Star. — London, England, 1809-01-20 00:00:00

NIA(' ele• House and the country forbear to his •lajt. , ty in the vigorous measures he has I for , Tie prosecution of the war (Hear! hear! le ling :.epic to which his Majesty's Speech refers, le 6 ite `pain. And whoever looks to the situ in of :hat :aumry, and the circumstances which l e d or connexion with it, will not be indis .d t o that the circumstances in which we . e lves s' and, point out to us most forcibly the pro ,ty of reducing to practical effect the spirit of aid and assising the Spaniards in the contest with the irnon enemy, t° promote which we have made A ttempt. it is a maxim sufficiently well establish and was peculiarly applicable to the present mo- That vigorous war leads much more speedi w honourable peace, than a weak and temporiz spirit." Our peculiar situation with reference to m in, bound us to support her, by every feeling of mo or, of nature, and I may even say, self-interest, id enable her to resist the tyrannous spirit of France. lat the contest is arduous, and will continue to he no man will deny,but was the apprehension of the womulgation of the war to intimidate those who had le spirit to prosecute it, from continuing their exer ms ? If we suffer ourselves to be led by a belief that te contest would lead to such an effect, we must sit ysn, and subject ourselves to be the objects of the Lst ilt and aggression of France. I trust, therefore, lat notwithstanding the difficulties, the dangers, and distresses which that country has experienced, that 4 t he exertion of her own spirit, and by the assist ance t hat may he in our power to afford her, she may yet mm u ph in her struggle, and hold out an o f invincible opposition to the greatest ty inny, per damna, per ccedes " Ab ipso ducit opem aMmumque ferro." Ile Honourable Gentleman adverted then to the .xt topic in his Majesty's Speech, namely, the cam- Lin in Portugal, and he participated, he said, in :e satisfaction which the country felt in contemplat-1 ig the glorious conduct of our troops in that arduous :vice. Indeed the merits of the battles fought in ;at ccnntry spoke for themselves. The military skill id judgment &splayed by the officers commanding :e troops, and the zeal and ardour evinced through it, formed such an epoch on British military genius :d character, as must command the admiration and plause of the whole country. That the result of ,is expedition caused a very considerable disap intment, because it was not commensurate with to sanguine expectations of the country, was too ue—but whatever difference of opiniun might exist to the policy of the armistice and convention them !lees, the observations he had made referred only to at part of his Majesty's Speech which had alluded the military operations in Portugal. With respect ) the next point in his Majesty's Speech, namely, the ttuation of his Swedish Majesty, he observed, that :e were net only impelled to admire and respect the spirit and perseverance with whin that magnanimous monarch had opposed the aggressions of his ambitious seighbi)urs, but we are called upon to support him to the utmost for that spirit and faith he ever maintained in his alliances with us. We were not only to avoid the appearance of insensibility to his situation, but, Ircm motives of policy, to disarm him of any feeling ,f hostility such indifference might excite in his Ma jesty's breast towards us. The Honourable Gentle man then reviewed the remaining topics of his Ma jesty's Speech, and contended, that the only means ty which this country could effectually render assist-' ince to Spain in the contest i i which she was engag e!, was to augment the military strength of the coun ety to such a force, as must give a decided superiority to our arms in the field. He congratulated the House in the pleasing information communicated by his Isejesty's Speech on the subject of the financial affairs tithe country. A report truly grateful in these ifllicting times, when no means of annoyance are :pared by the enemy to destroy the commercial re sources of the nation, that source of our national pros-1 peritv. He thought it unnecessary to trespass further i en the attention of the House, but he conceived that a motion of thanks to his Majesty for his most gra- 1 cious Speech could not but meet with the unanimous support of the House. He concluded by moving, that an address of thanks should be presented to his Majesty, which, as usual, was an echo of the Speech. Mr. RUMBOLD LUSHINGTON seconded the motion in a very appropriate speech. He relied on the usual courtesy of the House in making large al lowances for one in his situation. There never was,', he believed, a period in the history of this country, when Parliament assembled under circumstances, more deeply affecting. Nor was there any hour of his Majesty's reign more critical than this, for mani festing the strongest attachment to his person and go vernment, cr a period when the most effectual and cordial co-operation and support of his measures was demanded. Ho. however, built his hope that this ce-operation in his Majesty's measures would be evinced by the Parliament and country upon the sense of the necessity of such conduct every man must entertain. He highly approved of the Address proposed, as tending to convince his Majesty that he had not only the good wishes of Parliament, but that every aid would be rendered him, in the glorious task of restoring peace and happiness to the world. He concluded by seconding the motion. Mr. PONSONBY._ Sir, the important circum stances of the present crisis, in which more than the fate of one nation is concerned, would have excited . every man to give his opinion, and to give his coun try the benefit of his counsels, such as they are. His £vlajcsty's Speech, Sir, haS very justly asserted, that the contest in which we are engaged at present can never be brought to a conclusion without a vigorous perseverance in the war. There is absolutely no hope, Sir, of any success to the common cause, of any allevi ation of our calamities, whilst the present ministers still remain in power. Never in the long period of (liar history, never in the most imbecile of the admi nistrations which have degraded our national charac tcr, and brought us to the brink of ruin ; never, I say, has the public force, have the public resources cf this country been so ill conducted, so pitifully called out, so inefficiently directed, as under this vi gorous Ministry. I say, vigorous ministry, Sir, for such is the term by which they have chosen to be characterised, and which I understand to be the watchword amongst t h e i r a d vocates . I t i s wort h lk:hee to begin with one proof of this vigour. His Majesty concluded a treaty with Sweden, by which e Isere to subsidize Sweden at the rite of 100,0001. Per month, and by one of the articles of this treaty, snould the enemy make any show in immediate] invasion of Swed en , hi s M a j esty ' s government pledg ed' themselves immediately to concert with Swe-I den the best possible means of repelling such attack. Now, Sir, let me ask what has been done in conse-' quence of this article, how has this engagement been executed ? Why, Sir John Moore, one of the first Generals in the,k4glish service—a General who pos sessed the lull confidence of his Majesty's Ministers, and who possesses it still : Sir John Moore was sent with a force, small or great, to the aid of the King of Sweden, and what did Sir John Moore do ? Why, without seeing an enemy, without firing a musket, he returned—No, he escaped from the country I Was this ridiculous result to be imputed to Sir John Moore ? Most certainlyinot, for immediately upon his return he was appointed to the command in Spain, a proof that he was still in full possession of the con fidence of his Majesty's Ministers, and that they did not impute the failure of their Expedition to him.— There is another proof of Ministerial vigour which it would be unpardonable to omit. The Danish Expe dition, W calculated according to its actual cost to the country, I mean not its cost in money, but its cost in reputation—its sacrifice of the reputed honour and integrity of the country ; the Danish Expedi tion, I say, accompanied with such circumstances, should have produced some equivalent good—some' at least apparent advantage, which might redeem this measure from the imputation of equal folly' and criminality. Yet what was the present state of this country with respect to Denmark ? We had taken her ships, and left her sailors. The mule, therefore, was what might have been expected, her sailors were still in operation against us, and were carrying on a war against our commerce, which must expel it from the Baltic. Surely, Sir, the results should have been different from such an expedition, an expedition more disgraceful than any which stood upon our records cannot be found. I do not say dis graceful to our men, for they did their duty, as I trust, and am sure, that English soldicri and sailors always will do. Not disgraceful to our Generals or , Commanders, fer they only obeyed their instructions, and obeyed them in the spirit of British officers ; but disgraceful, infinitely disgraceful, to his Majesty's Ministers, who could so far forget the honest reputa tion of the nation, or having it before their eyes, could suffer it to pass away for such a mistaken good. But I now, Sir, come to the main point.— If there were any possible event which could vary the fate of Europe,—which might retard the wave of destruction, which was rolling onwards over the whole face of Europe, it was the awakened spirit of the people of Spain against the Invader of their country. Here was an occasion, Sir, which a Great Minister would have hailed as worthy of his talents, and to which, even a timid one would have looked up with hope. Here was an occasion, you must pardon me, Sir, that I can hardly speak of it with common temperance of language, the very con templation of it, all its possible results, awakens all that is man within me. I see, Sir, the feelings of the House, as I know that those of the country, go along with me. Now, Sir, how have his Majesty's Minis ters availed themselves of this opportunity--how have they laid hold of this chance of safety, of this means of deliverance, of this accidental plank, which the -very wave that destroyed all the former hopes, threw up to them almost in the moment of despair? What would a wise Ministry have done in this case ? Why precisely what his Majesty's Ministers have neglected to do. They would have turned their whole attention to this object. They would have seen nothing but Spain in the map of Europe. They would have reflected that the subjugation of Spain completed the fabric of European servitude, and that her liberation was the commencement of a new zra ; that the Genius of Liberty would but ap proach where he might wave his wand, and again awaken the nations of the earth. There were chiefly two means by which Spain might have been assisted, either by direct co-operation, or by assisting the people, in a secoleciary manner, with arms and am munition. I do xi* intend to deride between the two, I merely say, that his Majesty's Ministers should have considered both—should have had before their eyes the nature of the country, the nature of the con test, and the nature of the combatants, and should have formed their system accordingly. If the Spa nish people had testified a preference of meeting their enemy as an armed nation, by that desultory kind of warfare, which is perhaps best suited to a mountainous region ; if this, I say, were the sys tem adopted by them, in this system we should have concurred. When they had determined for irregular warfare, it was a gross error for us to obtrude upon them our regular armies, to compel them to encamp, to form themselves into regi ments and armies, and to become an ill disciplined army, instead of an armed nation. This, Sir, seems to me to have been our main error ; we have mixed two species of warfare which were incompatible by their very nature. Our regular warfare has destroy ed their irregular vigour, as their irregular vigour has in turn acted upon our tactics, and thrown our regu lar armies into confusion. As long as the Spaniards could fight in their own way, they had only to reas semble when broken. The enemy beat them. Gran ted. They fled to the mountains, and reassembled when the enemy had disappeared. The enemy could not but lose something in the brush, and the sum of these losses, frequently repeated, must gradually have pared away the superior force of the enemy. Such was the kind of warfare that seems to me (of course I speak only as to opinion) the warfare, I say, that seems to be best suited to the country ; and if this warfare had been persisted in, I am not without ! a strong confidence that the event would have ; been very different. But this warfare did not suit I our taste. No, we must dictate another of our own. The Spaniards must fight according to the ! Prussian tactics ; they did so, and they were defeated. Did his Majesty's Ministers, from first to last, seem to have any plan of this kind, or of any kind what- , ever ? None at all. How was it with Sir Arthur Wellesley, who is stated to have been sent to Portu gal-to assist the Patriots in Spain ? Why Sir Arthur Vsrellesley had an army perfectly incompetent to any service whatever, either to take the field, to keep the field, to remain in Portugal, or to go into Spain ; he was sent without any instructions whatever, on a kind of roving commission. In this perplexity he consults the Junta of Gallicia, who return for answer, that they would wish him, in the first place, to effect the conquest of Portugal, and then to take such it sta tie% is might render hint the rallying point of the Spanish armies of the south and the west. This was very well for the J un ta of Gallicia, whose province im mediately bordered on Portugal, and who, therefore, in such an arrangement, provided a kind of rallying point for themselves. But was such a measure suited to the interests of Spain—to the common cause ? I remember, Sir, early in the Spanish contest, seeing in the public prints a paper purporting to be the cir cular instructions of the Junta of Seville. This pa per was entitled " Precautions," and amongst other things, asserted, that the main stand of Spain should be made in the Pyrenees ; that every pre caution should be taken both that France should in tioduce no new armies, and that the force at that time in Spain should not escape. Was not this better advice than that of the Junta of Gallicia ? Portugal indeed Use his army in Portugal ! In the name of common sense, where would be the utility of con quering Portugal, which must necessarily have followed the fate of Spain. if Spain he conquered, what is to save Portugal ? We begin with the less object, and neglect the greater. Not a point was gained in the conquest of Portugal. Again, Sir, the speech says, that glorious as was the expedition, it did not terminate to his Majesty's wish. His Majesty, here, therefore, expresses his dissatisfaction of the Cin tra Convention ; his Majesty is dissatisfied with it, And his Ministers fire the Tower guns in exultation at it. Here, therefore, we see his Majesty protesting against his Ministers, and tendering his royal honour be fore Parliament. Why is it we have never heard of this before ? The City of London petitioned that his Ma jesty would be pleased to call the offenders to a just ac count, and a most rigorous reception did the City of London meet. His Majesty's Ministers did not want vigour against the Lord Mayor and Common Council. Sir, I will say that the answer of his Majesty's Mini sters to that petition was not correspondent to his Majesty's paternal character. It was flippant, it was peevish. it was petulant; it might suit his Majes ty's Ministers, but certainly did not suit his Majesty. Upon this subject, therefore, Sir, I cannot but hop.., that his Majesty will be pleased to institute an inquiry, and such an inquiry as shall satisfy the country. — This Ministerial vigour, Sir, has not only been emi nently conspicuous in Portugal, but in the equipment of the army which was sent thither. Three Generals concur in executing the Convention of Cintra, by stating the bad condition of the army, its want, its al most total want of ammunition, of artillery, and of cavalry. The greater part of the horses, says one of the Generals, were lame, blind, and old. This I say, Sir, is to my mind a very sufficient proof of the military vigour of his Majesty's Ministers. But whence, Sir, was this miserable deficiency ? How was it that the Noble Lord ( Lord Castlereagh) was so unhappily stinted in cavalry, in transports, in every thing ? Sir, I remember, and I remember with pity, when the Noble Lord would come down to the House and with tears in his eyes, a pallid face, and a faul tering voice, would lament the wretched condition of the country under the late Administration, as being without transports and cavalry regiments. Were I in power, he would say, at least by inference—. Well, you are in power, and what have you done ? Where are your transports ? Gone to carry the French in Spain ! gone to convey Junot and his army to France ! So indeed it is, and to our shame be it spoken. The second reason assigned by the General examined on the Board of Inclairy was, that the army of Portugal was wanted for Spain. I shall briefly observe, Sir, that this army so much wanted in Spain remained stationary in Portugal for nearly ten weeks, and never reached Spain till the contest was termina ted. So much, Sir, fol• the vigorous conduct of the war in Spain by his Majesty's Ministers. On the table of this House, Sir, is a memoir of the Court of Vienna to the Court of Petersburgh, delivered before the former coalition war. The Court of Vienna here states for the information of its ally, that the availa ble force in France, exclusive of the imperial guards, is 598,000 men, and that France could at anytime send into Germany an army of 500,000 men. And you will be pleased to call before your mind, Sir, that the period at which France possessed thisibrce was previous to the confederation of the Rhine, the incorporation of Italy, and the union, for so I may call it, of Bavaria. What, therefore, must the power of France be at the present crisis ? Tremendous indeed ! I . say not this, as if it was easy to deter the country (Heavee avert it) from giving all due assistance to the Spaniards ; but I say it, as necessary to call before your view the full importance of the state of affairs, and as necessary to impress upon you, how unequal has been the conduct of Ministers to times of such peril and difficulty. This is not the first time, Sir, that this country has been engaged in similar affairs ; I mean in assisting a nation to maintain or recover its liber ties. Queen Elizabeth assisted the United Provin ces against the Spanish tyrant, Philip the Second. But how did this wise Princess, how did her able Mi nister, Lord Burleigh, how did they conduct them selves in this auxiliary war? Why they took those pre- I cautions which the nature of things suggested were necessary. They demanded security for the good faith of their allies ; they required the means of ensuring their own safety, should those allies desert their own cause. To this end, that wise Princess demanded and obtained the deposit of those towns since deno ' minated in our history " The Cautionary Towns." I come now to the Swedish war. Sir, when the subsidy in the last Session was before the House, I made use of an expression which excited some disapprobation at the time. I stated it as my opinion, that Sweden, if she were wise, would apply our money to purchase peace. Sir, I will repeat the same maxim. I will grant that the King of Sweden is great, gallant, and generous, but I will maintain, that his perseverance in the war will ruin him, and will in no possible way be of service to us. If this be what is to be expected, if this be the natural, the necessary issue, I cannot but think, Sir, that it would be more generous in us not to encourage a minor power in a war uhich can only aid in his annihilation. The Speech says not a word of our relations with America, yet with what country are our relations more important, and with what country at the present time are they more critical ? In the conclusion of the last Sessions of Parliament, our absurd conduct had nearly brought us to the verge of hostility with the United States. A glorious opportunity has since occurred for re instating ourselves in amicable relations : yet how \ has this been lost ? America applies to the French Go vernment 1, to revoke its Edict,--France refuses. Ame rica they comes to us-a-Repeal your Orders of Coun- el against us, and . we mill raise our Embarg o . as rtr as you are concerned, and keep k r:A in °peiwa only again4t France. To this offer what is our reply Why, a petulant answer, that his Majesty's Ministers: will not consent to buy off the embargo by any am.: cession real or apparent to the French Government ;, as if the American offer necessarily implied any such concession. No, but the Right Hon. Secretary hap-' pened to be at that time in the full intoxication of success, and therefore must have his joke, his pun, and his sneer. I care not how pleasant the Right Hon. Gentleman be, if he be but wise in his plea santry. As to the general tenour of the Address, as far as it goes only to assurances of support, it is not my intention to dissent from it, but in consideration of' the crosses of the times, I deemed it necessary to qualify my assent by accompanying it with the ex planations by which I have taken up so much of the time of the House. No one, lam sure, Sir, either in this House or country can wish that the Spaniards should be deserted ; but no one likewise can wish that we should persist in a contest, and in a mode of com bat which may be eventually ruinous to us, and can be of no service to them. Lord CASTLE REAGH.—Sir, the assurance of the Right Honourable Gentleman who has just sat down, that however he may differ from me in gene• ral policy, as well as in some particular points expres sed in his Majesty's Speech, he will not disturb the unanimity of the House, relieves me from much of my anxiety, and leaves me only the task of cursorily commenting upon some of the objections which hehis brought forward. The Right Hon. Gentleman has veryroundly stated, that the present crisis is so eventful, and so pregnant with events of such peril and difficulty, that there is no possible chance of salvation, but in the dismissalof his Majesty's Ministers; and that if Europe is to be saved, its safety can only be worked out by the Right Hon. Gentleman and his own peculiar friends. Ido not think that the country will find much consolation in this view of the present state of affairs, and of the remedy thus proposed by the Right Honourable Gentleman. His friends have been in power, and it is not so long since, that the memory of them is still green, both in the recollection of the '.House and the Country. I deem it necessary to say thus much on what may seem personally to apply to myself and friends, and shall now pass to some observations on the particular points which seem to have moved the spleen of the Right Honourable Gentleman. The first proof of the want of vigour, according to the Right Honourable Gentleman, was the Danish Expedition. Sir, if any proof were yet wanting of the expediency of this Expedition, I have no hesitation in disclosing, that the Marquis of Romana stated to his Majesty's Ministers while in this couatry, that if the• Expedition had not been executed on the very day on which it was so hap pily accomplished, he (the Marquis) was ordered to pass into Zealand, and was instantly to have been fol lowed by Bernadotte. With respect to what the Right Honourable Gentleman has said as to Sir John Moore, I have only to say, that the House shall in due time have every explanation, which is consistent with delicacy to his Swedish Majesty. All I can say at present is, that the expedition was sent at the earnest request of his Swedish Majesty, and that the fai lure of it, is in no respect to be imputed to any causes under the controul of his Majesty's Ministers. As to the pitiful and feeble war force still maintained by Denmai k in the Baltic, let Gentlemen compare it with what might have been her warfare if she were still in possession of her fleet, if instead of ten or fifteen sail of the line, Russia and Denmark could have marshalled thirty sail against us ? Will any one deny, that such a force would have added infinitely to the relative supe riority of the enemy. And, as to what the Baltic Trade is stated to suffer, I can make it appear, at the proper time for entering upon this enquiry, that, in despite of the power of France, our trade in the Baltic has never fleuriihed more than during the pre sent year. I would cordially agree with the Right Honourable Gentleman, as to the responsibility ofhis Majesty's Ministers with respect to Spain, but I must contend, that his Majesty's Ministers have in that re spect most fully discharged their duty—that they have met the utmost wishes of the Spaniards, and that their efforts have only been limited by the extent of the resources of the country. With respect to the kind of warfare to be preferred in Spain, the course of events determined it, and Spain decided for itself-: her armies advanced to meet those of the enemy--all Spain rose as one man, and rushed into the field.— Spain, therefore, made the option of her own warfare, or rather chance, and the uncontroulable course of events decided it for her. As to the cau tionary towns ; according to the ideas of the Right Honourable Gentleman, there was but one town in the Spanish dominions which possessed.the requi site qualities. This town was Cadiz ; but surely no one would have recommended his Majesty's Ministers, on the known characteristic jealousy of the Spanish nation, to have demanded this town in deposit and pledge for the Spanish faith. With respect to the plan of sending the expedition to Portugal, and the termination of that expedition, it will be perfectly sa tisfactory to me, to hear, that no public inconvenience will arise from my affording, on the part of his Ma jesty's Government, any explanation that may be requested, while the campaign in that country con tinues ; time must be a . great object ; but every pro per species of information shall be given fully and readily, and I shall be at all times perfectly ready to meet the Right Honourable Gentleman on the whole principle and details regarding the question of the option afforded us of sending his Majesty's troops to Spain or Portugal. Upon that question I entirely differ from the Right Honourable Gentle man. He seems to think that we ought to have sent our forces to another part of Spain, in order to stop the communication between France and Spain by the Pyrenees. He does not exactly say that the force of Sir Arthur Wellesley should have been sent to Spain as an advanced force, but that the army should have been sent to Spain. No fallacy can be more desti tute of foundation than this which has been so widely circulated. The notion of an inferior army cutting off the communications between a large army in Spain, and the great faces sending by Bonaparte from France was quite absurd. The Right Ho nourable Gentleman seems to have taken all his ideas Upon this.subject from the daily and other prints, and he supposes t int when an army is once landed, it may set out the next morning in a. state of full equipment, and take all possible advantages of its cii,esnbarkation, ju.sr• as a ship sent out to sea; ;;1: t lfl . • 1 1 . , 1 j: Cot , atiOn Lice poSOC 0111"« nriet fag ' , I coo ,h 2 l i el, ; ly t( log Spai 011 1 and . I . !L SO, pre' the tiOT the ins th, by at r,ll P. l ' the ing Set' , tf:a an the out API thi! poi the tru as sel to sit' P. 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