The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-15 00:00:00

PERSECUTIONS IN SPAIN.

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Last night a meeting was hold in the Philhar-
monic Hall, Liverpool, to consider the question of
the persecutions in Spain. The room was crowded.
In the absence of Mr. T. B. Horsfall, M.P.,
through illness, Mr. Christopher Bushell, chairman
of the Spanish Intolerance Committee, took the
chair.

Sir ROBERT PEEL, M.P., who was received with
tumultuous applause, moved the first resolution,
which was ;
" That this meeting hopes that her Majesty will be gra-
ciously pleased to take such steps as her Majesty may deem
most fitting, for bringing under the notice of the Queen of
Spain the strong feeling pervading amongst a large num-
ber of her Majesty's subjects, in consequence of the mea-
sures now actively pursued in Spain against those who
profess principles held by her Majesty, in common with
millions of her Majesty's subjects."
He said that about ten days ago he had the honour
of addressing a meeting in London convened for
this same purpose, at which were assembled more
than 2,000 persons, and amongst them 25 or 30
members of Parliament. At that meeting, which
was presided over by a man who stood conspicuous
for the generous influence of his noble character,
an expression of feeling was elicited which, he
believed, had not been equalled in the metropolis.
To the present meeting he attached even still more
importance, because they had amongst them men
who by their commercial enterprise had carried
the name of England far over every sea; and
these men, by their knowledge and experience
of other lands, had learned to cling still closer
to their native country, and to value and
admire' still more highly the liberties it possessed.
(Applause.) He was there that evening to plead
for national rights and for liberty of conscience.
He was there to plead, not the doctrines of a cold
philosophy, but the great interests of society at
large. He regretted very much to have read in a
newspaper of that town that he, bigot as he was—
(laughter)—had come to excite the bigotry of the
people of Liverpool, against the Government of
Spain. He dared the man who made use of that
expression to come upon that platform, or any
other platform, and repeat his statement.
(Loud cheers.) He had been surprised, not
only to see that statement made, but he
had also been surprised to find it asserted, in
the same paper, that we in this country had
no religious liberty. Very possibly the gen-
tleman who made that assertion (Dr. Goss, Catholic
bishop of Liverpool) remembered that he bore a
title which he (Sir R. Peel) never had acknow-
ledged and never would acknowledge. (Applause.)
Ile had now been in Parliament 11 years, and the
first speech he had the honour to make in that
assembly was against the assumption of ecclesiastical
titles by Roman Catholics in this country. The
Bishop of Liverpool—(" No, not Bishop," and hisses)
—said he should never consider the Catholics free
until they were allowed to carry the image of their
crucified Redeemer through the streets without being
branded for their religion. Now he (Sir Robert
Peel) should like to know what law remained,
since the passing of the Catholic Emancipation
bill by his father—(cheers)—which " branded" any
man for his religion. (Cheers.) The rev. gentle-
man went on to say that the Queen of this country
had not the liberty. which was accorded to the
humblest of her subjects, because she could not
change her religion without forfeiting her throne.
Now he (Sir R. Peel) considered that this was an
insult to the Majesty of England ; and if any per-
son had made that assertion in his presence it should
not have gone unrefuted. (Applause.) The Pro-
testants in Spain were a very small section of the
population ; but it must not therefore be supposed
that they were unworthy of notice. In now bringing
the cause of the Protestants of Spain before the pub-
lic they were strengthened by the fact that they
united all shades of opinion. Ho thought he was
right in saying he represented thousands, not only
of Protestants, but also, he was happy to add, of
Roman Catholics, who had read of these persecu-
tions with horror. (Applause.) Ho did not wish
to say anything disrespectful of the Roman Catho-
lics, nor did he wish to say one single word against
the individuals who now ruled the continent of
Spain. It was the fundamental laws of that
country which were most obnoxious. He
considered that they had a right to speak
in this country of civil and religious liberty.
(Hear, hear.) They all knew what was meant
by those words, and the name of Cromwell,
the great founder of religious liberty in this
country—(cheers)—Would ever be held in grateful
remembrance. If Cromwell and William 111. were
right in considering themselves called upon to pro-
tect their fellow-Protestants all over the world,
ought not they, in the nineteenth century, to stand
by their co-religionists in other lands ? How were
other countries acting with respect to religious
toleration ? The other day he was speaking to the
Belgian minister on the subject, and he had in-
formed him that in Belgium they not only allowed
to every :Protestant community the privilege of
worshipping when and how they choose, but they
endowed the ministers from the funds of the state.
(Hear, hear.) In Austria also, religious toleration
had been granted, though late ; and even the state
of Monte Video, in South America, might serve
as an example to Spain. According to the
law of Spain, no person could be allowed to profess
any other religion but that of the Holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church. He himself had been a
witness to their intolerance. He was at Malaga
when the cholera broke out, and amongst those
who died was one of his own colleagues, the mem-
ber for Leicester. They were refused permission
to follow him to the grave, and when they went
to Rerform the last sad offices for him they found
he had already been buried at the dead of night
by order of the Spanish Government, without any
service being read over the body. (Shame.) The
hon. baronet read letters from D'Armale and
other prisoners, now confined at Grenada, for
reading the Bible; and showed from these letters
that they were not, as alleged by the Spanish
Government, political agents seeking to stir up the
people to rebellion. He contended that there was
no fear of our becoming involved in a war with
Spain by taking the course suggested by the resoe
lotion. It was the moral influence and prestige of
England he desired to bring to bear upon the
Spanish Government. He should rejoice if the
echo of his voice could loosen one link of the pri-
soners' chains or alleviate one iota of their suffer-
ings. He believed that the expression of their
opinion combined with that of London and other
large towns, might excite the notice of the Spanish
Government, and cause them to feel ashamed of
the persecutions, which were an insult to
the age in which we lived. He hoped
that the report of their proceedings would
not be confined to the town of Liverpool,
important though that was, but would be spread
far and wide; and that the movement would be
taken up in Sweden, in Germany, in France, and
even in Spain itself. The right hon. gentleman,
on resuming his seat, was loudly applauded.
Theßev. HUGH STOWELL BROWN seconded the
resolution. He disclaimed any hostile feeling
towards the Rc,man Catholics as a body, and ex-
pressed regret that there were no members of that
church amongst them that evening. The motion
was carried unanimously.
The Rev. Dr. LGWE proposed a resolution of
welcome to Sir R. Peel, which was carried with,
enthusiastic applause.
Other speakers addressed the meeting, and the
proceedings were closed about half-past ten o'clock.