374 Political Affairs in Ajn-il. 



ing of tlie dfclarations of our ministeis, 

 and, failing to come to any satisfactory 

 conclusion, tbey (as a matter of necessity) 

 vpould look to what (he conduct of the 

 Britisli cabinet had beeu with respect to 

 Naples, iu favoin- of whom w( had made 

 similar declarations. What then would 

 they find the policy of England to have 

 been upon that occasion ? They would 

 find that we had stood at the door while 

 the foulest aggressions were perpetrated ; 

 they would find that, though there had 

 been upon our parts some pouting at first, 

 there had been no reluctance expressed, 

 there had been no strong expression of 

 those feelint;s which it was expected would 

 have actuated a British ministry. What- 

 ever might be urged against the Spanish 

 constitution, as it now stood, he found tliat 

 the Emperor Alexander himself had at one 

 time guaranteed tlie protection of the Spa- 

 nish constitution, upon which it was now 

 urged, as a reason for opposing it, that the 

 Spaniards themselves could not agree. 

 The first hereditary constitution of Spain 

 was this very constitution established by 

 the King and the Cortes ; and the ma- 

 terial distinction between Spain and Eng- 

 land was, that in this country the succes- 

 sion to the monarchy was by hereditary 

 right, while in Spain it had been by elec- 

 tion ; and that there existed a law which 

 rendered the consent of the Cortes neces- 

 sary to the validity of legislative enact- 

 ment. He had heard many objections 

 made by the French to the constitution of 

 Spain, one of which waS,that they had not 

 two chambers; it was urged that they 

 otight to possess two chambers, aud also a 

 higher qualification for members. Amongst 

 the objections made to the constitution, he 

 found it stated that the King of Spain could 

 not marry without the consent of the 

 Coites; that he could not select a consort 

 of his own free will; next came the noble 

 duke, who said, " that the king could not 

 exercise his functions ;" and then came the 

 famous Cliateaubriaud, who bbjected that 

 the Spanish king could not go to watering 

 places; it was further urgeil, that the 

 chamber, or Cortes, were not trust-wor- 

 thy, and that therefore it was necessary to 

 select members from the higher classes. 

 Another objection to the cuusiitution of 

 Spain was, that it adniiifed to a certain 

 extent the freedom of the press. He ob- 

 served, in conclusion, that one failure in 

 the late negociations had been produced 

 partly by error in judgment, but in a 

 greater degree by a want of that firmness 

 which we onght to have maintained ; and 

 that in consequence we had lost the glori- 

 ous opporluuiiy of res.umiug our ancient 

 station amongst the nations of Europe, and 

 of becoming the patrons and advocates of 

 liberty all over the world. 



Lard Granville moved an amendment, 

 expressing the concurrence of the House 



[May J, 



in the principles laid down in the papers 

 communicated to them, and their satis- 

 faction at the manner in which they had 

 been applied during the late negociations, 

 though lamenting that the efforts to pre* 

 serve the peace of Europe had been un- 

 successful, and declaring that they should 

 be at all times ready to give their cordial 

 support to all measures which might be 

 necessary to vindicate the honour of his 

 majesty's crown, and the interests of the 

 country. 



The Duke of BuckingJmm said, the sup- 

 porters of the Address told them that 

 their policy was neutrality — their spirit 

 was war. He did not forget the horrors 

 of revolutionary times, the misery of revo- 

 lutionary warfare, the dreadful result of 

 the spreading of revolutionary doctrines 

 over Europe. He saw little in Spain but 

 the continuation of those doctrines. Noble 

 lords might make his declarations the 

 subject of derision and obloquy; but there 

 was not one who on retiring to his closet 

 could conceal from himself that the spirit 

 of revolution was as ripe in Europe as 

 ever, aud was endeavouring, by means of 

 military insurrections and Carbonari se- 

 cret associations, to overturn all esta- 

 blished institutions. 



The Earl of Aberdeen vindicated the 

 conduct of the Duke of Wellington in the 

 conferences at Verona; and maintained, 

 that if menacing language had been held, 

 it would have produced a contrary result 

 to that upon which the noble lords oppo- 

 site had calculated. Had the noble duke 

 advocated a system of policy which might 

 have plunged this country into a war, 

 might he not have been accused, as his 

 predecessor the Uuke of Marlborough had 

 been accused, of adopting that course 

 with a view of furnishing a fresh field for 

 his own personal exertions. 



Earl Darnley disclaimed the imputation 

 which had been thrown upon his noble 

 friends of blaming his majesty's ministers 

 for haviug preserved peace. They blamed 

 his majesty's ministers, not for having 

 preserved peace, but for having adopted a 

 line of policy which was least calculated 

 to preserve jicace. The line of policy 

 pursued through the whole course of the 

 negociations was calculated to establish 

 principles of despotism and bigotry, in 

 opposition to those of liberty and to- 

 leration. 



The Duke of Wellington said, the go- 

 vernment, of which he formed a part, had 

 determined to adopt the line of neutrality; 

 he went to Verona with instructions to act 

 upon that policy, and in the spirit of those in- 

 structions he had carried on the conferences 

 with the other ministers. When he took a 

 part in the conferences at Verona, he w^s 

 not before a House of Parliament, nor 

 before a British public, but before an 

 assemblage of foreign ministers, to nhoni 



he 



