Star.
London, England, 1809-02-03 00:00:00

PARLIAMEATART PROCEEDINGS.

• HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEB. 2.
The SPEAKER read a letter from Admiral Da Conrcy, ex-
pressing his acknowledgment for the Thanks of the House for his
conduct in the embarking, /ice. of the Army at Corunna.
Mr. MITFORD, from the Custom-house, produced Accounts
of the Bounties on Fisle for supplying. the London Market ;of the
number of Ships employed in the Greenland Whale Fishery, and
an Abstract of the Accounts of the Northern Light Rouses, for
the last year.
Mr. HUSKISSON brouglst up the Grain Prohibition Distills-.
tion Bill, which was read a first time ; to be read a. second time
on Monday, and to be printed.
Mr. HUSKISSON presented an Account of the Amount of
Exchequer Bills, outstanding and unproVided for;:-Referred to a
Committee of Supply.
Mr. HUSKISSON gave notice that he should to-morrow, in a
Committee of Supply, move a 'Vote for th::. Seamen. of she present

year.
Sir A. WELLESLEY gave notice' that he should on Mondayll
move for an Increase of the Ordnance in Ireland.' '
Mr. CANNING produced the appointment, of Mr. Jeffreys to
the Office of Consul General of Portugal.
ISLAND OF CEYLON.
Mr. MARTIN moved that the Papers relative to the issues
of Money to certain persons, on account Of the Island of Ceylon,
troduced yesterday, be printed.
Mr. PERCEVAL wished that the Hon. Gentleman would first
look into the Accounts, before he added te the expence of printing
Papers of the kind, which already amounted to upwards of sixty
thousand pounds a-year.
After some conversation, Mr. Martin agreed to look into the
Accounts.

CHIES SECRETARY FOR IRELAND.
Mr. WHITBREAD referred to a question he had put on a
former day, as to the fact of gallant Officers in that House hold-
ing important Civil and Military Commands at the sane time.
As to one of them he had then received an answer. He wished
to know from the Hon. Baronet opposite. (Sir A. Wellesley) on
what footing be held his incompatible Civil and Military Com-
mands at the same moment ?
Sir A. WELLESLEY explained that he had expected that
when he accepted of the military command in Portugal, he should
lose his Office in Ireland, and that when he left this country ano-
ther would be appointed to succeed him as Secretary for Ireland.
From July to October he did receive his salary from Ireland,
but during the greater part of that time be derived no emolument
from his military command. The great expence attending a mi-
litary command of the kind, and his not being in a situation to de-
fray such expence out of his private fortune, were his reasons for
accepting of the emoluments of his Civil Office during that period..
Mr. WHITBREAD said he should be sorry to trouble the
House with any motion on this subject, but from what had fallen
from the Hon. Baronet it was impoisihle to psas by the matter
without observation.
Mr. CANNING said, there was nothing before the House on
which to ground any observation of the kind.
Mr. WHITBREAD thought it his duty to see that soimpor-
tant an office as that of Chief Secretary for Ireland, was rendered
an effective office.

DUKE OF YORK.
Mr. WARDLE rose to express a hope that he
might be allowed to-morrow to give farther evidence''
on the subject on which he had been examined last
night. He had then stated, that he saw Mrs. Clarke
on the afternoon of Tuesday last, but he now recol-
lected that he had seen her on the morning of that
day, for a few minutes, as well as in the evening.
The CHANCELLOR: of the EXCHEQUER
said, he saw no objection to the Hon.. 'Member's
making an explanation to that effect in his,place.
Mr. WARDLE then moved, that a ptoper person
from the Office of the Commander in Chief do attend
on the House to-morrow, with the books contain-
ing applications from Subalterns who wished to pur-
chase into the Army, during the period within which
Captain Maling acquired his three Commissions ; also
with the book containing an Account of the services
of Subalterns during that teriod.
• The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER,
from his extreme ignornce on the subject, could nct
say any thing as to the propriety of acceding to, or
opposing the motion of the Hon. Member.
After some conversation between him,* Sir A.WEn-
LgsLEv, and Mr. WArtmr, it was agreed that Mr.
Wardle should renew the motion to-rporrow, and, if
time should be required for the production of the in-
formation demanded, that the matter should stand
over till a future day.

INCREASE (IE TIII? ARMY.
Lord CASTLEREAGH having moved the
• cond reading of the Militia Enlistment Bill,
Mr. ELLIOT objected to the whole of the system,
as being ill calculated to increase the disposable force
of the country ; destructive of the internal defence,
of which the Militia formed the essential part, and,
at the same time, burdensome and expensive in the
extreme. His principal objection, however, went to
its destructive tendency on the system of his Right
Honourable Friend (Mr. Windham), the beneficial
effects of which, though never allowed its full scope of
success, had been fully proved. To it was solely to
be attributed the success of a similar plan to the pre-
sent in the year 1807. Under the act then passed
7,595 had transferred their services from the Militia
to the Line, of whom 19,948 were for limited ser-
vice, while the Act of 1805, when his Right Honour--
hie Friend's system was not in existence, might he
said, though founded on the same principle of tranger
of service, to have Within the last 17 memths
too, notwithstanding all the impediments thrown in
the way of his Right Honourable Friend's plan, out
of 19,072 men, who had enlisted into the Line,
14,381 of them were for limited service.
Colonel WOOD derended the measuce-ty a speech
of long detail. He was surprised that the Honoura-
ble Gentleman had taken upon himself to assert that
the transference of the militia into the line, inspired
the discipline either of the army, or the militia. There
was a fact on record, which repelled the charge as far
as it applied to the army, the late brilliant victories
of that army, two thirds of which had been drafted
from the militia. With respect to the assertion as far
as it applied to the militia, he would most decidedly
maintain, that the discipline of the militia was upheld
and advanced by this adopted system. The grand
inducement to the officers of militia, to train and dis-
cipline their men, was the expectation, that both offi-
cers and men would shortly be drafted into the line.
The officer was induced to exert himself under this
hope, and the advancement of the men in skill and
discipline necessarily followed. The Honourable
Centlernan had equally deceived himself as to the
bounty. In the regiment which he (Colonel Wood)
had the honour to command, he had received, within
the last month -or two, twenty men, who bad not cost
him at The rate of tea pounds per mats. 'As to the
comparison' instituted by the Right Honourable Gert-
*man between limited and unlimited service, he
He
niratien a fact within his own knowledge.—
Hebad lateiy questioned a recruiting xrjeatir from
rtuingham upon this 'subject, how many, men hp
Iti
bad raised, aad ia what nr,e.T. serjew*

;

had informed him that he had enlisted 38, of whom
36w ere for unlimited service:
Sir THOMAS TURTON said, he should consi- ,
der this measure in three ways. First, whether a
large disposable force was necessary; 2dly, whether,
if it was,, the force now 'maintained, was not large
enough ; and, idly, whether this was the best mode
of raising it ? He wished to. know; in the first place,
what was tour ()tee( iti,raiiing a large -disposable
force ? Was it to send'another Quixotic expedition to
Spain ? Was it to fight another battle of Vimiera, to
be followed by aConvention of Cintra? Was it to send
an army into the heart of Spain, 'to be there exposed
to the greatesteharsiships arid losses ? But if an expe-
dition any where was necessary, had we not already
220,000 soldiers of the-line, and could not 60,000 of
these be at any time spared out of the country ? This
could surely be done without exposing the country to
the danger of invasion. In the present state of the
nation, an invasion of this country Was impracticable,
without a navy at the disposal of the.enemy greater ,
than ours. The enemy must have a covering fleet, or
they could not invade. us. The Romans never were
able to invade an& conquer Sicily, till they had de-'
stroyed the navy of .Carthage. 'Therefore, he con-
tended, that our army was now large enough for every
purpose of offensive or defensive warfare. If, how-
ever, the army was to be increased, this was not the
best mode of doing it. On a constitutional principle,',
he could never consent to have the constituniefai de-.1
fensive force of theitingdom invaded, as it had 'been
for some years oin a way by which Colonels of the
Militia had been converted into Drill Serjeants, to fill
up the ranks of the army. He should for these rea-
sons oppose the present Bill.
Colonel BASTARD opposed the Bill, and declared
that the Militia Officers were not reconciled to it. In
his opinion, the characters of these Officers were die
graded by their being made Drill Serjeants ; and this
practice had the effect of producing disorganization,
dissipation, and drunkenness in Militia Regiments. It
would be better at once to destroy the Militia, than to j
expose it. to such evils. The bounties and the praises
given to those militiamen who had gone into the line, I
were only a premium given to restlessness and dislike I
to their Officers, and of course, would have the effect
of doing away all the-benefits which must ever arise
from the attachment of men towards their corps. It'
was such an attachment which made .the Theban
band invincible. Now there was nothing to be found
in cur constitutional defensive bodies, but restlessness
and dissatisfaction.
Lord EUSTON thought the Bill was attended
with many defects, but still he would support it.
' The SECRETARY, at WAR thought the pre-
sent exigencies called loudly for an augmentation of
the army.
Mr. CALCRAFT wished to know why the esti-
mates of the year had fallen from '240,000 men to
210,000 men, particularly when -it had been insisted
that our losses' in, Spain lad not exceeded 4 or 5000
men. The ceentry had. been told at the close of the
last Session, that its military means were never sp
high ; if se, what was the necessity of resorting to the
present bill? or if the national force was diminished,
Parliament ought to know how it had been lessened.
This was no longer an expedient, it was become a
system. It would be better, if this proceeded, to take
the Militia, as they were, at once into the army, and
make the Local Militia the Militia of the country.
He expressed ,his confidence in the Local Militia ;
and he believed this to be an improvement on. the
Volunteer System, which certainly had suffered much
less from the manly attacks, as they had been called,
of a Right 1-lonourable Friend of his (Mr. Windham)
than. froth the cold caresses of the Noble Lord. He-
condemned this system of proceeding, as turning the
Militia merely into a recruiting service for the army;
and as bringing great, unnecessary, and vexatious
burthens upon the country. These constantly recur-
ring expedients might certainly be carried by Mini-
sters, but at the same time it was useful to discuss
them ; for discussion and publicity were a relief to the
country under the burthens to which they were ex- j
poeed.
Colonel FRANKLAND thought it was as neces-
sary to attend to the manner in which the military
means of the Country were employed, as to the nu
merical amount of our force. He allowed, however,
that the great point was the consistency of the House.
It was true, Parliament was pledged to increase the
military means of the Country ; but the question was
whether the Regular Army might not, by this mea-
sure, be increased at the expence of our borne defence ?
It was necessary for the House to take care that it
should not be committed to the discretion, or rather
the indiscretion, of any man. After the experience
we had had, who could say that an unbalanced army
was the best means of defence ? The Honourable
Gentleman then placed in a strong 'joint of view the
injury to the Militia service by this mode of proceed-
ing. It had a tendency to produce disorganization and
disgust in the home service, and to preserve all this
when created. He adverted to the permanent, admi-
rable, and deeply founded system of his Right Ho.
nourable Friend (Mr. Windham), and observed, that
it was impossible to discuss such measures as this,
without taking that system into view. All circum-
stances that bore upon the question were to be consi-
dered, and upon the whole, he thought that this sys-
tem of expedients was the most insufficient and bur-
thensonie that could be resorted to.
Mr. LOCKHART said, that the events which had
taken place might convince us, that we ought not to
trust to a mere defensive force, of whatever descrip-
tion ; whether armed peasantry, local militia, or even
militia. .All systems were liable to objection ; but
the question was, whether this was nbt the best that
could be adopted at present ? He never understood,
that the plan of the Right Honourable Gentleman
(Windham) had been abandoned ; but, at the same
time, it was not sufficient for procuring an immediate
supply, which was what was now wanted.
Lord CASTLEREAGH allowed that it was in-
cumbent on him to lay an adequate ground for a mea-
sure which certainly pressed heavily upon the country.
But it surely was not necessary for him to enter upon
a detail of the reasons for y large military force at
present. The executive Government ought to raise
a sufficient force, if possible, both for foreign exertions
and home defence. As long as the people of Spain,
were true to themselvei, we were bound by duty ansii
interest to euppciet them. We had pledged our-
selves to do so. He could not believe the struggle
to be at an end; but if it.were at an end, spmething
might grow out of that circrlnstartce which might

afford a field for British exertion. Great interests
might 'be at a stake at a distance, as well as at homes
and it was proper to be prepared. But there were-
considerations in support of such a measure as this,
drawn from the present state of the military force of
the country, although he denied that the militaryforce
of the country was diminished. A deduction for the
losses in Spain must be made, and he stated that a
very considerable proportion of the battalions of the
army (aboat irk) were below six hundred rank and
file, and the addition by this measure would only
raise these to 900 rank and file. In the army that
went to Portugal, the first battalions had been filled
np from the second, which rendered it a very effi-
cient army, 29,000 being comprised M thirty-two bat,
talions ; and this measure was intended to fill up the
deficiency, and also to supply the casualties in Spain,.
'—His Lordship then observed, that even while the
country were labouring under these measures, and!
under the burthens of •unlimited service, still there
was something so stubborn in the nature of the re-
truting service, that the ;lumbers were constantly
about 1200 men a month under all circumstances.—. '
He contended that it was necessary to allow men to
enter for unlimited service- if they pleased, as this, at
all events, would leave a permanent feature in our
force. He called on the House to make the exertion I
required, as it was their first duty to their country,
It was impossible that at present there c :uld be any!
danger to the liberties of the country, not only brstte
checks established, but by the feelings of the regulast
'army itself, which felt as strongly as any oda.* de-
sc ri ption of men the value of the Constitution. The ,
dangers to our liberties from a regular army *ere i
past, or, if not, the checks at present' establi.s44
were surely sufficient.
•
I Lord TEMPLE said,' that the Noble Lord heel
nnw shewn us the nature and spirit of the measure, for
jthe transfer was not now made on an emergency, but
lin contemplation of an emergency. So that 'this was
now to become a regular system from year to year.
This, he said, was a very bad mode of increasing
the regular army, and as a regular system, lie had
the strongest objection to it. His Lordship also de-'
.fended the plan of his Right Hon. Friend (Mr.
Windham), and stated, that when the Noble Lord
I laid his cold fingers upon it, it was producing at the
rate of 24,000 a year, instead of the 13,000 produced
by the Noble Lord; and out of the 27,000 that vo-
' lonteered from the Militia, 20,000 were for limited
service at a lower bounty.
The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered
to be committed on Monday next. = - •
Lord TEMPLE gave notice that on Monday, he ~
would move for returns of the difference of the num-
bers of the troops between their embarkation for I
Spain and Portugal, and their return ; and also for
an account of the money, clothing, tcc. actually re-!
ceived by the Spaniards.
Lord CASTLE REAGH had no objection to ei-
ther notice, but it might be impossible to comply ac-
curately with the last.
Mr. TAYLOR gave notice that, if no other person
did it, he would, on Monday, move for the instruc-
tions to Sir J. Moore, and other papers relative to the
expedition.
Lord CASTLEREAGH declared his willingness
to produce them.—Adjourned.

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

• •
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY S. • •I
PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT on O'CLOCK.
Consols, for money, 66;1--for Feb. 67g—Reduced 67g.
Ornniam g pre.

The public will hear with pleasure, that all the
transports from Vigo, about 50 in nnmber, and which
had been very much dispersed by the tempestuous
weather, have arrived at different British ports. The
A LIMED, the arrival of which at Portsmouth we an-
nounced yesterday, had Generals CRAUFORD, ALTEN,
I FEiwvsoN, and DIOTT, on board.

The Manchester packet, with mails from Halifax
and New York, has arrived at Falmouth. She left
the former place on the 25th November, at which time
there were lying there the SWIFTSURE, of 74 guns,
Admiral Sir J. B. WARREN ; the 13}1LLONA and ME-
Ev.lEl:s, with a fleet of transports.
The Manchester left New York on the 7th ult. and
has brought over 21 passengtrs.- The Embargo still
continued.

By letters from Lisbon te. the 24th lilt. it appears,
that though many rumours prevailed of the French
having entered Portugal, no certain accounts of that
f►ct had reached the capital. The alarm, however,
was very great, though the reports could not be
traced to an authentic source, and the British resi-
dents, as well as a great number of the natives, had
resolved to quit the place. Some of them were ac-
tually on board the Charlotte packet on the 21st ult. :
she has not yet arrived. The writer of one of the
letters expresses his apprehensions concerning the fate I
of Oporto but he had recently left that port, and
therefore it appars probable, that the French were
not in possession of it on the 12th, as stated in some
papers. At a later date, however, they may have
taken possession of that city, and little doubt can be
entertained that before this time the French are once
more masters of Portugal.
Since writing the above, the following letter has
reached us :

" FALMOUTH, JANUARY 31.
ig Arrived this day the brig letter of marque Fer-
dinand VII. of 12 guns, Captain REIM', from Lis-
bon, after a passage of seven days ; she has brougkt
thirty passengers : she has also dispatches fmm
Admilal BsiKEtay which are forwarded to Govern-
ment. By her we'are sorry to hear that all the British
are preparing to leave Portugal, as also the principal
'ortuguese Merchants. The 16th Dragoons which
went out some time since are embarked, -and hourly

evicted to receive order, to proceed to Gibraltar
" Letters from Oporto, state that much confusion
prevailed there in consequence of tha reported ap.
proach of the French. Admiral BERICYLM7 has taken
possession of all the Danish vessels in the Tagus, and
was preparing them for the conveyance of British and
other property from Ponngal, pr, the approach of the
French."
In the South of Spain, the Patriots still thew seine.
i:thing like a deteivination to continue the contest;
r.bltt the French have succeeded in relieving Barcelona,
The latest accounts are given in pae following letter'.
GIBRALTAR, JAVYARY It.
u Within these few' dap we have received ii•Crl3 Ta;•-
ragona the very unfavourable news of the Sin:l7l4i
army being obliged to retreat to that place, and t. a:
the Freisch had sent a reiuforcement into Barcelona'
which is confirmed to us under the date of the 2St.'
ult. Flowever, there are letters in town down to the
28th ult. sratipg, that the.apanish army had collected
again, and expected to make an able stand, „should
the Fre;ich attack' them ; -and with the additions;
arms and stores gone up, weiret hap they rill pee-
rtit. Oithitugress letne dine."

• The berds of the Admiralty have been Pleated ti
*PPCintc.a.Ptiik kIANCOCKs late of tlie-LAInNLA
frigate, w Oat tine ship OILRISTIAti 11, of 90 guns,
now Att'athd to the Cbannel Fleet. •
YAfeitay'a CalisifeA Council, at which the grate!
part of the Merebets ISsisteil, was held at the Foreign
Offife.
BRAHMA'S matchless Opera Of- tlliepaPnef will be
performed to-morrow evening with afttactions
likely
to inciests;sts celebrity.. The comp** is; 9f cou:.se,
still the hero of the: _piece ; but the parr of Loreeee:
will be pe!forinedby Me: SENT, theNiung Cai.didati •
for theatrical fanie, who lately made ,such kefitkoorahle
debut in Sir George Airy. , His rehUirsal. of
.Lore;;;,-(r.
io said-to have given a most proasiising display 0 114
vocal powers. . •
Front, the papers laid on the table of the House of
Commons, it appears, that in the 1.7 months, begin-
nieg with August, 1807; and endingyith December,
1808, there have been 19,072 recruits raised lop the
Regular Army, of which 14,681 enlisted fonimited,
and 4,691 for unlimited service—that. the effective
fOrte, iiiiank and file, of the British Regular Ic.rmy,;
according to the returns made to the Adjutant-Ge-
neral's .ofLce up to the 26th of January, 1809.
amouitted to 210,614, of which there were 2.7_?35ii.
Cavalry : and that the effective force of IteMilatia in
England, Scotland, and Ireland, amounted td .81,577
rank and file.
The Isiocem brig of war is arrived from the Dar,'
dangles with dispatches from Mr. ADAIR, who re.
mained in good health at Constantinople suhsequele-
to the late revolutions. She Wig's alto accounts from
Malta to the 16th Deceit:l4r. The.. gem% 10;
Nines, and PRRYOIANTE, had arrived there withtpaxt
of their convoy from England. Off 'Sardinia the
fleet was dispersed in a gale. The HYDRA received
great damage, and there was otherwise much mis-
chief done. The brig Eirm, *Leon for London,
hOr on shore on returning into port ; she knocked off
er anchor, and was obliged to discharge. The brig
Hope, ORCHARD, from Liverpeol, put iato Syracuse,
having shifted her cargo in consequence of being
leaky. The Nocton packet MS at Malta wind-bound.
In addition to the Gazette account respectir.g Lord
COCHRANE, we have received the following particu-
lars of the proceedings of the IMPRRIEUSE frigate, in
a letter dated Gibraltar, Sept. 25:
" Lieutenant MAPLtTON, first Lieutenant of the lmperiew,
with Lieutenant HONE, and the Seamen and Marines of that
Ship, have, on We coast of Frances between Port Vandre and
Marseilles, destroyed• three batteries of six guns each, the Tower
of Montpelier, six telegraphs, and upwards of twenty barracks of
the Dimemes loptriale. They have destroyed also a number of
small vessels in the creeks along the coast. Two thousand troops
have left the fortress of Figueras for Rousillon, to prevent their
descents in that province."
Lettes from St. Thomas's, of the 29th of Decem•
ber, state, that at St: Domingo the French garrison
was in possession of about four months provision,
and was determined to maintain its post to the last ex-
tremity against the Spaniards. The successor of Ge•
neral FaRRAND, it is added, had declared that in the
event of his being compelled to yield, he would surren-
der to the English.
The waters have made the most destructive ra-
vages at Bath. One whole street was undermined
by the waters of the Avon, and suddenly fell, crush-
ing the greatest part of the inhabitants. The roofs of
some houses were seen floating down the river. In
some streets of the lower Town the ground-floors were
under water ; the inhabitants lived upstairs, and their
provisions were conveyed by the upper windows. In
the midst of the most afflicting sights, a cradle was
seen floating down the stream : a child .was seen
moving in it. Several efforts were made to save the
child, but to no purpose, till a providential turn of the
eddy brought die cradle so near as to be hooked from
the bank.—A billiard-table was forced from its situa•
Lion, and carried down the stream. This relaxed for
awhile the muscles of sorrow and anxiety.
The following remarkable circumstance our readers
may depend on as a fact :—A poor Irishwoman, who
resided in Shoe-lane, was brought to bed last Friday,
and on the same evening dreamt that she should die
on the Monday night following. The dream she re-
lated to her husband and others, and stated her firm
reliance on its verity; and wished to have a priest to
attend to take her confession, and grant her absohe
tion previous to the event happening. This porten-
tous dream was little attended to by her husband or
her neighbours ; but on Monday, during the hurri.
cane, the husband thought he heard the roof of the
house giving way, and mentioned his fears to his wife.
She, however, was unable to help herself, and, dread•
ful to relate, the roof shortly afterwards falling in,
buried in the ruins the unfortunate wottlan and h
child 1 The husband with the utmost difficulty pre.
served his life, and though buried in the rubbish, mi.
raculously extricated himself from his periloo
tuation.

,

•

r•.

• •
No has Letell gratuax-,pine•fl.,to afro:vt
BeitteitarAlitatiif-trie On, C•tuktili‘
gvtitit(ity to be *vett& of Fort charlii in tit
blind of limaics..4 • • . .