Star.
London, England, 1805-02-12 00:00:00

a tardy and. unwilling ally. That thefe inftraflions
have not been attended with the defired fuccefs,
there is no one, my Lords, who more regrets it than
I do. I feel [or the unhappy condition of Spain. I
know that (he was reluaant to enter into this war;
the has been gaaded and driven into it by the refill-
left tyranny ani overbearing power of France. That
Court. my. Lords, was not taken unawares ; the Gor
vernment of Spain was fully appriled, and repeat-
edly forewarned.of thole coorequences which would
attend the execution nif the treaty of St. Ildefonfo.
In the ,letter of his Noble Friend of the 13th of
December, tflo3, it. was pontively declared, that
the furnilhing of fuccoors, fuch as had been ad-
vanced, .could not, be otherwife foundered than as
a war, fubfidy. Although the letter, dated the
tA of January, tßoa, expreffes that his Majefty's
government were unwilling to proceed on that mea-
fure alone, if fatiladion could be afforded as to
other points.; it does not fay they were not to
be contidcred as the grounds of war. There is not
therefore. any difference, my Lords. between Mr.
Freres note of the 3d of March, and my Noble
Friend's letter of the st ft of January, as the Noble
Earl has enecaeoured to maintain. With relpeet to
that other point in the fpeech of the Noble Earl, upon
which he has !aid fuch particular flocfs—l allude.
my Lords, to the affected iAterruption in the cor-
relpondence ; I will admit, that it any praftical in-
convenience refulting therefrom, can be fubflanti-
ated, it would be a fulfil:lent and powerful caufe of
cenfore. But none has been proved, and until the
grounds of some filch piaaical inconvenience have
been. made out, your Lorelfhips, I troll, will dif-
i charge his Majeily's government from all blame,
cm the bare affLrtion of the Noble Earl, honourable
and refpeaable as he is. The Noble Earl feemed
inclined to doubt the exigence of any armaments in
IFerrol; I can affure the Noble Earl, that the intelli-
gence of Inch armaments had been received both at
London and Madrid, and that it was the certainty
of fuch armaments which led to the order for the
detention of the Spanifh frigates. Thole arma-
ments fitted out, my Lords, under the perfidious
pretence of convoying troops to Bifeay, were in
themfelves, independent of other confiderations,
upon which no fatisfaetion had or could be obtain..
ed, a fofficient caufe of war; and the intelligence
upon which the knowledge of Inch armaments was
founded, has never been difputed, and remains mi.
quegioned to this day. The detention of thole (hips
is therefore to be charged, nut upon his Majelly's
Miniilers, but upon the Court of Madrid, which was
perfidioutly engaged in fitting out thofe armaments
in the port of Ferrol, under a pretence, not founded
in truth. But, my Lords, is there any novelty in fuch
detention? Is this a new cafe, or is it one which
has ever been retorted to before ? Thole " mild
'neonates of hoilility," as the Noble Lord farcalli-
cagy terms thew, are not new in the hiflory of this
country. This is not the firft time in which fuch
proceedings have been retorted to. When that No-
ble Lord was at the head of the Admiralty, an order
to a fimilar effea was iffued by him, and aeted upon.
The Dutch flips. before any hogilities had been de-
clared between the two countries, were detained, and
feveral of them Oink in being compelled to keep up
with the convoy by which they had been detained.
The detention of the Spanilh frigates, therefore, was
not a folitary precedent, but one of which there were
frequent examples in the naval praftice of the coun-
try. lam lorry, my Lords, to trelpafs fo much (a
loud cry V. hear! hear!) upon your attention, but
conlidering the thane I have had in this negociation,
I thought my telf called upon to reply at confider-
able length to the obfervations of the Noble Lord
who has m'eed the amendment. It, my Lords, as
I have laid before, there was ever a jugitiable caufe
of war, a caufe which could fcarcely admit of a
doubt, much more a difference of opinion, it will be
found in the conduit of Spain. To no reprefentation
which had been made to the Court of' Madrid, ex-
cepting that refpeaing the fale of prizes, has the
finalleit attention been paid. Spain was required to
difcontinue her armaments ; this the did not do. She
was required to communicate the terms of that con-
vention which the had laft entered into with France;
this (be either evaded, or when tirongly preffed to
it, peremptorily refuted to do. She was required,
not to permit the entrance of French troops into her
territory ; in defiance of this, the French (hips of
war, which were blockaded in the port of Ferrol,
were recruited through Spain, and enabled by the
reinforcements fir obtained, to contend with the lqua-
dron by which that harbour was csbCerved. I will,
notwithflanding the irnmerife difference of opinion
between the Noble Lord and me, adroit that it is
difficult not to agree with him in this one point, that
the detention of the Spanifh (hips could not be well
confidered as other than an aft of hnitility. There
is, however, lfrong ground, my Lords, upon which
that aft can be justified. The time was, or had
nearly arrived, when France would no longer
Puffer Spain to enjoy the advantages of that neutra-
lity, which, upon certain conditions, his Nlajefly's
Minitlers were difpofed to admit. No, my Lords,
that would by no means fuit with the ambitious
views of that power ; her own means being crip-
pled or ezhaufted, the wanted to pullet's her-
fell of the naval power of Spain, and the was reeking
for pretexts to feize it, when the found that her nett-
:rainy would be no longer beneficial to her. My
Lords, I lament that the Noble Earl has fiigmatifed
the carafes of the war in the manner he has done. The
people Of this country will not exert themfelves in
the manner that their fpirit and loyalty would induie
them to do : if they are not perfuaded of the jullice
of the war, they have moral feelings, and thole feel-
ings mull be confulted and fatisfied, berme the go-
vernment can expea to derive the full effea of their
zeal and patriotifm. I than therefore, my Lords,
oppote the amendment of the Noble Earl, which goes
in my mind materially to clog the war. It would be
in vain to fay, that we either fupport his Majelty, or
the code in which he is engaged by adopting it."
[Turnover