The Sun.
London, England, 1813-03-13 00:00:00

Lord Wellington was, he (the Nobla'.Marquis)
‘vould not know which to admire most, the teme-
rity of the assertion, or the absurdity of the infe-
rence. There' was no temerity in the assertion—
it was a true one Lord Wellington was satis-
fied with the means placed at his. disposal'. This
he (Lord. Bathurst) would not say, it he were not
authorised to do so. The Noble Marquis said, I
that all the means and all ,the resources of the '
country should be employed on the Peninsula, and
that the means and resources employed were not
einployed, as they ought to have been. He said,
that the'system adopted, was the very worst that.
„sonld be. That it was •fundamentally wrong,
That 15,000 •men ought to. have been sent out
earlier in the year ; and that this Gould have been
easily done, for that the force Scat this year might
have been sent the year before', It should first be
considered that this 1;),000 men would have been
in addition the force before under his com-
mand. The. Noble Marquis, in this assertion, as-
sullied what he had no tight to assume, that the
troops were in the same state of readiness in the
beginning and the, end of the year. What, he
would ask, were the conseqiieuces that followed
from this.systeniso much complained, of ? Were
not Ciudad ItodOgo and Badatos, and the fortS of
Salamanca, -t ;hen ! Was not-the siege of Cadiz
.raised % Were ma the French 4.Wven out of Se,.
vile,
,and the' whole South of Spain completely
cleared of them ? Were these disastrous events )
',lle result of the Ginipaign w.', that nil these
places.
,still rcinaioed in their possession ; , that
they .had taken2o,ooB prisoners, :Ind 80 pieces- of
cannon. Was there not it great object gained by
ci•e,:titig a diversion in favour...of any•pOw6r that
un,y rise to op.poselltioukiparte on the Continent ?
Tlw, first proof' btotd.i4oriVard of the insttflili
cieucy' of means; wii.c7(..te siege of t:indatl Amt.-
That, place perhaps haVe bccn taken
ithin a shorter time., but the delay did not arise
from deficiency of mans. It was: said that the
effects of the suit ender of ulaioz were lost, be-
cause Laid Welling,tun was not able after to pro
geed to. Seville, for the want of force to .keep
Altirniont in check, which, might have been effected
by itsmal.l number of men. It, eould'not how-
ever have been done • so easily, because Mar.-
mount, was then at the head of 15,000. men.
Laid. Wellington's advance was not the con-
,sCquenee of instructions from home, it was his
own. plan. lie, &mid pot expect supplies, be-
•cause such promises were made, and no such
hopes could of course, have been entertained by
him. It was said that he expected reinforcements
from Sicily. The case w 43 this—it was left to,:
Lord 'William Jientinck to decide, if reinforce-
ments couf&he spared from Sicily. The Marquis
Of Wellington entered into a CQnummication with
Lord Bentiack, and it was deCided .that it would
be advaatageous that 411ritifsb force should ap-
pear on the eastern coast of Spain,, Lord . Ben-
tinck.git-..e information in' J uly, that he doubted
whether more than one detachment could be sent;
two detathments,howerer, were dispatched; and
it is asserted, that from their delay, -Sachet was.
enal)led.to embarrass Lord Wellington, /both
be-
lure and after the battle of Salamanca; Not more,
he believed, than one regiment was sent by Sucher,:
wi,i,•l4 dill not arrive at Madrid until five clays
after the bat.le of Salamanca, This rigiment
rouid trot enable Joseph fluonaparte to embarrass,
,Lord wewingtoo. Ile made to efforts ju ‘cotlB.!!'-•
Klee ,v: a it, which he .could not ofherwise have
made. With respeet• to the siege oilturgos,frOm
the eireistances of the eotintry, it:was not in the
lower of his 1401'd:dill) to•discover .the strength of
tae place, which OeCasioned sonic delay. The
want of success htfore that place, arose from•
cireutusauce, that an officer ii ho was,killed in t hp
assault th..,! plan of atitack in, his pocket.
body was taken by, the enemy. They, found the
plan, and the consequer.,:'e was, that Lord, Wel-
tut,eould, not proceed in this siege. After
the tpittie. of S4l,lrhaneFL, reinforcetucofs were sett
as soon as they possibly
.could, but they were not
able to join so early as was expected. was
tint, nothing was deltic as the Freach .were not
-driven front the Pehinsula, but fit,ere were vie-.
Wiles gamed, [Lull many places of iMportance
tC!..en. The Noble Marquis. himself, in WO,
stated, that the, great object of the' war on the
was
.to' create a diversion iii favdor Of
'mil oh the continental Powers, anti Ms.. to keep.
up the spirit of ,i‘SititilliCe.r Were. not both these
olkjects gained by the l tt campaign ? Were • Ha
the connutrcial reqoutees of the country prevented
from failing into time hands of the enemy, by the
sy-dein that 1;1,1 been pursued ? In the course. of
the year very nearly the number of trot.)ps tor
which the Noble ,Marquis (Wellesley) had ex-
Kessed a desire were sent..' More could not have
been spared. .e disturbances thp.t unfortunate-
I exi!qed in the country gave employment to five
riTiwents cavalry. The, Noble :Marquis said
, that 40,090 infantry were too-11111dt ,kr the inter-
nal. Service of the country ; but: it thould be con.
sidered that this' number was spread Over Er4r,—
land, Scotland; and.lreland. ',Phe Noble Marquis,
from his speech, did ,not seem to :linden-4watt the
iriffferenee between foreign and home expenditure,
and that art increase (if the, foreign expenciiture
tatitA make the. rate of c%ihange: unfavourable.
For 11,000,000/, in lot eign expeinliture.i they may
hahvi to pay not I'2, but 13,000,000/. It was true,
they generally increased their track as the foreign
expruliture increased, which corrected in some
pleasure the exchange ; but in cow.equeuce of the
continental system, this hid not been MSC for
the -last. two years,.. The export: of specie did not
arise from the 1 custom of granting licenses, it
arose from the rate of exchange. The licensing
system, so tar from increasing the dillicultieti (if
the country, made her more. able to support them.
'Lad Gatot thought it was the duty of the
llouse to grant the inquiry moved for, to.ascer-
certain, the source of the evils, and provide,:u-
pilot them. 'lie did not,' however, expect, front
the many instances in which such enquiry had
bcch betorc,,recused, that their Lordships would
tOiN to it, Lord'Wellingtoit ativahccd,from,
the South into the' North of Spain, under ti e.
reLtation,. as was said by the Noble -Marquis
(W4lesley) of meeting reinforcements. The No—
ble Larl'opposite (llathurst) made no I.llsWee to
that. From ;the want of the. promised diversion'
the, Noble Lord- was obliged to :retire. It Wati
possible tile fault was. with Ministers : it was pos-
sible it. was with Lord Beuttuck, or.. Lord Wel-

. .
lington I but -wherever it was, inquiry Should, be.
made. The force,intended. for this diversion was
sent to a place ,where they could be of little ose,
-and where they .still remained: inactive.. It was
rather a' diversion in: favoor of the French, fin' the
Agent appointed to porcbaSe specie for that force
from Sicily, outbid , Lord'. Wellington's Agent,
and by that means put him to much inconveni... I.
ence. After the battle of t.alamanea, the Noble :.
Lord was prevented from following up his sac-, '
cuss, and driving the French beyond- the Ebro.
This was .a• tit subject 'for inquiry-
,i The -swim
may be. said .of the. failure .before Burgos. He
was surprized that any informatiohnecessary with •:
regard to that place could not .be obtained front
the Spaniards; Why reinforcements were ..not •
sent after the battle 'of Salamanca, when. there
were in the country 40,000 infantry and 12,000
cavalry disposable for service This queStion was
not Answered. The Noble, Earl (Bathurst) said
that this force was spread over England, Ireland,
and Scotland. At the mention of Ireland, he
could not suppress his feelings. Ile was aware,
that Ministers were obliged to keep a much larger
force there than they wattld have occasion for,
bad they endeavoured to conciliate the people of
that country. Ile was. pleased, 'and proud to see
' that measures were now adopting tar this pur-
pose by the very men who bud raised a cry of the
Church being in danger, when he and his. friends
were prorosing to admit the Catholics to the dig-
nities of the Army and of the Bar. From observ-.
ing this, the public wouldalso derive some ()Alvan,
tage, because they would see the tricks. by which
they were governed, Ministers had not -given
any satisfactory answer to, the .charges preferred
against them. ; The ' license system was
snow put
a stop:to, to diStresS the enemy. It
,this were a
Wise measure, why had it not been resortcsi to
during the . last campaign ? It had often been
ileged that our paper circulation was.neeessary, to
carry on the war with vigour, yet thiA year ppor,
• eilcololOwtilediiim had this night been spoken of
as one of the circumstances which prevented the
necessary succours being- sent to, Lord Welling-
ton. He aceneed Ministers of having caused the
American war by their mismanagement, . and. thus.,
deprived the country of, its, most produCtive mar,
ket, and impaired its
.resources.. The'.result of
the last campaign, instead of being what might
have been eNpected, made Sumess. in •.the next
more doubtful than it'was in the last.. Great.
stress was laid on Lord Wellington's .being sa—
tistied.with the assistance they hat!: given him.
He, like a wise General and a-good man,-did the
best he could with the means entsusted.to his care,
and was not competent,to judge what might have
been done by his GoVernment, but het:mild not
but feel himself sensibly hurt at finding himself,
obliged .to give up Madrid and Salamanca, and
forced to niaVe,,a disastrous retreat: If informed
what Ministers had had 'it in' their power to do,-
he didviot think he would be satisfied with what
they Inid.accomplished. ' :._ .. •
Lord ABERDEEN thought 'a. motion implying:
censure on Minister had never before been' made
on: such slight groundi.,. %The last campaign laid'
been, not only most glorious, but .most htneficial
to, the common cause. He-had once talked with'
a French General; a :prisoner in this coentry, on
the war, who assured him, that it was quite in
vain for this' country .to contend With Bunint:-,
parte, unless the -numsure of Conscription were
resortel to. , This he (Lord Aherdeen) was of
opinion, might..be necessary to meet the ideas of
the Noble I`4 lariluis,:. . , . ' ' ' '
'Lad Bouixo.nbs observedi, the result' of the
campaign was very different front OA which
hall been fondly anticipated after the battle of.
Salamanca,. To him an ineniry ' seemed de-
sirable,: and he ,should therefore vote 'for
..'the
motion. .
Lori) LIVERPOOL asserted there were no grOunds
for callieg for an :inquiry. The result, of the cam-
paign had been described to be Most gloomy, he
would say it was_ most brilliant and glorious, and
lie called upon their LordSbips to judge of it either
from what bad been their hopes in their mast; sail-
guine mood in january,lall:,. or, by a_ reference
to the objects of the campaign. •:He then took a
comprehensive view of the.events of the eampaign.
Lord
,Welli:ieii.,,,o bad nut been disappointed with
respect to the expedition trout Sicily, lie, had re-
-3!,;Ve1l n copy 01 the instructions seiut out tci 'Lord
W. Bentinek, and bad been put in communica-
Con with him. Thesexpedition, whateVertoinpo»
rary delity might have taken place, had not failed,
' as .R
,haul had the ' effeet ' of keeping Sachet from
' going to the assistance at, joseytt,'. and tints
enabled,Lord' Wellingtim to march 'to Madrid.—
With respect .to the failure before 'Burgos, Lard
Wellington had stated that he haktakeu stronger
places with means -nOt exceeding those which he
had, there: ' Little less than 20,000 prisoners bad
been sent to England, and we had taken, destroy-
ed, and`retained in our possession, nearly,oooo
pieces of cannon, besides the enemy' Inagniiines
and arsenals; at, Madrid,: Castile, Asthrga, and
other places. Lord . Wellington had Stated• that
Madrid and Castile would have remained in our
. pweSSion through. the winterilutd he taken Bur-
gos., or had Ballasteros made a movement on
Valencia, :au he had been ordered to do. The
eanipaig,n had liberated one third of the kingdom
.of Spain, and had given to its the keys of Portu-'
gal, Ciudad, Rodrigo, and BadajOs. The peculi•
antics of the Spanish character, if they caused us
something to regret, had enabled Spain so long
to continue the straggle, 'and that temper he, in
his conscience, believed, would :subdue the enemy
it we Continued to• assist them in the contest. That
which they hail been Woking for,- for years, as that
Which was moat likely to enstiresuccess, had bean:
gained in. the last campaign, as it had had the
effect of causing the whole military power of Spain
to' he pat,tauler the direction .of Lord Wellington.
He agreed that if greater exertions cthild, they
ought to be matte.: The Noble Lord had said it
would tine ,been well to draft troops from the ske-
leton' regithents, for the purpose of reinforcing
.Lord Wellingtoa, efter the battle of Salathanca.
There was one point on which all parties had been
stunt to.limited or unlitnited'aervide, and that was
agthis,,re7l:llf%ivthtehtle greatiissi bdi li lilt.: e on: differences
draftingexisted : siwtojitilhdrbee-
thine away. He then explained the eqemnstanees
which laid caused the complaints made, With arc=
feeence ,to financial. operations, and: contended,
that Mini,6ters would not have been justified had

they pursued 'a different line conduct. - If
in the last; or any former campaign, they had de-
ceived Lord Wellington, or disappointed hius in
any :instance, where' they had prcuttiSed'hhw as:r
sis!atiee, then- be would admit:- a strong case
'Were. made out ; but if the last campaigtiAtad
been one of the most glorious .in our history, -
nail more productive than any campaign since die'
commencement of the war, and if it were seen that
the financial and military means of the Country
had been properly applied to it,he thought it must
be acki:()K hedged there were no grounds for the
Medan. He concluded a most animated speech.
of wit iidt we hate given but a faint outline, by ex-
presing a fervent hope thacthe example set by
Spain and, by Russia %lonia be imitated by other
Countries, and produce that universal resi,stauce
to the tyranny of France, which u ould soonest
lead to universal. peace.
Earl Gin:. v. spoke' in explanation, and again con-
tended, without offering any 'opnion, as to the
results laid down by the Noble Marquis, that he
had brought forward ample ground fur Parhatnew-
tary unitary.
The Earl of DARNLEY followed, and strenuous-
ly supported the motion, as he thought there were
never greater: stronger, or more various
many grounds laid for an Inquiry than those
brought forward by the Noble Marquis.-,
thought also_ their Lordships. were bound ~to
quire .before they trusted the santenren with the
conduct of another campaign. The ql.leqion was
then pretty loudly called for ; and.. was put as
follows :—" That a Committee be appointed to
inquire into the conduct of the late campaign in
the Peninsula of Spain."
The Lotw ChAtqc,F.LLott declared his, .opinioni
that the .Non-Contents had it. A .silence for se-
verat moMents ensued, and for the time.it was
imagined no division .would take place. At
length, one of the Opposition Peers said, the
Contents have it:" When a division necessarily
took_ place as follows, ,

e..ntent.i
Not Contents .. 70—Proxieg
Alajurity tigninst the Marquii Welletsiey's
Motion

. At Two 'o'clock the House Adj6urned till

• HOUSE Olt' COMMONS,
FRIDAY, MAgell 12.
Mt. A. Inyt.otrbronght up the Report of the
Bristol Committee, which declared the Sitting
- Members to have been duly elected, but stated
-the: Petition to be neither frivolous nor vexa-
tious,
• Mr. Huteltinson (from the Bank of England)
presented the account of the market price
of Standard Gold in B\ws ; the quantityeoined,
&c.
Ordered to lie on the table.. -
Mr. PUEs.roN held in his hand a Petition from
%G. W. Harrison, complaining that Mr. Andrew
Cochrane Johnstone (a Member of that'. House)
had refused to }tacit-it at the Maidstone 'Assizes,
on a subpoena with which he had been .served by.
the Petitioner, 'assigning., es a reason for his non-
attendance„ that: he was obliged to attend an
Election Committee.
The SPZ.AKD:R thought the Petition could not
be received, as the common course of law would
furnish redress in the event of his non-at.
tendanre. .
Sir F. BURDETT, as the Naval Estimates were
to cdine on this day, wished'to eall their •atten-
tion 'to certain hardships under which he was in•
-
formed Captains of Ships at present laboured.—
They were obliged to keep tables for- their
Officers, to meet •the expense of which their pay
was inadequate. Ile submitted to the House,'
whether it would not be proper to introduce'
some measure to relieve them from the aliffieul-
, lies in which the expenses of the mess involved
them. It had been represented to him, that it
would be reasonable to, allow IN, per day on
this account to Captains of first or second rate
ships ; Eis. to Comm-mutters of third and fourth
rate ships'; and (is. per day to Captains of fifth
orsix rate %hips.
Mr. W. DUNDAS expressed a disposition to take
this subject into consideration. ,
The 1-Louse thin resolved itself into a Committee
of Supply.