XII. 1823. 36. "It is impossible not to admire the equal frankness CHAP. with which this haughty language has been met by the Spanish government; the papers which it sent forth were plain and laconic. They said, 'We are millions of free- Continued. men, and will not stoop to reason with those who would enslave us.' They hurled back the menaces upon the head which uttered it, little caring whether it were Goth, Hun, or Calmuck, with a frankness that outwitted the craft of the Bohemian and defied the ferocity of the Tartar. If they found all the tyrants of the earth leagued against them, they might console themselves with the reflection, that wherever there was an Englishman, either of the Old or New World-wherever there was a Frenchman, with the exception of that miserable little band which now for the moment swayed the destinies of France, in opposition to the wishes and sentiments of its liberal and gallant people-a people who, after wading through the blood of the Revolution, were entitled, if any ever were, to enjoy the blessings of freedom,-wherever there breathed an Englishman or a true-born Frenchman, wherever there existed a free heart and a virtuous mind, there Spain had a natural ally, and an unalienable friend. 37. "When the allied powers were so ready to interfere in the internal concerns of Spain, because they were Continued. afraid of its freedom, and when the most glaring attempts were made in all their state papers to excite rebellion among its inhabitants, what is so easy as to retort upon them with the statement of some of their domestic misdeeds? What was to hinder the Spaniards to remind the Prussian monarch of the promises which, in a moment of alarm, he made to his subjects of giving them a free constitution, and to ask him what has come of the pledges then given to his loyal and gallant subjects, by whose valour he has regained his lost crown? Might they not ask whether it would not have been better to have kept these promises, than to have kept on foot, at his people's XII. 1823. CHAP. cost, and almost to their ruin, a prodigious army, only to defend him in violating them? Could anything have been more natural than to have asked the Emperor of Austria whether he, who professed such a regard for strict justice in Ferdinand's case, when it cost him nothing, had always acted with equal justice towards others when he himself was concerned? that, before he was generous to Ferdinand, he should be just to George, and repay some part of the £20,000,000 he had borrowed of him, and which alone had enabled him to preserve his crown? Might he not be called to account for the noble and innocent blood he had shed in the Milanese, and the tortures, stripes, and dungeons he had inflicted on the flower of his subjects in his Italian provinces? Even the Emperor Alexander himself, sensitive as he was at the sight of blood flowing in a foreign palace, might call to mind something which had occurred in his own. However pure in himself, and however fortunate in having agents equally innocent, was he not descended from an illustrious line of ancestors, who had with exemplary uniformity dethroned, imprisoned, and slaughtered husbands, brothers, children? Not that he could dream of imputing these enormities to the parents, sisters, or consorts; but it somehow happened that those exalted and near relations never failed to reap the whole benefit of the atrocities, and had never, in one single instance, made any attempt to bring the perpetrators of them to justice. 38. "I rejoice that the Spaniards have such men only to Continued. contend with. I know there are fearful odds when battalions are arrayed against principles; but it is some consolation to reflect, that those embodied hosts are not aided by the talents of their chiefs, and that all the weight of character is happily on the other side. It is painful to think that so accomplished and enlightened a prince as the King of France should submit to make himself the tool of such a junta of tyrants. I would entreat him to reflect on the words of the most experienced statesman, XII. 1823. and one of the greatest philosophers of antiquity, in his CHAP. recently discovered work, De Republica- Non in ulla civitate, nisi in qua summa potestas populi est, ullum domicilium libertas habet.' When called on to combat one of the most alarming conspiracies that ever man was exposed to, he had recourse only to the Roman constitution; he threw himself on the good-will of his patriotic countrymen; he put forth only the vigour of his own genius, and the vigour of the law; he never thought of calling in the assistance of the Allobroges, Teutones, or Scythians of his day. And now I say, that if the King of France calls in the modern Teutones, or the modern Scythians, to assist him in this unholy war, judgment will that moment go forth against him and his family, and the dynasty of Gaul will be changed at once and for ever. 39. "The principles on which this band of congregated despots have shown their readiness to act are dangerous Concluded. in the extreme, not only to free, but to every independent state. If the Czar were met with his consistory of tyrants and armed critics, it would be in vain for the Ulema to plead that their government was one of the most sacred and venerable description; that it had antiquity in its favour; that it was replete with 'grand truth;' that it had never listened to the fatal doctrines of a disorganised philosophy;' and that it had never been visited by any such things as 'dreams of fallacious liberty.' In vain would the Ulema plead these things; the three gentlemen of Verona' would pry about for an avenue, and when it suited his convenience to enter, the Czar would be at Constantinople, and Prussia would seek an indemnity in any province England might possess adjacent to their territory. It behoves every independent state to combine against such monstrous pretensions. Already, if there is any force in language, or any validity in public documents, we are committed to the defensive treaties into which we have entered. If Spain is overrun by XII. 1823. CHAP. foreign invaders, what will be the situation of Portugal? And are we not bound, by the most express treaty, as well as by obvious interest, to defend that ancient ally? Above all things, we ought to repeal, without delay, the Foreign Enlistment Bill—a measure which ought never to have been passed. Let us, in fine, without blindly rushing into war, be prepared for any emergency; speak a language that is truly British, pursue a policy which is truly free; look to free states as our best and natural allies against all enemies whatever; quarrelling with none, whatever be their form of government; keeping peace whenever we can, but not leaving ourselves unprepared for war; not afraid of the issue, but calmly determined to brave its hazards; resolved to support, amid any sacrifice, the honour of the crown, the independence viii. 46, 64. of the country, and every principle considered most valuable and sacred amongst civilised nations." 1 1 Parl. Deb. 40. Mr Can ning adopts ple of noninterfer ence. Feb. 24. This animated and impassioned harangue contained the sentiments merely of an individual, who, how eminent sothe princ ever, did not in the general case of necessity implicate any one but himself, or, at most, the political party to which he belonged. But on this occasion it was otherwise. Mr Brougham's speech was not merely the expression of his own or his party's opinion; it was the channel by which the feelings of a whole nation found vent. The cheers with which it was received from both sides of a most crowded House, the vast impression it made on the country, the enthusiasm it everywhere excited, proved, in the clearest manner, that it carried the universal mind with it. Mr Canning was not in the House when this important debate occurred, having vacated his seat upon his appointment as Foreign Minister, and not been yet again returned; but he gave his sanction to the principles it contained on 24th February, when he observed, "I am compelled in justice to say that, when I entered upon the office I have the honour to fill, I found the principles on which the Government was acting XII. 1823. 1 Lord Lon Memoir; reduced into writing, and this state paper formed what I CHAP. may be allowed to call the political creed of Ministers. 1 Upon the execution of the principles there laid down, and upon it alone, is founded any claim I may have to derry's credit from the House." And again, on 14th April, in Ante, c. xii. the debate on the Spanish negotiation, he said, "I cast $19. no blame upon those who, seeing a great and powerful nation eager to crush and overwhelm with its vengeance a less numerous, but not less gallant people, are anxious to join the weaker party. Such feelings are honourable to those who entertain them. The bosoms in which they exist, unalloyed by any other feelings, are much more happy than those in which that feeling is chastened and tempered by considerations of prudence, interest, and expedience. I not only know, but absolutely envy, the feelings of those who call for war, for the issue of which they are not to be responsible; for I confess that the reasoning by which the war against Spain was attempted to be justified appears to me to be much more calculated than the war itself to excite a strong feeling against those who had projected it. There is no analogy between the case of England in 1793 and France in 1823. What country had Spain attempted to seize or revolutionise, as France did before our declaration of 19th November 1792? England made war against France, not because she had altered her own government, or even dethroned her own king, but because she had invaded Geneva, Savoy, and Avignon; because she had overrun Belgium, and threatened to open the mouth of the Scheldt, in defiance of treaties; and because she openly announced, and acted upon, the determination to revolutionise every adjoining state. But this country is not prepared to give actual and efficient support to Spain; absolute bond fide neutrality is the limit to which it is prepared to go in behalf of a cause to which its Ministers can never feel indifferent." 2 On the other hand, it was maintained by M. de Cha Parl. Deb. viii. 242, 890, 895. |