Star.
London, England, 1809-05-02 00:00:00

PARLMMEtIIIR r PROCEEDINGS.

or

HOU'r LOKIii, MAY I
The Irish Detrors and several ''rivate Bills were
brt-v)itht up trum and read t
The Lccal Co:tyiietion rt.d a third time, atd

'1 ae other Bill+ a•, re tut %rat ded in their respective stages.

I.ord DARN LEY wisheo t, hi informed by a Noble Fiif 1 whe-
at rtt w.ts intention of Mi-.istir,4 to appoi:it tiv gentleman
late.y reprewnteo ins th, C .ur of the Supreme
Junta to any o,ner ‘l2l.una i missi 1,? The auswer to this ques-
tion weul,i hut ar to : 1 iodriety of bringing forward
it • of wb.ch-ie had tr.i,-.11 no, ice.

The Earl of LAN ER POOl. said, that his Majesty hut thought
proper to recal Nir •re, but it could hardly he expected that he
shi.md declare whetiii r it was or was not his intention to appoint
hi:n to any other mlss'on. •The Noble Earl would exercise• his
own discretion as to bringing torwarti his The Noble
Earl mentioned the al ointment of Marquis Welvsley as Am
bassailor to Spain, an I passed some very high encomiums on the
greet talents and exi•crionce of that noloh•inau.

poßi UGuEsE REGENCY.

The Earl of BUCKINGHAMSHIRE said that
he had ende tvoured su to frame the motion which he
proposed to subnii: to 'their Lord,hipv as to obviate
any objection to it. In most of what the Noble Earl
( Livei poll) stated on a f-)rnier evening, ielatins to
the production ff papers, he entirely agreed ; and as
the motion he intended to make would not break in
upon that principle, he trusted it would be agreed to.
The importance of the geographical position of Por-
tugal was well knoWn to their Lordships. A military
force in possession of that country must necessarily
have a very great influence upon any operations in
the North or South, or even the centre of
There was no country in Europe more capable of
military defence—there were few countries that fur-
nished better materials for soldiers. In the year 1763,
the celebrated Count de la Lippe, at the head of
17,000 men, of which only 3000 were British, suc-
cessfully resisted a Spanish and French army of
42,000, of which 6000 were French. To the hardi-
hood and obedience of the Portuguese soldiers, Lord
Townshend, who commanded under Count de la
Lippe, bore testimony. Of the advantages for de-
ferrce which Portugal afforded, their Lordships would
form some opinion, when he informed them that he
bad seen a plan of a campaign in that country, in
which it was demonstrated that 3u,000 men were ca.
rable of defending it against 75,000. The Noble Earl
next passed to the British expedition to Portugal, and
to the consequences resulting from it. He was con
rident that if Sir A. Wellesley had not been super-
seded, the victory of Vimiera would have been fol-
lowed by the French becoming prisoners of war. But
the subject to which he was most anxious to draw the
attention of their Lordships, and which indeed was
the chief object of his motion, was the Government
that was formed when the French were expelled from
the country Their Lordships were aware, that when
the Prince Regent left Lisbon, he established a Re-
gency. That provisional Government soon became
a mere instrument in the hands of the French, and,
having answered their purposes, was dissolved. Dur-
ing the time it was in the exercise of its power, it
passed ttro decrees ; one confiscating the properties
of the noble emigrants who followed the Prince Re-
gent to the Brazils, and the other recalling the Mi-
nisters of Portugal from all foreign Governments;
and yet it was some of these very men that were rein-
stated by Sir Hew Dalrymple. ' He wished to know
from the Noble Earl whether this arrangement was
sanctioned by the Prince Regent, or whether it was
by the al.prubation of his Minister here. He la-
mented that, the feelings of the people were not
taken into account, when the new government was
formed, and that it did not assume a more popular
shape. He could have wished to have seen a gene-
ral Junta composed out of the provincial Juntas, as
took place in Spahr His Lordship alluded to the
appointment of Marquis Wellesley, whose various ta-
lents he commended in a warm strain of panegyric,
and conciliated with moving for copies of the procla-
mation of Sir H. Dalrymple, and of the correspon-
dence with the Portuguese Minister, and the Govern-
ment of the Brazils, on the appointment of the Re.

genc y.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL restated the opinion
he had declared on a former evening, as to the prin..,
ciple which was to guide the House in calling fof pa-
pers. The granting of papers in one House, was not
a conclusive argument in favour of their being pro.
duced in another. He agreed fully with the Noble
Earl, as to the capacity of the Portuguese peasant to
become an excellent soldier. He was convinced of
his bravery, and of the bravery of the people of every
country. They only required discipline, and to be
-well led on to make brave soldiers. With respect to
the main question, that of the formation of the Re-
gency-, there were two modes to be adopted after the
Trench had been compelled to evacuate Portugal;
either to retain a military occupancy of the country,
or to reinstate the former Provisional Government as
nearly as could be, under all the circumstances of the
case. The first could not have been resorted . to on
account €f the jealousies it was calculated to create.
The latter was actually done, because it was that
kind of arrangement which was presumed to be most
agreeable to the Government at Rio Janeiro. In the
manner of forming the Regency, every attention was
paid to the feelings, and even to the prejudices of the
people. Of the original Regency one was in France,
where he remained to this day, and two more had
accepted offices under the French Government after
the dissolution of the Regency. Of these three, not
one was admitted into the new Regency ; but the
three remaining, who mere not lialA to the same ob-
lections, chose their new colleagues. These col-
eagues were persons distinguished for their patrio-
tism and talents ; the Bishop of Oporto and Count
Monteiromor. In Portugal, as in other countries,
intrigues and jealousies, particularly among the
higher and middle orders, were known to exist,, and
it was impossible that any arrangement would give
universal satisfaction. The inhabitants of the North-
ern provinces, the most industrious and populous part
of the country, were naturally anxious that it should
become the scat of Government, or that at least they
'should have a preponderance in the new Covernment.
The Southern provinces, on the other hand, were
:adverse to relinquishing the superiority incidental to
the.capital being si.tuated in that quarter of the king-
dom. It would not have become the Government of
this country, considering the circumstances under
which the British army entered the kingdom, to in-
terfere or emicavour to decide ktwecia these jeilsmies

and claims. Titer adopted that Ourse *which pro-
deuce as well as , and a due regard to the
teefin of
_an ally, dict.ited ; and they reinstated the
firmer Govethinent is nearly as could be. He had
no t,bjec.Otni to thy first of the Noble Earl's motions ;
bui 'se ;4 by. wbitt i was to be followed, he must re-
both. He could not c nsent to the production of
zhe Correspondence which had passed between his
ifesty's Government and the Prince Regent, or his
Representatives in this country.
Lord SIDMOUTH supported the motion, and
contended, that we had a right to establish a Provi-
sional Government different from that which hadbeen
formed. The former Regency did not posseis the
confidence of the people, of which there could be no
better proof than that from the moment they were
restored-to power, the public spirit began to decline,
and there were fewer men in arms at the end of De-
cember than the beginning of September. The Noble
Viscount joined in the praises bestowed on the Mar-
quis Wellesley, and in his eminent qualifications for
the situation to which he was appointed. He looked
forward with confidence to a more fortunate state of
affairs in Spain, in consequence of the large powers
with which that Noble Lord was vested, and of the
nomination of his brother to the command of the
army, if it were not too late ; for, unfortunately, we
were dilatory in all our expeditions.
Lord HARROWBY dissented from the principle
laid down by the Noble Mover of the question, re-
specting the appointment of the new Government,
and approved the conduct of Ministers in not having.
sanctioned any -revolutionary proceedings.
Lords BUCKINGHAMSHIRE and SiD-
MOUTH severally explained.
Lord GRENVII.LE said, as there seemed to be
an indisposition to lay the papers moved for before
the House, he should not trouble their Lordships long
on a subject respecting which he had not the neces-
sary information. He supported the objections of the
two Noble Lords on the cross bench (Buckingham-
shire and Sidmouth), and maintained that it was the
duty of his Majesty's Ministers to establish a fbrm of
Government more agreeable to the wishes of the peo-
ple, than a Regency in which they had no confidence,
but lihich, on the contrary, was universally suspected
and distrusted.

The Earl of BUCKINGHAMSHIRE replied,
and, after some observations from Lords HAUROWEY,
SID/doom, and LIVERPOOL, the question was put, and
the motion was negatived without a division.—Ad-
journed.