The Sun.
London, England, 1832-08-16 00:00:00

(PRICE 7D.)

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i ef
from
had
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made
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y, at present
an increased urne-
panrodvihdeeddfoourb,tedwonuoltd bbuet t
ing year of 8,0001. He threw himself upon theirpLord-
mheadedeufipciebnyc
venue, which he expected would assuredly follow.
He thought it was not necessary for him to make.
any further statement on the finances of the countra
and he should have rejoiced if his task bad here tenni',
nated.—(Hear.) But, although inconvenient as it might
be, and unprepared as he was from the • •
which the Noble Duke had given on Monday,
pared with the subject upon which he had
enteredam c
at
such length in his speech, yet he could not allow those ob-
servations which the Duke had urged, as to the policy
adopted by Ministers respecting Portugal,.)
to go entire' •
without answer. Nobody felt more than he (Earl Grey)
did for the interests of that country—nobody felt more
anxious than he was—not even the Noble Duke himself
that the contest which was unhappily
existing in Portu-
gal should be brought to a speedy and satisfactory conclu-
sion. His Majesty's Ministers were not accountable for
the state of things which then existed; they had not been
instrumental in what had taken place. When they cm
into office they found that Prince upon the throne of ae
Por-
tugal who had been so often characterised as a usurper.
They did not invite him to a seat on that throne. If
there was a period when both justice and policy united in
sanctioning the interference of this counts • with
Portugal,
g
it was that period when Don Miguel assumed thethrone,
and when the Midst' Ministerwas withdrawn. Don
Miguel had never been recognized by this country as the
Sovereign of Portugal, whereas Donna Maria had re-
peatedly been acknowledged. She had been designated
as " Her most faithful Majesty," as the Secretary of
State's Office proved. When Ministers came into office
they found some negotiations going on respecting Don
Miguel, and, on the fulfilment of certain conditions, it
would seem th it it was the intention of
the
Noble Duke to
rec ignize him.
The Duke of WELLINGTON was here understood as
expressing dissent to the condition.
Earl GREY said, the condition was, if an amnesty was
granted. The Noble Earl then read this passage from the
King's speech of November 2, 1830 :—" I leave not yet
accredited my Ambassador to the Court of Lisbon' ; but
the Portuguese Government having determined to perform
a great act of justice and humanity by the grant of a general
amnesty, I think that the time may shortly arrive when
the interests of my subjects will demand a renewal of those
relations which had so long existed between the two coun
tries." It was obvious, continued the Noble Earl, from-
that paragraph in the King's speech, that if the amnesty
did not take place then, recognition would not follow.
This he considered a condition, in the fair and usual mean-
ing of that word. But the amnesty was not granted, and
the prisons were crowded with victims of as cruel acts of
tyranny as ever were committed, lie regretted, as much
as the Noble Duke could, the civil war which • now existed
in Portugal. The Noble Duke had pronounced against the
success of Don Pedro. If Don Pedro's military means were
not strong enough for him to advance—if the people of the
country were generally against him, as some persons in-
sisted they were, and in favour of the King de facto, and if
the King de facto had a powerful armed force to act
against
Don P
invader edro,—whom, by the way, the Noble Duke spoke of
as an of a peaceful country, as if there was no.
thing on that Prince's side to justify the interference_ if
the army remained faithful to the King,
ilnid the people
did not assist Don Pedro, it was vat
would be the result. Knowing what cruel ttyr "eas
what
exercised by the King who was now upon thetany w
hnr o- a n
was not surprising that the people should hesiner and
not surprising that no greater degree of feelira nad been
manifested in favour of Don Pedro. NV" respect to the
fleet which had been sent by Min's .a to the Tagus, he
had but few observations to ofr. (That fleet was not sent
to act against the Kjsa de facto, but to protect the
British subjects a. iineir commerce : and since what 1-.-1
recently tr,a+Pired, Ministers thought it riA., increase
Data; was strictly
this country to oh"-' re neutralitre L-A
ment ceased.--(Hear, hear.) It was impossible for any
man to have acted with greater discretion than the British
Admiral who commanded on that station. Nothing th it
had been done could by possibility be construed into a viola-
tion of neutrality, as far as the conduct of the fleet was
concerned. The Noble Duke bad complained that an En-
glish Nobleman, who was in a high official capacity, had
been made a Brigadier-General of Portugal. Lord Wil-
liam Russell had merely the rank of Brigadier-General;
he was not there in the capacity of one, and he had dis-
charged his duty, as every one who knew him would rea-
dily believe, with great credit and honour to himself, and
advantage to his country.—(Hear.) But the Noble Duke
had complained that he was armed with a power of peace
or war. He bad no such power; but, in the case of cer-
tain events taking place, he had instructions to act. The
Noble Duke had also complained of a vessel belonging to
Admiral Sartorius's fleet hoisting the British colours. Well,
what happened? Admiral Parker sent to him, and said
it would not be permitted. If Don Pedro's vessels hoisted
British colours, it was contrary to authority.—(Hear,
hear.) He (Earl Grey) had detained their Lordships at
greater length than he had anticipated when he had en-
tered the House, and certainly to great inconvenience to
himself. He was inclined to say much more on the sub-
ject of Portugal, but he feared, from the situation in
which be stood, he might transgress the bounds which his
duty prescribed, it he allowed himself to be led away by
his feelings.
The Duke of WELLINGTON did not think the No-
ble Earl had any reason to complain of being taken by
surprise on this question, as the Bill had been read a se-
cond time on Friday, and lie had given notice on the sub-
j=ect on the Monday following ; and still less had the Noble
Earl reason to complain of his entering on our foreign and
domestic policy, as the Noble Earl himself had on former
occasions set the example. Respecting the state of the
finances, as alluded to by the Noble Earl, he had
only to say, that the Noble Earl has misunder-
stood what his object was. Ile did not blame the Noble
Earl for not laying on additional taxes to make up the de-
ficiency. The deficiency certainly was not excessive, and
he had great hopes that in future years the revenue would
increase; but what be said was, that it was a circum-
stance unheard of in the finances of the country (and he
would appeal to the Noble Viscount opposite for the fact)
that there should be a deficiency of 1,263,0001. without
any provision being made for making it good. There
was no such instance, be would repeat, without the
deficiency being supplied, either by loan or the issue of
Exchequer Bills. Respecting the question of Portugal
he was sorry that the Noble Earl should have cast any
reflection on the Government to which he belonged on
account of the course pursued by Don Miguel. The Noble
Earl had said the Government to which he belonged was
the cause of the usurpation, and they ought to have pre-
vented it. Now it was well known that Don Miguel was
not brought to Portugal during the Ministry to which he
belonged, but in the Ministry of the Noble Viscount op-
posite. It was true he (the Duke of Wellington) was in
office when the usurpation was consummated ; but he must
deny that the British army was in Portugal at the time,
far the army was withdrawn before that event had taken
place. It was true the Prince, previous to the withdrawal
of the army, had purposed to dissolve the Chambers, and
had shown indications not to carry into effect the Consti-
tution, but that part was not completed till the Cortes had
been called in to decide, and then the British troops had
been withdrawn. The late Ministry had, in his opinion,
done their duty by recognising the other branch of the
House of Braganza ; but, surely, it was not their duty to
spend British money and blood in support of it. The
Noble Lord had said the former Government were on the
point of recognizing Don Miguel, on the condition of an
amnesty being granted by that Prince. Now it would have
been but fair in the Noble Lord to have stated fully what
were the real circumstances of the ease. The Government
had endeavoured first of all to reconcile the clahns of the
two branches of the House of Braganza. They, accord-
ingly, despatched an agent to Brazil to ascertain the feel-
ings af Don Pedro, and from this they ascertained that he
was willing to carry on war, but bad not the me ins. That
being the case, it was the duty of Government to place
Portugal again in the society of the other nations of Eu-
rope as soon as possible, and the way in which they pro-
posed to do so was this—to require him to pass an act of
grace in favour of all those who had been engaged under
the former Government of Portugal, and afterwards ac-
knowledge him as King of Portugal. But they did not
for a moment suppose that this acknowledgment was to be
viewed in the light of a condition which should bind Eog•