The National Register.
London, England, 1812-03-01 00:00:00

NAtIOTAL

134

'is t •
great mass of the Spanish people we were and out t abe allied. Were
we to continue. voting 12,000,0001- annualy, for supporting a war, the
termination of which it svas impossible to f.reste. He had hes.id of
revolutions and changes in Sicily; he rejoiced at it ; no change in that
country could be tor the worse. The transactions between this coun-
try and America, he could characterise by no other name than that of
a neutral war. The system of blockade adopted .by France towards
this country, which had caused, so mech dis.atisfaction in America,
Was founded on a precetiew of our own, adopted soon after the Itevo-
Pitlo in this rnuntry, when We, in cool:onion with the Dutch, insti-
tuted a blockade of the trench ports, on the grounds of the overgrown
tower of Louis XIV.; this m'sasUre, Itewever, produced. the Berliu
,and Milan Decrees; and these Deere it Oar Orders in Connell; and in
this state svere thle,,,s in 1810, when both Powers bang tired, and 011-
h:iced they were wrong, a repeal of the French Decrees was about
taking place, when our Ministers, instead of immediately embracing
this measure, which would innuedlately haVe eiptled tin: markets of
the Continent to our distressed manufacturers, refusea tto credit Boo-
naparte's assertions that he had withdrawn Ids'Deerees, and insisted on
rrsevering in theit ruinous system. The man must be a very bad po-
iticiart .vho ald but feel X!pt a war with America would be the ruin of
this country ; and he entreated of the House tti take the subject lA°
tis most serious! con,ideration. He next
inducedaverted. to the 'State of Ire-
land, which alone was sufficient to the House to go into an in-
'qtt ir y. ..ro,re._w_ere in zin y necessary be conside ed besides Catholic
Emancipation. Was it not yto enirire-into. tile state of the
tythes, of public schools for the educ.ation oi youth, oT the trade, and
various other_ causes of grievance. in 'lnland ? Anclagainit such inquiry,
veLis it any anter to sty, that a diinferouswsernhly had. met iii lAlb-
lin i and that to listen to the complaints of Ireland svould be to counte-
nance such a ineetlpg. He next adverted io the enormous expellees we
Were subjsob Vteeping up the present system of protracted warfare.
Our out o fin e of 'the Male populatioli of the country was enployed in
carrying on the wa.., and etit resourees were;. every year diinshing.
The surplus of the enselidtited Food was bssz this ye by
, two ntillions
than it ki
was last Year; nd every effort we were mang. exceeded
.otir
Ineans. He a
wished totnow on what ground coutel our yersonal hosti-
lily to Buonsparte be rit.:de a cause for eternal war, aOd ettr that should.,
be any obstaple to our making .ice with him. The
.posonal charac- '
ter of Sdvereigns ne‘rer constituttWan objectiOn to making peace with
Ahem., It was nothing.lnit 4 false pride that made
•the Cialferriment
up the war.., He Wishetito know Where was ttie boasted prospe-
r;
of the courtly to he foto' ? Not among on'rAristocris,ss-, who
Were forced to abandon their 4te. hostitable mansitns,mer and. .taite shel-
ter in stone watering pla4e s,.4't .ws.s rot iiniong air raiiis, \Om
'Were resting on their pay!), intd living .en their capitals s nor was it in
41
our. 'manufacturers. .1* le to;stern the Minister now purioed in carrying
on war 'it st)ch cno ous expense, \Vas pregnaot with calamity
'ruin tO the cannily. He did not tbirelt h.:, had diseharged his duty,
if he did not state sli these things to the House ;• and it was his firm
conviction that, if the sys:•:em was not immediately chaleari, we should
at bast to forced to lay the country 'at the feet of Buunaparte. He
conciti'lett with moving, "
_That, the Houle should resolve itself into
a Conlinitter. 0-1 the State of tlle Nation."
Mr. 'ficus ficeoneed the motion. u -
Mr. Ro DIN sh N said, it was not his intet.non to travel over every cor-
ner of the elJbe, as the I-Ton. Baronet had done; but, withou,taltiog
any itng journey, he should shew. that thr preSent 'nodal ought to bt•
rejected. Fat was he horn admitting rhat he assented to the proposition
ct the rel. Baronet. It wasimpossible in the preselit 1 t;tti. of the .coun-
lrytnrliiin to entertain it f6r thoisnet.
set
I let ti.cm., ipst cad ot yieid-.
init to tinieVittd. irresolute opinions, set up an erect front, and look
these difficulties. in the face, and encatoter them with resolution and
strength They lt'adlleen, heUelieved, fore,kl by.Vratice into the, creseTit
sett. 'I :;e defensive trysteu he condemned ; and it..had been ttiy chA-
'yak tet'tid ..kay a great and able polltical writer. tlesealicli it the col Avnt;on
r,f fear against hope I=-;:j lie history Of the :oUntry Lffork;ed-anip;e illus..
'trations et the truth Of the tifsservation.
liraf!l_.ook to
oth ells of orions and suceess-•
lui warfare persevered in by..the cede
d.c Queen Anne.
Aft,..;l- a most illustrious conflict with France in a daring Offensive
irtens.of operations, by 'which they had almoseaccritnelished the total
rum of That rower,
.see them frnish it ingloriously aqd sl.atnefully, IS•,,
asloptirsg thetuisibi4lous eoe,inct of 'defensive warfare l•econintend-
`etis at present, by the Thiu. Bar • nee. lloring the. celebt+ted seven years'
war, we kagued our arms
.wiiii .ptustia,.eud Oxried on 'in unison a.
'most Stl4.:4okil offensive. Condit t.-. 1., it 1! PV.yers against Whoon, had they ,
'acted on the del'Otsive, there w&.itl li;Ne.teen no tossitility.X with- 1
:standing. The King of Prussia accomplished 6-i.e.:trill' strokel! what
'would never have been perfortned ,by cold and _hesitating defensive •
operatitnis. Hedid• nut -despair; lil:e the Hon. 13aroner, and his hopes
were Ilit• clime of his closing tine teaeprospet•nesly.—C.Rede 1.).,----Let the
nation theniift its head high, out crea resolute anect, *And act again 4
the enemy with renovated vigour. We had set fair examples. 23 omens 1
'lsf sadt.ess before Us in the conflict we had, succetSfuily contitictereh—
eNre ?Ad lowered the lags of France salereves they w,!re unfosled our.
ithret tjuirters ofthe world; and would we hesitate lid ISaltjlier. e, with..
'vet 'goniU6rig that =err of valour in which we had proved oitraetyv.
`to` PilltY4Al. . T;,;; main policy of the present Governmens.was to a 0
...the firPittqy Valcr:urces of Britain tollseasiistance of the orrase df Spain;
eliatVoeys in his ties, was wise and neble. Did the lion. Baronet
ininiSillo.tv be laid dowts, in a -spiech-beforelite‘Houvo, the Mit-

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MAittn 1.

hue of a campaign projected by him in Catalonia ?—(Hear, howl dad
soiree laughter.)—Ard did the Hon. Baronet really 'man that so soon al
be had conducted his army into Catalonia, Laid Farm a seccessful impres-
sion on the enemy, that he would w ithdraw his y ?—( Laughtee.)
He had calculated on congests; but he had forgot he had to contend
against the irritated spirit of an injured people, against wlessn he had
boasted that he had only to parade his troops and they would surrender
to Win their allegiance. Did he not laugh. when he heard how the
British had descended front their path of unrivalled glory on the ocean,
upon the plains of Spain ; and did he not say he Would drive them back
to The sea, and that he would insult them as they fled, by displaying the
French banners over all the ramparts of the day'Peninsula?—(Hearlhear !)
—Such were his boats, but belv.,:d the reverse. On that twelve-
month, 0! happy commemoration, were his veteran legions overthrown
in the battle ot -Busaco, by an alliance of British skill, with the national
valour of the neople.—(Hear, henr,hear, ! )—But the Baronet. had forgot,
in his description of thew err in Spain, to state, that in the districts of
Catalonia, Biscay, and Arragon, that the enemy were drivefi to the
greatest difficulties ; he also forgot on his display of generalship on the
frontiers of Portugal, that the British army was every where present,
and without its preience it was utterly impossible for th P
e ortuguese
Government ter to have marshalled their army;Portugal, wanted by
our 'alliance, arid her ancient valour. roused by our co-operation, now
set up an aspect of rnattial resistance to France.
he Owing tod
a the
di de olatiand
on,
'Which the enemy's arms alone occasioned,
woe td
dangerous subsistence, add met every where resistance to fotage among
annarmedspopuiation,
armed population. How differently did the enemy set out ;in the
churse of two years he had expended 2,000,0C.0 of francs, and wa-ted
400,000 Men, with which he doubted not to more than aecomplish all
c?—on(cliul:aorn'
his iyowed ainis. And did the Honourable Baronet really seriou,ly
aced coated good
'create most
stop there, but would spread the British name in infatny over the world.
Buonaparte had runtournd them already as a faithless people, who desert-
ed tteir friends at the moment of danger, and the Hon. Baronet's
ii
3arinansaivairtswhoettn*:eielra.itnanttdAdeite: thetas
eis..,
‘llnoin,,totediteridt
islesadoytWhttsieitolytet:tdtioi
!arid
Isacli
oaVadeisztotoi;astritNer,vesdua Arminyfiroaast:lltlsilAlfiau.isi til
etoytngotlaNc?ilvetl
ays
Tt
br r
fate, rhe
joriarttefadaacSiticii:diuhan g
vi 0 u i a n 0 t
bear,
.frOlit the Ilaronetoond the Oppostion benches ! J—Weil, if the lion.
regthtlt, Were it complied with, would rivett he falsehood into the
hearts of men.-•'=“ftfier, ha' !)—Did we once allow that unblemishe
to
d
character to be soused in. the minds of nations, then, farewell
.flritish glory. Posterity, when eurniog back on the page of hi-tory, and
contemplating the once tratiscendant lastre of the Nation, Would sorrow
whew they eiclaimed that I;ngland was once a noble country.
stretched its arm over the liberties of Europe, and protected them
against in justice, but it allowed itself to be terrified. by unfounded
iieirs, tnd became enfeebled with the irresolutioh so visible in the l'lon.
Baronet, and tit at once into a secondary nation among tholonsiaions
of Europe.' Well Might they contemplate the falling away of the n
hatisn,
and exclaim—', Et propene vitato vlveadi p• rdere causas. —Yet e did
riot think the land approached its ruin so closely as the 'lon. Baroneou t
thought.. He saw .far brighter prospects arising to his Contemplati.
lie hoped 'he military powers SFr Great Britain would be bet ben, still
more tormid ible array against ance than it had ever yete and
that she would sustain her own cause and that of her allies with her ac-
I 'costumed valour. The Honourable Baronet might exclaim we slaitald
1 fail:—" If we fat we fail; but screw cur courage to the sticking place,
and
rlsr7i.
:AcannotiisE confessedf a fail." .''
that he did n6t really understand how, that hy
agreeing to.the motion °Mlle Hon. Baronet, they would be making
reason to to the weakness of the nation. For his own part, he saw many
reasons to urge a compliance with the proposal. Our commercial
distres•, the decay of .trade, discontents at home, and perilous want
abroad, adeto all strong discontents in the Sister Island, andd a dtsunited,
divided, and inefficient Nlifiistry—(7.leor, hear )--H hiefly ureed
l the necessity of going into a Committeia that they
.might consider ;tow
1 they might lend a new nerve to the war abroad, adopting a surer paliey
l there, and a more liberid.and.pppular polo at home. He would also
' goof ittihtoosteh efa
Cti::tis"%invhitiie
che,Loyr
atteneptiteripi oins
t 0 :a
naccusing tghteh,Nllliii i
fronti6try tthuoilL
which arose from the Pot:tore of the times •
Lord DesaaT contended against the appointment of a Ceionittee,
on thi grounds that no•apparent necessity etisted for such a teaser..
Mr, Kr aaic a r (of Kerr) ) :peke btielly against the Motion.
Mr:...M. Mowr A& e, in rising to opipose the Motion, said, was that
the fin* tit he Considering of the state of the nation, when we were en-
raged 'sci fiercly with a N,varlif. e enemy abroad?—(La reser, and Cries rf
bear, lia,!--,Gentlemen might clamour as much as they pleased, this
.ea's not 4 tirne; he would say again, to expo the situation of the coun-
try. He licknovirledscilthe ability and talents of the Honourable Gentle-
man (M.X.Ohithresai)nbut as •he differed, with him upon all occasiono,
he Whold take the-Sante fr,;e.clont with. him which he was at all nines
I very willing. to take with others,. and tell him his speeches were calcu•
I laced to create delusion and hypocricy ; and however great the powers
Icif.the GentleMett Opposite, though theOvereameriiif great talents, ili
(the.poktlisti.c language, lie must say they were great gluttons, and took a
(IgiOt dial to stomach them. But he must always say, and should always
maOt'aiolt.that the tnost skilful Clniernrrient of the country was' carried
coa by that side of theliouse (the-Ministerial), without any stance
.it
from talenti(il load' laugh !)--Gentlemen might lauah, but

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