The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-01-29 00:00:00

I 11 the circumstances, thought it my duty to set the aqua y or. toot" Mr. W AM DICKINSON made a few ob !swains ; brr, from the loud cry of No ! Nu ! hair ! Chair! we were not able to coiled any part if them. The Motion was then withdrawg, and the Papers irdered to he primed. Ca) srtae.NrAL Tetteartei. Lord C A STLE R.E.IGII presented copies of the everal Treaties concludal between His M.ij and he difFeient powers on the Continent. There were great number of them, eonsi :tine of the treaty oncluded with Sweden, at Stocknolea on the 3d of September 1804; that with the Caine Power on the '29th of August. 1805 ; that with Rua is, at St. Petersburg, on the loth of 0/tuber, I an;, ; together with a number of separate, secret, and additional articles; the correspondence between Lord Leveson 'Gower, tho British Ambassador in Russia, with the ,foreign Ministers ; the accession of the Emperor of Germany to the Treaty between Great Britain, ,Russia, and Sweden, &c. !cc. the titles of u hich being read—His Lordship observed, that the House awn perceive the communication now made to them was confined to certain Aa‘, and the nagoci ations which lea to their conclusions. In the dis charge of the duty which now devolved upon him, he wished to draw their attention, first, to the course of the proceedieo which he would humbly propose to them to adopt ; and, secondly, to the nature of the information which His Majesty's Ministers thought proper, for the present, to submit to them. As far as related to himself, he should unqviestion ably wish, for his own satisfaCtion and justification, that every part of the great transaaion which was soon to come under discussion. was upon the table of t he House, as he was sure that it would be highly bone:arable to the national charaner ; but, while Hi. Majeay's Ministers were anxious to do justice to thenoeives, they held it also to be their duty to take care that they did not do inks. yto others. All the treaties it .shish the country was engaged since the year 1804, embraced some of a nature of much too delicate a description to be laid befote the pub lic at large ; thougb, if any particular Gentle. man was desirous of information on the sob jet, he should be very ha.ipy to afford him whatever communication he thought necessary.— This precaution appeared to him the more neces sary, as a public disclosure might, under the present cheats:ounces, be quite incompatible with the safety of caber states. Upon reflection, be was now sorry that the general discussion did not rake place at the time when it we-. originally proposed, upon the Adaress; because it would then havebeen confined to the particular point in question, whereas it was t am in the option of Gentlemen to extend it to a range infinitely wider. The Ministers then would have had a land-mark to guide them in the discussion ; but the melancholy event, which the House seemed an generally to deplore, prevented that arrange ment. Of the mass of materials, he had made that seleaion. which. to him, appeared most proper : but, before the di Tuesion, some other Gentlemen would. of course, hive an opportunity of judging fur sainatlves, Many of the stipulations entered, were necessarily dependent upon things of an eventual and contingent nature, according to the event of the allied arms, being fortunate or unsttc cosslul. He did no:, therefore, feel the necessity of laying before the House such parts of the ar rangement, as,- in consequence of the failure of the confederacy, had never been ached upon; but confin ed himself to - uch, principally, as were aft:illy call ed into aflivity.. This last class teuerally included the military operations ; and the political stipules clone, being entirely eventual, remained perteatly ittiatite; and the former, of course, must more attach to the other powers engaged in }wadi ' ties, than to the councils of this country. The main feature, then, of the military part of the trea ties. was the amount of the power which was to be brought against the enemy. In forming and con cluding the Treaties, the British Government had a right to ex pelt that the full amount of the stipulated force was in the field, and thually engaged against France. That he conceived to be the principal mi litary question. The nest consideration was, to trace the causes to which the failure of the confe deracy was owing. In order to enable gentlemen to do this, he now laid before them the plan of the campaign in detail, after which they would have to compare the force stipulated with that which was ailed upon. It was almost unnecessary fur him to add, that the plan of the campaign did not proceed from this country ; neither did it proceed from Rus sia, but originated from the Cabinet of Vienna, as being the power most immediately concerted in the emit of-the operations. From the arrangements eigi eel upon, it would be found, that this country I:Ad a right to conclude, that, exclusively of any natary at :ince from Great Britain, of the troops wf Sweden, of any future assignee from the Court of Berlin , and the auxiliary farces of the secondary powers in friendship or alliance with the confe deracy, there would have been, be the Ist saf o:totter. an *alive force of 300,000, in the field, ready to ad arising France. Aleatia, however. did not confram to the plan that was xgrced upon. The plan, as lia already observed. originated from Austria ; hot, whether from any chai.g.• ire ace rnili tiry (animas, Of her military !smitten:. he ventured not as decide, Austria failed in her engagement ; and the Advance of the Austrian troops beyond the Inn, and the march of lao,ooo men, under General Mack, to Ulm and its vicinity, he had no heatatam to pronounce a breach of the plan con celied betweer. that Court and Russi.t. lie did not, he waver, mean to accuse the Austrian Cabinet, as Ix kn-w not the motives of such ; hut alas Home would see. from the plan, tliat the Au.i. Tart were to hive remained, for the peroiee o f Ps; ming a imiation wish the It maims troops arall the Inn. As to the Empeair Of Russia, it was hut jut, lice to him, to say, that i.e straaly ea:amused to the agreement he Pad entered into. as the Russian army was at tinssati two days earlier than was stiestiateJ by the plan. He judged it, therefore. right, tl:at the Howe should be enabled to judge how fir the plat) Of the campaign was sated upon, sad whether the elepliwahl, state to which Austria found herself re duced, ante from her own ..aismanagerneta, or that 61.1*r allies ? As to the political part of the ireatieil. it was ha. wiat to contranaicate as much of it, as was emesieent with the coafidence which ought to stale st* between V!a;, J use Allies. In tar: &uncut ata- ~ atinn of himself and his eollhagnes, he was sen,ible that they wire liable to be Attacked for the share they had in this great and important trensata ion. Is a short time it would be open for the I louse and the' public to examine whether they were well-founded is their expedetinns ; and it would be for those who should succeed toem, to consider what was to be dons' in relation to these transatlions in future.— A SAllSflattry explenation was certainly due to 'the country, in ord'r to shew the people what ground there wrs for expending the sums placed at the dispose! of the Government. and for entering into farther engegersients, Which would impose fresh hutthens on the nation. He by tee means wished, that, in rh- hairy of a new administration, this great trenseCtion should be buried in the dark, but that the public should know whether their for mer sere...es hid dame them justice. Deprived as the pt, s-vrt Ministers were of those great and tran scendent talents, which were best cetctileted to sup port and justify this weighty transa.f on, he never. theless felt suilieient confidence in himself, and those who yet tined with him• to he able to explein their ciindtt:l to that House, and to the world. As to the like which Parliament ought to adopt in the investigation of the subject, he confessed that he felt some difficillty in making any proposal. His feelings would lead him to bring it into direft discussion ; but, at the same time, he should he sorry to do any thing which might tend to embarrass the new Ad ministration, cr bring on an important debate in the probable absence of several distinguished gen tlemen, wei, in consequence of their stew appoint ments, would necessarily be removed for a while from their attendance in that (louse. In this situa tion of embarrassment to himself, he should con tent himself for the present with moving, " That the Papets do lie on the table." " WheneVer (said he) rise question comes to be agitated, it is not probable that I shall have any discretion to exercise as to the time of doing so; and all I have to request is, 'that the gentlemen who are to succeed us, will deal libe rally with the informetion already placed in their hands. I hope to-marrow to bring down some far ther cournuntrations, and, in the mean time, shall be ready to pay attention to any suggestions that may be offered," Mr. FOX said, these Papers were of that sort of nature, that muss, leader any circumstances, Ise laid before the Parliament. For his part, he could form no judgment of the necessity of producing other Papers, till he had an opportunity of perusing those now Lod before the House. The ground of the Amendment proposed to the Address, and al luded vs by the Nobt• Lord, was, that when the country white- ed such unequalled misfortunes, it was the duty of that House to take care that the exertions they were called upo:s to make, should be plac sd in proper hands. With respect to the other observations of the Noble Lord, he would only say, that he stispelted whether it were very judicious in him to enter ono such a detail, till the time came when Ile would have to make his defence. Who were to be the successors of the Noble Lord and his col leagetes in luffice, he did not pretend even to ewers / 1 At& rupressim produeeJ a tees ,r,uftitout the House) ; lie again repeated, 'that he reallso did eet; but he did know, that some oat ought to be in office, whenever such a discussion was brought forward. He wished the Noble Lord and the House, to understand, that he now gave no opinion as to the remaining Papers. He lament ed, in common with the Noble. Lord, the loss of the Right Hon. Gentleman, en whose talents he could so well rely for his justification; but, as the honour of the person alluded to was connected with the transaction, since a late event, the affair was on a very different footing from what it was on the first day of the session. Mr. GREY said, he rose for the purpose of ask ing a question. As the papers were read by the clerk, he perceived that they consisted of three trea ties with Sweden, one with Russia, and the acces sion of the Emperor of Germany to the alliance, together with some correspondence; but he did not perceive that there was any correspoodence with the Court of Vienna. What he wished, therefore, to know, was, whether any such correspondence was meant to be produced ? Lord CAS TLEREAGH explained, that there were on the table three Treaties with Sweden, and one with Russia, to which Austria acceded by her Minister, Count Stadion. What related to Rusina was the main Treaty, and fifteen articles, one of which was not ratified, and was therefore of no effeet. Of the fourteen resnairaiOg articles, be bad seleeed only nine, as the safety of other powers re quired that the other articles should be withheld from the public. Mr. FOX desired to know, whether there were any paper relating to the distribution of any British troops which were to be employed upon the Conti nent ? Lord CASTLEREAGH replied, that the corn mtinicetion now made consisted of official papers only ; but, it the Hon. Gentleman wanted aoy other, he should he beep to receice his commands. A Member (whose name we could not learn), asked in what the force consisted, that was agreed to have been ready in the field? Lend CAS TLEREAGH replied, that exclusively of the Swedes, and other auxiliaries, it was to have consisted of 1110,000 Russians, and 315,000 Aus trian tegOlars.tugether with 20,000 Tyrolean mi litte, being, only 5,000 short of SOO,OOO troops of the line. The offitiel notice also of the Austrien Minister in Lendon e stated the cd'e/tive force of that Power in the field, in June lest, to be 220.000 men, which, in the ensuing month of July, Was expeded to be increeed to 320,000 men. The papers were theft ordered to lie on the Table. THANKS Fill( THE T.ATM. NAVAL VICIoRIEN Lord CAS 1 . LER LA GH said, that before he proceeded to the main point of the glorious vinery of Trafalgar, he should first draw the attentions iif the House to ill- commence.nent of the naval cam. peign, by the sailing of the Rochefort squedroit to the Wert Indies, the achievements of which went sto faith* , than to give Sir Geo. Prevost an oppie - testily of showing what British velour could do against so T.III a superiority of force. On its To wn home ir was loitied be theToulon fleet, amount ing, in the whole, to 13 sail of the line, and was Lursued by a grealy inferior fleet, commanded by ord Nelson ; at the sound of whose name it precipitately quitted the %Vest Indies, without per tuna% ally other exploit lea the itisioificen: "7""sy capture of the Diairiond Rock. ' 11. add- not now forbear remarking on the gloomy picture whiab some Gentlemen drew from the state of our mari time affairs kt that time, and the boding predic tions of the most disastrous consequences, resulting from the sailing of that fleet, all which predictions were happily falsified, by the result. In seeking for.. what they thought shelter in their own ports, their destrultion was at hand. The Admiralty was no sooner apprised by Lord ,Nelson of the sailing of , 'hit squadron from the Weft Indies, and of hi, intentions to proceed direaly to the Streights, than . with the greatest promptitude they placed three ' squadrons in daerent points, to intercept it, which was successfully done by that under Atinsirol Calder, at Ferrol, where the enemy were defeated in the engagement of the, 20.d.0f July. After this, having received other reinforcements, they proceeded to Cadiz, where they were immediately blockaded by on English fleet of sufficient Ii toe. Soon after this, Lord Nelson took the command of the Reet, then, consisting of 3 ships cf the liue, when he was fortunately obliged to detach seven of them up the Mediterranean, fry the purpose of oh toining supplies. He called it fortunately, +-realise it was the knowledge of that detachment which en couraged the enemy to come cut, with the intention of joining the Carthagena smi ofron, which would augment them to 50 sail of the line, with which they expected to sail into the Mediterranean, and disturb the military operations, which it was then understood, would take place on the part of the Allies, in the North of Italy. Of the aelion of Trafalgar, which ensued, he did not know what part of It he should first seleft. Notes was so great and complete a itiflory obrairted by the most supe rior, over the most inferior Amt. It was indeed of such a chorafter, and so unparalleled an order, that naval men could scarcely believe it possible, that when two fleets were on the sea, s many ships of one fleet could hare been compelled to stoke, and he afterwards taken possession of by the other. Ibe wonders of that achievement, however, did oot end with that day. Besides the valour, perseverance, and 'firmness the fleet displayed in its struggle with a superior fleet, it had the same qualities to evert in the succeeding days against the elements. There were many other admirable features in that transaction, which should never he forgotten ; and particularly the generous devotion of our gallant seamen. for the safety of their fellow creatures; a quality which was once cherished by ancient France, to alleviate and assuage the miseries of war : but which it seemed the wish and study of modern France totally to eradicate ftom the breast of man. If any thing, more were ne cessary in the course of this memorable proceeding. to gratify the manly feelings of En,lishmen, it was the manner in which it was followed up by the gallant Sir Richard Strachan, in taking every thing which the enemy placed within his grasp. It was im possible to calculate what effea this immortal vic tory might, under other circumstances, have pro duced upoti the general destinies of man; but the 'signal and important eff.:Et which was most apparent in it was, Clot it took from the enemy 25 ships of the I line, 15 French, and 10 Spanish, and that of these, 10 'ships were added to denary of this country. Thus in one campaign did the en -my lose more than one third, and nearly one-half - of the whole naval force which they had to oppose to us. It was also a proud consolation, that by the judicious arrangements of the Admiralty, the operations of the British navy were not for a moment suspended or interrupted by the consequence of this battle, as all the crippled ships were immediately replaced by fresh ones, at the very moment ready to relieve them ; while all the vessels engaged in that glorious exploit came back safe into our ports, without one haring fallen a viCtim either to the fortune of war, or to the ele ments. He would not dwell on the great effect it must have on the security, in these times, of the Uni red kingdoms, as that must be obvious to every man in the country ; hut it was remarkable, that it took place on a day, when, in the midst of his Continental triumphs, the Ruler of France had to feel that there remained yet in the world, at least one Power ca pable of controuling his ambition. That was the day, when, by the misconduct of others, as much as by his own military prowess, he achieved a victory which gave him hopes that he might look with the greatest confidence to the future destruCtion of this country ; yet he also got a lesson on the same day, which proved to him, that his confidence was vain, and his hopes were frustrated. It hap pened in this, as it generally did in all actions of that kind, that in the midst of its joy, the coun try had also a source of deep regret. It then suf fered the greastest loss that had ever been sustained ; and if a man wet e permitted to look into futurity, it would be difficult to foresee the possibility of such a loss ever taking place again. The sincerity of ere public sorrow was testified in the druntemtncei of the people, weighed down with grief by the severity of that chastisement; and even on an occasion which usoolly -exhibited features of pleasantry in this • country, grief and lamentations were the prevailing feelings of the people. That great man, however, had every third in him which could attach a nation to him. From his very infancy, his was a life of he roism. His manners also attached his officers and his men to him in such a degree, that he led them on to victory with an ardour that was inc. sistiliie. In all his actions were displayed the ardent mind and disposition of a man born to excel in his profession. Every aCtion of his lite dis played some new trait of this professional cliora&er. The montouvre at Aboukir was in its nature novel ; at Copenhagen was displayed, perhaps, a dill wider rang. of talents; and there only remained the victory of Trafolgar, to surpass even all Lis tor noir achievements. But in looking at this irre parable loss, the House should also look to such consolation as it might possibly derive from it. It often happens, that great wills were the inhabitants of very impioted bodies. During the whole of I.nrd Nelsoh's life, while he was bravely contending against the enemies of hut counts y. Ise had also to contend with a very Ale constitution. Performing what he had done, while he combated with Nature, it would be difficult to c mselye soh tt he might not have done, if blessed with a sounder constitution. It would have been the •c veresi of modifications and misfortunes to hi a, it 1,;•4 health had not permitted him to lead en the posses of his country ; butost preens, horev:r much may lament him, he •oas at )tart cat f • 7 • , * .. . . • the reach Of all misfortn-ec. He felt that he -1t00... • disappoint the Hulse; if he did net state to t.teln what was designed for his family, by the munifitenee of the Sovereign ; for as to the Hero himseif, he was out of the reach of gratitude, but fes flume and family still remained tube pri.viled for by a grate ful country , . Were the proposed. re ward to he com pared re the merit of Lard Nelson, no mem:tastiest:lld be sufficiently great tar it ; hut what Hit Miseity ' proposed, was a prevision for has Lerdship's with'. correspondent to nor rank ; and the ittenortt intend ed Was 2TY3I. a year. Another provision re mained to he annexed to hit honours and his name. I: vas desirable that thete' should he a sort of national property, invested in land, at tached to the title. It was not proposed to nude, for the possessors of the title, a megniflceet pa lace, which would entail upon them a heavy scale of expense, bet an elegant mansion, such, however. as may be considered a national nbjeh, which would reeeire the susi of .100;0001. to'be placed, for those purposes, at the disposition of the Speakers of the two Houses of Pariiament, associated with other eminent persons. as are best qualified for* purpose. It was , he sa:d, impossihle for hint convey an adequate idea of whet hi conceiv ed re the achievement of Trafalgar ; but, great as the' • loss of that here was, his example would furnish a model for succeeding officers; would shew -what • " a great man may accomplish ; and may stiggest. if possible, even adertiortel exertions. lie then Wild— several handsome cnmpliments to the merit of Leeds Collingwood, Northesk, and the other Of ficers ; observing, in toe words of the former, • that " there never was a day on which every men more completely did his duty." He had only tut-titer to add, that it was intended to .dole the same rewards to the seamen for the ships of the enemy destroyed, as if they had succeeded in bringing thtar safely ioto port. ' He then moved, .4 that an humble Address Le present ed to His Majesty, praying that he would be gra ciously pleased to direct, that a monument be . an the cathedral church of Si, Pitil, to the * • more of Lord Viscount Nelson, who fell glori in the moment of a complete and decisive vi obtained by his skill and enterprise, over :he bitted fleets of France and Spain, of Cape Treat. gar, on the 21st of October, 1303." Mr. BAKER rose, and observed, that from t mode of wording the M scion then in the Speaker's hand, he thought a sufficient description was not given of the nature and circumstances of the aloe. • tires ; e !rich certainly, as it deserves particul thanks for its superior magnitute and importance deserved at the sense time, as particular and mite a designation of its prominent features. Het begged to know, therefore, why it was couched IV such general terms ? i Lord CASTLEREAGH said, that it had heeled very much the wish of His Majesty's Ministers, Wei pay every degree of honour and tespen to t Noble Lord, and the officeis and men under command, by every means that it was in the pow ' of wards to convey ; but on consulting preyed on the Journals of that Home, they found that otter and all were conveyed in the same general terms. They tr4d therefore nreehiely' follmied the prece dents, and thought doing so, the safest and best way, and most likely to avoid creating any differences amongst that exc e ll ent b o dy o f men. Amongst whom unanimity was so desirable, M making arty distinefien of one from anrther, teary to the time! mode in which the Thanks the House had been hitherto conveyed. • s The resolutions were then read, and agreed NM. sus. • The same Thank‘ were voted, sem. ern. to Earl '.f N rhesk, third in command, Ike. 'the next resolutions were, that tn'e House . highly approve and acknowledge the tondun aid behaviour of the -Seamen and Marines in the said anion. That the Speaker do' lignifylbd-said lotions to Lord Collingwood; and that his Lordth be desired to ecimmearrate the same to the Officere and Men serving under him ; 'which were all sett*. rally agreed to, new con. His Lordship then Moved similar Resolistions, favour of Sir Richard Strachan, Bart. and the Offi cers and Men under his command, for their gallant condo& in an engagement wit's, and vifory over, the French fle-t, on the 4e.h of November last, r . which were severally agreed to, new, roe And that the Speaker do sig nify the same to Sir Rich Strachan I and Sir Richard be desired to Comm cote the same to the Officers and Men serving under .' him. The Resolutions having been thus unani mously agreed to— i Mt. FOX rose and said, he did not mean, in few words he was about to address to the House, to convey any comments on the speech of the Noble Land, nor to interrupt the harmony with which the whole had passed the House. it had been his wish not to have said a word more than to give his hearty concurrence to the several Motions. He could not. ' however, avoid intimating to the Noble Lord. when on any future occasion be had to ask for the Thanks of the House to any naval transanion, that he would confine himself to that alone, and not take that opportunity of pronouncing a paregyrie• on the Admiralty, when the traesanions of the fleet were only in question. He could not, however, but ob serve, that among all those honours which had been bestowed in contemience of that vi Cory, Lord North esk had received none. Lord CASTLEREAGH denied that he had any ' intention of making any thing like a panegyric on • the Admiralty ; but he thought any Gentlemen I might menti in the Admiralty, when speaking on.a snbjell so nearly centialed with it as the Navy.— Mad he wiehed to say any 'thing of the Noble Lerd, who so ably presides, at the pre'ent moment. ov.sr that BORT d, he would have made it the sabjeft of a separate discussion, on some future day.— He had not. till very lately, known that Noble Lord; but having, since his appointment :o that high office, had occasion to witness his unrenjuing i exertions to promote and forward the interests of that eepartmeut, he thought he might vary fair y pay so trifling a tribute of applause ti. him, an 1 he would venture to say, that it that Noble Lord were Iron to leave that depai (WM. his successor WUVI4 fins'. in the rolei sod regulations he bad establish M. a moonosent of his Mellon> , es well as of his skill and ability in his profession, whether it be applied to the furtherance of the exertions of the Cr , mmis. stoner, t.if is. cal 'motif y, or of the other great board ,