XII. 1823. CHAP. reason and justice will be not less powerful than the genius of oppression and servitude. The nation which enters into negotiation with an enemy whose bad faith is known is already subdued to receive the law from one who pretends to impose it with arms in his hand is the greatest of ignominies. If war is an evil without a remedy, the nation is magnanimous: it will combat a second time for its independence and its rights. The path of glory is not unknown to it, and the sacrifices it requires will be cheerfully made. The removal of my person, and of the Cortes, into a place less exposed to military operations will defeat the projects of our enemies, and prevent the suspension of acts of the Government which should be known in every part of the monarchy." 1* 1 Discours du Roi, Madrid, March 1, 1823; Ann. Hist. vi. 715. M. Hyde de Neuville, in the address of the Chamber of Deputies, which he prepared in answer to the speech from the throne, even exceeded M. de Chateaubriand in warlike zeal. "Faction," said he, "has at length lost * The best statement of the Spanish side of the question is contained in a previous state paper, by M. Miguel, the Foreign Secretary, to the Russian minister. "1. La nation Espagnole est gouvernée par une constitution reconnue solennellement par l'empereur de toutes les Russies, dans l'année 1812. "2. Les Espagnols amis de leur patrie qui ont proclamé, au commencement de 1812, cette constitution, renoncée par la violence de 1814, n'ont point été parjures, mais ils ont la gloire que personne ne peut souiller, d'avoir été les organes du vœu général. 66 3. Le roi constitutionnel des Espagnols jouit du libre exercice des droits que lui donne le code fondamental, et tout ce qu'on allègue au contraire de cette assertion est une invention des ennemis de l'Espagne qui la calomnient pour l'avilir. "4. La nation Espagnole ne s'est jamais mêlée des institutions ni du régime intérieur, ni d'aucun autre. "5. Et le remède à apporter aux maux qui peuvent l'affliger, n'intéresse qu'elle seule. "6. Ces maux ne sont pas l'effet de la constitution, mais nous viennent des ennemis qui veulent la détruire. "7. La nation Espagnole ne reconnaîtra jamais à aucune puissance le droit d'intervenir ni de se mêler de ses affaires. "8. Le gouvernement de sa Majesté ne s'écartera pas de la ligne que lui tracent son devoir, l'honneur national, et son adhésion invariable au code fondamental juré dans l'année 1812."-E. S. MIGUEL, Circulaire adressée par le Ministre des affaires étrangères à Madrid aux chargés d'affaires pour les cours de Vienne, Berlin, et St Petersbourg, 9th January 1823; Ann. Hist., vi. 698. XII. 1823. 31. Neuville's the hope of impunity. France has shown to Europe CHAP. how public misfortunes repair themselves. Destined by Providence to close the gulf of revolution, the king has tried everything which can give security to his people, M. Hyde de and save Spain from the consequences of a revolution address in induced by a body of perjured soldiers. A blind obsti- reply to the speech of nacy has rendered them deaf to the counsels of the chief the king. of the Bourbons. Sire! we are Frenchmen; no sacrifice will be regarded by your people which may be necessary to sustain the dignity of your crown, the honour and dignity of France. It is your part to conquer peace by stifling anarchy, to restore liberty to a prince of your blood, to deliver from oppression a people who will aid you to break their chains. Your army is courageous and faithful that army, which knows how to repel the cowardly invitation to revolt, starts forward with ardour under the Fleur-de-lis standard at your voice: it has not taken up, it will not take up arms, but to maintain social order, and to preserve from a fatal contagion our country and our institutions." This address was carried by a majo- 1 Moniteur, rity of 109, the numbers being 202 to 93, and presented 1823; Ann. to the king amidst unbounded acclamations on the 9th 30, 33. February.1* Feb. 10, Hist. vi. 32. the war in It was in the debates on the subject, however, in the Chamber of Deputies of France and the English Par- Speech on liament, that the subject was brought out in its true the House of colours; and in these mighty assemblies, from whence r their voices rolled over the globe, the great Parliament- Brougham. ary leaders, on either side, adduced every consideration *M. Hyde de Neuville, one of the most brilliant and distinguished characters of the Restoration, had devoted to the exiled family, when in misfortune, his youth, his fortune, and put in hazard his life. Descended from English ancestry, he had inherited from his Cavalier forefathers that generous devotion to the royal family which in them had become a species of worship, to which honour, religion, and country alike summoned, and to which exile and the scaffold seemed only the appropriate sacrifice. During the Republic and the Empire he was actively engaged in all the conspiracies for the restoration of the Bourbons. During the latter years of the Empire, when all hopes of a restoration seemed lost, and Europe could no longer present a safe asylum, he Commons by Feb. 4. XII. 1823. CHAP. which could by possibility be urged upon it. Mr Canning, in consequence of his recent appointment as Foreign Secretary, was not in the House when the debate came on, but his place was ably filled by his antagonist, Mr Brougham, who, in a speech of extraordinary power and vigour, untrammelled by the restraints of office, gave vent to English opinion on the subject. He said that he "joined with the mover of the address, and with every man who deserved the name of Briton, in abhorrence and detestation at the audacious interference of the allied powers in the internal affairs of Spain; a detestation equalled only by contempt for the hypocrisy by which their principles had been promulgated to the world. The communication made in the king's speech will be tidings of joy and a signal for exultation for England; it will spread joy and exultation over Spain, will be a source of comfort to all other free states, and will bring confusion and dismay to the Allies, who with a pretended respect for, but a real mockery of, religion and morality, make war upon liberty in the abstract, endeavour to crush national independence wherever it is to be found, and are now preparing with their armed hordes to carry their frightful projects into execution. 33. 66 The internal situation of the country is certainly one Continued. of deep distress, especially so far as regards that most important and useful branch of the community, the farmers; and I am the last man who would not recommend continued and unsparing economy in every department: but the time has now come, when, to assert our principles and took refuge in America, where he learned to mingle respect for popular freedom with a devoted respect to the principles of loyalty to the sovereign. Returning to France in 1814 with the exiled princes, he was elected deputy for Berry, his native province; and in the Chamber he soon signalised himself among the Royalists by his ardent loyalty, coupled with a manly eloquence and decision of character, which bespoke the man of action as well as the orator. His noble figure, martial air, and erect carriage-his numerous adventures, the dungeons he had occupied, his persecutions, his exile-threw an air of romance about his character, and augmented the influence due to his loyalty, eloquence, and courage.-LAMARTINE, Hist. de la Rest. vii. 122, 123. XII. 1823. maintain our independence, not only no further diminu- CHAP. tion, but probably a great increase, of our naval and military establishments has become indispensable. Our intervention, in some shape, will probably be found to be unavoidable; and if war is once begun, perhaps, for the protection of our old ally Portugal, it must be carried on with the whole strength of the empire. I am rejoiced that the ominous words 'strict neutrality' did not escape from the lips of either the mover or seconder of the address. A state of declared neutrality on our part would be nothing less than a practical admission of those principles which we all loudly condemn, and a license to the commission of the atrocities which we are all unanimous in deprecating. It is obviously the duty of his Majesty's Ministers, with whom the whole House on this occasion will be ready to cooperate, in certain events to assist the Spaniards-a course which we, though most averse to war, must be the first on this occasion, and to avert greater evils, to support. 34. "To judge of the danger of the principles now shamelessly promulgated, let any one read attentively, and, if Continued. he can, patiently, the notes presented by Austria, Prussia, and Russia, to the Spanish government. Can anything more absurd or extravagant be conceived? In the Prussian note the Constitution of 1812, restored in 1820, is denounced as a system which, confounding all elements and all power, and assuming only the principle of a permanent and legal opposition to the Government, necessarily destroyed that central and tutelary authority which constitutes the essence of the monarchical system.' The Emperor of Russia, in terms not less strong, called the constitutional government of the Cortes laws which the public reason of all Europe, enlightened by the experience of ages, has stamped with the disapprobation of the public reason of Europe.' What is this but following the example of the autocrat Catherine, who first stigmatised the constitution of Poland, and then poured in her hordes to waste province after province, and finally XII. 1823. CHAP. hewed their way to Warsaw through myriads of unoffending Poles, and then ordered Te Deum to be sung for her success over the enemies of Poland? Such doctrines, promulgated from such quarters, are not only menacing to Spain; they threaten every independent country; they are levelled at every free constitution. Where is the right of interference to stop, if these armed despots, these self-constituted judges, are at liberty to invade independent states, enjoying a form of government different from their own, on pretence of the principle on which it is founded being not such as they approve, or which they deem dangerous to the frame of society established among themselves? 35. "It is true, there have been civil war and bloodshed Continued. in Spain, but how have they been excited? By an ally. They were produced by those cordons of troops which were stationed along the frontiers armed with gold and steel, and affording shelter and assistance to those in whose minds disaffection had been excited by bribery. It is true, blood has been shed; but what blood was it? Why, it was the blood of persons who attacked the existing Government, which Alexander and all the Allies had recognised in 1812, and who were repulsed in direct rebellion against the royal authority. As well might the people, Parliament, and Crown of England be charged with causing blood to flow, because the sentinels at St James's fired on some persons attempting to force the palace or assassinate the king. And who is it that uses this monstrous language? It is Russia, a power only half-civilised, that with all her colossal mass of physical strength is still as much Asiatic as European, whose principles of policy, both foreign and domestic, are completely despotic, and whose practices are almost entirely Oriental and barbarous. Its language is, when unveiled, nothing but this-'We have hundreds of thousands of hired mercenaries, and we will not stoop to reason with those whom we would insult and enslave.' |