The Sun.
London, England, 1807-04-17 00:00:00

MONTE VIDEO.

_ Lord CAST.CEREAGH rose, porsuant.to notice,
to call the attention of , the House to . the brilliant
service lately performed by his Majesty's Naval and
7Military Foree in the Capture of Monte ,Video. In
the OfriCe which he hadthe honour to occupy, there
was no more crateful duty to perforth than that
which lie was tuSt about to enter upon ; and it was
rendered still more peCuliarly grateful from the con-
sideration, that whatever political' differences might
prevail, all party feeling was'lest On such an occa-
sion, and a spirit of emulation prevailed on both ,
sides of the 110ise'aS to 'which should be most for-
ward to dis'charge the debt of .national gratitude to-
wards those who had • contributed so-Inuch to our
national safety and honour. For himself he could
say as an individual,, that whatever differences he
might- have wits. a . Right Hon. Gentleman on the
Other side (Mr. Windham), or" his Colleagues, rela-
tive. to the general Jnilitary arrangements,. he never
was likely to differ from him as to: the, disposition
or conduct of any particular portion of that•• Army,
When the.objea N.vas-to recognize andapplaud the
merits of a British Force, he could assure that Right •
Hon. Gentleman that it was his wish to bury all former
differences in oblivion, and that he.would be quite as
reedy to acknowledge the Merit 'of a Force appointed
miler the auspicesbt the Right' Hon. Gentleman, as if
it had been sent out and acted under his own auspices.
With respect to the. fore • to whom his motion was
intended to refer, he was decidedly of opinion, that
whether its merit was to be -estimated 'by the
portance of„the acquisition or the brilliancy of the
achievement, it was one of those efforts which was
etninently entitled to the distinaion of. Parliamen-
tary Thanks. It was, he was satisfied, quite of that
description Of military exploits which' deserved such
special -seleaion. It was marked by that degree of
valour and discipline, in a most difficult and perilous
undertaking, Which claimed the !lightest rank in
military fame ; for' the Army had in this instance
succeeded in au assault—i 9 that species of
.attack
i;• always considered as the highest evidence
i:. courage. But WI this occasion it was so in a- most
eminent degree; fur the assault was _made under
circumstances: of peculiar difficulty ands danger,
to the utmost test. the bravery
cylitte of the British Army.. It appeared that-the.
breach in the fortress had bean made iiitder such
eireumsfablces that the Enemy found it
,pratli&ible
t,) hit it up in the .nighte so as to:render.it difficult of
access, and even difficult to be ascertained at the
dawn of day, when our troops advanced to the
attack. The consequetice was, that the valour, dis-
cipline, and patience of our troops was most severely
tried, for while engaged in making
_their way to the
bre:Th tney were exposed tO-3 most powerful can-
,o,;tiade. Thus the attack gave occasion to the dis-
play of those qualities'Which had ever diSting-uiShed
a British Artny;and which, he had no doubt, would
ever belOng to their chara6ter.—That chara&erbad
iadeed, particularly for some years back, became so
eminently high, that it was rapidly rivaling the fume
of our NaVy every instance in which- it Was
brought into :talon, it was found to be animated
hy_ ail the noble qualities v.l3icli had served•to pro-
n.io;e the elevation of our Navy. Although i:ircum-
stanc.m had not.. tAtfordecl any opportunity to our
Army to acquire distinaion on the Continent in' the
Poll* of the war, yet, whenever any, portion of it
Itadakted, they had established:a reputation of which
the Country had reason to be proud,. and which no
4rmy is Europe, however renowned, 'would hesi-
tate to recognize-they bad slieWn themselves equal
to the most brilliant military achieVements, whe-
ther in -1 he field of battle, as hi Egypt, or in the
cf a fortress, as in-this instance. The Noble

Lord concluded with:expressing, his regret for the i
loss of so many gallant men, with •which this vic-
tory was accoMplished. This was one of the effeas
of war, which, by of lifting the 'feelings of huma-
nity; must serve to damp the exultations of triumph.
Such losses, however, were inevitable in war, and
much consolation must be derived from the cir-
cumstances .under which they occurred in this in-
stance, as those circumstances contribute so ma-
terially to advance the interest and glory of the Na-
tion, and of course to form a source of proud re-
fleCtion to the families of the deceased. •
The Noble Lord moved the Thanks of the House
to Brigadier-General Sir S. Auchtnuty, for his con-
dual, &c. in the Capture of Video.
Mr. WINDHA3I and General Doyle rose at the
same moment ; and after a cry for each of the Hon.
Members, General. DOYala gave way, and
Mr. WINDHAM proceeded. He reaal he
said, to second the Motion, with regard .to which
he did not think necessaty to, add rya:gait° what the:
House had beard so. forcibly staaaa by the Noble
Mover. In the merit of this cF,atingnithea exploit,
he had no right to
.particiFace, meaty because it
happened to have been Preasared under the direaion
of the office over whir;: he recently presided ; but •
yet he confessed that ade circumstances served to aug-
ment the interes'a he felt in the result. But he
hoped the Nob'.e Lord would do him the justice to
believe that ;le, as -well as that Noble Lord; would
have beer, ready to applaud such an achievement,
by whce..rieaer the expedition might have -been pre-
parea or sent out. This, he thought, was sufficient-
ly - apparent from his conduct with regard to the
battle of Maida, which was achieved by a force sent
out under the official direction of the Noble Lord.
Bat that party feeling could not have an honeat
source or a right direction which could produce in
the minds of Englishmen any other than, as the'
Noble Lord had observed—anemulation of gratitude
upon such a subject. To that degree of gratitude
he thought the action to which the Motion referred,
completely-entitled. It stood as high in its class as
any military effort to be found in our hisafay, if the
strength of the fortress, so much beyond any thing
,previously known or heard of, were taken into ac-
count, combined with the trying situation in which
the troops were placed-in consequence of the hillier-
feCt manner in which the breath was made, before
they proceeded to the attack, and the tremendous
fire to_which they were exposed—lf the merit of
the troops were estimated, either by the event and
the circumstances under which the attack was made,
he was persuaded that the House and the Country
Would acknowledge its. high claim to distinction.
Although there were 4000 men in the 'field, the
number actually engaged in the assault did not ex-
' ebed 1200, and when the account of the loss from'
such a•-body was considered, he was satisfied it would
be felt, that the greater the loss the greater the glory
(a cry of hear ! hear !). To grant to such an ex-
ploit the distinCtiOns to which it was entitled, would
serve not only to satisfy the brave men engaged in it,
but also by commemorating this example, to gene-
rate a similar spirit upon future occasions. At the
same time that he paid a just tribute to the merit of
• our own troops, he-felt it but justice to acknow-
ledge the spirit of theirfopponenta, and he could
not help expressing a wish, that a similar spirit was
excited in Old Spain ; nor if it could, he bad no
doubt that it must lead to consequences against the
common enemy, in which Europe wouldhave reason
to rejoice.
..The Motion of Thanks being put,
General DOYLE rose and observed, that the aoli-
citude which he had manitested to deliver his senti-
ments upon this sUbjeCt, ' but which solicitude he
suspended the moment he discovered that his Right •
Hon. Friend offered himself to the attention of -the
flouse, would, lie hoped, be deemed very natural,
when he stated that he bad the honour of raising
one of the regiments engaged in this gallant action.
Considering them his brave comrades, who had fol-
lowed his fortunes during the last war, be could not
'on arroccasion where it was proposed to thank thes
for all their valour, persuade himself to give a silent
vote. Their conduct in this instance, 'however, was
nothing more than he expected, and he had not the
least doubtafrom his own experience, that any por-
tion of the BritiSh Army, when engaged with any
enemy, would prove themselves equally meritorious..
Indeed, he never knew an instance where a 'British
army, opposed to an equal, or at all nearly equal'
force, was not certain' of victory. But to- return to
the case before the House. When the strength of
the place, the fire to which the troops were exposed,
-
and the disparity of nuMbers, was taken into view,
-lie would venture w assert that no instance of a more
brilliant achievement was to be found.
General PILIPPS said, that there was a particular
feature in this transaction which had not been al-
luded to by any of the Gentlemen who spoke upon
the subject. HQ therefore felt it his duty
to- state
it, as it redounded highly to the honour, humanity,
and character of the British Army- It was this,
'that although Monte Video was taken by
assault
in the morning, yet the shops were Open, and the
inhabitants .seen going abOut their business witha
Oat'any embarrassment before twelve o'clock on the
same day.
he Hon. ..11r. MATHEIV observed, that he
should not have arisen, if it were not for something
that had fallen' from. the Hon. Gentleman on' the
floor (Doyle). When that Hon. Officer alluded to
the regiment (the 87th), which fought in the'aCtion
to which the Motion referred, under the command
of Sir _Edmund Butler, he was sorry that the'Ho_
nourable Officer omitted to state,.t bat that regiment
was altogether composed of Catholics. In point
of het, he knew that of the 4000 men who rat-
tacked Monte Video, no less than 3000 consisted
. of Catholics ; and with such a' 'fa6l before their
eyes, the Men who could presume to say that Ca-
tholics were not to be trusted, were 'calumniators'
of the Army, and enemies to the best interests-of
their country.
The Motion was agreed W.; •as.were Motions of
Thanks to Briaadier-General Lumley, and the other
Officersengaged ; and also to the Non-tom'missidned.
•:Otficers and Privates.
Upon the Motion being put, •lc That this House
do acknowledge and higrily approve the Diligence
and. Skill Manifested by Admiral Stirling injanding
the TroopS," &c. .
Sir THOMAS TURTON rose, not to excite. any
'difference of opinion, which he deprecated, but to
express his warm approbation,of the freedom from
. all party spirit and ifividibtaS distipOion which this.

MaIHICSZet.I. LtC 1101)(1O tout suCo COLIOHCI
wouldfLirnish a precolent for allfuture Ministers, as
it formed a strong cci.ntrast to some I,v.iio had gone
before. When ;le . House was • engaged in pp,:de-
gyrisinsf, as they deserved, the valiant'Office,A'who
were engaged in this aaion, it was irr,:e6ssible to
forget those who Optmed the way to such brilliant •
achievements, or not to feel that ;tiey also merited
t;ountry.-4We
the Thanki"Of
'Bar`..vnet's allusion to be to Sir
understood the
Home Popham and 11;,6, Tieet.l
General DOY './y1; did not differ from the opi-
nion of the I:4onourable 'BarOnet as to the merits
to which he alluded.; but yet he 'Could
disapprovingc
his attempt to create' any 1'
ofn nor
thel
oe
j,'",ebbsy upon this occasion, particularly at the time
tfie Honourable Baronet himself professsed to de-
precate any such. jealousy. Why, then should the
Honourable Baronet attempt to raise animosity and
-.interrupt the unanimity whiCh it was so desirable to
procure upon such an occasion.
Sir THOMAS TuitTobr •in explanation, stated,. that
his
,observations were meant only to apply to the,
Motion which related to the Navy.
Mr. IPMTBREAD thought it would have been
more candid and becoming of the Honoui•oble Baro
net not to have offered his remarks, after, his Noble
Relation (Lord Howick), to whose conduct- "they
appeared to refer, had left the House. However,
with regard to the case to which the Honourable
Baronet alluded, there was no precedent for moving
the Thanks of Parliament upon such a proceeding.
It was known that after the Gentlemen on the
other side, who were then in opposition, had inti-
mated their intention of .bringir forward such a
motion, they found upon enquiry that no prece-
dent could be found, for such a Motion, and it
-was ,abandoned: _ _ _

Lord.CASTLEREAGII deprecated the discussion,.as
calculated' to lead to dissentions, which ought to be
discouraged.
Lord TEMPLE concurred with the Noble Lord,
but begged to observe, that the discussion did not
originate on hiS side of the House.
The Motion was agreed to ; as were the Motio'ns
of Thanks to the Officers, Seamen, and Marines
under the command of Admiral Stirling.
• • Ordered, that the several Motions should be trans-
mitted by the Speaker to General Auchmuty and
Admiral Stirling.
The Trader's Assets Bill was' committed, end a
Clause was adopted to prevent the extension of the
Bill to the repeal of certain A6ts with regard to the
Landed Property of Banker's in Ireland. After 4
few words trout Mr. I),GIDDY, the House resumed,
and the Report was ordered to, be brought up to-
morrow.

The Innkeepers' Allowance Bill was committed,
and ordered to be reported to-morrow.
Mr. HusxtssoN gave notice of a motion to-mor-
row in the Conamittee of Supply, but in atone of
voice so low that he was quite inaudible in the Gal-
lery ; but we understood the Hon. Member's notice
to refer to some miscellaneous services. ..
The Landillo Road Bill was thrown out, upon the
suggestion of the Speaker, that amendments had
been introduced in. the Lords trenching upon the
privileges of that House.
The Parish Apprentices Regulation Bill was read
41- second time, and ordered to be committed on
Monday.
The second reading of the Clerkenwell Bill was
postponed till Tuesday.
The Oak Bark Bill went through 'a Committee,
and the Report was ordered to be brought up to-mor-
row.—Acijourned.
[For die House of Peers see the last page.]