Star.
London, England, 1810-01-24 00:00:00

- eike
for it in time. Sine, hoiVever, he seas, that it could for want of transports, and after T*vera, that he homes At that time a &position had rasey:l
never be preserved by a continuance in the same sys- could not stay where he was for want of provisions : tad itself in that part of his dominions, to stzka
tern : that it could not be maintained by a system and Lord Wellesley was in England doing nothing off the yoke his tyranny and usurpation had ineeae.,
which was something weaker than imbecility—by men all the time his brother was labouring under these It should be taken into consideration how far it rig,
who offered them nothing but their ignorance and in- difficulties. The situation of the country was perilous be politic to encourage such a feeling, by maket.,a:..
„
tolerance. That House, he was confident, would never in the extreme; and these facts not only warranted effort in their behalf, more especially as it sva.s to
suffer the state to he ruined in such hands ; and if it but compelled the House to institute an inquiry into lieved a military force from this country would nt:,
should be the will of PttOyIDENCE that this empire the causes, which had brought it into that situation. have been received with general hostility. It we
should fall, lie trusted that it' would not be left to sink Lord CASTLEREAGH felt it to be his duty to perhaps, hardly possible so to commit ourselves, tea;
under its own weigur, but fallin a manner worthy of justify the line of conduct that had been pursued, and in no cnse could we separate ourselves front tiros.,
its ancient character and power. he assured the Hon, Gentleman who spoke last, that we wished to serve and provide for our own safety
Mr. HERBERT could not agree to criminate Mi- there was no part of his conduct which he should not —lt would therefore be cruel to excite an insurre,.
nisters without inquiry. He asserted that the peo- have an opportunity of knowing. He would never tion, unless we had the most ample means of inseritg
ple of Spain had done more towards opposing France ask indulgence, but he would claim justice. He did success to those who entered into our views ; tat
than the rest of Europe put together. not complain of the Hon. Geatleman, his conduct when insurrection and discontent had already find,
Sir THOMAS TURTON opposed the Address. was perfectly consistent thinking as he did ; but he their appearance, and the struggle was about to 1,.
He was bound to tell the people of England that the thought though an inquiry ought to be made into the made without your aid, then to assist and enate_
character of the country had been degraded by Mini- grounds on which Government had acted, it was not the oppressed more effectually to struggle aeei"
sters, and maintained that inquiry was necessary. right to condemn them on the prima facie evidence , tyranny was worthy a nation like Britain. Tut; 5.,,
Lord KENSINGTON considered unanimity de- or which he was possessed. He did not hesitate to done in Spain. In the north of Germiny, it was tr,..
sirable, yet could not support the Address nor the say that a marked improvement had taken place in there were some insurrection; but they were but tr,..:
Amendment. He should not censure until he knew the naval and military resources of the country, since tial. To send an army would haveleen most us it.,.
who was to blame. With respect to the situation of the Administration to which he had had the honour to tifiable, unless such a force could be sent as we e,,.
the country, he thought a thorough change of mea- belong bad been in office. He then spoke of the seen- niched in the 30 years war, which was almost e nano:,
sures was expedient in order to preserve it. rity afforded to the country by the expedition to Copen- living within a natien,
Mr. LAMB supported the Amendment, and was ' heath, the destruction of the French fleet at Roche- Austria determined on making another effort for h,.:
of opinion that the tardiness in executing the plans fort, and the weakening (at least for a time) of the independence without the advice of this Govern.
was sufficient ground of examination. French force by the co-operation of Spain. The ment.; instead of being advised to enter the lists with
Mr. LUSHINGTON deprecated the idea of party military efforts we had made within that period France, the-counsel given was rather of a contrary
motives at the present moment, and recommended were great, and if unfortunate, they had still contri- nature. When war was declared, we rushed to assiu
unanimity in supporting his Majesty'. buted to the honour aid security of the country. The her in the struggle, and, when vanquished, she with.
Mr. BATHURST said, that without entering in- summary mode adopted by the Hon-. Gentleman of, drew from the contest unreproached by ,England. He
to an examination of the whole of the disasters w`hieh forming his conclusion before he possessed that infer- did not think Austria thought England had done es.
had befallen the country, lie was of opinion they were mation which alone could enable him to form a right thing in her cause. He believed hergratefulfor these?.
unconnected with the Address, and shotild therefore judgment, he thought inconsistent with the dignity port she had received. With respect to Spain, it had
vote for it. of that House. The principles-on which the cam- been said, why not endeavour to effect a change inter.
Mr. PONSONBY said, the Honourable Member paign in Spain, as he called it, or more properly nally ? Before you confer a benefit, you cannot go with
who had just sat down, had unquestionably misun- speaking, in Portugal, had been conducted, whether i the Koran in one band and a sword in the other, to
derstood the nature of the Amendment ; the object was good or bad, were widely different from those which I change the habits and religion of those you wuuldaie.
not to criminate Ministers for former campaigns, but regulated the operations of the former campaign.— jHe was not nice in the means he made use of to thwart
0 take a fair view of their conduct in that which had The army entrusted to Lord Wellington had been the views of Bonaparte, He would gladly press a corn.
just been concluded. In fact, the object of it was to enmmittel to his direction, and he thought Lord bination of all nations, and of all religions into a pha.
tell hik Majesty, that they feel the misconduct of his Wellington, in advancing as he did, had acted per- lane to oppose him, He would unite with the Turk
Ministers in this lately-concluded campaign; and that feeds,. right. The Hon. Gentleman had thought no - without requiring him to lay aside his turban,
they wean to call for an inquiry into the calamities attention had been paid to the army in Portugal for/ and he would march to the field with *the poor
and disgraces which have so conspicuously attended some time; but within the period to which he alluded, , bigotted Spaniard, without first insisting on his
it. Did the Honourable Gentleman, in ehjecting to two corps under Generals Sherbrook and Hill had ' divesting himself of superstition. He would let every
the terms of the Amendment, mean to state that his seen sent to strengthen it. Imaged of Lord \Velling- f fight in his own way. Some were of opinion, that
Majesty's Ministers, by their late proceedings, had ton's having 38,000 men with him at the time the Ino aid should have been granted till the Cortes were
not exposed the Councils and Government of this • Hon. Gentleman had stated his army to have eon- .convoked. But he should indeed be very sorry to
country to scorn and derision? Did hemean to say that sisted of that number, he had not more than ! have to answer for such conduct, as it would have
all Europe did not simpathize in that scorn and derision? 2.5,000. It was not well to run down the character I been a sure way of creating intestine divisions, as
It became, however, necessary to notice the campaign of a gallant Of by such misrepresentations. At ; the clashing interests of the several Provinces might
of the last year, which was finished by the battle of the time he fought the battle of Talavera the force i have produced the most fatal consequences. Taus
Corinna—a battle that was at least as glorious as with him amounted to not more than 20,000 men ;. at the Castillian Cortes• being assembled, Bone,
that of Talavera ; which, however it might have and to tarnish the splendour of that action by saying ..parse, by selling the Arragonese against them,
been extolled by those who set on foot the Expedi- a more glorious victory was ever gained, was to sa- I might have divided Spain within herself more com-
_. .
,f ff -

Lion, it was impossible to say that any one good con-
sequence had been derived from it. Let us then, said
he, take a view of the conduct of his Majesty's Mi-

crifice national glory for the sake of party. It had
been asked, why the army of Sir John Moore was not
Hayed immediately on their return on that service?

pleie:y than she is divided by the Ebro, Spain, with
all her faults, deserved assistance of England, as it
was not for us to be particular about the

ni.sters immediately subsequent to the battle of Co-
mma. Austria meditated to exert herself by mak-
ing an effort in defence of her own dominions; and

esnpleyt Vbs.-
It had been said they were ready, and could have
been embarked immediately ; but by the time the
had !leer ited and were rei -ted fit

. __ weapons
with which our enemy was assailed. He cculd give
no opinion for or against an inquiry into the affairs of
Spain. If Ministers it would be - he

Ag an elton in urICLItA.; laa as“
____--
this coming to the knowledge of Bonaparte, he, in the
month of April, quitted Spain, in order to put himself
at the head of his army destined to act against Austria.

regiments , 2n recruit .porti.
for service, the Expedition to Portugal had reached
its destination, as it was not till the 10th of June
that they were. reported to be fit for service.—
_ ..

thought proper, .
had no objection. He did not speak agaiast Lord
Wellington when he s4id the march to Talavera was
his own act. He ar- of it, and of the honours

When he did that, it was evident he was of opinion
the main object was Austria. Ministers must at that
time have received intelligence of those events ; and

The delay complainp d of in ttansporting the cavalry
it was impossible to avoid, as, though the transports
ordered from Porto,- in Ma• they did not

Approved
bestowed on that gallant officer, We ought not to
undervalue the hero's laurejs even though they were
barren. Had valour so long beeu admired and xtlast

s
if any effort could be made to save both Austria and
Sp:tin, it WaS undoubtedly their duty to .set about it
with the greatest energy and promptitude. Austria,
as the greater povrer, and the only one that had ever
been able to make a stand against France, seemed to
be most deserving their consideration, and they formed
a determination to. support I:er ; but they seemed to
have taken no steps towaids tit desirable object till
April. On the 9th of April the Austrians crossed
the Inn, and commenced the campaign by the lava-
vasion of Bavaria. On the 20th of April the
battle of Abersburg took place, in which the Aus-
trians were defeated Ly the French. Tn that mo-
ment Ministers determined to support Austria; but
instead of union among themselves, one of his Ma-
jesty's Ministers had deemed another of them so
unfit for his (Alice, that he had demanded his dis-
missal, itnd instead of consulting together for the
assistance of our allies, they v.'ete engaged in mutual
jealousies and mistrust of each other. Then followed
the • battle of Essling, in which the Austrians were
victorious ; but from that time the French Emperor
went on from victory to victory till he came to the
battle of Wagram, which decided the fate of the
campaign. During all this time, it seemed Ministers
had been more concerned about their own quarrels
than about the assistance of Austria. How was this to
have been effected Every considerate man would say
by sending their whole force to one decided o')ject.
What was the case ? In Spain they had an army under
Lord Wellington, consisting of 38,000 men. In the
Scheldt, under Lord Chatham, there were 40,000 Or
more. In Sicily, 15,000—50 that all the divided parts
of our military force amounted' to near 90,000 men.
The army that gained the advantage at Essling was
stated by the Archduke to be7U,OOO, and by Bonaparte
to be 90,000 ; so that, if our forces had been combined
instead of being divided, we might have had a greater
Britssh force in the held than that which defeated the
French at•Essling. He, for his own part, did not say
tljat it would have becnAvise 'to have so great a Bri—
tish force employed on the Continent ; but it is evi-
dent that his Majesty's Ministers did, and. it was clear
that if they had had their forces concentrated instead
of divided, they • must have succeeded better, The
Amendment says that the last campaign was a repe-
titian of the errors of the preceding one. No man in
the House Could say to the contrary, and he was sure
no man old of the House wceld say so. Who w4s I
sent to command the expedition to the Scheldt ?
Was it an officer of great experience and of high mi.
litary reputation ; who had often fought the battles
of his country, and been crowned with laurels and
renown ; one who was celebrated for his energy and
activity ? No ;—it was an Officer, who under
an inauspicious Administration, of which his own
brother was at the head, was obliged to resign on
account of the inactivity, indolence, and imbecility
of his proceedings in the highoflice entrusted to his care.
—With regard to Spain, the. conduct of Ministry had
been much th"e same as with respect to Austria. The
month of April; of inauspicious April, was that in
which they seem to have laid all their plans. Lord
Wellesley was gazetted in April, and did not depart
till the 24th July, so that every thing that was ex- I
peered fr(*m the wisdom and energy of his conduct
was absolutely lost. Lord Wellington had stated on
of July, that he could not advalce his army

igal .y,
arrive till the 12th of Jury, after the infantry were
embarked. Here a new position was assumed, that
the force thus collected could be employed in Conti-
nental operations, or in a'coup de main. Great as our
resources were, there were limits beyond which they
could not he strained. It was impossible to transport
them to the North of Germany or to Spain, and had it
been possible, still would it h avabeen, in a military point
of view, improper, from the situation and disposition
of the neighbouring Powers. Antwerp. was an object
of great political importance, and a descent on it was
more likely to call forth Bonaparte's attention than,
an attack on any other place. He was ready to state
why he thought success probable, and likely to be at-
tended with little risk. He was not ignorant of the
nature of the climate at that season of the year, but
it was not intended that the army should be locked.
up there for such a length ofaime. It was a coup de
main against the naval power of the enemy that was
intended, and not the capture of Walcheren alone ;-
it was therefore expected that the army would be em-
ployed in a dry country between Walcheren and Ber-
gen-op-Zooni. The melancholy accounts that had
been circulated of the state of the troops were
greatly exaggerated, and though our loss appeared
great to us compared with the losses of France
m all her wars, it was but trifling. No ob-
ject of magnitude was expected to oppose our re.
raining Walcheren. It had never been considere4,
*as an axiom, that the risk attending the keeping pos-
, session of that island, should deter us from taking it.
We held it 31 years during the Barrier Treaty,"
and have since had it in our possession. He was not
furnished with materials to speak on the whole of dot
question. He, however, if the Officers employed
should appear to have done their duty, would ever be
ready to hold them above that vulgar calumny by.
which they would probably be assailed. For his own
port he was ready, nay, anxious to meet the fulled
inquiry into his conduct, and he trusted they would,
do him the justice to own that he had never shrunk
from, but, on the contrary, always courted Parlia.
mentary enquiry.
Mr. PONSONBY, in explanation, said, he did not
mein to state that Lord Wellington had 38,000 men
at the battle of Talavera, but that 38,000 men were
ernployed in the Peninsula.
General TARLTON condemned the conduct pur-
sued towards Spain, and despaired of Portugal.
• Mr. CANNING said, those who resigned their of-
fices were nut to be considered as exempted from in-1
quiry, which he doubted not they were prepared to
meet ; for his part, he put in his claim for his full
share of the responsibility. Subsequent to the time
when the intimation was given that the objects of the
expedition could not be accomplished, heknew nothing
of what passed in his Majesty's Councils. Could he
have been assured that the expedition would have ac-
complished nothing more than the reduction of Wal-
cheren, he certainly would not have consented to
sending out such a force with no other object in view.
Flushing was mot an object of sukient magnitude to-i
call for such an exertion. It Wes' lateficied to strike a I
blow at the naval power of France, and this was an
object of the greatest importance. The stihjects
Bonaparte would then have . found, that while he
.was delighting them with accounts of :coniquests
abroad, they were not secure fro invasion at

lost its valuer Had wiM a sudden become so enligls,
ened that we could contemplate it with philosophical
apathy ? He knew she moralist might shudder at
the shedding of huthan blood ; lazi knew
f‘ That reason frowns at ware nnequalgame, '
" Where thousands bleed to raise A single name."
Yet still was Lord Wellington entitled to the grati.
tude of his country, and the glories of Talavera he
could not think put chased so dearly as. to W for
ever deplored. Before be sat down, he would
Just say, that he thought it inconsistent with the
1 dignity of that House, to speak of a circumstance
Whatever
with the late differences in the Cabinet.--.
Whatever might be said by others, nothing should
induce him to break the resolution he had formed uf
never speaking on that subject.
Mr. WHITIIREAD entered at considerable length into the
various charges which had been brought against Minister) in the
course of tl.e debate; and contended, that their culpability would
l be trade more and more oonspicuottet as their conduct came tax
-inquired Into.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCI fEQI/ER, alluding to the
disputes in the Cabinet, said, that, entering as he did into the
feelings of his Noble and of his Right Honourable Friend (Mr.
Canning), he was deairous, either then or at any other time, of
saying as little as possible of the unfortunate occurrences which!
bad &plea the Country of their services. He would on state
that with respect to the differences to which the H his
Gentlemen opposite alluded, be was wholly unsuspid of tlielr
sra
existence until the end of last session of Parliament, •-and not till
after the Expeditien to the Scheldt was detertnlvd upon. He
.bad certainly been anxious to do every thing-in-Ids power to re-
concile those differences, feeling as he did the highest admiration
for his Right Honourable Friend, but never partaking with him
in his opinion of the ineffici.ocy of his Noble Friend, from whose
ability, on the contrary, he entertained the greatest respect..Ful-
ding, however, that all his efforts to restore union were Intik'
mai, he had received his Majesty's commands to endeavour to
procure the assistance of two Noble Lord' in the ftirmation of a
combined and extended Administration. He ceuld not conceive
how this application deserved to be so unworthily _characterized
as it had been by the Honourable Gentleman opposite. He c;uld
assure the I ...,utrable Gentleman, that if he Gad snacipited that
the proposition could have been deemed disluMounitie to the
character of those Noble Lords, he should have felt it dishonour-,
able to his own character to tender it. This offer baying been
refused, no option was afforded him, but either to take the offi-
cial situation which he bad then the honour to hold, or to leave
his Majesty to be dictated to by those who differed front him in
opinion. The Honourable Gentleman hid intimated, that ilie
Majesty's present Government did not posses; the affection and
confidence of the People. 'He might, perhaps, think hint arrc*
gant in asserting, that, without assuming the possession of talents
and experience equal to those of the Gentleman opposite, he thi
conceive t%iat his. Majesty's present Government possessed in a
much higher degree than they did the confidence of the counts~',
and that, under ally circumstances, they would be better calcula-
ted to conciliate the general good opinion. What were the oc-
currences rff their Administration, which were so disgraceful mll
so ruinous'?
The Right lion. Gentleman then replied at full length to the
objections made to the recent operations of the British armies
and concluded by observing, that it was evidently the object of the *I
Gentlemen opposite to try their strength ; but he trusted that the •
House would disappoint any fond expectation, of the result which
they might be induced to entertain.
Mr. TIERNEY reprobated the conduct of Ministers in Wend
Terms. The behaviour of the Chancellor of the; Exchequer iess
uhuly objectionable, and there was not a man in office she
lid not wonder how he got to the head of the Treasury Beach.
Mr. R. WHARTON shortly replied to Mr. Tierney.
The House then divided on the Amendment, when the num-
bees were—For Ministers 2113—For the Ammidolent 167—Nia"
jority 90.
• The Address, as it originally stood, was then carried without a
division, and at Half-past Five o'clock the'House adjourned.
___.•

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