Star. — London, England, 1813-03-13 00:00:00

year, and, it bad iseeiiol;letved, it _ easy to have forwarded that number of, men: Small reinforcements had been sent ; but they fell short of the Noble Lord's calculations : and the troops for warded subsequently to the battle of Salamanca, ought to have been sent there early in the last year. To shew the correctness of this statement, he would observe, that had she Noble Lord examined into the fact, he would have found, that the regiments sent out subsequently to the battle of Salamanca were not fit nor sufficiently strong earlier in the year.— (Hear, hear, hear.)—So much for the correctness of the Noble Lord's facts. But the circumstances of the campaign, he said, bespoke the deficiency of the means of the Noble General. How ;:ad this been proved ?—by a reference to the glorious proceedings at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, and Salamanca, coming to the conclusion that the circumstances of the campaign had been so very dis astrous that inquiry was absolutely necessary 1 Wily then, what was the result of this disastrous campaign? the possession of Ciudad Rodrigo, of Badajoz ; the raising of the siege of Cadiz-20,000 French priso ners and 80-pieces of cannon taken from the enemy ; and the glories of Salamanca. Had nothing else been effected, could these things have been termed disastrous ? Did the Noble Lord really forget that this was most effectual support to jhe general cause, but more particularly to the cause of Russia, by creating a powerful diversion in her favour ? Surely the instance of Badajoz could. not be proof of the de ficiency of our means, as it had been taken after the commencement of the siege much sooner than had been expected. The consequences however tharmight have followed the capture of Badajoz had been done away , by being compelled, instead of proceeding to Seville, to fall back on Ciudad Rodrigo. Had there been a small force, said the Noble Lord, to oppose Marmont, there would have been no occasion for so falling back, and Marmont was so weak that a few regiments would have given the desired check. But he would tell the Noble Lord, that Marmont had happened to be so strong, that had the additional 15,000 "been there, their efforts must have been unavailing, had not Lord Wellington assisted and co-operated. So much for the first instance of the deficiency of our means. The Noble Lord next said, that Lord Wel lington had advanced to Madrid in pursuance of the instructions of Ministers, not in pursuance of his own plan. The contrary, however, was the fact. Lord Wellington had never said that he could not advance to Salamanca without further means : he had done it in the completion of his' wn plans. It was then said, that Lord Wellington had calculated on assistance from Sic4y. - He would shortly state to their Lord ships how.far Lord Wellington could have calculated on any such assistance. Instructions had been sent to Lord W. Bentinck, that it would be materially advantageous to Spain, if he could spare any portion of his forces from Sicily; but the forwarding of any such assistance dtus left completely to the discretion t.f . Lord B.: that he was not to sgnd any portion of the troops under his command, if such a proceeding would be inconsistent with the 'safety of Sicily. Such was the character of the instructions sent to Lord 13entinck, and Lord Wellington bad been made ac quaiesed with them, so that he had been given to un derstand not positively to calculate on the advance of Lord Besumck. He had been informed of the cootingencics on which such advance depended.— The Nople• Marquis had, however, concluded that this was a complete failure—that it had enabled Sa chet to send forces on Madrid. But what were the circumstances attending that fact ; &Prather, what -vas the fact itself? Why, that one regiment only had ventured to advance on Madrid. Lord WELLESLEY here remarked, that he un derstood the force which marched on Madrid in that instance, to lie of much greater amount. Earl BATHURST, in continuation, observed, that he did not know how that might be—he had re red on the dispatches of Lord Wellington, and he/ thought the Noble Lord himself had stated the force' to consist of one regiment ! (Hear, hear).—But this additional force—this one regiment, enabled Joseph to remain in Madrid: How was this fact ? This regiment arrived in Madrid on the 30th of July, and, notwithstanding this additional force, on the 31st t)r . August Joseph determined to leave the city, for Jo seph, in fact, had determined on leaving Madrid when he found that Lord Wellington was advancing on Salamanca. Well, then, what good had this mighty detachment effected ? It had not- enabled Joseph to keep Madrid—it had not effectually added to the strength of the Retiro. The next instance of ill?: deficiency of our. means was Burgos; and here he would observe, that it was completely impossible that Lord Wellington should have known any thing of the great strength of that place previously to the 19th of September. The assault of the 22d of Sep tember might have succeeded, had not the Officer unfortunately fallen who led on the attack, during its progress. In the pocket of that Officer were the plans of attack, the disposition of the forces, Ste. ; the body fell into the hands of the enemy, and the French of course profited by those documents, Indeed they had enabled the enemy no doubt' to foil our efforts. As to affording assistance after the battle of Sala manca, it *as not precisely known to'the Govern ment what course Lord Wellington would pursue :•übsequently to that battle, and therefore it was not Inown which way Teinfcriements should be forward ed. It WAs absolutely necessary to wait for informa tion on this' point. Having obtained information that could be_ proceeded on; the men were forward ed, but they had not arrived quite so soon as was ex pected, though they had left England at the ear liest possible period. The Noble Lord maintained that nothing effective could be considered to have been done, except the French had been deprived of the military possession of Spain. But was it no thing that the South of Spain should have been Cleared of the French--were the successes of 11a dajoz and Ciudad Rodrigo of no consequence ? !Something had been effected, if the views of Eng land now were what the Noble Lord had power fully described them to be at the beginning of the war in Spain, Ist, to create a diversion in favour of bur Allies,• 2dly, to encourage resistante in other countries, by abewing its effects in Spain, and i d ly to prevent the commercial and military means of that country' from falling . into the hands of our enemy. Those had been the views of England—Those were the views of the present Government—andtbose views felt to iie l iiot;krVo;Ci which heenvoi* netice had diked about the resources of this country', as , if he were unacquainted with the difference between foreign and home expenditure. He seemed to think as if it were as easy to eitencl our foreign- expendi ture as it would be to extend our home expendi ture. But if there were only an increase of one million of foreign expenditure, it would affect the country much more seriously than would a like in crease of home expenditure. Such an increase would affect most materially the course of exchange. Indeed such was the great difference, that if eleven millions of foreign expenditure were increased by a million, it would not then of consequence become twelve millions, but would be more likely to make fifteen millions of foreign expenditure chargeable on the country. Such was the tendency to increase of all ' foreign expenditure. Though the course of exchange might be materially affected by such increase of our foreign expenditure, yet, in ordinary times, the acti vity of our merchants was such, thar foreign trade increased with that species of expenditure. In con sequence, however, of the peculiar state of s the Conti nent, and be system that had been persevered in by the enemy, there had been a falling off in the amount of our export trade. Licenies had been re sorted to, and whatever might be thought of the principle of them, the balance of the license trade had been very considerably in favour of this country; therefore, instead of Ading to our difficulties, that trade had tended the better to enable the nation to meet them. He begged pardon of their Lordships - for detaining them so long, but he should conclude with expressing his determination to vote against the motion, as he did not admit that a fair case for in. quirt had been made out. Lord GREY thought the House ought to go into the inquiry called for, which might be serviceable even to Government itself, by pointing out errors, if there were any, and by restoring to Government the confidence of the country, if there had been no error. Ministers certainly should explain, why they had not supplied reinforcements as soon as possible to Lord Wellington, after the battle of Salamanca, and to supply the place of those whose loss had been the result of his success ; a month, however, or more elapsed before any reinforcements were sent, although we had, from the Noble Earl's own statement, at home, a disposable force of 4.0,000 infantry, and 12,000 cavalry ; and surely, out of this force such ,at draft might have been made, and reinforce. ment sent, as Lord Wellington had required ; and, in his opinion, the House would not do its duty if it did not go into inquiry on the subject. Lord BOR INGDON spoke in favour of the mo tion, and the Earl of ABERDEEN against it. The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, that the object of our assistance to the Spanish cause was not to make an effort for a few months, and then be oblied to give it up as unavailing. It was impossible for our army to core with 250,000 Frenchmen in the beginning of the struggle ; it was therefore trusted that the Spaniards themselves would have made those exertions which we had a right to expect of them. If they had made such an effort, with our assistance, they would have been able to have repelled the French. He contended, from Lord Wellington's own dis patches, that he was satisfied with the exertions made by this country in favour of the Spanish cause. Earl DARNLEY spoke shorty in favour of the motion, when the House divided.—For the motion 39—against it 115—Majority 76. Adjourned at Half-past Two o'Clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. M. A. 'TAYLOR reported from the Bristol Election Committee that the Sitting Members were duly elected, and that the Petition was not frivolous or vexatious. Sir FRANCIS BURDETI rose to observe, that as be under stood the Navy Estimates were to be submitted to a Committee on that day, he felt desirous of calling the attentica of his Ma. jetty's Ministers for that department to what hr thought a pe culiar hardship under which the Captains of the Navy laboured. Their pay, it was well known, was sufficiently small; but they were under the necessity of keeping up a table when on board their own vessels. It had been suggested to him, that the reasonable compensation would be the allowance of ten shillings a day to Captains commanding first and second rates, eight shillings to third and fourth, and six shillings to those of a lower class He threw those suggestions out, with no intention of pressing them, but for the consideration of the Committee, when about to vote the sums for the naval service. Mr.W.DUNDAS agreed to take the subject into consideration. COMMITTEE OH SUP! LT. Mr. W. D UNDA S said it was not his intention to enter into any detail with respect to the papers which he should lay on the table. The total amount of the ordinary service was £1,126,000, and the grand total it would be seen, amounted to £8,893,000, being an excess of 81,100,000. The Hon. Gentleman con cluded with moving the first Resolution, that a sum not exceeding 81,255,000 should be granted, to de !ray the expenses of the outports, dock-yards, &c. Mr. CREEVEY said, he rose to object to the vote only as it comprehended the salary of the Paymaster of the Marines, an office of which the Committee on Sinecures had recommended the abolition. Common decency required that the recommendation of the ICommittee should meet with some attention from the House, and he should, therefore, divide it upon the , question of voting the iBlOOO which formed the sa lary of the office. The Committee then divided on Mr. Creevey's motion—Ayes 35—Noes 56. All the Resolutions were_then read by the Chair man, and agreed to. FRENCH PRISONERS. Mr. WHITBREAD said, before the House resu med, he was anxious to put a question on an impor tant subject to the Noble Lord opposite. The ques tion he wished to ask, was, Whether any negotiation had been set on foot for the interchange of prisoners of war between his Majesty's Government and that of France ? Lord CASTLEREAGH replied, that the terms proposed by France were such as could not be lis tened to. PROCLAMATION OF THE KING OF FRANCE. Mr. WHITBREAD inquired whether the pttbli cation of a certain document in the newspapers to day, purporting to be the Proclamation or Manifesto of the King of France, had received the countenance, or been inserted with the concurrence, of his Majes ty's Government ? Lord CASTLEREAGH said, on the part of the Government, he wholly disavowed it. Mr. WHITBREAD.--0 Ah, that won't do." The other Orders of the Day were ties disposed of sod dse tiplOC adjourned till Monday. • c ~ . • maiump riodinairki. i . - 7 ! COPT Or IEII ktiastleiresillaustoir: .. 01 Grottos 11. . . 4 i Whereis our right , trusty and well . . ' . Comitillor, THOMAS Lord Emaciate, our Chancellor, has this day laid before us an Abstract of certain written declarations puching the conduct of her Rod a! Highness the Princess of Watts, we do hereby autforise, empower, and direct the said THOMAS Lord ERSICI%F,, our Chancellor, our right trusty and well beloved Cousin and Councillor Gamma Josus Earl SpaNcsa, one of our Principal Secretaries of State, our right trusty and well beloved Councillor W. WINDHAM, Lord Garsvitts, First Commissioner of our Treasury, and our right trusty and well be loved Councillor EDWARD Lord ELLENBOROUGH, our Chief Justice, to hold pleas before ourself, to inquire into the truth of the same, and to examine, upon oath, such persons as they shall see fit touching and concerning the same, and to report to us the result of such examination. 44 Given at our Castle of Windsor, en 29th May, in the 46th year of our_ Reign. it a . R .” COPY OF THE DEPOSITION OF LADY CHARLOTTE DoVOLAS. "I think I first became acquainted with the Princess of Wales in 1801. Sir John Douglas had a house at Blackheath. One day, in November, 1801, the snow was lying on the ground. The Princess and a Lady Who, I believe, was Miss Heyman, came on foot, and walked several times before the door. Lady Stewart was with me, and said, she thought that the Princess wanted something, and that I ought to go to her. I went to her. She said, she did not want any thing but she would walk in ; that I had a very pretty little girl. She came in and staid some time. About a fortnight after Sir .h Douglas and I received an invitation to go to Montague House, after that I was very frequently at Montague House, and dined there. Tne Princess dined frequently with us.— About May or June, 1802, the Princess first talked to me about her own conduct. Sir S. Smith, who bad been Sir John's friend for more than 20 years, came to England about November, 1801, and came to live in our house. I understood the Princess knew Sir Sidney Smith before she was Princess of Wales. 46 The Princess saw Sit S. Smith as frequently as ourselves. We were usually kept at Montague-house later than the rest of the party, often till three or four in the morning. I never observed any impropriety of conduct between Sir S. Smith and the Princess. I made the Princess a visit at Montague-house, in March, 1802, for about a fortnight. She desired me to come there, because Miss Garth was ill. In May or June following, the Princess came to my house alone—she said she came to tell me something that had happened to her, and desired me to guass—l guessed several things, and at last I said I could not guess.any thing male. She then Said she was preg nant, and that the child had come to life. 46 I don't know whether she said on that day, or a few days before, that she was at breakfast at Lady Willoughby's, that the milk flowed np to her breast and came through her gown ; that she threw a nap. kin over herself and went with Lady 'Willoughby into her room, AA adjusted herself to prevent its being observed. She never told me who was the father oldie child. She said she hoped it would be a boy. She said that if it was discovered she would give the Prince of Wales the credit of being the fa drer, for she had slept two nights at Carlton house within the year. 1 sail that I should go abroad to . my mother. The Princess said she should manage it vermeil, and if things came to the worst, she Should give the Prince the credit of it. While I was at Montague-house, in March, I was with child, and one day I said 1 was very sick, and the Princess de sired Mrs. Saunders to get me a saline draught. She then said that she was very sick herself, and that she would take a saline draught too. I observed, that she could not want one, and I looked at her. The Princess said, yes, I do. What do you look at me for with your wicked eyes ? you are always finding me out. Mrs. Saunders looked very much distress ed ; she gave us a saline draught each. 46 This was the first time I had any suspicion of her being with child. The Princess never said, who was the tather. When she first told me she was with child, I rather suspected that Sir S. Smith was the father, but only because the Princess was very partial to him. I never knew he was with her alone. We had constant intercourse with the Princess, from the time when 1 was at Montague-house, till the end of October. After she had first communicated to me that she was with child, she frequently spoke upon the subject. She was bled twice during the time. She recommentled me' to bleed too, and said that it made you have a better time. Mr. Edmeads bled her; she said, one of the days that Mr. Edmeads bled her, that she had a violent heat in her blood, and that Edmexds should bleed her. I told the Princess that I. was very anxious how she would manage to be brought to bed without its being known ; that I hoped she had a safe person. She said, yes : she should have a person from abroad ; that she had a great horror of having any men about her upon such an occasion—she said. I am confident in my own plans, and I wish you would not speak to me on that subject again. She said, I shall tell every thing to Saunders. .1 think this was on the day on which she told me of .what had happened at Lady Willoughby's. Saunders was a very good wo man, and might be trusted, and that she must be with her at the labour; that she would *nd Miss Garth to Brunswick, and Miss Milfield was too young to be trusted, and must be sent out of the way. I was brought to bed on the 23d July, 1802. The Prin cess insisted on being present. I determined that she should not, but I meant to avoid it without offend ing her. On the day on which I was brought to bed, she came to my house and insisted on coming in.— Dr. Mackie, who attended me, locked the door on the opposite side of the —, but there was another door on the opposite side of the room, which was not locked, and she came in at that door, and was present during the time of the labour, and took the child as soon al it was born, and said she was ter, glad she had seen the whole of it. The Princess'i pregnancy appeared to me to be very visible. She wore a cushion behind and made Mrs. Saunders make one for me. During my lying-in the Princess 1 came one day with Mrs. Fitzgerald. She sent Mrs. F. away, and took a chair, and sate by m y b e d s id e . She said you will hoar of my taking children is boa. aimil de ka t s4474anitcrAee thy own ' * t to. t., hi Salt Shay i .i 4. that . 6` the. way, in irli I 4tuie , have my ewe brought when .I . have it. ' V eit *boil after this two children, who were twins, were !weigh; by a poor woman id &basket: The Princess too theta, and had them car r i e d u p in t o her room; And the Princess washed them herself. Ile Princess told me this herself. The father, a few days afterwarda; milli and insisted on havin& the chil&en, ant titer `were given to him. The Princess afterivieds sud t 9 me, " You. See I took the children and it answena very well. The f a th er h a d go t th em back, and chi could not blame him : that ithe should take ethei children, and have quite a nurser*. I saw the Prin. cess on a Sunday, either the SOth or Slst of ISeoS , •I-, moe, walking before her door. She was dressed .it as to conceal her pregnancy. She h.id a laity cloak; and a very great muff. She had just reid* t d from Greenwich Church. She locked- very ili, a:.d I thought must be very near her time. 44 About a week or ten days after this, I receive,' a note from the Princess, to desire that 1 would not come to Montague House, for they were apprehen ! sive that the children they had taken had had the measles in their clothes, and that she was afraid my child might take it: Vhen the Priniess came to sae me during my lying-in, she told me that, when :.! e should be brought to bed, she wished I would to t come to her for some time, for she might be confused in seeing me. About the end of December I went to Gloucestershire, and stayed there about a month.— When I returned, which was in January, I went td Montague House, and was let in. The Princess was packing up something in a black box. Upon the sofa a child was lying covered over with a piece of red cloth. The Princess got up, and took me by the hand. She then led me to the sofa, and said, there ii the child, I had him only two days after I saw you. " The words were, either I had him. or I was brought to bed—the words were such as clearly im ported that it was her own child. She said she got very well through it ; she sheaved me a mirk on the child's hand, it is a pink mark. The Princess said, she has a mark like your little girl. I saw the child afterwards frequently with the Princess quite" till Christmas, lbo3, when I left 131ackheath. 1 saw the mark upon the child's hand, and I am sure that it was the same child, I never saw any other child there. The Princess Charlotte used to see the child and play with him. The child used to call the Prim; ccss of \Vales 9 Mamma, I saw the child looking at the window of the Princess's house about a mlntli ago, before the Princess went into Devonshire, end lam sure that it is the same child. Not lung *het. I had first seen. the child, the Princess said, that she had the child at first to sleep with her for a few nights, but it made her nervous, and now they had got a re gular nurse for her. 4 , She said, We gave k a little milk at first, but it was too much for me, and now we breed it by li.ind o and it does very well. I can swear pesi.ivt4y that the child I saw at the window is the same- child as • the Princess told me she had two days ntter,shi I parted with me. The child was called William. never heard that it had any other name. When the child was in long clothes, we breakfasted eihe day with the Princess, and she said to Sir J. hn Dotiglas, This is the Deptford boy. Indepenuentty oat the Princess's confession to me, I can swear that she Was pregnant in 1802. In October, 1804, when we 'toy turned from Devonshire, I lett my turd at Montague House, and on the 4th October I received a liter from Mrs. Vernon, desiring me not to come any mole to Montague House. I had never at this time men. tioned the Princess's being with child, or being deli. vered of a child, to any person, not even to Sir John Douglas. After receiving Mrs. Vernon's letter, I wrote to the Princess on the subject. The letter was sent back unopened. I then wrote to Mrs. Fitzge rald, saying, that I thought myself extremely di used. lii two or three days after this, I receiveu an .anonymous, which I produce, and have marked with the letter A, and signed with my name, both on the letter and the envelope. " The Princess of Wales has told me, that she gft a bed-fellow whenever she could, that nothing was More wholesome a she said, that nothing was more ' convenient than her own room ; it,stands at the bead of the staircase which leads into the Park, and I have bolts in the inside, and have a bed-fellow whenever I like. I wonder you can be satisfied only with Sir John. She said this more than once. She has told me that Sir Sydney Smith had lain with her. That she believed all men liked a bed-fellow, but Sir Syd ney better than any body else ; that the Prince was the most complaisant man in the world; that she did what sheliked, went where she liked, and had what bedfellow she liked, and the Prince paid for all. (Signed) 66 CHARLOTTS DOUGLAS. " Sworn bola re us, June Ist, 1806, June 1, 11000. at Lord Gra:Mlle's, Downinp street, Westminster. (Signed) 64 ARUM& 46 GRINVILLIL " SPENCER. " ELLANDOROUGH." , THE DEPOSITION OF SIR JOHN DOUGLAS, KNT. " I bad a house at Blackheath, in 1801. Sir Syd. ney used to come to my house. I had a bed for him. The Princess of Wales formed an acquaintance with Lady Douglas, and came frequently to our house. I thought she came more for Sir Sydney Smith than for us. After she had been some time acquainted with us, she appeared to me to be with child. One day she leaned on the sofa, and put her hand upon her stomach, and said—Sir John, I shall never be Queen of England. I said, not if you do'nt deserve it. She seemed angry at first. In 180, on the 27th of October, I received two letters by the twopmuy post, one addressed to me, which I now produce, and have marked with the letter B. both on the envelope and the enclosure, and the other letter addressed to Lady Douglas, and which I now produce, and hate marked with the letter C. both on the envelope and the enclosure. (Signed) " JWIN DoUGLAi s " Sworn before us ' at Lord Gras- June 1. ville's House, in Downing-wrest, Westminster, lune 1, 1806. (Signed) 64 EAMON& di op.— " SPSNCSN. THi 4 ' iLLENBOROUGIL" OF ROBERT BIOWOOD. 44 I have lived with the Prince 23 years next Sep. timber; I went to the Princess in Much, 1795, and have lived with her Rol al Highness ever since.-•. About the year 1802, early in that year, 1 lira s.b• *erved Sir Sidney Smith come to Montague kiLtwi: he uml to stay very :Ate at night; I have Neal kiin