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

Gzinerai STEWART wiihed to mako A.tew re:carkE
on;one or two points, touching the condua of (1)0
battle of Talavera. Lord 'Wellington had prjec,ted
an attack on the army of Vidor on the 23d, whic.hi
'had it been acceded to by General Cuesta, must
have terminated in the 'annihilation of that corps.—,-
On the 2+4 Visor retreated, and was pursued by
General Cuesta as far as Olala. On the 26th the
Spanish army retreated to the, left bank of, the .6.1 r
berche, and then it was that the dispositions madP
by Lind Wellington not only secured the subse-
quent glorious Mctory to7hiS'tiwti-tpoopS, but pie-
served the Spanish arrny., It had been observed
ihattord Wellington did not expect the battle
the first instance lie 'did nut : how could he*, whet
Victor had retreated ? 'lt was the Spanish army
brought then black upon him,,end then his presenc.'
of tuind arid personal conduct furnished :1 barrier to
every difficulty. H. could only Say, that he was
-every where during the tight, and always in the
hottest action ; auti' in expressing his approbation of
the motion, 'he Was sure he but expressed what was
rile generalifeelitig.of the army:
Mr. WINDHAM, notVtrithstauding all that he had
heard in that House that night,'still could not, divest
hiniselfOrtliOSe feelings 'whiCh the first accounts:
of this action had impressed upon his mind ; hoc.
could he help still thinking it worthy the honour, •
proposed, This. was his first, feeling on the sub-
ject, and on such a question he was sure first- feel.'
togs were best : it might be other wise with
thoughts—second thoughts Might be best, but at
lea.if in' this instance, firsCreelings were be4t. What
w`ere the general feelings. of the whole nation, whet'
the tidings of the battle were Matle known ? Th,le
was mit a loyal heart, that did •nol rejoice 'at this act
cession to.our Military glory.; and when he weighed
and
.analysed what had
.fallen • from several Hon.:
• Members on that night, the debate seemed to hittt ,
miliiary special pleading-. A qu(:,stion bdd bee"
suggested whether was Vietory ? It reminded
him of a wag, who was once 'asked, after he had
been boxing; who beat'? andreplied, " why L. beat
him and he beat me ; but cgate in
,first.,", So it Was
in the present case. The French attacked our.troops
we did not go' to theM, -they came to us ; -but they
gaVe in first. That Holiseyad given their Th.nks for
an attack on, a Sugai tsiand ; he-preferred the vic-
tory of Talavera to a whole Archipelago of Sugar
Islands. The House had heard a language that night
wiiith-fodr years ago would have- been spurned -at.
What was then then the national cbntempt for our
military efforts ?,.wliat was the national pride in the
• 6nsciollsbess of military prowess ? We regret that
want of room prevents us front entering' inure hilly
into the speech of .the Right Hon. Gentleman-. H 6
toricluded2by supporting the motioti.
-Mr. LITTLEToN and Mr. C. Aimms supported the
original motion. .
Gen. MATTHEW also warmly supported the vote
of thankS to-the Noble Lord, of whoie conduft he
'spoke in the highest terms; comparing him to Mar.,.
shtil Lasnes.
. .

General TAttfirroN' explamed.
Mr. PONSONBY opposed the vote ofthankk, on .that
ground that Lord. Wellington had haZarded the Bri.l-
- army without a suffiCierit cause; :and that the
benefit which he ,had:a right to expea'fron) the at:L..
tion.was not equal to the risk that he incurred iii
fighting it.
Mr. CANNING felt it impossible to conceive why
his assent 'to the:motion should be withheld. Oa
no other provocation than , that Government had
called on the House. to speak ,the
.sentitn4i-its of
. / gratitude which warmed almost every heart, in.
the country ; the ibuse W4s required, throneh
the medium of the, proposed amendment, to cen-
sure the. Noble" Ldtd whose conduct was the sub-
j,e6t of discussion, and to pronounce hint,
stead' of the exalter of the', honour of this cOun-,.
try, the wanton waster Of her best blood. He la-.
inented the loss, that had taken place in the battle
of Talavera as much as any man ; 'but war was a--
game that could not l.e played -without. It had'been
said that the House had been too prodigal of their
approbation in recent times. ',We lived in an age -go
full of splendid achievethents, that it was feared the
spring of honour might be dried up. This was in-
deed kr. sotn,ce of high exultation, and One in which
he trusted the country would long have t 4.)"
in-
dulge.
Lord FOLKSTONI: supported the Am.endin:..nr. .

. _ ,
Sir: T. 'I.URTON was anxious that. the. Origi-.
nal 'Motion should be acceded to as unanimously it
Possible.
. •
The Gallery was then cleared ; but we understood
that the Amendment waq negatived, sad the 06,2,1..
nal Motion carried without a ,division.'

Adjourned at Two o'Clockthis

THE •EXPEDITIOiV TO • THE SCHELDT.

ADDITIONAL PAPERS.

PRESENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

YESTERDAY.

EVAC.UATI ON.
Letter from Sir R. STR A CHAN to Lord MU LGR A YE, dated
St. Domingo, off Borslen, 13th Sept. 1809.

MY LORD-I have this moment received your'
Lordship's letter of the 11th, and as the Reindeer is,
under weigh, I have scarcely time to thank you for its.
contents. I am very anxious, I do assure your.
Lordship, to see you for the pUrpose•of communi-:
eating matters Connectedt with this Island ; which, •
in my. opinion, ought not to be given up. It is a
post of great iMpottance as a,naval station, a ,d. al6O
with a view to future operations on the Continent ;
particulAly as. it is not certain Austria has made
peace wan France. This Isltntl, • under popnlaC
Government (by popular, I mean plea Sing to the
inhabitclits.,' by placing the supetiOr ones in autho-
rity, and &Veining by their own laws); may be prt;--
(Waive of great advantages to England, .in regard to
trade with the Continent, similar to that established
at 'Heligoland: Ido not apprehend it-is snore un-
healthy than any of the low parts of Kent; .but the
troops being at present,generally infettett, ouing
to the nature of, the sera ice to which they have' been
exposed, it. may tie proper they should he .with-•
urawd, and replaced with ‘otly,,,r regiments. The
brig kA hich we ku buibling will be ready in a week;
the fripte Vcry soon ; and the ship of the line is.
• taLing to pieces. There is a quantit) of useful ship-
timber here.

I )beg apitt to repeat my hopes, that this Island