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

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY

early opportunity should be given of vindicating it, as
he hoped it would be vindicated; and that it was also
due to the character of the country he represented, and
with a view of setting the Spanish Government right
respecting their mistake, if mistaken they were.
Prepared, as he was, to join the Government
in any measure for vindicating the character
of the country, he felt assured be would be
the better stble to pursue that course if, in the out-
set, he admitted that a grievous error had been com-
mitted on their part. He should like to know from the
&hie Lord whether it was or was not the fact that the
whole grounds of the charges brought against their Am-
bassador were assigned in the papers before them? It
was most essential that they should know that ; and he
could conceive no grounds for concealment upon the
subject. It was impossible that the Noble Lord should
not be cognisant of the whole facts, for he had every in-
dividual before him from whom information could be
obtained—the Ambassador himself and the special
Envoy from the Court of Madrid, with whom he be-
lieved the Noble Lord was in communication through
the Spanish Ambassador. He knew the story on one
side and the other ; he knew what the other accusations
were, if other accusations existed than those con-
tained in the papers. He believed that the dispatch of
the Noble Lord was an unhappy and unfortunate piece
of diplomacy, but that that could form any justification
for the expulsion of their Ambassador was what no man
in that House would believe.—(Hear, hear.) Ho might
and did lament that any instructions given to their Am-
bassador—though not exceeded by him, as far as his
judgment led him to form a conclusion—should have led
to a result so humiliating to them—that the Government
of Spain should have rejected the dispatch of the Noble
Lord, and ;that they, as a nation, should be insulted.
As the Noble Lord had justified the conduct of the Am-
bassador the latter should receive no blame from him
(Mr. Bankes). But having gone to that extent, which
in his opinion was far indeed, the Spanish Government
went a step further, when they not only returned the
Ambassador's dispatch, but rejected also the Ambassa-
dor, telling him that though he and his nation "might
not be offended," yet that he had better not stay
there, but take himself off in order to avoid offence.
—(Hear, hear.) The House had before them, in the
papers presented by the Government, the dispatches
which had first passed respecting these matters. Un-
doubtedly those dispatches were from the first consi-
dered in that House to present points for grave consi-
deration. It had seemed to him, and he believed to
others, that an interference had been proposed with the
affairs of a friendly power which no Government could
have borne without resentment ; and, certainly from the
first, he had anticipated that something would follow
calculated to disturb the friendly relations subsisting
between England and Spain—relations which had existed
for many years, and which were maintained by many
important considerations. True it was that Spain owed
to us a debt of gratitude; but it could not but be felt by
a generous people that a claim of that sort insisted upon
at all times, and under all circumstances, could not be
advanced creditably to ourselves nor without offence to a
proud, a chivalrous, and gallant nation. He could not
but feel, moreover, that if Spain bad derived
advantages from us we bad also derived ad-
vantages from our connexion with Spain. It
was in her plains that our gallant army first
learnt to beat the warriors of Napoleon, and though
Spain would nevar forget her obligations, yet the con-
stant reiteration of them by us might arouse something
bordering on a vindictive feeling to supply the place ot.
international friendship. He regretted these unhappy
dispatches, therefore, on other grounds than the mere
dismissal f our Minister. He regretted them, among
other things, because he feared they might 13.1
drawn into a precedent. It was for thatreason that he had
been most anxious to press forward this debate so early.
He wished to guard against these papers being placed
in the library of that House without there being an-
nexed to them an immediate protest—an immediate re-
monstrance. He wished to guard against the possibi-
lity of any one saying in future times, " Oh, a great
affront has been offered to us, bat there is a precedent
for our treating it with silence ; for in 1848. when
Lord Palmerston was Foreign Minister, a British Am-
bassador at the Court of Madrid was contemptuously
dismissed. The papers on the subject are all extant
—and not one word was said by Parliament or by
the country on the subject."--(Hear, hear.) That was
what he desired to guard against. And now let him
come to the consideration of the documents that were
placed before them. In the outset he must complain
that the papers presented to Parliament as " papers rela-
tive to the affairs of Spain" were mere extracts, and
very partial ones. What did the House think, for in-
stance, of such a correspondence as this:—
" Mr. Bulwer to Viscount Palmerston—l have jest had an
interview with the Duke of Sotomayor, who, having re-
quested to see me, stated" .
(Loud laughter.) Absolutely that was all.—(Renewed
laughter.) That was a complete paragraph in a dispatch
of our Spanish Ambassador to his Minister, communi-
cated for the information of the British House of Com-
mons!—(Cheers.) Almost on the same page with this
remarkable State document was another dispatch, in
which Lord Palmerston expressed himself highly dis-
pleased at the decree of the Cortes giving the Government
of Spain extraordinary powers. Why, what right had the
Noble Lord to ba highly displeased or offended with such
matters? These powers were voted by the Spanish
Cortes by a majority of 148 to 45 in one house, and of
63 to 83 in the other assembly. He must remark, too,
that a great portion of these "papers" was composed of
extracts from newspapers. He (Mr. Bankes) did not un-
dervalue newspapers. He had no doubt that in Spain,
as in England, there were papers conducted by men of
the highest talent and of the purest character; but as
newspapers both in Spain and England were anonymous
publications, he must always feel regret when he found
them brought forward as authorities upon matters of
State.—(Hear, hear.) Only two hours had elapsed since
the last series of papers upon this subject had been deli-
vered to Members of the Legislature, and in this series
there were, he must remark, extracts from newspapers,
which he thought the Government had scarcely exercised
a wise discretion in introducing. One of these was from
the Heraldo of May 24, which, after setting forth that
fears were entertained in Spain of the anger of England
in consequence of these events, proceeded thus:
" A singular reflection however arises, viz., the impossibi-
lity of England taking offence at present, in consequence of
the hostile attitude of Ireland, which is wasting her re-
sources—by the increasing deficit in her treasury—by the
suspicions entertained of her throughout Europe—in conse-
quence of her friendly relations with the court of Vienna—
and
finally, by the proceedings of the Chartist party, which
calculates on the support of the new Parliamentary party,
headed by Messrs. Hume and Cobden—(Loud laughter)—
who will no doubt take advantage of the difficulties into
which the country is thrown, in order to kindle the torch of
civil discord throughout the land."

(Much laughter and some opposition cheering.) These
were the documents the Noble Lord gave to them as
part of a great Parliamentary record.—(Hear, hear.)
Thus it was that state papers were made up—(Cheers)
—and he must say that it did seem to him that these
sort of things had been put together with considerable
haste in order to occasion a delay—that they had been
collected with much toilsome industry in order to gain
time.—(Cheers.) He now came to the next important
document—the Noble Lord's memorable "confidential"
dispatch to Mr. Bulwer of March 16. It would be re-
collected that it ran thus :

" I have to :instruct you to recommend earnestly to the
Spanish Government and to the Queen-Mother, if you have
an opportunity of doing so, the adoption of a legal and con-
stitutional course of government in Spain.
—(Hear, from the Liberal side.) This was pretty well.
The Cortes it would be remembered was sitting at the
time, carrying what they thought ;" legal and constitu-
tional measures" by large majorities.
" The recent fall of the King of the French and of his
whole family, and the expulsion of his Ministers, ought to
teach the Spanish Court and Government how great is the
danger of an attempt to govern a country in a manner at va-
rience with the feelings and opinions of the nation ; and the
catastrophe which has happened in France must serve to
show that even a large and well-disciplined army becomes an
ineffectual defence for the Crown when the course pursued by
the Crown is at variance with the general sentiments of the
country. It would then be wise for the Queen of Spain in
the present critical state of affairs to strengthen the Execu-
tive Government by enlarging the basis upon which the ad-
ministration is founded, and by calling to her councils some
of those men who possess the confidence of the liberal
party."
(Much cheering from the Liberal side.) Now it might
have been good for Spain and this country if the policy
recommended by the Noble Lord had been adopted,
but certainly if the Noble Lord wished to defeat such a
meagure he could not have adopted a course more cal-
culated to carry that object.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr.
Bankes) was ready to admit that the feeling of Spain
towards us had not been very favourable, and that the
acts of the Spanish Government had not been very
kindly. We had probably suffered some disappoint-
ment by the course Spain had chosen to pursue with
reference to our free-trade policy. In November last,
Mr. Boulwer applied to the Duke de Sotornayor for some
alteration of the duties with reference to woollen goods.
A correspondence ensued, and the House would recollect
that when the matter was brought before Parliament, the
Noble Lord stated that he thought we ought to be satis-
fied, because we were placed by Spain in no worse posi-
tion than she placed France. To put us in the same
position in which she placed France was not in his (Mr.
Bankes's) judgment exactly all that ought to satisfy this
country; and if the interference of the Noble Lord had
been confined to matters of commercial relation, he cer-
tainly should not have objected. There was not, as he
conceived, any better employment of time for Ministers
than watching our commercial relations with foreign coun-
tries; but he did doubt the expediency of interfering with
the political affairs of nations, and especially of en-
deavouring to force upon them certain individuals and
parties to act as ministers and governors of the country.
—(Cheers.) Why, what should we say if the Spanish
Minister for Foreign Affairs, seeing the Chartists in
England and the repealers in Ireland in a state of dis-
content, were to write to us, insisting that it would be
better for Great Britain' if the Government were placed '
upon a wider basis, and if Messrs. Cobden and Hume
were at once called to the councils of the Sovereign ?
(Hear, hear.) What should we say if, having told us
that they were to conclude by stating that whether we
adopted such measures or not, they would at least have
the satisfaction of having given timely warning ?
(Cheers.) The Noble Lord might say that Spain was
in peculiar relations towards England—he might insist
on the sort of obligatory link which existed—and which
he seemed to think bound the Spanish nation to a
state of subserviency to us because of benefits re-
ceived ; but this was not enough. Cases had hap- ,
pened before where diplomatists as able as the Noble Lord
had been concerned, and where a very different tone had
been assumed on subjects by no means dissimilar to
that under discussion. The Noble Lord, he was sure,
would not be offended with a comparison which he
would institute. Holland, at one period of her history,
was a state divided by opposite factions. She was under
the greatest obligations to us for the preservation of her
liberty, and for affording her the means of carrying on
het commerce. At such a time, and at a period of great

danger to her, we had a vigilant and able ambassador at
the Hague, whose dispatches were extant. He alluded
to the Noble Lord's ancestor, Sir W. Temple. Writing
from the Hague in 1670, that gentleman, after adverting
to the state of internal affairs in Holland, said:--
"I have thought fit to say this much that so you may make
up your reports of these affairs, and it is our part to seem
the least concerned we can in them, the best we can do is to
watch the interests of the country, doing as little as we can
to interfere with their internal interests.
He (Mr. Bankes) wished the Noble Lord had followed
the example of his great ancestor, and been satisfied
with watching vigilantly and anxiously the domestic
interests of Spain—ready to afford aid when required,
but knowing that to offer it unasked was only likely to
excite ill will.—(Cheers.) But he had another case to
cite. Nearly at the same period, in 1678, we had an
Ambassador at Madrid, Sir William Godolphin, who
had occasion to make remonstrance of a serious nature
on the part of his Government. He addressed a letter
to Don John of Austria, informing him that " the King
his master, had commanded him frequently to complain
of the ill conduct of the Spanish Ministers at his Court,
which he was directed to say had not been amended by
the Minister now present." What was the result of this
remonstrance? It met with immediate attention. The
Spanish Minister at the Court of St. James's was
removed, showing that Spain, at the period of her most
palmy greatness, was not above receiving with courtesy
an appeal for the removal of her Ambassador. What
reason was there to suppose that her heart was so
broken by subsequent misfortune that she should not
rise up now in resentment when an experiment was
tried upon her patience?—(Cheers.) But ho proceeded
with the dispatches. The following was from Viscount
Palmerston to Mr. Bulwer:—
Ski
"Foreign-office, April 20, 1848.—
your dispatch of the 11th instant, with s,recaenivdedl
1848.—Sir,--
your enclosures, chl oasvuer e
the step
have to instruct you to state to the Duke of Sotomayor
that her Majesty's Government entirelyapprove
her instant,
and likewise of your note of the 12th. That Majesty's
you took in making your communication of the 7th
n of the d th of o
Government, however, are not at all offended, either by the
sending back of your communic
atio
of the D uke ef Soto-
r
mayor's note of the 10th, however they may regret the ex-
by the angry tone and language April'
istence of those feelings in the minds of the Spanish Go-
vernment, of which the language ot his Exellency's note
and the return of yours were proofs. Her Majesty's Go-
vernment, in making to the Government of Spain the re-
presentations, and in giving the advice which your commu-
nication conveyed, were inspired by no sentiment but that
of sincere friendship for Spain, and of deep interest in the
welfare of Queen Isabella. They felt that in making that
communication they were performing a duty, and not taking
any undue Ebert): ; and therefore, at all events, it is a satis-
faction to her Majesty's Government to reflect that although
their counsel has been rejected and their communication has
been returned, the note has, nevertheless, been read, and the
counsel has been tendered, and that whatever calamity may
ge cdo onnt ee
contents
h of
.t
at
vht hee eD3O'
only
clkyoeu lot dof
stooobtspoermrevvaeye,no trt
ilsi
atn.to
ti
oNiV
thi
hteher
happen in Spain her Majesty's Government stand acquitted
o regardf
Majesty'snot hta
Governmentnh
right of her Britannic Majesty to the throne of the United
Kingdom had been disputed by a pretender; if civil war had
arisen out of such a conflict of claims • if the British Govern-
ment had only a few
assistanceyears ago
of Spain,' sent a special envoy to
Madrid to solicit the
in order to placeher
Majesty on the throne; if that assistance had been given,
both
morally by treaty engagements, and physically by mili-
tary and naval forces; if the aid thus afforded by *Spain had
contributed in so essential a degree to secure the crown to
her Majesty, that •i 't might with truth be said that without
such aid her Majesty would not now have been Queen of
England; if, moreover, there still remained a pretender,
who asserted his right and whose pretensions were backed
by a large party in the United Kingdom ; and if upon every
symptom of danger from that pretender, and that party,
the British Government was in the habit of reminding Spain
of the treaty engagements which she had entered into ; was
also in the habit of asserting that those engagements were
still in force, and was continually claiming, the benefit of the
alleged existence of those engagements; if all those things
existed, and if the Government of Spain had, in a moment
of general disturbance in Europe, warned the British Govern-
ment of dangers by which, in their opinion, the security of
her Majesty's throne was menaced—l think I may confi-
dently affirm that, under such circumstances, any statesmen
who might be Ministers of the British Crown, instead of
sending back the note in which such representations were
conveyed, and instead of replying to it in discourteous terms,
would have accepted the communication in the same spirit
of friendship in which it was made; and whether they
adopted or not the advice which it contained, would at least
have considered it a proof of the continued existence of that
friendship on the part of Spain, to which in such case would
have been owing the circumstance that those British Mi-
nisters had the honour of being advisers of the Crown, in-
stead of being proscribed exiles in a foreign land. .You will
transmit to the Duke of Sotomayor a copy of this dispatch.
(Signed) "PALMERSTON."
Now, certainly it was rather strong to tell the Govern-
ment of Spain that we had been the instrument of put-
ting the crown of Spain on the head of the Queen, when
all we had purported to do was to lend our aid in confir-
mation of the claims of the person whom we considered
justly entitled to that crown. Altogether, he could not
but think that, whatever blame attached to the subse-
quent conduct of the Spanish Government towards Sir
Henry Bulwer—and he quite agreed in censuring that
conduct as highly arbitrary and improper—there had
been in the tone observed by the Noble Lord much that
would naturally irritate and wound the feelings of the
Spanish Government and nation, and he therefore trusted
that in the explanation which the Noble Lord would, he
presumed, that night offer, the Noble Lord would admit
what he surely mast feel, that he had been injudicious,
at all events in the manner and time of his interposition.
Most undoubtedly the British nation, while ever pre-
pared to vindicate its honour, would not hesitate to ex-
press its regret, if any hasty expressions on the part of
its Government had wounded the generous sensibilities
of a high-souled and friendly people.—(Hear, hear.)
Such an expression of regret on the part of the Noble
Lord would at once tend to smooth away the unfortu-
nate asperities which had arisen. It should not be for-
gotten that the Noble Lord and his Noble Colleague •at
the head of affairs were members of that same Govern-
ment of Lord Grey whose grand profession of faith was
economy, reform, and non-interference with foreign
states.

Viscount PALMERSTON —Peace, retrenchment, and
reform.

Mr. BANKES—These were the same things in other
words; peace was non-intervention, and non-intervention
peace. This profession of faith had reference to the
contrary policy of former Governments— of one or more
of which, very possibly, the Noble Viscount had himself
formed part.—(A. laugh.) And the Noble Viscount
would have done well had he adhered to it in the present
matter. Among the papers delivered to Members that
morning, there was one in particular, fiom Sir H. Bul-
wer, which he would beg to quote. And here let him
observe that he had throughout considered Sir Henry
Bulwer's conduct required no vindication.—(Hear.)
That functionary had on no apparent occasion exceeded
or fallen short of his instructions, but had; it would
seem, exactly carried out the views of the Noble Vis-
count. There were various points to which he (Mr.
Bankes) desired to direct the Noble Viscount's reply :-
Ist. Whether any other cause or causes than those al-
ready made known had been assigned by the Spanish Go-
vernment for dismissing Sir H. Buiwer? 2d, As to the
degree of approbation, whether more or less complete,
which the British Government gave to Sir H.Bulwer's pro-
ceedings? Next, as to the precise nature and extent of the
hold which the British Government assumed to have
upon the Crown and Government of Spain; for instance,
whether the Noble Viscount really assumed that we had
placed Donna Isabella on the throne, not from any claim
of right on her part, but because of the peculiar prin-
ciples which she and her adherents professed, in con-
tradistinction to those advocated by other pretenders
to the throne? In the note of Sir 11. Buiwer to the
Duke of Sotousayor, dated April 16th, we find this pas-
sage:—
" There are cases, indeed, in which mere advice from one
Government to another would be a questionable act of pro-
priety and interference; but where it so happens that the
former Government has received particular support from
another, and this on account of particular principles; and
more especially where it so happens that the former Govern-
ment may still entertain the hope that if the struggle in
which it has once been victorious were to be renewed, it
would again receive similar assistance from its late auxiliary ;
here exists one of those peculiar cases in which, without
any attempt at dictation, a State which has proved an
useful ally may say to that State which it has served, " Take
care, you are in a moment of danger ; beware that you do
not separate yourself from those principles which were the
original feature of your cause ; in this manner you may
lose the throne you desire to maintain • in this manner you
may forfeit the support of your best friends both at home
and abroad; let me beseech you, even if your intentions
are good, to avoid arraying, if possible, appearances against
you."

Such were some of the points to which he desired to di-
rect the Noble Viscount's reply. There was yet another:
It appeared very singular that among the papers already
produced there were no instructions from the Noble Lord
subsequent to the 20th of April. He should wish to
know
whether there had been any instructions issued
posterior to that date? Probably, and it might be at no
thetr trusted s
twoted countries, i t
the
Noble
period, when this matter should be settled, as he
be settled
blienLaonr •
makingd, in a a
y
ment to that effect to the House, would feel it necessary
to call upon the House for an opinion as to the whole of
Meanwhile,hepr
e s e n hetr e
swo
louutli do
u b ee remark,us
e thhea
had
he
de
he et dforwardt
had
thes
eb
rporuoge
heard from the Noble Lord that its discussion would in no
degree embarrass the existing negotiations. Had the
Noble Lord given any other intimation, he should of course
have delayed the proposition. Should the resolution
ho was now about to submit to the House give to the
Noble Lord an opportunity for making any explanatory
or conciliatory statement, tending to heal the wound
which had been inflicted on the honest pride of the
Spanish nation, he should rejoice in the part he had
taken towards removing the sore feeling which had
arisen between the two countries hitherto so friendly.
The resolution having been put from the chair,
Mr. SHELL said—The Hon. Gentleman on the 10th
of May gave notice of a motion, in relation to a para-
graph in one of Sir H. Bulwer's letters, for the purpose
of information. He has now changed his ground, and
proposes for the adoption of the House a resolution of
censure on my Noble :Friend. I am very far from
saying that this change in his tactics is not deserv-
ing of commendation. My Noble Friend is clearly re-
sponsible for all that has been said or done by Sir H.
Bulwer, and I therefore think the Hon. Gentleman
quite right in saying that by his motion he is conferring
an obligation on my Noble Friend ; my Noble Friend is
equally indebted to the Honourable Gentleman for his
motion and for his speech, for both will serve him.—
(Hear, hear.) The true question is—l purposely avoid
any prefatory prolixity—the true question is, whether
the Noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs was justified in interfering in the internal affairs
of Spain, by the peculiar relations in which we stand to-
wards that country 2—(Hear, hear.) What are those
relations ? It will be necessary to take a retrospect,
which I promise you shall be a rapid one. In 1834, the
Spanish Government solicited the assistance of England
—a special negotiator, the Marquis Miraii)res, was sent

to England. That Nobleman has published an ac-
count of his mission, which I think I see in the hands of
the Honourable Member for Pontefract.—(A, laugh.)
The Marquis states that Lord Palmerston had very
great difficulties to contend against, but his earnestness
in the cause of Spain and of Spanish liberty overcame
every obstacle that stood in his way, and on the 22d
of April, 1834, the preliminary articles of a treaty
of quadruple alliance were signed. At that period
the Duke of Richmond, Sir James Graham, the
Earl of Itipon, and the Nobleman who has recently
taken so active a part in the question in another House
(Lord Stanley) had not retired from theCabinet.—(Hear,
hear.) The Marquis states that the effect of even these
preliminary articles was signal and immediate. Don
Carlos assented, and it was supposed that the pacifica-
tion of Spain would be the result of the articles. This
anticipation was not carried out. Don Carlos retired
into the provinces, and the entire of the Basque popu-
lation arose for him; the Court of Spain was filled
with dismay, and the Marquis Miraflores, instructed by
his Government, again waited upon Lord Palmerston,
and to use his own language, " implored his aid with
adjurations, ardent and unremitted." Lord Palmerston
redeemed the pledge he had given, by aid, naval, mill-
eaiy, and moral, and there cannot be a doubt, but that for
the interposition of England, Don Carlos would have
been King of Spain.—(Loud cries of "Hear, hear,"
from Mr. Baillie Cochrane.) The whole population of
the Basque provinces, the Church, the monastic orders,
the nobility, and the still nobler peasantry of Spain,
were all the Carlist party.—(Renewed cheers from the
same quarter.) It is said by the Duke of Sotomayor,
in very sonorous Castilian, that England interfered from
selfish motives. From what selfish motives I cannot
conjecture.—(Hear, hear.) The people of this country
filled with an ardent love of liberty, which I trust will
ever inspire them, gave energetic aid to a nation strug-
gling for freedom ; but England, as Sir H. Bulwer well
pointed out, bad nothing to gain in the matter but the
lofty consciousness of having assisted the Spanish people
in the assertion of their right to free institutions.
These institutions were established, and they remained
stable till the fall of Espartero. The late Minister of
this country, I well remember, expressed deep regret for
that fall, and in his regret Lord Aberdeen fully con-
curred. I am far from disapproving of the policy of
Lord Aberdeen towards Spain. It was Lord Aberdeen
who appointed Sir H. Bulwer to the post he lately occu-
pied, and in this appointment Lord Aberdeen manifested
a just and most sound appreciation of the valuable ser-
vices which Sir H. Bulwer had rendered to his country
at Constantinople and in other quarters.—(Hear, hear.)
It is said that Lord Aberdeen never interfered in the
affairs of Spain. I will show the contrary ; I will show
that Lord Aberdeen did interfere in the affairs of Spain,
and this in a manner which reflected upon him the
greatest honour. Sir H. Bulwer wrote to Lord Aber-
deen that he had heard from persons of good authority
that it was in contemplation to plight the Queen first,
and then communicate the fact to the Cortes, when it
should be too late to revoke the betrothal. Thereupon
Lord Aberdeen at once sent directions to Sir H. Bulwer
to call upon General Narvaez without delay, and to say
to him that he could not, indeed, believe the report in
auestion, but that if any such illicit and discreditable
proceedings were intended, the British Government
would protest against it as an infringement on the Spa-
nish Constitution, as exposing the Queen to danger, and
as calcuated to spread confusion and peril throughout
the country. Here, surely, was a case of interference—
(Hear, hear)—and, as such, if Lord Aberdeen was war-
ranted—and warranted he was—in interfering, Lord
Palmerston was called upon
.to do so when he saw the
Cortes about to be abolished, and every vestige of free-
dom about to be swept away. In 1846 Lord Aberdeen
retired from office, and Lord. Palmerston, upon acceding
to it, naturally directed his attention to the affairs of
Spain. I have read the remarkable dispatch of July,
1346, to which reference has been made by the greatest
journal of this country, which, in relation to it,
speaks of the dispatch as having proceeded frona my
Noble Friend, when baffled on the great Montpens.er
machination. Now, it was not till September that the
Spanish marriages took place, and at the time of the dis-
patch in July there was no sort of quarrel with Spain
on that subject. But the Cortes had been rendered
a passive instrument in the hands of the Government,
the liberty of the press was a nullity, the property and
the liberty of the subject were outraged with impunity,
and men were daily put to death without a shadow of
trial ; the name of freedom had, in a word, become a
mockery. Lord Palmerston, struck with this spectacle,
did what a British Minister was bound to do under the
circumstances—he intimated to the Spanish Government
that it was not for the purpose of establishing a grinding
tyranny in Spain, that the English Government inter-
fered to settle the crown of Spain on its present basis.
—(Hear, hear.) The circumstances of 1848 are diffe-
rent, be it remembered, from those of 1846. In 1846
there was no European convulsion ; the authority of
Louis Philippe was ostensibly stable. In 1848 occurred
those mighty events at whose aspect contemporaries
stand appalled, and at which history will look back
with amazement. The Noble Lord was warned by Sir
H. Bulwer that revolution threatened Spain, that the
Carlists were in motion, and that, if they were en-
couraged to come forward, a disastrous civil war
would be the inevitable result, involving the country
and its throne in the utmost misfortune and peril. His
Noble Friend hereupon transmitted that dispatch which
has been so repeatedly referred to. But when this dis-
patch was given to Sir H. Bulwer, did he at once rush to
the palace and deliver it up in the abrupt manner sug-
gested ? No; he kept it by him for twenty days, re-
serving it as a last expedient—as a final resource. Mark
the dates—the dispatch was received by Sir H. Bulwer
on the 21st of March ; on the 23d the Cortes were dis-
solved ; on the 31st an insurrection took place at Madrid.
On these occasions Sir H. Bulwer offered counsel to the
Spanish Government in the most amicable spirit ; but,
as yet he did not produce the dispatch. His preliminary
efforts were of no avail; be went to the Queen-Mother
with as littte effect; and, at length, on the 9th of April,
Sir H. Bulwer, ending that every other expedient had
been exhausted, and thinking that Lord Palmerston's
dispatch might produce an effect which his own verbal
communications had failed to do, sent in the dispatch,
and it is but an act of justice to Sir H. Bulwer that I
should here read an extract from one of his letters in
vindication of the conduct he had pursued, and which,
I submit, perfectly justified that conduct. In the letter
dated April 22, 1848, Sir H. Bulwer says :
"In this state of circumstances I consulted my instruc-
tions ; I had already acted upon them by giving friendly and
intimate advice without any effect being produced. It began
to be very probable that Count Montemolin might show
himself, supported by the Liberal party, and with the cry of
the Constitution of 1812: this was here canvassed on one
side, a Republic on the other. Now, if the Pretender raised
his banner, proclaiming constitutional principles, and we
were called upon to support Queen Isabella, her Catholic
Majesty upholding military government, it would be difficult
for us to support the military government against the con-
stitutional one, or to desert Queen Isabella suddenly, on the
ground that we disapproved of the course she had pursued,
unless there was some proof that we had so disapproved. My
unofficial conversations had no authority. Even if her Ca-
tholic Majesty fell without exposing us to this difficult and
particular question, it might be said, Why did not Mr.
Bulwer warn the Spanish Government of the dangerous
course they were pursuing? Why did he not do so with all
the weight that a formal communication of the views of
Great Britain would have afforded ?' It was, my Lord, in
view of all these various probabilities that I gave the sanc-
tion of your Lordship's name, and of my opinion to the ad-
vice I presumed to offer. It was not, that lam aware of,
couched in improper terms; I did not, therefore, expect a
voluntary hostile reply, or that the present Government of
Spain would involve amongst Queen Isabella's enemies her
Majesty's Government, with more than the precipitancy with
which it bad included in this category distinguished and
loyal Spaniards. The result shows I was mistaken."

And the result does show this.—(Hear, hear.) The
Hon. Member, hes read paragraphs from the Spanish
newspaper, the Herald°. The thread° was edited at
ono period by Sartorius, and is still wholly under his
influence, or, as the French express it, inspired by Lien.
It way, in a word, be considered the organ of the
opinions, feelings, and views of the Spanish Govern-
ment, The lion. Gentleman has read an extract from
this paper, whence it appears that the editor and the
Government expected a revolution in England, mistek-
ing a Chartist procession fur a national march—(Llear,
hear)—not knowing that in England liberty and order
hare entered into mutual guarantees—(Hear, hear)—
not knowing that our institutions are built on a rock,
and bound together with an imperishable cement—
(Hear)—imagining, in short, that our polity was as
frail as the weak, loose structures which continental ar-
chitects are pleased to call constitutions.—(Hear, hear.)
Under this impression it was that the Spanish Govern-
ment thought it could put c sntumely upon my Noble
Friend and upon the English nation, forgetting the ser-
vices conferred by us upon Spain—(Hear)—or rather.
perhaps, I may say, resenting the obligations we had
conferred upon her.—(Hear, hear.) The Spanish Go-
vernment thought, under such circumstances, to put an
insult upon my Noble Friend; and the llon. Gentleman
over the way says that the Government of England has
been humiliated. It would be strange, indeed, if the
Government of this great and powerful country—a
country which had the power to avenge an insult, but
could afford to despise one—it would be strange, indeed,
if the Government of England could be humiliated by
anything that could be done by the Spanish Government,
that, in its need, fell down on its knees before us.—
(Hear, hear.) But instead of relying on this, I prefer
to insist that with truth, with right, with reason, and
with honour, humiliation cannot co-exist.—(Hear, hear.)
The Hon. Gentleman spoke of the quarrels of individuals
and of nations, and said they were the same thing. It
is, I admit, with nations as with men, and I will put this
case to the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. If a men
calling himself his friend had fled to him for aid, if the
required assistance had been given, and he had not only
raised the suppliant from the earth, but elevated him
into prosperity, and become his surety and pledge to
others, and, if then, seeing this man rushing on to
ruin, he were to interfere to save him, and, instead
of gratitude was to meet with contumely, would not
the Hon. and Learned Gentleman feel that the insult
recoiled. and that the intended insult fell lull upon the
degraded ingrate himself and not upon his benefactor ?
This point of view applied to the whole of the present
transaction. From the first report of Sir 11. Bulwer
down to the letter dismissing Sir 11. Bulwer from Spain,
on grounds of which the annals of diplomacy afforded
no parallel—(Llear, hear)—Sir 11. Bulwer had been
assailed with every species of calumny, with every
threat, assassination included, and with the declaration
that ho was abandoned here. But he is not abandoned
here.—(Cheers.) Ile is not abandoned by Parliament,
he is not abandoned by the Government, he is not aban-
doned by my Noble Friend at the head of the department
in which Sir H, Bulwer has so ably served, and who, I
am well assured, will rather throw his office to the
winds than desert the man who has so devotedly, under
his direction, served our common country. The Hon.
and Learned Gentleman asked whether any other
charges have been made against Sir H. Bulwer ? I
know not what further allegations may be adduced by
the Spanish Government, but I know that calumnies of
the vilest sort have been put in circulation against him.

derived from the vile source of inquisitorial esnionage.
One example will suffice: it was said, when Fulgosio
was put to death, that Mr. Bulwer paid for his death in
gold. Calumnies such as these will be treat( d by the
people of this, country simply with dirgust and scorn.—
(Hear and cheers.) This is not the first time that
my Noble Friend has been made the object of
fierce and calumnious attack. Many a time
have I heard him assailed in this House with vehement
vituperation ; but my Noble Friend has ever, when ar-
raigned before the great tribunal, where the public men
of England are tried by the gentlemen of England,
has ever vindicated himself with triumph from each
attack, and has proved himself the conscientious, as he
is the able, champion of liberty all over the world.—
(Hear, hear.) He will, I am sure, do so now.—(Hear,
hear.) My Noble Friend, like the rest of us, has his
faults ; but these are not times in which such faults as
his are to be made subjects of party strife—(Hear,
hear)—the tremendous•crisis of European affairs will
not admit of our making experiments heedlesaly upon
public men.—(Hear, hear.) My Noble Friend has his
faults ; but among these faults his enemies will not
reckon the want of sagacity to discern danger, or the
want of firm tranquil courage, and of indomitable con-
stancy to encounter it.
Viscount MAHON assured the House that be en-
tered upon the present discussion with the sincerest
respect for the Noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs, on
account of his eminence and undoubted ability, his long
experience in public affairs, and the high post he now
filled. Nor was he insensible to the inconvenience of
saying anything that might tend to increase the dill
culty of our position with regard to a foreign power—a
foreign power, and lately a friendly power.—(Hear.)
But this question having been once brought before the
House, he would(venture to state the opinion which he
had formed respecting the transaction. In the first
place he would concede to the Right Hon. Gentleman
that the Noble Secretary had a right, under all circum-
stances, to tender some advice to Spain. He thought
that, after the sacrifices which we had made for that
country, and after the assistance we had given her in
the civil strife connected with Don Carlos, we cer-
tainly were not to be considered as precluded from
offering suitable advice to the Spanish Govern-
ment. But then came the question—in what terms,
and to what effect, that advice was conveyed ? And
when he looked to the dispatch of the Noble Foreign
Secretary, of the 16th March, he was compelled to own
that he could not concur either in the scope of the
advice ha gales or the terms in which it was given.—
(Hear, hear.) In the dispatch of the 16th of March,
the Noble Lord not only stated his advice as to the
course of policy which should be pursued in Spain, but
he went on to recommend a change of administration,
and advised that the Queen of Spain should call to her
counsels some of those men who possessed the confidence
of the Liberal party. Now, ho (Lord Mahon) could
not but think that it was stepping somewhat beyond the
proper and the usual line in such cases to give advice,
not simply with respect to the measures to be pursued,
but as to the men to be employed. Let them look at
what might happen in this country. He believed that
it was not unusual for men of weight and station, who
stood in friendly relations to any Government, from
time to time, if they saw occasion, to go to the head of
that Government, and state their views with regard to
the course which the Government might be following;
and if such counsels were given in an amicable spirit
they were generally received in an amicable spirit.
But the case would assume a totally different aspect if
the friends of the Government were to say, " We
advise you to change the Administration; we advise the
Queen to call other men to her counsels;" and he could
not help thinking that by so doing the friendly line he
supposed to exist would thus be overstepped. So the
Noble Lord, in the dispatch alluded to, had given advice
not only as to measures, but also as to the men to he em-
ployed; and, looking at the terms of that dispatch, he
must say that in them also he saw some ground for re-
gret. Such a dispatch as that ought to have been worded
with the utmost circumspection, and with every imagin-
able care, lest a single word should fell from him which
was calculated to wound the sensitive jettiousy of the
Spanish nation.—(Hear.) But let the House see how
short—how unaccompanied by any argument—was this
dispatch, and how peremptory in its tone. It began—
" I have to instruct you to recommend earnestly to
the Spanish Government, and to the Queen Mother,
if you have an opportunity of doing so, the adoption
of a legal and constitutional course of Government in
Spain.' Why, surely, if his (Lord Mahon's) pre-
ceding observations had any foundation at all, the
Noble Lord ought to have prefaced those instruc-
tions with some reasons or explanations, and not to
have this decisively given his instructions to Sir
Henry Bulwer to interfere in the affairs of a foreign
power. The dispatch of the 16th March having been
communicated by Sir Henry to the Spanish Govern-
ment, the Noble Lord, on the 19th of April, sent another
dispatch to him, approving the language he had held to
Queen Christina; and again another dispatch on the
20th, instructing him to state to the Duke of Sotomayor
that her Majesty's Government entirely approved of the
step which he (Sir H. Bulwer) had taken in making his
communication of the 7th instant, and likewise of his
note of the 12th. Now he confessed that lie did not see
how the Noble Lord was to be entirely defended in re-
ference to these dispatches. If the first dispatch was
intended for communication to the Spanish Government,
it tended to weaken the claim, which we fully possessed,
of giving advice; but if it was only intended for the
private information of the Ambassador, and was
marked, as such, " confidential," then he asked why
the Noble Lord sanctioned the step of communicating
it to the Government of Spain? Did he or did lie not
intend that that dispatch should be laid before the
Spanish Government, and if he did so intend, why did
he express it in a tone which he must admit was calcu-
lated to give offence? If, on the contrary, it was not in-
tended, then he asked how the Noble Lord could recon•
cile to his sense of duty to sanction a step which was
clearly an error in judgment? He admitted that the
dispatches of the 16th of March and of the 20th of April
might be justified it' taken separately, but how they were
to be justified both together he hoped to hear from the
Noble Lord in the course of the evening. Consistently
with his respect for the Noble Lord, he must observe
that there was another, and that the most important
point, still behind, and that was with regard to the rela-
tions in which we stood to the Spanish Government.
Upon this point the correspondence was most inconclu-
sive; but the Noble Lord had promised further papers
when the negotiations were complete, and he could not
but think that the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire would
have exercised a sounder discretion had he postponed
his motion until those papers were produced.—(Cheers.)
At present they were discussing the question in the
dark; but this state of obscurity was not to be perpetual,
for the Noble Lord had promised that it should be
removed. Doubtless, while negotiations were ac-
tually pending with a foreign power, the Noble
Lord might be perfectly justified in withholding
the dispatches until those negotiations were com-
pleted; and as far as his judgment was concerned he
thought they ought not to have entered upon the dis-
cussion at all at a time when the most important part of
the case, and that not touching parties or individuals,
but the national honour of England, was not before
them. In this state of the case, therefore, seeing that
they possessed no information with respect to the
grounds on which the Spanish Government had acted in
their dismissal of Sir Henry Bulwer, it would not become
him to pronounce an opinion on that part of the subject.
This, however, he would say, that so far as the papers
on the table were concerned, he saw no justification
whatever for the Spanish' Government in dismissing the
ambassador of that very power which had befriended
them as the Goverment of this country had done.—
(Cheers.) They ought not to have forgotten that we
had stepped forward to assist them with our blood, our
treasure, and our moral influence; and that the assist-
ance we had given them would require very strong pro-
vocation indeed on our part before we could justify so
great an outrage as had been offered to us. But in those
papers there was 110 such justification, nor even the
shadow of such a justification.—(Cheers.) He did not
presume to say what else the Spanish Government might
have to bring forward. On that point, if it were
necessary, they would be able to express an opinion
hereafter. Nor did he mean to deny that in one respect
the Noble Lord's dispatches were fairly open to some
degree of blame; but what he contended for was, that
the outrage far exceeded the provocation—that it bore
no proportion to the provocation, and that as far as he
could see there never was an act of so much importance
undertaken upon grounds which appeared to be so slight
and inconclusive.—(Loud cheers.) True we had done
such acts ourselves, for Count Gyllenberg, the Swedish
doing
with it,
the
Minister, was sent out of this country, in 1716, but we
inasmuch Pretender.
as
he
It the Spanish Government could show a similar cause
iglaavdebteheen strongestdeteced
in e a
correspondenceons f s
r
then he was sure that this House would not preclude
itself from admitting it as a justification; but at present
no such justification had been shown. And if it should
turn out that no such justification existed, he was cer-
tain that no party differences within the House, or party
feelings of any kind, would prevent them from concur-
ring in any course which the vindication of our national
honour might seem to require.—(Cheers.) This was
what he had to say on that part of the subject; though
he deeply regretted that it should have been stirred
at a time when they could speak only in " ifs" and
" buts," because the most important documents were
not before them. It remained now to be considered
(Lord Mahon)
would lion. Member for Dorsetshire. )
would say, at once, that he could not concur in it. That
whether the House would concur in the vote proposed by He
vote was a vote of censure; it expressed regret, but regret
from this House was nothing more nor less than a vote
of censure. And let Hon. Gentlemen remember what
would be the consequence of carrying in this House a
resolution like that which the Hon. Gentleman had pro-
posed, expressive of the deep regret with which the
Government.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) flu admitted
the humiliation, but he was not yet prepared to say
House observed the humiliating position of the English
whether that humiliation was incurred by the fault of
unjust suspicions of the Spanish
Gouorvdeirprilmomenatc.L, o(rabeyart,bhe ear.)
The conduct of the Noble
Lord was partially open to animadversion; but
that animadversion should be followed by the immediate
retirement of the Noble Lord from the councils of the
to say
glees', and the possible retirement of all those Noble
Lords and Right Hon. Gentlemen who now composed
the Government of her Majesty, was what he could not
coincide in; and he must observe that, until they had
fuller information respecting the whole case, he could
not but think that the House of Commons would not
consult the true interests of the country, or show a
proper feeling of dignity, if, upon imperfect information,
it came to any such decision.—(Cheers.)
Lord J. RUSSELL—Mr. Speaker—The Noble Lord
who has just sat down has spoken so fairly on this ques-
tion—(Cheers)—has expressed his doubts where he has
doubts, his approbation where he approves, and his re-
luctance to agree with a vote of censure, in terms so be-
kcoming a Member of this House, that I cannot refrain ,

from at once rising to endeavour to satisfy the Noble
Lord with regard to those points upon which he is as yet
uninformed. The Noble Lord is willing to admit, and
I think the majority of this House must be willing to
admit, that, evsn putting aside the peculiar relations
which subsist between this country and Spain, it is com-
petent for the Government of one country to give advice
to the Government of another; and that it may even feel
at times bound to give that advice with respect to its in-
ternal affairs.—(Hear, hear.) Provided that advice is
conveyed in friendly terms, and that it has a friendly
object, there are few Members in this House who will
deny that there may be occasions on which such advice
may be given.—(Hear, hear.) Without referring to
the innumerable examples which may be found where
such advice has been given by persons of the highest
authority on all matters of international relations, I
will mention one case that I happened to be reading, I
think, not more than two or three days ago, with re-
spect to the late events in Naples. A person of high
authority sent for three of the Foreign Ministers, and
informed them that tranquillity was restored in the
Cabinet; whereupon one of them took upon himself to
speak on behalf of his colleagues, the two ether Foreign
Ministers, and said that their opinion was that the time
had come when clemency ought to be shown by the So •
vereign and the Government. Who was the Minister
who tendered, unasked, this advice to. the Government
of Naples? It was the representative of her Most Ca-
tholic Majesty the Queen of Spain.—(Loud cheers and
laughter.) Subsequent discussion occurred with one of
the Ministers of the King of Naples, in which the nature
of the Constitution and the propriety of dissolving the
Chambers were laid before those Foreign Ministers.
Various opinions were given, the Spanish Minister
giving one opinion, the English Minister giving another
but it never occurred to the Minister of the King of
Naples to say, " Any advice upon the internal affairs of
this kingdom is an unjustifiable int rference, and I call
upon you to refrain from such interference, unless you
wish me to give advice with respect to the mode
of conducting the Governments of England and of
Spain."—(Hear, hear.) But, Sir, there were, as the
Noble Lord admits, peculiar reasons why England
should have seine title to give its advice to the Go-
vernment of the Queen of Spain.—(Hear.) Her in-
terests had been deeply concerned when the Marquis of
Miraflores came here to pray, to beg, to supplicate for
assistance. Our assistance had been given too readily
—our assistance had been too effectual—for us not to
think that if an occasion arose when the throne of the
Queen of Spain should be in danger, our sympathy
might be exhibited, and our friendly counsels might be
tendered without fear of arousing the national suscep-
tibility. Sir, the events of the present year have been
extraordinary. My Right Hon. Friend the Master of
the Mint (Mr. Sheil). who went through this case in a
manner so masterly that I can add but little to what he
addressed to the House, referred most aptly to a dis-
patch of my Noble Friend in 1846, in which my Noble
Friend observed to the Ambassador—" Such are the sen-
timents of the British Government, and you will inform
those with whom you have intercourse that you will act
in accordance with those sentiments: but you will not
obtrude any advice with respect to the internal affairs of
Spain." But, as I have said, the events of this year
have been most extraordinary, and there was no country
hardly which could be considered to be safe from those
convulsions which have overset thrones—have destroyed
constitutions—have placed towns at the mercy of mobs,
and have threatened to convulse the whole of Europe. It
was impossible, considering the relations between this
country and Spain, that the state of Spain should not
seriously and painfully attract the attention of the
British Government. My Noble Friend read a dispatch
of the 16th March, and the Noble Lord opposite asks a
perfectly justifiable question—viz., whether that dispatch
was written with a view to being communicated to the
Spanish Government, or whether it was enly intended
for the information of Sir 11. Bulwer? The answer
which I shall give will be given in relating the
events as they occurred. My Noble Friend read
that dispatch. It is in those terms in which a dis-
patch is couched that is communicated in a note
to a foreign Government. It was in a dispatch
written in that ferin 1,9i41e'l is intended for the informa-
tion of the Minister; but at the same time it was for
the in!ermatiou and guidance of a Minister who had
been chosen tar his eminent abilities—who was tho-
roughly acquainted with the state of Spain, and in
whom the Government of this country most wisely re-
posed confidence. Sir H. Bulwer, in the first place, under-
stood that dispatch as it was meant—as being for his
guidance. But there occurred a state of things which
filled him with alarm as to the security of the throne of
Spain. He has described the circumstances in a dispatch
dated the 22d of April. In that dispatch he relates
that extraordinary powers were obtained by the Spanish
Government—that the Cortes were prorogued—but that
no sooner were they prorogued than almost every officer
of note in the Progresista party was arrested or ban-
ished, and some of the most distinguished deputies were
seized and imprisoned, with the apparent intent to de-
port them, and all this without the parties thus treated
being told of their offence or submitted to any sort of
trial. Now, on this part of the case I must say what I
believe the opinion of Sir H. Bulwer to have been, for 1
have seen it frequently stated in dispatches and letters
of his, viz., that the best policy for the Queen of Spain
to pursue would be to unite, if possible, in her
councils the most eminent of those who support her title
as opposed to the title of Don Carlos; and that, whether
they were called Moderadoes or Progresistas, it was her
interest to see her throne surrounded by both those
parties, and to make of those parties, united as it were, a
rampart against the attempts of those who support the
pretensions of another prince. Whether that were a
just opinion or not I have no occasion to argue. I only
say that was the opinion formed by Sir H. Bulwer, not
from any regard for one party or the other—not from
any wish to take part in the internal politics of Spain,
but from a wish to see the Throne of Spain strengthened,
and the title of the present Queen confirmed and esta-
blished by the whole nation. With this opinion, then,
the House can well conceive that Sir H. Bulwer saw
with alarm that not only was an extraordinary law
passed suspending all the guarantees of public liberty,
hut that the most eminent men who had held Progre-
sista opinions in the Cortes—men who were distinguished
writers—men of attainments and of character, were seized
and imprisoned without a trial, and threatened with
the loss of their liberty wherever they went. Such
being the case, Sir H. Bulwer was afraid that the par-
tisans of Don Carlos or of a republic might make a
successful insurrection. " In this state of circumstances,"
he says, "I consulted my instructions. I had already
acted upon them by giving friendly and intimate advice,
without any effect having been produced." That shows
he rightly understood the instructions authorizing him
to use friendly and intimate advice without immediately
producing the note in which he was authorized to do so.
But it occurred to him that if he went no further no
record would remain of that advice which had passed in
conversation ; and it seemed to him that for the sake of
the British Government, that it might appear we had
left no warning untried which could have been ten-
dered, that we tad not allowed recklessly the throne of
the Queen of Spain to be subverted, and that at all
events we should be justified in case the throne
were placed in peril,—in those circumstances
ho wrote the note to the Duke de Sotomayor,
enclosing the dispatch of my Noble Friend.
These are the circumstances that account, first, for the
dispatch being written in terms which, I think, were un-
thought of and were more abrupt than those in which
my Noble Friend would have written if he were sending
a note intended to be laid before the Spanish Govern.
ment ; but they also account for the conduct of Sir. H.
Bulwer in afterwards delivering that note to the Spanish
Government. What course were we to take, then ? It
was not at first intended that the note should be laid be-
fore the Spanish Government, but then Sir H. Bulwer
acted upon his discretion, and we have to consider
whether he had properly acted upon that discretion.
It was our opinion that he had so acted properly upon
his discretion, and that he deserved our support and ap-
probstion. I think it would have been a bad course, in-
deed, if, looking to the conduct and career of Sir 11. Bul-
war at Madrid, who had been there for years, and who
was well acquainted with that country, if we
had taken advantage of a technical point, and
said, ",You were not instructed to give that
note, and therefore your conduct must be disavowed."
We should have very much lowered the Government had
we so acted, and we consider we were right in taking
upon ourselves the responsibility, or rather let us say,
the greater part of the responsibility, for the Hon.
Member for Dorsetshire is right in saying that if there
is cause for censure, the censure must rest on the Go-
vernment at home, and not on the agent.—(Hear.) We
therefore, do take the greater share of that responsibi-
lity, and we stand here to be acquitted of all blame, or
to be censured, if it should please the House to censure
our conduct in this proceeding. But, at all events, not
denying or seeking to evade the responsibility which
properly rests upon us, my Noble Friend's subsequent
dispatches to Sir Henry Bulwer have been censured on
another ground ; and it has been said that after such
an affront had been offered him as that of sending
back his dispatch, he ought to have fallen into a pas-
sion, and in pompous terms, and by some acts of an
extreme nature, he ought to have resented the indig-
nity put upon him. I think my Noble Friend took
a much better and a wiser course in explaining that his
motives were friendly, and that if the Spanish Ministers
were angry, we should not be offended with them. I
recollect a story which Lord Holland told me, of a din-
ner at which he was invited ; and when he arrived, he
found there Lord Archibald Hamilton and a gentleman
who was not known to him. Lord Archibald came up to
him and said that the gentleman had been saying such
things to him that he must either laugh at him or knock
him down; upon which, said Lord Holland, I advised my
friend to laugh, and not to think of knocking down. So
I think, is the case with my Noble Friend (Lord Palmer-
ston), the question is not one which involves a grave na-
tional quarrel. Then there has been another species of
criticism passed upon the language used in the notes ad-
dressed to the Minister of Spain by Sir H. Bulwer. It
has been said that we ought not to remind Spain of the
obligations she is under to this country. Now, I differ in
opinion with those who think thus. I do not think that
it the Spanish Government had really consulted the in-
terests of their mistress they would have returned such
as. answer as that of the Duke of Sotomayor to Sir H.
Bulwer. They ought to have been too mindful of their
Qcteen'siaterests to indulge in such sarcasms as were
vented in their reply to Sir Henry Bulwer's note of
April 7. But as they had chosen to do so, they fairly
drew upon themselves the retort that the Queen of
England had received no such obligation as had been
bestowed upon the Queen of Spain. The Honourable
Member for Dorsetshire has chosen to bring forward his
motion, and he thinks it both wise and becoming to do
so whilst negotiations are yet pending on the very sub-
ject under discussion. He professes only to ask for in-
formation, and doing so, he proposes to the House to
agree to a vote of censure on our conduct. I endea-
voured to justify the discretion of the Honourable Mem-
ber; for whilst it was not proper for us to ask him to
put off his motion, I cannot agree with him in his asset- i

tion that it was highly proper to bring such a resole-
Gun forward whilst the matters involved in it were
yet being discussed ; end if the iiouse of Commons
adopts that resolution the effect cannot but be to weaken
—I will not say the present Governicetit—bu'; her Ma•
jest) 's representatives wherever tl ry reay ba stationed.
—(hear, hear.) As to our rclatiees with Spain hey
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 grestest 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 hound to ellow the utmost
forbearance and consideration tor 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 ns any in Europe ;
and whilst I think fiat the Queen of Spain has unfortu-
nately, placed the affairs of tne 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 Spenish 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 be 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 au 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. Buie er 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
assure 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 front Madrid.
Do you think it satisfactory? for that is the real ques-
tion before the Beeise.—(llear, hear.) Is the message
of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs sit
Madrid, 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 circumstances, still
there were accusations in detail which could be proved
with facility against a man occupying so high and re-
sponsible a position as her Majesty's Minister Plenipo-
tentiary at Madrid—thenlcan 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
orally or by written statement, against Sir H. Bulwer.
Who is he? What is he? Why is he here? Why
is his name bruited about? Why is his anomalous
authority quoted on this occasion ? The time has
come when we ought to know who this person is,
and whether be or any one else is ready to vindi-
cate the gross and unparalleled outrage which has
been committed; and before we can enter into the
question 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 have 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 he could have
written 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-
feur hours before the arrival of the British Minister, so
that by the time Sit: 11. 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. Isturitz 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
t
h
House; and, however injured
tiniuirneidstebryinthpeaMriii:misteenrt,: ilfo
wever
misrepresented by the would
be fatal to any one to proitieeastr.a)gaiAnst
ithoaepceognodartisof hish.e
political chief.—(Hear,
easiests
mor e e tics character atroa cte r
selecti n
than
otransactions,engaged
dn
n trs scapegoatsactti
the business under discussion, in a foreign scene,
withof a letter,wahic
wdistant toi
cannot e,
familiar;acqua in tda cnd the nixanansst:rernsg
sed duly
mauaythebrei authorised, or
onro: the presentation eosoennstiaateiroend of
aduly t letter
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irtatfi
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icihaamr
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edno and
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 nut 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 us that her Majesty's Ministers
in the present case aro even prepared to rake 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 rising to defend