Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

nies. In this short retrospect, we find the government of Old Spain and Ferdinand 7th uniformly maintaining the doctrine of unconditional submission and the divine right of kings; and the inhabitants of South America only claiming redress against the most odious and insupportable tyranny and oppression. The justice of the case, therefore, appears to be completely on their side.

ings of the people of the United States, whose territories, by the purchase of Louisiana, now come into contact with the borders of Mexico. The great and avowed object of their ambition is, that the whole of the vast continent which they inhabit should become independent like themselves, and the New World one day rival the Old. Although a sop has, for the present, been given to Cerberus, by the cesAnother consideration which ought also sion of the Floridas to the United States, to engage our attention, is the probable the policy of the government will not success of the cause we are called upon to long be able to restrain the wishes of the support. Whenever a country extends people, but be compelled to join this her colonies beyond a due proportion to popular and patriotic cause; an event her own territory and population, they as which will at once consummate the indenaturally become independent, as a young pendence of South America.-If we look man when he grows up, shakes off the back to the conduct of Spain towards this authority of his parents, and acts for him- country, we shall find nothing that can self. According to this law of Nature, the justify the claim she now sets up. In British colonies in North America became 1776, when the British colonies in North independent of their mother country. In America declared themselves independent, like manner, Portugal would have lost the she, as well as France and Holland, opened Brazils, but that by transferring the seat her ports, both in Europe and America, of empire there, she transformed the to their flag, and supplied them with colony into the mother country, and the naval and military stores. In consequence mother country into a dependency on the of the remonstrances of Great Britain, she colony. Spain must submit to the same afterwards prohibited the export of these law. Her European territory consists of articles; but the prohibition was never 25,000 square leagues, and her population enforced; and, in 1779, she issued a is estimated at eleven millions. Her pro- manifesto, declaring war against us, bevinces in South America contain 500,000 cause we had intercepted a trade, which square leagues of land, and the population she declared, she as a neutral, had a right is variously estimated at from 17 to 24 to carry on. Her late cession of the millions. If Great Britain could not re- Floridas to the United States, has certainly duce her colonies in North America, when furnished that government with great adtheir population was only two millions, ditional means of annoyance to our West what chance has Spain of succeeding India colonies, in case of war. The want against so much greater odds, and with of regard she has shown in both these such very inferior means? Where are the cases, to the security of our colonial posresources of Spain for carrying on this sessions, certainly releases us from all contest? Her treasures are in the mines obligations to interest ourselves about of South America. The timber for build-her's; and leaves us at full liberty to ing her ships is growing in the forests of follow the dictates either of interest or South America. Her revenues depend policy. upon the commerce of South America. All these are now lost to Spain, and gained to her colonies; and every year the war continues, will add to the weakness of the one, and to the strength of the other. America, too, has a powerful ally in her climate; to which her own sons are seasoned, but which is deadly to her European invaders-she has only to fly to conquer. By protracting the war, her climate will surely perform that work of extermination on the troops of Ferdinand 7th, which he vainly directs them to execute on his revolted subjects. Another ally she has in both the interest and feel

The inhabitants of South America, on the contrary, have given themselves some claim to our favourable consideration. They offered to submit to the mediation of our government, which Ferdinand 7th, (probably not feeling very good reason to confide in the justice of his cause), refused to accept. We also stand pledged to them and the world, to observe a strict neutrality in the present contest, which we shall not do, if we alter our laws to favour the interests of either party. The future conduct of South America to us will be regulated by ours to her at the present moment. The commercial inter

course with that great continent, is the object to which all Europe, and America too, are looking forward. If we incur her resentment, by assisting Spain in attempting her subjugation, we can expect no share of it; but if we act fairly and impartially towards her, then we shall conciliate her future friendship, and be placed by her hereafter, on the footing of the most favoured nations. Spain has no right to injure the peace and prosperity of the whole commercial world, by continuing her fruitless attempt to subjugate South America. All the maritime states of Europe, and Great Britain in particular, suffer severely from this war, in various ways. Out of it a race of freebooters and pirates has sprung up, who plunder all legitimate commerce without distinction, and who never can be subdued, till peace and good order are restored. Besides, Spain was only the conduit through which | the treasures of South America were poured all over Europe. The produce of her mines, and the other valuable productions of her soil, were exchanged for our manufactures, and gave life and animation to our domestic industry. Thus we are connected with America by a chain of gold, like that by which the poets fabled that Earth was suspended to the vault of Heaven; and Spain has no right to break this chain, by carrying on a war of devastation and extermination, injurious to all her neighbours, and ruinous both to herself and colonies.

Our laws, as they now stand, give no advantages to the Independents, that are not counterbalanced by other advantages given to Spain. If British officers and troops embark in the cause of the Independents, arms and ammunition, the supply of which to them is prohibited, are not only permitted to Spain, but British ships of war convoy vessels so laden to their ports of destination. As an underwriter, I myself ensured a vessel, laden with arms and ammunition, from Jamaica to Vera Cruz, and made a return of premium for her being convoyed by the La Pique frigate. The Independent governments of South America not being recognized, their subjects are not permitted to claim in our court of Admiralty. The Hercules, commanded by commodore Brown, in their service, was carried into Antigua by one of our men of war, and condemned in the court of Vice Admiralty there. Commodore Brown appealed; but the learned judge who presides in the high

court of Admiralty here, would not consider him as before the court, for the reason above mentioned, which in his opinion rendered him incapable of claiming his property. I mention this case, not with a view to impeach the decision of the learned judge, for whose profound legal knowledge, in common with all the world, I entertain the greatest respect; but merely to show the hardship with which our laws, as they at present stand, bear upon the inhabitants of Spanish South America. At this very moment, the harbour of Cadiz is full of British vessels, hired as transports to carry out the troops destined to act against them; whilst all assistance to their cause is prohibited by proclamations of the governors of our different free ports in the West Indies. So strongly has the spirit of hostility to the Independents been acted upon in Trinidad, that while emigrants of the royal party have been promoted to situations of honour and emolument, an asylum has been refused to persons of the opposite party; and even when a number of the inhabitants of Guiria, on the approach of the royalist army, embarked on board boats and canoes, or any craft they could find, and sought refuge in Trinidad, they were not permitted to land, but obliged to return to the place from whence they came, where they were massacred, men, women, and children, without distinction. A British sloop of war went down to Guiria some weeks afterwards, and on their return the officers reported, that the carcasses of these unhappy wretches had been left a prey to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field, and that for near two leagues together their bones whitened the shore. Surely, then, Spain can have no cause to complain, of the partiality shown to the cause of the Independents!

It appears to me inconsistent with sound policy, to prevent men of ardent minds, who have embraced the profession of arms, from enlisting in the cause of any foreign power, while Great Britain is at peace. It keeps alive that military spirit which it is of the highest importance for every country to maintain among her subjects; and which, in case of need, she may recall to her own service. We have now many meritorious officers on half pay, who find their income very inadequate to the maintenance of their families. We have also a number of disbanded non-commissioned officers and privates, many of whom can find no occupation, or whose long military

habits have unfitted them for any other occupation. If these men imagine (whether right or wrong is not the question), that the road to glory and fortune is open to them elsewhere, it seems both impolitic and unjust to detain them here. It is converting this boasted land of freedom into a great prison; and engendering much discontent and dissatisfaction at home, which had better be allowed to effervesce abroad. Natural justice seems to require, that every individual should be allowed to employ his talents, or pursue his interests, in any way that is consistent with the allegiance he owes to his own country. I wish, therefore, the acts of the 9th and 29th of George 2nd, which were passed for a particular and temporary purpose to be repealed. By this means we should give that full liberty of action to individuals for which I contend, and place both the belligerent parties on a footing of perfect equality. Much has been said about the treaty between this country and Spain, made in 1814; but this binds us to nothing more, than to prevent the supply of arms, ammunition, and warlike stores, to the revolted provinces. I noticed, indeed, in the preamble to this treaty, the expression of a wish "to draw closer the bonds of amity, that at present so happily subsist between their Catholic and Britan nic majesties;" but I considered these words merely as expressions of diplomatic courtesy, and never meant to be seriously acted upon, or I should have thought they called for the reprehension of parliament, whenever this treaty was submitted to their consideration. My sentiments are very far from according with the wish in this preamble, whether I consider the nature of the Spanish government itself, or the character of the individual by whom that government is at present exercised. The principles of the Spanish government are tyranny and bigotry; and both these principles appear to be acted upon to their fullest extent by Ferdinand the 7th. He has re-established the Inquisition; he has re-established the use of torture; he has behaved with the most unparalleled ingratitude to those brave men, whose valour and patriotism, with British aid, rescued his dominions from the yoke of an usurper, and placed upon his head the crown that he now wears. In return, he has loaded them with chains, and immured them in dungeons, or transported them to perish in pestilential climates. One of his first acts of gratitude towards us, was (VOL. XL.)

to offer a national thanksgiving to God, that his land was no longer polluted by the presence of heretics. He has waged a war of extermination against his subjects in South America, instead of conciliating them by just and politic concessions. In short, he has attempted to extirpate every liberal and independent sentiment throughout the whole of his dominions, and establish the reign of terror. With such a government as this, and the government of a free country, there can be no common bond of union; and to pledge ourselves to any thing farther than strict neutrality enjoins, would be as repugnant to the public feelings as to the best interests of this country.

Sir C. Robinson said, that it was the duty of the House, upon the present occasion, to act without reference to the merits of either party concerned, but upon the ground of a strict neutrality. On that principle he conceived the present measure to be necessary. After the struggle in which this country had been so long engaged, and now that peace was restored, they should show to the world, that they respected the law of nations, and, in that, the rights of a strict neutrality. In a paper lately circulated, and which he believed was put into the hands of most of the members of that House, allusion was made to the practice in the time of James 1st, with respect to Spain. The situation of the two countries was then different to what it was now. At present they were at peace with Spain, but at the period alluded to were in strict alliance with the United Provinces, and had cautionary towns there, which it was their interest to defend. In all the treaties with Spain since 1630, the same principle as that upon which this bill proceeded was recognised. The treaty of 1630 was renewed in 1667, and lately again in 1814. The only object of the present measure was, to remove all doubt upon the subject. The courts of admiralty here frequently acted upon the principle recognised in the bill. There was a case in the 28th of Charles 2nd, of an indictment brought against an English subject for cruising against Spain in a French ship. Though the principle was thus admitted, and acted upon in the courts, it did not follow, that a measure for recognising it was unnecessary at present. The same principle was acknowledged in the treaty of 1794 with America, It commenced with a stipulation, that the subjects and citizens of both nations (3 M)

should observe a strict neutrality, and not | accept of commissions from foreign powers at war with either; that in such a case, those who armed or equipped letters of marque, should be considered and treated as pirates. This was certainly too severe, and the courts could never decide, that persons so transgressing were guilty of piracy, and should be treated as such. It was better, however, that all doubts upon this subject should be removed, and the exact nature of the offence and mode of punishment defined. Such was the object of this bill. The treaty of 1814 with Spain would be quite nugatory, if English subjects might freely embark in support of the Spanish colonies against the mother country. The statutes of George 2nd, so often alluded to upon this occasion, did not arise merely from a temporary necessity; they were founded upon a previous statute of queen Anne, but they were not founded on the limited policy ascribed to them; they proceeded on a general principle. Would it be fair or just, then, that the people of South America should be put on a better footing, with respect to the rights of neutrality, than legal and recognised governments? The bill, he would contend, was founded on the most correct principles of neutrality, and the provisions of it were agreeable to the best practice of our ancestors. On these grounds, he would give it his cordial support.

Mr. Macdonald was anxious to impress upon the House this great and important fact that the present measure, however supported by the learning and logic of Doctors Commons, whatever abstract reasoning might be employed by gentlemen on the other side in support of it, did mainly and effectually go to the destruction of the cause of the independent patriots of South America. Much had been said also by the gentlemen on the opposite benches, respecting the right of this government to interfere. The right could not for a moment be contradicted; but he entertained considerable doubt, whether the House would have the heart to pass such a bill as was now attempted to be thrust upon the nation. Although the arguments of his hon. friends, who had spoken that night against the measure, had not been overcome, yet they had, in some degree, been distorted and disfigured by what had been said by the other side; and he thought he could not do better than bring back to the recollection of the

House, some of the most striking arguments which had been urged against the bill. With respect to what had been said as to the common law on this subject, they might be assured, if the common law were sufficient, the attorney general would not have had recourse to this bill. Gentlemen opposite had succeeded, to a certain degree, in disfiguring and distorting the arguments of the members for Banbury and Sandwich (Mr. F. Douglas and Mr. Marryat). They had never pretended that we had a right to employ the military resources of this country in the cause of the South Americans, or that what could not be openly justified might be done covertly; for the first would be foolish, and the second would be base; but they had contended, that we should observe a substantial and bona fide system of non-interference in the dispute, and that this principle could only be satisfied by leaving the laws as they were, without reference to the manner in which they might affect any of the parties. His hon. friends had therefore deprecated a departure from a system of real passive neutrality, to one of apparent neutrality, and real interference in behalf of one of the parties; and they had shown, that the time and circumstances when the attorney general had brought forward this bill, wholly altered the character of the measure-that while it sounded equitable to the ear, it would be, in its operation, most unjust and oppressive. He agreed with his hon. friend below him in what he had said with respect to the suspicious origin of the measure, because it bore, in his opinion, most unequivocal marks of foreign suggestion, and of coming from a quarter too, of all others (for no power ought ever to interfere with our internal laws) the least entitled to expect any grace or favour at the hands of an English parliament [loud cheering]. He had spoken of the time and circumstances when this bill was proposed as betraying its origin. Why was no such measure proposed at the commencement of the contest? Perhaps the noble lord's feelings did not suggest to him, that his countrymen would take such deep interest in a cause so illegitimate, as to transport themselves to such distant shores to afford aid to that cause! Notwithstanding the length of time this contest had lasted, no such measure was proposed till now. The noble lord had told them, that they did not propose it so long as any hope of reconciliation remained.

[ocr errors]

But the noble lord knew, that so long ago as the time of the mission of lord Wellesley to Cadiz, all hope of reconciliation was chimerical-that the war from thenceforward assumed the character of bellum ad internecionem. Never, during the progress of this war, which had lasted so many years, and many of the events of which no man could think of without his blood running cold, had the noble lord come forward. But now, when a crisis had arrived when these men, fighting for all that was dear to them with so much perseverance and constancy, had all but won the prize of their glorious deliverance -now when they came forward to strike the deadly blow, the noble lord stretched forth a saving hand to the last efforts of expiring tyranny [loud cheering]. He objected to the time when the measure was brought forward, but he objected still more strongly to the principle of regulating our laws under the declaration of a foreign power. The 9th and 29th of George 2nd, were not acts framed on a principle of general policy, or as part of our jurisprudential system, but under a temporary pressure, and to avert dangers which threatened the country. But it was said, a case had now arisen which had not been foreseen. No, it was not foreseen that haughty Spain would so soon have been at war-not with powers and states, her former adversaries or rivals, but with her own colonies-the victims on whose necks she had set her feet. It was not foreseen, that the most besotted bigotry, and the most odious tyranny which had ever disgraced an European nation, would so soon have produced their ultimately necessary consequences, would so soon have corrupted to the core the proud Castilian monarchy, stripped it of its rank and consideration in Europe, and threatened it with the loss of those extensive territories beyond the Atlantic, the conquest of which had been marked with cruelty and blood [Hear, hear!]. This had not been foreseen; but he venerated too highly the statesmen who directed the councils of this country in the early reigns of the Hanover family, to think, that if they had foreseen it, they would have attempted to stifle the sympathies of the English people in the cause of rising independence. This was reserved for the present times, and for the present ministry. Whence came it that England was thus always misrepresented in the eyes of the world?-that while its people were always

anxious that the blessings which they enjoyed should be widely diffused among others, those who managed their diplomacy contrived uniformly to put them forward as the confederates or the instruments of those who were at war with human hap. piness? The noble lord had so contrived his treaties and his alliances, that, notwithstanding the brilliant successes of our arms, there was scarcely a corner of Eu. rope, in which the people did not view with disgust the manner in which we had used the power which those successes had put into our hands; yet this was not enough, but he must go in search of materials for a farther exercise of his ingenuity in the contests of another hemisphere. What the result of the present struggle between Spain and South America might be, was doubtful; but the feelings of the great South American continent could not be a matter of indifference to the first maritime and commercial country of the world. It was easy to cultivate the good-will of the South Americans; but national antipathies, once rooted, were not so easily removed. The South Americans had standards by which to measure our conduct. The bureaus of our secretaries of state, the proclamations of our West India governors, cry out in their favour. We first point out to them the oppression under which they suffered, as odious and intolerable to reasoning men. Would they, with this evidence of their declarations in 1797 staring them in the face, put on the statute book in 1819, the record of their falsehood? As to Ferdinand, in whose behalf we were now called on to interfere, this monarch, who was leagued to us in the strictest amity, had the other day made over a most important colony to our great western rival, without consulting our interests or our wishes. The cession of Florida to the United States could never have taken place, if the spirit of the Treaty of Utrecht had prevailed in the negotiations of those statesmen to whom the settlement of Bavaria, Baden, or any other German province, had seemed of so much consequence. But, independently of positive treaties, there could be no question that we should have been justified in interfering in such a case, as self-preservation, which formed a part of the law of nature, was necessarily a part of the law of nations. conduct of Ferdinand in this case had been defended by a noble lord in another place, on the ground that he had not

The

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »