as all those othcrplaces which we had thought
it worth our while, but a very few years since, at the expence
of so much blood and treasure, to wrest from them. The fa-
mily compact, which was considered the ground of one of the
longest and severest contests in which this country had ever
been engaged—by this policy the family compact was sacrificed.
Every object of our war with Buonaparte was gratuitously aban-
doned. Whatever state of things in Spain was babe preserved •
if it was fit to leave Ferdinand at liberty to sate himself with
the blood of the best men that his country had ever produced,
it was surely at least the duty of England to prevent Spain from
becoming a province of the French empire ; and no less so to
vindicate her dignity and her rights in a manner which, un-
happily, she had totally neglected to do. It was because lie felt
that, in this transaction, the interests of England had been sacri-
ficed, her honour tarnished, and her connuests abandoned, that
he moved for papers to give the House full information upon the
subject. There was a document which he believed to have been
presented to the Right Hon. Gentlemanopposite (Mr. Canning);
but, as he did not know the fact positively, he had not included
it in his motion. The document to which he alluded was a
State paper, sent during the last few days of the Spanish
Government at Cadiz—a paper sent to Admiral Jabat,
(we believe) to be laid before Mr. Canning, as a protest against
the whole conduct of Sir W. A'Court since the Spanish Go-
vernment had left Seville. If in the course of what he had said,
in the time that he had engaged the House, he had expressed
himself too warmly, he could only beg pardon of the House,
and attribute the error to a degree of feeling upon the subject
which be could not disguise from the House or himself to be
one of the deepest and most serious description. The Noble
Lord concluded by moving, that an humble Address be pre-
sented to his Majesty, praying that he would direct copies to be
laid upon the table of the House of all instructions to his Mi-
nister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Spain, with a view to his
conduct in the war between that country and France, from the
period of the entry of the French troops into Spain, up to that
of the surrender of Cadiz, inclusive; and also copies of all cor-
respondence between Sir W. A'Court and the Spanish Govern-
ment, relative to the mediation of England in the contest.

Mr. CANNING merely rose to answer one or two questions
which had been put to him by the Noble Lord opposite, before
the debate went any farther. Looking from the period at which
the Spanish Government left Seville, to the surrender of Cadiz,
the 'Noble Lord asked whether Sir W. A'Court, during that
time, had acted upon instructions, or upon his own personal
discretion. The answer was, that Sir W. A'Court had acted,
in some degree, upon both. Government had endeavoured to
foresee every case which was likely to arise, and had furnished
Sir W. A'Court with instructions, in every such case, how to
act; but that gentleman had also been made aware, that if cir-
cumstances should arise which the caution of Ministers had not
enabled them to foresee, the greatest confidence was placed upon
his personal discrretion, and apprised that, supposing any case
of a new and unprecedented nature to occur, the safest course
for him would be to repair to Gibraltar, and either remain
there until he should receive instructh ns, or proceed to
any other spot at which his services might seem to be re-
quired. It so happened, that none of the cases foreseen by Go-
vernment did occur, and that a case did occur—upon which he
should not dwell now, because he did not mean, in the present
stage, at all to argue the question. A case did occur, which
no wisdom of man could have foreseen, viz.—the deposition,
for a limited period, of the King. Sir Wm. A'Court, cer-
tainly, had not been prepared for this event; and it would
be rather a high demand upon the sagacity of Ministers, to
say that they should have anticipated it : under such cir-
cnmstances, he of course acted for the time upon his own dis-
cretion. It was true that Sir W. A'Court's continuance for a
short period at Seville had been misconstrued by a factious
party at that place, and that they attempted to make him an
instrument in their hands ; but, when the Noble Lord stated
this, he ought to have added, that he had refused to become
the instrument that was desired. On quitting Seville, Sir
William A'Court had made it known to Government that
he should remain as near Cadiz as lie could. lie had
gone to San Lucar, and from thence to Gibraltar; and had
at once intimated at home, on his leaving the seat of (Spanish)
Government, that there were two cases in which, if he had
no instructions, he should act forthwith upon his own view—
that, if he received any notice that his presence in Cadiz
would conduce to the personal safety of the King, he should
proceed there; and that he should take the sa.o e course, unless
he was instructed to the contrary, if he heard that the King was
restored to the functions of government. Instructions, however,
had reached Sir W. A'Court ; and when the proper time came
he (Mr. Canning) and his colleagues should be ready to justify

that instruction, which forbade Sir W. A'Court to put himself
into a blockaded place. The blame of that course, if it was
blameable, belonged to himself and his friends. Thei course,
such as it was, they were ready to sustain and to justify. But
he thought that, before the debate went any further, it was right
that Sir Wm. A'Court should, upon that point, be entirely
exonerated.
Mr. STURGES BOURNE defended the conduct of his
Majesty's Ministers, and expressed his surprise that,' if the
view of their conduct throughout Europe was such as had been
stated by the Noble Lord, the present occasion should be the
first at which he had heard an imputation upon it. The coun-
try would, at least, give the Government credit for having
prevented a war which would have gone from one end of
Europe probably to the other, and brought England into the
contest. That fact was absolutely certain with the greater pro-
portion of the Spanish population. But it was worth while to
examine a little farther the circumstances under which this coun-
try would have been compelled to go into action, if she had inter-
fered with an armed force. Had we gone to war for Spain, we
must have acted either as principals or as auxiliaries; as principals,
no one had ever contemplated our engaging in the contest; and
as auxiliaries, who was it that we should have been acting with ?
With A bisbal, Morino, and Ballasteros.—(Hear !)—Would
England have been contented to see her troops led on by such
men as these ? That her fate would have been if she had, it
was not very difficult to determine ; and as regarded the resig-
nation by the Spaniards of the chief command, io Would be re-
collected, that even under the Duke of 'Wellington, so late in
the Peninsular contest as after the battle of Salamanca, when
that great General had delivered Portugal, was still'in the midst
of victory, and the Spanish Government was ready to invest
him with the direction of its armies, Ballasteros, on that
very account alone, abandoned the cause of his country,
and at a moment too, when the operations of the allied armies
were notoriously crippled by his defection.-(Hear, hear 1)
It was in vain to dwell upon the policy w Ministers had
pursued with respect to war. He believed that there was bat
one opinion upon it from one end of the country to the other
—(hear, hear !)—and he should therefore come to the charge,
that the conduct of Sir IV. A'Court had constituted a breach
of that neutrality which the English Government had under-
taken to preserve. The first cernplaint of Sir W. A'Court
was, his not having proceeded to Cadiz. It was answered, if
an answer was necessary; in one word. To whom, and how
was Sir W. A'Court, as a Minister of England, accredited ?
To the King of Spain at Seville. When there ceased to be a
King of Spain, therefore, his credentials fell to the ground. It
was said, that Sir W. A'Court's not proceeding to Seville,
evinced a desire to lean in opposition to the Spanish constitu-
tional cause! If there had been any such leaning, Sir W. A'Court
might have been recalled ; and no wiser course could possibly
have been devised than his going to Gibraltar. Ile would
next take the advise said to have been given to General Alava
by Sir W. A'Court. Why, the Noble Lord admitted himself
the motives which led to that advice; and how did it appear
that Sir W. A'Court had advised in the character of a Minister
of Great Britain, and not in the character of a private friend ?
The third charge, however, was of a still more extraordinary
nature. It was actually that this country had permitted the
blockade of Cadiz. And where was it laid down that a neutral
power had authority to prevent one nation from blockading the
ports of another? And was it we, of all people, who were to strike
so readily at the right of blockade—we who had been so notorious
for the rigid enforcement of it?—( Hear ! )—These, as it seemed to
him, were the three grounds, or at least the three principal ones,
upon which the Noble Lord had moved for the production of most
important documents—that the secret instructions of the King
to his Minister Plenipotentiary should be laid before the House
of Commons, and, through the House of Commons, before the
eves of all Europe. For himself, he thought there was not the
slightest case made out for the production of such documents.
The Right Honourable Gentleman went on to vindicate the
proceedings of the Right Honourable Foreign Secretary from
any imputation of unfairness to the Cortes, or partiality for the
interests of their opponents. It was difficult to conceive
how any such charge could be made against them, when,
throughout all the transactions of that momentous period,
the advice which had been communicated from the British
Government to that of Spain, by Sir Win. A'Court, had been
given without any contemporaneous communication with the
French party. T hat the advice was sound, that it was wisely
given, subsequent events had fully proved. Most unfortunate
had it turned out for Spain, and many of those concerned, that
their advice had not been taken. If it had been taken, no man
who heard him could doubt that Spain would have been en- .
abled to retain a freer constitution than at present she could
hope for. The proposals of his Majesty's Ministers failed of
success, and the results were but too well known. Yet though
their mediation was rejected, that did not preclude the inter-
position of Sir W. A'Court upon the occurrence of any oppor-
tunity in which his services were likely to be useful. Accord-
ingly, up to the last moment, he used his best efforts to induce
the Spaniel) Government to avoid war. But they ought to con-
sider what was the violation of the British Government in the
mean time. In preserving that neutrality which reflected so
much honour on the wisdom of their 'councils, had they no ob-
stacle to overcome? was it nothing to have to resist the solicitations
of one belligerent who had beset them for the aid of their interfe-
rence, and that too, at a time when the generil feeling at home
might be assumed, from particular demonstrations, to be
opposedstrong-
ltyhat Difficult as were the duties of
gtation tovtlilliacth neutralityhihis fight
at any time, and parculiarly
Honourable Friend now filled
difficult as they were at that
particular time, they were not a little aggravated by the
obstacles to which he lied referred. What strength must
have been required to hold. the scales even between the two
parties, when there was thrown into one of them, this almost
overpowering weight of opinion At the very time that tile
Noble Lord was expressing his dissatisfaction at the treatment of
Spain by the English Government, the French had manifested
against them the same kind of uneasiness and discontent.___
What better proof could there be that the conduct of his Right
Hon. Friend was just such as for the best interests of his own
country could be wished—that he had turned neither to the
right or to the left—that he had gone forward in that honest
and manly course which would be his fullest justification with
the House, and the subject of his praise in time to come ? In
the absence of all reasonable ground for the motion of the Noble
Lord, he would beg leave to move as an amendment to leave
out of the motion all the words
„ after the word " that," and to
substitute these words—" This House is duly sensible of the
advantages derived to this
COUtary from that neutrality in the
late war between France and Spain, which his Majesty at the
beginning of that war declared it to be his determination to ob-
serve, and which it appears to thie House, under circumstances
of peculiar difficulty, has been most scrupulously and inviola-
bly maintained."
The gallery was clearing for a division, when
Lord NUGENT again rose to offer only one or two observa-
tions in reply. He thought that he must have been mistaken
in the drift of those remarks which he had ventured to offer to
the Houle. As to the ant I
encanent, it was but a repetition of
the vote to which the house had come in the discussion of last
session, and it was not worth while for the Right Honourable
Gentleman to put the House to the trouble of dividing upon
it, the sense of the House being already ascertained. From
the remarks of the Right Hon. Gentleman upon the motion,
he seemed to suppose that the offer of the English Court was
simply an offer resting upon the disposition of the Spanish Go-
vernment for its success, the condition being merely that of alter-
ing the Constitution. He could not speak with the certainty of
official information, because the papers were not now before the
House : but unless he had been egregiously misinformed, the
offer made by the Right Hon. Foreign Secretary to the Spanish
Government was of a three-fold nature. The first part of that
offer was immediately assented to by the Cortes; the second
was of a kind which, consistently with national honour,
could not he subscribed by the Cortes; the third, consistently
with the Constitution which they were sworn to maintain, could
i not be accepted. The recognition of the independence of
the South American States was the first of these proposions,
and, as he understood, it was instantly conceded by the
Cortes. The second was to exact a pledge from them that no
injury should be done to the person of the King, or of any
one of the Royal family. As no violence had at that time been
done to the King of Spain or any one of his family, it would
have ill behoved the Government of Spain to give a pledge
which, as it presumed danger to the King's person, was incon-
sistent with their honour. The third proposition required a
promise from the Cortes, which this Government must have
known that it was impossible for the Cortes to give. It re-
quired that the next Cortes which should be called should con-
sent to modify the Constitution according to the suggestions of
the British Government. He would put it to this House, or to
any other Parliament which had ever sat in it—he would put it
to any constituent body that ever represented the rights of a free
State, if the Cortes then actin; could have pledged themselves
to any act to be done by a constituent body not even in existence.
When that offer was made, the Spanish Court was at Seville ;
and upen the retiring to Cadiz, Sir W. A'Court removed first
to San Lucar, and then to Gibraltar. In the absence of the
papers, they were left to conclude that he withdrew from
Seville a; soon as the offer was made ; but for three weeks
after the departure of the Spanish Court, Sir W. A'Court re-
mained in Seville, while it was in the occupation of the French
army and the Servile party, until the news arrived of the blockad-
ing of Cadiz. It was then for the first time that Sir W. A'Court
vouched an answer to the representations of the Cortes, as if he
was undetermined to do—as if he had waited for an accident to
move him, and this accident, which nosagacity of hiscould have
foreseen turned up. " See now," he then said with an eagerness
very unlike his former delay, " how hopeless is your case—
the French troops are in possession of your territory—French
ships have blockaded Cadiz, and are watching the mouths of
your harbours—nothing remains to you but timely submission."
This did not seem like the conduct, which in these circumstances
of political adversity, should have been observed with respect

to the Cortes and the Spanish people. Nothing yet offered in
the debate had shaken the grounds upon which he rested his
motion. He was bound in duty to divide the House upon it :
should it be rejected—and he was free to own that he had rea-
son to expect that it would be rejected by a formidable ma-
jority—he would then offer another resolution, upon which it
was not his intention to offer a single remark, still less to divide
the House; he merely wished to have his opinions upon this
Momentous subject recorded upon the journals. The House
then divided—
For the Amendment - - - - 171
For the original Motion - - 30
Majority - - - —l4l
The second Resolution, the nature of which did not transpire
while the Gallery was open, was put, and negatived without a
division.