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WEDNESDAY, FEBRL AR Y 8, 1809

PiIRLIAMENTARr PROCEEDINGS.

pressions that fell from him in that House in the
course of debate, as an abettor of the system of Bona-
parte. He lamented that such a blessing as a free
press should produce such evils ; bvt if the existing
laws were not adequate to repress or correct them, it
was high time that the Legislature should interpose.
He would now make a few observations on the•cam-

HOUSE OF LORDS, TUESDAY, FEB. 7.
Their Lordships having met at an early hour, the House re-
solved itst If into a Committee on the Boringdon Divorce BilL—
Counsel were heard at the Bar on the part of Lady Boringdon.—
Several amendments were agreed to, and the Bill was reported,
and ordered to he read a third time on Thursday next. A tem-
porary adjournment took place until five o'clock.

DUKE OF YORK.
The House being resumed, his Royal Highness the
Duke of KENT observed, that, he thought it neces-
sary to address a few words to their Lordships, in
consequence of some documents that were before the
House. It had been insinuated that he had given his
sanction to the charges which were made against an
illustrious relative of his. He begged to disclaim, on
his own part, being in any way privy to these impu-
tations. He did not believe them ;he was convinced
the illustrious Person at the head of the army was in-
capable of such practices ai those of which be was ac-
cused. He could also take upon himself to say, that
the whole of that illustrious- Person's family were of
the same opinion, and that there was not the smallest
foundation for the rumours that there was a schism in
that family respecting these charges, or any other
subject.

paign in Spain, as that was a principal motive for
inducing him to submit his motion to their Lord-
ships. Ministers from the beginning appeared to have
made up their minds as to he kind of warfare they

were disposed to wage. They anticipated triumph,
victory, glory. They declared in the SF.ech at the
conclusion of the Session, that in the assistance

they intended to give, they would be solely guided
by the wishes of the Spanish nation. After having

disappointed the expectations of Sweden—after having
by promises of assistance induced his Swedish Majesty
to suspend theisfsets whisk he wouldntherwise have
made, they recalled the troops that had been sent to

co-operatewith him, and to this day there was no ex
planation of any misunderstanding that produce d ihis
vacillation in their Councils. &fore they sent out their
expedition, why was it not understood that those troops
were to be placed under the immediate command tf
the King of Sweden ? The same misconduct was
visible in the naval campaign in the Baltic. We had
12 sail of the line in that sea, and yet only two of
those were found at a most critical moment acting
with the Swedish fleet. The number of frigates in
that sea was very deficient ; and it was in a great
measure owing to that deficiency,that the Russian fleet
was able to come out and return with so little loss to
their ports. [His Lordship next adverted to the con-
duct of the campaign in Spain.] Never, said he, was
there an occasion in which the people of this country
were so willing to second the views of Ministers. The
whole nation entertained but one sentiment on the
subject, and that was, that the cause of Spain should
,succeed. The general expression was, that every ex-
ertion should be made to assist a great nation strug-
gling for its independence. What was the conduct of
Ministers ? Must they not have been aware that fai-
lure would have led to the greatest exultation on the
part of the ruler of France ? Instead, therefore, of
driving the French out of Portugal, they should have
assisted the Spaniards to drive the French out of
Spain. Ministers, however, pursued a different
course. With respect to the points of the Armistice
and Convention, they had been so fully considered
before, that he should not now allude to them : he
must, however, express his disapprobation of the
answer returned to the address from the Citizens of
London, as well as the institution of the Board of In-
quiry. No satisfactory'result could hive been expec-
ted from it. He also must condemn the recommen-
dation, er the order rather, contained in rl-e letter
Nom the Noble Lord at the heal of the War depart-
ment to Sir Hew Dalrymple. It would have been
a more manly proceeding to have placed Sir Arthur
Wellesley at once at the head of the army in Portu-
gal, than to enjoin that he should be consulted en
every occasion. Why did not Ministers follow the
example of Lord Spencer, who sent Lord Nelson to
Egypt, to the prejudice of a senior officer, and by
that judicious anointment enabled us to gain the
glorious victory of Die Nile ? An opinion prevailed,
that it would have been more consistent with policy
to have sent the army to the South of Spain, in the
first instance. Ministers, however, adopted another
plan. The Convention of Cintra was signed on The
30th of August • and yet, notwithstanding the criti-
cal situation of ;ffairs in Spain, andlte urgency of
giving the most prompt assistance to the people of
that country, not a single British soldier marched
from Portugal until the beginning of October. When
they did send an army into Spain, though they had
transports enough in the Tagus to have conveyed
them in a few days to Gallicia or Asturias, they sent
them by land. It seemed as if the Evil Genius of
England directed every instruction and impulse that
was given to that army. After a pause of some
weeks, it made a movement in advance. Again it
made a second movement. We might have derived
some consolation for the calamitous consequences
that resulted from these ill advised operations, if our
armies had marched into the country to make a
noble'stand ; but, instead of this, they marched into
the heart of Spain, with the moral certainty of being
obliged to retreat. • The result of that retreat was
fresh in their Lordships' recollection. The army lost
4000 horses, the best that couldbe provided for that
species of service to which they were destined ; am-
munition to an enormous amount was destroyed ;
some of the finest artillery in Europe was spiked;
the army at the time so dissatisfied as to be nearly
in a state of mutiny ; officers marching without shoes
or stockings, and some of them the most promising
in the service, (he alluded to General Anstruther),
falling the victims of mental anguish and excessive
fatigue. Having reached the ultimate point of retreat,
they were detained five days waiting for transports,
which, by arriving sooner, would have prevented the
bloodshed in the action before Corunna. Was it ne-
cessary that all these sacrifices should havebeen made
to prove the valorous spirit of Englishmen? [TheNoble
Earl next adverted to the treaty with the Junta, and
asked when Ministers expected it would arrive, or
whether it would arrive at all. He trusted they
would have no objection to communicate the sub-
stance of that treaty, and that they would take care
to secure the fleets of Spain, or at least to take care
that those of France should not again come into the
possession of the Ruler of Frantot.] He was one of
those who hoped the affairs of Spain were not des-
perate ; but he was persuaded, that their success must
depend rather on the exertions of Spain, than on
any assistance we could send her. His Lordship
concluded with moving, that the House should re-
solve itself into a Committee, to consider the state of
the nation.
The Duke of MONTROSE was of opinion-that
the motion of the Noble Earl ought not to be enter-
tained .by their Lordships. He'had gone in a very

AMERICA. ,

Lord GRENVILLE deferred his motion respect-
ing America until Tuesday, when he hoped every
necessary information would be before the House.
His Lordship concluded with moving for an Account
of Duties levied on Exports in the course of the last
year, in consequence of the Orders in Council.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL replied, that every in-
formation in the power of Ministers should be granted;
but as itwould be necessary to send to the out-ports, he
feared the returns up to the sth January could not be
I prepared in time. His Lordship moved, that.an Ac-
count of the Produce of the Consolidated Fund for
the four quarters ending the sth January, 1809,_com-
paring them with the four respective quarters of the
two preceding years, be laid before the House.

STATE OF TILE NATION•

The order of the day for summoning their Lord-
ships having been read,
Earl GROSVENOR said, that he rose for the pur-
pose of submitting to their Lordships the motion of
which he had given notice some days ago. After the
recommendation in the Speech at. the opening of the
Session—after the repeated declarations of Ministers,
that they were willing every part of their conduct
should undergo the strictest investigation, he could
not have expected that the smallest objection could be
made to the motion he intended to make. Rumours,
however, had reached his ears since he came down,
that it was intended to oppose it. If it should appear
that Ministers had disappointed the hopes and expec-
tations of the nation, it was his intention to follow up
his motion by an address to remove them. The im-
portant, or rather the calamitous, events that have re-
cently occurred—the portentous state of all Europe—
mint have made a deep impression on the minds of
their Lordships. If it should appear that these ca-
lamities were principally owing to Ministers having
micemployed the resources of the nation,-there could
be no difference of opinion as to die necessity of ini-
mediately placing the guidance of the national con-
cerns in abler hands. Before he went into the consi-
deration of the last campaign, he was anT.ious to di.
rect. their attention to some other subjects. It was
now upwards •of twenty years since the revolution
broke out in France, and in the course of that time
the consequences of it had been felt by every nation
in Europe. This nation, in consequence of that Re-
volution, had now suffered for seventeen years, with
the intermission of only a few months, the calamities
of war. The question was not whether peace with
France, as France now is, would be a benefit ? For
himself, he entertained no hope of peace as long as
the hostile mind existed in the ruler of that country.
What advantage had been derived from the last
peace ? Was it not a peace of distress, of suspicion,
of expence ? Was there any thing desirable in a peace
of that description ? No : we must make up our
minds to a long and arduous' struggle. In any peace
that we should make with France, constituted as she
at present is, all her energy would be directed in the
interval to prepare the means of new hostility, to sap
the foundation of our commerce, and to diminish our
revenues and our maritime proponderance, both of
which were the result of that commerce. The system
of France was regular and undeviating. The vast
power she has acquired within these ;.ew years, was
as much owing to her political dexterity as the victo-
ries she has obtained. The way for her triumphs was
prepared by the total overthrow of the moral and po-
litical feelings of the countries whose subjugation
she meditated. See what influence Bonaparte has
acquired over the Emperor of Russia—how he has
induced him to view with complacency acts from
which a liberal mind would have shrunk back
with horror—how he has induced him to sign the
letter which was lately laid on the Table ! The
calamities of Europe are ascribed in that letter to the
stagnation of maritime commerce. Is it to, the stag-
nation of maritime commerce that the overthrow of
the Germanic empire, the incorporation of Italy, the
subjugation of Switzerland, the overthrow of the in-
dependence of Holland, the war between Sweden and
Russia, the distracted state of the Ottoman Empire,
and the atrocious attack upon Spain, are to be attri-
buted ? Is it to these; or to the insatiable ambition of
every government which has been in France since the
commencement of the revolution ? Though it was
not perfectly regular to allude in that House to what
had passed in another place, he could not refrain
from taking.notiee of something that had lately oc-
curred. It was stated that a conspiracy existed to
write down every thing that was noble or illustrious
in the country. He was not quite persuaded that
such a conspiracy evisted, but it was impossible for
him to shut his eyes to the licentious and petulant
paragraphs of which the press could furnish daily
examples. In one of these, a noble friend of his (Lord
Grenville) was stismatiml on account of some ez-