The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-07 00:00:00

•que tut

LONDON
MONDAY MORNING, MARCH 7, 1842.

The answers of the Earl of ABERDEEN in the House
of Lords, and of Sir ROBERT PEEL, in the House of
The public will have read with much satisfaction the Commons, to the questions put to them on Friday night
observations on the Navy made on Friday night in the by Lord CLARENDON and Lord PALSIERSTON, relative to
the view taken by the British Government of the con-
House of Commons. At length that service seems to
have found in Sir C. NAPIER a zealous and enlightened spiracy recently entered into by certain well-known per-
sonages in France, to effect a revolution in Spain, are advocate. The Gallant Officer justly reprobated the
plan adopted by the late Administration, of sending most creditable to the Government of this country. But
ships to sea incompletely manned, and properly corn- what a hubbub will they not raise in France ! What
plimented the present Admiralty on having increased consternation will they not excite in Monday's Cabinet
the number of seamen on board our ships. As Council at the Tuileries ! How the coterie of traitors
the great want in time of war is seamen, as which throng the hotel of Madame MUNOZ, will stare
officers are always abundant, and there is never with dread and astonishment, when they learn from the
any want of ships, sound policy requires that ships reports of the proceedings in the British Parliament that
be rather over than under manned during peace. The their treasons against ESPARTERO are known not only
expense of a few hundred or a few thousand seamen by the Members of the English Cabinet, but by the
with no additional officers, and no additional expense whole of the ex-Ministers ! And, above all, with
for the wear and tear of ships, is a mere trifle; and if what face will M. GulzoT present himself in
by such an expense we can, on any sudden emergency— the ' Chamber of Deputies, after declaring from
drafting the additional blue jackets to other ships, and the tribune on Teesday last, that no conspiracy
completing their complements by marines and landmen— existed in France for disturbing the Government es-
instantly increase our effective force by one-third or tablished in Spain ? This declaration was read on
more, why should it not be incurred? So to act Friday morning by the Noble Foreign Secretary, Lord
ABERDEEN, and the Premier, Sir It. PEEL, and they
would obviate all pretext for having recourse
to impressment on the breaking out of war ;
both seized the earliest opportunity to assure Parlia-
That this plan has not before now been adopted is a
ment and the country that they knew it to be the re-
disgrace to the Admiralty, but it is a greater disgrace to verse of true—that such a conspiracy did exist, and that
the country that it has so long allowed the Admiralty, on the vigilance of the British Government would be em-
every emergency which has arisen, to flee at once to the ploycd to defeat it.
brutal practice of impressment. The Earl of CLARENDON, whose attachment to the
But professional men have not yet attained a clue con- constitutional Government of Spain, has been of such
viction of the injustice and injuriousness of that custom. signal service to that country, expressed, in a masterly
Even Sir C. NA PIER spoke of it too lightly when he manner, the duplicity and treachery of the French Go-
praised Sir J. GRA HA M'S Bill, though it gave "the vernment. He showed that the existence of a conspiracy
seamen only four or five days to decide whether in France, countenanced and supported by the SOULT-
they would serve their country as volunteers or be G UIZOT Cabinet, to revolutionise Spain, was notorious.
liable to impressment." This practice lies at the got- He especially directed attention to the congregation of
torn of all the evils of which the navy has to complain. the most dangerous Carlist and Christino refugees
It injures all parties ; it violates the
.personal liberty upon the frontier—to their being allowed to
and the property of the seaman. It is worse than the travel as missionaries of religion, although under
slave-trade, for that was practised on strangers, while the nominal surveillance of the French Government—to
this is practised on subjects by the Govermdmt which the remission of large sums of money by them for the
exists only to protect the rights it violates in their per- use of rebels on the Spanish side of the frontier—to the
sons. It is a greater crime than carrying off the ne- concentration of a large military force by France in the
groes into slavery, inasmuch as it adds to kidnapping same quarter—and to the presence of an Aide-de-Camp
free men, the grossest breach of trust. In our judgment, of the French Premier, Marshal SOULT, at the little court
therefore, it should never be spoken of but in terms of of Don CARLOS. His Lordship further proved, by a re-
indignation and abhorrence ; and the manner in which ference to the conduct of France in 1839, that she could,
it was spoken of by the Gallant COMMODORE is one of whenever she chose, put down these treasonable
the few points in his speech on which we cannot accord movements, and contended that her not doing so removed
all doubt i,)f. the complicity of her Government. The him our unqualified praise.
The Gallant Officer said most justly that " they ought speech of the Earl of ABERDEEN implied an entire belief
to make the seamen understand that the service of their in all that fell from Lord CLARENDON, respecting the
country was a good service." With that view he pro- treachery of the French Cabinet. He stated that the
posed to improve the condition of time seamen. But how French Government had officially admitted the existence
can the service be made to appear beautiful as long as of a conspiracy, but promised to do all in its power to
it is practically stigmatized to the whole community as suppress it. The Noble Earl, however, abstained from •
a service of slavery I The Gallant Officer must be well invoking their Lordships to pay any regard to that
faWare that the use of such a method of procuring men promise—an omission of which assuredly he would not
brands the navy as something hateful, or why employ have been guilty, had he placed the shadow of a reliance
such a harsh method to force men to serve in it ? On upon it. In the'
event of an outbreak, the Noble Earl
his own principle of making the seamen believe well of pledged the British Government not only to afford
the naval service, he ought to condemn impressment as ESPARTERO all the moral support of England, but like
inost injurious to that navy which he loves, and to which wise to render him that naval assistance which, under
he is an honour. -
LordJOHN HAY,contributed so effectually to the last over-
Though the practice has not yet been publicly and di- throw of 1)011 CARLOS. Nor did the Noble Earl stop here.
redly given up, it has been indirectly stigmatized by th,
In addition to promising the present constitutional :.
Ge-
Legislature in other eases. The Legislature has de- i
vernment of Spain the entire support of England the
dared man-stealing in Africa piracy, and it cannot i Noble Foreign Secretary took care to impress upon their
again practise it in England. Very recently our Go- I
Lordships that such support was well deserved. " The
vernment has given harbour and shelter to the present Government of Spain," observed his Lordship,
negroes who carried the Creole into Nassau, " deserves particularly the support of her Majesty's Go-
though the death of their oppressor was the conse- vernment, for it has done more to advance the interests
quence of their mutiny. By the greatest law authorities of that country than any other since the death of FER-
their conduct has been justified. The LORD CHANCEL-
DINAND." The language of Sir ROBERT PEEL
iII LOR, the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, Lords C'TTENHAM, th© House of Commons was more reserved, but
the substance of it was the same. We have no longer
13110tmar.aag, and CAMPBELL, all declared that the Go-
any apprehension as to the failure of the conspiracy
vernment, has no power or juil,sdiction over them to
bring them to trial, or to give them up to the American against ESPARTERO. LOUIS PHILIPPE Will not risk a
war with this country to restore Madame Mutioz, and
..,., -,Gaverpapent. If the negroes,:kept in slavery, have a rig} t
I his Majesty must now see that without risking a war
tZ. .4-'2thitlns,elyes free, so must impressed seamen.
her restoration is impossible. „r-' . ~,, ,doctrine of frose great Law Lords, im- 1 With the Whigs ready to
support them, the Tories are not the Ministers to shrink
P 7rnr %Mot whose natural and social rights are •
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