The Papers relating to th...
The Times, 1824-03-06T00:00:00

The Papers relating to tbe ffhiits of Spain and the ul- tra-mrine States, which we published yesterday, are in. teresting; and we may also. adds as we do with great plea- sure, that, as far as they. go, they are not uiisatisfie- tory. We khow not how soon or how late the i'nhabi- tints of South America)- wvho have efeoted their liIie ration froin Spanish bondage, may establish tranquillity it hotne.; hut of this Wito eefttik-'tat theyi>iv alteady worked. out if ther1esa degree of COie- uti6nabroad, *ii}4c1 r eri X coie af the free.(kvern- ments of ,te *orbtetstremel.eay. t wirespect to them. hi1ey h'sve eita1lichie4, beyron6 .all ilbtihe propoiit'oi thattheirrecovery b. y the-e stesa.posssbIe lThls -they have done for themselv4b by their ow,i ams, an d &- ter'sucl an. achievemenit, they izayjusa ecpect, andbav,a right to eaitn,thhttlien Po*eisalwotaAm nontWeiapop tlem- ielves to deliberate repecting theit' condiw . w oit the presence ,and concurrence of South American: PiehlPoteb-. tiarles,-that a; club o f politicians islould not assed& bl'e 'ih a foreign capital to dictate to them Whit use they shotuld milke of that independence whieh them- selves -have uon. Fromn such conferences 'the British Go- vrernment, therefore, with great propriety, abstains, as will have appeared by the note of Mr. CAN2JING's colifereace with Prin'ce PoLGNA.ac. WVe have alreadyjoined in too many of these conferences, in which, if our presence has done no other harm, it has at least excited the suspicion that wvewere actuated by nomore ju'st andequitable princi- ples than the chief personages ill tlhose scenes and that though we did not co-operate, we sanctioned the iniquities that were perpetrate4as the result of the. conferences, upon Piedmont, upon. Naples, and on the Peninsula. ' The Prince de POLTGNAC "S cannot eonceive what can be ' meant under'the present circumtstances, by a pure and simple acknowleadgnent of the independence of the "Spanish colonies, since those countries being actually (or "at present, we presume, actuellement) distracted by ciYil "wars, there exists no Government in them which cau "offer anyappearance of solidity,' &c.&c. Wewill tell the Prince, therefore, what is mean-t by the acknowledgment of the independence of Statesin such a condition. It is-an acknoiwledgment.of their rikhb " to be distracted by civil ' wars" among - themselves, if they cannot agree, provided -anly they preserve their external relations unbroken, and abstain front interfering in the concerns of foreign States. And we will add, that it has been the refusal to acknow- ledge this very species of independence, which has led to all the unjust and barbarous aggressibus of modern times. The- dissensions in Polasd were made the pretext for the invasion and partitioning of that unhappy kingdom. But Poland was contiguous to the domninions of the invading Powvers. No contiguity or proximity can be alleged in pal- liation of interfering by arms in the concernis of the Buenos Ayres Governiment, or in those of Mexico aud Peru. The state of our relations ivith the European and Ame- rican Spaniards, as resulting from the present papers, ap- pears to be this-We claim and enjoy free commerce with the trans-Atlantic provinces. We are willing to allow Old Spail1 the grace and aevantage of being the first to ac- knowledge their independent Sovereignty; but should she hesitate, our recognition can in no case be delayed long; and would be immediately consequent upon any attempt on the part of the mother country to regain possession of the separated States by the aid of foreign arms. But ano- ther case is imnagined, upon which our recognitioni wotld he consequent, and which cas-, we should contend, has ac- tually occurred. That case is " an attempt on the part of " Spain to revive the obsolete interdiction of intercourse " with countries over which she has no longer any actual " dominion." Now what was the last proclamation of the King of SPAIN but an attempt of this nature, in which he pretended ' to prescribe the ports at which foreign vessels should enter his trans-Atlantic dominions, and to regu- late the duties to which they should be liable. We cannot quit the consideration of the papers on which we bave been - commenting, without expressing our appro- bation, not only as we have done above, of the principles which they maintain, but also of the clear and energetic style in which they are written.