The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1804-05-04 00:00:00

OFFICERS IN INDIA. . rose to make the rno _ notice, of Thanks to the India, for their valour and late splendid vidories in that these %glories were ' to the wisdom, judg e measures adopted by Wellesley, the Gover r India. He begged bringing forward this me % confine himself altoge -4 the transaftion, and not which could by any means if the war in that country, opposite to him(Mr. i his iutention to snake soon as the proper and A to the origin and cause country. He thought it the view of Parliament, .: Marquis, for the great bring into the weld, the very t was known. The north and defended by an army General Lake ; the south, -al Wellesley ; the west, by Murray ; and the easti,,, by -I Harcourt ; all well tip _ of discipline, and which capable of the most gallant He begged the House to what had been done in occurred since the corn- I that, in the short space conquered all the terri- He then er.tered into a i and bravery exhibited ..e command of General Wel- September last, in which they victorious, though they had to with a . ce at least ten times their number, so well olicesed, and well disciplined, that they their position five times, and the viEtory solely owing to the unexampled bravery and •ty tithe ewe handful of men of which Gen. 's army v. as composed. When such at were seriously contemplated, he was *at every member of that I louse must feel wannest satisfaltion in returning the Thanks of Hoeg* as the most honourable reward that be ten for such meritorious services. His ed to take a view of the gal sake fougr lC 4 e le army, under the command Labe on the 30th of September, which stated in oensiy the same terms as given in the Slidell they had also to contend against ' it fora ttenter.fitr i timis - superior to' hem innum hero star petfotiinisg a match asf 65 miles , in the =of losty,tight hours. He was sure the House fed what it was to accomplish such a viciory, iannkligeedly .after such an astonishing fatigue • eted 'it* ' would be altogether unnecessary fo; Win *dwell longer on that part of the subject. He he said, that he should not, by making par • ossation of these last two actions, be supposed 1 ilillish to throw the others that had taken place, into Ilha leek iliatond ; he felt the great merits of all the kis.is the most sensible manner, and they were ',tally to his full share of praise ;but he • It his duty to mention these two in particu . they were so pre-eminently bright and a rises in their nature and In their clefts. With ea vertieg at all to the policy or justice of the .we., which remained to be hereafter investigated, int wail net, however, avoid observing, that these olaioies, so gallantly and glorionsly atchieved, must had the_hishest advantage to the country ; as we Saw lirnWi tary age, and it must be a pleasing rell.oloo le every man in the country to think, that, Seniest all the wealth and lunar) the country so am ; ply abounds in, in consequence of its unrivalled and une.sanspled trade and commerce, that still the zllfe i na gies of it; troops i , eTe found to exist and in the same proportion as its difficulties and erealitioaces called them fn. th. It might, perhaps, Ye Lerethip said, be deemed presumption and at.. vernal to wish the mstional charades might be drawn forth to display itself in defence of the couri er/ at home, as well as abroad ; but still he could not say be wished the attempt to invade us should net made. If that, however, should come, he was orniNent the army at home would equally distin guish itself for courage and gallantry, as those which had deservedly acquired so great renown abroad. He begged pardon for having detained the House so long, and conclnded by, moving -84 That the Thanks of the House lie given to the Most Noble Richard Marquis Wellesley, Gover nor and Captain General in India, for the zeal, energy, and ability., with which the Britith Forces had been arpied under his direclion, against Scindea and the Berar Rajah ; and, that this House doth I attribute the Vidones. which have so happily taken place, to the vigorous measures adopted by him for bringing the W.ir to a speedy and successful litermination.' Mr. FR ANCIS began his speech by disclaiming t the most distant idea of his being aftuated by any degree of personal dislike of, or animosity to, the ( Marquis Wellesley. In every thing which he had advanced on the subject of this war, he begged the House to recolleß, that he had most carefully ab ; stained from using one word that might by possi bility be construed to prejudge the conduCt of the Noble Marquis ; as it was not fair that:my thing should he said on that snli;ed till the evidence came over. From the notice that had been given by the Noble Lord opposite to bun, be had thought the motion for thanks was to be strielly confined to the Officers and Armies alaaltv in the Field; and he was sorry a mouon shoiild t." brought forward, in a shape that must make him appear to be ad verse to it. He would sia:erely wish to give thanks tor the skill, gallantry, and enthusiasm, which had been so strikingly evinced by the courage and conduCt of our officers, and the armies they commanded ; but as there was a ques tion whether the war had been justly commenced, and whether the valuable live. which had been lost in such a cause., were the effeas of jmeasures which the House may hereafter approve, remained still to be investigated. It appeared, therefore, to him, that the Ike's, by voting tbaaks at present to the Governor General, would be likely to draw them selves into a dilemma. The Governor has, by en tering upon the Aar, done that whicli the law pusi- ~. Seely forbids; he may certainly be able to justify himself ; but how, he asked, after the House have voted him thanks for his past condu&, in supplying and bringing forward the armies he had raised, could the House consistently call in question the justice and policy of the war ? He was therefore of opinion, it would have been better that the motion of Thanks should be confined to the Officers com manding the armies in the field. The Noble Lord, he owned, had drawn a fair line of distinaion, when he slid he would confine the motion of Thanks merely to military services; but he had .since invaded that by introducing into it the Governor- General; and his only motive for now dissenting from the motiols, was to preserve his own consist ency relative to the condua of that Noble Person age. He contended, that every word the Noble Lord had said, relative to the gallantry, activity, and enthusiasm, displayed by Generals Lake and Wellesley, and the handful of men they respeetively commanded, was in a great measure a reflection on the Governor-General, for sending such a handful of men on such an important service, and against such very numerous, and, as it appeared , well dis ciplined forces. In fan, he had heard that accounts had been received from India, that if it had nut been for the charge of horse, so fortunately made on Scindiah's army, in which Col. Maxwell and so many other gallant Officers fell, the army of Gm. Wellesley would have been in the utmost danger of being an nihilated. He thought the Governor General, in having aced contrary to the law, was not a fit sub jea of panegyric ; and that to thank him first, and s then enter into an investigation of his conduct, was taking up the matter at the wrong end. He wished Cie motion to be deferred for some time, which it woll might be without any inconvenience. Pre vious thanks, without knowledge, seldom lr.sted long ; they grew suddenly, and generally died as speedily ; and, in his opinion, given under such cir cumstances as the present, would neither do the Noble Marquis or the House much honour. For these reasons lie could not give his assent to the pre sent motion. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER agreed with the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last, that "thanks withont knowledge went for nothing," but he denied that to be the case in the present in stance, for the most uadoubted and incontrovertible intelligence had been received of the progress of our armies, and of snch splendid vidories having been obtained by them, as to put an end to the war in the short space of three months. He thought the motion of his Noble Friend was so worded as to avoid completely any kind of question as ' to the justice or policy of the war ; as such it met with his hill approbation. The success of the war, he asserted, was owing to the arrange ments, energy, and wisdom of the Governor Gene ral, which bad brought it to so speedy a termination. lie denied that censure was in any degree at tributable to the Governor General on account of the handful of men under the command of General Wellesley, as had been contended by Mr. Francis ; on the contrary, such were his foresight and care, that on the very day General Wellesley fought that action, so much to his honour, there was a force under Colonel Stevenson within half a day's march of Gen. Wellesley's army, which would have made his force from 4,000 to 10,000 men. He noticed the remark of Mr. Francis, that the Gov. General had, in making conquests, aced against the Ad of Parli ament, and said, that according to the strid letter it might appear ; but to say, that being engaged in war, conquests should be precluded which might lead to peace, was truly absurd ; and in acceding to this proposition, the Honse would not derogate from the provision made by Parliament for the Government of India. The motion was only for thanks to the Governor as Captain General, and he wished to be clearly understood that lie did not mean to enter at all on the policy or justice of the war. The motion should, therefore, have his warmest support and approbation. Mr. FOX begged to make a very few observa tions. He thought the motion was a very unusual one, and different from every thing of the sort he had seen or heard of. In all the thanks he had known to be moved, they were strielly confined to the parties who had atchieved the transaCtion for which they were voted. For the services performed in Holland, the House might as well have voted thanks to the Commander in Chief at home. Or when thanks were moved to Lord Howe and Lord St. Vincent, they might as fairly have been extended to the then First Lord of the Adml ralq. All this was covered by the Marquis Wel lesley being the Captain-General in title ; whereas he was, in faa, a person altogether in a civil capa city ; and though he may have the title of Captain- General, yet to look on him as a military man was nothing but to laugh at him. He would njt, there fore, waste the time of the I louse in further obser vations; but thought it his duty to move the pre vious question. Mr. WALLACE spoke in favour of the motion. Mr. .TOHNSTONE opposed it. 1-k contended that the Governor General, being named also Cap tain General in India, was the same as the Lord Lieutenant being stiled Captain General of Ireland ; and he wished to ask whether, if in case of an in vasion or rebellion there, a vi Cory was obtain ed by a general commanding the King's forces, the House would think of voting thanks to the Lord Lieutenant t He thought it would he much better this motion should be deferred for some time ; the War in India was by no means con cluded. In the very list accounts from Bombay, the alarming intelligence had been received, that there had been no intercourse with General Welles ley's army for twenty days, and it might perhaps he the case that, from being hard pressed, General WA lesley's army might be obliged to withdraw from that hilly country. This pranice of voting thanks to civil governors for military exploits was contrary to invent custom ; and he disapproved of it. He thought that at present, they were at least prema ture ; and reminded the House that they had not many years ago voted thanks to a military charac ter whom they had afterwards thought it necessary to remove from the station he then held. He al luded, he said, to the affair of Copenhagen. The war, as he before observed, was not finished ; no evil could possibly arise frotn delaying the motion ; he was therefore for waiting till the House was able to judge from all the circumstances attending the campaign, and not not the rid; of being embarrassed from any sudden or unferesimn change of fortune. Mr. WILBERFORCE expressed himself also adverse to the motion. A time, he said, might come, when all parties v ould cheerfully join in a vote of thanks, which he did not at present think could be done. Mankind were in general too fond of mili tary glory ; and if governors abroad are to be taught • they are meritorious if they can bring forward re sources, it might stimulate them still more, and .o they might obtain thanks from that House, thcruz,sh in a Court of Justice they might afterwards be con demned as having aacd contrary to 'law. Ile had given this matter the most attentive consideration, and, in doing so, he had observed so much foresight in entering upon the preparations, so much genius in the conception, and talent in the execution of the whole plan pursued by the Governor General ; so much talent in calling birth all the resource., and in combining all the efforts to be produced by them, that lie thought the exploits of no man ever surpassed them. With these semi ments,, and aided also by feelings of personal friendship for the Noble Lord who made the kotion for thanks, the House would easily- judge how un grateful it must be to him to (shied to the motion. He trusted the Noble Marquis might be found to deserve these thanks; but if there should hereafter be occasion to condemn the war in its origin, these thanks would then be totally wrong , and the House Would be drawn into a dilemma. If there was any thing he particularly did not like to do by halves, it was to give thanks, and to express gratitude ; these he would wish to give with all his heart, and as he could not du so in the present instance, he must ob jea to the motion. Mr. HOBHOUSE supported the motion. He quoted, as a precedent in point, the thanks given to the army in Egypt, under Sir Ralph Abcrctombic, for the gallant conduit on their landing, without coldly waiting for the close of the campaign. The victories in India were so truly splendid and glo rious, that he thought the House could not be too speedy in expressing their satisfaction by returning thanks ; and not adopt the language of the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last, who owned that nothing ever surpassed the genius in conception, and talent in execution of the plan of die Noble Marquis ; and yet said, because of these, I won't agree to thank you,. ' Mr. WI aaaaa oRCe explained. Mr. GREY begged te say a few w.:rds. He was very unwilling to protract the debate brought on by the motion under the present circumstances. He greatly regretted that it had taken place, and gone to the length it had done. He thought the cause of the war ought to be weighed by the House before they proceed to congratulate the country on its success ; and, in the first instance, to vote thanks to the Gov. General, when ultimately his coals& must undergo an investigation. If, on such investiga tion, the I louse should not approve the justice or po licy of the war, these thanks must of course very much embarrass the I louse, and impede it in its pro cedure. He looked on the thanks of the House as the highest reward that could be bestowed ; as such it was one of the keenest incentives to noble adion, and should therefore be made as valuable as possible, by not being made too cheap ; and by not being prematurely given. He adverted to the former Mahratta war, and asked what would have been the situation of the House, if, though it was successfully terminated, they had voted thanks to him against whom they found it afterwards necessary to ground an impeachment ? Admiring highly as he did, the great :teal and gallantry of our officers and troops in India, he would wish the motion of shanks to be postponed for the present, rather than the I louse of Commons should he thought to exult in the success of a war which might perhaps turn out to have originated in injustice. lle thought. at pre sent, the vote was premature. It was extremely painful to him to express any dissent, but Isis duty imperiously called on him to object to it at the pre sent moment. Mr. 11011 HOUSE explained. as did Mr. WALLACE. Sir THEOPIIILUS METCALFE remarked on the argument of the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Grey), which he considered as applying to the condaa and charaaer of the Noble Governor in India. If, indeed, it were a war of aggression and injustice, he would agree that no thanls were due to the Noble Marquis, but, in his opinion, the condutb of that Noble Person in commencing the war was fully justified. Scindia had retained in his service a number of French Of ficers, men of intrigue as well as ability, who kept up an habitual correspondence with the ruling power at Paris : this circumstance alone founded a suspicion that— Mr. FOX called the lion. Bart. to order, on ac count of his entering into a general discussion as to the grounds of the war. The SPEAKER said, that any degree of detail or argument, as to the policy of the war was totally beside the :inkjet of that night's debate. Sir T. ME rcALFE said, he bowed with all ra sire& to the Chair, at the same time he conceived he w., not out of order in assigning the reason (or the vote he was absut to give. As the /slarliatta war was the stible3 of discussion, he thouolit it was not improper for him to observe, that the Mathattas had for ISO year; past, been disturbers of the peace of India, and it wai with this view, and in order to the subversion of the British power there, that Scindia had employed French troops. :life Mar quis I`.. I:esley had undoubted informatibn of his desigr.s. Mr. SMITH insisted that the Hon. Bart. was speaking out of order. General MAITLANI) thought that the Hoit. Bart. was not out of order. At the same time he implored him not to enter, upon the present occa sion, into a discussion of the policy of the war. Mr. BANKS called the lion. General to or der. _ _ fhe SPEAKER agreed that the Hun. Member was out of order. Sir T. METCALFE proceeded. He said, he thought it was bard that so many negativz things should have been said and insinuations thrown out to the disadvantage of the Noble Marquis's con. due, and that nothing should be allowed to be said in his defence. This was not afting with common candour. He apprehended that in India great blame would be considered attaching on the Noble Marquis from what had been said in the debate of this evening, if nothing should be advanced in his defence. He was sate that persons who read the hive: containing an account of the late military liperations in India, would End that the Noble Mar quis's conJutt in undertaking the wee, was strialy justifiable. So much as this he thought ought to be said in defence of an absent man. The neition, in his r:ew, went to the Noble Marquis's civil ca p icily, as it sided him not Captain General hut Governor General. Some refleiaielts „had been throws out in the course of the debate, on account of General Lake's being so inferidr to the enemy; but he could prove, that in every haul' fotielie and in every siege undertaken, there wt. not eier. too many or too few, and that within the cane; ass of a thousand square miles which included the seat of warfare. In fast, he bellhved that mithieg in the history of modern Europe could be totted to equal the gallant achievements of the late campaign in Judie, and he thought that no mark of favonr conferred by Ilis Majesty could be too great an acquittal for such brilliant atchievements. lle was persuaded that hi India, no dissenting sioie. weal be found, either European or Native, wi,o would not justify this war, as a war on our part wider taken on the grounds of stria justice ale! pol[cy. So wisely had the plans of military (wet all ins Ix t laid, that the Fort of Broach was taken by storm on the very day that Gentrat 'Lake was driving befoie him General Perron and the troops of 8. anon. He must also observe, that the battles of Genet al Lake had been chiefly fought by battalions of melee sc. poys, for the general hal only with him one British regiment in the line of infantry (the Nith com manded by the gallant Colonel Monson), from which he would infer that the Government in India had the means within itself of defending that coun try :neatest all the machinations of the common enemy. In virtue of our late brilliant sucees be. believed that the Mahratta powers wee totaliy des. troyed. We had taken front them in the course of the campaign no less than one hundred pieces of cannon, so that they had not above twenty, left. The French party in India might be considered as annihilated; and the British name for courage and military glory were for ever established in that country. He believed that at the time when he was now speaking, peace was re-established in India; and that there would be no occasion for any future discussions in that I louse respeding wars in India. Mr. GREY explained, and disclaimed any in tention of throwing out insinuations against the con duet of i hlarquis Wellesley. Mr. SMITH considered the greater part of the epeech of the Honourable Baronet to have been in contradiaion to the motion which it was meant to support, as it turned upon the supposition, that it want to support the Noble Marquis in his dale instead of his niiiitory capacity. The precedent which had been quoted was against the present mots; n. That vote of thanks went almost entirely to the Noble Marquis's civil capacity, and that after a due eza m'nation and deliberation leiLlthereon by Parliament. Mr. ROSE said, he rose simply for the purpose of mentioning, that his vote should be decided by [ this single consideration: if the House was not to ' be precluded from entering upon a future inquiry as to the justice and policy of the war in India, he should then vote for the motion. He had read the book alluded to by the Honourable Baronet, and he was free to say, that he was perfealy convinced of the great merit of the Marquis Wellesley ; but at the semis time he deprecated the idea of the present motion's precluding the farther coniideratiou of the House of the ground and motives• of the war in India. Mr. FRANCIS said, he trusted that such ample information would be laid betbeethe [louse as would enable them to forM a proper judgment upon this suhjen. 'Vie CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in the ablence of his Noble Friend (Castlereagh), assured the Hon. Gentlemen, that the Neble Lord had expressed his earnest wish that every document might be laid before the House, in order to furni.h ample matiirials for enabling them to form their de termination upon the sabjea. The question having been repeatedly called for, was now put, and the motion, as given in the pre ceding part of the debate. was put and carried. The following motions ware then successively put and carried : " That the thanks of the House be given to the Right Hon. Lord Clive, late Governor of Fort St. George, for his zealous and honourahle exertions fur promoting the operations of the wiii ; also to Jouathan Duncan, Esq. Governor of Bombe', who, by his conduit and ativity in employ big the re sources of that Presidency, has ra itefially emir - bated to the success of the war; a1 , ,0•t0 His E.• e'- lency Genteel Gerard Lake, Commeneer in Ch et in India, for the judgment, spirit, and aetivite di payed by him in condo ting the army, by which he h sus tained the honour of the British nation, and rzleood lustre upon the British arms in Hindustan; also to the Hon. Major• General St. John, and Arthur \Wel lesley, for the malty intrepid, load im portant services performed by them ;—alse to the several officets, both European and Native, for the enrage displayed by them in the successful cam paign in the East Indies ;—and also that this House doth highly approve of, and acknowledge the zeal, discipline, and bravery of the forces employed under the Commander in Chief in India, for their exem plary and gallant behaviour ; and that this / e doth thank then) for the same." These resolu:inns having been severally put and carried, it was then moved and ordered, that they be transmitted by the Speaker to the Most Noble the Marquis Wellesley ; and that he be desired to communicate the same to. the several Governors and Officers in India, and to the Lateen under their command. The 1,250,0001. Irish Annuity Loan Bai ; the 14,500,0001. Annuity Loan Bill; the Customs and Excise Additional Duty Bills; were severally brought up, read a fist time, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. Mr. vANsrr PART brought up the account of • the drawback allowed to common brewers, which ; was ordered to be laid on the table. The Army of Reserve Sus pe nsion Bill was ordered to be read a second time on Tuesday next. The Subaltern Militia Officers additional allow ance Bill was read a second time and ordered to be committed to-morrow. • The other orders of the day were read and dia.. wwwin ~+ lege adn and to t] lonj • • TIIANRS TO OFFICER Lard CASTLEREAGH T of which he had given note • - of our army in India, in obtaining the late MIR Isslise. He said, tha finch to be attributed t oaf promptitude, of the Noble the Iveunuis Rid Captain-General of to observe, that in bring • $ was his intention to co ela the military part of the . 4 ' faith on any thing which tha justiac or policy of th • an Hon. Gentleman c - had given notice of dof a motion, as soh ocuments relating it *cold arrive in this cot yto bring under the • due to the Noble 1 .1 was able to bring it after the rupture Wa was protetted and Sider the command of Gend Id on army under General W _ Army under General Mur army under Colonel I SWed,, in the highest state o proved themselves capal c atchievements. make the magnitude of the short period which had o meteopment of the War ; and of three months, they bad 4 Vey roamed by Scindiah. as the gallantry • may, under the coast 2,341 Septeml wire 0 illimmtly vidoriou 010101 with* force at least