The National Register. — London, England, 1812-03-01 00:00:00

NAtIOTAL 134 'is t • great mass of the Spanish people we were and out t abe allied. Were we to continue. voting 12,000,0001- annualy, for supporting a war, the termination of which it svas impossible to f.reste. He had hes.id of revolutions and changes in Sicily; he rejoiced at it ; no change in that country could be tor the worse. The transactions between this coun try and America, he could characterise by no other name than that of a neutral war. The system of blockade adopted .by France towards this country, which had caused, so mech dis.atisfaction in America, Was founded on a precetiew of our own, adopted soon after the Itevo- Pitlo in this rnuntry, when We, in cool:onion with the Dutch, insti tuted a blockade of the trench ports, on the grounds of the overgrown tower of Louis XIV.; this m'sasUre, Itewever, produced. the Berliu ,and Milan Decrees; and these Deere it Oar Orders in Connell; and in this state svere thle,,,s in 1810, when both Powers bang tired, and 011- h:iced they were wrong, a repeal of the French Decrees was about taking place, when our Ministers, instead of immediately embracing this measure, which would innuedlately haVe eiptled tin: markets of the Continent to our distressed manufacturers, refusea t to credit Boo naparte's assertions that he had withdrawn Ids'Deerees, and insisted on rrsevering in theit ruinous system. The man must be a very bad po iticiart .vho ald but feel X!pt a war with America would be the ruin of this country ; and he entreated of the House tti take the subject lA° tis most serious! con,ideration. He next inducedaverted . to the 'State of Ire land, which alone was sufficient to the House to go into an in 'qtt ir y. ..ro,re._w_ere in zin y necessary be conside ed besides Catholic Emancipation. Was it not yto enirire-into. tile state of the tythes, of public schools for the educ.ation oi youth, oT the trade, and various other _ causes of grievance. in 'lnland ? Anclagainit such inquiry, veLis it any anter to sty, that a diinferouswsernhly had. met iii lAlb lin i and that to listen to the complaints of Ireland svould be to counte nance such a ineetlpg. He next adverted io the enormous expellees we Were subjsob Vteeping up the present system of protracted warfare. Our out o fin e of 'the Male populatioli of the country was enployed in carrying on the wa.., and etit reso urees were ; . every year diinshing. The surplus of the enselidtited Food was bssz this ye by , two ntillions than it ki was last Year; nd every effort we were mang. exceeded . otir Ineans. He a wished to tnow on what ground coutel our y e rsonal hosti- lily to Buonsparte be rit.:de a cause for eternal war, aOd ettr that should., be any obstaple to our making . ice with him. The .posonal charac- ' ter of Sdvereigns ne‘rer constituttWan objectiOn to making peace with Ahem., It was nothing.lnit 4 false pride that made • the Cialferriment up the war.., He Wishetito know Where was ttie boasted prospe r; of the courtly to he foto' ? Not among on'rAristocris,ss-, who Were forced to abandon their 4te. hostitable mansitns,mer and. .taite shel- ter in stone watering pla4e s,.4't .ws.s rot iiniong air raiiis, \Om 'Were resting on their pay!), intd living .en their capitals s nor was it in 4 1 our. 'manufacturers. . 1 * le to;stern the Minister now purioed in c arrying on war 'it st)ch cno ous expense, \Vas pregnaot with calamity 'ruin tO the cannily. He did not tbirelt h.:, had diseharged his duty, if he did not state sli these things to the House ;• and it was his firm conviction that, if the sys:•:em was not immediately chaleari, we should at bast to forced to lay the country 'at the feet of Buunaparte. He conciti'lett with moving, " _That, the Houle should resolve itself into a Conlinitter. 0 - 1 the State of tlle Nation." Mr. 'ficus ficeoneed the motion. u - Mr. Ro DIN sh N said, it was not his intet.non to travel over every cor ner of the elJbe, as the I-Ton. Baronet had done; but, withou,taltiog any itng journey, he should shew. that thr preSent 'nodal ought to bt• rejected. Fat was he horn admitting rhat he assented to the proposition ct the rel. Baronet. It wasimpossible in the preselit 1 t;tti. of the .coun lrytnrliiin to entertain it f6r thoisnet. set I let ti.cm., ipst cad ot yieid-. init to tinieVittd . irresolute opinions, set up an erect front, and look these difficulties. in the face , and encatoter them with resolution and strength They lt'adlleen, heUelieved, fore , kl by . Vratice into the, creseTit sett. 'I :;e defensive trysteu he condemned ; and it .. had been ttiy chA 'yak tet'tid .. kay a great and able polltical writer. tle s ealicli it the col Avnt;on r,f fear against hope I=- ; :j lie history Of the :oUntry Lffork;ed-anip;e illus.. 'trations et the truth Of the tifsservation. liraf!l_.ook to o th e lls of orions a nd suceess- • lui warfare persevered in by..the cede d . c Queen Anne. Aft , ..;l - a most illustrious conflict with France in a daring Offensive irtens.of operations, by 'which they ha d almoseaccritnelished the total rum of That rower, . s ee them frnish it inglori o usly aqd sl.atnefully, IS•, , asloptirsg thetuisibi4lous eoe,inct of 'defensive warfare l•econintend `etis at present, by the Thiu. Bar • nee. lloring the. celebt+ted seven years' war, we kagued our arms . wiiii .ptustia,.eud Oxried on 'in unison a. 'most Stl4.:4okil offensive. Condit t. - . 1 ., it 1! PV.yers against Whoon, had they , 'acted on the del'Otsive, there w&.itl li;Ne.teen no tossitility.X with- 1 :standing. The King of Prussia accomplished 6 - i.e.:trill' strokel! what 'would never have been perfortned ,by cold and _hesitating defensive • operatitnis. Hedid• nut -despair ; lil:e the Hon. 13aroner, and his hopes were Il i t• clime of his closing tine teaeprospet•nesly.—C.Rede 1.).,- - --Let the nation theniift its head high, out crea resolute anect, *And act again 4 the enemy with renovated vigour. We had set fair examples. 23 omens 1 ' l sf sadt.ess before Us in the conflict we had, succetSfuily contitictereh— eNre ?Ad lowered the lags of France salereves they w,!re unfosled our. ithret tjuirters ofthe world; and would we hesitate lid ISaltjlier . e, with.. 'vet 'goniU6rig that =err of valour in which we had proved oitraetyv. `to` PilltY4Al. . T;,;; main policy of the p res e nt Governmens.was to a 0 . ..the firPittqy Valcr:urces of Britain tollseasiistance of the orrase df Spain; eliatVoeys in his ties, was wise and neble. Did the lion. Baronet ininiSillo . tv be laid dowts, in a -spiech-beforelite‘Houvo, the Mit- L ; 4 . MAittn 1. hue of a campaign projected by him in Catalonia ?—(Hear, howl dad soiree laughter.)—Ard did the Hon. Baronet really 'man that so soon al be had conducted his army into Catalonia, Laid Farm a seccessful impres sion on the enemy, that he would w ithdraw his y ?—( Laughtee.) He had calculated on congests; but he had forgot he had to contend against the irritated spirit of an injured people, against wlessn he had boasted that he had only to parade his troops and they would surrender to Win their allegiance. Did he not laugh. when he heard how the British had descended front their path of unrivalled glory on the ocean, upon the plains of Spain ; and did he not say he Would drive them back to The sea, and that he would insult them as they fled, by displaying the French banners over all the ramparts of the day'Peninsula?—(Hearlhear !) —Such were his boats, but belv. , :d the reverse. On that twelve month, 0! happy commemoration, were his veteran legions overthrown in the battle ot -Busaco, by an alliance of British skill, with the national valour of the neople.—(Hear, henr,hear, ! )—But the Baronet. had forgot, in his description of thew err in Spain, to state, that in the districts of Catalonia, Biscay, and Arragon, that the enemy were drivefi to the greatest difficulties ; he also forgot on his display of generalship on the frontiers of Portugal, that the British army was every where present, and without its preience it was utterly impossible for th P e ortuguese Governm ent ter to have mars halled their army;Portugal, wanted by our 'alliance, arid her ancient valour. roused by our co-operation, now set up an aspect of rnattial resistance to France. he Owing tod a the di de olatiand on, 'Which the enemy's arms alone occasioned, w oe td dangerous subsistence, add met every where resistance to fotage among annarmedspopuiation, armed population. How differently did the enemy set out ;in the churse of two years he had expended 2,000,0C . 0 of francs, and wa-ted 400,000 Men, with which he doubted not to more than aecomplish all c ?— on ( cl i u l : a o r n ' his iyowed ainis. And did the Honourable Baronet really seriou , ly aced coated good 'create most stop there, but would spread the British name in infatny over the world. Buonaparte had runtournd them already as a faithless people, who desert ed tteir friends at the moment of danger, and the Hon. Baronet's i i 3ari n an s aiva i rt s whoe t tn * :e i e l ra. i t n ant t dAdeite : thetas ei s .., ‘l l no i n,,t o tedi t er i dt islesadoytWhttsieitolytet:tdtioi !arid Is a cli oaVadeisztotoi;astritNer,vesdua Armin yfiroaast : lltlsilAlfiau. i si t il et o ytngo t l a Nc?i l vet l a y s Tt br r fate, r he j o riart t efadaac S itici i: diuh a n g vi 0 u i a n 0 t bear, .frOlit the Ilaronetoond the Oppostion benches ! J—Weil, if the lion. regthtlt, Were it complied with, would rivett he falsehood into the hearts of men.-•'=“ftfier, ha' !)—Did we once allow that unblemishe to d character to be soused in. the mind s of nations, then, farewell .flritish glory. Posterity, when eurniog back on the page of hi-tory, and contemplating the once tratiscendant lastre of the Nation, Would sorrow whew they eiclaimed that I;ngland was once a noble country. stretched its arm over the liberties of Europe, and protected them against in justice, but it allowed itself to be terrified. by unfounded iieirs, tnd became enfeebled with the irresolutioh so visible in the l'lon. Baronet, and tit at once into a secondary nation among tholonsiaions of Europe.' Well Might they contemplate the falling away of the n h atisn, and exclaim—', Et propene vitato vl veadi p• rdere causas. —Yet e did riot think the land approached its ruin so closely as the 'lon. Baroneou t thought.. He saw .far brigh ter p ros p ects arising to his Contemplati. lie hoped 'he military powers SFr Great Britain would be bet ben, still more tormid ible array against ance than it had ever yete and that she would sustain her own cause and that of her allies with her ac- I 'costumed valour. The Honourable Baronet might exclaim we slaitald 1 fail:—" If we fat we fail; but screw cur courage to the sticking place, and rl s r 7 i. :AcannotiisE con f essedf a fail ." .'' that he did n6t really understand how, that hy agreeing to . the motion °Mlle Hon. Baronet, they would be making reason to to the weakness of the nation. For his own part, he saw many reasons to urge a compliance with the proposal. Our commercial distres•, the decay of .trade, discontents at home, and perilous want abroad, adeto all strong discontents in the Sister Island, andd a dtsunited, divided, and inefficient Nlifiistry—(7.leor, hear )--H hiefly ureed l the necessity of going into a Committeia that they . might consider ;tow 1 they might lend a new nerve to the war abroad, adopting a surer paliey l there, and a more liberid.and . pppular polo at home. He would also ' go of i t ti h t o o s t e h e fa C ti : :t i s " % in vh it i i e c h e,Lo y r a tte ne p t it e r i p i o in s t 0 : a na ccusing tghteh,Nllliii i fronti6try tthuoilL which arose from the Pot:tore of the times • Lord DesaaT contended against the appointment of a Ceionittee, on thi grounds that no•apparent necessity etisted for such a teaser.. Mr, Kr aaic a r (of Kerr) ) :peke btielly against the Motion. Mr:...M. Mowr A& e, in rising to opipose the Motion, said, was that the fin* tit he Considering of the state of the nation, when we were en raged 'sci fiercly with a N,varlif. e enemy abroad?—(La reser, and Cries rf bear, lia,!--,Gentlemen might clamour as much as they pleased, this .ea's not 4 tirne; he would say again, to expo the situation of the coun try. He licknovirledscilthe ability and talents of the Honourable Gentle man (M.X.Ohithresai)nbut as •he differed, with him upon all occasiono, he Whold take the-Sante fr,;e.clont with. him which he was at all nines I very willing. to take with others,. and tell him his speeches were calcu• I laced to create delusion and hypocricy ; and however great the power s Icif.the GentleMett Opposite, though theOvereameriiif great talents, ili (the.poktlisti.c language, lie must say they were great gluttons, and took a (IgiOt dial to stomach them. But he must always say, and should always maOt'aiolt.that the tnost skilful Clniernrrient of the country was' carried coa by that side of theliouse (the-Ministerial), without any stance . it from talenti(il load' laugh !)--Gentlemen might lauah, but ~; ID di 0 rbai ZS