tion gene rally. future tranquillity;" "the sovereigns engage to be obser- Intervenvant of the great principles they profess to recognize as the foundation of their compact, in the various conferences which may from time to time be held either between themselves or their respective ministers; whether the conferences in question be devoted to a common deliberation upon their own affairs, or whether they concern matters in which other governments shall have formally requested their mediation, the same disposition which is to guide their own deliberations and govern their own diplomatic transactions shall also preside at these conferences, and have for its constant object the general peace and tranquillity of the world'." tion in The events of nearly half a century have put an interpretation on these words, and shew us how far Europe has had cause to rejoice over this sacred pledge of its future tranquillity-how far the deliberations of the great powers have had for their constant object the general peace of Europe, and how many of these powers have waited for the formal request of mediation before venturing to interfere in the affairs of their neighbours. The first fruits of this pacific policy were soon produced. Two years after the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, an oppor- Revolutunity was given for testing its principles. On the re- Spain, storation of the Spanish monarchy, after the fall of Napo- 1820. leon, a Constitution had been framed by the Cortes and laid before the king. This Constitution he rejected, as one that not merely limited his position, but reduced him to a state of dependence upon the Cortes. Not content, however, with the rejection of the Constitution, and with the dissolution of the body by which it was framed, Ferdinand proceeded to the utmost length of despotism, and reigned for six years with absolute authority, supported by an Inquisition, the Jesuits, and a restricted press. But so unbearable and odious became his tyranny, that various attempts were made to restrain it-attempts that at last, by the aid of an insurrectionary party in the Spanish army, were crowned with a temporary success. The spirit of revolution, which is catching, soon spread to a country that from years of trouble, bad government, and frequent changes, was ripe for revolt. Naples had not 1 British and Foreign State Papers, 1818-19, Vol. vi. p. 18; Annual Register for 1819, Appendix, p. 135. tion. Revolution in Naples, 1820. The de spatch of the Three Powers, 1821. Interven long before the period we are speaking of been united to the kingdom of Sicily', but discontented with the Constitution imposed upon them, and eager for a more liberal form of government, the people rose against the crown. A military revolution broke out at Naples, extorting from the king the acceptance of the Spanish Constitution and a united Parliament for Naples and Sicily. Alarmed lest the revolutionary doctrine thus started in Naples should be productive of mischief to Austrian domination, Metternich put in practice the principles announced at Aix-laChapelle, and, summoning the five powers to council, a Congress was held first at Troppau, and afterwards at Laybach, the result of which was a circular despatch from Austria, Prussia, and Russia, justifying their proceedings on the ground of the existence of a vast conspiracy against all established power and conceded rights in Europe, and announcing their intention to oppose all pretended reforms produced by revolution, and to protect the peace of Europe against the horrors of universal anarchy and fanatical innovation". The answer of the British Government to this despatch, dated the 10th of January, 1821, was a strong dissent from the general principles adopted at Troppau and Laybach. It declared the system of measures proposed to be in direct repugnance to the fundamental laws of Great Britain, and the principles on which those measures rested to be such as could not be safely admitted as a system of International Law, leading, if adopted, to more frequent and extensive interference in the internal transactions of states than was reconcileable with the efficient authority and dignity of independent sovereigns; and then were added these emphatic words: "That no government was more prepared than their own, 'to uphold the right of any state or states to interfere where their own security or essential interests were 1 In 1806 after the invasion of Naples by the French, Joseph Bonaparte being made king in 1808, the crown of Naples and Sicily was conferred on Murat. By the treaty of Vienna, 1735, Naples and the Sicilies together with the Stati degli Presidi had been surrendered by Austria to Spain as a secundogeniture in favour of Don Carlos. 2 British and Foreign State Papers, 1820-21, Vol. VIII. pp. 1128-1205; Annual Register for 1820, Part II. Appendix to Chron. PF. 723-746; Annual Register for 1821, Chap. XII. 3 British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. VIII. p. 1128. tiou. seriously endangered by the internal transactions of Intervenanother state. That the assumption of the right was Naples, only to be justified by the strongest necessity, and to be 1820. limited and regulated thereby. That it could not receive a general and indiscriminate application to all revolutionary movements, without reference to their immediate bearing upon some particular state or states; that its exercise was an exception to general principles of the greatest value and importance, and as one that only properly grows out of the circumstances of the special case; and exceptions of this description could never, without the utmost danger, be so far reduced to rule, as to be incorporated into the ordinary diplomacy of states, or into the institutes of the Law of Nations.' Interven tion in Naples and Pied mont. 1820 The deliberations of the monarchs at Troppau and Laybach were followed by an armed interference in Naples and Piedmont, and the endeavour of the people in the former place to obtain a Constitution at the hands of their king was at once put down by an Austrian army, by whom the revolutionary spirit was rudely quenched. In the meanwhile the movement in Spain, at first con- Affairs in fined to the scattered efforts of a few battalions of soldiers, Spain, became general; and when the royal troops themselves 1822. joined the now popular cause, the issue ceased to be doubtful, and the king was compelled to accept the Constitution, summon the Cortes of 1812, and grant other reforms, not the least beneficial of which was the abolition of the Inquisition and of the Monastic orders. But the Church, alarmed and irritated at measures that tended to limit its wealth and influence, resolved upon opposition. An Apostolical Junta was established on the frontiers of Portugal, the peasantry were organized into roving bands of guerillas, and the efforts of the Constitutional party to establish order, and form a strong government, were defeated by the intrigues of Spanish exiles, supported by France. At length matters came to a crisis, a forcible attempt to overthrow the Constitution by some battalions of the royal guards was defeated by the militia of Madrid, and an equally unsuccessful invasion by the troops of the so-called regency, whose head-quarters were at Urgel, near the French frontier, ended in the flight of the regency to France. At this stage of affairs the European Congress powers were again summoned to Verona to debate, and of Verona, 1822. Interven tion. Spain, 1820-22. Intervention in Spain, 1820-22. again their fears led them to resort to the sword for the The resolutions adopted at Verona were carried into effect, and on the retirement of the Cortes with the King of Spain to Seville, and thence to Cadiz, a powerful French army crossed the Spanish frontier, under the command of the Duc D'Angoulême; Cadiz was invested, and after a short siege, fell. Thus, by the help of French arms, the cause of despotism was triumphant, the right of the Spanish nation to select its own form of government was set at nought, and the second armed interference in the internal affairs of a state since the year 1818 again served to illustrate the doctrines of the alliance of Aix-laChapelle'. The proceeding that stands next in order of time differs so widely from those just described, that it cannot come within the category of Interventions proper. It is un necessary to dwell upon the events that led to the armed Affairs in assistance of Great Britain to Portugal in the year 1826. Portugal. The cause for the demand of aid was the hostile aggression of Spain, in whose territory large military expeditions 1 For the British documents relating to the Congress of Verona, see Annual Register for 1823, Public Documents, pp. 93-151; for M. de Jouffroy's Report to the French Government, and the Circular to the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian Ministers, British and Foreign State Papers, 1822-23, Vol. x. pp. 953 and 921; for Vicomte de Chateaubriand's Despatch to Mr Canning, 23 January, 1823, and Mr Canning's reply, Annuaire Historique (Leseur), 1823, p. 708, Annual Register, 1823, Pub. Doc. 110. tion. Por were being formed to support the pretensions of Don IntervenMiguel to the crown of Portugal, and that not by the tugal,1826. connivance merely, but with the direct encouragement of the Spanish authorities. The appearance of British troops in Lisbon therefore was a demonstration in favour of an old and faithful ally, "claiming, in virtue of ancient obligations of alliance and amity between the two crowns, aid against a hostile aggression from a neighbouring state'," and whilst the force which landed on Christmasday in Lisbon, amid the cheers of the people, was not there at the bidding of a Congress of powers from fear of revolution or reform, "or to rule, or dictate, or prescribe Constitutions, but to defend and preserve the independence of an ally," as soon as its duty was accomplished, and all fear of hostile incursions had vanished, it returned at the end of eighteen months, having prevented the disturbance of the peace of Europe without firing a shot. Greece. In the following year the third intervention of the Affairs in European powers took place. The cause was one that excited the enthusiasm of the civilized world and lent a false lustre to the doctrine of Intervention. The revolutionary movements in Europe which in the year 1820 had roused the fears of Austria, Prussia and Russia, and produced the armed intervention in Spain and Italy, had extended to a country ripe for revolt. For nearly 400 years Greece had had reason (if we are to believe the story of her wrongs) to lament over the evil chance that had doomed her to fall beneath the yoke of Turkey, and to suffer the bigoted sway of Moslem rulers. The Congress of Vienna had raised a hope, destined to be soon overthrown, that feelings of pity for the oppressed might rouse the great powers to extend some sympathy to Greece and procure some relief for her misery, but the time had not yet come for intervening in the affairs of Turkey, or interposing between the Porte and one of its subject dependencies. And, as if to increase in a tenfold degree the bitter feeling arising out of this disappointment, the cession of Parga came like a thunderbolt upon the Greeks, leaving them without hope of external 1 King's Message to Parliament, Dec. 1826, Parliamentary Debates, New Series, xvI. 335. 2 Speech of Canning, Parliamentary Debates, 1826–27, New Series, XVI. 369. |