The National Register. — London, England, 1814-11-13 00:00:00

NOV. 13. Ttrr, NATIONAL ItERISTER. valete4, her eatioal weans of anzioyance to a trade which spread over toe wield, the qaestiort of success or discomfiture was to he (belled by look ing to the pi oreetion afforded to that trade in the preseeve of that host of enennes Something might he guessed of this from the fact that between eepturee at home and our colonies, we .11.411 within a few hundreds of 20,000 American sesmen prisoners (hear !) This was not like inactivity. We had also captured from them more than '2OO ships of war lid armed vessels. He would add a few little facts of that nature. The list was thirty-eight ships of war from the greatest force dowuwards, and 190 e: med vessels, captured or destroyed. Nine linnArrel vesaels had been taken, a n d, filen the number captured abroad in different parts of the world, he would not rate the entire at less than 190 e. ( hear !) He had to mention another rice : the rate of insurance had been alladesi to on emit occasions as an evidence of the public feeling on such subjects. How did that now stand? Notwithstanding the in inert ase of privateers, the premium of ittimranee last Jone - was less than it had been the June before. With regard to the nionher el captures niatle on the coast of' this kingdom and Ire- Lied, hit Lerdellip was desirous of stating what had happened (it former periods. At the e!n:e of the war in the year 1759 and 1760, the French took :acid British vessels. The captures from the Frenvii were not more titAtt 100, leaving a balance hi favour of the French. Toe follywing year, the French were driven from the seas, amt it was a fact, that the whole navy of the country could not preveeo. the privateers from capturing British vessels. Looking to the capture at the period alluded to, more had certainly been cap tured of late, hut then the trade of 1760 was nothing compared with the present trade. He had not heard the number of captures last vomiter by American privateers from any reenter return, but he had taken smite pains to procure the best information on the subject. From the taking of Paris to the end of the year there were 172 captures. The Noble Lord would observe, that ships were then going to and coming from France, and many that miahl ,have sailed with convoy refaced that prOteetian. A number sailer!, over which the Admiralty bad no controul. Ninety-fonr sailed e.Aliont convoy out et 172. Convoys had seldom arrived, without makine compi•liets of ships having refused to sail with them. The tact was, it was a Vneral custom fur ships to proceed to a conve• Meet diAatice with convoy and then separate, and the consequence was, thst they were often captured. The total of ships lost by kailin4 without convey waa r 3 ; the whole me e r:er of coasting Yes :As taken, os er which the Aoltunalte had no controul, wag eleven only. Lord Melville then reminded the Nobie Lord, that the con test noon the Lakes was neatly epee an equality, and coecluded by ulmerving, that ell had been done by those who had the manage• meta of tle. aide) to gi ve tiltPi to exertions in that quarter. Lord GRENVILLE said, it was unfortunately a prevailing opinion. that the affairs of the navy 113.1 hetet neolvettd. Whe the% they had been mistaken ie formine such (wishing, his Lordship could not cide, but he eepressed a hope that the time would conic, when in justice to the Noble Lord. arid iu justiee to the trays. the uscessery inquiry would he made. I have always been led to bell. ve that the superiority in America consisted in the possession of the Canadian : vat ers. This was the opinion of farmer Government.. It becomes a ipication to know how we are timed stinggliest with the power of America , hos iota been St) l On'2 aequaieted with a know 'seize of the war . With respect to the qecstion generally before us, I may say, it has been my de,ite to concur in nuet addresses, but in this it is impossible to coacur. After the loeg strierele, and eveills, which have distineuished the conclusion of it, so much in the intereat of mankind, I hope we should this d a y he called on to conaider the means of improvine the situatiosi of the public, and tenoning the burdens of the country; mitt I see on the contrary, %fleet the war which justified these hardens has star d, that nothizes F pokell of but large expteehture, and increased bearded' on the yeeple. I looked with the utmost atteiety to that pert of the Speech which to the state of neeotiation with America. It was my practice to condemn the conduct 0 1' this country towards Aiee rica ; but when you had repealed those Orders of Council, and America declared seer, on a groued that went to the destruction of your maritime rights, there was hut one voice as to the necessity of upholding the cutest ; but the circumstances which unve bi:th to the war seared with the NV di' a 4 Europe, end never did I think two great nations would wantonly shed blood on a retoospective ab stract question. As far a. , my julement went. all occasion of war had ceesed, when Peace was restored to Europe, and I conceived that nothing reneabied to he done but to return to that state from which the tes a countries had iinfortenately •leparted The next question is, whetht r, and what eiremostauces have prevented such a result, but I must say, of all the speeches I havcrver seen. and all the terms of cxyzeksbiuu iu the Liglith Language s conve:,ing a deli: e to 739 make race, I think I i Cr ntrt hits r i(t it* .• CI to convey a desire tor peace, as that ire the sv.eerb. It is 3..sleg when an . ooportinney offers, we will make au ion' ural.le pe tee, no light is LoYCH us to judge of the causes 4,4 'Lich eau ic,id I peace. I did think it was important to the interest of tile country teat 41 tie. claration should be mad! to Parliament,stating the amend on 'elicit we are to continue this American war. The war %%4% and is, I dill decidedly of opinion, a war of ageravation on the part of the enemy. From the moment our unjust Orders in Council were repealed, and America declared war, it was a war of injustice on her vett ; but I hope we are carrying on e war for the object of peace; net a war of resentment; not, as I have heard it is, Out Gotf forbid that men should tel such animosity) a war of punishment—that is not the :retina which a government should entertain in conducting war. I am the more induced to mention this, from the unhappy circum stance I before mentioned, namely, that the war has ehauged its Ammeter. There is in the Speech a sentence in which I cannot con sen', became it expresses satisfaction and pleasure at the state of the war. What I meat is this :—ti has been for a century the ci vilized practice to make the pressure of war fall on government., and as liglicas possible on the unotlending inhabitants, who are not 'evoked in measures of govarnments. I say there are two distinct instances of a departure from the system of civilised warfare. One occurred at the occupation of Washington. No man can admire more than i do, the courage of the army ; none can regret more than me that the victory in Nmerica should be damped by the re- Election that the brave man who :aired it, did not live to partici pate in the honours and rewards of his country, which he was euti tied to share. Having Tendered a .0,1 Wante to our 4allatit amid distiuguished officer, he was induced, by a regard for the saered principlcof humanity, to compli , in of the conduct of the trerph in Washington, ire destroyi ng the pubic buildings. They destroyed the palace of the President, and other eitil buildings, weieli his Lordship considered barbel ons w arfare. never adopted uy the fero cious troops on the continent, exe , pt in the instaere of burning the Kremlin at Moscow. It was with extreme regret he couttarplated the de s truction of the military was an act which nothing hut a principle of retaliation could have justified, and if that cause had existed, why had not proclamatinn been made, for the purpose of showing OM a terrible punishment was not inflicted without ground? He called :you the !loose to reflect open the eon. secinencee of resorting to lieu modes of carrying on war in au ene inv's country ; and if the ieioelien of any system at' 4iPtAteiti di& ferret, and appaiently inconsistent, with those Lty which war had hitherto beee regulated. should be deemed necessary, it must be seen by ..vary Member of that House, that Parliament should 'te• put in paw •se.s ., )n t f the Cd'euinstaLees which rendered it expe• With respect to the contiaent. and the delay of tre I;egutt he le.d a fi w words to say.—Vtriiarecrit had assembl, d, a dt: 1 1 1 . tion had here given in a Speech trom the "'lrene, of the state of our alLin e in regard to Ametlea, and the gratil'Ang prole:et, which the trairpdlity of the sarromuling aati, e- esented, hae, not one word was said of the British army, kept up in British pay, twou the Continent. He beeged to know %vile:her Ministie . s meant to neinuate, that such a fact was a matter of no importuner.? Whe ther the maietenatice of .10.P60 men was a matter so trivial a‘ to &set ve in notive? Py what authority had such; a dispositioa of the military force and money of Great 13i itaio been maO'-, and uy what train of argument could 'Jite power of the Eli .g be asserted to keep up a steriler army in time of peace with. ut the aueaaity of Parliament? What could be n.-cessier main'aining such an army and so numerous in a time of fell er ? At a pei lad ehen the people had a rigid to expect a mates ial diminution of public ex;, ,, tista, was it pu.liic to add to that exprwe bitch extraordi ,ry means? The NaLde Lot d did not know unt preseot „lances night require the meestiie of w Niel. he spoke Nat such e,tabh-Innent sloop{ exist. Iltit cc: the ititentiun sinvlJ have been comanoticateJ to Parlianolit ; so stupendous and a•;o -nishing a fact 4iculd not have been court shed toi: a whole year Lordthip here took the opportuni:y a thertingto the ilti;!es o!1 the importltion of foreign corn. he abhorred the Idea ot taxing that article which gave innuediate support to the pi:or it t 4 as, he said o , an act of tn 4 ni;oiitest impohcv, as •Nsdl as et inhum an i ty, for it struck at the interests it was intehdc! protcel. LI the landholder it would prove grolually injurious, ,thil'• to al . . tee pint of his Majesty t heir 's subjects who lived by labour lt ots • elute: no less an evil than sudden beggary. The true root of the evil was in the present state of the eirenlation of the cout.try, and the only remedy Was the manly resolution to inet-t the salucet with rti•mitePs. Re concluded by stating. that thoogii there were some pomti'M to the speech frame the throne to which he had irreconedeaule .• c. tious, that to which he felt must repugnitacc was the profuse eud