Star.
London, England, 1824-03-19 00:00:00

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wieffin rotes:kw netithlity, and highly. disrespect-
able to oth America, if her. Gbvernments agreed to
it. It was said, however, that Spain only wished, in
doini this, to secure for herselicOmmercial advantages.
yes, brit what Would be the next abject? Why, merely
to raise money tarpaythat auxiliary army, which could
no longer exist without it. Give Spain money and you
give her the means of perpetuating oppression ; deny
her money, and either the Spaniards will obtain their
liberty, if they deserve it, or they will remain as they
now are. The King of Spain, when leaving Port St.
Mary's, declared to General Alava, thit there was no
object .so near 'lnd dear to his heart as a general am-
nesty, and that the last thing he would cherish was any
Vindictive re-action. Now, however, he was in the hands
of France, and the system of proscription was un-
biended. He did not meat; to say that this Govern-
bent should go to war for the sake of Spain; but he
leas lake satisfied that many in this country objected to
the Spanish Constitution because they thought it too de-
Inoctifical, and as likely to produce a revolution itv
France, threatening the security of the House of Bour-
bon. He did not blame the Ministers of this country
for not going to war ; but they should boldly denounce
she, principle on which the war against Spain was un-
dertaken. The King of France was indebted for his
throne to the Prince Regent of England; and the' Bri-
tish Government should tell France, that her efforts to
subdue another nation's liberty, could not be silently
tolerated. The Br itishGovernment, however, talked of
their neutrality—neutrality they had determined upon;
and from that very moment the ruffian band, called the
Army of the Faith, was increased ; the treason of Mo-
rino, Ballasteros, and Abisbalfollowed, and despon-
dency was spread amongst the friends of a free Consti-
tution; public credit was destroyed, and the Spanish
Government had not the means of paying the army, or
throwing supplies into the garrisons. It was said that
the Constitutionalists were a faction; but if they were,•
they were a faction composed of the most amicable and
enlightened men in Spain. There was another reason
why they were entitled to our support: they were the
friends of civil and religious liberty— ( Hear, hear).
France, too, was so well aware of this, that it made
the war a religious crusade. So felt the Church of
France; they felt that the intolerant Church of Spain
was in danger. The Constitutional party was not a fac-
tion. Why was the French army kept in Spain? The
flag of despotism was flying in every quarter, yet still
the army was kept there. • He admitted that the people
of Spain had not made the ablest defence that a nation
could have made in defence of their -liberties, but they
must consider the circumstances under which that na-
tion was placeti; the formidable alliance against which
they had to contend, and the trifling resources upon
which they had to rely. He could not give a better
description of Spain, of its state and constitution, than
by stating briefly to the House the condition of Cadiz
just before its surrender : Cadiz was considered, even
in the times of the former war, to require a force of
25,000 men to defend it; now the whole force amounted
to about 9,700 men. Not a • chevaux-de-frise was to
be had : no provisions to be-procured, and in the Trea-
sury, the pay of :Le army on the day of surrender
amounted to 15 dollars. Yet even on the day.of sur-
render there was no apprehension or alarm on the ,part
of the people; they met the danger as it fitted men pro;
pared for the worst, and there was no evidence, as there
existed in reality no'apprehensionafor their fate. Let no
man then supoose that there did not exist inthe Spanish
people true feeling and courage. He hoped the Right
Hon. Gentleman would be enabled to state to the House
in what thedeiay in the evacuation of Spain originated.
But cdfild hr tell the House that any reliance•was to be
placed in the assertions of France? The praises so Un-
justly lavished upon the Duke d'Aagouleme were in
his mind little merited. The House would remember
that it was he who had given up to the scaffold the brave
but unfortunate Riego—Riego, whose only crime was
the vindication of his country ; and whose memory was
charged with cruelty, which they never venturedto
bring against him While living. And here-he should
beg the attention*: the House to transactidns' with
which he was permanally concerned. Not that he was
desirous of shrinkingirom thetesponsibility of stating
that part which he had acted in those scenes. When an
attempt was made to strip him of the only remnant of
honour left to him, as far as these Despots of Europe
were concerned, it wa natural that his feelings should
be some,. hat excited. It would be necessary for him to
make a short statement, not with any vain or ostenta-
tious purpose, baktimply to describe the circumstances
under which thesfhikaours were conferred on him. He
described the various honours conferred upon him by
the Sovereigns of Europe, and the brilliant exploits for
which they had been assigned to him, and then asked for
what injuries he had been deprived of these honours ?
The Hon. Gentleman then described the situation ill
which his children, his two female children, were placed
by the. French Custom-house Officers. They were seized
just as they entered the packet, and conveyed as cri-,
urinals and searched, while the maid who accompanied
them was not molested. For the conduct of the Right-
Hon. Gentleman on that subject he merited what he
shoulJever feel towards him, the greatest personal regard.
Mr. LITTLETON observed, that he felt no dispo-
sition to deny the gallant conduct and distinguished
spirit of the Honourable Officer who had just addressed
them, and no ma,. Lad a more obvious right to assist
Spain in her rem:. struggle. He was quite sure too,;
that in the inaptitude, and, indeed carelessness of liberty
which Spain manifested, the Honourable Gentleman
Was in no respect a 1,41: icipator, and that her degrada-
tion was to some extent stayed by his persevering efforts
in the advancement of her liberties. He was sure that
the House would not expect.him to follow the Noble
Lord through hi; statement; his historical research
sheaved industry indeed, but it seemed to him misap-
plied on this subject. It had no possible connexion with
the present very .imple question—the occupation of
Spain t and on the question of Spanish America his
Right Honourable Friend had, four months before the
American President's Speech was delivered, declared
his sentiments, and the determination of England with
respect to those pro.inces; but had this country any
reasonable apprehension for jealousy ? He thought,
en the contrary, that .if the -Right Honourable Gentle..
man were the bitterest enemy of France, he could not
inflict agreater.punishment on her than by acquiescing
in the occupation of Spain. The liberties of England
would never be affected by such an occupation. The
Honourable Member moved an amendment to the fol-
lowing effect :
a That this House, being satisfied of the firmness and sound
Polity which have guided his Majesty's Councils in respect to the'
141 t hostilities between France and Spain, and considering t
several conditions with which, his Majesty's declaration of nentralitr
in that conical wet quaffed, sees nothing in the present circum,
nacres that tent ;spec the House t 9 express any apprehension of a
erguallent military wowed= of for Spanish territory by. Fiance."

Mr. GOOCH seconded the amendment. tie-Agreed.
with ..his llonore:able Friend - erho...spoke last, in the
encomium that he had passed Upon the
-gallant Officer;
bnt.he resisted the motion of the Noble Lord, because
he thought sufficient evidence .of its necessity had not
been brought forward. He agreed with the Honour=
able and gallant Officer in his hatred of the Holy i
Alliance, and reprobated the unjustifiable system whichl
sought to regulate the affairs of Spain by the introduc-
tion of foreign bayonets.
The gallery was then ordered to be cleared for a
division, amid cries of " Question!"
Mr. Secretary CANNING rose, after the question
had been put from the Chair, and while the gallery was
clearing for the purpose of a' division. He had waited,
he said, and naturally, until the very moment when the
House was called on for its decision;, for he could scarcely
persuade himself, that a motion, brought forward after
such immense preparation, and a motion, to the effec-
tive pro-ecution of which one other hapless motion had
already been sacrificed, was itself, in its turn, to be
abandoned by all the accustomed supporters of the Noble
Mover—(Hear, hear). He could hardly believe, seeing
as he did before him a most considerable victim, who
had, on a former night, been completely deserted—
(Hear, and laughter)—and whose friends out of doors
had given him as a reason for that desertion, that the
great effort was to be made.upon a motion yet to come,
and that it would not be prudent, by any previous dis-
play, to weaken the impression which was then to
be produced (Hear, hear, and cries of NO— he
really could scarcely be convinced, when he beheld and
recollected these things, that the debate of the present
night could have been about to close at the moment when
he had taken it up ; and that not only the motion of the,
Noble Lord was to go entirely unsupported, but such an
amendment as that proposed by the Hon. Member for
StafforJeAre suffered to pass without a struggle againstit.
•But,-if he was surprised, he was not dissatisfied with the
disposition-manifested by the House: fur it was impos-
sible to look at- the Noble Lord's motion by itself, or to
considers it in any other light than as the last of a series
—.no—he begged pardon—it was only the third, and it
might not—(Laughter)—be the last—in which an at-
tempt had been made to take back something from the
recorded approbation of the House. - He said from the
recorded approbation of the House, and he thought lie
might add, of the settled opinion of the country, in fa-
vour of the conduct of Government in the late contest
between France and Spain— (Hear, hear). Twelve
months back, when the first _great attack had been
brought forward,it had been anticipated that thetriumph
of those who put the Government upon its trial would
bocomplete—(Hear). The debate was to be triumphant
—not overpowering—but final. Hear, and laughter).
All who had taken part, even slightly, in the impugned
transaction, were to be swept away ; and for those pe-
culiarly responsible, their remains were not to be found
—.their ashes to be collected by their friends—(Much
laughter, and hear).. But hOW did the affair turn out ?
Where was the victory and the song of joy ? Exitus
'ergo pis eat?
'0 Hide blushing glory—hide Pultowa's day !"
Never had rout- and overthrow been so complete
(Laughter and great cheers). The records of Parlia-
ment afforded no example of defeat so unqualified—of
-such utter ph/ligation of argument. In no age, at no
period within the stretch of Parliamentary history, could
any instance-bb" found of a failure so heavy ;or of any
failure by a thtinsindth part so perfectly grievous and
extensive, taking into account the comfortable anticipa-
tions' by which the er.zerprile had been ushered in—
(Excessive laughter, and cheering). Upon that occasion
(the first debate) the general policy of Government had
received the approbation of the House. So far, there-
fore, as to the main'consideration, the question was at
eta end. But in the course of the next Session, the war
'having concluded; it was thought that particular parts
of the transaction might be selected, in which blame
might, up to a ttertain point-, be fixed upon the Govern-
ment, without attacking--:.what would have. been in-
convenient,the &feral vote- of approbation : and on
that occasion-a Noble Lord opposite (Lord Nugent),
after bringing forward the 'question in the shape of
*a most unreasonable- and untenable proposition, con-
"eyed in a most temperate and eloquent speech—
(Hear, hear)—had been left in the deserted state to
which he (M r. Canning) had already sufficiently adverted.
The Noble Mover on the present evening had come for-
ward upon a second insulated point, and he, in spite of
his Noble ally's fate, expected to make a considerable
impression. But he (Mr. Canning) said again, that it
bas impossible to view the Noble. Lord's proposition
singly. The proposition was not that it was contrary to'
the interests of this country that France should remain in
possession of Spain. lii.that were the proposition, it
would be a proposition self-evident—a proposition which
no man could think of cbtitradicting—no man could
suppose that it was the policy of England that France
should remain in the permanent possession Of Spain ;
but the preposition of therNoble Lord (Lord John Rus-
sell), taken fairly, tame tti this—that.when the House
had come to the reSolution of deciding that it was not
expedient for England, at the risk of compromising her
neutrality, to prevent the war between France and Spain,
it bad not contemplated a temporary occupation of-the
latter country by the troops of the former. The ques-
tion then was, whether that occupation had been con-
ducted in such a spirit, or had continued for such a
time, as to raise a fair presumption, on our parts, that
it was meant for other purposes than those which were
professed ; and if this could be made out, whether the
Noble Lord opposite had a right to call upon the House
for an expression of opinion upon the subject ; or whe-
ther, that fact not being made out, there was sufficient
in the general proposition of she Noble Lord, applied
not to the aspect of immediate circumstances, but to the
received policy, ordinary con.luct, and probable views of
France, whether there was sufficient in this state, to war-
rant him in calling upon the House for its interference ?
Now the Honourable Member for Stafford had said,l
and truly, that& the Noble Lord really thought that
the occupation of Spain had continued longer than was
consistent with the safety of England, he should have'
moved, not for papers, as he had himself with'
doing now, but, at once, for an Address to his Majesty,
praying that he would call upon the King of France to'
withdraw his army. But the Noble Lord set out by a
course which was negative in itself. He began by say-
ing, "I will believe no assurances given by France,"
and concluded by desiring the Haase to get at those as•
surances—(Hear, hear). Why lithe assurances were
good for nothing, surely the'Ne;ble Lord ought to look
tor some better security ; but, setting out by saying
that nothing which was stated by _Fiance could be be-
lieved, he then fell short of his own inference, and was
satisfied to stop with moving for French declarations.
The question, however, was, whether the Noble Lord
had laid a Parliamentary venni tiasef

in question and he (Wfr. Canning) was
any to argue the. point in any iithy—to suppoie either
the existence of tech professions, or their non-exist-
:en". WOOld suppose Government to be in pos-
session of assurances from Prance that the occupation,
of Spain wai to be given up at the first practicable mo-
ment ;_then, if those assurances were produced, the
pobleLcird would Inbound to say he did not believe them.'
n the other hand, suppose such assurances not to ex-
ist, and.tuppose them not to exist because they had not
been asked for—then, how did he (Mr. Canning) de-
fend himself? His defence was a short and a plain one.
He said, that at the outset of the quarrel between France
and Spain, this country had qualified her neutrality by
three specific conditions. The first of them was that
Portugal should not be attacked. The second was,
that there should be no interference with South A me-
rica. The third was, that there should be no perma-
nent occupation of spain. And though th o• was no
distinct declaration contained in the dispatches as to'
what would be the consequence of any bre ich of these
conditions, yet no man who was in the least degree
versed in diplomatic affairs, would deny that it.. must
have been fully understood that no vielatian of them
Would be permitted by this country. For two, then, out
of these three conditions, they were akeady virtually per-
formed. Portugal had not been moleqed, and South
America was left untouched—for every one admitted
the declarations of France ;i2on that last point to be
sufficient. Then, if two of the 'French conditions had
already been performed in course, what right had we
to doubt the due performance of the third' " I say,
Sir," continued the Right Honourable Gentleman; " that
this gives. me a right to Lail on the House td repose con-
fidence in me, that the honour of the country will be
carefully guarded as to the third condition; and I have
a tight, Sir, to call on the House not to press forward a
premature discussion. I think ti.ic. Sir, pa, ticularly be
cause facts prove, and assurances prove, that France has
no disposition to occupy Spain. 'I may he supposed,,
when I declare it, a very weak man, ready to be duped
by everybody; but I do declare, both as a Minister and
an individual, that I am satisfied France is most anxious
to give up the occupation. lam more satisfied of this
being the case, than convinced of its propriety. If it
were put into my hands to decide, I will not say that I
should recommend to march the French.army out of
Spain. The gallant General has asked, is France to re-
main •in possession of Spain till Ferdinand VII. gives
free institutions to his subjects? I say, in one sense,
would to GOD 'she might ; and, in another sense, Gon
forbid, Sir, she should. I say, Sir, Gon forbid she
should, because I look at the period to which the gallant
General has alluded as far distant ; but I say, Sir, I wish'
France may remain in the occupation of Spain till that
country is more restored to order. Whatever there i.
of peace in that torn and divided country, whatever
there is of suspension of actual conflict, whatever there
is of prevention Of all the horrors of civil war, is all
owing, Sir, 1 am persuaded to French influence,,backed
and supported by the French army"—(Hear, hear.)—
lie desired not, however, to be misunderstood. He by
no means intended to say—and Heaven forbid that he
should say—that this fact redeemed France from the
original sin Of her invasion—(Cheers). That question,
however, was past; it stood in some s,. with the trans-
actions of former years. He did not defend the act
he did not palliate It. He was against it upon every
principle; and would resist it if it wet e to do again--
(kuch cheering). But events must judged of in
some measure as they went on; and thus much he was
bound to admit as an honest man—he did not heiieve
that in the annals'of history there was any case of an in.-
vading army—not a case even of a friendiy force in a
foreign country, except it }'.'ere a force belonging to
Great Britain—no other instance upon-record, in 'which
either invaders; or allies, had themselves done so little
mischief in a foreign State,and'prevented the cuing of so
much—(Repeated cheers). The termination intended by
France to her military occupation of Spain had all along
been earlier than he cook; nave hoped for, and she stilt'
intepded, if possible, to keep her day. With respect to the
mode of the Occupancy,and even the seeming intento( it,he
thought misapprehension in some quarters existed. An
Honourable Member (Sir Robert Wilson) had adverted
to the occupation of Cadiz ; and stated that Cadiz, to
be useful as a military post, mast be cccupied by at
least $5,900 men. Now, as it certainly was not occu-
pied by one-half that number, it would follow that it
Could not be retained with a military view ; and, in
.keuth, the political events connected with it—its having
been a sort Of rival capital, and the point at which the
Constitution was generated—would sufficiently explain
its being occupied under the present system. In the
same way with respect to Badajoz, there was a neces-,
sity which explained the retention of it. The most emi-
nent General of the age had declared that he did not
iconsider himself safe at Cadiz, unless he could hold
Badajoz at the same time. But what was it that the
French were doing in their occupation—in what way
were they employing their influence ? Were they urging
On the cruelties to which the party now having the
ascendancy in Spain were but too much inclined?
'Were they fostering the gloomy vindictive prejudices
'Of the Monks, or exciting the blind fury of the popu-
lace? On the contrary, they were protecting the very
people whom they had entered the country to subdue :
lby a strange course of events, their whole si:uation and
'business in Spain had become changed. They had gone
;into the country to defend thelanaticalparty against the
Conititutionalists; and now they were actually interfer-
,ing for the Constitutional party with the fanatics. How
long this system was to last, he (Mr.Canniog) did not
know. Only a fortnight back, be had-hoped for its eAt ly
rtermination ; but every successive post since had lessened
that expectation. Of this, however, he did entertain the
most decided conviction—that, whenever the time came
that Spain might be left to herself with safety, France
would be as much pleased in the prospect of withdraw-
ing her troops, as England could possibly be at seeing
her evacuate the trauma y. lie should now come, then,
shortly, to the objection which had been taken to the
mode in which the neutrality of this country had been
conducted. Neutrality, he trusted, had strictly been
peeierved, but the preservation of it bad not been al-
together so easy as might be supposed; and it was worth
while to observe, that some difficulties had been thrown
in its way by those who were among .the most arde t
sticklers for its Maiatenance—(Hear, Lear).—If two
heads of families agreed with each 'other upon any
course, and any of the inernberh of either of those fami-
lies chose to take measures' hi oppositift io the agree-
ment detided on, would not the-leading party, whose
friends had thought it right to do this, be compelled to
go a littlefarther, perhaps, than he would have otherwise
'done, in order to acquit himself of possible suspicion ?
t` No man (Continae3 Mt. Canning) in this House could
have heterd with morstrespect and sympathy than myself
,tom speoth of the Honourable—l will call him my