The National Register. — London, England, 1811-06-09 00:00:00

kTION A L.Y.EGISTER. - theie considerations, it would evidently appear, that they would have been disgracing themselves had they withheld from th publiethe services of his Royal Highness. If there was a time more fitting, a period more opportune, for the appointment of his Royal Highness than another, it was, indeed, the present. ' He would not argue on the good will of the army,' and the ge neral wish they entertained in his Royal Highness's favour, which mieht have almost induced them to comply with their wishes, had no other causes a i peared ; and when his •P oral Highness's de:tinguished services were considered, there could be nt hesitation to affirm that the army's opinion was fair, and that he deserved to be re-established. It was a question quite clear of aey previous decision. and called tor by the tried and . eminent services of his Royal Highness, whose appointment he Iliad advised, upon a conviction that he was the best person to till the office.—Wear, hear I)—Unless the House should put a d fferent interpretation on its own Resolution, from that in which be understood it, he was sure they could not agree in the motion of the Noble Lord. Lord AL I 110 K PE supported the motion, as did Mr. EL- Lityr - r and Sir OSWALD MOSELY. Mr. %%THU Ks r opposed the motion. Mr. Goocu helieired, that in the utmost bitterness of hostility, no one had as yet accused the present Ministers of political cowardice, but of that they would have been, in his opinion, unquestionably guilty, if they had scrupled to recommend the re-appointment of the Duke of York to the .office of Commander in Chief, and he would say that it Was countenanced by that of the best judges of military aft-ail-s— -tile Officers of the army themselves. His Royal Highness had filled that high station with unparalleled ability. Ile had never 4mputtd any thing absolutely criminal to his Royal Highness; and with respect to his moral defalcation, he should say to the Members present, " Judge not lest you be judged." — (A laugh.)—His removal from office had been produced by an unfounded clamour, raised by a set of profligate hired witnesses. (Cheering from the Ministerial Benches.)—And he would ask the 'House, whether it must not be a subject of much satisfaction to the nation to see him restored. (kil"! al 'LI R LETO N said that he stood in a situation of pecu.iar dlilie tilry ; he' had to acknowledge many obligations to his Royal 1 ligliness the Duke of York ; he had nevertheless, on the charges bi-ing preferred against him, chosen to follow hiApublic duty, and vote for his removal ; now, however, that the mode in which the evidence against him had been obtained uffisbrought to light, he was pleased at the opportunity afforded •'tim by the present debate, to retract his former opinion. He was confident the reinstatement of his Royal Highness would infuse the most vivid joy into the whole army, over the interests of « • hick try had watched with increasing vigilance, while he had laboured successfully to improve As organization ; lee should therefore vote against the motion. Adiniral Ititivi.v thought there was no man who ;lesse-s -ed a sense of tumour, but would conceive a removal Irom office a very severe punishment. hear !)—blow that the House wad fully informed as to the foul and wicked conspiracy that had been hatched against his Royal flightless, he trus!ed that every impression prejudicial to his character would be. en tirely removed. . Mr. CHARLES ADAM opposed the motion. Mr. Wm - fitar.An rose and said, that some Honourable Members had declared, that although they' had formerly given their votes in opposition to the interests of his Royal Highness, they would now -tote for hi 4 restoration to office. What their - motives could be for such a change of opi nion, he could not conjecture ; but as to himself, his former opinion had been uninfluenced by aught but. a sense of duty, and it had remained unaltered. Had the House contemplated the restoration of the Royal Personage as likely, at the time of his resignation, they would, without doubt, have passed a Resolutior putting a bar to it; but on his voluntary relinquishment they had forborne to take this step from motives of delicacy and respect. He thought, in common with the Noble Lord, that the re-appointment was improper and indecorous in the extreme. The Chancellor of the Exche quer, like some late Ministers, had claimed the merit of having advised the re-appointment of his Royal Highness, contrary to the wish of tin- House. Shuidd the vote of the House be against them, however, they might be made to feel that as heavy responsibility attached to them. He thought that when their opinion wits brought in direct opposition to that of the House, they would hav e d une we ll to h ave a d opte d a similar conduct to that pursued on a former occasion, and to have withdrawn _themselves till the House had come to a isiuu bject. He adthitted the fact that advanced in years, nor was he in toritms nature of his services; but he Gent. what was his age when he him a fit successor for the Duke of York ? reported that Sir David DOndas had . . been appoititeli merely to preserve the place for the Duke; and It now appeared that the report was not unfounded in truth. The measure had enabled the Duke to retire, in order to evade the resolution Which the House would haite passed, had he per sisted in retaining tiffs situation. Had any one of the amendments which had been proposed in the course of the discussion re• specting his condutt been agreed to, it must have inevitably produced his resioation, accompanied with an effectual obsta cle to his restoration to Mice ; but on his voluntary resignation the proceedings were stoppL d from a feeling which rcflected much credit on the House, though cei t.tinlythey did not at the time conceive that any Minister would ever venture to recommend hisi-e-appointment to his formcr exalted situation. If the Duke were restored, he would ask on what principle similar pleas to his from others could be refused. Was it just to say, now that our army was raised so high in the estimaton of all Europe for discipline and bravery, that there was no officer to be found except the Duke of York, capable of tilling the situation of Commander in Chief. Why, if this was the case, was his resig nation ever alloWed of ? We were every day called on to applaud the splendid victories obtained by the gallant Welling ton, victories which would bear a comparison with any of thq,se recorded by ancient history ; but much as the country was indebted to that Noble Commander, were he now placed - in a similar situation to that of the Royal Duke, he would not hesitate to say, that he would not admit him to office to achieve a victory of a different nature from those on which his glory was founded, a victory over the British House of Commons and the British Constitution. Mr. CHARLES ADAM and Mr. BATIIURST explained. - Mr. Secretary RYDER said, that it was not his intention to take up the time of the House longer than would be necessary to state the reasons which influenced the vote he meant to give. He had never heard that the House had given any opinion against the restoration of his Royal Highness, or otherwise. He recollected, indeed, many Members saying that his re-appointment would be the necessary consequence cf what had transpired since his resignation. He thought the proper time for that re-appointment now arrived, atter it had been distinctly proved, that the evidence by which his removal had been produced. had been hired for the purpose ; and he had the authority of the Noble Lord, who had presided at a late trial, for saying that had the witnesses been examined upon oath be fore the House, the Hon. Member who preferred the charges would have been liable to be indicted for subornation of per july.—(Hewn•, hear !)—The army were fully convinced of the foul conspiracy which had caused the removal of a Commander is Chief who possessed their entire confidence, and exulted aus his restoration. Sir F. BuitnETT supported the Motion. Mr. PoN so N BY was of opinion that the Dulce had sufficiently expiated his crime by the odium to wh:ch he had been exposed. Mr. BARHAM opposed the Motion. Mr. MANNERS SUTTON opposed the motion, as did Mr. Roar:aT THORNTON, who declared that nothing could have been more grateful to the Army, than the re-appointment of the Duke of York to the Office of Commander in Chief. Mr. CANNING, in a short speech, defended the conduct of the Duke of York ; and declared his opinion, that from the nature of the evidence which had been adduced against him no just ground of imputation had been proved. He struntly repro bated the nmtiun of the Noble Lord. After a few observations trom Mr. WARDLE, in defence of his own motives in bringing forward the charge. The Question was loudly called fur, and a division took place. Fur the motion 47 ; Against it 21 - )6; Majority-249. The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at ONE o'clock. FRIDAY, JUNE 7. THANKS TO GENERAL BERESFORD. The CHANCELLOR of the ExcitrQu ER had now again imposed on him the agreeable duty of directing th- attention of the House to another brilliant display of the glory of the British arms. He had the honour to propose upon this occasion, that the names of General Beresford and of the Officers and Soldiers under his command should be enrolled among the numbers already be come illustrious by their heroism. -This was the third instance in the short space of one shortcampaign in which such actions were brought under the notice of the House. lie should briefly state the circumstances and nature of the transaction on account of which he came forward in the present instance, to call for the approbation of the House. [Here the Right Hon. Goitleman entered into a detail of the fact, and complimented in terms- of the highest eulogium, the judgment and decision of Gener.d. Beresford. He applauded the conduct of the Spaniards, who, being' stationed on the right wing, resisted the French for some time, and even after they were repulsed, succeeded in checking. ebe enemy at the foot of the hill before the reinforcautuLs final . decision on tile std. Sir . 17 id I) undas was I t ,dispute the merit, act ••• Right lion. • 1 . 1 , r ,- , , l ed hint as ": 1 ILI ' - . 14 • public!; r • vie abss.. 4W r I 4 , V 1141 1 litiV