The Sun.
London, England, 1833-06-07 00:00:00

;70(1
circuit of ten or twelve miles to :et at em ; he ,l•rrelorei,
moved for leave to bring in a Bill t,r iznifirove the tivetg'.
straits, and estuaries of Ireland.—Ltravevanted. t:.‘a
Mr. CORBETT postponed hie motion relative t4..-nits
alteration in the Stamp Acts passed in the reign of Gen. LI
Before he sat down, he would beg leave to
ask the Hon. Member for Boston when be intended '"ls
to trine in his Bill kit the re
peal of the Septennial Act,Mr. WILKS--On the 20th.
Mr. HALCOMIi said he had to call the attention of
the House to an important—(Here the Hon. Member
was interrupted by groans). If it was the opinion of the
House that under existing circumstances he should with-
draw his motion—(Cheers, and cries of " Hear")—he
would comply with that wish._(Cheers.) The Hon.
Member, after a few words from the Speaker, withdrew
his motion, which was respecting the state of the Channel

Fisheries.
Mr. DIVETT moved for certain rettuns connected
with the money expended by the charity commissioner.,
and the number of days they had been employed under
that commission.

Col. EVANS moved for a return of the number of
stamps issued by the stamp office for all the London ❑ews-
papers, from the commencement of the year 1832 to the

end of the last quarter.
AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL CONFIDENCE I N

MINISTERS.
Col. DAVIES then rose and addressed the 'House as

follows. Often, Sir, av it has been my lot to have the
honour of addressing the Ilouse, I can unfeignedly

assure it that never, under any circumstances, or upon
any occasion, did I offer myself to its notice, under
feelings of greater einharrassav ofe than at presen'.
The importance of the question I have the honour uf
submitting to the House, is so great—on it depending 11 e
question whether the course of foreign policy which 11.‘
been lately pursued by his Majesty's Government, grea'ly,
as I think, to the advantage of ttie Hou-e, shall tie conti-
nued, or whether it shall be altered, and the country agaiu
placed in the terms of the Holy Alliance—that it
:done, Sir, would fill me with embarrassment; butt
there are circumstances which have taken place in ti

other House of 13:aliment, which have added considerably
to that embarrassment. Sir, I will state, as I think it the most

manly and politic course to pursue, I will boldly state, that
I have brought forward the motion with a view, and in the
hope of correcting the baneful and prejudicial effects
created by the decision of the other House on a motion
upon this subject.—(Hear, hear.) I hive no wish, Sr,i
to produce any collision between the two Houses
of Parliament, as I am perfectly aware of the mischief
that might arise, and the consequences that might result
from such a proceeding.—(Hear.) I am fully disposed to
admit that the other House, as an independent branch of
the Legislature has a full right to express its opinions
on any subject brought before it ; hut I claim, Sir, at
the same time that I make that admission, the same right

For this House. And if ever there was a time when it war

called upon more than anotler boldly to express its opinion,
that time is the present; for if the House remain silent,
it will be concluded by this country, and the nations abroad,
that we accede to those sentiments with which I think,

and with which I hope the House will think they
ought not to concur. I wish, Sir, by this motion, to
show to Portugal, to Europe, and the world, that the
Members of this House, the representatives of the people,
emanating from the people, participating in their
feelings and expressing their opinions, do not wish
to withhold from them that blessing of freedom which
they at present enjoy.—(Hear, hear, hear.) It has
been stated, Sir, elsewhere, that the conduct of the
Government has been by no means impartial ; but that
it has improperly interfered in tle affiirs of Portugal.
—(Hear, hear.) This, Sir, may be very suit •
able language for those who support the claim of
Don Miguel, but for my parr, and I Lope the House
will go along with me in this, I am not willing to
identify him with the interests of the Portuguese nation.
There were circumstances, the Gallant Colonel said, at-
tending the elevation of Miguel to power in Portugal
which required particular observation. The circumstances
which preceded it had attended it, and what followed subse-
quently were all matters of history, and of such recent oc-
currence that every Member must be acquainted with them.
Still a statement of some of those circumstances was

necessary, in order to found his argument for the motion
he had to submit to the House. The House was probably
aware that, in 1825, the late Governor of Portugal bad
declared himself King of Portugal, the Brazils, and
the Azores, and that they should descend to his son.
Shortly afterwards Don Pedro granted a constitution to
Portugal, which required particular attention. That con-
stitution was acknowledged generally throughout the coun-
try, and no opposition was offered to it. At the same
time, it was decreed that Miguel should be declared the
King, on condition that he married his niece, and swore
to the Constitution; his sister, in the mean time, to be
Regent of Portugal. The Hon. and Gallant Gent. went
on to show how Don Miguel had, contrary to all good
faith, and his own most solemn obligations, overthrown
the constitution to which he hal pledged himself. The
insurrections in that country, plotted by Don Miguel and
fomented by the priesthood, could have been invariably
put down by the Portuguese themselves, but for the
unfortunate presence and peremptory orders of the
British troops, who were commanded, whatever took
place, to preserve inviolate the royal person; and thus
Don Miguel succeeded by intrigue, the influence
of the priesthood, and a variety of prodigious
means in overthrowing the constitution, and
seizing the throne of Portugal. It was worth while
for the House to consider what share this country had
in unwittingly bringing about such a state of things ;
Donna Maria was not only all along recognised as Queen
de jure, but in fact she being in possession of the most
important dependencies of the Portuguese dominions,
might almost be now considered Queen de facto. Her
party bad possession of the second city of the kingdom,
and of a military post between Oporto and Lisbon.
One would have thought that Don Miguel would have
been anxious to conciliate Great Britain by every effort in
his power ; but so far front doing so be was
scarcely seated on the throne when he commenced
a series of outrages on British subjects and British pro-
perty, which was unparalleled in the history of nations. He
imprisoned British subjects, and robbed them, and com-
mitted other acts of a most revolting character.
The outrages indeed were of that character that would
fully have justified this country in adopting violent
measures against him. He broke the commercial treaty
with Great Britain—he seized British 0 subjects—
and he accompanied those measures with the grossest
oppression.—(Hear, hear.) Notwithstanding all these
acts, we had still adopted and practised the prin-
ciple of non-intervention. As to the supply of
munitions of war to one of the parties, it had been
truly said the same thing was open to the other
party, and that it would neither be an infringement o f
the Foreign Enlistment Act, nor a violation of the
principle of non-intervention. When he (Colonel
Davies) heard so much talk of keeping the public faith,
and of not breaking the provisions of the Foreign Enlist-
ment Act, he could not help asking bow it
happened that no complaint of that kind had ever been
made before. He begged also to ask, whether it
were not possible that the motion in the other House
had not been withheld until it could be instrumental
in forcing Ministers to resign their places, and whether it
were not intended to strangle, he might say, in the womb,
all those measures which Ministers had in contemplation,
by endeavouring to defeat them on their line of
Foreign policy. The object of turning out Ministers
could not be complained of, if it was on a fair and legitimate
question ; but he must be allowed to ask whether the con-
duct of the parties who brought forward these charges
against Ministers had been so pure and spotless as to justify
them in their proceedings. Those who charged the pre-
sent Ministers with the breach of neutrality bad them-
selves acted more strongly. They had sent out an army
to Portugal, not, indeed, to take a part in the disputes of
that country, but, in compliance with the terms of an-
cient treaties, to prevent its invasion by a Spanish force.
Nothing had since been done by the Government that
went beyond that Act. But if the present Government
hail manifested a strong and decided feeling against the
party of Don Miguel, would it have been an extraordinary
circumstance? Had not the Miguelites fired on British
vessels, that were merely occupied in trading transactions?
What, too, he would ask, bad been the conduct of the
Spanish Government on this occasion? Had not their
armies approached the Portuguese frontiers, and had they
not afforded supplies to one of the belligerent parties ?
Under all the circutnetances, he conceived his Majesty's
Government had not taken an improper part, and there-
tore he was anxious that they should be supported by the
vote of that House. He felt convinced that if the decision
of the other branch of the Legislature were not quickly
tnet by an opposite vote, emanating from that House, 21
Lours would not elapse, after the declaration made in
another place was known, before a Spanish army would
cross the Portuguese frontier.—(Hear, bear.) Surely,
therefore, they ought to stand forward in order to prevent
such a catastrophe—a catastrophe that might be the means
of plunging this country and all Europe into war. Ia
1826, Mr. Canning had said, that if a single Spanish
column passed the Portuguese frontier, this country was
bound immediately to interfere ; and, ais,utedly, if tit
principle were a just one at
coiu
thatttilituntei,uuiti:e:aa ititottlehssavjititsi;
tut! politic now. At the present moment they sawl
Itubsiau eagle hovering o