The National Register. — London, England, 1812-02-23 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTEIt, - 18 easasamemon ."s , out,' - I.J. . Tor the memorial of the rieisgoliii.d .o.lereltains was neg..iived a, , touu! a division. The se cond rit:• -, .•, regarding the Importation of Spirits from Holland, was acquieseeu and the Papers were ordered accordingiy.--Adjourned. WEDNESDAY, TM 19. The report of the Nottingham Frame-work Bill was , taken into fill-- 111er c: , nsideration. Ag..ed to, and the Bill was ordered to be read a third time tn-morrow - . Mr. BaoLic an tvt postponed hi% motion on the Drotts of Admiralty, Which stood for to-morrow, till Tuesday next .- -Adjourned. THURSDAY, FM 20. The Nottingham Frame-work Bill was read a third time, and pasted. The Local Militia Amendment Sill was was read a secoud time, and tardered to be comtnitted on Tuesday. . • Lord FOLKSTDNE, in the abs:nce of his Hen. Friend Mr. Creevey, Vostponed the Motion that stood for this day, respecting the Foot! and a Half per Cents, until this day se'nnight. . Mr. CALCRAFT presented a Petition from the 'Shipwrights and Caulkers of Woolivich, Deptford, Sheerness, and - eh/Lilian, praying for exemption from the Income Tax. He said, he would move., that the Petitions should he taken into consideration vhen the Navy Esti bates we' e 'brought forward. • The Petitions were brought up, and or tiered to lie on the fable. Mr. fiteamaerree presented a similar Petition frouePoltsmOuth, avhi.4l was ordered to lie on the Piffle:. . • • Sir T. iTON moved for hccounts of all Sums paid,for Services in the Penitttula, fQr tire troops both of this country atatePortugal, from April 1808 to April 1811. He made a similar motion with respect to the navy emPloyed onehe toast of Spain. The Cue ectetoi Of the Excureual thought thee would be genie difficulty in the production of the latter accounts, nor did• he think they could be of much importance. kavould be ilecessaty.to keep tip those fleets eedn If the enemy were in po..session of thee coticetry. • He would slot, however, tee any great objection to the productton of the accounti in iluestion. The inetion w - at therefore agreed to. e Sir T. TvaroN then moved for en Accottin of the Debts due to 'this. bountry front the P. ince Regent of Portagal, and alte.the aesepertiteefor those (trine. . • Cu.ef;citiox of the ticiteievre said, ibet as k Was his kntention to ascertain the 'expenses of our tifores on the .V.eeithitritlie. there was *o occasion for tins MotiOn, as it seemed to be ieeleded the former °he. . . Mr. "lILKNEY said, that alter the Walcheren Expedition) a paper Wit produced filen the Treasury, showing the aniaiiness of the ex tientlitare upon flea Occasion, and be believed a docennent of the same sature could be preducee at present without mach difficulty. • The CHANCELLOR of the ExCeleete tit had not the leaSt obkollon to the production of any pavers that could throw any light. upon the subject ; but the .any Expedition, had not, in 14s opinion, any bearing upon the subject. He wished the Hon. Geteleman would furnish any plan for obtaining the object of his . motion. He. kti ; :e. Chancellor of Vie Excleeluer) was not •teeluainted With auy that cautd be eatered sufficient for the purpose. The country was aware that the 'tar on the Peutnsula was attended with vast expense, and he did.not Wish to insintrate that such was not the case,. hut the hratcheren Poe, tiltion seemed to be introduced for the purpose of seeing What effect they might both produce together. Mr. TrtittlEt said, that. nothing more *as rnlied than an estimate Similar to the - of the Walcheren E x pedition, a nd he could ntit conceive that one wat more difficult than the other. He could not conceive eat the Rieht Hon. Gentleman felt so set e upon the !nation of this Liteedition, terwien talkine of theewars'of the Right Hun t te'entteman, it was natural enou to talk ni f one. Sir Teel - N withdrew his motion, and then moved for the whole 'amount of the Funded and IJ:ifundetl Delos of Great Britain, up to rehrtiary, 1$I2; also, the total amount of morel raised up to the sth January, Itle, specitying the sums raised by taxes and those raised by team, • A motion was made for Accounts of Copper imported In 1806,- 1807, iBOB, 1809, 1810, and 1811. FZZ. 21.• . , EARL WELLINGTON. 'Upon the motion of the CriANCELLOR Of the to CREQ,UER, the iiothe went into a Corntriittte upon the Prince Regent's Message to the Hotise, relating to Lord We The Caillsrek:l.Loa of tilt Emit:quit said, that he rose under the itup'ression that the.metion which he was about to submit to the House ' , would be tvc,:ved with that unanimity with which 4 grateful country regarded enterprise of a great and heroical nature. the distinguished tharacur which Lord Wtllington had attained by his, military skill, inttepidity, and firmness, was too well known to the House to render a circumitential of the successful contests in which he had been engak.nl tunnetessary. Whatever difference t,f opinion might have ex ist,• an:l might still exist, with respect to the policy of our continen tat ziraign, they were not now to consider the question was, whe ther the liftofr seleeteil by Government to carry on that Oampaign ih ,~ tEn• 03, all its most important operations he'd rendered himself rernarlttaiihtlneihi)nr ardour, valour, and skill. That Lord Wellington chieved.and m a i n . tamed such a character was not only a cknowled g ed b y. this oountry, bet bistelaims to the gratitude of our Al l i es were also recognised by the conduct which they had observed towards him. He trutted, under such such circumstances, the House would, without hesitation, adopt the suggestion of his Royal Highness, by making good the grant of the annuity to Lord Wellitigton.—(Hear, heo r! ) Mr. KrENt and Mr. Feet MANTLE supporttet the nlotiote. Sir FRANCIS Buttes Err conceived chat. he should .not do hie duty, were he to give his assent to the proposition for so large a grant of the people's money, for 'services which, in his estimation, did not merit those high }rubes, and all that exultatian which had been so protesely bestowed on them. With respect to the re`olitary character of the o. cent proceedings of the Peninsula, be believed himself to be incree at. tent to give ajudgment.(Loud cries of Hear, hear! from tie teriat fetiches.)-i-l - le believed that the House also was incompettet to judge, because they werearot in possession'of the circumstances in which Lord Wellington Was plaeCd. If they were total truly, Lord Wel lington had at his disposal an inuneasely large military force—a much greater one, possitty, that had ever been as-embled on a similar occa sion. Besides, there were different ways of judging of the merits of any particularaction ; but in his estimat tan, the true way oijudging was to inquire Whether great objects had been accomplished with almost inadequate meant. Now, in his mind, it was impossible stn conceive that less cou'd have heal done with ouch ample means.- Solite cries of Hear, hems!) —What wet the means in the htuads of Lord Wellington; at least what had they been described to be ? Why, they had been told, diet there were 45,000 regular English troops in the Peninsula! 'Ile) , would also rem . ember, that Englaad paid for thirty thousand Pdtkuguese troops, tt number which had been doubled this yenta These two forces then amounted 'to 110,000 troops of the line. In addition to rhhe troops it was said that the Portuguese GoVernment paid logo troops, and that the PortitoW Militia amounted to 130,000. • hus then were about 200,00-4-troops at the 'disposal of Lord Wellington, besides the Ordenentas, men with arms in their hands, who amouuted to 150 : 000. If theat. Means were actually in the hands of Lord Wellines tott, Ire saw no cause for,so much exultation about the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo": He wouldeontrast *hat had been done by Lord Welliaet with What • Laid been performed by Massena. He' merely meant - to glance et the general fact. Alassena, with 100,000 men, had penetrated through 54:X) miles of 'an enemy's country; and he did. this without 'hunt -anyone advantage that it was of importance to retain. Nor did he retreat till famine compelled him, though he was. in an enemy's cam-:try, and beget by difficulties and an " armed population" on ail sides.-- •Sut Lord Wellington, with all his means—with hundreds of thousands 'of men at his command, had succeeded in capturing Ciudad Rodrigo, 'and then _there was so much exultatiofi at the event ! By this success no advantage had been obtained ; indeed, in bis estimation, no compiest of less importance could have been made. Where was its value, tame nothing was more certain than its loss, immediately On the approach of of a French army Military men had thus informed him, atal they also stated that sdch was the Weak state of the fortress, there Wag no outworks- of any consequence, that it was almost indefensible. If such was the wretched state ef the works, where was the great merit in cap turing Ciudad Rodrigo? To prove this fact •he would adduce Lord Wellington's dispatch itself. ft stated that the divisidn meant for a feint, and intended ultimately to support the rear rank, really succeeded in taking the place.—e(LoYur clic, of Hear ! Bear ! frittm '!he Ministerial benches !)_He would not question the valour of Our troops, but he noticed this fact as a proof of the weakness of the plate. • He therefore did not think there was 'SO Muth cause for exultatitta; and he was of opinion, that there wee no.reason for calting on the Public for additional rewards for stch victories. ff there. did exist such a necessity,, then it would be a proof to him that the tountry was in a latnentable.altd fall ing conditioa. The lianourable Baronet then alliided to the mai -1 bet' of prisoners receetiy sent from Spain int) France (14,100, together with Officers); and dwelt on the comparative value of Badajaz and C Ciudad Rodtigo. • The latter place was more than 300 miles from Lis bonaand•the passes leading to it were almost impassable; and the for tner was a most important tortress, and not more than la:0 miles from l a ishon, and the pastes leading to it were comparatively perfett- He then descanted on the 'proceedings against Badajoi, and the battle of Allmeraa In that battle Lord Wellington failed to relieite. Itadajezt and such failure cost him 14,000 amen.—(Ceies of Hear, hear ! froist the '' 1111, ?stalel benehi.s.)—Did he not state the fact—.were the numbers ex aggerated ?—(Hear, hear !)—Well then, he failed to relieve Badajoa • He alluded to these facts to " balance the account" with Lord Welling. ton. Certain he was of this, from all he had.heard, that Ciudad R 0 drip was indaensible; if the enemy chose to attack it; he therthire could not join in the delusion thatwas attempted to be passed off on the Country. With respect to the tired success of the war rn Spain, he did not. think that Any Member of that House would say, that the object was furthered by the capture of Ciudad Redrigo. Be that however AS might, if the people of England were to pay such prices for these sort of advantages, and for this species of victories, he thought the sooner the war in Spain was put an end to theabetter. If he looked at the "sham papers"..the sketchesnithe Constitution, and contrasted t hem With existiug facts, he.shouldnot -net as became any honest man, if he had not spokenasa - he bad .alone. We supported, it was said, the Spa . 1111.1110... F ' 0.... a FEI