Star. — London, England, 1814-03-25 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. 1 HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH 24. . The Oaths were administered to the Bishop of WAvraronn. Mr. Hitt , from the Treasury, presented several Accounts of Public Even,.liture and Unfunded Debt ; and Mr. Senna, from Greenwich Hospital, tlir annual Account of Unclaimed Prize Money. Ordered to lie on the table. Mr. C. Gatarres i indenusity Bill was brought up from the Commons by Mr. Bionnits and other Members, and read a first time. The order for reading the •Dulwich Collegg Bill a second time to-morrow, was, on the motion of Lord Holland, discharged. THANKS TO MARQUIS WELLINGTON. The Orders of the Day having been read, Earl BATHURST rose, agreeably to his notice, to movie the Thanks of the House to the Marquis of Wtllington, for the Victory of Orthes, which, he trusted, they would think of that magnitude which deserved the marked approbation of the House. The passage of the Adour had long presented the most insurmountable obstacles, on account of the width of the river, the raininess of the season, the large force by which its crossing was opposed, and the very dis tinguished abilities of the General who commanded that force. if the attempt N ere made above Bayonne, ' the greatest difficulty presented itself, since it was ne cessary to pass several waters or springs, which were at that period of the year unfordable, and the same wet season had rendered the roads impassable by the artillery. If it were attempted to pass below Bayonne, the difficulty was fully as great ; it was necessary to construct a bridge of boats for 400 yards, and the crossing would be opposed by . the army in the garri son, who would throw into the way floats of timber for its obstruction. Upon the whole, Lord Welling ton determined to cross below BayOnne; but whether he should cross above or below, it was necessary to perform some manoeuvres to drive away the enemy on the right, which measure would have the addi tional advantage, if he .thoulcr not be able to cross below, of facilitating the crossing above. The heavy rains, which had fallen from the beginning of Fe bruary, had impeded the army's movements ; but on - the 11 th there was an intermission of rain, and the army WAS occupied-for tour or five days in forcing the enemy's retreat from his positions—a measure which was effected without any great loss; Major- General Pringle, although wounded, his Lordship was happy to say, was in a fair way of recovery.— The preparations being all complete, 25 vessels were fastened together by large cables of an extraordinary s:ze, each having two anchors, for the purpose of mooring right and left, But, as it had been appre hended, the Fter.ch army from the garrison began to incercept these .works by precipitating timber into the river ; two large masts were chained together, and every thing was ready, when the winds prevented the flotilla from sailing, and Lord Wellington was ob liged to go back to his original post, leaving the pas sage under the charge of Sir John Hope. He followed up his movements, and the enemy appeahld deter. mined to give battle. Marshal Beresford having found a ford, marched to the right of the enemy's pos.tion :..—General Picton also created diversions : General Hill gas still further up. The battle was commenced by Marshal Beresford, .who drove the . enemy from the village of St. Bois, which they re occupied, and from which they were at last finally driven. They still, howver, kept the advantage of the ground ' • and Sir Thomas Picton was, therefore, directed by Lord Wellington to attack the left of the enemy, while another division attacked the centre.-- • At length the enemy began to retreat, but in such excellent 'order, that it was doubtful whether they would riot have effected a regular retreat, if Sir Row land Hill had not come down upon the right. Then • the enemy retreated with all possible expedition ) and were put to a complete rout. The magnitude of this victory would be estimated by the fact that the -ts enemy's numbers. were 40,000, our's being nearly the same : and such a victory could not be effected without considerable loss. Among the list of Officers killed ) however, his Lordship was happy to see that there were none of very high rank; among the wound ed were two General Officers, Major-General Ross severely, and the other slightly. There was, however, another General, whose wound that day, had.it been attended with any serious consequence, would have clouded the joy'of the victory, and rendered it, npon the whole, a doubtful good. The victory was fol lowed up for three successive - days, and by the gain ing possession of two magazines, for the preservation of which Soult had thought it expedient to risk the battle. Alter the Ist of March the rains set in again, and all the streams became no• longer fordable, the bridges were destroyed, and the roads were again im passable. Sir John Hope crossed the Adour in a flotilla, below Bayonne, on the 23d of February ; and as won as be had gained possession of the right of the Adour, a garti;on detachment of 2000 men were drawn out to meet him, whom he threw into complete confusion, tjll they retreated. The flotilla :net with the severest difficulties in crossing the . Adour, where there was always a. surf ; at length, however, the bridge was established, and they all passed, to the amazement of all the inhabitants, who flocked to wee what they could not otherwise believe. Such was the situation of Soult, that he preferred to leave the road to Bourdeaux open ; and a detach ment was sent to take possession of that city. Its occupation was of the utmost military importance : in a town of such extent many supplies could be .afforded which would greatly minister to the netessi ties and comforts of oar army. Another great and marked military advantage (he should view its pos. session in no other light this day), was the much more commodious intercourse which it afforded us with this country. For the last three months our transports had met with the greatest dangers in their entrance into port; but they would now meet with a sale harbour. He hoped he had thus shewn that even in this state of the contest, this action was accompanied with such circumstances .as en titled it to Pie Thanks of the House.--(Near, Agar). He said 4 , in this state of the contest," for there was a time when victory seemed to be a stranger to every standard but the French; but after the - brilliant ca reer of Lord Wellington ) and the gigantic efforts of our Allies, we might afford to dispense with votes of thanks for victories, which at a former period we should have been proud of courting to us by the en ) couragement of such a vot e a House . the ouse. liot that we ought uow t o b e l ess grate f u l foe; victory ; but that we ought to l et our grat i tude wa i t upo n our L Judgmin.t,ftd amtiously select o n ly the fittest occa t!ioo for displaying that eitiotion.• He concluded ... with moving...to That the thanks of the House be given to Field-Marshal Arthur Marquis of Welling. ton, md the Army under his command, for the con summate ability, experience, skill, and valour dis played by them in the victory of Orthes, terminating' in the signal defeat of the enemy, and leading to the occupation of Bourdeaux." Earl GREY.—He did not rise for the purpose of adding any thing to what hadteen said by the Noble Lord, who was certainly fully justified in calling for , this expression of their Lordships' high sense of the eminent services of Lord Wellington, and the gallant army under his command. It gave him the greatest pleasure to hear the Noble Lord's speech, not merely on account of those topics to which he had adverted,l but also on account of those from which he had so properly abstained. (Hear, hear.)—The Noble Lord had satisfied every man that this was a fit occasion for calling for their Lordships' just tribute of ap plause and gratitude, for this last of a great series of splendid successes, which had exalted the name of Lord Wellington, and that gallant army which he commanded, to as high a pitch of renown as ever had been attained by any General or army of any age or country. lie said this last of a great series of splendid successes"—and GOD grant it might be the last—that this might be the last blood shed for the accomplishment of the great, genuine, and only proper object of victoiy—speace ; that Lord Welling , ton might add to that rich harvest of glories which he had already reaped, that crown of glory—peace— a safe and honourable peace, to which his exertions, ~and those of our Allies, had so essentially contribut ed—a peace suited to the just pretensions and honour able views of all parties, and holding out a well founded prospect of being beneficial and permanent. That the consequences of the occupation of Bour deaux must be attended with the most desirable effects, no one could doubt. In a military point of view, the advantages of it must be immense, on ac count of the supplies which it afforded, and tOr other reasons added to the facility of communication, to which the Noble Lord alluded. There were, also, other views which might be taken of it, from which the Noble Lord had properly abstained ; and all he should now say in regard to that was, that he %glad, refrain from now touching upon it. He desired to be understood as eying no opinion at all on that subject at this time ; b..gging leave, however, to re serve to himself the liberty and opportunity of giving. his free, entire, and unbiassed judgment on the topic to which he alluded, when alone it could be pi'operly given ; when the whole case should come before them, with all its circumstances ; when it might be seen svlnu were the causes, sslat the influence, and means employed to produce the effects which lie would not now more directly mention. Till then he should say nothing on that head ; —and he was glad that the speech of the Noble Lord had relieved him entirely from any embarrassment which he might, under other circumstances, have telt in abstainitm at this moment from stating any opinion on the occurrences at which the observation pointed. The time would come when that topic might with propriety be examined and discussed, and till then he should abstain from even asking an. explanation—(llear, hear)—leaving the matter, in the mean time, to the responsibility of Mi nisters, and trusting to that superior degree of infor mation which belonged to their situation. He knew his duty to his country, and to the world, too well, to prejudice a question, on which the happiness of so great a portion of mankind might depend. For the present then, with this explanation merely of the grounds of that line of conduct which he had adopt ed, he entirely refrained from agitating the subject. The Noble Lord was fully justified in calling for this vote of thanks, and the motion bad his entire and most cordial approbation. The motion was agreed to nem. Ji.r. as were also the other usual motions made by Earl BATHURST, for thanks to the Officers employed under Lurd NVelling ton, acknostledging and approving the services of the Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers, &c. Adjourned till to-morrow (this day). HOUSE OF COMMONS. A person from the Treasury presented an account of the un funded debt of GI eat Britain, up to the Ist of February last.— Ordered to be printed. Mr. SPICER, from the Commissioners of Chelsea College, presented the general accounts, which were ordered to lie on the Colonel BAGWELL obtainesl leave to bring in a Bill to regu• late the Assize of bread in the City of Cork. The Dover Castle Debtors' Bill went through a Committee, the report of which was received, and ordered to be taken into further consideration ou the 6th of April. On the motion of Mr. FAWCE - 17, accounts were ordered to be laid before the Houde, of the number of Ships of the Line built its Merchants' yards, from the Ist of January 1793, to the 31st of January, 181 S, spccit)ing the names of the ships, their rates, tonnage, number of guns, and also copies of the corre spondence wbicb passed iu the year 18u5, between the Commis sioners of tbe)iavy and certain Ship-builders, relative to Con tracts for building hips of the line, &c. The Writs of Assistance Bill went through a Committee, the Report of which was ordered to be received to-morrow. In several Committees on the Act relating to Coffee, and the Act for the regulation of the West India "trade, Mr. Lvsniwo- Tom was instructed to move the House for leave to bring in Bills to continue the said Acts, which be accordingly did, and leave was granted. Mr. LUSHINGTON having stated that the compound chitin an Salt were erroneously imposed, and that other irregolsritief took place in the execution of the law, moved, and it was or dered, that the House should to;morrow resolve itself into a Committee to take into consideration the Acts relating to'that subject. MARQUIS OF WELLINGTON. • The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER in pursuance of the notice which he had given on the subject, rose to call the giateful attention of the House to the recent glorious services of the Marquis of Wel lington, and his brave army. In Teverting to the many occasions on which the Noble Marquis had re ceived the thanks of Parliament, it might appear that every topic of panegyric was utterly exhausted.— There was scarcely a display of military courage and skill, whether manifested in the open field, in die assault of a fortress, or in that system of persevering vigilance by which the strength of an army actually inferior, was rendered equal in value to that of a force numerically superior, for his brilliant success, in which Lord Wellington had not received the warm and unanimous approbation 61 his country. It was necessary YOr him to do little more than point out the distinguishing features of toe late gallnnt aehieve ments. i rhe circumstances of the long contest in the Peninsula; and subsequently in France. which Lord Wellingtqn had maintained with such increasing for •, tune, were ai various as the qualities and resources of his comprehensive and euergetic mind-(Hear, hely-, Afar.) In order to enable the House justly to estimate the extent of the services lately performed by Lord Wellington and His army, it was necessary to recal to their minds the particular nature of the operations by which those services had been pre ceded. It was well known that the descent from i the Pyrenees into the plains of Languedoc was rug ged, and in places almost impracticable, intersected here and there with little winding vallies and rivers, which presented the greatest obstacles to the march of an army. Thiswasparticularly the case at What was called the Landes de Bourdeaux. In this romantic and extraordinary country, Lord Wellington con ceived the great—he would say the sublime idea, of establishing himself from the foot of the Pyrenees to the very banks of the Garonne ; and the rains having somewhat abated about the middle of Fe bruary, the Noble Marquis moved the right wing of the British army towards the rivers which fell into the Adour. By a change of weather, and an unexpected swelling of those rivers, that first movement was frus trated. Lord Wellington then proceeded to move the left wing of his army, but unfavourable circum stances of a similar nature rendered the passage of that, wing wholly impracticable. Thu situated, Lord Wellington again repaired to the right of the army, and laid the foundation of that decisive victory which he subsequently achieved. After having p ts sed no less than five rivers, under circumstances which reflected the highest credit on the determined perseverance of the troops, the British army and their gallant leader found the French army posted in a very strong position near Orthes, in a country which, as he had before observed, was rendered almost impassable by the number of winding vallies and obstacles of every description with which it abounded. It might, indeed, be truly said that the position of Orthes was precisely such a one as the most skilful commander would have chosen as the seat of defensive operations— (Haar, hear.) From this posi tion, however, Lord Wallington completely dislodged Marshal Sault, one of the most consummate Gone rals of which the Emperor of France had to boast, and leading an army of nearly forty thousand men (Hear, hear.) The enemy were completely dislodged and repulsed with very considerable loss on their part. hi the mean time, in conformity to the plan of opera tions which the genius of our -meat Commander had suggested to him, Sir John Hope, on the '2.l:th ult. effected the passage of the Adour above Bayonne, under circumstances of the most extraordinary and interesting desci iption. To the astonishment of the enemy, and even of their own countrymen, (accus tomed as they had been to witness their heroic deeds) the British sailors boldly passed the bar of that river. Nothing could impede them—one boat after another upset in the tremendous surf of the bar ; but at length they accomplished their daring object, and afforded to their no less gallant military countrymen the means of crossing from one bank of the river to the other. Extensive as were these* operations, they formed but a part of that plan which Lord Wellington had in contemplation, and which stretched even to Bourdeaux. Immediately after the dislodgement of the enemy from Orthes, Lord Wellington dispatched a column of troops under Sir William Beresford to Bourdeaux, where he was received as the British army had hitherto been invariably received in France, with the loudest acclamations of joy, and were hailed as liberators.(Lorid cheering.) There could scarcely be a higher honour, nor a more certain pledge of ultimate success, than that our troops should be re ceived by the people of France as their deliverers ; and that at a time when the assistance of our troops was solicited by almost every nation in Europe to effect their complete emancipation, they should enter France at once as conquerors and deliverers (Con tinued cheering from all sides of the House.) It was use less to occupy the time of the House by expressing sentiments on these subjects on which there was but one feeling in which all participated ; be would there fore conclude by moving— " That the 'thanks of tke. House should be given to Field Marshal the Most Noble Arthur Marquis of Wellington, for the additional proofs of consummate ability and diringuislied valour which he had displayed in the movements preceding, and his con duct during the battle of Ortbes on the 27th of February; and also in the operations leadityg to and connected with those engage ments which terminated in the occupation of Bourdeaux." Mr. WHITSHED KEENE warmly seconded 'the motion, and proceeded to refer to the history of that great man the Duke of Marlborough, detailed the honour and emoluments which had been bestowed on him, and without wishing to draw an invidious comparison, contended that our present Illustrious Commander was at least not behind that immortal 'Duke in merit, and that he ought to be as liberally re. warded. He confessed he entertained a confident hope that his Majesty's Ministers would bring down a Royal Message recommending that such a monu ment should be erected to him as would carry down his name with honour to posterity. Who did not look with satisfaction at Blenheim ? He trusted that a Blenheim would be erected to Lord Wellington in Ireland, of which country be had the honour to be a native, although he had sat fifty years in that House. The consequence of such an erection would be incal culable. It would animate the youth of Ireland with a military ardour which would render them irretis tible in the field. A number of valuable diamonds were found concealed in the Imperial of King Jos.:pies carriage, after the battle of Vittoria. On this occa sion Lord Wellington displayed the utmost genero sity. He wished the Spanish Government to take back as many of these, and of a number of pictures by Murillo, Velasquez, and others, of which the usur per was in like manner deprived, as they nos( u, h.tve. Sir FREDERICK FLOOD.—As an Irisonian, and a Representative of that country which gloried in the proud birth of the illustrious individual who was the object of the vote of thanks now proposed, he would not be doing justice to those who sent him to that House it he contented himself with a silent vote on the present occasion. And, Sir," said the Ho nourable Baronet, a if I had a voice, (the increased loudness of his tone removed all dubiety on this sub ject, and •excited a general laugh) which I could ex tend even beyond the doors of this House, I would exert every nerve on such a glorious occasion, though it might end in a nervous fever." (Laugh.) The country which had given birth to this great hero, had also given birth to a number of other illustrious cha. ratters — it could boast of the blood of a Berestord, of the brother of our Noble Ambassador, of a Pon sonby, and of a Cole. That was a country which could Provide such a owuber of heroes. 1t had been often said in England, that Ireland was a clog to her, but instead of a clog, it was the best feather in her cap ; for it not only produced the best soldiers, ' but the best Captains, at the head of whom was the illustrious object of the present vote of thanks. When 'he looked around him, he saw many Members on both sides of the House, in the first confidential offices of State—(laugh) —lye should hate said, that those who held them were on the one side, and those who did not hold them were on the other. Wheo he looked into the other House of Parliament, he saw the same thing. Was not that a country of which a man ought to be proud ? and a country to court a connection with ? It did not only send them men, but it sent them also grain, cattle, butter, and beef. This was indeed a country for one to be prmid of, and the people .of it ought to be fostered. vernment ought to extend the arm of its protection to the natives of such a country. There never was a period in history where the achievements recorded ei (ceded the benefits which this country had deris from that great man, Imd Wellington. " Talk of an Alexander, a Cziar, awl a Hannibal (Lamb), can those history-books boast cd any General who old any thing to be compared with the object of this vot e of thanks ? He had said last Session, that in the same manner as Bleillielo House had beer, erected for the Duke of Marlborough, there should he a -- (here the Hon. Baronet hesitated some timej Wei Langton House built for Lord Wellington. (Laqi.i Ireland had already contributed £15,000 for the t.-t;.. Lion of a testimonial of the merit of that great man , hut there should also be a Wellington .House to Ire. land—aye, not only in Ireland, but in Scotland also, and in Wales. (Laugh.) Lord ICI KWALL said, however high I.nrd lingtoa migl appreciate the Thanks of the House, yet he believed the highest gratification he could re ceive, wculd be the exertions made at home to second the objects lie was endeavouring to accomplish ; for on . those exertions it depended, whether his should be crowned with success—on them alone de pended the tra.aquillity of Europe. The motion was then put. and carried amine con tradicrnte. The Thanks of the House were thereafter voted to the Oflicers and Soldier 4 wrung uuder 4..0rd Wel• lingtoni NON-RESIDENT CLERGY. Mr. BATI-lUR.ST, pursuant to a notice which he had given at an early period of the Session, rose to move for leave to bring in a bill on the subject of the recent prosecution of some of the C!ergy, by a persor. of the name of Wright. He began by recapltulatini; the nature of the different Acts which had at time; been, passed for the prevention of non-residence ; and then related the hardship of many of the casts ' which prosecutions had been commenced by a person known by the name of Wright. In c e ees where a Clergyman resided on one of two preferments, it wa, fair to suppose that the party satisfied the law. The greater number of the actions brought by Mr. Wright were, however, cases of this desciiption, where the parties had omitted to give notice of the preferment on which they did not reside. In one instance, a per son who had constantly resided on one or other of his preferments for near forty years, had for such in. advertence been prosecuted by the informer (the House might have some difficulty in believing it pos. sible) for penalties amounting to £15,816. Anothit person had been proceeded against for sums to a con siderable amount, because, while the vicarage house was repairing, he had taken the nearest lodging he could find. In some instances, Gentlemen residing in the country, whose incomes were small, some of them less than one hundred pounds per annum, had been prosecuted for penalties to a large amount. —One Gentleman, whose income was £75 per ann. was sued for W 450. Persons were proceeded against who were quite unconscious of offence. He had seen a letter from one Gentleman in the country, who ex pressed great sorrow at finding he had thus trans gressed the law, but at the same time, declared that he was not aware of the existence of the Act under which these proceedings were comnunced. Actions were brought against persons, who residing in pal idea adjoining their own, had not failed ;o perft rm their duty—who resided in their own houses instead of the Parsonage House—who residing at a distance, st:il attended to their parochial duties in person, or ap pointed Curates to act for them, and against indivi duals, whose absence had been caused by temporary indisposition. Of ninety-two cases which came e ithin the London Diocese, there were but two for which he had no excuse to offer. He did not mean to say that the parties here concerned could not give a satistac• tory explanation bf their conduct ; but of ninety two, there were but two from which some excuse had been received. He was far from wishing that House to interfere with the fair operations ef the law, but here was a case of extreme hardship, in which the act was made to do that which had never been intended by the Legislature. He thought the course proper to be pursued, was to raffer the parties against whom these proceedings had been instituted, to make those applications now to the Bishop of their diocese, which from neglect or in advertency, they had omitted to make before. — This was the object of the Bill which he proposed to bring in. The Bishop would have to exercise his judgment on the applications made now, for licenses for non-residence, as he would have done had they been made on. the proper time, and he would exercise his judgment under additional responsibility, know ing his conduct would be closely watched by an ac tive informer, who, from the situation he had tailed, and othet circumstances, would be perfectly acquain ted with the cases on which he decided. Under this A f_llV responsibility, his jud g ment would now be as exercised as it would have been beloic—he thou. h:, more so. In cases where a license was refused, the parties should be lieb!e to an action—an aciion being held to lie where a license was not produced. Lot the informer, where tie law was on his side, hoe . - ever hard the c.ise of the parties against whom the actions were brought, he must have his costs.- -He hoped the House would not object to the till he proposed to bring in. The Act of this Session, suspending the proceedings against the Clergy, ex pired on the 20th of April. As there might nut be 3 proper opportunity for discussing the subject by that time, he intended to move for leave to bring in a 1)111, to extend the provisons of that act for a month longer. The Right lion. Gentleman concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill, 66 to discontinue the pro ceedings on eettaln actions already commenced, and N allNsaa