ided that
France was to prevent reinforcements or warlike stores from reaching Don
Carlos from the French side of the frontier, while Great Britain was to
supply arms and stores to the Spanish royalists and, if necessary,
intervene with a naval force. The short interlude of conservative
government, with Peel as premier and Wellington as foreign secretary,
was not marked by any change of policy nor yet by any new aggressions.
Wellington's only interference with the course of hostilities was the
mission of Lord Eliot to Navarre, which induced the combatants to
abandon for the time being those cruelties to prisoners which had been
the disgrace of the Spanish civil wars.

Shortly after the return of Melbourne and Palmerston to power,
Zumalacarregui won a victory in the valley of Amascoas on April 21 and
22, 1835, which opened to him the road to Madrid. The Madrid government
now appealed to France to send 12,000 men to occupy the Basque
provinces. By the terms of the quadruple alliance the assent of Great
Britain and Portugal was necessary in order to determine the manner in
which France was to render assistance. Thiers, on behalf of Louis
Philippe, suggested a separate French expedition on the lines of that of
1823. Palmerston, like Canning before him, refused to sanction such an
expedition, though he was prepared to allow France to make the
expedition on her own responsibility. He suggested in return that Great
Britain should intervene. But Louis Philippe was equally opposed to the
separate action of his own country and of Great Britain, and the result
was that neither government sent any troops. The Spanish government was,
however, permitted to enlist volunteers, and actually received the
assistance of an English legion, a French legion, and 6,000 Portuguese.
The immediate danger was averted by the obstinacy of Don Carlos, who
refused to permit Zumalacarregui to march on Madrid till the conquest of
Biscay was complete. The Carlist general turned aside in consequence to
the siege of Bilbao, in which a few weeks later he met his death.

In February, 1836, some changes in the French ministry increased the
power of Thiers, who had so recently advocated the policy of
intervention. Palmerston now proposed a French expedition to the Basque
provinces, while the British were to occupy St. Sebastian and Pasages.
Thiers did not, however, feel strong enough to accept this offer, and
Palmerston determined to act alone. A British squa