§ SIR ROBERT H. INGLISsaid, he would take that opportunity of putting to his noble Friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Lord John Russell) the question of which he had given notice, with respect to a decree which had been issued by the Spanish Government on the 17th of November last, by which it was provided that foreigners, either domiciliated in Spain, or travelling through that country, should profess no other religion there except the "Catholic Apostolic and Roman," or, in other words, except the religion of the Church of Rome. If that decree had re- 33 lated to the subjects of Spain only, he should be ready to admit that it was not a fair subject for discussion in that House, He could not deny that, whether the King of Dahomey, for instance, had an army of men or of women, and whether he might put 6,000 of them to death at one moment—although they were matters which, as Christians, they might deplore, and, as men of ordinary humanity, they might wish to see altered—yet they would not justify a war on the part of this country for the purpose of obtaining a violent suppression of such barbarities. But when a decree had been passed which would apply to any Member of that House travelling in Spain, as much as to the subjects of the Queen of Spain, he thought it was due, not merely to their common character as Protestants or as men, but as interested in the general intercourse of social life throughout Europe, that such an interdiction should not be applied in one of the great continental nations in the year 1852 to any Englishman professing what he believed to be the true religion. Let it be recollected that that was not an interdiction to hold public meetings or to preach in the streets: there were municipal laws in England itself which prevented any person, without a licence, from preaching or opening a conventicle. With that he had nothing to do; but he would read to them the language of the decree to which he was referring, and then he would ask them whether it did not distinctly prohibit the profession of any religion in Spain, whether by native or by foreigner, except the religion of the Church of Rome. He held in his hand the Gazette of Madrid of the 25th of November last, which contained the decree bearing date the 17th of November. He was then referring particularly to the 25th article of the 3rd chapter, which stated, in reference to the civil condition of strangers domiciliated or travelling in Spain, that "No such strangers shall profess in Spain any other religion than the Catholic Apostolic Roman." Now, he asked his noble Friend at the head of the Foreign Office, whether it was consistent with their duty as Members of that House, or with his duty while he had the control of the intercourse between his Sovereign and Foreign Powers, to permit such a decree to pass by unnoticed in Parliament, or without any representation to the Government by which it had been issued? When he had first called the attention of the House to that subject, the 34 case had been considered utterly unreasonable and incredible; but his noble Friend (Lord Stanley), at that time the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, had told him that although he could not believe the statement, he would write to Spain to inquire about it. The evidence upon which he (Sir R. H. Inglis) had first asked the attention of his noble Friend to the case, had been to himself so conclusive that it had left no doubt upon his mind. His noble Friend had written to Spain according to his promise, and he (Sir R. H. Inglis) understood that the noble Lord at present at the head of the Foreign Office had since received some information upon the subject. He wished distinctly to ask him whether any such information had recently reached him; and whether, if it had, it was his intention to lay it before the House; and further, whether he had, in the name of the Queen of this Protestant country, taken any means to prevent the probable wrong which such a decree was calculated to inflict upon Her Majesty's Protestant subjects? Let him not be told that that was a mere paper decree. It might not be for the moment convenient for the Court of Spain to put in force such a decree against the subjects of such an ally as the Queen of England; but if it were to remain unrepealed, he would venture to say that the time might not be very distant when the Government of Spain might think it desirable to carry it into effect, and to seize a Protestant traveller in Spain, not because he was preaching in the street, or opening a conventicle contrary to law, but because he was assembling his own family for Protestant worship. In conclusion, he had to ask his noble Friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether he could lay before them any information upon the subject?
§ MR. M. MILNESsaid, that, before his noble Friend answered that question, he wished to ask another question which had an incidental relation to this subject. It had been stated not long ago by our Foreign Minister at the time, that, after sundry negociations with the Spanish Government, permission had been given at last to open a Protestant burial-ground near the city of Madrid. But he (Mr. M. Milnes) had reason to believe that that permission had been limited by a provision to the effect that no religious ceremony whatever should be performed over the grave of the person interred in such ground. Now, it appeared to him that this condition was 35 altogether derogatory to the position of this Protestant country; and he would ask his noble Friend whether, if that provision still continued in force, he would be prepared to instruct the British Minister at Madrid to reopen that question, with a view to procure the removal of that disgraceful prohibition?
§ LORD JOHN RUSSELLsaid, that, with respect to the question of his hon. Friend the Member for the University of Oxford, he had to state that it was certainly quite true that by the 25th article of the law to which he had referred, it was declared that no foreigner could profess in Spain any other religion than the "Catholic Apostolic Roman" religion. The noble Lord who preceded him at the Foreign Office had asked for an explanation of that decree; and he held in his hand the answer which Lord Howden had given to the despatch in which that explanation had been demanded. Lord Howden, after stating that he understood the question to be, whether it was intended by the decree to deprive foreigners, whether domiciliated or travelling in Spain, of any right or privilege, in regard to matters of religion, which they had previously been permitted to enjoy, said that he had put that question verbally to the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and that the answer he had received was, that "the contents of the said article did not in the slightest degree change the practice hitherto observed, nor could any alteration be introduced thereby in what had previously obtained with regard to the point to which the said article had referred." There were one or two more despatches relating to the subject, but that was the information given upon the point to which his hon. Friend had specially referred. If his hon. Friend wished that the despatches upon the subject should be laid before the House, he (Lord J. Russell) could have no objection to comply with that wish. With regard to the question which had been put by his hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract relative to a Protestant burial-ground at Madrid, he had to state that some correspondence had lately taken place upon that subject. A spot of ground had been offered for a Protestant cemetery by the Spanish Government, but there were some objections made to that particular spot. There had, however, been no question, he believed, lately with reference to the performance of religious ceremonies at the interments of Protestants. He had not been aware that a question 36 would have been put to him upon that subject; but he should say he thought there was no correspondence which could be laid before the House with respect to it. He believed that no objection had been made by the Spanish Government upon the point, except an objection to the erection of a chapel.
§ SIR ROBERT H. INGLISthanked the noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs for his promise to produce the papers for which he had asked, and trusted that they would be laid on the table at as early a period as possible.