The Sun. — London, England, 1812-02-21 00:00:00

there was no chance of pro: ' lion. there were At present only 39 chaOttins in the whole, to do the duty of the .Nayvy consisting of between 5 and 600 .sail. In proportion as the chaplains had fallen off, the schoolmas , eis had fallen off also ; it would be . propos,d :herefore, to connect the two duties, and to appropriate the 4d. fund, amounting to about thirty thousand pounds annually, and .the bounty of Queerr Anne,.of2o pounds annually, so that the pay of each Gentlemen should be about 2601. a year; that atter (as in the army), they had served ten years, a pension of ss, per.diihm shou!d be given, Until they procured church-appo;ntmenis to the va lue of 40ti1, per annum. " The Rigia . Hon. Gentle man then moved— • " That a sum not exceeding 1,033,5141.. be grante• for contingent expellees of the Aihniraltyßoard, .eze." Mr. CAtCRAFT was glad that the Rt. Hon. Gen tleman had not pressed the vote of:80,0001. for the Break-water, and - trusted that the estimate for the whole of the works in that fund would be shortly before the House. The I-Jon. Gentleman called the attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman to se*- Vera! Petitions which lie had' preserved from certain of the artificers in the dock-yards of Eiheerness, Wool wich, Dept ford, and Chatham, complaining of the hardship of the Income Tax, and of the 'tare of xvagcs which they received for task work, which had induced some to emigrate to Ametica, but he hoped none had gone over to the enemy. He wished to' knoW •if it was .compatible with the proceedings of the Admiralty that redress might be • given. Mr. YOUKE observed, that these complainants , were not in a worse situation than the whale of . the ciimmunny, and he shekvtd'troin documents, that they were paid better than herekifore. 11e hoped they would not be perverse, but'ahat their good sense would convince them that in compbining tliey Mr. CALCRAtT was obliged to the Right Ho nourable Gentleman for his explanation, which he •Would communicate to the Petitioners, who were men of sense, not at all inclined to be perverse. Mr. GRENF2LL noticed the rnailnfaEtories of copper carrying on in Portsmouth Yard;:gs being of a nature calculated to increase the expences Co the country. Mr, YoRKE replied, that the charge of the Esta blishment was a saving to the country of from. 8 to 10,9001. a year,And finer copper was prodUced than private yards. Admiral . MArmuam conceived. that the only objedion to the. Portsmouth copper was, that it was put into the rollers before it was cleansed. With resped to the proPoied arrangement respeding the Chaplains, he wished to see the thity of the Schoolmaster united to that of ur tlre . Ch3plain.— The Honoable Admiral then alluded to the con strudion of, a , new ship to .be called ,the Tremen dous, and trusted there were not many more: to be built upon' the same construaiOn; as be understood the timbers ;Acre rotten. Mr. YORKE replied, that the report on that ship would, he believed, convince the House. that the . Tremendous was not rotteni the only doubt was as fa her decks. There gas, he could assure the Hon. Admiral, only•one more ship to be built . on that principle. Admiral HARVEY approved of the regulation re specting clergymen, and observed upon the neces sity of having then oisuperior education, and of the• greatest respectability. Mr. G. 101INSTONE expressed his regret that the. Right Hon. Gentleman should be about to quit the Admiialty„ and threw out 'suggestion, for the :Mop lion of the Board; with re.spect to theneceSsity of not :logintenting our naval force; observing, that the victory„ot Trafalgar, and other , great exploits, bad so reduced the naval 'roger of the enemy, that he was no longer able to cope with this count tay. The danger was not sct 'great as was generally imagined. Mr. Yotucc conceived that the I - lon:Gentleman was mi-inforeted as to the state of the French NaVy.- He thanked him for his suggestion, and assured him that the Beard had nowish to propose a larger esta blisln,:nt than was neCes,ary for the piablk service. The French had, fur years been ends avoining to bring up their Naval force, and it Was 'astonishing, Nvlltii he stated it, what they had done. They stood have bet,:veen twenty-five and ; twenty-sip Sail in. the S, belch, in the, course , of the Summer ; thirty-fiVe s.,il in the North seas—they were bhild ing ships at Toulon, iri the ports pf Italy, and in the Tvlediterranean. The only difficulty they had in bniid:ng was at Brest. He was Certain that the Committee would, be of opinion titat• it was ex pedient to meet 001 at ail ,points; and if-Once the naval force . was to be low2red-, and an exi,- *epee at ise, it thiuid be difficult to increase it. We should be prepared to meet them in ail parts'Of the world. An interior tray . would be a great - detriment to this country: . .•LOrd'CocurtANE recomMended to the considera tion of the House the necessity of directing a por tion of our - forte to One 'particular point. He noticed the extension of the - comMeree . of France, which he slid was almoif ito redible . in brandies, cottons; and wines, and it seetned almost impossible to interrupt Cie trade. The, Noble Lord then drew the atten tion.of the .Right Hoa. Gentleman to the telegraphs' eleCted.all along the French coast, which'attbrded tire - enemy an opportunity of being acquainted 'With, trod of conurnpuieating our signals. By . deatiOying thts chain of telegrephs, - he thought more mischief might be done to the enemy than was to be expect ed from all the sums voted in the estimates applied' in the usual way. The Noble Lord, proceeded at some length, to point'out the errors in the present 5) stem, and to suggest improveMents. He was in fluenced by nothing but a wish to serve b rs country; and was conhdent, that if the power of — ,this country teas properly directed, it would be impos- I:ble for the Government of Buonaparte to go on another )ear. _ _ _ disapproved . of that species of wartare which had been recommended by the Npble Lord. fie wished the salaries of the schoolmasters in the Navy to be increased, so as , fo malie it worth while for respeBable persons to fill those situations. lie again culled the attention of 1116 Right Hon. Gentleman' to the situation of that highly deserving body, the Royal Marine COrps, and wished to know if the ,Right Hon. Gentleman was not satii...fied train a memorial on his table from that corps, that he (Mr. H.) had not spoken in that 'House the sen timents.of a few iudividnals, but those the whole budy. Son - te (orator ennt'ergalion followed% in Lord Coebrane,,, Admiral- Markham,, Mr. Ye>l ke, and Mr. Tierney, participated ; after which tl,-; re solutions .►•ere severally put and carried. EA-KL OF WELLINGTON On the rimtion of ' the CLIANCELLOR of tilt Ex- CHEQUER, the House tleSolved itself into a Committee on the Deltsuge of the - Prince hegent respcaing Lard Wellington. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then ad-. ,addressed the Chairman to the. following. effect " Mr. LUWINGTON—I cannot think that it will be necessary for nioo ,trouble the Committee with. many observations in ofd , .-T - to induce them to con sent to the Re'sialhlion which I shall hare the honour, to propose, in confoimity to the gr:Tious. Me i iage of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent. It is, in deed, impossible that the House of Coinin . ons sh , Arld tail to recoiled, or that t lie nation at large shotild fail duly to appreciate the various - great and distie- • guiShed services which - have :matkat the brilliant career of m v 'Lord - Wellington in the course of - the late campaigns in Spain and Portug - al. Although 'differences of opinion May exist with respect to the expediency and policy of the efforts which Great Britain has been., and is now Making in the Penin sula, althUugh . different views -4nay be entertained of 'the wisdom, of their effims, 'I am prsuaded, Sir, That those diffetences of opinidn, and those differ ent views, will form no ground of dissent from the present -motion. The question before us is, whe ther the Officer seleded in the first instance by his MAjesty, and subSennently confirmed by his Ito, al the Prince Regent, to dired the military operaiions in the Peninsula, has, or has not conduct ed himself with such di.Stinguisiked zeal, and such con summate professional ability, as while it iLes infinite bononr to himself, does infinite honohr tO the coun try, whoSe armies he was appointed to command Sir, the impression of the House . this soh jed is evident ; and, under suety an impreSsion, feel that it would be a graluitous ties i -asS on their time, to cuter' into any detail of those various achievernentS. of the' gallant Eat!, which have on fothier occasions receited the distinct and repeated approbation of Parliament. The circumstances un der which his Royal Highness the Prince Regent has, for the last twelve months& exercised-the Royal Authority, have pre, , ented him at an earlier period from adequately marking the high seme which he entertains of the merits of that distinguished Gene- - rah His ROyal Highness, however, has availed himself - of the first opportunity of- conferring on Lord Wellington the honours which are - s.O justly his due. Our 'own cotiviaion Orthe nit:tits of tord WellingtOn is well known. But_ the CoM mittee will observe that Great Britain does not stand single in the opinion which she entertains of his de seris. They have beet) the uniform theme of the applause of our Allies, an applause peculiat fested at the close of the Ivst distinguished opera tion in which Lord Wellington was engaged ; for when the tidings of that great victory reached the Spanish Government, they marked their sense of its value by a signal and honourable stamp of their high approbation. To the merit of this service indeed, the recent dispatches of the enemy theruSelves afford - ample testimony. Those dispatches declare that the occurrence appears incomprehenStble.--An the first instance,, the French General spoke of the great im porsance of the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, and boasted of the preparations which - he. had-made to relieve it, hOlding out to his mater 'expectations of the mostlgiorious result to the French rarnis. But when he subsequently learned that this fortress, which he had calculated that it would take Dine, or. ten days to subdue, 'was reduced in as Many Mi nute,, astoniShMent and dismay took The place of confidence and elation.Sii, I ant convinced that the Committee will nnartirrfonSly agree with me that we have but one lolierform On the pre sent occasion, and that is, to - .adopt the-recommend ation of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, with res.ped to the proposed giant to the Earl of Wellington—l therefore move, , ,‘ That it is the opinion of this Committee that a net an niiity of zoeol. he grime& to his MijeSty, out of the Con solidated Fkind, for the purpoSo of enabling his Majesty-to grant an 'annuity of a similar amount to General the, Earl of Wellington, in addition to the forrer annuities granted to him, and subje,d to the same limitations." Mr. WEILTSEIED KEENS made a few observationS, but in so low a tone of voices as to be scarcely au dible in the gallery ; we however understOod the Hon. Gentleman to intimate that in his opisiioa, the sum proposed was much, too Small a remiineralion for the services of the Noble and Gallant Earl. Mc. FREEMANTLE declared, that he had seldom experienced an - occasion in which the diScharge of his public duty corresponded so completely with tire gratificition of his private feeling. The conduct of the gallant Earl who was the subjeat. of the motion had always been most exemplary ; but in the pre sent instance he was persuaded .thatthere would not be a disSenting voice in theC,,mmittee. The de serf of Lord Wellington was acknowledged by the whole world. It wAs quite unnecessary to, go into a detail of his manifold services. He had bepn a soldier from his earliest youth, and' his country 11:411 ever derived• the greatest benefits from his exertions, Invariably persevering and zealous, Lord Well!vg- . too never 41p*ed personal convetti'etwe'ot ad-van-; racie_to tempt' him from the line of his ; public duty. When to fight was necessary, he bravely fought. ; but he never permitted any artful or affeeted monstration of Cie enemy to induce him to lead his. army into a contest, the consequence of which he could not early anticipate. It was useless, however, to dilate on the merits of this distinguished -Gene,. ral ; and , he should therefore. content himself with expressing his most cordial concurrence in the !notion. Sir "FNANCIS BURn e TT said, that although he was the last mzn who would oppose any proper re muneration to those from whose exertions the coun try had derived benefit, yei that he could not agree to the Motion on the grounds tydn which it-was at tempted 'to be - supported. He allowed that he, as well as the House at large, was a ‘'ery incompetent judge of the merits of a Military Commander i .more especially in the comparative ignorance of the latls under which he necessarily laboured ; ;but 'fiofri he did know, it appeared to him that Lord Welling ton bad under his command a very large force. Now he had always understood that the merit of a M.litary Commander consisted in the being able tri accomplish a great object with iyadequate mons. Ju his opinion, it was impossible taconceive less done with such ample means than that which LoidWelling ton had achieved. He had no wish to dctrad from the reptflatiortnt Any Man ; but ms - k; of disapprobation were no proofs of the fallacy of, his stetenietee Let the t‘orrimittee recolleel the force which Lord Wellington had commanded. In the first plice, 54,000. English troops of the line, ;and 30,000 regular PortugUese troops hi' British pay, niaking in the whole 84,000 troops of the To these were afterwards added 30,000 more regn lar..Nitugic6ser troops in SfitiSli pay, Making above 110,000 troops of the line. It had been . stated that the Portuguese, Government maintained Io,oua . troops, being in the whole aboYe '.20,000' tegular soldiers. T 4 these were likewise to be added the Portneue.ie militia, consisting of eo,ooo Men, form ing th% ;rand aggregate of an errny,of ahove 200,000 men. It must also be recolleeted ohm: the armed *population of Portugal amounted to 150,000 men. )hider such circumstances, and with such a twee at his command, he was really at a loss to conceive how Lord Wellington could be justly entitled to the praises of the Right Honourable Gentleman. Did the Committee recollect the entrance into Portugal of General Massena with sixty thousand .men, who 'maintained their ground for such Scocsi lerable pe riod of time ; whoin famine alone compelled to re; teeat, and w ho, when they did retreat, although they retired in the face of a superior army, and through an hostile population, -lost no single 'advantage, but maintained themselves unbroken and untouched?: Was there much cause of triumph on that occasion? Ana in the present campaign what bad been ob tained ? Ciudad Rodrigo ! He had, been haw ned by military men that this was 'a fortress which any army preponderating at the moment must inevitsbly reduce; that the out-works wete °finite avail, and that' it required a garrisoteof 4000 men. The gatei= son which it contained, however, when acacked by' the British, did eot exceed 1500 in n4nlier,— The place was assaulted by twelve -thousand troops, and Lied Wellington himself said in his dispatches, that the feint which was not meant aeltially to ope rate, had really succeeded in taking the place.— "(Hear, tear 1) Gentlemen cried " Hear, hear !" What he had stated might she,w valour in the troops; - but it was a strong proof of the weakness of tare place. To)ay such stress on a victory like that, was 16 shew the country was' in -a- most fallen and degraded situation. In another quarter the 'French hid achieved considerable advantages. Su chet had conquered Valencia, and in the course of , the campaign had sent, to France forty-seven thous and prisoners, including two thousand officers. Ba dajoz, notwithstanding,the evident anxiety of the British General to relieve it, had fallen. In the at tempt to succour that place, twelVe thousand men had been lost at the battle of Albuera. Hep:esutned that his statement was an exaggeration. 'At any rate Lord Wellington bad been compelled to retreat. And yet of how much greater importance was Ba dajoz than Ciudad Rodrigo. The former .only 120 miles from ,Lisber. and the access to that city easy and unmolested; the latter three hundred and ' twenty miles from it, and the _approach . guarded by' formidable passes.' The joy, therefore, manifested on the t i eduCtion of Ciudad Rodrigo was for the }stir= pose of public delosion ; but even had that fortress been of Much greater importance, he thought few would contend that its redualion would, materially influence the final issue .. et the war in Spain. In the mean tune, if r the people of England were , tO pay so dearly for such advantages as they were termed, the sooner that war- was over the better. - -There was one faei which, in his opinion tva's decisive respect to.the probable termination of the contest. Wherever the Ereglish bad power in Spain, the In quisition was establisher) : wherever the Plench had power, that detestable institution e x isted no longer. Was -that the kind of liberty which Englishmen were.called upon to maintain with their blood and treasure ? HeJiad 'already described what in his opinion would" be sufficient grounds for rejeCling the motion ; but his strongest and most insuperable ob .leaion remained behind—the state of the people of- England. In his opinion it ,would be most inde fensible to . gra n t „ su ch a sum .from the public reve nue at a moment vfliets the situation of the Em pire had forced itself on the consideration •of •Par; liameet ; and when Parliament had been able' to devise no better means of counteraCtingahe ,effeos of hunger and despair, than by increasing the num ber of capitol punishmems. ;•Far better would the money which was now moved fOtt be applied in the alleviation of those distresses, and` te hoped that before Parliament' had consented to hang men for offences, prompted by necessity, it would _have at , least inquired into the mode of presenting a recur rence of such events. In the present state of the country, therefore, lie could by no means agree, to the motion ; but if the case was directly the rcei verse, he should still objCa to it.. If the here which existed with respect. to the issue of the con test in the Peninsula 'were as flattering, as in his opinion the despondency was Just—if . the achieve ments dwelt upon with such emphasis Lad been as great as in his opinion they were unimportant—if the mete of the country Vrthi as flourishing as 'it w depressed, and, in his. opinion, almost hopeless, still'he should oppose the motion, while Gavel mnent posf.essed oilier funds from Which the grant might with more propriety.be derived—funds frent which. pensions and allowances were issued un fi t to , meet the public eye. At least, Until these, flinds were exhausted, and not even then, would he. consent for such a puipbse to draw upon the already ex hausted pockets of the people. The objeL s t of the grant was, to confer additional splendour on , Lord Wellington. If this splendour were transparent as .well as brilliant, what a mass of human misery would be discovered behind it ! Mt. CANNING declared, that had he anticipatacl any possible difference of opinion on the motion he, fore the Committee, it would have been on the amount:of - Abe grant, which, iu compliance with the gracious message of the Prince' Regent, it w.a4 pro posed to make to the Noble and Gallant Earl who was the just Objea of his. Royal Highness's favour and. recoMmendation. In th:t view.of the•subjeM, had-the suggestion of an Hon. G,ntleman (Mr. W. Keene): to increase the grant, been reduced •:to:a formal proposition, he :Should certainly hove voted for it, had he not been ,Withhe`d by the Wish that such a question should pass the House. with unani mity. But really for the species .of dissent which the Hon. Baronet had adovted;he confessed that he was whdlly unprepared.--He did not pretend, • any more than the Honourable Baronet s to be capable of judging with the skill of a tactician on thd condutt of military men and military rneaaures; but it Wes impossible for any Man, bowevor ianoraut of mai , 1 t to t) e ' o 6 r f i r id ir e g ; t t l b i e lbci fo lc ri 6 ri t e -W r i' a l n a h it b p e re n 4 l t tid sta% l.l the Peninsula—to recolleal the existing feelin gs o f the country, and those feelings when that emiuent and distinguished commander, Lord Wellington, lee , appointed fro direct the energies' of the British ;nine, I without pavit ° r him that bre - nage of applinsa „hie, R. hi 4 unrivalled talents and unwearied exertions so loudly denrmded. - Little wor.ald the 'obseeva.tions of the . HonOurable Baronet avail in persuading Eng; lishmen not to reward , One who had contributed .6 essentially to the advantage and to the honour of tlia, EmpireaL-The Honourable Baronet had ietroduc d into his speech several topica,,on a l t e,„ g e lie, (Mr/C.) owned. that,' they were but rernete:i connected With the question, the House_w e ele p „, r hapa par hapa permit him to touch. He would beg :d with the allusion of the Hon. Bart. to the distresse.: of the manufeeurers. .Good' God !' ekchritned . Mr. 'Canning, let the state of commerce and rria ' nufactures be what they may, and no man lamenti the depression which they Suffer more than myself, is this a petiod.when Englishmen are to be' advised, not to purchase military glory, for that is already cur own ; but to abstain from expressing gratitude for such services'es my Lord Wellingten had perform ed, because, forsooth! there is a class of the coat munity v. hose distresses we pity--whose distresses we•would most willingly relieve-t--but whose tresses, believe from my soul, would be infinitely aggravated, if, by listening to the suggestions of the Honourable Baronet, we were to consent to degrade the national character. The Hbnourable Baronet next contended, that if this grant were made at all, ought to be made out of hase funds which, a c - Cording' to him, Government. had abused. Was it so : Were these funds proper subjects of the jea lousy and suspici6n of Parliament ? If so, he for one, would not agree that out of those hinds sneh a itnan as Lord Wellington should be rewarded: he 'for one would not og - tee that the baseness of the purpose to which (according' to the Honourable Baronet) they had hitherto been applied, should be ennobled by such a dignified appropriation of them: Tbenext subject on which the'Honourable Baronet had indulged the House with his opinion, was the merit of Suchet. The Honourable Baronet had placed Suchet in a much higher rank 'as a general than Lord Wellington; and had dwelt with great complacency on condu& which, he said, ipod• ex torted the applause and admiration of mankind. In auswerao all this, it would be Sufficient for;drim -to say, that Suchet's military- skin. was not the subject of the present motion. As he wasuot yet aware that it was the intention of the Hon Baronet to move :in ainendment to Orbit the name ofWellington, and ilk.- gut that of Suchet, be would abstain frbm further observation on the subje6, 'assuring the•Honeurable Baronet, however, that whenever he chose to bring forward such a proposition, he :was prepared to meet him; and disclaiming all ungenerous,solici turte- to diminish the deserved reputatipn•even of an enemy. Generank, however, . the Honourable: Baronet characterised the exertions of, the Noble and Gallant Earl as unworthy of the rewards a grateful country was anxious to bestow upon hirn ; and be particularly described the immediate 'achieve- went in Which_ the present question ortgivated, as unimportant and unavailing. Let the Committee re !c:Alect that Lord Wellington was sent out to satin Portugal, at a Moment Wh en Portugal was in ex treme danger,. and that at the present moment there was no. question with resp e ct to h er safety. • the Committee" recolle6t, that wht.r. Lord Welling— ton , was sent out to endeavour to save Portugal lit, -was empoWered after that first service to extend his exertions to Spain, then in a state abroach ing to desperation; and that after having per formed that first Service in Portugal, the Noble and Gallant Lord did extend, and successfully extend, his operations in Spain. To the one country he.had - given salvation—to the other hope. WhCo teach liorriige 'had been paid to this distinguished iottlyi dual by the countries which he had so, - essentially assisted, was it becoming. in his own cOu.-..try to doubt his desert ? For his part he coal not per suade himself that there was a second man in the House esf Commons, who, when he saw that the fist aa of these prerogatives which had lain ,dor mant so long, (how,properly he would not now ;:r -gue) was to Mark with distinguished hotrour the-in dividual whom, by a singular and illostrioas cern ealanea, it was the last k`t of those prerogatives to mark with distinguished Tinanour, .avoted hesitate to hail v% HI joy the opportunity afforded him of shar ing in that gentral sentiment of applause and grati tude which pervaded the whole community. The _Honourable Baronet grudged the Noble and , Gat . lant .Earl the, paltry sum of • 20001. per atinum.— Far diffMt4 was the condua of the countries who had the more immediate finfatis of i!scertaining his meeits. In 'addition to 'the title granted ira Purtugal, was a revenue of 5,0001, a year. As Captain . General of: Soil); Lord Wellington had a salary .offered to him of 5,0001. a year ; and a; Marshal of Portugal, 7,0001. a year. These sums, atnounting to 15,000 pound's a year, were granted for his services by the . foreign countries in which those services had 'been • performed. It was pro ,posed to give hint two th ousan d . pOUnd s . a Tear, Ira his own country,' and the alintiourable Baronet lifted up his hands and eyes at stabil a gross violation of public economy l—These however, offered by foreign .gratitUde, Were 'dt-clirad by the distinguished person on whom they were bestow ed, and who was' satisfied with having done his duty. The Honourable liatonet, it seemed, knew the interests of. Spain and Portugal better than Orme countries did themselves.• The Hon. Bare. 11.: , r contended that the one had purchased her salva tion, and the other her hOpes, at too 'dear a rate;' he was apprehensive that nneallieS were roaming riot with: joy, and was solicitoi to correct their eateherant feeling, 'and to shew them that they had not the just grounds for exiaitatibti of which they ' fondly themselves to be possessed.- : He (Mr. C.) all Owed that the present was•ridt a fit op- portutiity for considering the Spanish, questiou..l374 guarding hiaseU from' being supposed tci ground the vote which he should give on that 'consideration, ha might, perhaps, be 'permitted to say, that the last achievetrient of the Noble and gallant Earl,whatever mielithe its militaty merit, would have a moral el feat,' which, at the present - critical moment, must, operate most powerfully throughout the,Poninsula, by preventing those dazzling consequences which the gleriesof a rival Gen.might otherwise occasion. It •Wea an vent happy and aospicious,and•he was -pet sanded that it wuuld sac difficult to find its parallel in India ft