OP WHAT USE IS OUR AMBASSADOR AT MADRID?
Do not let us rely on abstract considerations as to the usefulness of maintaining an Ambassador at Madrid : let us turn to the official record to learn historically in what it has availed us. We had an Ambassador at Madrid during the late crisis brought upon Europe by the French Revolution ; it is avowedly the official object to maintain British influence in the Spanish capital : let us ascertain from the published correspondence* how Sir Henry Bulwer did so—what means he took, and what success he attained. It is an instructive record.
The means taken by Sir Henry Bulwer appear to have been, the diligent collection of " information " of every possible kind —street gossip, newspaper rumours, private tattle, &c. ; the con- stituting himself agent for parties in opposition to the Govern- ment to which he was accredited ; and the lecturing of that Go- vernment on their political duties. His diligence is more remark- able than his success: the more he stirs himself, the less influen- tial he becomes ; the more he lectures, the less properly the Spa- nish Government behaves. His collection of gossip is indefati- gable: he knows the position of the fugitives after the insurrec- tion,—Olozaga, Escosura, Orense, and Van Elalen; vouches for their intentions and innocence, and. vindicates their cause. He favours Lord Palmerston with such information as this-
" Respectable parties now begin to talk of a federative republic; others are in favour of preserving a monarchy, but think that the dynasty must be changed— some turning their eyes to a Prince of Portugal, and some to Count Montemolin and the Liberal Constitution of 1812. A party nevertheless still remains in fa- vour of maint.ining Queen Isabella's rights."
The journals and their "leaders" occupy the whole of a des-
patch, as follows— "Madrid, May 18, 1848. "My Lord—The Progresista papers have today pretty generally declared that in the Tresent state of terror they can no longer continue their publication.
" It is under these circumstances that the papers of the opposite side pour forth' their unchecked violence and calumnies.
"I have, &c. (Signed) H. L. BREWER."
Divers letters and conversations, "remarks" and " wishes " are addressed to the Duke of Sotomayor, on the part of the British Government, respecting' the better enjoyment of liberty by the Spanish people : but the more Sir Henry exhorts, the less he suc- ceeds. It does not matter whom he addresses. "I took the op- portunity," he says in reply to instructions from Lord Palmer- ston ' of speaking to the Queen Mother"—" I pointed out to her Majesty "--" I also endeavoured to demonstrate to her Ma- jesty"—" I produced, however, no impression upon her Majesty." "I had also spoken to the Duke of Sotomayor," of course with- out effect." No • whether Sir Henry addresses the deceitful Duke as " Mon Cher ami," or in the coldest of forms—whether he indites friendly coaxings, sesquipedalian lectures, or jaunty, spicy, free-and-easy menacing little notes—it is all the same. One of the little notes is worth extract : the passages in Italic are retranslated from the French, as the English version in the printed correspondence deviates from the original sense— "My dear friend—I send you a letter which I have received from a fellow-coun- =, and which claims your entire attention. Another Englishman has been simply because he stuttered [begaysit.] I myself on my way this morning to General Narvaez, when all was quiet, narrowly escaped the brutal violence of the soldiery: they might have fired upon me; perhaps they would have done so if I had not entered the house of General Names; to whom I should certainly, if I had found him at home, have said what I thought [dit ma facon de penser] about unnecessaryrovocations and military outrages. They excite the people, I feed it in myseff, Ue le MS par moi-mfime] instead of tranquillizing them; and be assured that such a course, if sanctioned, will prove disastrous. "But, after all, this is your affair: my business simply is to tell you that you are at liberty to do what you will with any Englishman who disturbs the public tranquillity; but I must at the same time warn you that I shall hold the Spanish Government responsible, not only for any murder, but for any injury as well as for any insult committed without provocation upon any subject of her Majesty."
"Your affectionate H. L. &FEWER."
But even the blending of affection with remonstrance did not tell: Sir Henry only gets from bad to worse. At first he makes "no impression"; then he is attacked by the papers, and pointed at as agent for giving to the insurgents "foreign gold," "guineas," "Lord - Palmerston's gold ": "persons in a respectable station of life" wait upon him and tell him that "a plan of assassinating him has been prepared by the police,"—concocted, in fact, be- * "Papers Relative to the Affairs of Spain, and Correspondence between Sir Henry Bulwer and the Duke of Sotomayor. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by com- mand of herMajesty. May 1848."
"Despatch from Sir Henry Bnlwee to Viscount Palmerston. Dated Loudon, MU May 1848. Presented to betIlliouses of Parliament by command of her Majesty. June 1848." tween General Narvaez and General Sartorins; and finally, knit requested to quit Madrid in forty-eight hours, under pain of an assassination which certainly receives a very extraordinary- official recognition. He claims liberties for ttaSernish people ; but the only liberties are those taken with himself. He demands satis- faction; and receives "such a kick that it drove him to distrac- tion "—or to London.
What, then, are the real tangible results of Sir Henry's inge- nuity and diligence ? These—he has estranged the two Govern- ments ; he has set the Spanish Government against us, without establishing any other effective relation ; he has destroyed British influence; and he has been packed off.
We have now no Ambassador at the Court of Spain. Very well: let it remain so—let us have none. We cannot keep one there to any profit. Sir Henry Bulwer could not avoid the im- putation of being agent for the Revolutionary party, and the Offi- cial party repudiated his agency. Certainly England needs no agent near the leaders of revolt. Neither do we need an agent to send over the gossip of the cafes, the newspapers, or the salons: the correspondents of our own newspapers can do that as effi- ciently as Sir Henry Bulwer. If we need an agent to guide our Government in discriminating and authenticating the newspaper intelligence, a chargé d'affaires can do it quite as well as a dig- nified Ambassador. Whatever the opinion as to Sir Henry's qua- lifications for that post, there can be but one as to the capacity of the present Spanish Government for duly entertaining the am- bassador of a great and civilized nation.
In truth, times have greatly altered since it was thought neces- sary to maintain an ambassador at every court, to keep his own government informed, and to be the medium of intercourse. Communication is so rapid, easy, and certain, that ample in- formation can be exchanged by governments without any inter- vention so costly and cumbersome. Occasions may arise on which it is desirable to employ the most exalted and responsible agency, and then it is easy to appoint a special mission ; a pro- cedure more imposing in proportion to its rarity. Special mis- sions have sometimes been advantageous, because the persons em- ployed had definite objects, and because the very appointment of the mission implied a conciliatory and deferential spirit. Per- haps the maintenance of a permanent embassy has a wasteful ten- dency to "discount" the advantages derivable from a special mission.
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