The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-25 00:00:00

been set aside by an authority which could not be denied its
competent to make such a decree. Don Carlos and Don
Miguel being, as he had said, at the head of troops in Portu-
gal, it was agreed between the two powers—Spain and Portu-
gal—that the former should send troops to banish the two
Princes from the territory of Portugal, and Franceand England
were invited to be parties to the treaty. The preamble of that
treaty stated, that the Governments of Spain and Portugal,
" being impressed with a deep conviction that the interests
of the two Crowns, and the security of their respective
dominions, require the immediate and vigorous exertion
of their joint efforts to put an end to hostilities, which,
though directed in the first instance against the throne of
Her Most Faithful Majesty, now afford shelter and support
to disaffected and rebellious subjects of the Crown of
Spain, and their Majesties being desirous at the same time
to provide the necessary means for restoring to the subjects
of each the blessings of internal peace, and to confirm by
mutual good offices the friendship which they are desirous of
establishing and cementing between their respective States,
they had come to the determination of uniting their forces, in
order to compel the Infant, Don Carlos of Spain, and the In-
fant Don Miguel of Portugal, to withdraw from the Portuguese
dominions." The preamble then went on to state that the
Regents of Spain and Portugal had addressed themselves to
their Majesties the King of Great Britain and the King of the
French, and that their said Majesties, the Kings of England
and of the French, "considering the interest they must always
take in the security of the Spanish monarchy, and being fur-
ther animated by the most anxious desire to assist in the esta-
blishment of peace in the Peninsula, as well as in every other
part of Europe ; and his Britannic Majesty, considering more-
over, the special obligations arising out of his ancient alliance
with Portugal, their Majesties have consented to become par-
ties to the proposed engagement." The object of the treaty,
it would thus appear, was not alone the establishment of peace
in the Peninsula, but also the pacification of the whole of Eu-
rope. Soon after this an event occurred, for which, though
the spirit of the treaty might be said to have provided, inasmuch
as it went to secure the tranquillity of Spain as well as Portu-
gal, yet no actual and formal provision had been made in words.
That was the arrival of Don Carlos in Spain, and his placing
himself at the head of an armed force as a claimant of the Crown
of Spain. In consequence of this it was deemed advisable to
enter into additional articles to the former treaty. By the second
of these articles Great Britain engaged "to furnish Her Catholic
Majesty, with such supplies of arms and warlike stores as her
Majesty may require, and further assist her Majesty with a
naval force." There could be no doubt that the supplying of
arms and warlike stores as completely identified Great Britain
with one of the belligerents as much as if she had actually
engaged in the contest with her own troops or forces ;
but he would contend that the spirit of the quadripartite treaty
engaged her to that, and he thought the Right Hon. Baronet
must come to the same conclusion, though he might nut per-
haps concur in the expediency of that course. He would now
say a word on what had been urged by the Right Hon. Baronet
as to non-interference in the internal quarrels of other States.
He would admit the doctrines of the Right Hon. Baronet to
a certain extent. But the spirit of the treaty did not imply
any such interference. The necessity for it arose out of an
acknowledgement of the legitimate dominion of the Queen of
Spain over that country which she now ruled. But it was
well known that when a civil war broke out in any State, there
was no writer on the law of nations who had laid down any
principle which would prevent any other State from taking the
side of that party which they might wish should succeed. No
doubt, however, the right of interference in such case was
general ; and if one Government supported one party, ano-
ther Government or State !night support another ; and there-
fore, the party which interfered acted with their eyes open,
and ought to be presumed cognizant of all the consequences.
But in what was done in the case under consideration no new
principle had been established, no dangerous precedent had
been created, and every case of such interference must be deter-
mined on by a prudent consideration of the particulars connected
with it. The Right Hon. Baronet had laid some stress on one
point which he ( Lord P.) admitted was an important one—he
meant the danger of troops raised for Spain, being armed,
organized, and disciplined within these realms. On that point
he must say that it was most distinctly intimated to the Spa-
nish Ambassador that such a course could not be permitted,
and that as soon as the troops were raised here, and before
they were armed, they must be sent out to Spain. On that
point, then, there could be no difference ; it had been already
arranged; but as to the other objection of the Right Hon.
Baronet—namely, the danger of having bodies of men, ac-
customed for a time to military life, and haviar, acquired mi-
litary habits, coming back to this ceuntry withoutb having any
claim to any future provision in consequence of their services,
he owned that he could not see any more inconvenience in it,
than in the annual disbanding of some of our own troops who
had not served sufficiently long to entitle them to a pension.
The Noble Lord, after briefly recapitulating the chief points
of his arguments, concluded by contending that nothing was
done with respect to Spain, beyond what we were bound to
by ordinary treat).

Mr. FE CTOR should compromi,e his dignity as a British
senator, and his duty as a British subject, if he did not
raise his voice against the course taken by the Govern-
ment of the country on this important question. lie
deeply regretted that any British Government, or Admini-
stration, should tarnish for a moment tha laurels that had
been so nobly acquired by a British army in the Peninsula,
and that an army of mercenaries should now be sent out
thither from this country, under the auspices of his Majesty's
Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He used
the word " mercenary," without intending it at all offensive-
ly to- the Hon. and Gallant Officer (Col. Evans) who was
to be the future Commander-in-Chief of this force ; but he
called the force " mercenary" in the ordinary meaning of the
term, as applying to a body of strangers fighting_ for hire in
a country with which they had no connexion. They had no
connexion with the country, and that cause could not justly be
called liberal which opposed the rights of his Majesty Don
Carlos of Spain, who was at the head of the legitimate Go-
vernment.--(" Oh, oh," from the Ministerial side.) He would
assert that the actual Government of the country was under
the domination of an ambitious and unprincipled female.—
(" Oh, oh.") He had no hesitation in avowing his decided
opinion as to the legitimate right of Don Carlos, as his (Don
Carlos's) principles were those which he (Mr. Fector) advo-
cated.—( Hear, hear.)
Mr. WARD, after the magnificent introduction of the Hon.
Member for Dover who had just sat down, confessed he did
expect something to follow in keeping with his commence-
ment ; but having heard him through with some attention, he
owned that there was not, in all that the Hon. Member had
said, one fact or argument which he would condescend to
answer. The only point which had any thing of novelty to
recommend it was this,—that they were now told that Don
Carlos was the legitimate Monarch of Spain, not by the
grace of God, but by the special favour of the Hon. Member
for Dover.--(" Hear, hear," and a laugh.) However, he
(Mr. Ward) would not then enter into the question of legiti-
macy, but would go to the question before the House, and to
the fact of the manner in which the subject had been intro-
duced by the Noble Lord (Mahon), to the great delay of other
business. He would at the same time admit the courtesy
with which the Noble Lord had put it off from a former even-
ing. But he was sorry, as the Noble Lord had thought pro-
per to bring on the question, that he had not the manliness to
put it into some shape in which the House of Commons could
pronounce an opinion upon it. Instead of this, the Noble
Lord had moved for papers which were in the hands of every
body.

-Lord MAHON said they were not in the hands of anybody
but his Majesty's Ministers.
Mr. WA RD—That might be strictly the fact, but they were
accessible to all, and the fact was their contents were already
well known in the country. Why had not the Noble Lord put
the motion into some shape in which the policy of Govern-
ment might be decided upon, and give the Commons of Eng-
land an opportunity of deciding in its favour, as no doubt they
would have done by a decided majority? Referring to the
use of a naval force from England, acting in conjunction with
the acknowledged sovereign of a country, as stated in one of
the additional articles, the Hon. Member proceeded to con-
tend, that by the law of nations it was under such circum-
stances as those of Spain perfectly justifiable, and that a force
so acting would have the right to exclude the admission of
other powers coming to assist Don Carlos. He would go
further, and contend that a naval force so employed would be
justified in excluding neutrals from the ports of Spain, and he
cited as a precedent the case of Denmark. There were, he
maintained, many circumstances which justified the Govern-
ment of this country in interfering to uphold the present con-
stitutional Government of Spain. It had acknowledged the
bonds of the debt contracted by the Cortes under a former
Government.—( Hear hear.) He could speak without any
prejudice on this subject, as he was not a bondholder ;
but there was another point in which we were inter-
ested, and which there was every reason to believe the
present Government of Spain would concede at no dis-
tant day—he meant the acknowledgment of the independ-
ence of the South American colonies. These were questions
in which the interests of England were greatly mixed up, and
which, he would contend, would justify our interference to up-
hold the Queen's Government in Spain. The next question
then was, whether the manner in which we proposed to inter-
fere was such as might wound the feelings of the Spanish
people, or such as would conciliate their good will. He be-
lieved that the force destined to act under the command of his
Hon. and Gallant Friend would fully conciliate their good
will. He would admit that the Spaniards were in general
averse from any foreign interference in their affairs, but it was
when such interference was made without consulting their
wishes. We interfered at their request in 1809, and were
cordially received ; and so were the French when requested
to interfere in 1823. The only parts of Spain hostile to
foreign interference were those provinces where the people
enjoyed particular privileges ; but their hostility related
more to their own privileges than to any general national
feeling. He regretted that the Queen's Government should
have removed those privileges, but the Cortes, under a
former Government, had taken a similar course. The Ho-
nourable Member went on to contend that the cases cited
by the Noble Lord (Mahon) were not analogous to cases
of interference for the support' of Constitutional Govern-
ment. He was not surprised at the desire expressed by the
Noble Lord (Mahon) that his Hon. and Gallant Friend
(Colonel Evans) should vacate his seat for Westminster pre-
vious to his assuming his command in Spain. It was well
known that his Noble Friend (Lord Eliot), whom he also had
the pleasure of knowing and of esteeming, as all who knew
birti,rnusf.do, was the chairman of the Westminster Conserve-
/sive Society; and the Noble Lord (Mahon) might very natu-
f i rally desire to get his Noble Friend to step into the shoes of
10. the Hon. and Gallant Officer as Member for Westminster.
;;,,,* s'he Hon. Merril*, after one or two remarks which did not
*: reach the gallery;*.referred to the intended expedition of the
Hon. and Gallan(Officer (Colonel Evans) to Spain, and ob-
it,- serfbil *it it oiv,that he had been raised to the rank of a Major-
' eneiaLiii 14 : Aesty's service, he would go out with that
?1‘.........„
. ...."