The Sun. — London, England, 1812-12-04 00:00:00

Was also happy at the oppqrtunity of adding the avowal of his own personal obligations, and hiS gratitude to that excellent Commander ; who, • notwithstanding, 'it would naturally be expected the great portion of" his thoughts must be occu pied by the suggestion and execution of his admi-- , cable plans, always found means to bestow an adequate portion of his attention to the personal comforts of those under his command. And though a dear relative of his had fallen in a re cent action, so_ worn out Was he by ,his profes,,, sionahlatigues, that had he not received sortie peculiar attentioNirom the quarter to which he alluded, ..:he Would have been cut short some-little 'tune :before he had so fallen. But he had the consolation that his son had fallen in the perform tuFee of his. duty. 'There never waS a General , more anxious" for the preservation of life ; but when the services of bis King and_ Country re quired it, never did aoy One display •more ardour and. gallantry. • These', observations . seemed to arise to him out of tly, Motion before their Lord; cordially joined in the various pane , gyrics which 119-4 , heen. made on just transcendent merit, and he had to thank the Noble, Martinis who .spoke last,. for the very handsome Manner in which be had mentioned the relative alluded to. The Duke of ..I.'LatiENCE expressed his strong' sense 'of the unparalleled Merits of the Noble and Gallant Marquis, -and had no hesitation in, say • ing, fromevery thing he h a d rea d in,history, fur nishing ground for his opinion, that, considering the ,very different circumstances in which they ' were placed, More had been obtained by the great Ofiicerin question than by the renowned Duke of Marlborough. In illustration of thi . 4 point, his Royal Highness entered into a ,short comparative view of the respective hi s t or y . o f those periods, and contended it could not .be shown that any difficulty had been opposed to the Duke of Marl= borough, that the Marquis of Wellington had not also to - contend with. The present was, he thought,. an extraordinary era, and produced some Of, the most able and scientific Generals, among .Whom the Noble and Gallant Marquis -shone eminently conspicuous. He could say nci thing, after the eloquent eulogiums of the two Nbble.Lords•Thyla spoke first but the motion bad his'inost cordial approbation. The Marquis- IVELLESLFIY begged leaVe to say a veryiew - Wards an the present occasion. IleCer- - talnly rase to tvffer the additional attach/neut. of a' br9ther'Sfeelings:;.. The E-arl opposite, had he WOuld eather leave it to the tastc• and elsatlitence:ot - •oth4 pCrsons to •do jnstice to the Merils'of,Lorti Weliington- ; bra he must say,...that thg,very Mothent of OW declaration, he had discharged that gratefurduty in , a'Wav most ho-, nOtrable• to himself; •the Country, and to Md: . Noble Person wlid.was the oikieet,ofit...He hail no apology, to oiler for. his ril.in - ;•,:for - he 'believed that , all i• on this opeaSfOir, were . impressed With newly", the Sant,eseittimenisi' tp ewer hate, was theTreg;'ret,ro'r iivhai'll;nl. been lost;' that'toss also -, had , 'l'ken_inctiiiect by oixi who had joined . the lesti,atony of a father. to the.:'pateinal tenderness evinc'ed . bArsthe•Gener'al in . qiiestion to' • the flower of ;the liti'tish army Upon'thcsiib stahce of the ,motioit no one could enterfaM but the: Itiost f.irourablc sentiment!' But ipon tlic point stated ,by tlie l'oble'Earl, that- it was not for tlie' most brilliant parts of that Officer's con , thief he deServed'the highest praise, he most cor d;aly agreed with him . . For his' part, he would explicitly declare his opinion, that .the event. which that very day was brought to their Lord ships' .peculiar knowledge, reflected as much ho nour on the character of the Noble Perstin in question, as any'circuinstance from the very corn mencemeat of his military career to the.present pel.iod. Nay, if he were to select one part of the whole, preferably to, another, it would be that very part of his conduct which related to the (in sonic circumstances unfortunate) accounts fe- ceived that very day. He felt that every thin : :?; proper to be said upon the interesting topic of the motion bad been advanced by the Noble Earl. cpposite. The question was then , p u t, an d agree d to b y their Lordships, nem,. dis. • The Vice-Chancellor's Appointment [3lll 'was read a secondetime, and ordered to be, committed for Monday. Lord HOLLAND said, that a Bill of such im portance should not be hurried through the House. It was his intention to mom on'Alondav • for sonic documents that would give further info, illation upon die subject. , . .Lord ItEDESDALE said, lie. would.oppose'any motion that could retard.the as the' admini- stration of justice was guttering . conshicrable conveniencethronghthiwant of such an assistant. The Duke of Nolirom: expressed a wish to know whether it was' the intention of Ministers to move any Thanks for tilt! late transa c t ions -in Canada • - Lard.i_dyr,Obot, said, tat. it was in.cOntern plation to move for 'a monument 'th . Gen. Brock, :who: had so gallahtly . falleii - in the service of his country. At even o'Clock the House adjourned until ahis day. . HOUSE OF -COMMONS, TITURS ‘ DAY; DECE: , .TBEit 3 The SPEAKER informed the House that the dress•voted in answer to the:Speeeh of the Prince `iiegent had been presei*d . on Wednesday, ; and read to the House the f; most gracious AnsWer of the Princenegent on iceiving the Address. Mr. LOCKHART gave notice, that on,Tuesday next he would', move for }eve to bring in a Bill, to prevent the trustees of parish property granting long altdimprovident leases.. • WILBE,iIVOiIOE gave notice of a motion for igonday, , for the production of certain papers re lative to the Slave Trade. A Message was received from the Lords, re questing that this House would communicate to them sth Report of the Select Committee, on the affairs of the East India Company. On the motion of Mr. WALLACE , .it was ordered - that a printed-copy of the said report he comma nicated to their Lordships ; and the Messengers '.were called in, and informed of the same. TWo Petitions were presented* from John Her - bert Brown, and otherS,2 and feoni'john Allen; of • 'Bath; aril. WU iaui Grieves, of Thnbury Von, tit the return of ' Members for Wey mouth and Bath. The Petitions were severally ordered to be taken into consideration on Tues day, the 9th and Thursday, the 11th of February. THANKS TO LORD WELLINGTON, Sze. - • Lord CASTLERE,A6II rase; pursuant to the notice be bad given on a f o r Mer d a y, -;t6.call the atten-: tfon - , of the House to - the services iendered to their country by that gallant - 01ficer, General the Marquis of 'Wellington, and the brave Army tin- der ,his command. in Spain, and particularly to those'hyo.vhich they had signalized' themselves in the glorious and am- memorable battle of Sala manca. lie was sure he should forget his duty iv that illustrious Oftieer and his ArMy, if omi •this oteasion he were to introduce into the discussion any matter that might cause a controversial feel- ing rupeetiag the Policy of the war in 'the Pe ninsula, anti more especially if he were to offer any thing respecting .the conduct of his Majesty's Ministers in connection with the subject of, the motion he •was. about to submit to the Hohsee- a - Any charges' that might be preferred- against them they 'would b e h a ppy to meet on a future day. On this they hoped it would not be necesL. nary, as it was their wish to bring forward no thing that might divide the feelings of the House and the public, and abstract them from that sub ject, on which all delighted to dwell with admira tion and, gratitude. AC the same time, however; while he wished to guard against the introduc tion of any matter on which a difference of opi nion might exist, lie thought it would not he just to the army, and more :particularly, he thought it would not Lae just to the Marquis of Wellington, if he were to confine himself to the feelings .ex cited by that great transaction, considered as an ingulated affair, proud as it was in itself, and great and glorious as it was, amyl a more glorious action had never adorned theaumals of this or any other great military power: for he was proud to say, this country -had. become a great mi!itery, power, though formerly looked' to prineipally as a naval power by the other nations of Eta-; rope. But still he contended, it wotild he to let down and ,undervalue the victory of -Salamanca, if it were to be brought ,before time house unconnected with otherconsiderationsaa:a wasmOt a victory which.had been thrown in the way of Lord Wellington a .Whici he had been able to accomplish, a:id gloriously accomplish, on , the- instant ; but it. was . a transaction ;whi c h wound up a inilitary..object the result of long pre paration and Of foresight, in which the application of just priuciples.wns so interwoven with various cirehmstances a that he.should fail in his duty to the. Army, and to the Marquis of Wellington,- if •he .were not shortly and generally to describe the eauses `Which bad led-to the v.ictory of Salamanca, and .its consequent advantages. The House wmild recol leet,.Jhat at the close- of the former, and at ! the cortunehcement of the present' camraign, Lord Wellhigton, - after dispossessing Massena of Portu gal, had made himself • master ofaAlmeida, but. Ciadad . 'Rodrigo: Lour Batlajoz were :still. in the: hands of th - d'enemy. Both armies bad retiredinto xv(iltei- quarter's; but stieh- vigorous preparations for renewing hostilities were made by the Mar, finis of Wellington so early as January, (a period at :which; - even in that clime, armies have seldom beah -oCetipled in preparing to take the field) that in that month he wits e'nabled to• lay siege totiu-• dad Rodrigo. Nothing higher to the praise.of the Margimis of Wellington . could be said, than that lie had completed his - preparations, for this. ope ration with such activity and secrecy, thache was enabled to reduce this fortress (which was one of a moat respectable description) before Marshal Marinont was . able to call iris troops from their winter cantonments, and advance further than Salamanca. Lord Wellington haying, got pos session of Ciudad Rodrigo,. meditated an advance' on Badajos, and his - arraagements consequent on this design - Were made with so much secrecy, that Marshal .Marmont believed • the English army to be still at - Ciudad Rodrigo,.when seven of eight divisions had arri ve d at B at l a j os. H e at tacked this fortress, which was greater and of move importance than that of Ciudad Rodrigo, early. in the month of M arc h, an d carr i ed on the works with such vigour and alacrity, that the French armies of the North and of Portugal, un der Souk and Marmont, were unable to relieve it, anti= it was even confess.ed.by Soult, in explaining to the War Mioister of 1 - i'rance, thef causes of the loss of Badajos. It was admitted in his:dispatches, which . were- intereeptc.;, that Lord Wellington had taken Badajos in th e face of two a r m i es , each of : which in strength was equal to his own. It was stated by Soult, that the army under Lord Wellington was not superior to that under his com mand, north that commanded by Marmnont; but he stated the difticalty of. assembling troops to be, so great, and the rapidity of Lord Wellington's move ment to be sOextzaortfinary (an admission most ho t:ma:able to - time gallant Marquis', more particu larly as it-came froth an' enemy)a his Operatiou carried on w•ith such calCrity, the siege pressed With such vigour, and time assault made with such gallantry, as to exceed all his calculations : -so that he had onlr reached Millen with his army,, on his way to relieve the fortress; when he. re ceived intell4aeace that-it had fallen. These ser vices then,. it would be seen, Lord Wellina.:ton had accomplished under cieumstances of great-dif fieulty. I.le had taken two important i'ortreaSes, - . in time preience of two armies, each of which was equal in numbers to his own, and in such h way as to extort from the.Freneh Commanders a-eon fession, that all their preparations were render e& useless, and all their - efforts fdiled.'' Lind Wel lington having done these services., which of themselves would have appeared 'most sith:ndid in the career of an individual less illustrious than bintself a and completed that task which had been . the glorious object of a former campaign, and ex-• pellet' the enemy from the country - of an ally . ala a ways wound up i n t h e interest- and affe c ti ons of. En;, s ;lancl-- 7 Porthgal. After this it Was' for him td direct his force s o aalo effect what h e might ' be capable of doing, for the interest of Spain, with a.view• to repel the invasiing army. - Lord Wel lington had now 'to coutpai'e his army with that of the enemy, and to deliberate on what would be time probable result olthe campaign. .Thongh the army under him was certainly-hoth reSlTheia ble. and important, yet when-he coampared it with the means of time enemy, a iTeryigrave, prospeet appeared before him, and he 'certainly could not flattef 'himself with a result liLe that which had crowneThhis measures. The French armies were so 'strong, though the successes of Lord Wel lington had eaused their strength to be frequent ly underrated in this country, and indeed by the world at large ; ithat the% gallant Atlantis (int' not expect to he enabled to drive them Out .of: Spain, but he felt that he might - force them to abandon the milit;iry oH they had -at that time—thatgrasp of the country, on which alone the French must ground-their hopes ot'ultimate success. These; unless they could retain these now, he...would venture to say they werefarther off the consummation of their hopes, than at any pe riod of the four years during which the war had been Continued in the Peninsula. He would re peat it', unless the moralsubjagntion of the people could be effected, and the . military possession of the country seemed, the French were further from the end they had in view than at any period of the four years. The Noble Lord . did not look at. that time to the complete expulsion of the enemy, and he 'stated in his communications with his Govern ment, he '(Lord Castlereagh) did not speak lot what he might have :vribctu to individuals; but to those under whom he served, the language of Lord 'Wellington was this :—" If I can reduce the two fortresses (Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz), and place Portugal under their protection, my next operation shall be directed to tlie South of Spain, to deprive the enemy of the resources they poS!!ess in Seville ; or if 'oblige them to collect an army to defend them, I shall -then Compel them to raise the siege of Cadiz. If from Badajoz I can advance into Andalusia, this will he my object." When Lord. Wellington- had , reduced Badajoz; in consequence certainly, of the. delay to revictn'al : Ciudad Rodrigo, he was obliged to march topro tect that fortress, -to secure that interesting froiF tier of Portugal. The Noble Loftl afterwards stated, that he did not altogether regret that circumstances had caused him to direct an operation in the North instead of the South, as he bad intended.; . and he hoped, as he found himself at the head of an army to inch he could look with confidence for Success in an action with Alarmont, he aniOlt in that quarter, more particularly if Castile were thrown open, be able to. do that which would de liver Andalusia more completely than if, as he had first intended, after the capture of Badajo2, he had 'advanced against the French in - Andalusia.— l'ic'ELord C.)-beggedthe House to bear this in Mind, Lord Wellington did make a - . 1 irruption into Castile.' He drove the 'French froth Sala manca, and advanced upon the line of the Douro. Though at the, elmmencement of these opera tions, his army vi'a'S melt that he could court a general action with Alarinont, when he arrived upon the line of the Douro, this was no longer. the 'case. The French, as was their practice,- there-sacrificed all the hold-they had of the coun try, bywithdraw'ng their troops from the several fortresses they had previously occupied, to make head against Lord Wdlitigton. 'Before the battle of Salainanca,Marmont was reinforced from Leon :and Estramadura, from the army of Caffarelli, and 'from the army of Attdrid. From that moment Lord 'ellington .said, ''am not prepared to r i s k a general - battle, unless I find th a t- upon military. grounds I engage-you with a prospect of success." This-Lord Wellington laid down as the princi ple on which . he would act—a principle in : every way correct,- and consistent with his ge nius-. It was ,not for us to court general engage- , int,mts in the abstract. The French might wish to do So bat. Loaf Wellington felt, that while he remained in Spain with such an army, the country never could be conquered ; and it his object to make the French abandon all but the ground on which they stwid, till he. found them in .such a situation as would enable hint to turn it to their discomfiture and defeat. Upon these principles L.e . acted up to the battle of Salamanca, and when the French crossed the Douro, . (an opportunity of which Lord Wel lington could not deuriVe them from beino• in • possession of the fords and hddges, Sc) that it was imp)ssible for him,. with an inferior army, to make the Douro a Inilitary pc - ,*itioti,), thou re, treated, lilt his retreat. Was - rn'ade.9n. this pipe , ple—" you give me an advantage I will attack you, hut otherwise I will not put to risk the cause of the Peninsula, which. may ultimately triumph without such a sacrifice." The battle of Salzman , ca was fought in consequence ut this &fel-mina , tion. This battle .which was not only the subjbf c t of admiration in this country, but in all - t h e countries Of Europe, h e thought it had betmfairly stated,. ofall the battles fought in Spain; or indeed in any other country, was that which was least to . be ascribed to military chance, rather than to good generalship and just calculation. It. was one, the armies engaged in which met but the hour before they engaged, and deCiited the struggle by force of arms unaided by policy; but it was a battle fought between two great avulses (for they both were great) nearly equal , in numbers, though a superi ority was on Yhe'side-of the enemy, _after_looking at each. other, and not only looking at each other, taut manoeuvring. in each Others presence from the 16th July to. the 22d of that month, the day on which the glorious and ever memorable battle of .!ittlinnancit was fought. Without going into the detail, which he thought unnec.essarv, as every Englishinan was familiar with it, having read the. Gazette with the highest interest nod de light over and over again; he would say this was a victory gained .after makeuvres the most com plicated, where two annies were long in sigljtof each other, each Observing 'what the other. did, and trying, by every effort of military skill, to take advantage of any errors that might occur. The greatness of LqrdWellington's mind was the ad thiration of Europe. In him was seen a General not tenacious of what might be said by. his ene mies, not putting to risk . his army.to maintain a particular position, but saying to himself, and to Govern uncut, '' I will even do that which must at all times be painful to. a Commander, I will re 7 treat before the enemy. I will even. retreat to Ciudad _Rodrigo, rather than, give any advantage 'to the enemy ; but if, in the course of my retreat, 1 can take any Opportunity of attacking him with a prospect of success—if his weakness, or vary ad= dress, should enable me to take any advantage Of wiihout committing my own ..army, withotit committin g my country, and above all without conu n i tt i n6 o . that great interest ent r us t e d to my care, then will -I avenge the crimes by which France has disaractal herself ; and at:aeltlag, the enemy with that spirit and firmness which b.elong to my•nature, make him feel what my ecuatryineit Ara capable of effecting in such a cruse." Such was the language of Lord Wellington, and the -proud and ever ntemOrable victory of Sallarnanca 'grew out Of this resolution. The loss of the French army in the fight, and through the souse- quendes which naturally resulted from it, and could not be estimated at' less than 20,000 men. He contended, that from the' plan of campaign, as originally conceived by Lard Wellington; which did not aspirteto_efieat the expulsion of the ene ; his expalsian,• Ott military principles, was not to he expected, even froth a victory 'glorious as that of Salamanca. 'The object of Lord Welling, ton's operations in the NOrth was to force the enemy to quit his hold of the country in tbeSoutha, and_ to. do that which the French officers were instructed never .to do, if it could possibly be av'oided—raise the siege, of• Cadiz, The French Government, was afraid of the moral .effeets their raising the siege of Caailz,• and hence' these orders; as they believed thet while they appeared in strength before Cadiz, the world would give them credit for being Strong in Spain. He put, it to the Hciuse e then, if the operations of Lord W. - hadenot eompelled the 'enemy to dhandon the siege of Cadiz, the whole of - .Aricialusia, and left them • without any force to e the westa(,'ard of •Alicant.-a- What was the situation of Spain at present? Lord,' 'ellington had said, that but for one unfortuttato, circumstance, the success( of the . campaign would have been certain. Success, would. have been certain, had not th e Fr enc h c o ll e c te d the _ of their disposable force, aniounting to not less than from seventy to eighty thousand men upon the 'formes, and compelled Lord Wellingaon prudentially to make a retreat, a retreat which was More likely the prelude to a victory then a _proof of disaster. '[be enemy had only . been ei;a bled to compel him- to retreat by an -abdication of, every' military principle which had regulated their cotafuct before. if MadridAl been a position of military importance, which it was not,' the - case would have been materially different from What it at present appeared. Lord W. had not taken pesa session of •it as a military position ; nor hod he advanced upon it fbr the vain glory of taking the enemy's capital—he went there on this prinef a ' e elee--he knew that unless advancing ; he threW at large force on the flank of Soult, he could not• make that General do what was really the obieet of Lord Wellington's opevations—raise the siege of Cadiz, while Andalusia aad the southern provinces of Spain were delivered froM the enemy. What fog was the. result of these operations ? It Was now seen that the French could not retain Madrid. They were obliged to evacuate it in their:turn as Well as us, and were now only in possessimi of the ground on which they stood, and as far as ever front effecting the military or moral subjugation . 7 of the cantina. But if they were to measure the influence of the victory of Salamanca,only bywhat it had produced in Spain, he would say, m theires tintate of its value w ou ld be roost unfair, most'un wise, most 'untrue, in the circumstance e; in 'which . Europe was at present placed. Did the House imaa. • aline that that spirit of resistance Which grew nut of that House, or rather out of that people they represented in that House, for be sbordd like- to, know what Ministers could have retained their situations in this country, who at such a period had turned their backs on the exertions . of Spain,. did they think that that spirit had nothing to do with that which had recently manifested itself in another part of the world ? Even the retreat 'of • Lord Wellington to Torres Vedras had been of service to that power which now, awakened to a sense of its own strength, had resiSted tised the power of France, and front which sc much might be-hoped for Europe,' With Russia, the hopes excited-by her resistance didetot gaud beginning at the extremity, it was hoped its in fluence would extetid further into Eueope,---t'S those powers which npw, indeed ; apntea-re4 tc. form apart of the strength of ,Ft aneta• but which iw fact ; 'were onla• unnaturally' connected with here he meant the whole power of Gertimuy. ' the House knoiv that.the character. of •the great, battle of Boeoclino, • for •it • was a great battle, was ,partly caused by Lord 'Wellington ? a bat tle ;renter than that of Evian, greater than that of Aspern, and that in which the 'power of Frecete Lad received one of the severest . checks it_ lisd ever received. In that great battle,' in which N . or 50,000. men laid down their Aires - , 'it was, cot a soling to knoW that Prince litituSdff had if in his power, on the morning of that. day, to ani mate his troops by telling them - ot the glory Latiued - by the English at Saltimanea.HDid not the House feel that it must be most animating to the Bus sian army to- know that the Marquis of Welling ton had at Salamanca completely 'routed tLe French army'?, To be told, that if they stood to the enemy like Englishmen, they would achieve; as' great a triumph, and as great a triumph they', Aid . achieve ; for, though .from varinus eircinn- . stances it was fthind itnpossthle to follow tp• that victory, still it was a victory', than which,. a prouder, triumph-never was obtained by the farces of any country. In that action, that distinguish ed General, Prince Bagration, whose loss we bad '• since to deplore, with 30,000 men, repelled the whole military power of 'France directed to onc e point. It w as not only at Borodino that Lord - Wellington had served the cause of Russia by the influence of his octions; Russia had been assist ed by his councils. The prilicipleon which Rus sia ,bad acted on the opening of the campaign was ' that vehich was recommended by the Marquis Of Wellington. He had said, if Rusaia adopted that system she was safe. It was on: that principle that he had formerly defetided Pnrtugal a so that Russia might be supposed to have derived equal benefit from his councils and example. At the moment the French .had. taken lalOseowa, it was some consolation to know thaiLord Wellingtons had taken Madrid ;' and, What was more, that he had forced them, to gi . ve op that Witida . for more than 'taller years, they had. anxiously. 'carried on—the siege of Cadiz. It was immediately subsequentto their receiving intelligence of this, that Murat met with that defeat which sealed-the necessity of Bud riaparte's.retreat from MoscoW. The effects; then ; of the battle _of Salamanca were t o be raced not only in pain, but in Russia, and not only in Ras slit,- but' through all the world, its ramifi.eations were felt to excite those who suffered ,uutier the