The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-01-09 00:00:00

TILE STATESMAN.

iaterests were the same. Upon another point on
hich the HonouraLle Gentleman required infor-
mation, he could easily
give it him, because he
knew it would prove satisfactory. The British army
was at present full 10,000 men stronger than it was
at the same period last year. (Hear I) He could
have no hesitation in saying, that peat and very im-
portant eifferences existed with America, the particu-
lars of which he must decline at present to gate tar
obvious reasons, and in the hope, that they will be
amicably removed, but not from any inability to esta-
blish a good cause on the part of Great Britain. 'fl,
terms offered by Britain were mode!-ate and concilia-
tory, but consistent with the honour and dignity of
the country. Let the House look to the conduct of
Britain and France to America, as well as the con-
duct of America to both, and judge whether Britain
had committed an unjust aggression.. Should the
" fatal catastrophe" of a war break out, he would
not disguise that it would bring great evil upon
the country, but he was persuaded that America
would not be the least sufferer. Whatever Gentle-
men might suppose, it never was his wish to see Ame-
rica crushed, or ruined in her trade or her resources;
on the contrary, he looked to the Wealth and pro-
sperity of that country as accessary to those of Great
Britain, and that the diminution of tho,a of one
must affect those of the other. [hear ! hear !]
From every conkideration he was able to give the
subject, he did not think 13iltain could, consistently
with her undoubted rights and national honour, sub-
Imit more than she did to the national honour. Ame-
rica said, the Berlin and Milan Decrees were Te-
-1 pealed; he said they were not.—Ufear, hear,
i hear!] He plainly saw in every subs... Tent com-
mercial Decree that the principles were adhered
to and acted upon. If America had evidence
of their revocation, where was the public instru-
ment to prove the fact ?—The Decree for repealing
them promised only a distant revocation, condition-
ally that England renounced her new system of
blockade,, by revoking her Orders in Council, or
America should make her flag respected--tha t was to go
to war with England. Since that conditional repeal,
however, the Berlin and Milan Decrees were repeat-
; edly declared to be fundamental laws of the Empires
and all neutral ships which should not conform to
them were declared to be denationalised.—[llear !
hcar !]—Was that a virtual revocation of them ? It
was not. But whenever France should revoke them,
I Britain would :npeal her Orders in Council, but not
relinquish her maritime superiority, which France
could not otherwise reduce. He vvas exceedingly
glad the Noble Lard had given satisfaction to the
lion. Getttleraan respecting his seppesed reflections
on Bonaparte. 11. also ,:ereed that his personal cha-
racter was no reason for tan-using to treat with him
for a pane, and concludiag a on safe and honour-
able terms.

Mr. WHITBREAD rose, and tiente!ded to know'
whether the flight lion. Gentleman alluded to him in
the quotation he introduced into his speech ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, lie borrowed the lines, he believed, from a
poem called 6' The Spider," without meaning any
personal disrespect to the lion. Gentlematt.--Ilicar !
hear
Mr. WHITBREAD said he was satisfied, and be-
lieved that if such a quotation had been applied to the
Right Hon. Gentleman he would have felt himself in-
titled to demand an explanation.
General TARLETON stated his consciousness of
his own inability to do justice to the importance of
the subject, but the affairs of Spain were so disas-
trous, and hopes of ultimate success in Portugal
so slender, that he could not avoid giving his opi-
nion, notwithstanding the appearance of the House.
[Here several Members were going out.] He had
not the smallest wish to diminish the military
reputation of Lord Wellington, or of the Offi-
cers under his command, but we were evident-
ly unable sufficiently to persevere in the con-
test. It was an old saying, that money was the
foundation of all power, and Caesar to obtain power,
got money, but we could not be said to have money,
while the House was called upon to pay 200,0001.
for a new mint, and a depreciated coinage circulated
io the country. IVhat was the success of the Spanish
armies ! They were flying under time protection of
Gibraltar and British cannon. We were told of the
exploits of the Guerillas ; but what were they ?
Neither more nor less than freebooters, who plun-
dered alike their friends and foes, anti from whom no
good could be expected. At the sanguinary battle
of Albucra, the Portuguese brought only 0000 men
into the field, althoUgh they had received twelve
millions of our money, and Gen. Beresford was com-
pelled to punish officers and men for desertion, and
threaten to chastise others for feigning sickness, and
going into the hospitals. Bonaparte, .on the other j
hand, raised 110,000 men, of the age of twenty,l
with whom he threatened to invade our own country,
and attack oar fiery capital. Nettling toed be twee '
lextravagant in us than to cope with him on the Pe-
ninsula in the present situation of Europe, in which
assertion he was much more justified than Mr. Fox,
who a ished for the pencil of Cervantes to ridicule
the promoters of the continental war, even at a
period when France was distracted by a revolution,
and all the other European Powers independent, and
many of them at war with her. The Peninsula had
already cosC.us 18 millions of money, and 60,000
men had been lost in the effort of preserving it from
France, and w:thout success, and it was now time
for England to desist, before her loss should become
greater, and her success less.
i Mr. CREEVEY observed, that he intended to be
brief in the observations he was about to address to
the House, but felt himself called upon to state a few
facts upon the present occasion. We had been told,
I that our trade and revenne• had increased; but, in
fact, they had received a deadly blow ; and it wal.ne-
cestary to ascertain the nature and extent of that de-
I crease, before the House should give a pledge to the
extent that was now required. It was inspesilble to
carry on the war. In the course of a year, Here had
been a diminution of three millions WWI ashall in
the revenue, And charge of. oneesillion nod t half
on the Consolidated Fond, so that the ieteiati in
1811 bad faller-short five millions of dim of thp pre-
ceding yeah -Was this to be supplied by new • b *IL
, •
flow could they be productive when the old, had
WWI ..The • eackhnlder's security. was iliVaini‘d
by a million Ind a her; :What woulkbedepas I(tne
Cossolidatedfiod should .become taadepate. 3• Xt

was his intention to move, that the Address be post.
poned till this day week, that a return might be made
of the produce of the taxes for 1811, in order to as-
certain the state of the revenue. 'lf successful iu
that, he should then move for a return of the Conso-
lidated Fund, and the amount of the taxes. He was'
warranted in taking this course, by precedents in
the reigns of William and Anne. It was then the
practice to mike no answer to the Address, till some
days hat! elapsed. The Public should know the state
of the revenue before any pledge was given. Evi-
dent attempts had been made by the Newspapers in
the interest of Government, to mislead the public
mind on the subject of the finances, by stating an
advance of 340,0001. in the last quarter of • 181 t,
but the case was different if the other three were
taken into the accouut. The part of the Speech re-
specting the India Company was the same as in 1792,
and would be heard now with additional interest.
In the event of peace, every individual in the world
would have the right of trading to India, with the
exception of the subjects of England. He indulged
a hope that a free trade was hinted at for this coun-
try; and concluded with moving, that instead of
now, the Report should be brought up this day
week.

The CHANCELLOR, of the EXCHEQUER
begged leave to say a few words in answer to the
lion. Gentleman. The lion. Member had taken an
unfair view of the state of the revenue. Last year
it was most flourishing, and, op that account, had
been deemed worthy of particular mention. The re-
ceipt of last year had, in many respects, exceeded
the preceding. The revenue of the Customs had
diminished, but a stop had been put to the decrease
of the Consolidated Fund. In the Excise, the great
enurce of revenue, the amonnt had greatly exceeded
that of the former year, and, on the whole, the de-
ficiency had not been more than two millions on the
sth of January of the present year. The heaviest
quarter was that ending on the sth of January, and
that now afforded a surplus of 400,0001. above the
charges. In the case of taxes imposed at a late pe-
riod, the produce could net be great. A large sum
had been expected from the duty on spirits ; this had
failed, in consequence of distillation from sugar be-
ing permitted, and distillation from grain had only
begun in October. Under all the circumstances, that
branch of the revenue might considered as in the
most flourishing state.
Mr. VYSE said a few words, but in so low a tone
of voice as to be inaudible in the gallery.
Mr. WHITBREAD felt the propriety of saying a
few nerds, though the Right lion. Gentleman, he
must admit, had laboured his part with great indus-
try. If the Revenue had increased, it must be allow-
ed, so also had our expenses, and he must be a had
Financier, who, when he sees that his taxes are un-
productive, does not continue to diminish his expen-
diture. It was admitted that the Customs had, last
year, fallen off, but the Excise, it seems, had increas-
ed. The Excise must necessarily follow the Customs.
Did the Right lion. Gentleman imagine that the Re-
venue of the country would continue to be what it
had been formerly, and that its expense would not
increase ? The contrary was self-evident. With re.
gard to mentioning, in the Speech, the state of the
Revenue, such had been the uniform practice.
Mr. HUTCHINSON expressed his dissent from
the Address. lie had been last year, of opinion,
that then was not the proper moment for an adula-
tory Address, but that on the state of the country,
and of the world, we should have manfully stated
the difficulties we had to undergo. We should have
stated to the Prince Regent what had fallen out since
the reign of his father, from the counsels of weak
or nicked Ministers. That he could not with ho-
nour to himself, or safety to the empire, persevere
iu those plans that had formerly been pursued. To
hesitate one moment, would be a dereliction of duty
lie entered his solemn protest against Ministers ge-
nerally, and against this Address, which kept back
what was important, and held forward what was
trivial. It was not true that we had rescued Portu--
gal, though in this he did not intend to reflect, in
the slightest degree, upon the General and troops
in that kingdom. Tiwy had performed wleAtever
was possible. But they only remained in possession
of that kingdom because it was not the policy
of France to make a great effort. Were 10,0c0 ad-
ditional men adequate to the exigencies of our pre-
sent warfare ? They were hot equal.to the defence
of Portugal, and could only for a short time pro-
teact the contest. Whenever France chose to put
forth her energies, we must withdraw from the con-
flict. The enemy had attempted nothing in which
he had not succeeded. They had scarcely lost any
prisoners, and neither artillery nor officers. On the
other hand, we had uniformly failed. Neither was
the situ*. ion of Spain better than it was last year, as
the enemy was ht military possession of the country,
and weiseek-slmen--crtit off from all maritime inter- •
course with such parts of the country as were said
to be favourable to the cause. The Spaniards had.
accused us of deserting them after the battle of
Talavera, and did not think that defending Por-
tugal was defending Spain. He was happy to
bear of a prospect of peace with America, though
we had done every thing in our power to pro-
voke her to war, relying upon our maritime superi-
ority. In the feelings of the Prince Regent, with
respect to the King, there could be but one voice and
one sentiment ; but whatever arrangements might be
in contemplation, he trusted economy would lie
strictly attended th. Had the whole of the Address
been unobjectionable, the state of Ireland alone
would have induced him to dissent. lie must ex-
press unqualified disapprobation of any Address that
did not call the attention of Parliament particu-
larly to that country. Measures had been pur-
sued, tending to disunite Ireland from Englund,
end to shake the monarchy. One consolation,
however, wait afforded, the measures of Ministers
Ind, proved that Irishmen were united, and that
wicked policy had &hewn England that every dt-
'scription of j,ishmen Were united in the same mime,
and so far framesucceeding, they have only called
forth the united voice and feelleg.of the country in
.oppositien to their plans.... He thanked them for
what they had done foe Ireland% and concluded by
giving a dime:negative $o the Address. •
'eke •CgAtiieFtLLOßd a the 'EXCHEQUER
stated, that he did not inlaid to. say that 10,000
men bad been sent to Lard Wellington)bat that such

LO N DO N:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 9,181 g.

By a Mail from Malta, which arrived this fore
noon, we have received Gibraltar Papers to the ht
ult. from which we extract the following :
" GIBRALTAR, N0v.20.

" Although CM. BALLASTEROS was probably right to suppose.
that the enemy's divisions, with :thick be was last week engaga.
would be in ►au hurry to renew the contest ; yet he finds this
other divisions arc ready to snppiy their place, and that he is net
to he allowed one moment's rest. On Wednesday he received
information, that Centsrols LEvaz and R'v were advancing
against 1 . from the eastward, upon which he retired to his for-
mer position under the rock, and shortly after some of the ene-
my's troops made their appearance on the heights of St. Ruh.
Afi the whole, hon ever, were not in sight, Gen. BALLASTEROS on
the next day made a reconnoitring from the Queen of Spins,
and upon his return a skirmish nask place between his party
and a French detachment, to which he had two men killed ands
few wounded ; of the enemy's loss nothing positive is known.
It is understood, that their total number was ascertained to
amount to 600 P, foot and some hundreds of horse, w id, a few
pieces of cannon, and that they expect reinforcements. 1 cry
favourable accounts were received from Catalonia in the het:in•
ping of the week! Far from being cast down by the enormous
losses which they have sustained, and by the complete disper-
sion of their army after the capture of Tarr guars, the Catalo-
nians have plucked up fresh spirits, and created a new arum,
which is already 25,00,1 strung, and is expected to be increae.l
to :00,000 men before the end of February. The fact is, CIA
growing every day mom act more impatient of the yoke, the
g Want natives are dete 'stained to shako it oft; and the whole of
them are rising en fluter. A printed paper has also heel' reecited
Gam A licant, dated the 11th, acknowledging that toe yelbov
fever had made its appearance in the town, in consequence of ti:e
clandestine intro& etion of three Men who were labouring miner
it, from Murcia, its environs, and Aspe, and a NMI from
Fiche ; but averring, in continuation, that owing to the. mea-
sures adopted to pat a stop to it, such as the removal to the La-
zaretto, not only of the infected individual 4, hut of all the sin'►
in the tow n, there remained lit) vestige of it so far back as
6th, when the above precautions were no longer deemed flee—
nary, and concluding w his an invitation to the nelghbow Mr,
towns to re-open the communication."