§ On the Order of the Day for receiving the Report on the Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill,
§ MR. B. OSBORNErose to put a question to the noble Lord at the head of the Government, in the absence of the noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, which would, he thought, be admitted to be of some importance, since the honour of this country was concerned. It would be in the recollection of the noble Lord, that by the second article in the convention or treaty between the Queen of Portugal and the Portuguese people, the Queen and her Government engaged themselves to pass an immediate revocation of the decrees suspending the liberty of the subject and the liberty of the press in that country. He found by the last Diario of Lisbon, that a decree had been issued by the Queen, in which she continued the suspension of the liberty of the press and of the guarantees to individuals for an indefinite period. He wished, therefore, to know from the noble Lord if he was aware of this; and if, on the part of the Government, he would be prepared to take any steps of remonstrance with the Queen of Portugal on that account?
LORD J. RUSSELLreplied: I am aware of the fact that the decrees mentioned by the hon. Gentleman have not been finally revoked, and that for the present they are continued. The hon. Gentleman, however, must know that the protocol—the agreement in which was to be the condition of the revocation—was accepted by the Queen, and rejected by the Junta. With regard to what has now been done, I have not seen the last decree, continuing the suspension of the ordinary liberty; but I can have no doubt that it is merely temporary in its character, and that it has only been issued until some general measure has been decided on by the Government of Portugal.
§ MR. B. OSBORNEwished, then, to ask another question. Was it true that the French and Spanish Ministers at the Court of Lisbon had entered a protest on the part 412 of their respective Governments against the convention drawn up by Colonel Wylde?