The Sun. — London, England, 1812-12-01 00:00:00

they could give to the, exhausted potverS otturope, safety, independence, and prosperity,_•, A consideeable pause efisiting, - the Speaker was aboutto. put the qu6tion, wheat' . . Mr. CINgING rose,,and spoke to: fhb follOWing effect:— .. • 7 , „ • Ste---Althottgli on the present" occasion I have no intention whatever to interrupt the happy unanimity. with -which the -queStion in your: band seemed about to be carried ; and although- I have waited until the very last moment in -the expecta tion that the rumour which' has been so currently circulated - of an AmendMent to he proposed '(bay- ing Myself nothing like an Amendment : to offer) woilldbe realised; entertaining; as I do; ,rl.' re 'spect and ..deference towards the quarter • whence it Was imagined the Amendment; would pro seed,. that always induces me to• follow ea , tiler than.. to precede upon such an occasion, yet I cannot allow the Motion. to 'pass without 'ex, .pltkining_ at some length the- -grounds on 'which concur .in the Address that. has : been so ably . moved by the Noble Lord, 'and the qualifications - by which I feel myself bound to accompany ; that • . concurrence.--Sir, whatever Amendment, if any, ,bad.been.proposed, I should have felt, that under the -circumstances of the time and 'older the cir tunistances in which the House and the, country are Placed, it would have been desirable, that in _ snaking our decision between any different forms of .Address, we should have been swayed by one distinct vkw of the subject—that we should have tome that vc•te which :would, have 'least pledged our judgment, andovhith -would have given: the greatest scope to our future deliberations.= This 'feeling Would have been produced by the obvious. principle; that' in the first ses sion of a- new '-Parliament, a Parliament too in whiely' there is a greater infusion of new Mem hers than ordinary,' in !a state of public af fairs so complicated as-that in which the coup- - , try is at this moment placed, 'when' we are called upon - to answer a SpeeCh from the Throne, touching on so many important topicS, it is not too much to say, that on several of -these topics much information is requisite before, we can coni pletely deter Mine upon theni- It - is . highly uncle airable. that this. House should at:, any titne, and more p,artictilarly atthe present time, pledge itself, in any way, by - a .precipitatc dicision ; and as any. Amendment, had it been proposed, would in all pro . bability have been•inore preciSe 'than the Address ts , Oved. by the Noble Lord,' I sho;#ld undoubtedly. have preferred-the Address to the Amendment, had . an Amendment been offered to our consideration. The Address, so far as I have been able to collect its tendency, during the reading of it by the-Noble Lord, and subsequently, -Sir, 'by yourself,- very properly abstains from pledging the House to any thing farther, than that, in the spirit of ivhichevery * individual -in the House, 'and every individteal in the country, must warmly coincide, ,namely, to give every posSible support to the ExeCutive Goy vernment in the-great contest in which we are en• gaged. It goes no farther than to' rejoiceat the fortunate, and to lament the unfortunate,'occur - reuses of the last six months ; to promise - every aid that may be necessary to improve the' former, to repair the latter, and to bring the whole to a bappy issue, So far, Sir, I trust that every man Axil() hears me, and "I am confident , that an incal culahle majority of the country at largeareTre , pared,-without hesitation, to --go. I3ut, Sir, it . might have been thought, if 'the Address pros posed by the Noble Lord, however unexcep tionable in its general principle, had been al -1 • hewed to pass without' comment or illustra -tion, that every -man who. concurred in it was bound to the details - - as well as to' the - , genet al principles, and that . all doubt was pre-: chided on points which required further informa tion. It is merely in that spirit, in the spirit of wishing',to guard myself against such a sweeping conclusion, and with no desire to int er r u pt una , 'nimity, no hostile disposition towards-the Address itself, no anxiety to put, at the present , moment, : 'interrogatories on points that, in 411 concep tion, require future elucidation, thatTpresinne, Sir, to address- . you, and. to detain you and the , House for a short.time; while I explain iny'Sen-1, ' timents -- on several' of: the topics comprehended ,' in the Noble Lord's Address. Sir, the, .general -view of our - situation nathrally diVideS itself in .to domestic and foreign and the foreign por 7 • tion of that view into the contemplation of three' .Lidistinct wars, : in which' .we , are principals or ao `cessaries;--The first 'is the 'war'in the North-of -Europe; which we are eheering-wiih; oar encou - N! - agement, but of which we are-deeply-interested - spectators rather than active partisans. The se ' cond is the war in the, peirihsttla, Carried on prin-, 'pally from our own resonrceS, aided in some - gree by those of 'our allies: -The third isthe war with Am;_qica, svi:h we are -solely;' engaged, and in the conduct of which; therefore,, our , Government is subject to ,an exclusive responsi bility. With respect, Sir, , to the Watjti the . North of Europe, it was well said -by the Noble Lord- who moved the Address,- that it. is the child of that great- effort in the Peninsula -which has enabled Europe to reflect on its condition, and has roused it to a struggle for emancipation.--;- There can be.but one feeling of unbounded admi stati9n at the great eftbrt which has been .made by • Russia. 'Noble has been the contest there —even there,. where the tyrant of the world doubtlesSly' t anticipated an easy victory, and concluded, from former experience, that•one decisive battle would be theprecursor of an abject peace—there, ,where ' • *-.he thought he knew his lnan—there„ where be forgot that .a change -of circumstances might rouse a whole - nation to contend, with him— there, where imagining th*, having • issued a bulletin anct taken a fort,! his: work was done, he unexpectedly found a cohnilesspo , pulation opposed to, the furtherprogreSs.of desolating there is no man who' can contemplate the. recent oecnrrences in the . North of Europe without feeling his heart burn • within him. There is no man who can contem plate them without rejoicing at the defeat of those • principles of false philosophy which, having first misled the world, have at length deceived those - by • Whom they .were originally asserted. - The invader of Russiallattered himself, as the Noble Mover of the Address has justly observed, that a na tion, to which he affixed the appellation of barba- • touS; and which 'lie imagined to be in a condi *it?* of slavery, could 'entertain no generous and (•\\‘ noble sentinient, Ite rorgot that there is in every country -a principle'of instinctiye.patriotism,which prevails over the,vice,of positive, institutions ; for, : . Sir, it is not:true, as it has been for theseJast 2Q years so loudly asserted; that before the people of • any country determine to resist an Invader, they coldly-speculate on their own .state i .and enter into a, comparative Niew of their condition, and that of surrounding nations,—.(Hear, kar . . l ),--ir, the invader- of Russia has --foetid" that the physical feelings of man, his sacred attachment to. his home the tics of customf,.of family, of kindred, were enough to arouse.resistanceto an invader, corn ing with promises of freedom and improvement not • because it was • imagined he might not . realise those promises, but simply because he was' an invader and a foreigner: Sir, ifthis were to be the 'sole result of, what has taken place in the North, it. Would be an invaluable addition—or rather it would .be a revival of those ancient maxims of national independence, which the.con vulsiOns of the modern world have , almoSt buried in oblivion. But is this all ? Can any man who looks at the present condition of, Beonaparte, with what wonderful- ability . soever he, may have 'reS 7 cued himself from former difficulties, .perhaps as , great as those in which lie. ismow, involved, and lam sure 1 am not disposed to deny hint the p6s 7 session of great ability; but, I repeat, can • airy man look athis present condition and so chastise his ft lings as not to entertain some hope of events fa vourable to the cause Of Europe? , This, Sir, is the view which I take of this partOf, the subject, and as far as I can be apprised of the circum-: stances I give full credit to Ministers for the con 7 duct. which it seems they have pinsued ,towards- RuSsia—a conduct influenced, as it appears to by the soundest policy, as far As it ,regards the commencement of the Nvar, and their inten tions to give w tife Emperor of Russia eyerypof sible,aid in-the prosecution . otit. '.li,ut here, Sir, . a question arises, 'whichi. do mat Wish now to 'be answered, butrespecting which some future explanation seem S to me indispensable. How has,ithappened., that having made treaties of TrAcea„,upon which •we are called upon to . 'cop.: . gratulate theTrince Regenta. and having for the - last :six months. heard -notes of preparation in every port of Su eden f that the, power of Sweden' ,has not been brought to bear in aid of the coin- Mon 'cause,. at a anoment'when, if ever,., the inter position of a third Power might have been..deci 'sive of the ' conteso: To this. question 1 do not desire an immediate--.reply; but 1 cannot:vote for an Address containing a congratulation on the conclusion .of a treaty„with Sweden,, : and, at the. same' time observe. -Baonaparte retreating, .and in a situation which, an effective attack on hiS rear might render doubly. ,perilous, without *re serring to 'myself', the- - right of asking, at some' future period, -what impediment._ pre- . vented the co-operation' of Sweden, which it was hot in human. foresight. to anticipate, or in human Wisdom to. remove ? I .do not blame wish only to inquire. The treaty with. Swe r den i's not before .the noose; I - ca p therefore , argue upon it only:from, the, general information respecting its tenor,:' -which every one possesses. But, Sir, it ought , not-to be forgotten, whenever this subject may comet° he deliberately consider ed in 'Parliament, that in- cone-hiding this treaty, the Court of St. James. and that of Stockholm, did not stand on. an exact footing of equality: We had' a boon to grant, for .which -we had .right to expect an equivalent. -In all diplomacy, at all tithes, the acknoWledgment of a new dynasty (to say nothing of an usurpation) entitles to an equivalent; and if the treaty with Swedea simply -restores peace :on- an. equal footing, it . is an hu 'provident treaty : for the acknowledgment of a - new. dynasty, and 'incidentally of: the French man who' now the. Prince, clearly gave 'tO this country.;aright to demand an equivalent ad vantage;.- What that advantage ought to have beenl will not:now•say, but 1 contend- that We ought to have obtained some advantage. In. look ing at the conduct 'of the way in Russia, as 'arising out of and encouraged by the war in the Peninsula, the view of it so properly. taken by . • the 'Noble Lord, a fresh consideration, pressed- upon us. Hitherto we, have carried on the war in the Peninsula with no relation to any other nations than those which inhabited the 'Peninsula itself. But if, on the faith of ()UVcon tiuuiiii our efforts, in the Peninsula, the Russians have- begun • their_ war in ,the , North, then .we are . bound -to consider them nolonger, as sepa-. rated,from the interests: of Portugal and,Spain,.. and our obligations •accumulate proseente vi gorOtisly a contest im-the faith of -a continuance • of which Russia involvedherself - inhostilitiestvith 'France. Ridging,- Sir, tronywhathas .occurred, I uneptivocally ap . prove 'the language which has been held towards Russia. I -believe our Govern ment has said to -the Court of St. Petersburg, '' if you engage 'in a war With France with a view to'. l . your own interests, -we will help you as far as we may -be able ; • but depend not ~ion our di . rect- and immediate aid. • aur principal efforts , must be. made 'in the Peninsula, and in mak ing them there, we shall do , more towards your assistance tlu by any pecuniary, or military support l that we should be able to afford you." That take; Sir, to - have been the lan 'gi:;:ge held to Russia ; .and. if so, I contend that r it xv: , s wise language ; having held it, hoWeeer; it however, it behoved us to strain.every nerve in the - Peninsula. Sir, while I cordially join in every word of the Address which congratulates ;his Royal Highness . on the splendid exploits -of "our distinguished army, and-of , their gallant and immortal leadei• in thateotintry i I must say, that when in 'additiOn la am called -upon to declare . • that the result ofthose brilliant exploits has ,sa . tisfied the hope and expectationS -of the coma- . try, I must bar myself against .being supposed to concur in the . interpretation to • which that part of the • AddresS is liable. Do I there -fore,. count the victory of Salamanca. as nothing, even if its. consequences terMinated -on the plains upon which it was fought ?' Certainly not. I, who held up the barren field; its it was4:alled-, of Tala vera, to the admiration of the country, could scarcely . be expected to 'withhold - my applause of that of S a7.• lanianea, even had .no result proceeded from it but the 'acquisition of rational glory, :But, Sir, I alit compelled to take a:different-view . of th e question, when I compare the hopes which the victory of SA lauiana inspired, limp the situation - Of our affairs in die reniiNsuia, Which was presented to us at the opening of the present Session. . It is certainly fin po6ii? e for any man not i wan official situation; and consequently exeltilled from the most sourees of information; actually to demozistrate that we . could ha-vemade grater efforts in the Peninsu lar war, or, if we had Made greater 'efforts, - that they: would have been successful. 'On it former occasion, I studiously guarded •myselfagai list giv ing ,a decided opinion that the scale of the war'in the. PenipS.ula. was 'not as great as cur means Might enable us to make it'. But, Sit, this 1 will say, i 1 there be in thepoWet Of Ministers anymeans yet untried—any effort yet' unattempted—any re • sources yet unexploredany accumulation of force .:yetomittedH-any increase of energy-yet delayed not only that such additional exertion ought to be immediately made,' hitt that . it 'ought to have beep rinuielong agol. capacity' ~to do . more at preSentt, is the test of the capacity to have done more at a former periOtL •If . a . ..reirifoicement can be sent but now, the onzi§ . is ory. Minister's to prove that it couldnot have been sent Out before: If any measure can iieNir be adopted by which the. disposable force of theeciuntry niayb6 - augmerited; the burden is on Ministers to_ prOve - that such a measurecouldnot have been taken six Months ago ; when, instead of retrieving reverses, it might have ensured a continuance of success,: If Ministers have it in contemplation at present to call on the country to make, any extraordinary 'effort, why was not that 'call made in July last ?• Why was not the, last 'Session 'of the last Parliament prolonged for that purpose ? I can, therefore, concur in the' congratulation on, and implied , approbation. of the condhct of the win. in - the Peninsula, only on the Under Standing that it shall he, hereafierShoWn to the House, that Government did not 'possess the means of making that little additional effort, .which seems alone to have been Wanted, in . order to liring the contest to a favontable termination. In this view 'of the subject, the higher-we esti.= mate Lewd Wellington's merit; and no -man is (Hs . posed to estimate it more highly than' myself`, the more must we regret any Misplaced-economy; and , shrinking - from exertion that had a tendency to cripple his means, and from attaining those important objects which his great Mind had in conti mplation. It is difficult for'uny Ulan:not ib office to 'prove the affirMatiVe that More Might have been done by, Gdirernment in the Peninsula. But if I were put to the question, I must `say, that' in nYconscience" believe - they might have done' I believe that greater efforts • inight have *been made, and I believe, that if thoS-eefforts had been made, they would have proved etninently and Conchisively successful. To thOSe; Sir, - Who desnofid of the means and resources of the country; svjro think that she has taken her stand too high among the nations Of the. earth, and•that she ought to .return .to a prOper level, shrink into . bet shell, and avoid all attemptS at foreign - conquest, I may exposemyself to the imputation of insanity, when 1 talk of exttn :ling oar -Military eß"Crtions: 13ut I will ask. thOse Gentlemen, - Whether it the efforts Which ye have lately' been Making - had been predicted ten years ago, the prophecy would not have been received with an air of absolute bility ? Sir, ',believe that the resourceS Of the,coun try, Ibelievethat the spirit of the 'countiy, arefully , adequate to a:Considerable extension of-the exer tions that have hitherto been made ;' arid there fore to justify my cordial, Concurrence in the ap4 probation_ which has been done, I must be sa tisfied that those ineteased 'exertions could not. sooner. have been accomplished. This at .leastis certain, that the imagination of man can hardly devise a situation of ittairS Ehrdpe so f•a. vourablet6 a great effort as that which has recently occurred. Not only since the commencement of the present war,but since the eoininencenient of the revolutionary War, the power of :FlatiCC Was never so thoroughly occupied. Never has . she played so deep a ganie, never has her hazard been so mighty, ~never has her ruin been so' near its, accomplish ment. While the strength of France was withering in the INforth, oh that ive had had the means of pushing to a successful extent the efforts which . we must now make, to retrieve disaster ! With 'shell a General, and such a: cause, what might we not have Justly expected Gencral of Whom it is.: not too much.to say, that 'w-hate.Ver might havebeeit the Means entrusted to him;they would =have heenJised with the greatest effect ;. 'whatever the scope opened to him on the Theatre of • Eu rope hewould have filled with glory to himself and his country—Wear, henr„o—a General,"ofvyhoM it is not too much to say,. that looking at what he .bas already done, nO one can deny that, with a :comparatively. small increase of force, he might have occupied Madrid, not merely as theextremity, •but as tire centre of his operations ; that he might have earried his army, not merely to . the Ebro, but to the Pyrenees; and that,-considering the pre . - .sent state of. France, and the general discontent ,that must pervadethat country, considering thesitu- . ation of Buonaparte, met hs} an unexpected'and precedented rehiiit, the. lluisians clasping round, -and gradually.climinishirig his famished legions, he might have advanced to the:bohndaties of Spain, and overlooking the French provinces', becotaing insurgent, bave given, the, watch-word of libera- Cori' from Oppression. --.-THear, hear 1) At all events, ,Sir, this .is . clear,-that that economy in war, which restricts and husbands our efforts, is the worst - description of economy; and that a great exertion, tending to a sudden decision ofthe con test, although it may, be accompanied with a ten fold 'Cost, is:best calculated to advance the real interests of this country. .If, Sir;" feel this doc trine to be applicable to the contests in RusSia, and in the Peninsula, how much more 'applicable Must 1 Consider it to that third contest in which we are exclusively engaged-. 4 mean the war with .America: I Will not detain the House with ex 'pressing' that which every man in the country must feel, in common with myself--.-an anxious wish that tWo natiOns, , bound by so many ties of consanguinity and = interest, .. should remain in a state, 'not merely of •amity, but of alliance. But, Sir, it is - with America as it must be With other countries, - under similar circumstances. When once the die waseast, ~when once war became in evitable, it beeithe' us to be prompt in our Inca - siires,..and,i by vigorous proceedings; to bring the - contest to . a speedy and successful termination.— The . Address moved by the Noble Lord states,' - that we learn from his Royal Highness, that the dclaration of war hyAmerica was issuod at a time _., . . *heti Citentiistances had 10 him to hope that . tht (. disputes betty eett the two countriea_ might be ami cably arranged: - If; Sir; the Address had stated that to be our opinion, IcOuld not have assented to it:We receive this opinion from his Royal _Highness.; and•we must presintie that he , speaks front ro.iirces ot inteiligcace not (..;pen to us. As tar as that gene ral observation, ‘NII iCil all N Ora hear me •are enabled to Make as well as, myself; -goes, 1 must say, that, ` at the moment when the declaratiOnof war , , reacheu-staaa_ country from America, I' believe it reachedals in the da-y on which the laift Parliament was - prorogued. 1, .for'Z'a., did not entertain the slightest expectation, nor. wits itt'l% . : On the ft:a:a:of document' the least justification of luty expectation; . that what had been done in this country ; would remove the causes which had induced Amertea to go to war with us. For in fhat.declaration, the rescinding of the Orders in Council. ,which had been insisted on in America, . and .still more by those who argued in . favOur of America on this side ofthe water, were studiously.postporied, and other grievances . r adyanced,avhich this country had not taken any steps,' and which perhaps-aye could not take any steps : . to remove. If -America ever . • intended to close with us on the Orders in Council, she evidently reviewed that intention, and delibe -rately; and .er aaiino, , determined that she would go to war with us, unless we made every concesJ - sion . that she. demanded, It . • was evident, Sir, that the revocation of the Orders in 'Council could not be supposed, by any rational- mind, likely to restore peace; and 'therefore, Sir; until-I obtain - better information than that of \Aid] I ant at pre sent possessed,- I must continua to think that war was certain, and that all that •remained to this : country as, 'to determine hOw the war could best be carried on. ,The hest way to carry on any war is: the way that will-kali soonest to peace. Vigour, not t'Orhearance; exertions to an extent calettiate4 . to' make the enemy feel - and dread our power.--. Sir, 1 would' go to the extreme verge qt conees siva to -preserve peace - but when the preservation of peace 'become. hopeless,, f 'would pot dilute my . measures •of noStlitt - in the expectation that such. l 4 , a regirpen. : vould,be.saluta.ry ; l'would not make - war, which is, natttrally an 'acute distemper, -a chronic 0n , 2, and incorporate it with the habitual - system of the country.—(hear, hear 1)-----This war with' America, which vigour might ,s,oon. have converted into peace, bus nursed up this,petty pa- Licy" until it is probably fastened upon us for a con. -. siderable periock I will . .ask any man, whether, -if two years ago, in the contemplation of. a war . 'with America,. and with the :consideration of the •character, the ; might, .and the grandeur of this - country, it had been prophecied to him, that after six Months of hostility,the onlymaritime trophies would be ott the side ot the - enemy, and ,our only CCM. solution that we had not been-conquered by land, he .Ivould pot have thought such a prediction au insult ? It is true, Sir, we have tiot been con quered in Ameritaity .. .land. 1 am sure I am dis- Tosed to pay my tribute of admiration to our gal iant-troops, and of ielgret for their heroic leader, with:as- Much sincerity of feeling-as any man ; fOr individual heroism and self-devotion, under any circhnixtances; -are glorious ; but really, Sir, - what. has happened is not a matter of great tri umph. I really never did suppose that we should :be conquered, It never entered into my mind that .'wo should be : compelled to seek for such a consb - lation.• It never entered into my mind that the Mighty naval power of England would, be .allowed 'AO - sleep While her commerce was swept .from the surface ofthe Atlantic, It never entered into my mind that.at the end of six months war with Ame rica, it would be. proclaihied in a speech front the . - Throne,. that the time was now come , when the . long-withheld thunder of Britain must be launch ed against an int-placable foe, and the fulness of 'her power exhibited.. It never entered my mind that we should : send afleet to' our ports in North America, and that ire should then attack the Ame rican towns with a .flag of truce. I have said, 'Sir, and 1 repeat,..-that when his Royal Highness tells us that,' at the period of the American deela 'ration of war, there were CircinustanCes which lethhitn. to believe that peace might be restored ; 'it max be that those circumstances were of a tia-, ture , :of AN hich -we and the ptibliaate wholly igno rant, ,blit which in due time may, perhaps, be • diselbsed, and may then . bear out such a belief.-- 7 , But certainly, - on' the face of the . American decla ration', any Man tuust observe a studied mind to prevent pacifieati4n; •or at least to defer it ; and as to Canada,' the desire entertained by the Ante rican Government to posseSS:thatprcivince, is not :nitwit frowned upon, even 'by thoSe Americans who are this least disptised towardS this country. As an additionalsproof of the true tone and cha racter of the Aineriean 'deeimation„ let it not b e forgotten, that 'l'M`nteiliately after the proinulga . tion of it, an . Artilka l SatiOr to France . aa-rs-appoirit . ed, .who traced' ifie, '-ie - O• of. the Gallic con quero r ' through the realms which he had devastated. An Arnbasador, bearing- the homage of a re public, to sign ; " athidst the . destruction , of .Moscow, a treaty inim:,:al to the independ ence tif Spain ! - When such was . the effect of '. republican virtue and love of- :liberty, faint were the 'hopes that could :be cherished of a . disposition on the part of Amer i ca to conc=iliate Great Britain. Mitch.has been said of the natural affection that Ought .to subsist between the two countries. Sir, I admit 'the force of common blood, of common interests, of common language. But we are told by natural historians, that affection descendS ; that parents love their children more than children love their parents ; and I put it to those who; in this country, speak -of America with parental affection, whether they do not count a little too much oil a reciprocity of feeling ,on the part of America ? Before, however, I leave the subject of. Canada, , I beg leave' . again to guard myself against the posiihility of being so misunderstood, as to be supposed capable of un dervaluing the heroiSM there displayed—the alle -legiance whiCh remained proof against all tempta tion. ,Let me also (adverting to a vote of Parlia :merit last Year) reminded fit e House, that these pr; - iinces of Canada, so :assailed, and.So' attempted to be sedueed, are the' single specimen in the British :Empire, in which the Catholic is allowed to legislate side by side with the Protestant in the 1-louae of Asserribly, and to fight aideby site With him in the field. Sir, front this fact, I draW this 'inference if we cannot become wise . from'our • own reasoning,- let. a at leaq derive 'a lesson of