The National Register. — London, England, 1809-04-30 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. he had a copy of it, which he should now read. It was dated Madrid, December 2, and signed by the Duke of Castel Franco and Don Thotnas Monla. It informs our General there were 40,000 soldiers at Madrid; .that the French force was not to be feared: and ends with calling upon General IsLouie, either to advance to Madrid, or to make a circuit, and come upon the enemy's flank. Now it was observable, that on the very day when Morla wrote this letter, he had an interview with that French General called the Duke of Istria; on the third the capitulation of Madrid was settled; and an the sth the French were in peaceable possession of the place. In this whole trans action there was every appearance of a lure on the part of Mode, to draw on our army absolute destruction; and .if his design was to decoy the army to certain destruction, he could not have had a better instrument for seconding his purpose than the letter of Mr. Frere, which also urged this advance. and of both which this same Charmilly was the bearer. Linder all these circumstances, it wi.s something like a signal interposition of Providence that Sir J. Moore did not advance. The situation of that gallant officer must have been painful in the extreme. The sanguine expectations of his employers, and the extrava gant hopes if the people of this country, all urged him to ad valve; and thou Alt he knew that retreat would be the subject of the loudest clamour at home, yet he had resolved on a retreat, warn the arrival of this letter from Morla, united with that of Mr. Frere , (lilted at Talavera, induced him to make that diver slot' piaci was 'followed by the disastrous retreat to Corunna. He wished to know how Mr. Frere 9 ould he able to justify the won ierful credu:ity he displayed as to Morla's letters, and .the ex(raordiaary indecorum pf his letter to Sir J. Moore. The Boni.. Member thee moved for the production of the letter in question, and any farther information 'Ministers Might be in peisession of relative tQ the two letters of Mr. Frere to Sir John .Moore. Canning ohsgrved, sin explanation, that the letter itself Caine from Madrid, but that the messenger who carried it had, on his way In'Opr camp, an accidental meeting with Mr. Frere at Talavera, where he Was wits the Supreme Junta. 'lt was 'sot a letter from the Supreme Junta, but froth that part of the Govermaent which remained at Madrid. • Mr. Whitbread observed, that two things had come out in this4iscosion ; the first was, the name of the messeng er sent to sir J Moore, which the Right Hon. Gentleman had on a for per occasion refused to give the House; and the second, of much snore importance was; that the Noble Lord was still one of his BlajOsty's Ministers—(hear! Hear ! ) though 161 Members of the House of Cl/111111011S had voted his conduct most unconstitu tional. He had !crown even whole 4dministrations which a smaller minority had compelled to resign. The sturdy oak was rooted uphy the tempest, but the pliant bulrush beaded to avoid the blast. Lord Castlereagh replied, that any seggestion coining from that Hob. Gentlethan Shook; have very little influence on his courduet: General Tarleton said. that as it had been said of Bonaparte, that be was the'child and champion or Jacobini,m, so the Noble totd wall the child and champion of oilier. As to this Char ntilly, he could give an account of him that would give the douse some idea of his character. lie knew that he had lost a large sum of ninney at play, yet he had denied it, and re fused to give the satiEfaction required by a man of honour. lie knest also that he had gone to a gambling house in the evening without any money in his pocket, and had left it in the mornina %it h seven and twenty guineas in his pocket. This was the man w' I'M) Mr. Frere took t i nder his protection, and entruetcd him wits' tipe very message that was to supersede Sir J. Moore in :i).sl.ood ofthesaiiny. I:be motion was - then negatived without a division. NEWSPAPERS. Mr. Ifoskinon, in a COmMittee of the whole House, moved for leave tabling in'a Bill to amend an Act of the . 37th year of his Majesty, relating to Newspapers. ile'Stated; that when the laSt tax was imposed upon newspapers, it Was deemed desirable that nu newspttpet should Fell for more than 6d. 'end 12 per cent. riiscount had hero ullowed . to the proprietors who Should tell them at that prier. Since that period; however, the expences of print's" a aewspaper had greatly increased, journeymen's wages, taper, Tend every material which was * used, hail'rl4en to inch a degree, that the profits Which Were considered proper in FM?, WM& 1100 at all adeqttate set prerent. It therefore was his 'intention that'll* discount should be'et,titinued to the Proprie tors, but th*t in More they should be 4 4:ll4%ved to eta thei r pa _ tars for eitpaice halfpenny. The price 'of every pr.:iodic:l , . APRIL 20. publication had been raised _since the Act was pa,sed, and he thought it fair that the newspaper` should not be kept {fader an improper re2trictiou. The Report was rcceived, and leave given to bring in the Bill. Friday, April 28. ORDERS IN COUNCIL. Mr. Whitbread wished to ask a question of the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, the answer to which would (if what he had heard he true), prove highly gratifying to great numbers, viz.—" Whether the Orders in Council respecting America were resci need ?" _ _ The Chancellor of the Exchequer answered, that they were not actually rescinded, but. they were put in 1 state of modifica tion which amounted to nearly the same effect, COMMITTEC OF SUPPLY. On the motion of Mr. Huskissen, 215,429/. 19s. 7d. was voted to make good the deficiency of the sum voted for the Extraor dinaries of the Army, for the service of the year, from Dec. 21, 1807, to Dec. 25, 1808. Mr. liuskisson then stated, that though there had been a defi ciency of 200,0001. in the sum voted lust year, on the actual ex penditure for the extraordinary service of the army, and there was a large force now serving abroad, he proposed to move, for the Extraordinaries of the Army, for the service of the year 1809, the same sum which had been voted last year. viz. 363,090,000 0 To defray the Expence of the Commissary-Ge neral's Department, being nearly double the • sum voted last year, but 200,000,. less than the actual Expenditure under that head • in the last year For the , Barrack Department, being nearly 1,080,000 the same a, the s um voted last year - To defray the expeoce of the Office of the Ex aminer of Barrack Accounts for the year 1809 - - - - Secret Service Money for the year 1809 - Probable tx pence of the Office and Establish ment of the Commissary-General To defray the expence of the Storekeeper-Ge neral's Department - - - To reimburse Win. Mellish, Esq. for the Sup plies sent to the Faro islands, in the ship Northern Stur - - - To pay the five per Cent. Loyalty Loan An nuities - .. - - - 13,215 19 For the Poor of St. Martin's Parish - 1,328 5 To the Rev. T:tilmas B. Clarke - - 278 6 6 The House (liens resumed, and the Report was ordered to be . , :. • received on MondayVxt. 379,563 4,260 175,000 22,651 44.000 1,550 9 II 0 ct COMMITTEE OF WAYS AND MEANS. Mr. Husk isson inovtd that there be raised by Exchequer Bills for the service of the 'present Near 6,000,000/. That' the ex.. pence of pay and cloathing of the Militia of treat Britain, and also the allowances to Adjutants, Serjeants Major, and Subaltern Officers of Militia, be defra3ed out of the LatulTat. Alm) that' the pay, cloat bine, and other expences'of the Irish Militia, be defraNcd out of the Consolitiated Fund. The report sias order ed to be received on Honda)'.• WAR OFFICE ACCOUNTS. • 7 • Mr. Wardle, pursuant to h hotkce, moved that there be laid before the House a Return of. aIY the Annual flegimeotal Ac , counts now in ilt( - -.cifying, which were' iceporate . and which not, all, . been carried into warrant from the 25th Dr he 25th December 1808, and ,pcc.ifying whethi nary, or militia. The Hon. Gen' ietl to move for an account of. the deficiencies of esters w Rhin dm; *ante period. The rea;on why ~rd this motion was, that he alight call the .. *lse to the Sixth Report of. the Military Inqk i on the table were not suffi cient to place the the posses ion of the House, and 'that, thougt Ake War Office - had been in- . creased from ten !mots were as much in arrear. . as before this Inc( and the hu4oess of the Office, seemed rather to moototed by this increase. On the questiol first 'notion, the SeeEetary , bjection to ' the production of these papers; br Ai uudet the comideration a. : • • • to War Ofice, sped and also which had leceto;er 1797 to th her fol' , cavalry, law vleman also propose If the seVeral Pay t‘m % ,iiii r he . bt.o , ritt forwhr .attentiot of the I‘t quirk-, a% to paper . , lie subject Ily in tt gh the-Clerlks in tl i to fifty; yet\ theacci rrease 'took mace, a ► be 'impeded than p on bring put oti the I re yat War had lob Int as the suhjec wi 273 ~ t . I