The Sun.
London, England, 1810-02-02 00:00:00

ing to eornpensation.paid forthe abolition of afiee
fees in the Customs in Ireland. Granted.

THANKS TO LORD WE I.I.I,NGTON.
The CilAtipELLOit Of the EXCHEQUER, in rising
to move for the Thanks ot,the House to Lord Wel-
lington, for his skill and valour, so eminently dis-
played in the battle of .Talavera, could not refrain
from expressing regret at the symptoms of opposi-
tion which -were manifested in that House, and -
which hid been previ,usly manifested elsewhere.
He thought it could not be denied that the action
for which he was about to move their Thanks, was
one of the most splendid th-it bad ever graced , our
annals. Whea the numbers of the enemy with
which we had to contend were taken into consider-
ation, as als6 the state they were in, for unlike the
poor Spaniards over whom the French had ftp-
quently triumphed, naked and undisciplined, the
force opposed to our army was composed of veteran
troops, who were the boast-of our enemy ; when
these circumstances were considered, the merits of
the action Would, he trusted,- appear in a, proper
light. He wished them to bear in mind the ad-,
vantages that must necessarily result from it to this
country, as they must be aware how essential it was
to our interest to maintain the reputation of our ar-
mies, both for valour 'in the field. and for skill and
wisdom in the Commanders. When they consi-
dered the policy and the importance- ot that, and the
justice of rewarding bravery, he toped the House.
would not hesitate to giire the honourable testimony •
of applause due to military ex.cellence. He wished
those who might feel disposed to oppose the motion,
to consider if their hostility were not in some mea-
sure the offspring_of party differeeces. That such
feelings might riot influence the vote they were to
Ove, he was anxions'to abstain from. touching on
any topic on which a 'difference of opinion might.
exipt. He would for the' present leave the policy
of the Expedition to Spain and Portugal entirely
out of the and only call their attention to
the battle of Talat'era, in which the skill of the Ge-
neral was only equalled by the-valour-of the, troops,
and the valour of the troops by the skill of the Ge-
neral. In doing thiS,' he "wished it distinctly to be
'understood, that he did not shrink from an inquiry
into the policy and condW Of that expedition. He
did not wish that to be held from, discussion. At
any time lie would be prepared to defend the con-
duct and even to maintain the utility of
,that cam-,
pa gn. The circumstances of it werdeso recent
that it was hardly necessary to state them anew.
After expe ling the, enemy from Portugal, • Lord
Wellington-marched from the. North of Portugal to
the Tagus. He arrived there op the 11th or 12th
of June, and on the 27th broke up to go to Placen-
tia. He formed a junction with the force under
Cuesta, with whom hd had several conferences, and
a plan of operations- was then concerted. It was
proposed not only to drive the enemy beyond the
Alberehr, but to expel the French; by a combined
eparation, from the South of Spain, while Veriegas,
whose- force was inclu(!ed in the plan, was to ,push
on toe ards Madrid. This plan unfortunately was
never cairted into execution ; its failure, however,
. could not be ascribed ,to any misconduct on the part
of Lord Wellington. He now came to speak of the
battle of Talavera. On the night of the 27th July,
the French attacked the division under the command
of Gen. Hill. The manner in which that attack
was repelled, and the enemy repulsed at the point
of the bayonet, was well known, as was the subse-
quent defeat of the enemy, and must be fresh in the
• memory of every one. Every part of the operation
was charatterised by corresponding skill and valour ;
and it ended gleriously, ended in a repulse, and in a
complete victory over an 'enemy double the- num-
ber of our army. The Spaniards aflbrded little as-
sistance in this battle. Whatever might be theught
of it here, no doubt was entertained as to its merits
in Spain., Portugal, and he might add in France.—
It was an achieVement that- called for the best
Thanks of the House, and he wished an Hon. Gent.
opposite, who was not then in his place, would con,
sider how well he' might exert that eloquence of
which he was in so eminent a Ogree possessed,
by doing justice to the skill and -valour displayed in .
that action, atictcalling on the House for an unani-
mous vote of thanks to, the gallant officer by whom
it was achieved. He would wish to reed' to his
mind what be so ably, urged, when moving for
thanks to t beGeneral who gained the battle of Maida,
when he so deeply impressed.on the House the im-
portance of payirg a proper degree of attention to
the encouragement of military merit. ,That merit,
such as was shewn in-the plains of Abide, had been
exemplified in the fields of Talavera. The t o ac-
tions were similar, and hehoped that Hon. Gentle-
man, fedi ngth it circumstance as he did, would con
cur in calling on the House for that honour which
was so well deserved by the conqueror of Talavera.
The Right HonouralJle- Gentleman concluded by
moving,'
" That the Thanks of that House should be given to Lord
-Wellington for the distinguished ability displayed by him on
the 27th and 23th of I uly, 1809, in the glorious battle bi t a-
lavera, which terminated in the iepulse and defeat of a supe-
rior enemy ."

Lord MILTON could not concur. with the Right
Hon. Gentleman opposite; he could not consider
this as an insulated question, and would therefore
move an amendment. He did not wish to ai tici..
pate the discussion on the policy of the late Expedi-
tion, but he could not look on the present motion
but as intimately connected with the events of the
campaign. He was aware how necessary it was to
biaintain the reputation of the army, but. he could
not think the line of condua pursued by the Hon.
Gentleman, likely to produce the wished-for effeal.,.
They had got into a bad habit of voting their Thanks
OD all OteLiSiOl;S, till they had in a gi% at degree lost
their value. It was impossible for any one to con-
template the events of the late campaign and not.
think them disastrous. It was not enough to entitle
Lord Wellington to thanks that he had extricated
his army from a most desperate situation by his skill
and valour.: He ought never to have placed it in
such a situation. Ail Administrations were fond of
thanking their Generals, thinking the praises . be-
stowed on them reflected lustre on themselves. He.
did not know that the present motion originatied in
such a feeling, but well be knew that similar ma-
cons emanated from such' a principle on former oc-
ea•tons. He admitted that the battle of Talavera
As: a s glorious, he acknow:edged time of the Com-.
inlander and the valour of the troops; but he thought
a General was not entitled to the Thanks of that
House merely for behaving well on the field of battle.
..oied Thanks lot the battle of. Nihnira with ;LI