those who desired to plunge this country into the now reposing on their shadows in perfect stillnes difficulties of war, partly from the hope that those how soon, upon any call of patriotism, or of difficulties would overwhelm the administration; necessity, it would assume the likeness of an asibut it would be most unjust not to admit that mated thing, instinct with life and motion-hee there were others who were actuated by nobler soon it would ruffle, as it were, its swelling plumprinciples and more generous feelings, who would age-how quickly it would put forth all its beauty have rushed forward at once from the sense of and its bravery, collect its scattered elements of indignation at aggression, and who deemed that strength, and awaken its dormant thunder. Suck no act of injustice could be perpetrated from one as is one of these magnificent machines when end of the universe to the other, but that the springing from inaction into a display of its sword of Great Britain should leap from its scab-might-such is England herself, while, apparentbard to avenge it. But as it is the province of ly passive and motionless, she silently concentrates law to control the excess even of laudable pas- the power to be put forth on an adequate occasion. sions and propensities in individuals, so it is the But God forbid that that occasion should arise. duty of government to restrain within due bounds After a war sustained for near a quarter of a centhe ebullition of national sentiment, and to regu- tury-sometimes single-handed, and with all Ealate the course and direction of impulses which it rope arranged at times against her, or at her side, can not blame. Is there any one among the latter England needs a period of tranquillity, and may class of persons described by my honorable friend enjoy it without fear of misconstruction. Long (for to the former I have nothing to say) who con- may we be enabled, gentlemen, to improve the tinues to doubt whether the government did wise-blessings of our present situation, to cultivate the ly in declining to obey the precipitate enthusiasm which prevailed at the commencement of the contest in Spain ?1 Is there any body who does not now think that it was the office of government to examine more closely all the various bearings of so complicated a question, to consider whether they were called upon to assist a united nation, or to plunge themselves into the internal feuds by which that nation was divided-to aid in repelling a foreign invader, or to take part in a civil war? Is there any man that does not now see what would have been the extent of burdens that would have been cast upon this country? Is there any one who does not acknowledge that, under such circumstances the enterprise would have been one to be characterized only by a term borrowed from that part of the Spanish literature with which we are most familiar-Quixotic; an enterprise romantic in its origin, and thankless in the end? But peace should be Bought by for war. But while we thus eontrol even our feelings by our duty, let it not be said that we cultivate peace either because we fear, being ready or because we are unprepared for war; on the contrary, if eight months ago the government did not hesitate to proclaim that the country was prepared for war, if war should be unfortunately necessary, every month of peace that has since passed has but made us so much the more capable of exertion. The resources created by peace are means of war. In cherishing those resources, we but accumulate those Our present repose is no more a proof of inability to act, than the state of inertness and inactivity in which I have seen those mighty masses that float in the waters above your town, is a proof that they are devoid of strength, and incapable of being fitted out for action. You well know, gentlemen, how soon one of those stupendous masses, means. See this subject explained in the introduction to Mr. Brougham's speech respecting it, page 904. Of arts of peace, to give to commerce, now reviv- 2 It will interest the reader to compare this pas sage with one conceived in the same spirit by the poet Campbell, on the launching of a ship of the line. of the launching of a ship of the line will perhaps "Those who have ever witnessed the spectacle forgive me for adding this to the examples of the sublime objects of artificial life. Of that spectacle I can never forget the impression, and of having witnessed it reflected from the faces of ten thousand spectators. They seem yet before me-I sympathize with their deep and silent expectation, and with their final burst of enthusiasm. It was not a vulgar joy, but an affecting national solemnity. When the vast bulwark sprang from her cradle, the calm water on which she swung majestically round, gave the im agination a contrast of the stormy element on which she was soon to ride. All the days of battle, and the nights of danger which she had to encounterall the ends of the earth which she had to visit-and all that she had to do and to suffer for her country, rose in awful presentiment before the mind; and when the heart gave her a benediction, it was like one pronounced on a living being."-Essay on Es glish Poetry. SPEECH OF MR. CANNING ON AFFORDING AID TO PORTUGAL WHEN INVADED FROM SPAIN, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, DECEMBER 12, 1826. INTRODUCTION. ENGLAND had been for nearly two centuries the ally and protector of Portugal, and was bound to defend her when attacked. In 1826, a body of absolutists, headed by the Queen Dowager and the Marquess of Chaves, attempted to destroy the existing Portuguese government, which had been founded on the basis of constitutional liberty. This government had been acknowledged by England, France, Austria, and Russia. It was, however, obnoxious to Ferdinand, king of Spain; and Portugal was invaded from the Spanish territory by large bodies of Portuguese absolutists, who had been there organized with the connivance, if not the direct aid, of the Spanish government. The Portuguese government now demanded the assistance of England. Five thousand troops were, therefore, instantly ordered to Lisbon, and Mr. Canning came forward in this speech to explain the reasons of his prompt intervention. "This," says his biographer, "is the master piece of his eloquence. In propriety and force of diction-in excellence of appropriate and well-methodized arrangement-in elevation of style and sentiment; and in all the vigorous qualities of genuine manly eloquence-boldness-judgment -firmness, it fully sustains its title to the high eulogy given it by Mr. Brougham at the close of the debate." SPEECH, &c. ed. Design of the MR. SPEAKER,-In proposing to the House of Commons to acknowledge, by an humspeaker. ble and dutiful address, his Majesty's most gracious message, and to reply to it in terms which will be, in effect, an echo of the sentiments and a fulfillment of the anticipations of that message, I feel that, however confident I may be in the justice, and however clear as to the policy of the measures therein announced, it becomes me, as a British minister, recommending to Parliament any step which may approximate this country even to the hazard of a war, while I explain the grounds of that proposal, to accompany my explanation with expressions of regret. But national demand the These causes are, adherence to the national faith, and regard for the national honor. Sir, if I did not consider both these causes as involved in the proposition which I have this day to make to you, I should faith and honor not address the House, as I now do, proposed measin the full and entire confidence that ures. the gracious communication of his Majesty will be met by the House with the concurrence of which his Majesty has declared his expectation. gations to In order to bring the matter which I have to submit to you, under the cognizance of Part First. the House, in the shortest and clearest Treaty obli manner, I beg leave to state it, in the Portugal. first instance, divested of any collateral considerIt is a case of law and of fact: of national law on the one hand, and of notorious fact on the other; such as it must be, in my opinion, as impossible for Parliament, as it was for the government, to regard in any but one light; or to come to any but one conclusion upon it. I can assure the House, that there is not withHigh sense en- in its walls any set of men more deep-ations. tertained of the arly convinced than his Majesty's minpeace. isters-nor any individual more intimately persuaded than he who has now the honor of addressing you-of the vital importance of the continuance of peace to this country and to the world. So strongly am I impressed with this opinion-and for reasons of which I will put the House more fully in possession before I sit down -that I declare there is no question of doubtful or controverted policy-no opportunity of present national advantage-no precaution against remote difficulty-which I would not gladly compromise, pass over, or adjourn, rather than call on Parliament to sanction, at this moment, any measure which had a tendency to involve the country in war. But, at the same time, sir, I feel that which has been felt, in the best times of English history, by the best statesmen of this country, and by the Parliaments by whom those statesmen were supported-I feel that there are two causes, and but two causes, which can not be either compromised, passed over, or adjourn Early origin gations, Among the alliances by which, at different periods of our history, this country has been connected with the other nations of those obliof Europe, none is so ancient in origin, and so precise in obligation-none has continued so long, and been observed so faithfully-of none is the memory so intimately interwoven with the most brilliant records of our triumphs, as that by which Great Britain is connected with Portugal. It dates back to distant centuries; it has survived an endless variety of fortunes. Anterior in existence to the accession of the house of Braganza to the throne of Portugal-it derived, however, fresh vigor from that event; and never, from that epoch to the present hour, has the independent monarchy of Portugal ceased to be nurtured by the friendship of Great Britain. This alliance felt that they ought to be broken off. has never been seriously interrupted; but it has | Portugal. That convention, I say, was contembeen renewed by repeated sanctions. It has poraneous with the migration to the Brazils; a been maintained under difficulties by which the fidelity of other alliances were shaken, and has been vindicated in fields of blood and of glory. That the alliance with Portugal has been alNo one has ever ways unqualifiedly advantageous to this country that it has not been sometimes inconvenient and sometimes burdensome-I am not bound nor prepared to maintain. But no British statesman, so far as I know, has ever suggested the expediency of shaking it off; and it is assuredly not at a moment of need that honor and, what I may be allowed to call national sympathy, would permit us to weigh, with an over-scrupulous exactness, the amount of difficulties and dangers attendant upon its faithful and steadfast observance. What feelings of national honor would forbid, is forbidden alike by the plain dictates of national faith. step of great importance at the time, as removing from the grasp of Bonaparte the sovereign family of Braganza. Afterward, in the year 1810, when the seat of the King of Portugal's government was established at Rio de Janeiro, and when it seemed probable, in the then appar ently hopeless condition of the affairs of Europe, that it was likely long to continue there, the secret convention of 1807, of which the main object was accomplished by the fact of the emigra tion to Brazil, was abrogated, and a new and public treaty was concluded, into which was transferred the stipulation of 1807, binding Great Britain, so long as his faithful Majesty should be compelled to reside in Brazil, not to acknowledge any other sovereign of Portugal than a member of the house of Braganza. That stipulation which had hitherto been secret, thus became patent, and part of the known law of nations. In the year 1814, in consequence of the happy conclusion of the war, the option was afford. European dominions. It was then felt that, as the necessity of his most faithful Majesty's absence from Portugal had ceased, the ground for the obligation originally contracted in the secret convention of 1807, and afterward transferred to the patent treaty of 1810, was removed. The treaty of 1810 was, therefore, annulled at the Congress of Vienna; and in lieu of the stipulation not to acknowledge any other sovereign of Portugal than a member of the house of Braganza, was substituted that which I have just read to the House. It is not at distant periods of history, and in Solemnly re- by-gone ages only, that the traces of newed in 1815. the union between Great Britain and Portugal are to be found. In the last compacted to the King of Portugal of returning to his of modern Europe, the compact which forms the basis of its present international law-I mean the treaty of Vienna of 1815—this country, with its eyes open to the possible inconveniences of the connection, but with a memory awake to its past benefits, solemnly renewed the previously existing obligations of alliance and amity with Portugal. I will take leave to read to the House the third article of the treaty concluded at Vienna, in 1815, between Great Britain on the one hand, and Portugal on the other. It is couched in the following terms: "The treaty of Alliance, concluded at Rio de Janeiro, on the 19th of February, 1810, being founded on circumstances of a temporary nature, which have happily ceased to exist, the said treaty is hereby declared to be void in all its parts, and of no effect; without prejudice, however, to the ancient treaties of alliance, friendship, and guarantee, which have so long and so happily subsisted between the two Crowns, and which are hereby renewed by the high contracting parties, and acknowledged to be of full force and effect." that renewal. ment-the House will, perhaps, allow me to explain shortly the circumstances in reference to which it was contracted. In the year 1807, when, upon the declaration of Bonaparte, that the house of Braganza had ceased to reign, the King of Portugal, by the advice of Great Britain, was induced to set sail for the Brazils; almost at the very moment of his most faithful Majesty's embarkation, a secret convention was signed between his Majesty and the King of Portugal, stipulating that, in the event of his most faithful Majesty's establishing the seat of his government in Brazil, Great Britain would never acknowledge any other dynasty than that of the house of Braganza on the throne of Annulling the treaty of 1810, the treaty of Vienna renews and confirms (as the House will have seen) all former treaties between Great Britain and Portugal, describing them as "ancient treaties of alliance, friendship, and guaran tee;" as having "long and happily subsisted be tween the two Crowns ;" and as being allowed, by the two high contracting parties, to remain "in full force and effect." England band, not by this, but treates to pro tect Portugal by previous What, then, is the force-what is the effect of those ancient treaties? I am prepared to show to the House what it is. But before I do so, I must say, that if all the treaties to which this article of the treaty of Vienna refers, had perished by some convulsion of nature, or had by some extraordinary accident been consigned to total oblivion, still it would be impossible not to admit, as an incontestible inference from this article of the treaty of Vienna alone, that in a moral point of view, there is incumbent on Great Britain, a decided obligation to act as the effectual defender of Portugal. If I could not show the letter of a single antecedent stipulation, I should still contend that a solemn admission, only ten years old, of the existence at that time of "treaties of alliance, friendship, and guarantee," held Great Britain to the discharge of the obligations which that very description implies. But fortunately The first to which I shall advert is the treaty By treaty of 1661, which was concluded at the of 1661. time of the marriage of Charles the Second with the Infanta of Portugal. After reciting the marriage, and making over to Great Britain, in consequence of that marriage, first, a considerable sum of money, and, secondly, several important places, some of which, as Tangier, we no longer possess; but others of which, as Bombay, still belong to this country, the treaty runs thus: "In consideration of all which grants, so much to the benefit of the King of Great Britain and his subjects in general, and of the delivery of those important places to his said Majesty and his heirs forever, &c., the King of Great Britain does profess and declare, with the consent and advice of his council, that he will take the interest of Port- | ugal and all its dominions to heart, defending the same with his utmost power by sea and land, even as England itself;" and it then proceeds to specify the succors to be sent, and the manner of sending them. two treaties. there is no such difficulty in specifying the na- | of the treaties which I have quoted, it is possible ture of those obligations. All of the preceding to raise a question-whether varia- Further discustreaties exist-all of them are of easy reference tion of circumstances or change of son of these -all of them are known to this country, to times may not have somewhat relaxSpain, to every nation of the civilized world. ed its obligations. The treaty of 1661, it might They are so numerous, and their general result be said, was so loose and prodigal in the wordis so uniform, that it may be sufficient to select ing-it is so unreasonable, so wholly out of naonly two of them to show the nature of all. ture, that any one country should be expected to defend another, "even as itself;" such stipulations are of so exaggerated a character, as to resemble effusions of feeling, rather than enunciations of deliberate compact. Again, with respect to the treaty of 1703, if the case rested on that treaty alone, a question might be raised, whether or not, when one of the contracting parties-Holland—had since so changed her relations with Portugal, as to consider her obligations under the treaty of 1703 as obsolete—whether or not, I say, under such circumstances, the obligation on the remaining party be not likewise void. I should not hesitate to answer both these objections in the negative. But without entering into such a controversy, it is sufficient for me to say that the time and place for taking such objections was at the Congress at Vienna. Then and there it was that if you, indeed, considered these treaties as obsolete, you ought frankly and fearlessly to have declared them to be so. then and there, with your eyes open, and in the face of all modern Europe, you proclaimed anew the ancient treaties of alliance, friendship, and guarantee, "so long subsisting between the Crowns of Great Britain and Portugal," as still "acknowledged by Great Britain," and still "of full force and effect." It is not, however, on specific articles alone-it is not so much, General inperhaps, on either of these ancient treaties, taken separately, as it is on the spir- gations. it and understanding of the whole body of treaties, of which the essence is concentrated and preserved in the treaty of Vienna, that we acknowledge in Portugal a right to look to Great Britain as her ally and defender. But ference as to treaty obli This protec tion now de I come next to the treaty of 1703, a treaty of By treaty alliance cotemporaneous with the Meof 1703. thuen treaty, which has regulated, for upward of a century, the commercial relations of the two countries. The treaty of 1703 was a tripartite engagement between the States General of Holland, England, and Portugal. The second article of that treaty sets forth, that "If ever it shall happen that the Kings of Spain and France, either the present or the future, that both of them together, or either of them separately, shall make war, or give occasion to suspect that they intend to make war upon the kingdom of Portugal, either on the continent of Europe, or on This, sir, being the state, morally and politits dominions beyond the seas; her Majesty the ically, of our obligations toward Port- Part Second. Queen of Great Britain, and the Lords the States ugal, it is obvious that when Portugal, General, shall use their friendly offices with the in apprehension of the coming storm, manded. said Kings, or either of them, in order to persuade called on Great Britain for assistance, the only them to observe the terms of peace toward Port- hesitation on our part could be-not whether that ugal, and not to make war upon it." The third assistance was due, supposing the occasion for article declares, "That in the event of these good demanding it to arise, but simply whether that offices not proving successful, but altogether in-occasion-in other words, whether the casus faeffectual, so that war should be made by the deris had arisen. aforesaid Kings, or by either of them upon Portugal, the above-mentioned powers of Great Britain and Holland shall make war with all their force upon the aforesaid Kings or King who shall carry hostile arms into Portugal; and toward that war which shall be carried on in Europe, they shall supply twelve thousand men, whom they shall arm and pay, as well when in quarters as in action; and the said high allies shall be obliged to keep that number of men complete, by recruiting it from time to time at their own expense." I am aware, indeed, that with respect to either objections of had I understand, indeed, that in some quarters it has been imputed to his Majesty's Answer to the ministers that an extraordinary delay some that the intervened between the taking of the government determination to give assistance to slowly. Portugal and the carrying of that determination into effect. But how stands the fact? On Sunday, the third of this month, we received from the Portuguese embassador a direct and formal demand of assistance against a hostile aggression from Spain. Our answer was, that although rumors had reached us through France, his Majesty's government had not that accurate inform ation that official and precise intelligence of facts-on which they could properly found an application to Parliament. It was only on last Friday night that this precise information arrived. On Saturday his Majesty's confidential servants came to a decision. On Sunday that decision received the sanction of his Majesty. On Monday it was communicated to both Houses of Parliament; and this day, sir, at the hour in which I have the honor of addressing you, the troops are on their march for embarkation. They were bound to act on. Chambers an extension of power for the execu tive government, and the permission to apply for foreign succors, in virtue of ancient treaties, in the event of their being deemed necessary. The deputies gave the requisite authority by aceiamation; and an equally good spirit was manifested by the peers, who granted every power that the ministers could possibly require. They even went further, and, rising in a body from their seats, declared their devotion to their country, and their readiness to give their personal serv ices, if necessary, to repel any hostile invasion, The Duke de Cadaval, president of the Chamber, was the first to make this declaration; and the minister who described this proceeding to me, said it was a movement worthy of the good days of Portugal!" I have thus incidentally disposed of the supposed imputation of delay in comply- Proof that the ing with the requisition of the Portu- England is guese government. The main ques- needed. tion, however, is this: Was it obligatory upon us to comply with that requisition? In other words, had the casus fœderis arisen? In our opinion I trust, then, sir, that no unseemly delay is imputable to government. But unto have evidence doubtedly, on the other hand, when the claim of Portugal for assistance -a claim clear, indeed, in justice, but at the same time fearfully spreading in its possible consequences, came before us, it was the duty of his Majesty's government to do nothing on hearsay. The eventual force of the claim was admitted; but a thorough knowledge of facts was necessary before the compliance with that claim could be granted. The government here labored under some disadvantage. The rumors which reached us through Madrid were obviously dis-had. Bands of Portuguese rebels, armed, equiptorted, to answer partial political purposes; and the intelligence through the press of France, though substantially correct, was, in particulars, vague and contradictory. A measure of grave and serious moment could never be founded on such authority; nor could the ministers come down to Parliament until they had a confident assurance that the case which they had to lay before the Legislature was true in all its parts. That evidence nature of the Portuguese government. ped, and trained in Spain, had crossed the Spanish frontier, carrying terror and devastation into their own country, and proclaiming sometimes the brother of the reigning Sovereign of Portugal, sometimes a Spanish Princess, and sometimes even Ferdinand of Spain, as the rightful occupant of the Portuguese throne. These rebels crossed the frontier, not at one point only, but at several points; for it is remarkable that the aggression, on which the original application to Great Britain for succor was founded, is not the aggression with reference to which that application has been complied with. ters. But there was another reason which induced a necessary caution. In former indelayed by the stances, when Portugal applied to this country for assistance, the whole power of the state in Portugal was The attack announced by the French newspa vested in the person of the monarch. The ex-pers was on the north of Portugal, in Portugal in pression of his wish, the manifestation of his desire, the putting forth of his claim, was sufficient ground for immediate and decisive action on the part of Great Britain, supposing the casus faderis to be made out. But, on this occasion, inquiry was in the first place to be made whether, according to the new Constitution of Portugal, the call upon Great Britain was made with the consent of all the powers and authorities competent to make it, so as to carry with it an assurance of that reception in Portugal for our army, which the army of a friend and ally had a right to expect. Before a British soldier should put his foot on Portuguese ground, nay, before he should leave the shores of England, it was our duty to ascertain that the step taken by the Regency of Portugal was taken with the cordial concurrence of the Legislature of that country. It was but this morning that we received intelligence of the proceedings of the Chambers at Lisbon, which establishes the fact of such concurrence. This intelligence is contained in a dispatch from Sir W. A'Court, dated 29th of November, of which I will read an extract to the House. "The day after the news arrived of the entry of the rebels into Portugal. the ministers demanded from the the province of Tras-os-Montes; an raced from If a single company of Spanish soldiers had crossed the frontier in hostile array, Theron a there could not, it is presumed, be a sha doubt as to the character of that in fact. |