The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-06 00:00:00

tion that it was highly proper to bring such a resolu-
tion forward whilst the matters involved in it were
yet being discussed ; and if the House of Commons
adopts that resolution the effect cannot but be to weaken
—I will not say the present Government—but her Ma-
jesty's representatives wherever they may be stationed.
—(lleal., hear.) As to our relations with Spain they
are alike peculiar and delicate ; but whilst the existing
state of them demands that we preserve the honour of
England, we must also act with the greatest forbearance
Perhaps, if the forces of the two kingdoms were more
equal, it would be more difficult than it now is to ob-
serve that forbearance. But, knowing the power of
England and that of Spain, we are not only justified in so
acting, but we are absolutely bound to show the utmost
forbearance and consideration for the latter country. I
trust we shall be able to take care that no stain remains
on the honour, of England whilst we endeavour to pre-
serve the friendly relations which exist between the two
countries. If, as I confess lam unable, I cannot find
any reasonable excuse for the violence which has been
committed, yet I must consider that there is the Queen
of Spain, whose throne demands the utmost support we
can give it, and whose country requires all our best and
most friendly efforts. There is the Spanish nation, as
gallant and highly endowed a people as any in Europe ;
and whilst I think Viet the Queen of Spain has unfortu-
nately, placed the affairs of the nation in hands wanting
in discretion, wanting in temper, and wanting in de-
meanour to a faithful, a warm, and a generous ally ; and
whilst, moreover, I think that the Spanish nation pos-
sesses only very imperfect organs in the Dukes of Va-
lencia and Sotomayor, yet at the same time, Sir, I think
that in all we do, in all we say, and in all we write on
this subject, we ought never to forget that whilst those
persons whom I have named are only the temporary re-
presentatives of Spain, the interests of the Queen of that
nation, and also the character of that high-spirited and
noble race of men, demand to be regarded by us with
the utmost degree of consideration.
Mr. DISRAELI—Sir, it would be difficult, in fol-
lowing the debate as it has hitherto proceeded, for any
one who had not been previously acquainted with the
public affairs which have occurred between this country
and Spain, easily to anticipate what had actually hap-
pened. Is it possible to imagine that a gross outrage
has been committed, a gross public outrage, under cir-
cumstances of unparalleled flagrancy, and upon an in-
dividual who, both from the position which he occupied,
and the public estimation which he had acquired, was
one in whose career, conduct, and treatment, this coun-
try had naturally a great interest?—(Hear, hear.)
Would any one have imagined a foreign country had
dismissed the representative of the Queen of Great Bri-
tain almost ignominiously from her capital—that he had
arrived here hurried and in haste—that the circum-
stances which led to that outrage had only transpired
originally to the English House of Commons through
foreign newspapers—that it was with the utmost diffi-
culty that any public notice of these events could be
obtained in that House, the chosen temple of the na-
tional rights and the national honour ; and that when at
last, upon an occasion most constitutional and most legi-
timate, some notice is taken of it, the Prime Minister
should tell us that Negotiations are going on.—(Hear.)
Why, Sir, that is the great fault we find with the Minis-
' ters and the present state of offairs. I want to know,
after this outrage has been committed, why full and
complete satisfaction has not long before this been ob-
tained ? That is the primary condition which we ought
to notice—that is the primary condition which we ought
to demand to be fulfilled before we even enter into the
question of the policy of the Government or the conduct
of the Minister. I see no reason why the representa-
tive of her Majesty was dismissed with shame and dis-
honour from the capital of Spain, but the Secretary of
State of Foreign Affairs at Madrid most courteously and
politely informed Sir H. Bulwer of the reason. He was
abused by the English press, disowned in the English
Parliament—they could not answer for his safety, they
sent him his passports, and as he stepped into his
carriage, the Under-Secretary of State was ready to
essure him of the very high consideration of the Spanish
Government.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) But yet
negotiations are going on. Why, Sir, a reason has been
given for the dismissal of Sir H. Bulwer from Madrid.
Do you think it satisfactory? for that is the real ques-
tion before the House.—(Hear, hear.) Is the message
of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at
Maelrid, or the dispatch of the Duke of Sotomayor, an
ample satisfaction to you for the unprecedented outrage?
Why, we are told that a distinguished gentleman left
Madrid twenty-four hours before the English Minister,
in order, in detail, to satisfy the Court of St. James's of
the expediency and extreme necessity for the unprece-
dented step which the Spanish Government had taken.
According to every principle of public law—according
to all the practices of nations in their mutual and reci-
procal conduct—that could not have been a justification
for the step which the Spanish Government had taken.
They officially announced grounds. Those grounds were
utterly unsatisfactory; and there the question, as far as
its strict merits are concerned, might rest. I can readily
understand why the British Government can feel that a
country like Great Britain can afford to be generous,
even to the verge of contemptuousness—all that I can
understand and allow; and if it had reached the ear of
our Foreign Minister that, notwithstanding the formal
politeness of the dispatch of the Spanish Minister—not-
withstanding the civil message of the Under-Secretary
of State—notwithstanding those creumstances, still
there were accusations in detail which could be proved
with facility against a man occupying so high and re-
sponsible a position us her Majesty's Minister Plenipo-
tentiary at Madrid—then lean easily understand that the
Noble Lord,waving all the ceremony of office, and urging
notwithstanding that you should have communicated
with us through the accredited organ of the country, the
Spanish Minister here, before you inflicted upon us an
insult in the face of Europe and the world, yet we are
powerful enough to endure the insult if it can be explained
and apologised for.—(Hear.) But Sir, where is that
organ whom they have sent to England? Where is that
extraordinary Minister Plenipotentiary who comes over
the day after the insult to vindicate the outrage? Has
he ever applied to the Noble Lord ? The Noble Lord
said, " A man has applied to me; he was not accredited
to me, and I refused to see him; I informed him, how-
ever, that he might communicate to me through the
Spanish Minister, but that any communication must be
in writing." I think even in that respect the Noble
Lord did too much. What business had he to agree to
receive any communication, even in writing, from a per-
son who was not accredited?—(Hear, hear.) I want to
know who this gentleman is, this Mr. Mirasol—(A
laugh)—is he still in London? He may meet in the
House of Commons an impartial tribunal, if not at the
Foreign-office, if he have any accusation to make, either
orai,'iv or by written statement, against Sir 11. Bulwer.
Whc. is Ise? What is he? Why is he here? Wey
is his name lareited about? Why is his anomalous
authc city quoted on this occasion ? The time has
come when we ought to know who this person is,
and a 'hether he or any one else is ready to vindi-
cate t, 'se gross and unparalleled outrage which has
been c cmmitted; and before we can enter into the
questiot i of policy, that great question ought first to be
resolved. If that Minister had been accredited to the
Noble Lord, and had made his communication, it would,
I doubt not, by this time hare been upon the table of
the House. If, taking advantage of the permission
granted him by the Noble Lord, he had communicated
in writing to the Spanish Minister—if lie could have
witteee Anything worth listening to—if he could have
composed anything which the Spanish Minister, without
a blushing front, could have offered to the Noble Lord,
it would have been upon the table of this House now,
and ought to have been ten days ago.—(Hear, hear.)
Why did he come here? To tell the truth? He might
have done it in twenty-four hours; and if he had tra-
velled a little faster, he might have been here twenty-
four hours before the arrival of the British Minister, so
that by the time Sir.H. Bulwer arrived at the Clarendon
or Mivart's, the Noble Lord might have been acquainted
with all the charges against him. But, after all the
delay that has taken place, I have a right to infer that
the Spanish Government have no accusation whatever
against Sir H. Bulwer; and except the exclusion of Sir H.
Bulwer from Madrid, I can conceive no outrage greater
than that they should send a person over here circu-
lating those rumours, ready to substantiate statements
which were never written, and which from his character
can never be received. I say that that gross outrage
was the first thing that ought to be noticed, and I think
that the Government was to blame for entering into
negotiations upon that outrage. Before they negotiated
upon any point the honour of the country ought to
have been vindicated. If the Noble Lord had not chosen
to have sent M. Isturite his passports the same day that
Sir H. Bulwer arrived here, which I think would have
been a fair return, he might have shown at least some
use for the new Alien Act, and have sent away the
Count de Mirasol.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) It is
of the greatest importance, in the first place, tracing
the matter from the outrage, taking into considera-
tion the total want of cause for the outrage, dis-
missing from our minds all views of Spanish
policy, keeping our eyes upon the great fact of the
gross outrage which has been inflicted upon this
country—then, I say, we should remember how impor-
tant it is, and how it is' the first duty of the House of
Commons in the consideration of public transactions
abroad to be most jealous of the honour and most
careful of the character of the public Ministers acting
in foreign countries in behalf of Great Britain.—(Hear,
hear.) The diplomatist is really the most forlorn of
animals. Very few of them ever find their way to this
House; and, however injured by the Minister, however
misrepresented by the Minister in Parliament, it would
be fatal to any one to protest against the connect of his
political chief.—(Hear, hear.) A scapegoat 15 the
easiest character in all transactions, and no scapegoat is
more easy to select than the man engaged in transacting
the business under discussion, in a foreign scene, at a
distant time, acquainted with circumstances with which
we cannot be familiar; and the non-answering of a letter,
or the presentation of a letter not duly authorised, ornot duly considered as duly authorised, may he htas
exonerating the whole character of the Cabinet, and
save it from fatal Parliamentary censure. I do not
make that observation (which is a most general one)
with reference to present circumstances. lam willing
to believe that her Majesty's Ministers are not going
to desert one of the ablest servants of the Crown—
(Hear, hear.) I say this notwithstanding the observa-
tion of the Noble Lord, who tells us that he and his
colleagues are prepared to take their share of responsi-
bility, and afterwards amplifying and enriching his
phraseology, assuring U 3 that her Majesty's Ministers
in the present cane are even prepared to take the greater
part of the responsibility. I can tell the Noble Lord that
Ministers must take the responsibility, and the whole re-
sponsibility, and not this portion.
Lord J. RUSSELL—I said that.
Mr. DISRAELI—I am delighted to understand that
the Noble Lord said that which is totally different from
what my ears led me to credit. lam perfectly ready to
accept the expression of the Noble Lord in that sense;
but let me remind the House, lam risieg to defend