The Sun.
London, England, 1809-02-22 00:00:00

well as if we had it not at all." He could ndelook
upon the pniseisinn at 'Portugal as being.rif hat;:im,..
pOri,ance Which Was rpreiented..Hetim..sideri,ll. that'
it was from want of prolier instruCtio:(hat we !ilk.'
mate a transfer of the enemy's troOps which were
locked up in thM country, and which were now op-
pOsed to onrarms before the terminatiott-trftre cam-
paign in Spain, their entrance ittto_which it: was Our
policy to. prevent. From this we are to turn our at-
tention to a circumstance which has comtnitted the'
honour of the ciruntry, and disappointed its. hopes
and ertpMations.' By *bat ha's this disgraceful oc-
currence been created ? By false; information, the
• want of proper instructions, and the inadequacy of
equipments. The Noble Lord, with some expatia-
tkm on the state of ilia Russian Fleet lying in the'
Tagns,
,said, that Lord Strangford, some time in the
yeariBo7,. sitgested a plan Whereby to reduce it.
After a great deal of uninteresting detail, the islOble:
Lord stated, that' in his opinion, the maritime On-
e ention admitted a priaciple hitherto unknown in the.
armak dim naval history. And he believed it 'was
an unique instance upon record, of an enemy's Fleet
entering our ports in such a character as was autho-
rized by 'the treaty. And what was to become of
!;rail'' Otfictrs and men belonging to that Fleet
They were gone back to the s,mvice of the Emperor
Of Russia, to aff, not in an amicable manner towards
us or our allies, but Id side with our inveterate ene;-
mY against both. In fine, 'he would ask of the whole
country—he Would •put the question to the inhabi-
tants'of -Bistay; who have marked the baleful pro-
gress of those I berated marau iers—to the natives of
Astbrias and.Gallicia—in a WOI a. to alt sritlin—whe-
titer our *words have not been drawn in vain, and
valour and skill exerted to no purpose ?' I would 'ak
it of thrise soldiers woo took prisoner an Officer near
-Corunna, the only one who jell into their hands,
and he the same, tornierly their captive at Vimiera
—I would ask them,. I say, it there has not been a
lavish waste of gallantry and of blond ? Here the
Noble 'Curd mentioned a Cormilunication 'made in
lunot's' intercepted letter to the Grand Duke of
stating- that he was. suiteiently employed in
resisting. the progress of insurrection in the country.
The 'Noble Lord concluded a speech of consider-
able length and, warmth, by moving the following`
Resolution :—" That the Armistice of th aoth. Au-a
j gust, and Maritime Convention of 3d September,
1,808, have dir.appointed the hopes and expeCtations
of the 'Nation." • ,••

Lord, CASTLEREAGH rose, and in a very pointed
.and haedseine exordium returned thanks' :to the
Noble Lord who just 531 down, for the' manner in
.whice he.put forward the conduct of his Majesy's
Mikiisters ; in fact, he disbordened them, in /pie, of
.that heavy onus of imputation which lie meant to at- •
fix to them. Nothing was more Letrealial towards
theaccumplishment of this than theeki ravagant inan-
nor to. which they combated the mode pursued by
Ministers in the getting up and equipinent of the ek- '
Regarding the 'authei tiles quoted by the
Noble Lordegainst the proceedings of the Court of
L Thiry, he bud only to observe, that he believed
tltic in le :be best clithatierized by their antiquity.-e
lionoor of the individual concerned is that in-
quiry he should consider as dear to him as his own ;
and he most say; that he imaAitied the proceedings tin
that inquiry entirely s.+ttsia with respect to
thit individual.' After' deprecating ,any wish to take
op the time of the !-toast; on tiii4 head; the Noble
Lord proceeded, and said, that, hecould not welt ex-
prcsoi ,he sensations ot regret and surprise which. he
tell at some expr,ssions whieh.bad tl.leu front the
Noble Lard (H. Pvtty)'in. :ie.:conclusion of his ad-
dreis to than House. The Noble Lira toms told you,
that we nave drawl) Oar swords and exerted our
energies' in vain, white defending an oppressed and
injured peeple. Cruel retribution for the exertions
Nhich have been so employed I. "Lite Neoie Ler I
then, in a strain ot perspicuous, reasoning, anew.
ed the necessity of dividing the force as it. was di.
vided, and furnishing it' wnh the,otticers who were
objected to on !he head of unnecessary intrusion.--e
Atte' mucli explanation, in that cool and dispassiuu-
ate eloquence for Which he is highly distinguished,
the Noble Viscount humorously and foicthly re-
marked, that thongh opposite in its applicatien.to the
present case,yet few would perhaps credit the assertion
that the splendid expedition to the Dardaneltes made
the late etticient4d min istrkit ion covered with inaccura-
cies and deficiencies more .glartng than arty' in the
expedition which forms the subject of debate. He
thee'reCapitulated the positions of the various corps
previous to the setting out of the expednion; for
Portugal, and from their relative situation, argued
that no distribution could be more cumin:tem to.au-
swer the end of improving on any ciicumstauces ,
'Wide!): may occur to their advantage, lie reterred
generally to the instructions which he sent'to fbe
different commanders, and demonstrated their stall.
cientY. It was 'aViurd, and tending to detest the
object of the expedition, he observed, tie doWn
any offi-t• where his freedom of acting may.'he :pro-
ductiye of advantageous results. 'Flint we were not
stteh .nnwelCme visitOts:lo,Portogal, hes said'would.
appear from the positive invitation of-Portugal itself.'
He really thought than the Pyrenean scheme- of
the Noble Lord- deserved very justly to be Called a
Ono. It 'would seem by their vast lituTY
into Spain, as it they considered it possible, by block.
lug up the great .gateway in the pyrennees; to AO ,
in the French who were within, and exclude the
whole nation• from without. They consider not,
'however, that there are 43 predicable passesihrough
them: Mouthainyt- whereby the enemy may gain ad-
01418n-cc ; tior have they reflected on the considerable
force in the :country (allowing that it were so in-
' closed)., whicli-would be opposed to ttfeincansiderab,e
toted fhey would thus rashly 'venture. There would
,he-too,ooo men , set against 25,000., After sonie
hurnourout dilatation du this subject of opposdi.in
coneeption, and hewing fully explained theinstrtc-
tions given' by. Goverement to-those Officers who
were to join the disposable force under Sir A. *17..
16sley, the NobleLotd proceeded: He was glad to
'ftitd that time objeelions to the Expedition had eart-
'sid&rablinorrowed since the Arst accounts of its re,
salt reached' this country, when it was declared at
that rem nit was solely attributable to 'his Majesty's
Goveic inent.- It was then stated-that the army ient
under Sir A. Wellesley was wholly destitute of ca-
valry, artillery, ammunition, -provisions, and all oher
tne;:s nece*sary to its equipment. No expediion
hart eVersa Red from this country to the coast of &lin
and Portugal without v irivallssrs, containing provitons
tut three months,.; exclusively of tin: provision in
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