to excite the same intense interest as at the commencement of the former session, and all the hopes formed relative to foreign Europe had ended in disaster and disappointment, yet this subject still presented features of such importance as to give precedence to it over any other. The catastrophe of Spain was final, yet it could afford ground only for conversation and vague invectives, since any hope of dividing the House seriously upon the conduct of ministers with regard to that ill-fated contest, was out of the question. But the fate of the New World, and the policy of Britain with regard to it, being still in suspense, peculiar interest was felt in this question, both as respected the general cause of liberty, and the most important commercial interests of this country.

In relation to the Spanish campaign, the leading members of Opposition, after having given vent to their indignation at the conduct of France, with their disapprobation of the result, both in itself, and as affecting British interests, shewed an extreme reserve in coming into the field with any specific proposition. This task devolved upon Lord Nugent, whose qualifica

nerous zeal for the cause, which ha led him, without regard to consider able impediments, to quit the Britis shore, and take the field in the caus of Spanish liberty. On the 18th Fe bruary, under the usual form of mo ving for papers, he took the opportu nity of bringing the subject fully un der the consideration of Parliament.

Lord Nugent began by making the most broad charges against minister upon the subject of Spain. The po licy which government professed to adopt towards Spain, was, from the outset, very little suited to the high and energetic tone which this country ought to assume to herself; and, on the other, he could not help thinking that our conduct, in not adhering to that intended policy, had been most insincere and unworthy. He could not persuade himself but that the course taken by ministers had been most hostile to the cause of Spainthat cause, with reference to which they had expressed themselves determined to remain neutral on several occasions. This country had been exposed, in consequence, to the reproaches of every friend of liberty, and to the scorn and contempt of those powers

who had, unfortunately, triumphed over the freedom of Spain. The government of this country had made themselves parties against Spain, at the most critical and important moment of her history. He would not now animadvert on ministers having given no support to the constitutionalists, or their not having taken a bold and decisive line at the Congress of Verona, or on their shutting their eyes to the cool disregard with which France treated their mediation. He was ready to admit, that the low and humble ground of neutrality which they had taken, was considered the best policy by the great bulk of the English people; but ministers had abandoned even this low ground. They had announced it as a reason for which we might take part in the war, if it it was conducted on a principle of annexation; yet the edict which the Duke d'Angouleme published at Andujar clearly gave it this character. →Did he blame the Duke d'Angouleme for this act? No. He believed it was founded in humanity, and was demanded by the most immediate necessity; but he must say, that it was a declaration, as strong as terms could make it," that the real object of the war was the annexation of Spain as a province of France." The Duke d'Angouleme became virtually viceroy of the Spanish provinces. Besides, the right honourable Secretary had declared, and had gained applause by the decla ration, that, come what come may, this country would never assist France in the invasion of Spain." But in less than a month afterwards, what was the surprise of the House, and that of poor, sacrificed, betrayed Spain, to see the British minister, accredited to the Spanish government at Seville, throwing himself into the hands of the Duke d'Angouleme and the French government; and stating the ground of that step to be, an act which the

VOL. XVII. PART I.

Spanish Cortes had done in the management of the internal affairs of Spain! The moment Sir W. A'Court withdrew himself from Seville, it might be said that this government had published a proclamation against the liberties of Spain. If Sir W. A'Court acted here contrary to instructions, why was he not recalled and impeached? The Cortes, his lordship contended, had acted according to their unquestionable right, when they suspended for a time the regal functions. They had done no more than this House had done in 1810, on occasion of the illness of our late revered and beloved Sovereign. God forbid that he should be capable of introducing his name along with that of a wretch, who, unfortunately placed on a throne, was the scourge and abhorrence of his people; who visited them with the basest ingratitude for all that they had done, and for all they had forborne to do; who afforded the most finished specimen that perhaps ever existed in human nature, of all that was base and grovelling, perfidious, bloody, and tyrannical. Therefore he was a fit object for the tender sympathies of those powers who venerated divine right, and adored legitimacy. He hoped that much better opportunities would be given to that House, by the production of the correspondence with the Spanish government, to ascertain clearly what the real conduct of Sir William A'Court had been. Full as Sir William A'Court was of his unabated desire to mediate, at any moment, in a spirit friendly to Spain, he always contrived to place himself in a position where mediation was impossible. He allowed the time to pass away, when the government left Seville, until the blockade of Cadiz was commenced, which effectually prevented him from proceeding to that place, and he knew very well that Cadiz alone was the proper spot for negotiation. Where

B

was Sir W. A'Court from the period of the government leaving Seville, until the period of the investment and blockade of Cadiz? He was at Seville with the French army-the army of the Faith, and the Servile army. He was at Seville, when he must have known the encouragement which he was giving by his presence to the Servile army. He would state a circumstance which would shew the effect Sir W. A'Court's presence had on the Servile party. No less a proposition was made to him by an infuriated and sanguinary mob, headed by their priests, than that he should be made governor of Seville, in the name of the absolute King! The offer was declined, by his stating, that if so preposterous a proposal was again made to him, he must leave Seville. He (Lord Nugent) demanded why he had remained one moment in Seville with the French army, the Servile party, the priests, and their mob? This had been of serious detriment to the Spanish cause, and the hint had been taken by Morillo, Ballasteros, and every traitor in Spain. Then Sir William, from charitable and generous motives, he was willing to believe, had advised General Alava, whose patriotic, honourable, and high-minded character was above all praise, to save his own most valuable life from the wreck of his country. The withdrawal of General Alava, however, at such a moment, could not but have caused imminent danger, if not destruction, to the cause of liberty. The constitutional government at Madrid had made us most liberal offers in regard to South America, if we would have granted them our effective mediation; but all had been rejected, in order to gratify the more important consideration of enabling France to restore Ferdinand to the throne. Lord Nugent now drew a picture of the consequences which had resulted from our policy. French ves

sels, he was informed, were admitt duty-free into every port of Spai while heavy duties were still levi upon the ships of Great Britain. B boa, Malaga, Cadiz, Barcelona, Ca thagena, all were garrisoned by t soldiers of France; Bilboa and Mal ga, which had long been the seats British factories; Cadiz, perhaps t most formidable point for a naval for in the world; Carthagena, proverbia ly the finest harbour in all Spain. F said "proverbially," because the was a Spanish proverb which said, the metaphorical style of that cou try, that there were but three sa harbours in Spain,―June, July, ar Carthagena. Then there was Barc lona, the key, in a military view, the whole country. Barcelona was i the possession of the French, as we as all those other places which we ha thought it worth our while, but a ver few years since, at the expense of : much blood and treasure, to wre from them.

Mr Canning did not make any r ply to this speech, unless simply as related to the charge against Sir W A'Court. That ambassador had bee furnished with the most ample in structions possible, but had, at th same time, been necessarily left to ac according to his discretion, in the even of any unforeseen case. A case did oc cur, which no wisdom of man coul have foreseen, viz. the deposition, fo a limited period, of the king. Sir W A'Court, certainly, had not been pre pared for this event; and it would b rather a high demand upon the saga city of ministers, to say that they should have anticipated it. Unde such circumstances he, of course, act ed for the time upon his own discre tion. It was true, that Sir W. A'Court' continuance for a short period at Seville had been misconstrued by a fac tious party at that place, and that they attempted to make him an in

strument in their hands; but he had refused to become the instrument that was desired. Sir W. A'Court removed, first to St Lucar, and then to Gibraltar, from which he wrote home his intention to repair to Cadiz, in case the king should be restored to the exercise of his functions. Instructions, however, had reached Sir W. A'Court, and when the proper time came, Mr Canning and his colleagues should be ready to justify that instruction, which forbade Sir W. A'Court to put himself into a blockaded place. This blame, if there was any, belonged to himself and his friends, and not to Sir W. A'Court.

Mr Sturges Bourne defended ministers, and believed there was only one opinion, from one end of the country to the other, as to their policy in regard to Spain. He moved an amendment expressive of this opinion.

Lord Nugent made a short reply; and though he admitted the full reason which he had to expect that his amendment would be rejected by a formidable majority, he conceived himself bound to press it to a division. It was negatived accordingly by the very large majority of 171 to 30.

Notwithstanding the ill success of this motion, Lord John Russell, on the 18th March, brought forward another, in which he moved for all papers which had passed between the English and French governments relative to the evacuation of Spain. This was evidently, and indeed avowedly, brought forward simply with a view to discussion; for after Britain had allowed the French, without resistance, to occupy Spain, it was plainly out of the question, that she should go to war in order to drive them out. Lord John began with general censure of the passive conduct of England on the occasion, and contrasted it with the efforts made during the last war to deliver Spain from the French yoke. Spain, if left in possession of her con

stitution, it was well foreseen, would, in case of a new war, have been found on the side of England. Hence it became an object with our rival to make the cabinet of Spain subservient to that of France. In this view she was seconded by the members of the Holy Alliance, who regarded with unbounded jealousy those free debates in this country, which made known to the world the sentiments of the people and their representatives. The speakers in that House, though much opposed to each other, all offended the members of the Holy Alliance; the honourable baronet, the member for Westminster, the honourable member for Yorkshire, and the right honourable the Secretary himself, were all considered by them to be dangerous men, and friends to revolution. Their efforts had been already seen, to put down in Switzerland that freedom of discussion, which yet was on a very small scale compared to what prevailed here. His lordship closed with some observations on the contest between Spain and the American colonies.

Sir Robert Wilson entered into the subject at considerably greater length. He began with concurring in all that had been said by the preceding speaker. What he wished for Spain was, that she should be left to regulate her own affairs, and then the king would be compelled to have recourse to measures of conciliation, or to descend from the throne, which he would be no longer worthy to fill. Sir Robert stated, that Ferdinand had spontaneously promised to General Alava a full amnesty, and a moderate constitution; and expressing a belief (in which we cannot concur) that these declarations were sincere, Sir Robert contended that the king ought to be regarded as a captive monarch, prevented by the French alone from fulfilling his contract. Af ter condemning the too early declared neutrality of this country, which had

thrown a damp on the hopes of the cause, Sir Robert proceeded to comment on the circumstances which attended its downfall. The constitutional leaders, though not the best statesmen, were among the best hearted men in the world, and were entitled to our support, because they were the friends of civil and religious liberty. He would not say that the defence of Spain deserved all the admiration which some of the previous exertions of the Spaniards had won, nor would he assert that it had proved so satisfactory as it had been hoped that it would be found; but he still contended, under all the circumstances, that the misfortunes which had fallen on the Spaniards did not annihilate their claim to our sympathy and regard. If he spoke what he thought, he could not say the previous governments had done their duty, as they had deprived the nobles of their privileges; they had deprived the clergy of half their tithes; and, to supply the climax, they had made war on that very army by means of which their authority had been established. This last step, he believed, had been taken with a view of conciliating the Holy Alliance. He could not better shew what a state Spain had been in at the time of the invasion, than by describing the situation of Cadiz when surrendered. The lines round Cadiz were twenty-five miles in circumference, and were considered to require for their perfect defence an army of from 20 to 25,000 men, even when defended by superior naval means. When the French came last against it, after the taking of the Trocadero, where 1200 men were lost, the Spanish force was reduced from 9700 to 7500 men. There were no chevaux de frize about the place, and on the day of the surrender there were fifteen dollars in the Treasury. When the bombardment took place, no disorder was seen; men, women, and children came forward to encourage each

other; and, upon the whole, he mai tained, the Spanish character had r been rendered unworthy of our estee The Spanish government had been ce sured for deposing Ferdinand. Th measure had only been resorted to order to save the king's life, for Fe dinand having resolved to give hims up to the French when at Seville, was the opinion of General Alava a the whole of the Cortes that the st which had been taken was necessa to prevent a sanguinary act of ve geance on the part of the people. : Robert bitterly reproached the Du d'Angouleme for having given up 1 ego. Riego had perished; but 1. name would live in the hearts of the sands, while that of the Duke d'A gouleme, and of all his murdere would descend to posterity with ex cration. He did not call on the n nisters to go to war; but other mea might be found to defeat the schen of the Holy Alliance. Sir Robert th entered, perhaps at too great lengt into the details of his own servic and wrongs. For having rescued t Emperor of Austria from a situation imminent danger, he had received t order of Maria Theresa, which h been renewed after his being forem in mounting the wall at Dresde The Emperor of Russia had taken t order of St George from his own nec and placed it over his; and for his se vices at Leipzic he received the Spre Eagle of Prussia. Why, he asked, h these been withdrawn? and he a pealed to the House, whether, if t Allied Sovereigns had been able take the insignia from his dress, th had been able to put the stamp shame on his brow. He enlarged al on the treatment which his wife an children had received in France, on most unjust and improbable char of being instrumental in carrying a secret correspondence with the en my.

Mr Littleton said, that he could fu