The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1808-01-29 00:00:00

public demonstrations of national gratitude be governed, and the particular occasions to they could apply. It was not aunty usual g ive thanks without any regard to the service ren dered, or The diffietaltios -enetientered. With rsPect to the courage and bravery displayed in the upon CopenhageO, he believed he contd . ice many instauces us which as great bravery manifested, in actions with privateers, loggers, g un -boats, and for which uo vote of thauka I ever been thought Of, although a perfect coati-met of life had been ehewn by many in - v alue's, iu the service of their country. There ight be cases too, in which much merit might be shewn, - without an opportunity •of courage being displayed. such as where a General, by judicious ianagement, had brought off his army from a •st force of an enemy. In such a caie, the Ho / feel it tiecesoury to give a vote of thanks, b t ei. ..4 could not conceive, in every case where con , &pl a yed, a Vote of Thanks became nee such a mode Ministers were attempting oi 4 akenn ostentatious shew ''of national exultation, 'it it could not be said; that they have the feeling the eountry•with tilititn . by Arai a manifestation gratitude. This wis no ground of real tri tele compared with the achievement of the Bri i forces in Egypt, Win* they' displayed such : and courage, when opposed to the French In viaeibles. Tins was an attempt, to praise the army iodine?, for theiperfoninnee of a service, which, ''' he wend to the merchants at Lloyd's, he would id them 'ready to condemn. It might be said be a serviee that aboold - render us glad, but it could not be such a gladness as that winch a man would feel who was .conianced be had been the means Of waving his see front iiifiniati death, by sa crificing his limb, and contend thereby to render lame through lifer Our ness'should, in this ai l ,beof a sober cast, a not such as would shew exultation or triumph its the general feeling of the country. It was an iikindicious tribute of ap plause and testifying of joy, when he heard the gain tired for Our suceise upon this occasion. Hie e eoip'ulered it merely ins military and naval, ser ies., but not one clutch a nature as to afford the officers and men an opportunity of signalising theinselves, and therefore not entitled to the thanks of the Ilnuse. Itupoeared the Noble Lord, by hi. elOquence ueon thili oinision,did not know where to leave, the matter, and was quite at a loss whether to ascribe the merit to the mei', or to the officers ; or, is other 'words, he did not seem to know whether to , take it out of the meal or malt. (A brink) Iji; short, the Noble Lord did not know whatto include A this vote of thanks, and might with as much p .priety have moved it in favciur of those con with the transport service, also in the victual department, for the convenience afforded in feeding the men. The Right Hon. Getitteman•ridicnle4 with eis.usual force itudocuteness, the different gra dation' of -Merit astsittedby the Noble Lord to atbos i cottoerned je the various deperteamais skin ' me end state&that the force to there Such a nature, as no oaleer7tM l it would take much credit to himself for conquering ; they con-' slating moetty'of mei', women, and cbildreu, wek dressed up in red coats, ' but totally nu/keel/sir .tonsal to the wed arum horn doing an injuaii lice to those who had seilaired honour and gin% the important services rendered to their con* .. i. He complimented Lord Cathcart and ir AI sail Gambier, and alluded to several occasions wl,ith they had each sigualived, themselves, b could sot thiuk either Owl-a or any of the of *peers employed op.iii this elcpetlition, entitled isi the thanks of the H there House. if were any thi 4 , that could be conadered as a.sacred trust, it was, in' his opinion, the thank, of•the House iu rewarding im portant naval and military servicn. They ought silwayi to be conferred upon those uloue who merit them. Every man, rich and poor, had an interest i their Leine well bestowed; for if otherwise, it went to impoverish that fond from which the real services rendered to the country were to be res yarded.• Vi'hat must the public think of those vie. nix)... their own Anteing, were giving rewards lavishly, fur the'sole purpose of Wing spleudont 'to their own transactions f They evidently were eadem Guying', by every means in' their power, to ire a degree di' splendour to an expedition which . was not deserving of. Upon the whole, he could ant better illmrtrate this. laboured and splendid description of the Noble Lord. titan by alluding to a eerbtin OtiOternan,' who, being desirous of ap pearing in all his splendour upon a Leal Mayor's day, sad happening unfortunately. to have a wooden leg, (olludiug, We Miler. to Sir Brook Watson). hang much at a loss horl t to animal it, was advised to set tint off most ostentatiously; which he'Cottid not Leep out of right, and acasetatgly employed a workinsii to gild his wooden-liege ' (Laughing.) The course which Ministers were adopting to deck out that which Cley could net Conceal, lad him to ceaceiiit, that they too were issibibeg the worthy Alderman_ lie hal alluded to, and were actu ally gilding their wooden leg. (More laugh ing.) Mr. BRAND said a few words a.plinst the :notion, and stated, that it nos improper to thank the Army and Navy for gausing such a triump h over a Neutral. Ile wiahed, however, to abstain Pram •goitig into the merits et the CoPeahar as it may tend to prejudice the future dis cussion of that point. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER "imported the argumento•of hi/ Noble Frienct, at considerable ledgth, and iliselaimed the unworthy tantives attributed to the present motion, in ary attempt, on the part of His Majesty's Ministers, to arrntrote to themselves any merit that the expedi tion itself did not entitle them to. Mr. TIERNEY—" In what has fallen front the Right Honourable Chancellor of the Exche quer' I could not help remarking, that the prin cipal ground on which be has founded the pro priety of tto application to the I louse for a Vote of l'hnnks to the forces lately employed in the Baltic, is the circumstance of the pitrieise of the expe dition haviie: been effected with the utmost hu manity-. But, Sir, 1 shall answer this by re laindin; him, that the. expedition, however imititiable or unjustifiable in its nature I do not t.'w contend, was conducted by British forces, to whose genesoos bosoms feelings of •humanity have never in any instiuscs - lic^n strangers. Had the expedition been the rate: 421enclid in its memo, the "lost judiciPui in its conduct, the most silvans tagedris in its result, and the moat hononnible its nature, the Noble Lord, who made the motion, could not have called on the House for a more solemn and distinguished pledge of their unquali fied approbation and gratitude ; and to induce the House to agree in sentiment with him, the Noble Lord had dealt largely in what may be termed round and unqualified assertions, unsupported by fact. 1 acknowledge be did labour under a dis advantage of a most distressing nature to any other man than himself—that of having really nothing to speak upon. We are all aware, however, that this is never so severely felt by the Noble Lord as by others ; there is, perhaps, no man in this House who can say more upon that copious subject.— The Right Honourable Gentleman who last ad dressed the House, did not, it is true, labour under the same disadvantage, as he had at least so much matter to discuss as was contained in the able and pointed tipeech of my Right Honourable Friend.— But, Sir, the grand reason with the Ministry fur at all introducing the subject into the House at pre sent—the real source of those details of dangers -erred—difficulties surmounted—labours cum - ,:-...enous forces disconitited—honours ~inferred—and debts of grutitnde .atracted—is simply this, and this alone : The present Ministry having come into office under certain, at least implied, pledges, that their Go vernment should be that of vigour and energy, were compelled, of necessity, when they bad the good fortune (thongb they failed in their original intention) to effect any thing, to turn the trum peters of their own praise, and make the most of what they had achieved. The promise of the Ministry; I grant, has been at least equalled by the performance. Their conduct was to he out of the usual and ordinary course, and this House and the country have to lament that the vigour of the Exe cutive has effectually debased the character of the imbue in the eyes of the world, it seizing. treacherously and contrarily to the received laws of nations, the capital and navy of an ancient Ally. But, to cover the crime and Outrage, they have assailed the public prejudices and the public feeling; hence the unsupported as sertions of the hostile intentions of our Ally ; and hence the expedient of tiring the guns of the Tower, exalting the Commander of the expedition to the dignity of the Peerage ; and lastly, of call ing nit the Houle to thank the forces engaged in she expedition. They have not been satisfied with violating die laws of nations abroad : they wish next to corrupt the fountain of honour at home. Pro digality in the impenditure of the country would be comparative economy to this indiscriminate lavishment of dignity and honours. There is not to be found in the records of this country an in stance of a similar distribution of rewards under similar circumstances. For my part, I am con vinced, that no man was more surprised than Ad miral Gambier himself, at his sudden elevation to the Peerage. Though I entertain for that distin guished character the moot profound esteem, let , me ask the Noble Secretary, what were the naval services in whose praise he is so eloquent? The Right Hon. Gent. admitted in his reply, it was neat to nothing; but then added, by way 4016 fying the Vote of Thanks, since the army woes { successful, the navy, who co-operated with them, should partake of the honours decreed to the part ners of their toil. But the fact is, Sir, that neither one or the other have gone further than, in the mi litary phrase, " beaten the grimed," as at a review or field day ; though lam still inclined to believe the navy did even more than the Noble Lord ad mits, in preventing the transportation of supplies into Zealand. The Noble Lord has been one while afraid of granting too much merit to the army and bard Cathcart, through his solicitude for the navy; at another, equally afraid of grant ing due merit to the navy and Admiral Gam bier, lest the army should not appear to have achieved something prodigious. While he has poised the respective merits of the two Command ers, he completely forgot, in panegyrising the gallant General, that he is a man of approved merit, and tried services, and might couse quently spare laurele, at least laurels of this de scription. The enemy, it appears, had courage ously taken to their heels on the first approach of tengdan r, a few, overtaken without the walls of Co gen, made a mere show of resistance. Much as been said of the militia of the country, but the contemptible state of that force could not be inure aptly illustrated, than by co:nparing it with that redoubted body of veteran heroes, the lumber troop of the trained bands of this city, who, in case of emergency, arrayed themselves with whatever anus or ammunition chance throw in their way ; one seizing a blunder buss or a bludgeon, another a pistol or a pikestaff; thus exhibiting a motley group of ludicrous carica tures on the military parade. The Navy, it had been said, had eminently assisted the debarkation of the troops, though, from some cause, it ap pears this debarkation was made iu an improper place. The whole biteinesa had been conducted with so much facility, that there had aot been any mention of the merit of may particular officers— Nor would the Noble Lord have omitted contri buting to the eclat of the expedition, had it been possible to have made any such distinction. If any tribute of applause is due to any part of time forces, it certainly is solely to the Officers of the Artillery, who conducted the whole of the bom bardment with great spirit and skill. To them we are indebted alher fur the success of the expe dition. The fight Hon. Gentleman who spokelast, had risen in the cohfidenee that lie could establish the •propriety of the vote of thanks, in this instance, by precedent. He hail unfortunately hit upon that of Admiral Cornwallis, who had, by his prudence and intrepidity, in sight of a vastly superior force of the enemy, brought off a part of our naval force committed to his charge; such conduct was moit eminently meritorious, and cannot at all be com pered, as to desert, with the present subject. That also which he adverted to, the thanks voted to the Government of Bombay and Madras, which I never for my part approved of, cannot "serve as a precedent on this occasion, inasmuch as the inten tion of the vote is strictly defined by a specie catifin of the nature of the service performed by these respective Governments to the GovernorsGe send. Corsiea had fallen a bloodless prey to the prudence of Lord Hood, when the nation was in- ed—ti ties lobed in a fair and-open *at aids- Prance. His Lordship then merited the thank. of this House, and the gratitude of the country, ip contributing to our glory at 'sea. Can such be compared to the rso service perforated by the Nobic Lords in ques tion and which has even been indebted for the small merit it has, to the fruitful imagination of the Noble Lord, who has stated the 'regale; farce of the Danes, by land, to amount to 08,000 men, whereas, I have never been able to discover, by ny documents existing, that this force ever exceeded e7OO. Let Government be cautious of expending with prodigality the horiours•of the country.- , - 'Tis the prospect of honour, and honour only, which can support and invigorate our naval end military heroes in the hour of danger and dis may. Should the 'country even think fit to re- Ward the services of a distinguished Officer by a pension of 20001. per annum, such a reward would be trifling, to an inderendent and noble mind, compared to the hereditary dignity conferred on hint and his descendants, in raising him to the exalted rook of a Peer of the realm. Such re wards should then be preserved fur extreme occa sions and extraordinary services. But while I thus advise the House, I have no intention to take its sense, by pressing for a division on the /subject. Bat, Sir, I have now to surest the strangeness of this application to the House for its thanks, in return for services done to the political and com mercial interests of the country, when there has yet been no notice taken of the benefits aecruing to the trade of the con ntry from the expedition to the B attic, by the committee of Lloyd's coffee-house, which in general preceded Parliament in votes of this nature. The reason was evident. They had felt themselves in jured, or at least neglected, and these wert sufficient reasons to induce theta to refuse a Vote of Thanks to the Commanders of that expedition, although one of them was the particular favourite of the trading interest in this country. They, Sir, felt sore in finding the trust they had reposed in him violated, and that the Captain (Sir Home Popham) had beta employed iu packing up cases of old lumber in the naval gores of Copenhagen. while the inter est of the shipping in the Baltic had been aban doned ; no one Consul in the Baltic being in formed of the date of affairs between Denmark and this country. While they confided the trader's interests to this great friend of the Mayor of Lon don, the Mayor of Birmingham. and the Mayor of Itristol, he and his associates were employed in ransacking every hole and corner for every old hammer or hand-spike in Copenhagen stoves. The idea of thanking them, therefore, never came into their heads ; nor, perhaps, would it have en tered the Ministers', but that they began to think, if we want credit for our conduct from the coun try, let us obtain a precedent for it, ID securing to the troops that of the House ; it was a mere after thought—" Better late than never," said Ministry ; ‘4 better never than at all," would have been my answer, consulted. When Copenhagen was last mentioned to the House, there was no occasion for the Noble Lord, then also in office, to make an artful speech to persuade us to give Lord Nelson the Thanks of Parliament. This claim required no eloquence or sophistry to support it. That Noble Lord bad fought one of the most blood,- betties in the' annals of British Naval History, end, in the heat of action, had displayed such coolness and in trepidity, that he was enabled to compel the Danes to accede to terms of pacification, to us the most honourable. In fine, Sir, if on this occasion the thanks of the House and the 'amount of the coun try are indiscriminately lavished, I con only say, that honours will not be in future what they were; demand for pensions will rapidly increase, but that for lionoura and thanks will proportionably decline.". After some explanation from the CfIANCEL LOR of the EXCHEQUER and Mr. WIND HAM, the gallery was cleared of strangers, in expectation of an immediate division ; the Debate was continued by Lord Folkestone, Mr. W. Smith, Mr. Whitbread, Lord Osaulston, and Sir Francis Burdett, against the motion of thanks, stud by Mr. Edward Morris in favour of it. Mr. Whitbread, in the course of his speech, quoted the following from Lord Counbier's own letter, as carry- Ki a g s s a rrth it the most conclusive argument against the motion : The operations of the Beet hare not been of a nature to afford a zeneral aasi brilliant 0CC4.4011 to add fresh testimony to the braitery of the British navy." Upon the division taking place, there appeared, Fo► tin, Motion, Against it, MlioritY, • 1 LIST OF THE MINORITY. Lord Osaniania, W. Smith, H. C. Coast*, i.e. Smith. Hon. J. W. Ward, Richard Sharp, S. Whitbrecni, Henry Pierce Haw 'l'. Brand, Fierce, Thomas Creev'ey, H raz i rz r it o a, d6 W. Weary Parnell, Rubbery Tracey, Mon Mathis., Ruben Horst, Hue. W. Howard, FrooeL Ranier. Lord Folkestone, I Sir Francis Burdett. Th. Speaker was then requested to communi cate the Thanks of the House to the Commanding Officers, Lords Cathcart and Gambier, by them to be communicated to the Officers and privates corn- posing the forces or the Expedition. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved for the re-appointment of the Committee of Finance, after recapitulating the important advan tage.; received by the appointment of the late Co mmittee, particularly with respect to the Army Pay- ORice and, the Bank department. with both which departments the most satisfactory arrangements had been entered into for the regulation of the public expenditure. He concluded by stating the nomination of the Committee to be precisely the same as that which bad formerly taken place, except the substitution of Mr. C. Ellis for Mr. Ryder, not now in Parliament. Agreed to.. Mr. BANKES moved the House ft, go into a Committee on the Bill for preventing the granting Offices is Reversion. Agreed to. Mr. HVEILISSON in the Chair. After some conversation in the Committee, be tween Mr. CROKER and Mr. WARD, the several clauses were read and agreed to. The House resumed, and the Report ordered to be , - irrnught up to-morrow. TEe CHANCELLOR of the EXCUQUER moved a That do C h aplain of this IlonEe preach before the House.. on Satordayithe 30 of ary, instant, in the eltatch of St- blargaret'b. Wtst utiuster." Ordesod-T:Adjout4d.,,, Lair Intethigenee,ite, sec the tut pap. THE BRITISH LONDON, FRIDAY, JAN. c.,9. We have received letters from Holland to the 40th instant, which announce. that on the isth HOC LAN r HAD DECLARED WAR AGAINST SWEDEN. This news is of importance, as it distinctly chews that Swedsn ,is determined to adhere to England, aii.d cannot be eitlttr persuaded or forced into the new Continental Confedernei against this country. The same letters add, that the Dutch Government had consented to release, upon certain terms, all neu trals that had been detained' b r virtue of Bowe rA.ST'leir Decrees, for having touched at a Briti►h port, or suffered themselves to be searched by English cruisers. The terms.of release are, pay , meet of a line of 501. pee cent. in cases of Vessels detained under the original Decree, and 701. per cent. under the recent orders, in which the severity of the penalty is increased. It was reported on Tuesday at Ply-mouth, that the Sirexe and Elba boss French frigates, have made their escape from St. Maloes : at which latter place it was also reported, that' the Brest; as well as the Rocbfort squadron, had put to sea. At Ply mouth, however, it was reported, on theauthority of the Mediotcr, of 50 guns, arrived there, that the Roclifoit squadron had returned to port. The ItakigA, of 18 guns, is arrived at Plymouth--4he was chased by the Rot Mort squadron, but escaped by superior flailing. Some Dutch papers to the Pith instant Mate, that a disturbance did actually take place in Lis bon. The people assembled in the evening of the 19th ult. in the principal squares. Troops were sent to restore order—but the ineurrection extended to every part of the City, and the troops were forced to bre. Forty-eight hours they remained under arms, fur the people incessantly endeavoured to renew the disturbance. At length, after 38 of the ringleaders had been taken, the military gained a victory.—lt is clear from this account. that elsg insurrection was regularly organised, and was ge- Some of the Papers are in the habit of daily an nouncing Cabinet Councils at the Foreign Office. The importance attached to them is calculated to impress the public mind with an idea that some business of great importance is in train, that ,re quires the constant deliberation of Ministers. We understand, however, that the Cabinet Councils, thus pompously announced, are seldom more than casual meetings of the heads of the several de partments, who are accustomed, after office how% to call at the Foreign Office, to inquire the news of the day. Two French privateers, the Grand Argus. End the Marsouia, of )4 guns each, lave been► captured and sent into Plymouth, the former by La Seine, and the latter by the Iris. We lately stated, that much damage was done at Flushing by the late storms, which were's° severely felt at Ramsgnte and Margate. andthat lie veral persons were drowned. More recent accounts from Flushing add, that the tide rose in sawiral houses in Flushing to the height of twenty feet.' A vessel arrived at Fa:mouth, which left the Spanish part St. Andero, on thit 14th ~instents states, lot an embargo had been. laid., eia the pord of France, and that a similar measure via. daily expeeted to tyke place in Spain. • ?The Chichester man of war, and oat tratnort, from Jamaica, has arrived at Porterpouith. Aootlier of the fleet has arrived at Liverpool. Tim bpj for London, fouudeted on the 13th instant, bat the crew were saved. The apprehension of a war with America is not so strong in the city, as it was prior to the hitt.ac coasts from that country. The Rebecca, r. COW&ING, from Fowey, fed Lo don, was captu red ots the Mat. oaf /brighten', by two French privateem. t • The Eliza Sprosit,limirtils from New York, rot Amstewhim, is putitito ilithrico, it 4 distreas. Dispatches were received yesterday, from. etr fleet otr Cork. Nothing inn of any importanix had occurred upon that station. A Messenger arrived fledeMliy et the Admiralty, from Plymouth, with dispatches from Admiral 'fault.. Their coatents did;rmt transpire. Captain hlsLaon is appointed to the command of the Victory, the flag ahOp of Lord IS &LOON i 4 the memorable battle og,Tesfalgar. In many of tbaFrierch privateers lately brought into Plymouth, and other British ports, have been found several young Gentlemen, in various capaci ties. On being questioned as to their being in this situation on board a privateer. they frankly as:- swertd, they had no mber alternative bat that, cr being forced, by the laws of Coascription, into the army. hem g which t to give readers r eipect a ttack adduce o as me sad gu had ev coatets dividtu a l ight s heen, di l a%) tieing gr eat t may ft be 'cot inn di By st make bat it of tht of gn %mob tish I skill ti viaeib stadia if he find to be could would crifiei hint h cast, show the Q, plans vice, office them of thi eloqu leave asrril other take short inth .met ' with depa the with ' &tit Cano tiOtl, of itu mac' • alitil • dreg .tom tics lit ti • try. • oar. ald con the the • his , por ilw the h,, ter W4l WI! 1 s to ea , giv it d e • a Pe l ▪ do lei to Itc wl 4.1% lY ai a a tr r tl a a a a t le O re ie 4t,