♦Ill conduct of the Spanish government toward Lord Wellington.♦
The Spanish government had shown no want of gratitude to Lord Wellington in conferring upon him honours and rewards; but while in such things they conformed to the national sentiment, their conduct sometimes manifested a want of that frank and generous confidence which ought to have been given in as full measure as it was deserved. In direct breach of the engagement made with him when he accepted the command of the Spanish armies, they had superseded Castaños, and made other changes, not only without his advice and concurrence, but contrary to his wishes, and in disregard of his remonstrances: and this might have produced the most injurious effect, if the war had not speedily been transferred to the enemy’s country. Libels were circulated imputing sinister views to England, because some of its troops still remained at Cadiz and at Carthagena; and the government allowed these libels to circulate without taking any means for counteracting the impression which the calumny was intended to produce. Lord Wellington withdrew the troops as soon (after their presence had ceased to be necessary there) as he could obtain the Prince Regent’s orders; and, in notifying this to the British ambassador, he stated the circumstances under which those fortresses had been garrisoned at the request ♦November.Change of the Regency.♦ of the Spanish government itself; expressed his surprise that the existing government, knowing these facts, should yet have allowed such calumnies to pass uncontradicted, and requested that his letter might be published. The Regency was, indeed, at this time the mere instrument of the Cortes, which had displaced the late regents by a summary vote, for demurring to enforce an impolitic decree that the clergy scrupled to obey. Cardinal Bourbon, Don Pedro Agar, and Don Gabriel Ciscar were appointed in their stead to a station which possessed only a nominal authority, the Cortes, under the dictation of a party more ardent than wise, having now arrogated to itself the whole actual power.
A whimsical proof had recently occurred of the readiness with which certain Spaniards accredited any imputation, however absurd, upon the intentions of the British government. A foolish paragraph had appeared in some Irish newspaper, saying, that Lord Wellington deserved to be made King of Spain; and that some of the grandees had offered to raise him to the throne! This found its way to Spain; and the Duques of Ossuna and Frias, the Visconde de Gante, and the Marques de Villena, published forthwith a letter to inform the world, that they neither did, nor would, acknowledge any other King than Ferdinand VII.; ... that they detested and abhorred the very idea of any usurper ruling over the Spaniards; ... and that they were persuaded that the other grandees, as soon as this statement should come to their knowledge, would hasten, in like manner, to give a public testimony of their principles and their fidelity.
♦Proceedings in Parliament.♦
Parliament met early in November, under more auspicious circumstances than at any time since the baneful commencement of the French revolution. England, which had stood alone in the contest against the most formidable military power that had ever existed in the civilized world, was now in alliance, not with the Spaniards and Portugueze alone, but with Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Bavaria, and Holland. Buonaparte had been driven back over the Rhine; and a British army, after beating the French from the lines of Torres Vedras to the Pyrenees, had passed that boundary and entered France. Upon this occasion some of those statesmen who had been most decided in their opposition to government acknowledged the wisdom, and rejoiced in the success of that policy which they had formerly condemned. ♦Lord Grenville. Nov. 4.♦ “Upon this grand question,” said Lord Grenville, “all party conflicts must be swallowed up and lost; it is the cause of no party, of no set of individuals, but of the whole nation joined in sentiment and in action to effect a great and glorious purpose. Internal tranquillity,” he said, “might be considered as the first, and external peace as the second, blessing that any power under Heaven could confer upon a people; but what we desired and expected was the real blessing of peace, not the empty name; not the shadow, but the substance. Too long did deluded Europe, by temporary and partial truces, by concession following concession, purchase from the insatiable enemy a precarious quiet, a troubled sleep, furnishing to her foe the very means of his aggression, and of her own subjugation. The time, my lords, is now arrived (and I rejoice that I have lived to see the hour) when the walls of a British parliament may again re-echo a sound formerly held sacred in this country, and upon the observance of which, I will venture to assert, depends the hope of the restoration of peace to Europe; ... I allude to the old-fashioned tenet, now almost forgotten, of a balance of power in Europe; and I offer up my thanks, with humble gratitude, to the Supreme Disposer of events, that after so long a period he has permitted me to behold my native land in such a commanding situation, as to be able again to pursue that which ought to be the only legitimate object of foreign policy, I mean, the establishment and preservation of a balance of power in Europe. Now, then, let Great Britain resume her ancient policy: let her once more perceive that the only mode by which the independence of the great commonwealth of Europe can be secured, is not by perpetual peace (for that is the visionary dream of visionary men), but by the maintenance of this balance, by which, even in war itself, the weak will find refuge from oppression. Whatever plans may be suggested, having this in view, I shall meet with the most earnest wish to find that they are compatible with the interests of the country. I cannot be ignorant of the difficulties that may be opposed: I do, however, fervently hope, nay, I believe, that they may be surmounted. Do me not the injustice of believing that these opinions are the result merely of the exultation felt in consequence of recent and unexpected events. Undoubtedly such events are calculated to warm the heart of every individual who feels not only for the natural rights of man, but for the independence of nations; but those with whom I have been in the habit of confidential communication know my deliberate opinion, that the existence of such a confederation as has now been formed, of itself irresistibly calls upon Great Britain to employ all her energies, and devote all her exertions to the success of a common and a glorious cause. I was prepared to add an exhortation, that as the chances of war must necessarily be precarious, you would prepare yourselves to meet with firmness those disasters which human foresight could not predict, and which human wisdom could not prevent. Even now, under circumstances that might seem almost to justify the confidence of certainty, I offer that exhortation. If in the course of human events (although I see little cause to fear) any unforeseen calamity should unfortunately occur, remember the glorious cause in which you are engaged; it may for an instant damp your hopes, but let it not damp your ardour or shake your resolution. Be assured, my lords, of this, ... (I hope you are already assured of it,) that there is for this country no separate safety, no separate peace! There is neither safety nor peace for England, but with the safety and peace of Europe; ... as for continental Europe, it is equally true, that an indissoluble union, a firm confederation with this country can alone secure for all liberty, tranquillity, and happiness, ... can alone obtain peace, now almost beyond the memory of living man. The plain duty of this country, placing its trust in Providence, is to improve by every possible exertion the bright prospect that lies before us. With the energies of Great Britain duly applied, ultimate success may be confidently anticipated; we may now look forward to the speedy accomplishment of that great purpose for which we have already sacrificed, performed, and endured so much, ... and for which we are still ready to sacrifice, perform, and endure.”
♦Marquis Wellesley.♦
In the same spirit, Marquis Wellesley declared, that the satisfaction he felt in the events which had now changed the destinies of Europe was with him a principle and not a sentiment. “It was not so much,” he said, “because those events had raised the military reputation of this country and of our allies, that they had the highest value in his eyes, but because they were the natural result of wise and cautious measures, executed with the greatest degree of vigour; and displaying a wisdom of combination and prudence of plan which could not fail ultimately to be rewarded with the success by which they were attended. He would not dwell on former errors; but he would not hesitate to say that the glorious successes which had lately crowned our arms in Spain, and the arms of our allies in the north of Europe, were to be traced to the long train of persevering councils persisted in by the government of this country. Though those councils had not always immediately produced the results that were expected, they were not the less the cause of what had ultimately taken place. While we were exerting ourselves in a struggle apparently hopeless, at that moment the public councils of this country were of the utmost importance to European liberty; for opportunity was thus given to the rest of Europe to re-consider their former errors, and to learn that great lesson which the example of Britain afforded them. Nothing could be more true than the last words which that great statesman, Mr. Pitt, ever delivered in public, that England had saved herself by her firmness, and other nations by her example. What a satisfactory and consoling reflection was it for us, that from this fountain the sacred waters of gladness and glory had flowed; ... that to the persevering spirit of this country it was owing that other nations were at last animated to deeds worthy of the cause in which they were engaged, and of the example which was set them!”
♦Lord Liverpool.♦
Lord Liverpool rejoiced that on this great occasion a spirit of unanimity prevailed in the British parliament. “We had seen,” he said, “during the preceding twenty years, coalitions whose size promised strength, crushed by the power of the enemy: what was it then which had given this irresistible impulse to the present? The feeling of national independence, that feeling which first arose in the Peninsula, gave the war a new character, and afforded grounds to hope not only for the deliverance of that country, but of the rest of Europe. There had before been wars of governments, but none like this between nations; and all our principles of policy and prudence must have been belied if the issue of the present confederacy had not been very different from that of any of the former ones. They had before them examples of perseverance unexampled in any other cause than that of liberty; they had seen the least military nations of Europe become formidable, and successfully resist the best disciplined troops of France. Small as Portugal was, the establishment of the Portugueze army had been of the greatest consequence, as the foundation of the success of the allied armies in the Peninsula; and as it gave, in addition to the general national feeling, a military tone, under the influence of which the Portugueze troops have been raised to an equality with the British. He was advancing no paradox, but a truth which was felt and admitted on the continent, when he said that the success of the peninsular cause gave new life to the suffering nations of Europe.”
♦Mr. C. Grant.♦